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Dr. Colmaris

SERMON

At the publick Lecture

Befion^ September 4. 1746.

.--.>^;:vf

The Vanity of Man as Mortal

SERMON

Preach'd at the Lc^ure in Boftoti, September 4. 1746. In the

Audience of the General Courts The Morning before the Funeral

Of the Honourable

M" Frances Shirley

Confort to His Excellency

William Shirley Efq;

Captain General and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Vx^VwiZtoix^LitMaJfachufetts-Bay^ Sec.

By Benjamin Colman^ d.d.

Pulvts et Umbra futnus. Vi<vere Ji re6le nefcis^ difcede peritis.

BOSTON:

Printed by Rogers and -fonxle^ for D. Henchman in Cornhill. Mdccxlvi.

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.^^f^^'-

The Vanity of Man as Mortal.

Pfalm Lxxxix. 47.

Remember how JJjort my 7\me is : Wherefore hajl Thou made all Men in vain !

TO expreft my fatherly Tendernefs to my dear Colleague on his Jirft Turn in this public LeSlurCy I do at his earneft Requeft in Feeblenefs and Fear venture to appear once more in this your Au- dienccy ( my Honoured, Reverend and Beloved Hearers ) to bewail and improve as I am able the Breach which the Sovereign and Holy GOD has been pleafed to make this W^eek^ not only on His Excellency our Governour and his bereaved Fa- mily y but alfo on our felveSy the Town and Province^ in the Death of His Excellent Lady and Confort ; who firft in her more private Life among us, and

fince

6 The Vanity of Man

ifecein hffr exalted State, has exhibited to us fa much of the virtuous and gracious Woman\, wltK whofe Charadter the wife Solomon^ under a DivirlO Jnfpiratiofty clofes his admirable Book of Proverbs ; .^ " Whom who can find ? faid the Man of ex- alted Wifdom and Knowledge : — " Her Price is «' ^hove Rubies ! The Heart of her Hujband doth

•' of Spoil : She will do him good and no evil

" all the Days of her Life : She is like

*' the Merchants Ships^ fhe bringcth her Food *^ from afar : She rifeth while it is yet Night, *V and giveth-M^^ to her Houjhold^ and a «^ Pordon to \\tx Maidens : She confidereth a"^Fr^7^ «' and buyeth it ; with the Fruit of her Hands *' fhe planteth a Vineyard : She girdeth her *« Loins with Strength, and ftrengthneth her Arms : *« She perceiveth that her Merchandize is good^

*' her Candle goeth not out by Night : She

*' ftretcheth out her Hand to the Poor, fhe reach- *' eth forth her Hands to the Needy : She .is not *' afraid of the Snow for her Houfhold, for they <« are all clothed with Scarlet : She maketh her *' felf Coverings of Tapefiry^ her Clothing is Silk ^' and Purple : Her Hujband is known ia the «' Gates^ when he fitteth among the Bldcrs of the *' Land : — Strength and Honour are her Cioath- *' ing, and Ihe fhall rejoice in Time to coriie : " She openeth her Mouth with Wifdom, and ip *' her Tongue is the Law of Kindnefs : She look- <' eth well to the Ways of her Houfhold, and eat- " eth not the Bread of Idlenefs : Her Children rife " up and call her blejfed, her Hujband alfo and he " praifeth her : Many Daughters have done ver- " tubufly, but Thou excelled them all. Favour is *' deceitful and Beauty is vain, but a Woman that

fearetb

as Mortal 7

« feareth the Lord llie fhall be fraifei : Give her *« of the Fruit of her Hands^ and Jet ^^r ew» '' /F^r/^j praife Her in the Gates,

I know You are before me, my Hearers^ in the Application of this high and Jlrong Character to the deceafed Madam Shirley -, nor will I prefume to add a Word by Way of Charafter to this infpir'd and exalted Encomium. — Take it, and divide it among your felves^ Ye venerable Matrons and Daughters of New-England I And may the moft Amiable and Honoured Daughters of the Deceased ever eminently appear and fhine in thofe Ornaments of the Daughters of Zion.

— But alas ! my Hearers^ that whenever it pleaf- es the GOD of the Spirits of all Flelh to forra fuch a Charadler in his Church below ; and lend fuch a Son or Daughter for a few Days, to ferve in their Generation by His holy Will -, that we muft needs return fo foon to the Words of my 'I'ext^ and fpread them before the Lord in the Pre-^ fence of all his People \— " Remember how fhort *' my "Time is ! Wherefore haft Thou made all Men " in vain ? What Man is He that liveth andjhall *^ not fee Death ! Shall he deliver his Soul from the if Hand of the Grave ?

Who the Writer of this Pfalm was, or when it was written is uncertain. It may feem by the me- lancholly Conclufton of it, from the 38 th Verfe -, to have been wrote by fome holy Man of GOD about the Time of the Bahylonifh Captivity ; when the Glory of the Houfe of David was made to ceafe^ and his Throne caft down to the Ground, — The Promifes of GOD to David^ and his Covenant refpeding his ■"■"^ " ^oli.fe.

8 "The Vanity of Man

Houfe are inlarged on in the firft 37 Verfes of .the Pfalm \ and the Faithfulnefs of GOD to his Pro- mifes are fung of, with the utmoll Affurance^ thro' that long Period : Yet how to reconcile the pre* ient Face of Providence with thofe Promifes, was beyond the Force of the pious Pfalmift'*s Penetra- tion : He therefore drops it, leaving it to the Mofl High and Holy and 'True to fulfil his Word in his own Way and Time : He therefore betakes himfelf to Prayer for the Royal Houfe^ and for the Church cf GOD imbark'd in the Fate thereof ; and for Himfelf alfo as One of GOD's Ifrael who would be his Remembrancer for Sion ; — " Remember bow *' fhort my Time is ? Wherefore haft thou made all •' Men in vain ? — Where are thy former Loving- " kindneffes which thou fwearejl unto David in thy *' Truth ?

