Christian Geography and Arithmetic, To the reader
A PREFACE TO THE READER,
Chriſtian Reader,
IF the ſhortneſs, ſwiftneſs, and importance of time were well weighed, what a change ſhould we ſee in the World! That Men may make truer and better meaſures of it, than they have done is the honeſt deſign of this ſmall Treatiſe. I have ſometimes thought that if perſons would conſider their words before they ſpeak them, and view their Actions before they do them, and value their time before they lay it out, what examplary Chriſtians would they be found! Thou wilt find herein ſome account of that expreſſion of Job, Man that is born of a Woman is of few dayes and full of trouble, Job. 4.1.ſome diſcoveries of that large influence, the right numbring of our dayes has upon true Godlineſs in all the parts of it: the Diſcourſe is calculated in an ſpecial manner, for ſuch ſincere Souls as more affect matter than phraſe who deſire to know only that they may practiſe, and place happineſs not in ſpeaking, hearings, or knowing, but in doing; and therefore I have gone in a plain and familiar way, conſulting the weakeſt capacities. What good fruit ſhould we bring forth if we laid this ground, that the pleaſures of ſin, and worldly grievances are but for a ſeaſon! what good ſeed would be ſown for our Eternal welfare and being in the World to come! I could tell thee of ſtrange effects, which the true conſideration of the tranſitorineſs of this Life, the certainty of Death, together with the duration of Eternity, hath had upon Men, to put them upon laying up a good foundation for time to come. I would take the liberty to recommend unto thee, one or two paſſages of a ſtory made uſe of by an eminent Miniſter long ſince with God, Mr. Gar. Miniſter at Leea's Author of the Demonſtration of the Reſurrection of Chriſt. Mr. Mansfield caſtlewhich together with ſome other remarkable obſervation and hints of his, which I have quoted in the following work were communicated to me by a good old puritan one of his hearers. One ſtory relates the converſion of King Edwink about the year 600 together with his Kingdom, which contained eſpecially Yorkſhire. Thus a wiſe Courtier of his, when he heard of a Chriſt, that promiſeth Eternal happineſs was preached unto him, reaſoned with him: This preſent life of our's, O King, ſayes he, in regard of the uncertain time that was before us and ſhall be after us, is but like the flying of a Bird here, through your entry in at one door and preſently out at another, whilſt you and your Nobles in a ſtormy bluſtering day ſit warm here about your Hall-fire; the poor bird for ſmall moment of time whilſt ſhe was in your entry felt not the cold and ſtormy weather, but that was for a very ſhort moment and preſently ſhe did but as it were dart through from ſtorm to ſtorm: ſo this preſent life of our's, is but a very ſhort thing, but a Bird's flight through your entry, what went before and what follows after we utterly know not, and therefore if this new Doctrine bring us any more certainty, and after a ſhort flight through this entry, can tell us how and where we ſhall live happy for ever: by all means let us imbrace it, this was a great motive to his converſion as alſo of his People.
