A Little Cabinet, Section 45
The ſhortneſs of mans life, and the miſery that doth attend every age and condition of all men that live and delight in ſin, and lie down in Sorrow.
MAns whole life is but a progreſs of death, all the time we live we die inviſibly, and when we die indeed, it is but a compleating of what we have been doing all our life; the beſt mens lives are as glaſs, bright and brittle, and evermore in danger of breaking, Jer. 22. 29. Oh earth, earth, earth, hear the voice of the Lord! And why doth he mention earth three times? 1. Becauſe we came from the earth. 2. Becauſe at the beſt we are but earth. 3. Becauſe we ſhall ſpeedily return to the earth, as appears by theſe Scriptures, Job 7. 9. the length of our dayes is compared to the vaniſhing of a cloud, and ſometimes to the ſwiftneſs of aPoſt, Job 9. 25. ſometimes to a flower that ſprings in the morning, and withereth before night, Job 14. 2 Sometimes to a Weavers ſhuttle, Job 7. 6. What is ſwifter then a ſhuttle? it flies to and again, forward and backward: ſo nights and dayes paſs this ſhuttle of our life, forward and backward, to and fro; the night doth caſt this ſhuttle to the day, and the day caſts it to the night, and the night to the day, and ſo from one to the other, forward and backward, to and again; So that between theſe two, time quickly weaves off the thread of our life, the piece comes to be woven, and ſo to be cut off; and juſt ſo is our life, Iſaiah 38. 12. I have cut off like a Weaver.
What ſhall I ſay more? All the Prophets and Apoſtles that have written, have more or leſs written of the fewneſs of our dayes, and uncertainty of our lives; Abraham ſaid he was but duſt and aſhes, Gen. 18. 27. All our dayes on the earth is as a ſhadow, and there is no abiding, 2 Chro. 29. 15. When a few years are come, then ſhall I go the way whence I ſhall not return, Job 16. 22. We ſpend our dayes like a tale that is told, Pſal. 70. 9. All fleſh is graſs, and the goodlineſs thereof as the flower of the field, Iſa. 4. 6, 7. We do all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities as wind have taken us away, Iſa. 64. 6. For what is our life? it is even as a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vaniſheth away: ſuch is the ſwiftneſs of mans dayes, and ſhortneſs of his life, and frailty of his nature, that the ſwifteſt, ſhorteſt, and fraileſt things that we read of in Scripture, are not ſwift, ſhort, and frail enough to compare mans life unto. Here I cannot but acquaint the Reader with ſome things that the Lord made of great uſe to me many years ſince in reading ſome part of the practiſe of Piety, and auother book called Sincere the Convert, and another little book called Good news from heaven, &c. together with what I have learned from the Scriptures and Chriſtians, &c. and ſo I ſhall trace man from his birth to his death, and begin, Firſt with choſe that live and die in a ſtate of nature; Secondly we ſhall lay down, and that in few lines, the bleſſed ſtate of thoſe that in their life prepare for death, for death hath ſomething to ſay to every man, and would fain be heard, but men are not at leiſure to hearken to him, till he throws them upon their ſick beds.
Of the Condition of man in his birth and infancy.
By the pangs, groans, and ſtruglings, and the violent travell of his mother, the child is produced to the light, many miſcarrying at their birth by divers accidents, the mother and the child periſh together, but ſometimes by Gods providence after the child hath been impriſoned nine moneths in an obſcure priſon, it ſprings into the world, and ſo as it were caſt naked upon the earth all embrued into the blood of filthineſs, ſo that the mother is aſhamed to let the child know the manner thereof. Oh miſerable man, where ſhall I begin to deſcribe thine endleſs miſery, who art condemned as ſoon as conceived, and adjudged to eternal death, before thou waſt born to a temporal life; a beginning indeed we may find, but no end of thy miſery, and ſo thou art ſubject in this life, to all kind of ſlavery, and in the life to come to overlaſting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: from which there is no eſcaping, unleſs thou art born again of water and of the ſpirit, John 3. 3, 5.
Of mankind in the ſtate of childhood.
THE two firſt years of it is nothing but impotency and weak imbecility to himſelf, and charge, trouble and vexation to his parents; other creatures by the benefit of nature can ſtand upon their Legs, and ſeek after their food, but thou muſt be ſwadled in clouts, and not able to help thy ſelf; the yound chickens as ſoon as they are hatched, can run after their dam, to ſeek for food, the lambs, calves, and yound colts, ſtand ſuddenly upon their legs to ſeek their dams teats: but man would periſh if his mother did not bring the nipple of her breſt to his mouth, and rock him upon her knees, and for the three or four years of his infancy, he muſt be carefully tended for fear he ſhould take hurt, left horſes, carts, or coaches run over him, &c.
Of mankind in the ſtate of youth.
