his own feet and the Bird enjoy himself as well yea better in the open Fields and Woods than in the Cage neither depend as to Being or action on the Horse or Cage 3. Both Scripture and Philosophy consent in this that the Soul is the chief most noble and principal part of Man from which the whole Man is and ought to be denominated So Gen. 46.26 All the Souls that came with Iacob into Aegypt i. e. all the persons as the Latines say tot capita so many Heads or Persons The Apostle in 2 Cor. 5.8 seems to exclude the body from the notion of personality when he saith We are willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord that We a term of personality is there given to the Soul exclusively of the Body for the Body cannot be absent from it self but We that is the Souls of Believers may be both absent from it and present with Christ. To this we may add 2 Cor. 4.16 where the Soul is called the Man and the inner Man too the body being but the external face or shadow of the Man And to this Philosophy agrees The best Philosophers are so far from thinking that the body is the substantial part of Man and the Soul a thing dependent on it that contrarily they affirm that the body depends upon the Soul * Anima corpus animatum conservat sustentat ubâ— autem illa reliquit corpus perit animatum corpus animalis ratio Anima non est in corpore tanquam in loco cùm à loco circuâ— scâ—iâ—i nequeat tota per totum meat corpus non et pars in qua non tota adsit non enim à corpore tenetur sed ipsa tenet Corpus Neque est in corpore ut in vase vel in utre sed potius in ipsa est Corpus Nyâ—â—en de Anima lib. 2. cap. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anima cujusque est quisqus and that it is the Soul that conserves and sustains it And that the Body is in the Soul rather than the Soul in the Body And that which is seen is not the Man but that is the Man which is invisible That the body might be kill'd and the Man not hurt meaning the Soul which only deserves the name of Man Now if it be the chief part of Man and that which is only worthy the name of a Man and from which therefore the whole is and ought to be denominated a Man If it be so far from depending on the body or being contained within the body that the body rather depends on it and is in it then surely the Soul must be what we describe it to be a substantial Being 4. It is past all Controversie that the Soul is a Substance because it is the Subject of Properties Affections and Habits which is the very strict and formal notion of a Substance All the affections and passions of Hope Desire Love Delight Fear Sorrow and the rest are all rooted in it and spring out of it and so for Habits Arts and Sciences * A 〈◊〉 Subjectum 〈…〉 omnium viâ—â—â—tum vitiorum Sâ—â—entiâ—rum Artium Buchan loc Com. p. 86. 't is the Soul in which they are lodged and seated Having once gotten a Promptitude to act either by some strong or by some frequently repeated actings they abide in the Soul even when the Acts are intermitted as in sleep a Navigator Scribe or Musician are really Artists when they are neither Sailing Writing or Playing Because the habits still remain in their minds as is evident in this that when they awake they can perform their several works without learning the rules of their Art anew 2 A Vital Substance II. The Soul is a vital Substance i. e. A Substance which hath an essential principle of Life in it self A living active Being A living Soul saith Moses in the Text and hereby it is distinguished from and opposed to matter or body The Soul moves it self and the body too it hath a self-moving Virtue or Power in it self whereas the matter or body is wholly passive and is moved and acted not by it self but by this vital Spirit James 2.26 The body without the Spirit is dead It acts not at all but as it is acted by this invisible spirit This is so plain that it admits of sensible proof and demonstration Take meer matter and compound or divide it alter it and change it how you will you can never make it see feel hear or act vitally without a quickning and actuating Soul Yet we must still remember that this active vital principle the Soul though it hath this vital Power in it self it hath it not from it self but in a constant receptive dependance upon God the first Cause both of its Being and Power 3 A Spiritual Substance III. It is a Spiritual Substance All Substances are not gross material visible and palpable substances but there are spiritual and immaterial as well as corporeal substances discernable by Sight or Touch. To deny this were to turn a downright Sadducee and to deny the existence of Angels and Spirits Acts 23.8 The word Substance as it is applied to the Soul of Man puzzles and confounds the dark understandings of some that know not what to make of an immaterial Substance whereas in this place it is no more than * A Substance in this use of the word is that which depends not in respect of its Being upon any other fellow creature as Accidents and Qualities do whose Being is by having their in-being in another fellow creature as their subject but this Being The Soul exists in it self substare accidentibus i. e. to be a subject in which properties affections and habits are seated and subjected This is a spiritual Substance and is frequently in Scripture called a Spirit into thy hands I commit my spirit Luke 23.46 Lord Iesus receive my spirit Acts 7.59 and so frequently all over the Scriptures And the spirituality of its nature appears 1. by its Descent in a peculiar way from the Father of Spirits 2. in that it rejoyceth in the essential Properties of a Spirit 3. That at Death it returns to that great Spirit who was its Efficient and Former 1. It descends in a peculiar way from the Father of Spirits as hath been shewn in the opening of this Text God stiles himself its Father Heb. 12.9 it s Former Zech. 12.1 'T is true he giveth to all living things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 life and breath Acts 1â— 25 Other Souls are from him as well as the rational Soul but in a far different way and Manner They flow not immediately from him by Creation Gen. 1.24 27. as this doth It is said Let the Earth bring forth the living Creature after his kind but God created Man in his own Image Which seems plainly to make a specifical difference betwixt the reasonable and all other Souls 2. It
