II. WHAT attention is due to that period of age in which we are at present placed. Here lies the immediate and principal object of our concern: For, the recollection of the past is only as far of moment as it acts upon the present. The past, to us now, is little; the future, as yet, is nothing. Between these two great gulphs of time subsists the present, as an isthmus or bridge, along which we are all passing. With hasty and inconsiderate steps let us not pass along it; but remember well, how much depends upon our holding a steady and properly conducted course. Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it now with all thy might; for now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. Many directions might be given for the wise and religious improvement of the present; a few of which only I shall hint. Let us begin with excluding those superfluous avocations which unprofitably consume it. Life is short; much that is of real importance remains to be done. If we suffer the present time to be wasted either in absolute idleness or in frivolous employments, it will hereafter call for vengeance against us. Removing, therefore, what is merely superfluous, let us bethink ourselves of what is most material to be attended to at present: As, first and chief, the great work of our salvation; the discharge of the religious duties which we owe to God our Creator, and to Christ our Redeemer. God waiteth as yet to be gracious; whether he will wait longer, none of us can tell. Now, therefore, seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Our spiritual interests will be best promoted by regular performance of all the duties of ordinary life. Let these, therefore, occupy a great share of the present hour. Whatever our age, our character, our profession, or station in the world, requires us to do, in that let each revolving day find us busy. Never delay till to-morrow, what reason and conscience tell you ought to be performed to-day. To-morrow is not your's; and though you should live to enjoy it, you must not overload it with a burden not its own. Sufficient for the day will prove the duty thereof. The observance of order and method is of high consequence for the improvement of present time. He, who performs every employment in its due place and season, suffers no part of time to escape without profit. He multiplies his days; for he lives much in little space. Whereas, he who neglects order in the arrangement of his occupations, is always losing the present in returning upon the past, and trying, in vain, to recover it when gone. Let me advise you frequently to make the present employment of time an object of thought. Ask yourselves, about what you are now busied? What is the ultimate scope of your present pursuits and cares? Can you justify them to yourselves? Are they likely to produce any thing that will survive the moment, and bring forth some fruit for futurity? He, who can give no satisfactory answer to such questions as these, has reason to suspect that his employment of the present is not tending either to his advantage or his honour.Finally, let me admonish you that, while you study to improve, you should endeavour also to enjoy the present hour. Let, it not be disturbed with groundless discontents, or poisoned with foolish anxieties about what is to come; but look up to heaven, and acknowledge, with a grateful heart, the actual blessings you enjoy. If you must admit, that you are now in health, peace, and safety; without any particular or uncommon evils to afflict your condition; what more can you reasonably look for in this vain and uncertain world? How little can the greatest prosperity add to such a state! Will any future situation ever make you happy, if now, with so few causes of grief, you imagine yourselves miserable? The evil lies in the state of your mind, not in your condition of fortune; and by no alteration of circumstances is likely to be remedied. Let us now, III. CONSIDER with what dispositions we ought to look forward to those years of our life that may yet be to come. Merely to look forward to them, is what requires no admonition. Futurity is the great object on which the imaginations of men are employed; for the sake of which the past is forgotten, and the present too often neglected. All time is in a manner swallowed up by it. On futurity men build their designs; on futurity they rest their hopes; and though not happy at the present, they always reckon on becoming so at some subsequent period of their lives. This propensity to look forward was, for wise purposes, implanted in the human breast. It serves to give proper occupation to the active powers of the mind, and to quicken all its exertions. But it is too often immoderately indulged and grossly abused. The curiosity which sometimes prompts persons to enquire by unlawful methods into what is to come, is equally foolish and sinful. Let us restrain all desire of penetrating farther than is allowed us into that dark and unknown region. Futurity belongs to God; and happy for us is that mysterious veil, with which his wisdom has covered it. Were it in our power to lift up the veil, and to behold what it conceals, many and many a thorn we should plant in our breasts. The proper and rational conduct of men with regard to futurity is regulated by two considerations: First, that much of what it contains, must remain to us absolutely unknown; next, that there are also some events in which it may be certainly known and foreseen. First, much of futurity is, and must be, entirely unknown to us. When we speculate about the continuance of our life, and the events which are to fill it, we behold a river which is always flowing; but which soon escapes out of our sight, and is cover. ed with mists and darkness. Some of its windings we may endeavour to trace; but it is only for a very short way that we are able to pursue them. In endless conjectures we quickly find ourselves bewildered; and often, the next event that happens, baffles all the reasons we had formed concerning the succession of events. The consequence which follows from this is, that all the anxiety about futurity, which passes