Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	great_a	place_n	see_v	2,240	5	3.1639	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A39675	Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man wherein the divine original, excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened, its love and inclination to the body, with the necessity of its separation from it, considered and improved, the existence, operations, and states of separated souls, both in Heaven and Hell, immediately after death, asserted, discussed, and variously applyed, divers knotty and difficult questions about departed souls, both philosophical, and theological, stated and determined, the invaluable preciousness of humane souls, and the various artifices of Satan (their professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered, and the great duty and interest of all men, seasonable and heartily to comply with the most great and gracious design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls, argued and pressed / by John Flavel ...	Flavel, John, 1630?-1691.	1685 (1685)	Wing F1176; ESTC R5953	379,180	504

Immortality But in this it properly consists that he enjoys not only a reasonable but also rejoyceth in an Immortal Soul which shall overlive the world and subsist separate from the Body and abide for ever when all other Souls being but material forms perish with that matter on which they depend This is the proper Dignity of Man above the Beast that perisheth and to deprive him of Immortality and leave him his Reason is but to leave him a more miserable and wretched Creature than any that God hath put under his feet For Man is a prospecting Creature and raiseth up to himself vast hopes and fears from the world to come by these he is restrained from the sensual pleasures which other Creatures freely enjoy and exercised with ten thousands cares which they are unacquainted with and to fail at last of all his hopes and expectations of happiness in the world to come is to fall many degrees lower than the lowest Creature shall fall even so much lower as his expectations and hopes had lifted him higher Argument VI. THE Souls of Men must be Immortal or else the desires of Immortality are planted in their Souls in vain That there are desires of Immortality found in the hearts of all men is a truth too evident to be denied or doubted Man cannot bound and terminate his desires within the narrow limits of this world I beseech men for Gods sake that if at any time there arise in them a desire or a wish that others should speak well of them rather than evil after their death then at that time they would seriously consider whether those motions are not from some Spirit to continue a Spirit after it leaves its earthly habitation rather than from an earthly Spirit a vapour which cannot act or imagine or desire or f●ar things beyond its continuance Halt de Anim p. 73. and the time that measures it Nothing that can be measured by time is commensurate to the desires of Mans Soul No Motto better suits it than this Non est mortale quod opto I seek for that which will not die Rom. 2. v. 7. and his great relief against death lies in this Non omnis moriar That he shall not totally perish Yea we find in all men even in those that seem to be most drowned and lost in the loves and delights of this present World a natural desire to continue their Names and Memories to posterity after death Hence it is said Psal. 49.11 Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever and their dwelling-places to all generations they call their lands after their own Names And hence is the desire of children which is as one saith nodosa Aeternitas a knotty Aeternity when our thred is spun out and cut off their thred is knit to it and so we dream of a continued succession in our Name and Family Abs●lom had no children to continue his Memory to supply which defect he reared up a Pillar 2 Sam. 18.18 Now it cannot be imagined that God should plant the desire of Immortality in those Souls that are incapable of it nor yet can we give a rational account how these apprehensions of Immortality should come into the Souls of men except they themselves be of an immortal nature For either these notions and apprehensions of Immortality are imprest upon our Souls by God or do naturally spring out of the Souls of men It forms conceptions of things Spiritual and abstract from matter and discerns objects which have no dimensions Figure Colour or affection of matter Si conceptus de immortalitate fons sit ipsamet anima est ipsa immortalis quo●iam quod momentan 〈…〉 est ideam natu●ae perennis fa 〈…〉 non potest quemadmodum anim● rati●●s exp●●s conceptum ratione●et●ttis fom 〈…〉 nequit Sterne de morte p. 198. if God impress them those impressions are made in vain if there be no such thing as Immortality to be enjoyed and if they spring and rise naturally out of our Souls that is a sufficient evidence of their Immortality For we cannot more conceive and form to our selves Ideas and Notions of Immortality if our Souls be mortal than the Brutes which are void of reason can form to themselves Notions and Conceptions of rationality So then the very apprehensions and desires that are found in mens hearts of Immortality do plainly speak them to be of an Immortal Nature Argument VII MOreover the account given us in Scripture of the return of several Souls into their own Bodies again after death and real separation from them shews us that the Soul subsists and lives in a separate state after death and perisheth not by the stroke of death for if it were annihilated or destroyed by death the same Soul could never be restored again to the same Body A dead Body may indeed be acted by an assisting form which may move and carry it from place to place So the Devil hath acted the dead Bodies of many but they cannot be said to live again by their own Souls after a real separation by death unless those Souls over-lived the Bodies they forsook at death and had their abode in another Place and state You have divers unquestionable examples of the Souls return into the Body recorded in Scripture As that of the Sh●namites Son 2 King 4.18 19 20 32 33 34 35 36 37. That of the Rulers daughter Matth. 9.18 23 24 25. That of the Widows Son Luke 7.12 13 14 15. and that of Lazarus Iohn 11.39 40 41 42 43 44 45. These were no other but the very same Souls Non aliam sed ipsam priorem anima● corpori mortuo res●itutam esse contra tos qui puta●erunt bodie putant anim●m post mortem corporis nihil esse their own Souls which returned into them again which as Chrysostom well observes is a great proof of their Immortality against them that think the Soul is annihilated after the death of the Body 'T is true the Scripture gives us no account of any sense or apprehension they retained after their re-union of the place or state they were in during their separation There seemed to be perfect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forgetfulness of all that they saw or felt in the state of separation And indeed it was necessary it should be so that our faith might be built rather upon the sure promises of God than such reports and narratives of them that came to us from the dead Luke 16.31 And if we believe not the word neither would we believe if one came from the dead Argument VIII MOreover eighthly The supposition of the Souls perishing with the Body is subversive of the Christian Religion in the principal Doctrines and Duties thereof take away the Immortality of the Soul and all Religion falls to the ground I will instance in 1. The Doctrines of Religion 2. The Duties of Religion 1. First It overthrows the main Principles and Doctrines of Christian

in point of knowledg concerning that great Question What is God Thus no man hath seen or can see God in this World Even Moses himself could not so see God Exod. 33.18 19 20. But the Spirits of the just made perfect have satisfying apprehensions though no perfect comprehensions of the Divine Essence 2. In this light they clearly discern those deep mysteries which they here rackt their thoughts upon but could not penetrate in this life There they will know what is to be known of the Union of the two Natures in the wonderful person of our Emmanuel and the manner of the subsistence of each person in the most glorious and undivided God-head Iohn 14.20 The several Attributes of God will then be unfolded to our understandings for his Essence and Attributes are not two things Rev. 4.8 9 10 11. O what ravishing sight will this be The mysteries of the Scriptures and providences of God will be no mysteries then Curiosity it self will be there satisfied 3. This immediate knowledge and sight of God face to face will be infinitely more sweet and ravishingly plasant than any or all the views we had of him here by Faith ever were or possibly could be There is a joy unspeakable in the visions of Faith 1 Pet. 1.8 But it comes far short of the facial vision Who can tell the full importance of that one Text Rev. 22.4 The Throne of the Lamb shall be in it and they shall see his face O for such a Heaven said one as but to look through