TO make the Sense entire, we must take in part of the 29th Verse. This I say, Bre­thren, The time is short: It remaineth, that they that weep be as though they wept not, &c.

Some in the Primitive Times, and others at this Day, from this and other Expressions of the like Nature, have concluded, That the coming of Christ to Judgment upon the World is to be in a short time. But nothing of this Nature can be in­ferred from this, or the like Passages; for in all probability they relate only to the Dissolution of the Jewish State, which happened not many Years after this, and the rest of the Epistles, were Writ, to the Times of Persection, and to the Destru­ction of Heathenism. But notwithstanding this, the Assertion is true in many other respects, and may afford us many useful and practical Observati­ons.

The Time is short; it remaineth therefore, that they that weep be as though they wept not; and they [Page 2]that rejoyce, as though they rejoyced not; —and they that use this World, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this World passeth away.

Where we have, (1.) An Assertion. The Time in short.

(2.) The Inference from it, That we should mo­derate our Affections and Passions, so as not to be overwhelmed with Grief under Afflictions, nor too much transported with Joy in Prosperity. I begin with the First of these, the Assertion, The Time is short.

• I. The Time of Joy and Prosperity.
• II. The Time of Trouble and Affliction.
• III. The Time of our Abode and Continuance in this World. And,
• IV. The Time of our Seperation from our Friends, occasioned by Death. And shall shew what Practical Inferences may be drawn from each of these.

1. The Time of Tranquility, Joy and Prospe­rity is short. Job tells us, That Joy is but for a Moment, Job 20.5. And Solomon, That in the midst of Laughter the Heart is sorrowful, and the end of that Mirth is Heaviness, Prov. 14.13. Ex­trema gaudii luctus occupat, Grief follows close after Joy, and dogs it at the Heels. Worldly Goods and Prosperity, like all other things be­low, are in a continual Flux and Reflux, like the unstable Ocean; so that no Man can have any long, or at least any secure Possession of any [Page 3]thing that he enjoys; neither the Rich Man of his Riches, nor the Potentate of his Power, nor the prosperous Man of his Successes, nor the Epicure of his Delicious Fare and Pleasures: All these things have their Period and Change; they va­nish away from the deluded Owners, and leave them only possess'd of mournful Complaints of their Instability and Vanity. We have here no Abiding City, no secure Possessions; they are of an uncertain and changeable Nature, and often fly from us when we least expect it. Our Joy is soon o­vertaken with Grief, Prosperity pursued with Ad­versity, Mirth converted into Mourning, and Ho­nour blasted with the Breath that raised it. Rich­es, when we think we have them in safe keep­ing, make themselves Wings and fly away, Prov. 23.5. And the Apostle calls them uncertain Riches, 1 Tim. 6.17. The Health of the Body, like other curious Engines, is soon disordered, and the Possession of Relations, Parents or Children, Husband or Wife, is as uncertain as any of the rest. Worldly Men indeed think they have built themselves and their Enjoyments upon a Rock, when it proves only a Bog or Foundation of Sand, which adverse Winds and Flouds of Affli­ction soon beat down or wash away.

Who that had seen Xerxes at the Head of Seven­teen Hundred Thousand Men, in the Morning; or Proud Bajazet in the midst of all the strength of the Turkish Empire, could have thought, that the one before Night should have fled over the Hellespont in a Cockboat? Or that the other should be coopt up in a Cage, and be made a Foot-stool [Page 4]to his Conquerour? That Pompey, who for his Power and Grandure was called The Great, upon a Revolution of sickle Fortune, should flie to E­gypt, and have that Head, which was wont to be adored cut off by the Hand of a vile Slave? Or that his Conquerour in the hight of his Power and Greatness should ingloriously fall a Victim at the foot of his Statue? Or that Darius, Lord of so many Provinces and large Territories, should have all forced from him in a short time by Philip's Boy, as he called Alexander in derision, and be obliged to him for the skirt of his Garment to cover him when he lay Derserted, and almost Expiring upon the Sand? The Uses we are to make of this, are these:

(1.) If the good things of this World are thus Short-liv'd and Transitory, we ought to mode­rate our Affections to them. The value of good Things is much intranced by the certainty and duration of them, which not being to be had in the things of this World, it ought to abate and lessen our Esteem and Affection for them. The Apostle tells us, The fashion of this World pas­seth away, 1 Cor. 7.31. nothing is fixt or cer­tain in it, every thing is in Motion, or may speedily be so: All things we possess are sub­ject to more Accidents than the wisest Man can foresee or prevent; or if they were more durable than they are, yet our Lives are short and un­certain: All the advantages this World can af­ford are built at the best but upon a Foundation of Sand, lean upon an Arm of Flesh, than which nothing is more frail and uncertain, which re­quires [Page 5]an indifferency of Affection towards them, a using this World, as though we used it not; a rejoycing, as though we rejoyced not.

(2.) The Consideration of the shortness and uncertainty of Temporal Felicity and Prosperity should suppress Pride. Charge those who are rich in this World that they be not high-minded, saith St. Paul, 1 Tim. 6.17. and this Charge is but too often necessary. There are those, saith the Psal­mist, who boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. Ps. 49.5. This Plutarch has observed, its the Pride and Folly of some Men, that if they be raised above the common sort by the great­ness of their Riches, they presently swell with Conceit, and insult over their Inferiours, never considering how mutable their Condition is, and how easie a Revolution it is for things that are uppermost to be thrown down from their Height, and Humble things to be Exalted;Plut. Mor. Vol. 1. which Changes are performed quickly, and in the swiftest Mo­ments of Time. The mutability of earthly Rich­es made even an Heathen sensible of the Folly of Pride, upon the account of Worldly Prosperi­ty; and a Christian will have more Reason to Condemn it, who knows, that all the Advantages Riches, Greatness, and Power afford, end with this Life; but the Disadvantages, the Abuses of them, will bear a Man Company into another World; and both the Use and Abuses of them before the Impartial Judgment Seat of Christ must be brought to a strict account.

(3.) If the Time of Worldly Prosperity be short, we must not confide, rely upon, or place our Happiness in it. The same Apostle who teach­es us not to be High-minded, teaches also not to Trust in Ʋncertain Riches, 1 Tim. 6.17. God can blast and take them away in a Moment, and destroy both our Substance and Confidence toge­ther: At longest they will last but the short Term of our Lives; at the end of which, if we have took up our Rest, fixt our Hopes, and bottomed our Happiness upon them, we have miserably de­ceived our selves, and are undone for ever. For Death does not put an end to our Beings, though our Bodies fall into the Grave, and are not ca­pable of Delight, or Pain, during the time of Separation; yet the Soul subsists for ever; and if it has not made Provision for another State, if its Happiness was centered only in Wealth or Ho­nours, in Worldly and Bodily Delights and Plea­sures, it is lost and undone to all Eternity. This was the unhappy Condition of the Rich Glutton in the Gospel, who having placed his Happiness in this World, in costly Apparel, Purple and fine Linnen, and in faring sumptuously every day, as soon as the Scene changed by Death, was wrapped in Flames, and wanted a drop of Water to cool his Tongue, Luke 16.19, 24.

(4.) This Consideration leads to another, viz. The things of this Life being short and uncer­tain, we ought chiefly to value, regard, and make Provision of those things which will endure and abide with us for ever. If we have here no a­biding City, this should teach us, with the good [Page 7]Patriarchs, to seek for a better Country, to look for a City which hath Foundations, whose builder and maker is God, Heb. 11.10, 16. to lay up trea­sure in Heaven, and to get a Title to those Spiri­tual Joys which are at Gods right-hand for ever­more. The World passeth away, (saith St. John) and the Lust thereof, but he that doth the will of God, abideth for ever, 1 John 2.17. The World, and all that is desirable therein, is Transient, but O­bedience to God's Commandments is of everlast­ing Consequence, and will intitle us to a Happy Eternity and Eternal Delights in it. To this pur­pose is the Exhortation of St. Paul, Charge them that are Rich in this World, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain Riches, but in the living God, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communi­cate: Laying up in store for themselves a good foun­dation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life, 1 Tim. 6.17, 18, 19. And that of our Saviour, Mat. 6.19, 20. Lay not up for your selves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for your selves treasures in Hea­ven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

