The Last things, Sermon 1
Lifes Leaſe.
GEN. 47.9.
Few and evil have the dayes of my life been.
WHen Pharaoh was Egypts King, Joſeph Pharaohs Steward, and Jacob Joſephs father, there was a great famine which Pharaoh had dreamed, Joſeph fore-told, and Iacob ſuffered: God that ſent Ioſeph to Pharaoh, brings Iacob to Ioſeph, the ſame providence ſo diſpoſing of all, that yet ſome food muſt be in Egypt, when nothing was found in all the land of Canaan: Thither come, & welcome (as you may ſee in the ſtorie,) Pharaoh ſalutes Iacob with this queſtion, What is thy age? How many are thy dayes? How many? alas, but few: what are they? alas, but evil: Thus we find Iacob at his Arithmetick, the bill is ſhort, and the number but a cyphar: Will you hear him caſt his accounts? Firſt, they are dayes, and without all rules of falſhood, by ſubtraction few, by addition full of evil; contract all and this is the ſum of all, Few and evil have the dayes of my live been.
This Text, briefly, is the Leaſe of Iacobs life, God the chief Lord inricht his ſubſtance, yet limits the grant of his time: will you queſtion the Leaſe? for what time? no more, but my life] ſaith Iacob: but a life? what years? no years, but dayes] ſaith Iacob: but dayes? how many? not many, but few] ſaith Iacob, but few? how good? not good, but evil] ſaith Iacob: who can blaze the arms of life, that finds not in it Croſſe and Croſlet? the leaſe but a life] the tearm but dayes] the number few] the nature evil] nay, when all is done, we ſee all is out of date; the dayes are not, but are paſt, they have been] Few and evil have the dayes of my life been.]
We muſt, you ſee, invert the Text, and begin with that on which all hangs; it is but my life] ſaith Iacob.
Life.
VVOuld you know what is that? take but a view of Nature, and Scripture, & theſe will ſufficiently deſcribe our life.
Firſt, Nature, whoſe dimme eye ſees thus far: what is it? but a Roſe, Ut roſa Paeſtano languet adepta jugo. Tifernas. Ut herba ſolſtitialis, Plaut.ſaith Tifernas, which if you view in its growth, the cold nips it, heat withers it, the wind ſhakes it; be it never ſo fair it withers, be we never ſo lively, immediately we die and periſh.
A Roſe? that is too beautifull! Life is but graſſe, ſaith Plautus, green now, withered anon; thus like the flower that is cut in Summer; as ſoon as we are born, Death is ready with his Sythe; as ſoon as we are dead, Angels gather in the harveſt, on whoſe wings we are carried to that Barn of Heaven.foreign, Philemon. Graſſe? no ſaith Philemon, life is no better then a counterfeit picture: what if the colours be fair, and the reſemblance near? the ſhadow of death,Scena eſt ludus quoque vita: Luſcin. Cum parumper ſe oſtendiſſet, mox ſe abſcondit Anonymus: Rodol. Agric. Tu quicſcis ſecurus; & in modum gliris ſepultus jaces. Philonius. foreign. Ariſtophanes. and the Curtains of our grave will darken all. A picture? that is too honourable; life is (a worſe reſemblance) but a Play ſaith Luſcinius, we enter at our birth, and act all our life, preſently there is an exit, or a back return, and away we go, ſhutting all up with a ſudden Tragedie. A Play? that is too large. Anonymus being asked what was life, he ſhews himſelf a little, then hides himſelf amain; his meaning was this, our life is but a little ſhow, and no ſooner are we ſeen, but immediately are we hid and gone. A ſhow? that is too pleaſant; life is nothing but a ſleep, ſaith Philonius, we live ſecure, and Dormiſe-like we ſlumber away our time; when all is done, as if all this were too little, we ſleep again, and go from (our grave) the bed, to (that bed) our grave. A ſleep? that is too quiet, it is nothing but a dream, ſaith Ariſtophanes; all our worldly pleaſures are but waking dreams, at laſt Death rouzeth our ſouls that have ſlept in ſinne,foreign, Pind. in Pyth. Vita quid niſi mortis imago? Cato. then lifting up our heads and ſeeing all gone we awake ſorrowing. A dream, or the dream of a ſhadow, ſaith Pindarus; the worſt, the weakeſt dream that can be imagined; ſure one ſtep further, were to arrive at deaths door; and yet thus farre are we lead by the hand of Nature: nay if you will lower, death ſu…ceeds life, and life is but the image of death, ſaith Cato. Here is a true picture of our frailty, life is like death; indeed ſo like; ſo near together, that we cannot differ each from other.
See here the condition of our life; what is it but a Roſe, a Graſſe, a Picture, a Play, a Show, a Sleep, a Dream, an Image of death? ſuch a thing is life, that we ſo much talk of.
Ʋſe. And if Nature give this light, how blind are they that cannot ſee lifes frailty? you need no more but mark the Deſtinies (as Poets feign) to ſpin their threds: one holds, another draws, a third cuts it off: what is our life but a thread? ſome have a ſtronger twiſt, others a more ſlender: ſome live till near rot, others die when ſcarce born: there's none endures long, this thread of life is cut ſooner or later, and then our work is done, our courſe is finiſhed. Are theſe the Emblemes of our life? and dare we truſt to this broken ſtaff? how do the heathen precede us Chriſtians in theſe ſtudies? Their books were skuls, their desks were graves, their remembrance an hour-glaſs. Awake your ſouls, and bethink you of mortality: have you any priviledge for your lives? are not Heathens and Chriſtians of one Father Adam? of one mother, Earth? the Goſpel may free you from the ſecond, not the firſt death; onelyonly provide you for the firſt to eſcape the ſecond death. O men, what be your thoughts? nothing but of Goods and Barns, and many Years? you may boaſt of Life, as Oromazes the Conjurer of his Egge, which (he ſaid) included the felicity of the world, yet being opened, there was nothing but Wind: Think what you pleaſe, your life is but a Wind, which may be ſtopt ſoon, but cannot laſt long by the law of Nature.
But ſecondly, as Nature, ſo Scripture will inform you in this point. The life of man is but of little eſteem; what is it but a Shrub, or a Brier in the fire? As the crackling of thorns under the pot, ſo is the (life or) laughter of the fool: momentary and vanity, Eccles. 7.6.Eccleſ. 7.6. Nay, a ſhrub were ſomething, but our life is leſſe no better then a leaf, not a tree, nor ſhrub, nor fruit nor bloſſome: We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have ſwept us away, Eſay 64 6.Eſay 64.6. Yet a leaf may glory of his birth; it is deſcended of a Tree; life is a Reed, ſometimes broken at leaſt ſhaken, ſo vain, ſo infirm ſo inconſtant is the life of man: What went you out to ſee? a reed ſhaken with the wind? Matth. 11.7.Matth. 11.7. Nay, a reed were ſomething, our life is baſer, indeed no better then a ruſh or flag. Can a ruſh grow without mire? though it were green and not cut down, yet ſhall it wither before any other herb, Job 8 11, 12.Job 8.12. What ſhall I ſay more? what ſhall I crie, a ruſh? All fleſh is graſs, and all the grace thereof as the flower of the field, the graſs withereth, the flower fadeth, ſurely the people is graſs, Eſa. 40.7.Eſa. 40.7. I am deſcended beneath juſt patience; but not ſo low as the life of man; as all theſe reſemble life, ſo in ſome meaſure they have life: but life is a ſmoke, without any ſpark of life in it, thus cries David, My dayes are conſumed like ſmoke, & my bones are burnt like an hearth, Pſal. 102.3.Pſal. 102.3. Yet is here no ſtay, the ſmoke ingenders clouds, and a cloud is the fitteſt reſemblance of our life: Our life ſhall paſſe away as the trace of a cloud, and come to nought as the myſt that is driven away with the beams of the Sun. Wiſd. 2.4.Wiſd. 2.4. Neither is this all, clouds may hang calm, but life is like a tempeſt, it is a cloud and a wind too, Remember that my life is but a wind, and that mine eye ſhall not return to ſee pleaſure, Iob 7.7.Job 7.7. Nay, we muſt lower, and find a weaker element, it is not a wind, but water, ſaid that woman of Tekoah, We are as water ſpilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again, 2. Sam. 14.14.2. Sam. 14.14. yet is water both a good and neceſſary element, life is the leaſt part of water, nothing but a foam, a bubble: The King of Samaria (that great King) is deſtroyed as the foam upon the water, Hoſ. 10.7.Hoſ. 10.7. I can no more, and yet here is ſomething leſſe, a foam or bubble may burſt into a vapour, and What is your life? it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and afterwards vaniſheth away, Iam. 4.14.Jam. 4 14. Leſſe then this is nothing, yet life is ſomething leſſe, nothing in ſubſtance, all it is, it is but a ſhadow, We are ſtrangers and ſojourners as all our fathers were, our dayes are like a ſhadow upon the earth, & there is none abiding, 1. Chr. 29.15.1. Chr. 29.15. See whither we have brought our life, and yet ere we part, we will down one ſtep lower; upon a ſtrict view we find neither ſubſtance nor ſhadow, Pſal 39.5.onelyonly a meer nothing, a verie vanitie: Behold, thou haſt made my dayes as an hand breadth, and mine age is nothing in reſpect of thee, ſurely every man living is altogether vanitie: Pſal. 39.5.Pſal. 39.5.
Lo here the nature of our life, it is a ſhrub a leaf, a reed, a ruſh, a graſſe, a ſmoke, a cloud, a wind, a water, a bubble, a vapour, a ſhadow a nothing.
What mean we to make ſuch ado about a matter of nothing? I cannot chooſe but wonder at the vanitie of men, that runne, rid, toil, travell, undergo any labour to maintain this life, and what is it when they have their deſire which they ſo much toyl for? we live, and yet whileſt we ſpeak this word, perhaps we die. Is this a land of the living, or a region of the dead? We that ſuck the air to kindle this little ſpark, where is our ſtanding but at the gates of death? Pſal. 9.13.Pſal. 9.13. Where is our walk, but in the ſhadow of death? Luke 1.79.Luke 1.79. What is our manſion-houſe, but the body of death? Rom. 7.24.Rom. 7.24. What think ye? Is not this the region of death, where is nothing but the gate of death, An non & haec regio mortis, ubi porta mortis, umbra mortis, & corpus mortis?and the ſhadow of death, and the body of death? Sure we dream that we live, but ſure it is that we die; or if we live, the beſt hold we have is but a leaſe: God our chief Lord may beſtow what he pleaſeth, to the rich man wealth, to the wiſe man knowledge, to the good man peace, to all men ſomewhat: yet if you ask, Who is the Leſſor? God. Who is the Leſſee? Man. What is leaſed? This world. For what terme? My life.] Thus Jacob tels Pharaoh, as the Text tels you, Few and evil have the dayes of my life] been.
This is the Leaſe, and now you have it, let us ſee what uſe you will make of it.
Ʋſe. 1 It is a bad life ſome live, Come (ſay they) and let us enjoy the pleaſures that are preſent, Wiſd. 2.6, 7.and let us cheerfully uſe the creatures as in youth, let us fill our ſelves with coſtly wine and oyntments, and let not the flower of life paſſe by us. What a life is here? Can it be that pleaſures, wine and oyntments ſhould have any durance in this vale of miſerie? Suppoſe thy life a continued ſcene of pleaſures, hadſt thou Dives fare, Solomons robes, Davids throne, Croeſus wealth, livedſt thou many years without any cares, yet at laſt comes death, and takes away thy ſoul in the midſt of her pleaſures: alas, what is all thy glory, but a ſnuff that goes out in a ſtench? Couldſt thou not have made death more welcome, if he had found thee lying on a pad of ſtraw, feeding on cruſts and crums? Is not thy pain more grievous, becauſe thou waſt more happie? Do not thy joys more afflict thee, then if they had never been? O deceitfull world, that grieveſt if thou croſſeſt, and yet to whom thou art beſt, they are moſt unhappie?