Moft obfervable in thefe Words is the humble Freedom us'd by the Pfalmift in putting GOD as it were in Mind^ befeeching Him to remember ! as if it were a Thing poffible for His infinitely know- ing Mind ever to forget I — and he prefumes (as it were) to bring to GOD's Remembrance a very known Thing and common ; how Jhott his Time was, and the Time of all Men is !

See what a Liberty in Prayer GOD indulges to his People, to fpeak /<?-Him and^/Him after their own Manner -, as a Child to his Father^ or a Marv to his Friend ! So He overlooks the Infirmity and the Impropriety of their Words, and accepts gracioufly what Faith and Love mean well*

And yet the Pfalmifi's Freedom before the Throne of Grace goes further^ and he even dares to expof-

tulate

as Mortal. g

tulate with the High GOD upon the outward Face of his Government ; — " Wherefore hajl thou made

all Men in vain ? So he pour'd out his Com-

fylaint before the Lord, and fhewed before him his

'Trouble,

But far, far be it from us to cenfure the pious and fervent Servant of the Lord, or to think his Words amifs I — elfe in a holy Refentment one might be ready to anfwer, " IVho art thou^ O Ma?j^ '' that repliejl againfl GOB ? Or who fhall fay " to Him^ what doeft Thou ! Shall the Thing form- ed, fay unto Him that formed it, IVhy haft thou made me thus ? I will anfwer thee^ GOD is greater than Man ! Why dofl thou ftrive with him ? for He giveth no Account of his Matters.

But fuch a Return as this to the Pfalmift^s Words, were to fuppofe them chargeable with Ir- reverence or Difcontent before GOD -, which was far from him. — And yet the Freedom taken in expofiidating in Prayer on fo Great a Point as the making Man and all Men ! as if it might but feem to be in vain, though it may not be called any con- tending with his Maker,, refpeding his Work,, as if he had no Hands \ or a charging GOD foolijhly with that which really He had no Hand in ; but Man muft take wholly to himfelf, having brought all the Vanity upon Himfelf by his Sin : — Yet it muft be confefTed to be a very great Liberty taken by Duft and Alhes, and a wonderful hirtance of GOD's overlooking the Infirmity, winking at the Ignorance and accepting the Prayer •, for He confiders that we are Duft ; and we cannot ftrain the Matter in the leaft beyond the Prophet Jere- w/^/^'s Meaning, in his xiith Chapter, ift Verfe. B Righteous

lo "The Vanity of Ma7t

Righteous art thoii^ O LORD ! yet let me reafon with Thee of thy Judgments,

But pafTing the Manner of the Pfdmifih expref- fmg himfelf, let us attend to the JDo^rinal Truths fuggcfted to us in his Words •, which are of the lad Importance to us to remember daily, keep in Mind, ponder and improve : i. That our Time here in the Body is very Jhort : 2. So fhort as may fometimes make us ready to think of our felves and others, that v/c are made in vain ! And if it were not for the Relation which our prcfent Life bears to a future and everlafting State^ it might juftly be thought fo.

The frjl of thefe Do brines is fo obvious a Truth, that there needs very little to be /aid on it ; how much foever we ought always to remember it our felves, and may daily carry before GOD the Re- membrance of it ; « " LORDy how Jhort my Time is !

The Holy Ghost admonifhes us of it by the Pen of the Apo§lle that we may never forget it ; *' Brethren^ the Time is Jhort^ and the Fajhion of this World paffeth away, i Cor. vii. 29. The blefled Spirit of Grace isalfo often telling us how fhort., in fuch Words as if the Thing could not well be told ; " it is but as the Shuttle pqffing thro* the Loom -, it is but as a Hand breadth^ and our Zge as nothing before GOD and in our own Eyes, Pfal. xxxix. 5.

The Time o^ fome of the Sons and Daughters of Men is fo fhort., that they expire in the Womb., sad never draw a Breath : How much in vain

may

as Mof^lal.

II

may thcie untimely Births feem ! Who knows the Way of the Spirit or his Mind^ in animating the curious Body which it frames in y^rr^/, never to fee this Light of ours ! Yet is it not done in vain ! No, the Spirit of thefiill horn Babe returns to GOD that gave it, the Father of Spirits -, and therefore is not made in vain.

Others die from the Womh ; juft fee the Light, or fetch a Breath or two, gafp and are gone ! or ]ive a Month or Year, and their Angels take Um^ which behold the Face of their Father in Heaven. Their few Minutes, Days, or Weeks are not in vain ; for you know who has faid. Mat. xix. 14. Suffer the little Ones to come to me^ for of fuch is my Kingdom .

What Multitudes of the Human Ofrspring die in Childhood, within the firfl five\, feven, or ten Years of Life ! They hve to -leave the Breaft^ lifp at a Word of Love^ run to the Mother's Knee ; begin to know a Uttle, to read and fay a Prayer, and die as they begin to be the Hope and Light and Joy of their Parents : — It is computed that a third die not two Years okl, and one half that are born before five : Yet not in vain has the fliort Life been, if we may fee 'em one Day in Heaven ; the Pains of hearing and Sorrows of burying will be well rewarded.

So if they die in blooming Touth^ juft begin- ning to bear and promifing good Fruity or having yielded fome^ they have not been in vain ; but are in Favour taken, although it be from a Crown on Earth, like young Abijahy becaufe there was B 2 ibms

12 l^he Vanity of Man

fome good Thing found in him toward the Lord God of Ifrael.