(2.) The time of Adversity and Trouble is short. As we all partake of Adams Fall, so we must all, more or less, share with him in his Pu­nishment and Misery. The Holy Patriarchs and Prophets had their evil, as well as good Days; and our blessed Saviour himself, the most Innocent and Perfect of our kind, the beloved [Page 8]Son of God, the peculiar Darling and Favourite of Heaven was a Man of Sorrow, and acquainted with Grief, Is. 53.3. He left his Cross as a Le­gacy and Badge to his Disciples, and some part of his Bitter Cup, who told those who were to come after them, that they must also through much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God, Acts 14.22. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, 2 Tim. 3.12.

But though Sorrow and Affliction may be the universal Portion of Mankind, though the Affli­ctions of the Best Men be many and sharp, yet they are short too. The Hand of God, which is afflict­ing, is also healing; and he who forgets not to chastise, remembers to deliver. Sorrow may en­dure for a Night, but that we may not faint or despend, Joy cometh in the Morning, Ps. 30.5. Our Saviour, who tells his Disciples, that they should be sorrowful, assures them in the next Words, that their Sorrow should be turned into Joy, John 16.20. The Storm by which the Apostles were indangered, as a Type of their future Trou­bles, was soon converted into a Calm, Mat. 8.26. And though Clouds eclipse the Sun for a time, they blow over, and make its return more wel­come and refreshing. Was ever any Man plun­ged into more or greater Afflictions all at once than Job? And yet we sooner see an end of his Troubles, than of his Patience; and his latter end was happier than his beginning, Job 42.12. The Afflictions of Joseph were surprising, and his De­liverance as remarkable; he was delivered from a Dungeon almost to a Throne, and from a Bond-Slave [Page 9]to be the Second Person in a great and flou­rishing Kingdom. Daniel of a Captive became Pre­sident of a mighty Empire; and David, whose Troubles and Adversities were sometimes great, was refreshed and comforted, and brought from the deep of the Earth again, Ps. 71.18. The Captivity of the Jews ended in a happy return, and the Chri­stain Churches Persecutions under Dioclesian ter­minated in a Constantine. Our Saviour tells us, Those who mourn now shall be comforted, Mat. 5.4. and St. Paul reckons the heaviest afflictions light, because they are but for a moment, 2 Cor. 4.17. The longest Troubles of a Good Man must end in Death, if not sooner; they can continue on­ly the short space of this Life; and what is that to a Happy Eternity?

To conclude this Head: We may say of our Afflictions as Athanasius did of his, Nubecula est & cito pertransibit, It is but a little Cloud, and will soon blow over. Mourning has its Change into Joy, as well as Joy into Mourning; and it may be some satisfaction for the uncertainty of Temporal Goods, Prosperity and Felicity, that our Griefs and Afflictions are as short and changeable as they. However we may well account all those Sufferings short, which end happily, which hum­ble us for our Sins, amend us in our Lives, and sit us for a blessed Immortality.

The Use of this is, that those who weep be as those that wept not: That our Grief under Afflictions or Losses be moderated, as well as our Joy in Pro­sperity; and that because the Time is short. What­ever [Page 10]of Afflictions befall us, they are but for a short time; they may also promote our Spiritual Wel­fare, if rightly improved. And these two Con­siderations, whatever our Grief be, will afford some Ingredients of Joy and Comfort in it. My Brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, James 1.2, 3. And why should we be concerned for Light Afflictions for a moment, which will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory? 2 Cor. 4.17.

