Works, Part 4 · Religious instruction · Chapter 20 – Chapter 21
CHAP. XX. Of the shortnesse of our life, and the meditation of Death how profitable.
IT is the vsuall manner of the Holie Ghost, 1. Pet. 4. Iam. 2. Iohn, 12. to perswade men to godlinesse, because they hauehave but a quantitie of dayes. This is such an ordinarieThe shortnes of life. Argument, that vse hath taken away the force of it, yet Dauid saith, that euen ordinarie things by grace moue vsus, and where grace workes not, euen extraordinarie things moue vsus not. Concerning shortnes of life, the heathen could say, that a man is but a manAnerh eméra… of a day olde, and the Philosophers teach that his life cannot be long. But we will leaue all them without the Church, and come to them within: Dauid said it was a span long Moses and Salamon say, it is a life of dayes: and I will obserue withall, that Moses, Ioh, Dauid, Salomon, when they describe the life of man, they can find nothing to rest on as vaine enough, whereunto they might compare it: so base a thing is this life, that it may abide any extenuation in the world. In regarde whereof they hauehave compared it to a bubble, a sleepe, a vapour, and they cume so farre at the length, that they compared it to a thought, whereofPsal. 90. 9. wee know there may be no fewer then a thousand in one day. Esay 38 it is saide, it may be spent before night. And 2. Cor. 5. it is compared to a booth or a shepheards tent, which we see doth last but a while. In our daily and ordinary prayer Christ admonisheth vsus of this point, when hee teacheth vsus to pray, that wee may hauehave a portion for a day, as though our life were shutte vp, or may bee shutte vp in one day. There are long spaces, which by aSimile. speedy course are quickly ended; and there be short spaces, which hauing a slow moouer,Space short, and motion swift, are long in going, but if the space be short, and the motion swift, there is no hope of continuance; and such a one is our life. The Israelites went no further in thirtie yeares, by their slowe motion, than by a swift passage they might hauehave gone in eleuen dayes: So that one may bee going a long iourney in a little time, and a little iourney a long time. Our way is short, and for the manner of our motion in this short way, it is compared to a Weauers shuttle, and to a Poste, and to a shadowe: to a Poste, Nay, it is not of so long continuance, for a Poste leaues a print of his steppes behinde him, but a man doth leaue no impression, he is still going, & the motion neuer ceaseth. The swiftest thing in nature for motion may stay, but mans life doth not stay: For though at the praier of Ioshua the Sun stood still, which is wonderful swift; yet the time of mans life stood not stil, but euen then a d…ies iourney went forward. Salomon considering of mans life, called it vaine, and then as not thinking that a sufficient word, he corrected himselfe, & called it Vanitie it selfe. But Dauid going further, Psal. 62. saith, man is lighter than vanitie too. If we adde this, that nothing befals vsus all our life long, but it may befall vsus any day, or eueryevery day, we shall confesse thisLife▪ howe short. life is vaine. The calculating of this time is good, but the increasing of our account is the cause of all euill. Matt. 25. the enuious seruant was ouertaken in his account, be thought he had many daies to come, which he had not, before his Lord appeared. The Virgins were truely foolish, that dreamed of a day, which was denied them. Luk. 12. the rich man ouershotTo number our daies. himselfe, and was preuented contrarie to his account: It is the vsuall complaint of the Prophets, that men say, The prophecie is deferred, the plague shall not come yet; and we say in our hearts, the Bridegrome wil not come yet, our Lord wil be long in comming, the burthen of the Lord shall ouerpasse vsus, & so forth. It is good reason to remember the praier of Moses, Psal. 90. 12. that we beguile not our selues in the computation, who cryeth, Lord teach vsus to number our daies. For numbring of people Dauid is an example: for numbring our money, our sheepe, our lands, and our frames, eueryevery man can be an example:To number our daies, a rare kind of Arithmeticke. But to number our daies is a rare kind of numbring, it is a strange Arithmetike, what rearages we are fallen into with the Lord, for our time not spent to his glory▪ this is a numbring, wherewith we are vnacquainted. Oh that we knew what it were to account of time, surely this I will say, if there were many worlds in the possession of some that are departed, they would giuegive them vsus for one day or houre, which we hauehave in such plentie, and so little esteeme of. Well, in the numbring of our yeeres we neede take no great paine, for Moses hath set it downe to be 70. yeeres. If our life last but so long, a little Arithmetike will cypher it out, and we know it is a matter of no great arte to number our yeeres, euen from our first father to this age. A worldly man in this businesse would begin to adde and to multiply, putting still to the times past that which is to come, and withdrawing fromPsalme 90. 