V E R. 100 I I, I2. F10/le to the HEBREWS. 1Z7 Word ofGod ; that is, the Lord Jens Chriti as preached in the Gofpel :'fo Peter ap- plyes thefe words, t Ep. 1. 25. By an Interell in him alone, hisEternity and tUnchange- ableneB, may relief be obtaírsed again(' the conlideratlon of this perifhing dying date and condition of all things. Thus the Pfalmift tells us, that verily every man living in hisheft tJlate it altogether vanity, PJàI. 39. 5. and thence takes the Conclufionnow in- filled on,v. 7. And now Lord, feeing it is thus : Seeing this is the condition of man- kind, what is thence to be looked after? What is to be expe6led? nothing at all; not the leaf of of or comfort ? What waitI fir ? My hope is in thee; from thee alone as áGod Eternal; pardoningand frying, do I look forRelief. Man indeed in this Condition Leeks oftentimes for fatisfallion from hiir:felf, from what he is, and doth, and enjoyes ; and what he (hall leave after him ; comforting himfelf againft his ownfrailty with an Eternity that he fancieth to himfelf in his Pofte- rity, and their Enjoyment of his Goods and Inheritance; So the Pfalmifl tells us, PJh'. 4g. 11. Their inward thought is, that their Houfes [ballcontinue for ever, and their dwe!- l4sg places unto all generations; and they call their Lands after their own names. They the indeed that all men dye, ll ife menandFools, v. i o. and cannot but from thence ob- ferve their ownfrailty. Wherefore they are refolved to makeprovifion againft it they will perpetuate their Pofterity, and their Inheritance. This they make efeof to relieve them in their inmofl Imaginations. Best what cenfure doth the Holy Gh,fl pats upon this Contrivance, V.1a. Neverthebß, faith he, notwithtlandingall thefe imaginations, Manbe- ing in honour abidethnot, be is like the Beafls thatperifh ; which he farther proves,v.17, 18,19, 20. (hewing fully that he himfelf is no way concerned in the imaginary perpe. tufty of hisPo(fe(lions ; which as they are all of them periJhing things, fo himfelfdyee and fades away, which he is in the contemplation of their Endurance. And the Truth propofed may bè farther evidenced by the enfuingconfiderations. 1. Man wasmade for Eternity. He was not called outof nothing, to return unto it again. When he once is, he is for ever ; not as to his prefect Bate, that is frail and changeable ; but as to hisExigence in one condition or other. God made him for his Eternal Glory, and gave himtherefore a fubfiflence without End. Had he been created to continue a day, a month , an year a tb asfand years things commenfurate unto that (pace of time might have afforded him fatisfaélion. But he is made fr ever. 2. He is fetfble of bis Condition. Many indeed endeavour to cat'off the thoughts of it : They would faign hope that they (hall be, no longer than they are here. Inthat cafe they could find enough as they fuppofe to fatisfie them, in the things that are like t leemfelves. Eue this will not be ; They find a Wirnefs in themfelves to the contrary i fomewhat that affurei them of an after- reckoning; and that the things which now they do,will be called over in another world. Befidrsthe eonvi pion ofthe Word with them that enjoy it, puts the matter out of quetiion. They cannot evade the Teflimouy it gives unto their Sternal Jubfifence. ;. Hence men are expofed to double trouble and ferplexiry. Firs,That whereas their Eternal fübfrflente, as to the Enjoyment of good or bad, depends upon theirprefent Life, that that is frail, fading, peeifhing. They are here now, but when afew dayes are come andgone, they mutt go tothe place fromwhence they (hall not return. They find theirfubfiflence divided into two very,unequal parts , a few dayes- and Eternity ; and the latterto be regulated'by theformer. This fills them with Anxiety, and makes them fometimes wearyof life, fometimes hate it, alwayes almoft folicitous about it, and tobewail the frailtyof it. Secondly,That no perifhing thing will affordthem Relief or' fupportment in this Condition. Howthould it ? They and theft are parting every moment, and that forEternity. There is no comfort in a perpetual taking leave of things that are beloved. Such is the life of man as unto all earthlyEnjoyments. It is but a parting with what a man hath ; and the longer a man isabout it, the moretrou- ble he path with it. The things of this Creation will not continue our liver here, be- tank of our frailty; they will not accompany us unto Eternity, becaufe oftheir own frail-. ) : we change,and they change ; we are Vanity, and they are no better. 4. An intereft in theOmnipotency Soveraignty and Eternityof the Lord Chrifl willyield ttfoul relief and fatisfaelion in this Condition. There is that in them, which is fuited to relieve us under our ?relent frailty, and to give fatisfahion unto ourfuture Eternity. For, a. What wehave not in our [elves, by an interefl isChrift we -have in another. In him we have Stability and Unchangeablenefs: For what he is in himfelf he is unto us, and
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