(3.) The time of our Life and Continuance in this World is short. Man that is born of a woman is but of few days, Job. 14.1. If he lives to the utmost extent of Nature, his Time is but short in respect to the first Ages of the World, much more in respect of God. Mine age is no­thing before thee, says David, Ps. 39.5. What is Sixty or Eighty Years to Eternity? And of this short time how much is consumed and spent in Childhood, in Vanity, in Sleep Sickness and Bo­dily Decays? We are destroyed from morning until evening, Job. 4.20. From the Morning of our of Birth, or coming into the World till the Evening of our Death and going out of it. We are decli­ning and wasting soon after we arrive at our full Strength, and shall be so till we come to the Dust of Death. And how often is this short Life still made shorter by Accidents? Some stumble at the Thre­shold, dropping from the Womb into the Grave: Some continue a little longer, but go out of the World before they knew why they come into it: And how many are taken off in the Prime, the [Page 11]Bloom and Height of their Strength? The Conside­ration of which will afford us these Practical Uses.

1. The shortness of Life considered with the E­vils, Afflictions, Miseries, Snares and Temptations of it, should teach us to be contented and thankful that it is no longer.

When Xerxes wept, that the vast Army which he was carrying against Greece should all be dead in the space of an Hundred Years: Artabanus told him, That they would meet with so many and great Evils, that every one of them would wish himself dead long before. If the shortness of our Lives afflicts us, in that it puts a speedy Period to our Joys and Pos­sessions, it makes us amends for this by putting an end to our Miseries and Troubles too. If our Days be evil, it is no small Comfort to think that they are also few. The World is a Store-house of Evils the Re­gions of Storms and Tumult, a Vail of Tears, a large Hospital in which we may see the melancholy Ef­fects of Sin and Mortality, Man a Map and Com­plication of Miseries; the Road he is to take lies through heavy and miry Ways, variety of Snares, many Tribulations, his Life is Labour and Sorrow, and for this Reason we have no great Cause to com­plain that it so soon passeth away, and we are gone, Psal. 90.10.

It is the Complaint of many, That the Life of Man is the Entrance and End of a Tragedy, a Web of unhappy Adventures, a Chain of Miseries; that Man's Life and Troubles are Twin-Sisters, and almost individual Companions; that Life and Misery are [Page 12]two different Names for the same thing; that no Man would accept of Life, if he knew what it is; that it is well he knows not whether he is coming, lest he should draw back and start at the entrance; that to live here, is to be harrass'd with variety of Evils under different Names, to meet with hard Usage, distemper'd Humours, bodily Sickness, shame­ful Reproaches, vexatious Disappointments, besides Dangers, Temptations, Disquietude, and Anguish of Mind: This is the common Cry from weeping Infancy to querulous Old Age; to this doleful Dit­ty most Tongues and Voices are tuned, of Poets, Philosophers, Historians, Laity, Divines, Prophets, Kings, and who not?

What is it then we complain of in short Life? That we have not had time to go through and ex­perience the several sorts of Evils that are in the World? Or that we have not the Opportunity to repeat and go over them again? That we are but a short time upon the Rack? That our Day-labour is soon done? That Death delivers us from our Mi­series, and sends us to a happy Eternity too soon?

If our Life and Condition in this Word be so full of Misery, we have reason to bless God that our time in it is so short, and to look upon Death, if it succeeded a Vertuous Life, as our Friend and Deliverer, the end of our Miseries, the Haven of Rest, a Sanctuary and Refuge from Danger and Temptation, a safe Port after a Tempestuous Voy­age, the welcome Deliverer that inlarges us from Prison, ends our Labours, discharges our Debts, [Page 13]wipes all Tears from our Eyes, dispels all Anxiety from our Hearts, and is our Passage to endless Felici­ty and everlasting Rest.

(2.) The Shortness of Life considered with the Frailty and Uncertainty of it, should teach us to be always prepared for our Departure out of it. The Emperor Maximilian was so sensible of the Shortness and Uncertainty of Life, that (it is said) he always carried with him among his Robes whatsoever was necessary for his Funeral, that he might never be un­furnished of that which he might every Day be in want of. O that Men would be thus mindful of their Mortality, and always carry about them those good Dispositions and Qualities, which are not only necessary for a peaceable Departure out of this Life, but also for a happy Entrance into the next! That they would always have their Souls provided with those Vertues and good Habits which will make Death welcome, as it ends a mortal troublesom Life; and much more so, as it is the Door and Passport to a more happy and glorious one!

