Chap. 14. An Éxpoftioaiapon the b'ookrrf Jo s Verf. I. Hence Obferve, Sin is t *fiortner ofmans dales. lob leads us to this Obfervation,while he faith, Man that is born of a woman is of few dales. Man born of a woman is finful. man. This truth is-fo-general, that it_r ever received an excepti- on in any`oneman born, after the ordinary way of a Woman. Chrift was bornofa Woman, but he was conceived miraculoully by the holy Qhoft. Man might have been born of a Woman, and yet have been ofmany daies, if he hadnot been born in fin. 'Es the birthOf fin inman which is the feed ofdeath : And as fin makes thedaies of all men few inNature,fo the fins offorce mer makes theirs fewer then-the dales of Nature. For as though the daies ofa goodman'at the molt,are but few, yet becaufe of forne fpecial goodnefs,theyareoften prolonged : fo, though the daies of a wicked man at the molt are but few, yet, becaufe of force special wickednefs they are often fhortned. Sólomon gives us . bothparts of thisAffertion in one verfe (Prev i o. 27.) Thefear of the Lordprolongeth (or addeth,to)daies,but the years-of the wicked (hall be fhortned. And as Solomon tells us poffitively, they (hall be fhortned, fo David tells us negatively, howmuch they (hall be fhortned (Pfal. 55. z 3 .) Slowly and deceitful men /hall not live out half their da des i- Poi bly theyfhall not live out aquarter of their dies, but he is peremptory that theyfhai_not ,live out half their, ddales. Thus, as every man becaufe he is a.f nner fhall live but a few daies, fo force (hall not live half thofe few daies,becaufe they arenotorious finners, All men are offew daies , forne -men are of,fewer then a few. The fin of nature fhortens all mens lives into a fewer daies, and fins of praed.ce fhortens forcemens lives into fewer t h-n a few. From robs fo.emn do&rineof mans fhort life.or few dies, we may drawout many leffons ofvery feriousAdmonition. Firft, Seeing our diesare few, let us live all our dies : force Ioofe many out ofa few, and live not one of their few daies. 'Tis poflrhle to have abeing (accordingto the, account of man) many dries, and to have lived none of them , or not to have li- ved at all. ÌPe live no more of oar time then we fpend well. A Heathen faid, he lived no day without aline, that is, he did force- what remarkable every day. What a fhame it is that a Chriffiian fbould livea day without.a.line, doe nothing in it worth the do- ing1. A a a a 3, Secondly,, 549
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