The other paſſage is of the Son of an Heathen Emperour, whom his Father, for fear he ſhould turn Christian, laboured by all means to keep from entertaining a thought of future happineſs, or of Death, or of the ſhortneſs of this Worldl's pleaſures, leſt hereby he ſhould be driven to embrace the Chriſtian Religion, that promiſeth after this Life, an Happineſs Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that, fadeth not away, reſerved in Heaven for us. The Emperour that his Son ſhould never think of any ſuch future happineſs, canſed him to be brought up in a moſt Glorious Palace, and attended there with gallant attendants, freſh and comely and youthful, and that he ſhould never ſee nor 'bear of the miſeries of this Life, as Death, old Age, Sickneſs, Poverty &c. to the end that he ſhould think of nothing but the preſent happineſs; afterwards the young Man deſiring to recreate himſelf with going abroad, his Father appointed that the officers ſhould take order that all things irkſome and unpleaſant ſhould be removed out of the way, and that there ſhould be nothing but Song, and Muſick, and Danceing, and delightful ſights in his way; but upon a time through the negligence of his Officers, he eſpyed an old decayed writhen Man ready to drop into his Grave; whereupon being ſomewhat moved, he demanded what would become of that Miſerable Creature? Anſwer was returned that he ſhould ſhortly Die, and be Buried in the Earth, and what ſhall all Men Die likewiſe ſaies he, or ſome only? nay all ſay they, all muſt Die; and within how many Years? Eighty or an hundred at moſt, and when he had heard this, it would never out of his thoughts but ſtill he was mourning out theſe Words, and what ſhall Death alſo ſeize within ſuch a time upon me, ſhall I within ſuch a time bid ſarewel to all my pleaſures? why then Laughter than art mad, and Mirth what doſt thou? and why ſhould Madneſs be in my Heart whilſt I live,Et me more me a-liquando corripiet. and after that go to the Dead, and then to have a Living Dog to be better than I a Dead Lyon? and thus his troubled Heart courſed him with theſe thoughts, and would never let him reſ till Chriſtianity brought him to a lively hope of that other Happineſs: Now it were good, as this made him of a pagan a Chriſtian, ſo our Hearts would courſe us thus to make ſame of us that are Chriſtians only in ſhew to be Chriſtians in Power,And the Earthy houſe of this Tabernacle ſhall be diſſolved. and to be Sanctified by the Spirit of Regeneration that when we fail we may be received into Everlaſting Habitations: what a Madneſs is it counted in the foot in the Goſpelforeign to ſay Soul ſet up thy Reſt, when he was removed before he bad well, warmed his ſeat! One of the Ancients tells a Story of one whom the World did ſtrive as it were to make Happy, he had an Healthful Body, he had pleaſant Friends, fruitful Grounds, good Succes;s in all things and what elſe might make for his pleaſure; and yet was miſerable becauſe he feared ſtill, left all theſe might quickly have an end: now he was well but he could not tell whether he might not be Sick ere to morrow, now his Friends were Faithful, but &c. The Sea is not to be truſted no not when it ſmiles upon us, in a moment it is all in a Storm, and the ſame Day Ships are ſwallowed up there where they played at Anthor before. How much does it concern us to learn the meaning of that, Eccleſ. 7.2. Eodem die luſrunt navigia ſorbent. sen.It is better to go to the Houſe of Mourning than to the Houſe of Feaſting, for that is the End of all Men, namely Death, and the Living will lay it to Heart! At the ſight of the Spectacle of Mortality we will happily begin to conſider how vain all the Hopes and Purpoſes and Deſires of Men here are, that now at Death will have an End, and thereupon begin to think of ſome more ſolid and enduring Heppineſ how ſhuld we Prize the Goſpel &our Religion that teach us how in this ſmall pittance of time we may make good Proviſion for an Eternal and Everlaſing ſtate! how ſhould our Faith and Repentance, and Holy Meditation and Communion with God, and Heavenly Mindedneſs be furthered by this, and whatever it is that hath a tendency to our well-being in the World that is to come which ſhall never have an End! Conſult Heb. 11.8, 9, 10. In the 32. Jer. 45.4, 5.of Ezekiel there are reckoned up the flouriſhing and mighty Kings and Kingdoms of the Earth, Egypt and Elam, &c. and ſtill it is added and expreſſed of them, that though they cauſe their terrour in the Land of the living, yet they are gone into the Nethermoſt Parts of the Earth; though by our Greatneſs and Riches we may cauſe a little envy in the World, by our Parts of body or mind, beauty, wit, ſtrength or policy, cauſe a little admiration in the land of the living; yet one Day ere long we ſhall go down into the nethermoſt parts of the