Our Life in this World is only in order to ano­ther; it is the time of Trial and Probation, in which we stand Candidates for a happy or miserable Eternity; it is the time allowed to make our Peace, and to work out our Salvation; and for this it is long enough, though in other respects it may be short; and yet how deligently do Men usually employ their time, or rather how prodigally do they squan­der it away, in any thing but this great and impor­tant Work? Till they receive a hasty and speedy Summons from Death, a sad and unexpected Sur­prize: [Page 14]O how do they then lament their Folly, that they had spent this short time of their Lives upon their Sins and Vanities, and have now scarce the shortest Point of it left for the saving their Souls, which should have been the chief Employment of the whole of it?

Archimedes, a famous Mathematician of Sicily, when the Romans took Syracuse, was killed by a pri­vate Soldier as he was poring on his Mathematicks, and drawing Schemes in the Dust. How often do we see this verified and acted over again in our own Times? While Men are busie and bustling about some mighty Affair of this World▪ as they fancy it; the Rich Man in the Gospel in pulling down and building his Barns bigger; the Merchant in compas­sing Sea and Land; the Ambitious Courtier in pro­jecting for Places of Preferment; the covetous World­ling in groveling in the Dust, and seeking for hid Treasure; the plotting Politician in spinning of Stale-web; and others are prosecuting their Plea­sures, their Sins, Injustice, and Revenge; Death stands at the Door, steps in, and breaks off the ten­der Thread of Life with their Designs and Projects together, their short time of Life is at an end, and they must go as they are, unprepared, as full of Sins as Astonishmet to the Impartial Tribunal of Christ.

But can there be any Error so great or Fatal as this? To suffer our Bodies to fall into the Grave before we have secured the Welfare of our Souls: To spend our short time only about that, which, if attained, will profit us nothing when our Time is at an end, but may make us miserable to all Eternity?

Scipio Africanus used to say, It was shameful and intolerable in Military Affairs to say, Non putaram, I did not think it would come to this; because the Error or Misfortune might be irreparable and past mending. And can that be thought fitting or credi­ble in a Christian in regard to his Soul, which would be intolerable in a Military Man in Affairs of War? New Chances of War, or After-diligence, may pos­sibly retrieve in the latter the Opportunities he had omitted; but if the Christian has lost his time and opportunity of Grace, there is no possibility of re­deeming it, his Doom is sealed up for ever.

It was one of the Three Things which grieved Cato most, That he had let one Day pass over his Head without a Will, in which he might have died Intestate. If the uncertainty of Life taught him to be thus sollicitous to settle his Worldly Affairs, ought not the Christian to think it a great Folly to let one Day pass from him before the Welfare of his Soul is secured, his Peace made with Heaven, and he is sure of a comfortable Reception, when he must pass into the Regions of Eternity?

Seeing our Time is thus not only short, but uncer­tain, ought we not to watch as our Saviour com­mands, not knowing at what hour our Lord will come, Mat. 24.42. Ought we not, as Pythagoras advises, [...], to have our Tackle ready, and Baggage pack'd up to be gone, our House set in Or­der, our Debts cancelled, Accounts stated, Provision laid in, every thing prepared, that there may be no Delay, no Demurr, no Stop or Backwardness when our Lord shall call?

(3.) Our Time being short in this Life, we ought to moderate our Desires, Esteem, and Value of the things of this World. Things take something of their intrinsick Value from the long Continuance and Duration of them, upon which account those which are frail and brittle, transitory, and but for a short time, are much inferior to those which are for ever: And this is the Nature of all sublunary Goods; our Lives are short, which makes them necessarily to be so, and we are not certain we shall enjoy them so long; they are subject to va­riety of Accidents, which the best Foresight cannot prevent or secure them from. We have here no Abiding City; the World, and all the things there­of, as well as our Lives in it, pass away. Why then should we set our Hearts upon that which is not?Joh. 2.17. Prov. 23.5. Why should we trust in uncertain Riches? Why should we make long Provision for a short Journey? Why should we lay out our Pains, Time, Thoughts, and even Souls, for Ex­cess and Superfluities, which will be of no use to us beyond the short Term of this Frail Life? Which will be external Objects of Vanity to a more inlightened Mind, at a Dying Hour, and may be Internal Causes of inward Remorse and Vexation of Spirit?