Or to give the Reverfe^ — if they die in Tottth and their Life has been among the Unclean \ (as Bildad faid to Job) and GOD has caji them away in their Tranfgrefiion \ yet may we not fay they were made in vain ! no, though it be in Truth much worfe than in vain ! — for what if GOD wil- ling to fhew his Wrath fnatch away the VefTel fit- ted for Deflru5fion fooner or later ! All Flefh muft be Jilent before Him ! but hoW much more will Aaron hold his Peace, and Eli anfwer, "• It is the Lord, let Him do what feemeth Him good.

Or again, if an Hezekiah or a Jofiah be called to die in the midft of Life^ Honour and Ufeful- nefs ; we miuft not chatter like the Crane^ or much worfe, and fay, " Why were the golden Veffels formd and Ihown in vain ? No, far otherwife : GOD will remember how they have walked before Uim^ while they and others may inourn in the cutting cff their Days ; yea while the Church it felf may lament as in our Context^ " Thou haft cafl off thine *■ Anointed^ thou hdSk. frofaned his Or own ^ thou hall *' fhortned his Bays,

To add no more, — At full and Old Age the Time is fhort \ at three and f our f core Years it is foon cut off^ and we flee away ^ as the Ffalmift tru- ly fings : Pfalm xc. : We have gained fo little Knowledge and Grace, we have done fo little Good in the World j we have been guilty of fo much £yil, and have feen it may be fo many Sorrows ; ihat with %\iz venerable Patriarch we muft look

'' back

as Mortal.

^3

back and fay, " Few and evil have the Days ef the Tears of my Pilgrimage been.

But if we live gracekfs and wicked to the Days of Old Age^ O then how have they been in vain^ and pajfed away in GOD's Wrath ! For wherefore do the Wicked live, become old and grow mighty in Power ! — An untimely Birth is better than be^ and the Sinner a hundred Years old is but the more accurfed ! His Days are fpent as a Tale that is told, and according to his Fear fo is GOD*s Wrath ! Mark him, and be ajlonied and lay thy Hand on thy Mouth ! — Dare not even in this fad Cafe to fay, " This Monument of Sin has been made and fpared in vain ! No, there's a Judgment to come, and remember the Days of Darknefs^ for they fhali be many.

You fee, my Hearers^ that there is a Necefllty of judging by Faith^ and not by Sight -, all the while we live^ and when we die : if there were no other Life after this, the fhort or long finful hurtful Lives of one and another in every Age and Place, were much worfe than in vain ! The Sin- ners have only defirofd much Good^ and it had been better both for themfelves and others that they had never been born. — But it will not be found fo in •the End \ the Glory of GOD and the Good of the Univerfe will be found well anfver*d in the Day of Judgment •, as we are told Prov. xvi. 4. The Lord has made all Things for Himfelf^ even the Wicked for the Day of evil.

But if we bound our Sight within the prefent Scene of Things, and look not to the Things unfeen and eternal y there might then feem Reafon

enough

14 ihe Va7tity of Ma7i

(Enough for the fad Exclamation^ " O why are all Men thus made in vain ! — If we confider only the worldly Circumftances, and prefent goodly Ap- pearance of Perfons and Families ; if we call up a Job and his lovely Train of Sons and Daughters from the Dead^ and view them on the Day of their Devotion and feafting together, buried toge- ther in the Ruins of the fallen Houfe ! and he that Yefterday fat in the Gate^ in all the outward State and inward Morning of a fuperior and righ- teous Judge •, ^ his Glory frejh in Him, and Men '' giving Ear and waiting and keeping Silence at *' his Counfel ; " tbey waited for Him as for the '' Rain, and opened their Mouth wide as for the ** latter Rain ; (" the Oracle and Barling of his *' Country *) when the Ear heard him it bleffed " him, and when the Eye faw him it gave Wit- *'. nefs to him •, He put on Righteoufnefs and it *' clothed him, and his Judgment was to him for

*' *a Robe and Diadem I But to morrow he is

feen with CompalTion and Surprize, a Spe^acle of Poverty, Dijlrefs and Woe ; flript of Efiate and Family, without a Child or almoft a Servant to at- tend him *, deformed alfo by a gafily Bifeafe and covered with putid Sores, lb as not to be known by his Friends -, fo that they lift up their Voice^ and waiVd him ! — And had he died in this Extre- mity, had he been form'd and rais^'d in vain ? No 1 he had ferv'd bis Generation glorioufly by the Will of GOD, and knew that bis Redeemer liv'd, whom he Ihould fee for Himfelf one Day upon the Earth *, and his Eyes fhould behold bim^ though now his Reins were confuming within him : Job xix. 25, 26. He was a Type of his Redeemer

* Mr. Henry,

m

as Mortal. 15

in his Sorrows, and is with Him in his Joys^ and will come with Him in his Glory, in the Day of the Reftitution of all Things •, when this Cor- ruptible ihall put on Incorruption, and this mortal Immortality, and Death will he fwallow'd up in Vi5lory, i Cor. Chap. xv.

Let us recur in our Meditation to the tragical "Dying of righteous Abel in his early Piety, or to the placid Death-Bed of aged Jacob with his Sons about him, and his Jofeph clofing his Eyes with Tears and Kiffes : thefe very different Views of Death agree in this, that neither of them fhow the Good Man made in vain ; but equally to the heft that can be propofed by GOD or conceiv'd by us.

Let us view (I fayj righteous Abel in all the Charms of florid l^ouih and Grace together, one Day with his Sacrifice at the Altar of GOD, and a Light from Heaven fhining around him and ir- radiating his beauteous Face ! And the next Day view him cover'd with Gore, deform'd with gaft- ly Wounds, befmear'd with Dirt and Blood I ^ how had his early Piety and high Devotion feem'd^ in vain -, but for the Crown of Martyrdom remaining to him in a future eternal Life ! and at the Head of the noble Army of Martyrs, Confeflbrs of the Lamb flain in the midft of the Throne ! Rev. vii. 14. Thefe are they that come out of great Tribula- " tion, and have wafhed their Robes and made 'em " white- in the Blood of the Lamb : Therefore are " they before the Throne of GOD, and ferve him " Day and Night in his Temple ! they fhall *' hunger no more, nor ikirif any more, &c.

