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<DATE>2014-12-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>OF THE Shortne&s;s OF TIME.</P>
<P>By <HI>Francis Fuller,</HI> M. A.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed for <HI>Tho. Parkhur&s;t</HI> at the <HI>Bible</HI> and <HI>Three Crowns</HI> in <HI>Cheap&s;ide</HI> near <HI>Mercers-Chapel.</HI> And <HI>John Barns</HI> at the <HI>Crown</HI> in <HI>Pall-Mall,</HI> 1700.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Inhabitants of <HI>Hackney,</HI> that were under the Mini&s;try of the Reverend Dr. <HI>Bates</HI> there.</HEAD>
<P>SOlomon <HI>tells us, that becau&s;e to</HI> every Purpo&s;e there is required Time and Judgment <HI>(viz. a proper &s;ea&s;on, and a &s;pecial manner of acting, upon the due Ob&s;erva|tion of which, the &s;ucce&s;s of every good Action depends)</HI> therefore the Mi&s;ery of Man is great upon him. <HI>This Mi&s;ery is not in having a &s;ea|&s;on, but in his not ob&s;erving it; and becomes greater, then if he had never had one.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Time and Sea&s;ons that you have had are well known to others, but I hope better known to your Selves. You may ea&s;ily remember the Times when that Reverend Per&s;on (now with God) and you kept Holy Day together: How delightful was it to you, to &s;it under the Shadow of tho&s;e Mi|ni&s;trations? How plea&s;ant the Fruit, how &s;weet to your Ta&s;te the delicate Provi&s;ions prepared there? But how bitter the remembrance that they are pa&s;t and gone, and how much more bitter &s;hould the remembrance be if not improved by you? How &s;ad will it be, if under tho&s;e influences and
<PB REF="3"> Dews from on high no better then withered Fruit &s;hould be found under the green Leaves of your Profe&s;&s;ion? And how mi&s;erable will you be, if you that have been &s;o long fed with the Fatne&s;&s;es of God's Hou&s;e, &s;hould be found with Leanne&s;s in your Souls.</HI></P>
<P><HI>It was the great Character of the Children of</HI> I&s;&s;achar <HI>(above all other Tribes) that they had under&s;tanding of the Times, and of the Duties of tho&s;e Times. But how few of that Tribe are left upon the Earth, it is almo&s;t either wholly wore out, or but a few left.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Now that you may be found in the number of tho&s;e few, &s;uch as have (with the Wi&s;eman) Hearts to di&s;cern both Time and Judgment, to know your Day, and the Work of your Day, your &s;ea&s;on and the proper bu&s;ine&s;s of it; &s;o wi&s;e as to know it, and &s;o faithful as to do it, is the de&s;ign of Publi&s;hing this Sermon, and the &s;in|cere De&s;ire of</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Servant in our Lord, F. Fuller.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<HEAD>OF THE SHORTNESS OF TIME.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>I COR. VII. ix.</BIBL>
<Q>The Time is &s;hort.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE Words are the Apo|&s;tles Argument to the <HI>Co|rinthians,</HI> and in them to us, to per&s;wade to a mo|derate Love to, and U&s;e of the Things of the World, from their and our &s;hort Continuance here; they will not continue long, nor we to en|joy
<PB N="2" REF="4"> them: And therefore &s;hould not be inordinate in our Love to them.</P>
<Q>The Time is &s;hort.</Q>
<P N="1">(1.) The Time of the Duration of the World, and of the Things of the World is &s;hort; &s;o &s;ome read it.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Of the World.</P>
<P>If the Time was &s;hort in the Apo&s;tles Days, <HI>viz.</HI> That Time which God &s;pread over all things like a Sail, and had been &s;ome Thou&s;ands of Years roling up, was then rol'd to the la&s;t Corner, and almo&s;t ended, it is now grown &s;horter by ma|ny hundred Years, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 2. 18. <GAP DESC="foreign">. 1 Cor. 10. 11.</NOTE> if the la&s;t Time <HI>(viz.</HI> the la&s;t Age of the World) was come then, or if that Age was the la&s;t Hour; then ours (upon whom the ends of the World are come) is the la&s;t Minute of that Hour.</P>
<P>For, the World waxes Old, and is in its Declen&s;ion; the Heavens are fa|ding, they, and the Tabernacle in them &s;et for the Sun are di&s;&s;olving:
<PB N="3" REF="4"> The Earth al&s;o, and the Works therein&punc; are Peri&s;hing, and near their End.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Of the Things of the World.</P>
<P>The Things of Heaven are &s;et out by the Temple, which was fixt and per|manent. The Things of the World are &s;et out by the Tabernacle, which was Tran&s;ient, they (as the Sun) admit no Changes; the&s;e (as the Moon) are liable to them, they plea&s;e while they la&s;t, but la&s;t not long; for, they are things that Peri&s;h (or are to Corruption) <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2. 22.</NOTE> in their U&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) The Time of our Duration in the World is &s;hort, &s;o others (and more properly) read it.</P>
<P>We are Natural, and have our Mo|tion, Beginning and End.</P>
<P>We are Finite, and have our Peri|ods and Bounds; our Bounds in our Durations, as well as in our Dimen&s;i|ons.</P>
<P>And are made of Principles &s;o con|trary, at lea&s;t &s;o corruptible, that we &s;hall certainly (and may &s;peedily) have our End.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="5">
<P>Since then, the Things of the World, are but an Appearance only.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>A Scheme without Solidity.</ITEM>
<ITEM>A Shadow without Sub&s;tance.</ITEM>
<ITEM>More in Show, then in Reality.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>And continue not long in that Ap|pearance, but as Scenes in a Play, pa&s;s away one <NOTE PLACE="marg">Terminus Hi&s;trio|nicus.</NOTE> after another, and are &s;oon at an End.</P>
<P>And &s;ince we walk in a vain Shew, and the Time of our Con|tinuance here is &s;hort; <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 39. 5. <HI>Terminus nauticus,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> contracted, cut off, tru&s;s'd up into a narrow Scant|ling; like the Sails of a Ship, which Marriners when near their Port and en|tring in, &s;trike, fold, furl up, and role together.</P>
<P>Since the be&s;t worldly E&s;tates are Va|nity, as to their Duration; and we at the be&s;t E&s;tate are Vanity as to ours.</P>
<P>Since they are pa&s;&s;ing away, and we are pa&s;|&s;ing <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 90. 10. I&s;a. 64. 6.</NOTE> away (our Days are
<PB N="5" REF="5"> pa&s;&s;ed away) &s;ince they are fading, and we are fading (we all fade as a Leaf) &s;ince they are withering, whil&s;t flouri&s;hing; and we dying, whil&s;t li|ving; &s;ince we are at &s;uch uncertainties for their Continuance or ours, which &s;hall be longe&s;t, and as to their End and ours which &s;hall be &s;oone&s;t.</P>
<P>Let us not Love tho&s;e Things much, which we are not &s;ure to live long to Love; nor to have, if we &s;hould.</P>
<P>But &s;it loo&s;e in our Affections to them, while we have them; that we may the more willingly part with them while we Live, or leave them when we Die.</P>