bountiful â—enefactor from whom it hath received all and every mercy it ever had or hath to violate his laws slight his Soveraignty despise his goodness contemn his threatnings pierce his very heart with grief darken the glory of all his Attributes confederate with Satan his â—alicious enemy and strike as far as a creature can strike â—â— his very Being for in a sense Omne peâ—catum est Deicidium every sin strikes at the life and very existence of God Blush O Heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid O cursed sin the evil of all evils which no Epithere can match no name worse than its own can be invented sinful sin This is as if some venemous branch should drop poyson upon the root that bears it Love and gratitude to Benefactors is an indelible principle ingraven by nature upon the hearts of all men It teacheth children to love and honour their Parents who yet are but meeâ— instruments of their Beings O how just must their perdition be who casting off the very bonds of nature turn again with emnity against that God in whom they both live and move and have their Being O think and think again on what an holy * Mr. Bâ—â—rouâ—â—s excâ—llency of the Soul of Man p. 232. Man once said What a sad charge will this be against many a man at the great day when God shall say Hadst thou been made a Dog I never had had so much dishonour as I have had 'T is pity God should not have honour from the meanest creature that ever he made from every pile of grass in the field or stone in the street much more that he should not have glory from a Soul more precious and excellent than all the other works of his hands Surely 't is better for us our Souls had still remained only in the number of possible Beings and had never had an actual existence in the second rank of Beings but a very little lower than the Angels than that we should still be dishonouring God by them O that he should be put to levy his glory from us passively that it should be with us as it was with Nebuchadnezzar from whom God had more glory when he was driven out amongst the beasts of the field than when he sat on the Throne In like manner his glory will rise passively from us when driven out among Devils and not actively and voluntarily as from the Saints Inference V. IF God create and inspire the reasonable â—â—ul immediately this should instruct and incise all Christian Parents to pray earnestly for their Children not only when they are born into the world but when they are first conceived in the Womb. It is of great concernment both to us and our Children not only to receive them from the womb with bodies perfectly and comely fashioned but also with such Souls inspired into them whereby they may glorifie God to all Eternity 'T is natural to Parents to desire to have their children full and perfect in all their bodily members and it would be a grievous affliction to see them come into the world defective monstrous and mis-shapen births should a Leg an Arm an Eye be wanting such a defect would make their lives miserable and the Parents uncomfortable But how few are concerned with what Souls they are born into the world Good God! saith * 〈…〉 quà m paucoâ— reâ—erias qui tam 〈◊〉 quomodo pâ—è honestè 〈…〉 quà m câ—rant ut amplam relinquant 〈◊〉 haereditatem quâ post 〈◊〉 iâ—lorâ—â— splendidè otâ—â—se delâ—â—ientur Muâ—â— in 8 Gen. Musculus how few shall we find who are equally sollicitous to have such children as may live piously and honestly as they are to leave them Inheritances upon which they may live splendidly and bravely It pleaseth us to see our own Image stampt upon their bodies but O! how few pray even whilst they are in the womb that their Souls may in due time bear the image of the heavenly and not animate and use the members of their bodies as weapons of unrighteousness against the God that formed them Certainly except they be quickned with such Souls as may in this world be united with Christ better had it been for them that they had perished in the Womb whilst they were pure Embryoes and had never come into the number and account of Men and Women for such Embryoes go for nothing in the world having only the Rudiments and rough draughts of bodies never animated and informed by a reasonable Soul Iob 3.11 12. But as soon as such a Soul enters into them though for never so little a time it entails Eternity upon them We also know that as soon as ever God breathes or infuses their Souls into them sin presently enters and death by sin and that by us as the next Instruments of conveying it to them Which should have the efficacy of a mighty Argument with us to lay our prayers and tears for mercy in the very foundation of that union Think on this particularly you that are Mothers of children when you find the fruit of the Womb quickned within you that you then bear a creature within you of more value than all this visible world a creature upon whom from that very moment an eternity of happiness or misery is entailed and therefore it concerns you to travel as in pain for their souls before you feel the sorrows and pangs of travel for their bodies O! what a pity is it that a part of your selves should eternally perish That so rare and excellent a creature as that you bear should be cast away for ever for want of a new Creation superadded to that it hath already O! let your cries and prayers for them anticipate your kisses and embraces of them If you be faithful and successful herein then happy is the Womb that bears them if not happy had it been for them that the knees had prevented them and the breasts they have sucked O! you cannot begin your suits for mercy too early for them nor continue them too long though your prayers measure all the time betwixt their Conception and their Death IV A Vital Substance Inference VI. MOreover if God have created our Souls vital Substances to animate and act those bodies How indispensably necessary is it that a principle of spiritual life do quicken and govern that Soul which quickens and governs our bodies and all the members of them Otherwise though in a natural sense we have living souls yet they are dead whilst they live The Apostle in 1 Cor. 15.45 46. compares the animal life we live by the union of our souls and bodies with the spiritual life we live by the union of our souls with Jesus Christ. And so it is written viz. in my Text The first Man Adam was made a living Soul the last Adam was made a quickning spirit He opposes the animal to the spiritual life and the two Adams from whom they come And shews in both
And Paul went higher than that in a glorious excess of Charity to the Community or Body of Gods People preferring their Salvation not only to his own Body but to his Soul also Rom. 9.3 but to these extraordinary Cases we are seldome called and if we be the Gospel furnisheth us with an higher Rule than Self-love Iohn 13.34 But by this principle of Self-love in all ordinary Cases we must proportion and dispence our Love to all others by which you see what deep rooted fixed Principle in Nature Self-love is how universal and permanent alone this is which else were not fit to be made the measure of our Love to all others Two things will deserve our Consideration in the Doctrinal part of this point I. Wherein the Soul evidenceth its love to the Body II. What are the Grounds and Fundamental Causes or Reasons of its love to it and then apply it I. Wherein the Soul evidenceth its love to the Body and that it doth in divers respects 1. In its Cares for the things needful to the Body as the Text speaks in Nouriâ—â—ing and Cherishing it i.e. taking care for Food and Rayment for it This Care is Universal it 's implanted in the most Salvage and Barbarous People and is generally so excessive and exorbitant that though it never needs a Spur yet most times and with most Men it doth need a Curb and therefore Christ in Matth. 