But

js6 The Vanity of Man

But let us pafs from the Blood of Ahel^ crying- from the Earth againft his Brother ; unto the Death- Bed of aged Jacobs the good old Patriarch willing to be gone, waiting for the Salvation of GOD^ de- firing to depart (Tike blefled Paul 2300 Years after him) and to be with Chrijl^ as far the better 5 calling his Sons to take his parting Prayer, to blefs them all together, and every One apart and by Name •, his Jofeph alfo in the midft of them, and Judah even greater than he in the Benedidlion, but not in Befert ; for the Reward is of Grace. View (I fay) this Jacob wreflling for the BlefTing even in his Mother's Womb^ as well as with the jdngel long after and prevailing, as a Prince that had Power with GOD ! Confider him in his con- tinual Advances in Wifdom and Communion with GOD unto old Jge ; his hoary Head and wrinkled Brow a Crown of Glory ^ in the Ways of Righte- oufnefs and Devotion : — Add to him fuch of his Sons as were moft like Him in their Generations, in their advanced Years alfo and Improvements in Grace ; — J^f^ph-i Mofes^ Jofhua^ Samuel^ David \ with Elias that never faw Death, and his SucceiTor Elifha more magnificent on his Death-Bed than the King and all his Court gather'd about it, and own- ing Him as much the Chariot of Ifrael as his Ma- fler Elijah had been before him : Add to thefe the New-'feflament Elias., with his Head in a Charger and more than a Prophet ; and think how Simeon cxpir'd, with the Holy Child Jesus in his Arms, fay fome : and imagine alfo the Tranfporis of a Stephen ftoned under the Viftons of Jesus through the open'd Heavens, and (landing on the Right Hand of GOD ! And add to all your Thoughts of the Joys of the Beloved of Jesus, St. John and Paul^ as the Time of their Departure came on !

Contemplate

as Mortal. 17

Contemplate all thefe in the Shades of Death ^ after their ferving their Generations by the Will of GOD ; and although their Labour and Suffering were not at all in vain in the Lord ; neverthelefs if it were not for their Relation to a better Country^ that is an heavenly^ and their Inheritance with the Saints in Lights at the Head of zvhom thefe fhine ; — What would they have thought of their Lif^ here below ? however eminently happy and ufefu!^ and honour'd of GOD they were in Comparifon'

of others I So Jacob paus'd, and took Breath,

in the midft of his blejfing his Sons, in that happy" Parenthefis^ " I have waited for thy Salvation^ O Lord. — And fuch had been the Faith and Hope and Joy of his dying Fathers^ the Patriarchs be- fore him ; as the Aposlle to the Hebrews tells us, Heb. xi. 13, 15. 'Thefe all died in Faith ^ defiring a better Country^ that is a Heavenly ; conf effing them-^. felves Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.

But though we may thus make fome Allowance to the befi of Men, or fome Kind of Excufe for them, after the befi Life of Services to GOD and Communion with Him, that has been attained in this Earth of ours ; if upon their Review of all that they have known of GOD or done for his Name, they readily own the Vanity and Emptinefs of it all ; if it were not for their fure and certain Hope of a higher and better Life, referved for them in Heaven^ after the DiiTolution of their Bodies ;• •— yet we muft recoiled our felves, and affirm con- flantly, that "Thefe among the Sons and Daughters of Men, (the whole EleBion of Grace, the Ele5l Lady and her Children as well as John himfelf ) have by no Means been made in vain ! no, far otherwife ^ their Labours have not been in vain

C ia

1 8 The Fa7tity of Man

in the Lord, but their Works follow them, and will be openly acknowledged and gloriouQy reward- ed in the Day of Christ -, and their Charities to his poor Members in particular, while they will flill call themfelves unprofitable Servants : Matth. xxv. 34, &c. " Then Ihall the King fay to them on his *' right Hand^ Come ye hlejfed of my Father^ *' inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the " Foundation of the World ; for I was hungry *' and ye gave me Meat^ thirjly and ye gave me *' Brink •, a Stranger and ye took me in, naked *' and ye clothed me •, I was fick and ye vifited " me •, I was in Prifon and ye came to me. " Then fhall the Righteous anfwer, " Lord, when

" did we fo ! And the King fliall reply,

*' Verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye have *' done it unto one of the lead of thefe my Ere- ^[ thren^ ye did it unto Me.

But we muft go on yet much further in the Argument before me, and fay,— GOD has made nothing in vain^ and much lefs Man : no not fo much as one Jingle Perfon, greater or lefs, better or worfe, in vain : — Far be it from Him, whofe Work is perfe^ ; and nothing can hinder his everlafting Glory from it ! no, not the Sin and Mifery of any of his Creatures, Men or Devils,

How far was Man in his firji Eftate from being made a vain Creature ! He was made a living Soul, in the Image of GOD ; an immortal^ Spirit, wife holy and happy -, and for an everlafting In- creafe in Knowledge and Holinefs and Bleffednefs, in a Life of Worfhip a7%d Obedience : — And altho' by Sin he foon fubjefted himfelf, and the Creatures under his Feet, to the Vanity and Bondage of Death

and

as Mortal. 19

and Corruption ; — and although the mojl of the Children of Jdam are wilfully perijhing in their fpiritual Corruption ; yet there is an Eleclion of Grace in whom GOD will glorify his Holinefs and Mercy for ever and ever, by recovering them here to a State of Communion with Himfelf, preparatory for and an Earnefl of the Tranflation of their Souls at Deaths and after the RefurreBion Soul and Body united to the Vifions of his Glories ia Heaven.

