dom, and all Christian Graces and Virtues ; worships God as much and more devoutly, does as much Good to the World in all Capacities and Relations of Life, as another Man does in two, or three, or four: He lives fo much proportionably longer than those other Men: He does the Work of fo much Time, and this is equivalent to, nay, much better than living fo much Time. For he who can have the Reward of two hundred Years in the next World, and not live above threefcore or fourscore here, I take to be a much happier Man, than he who spends two hundred Years in this World. This is the best Way of lengthening our Lives; by living doubly and trebly; which will make a vast Addition to our Lives in fifty or fixty Years: And then there will be no Reafon to complain of the Shortnefs of them. 3dly, If our Lives are fo very short, as most Men complain they are, furely we have little Reason to complain of spending the whole of these short Lives in the Service of God for an eternal Reward. What are threefcore or fourscore Years, when compared to an Eternity? And therefore, fetting afide all the present Advantages and Pleasures of a Life of Religion, that this is only to live, to improve and perfect our own Natures, to ferve God, and to do good in the World; fuppofe there were nothing in Religion but Hardships and Difficulties, a perpetual Force and Violence to Nature, a conftant conftant War with the World and the Flesh; cannot we endure all this fo fhort a Time for an endless Reward? Men think their Dayswork very well spent, when they receive their Wages at Night; and can go home and fup chearfully with their Family, and fleep sweetly, as labouring Men ufe to do, all Night: And yet our Saviour compares all the Work and Industry of our Lives to Day-Labourers, in the Parable of the Housholder, who at several Hours of the Day hir'd Labourers to work in his Vineyard, and paid them their Wages at Night, Matth. xx. 1, &c. We all confefs, that threefcore and ten years, if we live fo long, is but a very short Time in itself, and quickly paffes away: I am fure we all think fo, when it is gone: And yet confider, how much of this Time is cut off by Infancy, Childhood, and Youth; while we are under the Care and Conduct of Parents and Governors, and are not our own Men. How much is fpent in Sleeping, in Eating and Drinking, and neceffary Diverfions, for the Support and Repair of thefe mortal Bodies; in our neceffary Bufinefs to provide for our Families, or to ferve the Publick; which God allows and requires of us, and accounts it serving himself: While we live like Men, are fober and temperate, and just and faithful to our Truft, which we should do for our own Sakes, and which all well-governed Societies require of us, without any Confideration of L another another World. So that there is but very little of this very fhort Life fpent purely in the Service of God, and in the Care of our Souls, and the Concernments of a future State: And is this too much for an Eternity of Blifs and Happiness? To complain of Sobriety and Temperance, and moral Honesty, as fuch infufferable Burdens, that a Man had better be damned than fubmit to them, is not fo much to complain of the Laws of God, as of all the wife Governments in the World, even in the Heathen World, which branded all these Vices with Infamy, and restrained and corrected them with condign Punishments: It is to complain of human Nature, which has made all these Vices infamous; and to think it better to be damned than to live like Men. And yet above two Thirds of our Time require the Exercise of few other Virtues but thefe: And whatever Difficulties Men may imagine in other Acts of Religion, if they can poffibly think it so intolerable to love the greatest and the best Being; to praise and adore him, to whom we owe ourselves and all we have; to ask the Supply of our Wants from him who will be fure to give, if we faithfully ask; to raise our Hearts above this World, which is a Scene of Vanity, Emptinefs, or Misery; and to delight ourselves in the Hope and Expectations of great and eternal Happiness, wherein the very Life of Religion confists: I say, if these be such very difficult difficult and uneafy Things, [which one would wonder how they came to be difficult, or why they should be thought fo] yet they employ very little of our Time; and methinks a Man might bear it, to be happy for ever. I am fure, Men take a great deal more Pains for this World than Heaven would cost them; and when they have it, don't live to enjoy it. And if this be thought worth their while, furely to spend a fhort Life in the Service of God, to obtain an endless and eternal Happinefs, is the best and most advantageous spending our Time. And we must have a very mean Opinion of Heaven and eternal Happinefs, if we think it not worth the Obedience and Service of a few Years, how difficult fo ever that were. 4thly, If our Lives are so very short at their utmost Extent, the finful Pleasures of this World can be no great Temptation, when compared with an Eternity of Happiness or Mifery. Those fenfual Pleafures which Men are fo fond of, and for the fake of which they break the Laws of God, and provoke his Justice, forfeit immortal Life, and expose themfelves to all the Miferies and Sufferings of an eternal Death, can laft no longer than we live in this World: And how little a while is that? When we put off thefe Bodies, all bodily Pleasures perish with them; nay, indeed, as our Bodies die and decay by Degrees, before they tumble into the Grave, fo do our PleaL 2 fures fures fenfibly decay too. As fhort as our Lives are, Men may outlive fome of their most beloved Vices; and therefore, how luscious foever they may be, such short and dying Pleasures ought not to come in Competition with eternal Happiness or Mifery. Whatever Things are in their own Nature, the Value of them increases or diminishes, according to the Length or Shortness of their Enjoyment. That which will last our Lives, and make them easy and comfortable, is to be preferred by wife Men before the most ravishing Enjoyments of a Day. And a Happiness which will out-last our Lives, and reach to Eternity, is to be preferred before the perishing Enjoyments of a fhort Life. Unless Men can think it better to be happy for threefcore Years, than for ever; nay, unless Men think the Enjoyments of threefcore Years a fufficient Recompence for eternal Want and Misery. 5thly, The Shortnefs of our Lives are a fufficient Answer to all thofe Arguments against Providence, taken from the Profperity of bad Men, and the Miferies and Afflictions of the good; for both of them are fo fhort, that they are nothing in the Account of Eternity. Were this Life to be confider'd by itself, without any Relation to a future State, the Difficulty would be greater, but not very great: Because a fhort Happiness, or a fhort Mifery, chequer'd and intermix'd, as all the Happiness and Miseries of this Life are, |