6.32 shews how those Cares torture and distract the Nations of the World warns them against the like Excesses and propounds a Rule to them for the allay and mitigation of them v. 25 26 27. So doth the Apostle also 1 Cor. 7.29 30 31. To speak as the matter is most Souls are over-heated with their Cares and eager pursuit after the concerns of the Body They pant after the Dust of the Earth They pierce themselves through with many Sorrows 1 Tim. 6.10 They are cumbred like Martha with much Serving. 'T is a perfect Drudge and Slave to the Body bestowing all its time strength and studies about the Body for one Soul that puts the Question to it self What shall I do to be saved a Thousand are to be found that mind nothing more but What shall I eâ—t what shall I drink and wherewith shall I and mine be cloathed I do not say that these are proofs of the Souls regular Love to the Body no they differ from it as a Feaver from Natural Heat This is a doating Fondness upon the Body He truly loves his Body that moderately and ordinately cares for what is necessary for it and can keep it under 1 Cor. 9.27 and deny its whineing Appetite when Indulgence is prejudicial to the Soul or warms its Lusts. Believers themselves find it hard to keep the Golden Bridle of Moderation upon their Affections in this matter 'T is not every Man hath attained Agurs cool Temper Prov. 30.8 that can slack his pace and drive moderately where the Interests of the Body are concerned the best Souls are too warm the generality in raging Heats which distract their Minds as that word Matth 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies If the Body were not exceeding dear to the Soul it would never torture it self Day and Night with such anxious Cares about it 2. The Soul discovers its Esteem and Value for the Body in all the Fears it hath about it Did not the Soul love it exceedingly it would never be affrighted for it and on its account so much and so often as it is What a panick fear do the dangers of the Body cast the Soul into Isa. 7.2 When the Body is in Danger the Soul is in Distraction the Soul is in Fears and Tremblings about it These Fears flow from the Souls tender Love and Affection to the Body if it did not Love it so intensely it would never afflict and torment it self at that rate it doth about it Satan the professed Enemy of our Souls being throughly acquainted with those Fears which flow from the Fountain of Love to the Body politickly improves them in the way of temptation to the utter ruine of some and the great hazard of other Souls he edges and sharpens his temptations upon us this way he puts our Bodies into danger that he may thereby endanger our Souls he reckons if he can but draw the Body into danger fear will quickly drive the Soul into Temptation It is not so much from Satans Malice or Hatred of our Bodies that he stirs up Persecutions against us but he knows the tie of Affection is so strong betwixt these friends that Love will draw and Fear will drive the Soul into many and great Hazards of its own Happiness to free the Body out of those Dangers Prov. 29.25 The Fear of Man brings a Snare and Heb. 11.37 tortured and tempted Upon this ground also it is that this Life becomes a Life of Temptation to all Men and there is no freedom from that danger till we be freed from the Body and set at liberty by Death Separated Souls are the only free Souls They that carry no Flesh about them need carry no Fears of Temptation within them 'T is the Body which catches the sparks of Temptation 3. The Soul manifests its dear Love and Affection to the Body by its Sympathy and compassionate feeling of all its Burdens Whatever touches the Body by way of Injury affects the Soul also by way of Sympathy The Soul and Body are as the strings of two Musical Instruments set exactly at one height if one be touched the other trembles They laugh and cry are sick and well together This is a wonderful Mystery and a rare Secret as a Learned Man observes how the Soul comes to sympathize with the Body and to have not only a knowledg but as it were a feeling of its Necessities and Infirmities how this Fleshly Lump comes to affect and make its deep Impressions upon a Creature of so different a Nature from it as the Soul or Spirit is But that it doth so though we know not how is plain and sensible to any Man If any Member of the Body though but the lowest and meanest be in Pain and Misery the Soul is presently affected with it and commands the Eyes to watch yea to weep the Hands to bind it up with all tenderness and defend it from the least injurious touch the Lips to complain of its Misery and beg pity and help from others for it If the Body be in danger how are the Faculties of the Soul Understanding Memory Invention c. imployed with utmost Strength and Concernment for its deliverance This is a real and unexceptionable Evidence of its dear and tender Love to the Body As those that belong to one Mystical Body shew their sincere Love this way 1 Cor. 12.25 26. Ephes. 4.19 So the Soul 4. The Soul manifesteth its Love to the Body by its Fears of Death and extream Aversation to a Separation from it On this account Death is called in Iob
to their preservation For were it not for this Propriety and Relation no Man would be at any more cost or pains for his own Body than for that of a Stranger 'T is Propriety which naturally draws Love Care and Tenderness along with it and these are ordered by the wisdom of Providence for the conservation of the Body which would quickly perish without it 2. The Body is the Souls antient Acquaintance and intimate Friend with whom it hath assiduously and familiarly conversed from its beginning They have been partners in each others comforts and sorrows They may say to each other as Miconius did to his Colleague with whom he had spent twenty years in the Government of the Thuringian Church Cucurriâ—â—s certavimus laboravimus pugnavimus vicimus viximus conjunctissimé We have run striven laboured fought overcome and lived most intimately and lovingly together Consuetude and daily conversation begets and conciliates Friendship and Love betwixt Creatures of contrary Natures Let a Lamb be brought up with a Lyon and the Lyon will express a tenderness towards it much more the Soul to its own Body 3. The Body is the Souls house and beloved habitation where it was born and hath lived ever since it had a being and in which it hath enjoyed all its comforts natural and supernatural which cannot but strengthen the Souls engagement to it Upon this account the Apostle calls it the Souls home 2 Cor. 5.6 Whilst we are at home in the Body 'T is true this house is not so comfortable an habitation that it should be much desired by many Souls we may say of many gracious Souls that they pay a dear rent for the house they dwell in or as it was said of Galba Anima Galbae male habitat their Souls are but ill accommodated but yet it is their home and therefore beloved by them 4 The Body is the Souls instrument by which it doth its work and business in the World both natural and religious Rom. 6.13 Through the bodily senses it takes in all the natural comforts of this World and by the bodily Members it performs all its Duties and Services When these are broken and laid aside by death the Soul knows it can work no more in that way it now doth Iohn 9.4 Eccles. 