70. yeeres. time to come, times past: But we must know that all that is past, is to be substracted, and to be counted nothing, and the daies to come are not to be added, for an addition must be of a thing existent, but the time to come is not. But let vsus make a supposition of that to be which is not, that a man may write of 70 yeeres, let vsus, I say, set that downe as the grosse summe. Halfe that time is spent they say in sleepe, which thē we may well detract from the great number, & then there remaines but 35. yeeres. From these we may deduct 14. yeeresHow to num ber our daies in our youth, wherein we are vnfit to glorifie God, or doe good to man, and so there remaines sixteene yeeres; and of these sixteene, to set downe the dayes of sicknesse, or those times which we sinfully spend in yeelding to anger, to our lustes, or to worldlinesse, wherein we are as vnprofitably occupied, as though we were not, halfe of the number would be cut off, and so we should leaue but seuen or eight yeeres. But now we hauehave the summe, from whence we might take out, but not that time out, which is past we know, seeing now it is nothing; what is to come, we know not, and it cannot be added, time is but short, and therefore great neede we hauehave of God his spirit to teach vsus. To this we know, how suddenly death doth take from vsus time to come, Iobs children in the middest of their banket were stricken dead; Ishbosheth died before night could come vponupon him, neither hath the strongest liuer any surer charter of his life. The best way then to recken aright,Sodain death is to make the number, which we may take out, and that which we would substract, all one, and that is none. If in the way we haply finde something, we may take it for our aduantage, and see that we vse it to God his glory. For this being set downe, that our daies past are none, and the daies to come none neither: so that no daies past or to come can be counted part of our life, and consequently hauehave none but the present time, which is veryOur life is but the present time. little, and as little as a thought, vnlesse we could hauehave a lease of our life, as Ezekiah in some so…t had of his by Esay, wherein he had very ill successe. And so finding our time to be none, we shall be most bent to labour to attaine to wisedome. And here we must vnderstand, what manner of wisedome this skill of counting brings vsus: there is wisedome of health, and there is wisedome of sicknesse, and this is it, which we shall learne. And what is that wisedome? surely by a continuall thinking, that death is nigh, and perswading ourWisedome. selues that death is within a minute, what no lawe, prince, parents or punishment could do, that death wil easily dispatch. By this they that before had no delight in the word if once they take this account, that eueryevery day they thinke they drawe their last breath, theDeath. word will be full of comfort to them. And then the meditation of death working aboue the hope of long life, the wisedome of sicknesse will be found to be aboue the wisedome of health. In this case men will giuegive counsell, that before could take none, and this is that wisdome of the point of death, & nothing can teach vsus better. We see the effect of this in Ezekias, when the talie of his daies was left him, we see his meditation, which was such as the holy Ghost hath put it in perpetual record, we see his behauiour most worthy our meditations. Neither is this in Ezekiah onelyonly a well disposed man, but euen in the wicked, as Baltashashar, who seeing the number of his dayes, and that hee was found too light, begun to quake, and his knees did shake presently, and so began to bee wise. Thus wee see an effect both in the wicked and in the godly, of this meditation most necessarie.
2 The readiest way to obtaine life is to be content, either to liue or die, and to commitThe readiest way to prolong life. our selues to the Lord, knowing that nothing euer perished, which was committed to him. Let vsus be content with the vse of life, which the Lord giueth vsus to repent in, and account it a great benefite, that the Lord graunteth vsus a great time of repentance, knowing that it is a greater benefit, to be a liuing dog, than a dead lion: for while we liue, there is a place for repentance, but after death there is none: And therefore those that account it not a benefit to liue, are vnworthie of life, or any benefit therein: all these things must serue to teach vsus patience, and to refraine our murmuring nature, whensoeuer by any temptation our flesh is prouoked thereunto.