Ʋſe. 2 But to ſpeak to you who have paſſed the pikes and pangs of the new birth, would you have life indeed, and enjoy that joy of life which is immortall? then hear, revive, watch and awake from ſinne: were you ſometimes dead in ſinne? O but now live in Chriſt, Chriſt is the life. Iohn 14.6.John 14.6. Were you ſometimes dumb in your dying pangs? O but now abide in Chriſt, Chriſt is the word of life. Iohn 1.1.John 1.1. Are you as yet babes in Chriſt, feeble and but weak through lifes infirmities? why then uſe all good means, eat and be ſtrong, Chriſt is the bread of life Iohn 6.48.John 6.48. Here is a life indeed, would you not thus live for ever? then believe in God, and in Ieſus Christ whom he hath ſent, and this is life eternal. Iohn 17.3.John 17.3. O happy life, which many a man never dreams of! So much they ſtrive to protract this brittle life, which but adds more grief, that they forget Chriſt, nay, they forget their Creed, which begins with true life, God; and ends with life never-ending, Life everlaſting. Others that hope for heaven, fix not their thoughts on earth; if you be Gods ſervants, lift up your hearts above, for there is life, and the God of life, the Tree of life, and the Well of life, the life of Angels, and the Life everlaſting.
One ſand is run, and the Text is leſſened; but as you have the leaſe, ſo you may now exſpect to know the date: the leaſe is but a life, the date laſts but dayes.
Dayes.]
NOt weeks, nor moneths nor years; or if a year, the beſt Arithmatick is to reduce or break it into Dayes: ſo we have it in the laſt tranſlations, The dayes of the year.
Here then is the
Summe, a Year.
Fraction, Dayes.
Firſt, a Year; in the Spring is the youthfull ſpring of our age, in the Summer is the aged time of our youth; in the Autumn is the high noon, or middle of our age, when the Sun (which is our ſoul) rules in the Equinoctiall line of our life; in the Winter we grow old and cold, the nips of froſt ſtrip the tree of our life, we fall into the grave, and the earth that nouriſhed us, will then conſume us. See what is man! a Spring of tears, a Summers duſt, an Autumns care, a Winters wo: Read but this map, and you need travell no further to enquire of life.
The firſt quarter is our Spring, and that is full of ſinne and miſerie; the infant no ſooner breathes, but he ſucks the poyſon of his parents: in Adam all ſinned, and ſince his time all were defiled by his ſinne. Is it not Natures rule, that every man begets one like himſelf? And is it not Gods rule, that every ſinner begets another no better then himſelf? How may a foul veſſell keep ſweet water? or how may an earthy ſinner beget an heavenly Saint? we are all in the ſame ſtate of ſinne, and ſo we fall into the ſame plunge of ſorrow: the child in his cradle ſleeps not ſo ſecure, but now he wakes, and then he weeps, cold ſtarves him hunger pines him, ſores trouble him, ſickneſſe gripes him, there is ſome puniſhment, which without ſinne had never been inflicted. It is wonderfull to conſider, how Nature hath provided for all creatures, birds with feathers, beaſts with hides, fiſhes with ſcales, all with ſome defence, onelyonly man is born ſtark naked, without either weapon in his hand, or the leaſt thought of defence in his heart; birds can flie, beaſts can go, fiſhes can ſwim, but infant-man, as he knows nothing, ſo neither is he able to do any thing: indeed he can weep as ſoon as born, but not laugh (as ſome obſerve) till fortie dayes old: ſo ready are we born to wo, but ſo farre from the leaſt ſpark of joy. O meer madneſſe of men, that from ſo poor, naked and baſe beginnings, can perſwade our ſelves we are born to be proud!
And if this be our Spring, what (think ye) is our Summer? Remember not the ſinnes of this time, prayes David, Pſalme 25.7.Pſal. 25.7. and why? their remembrance is bitter, ſaith Job, Job 13.26.Job 13.26. If mirth and melody ſhould never meet with end, this were an happy life, Rejoyce, O young man, in thy youth, let thine heart chear thee in the dayes of thy youth, walk in the wayes of thine heart, and in the ſight of thine eyes; but remember for all theſe things God will bring thee to judgement, Eccleſ. 11.9.Eccleſ. 11.9. This judgement is the damp that puts out all the lights of comfort: could not Solomon have given the rains, but he muſt pull again at curb? Muſt youth rejoyce, But for all this remember? what a barre ſtands here in the very door of joy? alas, that we ſhould trifle thus with toyes, which no ſooner we enjoy, but in grievous ſadneſſe we repent our follies. The wiſe man that gave libertie to his wayes, what cries he but vanitie, and after, vanitie of vanities, and at laſt, all is vanitie? what was the wiſdome of Achitophel? a vain thing: what the ſwiftneſſe of Hazael? a vain thing: what the ſtrength of Goliah? a vain thing: what the pleaſures of Nebuchadnezzar? a vain thing: what the honour of Haman? a vain thing: what the beautie of Abſolon? a vain thing. Thus if we ſee but the fruit that grows of ſin, we may boldly ſay of laughter, thou art mad, and of joy, what is this thou doeſt? Eccleſ. 2.2.Eccleſ. 2.2.
And if this be our Summer, what may be our Autumn? an hour of joy, a world of ſorrow; if you look about you, how many miſeries lie in wait to enſnare you? there is no place ſecure, no ſtate ſufficient, no pleaſure permanent, whither will you go? The chamber hath its care, the houſe hath its fear, the field hath its toyl, the Countrey hath its frauds, the Citie hath its factions, the Church hath its Sects, the Court hath its envie, here is every place a field where is offered a battell: or if this were better, conſider but your ſtates, the Beggar hath his ſores, the Souldier hath his ſcarres, the Magiſtrate hath his troubles, the Merchant his travels, the Nobles their croſſes, the great ones their vexations; here is every ſtate a ſea, toſſed with a world of tempeſts: or yet if this were happier, bethink you a little longer of your fleeting joys; the ſweet hath its ſower, the Crown hath its care, the world hath its want, pleaſure hath its pain, profit hath its grief, all theſe muſt have their end: here is a dram of ſugar mixt with an Epha of bitter. Is this manhood, that is ſubject to all theſe miſeries? Nay, what are theſe in compariſon of all it ſuffers? It is deformed with ſinne, defiled with luſt, outraged with paſſions, over-carried with affections, pining with envie, burthened with gluttony, boyling with revenge, tranſported with rage; all mans body is full of iniquitie, and his ſoul (the bright image of God) through ſinne, is tranſformed to the ugly ſhape of the Devil.
And if this be our Autumn, what (I pray) is the Winter? then our Sun grows low, and we begin to die by degrees; ſhew me the light which will not darken, ſhew me the flower which will not fade, ſhew me the fruit which will not corrupt, ſhew me the garment which will not wear, ſhew me the beautie which will not wither, ſhew me the ſtrength which will not weaken: behold, now is the hour that thy lights ſhall darken, thy cheeks wrinckle, thy skinne be furrowed, thy beautie fade, and thy ſtrength decay. Here is the ambition of a long life, thy leaſe lies a bleeding, and death raps at the door of thy heart to take poſſeſſion: O forcible entrie! will not pleaſures delay? cannot riches ranſome? dares not ſtrength defie? Is neither wit nor wealth able to deceive nor bribe? what may rent this houſe, that the ſoul may but lodge there one night longer? Poor ſoul that dies (or departs) in unremedied pangs! our ſinnes may run on ſcore, and repentance forget her dayes of payment. Yet our leaſe ſhall end, the date exſpire, this body ſuffer, and the ſoul be driven from her houſe and harbour. See the ſwift courſe of our mortall Sun, at North and South, in our mothers womb and tomb both in one year.
Ʋſe. Conſider this, yet that forget God, you have but a year to live, and every ſeaſon yields ſome occaſion to tell you, ye muſt die. In childhood, what is your cheſt of clouts, but a remembrance of your winding ſheets? In youth, what is your mirth and muſick, but a ſummons to the knell? In manhood, what is your houſe and encloſure, but a token of the coffin? In age, what is your chair or litter, but a ſhew of the beer, which at laſt ſhall convey you to your graves? Man, ere he is aware, hath dreſt his herſe, every ſeaſon adding ſomething to his ſolemnitie. Where is the Adulterer, Murtherer, Drunkard, Blaſphemer? Are you about your ſinnes? look on theſe objects; there is a ſunne now ſetting, or a candle burning, or an hour-glaſſe running, or a flower decaying, or a Traveller paſſing, or a vapour vaniſhing, or a ſick man groaning, or a ſtrong man dying, be ſure there is ſomething puls you by the ſleeve, and bids you beware to commit ſuch enormities: Who dares live in ſinne, that conſiders with himſelf he muſt die ſoon? And who will not conſider, that ſees before his eyes ſo many a remembrancer? Alas, we muſt die, and howſoever we paſſe from childhood to youth, from youth to manhood,Senectutem nemo excedit. from manhood to age, yet there is none can be more then old: here is the utmoſt of our life, a Spring, a Summer, an Autumn, a Winter, and when that is done, you know the whole Year is finiſhed.
The ſumme is a Year] the Items are Dayes.] And what Dayes can ye exſpect of ſuch a Year? my text, in relation to theſe dayes, gives us two attributes, the firſt is few, the ſecond is evil: if you conſider our dayes, in regard of the fewneſſe, (which this word ſeems rather to intimate) you may ſee them in Scripture brought to fewer and fewer, till they are well near brought to nothing.
If we begin with the beginning, we find firſt, that the firſt man Adam had a leaſe of his life in fee and (as Lawyers ſay) To have and to hold, from the beginning to everlaſting: but for eating the forbidden fruit, he made a forfeiture of that eſtate: of this he was forewarned, In the day that thou eateſt thereof thou ſhalt die the death; Gen. 2.17.Gen. 2.17. And this he found too true, Becauſe thou haſt eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, Thou ſhalt not eat—what then? amongſt other curſes this was one, Dust thou art, and to duſt thou ſhalt return: Gen. 3.19.Gen. 3.19. After him, the longeſt life came ſhort of the number of a thouſand years, The dayes of Methuſalem (ſaith Moſes) were nine hundred, ſixtie, and nine years: Gen. 5.27.Gen. 5.27. and had he come to a thouſand, which never was attained by man, yet a thouſand years are but one day with God: 2. Pet. 3.8.2 Pet. 3.8. yea, but as yeſterday, ſaith Moſes, A thouſand years in Gods ſight are but as yeſterday: Pſalme 90.4.Pſal. 90.4. But what ſpeak I of a thouſand years? no ſooner came the floud, but the age of man (of every man born after it) was ſhortened half in half. Theſe are the generations of Sem (ſaith Moſes) Gen. 11.10.Gen. 11.10. to wit, Arphaxad, and Selah, and Eber, none of which three could reach to the number of five hundred years; the longeſt liver was Eber, and yet all his dayes, before and after his firſt-born Peleg, were but four hundred, ſixtie, and four years: Gen. 11.16, 17.Gen. 11.16, 17. nay, as if half a thouſand were more then too much, you may ſee God halfs their ages once again: Peleg lives as long as any man after him, and yet his dayes were neither a thouſand, nor half a thouſand, nor half of half a thouſand; no, no more then two hundred, thirtie and nine years, Gen. 11.18, 19.Gen. 11.18, 19. but this was a long life too: If we come to arrive at the time of Jacob, we ſhall find this little time well-near halfed again; when he ſpoke this text, he tells he was one hundred and thirtie years old, and after this he lived no longer then ſeventeen years more, ſo that the whole age of Iacob was but (ſeven ſcore and ſeven) an hundred fortie, and ſeven years. Gen. 47.28.Gen. 47.28. Nay, to leave Iacob a while, and to come a little nearer our ſelves, in Moſes time we find this little time halfed again, he brings ſeven ſcore to ſeventie, The dayes (ſaith he) of our age are threeſcore years and tenne, and though men be ſo ſtrong that they come to fourſcore years, yet is their ſtrength then but labour and ſorrow, ſo ſoon paſſeth it away, and we are gone. Pſal. 90.10.Pſal. 90.10. Here is halfs of halfs, and if we half it a while, ſure we ſhall half away all our time: nay, we have a cuſtome goes a little further, and tells us of a number a great deal ſhorter, we are fallen from ſeventie to ſeven, in lifes leaſes made by us. Nay, what ſpeak I of years, when my text breaks them all into dayes? Few and evil have the dayes been, ſo our former tranſlation, without any addition of years at all: and (if you mark it) our life in Scripture is more often termed dayes then years: the book of Chronicles, which writes of mens lives, are called according to the interpretation, Words of dayes: to this purpoſe we read, David was old, and full of dayes. 1 Chron. 23.1.1 Chron. 23.1 and in the dayes of Iehoram, Edom rebelled. 2 Chron. 21.8.2 Chron. 21.8 So in the New Teſtament, In the dayes of Herod the King. Matth. 2.1.Matth. 2.1. and, in the dayes of Herod the King of Iudea. Luke 1.5.Luke 1.5. In a word, thus Iob ſpeaks of us, our life is but dayes, our dayes but a ſhadow: we know nothing (ſaith Iob) and why ſo? our dayes upon earth are but a ſhadow. Iob 8.9.Job 8.9.