THE greateſt part of this time is ſpent under the reſtraint of their tutors or maſters, for youth is as an untamed beaſt, all whoſe affections are raſh, and rude, not capable of good counſel when it is given, delighting in nothing but toyes and babies, and vanity, and therefore muſt be kept under the rod and fear of parents and maſters, as if thou hadſt been born to live in ſlavery, rather then at the diſpoſition of thy own will; no tired horſes were ever more willing to be rid of their burdens, then thou art to get out of this ſtate of bondage, &c. never minding thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth, Eccleſ. 12. 1. Except the Lord hedge up thy way thou art running with all ſpeed headlong to Hell.
Of the ſtate of manhood.
THE maturiry of mans age begins at thirty, and continues till forty five; in this ſtate the fleſh provokes thee to luſt, the world allures thee to pleaſure, and the Devil tempts thee to all kind of ſins, fears of enemies affright thee, ſuits in Law do vex thee, wrongs of ill neighbours do oppreſs thee, cares for wife and children do conſume thee, ſin ſtings thee within, Satan layes ſnares before thee, ſins paſt, dogs behind thee; in this miſerable eſtate, whither wilt thou go for reſt and comfort? the houſe is full of cares, the Field of toyl, the Sea of Pirats, the Land of Robbers, who can reckon up beſides all this, the loſſes, croſſes, griefs, diſgraces, ſickneſſes, and calamities that do attend us, the death of near and dear friends and relations; one while adverſity on the lefthand frets thee, another while proſperity on the right-hand flatters thee, over thy head Gods judgements due to thy ſins are ready to fall upon thee, and under thy feet, hels mouth is ready to ſwallow thee up, therefore take heed Oh man what thou doſt, &c.
Of the declining ſtate of man.
THis age of man is ſubject to envy and covetouſneſs, as the former age was to ambition and carking cares, whereby it appears that mens paſſions and ſins, do rather change then forſake them, for carnal delights to which young men are moſt addicted, do change in their delcining age, unto envy and covetouſneſs, and ſometimes their avarice doth change to ambition; a godly man at this age is fitter for counſel then for action, becauſe their paſſions are commonly more moderate, their experiences greatter, their Judgement more ſolid, and their counſels ſafer, Job 12. 12. With the ancient is wiſdom, and in length of years underſtanding, but this declining age of man is not free from vanity, it being ſubject to envy at another mans proſperity, &c.
Of the Decrepit, or old age of man.
THE decrepit age of man begins a little after ſixty, and ends when death ſtrikes them with his dart, Rom. 6. 23. the wages of ſin is death, the old age of man, except it be endued with free-grace, and ſanctified by the Spirit of God, it is the vanity of vanities, and the miſery of all miſeries, for the innumerous infirmities incident to it, viz. bald-headed, ſtooping under dotage, wrinkled face, rotten teeth, ſtinking breath, teſty with choler, withered with drineſs, dimmed with blindneſs, filled with diſeaſes, overwhelmed with ſickneſs, and bowed together with weakneſs, having little uſe of any ſenſe, but of the ſence of pain: what ſhall I ſay more? trace man from his mothers womb to the grave, & you ſhall find him nothing but a piece of vanity in his beſt eſtate, Pſ. 39. 5. Firſt in his very conception, they may be extinguiſhed by ill ſcents and vapours, bruiſes or fals; then in their infancy, by the quinſie, convulſions, meaſels or the ſmall pox; then in their youth by the ſword, pluriſie, and burning feavers; then in the next age, apoplexies, bloody fluxes and conſumptions; then in their declining age by the ſtone and the gout, dropſies, palſies, &c. And in old age, aches, cough, ſtone, and divers other caſualties; ſo that I may conclude with Solomon, that the lives of natural men are meer vanity and vexation of Spirit.
Of the Pollution and Miſery of the ſoul in this life.
THE underſtanding is full of vanity, Pſal. 94. 11. 2 Cor. 4. 4. The will of man is wholly depraved, it is contrary to God, his word and Spirit in all things, it will not depend nor wait on God; as for the memory that alſo is full of corruption, that will forget the things that is commanded to remember, and remember the things that we ſhould forget; and as for the conſcience, that alſo is wholly corrupted, it is neither clear to ſee things that are amiſs, nor ſenſible of ſins committed; and whereas it ſhould excuſe or accuſe, it doth abuſe and pervert the light it hath by making great ſins ſmall, &c.
And as for our affections, they come as a tempeſt, either to make us over-joy or over-grieve; what ſhall I ſay more? the wretched ſoul is ſo deformed with ſin, defiled with luſt, polluted with filthineſs, outraged with paſſions, pined with envy, overcharged with gluttony, boyling with revenge, tranſported with rage, ſo that the glorious Image of God is transformed into the ugly ſhape of the Devil; our underſtanding is darknned our will depraved, our affections diſordered, our memory miſimployed, our conſcience benummed.