Serious reflections on time and eternity with some other subjects, moral and divine : to which is prefix'd an introduction concerning the first day of the year, how observed by the Jews, and may best be employed by a serious Christian / by John Shower.

XI. Of the Expectation of Another Life. The Vanity and Misery of Man in his Best Estate, if there be none. The sa∣tisfactory removal of that supposition by the Thoughts of God, and of Eternal Felicity in his Blessed Presence.

LET me retire a little, O my Soul! and bethink my self, what a World this is; what Men design and seek, and do and suffer; with what false and feigned Joys they are pleased, being on∣ly happy by comparison; and with what real Sorrows they are afflicted; what in∣numerable disappointments, sicknesses, (and as troublesome remedies,) dangers, labors, pains, and calamities of all sorts, Multitudes groan under, and loudly com∣plain of? and what little unworthy ends are pursued by all that do not seriously seek Eternal Rest? and how often fru∣strated?

And withal consider the Cares that disquiet us, the errors that deceive us, the many Temptations that assault and overcome us; how busie we are a∣bout Vanities; how often dejected, and melancholy for the breaking of a Bubble; how eager and industrious to pursue a Shadow; active and in earnest to de∣stroy our selves, and one another; and then reflect on the Malice, and cruelty, the Filthiness, and Impiety, and great Cor∣ruption, which abounds every where; whereby God is dishonoured, and pro∣vokt to Anger? After this what a The∣ater of Tragedies, must this World ap∣pear? what an Hospital of sick, and diseased, or rather distracted Persons? How should I be tempted to say, Lord! why hast thou made all Men in vain? If I could not look from this Sea of troubles, to the Haven of Rest; from this dark Prison, to the Region of Light; from this deceitful, troublesome, and defiling Earth, to a Blessed, Everlasting Heaven: For verily, if there be no World but this, every Man in his best Estate in this World, is altogether Vanity, Selah. Psal. 39.5. 'Tis a certain undoubted Truth, the pre∣fixed verily tells us so; and that it de∣serves to be well considered, we learn from

the concluding Selah, Every Man is Vani∣ty. Not the Inferior parts of the Creati∣on only; But Man the Lord of all: And Every Man, every Adam from himself, to the last Man that shall by ordinary Generation descend from him. Not the Ignorant, Poor, or Wicked only, but all the Individuals of this Species. Young or Old, strong or weak, beautiful or deformed, rich or poor, high or low, good or bad, (in respect of the Body, and this present Life,) every one is vani∣ty; and this is true, suppose him in his Best Estate, not only in helpless Infancy and Childhood, or in decrepit old Age, not only in pain, and poverty, and dis∣grace; but in his most setled, most flou∣rishing, most envied, and admired con∣dition upon Earth; in the midst of strength, and wit, and honour; when at best, as to body, and mind, and out∣ward Circumstances; when he looks fairest, when he shines brightest; in the height of all his Glory, with the great∣est likelihood of a Continuance; yet then he is but vanity. In his frame, in his temper, constitution, inclinations, acti∣ons, and imployment; he is a meer Shadow, an empty, mutable, inconsidera∣ble thing, and not to be accounted of.

His Heart, his head, his imaginations, reasonings, desires, purposes, projects, hopes, and fears, are all Vanity; and altogether Vanity, in all the parts, and kinds, and particulars of it. He not only may be, but he is so, in his best Estate: if this World be his Best; if this be our All, and nothing more to be expected after death. And how should such a Reflecti∣on strike me to the Heart, to suppose that after a few years are ended, I must re∣turn to my first Nothing, and my very be∣ing be(f) swallowed up of Eternal Death! what satisfaction can I then take in any present Enjoyments, if an Eternal Anni∣hilation be at hand, when I must bid a∣dieu for ever to all that I now possess? What delight can I have in the ordinary comforts of Life, with this Belief, that within a year or two, it may be to Mor∣row, I shall sink into the dust, and exist no more? What Pleasure in any thing with this dismal Expectation? The more flourishing my condition is in this World, the more should I dread to lose it, if nothing better, nothing at all, can be

injoyed after Death. Some Philosophers have ignorantly urged such a considerati∣on as an Antidote against the fear of death; but the admission of it may rather deprive a Man of all the comfort of Life. What then is the advantage of a Wise Man above a Fool? the exercise and im∣provement of our noblest Faculties would render us more miserable than others, if nothing be expected, and certain, when this Life is over. Not on∣ly sensual, but intellectual Pleasures would be disturbed and destroyed by such Thoughts; that very shortly, the next Year, or Day, I must disappear; and all my Injoyments and Hopes be ut∣terly and for ever lost, with my very Be∣ing. Were the case thus, (which such Consequences evince it is not,) it were better for most Men they had never been Born; whether their condition here be Prosperous, or Afflicted. For what Comfort or quiet can any Man have in Plenty and Prosperity, when this fright∣ful apprehension of an approaching end is ever present? and what consolation can it yield a Man who is afflicted and Calamitous, and yet loves his Life above all things; to think that he shall not cease to be miserable, but by ceasing to

be? And what is become of all Religion, if such a thought be entertained? All devotion to God is thereby extinguisht, all the restraints of vice removed, the Flood-gates of Impiety opened, the en∣couragements of Vertue, the rewards of Holiness; the Foundation of Tribulati∣on, and suffering for Righteousness sake; all at once taken away. Lord! confirm my Belief of the invisible future state of Rewards and Punishments! and let not Sadducism and Infidelity damp my zeal in thy service, or rob me of the comforts of this Life, which, if I have any solid ones, must suppose the hopes of a Better. Let others therefore, O my Soul! who expect not an Everlasting Heaven beyond the Grave, place their affections on Earth∣ly things and mind this World, as if there were no betrer, no other. Let them who doubt, or disbelieve the promised rewards of Eternity, take up with what they must shortly leave, and labour for the Bread that perisheth. But since I pro∣fess to believe and seek the Life Everlast∣ing; let me daily entertain my self with the hopes of it, and let all the flattering dreams of what is desirable upon Earth, give place to nobler and better thoughts. Let me derive my principal Joy, from

the promise and expectation of that fu∣ture Felicity, and endeavour nothing more than a meetness to partake of it. O my God, my God! thou art my Life, and Joy, and Portion; in thee, and in thy love, all my desires, and hopes are answered, and all my wants supplied. However Evil this World is made by Sin, yet thou art the infinite and supream Good. How mutable, how uncertain, how perishing soever are all sublunary things; yet thou art the rock of Ages, the fountain of everlasting Life, and hast appointed another World, and another Life, when this is ended, wherein thou wilt be better known, and loved, and served, and honoured, and communi∣cate thy self more abundantly than now, to those, the desire of whose Souls is to∣wards thee, that believe and love thee, that partake of thine Image, and are devoted to thy Fear. The assurance of this and nothing else, will answer the ob∣jection of the present vanity and misery we are subject to.

Notes

• (f)

  Vid. Mr. How's vanity of Man as mortal.