is old, fhe glides through fome ftrait paffage, and leaves her old fkin in the paffage, and thereby renews her vigour and her life. It is true, this, paflage through death is fomewhat ftrait, and uneafy to the body, which, like the decayed fkin of the adder, is left by the way, and not without fome pain and difficulty to it but the foul paffeth through without any harm, and without any expence of time, and in the next moment acquires her eftate of immortality and happiness. And this is the victory over death, that all those have, that by true repentance and faith are partakers of Chrift, and the benefits of his death and refurrection, who hath brought life and immortality to light by the gofpel.

And now, having gone through the benefits of this wife confideration of our latter ends, I fhall now add fome cautions that are neceffary to be annexed to this confideration we are to know, that although death be thus fubdued, and rendered rather a benefit than a terror to good men; yet,

1. Death is not to be wifhed or defired; though it be an object not to be feared. it is a thing not to be coveted; for certainly life is the greatest temporal bleffing in this world. It was the paflion, not the virtue, of that excellent prophet Elijah, that defired to die, because he thought himself only left of the true worshippers of God. We are all placed in this world by Almighty God, and a talent of life is delivered to us, and we are commanded to improve it; a task is fet every one of us in this life by the Great Master of the family of heaven and earth, and we are required with patience, and obedience, and faithfulness, to perform our task, and not to be weary of our work, nor wifh our day at an end before its time. When our Lord calls us, it is our duty, with courage and chearfulness, to obey his call; but, until he calls, it is our duty, with patience and contented1 1 Kings, xix. 4.

nefs,

nefs, to perform our task, to be doing our work. And, indeed, in this life, our Lord has delivered us several tafks of great importance to do; as, namely, 1. To improve our graces and virtues, our knowledge and faith, and those works of piety and goodness that he requires. The better and clofer we follow that bufinefs here, the greater will be our reward and improvement of glory hereafter. And therefore, as we muft with all readinefs give over our work when our Mafter calls us, fo we muft with all diligence and perfeverance, continue our employment out till he calls us; and, with all thankfulnefs unto God, entertain and rejoice in that portion of life he lends us; because we have thereby an opportunity of doing our Mafter the more fervice, and of improving the degrees of our own glory and happinefs. 2. And, befides the former, he hath alfo fet us another task; namely, to ferve our generation; to give an example of virtue and goodness; to encourage others in the ways of virtue and goodnefs; to provide for our families and relations; to do all good offices of juftice, righteouf nefs, liberality, charity to others, chearfully and induftrioufly to follow our callings and employments; and infinite more, as well natural, civil, moral em. ployments, which, though of a lower importance in refpect of ourselves, yet are of greater ufe and moment in refpect of others; and are as well as the former required of us, and part of the task that our great Lord requires of us, and for the fake of which he also beftows many talents upon us to be thus improved in this life, and for which we must alfo at the end of our day give our Lord an account; and therefore, for the fake of this alfo we are to be thankful for our life, and not be defirous to leave our poft, our ftation, our bufinefs, our life, till our Lord calls us to himself in the ordinary way of his Providence; for he is the only Lord of our lives, and we are not the Lords of our own lives.

2. A fecond caution is this: That as the bufinefs, and employments, and concerns of our life muft not eftrange us from thoughts of death, fo again we must be careful that the over much thought of death do not fo much poffefs our minds, as to make us forget the concerns of our life, nor neglect the bufinefs which that portion of time is allowed us for: as the bufinefs of fitting our fouls for heaven; the bufineffes of our callings, relations, places, ftations; nay, the comfortable, thankful, fober enjoyments of thofe honeft lawful comforts of our life that God lends us; fo as it be done with great fobriety and moderation, as in the prefence of God, and with much thankfulness to him; for this is part of that very duty we owe to God for thofe very external comforts and bleffings we enjoy 1. A wife and due confideration of our latter ends, is neither to render us a fad, melancholy, difconfolate people; nor to render us unfit for the bufineffes and offices of our life; but to make us more watchful, vigilant, industrious, foberly, chearful, and thankful to that God, that hath been pleafed thus to make ourfelves ferviceable to him, comfortable to ouríelves, profitable to others; and, after all this, to take away the bitterness and fting of death, through Jefus Christ our Lord.

1 Deut. xxviii. 47.

OF

OF

WISDOM AND THE FEAR OF god.

THAT THAT IS TRUE WISDOM.

JOB, XXVIII. 28.

AND UNTO MAN HE SAID, BEHOLD, THE FEAR OF THE LORD THAT IS WISDOM, AND TO DEPART FROM EVIL IS UNDERSTANDING.

THE great pre-eminence that man hath over beasts, is his reafon; and the great pre-eminence that one man hath over another is wifdom; though all men have ordinarily the privilege of reason, yet all men have not the habit of wifdom. The greateft commendation that we can ordinarily give a man, is, that he is a wise man; and the greatest reproach that can be to a man, and that which is worst refented, is to be called or esteemed a fool; and yet as much as the reputation of wisdom is valued, and the reputation of folly is refented, the generality of mankind are in truth very fools, and make it the great part of their bufinefs to be fo; and many that pretend to feek after wisdom, do either mistake the thing, or mistake the way to attain it; commonly thofe that are the greateft pretenders to wisdom, and the fearch after it, place it in fome little narrow concern, but place it not in its true latitude commenfurate to the nature of mankind: And hence it is that one efteems it the only wisdom to be a wife politician or ftatefinan

another,

another, to be a wife and knowing naturalift; ano ther, to be a wife acquirer of wealth, and the like; and all these are wi doms in their kind; and the world perchance would be much better than it is, if thefe kinds of wifdom were more in fashion than they are: But yet these are but partial wifdoms, the wifdom that is moft worth the feeking and finding is that which renders a man a wife man.

This excellent man Job, after a diligent fearch (in the fpeech of this chapter) after wifdom, what it is, where to be found, doth at length make thefe two conclufions, viz. 1, That the true root of wisdom, and that therefore beft knew where it was to be found, and how to be attained, is certainly none other but Almighty God, God understandeth the way thereof, and knoweth the place thereof 2': and. 2, As he alone best knew it, fo he best knew how to prefcribe unto mankind the means and method to attain it. To man he faid, to fear God that is wisdom, that is, it is the proper and adequate wifdom fuitable to human nature, and to the condition of mankind; and we need not doubt but it is fo, because he that best knew what was the best rule of wifdom, prefcribed it to man, his best of vifible creatures, whom we have just reason to believe he would not deceive with a false or deficient rule of wifdom; fince as wifdom is the beauty and glory of man, fo wifdom in man fets forth the glory, and excellency, and goodness of God. And, confonant to this, David a wife King, and Soloman the wifeft of men, affirm the fame truth; The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wifdom; a "good understanding have they that do his command- ments. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 'knowledge; but fools defpife wifdom and inftruction 4. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is underftanding.' And when the wife man had run all his 2 Job, xxviii. 23. Psal. cxi. 10. * Prov. i. 7.

1 that which. • Prov. ix. 10.

3

long