<P>The Nots in the Text (they that weep and rejoyce, as if they wept and rejoyced not) are not (as one ob|&s;erves) Negations but Moderations, or Qualifications of our re&s;pects to the Things of the World. For,</P>
<P>God has not prohibited all Love to them, but that only which is exce&s;&s;ive, and as exce&s;&s;ive, vitious.</P>
<P>Nor all delight in them, than he has the u&s;e of them, but that only which is inordinate.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="6">
<P>Nor the lawful Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of them, but only the evil Affection to them.</P>
<P>We may Love them, &s;o we do not over Love them.</P>
<P>We may po&s;&s;e&s;s them, &s;o we be not po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of them.</P>
<P>And may u&s;e them, &s;o we do not a|bu&s;e them, nor our &s;elves in the u&s;e of them.</P>
<P>The Words are an entire Propo&s;iti|on in them&s;elves, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<Q>Doct. <HI>That our Time in this World is &s;hort.</HI></Q>
<P>Time may be con&s;ider'd.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) In the more general Sen&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) In the more particular Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>Time in the more general Sen&s;e, is the Duration of Time.</P>
<P>Time in the more particular Sen&s;e, is the Sea&s;on of Time.</P>
<P>One the length of Time.</P>
<P>The other, the opportunity of Time.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="6">
<P>A little part of that which is as nothing, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 3. 1. <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Tempus tempe&s;tivum, Tem|pus longum, Tem|pus commodum.</HI></NOTE> they are different things, and expre&s;s'd by diffe|rent Words; but both &s;hort.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Time in the common and larg|e&s;t Acceptation is &s;hort, ab&s;olutely and comparatively con&s;ider'd.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Ab&s;olutely con&s;ider'd.</P>
<P>The Years of our Life are call'd Days, the Days of our Years as the Chroni|cles, by &s;ome, are term'd the Words of Days, con|taining <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 47. 9.</NOTE> the Diaries of them, who liv'd rather a few Days then many Years.</P>
<P>And Days (as in the former Tran|&s;lation) without the Addition of Years, yea one Day; <HI>are not the Days of Man &s;hort or few?</HI> &s;o &s;ome tran&s;late it; and the Septuagint clo|&s;er, <HI>is not the Life of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>Man upon Earth one Day?</HI> &s;o that our Life is either contracted into one &s;ingle Day, or at the longe&s;t it is a being but of &s;even Days.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<P>For, how many Days &s;o ever we Live, they are but tho&s;e &s;even Days multiplied, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Quicquid temporis Vivitur de&s;patio vi|vendi tollitur. <HI>Se|neca.</HI></NOTE> which le&s;&s;en by Multi|plication, and grow &s;hort by lengthening; for eve|ry Day added to Life, is a Day taken from it.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Short, comparatively con&s;i|der'd.</P>
<P>But little in its &s;elf, and compara|tively nothing, <HI>viz.</HI> To the Time of the Patriarchs, to our Work, to our a|bode in the Grave, and to Eternity.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) To the Time of the Patriarchs.</P>
<P>Their Time (for the encrea&s;e of the World, for the conveighing of the Knowledge of Gods Will to it, and for the Pre&s;er|vation <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mathu&s;elah, Sem, <HI>and</HI> I&s;aac <HI>pre&s;erv'd it almo&s;t two thou|&s;and Years.</HI></NOTE> of Truth from Corruption in it) was long upon Earth, but ours is much &s;horter, it &s;unk with the Flood from Hundreds to Scores, and tho&s;e but a few.</P>
<P>They (as <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ays) &s;erv'd a long Apprentice-&s;hip, but we &s;ooner obtain
<PB N="9" REF="7"> our Freedom; Death's motion was &s;low (for it was many hundred Years come|ing) to them, but it is &s;wift to us, and &s;oon overtakes us.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) To our Work.</P>
<P>If we calculate the Time of Life for &s;eventy Years (the number of the Days of our Years) and take from it the Time of in|fancy <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 90. 10.</NOTE> and childhood, ig|norance and irregeneracy, &s;leep and recreation, eating and drinking, &s;ick|ne&s;s and old Age, but a very little will remain for Service; Eternity it &s;elf is little enough to ble&s;s God for the Mer|cies of one Day; how much le&s;s then, is that &s;hort Time of our Life for that great Work we are redeem'd and call'd to; e&s;pecially, if we con&s;ider how much mi&s;s-&s;pent Time, there is in our be&s;t-&s;pent Time.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) To our abode in the Grave the place of Darkne&s;s, Life is the Day, and Death the Night; a Winters Day, in which the Day-light is &s;hort, and the Darkne&s;s <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 11. 8.</NOTE> of the Night long.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="10" REF="8">(4.) To Eternity.</P>
<P>The Time of our Life compar'd with all Time, is but &s;hort, but all Time, (from the beginning of Time to the end of it) compar'd with Eternity (a Duration without end) is as nothing.</P>
<P>It is true, a Moment is more to all that Time that either has been or &s;hall be, then all that Time is to Eternity; for a Moment by Repetition may come up to that Time, but all that Time will never reach Eternity, it being no more to it, than a Minute is to the full Arith|metick of Time; a drop to the Ocean, a &s;park to the Element of Fire, a &s;and to the Body of the Earth, or one &s;ingle Atome to the whole World.</P>
<P>Our Life is a Race, in which we can neither &s;tay nor &s;lacken our Pace; nei|ther &s;tand &s;till nor go back, but forward, and that with full &s;peed.</P>
<P>And therefore compar'd in Scripture to things mo&s;t Tran&s;itory, emphatical|ly &s;etting forth the uncertainty of it, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>To a Vapour, that is quick in Appa|rition, and almo&s;t as quick in Di&s;&s;oluti|on,
<PB N="11" REF="8"> in one Region or a|nother, at the longe&s;t but <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4. 14.</NOTE> of a Forenoons Continu|ance.</P>
<P>To a Watch in the Night, that is but of Three (or at the long|e&s;t but of Four) Hours <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 90. 4.</NOTE> continuance.</P>
<P>To a Shadow, that has no &s;ub&s;tan|tial &s;olidity, nor con&s;i&s;tency in it, move|able and incon&s;tant, not fixt but pa&s;|&s;ing, and not &s;low but &s;wift in motion, for it <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 8. 9. 14. 2.</NOTE> flees.</P>
<P>To a Dream in Sleep. Sleep &s;lips away before we can know what we were do|ing <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 20. 8.</NOTE> in it, and a Dream is a Fancy of &s;hort being, neither real nor la&s;ting, but of all things mo&s;t vain and fickle, and gone a&s;&s;oon as we awake.</P>