the key-hole and get one glimpse of that lovely face Earth cannot bear such sights This light overwhelms and confounds the inadequate faculties of imperfect and embodied Souls But there it is lumen confortans a chearing strengthening pleasant light as the light of the Morning star Rev. 2.28 4. This sight of God will be appropriative and applicative We there see him as our own God and portion Without a clear interest in him the sight of him could never be beatifical and satisfying Sight without interest is like the light of a gloworm light without heat All doubts and objections are solv'd and answer'd in the first sight of this blessed face 5. To conclude This perfect and most comfortable knowledge is attained without labour by the separate Soul Here every degree of knowledge was with the price of much pains How many weary hours and aking heads did the acquisition of a little knowledg stand us in But then it flows in upon the Soul easily It was the Saying of a great Vsurer I once took much pains to get a little meaning the first stock but now I get much without any pains at all O lovely state of separation That Body which interposed clog'd and clouded the willing and capable Spirit being drawn aside as a Curtain by death the light of glory now shines upon it and round about it without any in●erception or lett PROP. XI The separated Souls of the Iust do live in a more high and excellent way of Communion with God in his Temple-worship in Heaven than ever they did in the sweetest Gospel-Ordinances and most Spiritual Duties in which they conversed with him here on Earth THAT Saints on earth have real Communion with God and that this Communion is the joy of their hearts the life of their life and their relief under all pressures and troubles in this life is a truth so firmly sealed upon their hearts by experience as well as clearly revealed in the Word that there can remain no doubt about it among those that have any saving acquaintance with the life and power of Religion This Communion with God is of that precious value with Believers that it unspeakably endears all those Duties and Ordinances to them which as means and instruments are useful to maintain it At death the people of God part with all those precious Ordinances and Duties they being only designed for and fitted to the present state of imperfection Eph. 4.12 13. but not at all to their loss no more than it is to his that loses the light of his candle by the rising of the Sun A Candle a Star is comfortable in the Night but useless when the Sun is up and in it's meridian Glory Christian Pray much hear much and drive as profitable a trade as thou canst among the Ordinances of God and duties of Religion For the time is at hand that you shall serve and wait on God no more this way But yet think not your Souls shall be discharged from all Worship and Service of God when you dye No you will find Heaven to be a Temple built for worship and the worship there to be much transcendent to all that in which you were here employ'd The Sanctuary was a pattern of Heaven in this very respect Heb. 9.23 And on this very account it is called Sion in my Text and the heavenly Ierusalem as denoting a Church-state and the spiritual Worship there performed by the Spirits of just men made perfect Some help we may have to understand the nature thereof by comparing it with that Worship and Service which we perform to God here in this state of imperfection and by considering the agreements and disagreements betwixt them In this they agree that the worship above and below are both addressed and directed to one and the same Object Father Son and Spirit all centers and terminates in God They also agree in the general quality and common Nature they are both spiritual Worship But there are divers remarkable differences betwixt the one and other as will be manifest in the following collation 1. All our Worship on Earth is performed and transacted by Faith as the instrument and mean thereof Heb. 11.6 He that cometh to God must believe c. In Heaven Faith ceaseth and sight takes place of it 1 Cor. 5.7 There we see what here we only believe There are now before us Ordinances Scriptures Ministers and the Assemblies of Saints in the places of worship but if we have any communion with God by or among these we must set our selves to believe those things we see not By realizing and applying invisible things we here get sometimes and with no small pains a taste of Heaven and a transient glance of that glory In this service our Faith is put hard to it it must work and fight at once Resolutely act whilst sense and reason stand by contradicting and quarrelling with it And if with much ado we get but one sensible touch of Heaven upon our Spirits if we get a little spiritual warmth and melting of our affections towards God we call that day a good day and it is so indeed But in Heaven all things are carried at an higher rate the joy of the Lord overflows us without any labour or pains of ours to procure it We may say of it there as the Prophet speaks of the dew and showres upon the grass Which tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the Sons of men

Religion upon which both our faith and comfort is founded and consequently it undoes and ruins us as to all solid hope and true joy The Doctrines or Principles it overthrows are among many others such as follow 1 It nullifies and makes void the great design and end of Gods eternal Election The Scriptures tell us that from eternity God hath chosen a certain number in Christ Jesus to eternal life and to the means by which they shall attain it out of his meer good pleasure and for the praise of his grace This was 1 an eternal Act of God Eph. 1.4 long before we had our being Rom. 9.11 2 This choice of God or his purpose to save some is immutable 2 Tim. 2.19 Iames 1.17 3 This choice he made in Christ Eph. 1.4 Not that Christ is the cause of Gods chusing us For we were not elected because we were but that we might be in Christ. Christ was ordained to be the Medium of the execution of this Decree and all the mercies which were purposed and ordained for us were to be purchased by the bloud of Christ He was not the cause of the Decree but the purchaser of the mercies decreed for us 4 This choice was of a certain number of persons who are all known to God 2 Tim. 2.19 and all given to Christ in the Covenant of Redemption Iohn 17.2 6. So that no Elect person can be a Reprobate no Reprobate an Elect person 5 This number was chosen to Salvation 1 Thes. 5.9 No less did God design for them than glory and happiness and that for ever 6 The same persons that are appointed to Salvation as the end are also appointed to sanctification as the way and means by which they shall attain that end 1 Pet. 1.1 2. 2 Thes. 2.13 14. 7 The impulsive cause of this choice was the meer good pleasure of his will 2. Tim. 1.9 Rom. 9.15 16. Ephes. 1.9 8 The end of all this is the praise of his glorious grace Eph. 1.5 6. to make a glorious Manifestation of the riches of his grace for ever This is the account the Scripture give us of Gods eternal choice But if our Souls be mortal and perish with our Bodies all this is a mistake and we are imposed upon and our understandings abused by this Doctrine For to what purpose are all these Decrees and contrivances of God from everlasting if our Souls perish with our Bodies Certainly if it be so he loseth all the thoughts and counsels of his heart about us and that counsel of his will which is so much celebrated in the Scriptures and admired by his People comes to nought For this is evident to every mans consideration that if the Soul which is the Object about which all those counsels and thoughts of God were imployed and laid out fail in its being all those thoughts and counsels that have been imployed about it and spent on it must necessarily fail and come to nothing with it The thoughts of his heart cannot stand fast as it s said Psal. 33.11 if the Soul slide about which they are conversant In that day the elect Soul perisheth the eternal consultations and purposes of Gods heart perish with it Kekerman tells us that Albertus Magnus with abundance of Art Albertus Magnus statuam ho●rinis construxit que cum libramentis quibusdam ●otis atque aliis machi●is i●t●a latentibus peritissimè c●m●ositis li●guam quadam ratione disciplina noventibus articul●ta 〈◊〉 prenunciarit and the study of thirty years made a vocal Statue in the form of a Man It was a rare contrivance and much admired The cunning Artist had so framed it that by Wheels and other Machins placed within it it could pronounce words articulately Aquinas being surprized to hear the Statue speak was affrighted at it and brake it all to pieces Upon which Albertus told him he had at one blow destroyed the work of thirty years Such a blow would the death of the Soul give to the counsels and thoughts not of Man but of God not of thirty years but from everlasting If the Souls of men perish at death either God never did appoint any Souls to Salvation as the Scriptures testifie he did 1 Thes. 5.9 or else the foundation of God stands not sure as his word