6o6 That the worldandworldlything:aremsmentany. vs that the world isbut a bog,or fandieground,fubie6t eue- ry day to fleetingand fading, and to be caried away with a floudoffire ; &why then fhould we labourwith-Cush paines tobuild abiding places vpon a foundation fo deceitful &vn- lure ; and not rather bendall our fludiestobe admitted into lobn 14.2.3. chofe mafion houfes,&eternal habitati6s, whichChrifi bath prepared for vs in the heauens?Ifaskilful carpenter,in whofe knowledge& truthwe repofe much confidence, fhould cer- tainlyaffure vs,thatal the principalsofour houle were foold Auguft.de Tri-and rotten, that they would within a yeere at furchefl fail; 40.13 caP.7. and the whole building come toruine, who would not flit out offuch an houle, inwhichhe cannot one night fleepe fe- curely, andvfe all meanes toplace himfelfe in afurer habita- on? who would not thinkehim a foole that would fo fondly loue this ruinous building, asthat by flaying 1h 11 in it, he wouldbecontented to indanger himfelfe, to be overwhel- medand buried in it ruines? But the Lord our God the ski!. full builder of this great frameofheauen and earth, whole cunning cannotbe deceived, nor truth deceive, bathplainly toldvs that this great building (hall within fhort time fall ; and therefore who wouldheere feat hishopes? who would not change his dwelling, efpeciallyteeing we are proffered the fee-Pimple ofthat goodly building not made with hands, a.Cor.g.r. but etemall inthe heauens ? yea we are affured ofthe worlds approching ruine, not only by the wordof God, but euen allo by our owne experience; for we our felues do fee it rot- tennes,wedailybehold how the flrength thereofdecayeth, and thatall the creatures dowax more feeble,being much a- bated in theirnaturall powers and vertues, and (hewing by theirweaknes and ficknes that they approchneeretheir end: theheauens hauenot that vertue in their influences as in an- cienttimes ; the heate ofthe Sunne is much abated, and his vital! operation in fitblunarie and terreflriall bodies greatly weakened, and though (as the learned haue obferued) this life-giuing fire be lower and neererovs, yet his vertue being decayed,wehaue leffe comfort and feeling ofhis heat. Theearth alfowhich is the motherand nurfc ofall inferiour creatures, being come'to old age, andwearie and fpent with much
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