Then every Mark and Sign of Sin and Vanity fhall be done away for ever ; and the Redeemed from our Earth fhall fhine forth in the Kingdom of their Saviour^ in the Paradife above, in more than transfgur'd Bodies -, and in what irradiated Souls ! — how much fairer and brighter than Adam and Eve at firft in the Garden of God be- low ; in their Innocence^ Integrity and earthly Happinefs ! in what Knowledge, Purity and Joy ! like that of the holy Angels who (land and minif- ter ( with covered Faces ) before the Throne : ac- cording to what we read Pfalm xvi. ult. There- fore my Heart is glad and my Glory rejoices ; my Fleflj alfo fhall reft in Hope •, thou wilt floem me the Path of Life \ in thy Prefence is Fulnefs ^f Joy-, and at thy right Hand are Pleafures for evermore. Rev. xxii. 3, 4, 5. " And there fhall " be no more Curfe, but the Throne of GOD and " of the Lamb fliall be in it, and his Servants " Ihall ferve Him ! and they fhall fee his Face^ " and his Name fhall be in their Foreheads ! ^' and there fhall be no Night there ; for the *' Lord God giveth them Light j and they fliall [^j'eign for ever and ever.

C 2 Here

20 The Vanity of Man

Here let our View of Sin and Death and Va- fiity end as to the righteous ; for here mud be the Abolition of it for ever and ever, as to them \ *' Mortality being /wallowed up of Life. This is the Recitation of all Things, 'and of Man to his PoiTeffion of the heavenly Inheritance^ purchafed by Jesus Christ for his Ele^ and them for it.

. O how far then will the leafl of thefe feem from having been made in vain., in this Day of . the " Manifeftation of the Sons and Daughters of GOD ? O to what a glorious Purpofe will it then appear, that Man was created in the Likenefs and Love of GOD ? fince out of his fallen Loyns GOD has raifed fo many Children to eternal Glories ! of whom He has faid, and will fay for ever, " Ye are my Sons and Daughters,

faith the Lord Almighty, See their Num-

her and Glory., and hear their Songs of Joy, and read their endlefs Blifs : Revel, vii. 9, 10, 15, 16, 17. " After this I beheld, and lo a -*' great Multitude^ which no Man can number^ '^' of all Nations^ and Kindreds and People and ^^ Tongues, flood before the Throne and before *' the Lamb -, clothed with white Robes and '^ with Palms in their Hands ; and cried with *' a loud Voice, fliying ; Salvation to our GOD " which fitteth upon the Throne and to the " Lamb ! Thefe are they that came out of " great Tribulation., and h^vt wafhed their Robes '^^ and made them white in the Blood of the

^' Lamb : therefore are they before the

*' Throne of GOD, and ferve Him Day and ^' Night in his Temple ; and He that ftttetb *' on the Throne fhall dwell among them ! " diey fliall hunger no mor?^ nor thirjl any

^^ more j

as Mortal. 2x

" more ; neither fhall the Sun light on them,'

*^ nor any Heat •, for the Lamh which is in

" the midft of the Throne fhall lead them to

" Hving Fountains of Waters ; and GOD fhall

" wipe away all Tears from their Eyes.

USE. And fo I come to make fome prac- tical Reflexions on this vain Life of Man, in his corriipted Fle/h^ which GOD had no Hand in ! this Vanity of Man as mortal^ which is altogether of Himfelf

And is it as we have been hearing, that our Time here on Earth is fo very fljort^ and our State fo vain becaufe fo very finful ^ fo that we may be ready at times to think and fay of it, in our moft ferious Frames and Hours, — - " O why is Man made thus altogether, as it were, for Nought and in vain ? fo abandoned to Sin and Mifery^ and void of Goodnefs and Happinefs ? — Yet let us recover out of this falfe Medium^ whereby the Sight of GOD and of our Selves is obfcured •, — that we may make a juft and righteous Improvement of the Infeli- cities we have brought upon our Selves.

Firfl then, What a dreadful Thing is Sin ? and what a Punifhment of it is Mortality and Death. Man little underflood or weighed the Warning given him in his State of Innocence ; '^ In the Day thou eate§f^ thou fhali furely die. The firft Sight of Death on the Beafts flain in Sacrifice, was with- out Doubt not a little affeding to our firft Parents^ but the hideous Face of it in their lovely Jbel flruck (hem with a Horror not to be imagined.- — The

Sorrows

2 2 T'he Vanity of Man

Sorrows of lurying her Sons chang'd the fair Na- omi into an unknown Thing ; " Is this 'Naomi ? And yet thefe are but the lighter Part of the Curfe, which the mod pious are fubjed to, and Faith has many a Time born glorioully : Luke xii. 4. " I *' fay unto you my Friends^ Fear not them that '' can kill the Body, and after that have no more *' that they can do ! but I will forewarn you *' Whom you fhall fear ! Him thai can cajl the

*' Soul into Hell \ I fay unto you fear Him,

Yet alas, how is Sin punifh^d in us, and before our Eyes, in the prefent Life I " Call for the mourn- *' ing Women, faid the gracious Prophet, for Death *' is in the Streets, and at our Windows ! — It tears the fucking Child from the Mother^s Breaft, and the Defire of the Eyes with a Stroke from the Arms of her Hujhand. The tender Soul of Jesus was moved exceedingly as he faw the Widow following her Son to the Grave, and he wept at the Grave of Lazarus, Alas, how is Sin punifli'd in us, in the Sicknejfes and Pains and Corruption which often preceed Death, as well as in the Putrefadlion that always follows it. What Months of Vanity were appointed to Job, and wearifome Nights ? Job vii. 3. His Flefh was clothed with Worms and Clods of Dufl j his Skin broken and become loathfome. Chap. X. 9, 18. Remember I befeech thee, that thou haft made me as the Clay, and wilt thou bring me into Buff again ? Wherefore then haft thou brought me out of the Womb ? O that i had givdfn up the Ghojl^ and no Eye had feen me.