tells us it doth 2 Tim. 2.19 So then this supposition overturns the eternal Decrees and Counsels of God which is the first thing 2. It overthrows the Covenant of Redemption betwixt the Father and the Son before this World was made There was a federal transaction betwixt the Father and Son from Eternity about our Salvation 2 Tim. 1.9 Zech. 6.13 In that Covenant Christ engaged to redeem the Elect by his bloud And the Father promised him a reward of those his sufferings Isai. 53.12 accordingly he hath poured out his Soul to death for them finished the work Iohn 17.4 and is now in Heaven expecting the full reward and fruits of his sufferings which consist not in his own personal glory which he there enjoys but in the compleatness and fulness of his mystical Body Iohn 17.24 But certainly if our Souls perish with our Bodies Christ hath a very bad bargain of it Nor can that promise be ever made good to him Isai. 53.12 He shall see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied He hath done his work but where is his reward See how this supposition strikes at the justice of God and wounds his faithfulness in his Covenant with his Son He hath as much comfort and reward from the Travel of his Soul as a Mother that is delivered after many sharp pangs of a Child that dies almost as soon as born 3. It overthrows the Doctrines of Christs Incarnation Death Resurrection Ascension and Intercession in Heaven for us And these are the main Pillars both of our faith and comfort take away these and take away our lives too for these are the springs of all joy and comfort to the people of God Rom. 8.34 His Incarnation was necessary to capacitate him for his Mediatorial work It was not only a part of it but such a part without which he could discharge no other part of it This was the wonder of men and Angels 1 Tim. 3.16 A God incarnate is the Worlds wonder No condescension like this Philip. 2 6 7. The Death of Christ hath the nature and respect of a Ransom or equivalent price laid down to the justice of God for our Redemption Matt. 20.28 Act. 20.28 It bought our Souls from under the curse and purchased for them everlasting Blessedness Galat. 4.4 5. The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead hath the nature both of a Testimony of his finishing the work of our Redemption and the Fathers full satisfaction therein Iohn 6.10 and of a Principle of our Resurrection to eternal life 1 Cor. 15.20 The Ascension of Christ into Heaven was in the capacity and relation of a forerunner Heb. 6.20 It was to prepare places for

the redeemed who were to come after him to glory in their several generations Iohn 14.2.3 The Intercession of Christ in Heaven is for the security of our purchased inheritance to us and to prevent any new breaches which might be made by our Sins whereby it might be forfeited and we divested of it again 1 Iohn 2.1 2. All these joyntly make up the foundation of our faith and hope of glory But if our Souls perish or be annihilated at death our Faith Hope and Comforts are all Delusions vain Dreams which do but abuse our fond Imaginations For 1. It was not worth so great a stoop and abasement of the blessed God as he submitted to in his Incarnation wherein he appeared in flesh yea in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8.3 and made himself of no reputation Philip. 2.7 An act that is and ever will be admired by men and Angels I say it was not worth so great a Miracle as this to procure for us the vanishing comfort of a few years and that short-lived comfort no other than a deluding Dream or mocking Phantasm For seeing it consists in hope and expectation from the world to come as the Scriptures every where speak 1 Thes. 5.8 and 2 Cor. 3.12 Rom. 5.3 4 5. if there be no such enjoyments for us there as most certainly there are not if our Souls perish it is but a vanity a thing of nought that was the errand upon which the Son of God came from the fathers bosome to procure for us 2 And for what think you was the blood of God upon the Cross what was so vast and inconceivable a treasure expended to purchase What! the flattering and vain hopes of a few years of which we may say as it was said of the Roman Consulship unius anni volaticum gaudium the fugitive joy of a year yea not only short-lived and vain hopes in themselves but such for the sake whereof we abridge our selves of the pleasures and desires of the flesh 1 Iohn 3.3 and submit our selves to the greatest sufferings in the world Rom. 8.18 for the Hope of Israel am I bound with this chain c. Acts 28.20 was this the Purchace of his bloud was this it for which he sweat and groaned and bled and died was that precious bloud no more worth than such a trifle as this 3 To what purpose did Christ rise again from the dead was it not to be the first-fruits of them that sleep did he not rise as the common Head of Believers to give us assurance we shall not perish and be utterly lost in the grave Col. 1.18 But if our Souls perish at Death there can be no Resurrection and if none then Christ dyed and rose in vain we are yet in our sins and all those absurdities are unavoidable with which the Apostle loads this supposition 1 Cor. 15.13 c. 4 And to as little purpose was his Triumphant Ascension into Heaven if we can have no benefit by it The professed end of his Ascension was to prepare a place for us Iohn 14.2 But to what purpose are those Mansions in the Heavens prepared if the Inhabitants for whom they are prepared be utterly lost And why is he called the forerunner if there be none to follow him as surely there are not if our Souls perish with our Bodies Those Heavenly Mansions that City prepared by God must stand void for ever if this be so 5 To conclude in vain is the Intercession of Christ in Heaven for us if this be so They that shall never come thither have no business there to be transacted by their advocate for them So that the whole Doctrine of Redemption by Christ is utterly subverted by this one supposition 4. As it subverts the Doctrine of Redemption by Christ and all the hopes and comforts we build thereon so it utterly destroys all the works of the Spirit upon the hearts of Believers and makes them vanish into nothing There are divers Acts and Offices of the Spirit of God about and upon our Souls I will only single out three viz. his sanctifying sealing and Comforting work all things of great weight with believers 1. His sanctifying work whereby he alters the frames and tempers of our Souls 2 Cor. 5.17 old things are past away behold all things are become new The declared and direct end of this work of the Spirit upon our Souls is to attemper and dispose them for Heaven Col. 1.12 For seeing nothing that is unclean can enter into the holy place Revel 21.27 And without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 It is necessary that all those that have this hope in them should expect to be partakers of their hopes in the way of purification 1 Iohn 3.3 And this is the ground upon which the people of God do mortifie their lusts and take so much pain with their own hearts Matt. 18.8 counting it better as their Lord tells them to enter into life halt or maimed than having two eyes or hands to be cast into Hell But to what purpose is all this self-denyal all these heart-searchings heart-humblings cryes and tears upon the account of Sin and for an heart suited to the will of God if there be no such life to be enjoyed with God after this animal life is finished If you say there is a present advantage resulting to us in this world Object from our abstinence and self-denial we have the truer and longer enjoyment of our comforts on earth by it Debauchery and licentiousness do not only flat the appetite and debase and alloy the comforts of this World but cut short our lives by the exorbitances and abuses of them Though there be a truth in this worth our noting Sol. yet 1 Morality could have done all this without sanctification there was no need for the pouring out of the Spirit for so low a use and purpose as this 2 And therefore as the wisdom of God would be censured and impeached in sending his spirit for an end which could as well be attained without it so the Veracity of God must needs be affronted by it who as you heard before hath declared our Salvation to be the end of our sanctification 2. His Sealing Witnessing and Assuring work we have a full account in the Scriptures of these Offices and works of the Spirit and some spiritual sense and feeling of them upon our own hearts which are two good assurances that there are such things as his bearing witness with our Spirits Rom. 8.16 his Sealing us to the day of Redemption Eph. 4.30 his earnests given into our hearts 2 Cor. 1.22 All which acts and works of the Spirit have a direct and clear aspect upon the life to come and the happiness of our Souls in the full enjoyment of God to eternity For it is to that life we are now sealed And of the full sum of that glory that these are the pledges and earnests But if our Souls perish by