<P>To an Eagle that ha&s;teth to the Prey, who&s;e flight, as naturally more &s;trong and &s;wift, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 9. 20.</NOTE> than the flight of any Fowl in the Air, &s;o mo&s;t &s;o when ha&s;t|ening to the Prey; for, as it is of the
<PB N="12" REF="9"> mo&s;t piercing &s;ight to find it, and of the &s;harpe&s;t Appetite to de&s;ire it, &s;o it is of the &s;wifte&s;t flight to move to it.</P>
<P>To a Flower of the Field, which is more liable to peri&s;hing, then a Flower in the <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 103. 15.</NOTE> Garden as having no Fence about it; but lying open to eve|ry Hand to pick, to every Foot to tread upon, and to the Mouth of every Bea&s;t to devour it.</P>
<P>To Gra&s;s, whether we con&s;ider it as Gra&s;s in the Field, or on the Hou&s;e|top, both which are mentioned in Scripture, and &s;how the frailty of it. Gra&s;s is <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 90. 6.</NOTE> corruptible, and &s;ubject to fading, <HI>viz.</HI> in&s;en&s;ibly and variou&s;|ly, either by cold Bla&s;ts or &s;corching Heats, if not eat up in the Field, nor cut down by the Sithe will Wither of it &s;elf, and the <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 37. 27.</NOTE> Flower of Gra&s;s is either neare&s;t the Sithe, or wi|thering <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1. 24.</NOTE> when mo&s;t flou|ri&s;hing, but Gra&s;s upon the Hou&s;e-top withers (as the P&s;almi&s;t tells us) a|fore
<PB N="13" REF="9"> it grows up; Gra&s;s in the Field is often eat <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 129. 6.</NOTE> up as it grows, but Gra&s;s on the Hou&s;e-tops withers afore it grows up, incontinently withers, and comes not to ripene&s;s.</P>
<P>All which &s;how that our Life is a &s;peedy Cour&s;e from one Grave to ano|ther, from that of the Womb, to that of the Tomb, a living Death or dying Life, for every Day takes &s;ome part of it from us. It is Vanity and of no Du|ration; if mea&s;ur'd by length, it is but a Span long, if by breadth it is by the lea&s;t of that <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 39. 5:</NOTE> dimen&s;ion, <HI>viz.</HI> a hands breadth, one of the &s;horte&s;t of all Geo|metrical Mea&s;ures.</P>
<P>So &s;hort, that <HI>Solomon</HI> that allows a beginning and end to it <HI>(viz. A time to be Born,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 3. 2.</NOTE> <HI>and a time to Die)</HI> takes no notice of its Continuance <HI>(viz.</HI> a time to Live) as if it bore no Date, nor was &s;carce well begun when end|ed.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="10">
<P>Now to improve this.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Do nothing to make this &s;hort Time &s;horter.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Do what you can to make this &s;hort Time long.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Do nothing to make this &s;hort Time &s;horter.</P>
<P>Either by Acts of Va|nity and Folly pa&s;&s;ing a|way, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Non breves Vitas accepimus &s;ed feci|mus. <HI>Sen.</HI> de Brevit vitae.</NOTE> ha&s;tening away that Time, which has wings and out-flies the &s;wifte&s;t Creatures.</P>
<P>Or by Acts of intemperance, cutting off the &s;lender Thred of your Life in the mid&s;t of your Days, according to the Line and Mea&s;ure of Nature, that might have been drawn out to a greater length, as a Wea|ver <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 38. 12. I have cut off like a Weaver my Life.</NOTE> cuts off the Web from the Loom before it is fini&s;h'd.</P>
<P>Or by Acts of Violence upon your &s;elves, putting an end to a &s;inful Life with Sin, and fini&s;hing the Cour&s;e of Nature by a Sin again&s;t Nature.</P>
<P>Or by Acts of Wickedne&s;s, provo|king
<PB N="15" REF="10"> God to deprive you of the re&s;idue of your Years by bringing &s;udden De|&s;truction upon you, <HI>viz.</HI> not only &s;ud|den in it &s;elf, but as to your Expectati|on of, and Preparation for it; for none Die &s;o &s;uddenly, as they that never think of Death, nor prepare for it.</P>
<P>By the&s;e you may &s;horten your Time though not Gods, the Time imagin'd by you, though not numbered by him, and Die before the Time, <HI>viz.</HI> not only that others <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 7. 17.</NOTE> have liv'd, but that you in the ordinary Cour&s;e of Nature might have liv'd.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Do what you can to make this &s;hort Time long.</P>
<P>It is true, the number of our Months are with God, under his E&s;tabli&s;hment, and the bounds of our Life by him &s;et, beyond <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 14. 1.</NOTE> which we cannot pa&s;s, yet by living apace, and doing much in a little Time, we may make a &s;hort Time long.</P>
<P><HI>Abraham</HI> is the fir&s;t (as <HI>Philo</HI> ob|&s;erves) that in Scripture is call'd an
<PB N="16" REF="11"> old Man and full of Years though &s;ome before him <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 25. 8.</NOTE> liv'd three Times as long.</P>
<P>And the Young Man excluded from <HI>Ari&s;totles</HI> Ethick Lectures, was call'd Young, not from the Paucity of his Years, but from the vitiou&s;ne&s;s of his Actions.</P>
<P>To Note, that our Manhood is to be mea&s;ur'd more by the goodne&s;s of Life, than the length of it.</P>
<P><HI>Alexander</HI> reckon'd his Life, not by Years, but by the Battels fought, and Victories obtain'd.</P>
<P><HI>Samelus</HI> the Philo&s;opher dated his Life, not from the beginning of the &s;eventy Years that he liv'd, but from the &s;even la&s;t Years only that he liv'd &s;tudiou&s;ly.</P>
<P>And &s;o mu&s;t we reckon ours, not from the number of our Years, but from the Nature (the goodne&s;s) of our Actions in them.</P>
<P>If our Lives are fill'd up with Good, we are Old though not full of Years, but if they are not, though old and full of Years, yet we are but an infant
<PB N="17" REF="11"> of Days, for we begin not to Live until we Live <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 65. 20.</NOTE> well, and Live no long|er than we Live &s;o: And how &s;hort a Time &s;o ever it is that we Live, if we have liv'd <NOTE PLACE="marg">Solus &s;apiens lon gaevus.</NOTE> &s;o, we have liv'd long; it is &s;ad to be Men in Sin before Men in Age, but wor&s;e to be as old in Sin as in Years: Now that we may make a &s;hort Time long.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) We mu&s;t Watch again&s;t all tho&s;e things that will (unle&s;s watch't) filtch and &s;teal away our Time.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) We mu&s;t fill up our Time with the proper Work of Time.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) We mu&s;t Watch again&s;t all tho&s;e things that will (unle&s;s watch't) &s;teal away our Time.</P>
<P>Time eats up all things, and there are many things that eat up our Time, devour <NOTE PLACE="marg">Tempus edax re|rum.</NOTE> that Devourer, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Inordinate Cares.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vain Attires.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Exce&s;&s;ive Recreations.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Immoderate pampering of our Bodies by Meats, Drinks, and Sleep.</P>