Lo here the length of our little life, it is not for ever; no, Adam loſt that eſtate, & he that lived longeſt after Adam, came ſhort of the number of a thouſand years: nay, that was halfed to ſomewhat leſſe then five hundred, and that again halfed to little more then two hundred; Iacob yet halfs it again to a matter of ſeven ſcore, and Moſes halfs that again to ſeventy, or a little more: nay, our time brings it frō ſeventy to ſeven: nay, Iacob yet brings it from years to daies few and evil have the dayes] of the year] of my life been.
Ʋſe. 1 Teach us, O Lord, to number our dayes, that we may apply our hearts unto wiſdome, Pſal. 90, 12. Moſes Arithmetick is worthy your meditation; learn of him to number, pray to God your teacher, think every evening there is one day of your number gone, and every morning there is another day of miſerie coming on; evening and morning meditate on Gods mercy, and your own miſerie. Thus if you number your dayes, you ſhall have the leſſe to account for at that day, when God ſhall call you to a finall reckoning.
Ʋſe. 2 But miſerable men, who are not yet born again, their dayes run on without any meditation in this kind: What think they of, but of long dayes, and many years? And were all their dayes as long as the day of Joſhuah, when the Sun ſtood ſtill in the midſt of heaven, yet it will be night at laſt, and their Sun ſhall ſet like others. True, God may give ſome a liberall time, but what enemies are they to themſelves, that of all their dayes allow themſelves not one?1. Pet. 3.10. If any man long after life, and to ſee good dayes let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they ſpeak no guile. How live they that would needs live long, and follow no rules of pietie? many can poſt off their converſion from day to day, ſending Religion afore them to thirty, and then putting it off to fourtie, and not pleaſed yet to overtake it, promiſe it entertainment at threeſcore; at laſt death comes, and allows not one hour: In youth theſe men reſolve to reſerve the time of age to ſerve God in; in age they ſhuffle it off to ſickneſſe, when ſickneſſe comes, care to diſpoſe their goods, loathneſſe to die, hope to eſcape, ma…tyrs that good thought. O miſerable men! if you have but the Leaſe of a Farm for twenty years, you make uſe of the time, and gather profit; but in this precious farm of Time, you are ſo ill husbands, that your Leaſe comes out before you are one penny worth of grace the richer by it.Matth. 20.6. Why ſtand ye here all the day idle? there are but a few hours or dayes that ye have to live; at laſt comes the night of death, that will ſhut up your eyes in ſleep till the day of doom.
You ſee now the term of our Leaſe, our Life laſts but Dayes.] and although we live many dayes, Luke 19.42. Matth. 6.12.yet in this thy day, ſaith Chriſt; and, Give us this day our daily bread, ſay we as if no day could be called thy day but this day: if there be any more, we ſhall ſoon number them, my text tells you they are not many, but few, Few and evill have the dayes of my life been.
Few]
OUr Leaſe is a Life, our Life is but Dayes, our Dayes are but Few. The Phoenix, the Elephant, and the Lion fulfill their hundreds; but man dieth when he thinks his Sun yet riſeth, before his eye be ſatisfied with ſeeing, or his ear with hearing, or his heart with luſting, death knocks at his door, and often will not give him leave to meditate an excuſe before he comes to judgement; Is not this a wonder to ſee dumb beaſts outſtrip mans life? The Phoenix lives thouſands (ſay ſome); but a thouſand years are a long life with man: Methuſhalem (you ſaw) the longeſt liver, came ſhort of this number; and yet, could we attain to ſo ripe an age, what are a thouſand years to the dayes everlaſting? If you took a little mote to compare with the whole earth, what great difference were in theſe two? and if you compare this life which is ſo ſhort, with the life to come which ſhall never have end, how much leſſe will it yet appear? As drops of rain are unto the ſea, Ecclus 18.9.and as a gravell ſtone is in compariſon to the ſand; ſo are a thouſand years to the dayes everlaſting. But will you hauehave an exact account and learn the juſt number? It was the Arithmetick of holy men to reckon their dayes but Few;] as if the ſhorteſt cut were the beſt account. The Hebrews could ſubduct the time of ſleep, which is half our life. ſo that if the dayes of men were threeſcore years and ten, Pſal. 90.10.here's five and thirty years ſtruck off at one blow. The Philoſophers could ſubduct the time of weakneſs, which is moſt of life; ſo that if vivere be valere that onelyonly a true life, which enjoyes good health, here's the beginning and the ending of our dayes ſtruck off at a ſecond blow. The Fathers could ſubduct all times not preſent, and what ſay you to this account? were the dayes of life at noon, man grown to manhood? look ye back, and the time paſt is nothing; look ye forward, and the time to come is but uncertain: and if time paſt and time to come ſtand both for ciphers, what is our life but the preſent? and what is that but a moment? Nay, as if a moment were too much, look at Scripture, and you will ſee it brought to a leſſer paſſe: Job (for his part) goes about to ſubduct the time of his birth, which is the bud of life; Let the day periſh (ſaith he) wherein I was born; nay let it not be joyned unto the dayes of the year, nor let it come into the count of moneths, Job 3.6.Job 3.6. Solomon could ſubduct not onelyonly childhood but the time of youth too, which is the ſtrength of life: Take away grief out of thine heart, and cauſe evill to depart from thy fleſh; for childhood and youth both are but vanity, Eccleſ. 11.10.Eccles. 11.10. Paul could ſubduct the time of ſinne, which is the joy of life, She that lives in pleaſure (lives not, nay ſhe) is dead while ſhe is alive, 1. Tim. 5.6.1. Tim. 5.6. Summe all and ſuppoſe that the time of birth, and childhood, and youth, and ſin were gone, to what an epitome were mans life come? Think of this all ye that travell towards heaven, had we not need to make haſte, that muſt go ſo long a journey in ſo ſhort a time? How can he chooſe but run, that remembers his dayes are few? nay, that every day runs away with his life? The workman that ſets a time for his task, he liſtens to the clock, and counts the houres, not a minute muſt paſſe, but his work goes onwards: how then do we neglect our time while we ſhould ſerve God? Work while it is day, John 9.4. 2. Cor. 6.2.ſaith Chriſt; and, this is the day of ſalvation, ſaith the Apoſtle. Would you know your task? you muſt work: would you know the time? it is this day: a great task, a ſhort time, had we not need with Moſes to number our dayes, leſt we looſe a minute? It is true, of all numbers we cannot skill to number our dayes: we can number our ſheep, our oxen, our fields, our coyn; but we think our dayes are infinite, and never go about to number them. The Saints that went before us caſt another account; Moſes had his tables, Job had his meaſures, all agree both for meaſure and number, magnitude and multitude, our life is but ſhort, our dayes are but few. Few] and evil they have been.
Give me leave a little to amplifie on this point: would we throughly know the ſhortneſs of out time, the fewneſs of our dayes? I ſhall then ſet before you the magnitude of the one, and the multitude of the other:
And firſt, for the magnitude of the time of our life; A man (ſay the Philoſophers) is Microcoſmus, a little world: little for goodneſs, but a world of wickedneſs. Of this world if you'l have the dimenſions according to the rules of Geometricians, the length, breadth, and depth of our ſhort life; then firſt for our length from Eaſt to Weſt, from our birth to our buriall. I need not to take ſo many paces, as will make mille paſſus, a mile; our little life bears no proportion to ſuch a length: I dare not ſay as Stobaeus relates, that our life hath the laſt of a cubits length:Pſal. 39.5. for that's more then the Scripture will afford it: it is but a ſpan, or hand breadth, ſaith David, that's little: nay, Alcaeus in carmine Lyrico, ſaith, it is but an inch long, that's leſſe: nay,Punctum eſt quod vivimus, & adhuc puncto minus. ſaith Plutarch, All our life is but a prick, a point: yet leſſe, ſaith Seneca, it is a point that we live, and leſſe then a point. that's leſs then either I can ſay, or you conceive. What is it? not a mile, but a cubit, but a ſpan, but an inch, but a point, nay leſs then that: here's little longitude of life. Well, but our latitude perhaps is greater: no, take a meaſure if you pleaſe from one pole to another, as we ſtand betwixt the terms of life and death and wereſoever we are, death is within an hand-breadth of our life: if we be on the ſea, there's but a thick board betwixt us and drowning: if on the land, there's but a ſhoe-ſole betwixt us and our grave: if we ſleep, our bed is our bodies grave, and there's but a ſheet, (perhaps a winding-ſheet) betwixt us and it: when we are awake, our bodie is our ſouls grave, and there's but a few skins (as ſay Phyſicians) betwixt death and us. What is it? but the breadth of an hand, of a board, of a ſhoe-ſole, of a thin ſheet, of a ſmall skinne: there's little latitude you ſee. Well, but our profundity may help all this: go to therefore, and ſee what that is. I ſhall not lead you down many ſteps, for indeed there are not many ſteps to lead you down: in one word come to the centre of the heart of man: The Grecians to expreſſe the ſhallowneſs of this life, give the ſame name to the heart, that they do to death. foreign is the heart, the authour of life; and foreign is deſtiny, the worker of death; to ſhew that as every man hath an heart; ſo death hath a dart for every man. Chriſtians! mortals! conſider your magnitude in all theſe dimenſions; alas, how is it that many of you make your ſelves ſo great? what mean thoſe titles which you take upon you? Your Greatneſſe, Your Highneſſe, your— I know not what. O conſider the mortalitie of your bodies and that will tell you the juſt*Mors ſola fatetur quantula ſunt hominum corpuſcula. Juvenal. Pſal. 90.10. ſcantling of your ſelves.