done to it in order to its preparation for our Souls So that no delay can be upon that account 2 The departed Souls of Believers are as ready for Heaven as ever they shall be For there is no preparation-work to be done by them or upon them after death Ioh. 9.3 Eccles. 9.10 Their justification was compleat before death and now their sanctification is so too Sin which came in by the Union going out at the separation of their Souls and Bodies They are Spirits made perfect 3 The Scripture is plain and full for their immediate glorification Luke 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luke 16.22 The Beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosome Philip. 1.21 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better The Scripture speaks but of two ways by which Souls see and enjoy God viz. Faith and Sight the one imperfect suited to this life the other perfect fitted for the life to come and this immediately succeeding that for the imperfect is done away by the coming of that which is perfect as the Twilight is done away by the advancing of the perfect day 4 To conclude There is nothing in reason lying in bar to it It hath been proved before the Soul in its unbodied State is capable to enjoy blessedness and can perform its acts of Intellection Volition c. not only as well but much better than it did when embodied I conclude therefore That seeing Heaven is already as much prepar'd for Believers as it need be or can be and they as much prepar'd from the time of their Dissolution as ever they shall be The Scriptures also being so plain for it and no bar in reason against it All the forementioned Opinions are but the Dreams and Fancies of men who have forsaken their Scripture-guide and this remains an unshaken truth That the Spirits of the just go immediately to glory from the time of their Separation PROP. VIII At the time a gracious Souls separation from the Body it is instantly and perfectly freed from sin which till that time dwelt in it from its beginning But thenceforth shall do so no more IMmediately upon their separation from the Body Ideoque vocat conse●ratos vel perfectos quia carnis infirmitatibus non amplius sint obnoxii depositâ ipsâ carne Marl. in loc they are Spirits made perfect as my Text stiles them and that Epithet perfect could never suit them if there were any remaining root or habit of corruption in them The time yea the set time is now come to put an end to all the dolorous groans of gracious Souls upon the account of indwelling sin What the Angel said to Ioshua Zech. 3.3 4. The same doth God say of every upright Soul at the time of its separation Take away the filthy Garments from him and cloath him with change of rayments and set a fair Miter upon his head Thus the Garments spotted with the flesh are taken away with the Body of flesh and the pure unchangeable Robes of perfect holiness cloathed upon the Soul in which it appears without fault before the Throne of God Rev. 14.5 There is a threefold burdensom evil in sin under which all regenerated souls groan in this life viz. 1 The Guilt 2 The Filth 3 The Inherence of it in their nature And there is a threefold Remedy or cure of these evils The guilt of sin is remedied by justification The filth of sin is inchoatively healed by sanctification The inherence of sin is totally eradicated by glorification For as it entred into our persons by the union of our Souls and Bodies so it is perfectly cast out by their disunion or separation at death The last stroak is then given to the work of sanctification and the last is evermore the perfecting stroak Sin languished under imperfect sanctification in the time of life but it gives up the Ghost under perfected sanctification from 〈◊〉 after death Sanctification gave it its deadly wound but glorification its final Abolition For it is with our sins after Regeneration as it was with that Beast mentioned Dan. 7.12 which though it was wounded with a deadly wound yet its life was prolonged for a season And this is the appointed season for its expiration For if at their dissolution they are immediately received into glory as it hath been proved they are in our seventh Proposition they must necessarily be freed perfectly from sin immediately upon their dissolution because nothing that is unclean can enter into that pure and holy place They must be as the Text truly represents them The Spirits of just men made perfect For if so great holiness and purity be required in all that draw nigh to God upon earth as you read Psal. 93.5 certainly those who are admitted immediately to his Throne must be without fault according to Rev. 7.14 15 16 17. When a compounded being comes to be dissolved each part returns to its own principle so it is here The Spirit of man and all the grace that is in it came from God and to him they return at death and are perfected in him and by him The flesh returns to the earth whence it came and all that body of sin is destroyed with it neither the one or other shall be a snare or clog to the soul any more A Christian in this World is but Gold in the Ore at death the pure Gold is melted out and separated and the dross cast away and consumed Hence three Consectaries offer themselves to us Consectary I. That a Believers life and warfare end together We lay not down our weapons of war till we lie down in the dust 2 Timothy 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course The course and conflict you see are finished together Though they commence from different terms yet they always terminate together Grace and sin have each acted its part upon the Stage of time and the victory hovered doubtfully s●●●times over Sin and sometimes over Grace but now the ●●r is ended and the quarrel decided Grace keeps its ground and sin is finally vanquished Now and never before the gracious Soul stands triumphing like that noble Argive In vacuo solus Sessor Plausorque Theatro not an Enemy left to renew the Combat the war is ended and with it all the fears and sorrows of the Saints Consectary II. Separated Souls become impeccable or free from all the hazard of sin from the time of their separation For there being no root of sin now inherent in them consequently no temptation to sin can fasten upon them all temptations have their handles in the Corruptions of our natures Did not Satan find matter prepar'd within us dry tinder fitted to his hand he might strike in temptations long enough before one of his hellish sparks could catch or fasten upon us Temptations are grievous exercises to Believers they are darts Eph. 6.16 they are thorns 2 Cor. 12.7 but

against the persecutors thereof Rev. 6. 10. Nor do I think those words Isai. 63.16 repugnant hereunto Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not For I look upon the import of those words only as an humble acknowledgment of their defection which rendered them unworthy that their Forefathers should own or acknowledg them any more for their children Iob. 14. 21. Eccles. 9. 5,6 John 19.25 and not as implying their utter ignorance or total oblivion of the Churches state on earth But I here understand such a particular knowledg of our personal states and conditions as they once had when they dwelt amongst us in the Body and this seems to be denied them by those Scriptures alledged against it in the margent 3. By commerce and intercourse understand not their intercession with God for us which the Papists affirm but their concernments about our natural or civil interest in this World so as to be useful to our persons by warning us of death or dangers or to our Estates by disquieting such as wrong us in not fulfilling the Wills and Testaments they once made or by giving us notice by words or signs of the death of our friends who died at a distance from us or come to some violent and untimely end The sense of the Words being thus determined and the Question so stated I will for the resolution of it give you 1. The strength of what I find offered for the Affirmative 2. The general Concessions or what may be granted 3. My own judgement about it with the grounds thereof 1 Some there are even among the learned and judicious who are for the Affirmative part of the Question and do with much confidence assert that departed Souls both know our particular concerns in this world and intermeddle with them confirming their assertion both by reasons to convince us that it may be so and variety of instances that it is so I will produce both the one and the other and give them a due consideration and censure The substance of what is pleaded for the affirmative I find thus collected and improved by Dr. Sterne a learned Physician in Ireland Dissentatio de morte à p. 208. ad p. 214. in his Book entituled a Dissertation concerning Death where he offers us these four Arguments to convince that is possible for departed Souls thus to appear and perform such offices for their Friends on Earth Argument I. ANgels by command from God are useful and helpful to men (1) Angeli jussu Dei hominibus opitulantur ha●d quaquam ambigitur unde animas à corpore solutas sese reb s humanis miscere comprobari videtur Sequtlae sundamentum duplex est prius quod animae separatae Angeli sunt saltem Angelis aequales posterius quod magis idonti sunt