(4.) Our Lives being short here, our chiefest Care, Concern and Provision ought 10 be for Eter­nity. Were our Lives longer than they are, yet they must sooner or later have an end, and then an endless immutable State, either of Woe or Hap­piness commences; and how can we better employ [Page 17]our short time, than in providing to be happy for ever? Earthly things concern only the Body, du­ring its abode in this Life; but our Souls are to out-live the Body, and even the Body refined from its Dross and Mortality, will at length be raised to live and converse with the Soul in an Immutable State: Ought we not then to make it our chief Business and Care to lay up Treasure in Heaven, and provide those things which will be as lasting as our Beings?

Riches and Honour, Houses and Lands, Worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments, Dignities and High Ti­tles, leave us with our Breath: But Righteousness and Mercy, Holiness and Purity, Obedience to the Will of God, Alms and Charity, a Holy Life and a Good Conscience will attend and inrich us on the other side of the Grave; Death can not destroy them, nor the Canker of Time consume them. They are the only [...], or Foundation, upon which we may safely build for future Ages a Fund which will never fail us, a Stock to set up with and live happily upon in the Region of Spirits, when this World, and all that is in it, shall be burnt up and reduced to ashes.

Lastly, The time of Seperation of one Relation from another by Death is short. And this should moderate our Grief for the Loss of them.

The Heathens might be allowed to excede in their Grief at the death of their Friends, because they were without hope of seeing them again. But Christianity assures us, that our Friends are only [Page 18]removed to a happier Place, where, in a short time, we shall be with them. Some Tears are due to De­cency, to Custom, to Nature, to the Loss and Me­mory of a Friend: Loud and clamorous Out­cries are wild and barbarous; excessive and im­moderate Grief is inconsistent with our Hope and Christianity. It is fitting that the Body, when it is sown in Corruption, should be watered by those that plant it in the Earth; but a Deluge may drown the Living, without profiting the Dead.

Can we immoderately lament the Departure of him, who is not only delivered from the Evils, the Cares and Pains, the Miseries, Sickness, Crosses, Dan­gers, Sins and Temptations of this mortal Life, but is also gone to the Happy and Glorious Company of Saints and Martyrs, Angels and Archangels, to the Paradise of God, the Presence of his Blessed Re­deemer, the Beatifick Vision, where there is nothing but Joy and Triumphs, Hallelujahs and Praises; where the Rivers of Spiritual Pleasures overflow, and the Blessed Inhabitants enjoy an ever-flourishing Youth and perpetual Spring? Can we bewail without Measure the departure of one who is not lost, but gone before us to take Possession of a Kingdom? To which a Holy Life, in a short time, will assuredly bring us, through the Assistance of God's Grace, where we shall meet and embrace again.

And that this is the Happy Case of the Person De­ceased, we may not only charitably, but reasonably believe. He was Religious and Devout in his Duty to God: Dutiful and Obedient to his Parents: Faith­ful and Diligent in his Employment: Civil and Re­spectful [Page 19]in his Behaviour: Chaste, Sober, and Tempe­rate in his Life: Addicted to none of the Vices Young Men are too frequently guilty of; such as Swearing, Lying, Lewdness, &c. He was Patient and Submis­sive to the Will of God during the whole Course of his Sickness, and at the end of it willingly resigned up his Soul into the Hands of his Redeemer, after he had Receiv'd the Holy Sacrament, in whose Hands we must leave it in Joy and Comfort, while his Friends and Relations pay their Mournful and Last Duty to his Body.