2. For the multitude of our dayes, he was branded with the name of a fool, that thought he had many years to live. Moſes tells us, The dayes of our years are threeſcore years and ten, Pſal. 90.10. But now (as you heard) we value our life but at ſeven years, as if ſix years we had to labour, and to do all we had to do; but the ſeventh were a Sabbath to reſt with God, Revel. 14.13.Revel. 14.13. nay yet the Scripture comes ſomewhat lower, and becauſe a plurality might cauſe a ſecuritie, it beſtows but a unitie upon our years, thus Jacob in this text reckons of a great number of one year, The dayes of the year of my life are an hundred and thirty year. Gen. 47.9.Gen. 47.9. nay Auſtin comes ſhorter, and compares our life to a quarter of a year, like Jehoahaſh reign, which laſted about three moneths time. 2 Kings 23.31.2 Kings 23.31. nay, the Scripture deſcends from moneths to dayes, Few and evil are my dayes, ſaith Iacob: implying that this life is but a few dayes, or but*Vita noſtra, non diuturna, ſed diurna. one day, as ſome would have it, which is the meaning of Chriſts prayer, Give us this day our dayly bread. Matth. 6.11.Matt. 6.11. And yet that we may not think our death a great way off, the Scripture tells us, it is not a day to come: no, boaſt not of to morrow, for thou knoweſt not what a day may bring forth. Prov. 27.1.Prov. 27.1. thy day is this preſent day, and therefore ſaith the Apoſtle, To day if you will hear his voice, Heb. 3.7.Heb. 3.7. nay, to ſpeak further, this day (ſaith Iob) is paſt already, we are but of yeſterday, Job 8.9.Job 8.9. nay, as if a day were too long for the life of man, moſt reſembles it to the graſſe that grows up in the morning, and is cut down in the evening, Pſal. 90.6.Pſal. 90.6. and Gregorie compares it to Ionahs gourd, that came up in a night, and periſhed ere the day was come, Jonah 4.10.Jonah 4.10. The evening and the morning make but one day. Gen. 1.5. but*Quem dies videt veniens ſuperbum, hunc dies videt abiens jacentem. our day is oft times an evening without a morning, and oft times a morning without an evening. Nay, yet to go lower, as if half a day were more then our life could parallell, Moſes compares it to a watch, which is but the fourth part of a night. Pſal. 90.4.Pſal. 90.4. yea and as if this were longer then our life doth laſt, the Scripture calls it but an hour. John 5.25.John 5.25. The hour is coming, and now is, ſaith Chriſt: nay our life is but a minute, or if we can ſay leſſe, a moment, in a moment they go down to the grave, ſaith Iob, Job 21.13.Job 21.13. and in a moment ſhall they die ſaith Elihu. Job 34.20.Job 34.20. And a lying tongue is but for a moment, ſaith Solomon, Prov. 12.19.Prov. 12.19. and our light affliction is but for a moment, ſaith Paul, 2 Cor. 4.17.2 Cor. 4.17. Lo here the length of our little life, this is the gradation that God makes of it: at firſt a matter of ſeventie years, but theſe were tythed from ſeventie to ſeven, this number again was made no number, one ſingle year: a year? nay a monethmonth, nay a day, nay an hour, nay a minute, nay a moment, as ſoon as we were born, we began to draw to our end. Wiſd. 5.13.Wiſd. 5.13. There's but one poor moment which we have to live, and when that is ſpent, our life is gone, How? but one? and a moment? one is the leaſt number that is, and a moment the ſhorteſt time that ever was: O what mean men to plot and project for the time to come, as if this life would never be done? O conſider of the littleneſs of the time that thou haſt to live! O conſider of the greatneſs of the matter that depends upon it; thy body, ſoul, heaven, and hel, all hangs on this thread, a ſhort life, a few dayes.] Few] and evill have the dayes of my life been.
You have learned Moſes Arithmetick to number your dayes; practiſe a while, and you find this uſe.
Ʋſe. 1 God ſhortens your time, you that are unregenerate, leſt you defer your repentance: it is ſaid of the Devil, that he is buſie, becauſe his time is ſhort, Revel. 12.12.Rev. 12.12. and are you worſe then Devils? is not your time ſhorter? and yet are you more negligent? how do you give way to that old ſerpent? he delayes no time to bring you to hell, and ye neglect all times to get you heaven: What is your life but a Jonas gourd, ſuddenly ſprung up, and by and by withered again, and gone? whatſoever ye do, your wheel whirls about apace: in a word, ye die daily, and you all know thus much, that you have every one of you a poor ſoul to ſave. I have wondered at men, that deſire time after time, one time after another, why if your ſouls periſh, the day will come ſoon enough. It makes me weep (ſaid one of a better ſtamp) when my hour-glaſſe is beſide me, and I ſee every drop of ſand follow other ſo ſpeedily. Your dayes are but few, and yet who knows whether this day his ſunne may ſet? Take heed, you unregenerate, if death come unawares, it is the price of your ſouls how you are provided! Who (alas) would defer to be good, that knows not how ſoon he may go to judgement? The enemie keeps a daily watch, a friend prepares for your welcome, and are you ſuch enemies to your ſelves, that never are prepared to welcome death?
Ʋſe. 2 But to ſpeak to thee, whoſoever thou art that readeſt, regenerate or unregenerate, the beſt counſel thou canſt learn, is to be ſtill in a readineſſe; think every day thou riſeſt to be thy day of death, and every night thou goeſt to bed, that thou art laid down in the grave: if thou ſhouldeſt forget, will not each object be a remembrancer? thy ſheets, of thy winding-ſheet; thy coverings, of thy claſping duſt; thy ſleep, of thy death; with whom (I may ſay truly) thou ſhakeſt hands every night: who can forget his grve, that lies him down in his bed? and who then would not ſo provide himſelf, as if every night he went to his grave? Our dayes are but few, and the night will be ere long that we die indeed. What are we but Tenants at will in this Clay Farm? the foundation of all the building is a ſmall ſubſtance, alwayes kept cold by an intercourſe of air, the pillar is but a little breath, the ſtrength ſome few bones tied together with dry ſtrings, howſoever we piece and patch this poor cottage, it will at laſt fall into the Lords hands, and we muſt give ſurrender onelyonly in this tenour, Few] and evill have the dayes of my life been.
You now ſee the time of our Leaſe to the full, out life laſts but dayes, our dayes are but few, who is ſo fond to ſettle his care on this Leaſe, that ſo ſoon is exſpired, nay, with a blaſt is gone out? The man that is wedded to this world, enjoyes neither length of dayes, nor a day of joy; as he is mortall, ſo is he miſerable: you ſhall ſee my Text joyn both the hands, nothing indeed but death can looſe the bonds, the dayes of my life are few, the few dayes of my life are evill; few in number, evill in nature; neither many, nor good, but few, and evill.
Evill.]
OUr life is but dayes, our dayes are but few, our few dayes but evil: Into what a ſea of miſery have I now ruſhed ſail? Evill life, evill dayes; but few, yet evil.
There waits on our life
Sinne,
Puniſhment.
Both theſe are evil; Sinne, as the father, playes the Bankrupt;Jam. 1.15. and Puniſhment, the ſonne, muſt pay the debt: firſt, Luſt conceives and brings forth ſinne, then ſinne being finiſhed brings forth death. Here is both the work and wages, firſt we commit, and then we ſuffer evil.
The evils we commit are ſinnes, and ſee what a troop of enemies march about us; if you exſpect the battel in array, what ſay you to thoſe evils originall? theſe are the inheritance which we have from our firſt parents; it is the ſame infection that diſtilled from them abides in us, and therefore the ſame puniſhment is due to us, that fell on them. O the floud-gate of evils that now are opened! Adams ſinne is ours by imputation, we are twigs of one root, ſtreams of one fountain, and by the ſame reaſon partakers of one ſinne. And as no evil is alone, ſo beſides that imputed, we have another inherent, this is the proclive diſpoſition that we have to evil, becauſe of the loſſe of thoſe powers that we had to good; Firſt, Primò perſona infecit naturam, ſed pòſt natura infecit perſonam: Polanus.the ſinne of the perſon infected nature but now the ſinne of nature infects the perſon: Is not the mind doubtfull of the wayes of God? Is not the will prone to all manner of evil? Are not the affections diſordered in their actions? But as for goodneſſe, and holineſſe, and virtue, and grace, and temperance, and innocency, all theſe ornaments are loſt; Adam received them for himſelf and us, and therefore loſt them from us, as from himſelf: what wonder, if we being ſpoyled, nature be left naked; a rotten root muſt needs bear rotten branches; and if the firſt man be infected with ſinne, what follows, but a corruption of the whole nature of man?
But theſe are but the ſeeds, what ſay ye to the off-ſpring? Evils original beget evils actuall,Dictum, vel factum, vel concupitum, contra legem aeternam. Aug. l. 22. contra Fauſt. cap. 27. initio tom. 6. and ſuch are they (as Auſtin defines them) Whatſoever we ſay, or do, or think againſt the Law eternall. How many of theſe Furies haunt us? our ſaying, doing, thinking, all is evil that is againſt Gods command: his will is the rule that ſhould meaſure all our actions, our actions are the frame that ſhould be meaſured by his will; here then is ſinnes materiall and formall, the actions of man diverted from the will of God; and if all theſe be evils, how many evils are they all?
Look at our omiſſion of good duties, and come they not in like moats in the Sun? How many alms have we denied? How many bleſſings have we refuſed? How many Sermons have we neglected? How many Lords dayes have we miſ-ſpent? This was the ſinne of that rich man, of whom though Lazarus had no hurt, yet becauſe he could receive no good therefore he was tormented in that flame. You know a day vvill come,Luke 16. vvhen a bill of negatives ſhall be framed againſt the vvicked, not vvhat ye have done, but vvhat ye have not done: I was hungry, Matth. 25.42, 43.and ye gave me no meat; I was thirſty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a ſtranger, and ye lodged me not; I was naked, and ye cloathed me not; ſick and in priſon, and ye viſited me not, Matth. 5.42. It is the not doing your duties muſt incurre that heavie ſentence,Matth. 25.41. Depart frome me ye curſed. Mere harmleſs men are no fit members for Gods kingdome; if you mean to avoid evil, you muſt neglect no good: alas, vvho vvould ſlip any occaſion, that conſiders the juſt revvard of this evil of omiſſion.
But theſe are not half the count, there be evils of Commiſſion, whereby we fight againſt God, and provoke his juſtice againſt us: of all the Commandments which we ſhould perform, there is not one precept which we have not broken; God himſelf is diſhonoured, his worſhip is neglected, his name is blaſphemed, his dayes are profaned: if we go any further parents are diſobeyed, injury is maintained, adultery is committed, robbery is practiſed, falſe witneſſe is produced, covetouſneſs is followed: thus is the manner of our keeping the Commandments, from the firſt to the laſt having tranſgreſſed againſt all.Pſal. 51.9. Hide thy face from my ſins, O Lord, and put away all mine iniquities. We had need to pray, Hide them, for if they be not hid, how many of theſe evils will riſe up in judgement againſt us?
But here is no end, there be evils externall that accompany the bodie, and what part of the body is not poſſeſſed with ſome evill? Look at the ſenſes, and wherein haſt thou imployed thine eyes, but in beholding vanity? wherein thine ears, but in hearkening to lies? wherein thy taſting, touching, ſmelling, but in ſenſuall pleaſures? and as the ſenſes, ſo are the members full of evil,Eſai. 1.5. Jer. 17.9. Jam. 3.8. Prov. 30.14. Eſai. 1.15. Eſa. 59.7. Eſa. 1.6. The head is ſick, the heart deceitfull, the tongue unruly, the teeth as ſwords, the jaws as knives, the hands are full of bloud, and the feet ſwift to ſhed bloud. Thus from the ſole of the feet to the crown of the head, there is nothing whole, but wounds, and ſwellings, and ſores full of corruption, Eſa. 1.6.