quibus officium generi humano succurrendi demandetur quàm Spi●itus inter quos corpus nullus unquam intercessit nexus c. they are the Saints Guardians and it is probable that each Christian hath his peculiar Angel whence it will follow that separated Souls do mingle themselves with humane affairs and that because they are Angels at least equal unto Angels Luke 20.36 Besides they being Spirits that were once embodied must needs be more fit for this imployment than those who never had any tie at all to a Body unless we can imagine them to have lost the remembra●●● of all that ever they did and suffered in the Body as also that they put off and buried all their affections to us with their Bodies which is hard to think Even as Christ our High-Priest is qualified for that office above all others in Heaven because he once dwelt and suffered in a Body like ours here upon Earth so separated Souls are qualified above all other Spirits who are unrelated to Bodies of flesh Argument II. THE Church triumphant and militant are but one Body (2) Ecclesia est corpus unum cujus membra quo meliora to magis ad aliis ejusdem corporis membris o●it●landum sunt propensa hujus autem corporis pars altera est triumphans in coelis altera militans in terris illa melior hec opis magis indiga c. and by how much better the triumphant are than the militant by so much the more propense they are to succour and help the other that stand in need of it This being the case we cannot imagine but they are inclined to perform all good Offices for us for else they should do less for us now they are in a state of highest perfection in Heaven than they did or were willing to do in their imperfect state on Earth Argument III. A Will or Testament as Vlpian defines it is the just sentence or declaration of our minds concerning that which we would have done after our decease (3) Testamentum Ulpiano definiente est voluntatis nostra justa sententia de co quod post mortem nostram fieri volumus Testamentum autem tanquam res sacra ab omnibus gentibus religios● observatur Gal. 3.15 Ratio autem tam religiosa taniq universalis observantia est quoniam animas corum qui Testamenta condiderant etiam suam post mortem in tadem voluntate perseverare ejus complementa curare ac deinque ejus vel executrices vel non praestila vindices esse praesumitur These Testaments have always and among all Nations been religiously observed as the Apostle witnesseth Gal. 3.15 The reasons of this so religious observance are a presumption that those who made them when a live continue in the same mind and will after death that they take care for the fulfilling of them and revenge the non-performance upon the unjust Executors For otherwise there can be no reason why so great a stress should be laid upon the Will of the Dead if they care not whether their Wills be performed or no. Why should we be so solicitous and studious about it and pay so great reverence to it but on this account Argument IV. (4) In sacris Scripturis consulere mortuos pa●s●m prohibetur ut Deut. 18.10 11. Sed si homines à mortuis non suscitentur legibus ha●d opus est si mortuirogati non aliquando responderent ab hominibus haudquaquam co●●●●erentur Sterne de Morte ubi sup THe Scriptures forbid consultations with the Dead Deut. 18.10 11. This prohibition supposeth some did consult them and received answers from them which must needs imply some commerce betwixt the Living and the Souls that are departed And considering he had before forbidden their consultation with the Devil it appears that here we must needs understand the very Souls of the Dead and not the Devil personating them only These are the Arguments of this learned Author for the Affirmative which he closes with two necessary Cautions First That this layes no foundation for religious Worship or Invocation of departed Souls Those that are helpful to us are not therefore

in se Peccata expurgat sanguine cuncta suo Horribilis mors est Fateor sed proxima vita est Ad quam te Christi gratia certa vocat Praesto est de Satana peccato morte triumphans Christus ad hunc igitur laeta alacrisque migra Which may be thus translated Cold death my heart invades my life doth flie O Christ my everlasting life draw nigh Why quiver'st thou my soul within my Breast Thine Angel's come to lead thee to thy rest Quit chearfully this drooping house of clay God will restore it in the appointed day Has't sinn'd I know it let not that be urg'd For Christ thy sins with his own blood hath purg'd Is death affrighting True but yet withal Consider Christ through death to life doth call He triumphs over Satan sin and Death Therefore with joy resign thy dying breath Much in the same chearful frame was the heart of dying Bullinger when his mournful friends expressed their sense of the loss they should sustain by his re●●val Si Deo visum fuerit mea opera ulterius in Ecclesia ministerio uti ipse vires suffi●iet libens illi parebo sin me voluerit quod opto ex hac vita evocare paratus sum illius voluntati obsequi ac nihil est quod j●cundius possit mihi contingere quam ex hoc misero corruptissimo seculo ad Christum Servatorem m●um migrare idem ibid. Why said he If God will make any farther use of my labours in the Ministry he will renew my strength and I will gladly serve him But if he please as I desire he would to call me hence I am ready to obey his Will and nothing more pleasant can befal me than to leave this sinful and miserable World to go to my Saviour Christ. O that all who are out of the danger of death were thus got out of the dread of death too Let them only tremble and be convuls'd at the thoughts and sight of death whose Souls must fall into the hands of a sin-revenging God by the stroke of death who are to breathe out their last hope with their last breath Death is yours saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 3.22 your Friend your Priviledge your passage to Heaven 't is your ignorance of it which breeds your fears about it Inference II. GAther from hence the absolute indispensable necessity of your Vnion with Christ before your dissolution by death Wo to that Soul which shall be separated from its Body before it be united with Christ none but the Spirits of just men are made perfect at death Righteous Souls are the only qualified Subjects of blessedness 'T is true every Soul hath a natural capacity of happiness but gracious Souls only have an actual meetness for glory The Scriptures tell us in round and plain words that without holiness no man shall see the Lord Hebr. 12.14 that except we be regenerate and born again we cannot see the Kingdom of God John 3.3 You make the greatest adventure that ever was made by man indeed an adventure infinitely too great for any man to make when you shoot the Gulph of vast eternity upon terms of hazard and uncertainty What thinkest thou Reader darest thou adventure thy Soul and eternal happiness upon it that the work of Regeneration and Sanctification that very same work of Grace which the Spirit of God hangs all thy hopes of Heaven upon in these Scriptures is truly wrought by him in thy Soul Consider it well pause upon it again and again before thou go forth Should a mistake be committed here and nothing is more easie or common all the World over than such mistakes thou art irrecoverably gone This venture can be made but once and the miscarriage is never to be retrieved afterwards thou hast not another Soul to adventure nor a second adventure to make of this Well might the Apostle Peter call for all diligence to make our calling and our election sure That can never be made too sure which is so invaluable in its worth and to be but once adventured Inference III. HOw prejudicial is it to dying men to be then encumbered diverted and distracted about earthly concernments when the time of their departure is at hand The business and imployment of dying persons is of so vast importance and weight that every moment of their time need to be carefully saved and applied to this their present and most important concern How well soever you have improved the time of life believe it you will find work enough upon your hands at death dying hours will be found to be busie and laborious hours even to the most painful serious and industrious Souls whose life hath been mostly spent in preparations for death Leave not the proper business of other days to that day for that day will have business enough of its own Sufficient for that day are the labours thereof Let a few Considerations be pondered to clear and confirm this Inference Consideration I. The business and imployment of dying persons is of the most serious awful and solemn nature and importance it is their last preparatory work on earth to their immediate appearance before God their Judge Heb. 9.27 It is their shooting the Gulph into eternity and leaving this World and all their acquaintance and interests therein for ever Isai. 28.11 It is therefore a Work by it self to die a Work requiring the most intense deep and undisturbed exercises of all the Abilities and Graces of the inner man and all little enough Consideration II. Tim● is exceeding precious with dying men the last sand is ready to fall and therefore not to be wasted as it was wont to be When we had a fair prospect of many years before us we made little account of an hour or day but now one of those hours which we so carelessly lavished away is of more value than all this World to us especially if the whole weight of eternity should hang upon it as often times it doth then the loss of that portion of time is the loss of Soul Body and hope for evermore Consideration III. Much of that little precious time of departing Souls will be unavoidably taken up and imployed about the inexcusable pressing calls and necessities of distressed nature all that you can do for your Souls must then be done only by fits and snatches in the midst of many disturbances and frequent interruptions So that it is rarely found that a dying man can pursue a serious Meditation with calm and fixed thoughts for besides the pains and faintings of the Body the Abilities of the mind usually fail Here also they fall into a sad Dilemma if they do not with utmost intention of mind fix their hearts and thoughts on Christ they lose their comfort if godly and their Souls if ungodly and if they do Friends and Physicians assure them they will destroy their Bodies These are the straits of men bordering close upon eternity they must hastily

