The vanity of this mortal life, or, Of man, considered only in his present…

Less plausible Opinions find some Owner; Why is it not said, Who was the first Broacher of this? And if we can find no other Parent for it, but He who was the Parent of our beings, how grateful should such a discovery be to us, both for His sake, and its own? Upon His account, we should surely think it worthy to be believed; and upon its own, to be considered and seriously thought on, with greatest delight and sense of pleasure.

Many things that we reckon considerable upon much lower accounts, we so believe, as to let them engage our hearts, and influence ⟨p. 125⟩our practice, upon much lower evidence: How entirely are mens spirits taken up many times about meaner matters, whereof they have only a (much more uncertain and fallible) report from one another? What pretence can we have, less to regard▪ the testimony of Him that made us, discovering to us things so great, so important, so rational in themselves, even though they had not been so expressly revealed? Let us therefore d•ive the matter to a clear and short issue, and come to a resolution wi•• our selves: Have we reason to believe such things, or no? If we can so far impose upon our selves, as to think we have not; or be tempted into so abject, so unrequired, and so unwarrantable a self denial, so base an esteem of our own beings, as to account the things of this earth and present world have enough in them to answer any Ends we can suppose our selves made for; Let us no longer mock the world, by ⟨p. 126⟩pretending to believe what we believe not: but if this be our settled judgment, and we will avow and own it, That we believe these things; Let us no longer expose and make our selves ridiculous, by counter-acting our own professed belief in matters of such moment, pretending to believe, and disregarding them at the same time. 'Tis absurd and foolish to believe such things, and not mind them much, or not let our souls and our practice be commanded and governed by them: Not to have our desires, and cares, and hopes, and joys, influenced thereby to the uttermost; How rational […], here, to be deeply […] by the unsuitableness […] own spirits we defeat not our […] expectations! How pleasant and delectable (that danger being provided against) to sit down and compare our present with our expected state! what we are, with what we hope to be ere long! To think of exchanging