<LIST>
<PB N="18" REF="12">
<ITEM>Idlene&s;s.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vain Thoughts.</ITEM>
<ITEM>And Evil Company.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">(1.) Inordinate Cares. A Care of Providence to provide for our &s;elves, a Care of Prudence to di&s;po&s;e of our Affairs to the be&s;t Advantage, and a Care of Diligence in the u&s;e of Means, for both are allow'd and enjoyn'd, but all diffident and di&s;tracting Cares are forbid; they will wa&s;te our Time, and our Spirits; and therefore mu&s;t not in|dulge our &s;elves in them, but whil&s;t di|ligent in the u&s;e of means, leave the &s;ucce&s;s of all to God who careth for us; to us belongs the Indu&s;try, to him the Care; to him the burden of Care, to us the Duty of it.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Vain Attires. <HI>Pambus</HI> wept when he &s;aw a Harlot &s;pending much Time in adorning her Body, as one that took more Pains to plea&s;e a wanton Lover, than he had to plea&s;e God; and &s;pent more time to damn her Soul, than he had to &s;ave his.</P>
<P>And &s;o may all with &s;hame and &s;or|row reflect upon them&s;elves, who &s;pend
<PB N="19" REF="12"> more Time in decking their Bodies, than in adorning their Souls, which are not le&s;s defil'd by Sin, than their Bodies are deform'd by it; nor their wor&s;er but better Part; and therefore &s;hould have the fir&s;t and greate&s;t Care: It is prodigious Folly to damn the Soul, to plea&s;e the Body.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) Exce&s;&s;ive Recreations. All look for Plea&s;ure in Life, and think there is no Life without it, but if it is below a Man (as the <HI>Heathen</HI> &s;ays) to Live one whole Day in Plea&s;ure, it is much more below a Chri&s;tian; and therefore we mu&s;t not (with <HI>Artoxenus)</HI> live al|ways among Mu&s;ick, nor make Recrea|tion our Work; but u&s;e it only as a help to better things. Our greate&s;t Plea&s;ure &s;hould be to de&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e Plea|&s;ures, and our greate&s;t delight not over|much to delight in them.</P>
<P N="4">(4.) Immoderate pam|pering and indulging our <NOTE PLACE="marg">By Meats and Drinks.</NOTE> Bodies by Meats, Drinks, and Sleep. He was e&s;teem'd the mo&s;t accompli&s;h'd Man with the <HI>Heathen,</HI> that &s;pent more Oil in the Lamp, then
<PB N="20" REF="13"> Wine in the Bottle; and they are the wi&s;e&s;t among Chri&s;tians, not that live to eat as <HI>Sen&s;uali&s;ts</HI> do, but that eat (as <HI>Socrates</HI> &s;aid he did) to live, and not barely to live, but to live to him that is Lord of Life. Other Lords are but Lords of the Labours of their Servants, but he is Lord of the Lives of his.</P>
<P>By Sleep. There are many that are a|&s;leep when awake (their Souls are a&s;leep in their Bodies) and many that &s;pend half their Time in it, but we mu&s;t not do &s;o; and therefore mu&s;t cut &s;hort our Sleep (that long Parenthe&s;is of our Thoughts) and with <HI>David</HI> prevent the Night Watches, to <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 119. 62. 147, 148. <HI>It was the Ancient Opinion of the</HI> He|brews, <HI>that the Angels did every Morning &s;ing prai&s;e to God, and thus ex|pound tho&s;e Words, the Pillar of the Morning a&s;cends, let me be gone, for the Time approaches when the Angels are to &s;ing.</HI></NOTE> meditate on God and his Law; and (with him prevent the dawning of the Morning, by &s;aying to our drou&s;ie Souls (as the Angel to <HI>Jacob)</HI> the Day breaks, and we mu&s;t be gone for the Time to Prai&s;e God is come, I will &s;ing aloud of thy Mercy in the Morning.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="21" REF="13">(5.) Idlene&s;s: We have no idle days nor hours allow'd us; for Day and Night (the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Maxima pars debe|tur &amp; &s;tudio minor cibo minima &s;omno, nulla otio.</NOTE> time &s;et for Meditation on God's Law) includes the whole compa&s;s of time, and &s;hould be employ'd in it.</P>
<P>God will reckon with us at la&s;t for our Idlene&s;s, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Reddenda e&s;t ratio otii ut negotii.</NOTE> as well as for our Work; and for our idle Actions, as well as our idle Words.</P>
<P N="6">(6.) Vain Thoughts. Sinful Thoughts indulg'd will damn, though we had neither Tongues to &s;peak again&s;t God, nor Hands to Act again&s;t him, the&s;e like unwelcome Gue&s;ts will thru&s;t them|&s;elves in upon us, but mu&s;t be thru&s;t out, and not &s;uffer'd to lodge within us, for they are vagrants, and will prove great Wa&s;ters <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 4. 14.</NOTE> of our Time.</P>
<P N="7">(7.) Evil Company. It is true, we cannot wholly avoid their Company while on Earth; nor is it our Duty, for, Charity at all Times does, and ne|ce&s;&s;ity at &s;ometimes may oblige, us to a
<PB N="22" REF="14"> common and general, to a natural and civil, but neither at any Time to a dear and &s;pecial, to a familiar and &s;inful So|ciety with them; none ever got any Good (but &s;ome much Evil) by bad Company; and therefore, if we would not be like them, we mu&s;t not unnece&s;|&s;arily Conver&s;e, much le&s;s Sin with them: It is be&s;t to be with them in Time, that we would Live with in E|ternity.</P>
<P>The&s;e are &s;ome of tho&s;e Thieves that if not look'd to, will take our Time a|way from us; and therefore mu&s;t be narrowly watcht, that they may not.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) We mu&s;t fill up our Time with the proper Work of Time.</P>
<P>Some &s;pend mo&s;t of their Time in contriving how to &s;pend it, Time lies on their Hands, and they know not how to get rid of it; and therefore ask what they &s;hall do to pa&s;s it away.</P>
<P>A thing that would have been ill &s;po|ken (as one &s;ays) by <HI>Mathu&s;elah</HI> in the nine hundred and &s;ixty ninth Year of his Life, and no le&s;s by them, who have &s;o much Work, and &s;o little Time
<PB N="23" REF="14"> for it; who may, if they are to &s;eek how to do it, be directed by the Apo|&s;tle, <HI>viz. To pa&s;s the Time of their &s;ojourning here,</HI> in <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1. 17.</NOTE> every part and turning of it with God and Men, <HI>in fear;</HI> not in the &s;inful &s;lavi&s;h fear of Men, but in the Reve|rential Holy Fear of God.</P>
<P>Now Time is their Burden, and at Death the want of it will be their great|er Burden; now they think they have too much, and then they will find they have too little; now they do not know what to do with it, and then they will not know what to do for want of it. Now they put it away from them, and then they would, if they could, recall, and bring it back again.</P>
<P>And &s;ome there are that trifle away their Time. As <HI>Domitian</HI> did his in catching Flies. <HI>Sardanapalus</HI> his in Spinning. <HI>Caligula</HI> and others, with a numerous train of Idle retainers, theirs in gathering Cockles and picking up Pebles; and are &s;carce ever &s;o well em|ploy'd as <HI>Protigenes,</HI> who (as &s;ome tell us) was &s;even Years Painting a Man and his Dog.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="15">