both lived in the Womb an obscure and uneasie and unsuitable life Thou canst feed upon material bread and delight thy self amidst the variety of sensitive Objects thou findest here but what are all these things to me I cannot subsist by them that which is food to thee is but Chaff Wind and Vanity to me If I stay with thee I shall be still sinning and still groaning when I leave thee I shall be immediately freed from both and arrive at the summ and perfection of all my hopes desires and whatsoever I have aimed at and laboured for in all the duties of my life Let us therefore be content to part Shrink not at the horrour of a Grave 't is indeed a dark and solitary house and the days of darkness may be many but to thee my dear Companion it shall be a Bed of rest Yea a perfumed Bed where thy Lord Jesus lay bef●●e thee And let the time of thy abode there be never so long thou shalt not measure it nor find the least rediousness in it A thousand years there shall seem no more in the Morning of the Resurrection than the sweetest Nap of an hour long seemed to be when I was wont to lay thee upon thy Bed to rest The worms in the Grave shall be nothing to thee nor give thee the thousandth part of that trouble that a Flea was wont to do And though I leave thee Jesus Christ shall watch in the mean time over thy dust and not suffer a grain of it to be lost And I will return assuredly to thee again at the time appointed I take not an everlasting farewel of thee but depart for a time that I may receive thee for ever To conclude there is an unavoidable necessity of our parting whether willing or unwilling we must be separated but the consent of my will to part with thee for the enjoyment of Jesus Christ will be highly acceptable to God and as a lump of Sugar to sweeten the bitter cup of death to us both This and much more the gracious Soul hath to say for its separation from the Body by which it is easie to discern where the gain and advantage of death lies to all Believers and consequently how much it must be every way their interest to be unbodied Argument II. TO be weary of the Body upon the pure account and reason of our hatred of sin and longing desires after Jesus Christ argues strongly grace in truth and grace in strength it is both the Test of our sincerity and the measure of our attainment and maturity of grace and upon both accounts highly covetable by all the people of God It is so great an evidence of the truth of grace that the Scriptures have made it the descriptive periphrasis of a Christian so we find it in 2 Tim. 4.8 the Crown of life is there promised to all them that love the appearance of Christ i.e. those that love to think of it that delight to steep their thoughts in Subjects belonging to the other World and cast ●●ny a yearning look that way and 2 Pet. 3.12 they are described to be such as are looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God Their earnest expectations and longings do not only put them upon making all the hast they can to be with Christ but it makes the interposing time seem so tedious and slow that with their most vehement wishes and desires they do what they can to accelerate and hasten it as Rev. 22. Come Lord Iesus come quickly Lovers hours saith the Proverb are full of Eternity O said Mr. Rutherford That Christ would make long strides O that he would fold up the Heavens as an old Cloak and shovel time and days out of the way Such desires as these can spring from none but gracious and renewed Souls for Nature is wholly disaffected to a removal hence upon such Motives and Considerations as these if others wish at any time for death 't is but in a Pet a present passion provoked by some intollerable anguish or great distress of nature But to look and long and hasten to the other World out of a weariness of sin and an hearty willingness to be with Christ it supposes necessarily a deep-rooted hatred of sin abhorring it more than death it self the greatest of natural evils and a real sight of things invisible by the eye of Faith without which it is impossible any mans heart should be thus framed and tempered And as it evidenceth the truth so also the strength and maturity of Grace for alas How many thousands of gracious Souls that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity are to be found quite below this temper of mind O 't is but here and there one among the Lords own people that have reached this height and eminence of Faith and Love it is with the fruits of the Spirit just as it is with the fruits of the earth some are green and raw others are ripe and mellow the first stick fast on the Branches you may shake and shake again and not one will drop or as those fruits that grow in the Hedges with their Coats and Integuments enwrapping them as Nuts c. You may try your strength upon them and sooner break your Nails than disclose and separate them so fast and close do their husks stick to them but when time and the influences of Heaven have ripened and brought them to their perfection the Apples drop into your hands without the least touch and the Nut falls out of its Case of its own accord So much so doth the Soul part from its Body when it is maturated and come to its strength and vigour Argument III. IT may greatly prevail upon the Will and Resolution of a Believer to adventure boldly and chearfully upon Death that our Bodies of which we are bereaved and deprived by death shall be most certainly and advantageously restored to us by the Resurrection The Resurrection of the Dead is the encouragement and consolation of the dying The more our Faith is established in the Doctrine of the Resurrection the more we shall surmount the fears of dissolution If Paul urged it as an Argument to reconcile Philemon to his Servant Onesimus v. 15. That he therefore departed for a season that Philemon might receive him for ever the same Argument may reconcile every Believer to death and take off the prejudice of the Soul against it You shall surely receive your Bodies again and enjoy them for ever Now the Doctrine of the Resurrection is as sure in it self as it is comfortable to us the depth and strength of its foundation fully answers to the height and sweetness of its consolation be pleased to try the two pillars thereof and see which of them may be doubted or shaken Matth. 22.29 You err saith Christ to the Sadduces who denied this Doctrine not knowing the Scriptures and the Power of God this is the ground and root of their error not knowing the Scriptures