the bounds of reasonable precaution, is unprofitable and vain. Certain measures are indeed necessary to be taken for our safety. We are not to rush forward inconsiderate and headlong. We must make, as far as we are able, provision for future welfare; and guard against dangers which apparently threaten. But having done this, we must stop; and leave the rest to Him who disposeth of futurity at his will. He who sitteth in the heavens laughs at the wisdom and the plans of worldly men. Wherefore boast not thyself of to-mor row; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.For the same reason, despair not of to-morrow; for it may bring forth good as well as evil. Vex not yourselves with imaginary fears. The impending black cloud, to which you look up with so much dread, may pass by harmless; or, though it should discharge the storm, yet before it breaks, you may be lodged in that lowly mansion which no storms ever touch. In the next place, there are in futurity some events which may be certainly foreseen by us, through all its darkness. First, it may be confidently predicted, that no situation into which it will bring us, shall ever answer fully to our hopes, or confer perfect happiness. This is certain as if we already saw it, that life, in its future periods, will continue to be what it has heretofore been; that it will be a mixed and varied state; a chequered scene of pleasures and pains, of fugitive joys and transient griefs, succeeding in a round to one another. Whether we look forward to the years of youth, or to those of manhood and advanced life, it is all the same The world will be to us what it has been to generations past. Set out, therefore, on what remains of your journey under this persuasion. According to this measure, estimate your future pleasures; and calculate your future gains. Carry always along with you a modest and a temperate mind. Let not your expectations from the years that are to come rise too high; and your disappointments will be fewer, and more easily supported. Farther; this may be reckoned upon as certain, that, in every future situation of life, a good conscience, a well ordered mind, and a humble trust in the favour of Heaven, will prove the essential ingredients of your happiness. In reflecting upon the past, you have found this to hold. Assure yourselves, that in future, the case will be the same. The principal correctives of human vanity and distress must be sought for in religion and virtue. Entering on paths which to you are new and unknown, place yourselves under the conduct of a divine guide. Follow the great Shepherd of Israel, who, amidst the turmoil of this world, leads his flock into green pastures and by the still waters. As you advance in life, study to improve both in good principles and in good practice. You will be enabled to look to futurity without fear, if, whatever it brings, it shall find you regularly employed in doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with the Lord your God. Lastly, Whatever other things may be dubious in futurity, two great events are undoubtedly certain, death and judgment. These, we all know, are to terminate the whole course of time; and we know them to be not only certain, but to be approaching nearer to us, in consequence of every day that passes over our heads. To these, therefore, let us look forward, not with the dread of children, but with that manly seriousness which belongs to men and Christians. Let us not avert our view from them, as if we could place them at some greater distance by excluding them from our thoughts. This indeed is the refuge of too many; but it is the refuge of fools, who aggravate thereby the terrors they must encounter. For he that cometh, shall come, and will not tarry. To his coming, let us look with a steady eye; and as life advances through its progresisve stages, prepare for its close, and for appearing before Him who made us. THUS I have endeavoured to point out the reflections proper to be made, when the question is put to any of us, How old art thou? I have shewn with what eye we should review the past years of our life; in what light we should consider the present; and with what dispositions look forward to the future: in order that such a question may always leave some serious impression behind it; and may dispose us so to number the years of our life, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. SERMON XXXIV. ON THE DUTIES BELONGING TO MIDdle age. When I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 CORINTHIANS, Xiii. 11. Yet TO every thing, says the wise man, there is a season; and a time to every purpose under heaven.* As there are duties which belong to particular situations of fortune, so there are duties also which result from particular periods of human life. In every period of it, indeed, that comprehensive rule takes place, Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.t Piety to God, and charity to men, are incumbent upon persons of every age, as soon as they can think and act. these virtues, in different stages of life, assume different forms; and when they appear in that form which is most suited to our age, they appear with peculiar gracefulness; they give propriety to conduct, and add dignity to character. In former discourses I have treated of the virtues which adorn youth, and of the duties which especially belong to old age. The circle of those duties which respect middle age is indeed much larger. As that is the busy period in the life of man, it includes in effect the whole compass of religion, and therefore cannot have its peculiar character so definitely marked and ascertained. At the same time, during those years wherein one is sensible that he has advanced beyond the confines of youth, but has not yet passed into the region of old age, there are several things which reflection. on that portion of human life suggests, or at least ought to suggest, to the mind. Inconsiderate must he be, who, in his gradual progress throughout middle age, pauses not, at times, to think how far he is now receding from youth; how near he † Eccles. xii. 13. * Eccles, ii. 1. + See Sermons XI and XII. |