9. Consider, what a competent time the most of us have had: Some thirty, some forty, some fifty or sixty years. How many come to the grave younger, for one that lives to the shortest of these? Christ himself, as is generally thought, lived but *thirty three years on earth. If it were to come, as it is past, you would think thirty years a long time. Did you not long ago in your threatening sickness, think with your selves, O, if I might enjoy but one seven years more, or ten years more! And now you have enjoyed perhaps more then you then begged; and are you nevertheless unwilling yet? Except you would not die at all, but desire an immortality here on Earth; which is a sin inconsistent with the truth of Grace. If your sorrow be merely this, That you are mortal; you might as well have lamented it all your lives: For sure you could never be ignorant of this. Why should not a man that would dye at all, be as well willing at thirty or forty, if God see it meet, as at seventy or eighty? nay, usually when the longest day is come, men are as loth to depart as ever. He that looseth so many years, hath more cause to bewail his own neglect, then to complain of the shortness of his time; and were better lament the wickedness of his life, then the brevity. Length of time doth not conquer corruption; it never withers, nor decays through age. Except we receive an addition of Grace, as well as Time, we naturally grow the older the worse. Let us then be contented with our allotted proportion: And as we are convinced, that we should ⟨p. 590⟩not murmur, against our assigned degree of wealth▪ of health, of honour, and other things here; so let us not be discontented with our allowed proportion of time. O, my Soul, depart in peace! Hast thou not here enjoyed a competent share? As thou wouldst not desire an unlimited state, in wealth and honour, so desire it not in point of time. Is it fit, that God or thou should be the sharer? If thou wert sensible how little thou deservest an hour of that patience which thou hast enjoyed, thou wouldst think thou hast had a large part. Wouldst thou have thy age called back again? •a•st thou eat thy bread, and have it too? Is it not Divine Wisdom that sets the bounds? God will not let one have all the work, nor all the suffering, nor all the honour of the work: He will honour himself by variety of instruments;
9. COnsider, what a competent time the most of us have had: Some thirty, some fourty, some fifty or sixty yeers. How many come to the grave younger, for one that lives to the shortest of these? Christ himself, as is generally thought, lived but *thirty three yeers on earth. If it were to come, as it is past, you would think thirty yeers a long time. Did you not long ago in your threatning sickness, think with your selves, O, if I might enjoy but one seven yeers more, or ten yeers more! And now you have enjoyed perhaps more then you then begged; and are you nevertheless unwilling yet? Except you would not die at all, but desire an immortality here on Earth; which is a sin inconsistent with the truth of Grace. If your sorrow be meerly this, That you are mortal; you might as well have lamented it all your lives: For sure you could never be ignorant of this. Why should not a man that would dye at all, be as well willing at thirty or fourty, if God see it meet, as at seventy or eighty? nay, usually when the longest day is come, men are as loth to depart as ever. He that looseth so many yeers, hath more cause to bewail his own neglect, then to complain of the shortness of his time; and were better lament the wickedness of his life, then the brevity. Length of time doth not conquer corruption; it never withers, nor decayes through age. Except we receive an addition of Grace, as well as Time, we naturally grow the older the worse. Let us then be contented with our allotted proportion: And as we are convinced, that we should ⟨p. 590⟩not murmure, against our assigned degree of wealth▪ of health, of honor, and other things here; so let us not be discontented with our allowed proportion of time. O, my Soul, depart in peace! Hast thou not here enjoyed a competent share? As thou wouldst not desire an unlimited state, in wealth and honor, so desire it not in point of time. Is it fit, that God or thou should be the sharer? If thou wert sensible how little thou deservest an hour of that patience which thou hast enjoyed, thou wouldst think thou hast had a large part. Wouldst thou have thy age called back again? •a•st thou eat thy bread, and have it too? Is it not Divine Wisdom that sets the bounds? God will not let one have all the work, nor all the suffering, nor all the honor of the work: He will honor himself by variety of instruments;
- *Helvicus and some other Modern Chronologers think he dyed in the thirty fifth year of his age.Helvicus and some other Modern Chronologers think he dyed in the thirty fifth yeer of his age.