by treasuring up guilt for wrath and guilt are treasured up together in proportion to each other Every day of his life vast summs have been cast into this treasury and the patience of God waiteth till it be full before he call the sinner to an account and reckoning Gen. 15.16 PROP. II. All the sin and guilt contracted upon the Souls and consciences of impenitent men in this World accompanies and follows their departed Souls to judgment and there brings them under the dreadful condemnation of the great and terrible God which cuts off all their hopes and comforts for ever IF you believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins Joh. 8.24 and Job 20.11 His bones are full of the sins of his youth which shall lye down with him in the dust No Proposition lies clearer in Scripture or should lie with greater weight upon the hearts of sinners nothing but pardon can remove guilt but without faith and repentance there never was nor shall be a pardon Acts 10.43 Rom. 3 24 25. Luk. 24.46 47. Look as the graces of Believers so the sins of Unbelievers follow the Soul whithersover it goes All their sins who dye out of Christ cry to them when they go hence We are thy works and we will follow thee The acts of sin are transient but the guilt and effects of it are permanent and it is evident by this that in the great day their consciences which are the Books of record wherein all their sins are registred will be opened and they shall be judged by them and out of them Rev. 20.12 Now before that general judgment every Soul comes to its particular judgment and that immediately after death of this I apprehend the Apostle to speak in Heb. 9.27 It is appointed for all men once to dye but after that the judgment The Soul is presently stated by this judgment in its everlasting and fixed condition The Soul of a wicked man appearing before God in all its sin and guilt and by him sentenced immediately it gives up all its hope Prov. 11.7 When a wicked man dyeth his expectation shall perish Etiam spes valentissima and the hope of unjust men perisheth His strong hope perisheth as some read it i.e. his strong delusion for alas He took his own shadow for a bridge over the great waters and is unexpectedly plunged into the gulph of eternal misery as Matth. 7.22 This perishing or cutting off of hope is that which is called in Scripture the death of the Soul for so long the Soul will live as it hath any hope The deferring of hope makes it sick but the final cutting off of hope strikes it quite dead i.e. dead as to all joy comfort or expectation of any for ever which is that death which an immortal Soul is capable to suffer the righteous hath hope in his death but every unregenerate man in the world breaths out his last hope in a few moments after his last breath which strikes terror into the very centre of the Soul and is a death-wound to it PROP. III. The Souls of the damned are exceeding large and capacious subjects of wrath and torment and in their separate state their capacity is greatly enlarged both by laying asleep all those affections whose exercise is relieving and throughly awakning all those passions which are tormenting THE Soul of man being by nature a Spirit an intelligent Spirit and in its substantial faculties assimilated to God whose image it bears it must for that reason be exquisitely sensible of all the impressions and touches of the wrath of God upon it The Spirit of man is a most tender sensible and apprehensive Creature The eye of the Body is not so sensible of a touch a nerve of the Body is not so sensible when pricked as the Spirit of man is of the least touch of Gods indignation upon it A wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 Other external wounds upon the Body inflicted either by man or God are tolerable but that which immediately toucheth the Spirit of man is insufferable Who can bear or endure it And as the Spirit of man hath the most delicate and exquisite sense of misery so it hath a vast capacity to receive and let in the fulness of anguish and misery into it it is a large vessel called Rom. 9.22 a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction The large capacity of the Soul is seen in this that it is not in the power of all the creatures in the World to satisfie and fill it It can drink up as one speaks all the rivers of created good and its thirst not quenched by such a draught but after all it crys Give give Nothing but an infinite God can quiet and satisfie its appetite and raging thirst And as it is capable and receptive of more good than is found in all the Creatures So it is capable of more misery and anguish than all the Creatures can inflict upon it Let all the elements or men on Earth yea all the Devils and damned in Hell conspire and unite in a design to torment man yet when they have done all his Spirit is capable of a farther degree of torment a torment as much beyond it as a rack is beyond an hard bed or the Sword in his bowels is beyond the scratch of a pin The Devils indeed are the executioners and tormentors of the damned but if that were all they were capable to suffer the torments of the damned would be comparatively mild and gentle to what they are O the largeness of the understanding of man What will it not take into its vast capacity But add to this That damned Souls have all those affections laid in a deep and everlasting sleep the exercises whereof would be relieving by emptying their Souls of any part of their misery and all those passions throughly and everlastingly awakened which increase their torments The affections of joy delight and hope are all benummed in them and laid fast asleep never to be awakened into act any more Their hope in Scripture is said to perish i. e. it so perisheth that after death it shall never exert another act to all eternity The activity of any of these affections would be like a cooling gale or refreshing Spring amidst their torments but as Adrian lamented himself nunquam jocos dabis thou shalt never be merry more And as these affections are laid asleep so their passions are rouzed and throughly awakened to torment them So awakened as never to sleep any more The Souls of men are sometimes jog'd and startled in this World by the words or rods of God but presently they sleep again and forget all but hereafter the eyes of their Souls will be continually held waking to behold and consider their misery their understandings will be clear and most apprehensive their thoughts fixed and determined their consciences active and efficacious and by all this their capacity to take in the fulness of their misery

Ascension-gifts Eph. 4.8 When he ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men and what were the Royal gifts of that triumphant day why he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. It is an allusion to the Roman Triumphs wherein the Conqueror did spargere missilia scatter abroad his treasures among the people It is reported of the Palm-tree saith one that when it was first planted in Italy they water'd its roots with Wine to make it take the better with the Soil but God waters our Souls with what is infinitely more costly than Wine he waters them with the Heart-blood of Christ and the precious Gifts and Graces of the Spirit which certainly he would never do if they were not of great worth in his eyes O how many excellent Ministers who were as is said of Iohn burning and shining Lights in their places and generations have spent themselves and how many are there who are willing to spend and be spent as Paul was for the salvation of Souls God is at great expences for them and therefore puts a very high value upon them Now all this respects the Soul of man that is the object of all ministerial labours The Soul is the terminus actionum ad intra the subject on which God works and upon which he spends all those invaluable treasures 'T is the Soul which he aims at and principally designs and levels all to and reckons it not too dear a rate to save them at No man will dig for common stones with golden Mattocks the instruments that would be worn out being of far greater value than the thing This may convince us of what worth our Souls are and at what rates they are set in Gods Book that such instruments are sent abroad into the World and such precious Gifts and Graces like golden Oyl spent continually for their Salvation whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas all are yours 1 Cor. 3.22 i. e. all set apart for the service and salvation of your Souls 10. Tenthly The great encouragements and rewards God propounds and promiseth to them that win Souls speaks their worth and Gods great esteem of them There cannot be a more acceptable service done to God than for a man to set himself heartily and diligently to the Conversion of Souls so many Souls as a man instrumentally saves so many Diadems will God crown him withal in the great Day S. Paul calls his converted Philippians his joy and his crown Phil. 4.1 and tells the converted Thessalonians they were his Crown of rejoycing in the presence of Iesus Christ at his coming 1 Thess. 