Verily, every man at his best ⟨p. 20⟩estate is altogether vanity. Selah. Man, the glory of the Creation, Gods Master-piece, it is the Prophet speaks of; and not only some men, men of inferior quality, but Col-Adam, omnis homo, every man; and not every man at sometimes, but take the best man in his best estate, 1in his prime, take him standing, as the word signifieth, watch your advantage, and take him standing upon his tiptoe in his beauty and bravery, and what is he then? not only, mixed creature, a compound of folly and wisdom, weakness and strength, truth and error, light and darkness, flesh and spirit, nature and grace, beauty and deformity, 2substance and vanity; but he is altogether vanity: ⟨p. 21⟩yea, the word is of an higher emphasis, universa vanitas omnis homo, every man is every vanity, all men are all vanities, the very sink and eentre of all the vanities in the world: if man be a compound creature, it is of all the vanities under heaven; man at his best is the very universe of vanity. And to this the Holy Ghost sets a double seal, one at the beginning of the sentence, and another at the end; Verily lets it in, and Selah shuts it up: it is a truth of such illimited and immutable certainty, that it can be neither met nor overtaken with any objection. Verily, every man in his best estate is altogether vanity: And is this a thing to be gloried in? Hear what God ⟨p. 22⟩saith, Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? Consider him well, and you can find nothing in him that is valuable, much less to be gloried in. Were it nothing else but this, his breath in his nostrils, 3it is enough to obscure all his glory. The Psalmist will interpret the account: His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust, in that very day his thoughts perish.4
Verily, every man at his best ⟨p. 20⟩estate is altogether vanity. Selah. Man, the glory of the Creation, Gods Master-piece, it is the Prophet speaks of; and not only some men, men of inferiour quality, but Col-Adam, omnis homo, every man; and not every man at sometimes, but take the best man in his best estate, 1in his prime, take him standing, as the word signifieth, watch your advantage, and take him standing upon his tiptoe in his beauty and bravery, and what is he then? not only, mixt creature, a compound of folly and wisdom, weaknesse and strength, truth and errour, light and darknesse, flesh and spirit, nature and grace, beauty and deformity, 2substance and vanity; but he is altogether vanity: ⟨p. 21⟩yea, the word is of an higher emphasis, universa vanitas omnis homo, every man is every vanity, all men are all vanities, the very sink and eentre of all the vanities in the world: if man be a compound creature, it is of all the vanities under heaven; man at his best is the very universe of vanity. And to this the Holy Ghost sets a double seal, one at the beginning of the sentence, and another at the end; Verily lets it in, and Selah shuts it up: it is a truth of such illimited and immutable certainty, that it can be neither met nor overtaken with any objection. Verily, every man in his best estate is altogether vanity: And is this a thing to be gloried in? Heare what God ⟨p. 22⟩saith, Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherin is he to be accounted of? Consider him well, and you can finde nothing in him that is valuable, much lesse to be gloried in. Were it nothing else but this, his breath in his nostrils, 3it is enough to obscure all his glory. The Psalmist will interpret the account: His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust, in that very day his thoughts perish.4
- 1[Greek or Hebrew] from [Greek or Hebrew] •tetir.〈non-Latin alphabet〉 from 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 •tetir.
- 2Col-hibet, Col-Adan.
- 3Isa. 2 22.
- 4Ps. 116.4.
