310 upon Cap. 26 withdrew himself into a room private, and fell down the earth, and with many tears cryed out thus unto God in prayer, O Lord, (fays he) my heart is open unto thee, I indeed know not what to ask, but onely this, Lord let me not dye eternally; O Lord,thou knoweft i love thee, O let me live eternally to praise thee! And when his mother came to him,and would have had him come to the reft of the company that were bidden, he made an excuse and would not, onely upon this meditation, because he faw this would not hold. I O that God would faften these thoughts upon you, when you are in the midft of your delights; But will this hold? Is not this one thing that is spoken of amongst the rest, that is but for a feafon? Think allo upon this confideration; These things that are in the world, if they were a thousand times more then they are, yet being but for a feafon, this is enough to take off our hearts; but now when we confider they are but for a season, and but flight things, empty vanities befides, this fhould take off our hearts abundantly more; if they had a great deal in them, yet not being eternal,they are not very defireable. How vain then is mans heart,in being fet upon fuch vain things? Well may man be faid to be lighter then vanity; no vanity is fo vain, as the trusting in vanity; all the vanity in the creature amounts not to so much vanity as the trusting in vanity. And yet again confider, that the emptiness that is in these things, would make the eternity of them to be miferable. You will fay this is a riddle, how can it be made out? Certainly it is fo, there is such an emptiness in the things of the world, that they are fain to borrow fucceffion to make them comfortable, Cap.26. and it is the end of fome, and the beginning of others that makes them comfortable, and not the continuance of any outward comfort; as now the laying in a foft down bed, is eafie and comfortable, and delightful, but if one were condemned to this, to lie there forty years together,and never to come out, it would be a torment, but to lie eternally it would be more, fo that eternity puts a mifery upon the comfort: And fo take any one comfort, and to be tyed to that, if there were not a ceafing of one, and the beginning of another, the comfort would be miferable; and the reason is, because the comfort is fo empty: But the enjoying of God, the eternity of it makes it comfortable; we shall as much delight in the comforts we have enjoyed of God,after we have enjoyed them hundred thousands of years, as we did at first moment we entred upon them. mente con cepit, nul Yet further, let us turn the confideration of this fo far, to take off our hearts from the things below, as not to be troubled much for any affliction and mifery we have here, for they are but for a feafon; the Qui aterbeing for a feafon, takes away the comfort of the taten creature, and the being for a feafon, takes away the bitterness of affliction: Is there any affliction upon los horret you think this is not eternally though, this is not exercitus, hell. This is the great complaint of a foul in the tur turba, time of trouble, O how long fhall it be? for ever? nullis al But fo we cannot fay of any afflictions here in this world, that they shall be for ever. In Dan. 11. 25. tur. Sen. peaking of the great affliction of the Church, this ep. 103. is brought to alleviate all, yet the end fhall be at the time appointed; fo long as a man can look to the end of non terre timorem minis agi Cap.26. of an evil, it is not much, it is for a season; if he can but fee banks, he is well. Hic ure,fc. ca: Ibi parce. Yea, and the evils that we do endure here, as they are but for a little feafon, fo they are but in the due feafon, they are in this feafon, and that is that which fhould comfort us; because there is not fo much danger in any thing we fuffer here, while we fuffer it in this feafon. Suppofe any of you had your Ship leak, if it leaks when it comes into harbor, though it be an evil to you, and brings trouble, yet you comfort your felves in this, It is not in the main Ocean though: If I had had this leak in the main fea, what had become of me and fo for troubles and forrows, you may fay, It is upon me, but bleffed be God, it is upon me here; Indeed if it fhould prove to be upon me eternally hereafter, it were a great evil, but it is here. S. Auguftine faid, Here Lord cut me, do what you will with me, but spare me hereafter; It was the prayer of Fulgentius, Lord grant patience here, and pardon hereafter though I have never fo much affliction here, it is no great matter, so I shall have pardon hereafter. : Yea, the enduring of affliction in this season, shall be that which may deliver us from enduring evils eternally hereafter: God ayms at it, and he hath no other end,but onely to deliver from eternal forrows, We are chaftened,that we might not be condemned with the world, 1 Cor. 11. And that he does by caufing a man or woman, when any afflictions are upon them, to think thus; Lord, is this evil and pain fo grievous to me that lafts but for a while, what will eternal evils be to me? Drexelius reports of a yong man that was given to his luft, and pleasure, and could not en dure 333 dure to be croffed, but of all things he could not Cap.26. bear it, To be kept from fleep, and to awake in the dark; and being fick, he was kept awake in the night, and could not fleep,and he began to have these thoughts, and think, What, is it fo tedious for to be kept from feep one night, and to lie a few hours here in the dark? O what is it to be in torments, and darkness everlastingly! I am here in my house upon a foft bed in the dark, kept from fleep but one night, O to lie in flames, and in darkness for ever and ever, how dreadful will that be? And this was the means of the converfion of that yong man, that was given to all. maner of lufts before. Í fet my O that the Lord would fettle this argument upon you, fo as to work it every way to be useful, for your pleafures, they are but for a feafon, why should my heart upon them? And for forrows, if thofe be grievous, if a fit of the Stone, or of the Strangury, or the Fever be fo grievous, what will that be to be eternally fcalding in the wrath of God? Thus you fee the confideration, That things are but for a feafon, how ufeful it is for to take our hearts from them, and to uphold our hearts in any evils and troubles that we should endure. CHAP. Cap.27. CHAP. XXVII. Exhortation to feek after eternal things. He laft Ufe,is an Ufe of Exhortation,that feeing nothing that is for a feafon, can fatisfie the heart, what remains but that we should feek after that which is beyond a feafon, for the fatiffaction of our hearts? Look at the things that will fatisfie an immortal foul, let it be of the largeft extent that can be, thefe cannot upon this ground, becaufe they are but for a feafon: Then let our hearts be after eternal things. I am this day to fpeak to divers hundreds of you here, that must every one of you live in eternity one way or other, yong and old, you must live in a time beyond this feafon: Now having to fpeak to you that muft live eternally, this is that which I have to do, To get your hearts up, to feek after eternal things; and Ŏ that this might be done, if I fhould never preach more, and you fhould never hear more, yet if this fhould be obtained, that you should live eternally, that you should have! your hearts got up to eternal things, you should be bleffed, and I should think my felf happy. Philip King of Macedon, would have a man come and cry to him every morning, You are mortal; this is that which I fhould rather choose, that you might daily here a voyce, that You are immortal; The better part of you must live eternally: Were it that eternity were presented to us in the reality of it, how mightily would it work to draw our hearts to eternal things Certainly our thoughts are not upon eternity; the thoughts of eternity arc mighty pre |