3 As it is a maine point of wisedome to learne to die, so there be many vnderunder rules proceedingHow the meditation of death is profitable. from this. First, it helpeth our procrastinating and putting off of the euil day, and our kind of repentance, which is euer in purposes and promises, & neuer in practise & performance. We see that men in their iourney, if they thinke they hauehave day enough they are sl…ck enough: but if they see they hauehave but little day, so that they begin to nūber, they ply1 Simile. themselues. Wherefore seeing time goeth away, when we lay no hold on it, yea when most sure hold that can be is laid on, we must labour for heauenly wisdome, and a compendious2 Fainting of heart in affliction, the meditation of death a preseruation against it. rule thereunto is to number our daies. There is another thing, and it is like the great Dragon in the Reuelation, it hath drawen away and deceiued the third part of the world, and that is want of wind and fainting of heart in affliction, to the remedying whereof it is good to consider, that as we suffer daily, so we are dying daily, & that which the world afflicteth, is drawing to corruption, which shall exempt vsus from their tyrannie. And here in wee take our mortalitie for an aduantage against them, that seeing wee are subiect to so many euils we are also mortall, and after death we shall be immortall, when nothing shall hurt vsus. For as we would not be immortall now being subiect to sinne and misery, so we shall then not be mortall, when we shall be recompenced with righteousnesse and felicitie. Now by considering of this shorte time of mortalitie, and of the glorie of our immortalitie wee suffer without fainting, we fancy not many daies here, which might discourage vsus, but we thinke our yeere may want moneths, our monethmonth daies, our daies houres, and so we are encouraged. Another thing is this. It is sure we louelove this life by a rule of follie, in trusting to this3 Against the vaine louelove of this present life. life, that it will be long (for our estimation of a thing growes by the continuance of it) and therefore if we could be perswaded of the shortnes of this life, it would draw vsus to the contrary rule of wisedome. But wee are all Damas his disciples, wee commend things present howbeit, it were better to hauehave Moses our Master, who in his time began to number, and yet we know that he might hauehave beene sure that the day of iudgement would not be in his time, for that the promised Messiah was not yet come: we feare it lesse, & number nothing so fast, vponupon whom the day it selfe may as suddenly come, as vponupon them, who tarie for nothing to it, but for the fulfilling of the elect, & the accomplishmēt of the number of them that shall be saued. So that we both by death and in respect of the last day, are not to count of any long abode. But aboue all there is one principall rule which Christ allowed as anMarie and Marthaes wisedome. high point of wisdome in Marie, in that she made so fit a choise of her times in bestowing them in such a thing, as should not be taken from her, as no time should bereaue her of it, wherin we are taught to thinke, that those times which we bestow on God his worship, shal not end within the number of our daies, but they shal hauehave their abiding fruit for euer, and this wil comfort vsus afterwards. But when we are occupied in Marthaes busines, we may say, and what is this? what profit will this affoord in death, shal not my dayes be cut off, & what will this auaile me? So that it is good to bee exercised in things which concerne the time which runs beyōd the number of our daies, & shal last as long as God himself shal endure.
CHAP. XXI. Dulnes of spirit and of feeling.
SVch is the corruption of our nature, that albeit we hauehave beene wonderfully delighted with Gods graces, yet when wee abound with them, wee lesse esteeme them, than whenDulnes when God hath inru…hed vsus with his graces. we began to enioy them.
2 Wee must desire and endeuour to keepe our selues from deadnes and dulnes, and to tie our hearts euer in thankfulnes vntounto God After our meats receiued it is good to speake something to the glorie of God: If God giuegive any good matter, to take it as offered vntounto vsus of God: If nothing were done or spoken but all silent, it were good to seeke some good occasion of speech, by reading, singing or speaking. And we may not tie our selues muchGood speeches in conference. to any other meanes, for accustomable vse of any one thing, bringeth lesse reuerence. And then must we endeuour specially to stir vp one another in good speeches, when such be present as God makes instruments to teach the same more effectually vntounto others: and this the Apostle by his example teacheth vsus, 2. Tim 2. 2.
3 There is a secret, inward, and spirituall blessing, which the elect feele, when to theA spirituall blessing. world they seeme accursed: and there is a secret curse to the wicked, when apparantly they seeme to be blessed.A secret curse.
4 As it is no small benefit though we hauehave not the bright Sun-shining, yet to hauehave the light of it to gouerne the day, the heat of it to turne away the cold, the effects of it in otherTo see and feele the shining countenance of the Lord. workes of nature: so it is no small merciemercy, though we hauehave not the shining countenance of the Lord, yet to hauehave the guiding of our affections by the light of it, the possessing of our soules in patience by some feeling of it, and the fruits thereof in the peace of our mindes: although we feele not the present beames, yet we shall see them shine hereafter; If we hauehave not this ioy of our minde as we would in the day of our vocation, the Lord wil plentifully giuegive it vsus in the day of our coronation.
5 They may bee truely saide to hauehave profited well, which beleeue the word before theyTo beleeue the word before feeling. feele the effect of it, as the threatnings before they feele the smart, the promises before they feele the comfort. And such as doe not thus beleeue do highly displease God. This was the sinne of Thomas, which would feele ere he beleeued, and this sinne is in vsus all, therefore all must learne to correct it in themselues. And if wee were free from this, wee should be free from many euils.
6 Although a man do not feele his faith sometimes vnderunder the crosse, as indeede it falleth out often in the best children of God, yet when it shall please the Lord to send feelingFaith vnderunder the crosse without feeling. and deliuerance, that man shall see that his faith was great, and that the Lord did mightily preserue him from falling; yea he shall then perceiue that his faith was stronger, when he had not the feeling of Gods fauour, than it had beene at some times, when hee had great feelings.Note.