9.10 Natural men love their Bodies for the natural pleasures they are instrumental to convey to their Souls and spiritual men for the use and service they are of to 〈◊〉 own and others Souls Philip. 1.23 5. The Body is the Souls Partner in the benefit of Christs Purchaces It was bought with the same price 1 Cor. 6.20 sanctified by the same spirit 1 Thes. 5.23 interested in the same promises Matth. 22.32 and designed for the same glory 1 Thes. 4.16 17. So that we may say of it as it was said of Augustine and his friend Alippius they are sanguine Christi conglutinati glewed together by the bloud of Christ. And thus of the grounds and reasons of its Love Inference I. IS it so Learn hence the mighty strength and prevalence of Divine Love which over-powering all natural Affections doth not only enable the Souls of men to take their Separation from the Body patiently but to long for it ardently Philip. 1.23 While some need Patience to dye others need it as much to live 2 Thes. 3.5 'T is said Revel 12.11 They loved not their lives And indeed on these terms they first closed with Christ Luke 12.26 To hate their lives for his sake ie to love them in so remiss a degree that when ever they shall come in competition with Christ to regard them no more than the things we hate The love of Christ is to be the supream love and all others to be subordinate to it or quenched by it 'T is not its own comfort in the Body it principally and ultimately designs and aims at but Christs glory and so this may be furthered by the death of the Body its death thereupon becomes as eligible to the Soul as its life Philip. 1.20 O this is an high pitch of grace A great attainment to say as one did Vivere renuo ut Christo vivam I refuse life to be with Christ Or another when asked whether he was willing to dye answered Illius est nolle mori qui nolit ire ad Christum Let him be loth to dye that is loth to go to Christ So 2 Cor. 5. We are willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. 'T is not every Christian that can arrive to this degree of Lovâ—â— though they love Christ sincerely yet they shrink from death cowardly and are loth to be gone There are two sorts of grounds upon which Christians may be loth to be unbodied 1. Sinful 2. Allowable 1. The sinful and unjustifiable grounds are such as these viz. 1 Guilt upon the Conscience which will damp and discourage the Soul and make it loth to dye It arms death with terrour the sting of death is sin 2 Unmortified affections to the World I mean in such a degree as is necessary to sweeten death and make a man a Voluntier in that sharp engagement with that last and dreadful Enemy It is with our hearts as with fewel if green and full of sap it will not burn but if that be dried up it catches presently mortification is the drying up of carnal affections to the Creature which is that that resists death as green Wood doth the fire 3 The weakness and and cloudiness of Faith You need Faith to dye by as well as to live by Heb. 11.13 All these dyed in faith The less strength there is in Faith the more in death A strong Believer welcomes the messengers of Death when a weak one unless extraordinarily assisted trembles at them 2. There are grounds on which we may desire a longer continuance in the Body warrantably and allowably as 1 To do him yet more service in our bodies before we lay them down This the Saints have pleaded for longer life Psal. 30.9 Psal. 88.11 12 13. and Isai. 38.18 19. 2 To see the clouds of Gods anger dispelled whether publick or personal and a clear light break out ere we dye Psal. 27.13 3 They may desire with submission to outlive the days of persecution and not to be delivered into the hands of cruel men but come to their Graves in peace Psal. 31.15 and 2 Thess. 3.2 That may be delivered from absurd men 3. But though some Christians shun death upon a sinful account and others upon a justifyable one yet others there are who seeing their Title clear their work done and relishing the Joys of Heaven in the praelibations of Faith are willing to be uncloathed and to be with Christ. Their love to Christ hath extinguished in them the love of life and they can say with Paul Act. 21.13 I am ready Ignatius longed to come to those Beasts that were to devour him and so many of the Primitive Christians Christ was so dear
Matth. 26.41 The Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak It incumbers us with cares to provide for it and eats up time and thoughts but then it will be a Spiritual Body 1 Cor. 15.43 like to the Angels for manner of subsistence Luke 20.35 36. 1 Cor. 6.13 and which is the highest step of glory like unto Christs glorious Body Philip. 3.21 well therefore might the Father say Resurrectio mortuorum est Consolatio Christianorum The Resurrection of the Dead is the Consolation of Christians USE II. Of Reproof IN the next place let me press you to regulate your love to your Bodies by the rules of Religion and right Reason I must press you to love them though Nature it self teacheth you so to do but I press you to love them as Christians as men that understand the right use and improvement of their Bodies There are two sorts of errours in our love to the Body one in Defect the other in Excess both come fitly here to be censured and healed I. Some there be that offend in the Defect of love to their own Bodies who use them as if they had no love for them whose Souls act as if they were enemies to their own Bodies They do not formally and directly hate them but consequentially and eventually they may be said to hate them and that 1 By defiling them with filthy lusts so the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 6.18 Every sin that a man doth is without the Body but he that committeth Adultery sinneth against his own Body in other sins 't is the Instrument but here 't is both Instrument and Object not only God but your own Bodies are abused and wronged by it The Body may be considered two ways either 1. As our Vessels or 2. As the Spirits Temple 1. As our Vessel or Instrument for natural and Spiritual Uses and Services and on that account we should not injure or defile it 1 Thes. 4.4 5. but possess it in sanctification and honour The lusts of Uncleanness Gluttony and Drunkenness quench the vigour blast the beauty and destroy the health and honour of the Body and so render it both naturally and morally unfit for the service and use of the Soul 2. And the injury is yet greater if we consider it as the Spirits Temple On this ground the Apostle strongly convinceth and disswadeth Christians from these abuses of the Body 1 Cor. 6.15 16. He argues from the Dignity God will put upon our Bodies by the Resurrection ver 13 14. They are to be transformed and made like unto Christs glorious Body and from the honour he hath already put upon the Bodies of the Saints in their union with Christ ver 15 16. They as well as the Soul are ingrafted into him and joyned with him they are his Temples to be dedicated hallowed and consecrated to his service O let them not be made a sink for lusts or meer strainers for meat and drink 2 By macerating them with covetous lusts denying them their due comforts and refreshments and unmercifully burthening them with labours and sorrows about things that perish 1 Some deny their Bodies due comforts and refreshments which the natural and positive Laws of God both allow and command Their Souls are cruel Step-mothers to their bodies and keep them too short not out of a prudent and Christian design to starve their lusts but to advance their estates Of this evil Solomon speaks Eccles. 