<P><HI>Seneca</HI> laught at the <HI>Jews</HI> (though without Cau&s;e) for lo&s;ing the &s;eventh Part of their Time, by re&s;ting every &s;eventh Day from Labour; but they are more to be blam'd, who lo&s;e all their Time, &s;pend all their &s;even Days in Sin and Folly; making their Life, that is a Tale for Brevity, as a Tale for Vanity; either in doing nothing, or that which is wor&s;e than nothing; now if they are to be blam'd, who &s;peak not to the Purpo&s;e, than &s;urely they are much more worthy of it, who live not &s;o. But our Duty it is, and therefore our Wi&s;dom it will be to fill up our Time with the proper Work of Time.</P>
<P>There is no <HI>Vacuum</HI> in Time, for it will be fill'd up with Good or Evil, let it be with Good, <HI>viz.</HI> in &s;pending a Temporal Life, about that which is better than Life; about the things of an Eternal Life, while in Time laying hold on Eternal Life, and doing that in Time for which we were brought in|to Time; and for which Time was gi|ven us, that which can never be done but in Time, that which can never be
<PB N="25" REF="15"> done in Time, either too &s;oon, or too well; that which we will wi&s;h we had done when going out of Time, and that which will be an Honour as well as a Comfort to us, when gone out of Time into Eternity.</P>
<P>This &s;hort Time of our Life is our working Time, our only Time for Work, all the Time we &s;hall have for it.</P>
<P>There was no offering under the Law, when the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 9. 10.</NOTE> Sun was &s;et, nor any Time left for Work when the Sun of our Life is gone down; none in the Grave, whither we are going.</P>
<P>Life is the only Day, and the pre&s;ent Time, <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 9. 4. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Math. 20. 3.</NOTE> the be&s;t Hour of the Day. How much of this Time we have lo&s;t by &s;tanding idle in the Market, when we &s;hould have been at Labour in the Vineyard, we may (and we &s;hould do well if we would) call to Mind.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;elm's</HI> Life appear'd to him, as ha|ving nothing in it but Sin and unpro|fitablene&s;s, and &s;o may ours to us.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="16">
<P>The Time was (and we may ea&s;ily Remem|ber <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aut peccatum, Aut &s;terilites.</NOTE> it) when our whole Life was Spent in Sin and Vanity.</P>
<P>Now then let that Time pa&s;t &s;uffice, as e|nough <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 4. 3. Rom. 6. 19. <HI>An as of Propor|tion.</HI></NOTE> more than e|nough for it, and let us Proportion our pre&s;ent and future Diligence to our former &s;loth and idlene&s;s; paying God the &s;ame, in kind or value, that we have with held from him; and giving him the &s;ame mea&s;ure, Sin and the World have had.</P>
<P>Scholars, get up the Time lo&s;t in the Day, by Study at Night.</P>
<P>Servants, that over Sleep them&s;elves, Work the harder when up.</P>
<P>Travellers, that &s;tay long in their Inn, Ride the fa&s;ter when gone.</P>
<P>And &s;o mu&s;t we make up our former Negligence, by a future Diligence; recover the Ground (in our Race) we lo&s;t at our fir&s;t &s;tarting, by our great|er Speed in it, do as much for God as we have done again&s;t him. In Equity,
<PB N="27" REF="16"> God &s;hould have more (for all our Time is His) but he will not accept of le&s;s. And had we &s;pent all our Time in his Service, from the fir&s;t Moment we were capable of it, we could not have over done, done enough, or too much for him, who has done &s;o much for us.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t Born of all was Gods.</P>
<P>And Time, the Fir&s;t Born of the Creation is his by all the Right ima|ginable. But Lent to us, committed in Tru&s;t to us, to be laid out in his Service to his Honour, and we cannot be too Diligent in it; if we con&s;ider, that Time is precious, &s;hort, pa&s;&s;ing, uncertain, irrevocable when gone, and that for which we mu&s;t be accountable.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Precious. With re&s;pect to the Advantages that comes in by it of do|ing Good. Time in its &s;elf is no way Advantageous to any, but it brings Advantages with it; without Time we can do nothing, but with it we may (if we are Wi&s;e) do great Things; and upon this Account there is no Lo&s;s (as the Philo&s;opher &s;ays)
<PB N="28" REF="17"> to the lo&s;s of Time to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Homini Scienti, Homini rem mag|nam affectanti.</NOTE> him that rightly under|&s;tands the Worth of it.</P>
<P>And partly with re&s;pect to Eternity, that depends upon it.</P>
<P>We are Junior to Time and may out-live it, and after Death (which ends our Days, but not our Lives) &s;hall enter upon a Life we &s;hall never out|live; and though Time never enter'd into Eternity, yet we &s;hall enter into it when we go out of Time; and as we liv'd here in Time, &s;hall be happy or mi&s;erable in Eternity.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Short. Time is &s;hort at the longe&s;t, and we are daily hovering betwixt that and Eternity; and there|fore, the &s;horter it is, the Swifter &s;hould our Motion in it be; like the Birds (as they tell us) <NOTE PLACE="marg">In Norway.</NOTE> where the days are &s;hort|e&s;t, are (thro' in&s;tinct of Nature) of the &s;wifte&s;t Flight.</P>
<P>A Wi&s;dom we may learn, not only from the Men of the World, who&s;e Di|ligence is by &s;o much the greater, as their Time grows &s;horter: But from the
<PB N="29" REF="17"> Devil him&s;elf, who is <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12. 2.</NOTE> &s;aid, <HI>to come down in great wrath,</HI> when his time is &s;hort; fulle&s;t of Rage then when his Commi&s;&s;ion is to be call'd in, like bad Tenants that make &s;trip and wa&s;te when to be turn'd out.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) Pa&s;&s;ing: Time pa&s;t was, but is not now; Time pre&s;ent is, but &s;hall not be; for it is pa&s;&s;ing as fa&s;t as the Heavens can turn about Day and Night, and the Earth upon its own <HI>Axis.</HI> The Sun, that is the Mea&s;ure of Time, has &s;tood &s;till, and gone back in the Horizon; but <HI>neither of them</HI> has Time ever done, but goes forward with &s;peed: Many ways are invented to pa&s;s away Time; but none were ever yet found out to &s;tay it.</P>
<P N="4">(4.) Uncertain: That part of Time which is gone, is nothing; and that which we may think is to come, is un|certain; that which is pa&s;t is not now, and the other is not yet; that cannot be recall'd, nor this &s;ecur'd.</P>
<P><HI>Hezekiah</HI> indeed had a &s;en&s;e of <HI>fifteen years</HI> added to his Life (added, not to what God had determin'd, but to what
<PB N="30" REF="18"> he threatned) but we have none to ours, and therefore cannot tell how long we &s;hall live, nor how &s;oon we may die: It may be within a few Years (as <HI>Job</HI> &s;aid of him&s;elf) within a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 16. 22. Luke 12. 20. Ho&s;. 10. 15. 1 Sam. 28. 19.</NOTE> Month (as was threatned to <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> this Night (as happen'd to the Rich Man) in the Morn|ing (as was threatned to the King of <HI>I&s;|rael)</HI> or to Morrow, as was &s;aid to <HI>Saul.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ye&s;terday</HI> is pa&s;t, <HI>to Morrow</HI> may be our Wo, and therefore &s;ince we know not what &s;hall be on the Morrow, it will be our Wi&s;dom not to know what <HI>to Morrow</HI> means, but <HI>to day</HI> to do the work of the Day, <HI>James</HI> 4. 14.</P>