2.19 There is a full reward assured by promise to those that labour in this great service Dan. 12.3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever The wisdom here spoken of I conceive not to be only that whereby a man is made wise to the salvation of his own Soul but whereby he is also furnished with skill for the saving of other mens Souls according to that Prov. 11.30 He that winneth souls is wise and so the latter Phrase is exegetical of it meaning one and the same thing by being wise and turning many unto righteousness and to put men upon the study of this wisdom he puts a very honourable title upon them calling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the justifiers of many as in 1 Tim. 4.16 they are said to save others Here is singular honour put upon the very instruments imploy'd in this honourable service and that is not all but their reward is great hereafter as well as their honour great at present they shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and the stars for ever and ever The Firmament shines like a Saphir in it self the Stars and Planets more gloriously again but those that faithfully labour in this work of saving Souls shall shine in Glory for ever and ever when the Firmament shall be parched up as a scrowl O what rewards and honours are here to provoke men to the study of saving Souls God will richly recompense all our pains in this work if we did but only sow the seed in our days and another enters into our labours and waters what we sowed so that neither the first hath the comfort of finishing the work nor the last the honour of beginning it but one did somewhat towards it in the work of Conviction and the other carried it on to greater maturity and perfection and so neither the one or other began and finished the work singly yet both shall rejoyce in Heaven together Ioh. 4.36 You see what honours God puts upon the very instruments imploy'd in this work even the honour to be Saviours under God of mens Souls Iam. 5.20 and what a full reward of glory joy and comfort they shall have in Heaven all which speaks the great value of the Soul with God Such encouragements and such rewards would never have been propounded and promised if God had not a singular estimation of them And the more to quicken his instruments to all diligence in this great work he works upon their fears as well as hopes threatens them with Hell as well as incourages them with the hopes of Heaven tells them he will require the blood of all those Souls that perish by their negligence Their blood saith he will I require at that watch-mans hands Ezek. 33.6 which are rather Thunderbolts than words saith Chrysostom By all which you see what weight God lays upon the saving or losing of Souls such severe charges great encouragements and terrible threats had never been propounded in Scripture if the Souls of men had not been invaluably precious 11. Eleventhly It is no small evidence of the preciousness and invaluable worth of Souls that God manifests so great and tender Care over them and is so much concern'd about the evil that befals them Among many others there are two things in which the tender care of God for the good of Souls is manifested 1. In his tenderness over them in times of distress and danger as a tender father will not leave his sick child in other hands but sits up and watches by him himself and administers the Cordials with his own hands even so the great God expresseth his care and tenderness Isa. 57.15 I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Behold the condescending tenderness of the highest Majesty Is a Soul ready to faint and fail O how soon is God with it with a reviving Cordial in his hand lest the spirit should fail before him and the Soul which he hath made as it is vers 16. yea he put it into

Atheist bethink thy self pause a while examine thine own breast whatever thy vile Atheistical thoughts sometimes are is there not at other times a fear of the contrary A jealousie that all these things which thou deridest and sportest thy wicked fancy with may and will prove true at last When thou readest or hearest that Text Ioh. 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already His Mittimus is already made for Hell Doth not thy Conscience give thee a secret gird like a stitch in thy side Dare you venture all upon this issue that if those things you find in the Word be true you will stand to the hazard of them If that be a truth Mark 16.16 He that believeth not shall be damned you will be content to be damned Or if Rom. 8.13 be a truth That they which live after the flesh shall dye you will run the hazard and bear the penalty of eternal death If Heb. 12.14 prove true That without holiness no man shall see God you will be content to be banished from his presence for evermore Speak your hearts in this matter and tell us Don't you live betwixt Atheistical surmises that all these are but cunning artifices and fears that at last they will prove the greatest Verities 4. Hath not God given you all the satisfaction you can reasonably desire of the undoubted truth and certainty of his Word What would you have which you have not already Would you have a Voice from Heaven the Scriptures you read or hear are a more sure Word than such a Voice would be 2 Pet. 1.19 or would you have a Messenger from Hell He that believeth not the written Word neither would believe if one should rise from the dead Luke 16 31. View the innate Characters of the Scriptures is it not altogether pure and holy full of Divine Wisdom and awful Majesty and in every respect such as evidenceth its Author to be the wise holy and just God who searcheth the hearts and reins Look upon the Seals and Confirmations of it hath not God confirmed it by divers Miracles from Heaven a Seal which neither Men or Devils could counterfeit And don't you see the blessing and power of God accompanying it in the Conversion and wonderful change of mens hearts and lives which can be done by no other hand than Gods Say not the Miracles which confirm the Gospel are but uncertain Traditions and except you your selves see them wrought you cannot believe them There are a thousand things which you do believe though you never saw them and what you require for your satisfaction every man may require the same for his and so Christ must live in all parts of this World and repeat his Miracles over and over in all Ages to satisfie the unreasonable incredulity of those that question their truth after the fullest Confirmation and Seal hath been given that is capable to be given or the heart of man can desire should be given and if all this should be done you might be as far from believing as now you are for many of those that saw and heard the things wrought by Christ contradicted and blasphemed and so might you 5. Satan who undermines your assent to these things is forced to give his own he that tempts you to look on them as Fables himself knows and is convinced that they are realities the Devils also believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 they know and feel the truth of these things though it be their great design and interest to shake your assent to them they know Christ is the Son of God and that there will be a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness and that there are Torments prepared for themselves and all whom they seduce from God Matth. 8.29 If you ungod God you must unman your selves yea not only make your selves less than men but worse than Devils 6. In a word let thy own heart O Atheist be Judge whether these be real doubts still sticking in your minds after you have done all that becomes men to do for satisfaction in such important cases Or whether they be not such Principles as you willingly ●oment and nourish in your hearts as a protection to your sensual lusts whose pleasures you would fain have without interruptions and over-awings by the fears of a Judgment to come and a righteous retribution from a just and terrible God! Examine your hearts in that point and you will soon find the cheat to be in that I here point you to you have not studied the word impartially nor brought your doubts and scruples with an humble unbiassed teachable spirit to those that are wise and able to resolve them much less prayed for the Spirit of Illumination but willingly entertained whatever Atheistical Wits invent or the Devil suggests as a Defensative against the checks of Conscience and fears of Hell in the way of sin You are loth those things should be true which the Scriptures speak and are glad of any colourable argument or pretence to still your own Consciences Is not this the case The Lord stop your desperate course your paths lead to Hell The ninth way of losing the precious Soul opened IX Precious Souls are daily plunged into the gulph of perdition by Prophaneness and Debauchery How many every where lye wallowing in this puddle glorying in their shame and running into all excess of riot The Hypocrite steals to Hell in a private close way of concealed sin but the prophane gallop along the publick road at noon-day They declare their sin as Sodom and hide it not Isa. 3.9 The shew of their countenance testifieth against them The Hypocrite hath devotion in his countenance and Heaven in his mouth you know not by his words or countenance whither he is going but the prophane hide it not they are past shame and above blushing at the horridst impieties Look as God hath some Servants more eminent forward and couragious in the ways of Godliness than others men that will not hide their Principles or be ashamed of the ways of Godliness in the face of danger so the Devil hath some Servants as eminent for wickedness who scorn to sneak to Hell by concealment of their wickedness but avow and owne it without fear or shame in the open sight of Heaven and Earth Where-ever they come they defile the Air they breathe in with horrid blasphemies and obscene discourses not to be named and leave a strong scent of Hell behind them This Age hath brought forth multitudes of these Monsters the reproach and shame of the Nation that bred them I have little hope to stop one of them in the career and full speed to Hell They have lost the sense of sin the restraints of Shame and fear and then what is left to check them in their course I cannot hope that such a Discourse as this shall ever come into their hands except it be to sacrifice it to the flames yet not knowing the ways of Providence which