6.22 There is an evil which I have seen under the Sun and it is common among men A man to whom God hath given riches Wealth and Honour so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a stranger eateth it This is vanity and it is an evil disease Tenacity is a disease of the Soul like that of a Dyscracy in the stomach which so indisposeth it that it cannot receive with any appetite or delight the best refreshments at a plentiful Table 2 And others there are that wrong and abuse their own bodies by laying unreasonable and unmerciful loads upon them especially loads of grief and sorrow wasting and weakning them beyond all rules of reason or Religion If a friend or relation die they have less mercy on their own Bodies than a conscientious man hath on the Horse he rides Cares and sorrows are as deadly to the Body as a Sword 1 Tim 6.10 Intense and immoderate griefs about Worldly losses and crosses have slain their ten thousands and which is strange the Soul seems to take a certain kind of pleasure in loading and tormenting the Body There is a real truth in that strange expression of Seneca Inest quiddam dulce tristitiae Senec. Ep. 806. Sorrow it self hath a certain kind of pleasure attending it The Souls of some mourners do willingly excite and provoke their own griefs when they begin to abate which is like the whetting of the knife that grows dull to make it cut the deeper into the Body Cum occurrant Sermones corum jucundi conversatio hilaris officiosa pietas tunc ocali velut in gaudio relaxantur Sen. Ep. 806. Thus as Seneca observes Some Parents that have lost their beloved children willingly call to mind their pleasant sayings and pretty actions to find a kind of pleasure in a fresh shower of tears for them when poor hearts sorrow hath so broken them already that they need consolations under their present sorrows rather than irritations of new ones And the Souls unmercifulness to the Body is in such cases farther discovered by its obstinate refusal of all that is comforting and relieving So it is said of Rachel Jerem. 31.15 Rachel weeping for her children would not be comforted because they were not So the Israelites hearkened not unto Moses because of the anguish of spirit and the cruel bondage Exod. 6.9 Thus we studiously rake together and exasperate whatsoever is piercing wounding and over-whelming and shut our ears to all that is relieving and supporting which is cruelty to our own Bodies and that which hath so far broken the health and strength of some bodies that they are never like to be useful instruments to the Soul any more in this World Such deep and desperate wounds have their own Souls given them by immoderate grief as will never be perfectly healed but by the Resurrection Of those wounds the body may say as it is Zeth 13.6 These are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house or by the hand of my friend thus my own Soul hath dealt cruelly and unmercifully with me II. Others offend in the Excess and extravagancy of their love to the Body and these are an hundred to one in number with those that sin in defect of love My friends upon a due search it will be found that the love of our Souls generally degenerates into fondness and folly There is but little well tempered and ordinate love found among men We make fondlings yea we
perfect in the Kingdom of God THAT the Spirits of just Men at the time of their separation from their Bodies do not utterly fall in their beings nor that they are so prejudiced and wounded by death that they cannot exert their own proper Acts in the absence of the Body hath been already cleared in the foregoing parts of this Treatise and will be more fully cleared from this Text. But the true level and aim of this discourse is at an higher mark viz the far more excellent free and noble life the Souls of the just begin to live immediately after their Bodies are dropt off from them by death at which time they begin to live like themselves a pleasant free and divine life So much at least is included in the Apostle Epithete in my Text Spirits of the just made perfect and suitable thereto are his words in 1 Cor. 13.10.12 When that which is pâ—rfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as I am known These two Adverbs Now and Then distinguish the twofold state of gracious Souls and shew what it is whilst they are confined in the Body and what it shall be from the time of their emancipation and freedom from that clogg of mortality Now we are imperfect but then that which is perfect takes place and that which is imperfect is done away as the imperfect twilight is done away by the opening of the perfect day And it deserves a serious animadversion that this perfect State doth not succeed the imperfect one after a long interval as long as betwixt the dissolution and Resurrection of the Body but the imperfect state of the Soul is immediately done away by the coming of the perfect one The glass is laid by as useless when we come to see face to face and eye to eye The Waters will prove very deep here too deep for any line of mine to fathom there is a cloud always overshadowing the world to come a gloom and haziness upon that state fain we would with our weak and feeble beam of imperfect knowledge penetrate this cloud and dispel this gloom and haziness but cannot we think seriously and close to this great and awful subject but our thoughts cannot pierce through it we re-inforce those thoughts by a salley or thick succession of fresh thoughts and yet all will not do our thoughts return to us either in confusion or without the expected success For alas how little is it that we know or can know of our own Souls now whilst they are embodied much less of their unbodied state The Apostle tells us 1 Cor 2.9 That eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him And another Apostle adds it doth not yet appear what we shall be 1 John 3.1 Yet all this is no discouragement to the search and regular enquiry into the future state for though reason cannot penetrate these mysteries yet God hath revealed them to us though not perfectly by his Spirit And though we know not particularly and circumstantially what we shall be yet this we know that we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And it is our priviledge and happiness that we are come to the Spirits of just men made perfect i.e. to a clearer knowledge of that state than was ordinarily attainable by Believers under former dispensations These things premised I will proceed to open my apprehensions of the separate state of the Spirits of just men made perfect in twelve Propositions whereby as by so many steps we may orderly advance as far as safely and warrantably we may into the knowledge of this great Mystery clearing what afterwards shall remain obscure in the solution of several Questions relating to this Subject and then apply the whole in several Uses of this great point and the first Proposition is this PROP. I. THere is a'twofold Separation of the Soul from the Body viz one Mental the other Real Or 1. Intellectual by the mind only 2. Physical by the stroke of death Separatio per intellectum fit cum duo revera conjuncta separatim contipimus Conimbr de Anima p. 595. 