The truly blessed man

Conclu. 2. That the opportunity of thus finding God is limited to time. There are two ages of man, or a double state to which he is appointed, with respect to duration, viz Time and Eternity; the former whereof is limited, the latter boundless; the one will quickly come to an end, the other never; and where the former ends, the other begins. Time, in the general notion of it, is the boundary of the Creatures duration: and this may be considered generally with respect to the world, and so it begins with the first moment of the Creation, and shall last till the consummation of all things, i. e. the Day of Judgment; and all this while God will be to be found by some: there will be a Day of Grace, the Mediators Kingdom, in which a ⟨p. 310⟩treaty of Reconciliation is held up with man, will continue till the end: for it is with regard to the Elect that the World is continued, but when that ends, this will end with it; that will determine the everlasting state of all men unchangeably. But then there is a more particular consideration of time, as it respecteth the several Creatures which are the Subjects of it: and thus every Creature in the lower world hath its own time, or the bounds of its duration, which begins with its existence, and ends with its dissolution; thus David, Psal 31.15. My times are in thine hand. Only this difference is to be observed between man, and other sublunary beings, that when their time ends, and they are dissolved, their existence ceaseth for ever, being resolved into their first principles, never to return to their first individual being: Whereas man, when by his dissolution he ceaseth to be a Son of time, but enters upon his Eternity, in which he is to exist for ever: and though for a while his body must be resolved into dust, yet it shall return again by a Resurrection to its particular existence; the Soul in the mean while retaining its essence, faculties, & activity. Now every mans particular time is the spot that lieth between his birth and his death; it begins with his coming into the World, and lasts till he goeth off the Stage, and there it ends; this is that to which his opportunity of seeking and finding God is limited. I do not say that it shall last so long with every one, but I am assured that it shall extend no further. When once this glass is run it shall be ⟨p. 311⟩turned no more. For the Demonstration of this, take these Conclusions.