And if theſe be our outward, what be thoſe inward evils? ſhould I thruſt my hand into your boſomes, O how leprous ſhould I pluck it out again! that Ʋnderſtanding created full of light,1. Cor. 2.14. is now ſo blind, that it perceives not the things of the ſpirit of God, neither can it know them, for they are ſpiritually diſcerned. No doubt there is in us a remaing ſpark of Nature, and that is the light of reaſon which makes us men; but if you look at this reaſon, it perceives onelyonly naturall and externall things; it can perceive thy houſe adorned, thy lands tilled, thy grounds ſtocked; but thoſe ſpirituall bleſſings, celeſtiall promiſes, eternal priviledges, it cannot ſee, nor ſo much as think of: What are all our thoughts but vanitie, and imagination of mans heart, but onelyonly evil, Gen. 8.21.Gen. 8.21. Neither is this all, God framing mans ſoul, planted in it two faculties, the Ʋnderſtanding that informeth, and the Will that followeth: and as the Ʋnderſtanding, ſo is the Will; it receives from Reaſon (her Counſellour) ſenſuall advice, and ſends forth to the Affections (her Courtiers) injunctions of vanitie; here is a Counſellour indeed, what is it but reaſon without reaſon? and here is a will indeed, what is it but a ſlave to ſinne, without any will to good? Man is ſo holden captive with the yoke of ſin, that of his own nature he can neither aſpire by deſire nor travell by endeavour to any goodneſſe. Calv. Inſtit. l. 2. c. 4.I ſay not, but (as Bernard) to will is in us all, but to will evil is of nature, to will good is of grace, away then with our abilities, and confeſs we with the Apoſtle, that to will is preſent with me, but I find no means to perform that which is good, Rom. 7.18.Rom. 7.18.
And yet this is not all, take a view of thoſe affections which attend the will, and how are all evil? It is God ſhould be the object both of our will and affections, and what ſay you? do you love him, and fear him, and truſt in him, and ſerve him? your ſinns ſay, no: we can do nothing that good is, but we run upon evil; ſee thine anger like a Serpent, thy deſire like a Wolf, thy fear like an Hart, thine envie like a Viper, all thy paſſions are become ſenſuall, and Every man is a beaſt by his own knowledge, Jer. 10.14.Jer. 10.14.
Bleſſed God! what a world of evils are within us?Orat. Manaſſ. We have ſinned (O Lord) above the number of the ſands of the ſeas, our tranſgreſſions (O Lord) are multiplied, our offences are exceeding many: Many ſure, that contain theſe ſtreams, and yet how many are the rivolets that iſſue from them? There be evils of weakneſs againſt God the Father, whoſe attribute is Power; there be evils of ignorance againſt God the Son, whoſe attribute is Wiſdome; there be evils of malice againſt God the holy Ghoſt, whoſe attribute is Love. Can we adde any more? Mark but our thoughts, our delights, our conſents to evil: or if theſe be not enough, ſee a ſwarm indeed that continually aſſault us, anger, hatred, envy, diſtruſt impatience, avarice, ſacriledge, pride, deſpair, preſumption, indevotion, ſuſpition, contention, deriſion, exaction, (give me leave to breathe in the numbring of this bedroll) perjurie, blaſphemie, luxury, ſimony, perplexitie, inconſtancy, hypocriſie, apoſtaſie: here is a number numberleſs, groſs ſins, little ſins, known ſins, hid ſins; Who can underſtand his errours? O Lord, cleanſe me from my ſecret faults, Pſal. 19.12.Pſal. 19.12. The dayes of life are few, but the evils God knows how many; he that would number them may tell a thouſand, and yet not tell one of a thouſand: Can the proudeſt Phariſee juſtifie himſelf? Remember the ſwarms that lurk in thy venomed conſcience, number thy wanton words, thy carnal thoughts, thy unchriſtian geſtures, thy outragious ſins, & come they not in by troops and herds, thicker then the frogs in Egypt? well may we ſtand amazed at their number, and as convicted priſoners, cry for that Pſalme of merciemercy,Miſerere mei. Lord have mercy on us, moſt evil wretched ſinners.
Thus you ſee, Beloved, how evil be our dayes, ſith every day we do evil: then to wander no further, now we have found ſuch a world of them, will you ſee them in a map? here is evils originall, evils actuall, evils of omiſſion, evils of commiſſion, evils of the body evils of the ſoul; well may we pray, Deliver us from evil: what, ſo many evils of ſin? now the Lord deliver us.
Ʋſe. 1 Remember your ſelves, and who will not ſing Davids burthen,Pſal. 38.4. Mine iniquities are gone over my head, and as a weighty burthen, they are too heavy for me to bear? There is in ſin (ſaith Auſtin) both weight and number, and is any one ſo dull or dead, that he is ſenſible of neither? go ye to the balance, and what a maſs lies upon you? enough and enough again to ſink you down to hel: go ye to the count, and what a ſwarm comes upon you? a million, and a million of millions to keep you out of heaven; when all your ſins muſt be called to account before that Judge of the world, what account ſhall be given of this account that is endleſs? ſee them like the ſtars, onelyonly theſe ſet and riſe, but your ſins riſe, and never ſet; ſee them like your hairs, onelyonly theſe ſhed and loſe, but your ſinns grow ever more and more; ſee them like the ſands, onelyonly theſe are covered with the flouds and waters, but your ſins lie ſtill open and are ever before you: think on theſe ſtars, theſe hairs, theſe infinite innumerable ſands of ſins, and when all is done, let your tears be the floud to hide them over.Pſal. 6.6. It was Davids ſaying, Every night waſh I my bed, and water my couch with my tears: if your daies be evil, let not your night ſlip without repentance; go not to bed, but beat your breaſt with the Publican; lay you not down, but withall lift up your voice Lord be mercifull unto me a ſinner: How ſweet a reſt doth that night bring, whoſe ſleep is prevented with the conſideration of our ſins? though we are begirt with a thouſand devils this would be as the watch of our ſouls, and the ſafeguard of our perſons.
Ʋſe: 2 But I muſt ſpeak with a difference: I ſtand over ſome of you, who are ſo far from*When I ſpeak thus of tears or repentance, I argue not a cauſality or merit; onelyonly I inferre a neceſſarie preſence of repentance in thoſe that obtain pardon of ſin. All that I poſitively affirm is this, that repentance is the means or way which God hath appointed antecedently to to pardon. Act. 3.19. Jer. 4.14. waſhing away your ſins with tears, that I fear you never took much notice of the multitude of your ſins: ſhould I tel you that you brought ſin enough with you to damn you, when you firſt came into this world; ſhould I tell you, that you have everie one committed thouſands, and thouſand of thouſands of actuall ſins and yet any one of thoſe thouſands is enough to ſend you packing to hell: You would think theſe ſtrange points; but if God be true, there is no ſin of man, either originiall or actuall, either of omiſſion or commiſſion, either of the bodie, or of the ſoul, which without repentance will not produce eternall death: and therefore in Gods fear take notice of your ſins, ſet before you the Commandments of God, and thereto comparing your life, you may find out ſuch a catalogue of your ſinnes, that will throughly convince you of your damnable eſtate,
You may ask, to what end ſhould we be ſo carefull to find out our ſins? I anſwer to a very good end, both in reſpect of the
Unregenerate,
Regenerate.
Firſt, in reſpect of the unregenerate: this is the firſt ſtep of repentance; this is one of thoſe paces that will lead you towards heaven. You may be ſure, without repentance no heaven, without confeſſion no repentance, and without finding out ſin there can be no confeſſion. It were good therefore, and a ſingular means to bring you out of corruption into Chriſtianity, and out of the ſtate of nature into the kingdome of grace, that you would everie one of you have a Catalogue of your ſins. If you will not, I can tell you who will, there is an adverſary called Sathan (the adverſary of mankind) that ſtands at your back, and (I may ſay figuratively) with a ſcroll in his hands, wherein he writes down your ſins; not a day paſſeth on, but he can eaſily tell how many ſins you have committed all day. Lord, that men would think on't! Are you about any ſin? at that very time Sathan is regiſtring the act, and time and place, and everie circumſtance: now wo, wo to man, that lets Sathan do his work for him! Would you do this your ſelf, would you but ſtudy for a Catalogue of your own ſins, that ſo you might confeſs them to God, and repent you thereof, this would be a daſh in the devils book, ſo that he could not have whereof to accuſe you; but if ſtill you go on ſecurely in ſin, and never go about to call your ſins to remembrance, a day will come (wo worth the day) when that roring Lion ſhall ſet all your ſins and tranſgreſſions in order before you: then ſhall you read (perforce) your ſinnes originall and actuall, of omiſſion and commiſſion, of your bodies and ſouls. And I muſt tell you, herein is a great policie of Sathan, he lets you alone in your ſecuritie a while, if you will not trouble him, he will not trouble you; if you will not tell your own ſinnes, neither will he tell you of them; but he will change his note (at furtheſt) when your few evil dayes finiſh: it is the very caſe as many creditours deal with their debtors, while they have any doings as they ſay, and are in trading, they will let them alone, in policie they will ſay nothing; but if once down the wind, in ſickneſs, povertie, diſgrace, or the like, then comes Serjeant after Serjeant, arreſt upon arreſt, action upon action: juſt thus is Satans dealing with the unregenerate man; if you will but ſinne, and never call your ſelves to a reckoning, inpolicie he will ſay nothing, but when the ſcore is full, and death comes to arreſt you, then will he bring out his black book of all your ſinnes committed all your dayes. O I tremble to ſpeak of it! then ſhall your ſins fall as foul on your ſouls, as ravens on the fallen ſheep, and keep you down for ever in the dungeon of deſpair.
Secondly in reſpect of the regenerate; that you have readie by you (or by heart) a catalogue of your ſinnes, is neceſſary in many reſpects.
Firſt, to humble you: for no ſooner ſhall the poor ſoul look on all the ſinnes he hath committed, both before and after his regeneration, but confeſſing them in prayer, it will pull down his heart, and make the wound of his remorſe to bleed a freſh, as before: and therefore this catalogue is moſt neceſſary in dayes of humiliation.
Secondly, it is neceſſarie to prepare you for the receiving of the Sacrament; for indeed I would have none to preſume to taſte on that Supper, but firſt to view over all his ſinnes, and to confeſs them in payer to his heavenly Father: there be many that in Confeſſion look on their ſinns, as they do on the ſtars in a dark cloudie night, they can ſee none but the great ones, of the firſt or ſecond magnitude, it may be here one and there one; but if they were truly illightened, and informed aright, they might rather behold their ſinns, as thoſe innumerable ſtars that appear in a fair froſtie winters night; they are many, and many: and therefore take a little pains in compoſing your catalogue, that ſo you may confeſs all (at leaſt for the kinds) before you preſume to come near that Table of the Lord.
Thirdly, it is neceſſarie in times of deſertion, or viſitation: yea, if the Lord ſhall pleaſe to exerciſe you with any croſſe, or diſgrace, or diſcountenance, loſſe of goods, diſeaſe of bodie, terrour of ſoul, or the like; you may be ſure as no miſerie comes but for ſinne, ſo then the enumeration of your ſinns from a bleeding broken heart, is the prime and firſt means to cauſe that Sun of merciemercy to break through the clouds, and to beget a clear day; alas, our dayes are evil, and ſure we have as good reaſon as ever Jacob had to confeſs it: for my part, though I keep my catalogue to my ſelf, yet in the generall I cannot but confeſſe to you all, My dayes have been evil, evil, evil: Few and evil.
And now we have done with the work, it reſts that you ſhould know your wages; there be dayes of ſinn, and then dayes of ſorrow; as you have ſpent your dayes, ſo muſt you have your rewards; firſt we treſpaſſe, and then we pay for it; firſt we ſin, and then we ſuffer evil.