1. Of Intellectual or mental Separation I am first to speak in this Proposition and it is nothing else but an act of the understanding or mind conceiving or considering the Soul and Body as separated and parted each from other whilst yet they are united in a personal oneness by the breath of life This mental Separation may and ought to be frequently and seriously made before death make the real and actual Separation and the more frequently and seriously we do it the less of horror and distraction will attend that real and fatal stroke when ever it shall be given For hereby we learn to bear it gradually and by gentle essays to acquaint our shoulders with the burden of it Separation is a word that hath much of horror in the very sound and useth to have much more in the sense and feeling of it else it would not deserve that title Iob 8.14 The King of Terrors or the most terrible of all terribles but acquaintance and familiarity abates that horror and that two ways especially 1. As it is preventive of much guilt 2. As it gains a more inward knowledge of its Nature 1. The serious and fixed thoughts of the parting hour is preventive of much guilt and the greatest part of the horrour of death rises out of the guilt of sin The sting of death is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 Augustine saith Nothing more recals a man from sin Nihil sie revocat à pâ—ccato quam frequens mortis meditatio August than the frequent meditation of death I dare not say it is the strongest of all curbs to keep us back from sin but I am sure it is a very strong one Let a Soul but seriously meditate what a change death will make shortly upon his person and condition and the natural effects of such a meditation Qui considerat qâ—alis eâ—it in morte semper pavidus erit in operatione atque inde in oculis sui Condiâ—oris vivet Nihil quod transit appetit pene mortuum se considerat quia se moriturum non ignorat Greg. Mor. 12. through the blessing of God upon it will be a flatting and quenching of its keen and raging appetite after the ensnaring vanities of this World which draw men into so much guilt a conscientious fear of sin and an awakened care of duty It was once demanded of a very holy man who spent much more than the ordinary allowance of time in Prayer and searching his own heart why he so macerated his own Body by such frequent and long continued Duties His answer was O I must dye I must dye Nothing could separate
and perfect than when the Body in an Ecstasie is laid aside as to any use or assistance of the mind The Soul for that space uses not the Bodies assistance as the very words Ecstasie and Rapture convince us Si autem hoc non est ex natura animae sed per accidens hoc convenit ei ex to quod corpori alligatur sicut Platonics posuâ—runt de facili quaestio solvi possit Nam remoto impedimento corporis rediret anima ad suam naturam Aquin. p. 1. Q. 8. Art 1. 2. To understand by Species doth not agree to the Soul naturally and necessarily but by accident as it is now in Union with the Body Were it but once loosed from the Body it would understand better without them than ever it did in the Body by them A Man that is on Horse-back must move according to the motion of the Horse he rides but if he were on Foot he then uses his own proper motion as he pleaseth So here But though we grant the Soul doth in many cases now make use of Phantasms and that the agitation of the Spirits which are in the Brain and Heart are conjunct with its acts of Cogitation and Intellection Yet as a searching Scholar well observes The Spirits are rather Subjects than Instruments of those actions And the whole essence of those acts is antecedent to the motion of the Spirits As when we use a Pen in writing or a Knife in cutting How 's Blessedness pag. 174 175. there is an operation of the Soul upon them before there can be any operation by them They act as they are first acted and so do these bodily Spirits So that to speak properly the Body is bettered by the use the Soul makes of it in these its noble actions but the Soul is not advantaged by being tied to such a Body It can do its own work without it its operations follow its essence not the Body to which it is for a time united In summ 'T is much more absonous and difficult to conceive a stupefied benumbed and unactive Soul whose very nature is to be active lively and always in motion than it is to conceive a Soul freed from the shackles and clogs of the Body acting freely according to its own nature I wish the favourers of this Opinion may take heed lest it carry them farther than they intend even to a denial of its Existence and Immortality and turn them into down-right Sâ—matists or Atheists PROP. VI. That the separated Souls of the just having finished all their work of obedience on earth and the Spirit having finished all his work of Sanctification upon them they do ascend to God with all the habits of Grace inherent in them and all the comfortable improvements of their Graces accompanying and following them THis Proposition is to be opened and confirmed in these four Branches 1 When a gracious Soul is separated from the Body all its work of obedience in this World is finished Therefore death is called the finishing of our course Acts 20.24 the night when man works no more Iohn 9.4 There is no working in the grave Eccles. 