Earth: It's ſaid in the 27 ver. of, that Chapter, That the mighty Men are laid in their Graves, and their Swords Under their Heads; the phraſe (as a Learned Man obſerves) is borrowed from the Heatheniſh manner of burying their Warriours and great Worthies with their Weapons or Conquering Swords under their Heads; the Wealthy ones that buy and ſell and get gain, ſhall be laid in the Grave with their Bags and Bonds and Evidences under their Heads; they that Glory in Titles of Honour ſhall be laid in their Grave with their Coats and Scutcheons laid under their Heads; the fair and beauteous that now rejoice in their freſh and lovely complexions ſhall one day be laid for Worms meat in their Graves with their Waſhballs, their Spunges, their PaintBoxes, and their Looking Glaſſes under their Heads; the wiſe and learned ſhall ere long be laid in the grave with their books & papers under their heads; finally the Men of appetite that now delight themſelves in their Drinks; & dainties ſhall in a very litle while be laid in their Graves with their revelling Cups, and ſervice Diſhes under their Heads: think but of this phraſe of laying thus one Day all theſe things under your Heads, and lay them not now too near your Hearts. Mark our Saviour's Anſwer to thoſe that ſhewed him the Temple, and how it was adorned with goodly ſtones and gifts; Are theſe the things ye look upon and admire? The daies ſhall come wherein there ſhall not be one ſtone left upon another which ſhall not be thrown down; the Day will come that thy Riches ſhall be but a poor winding ſheet, and thy pleaſures to have the clods of the valley ſweet unto thee: Jon. 3.4.yet 40 dayes & Nineveh ſhall be overthrown) yet 40 dayes (it may be leſs) and all thy Glory and Proſperity with thy Life ſhall have an end, and yet thou art Jolly and Frolick and never thinks of that time, or the length of Eternity; that thereſore thou maiſt not when it is too late cry out, call time again, call time again, learn to make good Ʋse of it now.It's eaſier for to loſe than find a Day; there are time-ſervens, and there are time-ſavers and redeemers; the errand of this piesce is to make thee one of the latter ſort; if God will bles;s this to any ones Soul, I ſhall think my ſelf abundantly ſatisſied for my pains, and my great Deſign is anſwered: I expect no Praiſe; and for cenſure if it be deſerved it will come too late, for I have already placed the defects to my own account; if undeſerved and errata's, I ſhall gain by it; let me have the benefit of thy Prayers, whoever thou art that reads theſe lines. To conclude, this is no Point of Controverſie, but rather an effectual means to reconcile Differences; thoſe that cannot now joyn together in Prayer, will in a very little while if they be true Saints ſit together Praiſing God, Rejoicing in and Loving one another in a langer meaſure than ever they Loved their moſt Dear Relations or intimate Friends upon' Earth. The ſhortneſs of time there is to differ in, the abſolute neceſſity, and incomparable Excellency and Sweetneſs of mutual Love bere and full Communion hereafter, I deſire may ſway with me to watch over my own Heart, that I ſtand not at a diſtance in Spirit from any Saint of God upon the account either of apprehenſion or injury; as for the Former I do not know that I was ever under a Tentation to Love any one leſs for his True Conſcience though not of my ſize. That thou mayeſt be fully inſtructed in the right Art of numbring thy dayes, and prepared for the Evils and Afflictions which thou muſt of neceſſity meet with in them, is the Hearty deſire of,
Thy Friend willing to ſerve thee in time about thy Everlaſting Concerns. T.H.
CHRISTIAN Geography and Arithmetick.
Matth. 6.34.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
THere are two things which we find in the courſe of the Evangeliſts to lie with much weight upon the heart of Chriſt, and which he ſeems to preſs upon his followers, with a more than ordinary ſeriouſneſs argumentativeneſs, and affectionateneſt: The one is, holy careleſneſs about the things of this life; The other is, holy watchfulneſs and preparation for his coming: for this, read over at your leiſure theſe Scriptures, Mat. 24.42. to the end, and 25.13. Mar. 13.32. to the end, Luke 21.36. The former is that which at preſent falls more directly, under my Conſideration; having already treated of the latter in divers Sermons. That I may make way to my Text, be pleaſed to take notice of our. Saviour's general Dehortation, Ver. 25. Take no thought, &c. Obſerve how particular he is, as if he deſigned to anſwer all the ſecret Objections and Surmiſings of an unbelieving heart; if I have Meat, what ſhall I do for Drink, and if I have both, how muſt I get Clothes? why ſaies he, be not careful about any of theſe, and he gives us ſeveral weighty Reaſons for what he ſayes.