2. The evils that we ſuffer may be ranked in this order; firſt, evils originall fill up the ſcene, and what a multitude of evils do enter with them? No ſooner had Adam ſinned, but a world of miſeries fell on man, ſo that as the infection, in like manner the puniſhment diſtills from him.Rom. 5.12. By one man (ſaith the Apoſtle) entred ſin into the world: what, ſin alone? no, but death by ſinne, and ſo death went over all men Rom. 5.12. Infants themſelves bring their damnation with them from their wombs; or if that be omitted, how many are the miſeries of this life, as the fore-runners of that judgement? Look at the mind and what think ye of our ignorance, not onelyonly that of wilfull diſpoſition, but (as the Schools diſtinguiſh) of pure negation; if it be not a ſin, what is it but a puniſhment for ſinne? that our underſtanding ſhould be obſcured and darkened, our knowledge in things naturall wounded, in ſupernaturall utterly extinguiſhed: O the miſerable iſſue of that monſter Sin! But as evils come by heaps, ſo of the ſame parent here is another brood, Ignorance and Forgetfulneſs; and is not this a miſerie, after all our time and ſtudie to get a little knowledge, quickly to forget that we are ſo long a learning? Man in his whole ſtate, before the fall, could not forget things taught him; but now (as the hour-glaſs) we receive in at the one ear, and it goes out at the other; or rather (like the ſieve) we alwayes keep the bran, but let the flowre go, ſo apt are we to retain the bad, but we verie eaſily forget the good. And is this all? nay, yet more evils; ſee but our affections, and to what a number of infinite ſorrows, griefs, anguiſhes ſuſpicions, fears, malices, jealouſies, is the ſoul of man ſubject? So prone are we to theſe miſerable paſſions, that upon any occaſion we fall into them; or for want of cauſe from any other, we begin to be paſſionate with our ſelves: Why haſt thou, O Lord, ſet me againſt thee? I am become irksome and burdenſome even unto mine own ſelf, Job 7.20.Job 7.20.
Alas, poor man how art thou beſet with a world of miſeries? and yet, as if all theſe ſummed up together, could not make enough, look at the body, and how many are its ſufferings? In the ſweat of thy face ſhalt thou eat thy bread, ſaid God, Gen. 3.19.Gen. 3.19. The Spider ſpins, and weaves, and waſtes her very bowels to make her net, and when all is done, to what purpoſe ſerves it, but to catch a flie? If this be vain work, how vain is man in his fond imitation? the birds and beaſts can feed themſelves, without any pains, onelyonly man toils night and day, on ſea and land, with bodie and mind; yet all is to no purpoſe, but to catch a flie, to protract a life, or to procure ſome vanitie. And yet, as if miſerie had no mean; beſides our induſtry, how is this bodie ſtuffed with many an infirmitie? all the ſtrength of man is but a reed, at beſt ſhaken, perhaps broken, howſoever weakened by every wind that blows upon it. The Phyſicians diſtinction of Temperamentum ad pondus, & juſtitiam, gives us thus much to learn, that no conſtitution is ever ſo happie, to have a juſt temper according to its weight; ſome are too hot others too cold all have ſome defects, and ſo are diſpoſed to all kind of infirmities: man cannot carrie himſelf, but he muſt needs carry about with him many forms of his own deſtruction.De ipſo corpore tot exſiſtunt morborum mala, ut nec libris Medicorum cuncta comprehenſa, Aug. de Civ. Dei, l. 22. cap. 22. The books of the Phyſicians tell us of many diſeaſes, and yet many are the diſeaſes which their books cannot tell of: we ſee in our own dayes, moſt labour of new ſickneſſes, unknown to our fathers; or if any of us be free from any of theſe, yet everie ones bodie nouriſheth the cauſes, and may be a receptacle of a thouſand diſeaſes. How evil is ſinne, that incurs ſo many evils of puniſhment?
But as if all were too little (becauſe our ſinnes are ſo many) if you will number any more, here is yet another reckoning, evils originall, and e…ls adventitious, evils of neceſſitie, Quid de innumeris caſibus qui forinſecus corpori formidantur? Aug. ibid.and evils of chance. Auſtin ſaith, What ſhall we ſay of thoſe innumerable accidents that befall a man? as heat, and cold, and thunder, and rain, and ſtorms, and earthquakes, and poyſons, and treaſons, and robberies, and wars, and tumults, and what not? go whither you will, and everie place is full of ſome of theſe evils: if you go on ſea, every wave threatens you, every wind fears you,Quae mala patiuntur navigantes? quae terrena itinera gradientes? every rock and ſand is enough to drown you: if you go on land everie ſtep dangers you, everie wild beaſt ſcares you, everie ſtone or tree is enough to kill you: if you go no whither, you cannot be without danger: Eli was ſitting, and what more ſecure? yet at the news of Gods Ark,1. Sam. 4.17. that it was taken by the Philiſtims, he falls down backwards, and his neck was broken. Korah was ſtanding, what more ſure? yet as ſoon as Moſes had made an end of ſpeaking, the earth opened her mouth, Num. 16.32.and ſwallowed him and his family, and all the men that were with him. Indeed Abſalon was riding, & vvhat vvay more readie to eſcape the enemy? yet, as the mule carried him under a great thick oak, 2. Sam. 18.9.his head caught hold of the oak, & he was taken up between the heaven and the earth and the mule that was under him went away. Whatſoever vve do, or vvhitherſoever vve go, ſo long as vve do evil, theſe evils vvill meet us. Go into the ſhip, there is but a board betvvixt thee and the vvaters: vvalk on the ground, there is but a ſhoe-ſole betvvixt thee and thy grave: take a turn in the ſtreets, and ſo many perills hang over thee, as there are tiles on the houſes; travell in the countrey, and ſo many enemies are about thee, as thou meeteſt beaſts in the fields; if all theſe places be ſo dangerous, then retire to thy houſe, and yet that is ſubject to fire, or water, or if it eſcape both, it may fall on thy head: whitherſoever we turn us, all things about us ſeem to threaten our death. Our dayes are evil indeed, and who is it that is exempted from everie of theſe evils? Sinners are corrected, good men are chaſtened, there is none eſcapes free.
To ſee a little the ſtate of Gods own friends and children: Was not Abel murdered by his brother? Noah mocked by his ſonne? Job ſcoffed by his wife? Eli ſlain for his ſons? will you all at once? take one for all, and ſee Jacob our Patriarch, a notable example of extream infelicity: he is threatned by his brother, baniſhed from his father, abuſed …y his uncle, defrauded of his wife, was not here miſerie enough to break one heart? But after this, for another wives ſake, ſee him enter into a new ſervice,Gen. 31.40. In the day he is conſumed with heat, in the night with froſt: an hard ſervice ſure! nay after this that he got his Rachel, ſee then a diviſion betwixt her and Leah, two ſiſters brawling for one husband yet neither content, after both enjoyed him. Bleſſed Saint! how waſt thou haunted with afflictions? yet after this, he agrees his wives, and they all run from their father, and now ſee a freſh purſuit; behind him, Laban follows which an Hue and Cry, before him Eſau meets him with 400 men; to go forwards intolerable, to go backwards unavailable; which way then? It was an Angel of God, nay the God of Angels that now muſt comfort him.
And yet again after his firſt entry into his own countrey, his wife Rachel dies, his daughter Dinah is raviſhed his ſonne Reuben lies with his concubine, and if the defiling of a wife be ſo great a grief to the husband, what ſorrow and ſhame, when the wickedneſſe is committed by a mans own ſon? what can we more? If ye his heart be unbroken, here's another grief great enough to match all the reſt, his ſonne, his Joſeph (they report) is loſt, and what news hears he of him, but that he is torn with wild beaſts? and now ſee a man of miſeries indeed!Gen. 37.34, 35. He rends his clothes, he puts ſackcloth about his loyns, he will not be comforted, but ſurely (ſaith he) I will go down into the grave unto my ſonne mourning. Alas poor Jacob! what can they ſay to comfort him? To comfort, ſaid I? nay, yet hear the tidings of a new misfortune, a famine is begun, and another of his ſonnes is kept in priſon: What a grief is here? Another in priſon, and nothing to redeem him but his onelyonly Benjamin; Gen. 42.36.here is the loſſe of ſonne after ſonne, Ioſeph is not, and Simeon is not, and now ye will take Benjamin, all theſe things are againſt me. We need no more, if Iacob thus number, how many are the miſeries he did dayly ſuffer? would you have the ſumme? He himſelf the beſt witneſſe of himſelf, affirms it to Pharaoh, Evil, Evil. Few and Evil] have the dayes of the years of my life been.
So miſerable is our life, that no man can take his breath before ſome evil or other do ſeiz on his perſon: if you would that we knit up all in one bundell, there be evils originall, evils adventitious, evils of the mind evils of the body, evils that are common, evils of the choſen, we had need pray again, Deliver us from evil.] What? ſo many evils of ſuffering? Now the Lord deliver us.
Ʋſe. 1 What is ſweet in this life, which ſo many miſeries will not imbitter? If this be a vale of rears, where is thy place to pleaſure? If this life be a neſt of cares,Pſal. 4, 2. how canſt thou ſettle ſo great a vanity as ſinne in a field of ſuch miſery as the world? O ye ſonnes of men, how long will ye blaſpheme mine honour, and have ſuch pleaſure in vanity, and ſeek after leaſing? Were men not mad in their wayes, or utterly beſotted in their imaginations, well might theſe miſeries of our life breed their neglect of the world. Can we chuſe but wonder to ſee how buſily thou heapeſt up riches yet knoweſt not who ſhall eat the grapes of thy planted vineyard? God gave thee a countenance erected towards heaven, and muſt it ever be groveling and poring on the earth? God gave thee a ſoul to live with his bleſſed Angels, and wilt thou make it a companion fitter for no other then brute beaſts?Eccleſ. 5.12. There is an evil ſickneſſe (ſaith Solomon) that I have ſeen under the Sunne; and what is that, but riches reſerved to the owners for their evil. See here the juſt judgement of a righteous God, to this end is thy riches, thou wouldeſt live at eaſe, and outlaſt many years, therefore thy life is but miſerable, and thy death muſt be ſudden, thy dayes are but few, and thy few dayes are evil.
Ʋſe. 2 But to comfort all you that live in the fear of God, it may be your dayes are evil,] and what then? this is to make tryall of your love to God, and a tryall it is of Gods love to you.
Firſt it makes a tryall of your love to God; Certainly if you have but a ſpark of this love, your dayes cannot be ſo evil, but in the midſt of thoſe evils you ſhall find ſome inward conſolations that will ſweeten all.Gen. 29.20. It is memorable how Iacob for Rachel ſerves Laban ſeven years, but yet (ſaith the Text) they ſeemed to him but a few dayes for the love he had to her. Nay, after Laban had deceived him in giving him blear-eyed Leah in ſtead of beautifull Rachel, Iacob then ſerves him another ſeven years prentiſhip; love makes the heart chearfull in the worſt of ſufferings: though Iacob was conſumed with drought in the day, and froſt in the night, Gen. 31.40.which many and many a time made his reſt and ſleep to depart from his eyes; yet his love of fair Rachel ſweetens all his labours. Why thus thus will it be with you that wait on the Lord your God: what though miſeries come upon you as thick as hail-ſtorms in a ſharp winters day? you may remember you have a better maſter then Laban, a better ſervice then Iacobs, a fairer prize then Rachel: who is your maſter but ſuch an one as will ſurely keep his covenant, even the Lord your God? what is your ſervice, but ſuch a one as is moſt glorious and honourable, even a light burden, a perfect freedome? what is your prize, but ſuch a one as ſurpaſſeth all prizes whatſoever, even the beauty of heaven, the beatificall viſion of our bleſſed God, If then you but love God as Iacob did Rachel, what matters it how evil your few dayes be? nay be they never ſo evil, and were your dayes never ſo many, yet an hundred, a thouſand years ſpent in Gods ſervice, they would ſeem but a few dayes for the love you bear to him. O Lord work in us this love, and then command what thou wilt, perſecution, affliction, the Croſſe, or death, no ſervice ſo hard, but we ſhall readily obey thee.