Secondly, The vainer our Life is, and the fhorter our Time, the more let us be excited to a holy Care and Vigilance, that it may not fsem to our

felves

as Mortal. 23

felves or others, to have been altogether loji and in vain : But let ns indeed think our felves made in vain^ if the End of Life be not in fome Meafure confider^d by us, anfwer'd and attained : Elfe (as the wife Solomon fays) an untimely Birth is better \ better than //<?, the Days of whofe Years are many and his Soul not filled with Good done in them ; for he Cometh in with Vanity^ and departeth in Darknefs, and his Name fhall be covered with Barknefs^ Ecclef vi. 4. To let a Jhort Life run away in Vanity and Sin, in doing nothings or in doing evil ; in the Negledt of GOD and our Souls, and to the Dilhonour and Wrong of both ; — what an egregious Piece of Folly and Wick- ednefs muft it be ! as it is reprefented and bewail- ed in the xcth Pfalm^ from the 5th Verfe ; " For " we are confumed by thine Anger, and by thy " Wrath we are troubled / thou haft fet our " Iniquities before thee, our fecret Sins in the " Light of thy Countenance ! for all our Days " arc paiTed away in thy Wrath ; we fpend our " Years as a Tale that is told ! — Who knowetb " the Power of thy Anger^ even according to " thy Fear fo is thy Wrath ! So teach us to " number our Days, that we may a^-^ly our Hearts *' unto Wifdom,

To Man GOD fays, — " This is Wifdom \ O that they were wife, that they underftood this^ and would confider their latter End ! The wife Servants of GOD have ever done it and been wife to Salvation : More efpecially the Son of the Higheft, when he took our mortal Flefh, was made Sin for us, and came into our World to die ; he quickened himfelf once and again, for our Sakes, and to give us an Example, from

this

24 ^^ Vanity of Man

this Motive •, " I maft work the Work of Him *' that fent me, while it is Bay ; the Night *' Cometh wherein no Man can work ! And a-

gain, ■ " I have a Baptifm to be baptifed

** with, and how am I ftraitned till it be ac- " complifhed. — The Bifciples of JESUS might •well kern this of Him, and teach it to others ; as we read in the Epiftles of St. Peter and Paul : " I will not be negligent to put you always in •' Remembrance of thefc Things -, yea, I think *< it meet as long as I am in this Taherjuicle of *' Clay, to ftir you up •, knowing that I alfo ** muft Jhortly put off this my Tabernacle as *' the Lord hath fhewed me ! — This I fay *' therefore. Brethren, the Time is jloort ! it re- *' maineth that both they that have fVives be *' as though they had ?tone -, and they that weep *' as though they wept not, and they that rejoice *' as though they rejoiced not, and they that l^uy *' as though they pofTefTed not, and they that '' ufe the World as not ahujing it, becaufe the " FaJJoion of it paffeth away.

^Thirdly, Let us the rather take a thankful No- tice to the Glory of GOD, that the Life of Some is not fo much in vain as that of many others. — They have much fooner began to live to GOD, they have through Grace done more for Him ih^ few Days they have lived, and it may be their ufeful Lives have been prolonged. — So the Face of Abraham-, Ifaac, and Jacob, and Jofeph fhone before the Princes among whom they fojourn'd ! And fo fhone the Face of Mofes and Aaron before the Congregation of Ifrael in the Wildernefs, and Caleb's alfo and Joffjua then and in the Land of Canaan : after them alfo Samuel

and

as Mortal. 25

and David ferv'd their Generation hy the Will of God ! but above all in the Days of the New Tejiament blefTed Paul " was in Labours more " abundant, and Christ was magnified in his *' Body^ in Life and Death. — The Glory muft be *' given to GOD, and was fo : Not /, but the Grace *' of GOD in me ; but the Comfort belongs to the " Believer in Jesus, and it is great in Life or " Death ; nor can it be in vain in the Lord. " I Cor. XV. uU. Wherefore my beloved Brethren^ " be ye ftedfafl^ 'unmoveable and always abounding " in the Work of the Lord.

Here therefore I might have added and muft add, I. The lefs Life has been in vain^ the more Comfort in our Death and in the Death of our deareft Friends ; when GOD takes them away from us, or calls us to take leave of them. — O in what Serenity and Peace are fuch at Times enabled to bid farewell and breathe their laft ? as I am told the Excellent Perfon whofe Remains we follow to the Grave this Afternoon^ was enabled by Grace to do ! to the Admiration of thofe that miniftred about her Bed^ and to the great C^;^/i?/^//c;^ of her Head and Offspring \ and may it be for their and our fpiritual Iniftruftion, Ad- . monition and Edification in Grace and Holinefs.

So Hezekiah^ the pious King of Judahy turned his Face to the Wall and prayed, when he was bid to fut his Houfe in Order for he muft die ; *' Lord, remember (faid he) how I have walked before thee with a perfe^ Heart ! — And fo the bleffed St. Paul look'd Death in the Face and tri- umphed ; '' the Time of my Departure is at hand, " 1 have fought a good Fight, I have finilhed Jt my Courfe, I have kept the Faith ! Hence- D " forth

26 T/)e Vanity of Man

*^ forth is referved .for me the Crown of Righte- *' oufnefs ! And not for me only but for all that *' love his Appearing, — And fo when Dorcas v/as dead, they wept over Her and told' her good Deeds^ the Garments Ihe had made for the poor ; and were going to hury her with Praifes^ in the midft of Lamentation. — And fo hke Jehoiada the Pried, let the loweft with the Higheft in the Congregation^ be named and buried as among the Kings of Judah j if they have done Good in IfraeL

But then, on the other Hand, 2. The longer cur Life is, and the greater our Advantages and Opportunities are for doing Good in the World, and the more fpecial our Obligations ; and yet the lefs is done by us \ fo much the more in vain has our Life been ! and the more Matter of Humilia- tion^ Mourning and Shajne remains to us ! the more Sorrow and Fear in a dying Hour, and look- ing for of Judgment J in the Bay of Christ ! As it is written, " Cafi the unprofitable Servant into utter Darknefs', there fhall he weeping and gnafhing of Teeth.