<P N="5">(5.) Irrevocable when pa&s;t and gone: The Sun returns every day, and the Moons of the Year in their Cour&s;e; but Time never returns; &s;ome lo&s;&s;es in <HI>Time</HI> may be repair'd, but <HI>Time</HI> it &s;elf, when gone, can never be recall'd: No Year of Revolution (as <HI>Plato</HI> and <HI>Zeno</HI> thought) no returning back when gone hence, ei|ther to do what was omitted, or mend what was ami&s;s. A Con&s;ideration that ought to make us Good-Husbands of
<PB N="31" REF="18"> our Time, and highly to prize it, as we do things, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cujus uuius hone&s;ta avaritia e&s;t, <HI>Seneca.</HI></NOTE> which when once gone, can be had no more. It will be too late to think of <HI>redeeming our Time,</HI> when gone into Eternity; and therefore &s;hould leave nothing undone in Time, but what we would have undone to all Eternity.</P>
<P N="6">(6) That for which we mu&s;t be ac|countable. God the Father of <HI>Eternity,</HI> is Lord of <HI>Time:</HI> By his Power we were brought into Time, and by his Provi|dence have been pre&s;erv'd in it; he might a&s;&s;oon as we were brought forth into Time, have &s;ent us back into a mi&s;erable Eternity; But as he at fir&s;t gave us our Time, &s;o he has ever &s;ince continu'd us in it; yet it is not &s;o much given as lent, and will be call'd for again.</P>
<P>It was his before ours, and is now his more than ours; ours for U&s;e, but his for Improvement, and for which he will reckon with us to a Moment; and when the Reckoning &s;hall be brought in, and the <HI>Items</HI> for &s;o many years &s;pent in un|repented Sin and Vanity read, the Bill ca&s;t
<PB N="32" REF="19"> up, and the Sum &s;et down what Time ill-&s;pent will co&s;t, it will grieve us to the heart that ever we call'd-in &s;o fa&s;t, and make us in angui&s;h of Soul to wi&s;h, that either Time had never been to us, or that we might never more be either in Time, or in Eternity.</P>
<P>Time is the be&s;t Inheritance, and can|not be Redeemed too dear. And eve|ry ones Talent, more or le&s;s, and there|fore &s;hould be every ones Care to Im|prove, <HI>viz.</HI> of Rich and Poor, Old and Young.</P>
<P>Of the Rich, They may think they've &s;omething el&s;e to do, but can have no|thing of &s;uch Concernment as this; and therefore &s;hould Contract their Bu&s;i|ne&s;s, and not take more Care, nor &s;pend more Time to find a lo&s;t Groat then to &s;ave a lo&s;t Soul.</P>
<P>Of the Poor, who perhaps cannot look back to a lo&s;t State to be Redeem'd, yet may to a lo&s;t Time, and therefore &s;hould not, by being provident for a Moment, neglect an Eternity; nor be more &s;olicitous how to live here, than how or where they &s;hall live, when they &s;hall live here no more.</P>
<PB N="33" REF="19">
<P>Of the Old, who by the &s;haking of their Hands, the dimne&s;s of their Eyes, and feeblene&s;s of their Knees, may know that Death has taken them by the Hand; look'd in at the Windows, and &s;haken the Pillars of their earthly Tabernacle; and therefore &s;hould make what ha&s;te they can to improve their Time, for their Sun is pa&s;t its Meridian, in its Declen&s;ion, and ju&s;t a &s;etting, their Day far &s;pent, and the Night at Hand when all their Actions will be out of &s;ea&s;on.</P>
<P>Of the Young, who being pa&s;t the danger of Infancy, and not come to the weakne&s;s of Age, may think their Time will continue long, but tho Strength is coming, their Time is going.</P>
<P>All ha&s;ten alike to Death, but &s;ome have a le&s;s way to go than others; there is a dying in Youth as well as in Old Age; and as the Old cannot live long, &s;o the Young may die &s;oon, and there|fore &s;hould not delay, nor put off to the Winter of their Age; but in the Spring|time of their Life, make their Flight to God; None ever went to Heaven too
<PB N="34" REF="20"> &s;oon, and they that come la&s;t (or when old) to Hell, will find to their &s;orrow, they made too much ha&s;te thither.</P>
<P>Thus All, by improving Time pre|&s;ent, may redeem Time pa&s;t, and pro|vide for Time to come, or rather, for a happy Eternity.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Time con&s;ider'd in the particular &s;en&s;e, is the &s;ea&s;on of Time: Time in the large&s;t &s;en&s;e is the &s;pace of Time.</P>
<P>Time in the <HI>particular &s;en&s;e,</HI> is the good occa&s;ion that falls out in the <HI>&s;pace of time.</HI> Time is that in which occa&s;i|on is, for, as to every Time there is a Purpo&s;e, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, Eccle&s;. 3. 1. <HI>Articulus temporis.</HI></NOTE> <HI>(viz.</HI> a proper bu&s;ine&s;s for it) &s;o to every purpo&s;e there is a Time, <HI>viz.</HI> a fit &s;ea&s;on for it. That part of Time which is the opportunity for Bu&s;ine&s;s, that which has in it a &s;pecial commodiou&s;ne&s;s, aptne&s;s and fitne&s;s for it. It is the Meeting of Time and Means together for the accompli&s;hing of it, and ought to be embrac'd and improv'd in order to it. As there are &s;ome Duties, <HI>(viz.</HI> &s;uch as the glorifying of God, and the &s;aving of our &s;ouls) that are not put
<PB N="35" REF="20"> off to any particular &s;ett-time, but to be concurrent with every Moment of our Time, there being not the lea&s;t Minute of Time, in which they are not &s;ea&s;on|able.</P>
<P>So there are &s;ome Duties that are a|dapted to a particular Part or Sea&s;on of Time, they for the Sea&s;on, and the Sea|&s;on for them; &s;uch as con&s;ideration and &s;upplication in a day of Adver&s;ity, Duties at all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 7. 14. James 5. 13.</NOTE> times (for we are not Men without the one, nor Chri&s;tians without the other) but then more e&s;pe|cially, then mo&s;t &s;ea&s;onable, and con&s;e|quently then mo&s;t beautiful, every thing, every word, and every work are beautiful in their &s;ea&s;on, God's works are &s;o then, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 3&punc; 11. Prov. 15. 23.</NOTE> and &s;o are ours too, for Sea&s;onablene&s;s is the Grace of Fruitful|ne&s;s.</P>
<P>And as there is a &s;ea&s;on as to worldly Things <HI>(viz.</HI> as Marts and Markets) for buying and &s;elling to Advantage, &s;o there is a &s;ea&s;on as to heavenly Things of greater Advantage, which
<PB N="36" REF="21"> God affords to all under the Go&s;pel, for the receiving and doing the great|e&s;t Good, and this is the &s;ea&s;on of Grace &s;o call'd.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) With re&s;pect to the outward Admini&s;trations of the means of Grace, and the offers of Grace in them.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) With re&s;pect to the inward Operations of the Spirit of Grace, in and by tho&s;e means. Chri&s;t is our Agent in Heaven, and the Spirit is his on Earth, and part of his Agency is to quicken Ordinances to us, and us to them; us by them, and us to them, both as to State, and Frame.</P>