Secondly, as your evils of ſufferings try your love to God, ſo they are a tryall (or token) of Gods love to you: 2 Cor. 4.17.Our light affliction which is but for a moment cauſeth unto us a farre more excellent and an eternall weight of glory; and if this be the end, who would not endure the means? O divine mercy! therefore the dugs of this life taſte bitter, that thereby God may wean us from the love of this world to attain a better: Certainly God is good unto us in tempering theſe ſo fitly; bitterneſſe attends this life, that thou maiſt ſigh continually for the true life. Wouldſt thou not run through dangers for a kingdome? wouldſt thou not fetch a crown for fear of a thorn? nay, who would not go to heaven, although it were with Eliah in a whirlwind? I count (ſaith Paul) that the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory which ſhall be ſhewed unto us. Rom. 8.18.Come then ye that thirſt for long life, believe in God, and you ſhall have life eternall. All is well that ends well: though a while we ſink in miſeries, yet at laſt the joys of heaven will refreſh us: then ſhall we live in love, rejoyce in hymns, ſing forth in praiſes the wonderfull works of our Creatour and Redeemer, this is that life of heaven, and when our life ends here, Lord grant us life everlasting.
Thus farre have you ſeen the ſtate of our life, this leaſe breeds ſorrow, but the reverſion is our joy; no ſooner ſhall this life exſpire, but God will give us the purchaſe of his Son, that inheritance of heaven; comfort then thy ſoul that wades through this ſea of miſeries, and the Lord ſo aſſiſt us in all our troubles, that he lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Have been.]
OUr life is but dayes, our dayes are but few our few dayes but evil, and now when all is done, we find all is out of date. Few and evil have] the dayes of my life been.]
This laſt word is the leaſes exſpiration: and why have been?] If you will needs know the reaſon.
The time that is paſt is beſt known to Jacob.
And the life of Iacob is but as the time that is paſt.
Firſt, the time that is paſt is beſt known to Iacob: Olim meminiſſe juvabit. Virg.old men can tell old ſtories, and ſomething it delights them to remember the ſtorms gone over them. We all know how
Many years we have lived.
Great miſeries we have ſuffered.
Iacob tells you, as you may tell each other, our years have been few, our few years have been evil. To make this good. Have they not been few? Let me ask ſome old man, whoſe hairs are dipt in ſnow,Eccleſ. 12.6. whoſe golden ewer is broken, whoſe ſilver cord is lengthened, how many be thy years? It may be thou wilt anſwer,Pſal. 90.10. as Moſes gives the number, a matter of threeſcore years and ten, or fourſcore years: I cannot ſay but it is a long time to come, but alas, what are theſe fourſcore years now they are gone? Tell me you that have ſeen the many changes both of Moon and Sun, are they not ſwiftly runne away? you may remember your manhood, childhood, and I pray what think ye? was it not yeſterday? is it not a while ſince? who will not wonder to ſee how quickly it is gone, and yet how long it was a coming? The time to come ſeems tedious, eſpecially to a man in hope of bliſſe, the time now paſt is a very nothing, eſpecially to a man in fear of danger: go down to thoſe caſt-away ſouls that now ſuffer in hell flames, and what ſay they of their life, but as ſoon as we were born we began to draw to our end, Wiſd. 5.13.Wiſd. 5.13. go down to thoſe putrified bodies, and find amongſt them the duſts of Adam, Seth, Enoſh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Enoch, Methuſhalem, every one of whom lived near to the number of a thouſand years, are they not dead? and what is their epitaph, but, they lived and dyed? Gen. 5.Gen. 5. Gen. 47.9. To ſumme up all in one, and to make this one ſerve for all, Iacob is an hundred and thirty years old (for ſo you ſee it regiſtred in Gods book) yet now being demanded to tell his age, he anſwers but Dayes, and his dayes are but Few; how ſhould they be many that now are gone already? theſe few dayes, they have been.]
Scribit in marmore laeſus.2. And as time paſt tells our dayes, ſo it counts all our miſeſeries, who cannot remember the miſeries he doth ſuffer? The poor, the ſick, the baniſhed, the impriſoned, the traveller, the ſouldier, every one can write a Chronicle of his life, and make up large volumes of their ſeverall changes. What is the hiſtory of the Bible but an holy brief Chronicle of the Saints grievous ſufferings? See the miſeries of the Patriarchs deſcribed in the books of Moſes: ſee the warres of the Iſraelites ſet down in the books of Ioſhua: ſee the afflictions of David in the books of Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Eſther, Iob, every one hath a book of their ſeverall calamities, and if all our miſeries were but thus abrevitaed, I ſuppoſe the world would not contain the books that ſhould be written.] There is no man ſo cunning to know his future condition; but for thoſe things which have been, every one can reade them. Look then (beloved) at the time now paſt, and will you not ſay with Iacob, your dayes have been evil? Evil for your ſinnes, and evil for your ſufferings: if you live more dayes what do you but increaſe more evils? the juſt man ſinnes ſeven times a day, and every one of us perhaps ſeventy times ſeven times: do we thus multiply ſins? and think we to ſubract our ſorrows? think but of thoſe ſtorms that already have gone over our heads famines, ſores, ſickneſſes, plagues, have we not ſeen many ſeaſons unſeaſonable, becauſe we could find no ſeaſon to repentance? Our Springs have been graves rather then cradles, our Summers have not ſhot up but withered our graſſe, our Autumns have took away the flocks of our ſheep, and for our lateſt Harveſt, the heavens themſelves have not ceaſed weeping for us, that never yet found time to weep for our ſelves. And as this procured the famine, ſo famine uſhered the peſtilence. O the miſeries miſerable that at this time fell upon us! Were not our houſes infected? our towns depopulated? our gardens made our graves? and many a grave a bed to lodge in it a whole family? Alas, what an hideous noiſe was heard about us? In every Church bells towling, in every hamlet ſome dying, in every ſtreet men watching, in every place, every where, wailing and weeping, or groning and dying. Theſe are the evils that have been,] and how ſhould we forget them that have once ſeen them with our eyes? Call to mind time paſt, Recole primordia. Bern.was the rule of Bernard, & what better rule have we to ſquare our lives, then the remembrance of thoſe evils which our lives have ſuffered? Look back then with Iacob, and we have good reaſon to redeem the time paſt, becauſe our dayes have been evil.
2. But there is yet another reaſon why theſe few evill dayes have been.] As the time paſt is beſt known to Iacob ſo the life of Iacob is but as the time paſt. Go to now (ſaith St. Iames) ye that ſay to day or to morrow we will go into ſuch a City, and continue there a year, and buy and ſell, and get gain, and yet ye cannot tell what ſhall be to morrow. James 4.13.James 4.13. It is a meer preſumption to boaſt of the time to come: can any man ſay he will live til to morrow? look back ye that truſt to this ſtaff of Egypt, there is no man can aſſure you of this day, Man knoweth not his time, ſaith the Preacher, Eccles. 9.12.Eccleſ. 9.12. As near as it is to night, it may be before evening ſome one of us may be dead, and cold, and fitter to lodge in our graves under earth, then in our beds above it; nay, aſſure your ſelves, our life is of no long continuance: what ſpeak we of to morrow, or this day? we are not ſure of (that leaſt of times diviſion) a very hour: watch therefore (ſaith our Saviour) and will you know the reaſon? for ye know neither the day, nor the hour when the Sonne of man will come, Matth. 25.13.Matth. 25.13. The man with ten or twenty diſhes ſet before him on his table, when he hath full intelligence that in one of them is poyſon, will he not refuſe all, leſt in eating of any be runne upon the hazard of his life? What is our life but a few houres? and in one of them death muſt needs come; watch then for the hour is at hand, and we know not how ſoon it will ſeiz upon us. This hour the breath thou draweſt may be thy infection, this hour the bread thou eateſt may be thy poyſon, this hour the cup thou taſteſt may be that cup that muſt not paſſe from thee. But what ſpeak we of this hour, ſeeing it is come, and gone? The ſweeteſt ditty that Moſes ſung, were his briefs and ſemibriefs of life, and what is it but a watch? Pſalme 90.4.Pſal. 90.4. what is it but a ſleep? Pſalme 90.5.Pſal. 90.5. we watch when it is dark, we ſleep when it is night; if then our life be no more but a night-work, what is truer then this wonder, our life is done, our dayes they have been?
You may think we go farre to prove ſo ſtrange a paradox, yet Job goes further; what are we but of yeſterday, for our dayes upon earth are but a ſhadow? Job 8.9.Job 8.9. See here the chronologie of mans frailtie, we have a time to live, and when is it, think you? not to morrow, nor do day, nor this hour, nor laſt night, it is as long ſince as yeſterday it ſelf. Are not we ſtrangely deceived? What mean our plots and projects for the time to come? why our life is done, and we are now but dead men. To ſpeak properly, In the midst of life we be in death, our whole life being truly (if not paſt, yet) as the time paſt that is gone and vaniſhed. The ſimilitude or reſemblance will runne in theſe reſpects, the time paſt
cannot be recalled.
ſuddenly is vaniſhed.
And ſo is our life: can we recall that which is fled away? the the life that we led yeſterday, you ſee it is gone; the life that we led laſt night, it is paſt and done; the life that we led this morning, it is now a going, nay, it is gone as ſoon as we have ſpoken. Nicodemus ſaying according to the fleſh was true, How can a man be born which is old? can he enter into his mothers womb again, and be born? John 3.4.John 3.4. How ſhould a man recall that is paſt? can he receive again the ſoul once given, and begin to live? man never ſo great in power, and ſpreading himſelf like a green bay tree, a tree] moſt durable; a bay tree] moſt flouriſhing; a green bay tree] that is moſt in prime, if any thing will ſtand at a ſtay, what is more likely? yet he paſſed away (ſaith the Pſalmiſt) and lo he was gone, I ſought him but be could not be found, Pſalme 37.35, 36.Pſal. 37.35, 36 We cannot ſtay time preſent, how ſhould we recall time paſt? See here the man on whom the eyes of the world are fixt with admiration, yet for all this he paſſeth] without ſtay, he is gone] without recall, I ſought him but to find him] is without all recovery. Time was that Adam lived in paradiſe, Noah built an Ark, David ſlew Goliah, Alexander overcame the world: where be theſe men that are the wonder of us living? we all know they are long ſince dead and the times they ſaw ſhall never come again. How fond was that fiction of Plato, Annus Platonicus.that after the revolution of his tedious year, then he muſt live again and teach his Schollers in the ſame chair he ſate in? our faith is above his reaſon, for the heavens ſhall paſſe away, the elements ſhall melt with heat, and the earth with the works therein ſhall be burnt up, 2 Pet. 3.10.2 Pet. 3.10. Where then is the life of Plato, when all theſe things ſhall turn to nothing? we may now for his learning praiſe him where he is not, and he may then for his errour be damned and tormented where he is. Is there any man with skill or power can call back but yeſterday? once onelyonly we read of ſuch a miracle, but it was onelyonly by the hand of God Almighty. Hezekiah was ſick, 2 Kings 20.2 Kings 20. and to confirm the news that he muſt recover, he requires a ſign. What ſhall be the ſign that the Lord will heal me, and that I ſhall go up into the houſe of the Lord the third day? this was no temptation, for you ſee how the Prophet gives him ſatisfaction, This ſign ſhalt thou have of the Lord; wilt thou that the ſhadow go forward tenn degrees, or go back tenn degrees? Hezekiah thinks of death, and the Prophet reſtores his life, not onelyonly a time of fifteen years to come, but of ten degrees now gone, and thus it was obſerved in the diall of Ahaz. This was a miracle that but once happened ſince the beginning of the world; he then that ſleeps away his time in exſpectation of Hezekiahs ſunne, may ſleep till his death, and then not recall one minute of his life; as the time, ſo our life, if once paſt it is irrevocable, irrecoverable.