Fourthly^ The fhorter and vainer the prefent iin- ful Life of Man is, the more let us realize^ and ftrengthen our Faith in this great Truths — that GOD never made any Thing in vain ; and that Man in particular was made in the Perfe5fion of Life and Happinefs j wife and holy^ for a bleffed Immortality.

The Glory of GOD, and the Honour of his Creature^ require us to ftrengthen and eftahlifh our Faith in this firfi Record that GOD has given to Man concerning Himfelf — GOD made Man for the beft Ends^ and to the moft glorious Purpofes. What could be faid more great and good and aU" guff, than what's faid of Man in his Creation -, Gen.

i. 27;

as Mortal. 27

J. 27. So GOD created Man in his own Imaged in the Image of GOD created he him, Male and Female created He them •, and GOD bleffed them, — Such Man came out of his Maker* 5 Hand, a living Soul, never to have known Sin or Death, or to have been fubjet^ed to Vanity ! A Matter this is worthy of everlafting Remembrance, and a Subjedt of our perpetual Praifes ! And it will be fung of for ever in Heaven : Pfal. viii. 5. — ult. Revel, i V. 1 1 .

We may apply to Man in his Jir/l Eftate, and give Glory to GOD in thofe chofen IVords of the xxift Pfalm : '' Thou didft prevent him with the " BlefTings of Goodnefs ! thou didft put a Crown '' of pure Gold on his Head I Thou gaveft him " Life in Perfeftion, even Length of Days for " ever and ever : Honour and Majejly thou didfl: *' put upon him, and madeft him moft blejfed for *' ever ; exceeding glad with the Light of thy Coun- " tenance ! — Be thou exalted Lord, in thy own " Strength ! fo will wey?;?^and praife thy Power.

Fifthly, Let this therefore flill and quiet us in all that GOD orders concerning us, all the Days of our vain Life, which we pafs as a Shadow,

The Providence of GOD is perfect I there is no Room for any Sufpicion or Complaint, Expoftu- lation or Charge refpeding any Thing that may here befall us. Clouds and Darknefs may be round about the "Throne of GOD, but Righteoufnefs and Judgment his Habitation. He dwelleth in that Light, which no Eye can fee. His Righteoufnefs is as the great Mountains, while his Judgments are as the great Beep, Let the One be always before our Eyes^ while we cannot fee at all into the other, D 2 He

2ft The Vanity of Man

He 15 2l jealous GOD, and therefore will not beat that we ihould have any Jealoufy of his Govern- ment. He is perfedl in Knowledge, we compara- tively perfedl Ignorance. How unfearcbable are his Counfels, and his Ways pad finding out !

Every Event of Providence, the dark as well as the bright, are the IfTue and Refult of his infallible Foreknowledge and immutable Decrees. — The Cha" riot with the black Horfes, as well as the white^ came forth alike from between the Mountains of 'Brafs, Zech. yi. i. Thefe are Jhining Mountains and immoveable : they cad a Light and Glory upon all that comes forth from between thern. ^h^ black Horks Jhine in the fame Light of GOD, his Goodnefs, Wifdom, Righteoufnefs and Holi- nefs, as do the white : And it is of the black, that it pleafed the Holy One to fay, in the Hearing of the Prophet •, " Behold these have quieted my Spirit : Zech. vi. 8. And what quiets the Spirit of the Lord, Ihould quiet ours ; and will do foi if \ye defire to be holy wife and good as He is.

I can never forget,how as I was once reading that Chapter in my Family, thofe Words ftruck me with a marvellous Light and Force ; reprefenting to me the perfe6t infinite Complacency which the Soul of GOD has in all the Events of his Providence ; which are All and every One of them altogether fuch as they fhould be ; the full Accomplifhment of the everlafting Purpofes of his own Wifdom Ho- lincfs and Grace ; wherein therefore the Holy Spi- rit of the Lord muft have everlafling Reh and ^iet, Pleafure and Satisfaction. — Can there be a jnore calming quieting Confideration than this to the Spirit which GOD has made and fandlified ! |ias iDadc lo nvcrn^ and to be in Subjedion untp

his

as Mortal. 29

kls own holy, perfeft and blefled Will ? — So A-^ hraham*s Spirit was quieted when the Horror of great Darknefs came upon him, and the Lamp of Fire pafTed between his divided Sacrifice ; though it only fhewed him the long fiery Trial in Egypt^ which his Seed were to pafs through in their Way to Canaan, — And fo the Spirit of Job was quieted in the Will of GOD, when he bereaved him of all his Children, Family and Suhftance in one dark Day ! And he faid, " Naked came I out of my Mother's Womh^ and naked fhall I return ! the Lord ^^'y^and the Lord has taken, bleffed be the Name of the Lor d. — But to name a Greater than thefe, — So the Soul of Christ was quieted, John xii. 28. "Now ismy Soul troubled, and what fhall I fay ? Father, fave me from this Hour, but therefore came I unto this Hour ! Father glorify thy Name,

Let there be then in us a Conformity to our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Will of our Heavenly Father^ that his Soul may have Pleafure in us, as it has in Him. — O Believer in Jesus ! may Iy2[yunto thee ? " 9iuiet the Holy Spirit of GOD, by Quietnefs and Submiffwn to Him in all thy Afflidions ? This ihall pleafe the Lord better than the bell Sacrifice cf Praife thou canft render to him. Behold the Lamb of GOD, be meek and lowly like Him, and find Reft ta thy Soul ! it pleafed the Lor d to bruife him and put him to Grief: He was dumb and opened not his Mouth ; and the Pleafure of the hoRD profper'd in his Hand : Defire to be found one of his Seed, and let Him fee the Travail of his Soul in thy Conformity to Him.