9.10 for death dissolves the Compositum and removes the Soul immediately to another World where it can act for it self only but not for others as it was wont to do on earth I shall see man no more saith Hezekiah with the Inhabitants of the World Isaiah 38.11 that which was said of David's death is as true of every Christian that having served his Generation according to the Will of God he fell asleep Acts 13.36 I do not say this lower World receives no benefit at all by them after their death for though they can speak no more write no more pray for and instruct the Inhabitants of this World no more nor exhibit to them the beauty of Religion in any new acts or examples of theirs which is that I mean by saying they have finished all their work of obedience on earth Yet the benefit of what they did whilst in the Body still remains after they are gone as the Apostle speaks of Abel Hebr. 11.4 Who being dead yet speaketh This way indeed abundance of service will be done for the Souls of men upon earth long after they are gone to Heaven And this should greatly quicken us to leave as much as we can behind us for the good of Posterity that after our decease as the Apostle speaks 2 Pet. 1.15 they may have our words and examples in remembrance But for any service to be done de novo after death it is not to be expected We have accomplished as an Hireling our day and have not a stroke more to do 2 As all our work of obedience is then finished by us so at death all the Work of God is finished by his Spirit upon us The last hand is then put to all the preparatory work for glory not a stroke more to be done upon it afterward which appears as well by the immediate succession of the life of glory whereof I shall speak in another Proposition as by the cessation of all sanctifying means and instruments which are totally laid aside as things of no more use after this stroke is given Adepto fine cessant media Means are useless when the end is attain'd There is no work saith Solomon in the Grave How short soever the Souls stay and abode in the Body was though it were regenerated one day and separated the next yet all that is wrought upon it which God ever intended should be wrought in this World and there is no preparation-work in the other World 3 But though the Soul leave all the means of grace behind it yet it carries away with it to Heaven all those habits of grace which were planted and improved in it in this World by the blessing of the Spirit upon those means though it leave the Ordinances it loseth not the effects and fruits of them though they cease their effects still live The truth dwelleth in us and shall be in us for ever 1 John 2.17 The Seed of God remaineth in us 1 John 3.9 Common gifts fall at death but saving grace sticks fast in the Soul and ascends with it into glory Gracious habits are inseparable Glory doth not destroy but perfect them They are the Souls meetness for Heaven Col. 1.12 and therefore it shall not come into his presence leaving its meetness behind it In vain is all the work of the Spirit upon us in this World if we carry it not along with us into that World seeing all his works upon us in this life have a respect and relation to the life to come Look therefore as the same natural Faculties and Powers which the Soul had though it could not use them in its imperfect Body in the Womb came with it into this World where they freely exerted themselves in the most noble actions of natural life so the habits of Grace which by Regeneration are here
subdued to and fitted for the use of the Spirit as never to impede clog or obstruct its motions and inclinations any more 1 Cor. 15.44 In this hope it parted from it and with this consolation it now receives it again Argument V. THere are many Scriptures which very much favour if they do not positively conclude the Souls inclination to and desire to be re-united with its own body even whilst it is in the state of its single glorification in Heaven certainly our Souls leave not our Bodies at death as the Ostrich doth her Egg in the sand without any farther regard to it or concernment for it but they are represented as crying to God to remember aveâ—â—â— and vindicate them Rev. 6 1â— 11. How long Lord how long wilt thou not avenge our blood our blood speaks both the continued Relation and suitable affection they have to their absent Bodies And to the same sense a judicious and learned Pen expounds that place Iob 14.14 which is commonly but I know not how fitly accommodated to another purpose all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come which words by a diligent comparing of the Context appear to have this for their proper scope and sense Iob in the former verse had expressed his confidence by way of Petition Mr. How 's Blessedness of the Righteous p. 170 171. that at a set and appointed time God would remember him so as to recal him out of the Grave and now minded to speak out more fully puts the Question to himself If a man die shall he live again And thus answers it all the days of my appointed time that is of the appointed time which he mentioned before when God should revive him out of the dust will I wait till my change come that is that glorious change when the corruption of a loathsome Grave should be exchanged for immortal glory which he amplifies and utters more expresly Ver. 15. Thou shalt call and I will answer thou shalt have a desire to the work of thy hands thou wilt not always forget to restore and perfect thine own Creature And surely this waiting is not the act of his inanimate sleeping dust but of that part which should be capable of such an action q. d. I in that part which shall be still alive shall patiently wait the appointed time of reviving me in that part also which Death and the Grave shall insult over in a temporary triumph in the mean time Upon these grounds I think the inclination of the separated Spirits of the just to their own Bodies to be a justifiable Opinion As for the damned we have no reason to think such a re-union to be desireable to them for alas it will be but the increase and aggravation of their torments which consideration is sufficient to over-power and stifle the inclination of nature and make the very thoughts of it horrid and dreadful To what end as the Prophet speaks in another case is it for them to desire that day It will be a day of darkness and gloominess to them re-union being designed to compleat the happiness of the one and the misery of the other But before I take off my hand and dismiss this question I must remember that I am Debtor to two Objections Objection 1. The Soul can both live and act separate from the Body it needs it not and if it don't want why should it desire it Solution The life and actings of the glorified are considerable two ways 1 Singly and abstractly for the life and action of one part and so we confess the Soul lives happily and acts forth its own powers freely in the state of separation 2 Personally or concretely as it is the life and action of the whole man and so it doth both need and desire the Conjunction or re-union of the Body for the Body is not only a part of Christs purchace as well as the Soul and is to have its own glory as well as it but it is also a constitutive part of a compleat glorified person and so considered the Saints are not perfectly happy till this re-union be effected which is the true ground and reason of this its desire Object 2. But this Hypothesis seems to thwart the account given in Scripture of the rest and placid state of separate Souls for look as Bodies which gravitate and propend do not rest so neither do Souls which incline and desire Solution There is a vast difference betwixt the Tendencies and Propensions of Souls in the way to glory and in glory we that are absent from the Lord can find no rest in the way but those that are with the Lord can rest in Jesus and yet wait without anxiety or self torturing