<P>They are a means to Salvation, but without the Concurrence of the Spirit, they will not be an Effectual means thereunto, though Chri&s;t him&s;elf was the Di&s;pencer of them, as is Evident in the <HI>Jews</HI> who were under the direct Beams of the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and yet were in darkne&s;s, black and de|form'd (as the <HI>Moors</HI> neare&s;t the Sun) under the &s;hining of that mo&s;t Glorious Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s. Now this al&s;o is &s;hort. For if Time is &s;hort, then
<PB N="37" REF="21"> Sea&s;on, that is but a <HI>particle</HI> of that time, can|not be long. Therefore it is in Scripture called, a <HI>Day,</HI> an <HI>Hour,</HI> and a <HI>Now.</HI></P>
<P>A Day, <HI>the Day is at hand.</HI></P>
<P>An Hour, <HI>the Hour is com|ing.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13. 12. John 5. 25.</NOTE> A part of Time not determined (as the Natural Day) by the Motion of the Sun round the Heavens, but by the God of Heaven, in who&s;e hands all our Times, both of Nature and Grace are, and to whom only it is known how long, or how &s;hort it &s;hall be.</P>
<P>A Now, <HI>Now is Salvation nearer; Now turn to the Lord.</HI> Not a perpe|tual <HI>Now</HI> of Eternity that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom&punc; 13. 11. Joel 2. 12. <HI>Nunc &s;tans, nunc fluens.</HI></NOTE> is fixt and permanent, but a tran&s;ient <HI>now</HI> of Time, that is fluid and ever in Motion.</P>
<P>A <HI>Day</HI> is but a &s;hort part of Time; an <HI>Hour</HI> is but a little part of a <HI>Day.</HI> And a <HI>Now</HI> is but a &s;mall piece of an <HI>Hour,</HI> the lea&s;t par|ticle of Time, and is to Time as a Point is to Place, <HI>viz.</HI> indi&s;cernable, indivi&s;ible, of no Dimen&s;ions, unle&s;s imaginable, and rather a Term of Time than a Part of it.</P>
<P>Now to improve this as the other.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Do nothing to make this &s;hort Sea&s;on &s;horter.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Do what you can to make this &s;hort Sea&s;on long.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Do nothing to make this &s;hort Sea&s;on &s;horter, as you may by your Contempt and
<PB N="38" REF="22"> Neglect and Contempt of it; the abu&s;e of this Day will bring the Night, and may, &s;ooner than we are aware of, <HI>viz.</HI> cau&s;e the Sun of the Go&s;pel to Set at Noon, and your Light to be withdrawn in the Sea|&s;on thereof, <HI>viz.</HI> then when <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 2. 9. Amos 8. 9.</NOTE> ye may mo&s;t need it, and lea&s;t expect it, <HI>viz.</HI> as little as of the Suns go|ing down at Noon.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Do what you can to make this &s;hort Sea&s;on long, <HI>viz.</HI> to cau&s;e the Sun of the Go&s;|pel to &s;tand &s;till, and continue in your Hori|zon.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) By a diligent Attendance upon it, ly|ing at the Pool, ready to &s;tep in at the Sea&s;on the Angel moves there, <HI>John</HI> 5. 4.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) By a faithful improvement of it, <HI>viz.</HI> to the end for which it was given, and is con|tinued, <HI>viz.</HI> by clo&s;ing with all the ble&s;&s;ed Motions of the Spirit, and making u&s;e of the Means of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 24. 13. Rev. 22. 11. En notes <HI>continua|tion,</HI> and <HI>augmen|tation.</HI> Prov. 1. 24, 26. Deut. 28. 63. <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Summo &amp; in|credibili laetiti&acirc; vi|&s;us Dei pro omni ir &acirc; ponitur.</HI></NOTE> Purging, whil&s;t they conti|nue, le&s;t ye be never purged, but remain filthy &s;till, <HI>viz.</HI> more filthy, and for ever &s;o, and by hearkening to, and coming at God's Call, le&s;t he be deaf to yours, and <HI>mocks when your fear comes,</HI> which will be the height of Mi&s;ery; for as God never mocks at any in their Mi&s;ery, but to their de&s;truction, &s;o no
<PB N="39" REF="22"> de&s;truction like to that where he delights to de&s;troy.</P>
<P>To have a Sea&s;on is a great Ble&s;&s;ing, but Judgment to know and ob&s;erve it, and Wi&s;|dom to u&s;e and improve it is a greater, e&s;pe|cially if we con&s;ider that this Sea&s;on is preci|ous, &s;hort, pa&s;&s;ing, uncertain and irrecovera|ble when lo&s;t.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) Precious. A Day. A Day of Life as to us. A Day of Grace as to God. A Day of Salvation, an <HI>acceptable Day,</HI> a <HI>time of love,</HI> a Day of Good-will to Sinners, <HI>I&s;ai. 49. 8. 2 Cor.</HI> 6. 2.</P>
<P>Time in the general &s;en&s;e is valuable, but this part of Time is mo&s;t &s;o, as a Means ap|pointed by God for the mortifying of our Corruptions, and the quickning of our Gra|ces, and without which all the other Time would not be of &s;o great advantage to us, the be&s;t part of Time (and &s;ometimes the &s;horte&s;t) the lo&s;s of which, Eternity it &s;elf is little enough to bewail.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) Short, A Day, and but a day; a day, that we may labour, and but a Day that we might not loyter.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) Pa&s;&s;ing: A Day of Grace, not like the Day of Glory, a perpetual Day without Night, &s;hining in its eternal High-Noon, without the lea&s;t Shadow or Cloud upon it; but a Day that will have a Night, as well as a Morning and Full Noon.</P>
<P N="4">(4.) Uncertain: <HI>viz.</HI> Both as to the Day
<PB N="40" REF="23"> and the Work of the Spirit in the Day. A Day of Grace that may be &s;horter than the Day of Nature; a Time of Love that may be &s;horter than our Time of Life; it ever ends with it, but may end before it, and is never longer, but may be &s;horter.</P>
<P N="5">(5.) Irrecoverable when lo&s;t: Such a Day, as when the Night is come, will have no other Day to &s;ucceed, but a Day of Vengeance, that will take place of that Day of Patience abu|&s;ed by us.</P>
<P>Now to <HI>Apply</HI> what hath been &s;aid, let us con&s;ider,</P>
<P N="1">(1.) That we in this Land have had our Sea&s;on, and you in this Place have had yours; and &s;uch a Sea&s;on under the Mini&s;tration of that Excellent Per&s;on (now with God) when he dwelt <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dr. <HI>Bates.</HI></NOTE> among you, and Preacht to you, that perhaps ye may never have more, while ye are in Time.</P>
<P><HI>Judah</HI> for this was called <HI>the glorious land, the goodly land, the land of Ornament;</HI> and this has been <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 11. 16.</NOTE> the honour of our Land, and no le&s;s of your Town where it has been.</P>
<P>A Signal, and a Di&s;tingui&s;hing Mercy.</P>
<P>A Signal Mercy, as the only Means, in an ordinary way, to Salvation; there being no other way now to be &s;aved, but by the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>It was <HI>Benjamin</HI>'s Glory that God dwelt betwixt his Shoulders, and the Glory of the
<PB N="41" REF="23"> Ark that God &s;ate there between the Cheru|bims, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 63. 2.</P>