2. And as it cannot be recalled again, ſo ſuddenly it is vaniſhed;Longitudinem hujus vitae ſentiri non facit, niſi ſpes vivendi: nam nihil videtur eſſe celerius quâm quicquid in ea jam praeteritum eſt: Aug. in Pſal. 6. Certè videres vitam tuam non fuiſſe diuturnam. Aug. in Pſal. 36. Nothing makes life long, but our hope to live long: take away thoſe thoughts of the time to come, and there is nothing ſwifter then the life that is gone. Suppoſe then thou hadſt lived ſo long, as from Adam to this time: as Auſtin ſaith, Certainly thou wouldeſt think thy life but ſhort: and if that were ſhort, which we think ſo long, how long is our life, which in compariſon of that is ſo extreamly ſhort? The time once paſt, we think it ſuddenly paſt, and ſo is life gone in a moment, in the twinckling of an eye, ſo ſoon indeed, before it can be ſaid, This it is.] In every one of us death hath ten thouſand times as much as life, the life that is gone is deaths, and the life yet to come is deaths, our now is but an inſtant; yet this is all that belongs to life, and all the life which any of us all is at once poſſeſſed of: here is a life indeed, that ſo ſoon is vaniſhed, before it can be numbered or meaſured; it is no time but now, yet ſtaies not till the ſyllable now may be written, or ſpoken: what can I ſay? the life that I had when I began to ſpeak this word, it is now gone ſince I began to ſpeak this word. May we call this life that is ever poſting towards death? Do we what we can, & could we do yet more, all we do, and all we could do, were to no purpoſe to prolong our life: ſee how vve ſhore this ruinous houſe of our body vvith food, vvith raiment, vvith exerciſe, vvith ſleep, yet nothing can preſerve it from returning to its earth; vve go, and vve go ſuddenly, vvitneſſe thoſe tvvo Ceſars, vvho put off themſelves vvhileſt they put on their ſhoes; Fabius (ſtyled Maximus for his exploits, and Cunctator for his delaying) yet could not delay death, till notice might be taken he vvas ſick: but hovv manie examples in this kind have vve daily amongſt us? you knovv how ſome lately have gone ſafe to bed, and yet in the morning were found dead and cold: others in health and mirth laid down by their wives, and yet ere mid-night found breathleſs by their ſides. What need we further inſtances? You ſee how we go before we know where we are; the life that we had, what is it but a nothing? the life that we have, what is it but a moment? and all that we can have, what is it but a fleeting wind, begun and done in a trice of time, before we can imagine it. In a word, our Sunne now ſets, our day is done: ask Jacob (the Clock-keeper of our time) this Text tells the hour and now ſtruck, you hear the ſound? our dayes are gone, few and evil they have been.]
The Conluſion: Occaſioned by the death of CHARLES BRIDGEMAN, who deceaſed about the age of twelve, in the yeare of our Lord 1632. he was a moſt pious ſonne of a moſt pious mother, both now with God.
HEre I thought to have finiſhed my Text and Sermon; But here is a ſad accident to confirm my ſaying, and whileſt I ſpeak of him, what can I ſay of his ſtate, his perſon, his birth, his life, of all he had, and of all he was, but that they have been.
Sweet roſe, cropt in its bloſſome, no ſooner budded, but blaſted; how ſhall we remember his daies, to forget our ſorrows? no ſooner had he learnt to ſpeak, but (contrary to our cuſtome) he betook him to his prayers; ſo ſoon had grace quelled the corruption of his nature, that being yet an infant, you might ſee his proneneſs to learn, nay, ſometimes to teach them this dutie, who waited on to teach him his devotion: not long after he was ſet to ſchool, where he learned by book, what before he had learned by heart: the ſweet care, good diſpoſition, ſincere religion, which were in this child, all may remember which caſt but their eyes upon him. O God, hovv haſt thou bereaved us of this Gem? Sure it is (as it was ſaid of another) for this cauſe onelyonly, that it might ſhine in heaven. But this was but the beginning of his dayes, now they are paſt, they have been.]
Go a little further, we left him at ſchool, but how learned he Chriſt, 1. Cor. 2.2. Pſal. 8.2.and him crucified? this was the knowledge taught him by the Spirit of God in a wonderfull manner. Out of the mouthes of babes and ſucklings haſt thou, O God, ordained ſtrength. To conſider again his religious words, his upright actions, his hearty devotions, his fear of God, all then concluded, as they did of John, Luke 1.66.What manner of child ſhall this be? No queſtion the grace of God was with him. If I ſhould inſtance in any of theſe his frequencie in prayer, his reading of Scripture, his reaſoning with others to get knowledge to himſelf, we may wonder at Gods power in this childs poor weakneſs: Excuſe me whiles I tell nothing but truths, and I hope they will tend to our own inſtruction. In the morning he would not ſtir out of doors, before he had poured out his prayers; at noon he would not eat any meat, before he had given the Lord thanks; at night he would not lie down on his bed, before he had kneeled down on his knees: we may remember thoſe times, when ſometimes that he had forgotten this dutie, no ſooner had he been in bed, but up he would have got again, and ſo kneeling down on his bare knees, covered with no garment but his linens, he would ask God forgiveneſs for that ſinne of forgetfulneſs; neither have his brothers eſcaped without his reprehenſion: for had they eat any meal or meat without a grace, his check was uſuall; Dare you do thus? unleſs God be mercifull unto us, this bit of bread might choke us. The wiſe ſentences, the religious words, which often dropt from his mouth like honey can we remember them, and not grieve at the death of him that ſpake them? What comfort had we in thoſe dayes? What ſorrow have we to think thoſe dayes are done? Surely we cannot ſpeak it without bitterneſs of ſoul, they are gone, they have been.
Thus he lived: will you know how he died? Firſt, a lingring ſickneſs ſeized upon him, againſt which to comfort him, one tells him of poſſeſſions that muſt fall to his portion: And what are they? (ſaid he) I had rather have the Kingdome of Heaven, then a thouſand ſuch inheritances. Thus he minds Heaven; and God, ſo minding him, preſently ſent him his ſickneſs that ſhould ſummon him thither. And now how ſhould I repeat his words with the life that he ſpake them dying? No ſooner had God ſtruck his body with that fatall ſickneſs, but he asks, and needs would know his ſouls eſtate: I have heard of the ſoul (ſaid he) but what is the ſoul? the mind? he queſtions, and queſtioning anſwers, better (I fear) then many, too many gray headed amongſt us; but the anſwer given, how the ſoul conſiſted of the Will and the Underſtanding, he ſayes, he is ſatisfied, and now underſtands better then he did before. Another comes to him, and then he begins another queſtion, now he knows the ſoul, he deſires yet to know further, How his ſoul may be ſaved? O bleſſed ſoul, how wiſely couldſt thou queſtion for thine own ſouls good! The anſwer given, by faith applying Chriſts merits: he heard it, and had it, anon telling them, who before had taught it him. Reſolved in theſe queſtions, he queſtions no further, but will now anſwer them, that go about to queſtion him: One asks him, whether he had rather live or die, he gives the anſwer, and not without Pauls reaſon, I deſire to die (ſaid he) that I might go to my Saviour. O bleſſed Spirit, bow didſt thou inſpire into this child thy wiſdome and goodneſſe! This done, his pain begins again to afflict him, and this occaſions another thus to queſtion him, whether he would rather ſtill endure thoſe pains or forſake his Chriſt? Alas (ſaid he) I know not what to ſay as a child, for theſe pains might ſtagger a ſtrong man, but I will ſtrive to endure the beſt I can. Upon this he preſently calls to mind that Martyr, who being in priſon,Thom. Bilney. the night before his burning put his finger in the candle, to know how he could endure the fire; O (ſaid he) had I lived then, I would have runne through the fire to have gone to Chriſt. Sweet reſolution of a ſilly child! who can hear, and not wonder? wonder, and not deſire to hear that he may wonder ſtill? Bleſſed child, hadſt thou lived that we might have wondred at thy wiſdome! but his daies were determined, and now is the number turned to this poor cypher, they are not, they have been.
I cannot leave him yet, his ſickneſſe laſts long, and at leaſt three dayes before his death, he propheſies his departure, and how ſtrange a prophecie? not onelyonly that he muſt die, but fore-telling the very day, On the Lords day (ſaid he) look to me. Neither was this a word of courſe, which you may gueſſe by his often repetition, every day asking till the day came indeed, What, is Sunday come? At laſt the lookt-for day came on, and no ſooner had the Sun beautified that morning with his light, but he falls into a trance; What (think ye) meant his bleſſed ſoul, whileſt the body it ſelf uſed ſuch an action? his eyes were fixed, his face chearfull, his lips ſmiling, his hands and arms claſping in a bow, as if he would have received ſome bleſſed Angel, that there was at hand to receive his ſoul; but he comes to himſelf, and tells them how he ſaw the ſweeteſt boy that ever eyes beheld, and bids them, Be of good chear, for he muſt preſently go with him. One ſtanding near, as now ſuſpecting his time of diſſolution, bids him ſay, Lord, into thy hands I commend my ſpirit; Pſal. 31.5.Yes (ſaid he) Into thy hands, Lord, I commit my ſpirit which is thy due; for why? thou haſt redeemed it, O Lord my God moſt true. Who will not believe this child now ſings in Heaven, that ſo ſoon had learned this Davids Pſalm on earth? I cannot hold my ſelf, nor will I hold you long; but how may I omit his heavenly ejaculations? Beloved, I beſeech you pardon me whileſt I ſpeak his words, and I will promiſe you to ſpeak no word, but the very ſame formally which were his own: Pray, pray, pray, nay yet pray, and the more prayers the better all proſpers: God is the beſt Phyſician: into his hands I commend my ſpirit: O Lord Jeſus receive my ſoul. Now cloſe mine eyes, forgive me father, mother, brothers, ſiſter, all the world. Now I am well, my pain is almoſt gone, my joy is at hand, Lord have mercy on me, O Lord receive my ſoul unto thee. Where am I whileſt I ſpeak theſe words? Bleſſed Saint, now thou ſingeſt in Heaven, God hath bid thee welcome, the Angels are hugging thee, the Saints rejoyce with thee, this day is the Crown ſet on thy head, this day is the Palm of victory in thy hand now art thou arrayed in the ſhining robes of Heaven, and all the Hoſt do triumph at thy corronation. Sweet ſoul, how am I raviſhed to think upon thee! What joy is this? The Patriarchs ſalute thee, the Prophets welcome thee, the Apoſtles hug thee, all hands clap for joy, all harps warble, all hearts are merry and glad. O thou Creatour of men and Angels, help us all to Heaven, that when our dayes have been] we may all meet together in thy bleſſed Kingdome.
I have done: turn back by the ſame thread that led you through this labyrinth, and you ſhall have in two words the ſumme of this whole Text.
The time of our Leaſe what is it but our Life? what is this Life, but a number of few dayes? what are theſe dayes, but a world full of evil? But a life, but dayes, but few, but evil; can we adde any more? Yes, Life is life howſoever we live, and better you think to have a bad leaſe in being, then our life to be quite extinguiſhed; nay, be not deceived, this life is but death, the dayes that we ſpend, they are paſt and done, few and evill they have been. Thus ends the Text with the exſpiration of our Leaſe: yet is not all done, when we looſe this life we have another free-hold prepared in Heaven, and this is not leaſed, but purchaſed; not for a life, but inheritance; not for dayes but for ever: Croſſe but the words of my Text, and many and happy ſhall the ages of thy life be in Heaven, for ever and ever. Amen.
FINIS.