1. In the latter end of Ver. 25. Is not the life more than meat, &c. It is an Argument from the greater to the leſs; he that has given life, will he not maintain it? It's leſs trouble and charge for him to make a Coat for thy Body, than to frame thy Body which was curiouſly wrought, rare Embroidery, curious Needlework; Pſ. 139.19 acupictus ſum.a skin will ſerve for the Back, and the ſleſh will ſerve for the Belly, but the placing of the Bones was not ſo eaſily done.
2. Argument lies in Ver. 26. From God's care of the inferiour Creatures, the Animals, the Fowls of the Air, and this is an Argument from the leſſer to the greater, It's your heavenly Father that feeds them: The Maſter of the houſe will not feed his Cattel without, and ſuffer his Children to periſh for want of bread within; If God cares for Oxen, then much more for Saints. Are ye not much better than they?
3. Ground, ab inutili, from the unprofitableneſs of this anxious & perplexing care, in Ver. 27. Which of you by taking thought, &c for neither if you be ſolicitous, are you the better; and if you be not, are you the worſe.
4. Reaſon lies eſpecially againſt taking care for Raiment, from the conſideration of the Lillies of the Field, the Vegetables more inconſiderable than the the Fowls, for they have life and ſenſe, theſe only life; but Men have Life, Senſe and Reaſon, and Chriſtians have more, for they are made partakers of the Divine Nature and the life of God. If your Reaſon will not help you here, one would think your Faith ſhould help you; can you think that immortal ſouls, for whom God hath prepared ſuch glory, ſhal be ſlighted here, and yet the fading, withering, periſhed Graſs be ſo much regarded! which way ſoever a Chriſtian looks, he may find Food for his Faith … When I ſee the Fields ſo adorned, can I think that God will ſuffer me to go naked for want of a Covering.
5. Inducement is, ab abſurdo, in the beginning of Ver. 32. It's not ingenious, not at all becoming you to be ſo carking and caring, it is a Gentiliſh property, poor Heathens that know of no better things, may be allowed to ſeek after theſe earthly matters; but it is not ſuitable for thoſe that have been acquainted with things of an higher nature, and of Eternal duration; it is not worthy, not Chriſtian; your Education and Expectation ſhould teach you better things, and ſpirit you to a more Noble and Honourable ſearch and endeavour.
6. Incitement is, a non-neceſſario, in the latter end of Ver. 32. For your heavenly Father knows, &c. He that made you, knows what you ſtand in need of, what your Conſtitutions do require, how much will ſerve, how little Nature requires, and how much leſs Grace needs, if you have but little, do not call it Poverty, but Diſcipline; he is your Father.
7. Motive is, a proprio medio, from the proper and most effectual way and means to ſecure a competency, and that is by ſeeking firſt of all the kingdom of God, Ver. 33. He that would make Earth ſure, muſt firſt of all make Heaven ſure; ſhall I be taking thought what to eat and drink here, and never fear begging a drop of water hereafter? ſhall I be ſolicitous for Clothes, and do not know but my Soul and Body may lie naked in the ſcorching flames of the wrath of God to all Eternity? beſides, I have a Promiſe of God for outward things, if I make it my buſineſs to ſeek after Heavenly; it is a very needleſs care; God provides meat for me that I may not be taken off my work to ſeek after it.
8. Ground lies in my Text, and it is taken from the Conſideration of that ſufficient trouble that each day is filled with; you need not fetch the miſery of another day unto this day, it hath enough full enough of its own; ſome read it, The day hath enough with his own grief.