<P>The Temple was the Glory of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and the Ark was the Glory of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> yea the Glory of God, the Beauty of his Ornament, and therefore may well be reckoned ours; for as a Note of Dignity and Excellency, it is called, an exalting that place where it is, up to Heaven, <HI>Ezek. 7. 20. Luke</HI> 10. 15.</P>
<P>A di&s;tingui&s;hing Mercy, as the fruit, not of common Bounty, but of &s;pecial Love, and as to &s;ome, and not to all, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 97. 18, 19.</P>
<P>How many &s;it in darkne&s;s (and wor&s;e than <HI>Egyptian</HI> Darkne&s;s) <HI>in the &s;hadow of death,</HI> whom <HI>the Day-&s;pring from on high</HI> hath not vi&s;ited, to give Light, (the knowledge of Sal|vation) to, whil&s;t we are in a <HI>Go&s;hen,</HI> a Land of glorious light, <HI>Luke</HI> 2. 77, 78, 76.</P>
<P>A People as good by Nature as any of us, and who, perhaps, would have made a bet|ter improvement of &s;uch Sea&s;on, if they had had it, than we have done.</P>
<P>God might have afforded it to them, as well as to us, to them, and not to us; but fince it is to us, and not to them, it calls for Thankfulne&s;s from us, the lea&s;t Mercy from God, &s;hould be thankfully receiv'd, and faithfully improved by us, much more this, and mo&s;t of all, when a di&s;tingui&s;hing Mer|cy, <HI>viz.</HI> to &s;ome, and not to all, to us, and not to others.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) We have not only had our Sea&s;on, but
<PB N="42" REF="24"> have had it a long while, it has been, and yet is.</P>
<P>Some never had a Sea&s;on, and &s;ome not &s;o long as we. With many God has cut &s;hort his work, made an offer of Mercy, and when not accepted, has gone away, and return'd no more, but &s;ent them to Hell, to bewail their Folly without Hope; but he has not dealt &s;o with us, but has bore with our evil Manners many a Year. Our Sea&s;on has been long, our Day of Grace has been as long as our Day of Nature. And our Sea&s;on yet is, it has not a Night yet drawn over it.</P>
<P N="3">(3.) Our Sea&s;on may not be much longer, <HI>now is the day of Salvation,</HI> the next may be the day of Damnation. This the day of <HI>pa|tience,</HI> the next may be the day of <HI>vengeance,</HI> the <HI>acceptable year of the Lord,</HI> and <HI>the day of God's vengeance,</HI> &s;tand clo&s;e together, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61. 3.</P>
<P>Its true, the Go&s;pel &s;hall, in its Ordinances and Admini&s;trations, continue in the World to the end of it <HI>(Judah &s;hall dwell for ever, and Jeru&s;alem from generation to generation,</HI> Joel 3. 20.) but it is not &s;ecur'd to any particular place &s;o long, nor to any at all that reject it.</P>
<P>There are Vici&s;&s;itudes in the Kingdom of God, as well as in the Kingdoms of Men. <HI>Be|thel,</HI> once the Hou&s;e of God, became <HI>Bethaven,</HI> a <HI>hou&s;e of vanity,</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the <HI>valley of Vi&s;ion,</HI> and <HI>joy of the whole earth,</HI> became a <HI>Valley of Tears, lamented of men.</HI> The King|dom of Grace is not as the Kingdom of Glo|ry, a Kingdom that cannot be &s;haken, but
<PB N="43" REF="24"> may, and be taken away (as it was from the <HI>Jews)</HI> and given (as it was to the <HI>Gentiles)</HI> to a Nation bring|ing forth the fruits thereof, and their fruits in their proper Sea&s;on. <HI>Acts 13. 46. P&s;al.</HI> 13.</P>
<P>Now our Pillars are not &s;tronger than tho&s;e on which former Churches &s;tood.</P>
<P>Nor have we &s;uch a Lea&s;e of the Go&s;pel, as cannot be forfeited by our Sins. When the Ark &s;tood in the Temple, there were Staves there to carry it away. <HI>Exod.</HI> 12. 14.</P>
<P N="4">(4.) The &s;ea&s;on when pa&s;t and gone, may never be recovered, <HI>Go to Shiloh and &s;ee what I did there;</HI> the Ark that continued three hundred Years in <HI>Shiloh,</HI> when carried away, never return'd more, to <HI>I&s;rael</HI> it did, but not to <HI>Shiloh,</HI> Jer. 7. 12, 14.</P>
<P N="5">(5.) The greater our &s;ea&s;on has been if not im|prov'd, the greater will our Sin, and con&s;equently our Condemnation for it be. The Sin will be more hei|nous. And the Puni&s;hment more grievous.</P>
<P N="1">(1.) The Sin more heinous. To Sin again&s;t the Twilight of Nature is provoking, but more again&s;t the Noon-light of the Go&s;pel. It was this that ag|gravated the Sin of <HI>Capernaum</HI> beyond that of <HI>Sodom,</HI> (though there were no unclean <HI>Sodomites</HI> in it) and made the Sin of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;o great as not to admit of an excu&s;e, had it not been for this they had no Sin, not &s;imply none, but comparatively none, to what el&s;e they would have had, and will ours greater then the Sin of the Devils, to whom a &s;ea&s;on of Grace was never given, nor a tender of Mercy ever made.</P>
<P N="2">(2.) The Puni&s;hment will be the more dreadful. Great Salvation neglected will bring great Damnati|on; for, that which brings the greate&s;t Cur&s;e is a Ble&s;&s;ing refus'd, it has more of the Nature of Sin in it, and will have more of the Effects of it in the &s;eve|rer Vengeance for it. It was this, that Chri&s;t tells us would make the Condemnation of <HI>Capernaum, Cho|razin</HI> and <HI>Beth&s;aida,</HI> le&s;s tolerable or more intolerable then that of <HI>Tyre</HI> and <HI>Sidon,</HI> viz. <HI>becau&s;e of the mighty Works done there,</HI> there were greater Sins committed in
<PB N="44" REF="25" MS="y"> the one, but there were greater Works done in the other, and from this their Sins would be the more highly aggravated, and con&s;equently the more &s;evere|ly Puni&s;h'd, <HI>Math. 11. 20. Luke</HI> 10. 13.</P>
<P>So that if we are not diligent to improve the Sea|&s;ons we have, it would have been better for us that we had never had them; for the Time may come when we may wi&s;h we had been <HI>Heathens</HI> rather than Chri&s;tians, and Citizens of <HI>Sodom</HI> rather then of <HI>Zion.</HI></P>
<P N="6">(6.) The neglect of Sea&s;ons, is one great part of the torment of the Damned in Hell.</P>
<P>The gnawing of the never dying Worm is the en|raged and furious Reflection of the Soul upon it &s;elf, with the gna&s;hing of Teeth out of Indignation again&s;t them&s;elves, at the remembrance of tho&s;e Sea&s;ons they once had in their Hands, but no Hearts to improve them; but now lo&s;t, and not to be recover'd.</P>
<P>What would not they give (if they had it) that are in that Ocean of Mi&s;ery, for a Shore to land in? How would they rejoice, were a Proclamation made at Hell Gates for their Relea&s;e? Might Time be once more, or a Voice call to them to come out, and live over their Lives again.</P>
<P>Let us then, while in Time, act like Men of Wi&s;|dom, &s;uch as under&s;tand the Times and Sea&s;ons, and what ought to be done in them; that we may do no|thing in Time that will be matter of Sorrow to us here, nor of everla&s;ting Sorrow in Eternity: But &s;o live, as that we may look back to Time pa&s;t, and forward to Eternity with comfort when dying; as going from this pre&s;ent State, where Time, and all the glory of it, is pa&s;&s;ing away, into an Everla&s;ting State, where Time pa&s;&s;eth not at all, nor any of the Glory of that State &s;hall ever pa&s;s away.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