What ;/ GOD wills, after a Courfc olfhining Cir^ cumftanccs in this World, to break the beauteous Body or the lovely Mind to Pieces \- and to bring

his

3 a The Vanity of Man

his Cloud over the joyous Houfe and Family, in the Day even of their worjhiping and feafting as in the Day of Job ? what belongs to us is, to fall down and worjhipy — " naked came I out of my Mother* s Womh^ and naked fhall I return^ the Lord gave and tbeLjORD hath taken -, blejfed be the Name ofthehoRD. Pfalm 88. 9, 18. " Mine Eye mourneth byReafon *' of Afflidion, I have called daily upon thee, I have *' ftretched out my Hand to thee ! Lover and Friend " haft thou put far from me and mine Acquaintance *' into Darknefs. Pfalm 62. 9. Surely Men of *' low 'Degree are Vanity, and Men of high Degree ** are a Lie I to be laid in the Ballances they are lighter than Vanity \ My Soul, wait thou only upon GOB ; for all my Expedtation is from Him,

cc

O that Those who are rifing up among us iny«- perior Circumftances, and with promifing ExpeElati- ens from a vain and empty World, would betimes re- ceive Convi6lion, and learn of the^n^ who have wifely gone before them, without Elation or Pride of Life,

Sixthly and laftly. The fhorter Time is, and the 'vainer the prefent Life and World may feem to any of us on the Account thereof -, the more let us fix our Eyes and fet our Hearts on the Word of GODy which liveth and abideth for ever^ and is not a vain ^hing^ but is our Life : Let us fet our Heart (I fay) on that unfeen and eternal World which the Word of Life fets before us, and requires us to be pafling our prefent Jhort Life in an earneft and diligent Pre* paration for.

Let us blefs GOD for Jesus Christ, and the Words of Eternal Life by Him, who has abolifhed Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light m his Gofpel.— My whole ContcPit leads us to Him 5

to

as Mortal. ^i

to ftng of the Mercies of GOD through Him for ever and ever ; and of the Covenant of GOD with Him, and in Him with all that believe in and fubmit to him on the Terms of the Gofpel.

This is the only Support of a pious Soul under the Vanity of Life, the Profpea of his own Death, and in his Sorrows over the Dead in Him. If in this Life only we had Hope we were miferable ; but now is Christ rifen from the Dead, and become the Firjt- fruit o{ them thztjleep : for if we belive that Jesus died and rofe again ; even fo them th^it fleep in Jesus GOD will bring with Him. We muft raife our Eyes therefore unto the Glories of that bleffed Day^ and turn them away from beholding Vanity, which will never never be thought of more ; nor will ever fuch a Word be heard again from a Saint's Lips ; but even Devils will confefs refpeding them that they were not made in vain : — No, happy the D^j' where- in they were born, and the Night wherein they were conceived I no Darknefs or any Shadow of "Death can ever fiain ir, nor any Cloud dwell on it : But GOD will regard it from above, and his Saints may keep the Day of their Death', as their blefled Birth-Day into Glory Honour and Immortality.

^ Morcefpecially, how will the righteous Jhine forth m the Kingdom o[ their Saviour in the Day of their Refurredion ? when Christ will quicken their vile Bodies, and fafhion them according to his own moil glorious Body ! When the Glory of the Celeftial fhall iucceed, after the Difhonour of the terreflial is ceafed tor ever ! When what was fown in Corruption Ihall htraifed in Incorruption ! what was fown in Weak- «<?A fhall be raifed in Power \ and the prefent natu- ral Uody Ihall bcrait.Ma/^/n///«/ \^Such is the Re~

furredion

3 2 ih^ Vanity of Man &c.

furreftion of thej^y?, and bleffed and holy forever are all ^hey that have Part therein.

Let us therefore be greatly quickned by the hlejfed Hope to pafs our Jhort Time and vain Life here, in the moft ferious and earned Endeavours to attain that Worlds even the Refurre5iion of the Juft. Let not the Vanity and Shortnefs of the prefent Life be com- plained of, but improved. Our Time is a Talent of in- finite Price^ for our diligent redeeming and improving till our Lord fhall come •, and blejfed is that Servant whom the LORD when he cometh^ fhall find fo doing.

We have liv'd to good Purpofe if we get well to Heaven. We fhall then find that our Life and La- bour has not been in vain in the Lord. Nay the fhorter our Life is, and the fooner we have begun to live to GOD, the more wonderful is the Gain and Advantage made ! How abundant is the Reward of a fhort Life of Duty and Sufferings ! how vafl that and how fmall thefe ! How light and for a Moment the One, and what an eternal Weight the other ! as the Apoflle teaches us to reckon and eflimate, Rom. viii. 1 8. That the Sufferings of the prefent Life are not worthy to be compared^ with the Glory to be re- vealed : — for which Caufe f fays he) we Jaint not ; 2 Cor. iv. ult. But though our outward Man perifh yet the inward is renewed Day by Day ; for our light yiffliSlion^ which is but for a Moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory I while we look not at the Things that zxtfeen^ but at the Things that are unfeen ; for the Things which are feen are temporal^ but the Things which are not fern are eternal.

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