impatience for the accomplishment of the promises to their absent Bodies Rev. 6.10 11. COROLLARY Let this provoke us all to get sanctified Souls to rule and use these their Bodies now for God this will abundantly sweeten their parting at death and their meeting again at the Resurrection of the just Else their parting will be doleful and their next meeting dreadful And so much for the Doctrine of Separation The USES of the Point OUr way is now open to the improvement and Use of this excellent Subject and Doctrine of Separation and certainly it affords as rich an entertainment for our affections as for our minds in the following Uses Of which the first will be for our information in six practical Inferences Inference I. IF this be the life and state of gracious Souls after their separation from the Body Then holy persons ought not to entertain dismal and terrifying thoughts of their own dissolution The Apprehensions and thoughts of death should have a peculiar pleasantness in the minds of Believers you have heard into what a blessed Presence and Communion death introduceth your Souls how it leads you out of a Body of sin a World of sorrows the Society of imperfect Saints to an innumerable Company of Angels and to the Spirits of just men made perfect To that lovely Mount Sion to the heavenly Sanctuary to the blessed Visions of the face of God O methinks there hath been enough said to make all the Souls in whom the well-grounded hopes of the life of glory are found to cry out with the Apostle We are conâ—ident I say yea and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.8 When good Musculus drew near his end how sweet and pleasant was this Meditation to his Soul Hear his Swan-like Song Melchior Adams in vita Musculi p. 385 386. Nil superest vitae frigus praecordia captat Sed tu Christe mihi vita perennis ades Quid trepidas anima ad sedes abitura quietis En tibi ductor adest Angelus ille tuus Linque domum hanc miseram nunc in sua fata ruentem Quam tibi fida Dei dextera restituet Peccasti Scio sed Christus credentibus
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 reâ—â—val Si Deo visum fuerit mea opera ulterius in Ecclesia ministerio uti ipse vires suffiâ—iet libens illi parebo sin me voluerit quod opto ex hac vita evocare paratus sum illius voluntati obsequi ac nihil est quod jâ—cundius possit mihi contingere quam ex hoc misero corruptissimo seculo ad Christum Servatorem mâ—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. Timâ— 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
In this Scripture we have the contrary glass representing the unspeakable misery of those Souls or Spirits which are separated by death from their Bodies for a time and by sin from God for ever Arrested by the Law and secured in the prison of Hell unto the judgment of the great day A Sermon of Hell may keep some Souls out of Hell and a Sermon of Heaven be the means to help others to Heaven The desire of my heart is that the conversations of all those who shall read these discourses of Heaven and Hell might look more like a diligent flight from the one and pursuit of the other The scope of the context is a perswasive to patience upon a prospect of manifold tribulations coming upon the Christian Churches strongly enforced by Christs example who both in his own person ver 18. and by his spirit in his Servants ver 19. exercised wonderful patience and long suffering as a pattern to his people This 19. ver gives us an account of his long-suffering towards that disobedient and immorigerous generation of sinners on whom he waited 120 years in the Ministry of Noah There are difficulties in the Text. Estius reckons no less than ten expositions of it Locus â—iâ—c omnium penè interpretum judicio difficillimus Estius and saith it is a very difficult Scripture in the judgment of almost all Interpreters But yet I must say those difficulties are rather brought to it than found in it It is a Text which hath been rackt and tortured by Popish Expositors to make it speak Christs local descent into Hell and to confess their Doctrine of Purgatory things which it knew not But if we will take its genuine sense it only relates the sin and misery of those contumacious persons on whom the spirit of God waited so long in the Ministry of Noah giving an account Of 1. Their sin on Earth Of 2. Their punishment in Hell 1. Their sin on Earth which is both specified and aggravated 1 Specified Namely their disobedience They were sometimes disobedient or unperswadeable neither precepts nor examples could bring them to repentance 2 This their disobedience is aggravated by the expence of God's patience upon them for the space of an hundred and twenty years not only forbearing them so long but striving with them as Moses expresseth it or waiting on them as the Apostle here but all to no purpose they were obstinate stubborn and unperswadeable to the very last 2. Behold therefore in the next place the dreadful but most just and equal punishment of these sinners in Hell they are called Spirits in prison i e. Souls now in Hell At that time when Peter wrote of them they were not intire men Psal. 31.6 Eccles. 12.7 Acts. 7.50 but Spirits in the proper sense i.e. separated Souls bodiless and lonely Souls whilst in the Body it is properly a Soul but when separated a Spirit according to Scripture-language and the strict notion of such a Being These Spirits or Souls in the state of separation are said to be in a Prison that is in Hell as the word elsewhere notes Rev. 20.7 and Iude v. 6. comp Heaven and Hell are the only receptacles of departed or separated Souls Thus you have in a few words the natural and genuine sense of the place and it is but a wast of time to repeat and refel the many false and forced interpretations of this Text which corrupt minds and mercenary Pens have perplext and darkned it withal That which I level at is comprized in this plain Proposition DOCT. That the Souls or Spirits of all men who dye in a state of unbelief and disobedience are immediately committed to the Prison of Hell there to sufferr the wrath of God due to their sins Hell is shadowed forth to us in Scripture by diverse Metaphors for we cannot conceive spiritual things unless they be so cloathed and shadowed out unto us Spiritualia capere non possumus nisi adumbrata Augustine gives this reason for the frequent use of Metaphors and Allegories in Scripture because they are so much proportioned to our senses with which our senses have contracted an intimacy and familiarity and therefore God to accommodate his truth to our capacity doth as it were this way embody it in earthly expressions according to that celebrated observation of the Cabalists lumen supremum nunquam descendit sine indumento The pure and supream light never descends to us without a garment or covering In the old Testament the place and state of damned Souls is set forth by Metaphors taken from the most remarkable places and exemplary acts of vengeance upon sinners in this World as the overthrow of the Giants by the flood those prodigious sinners that fought against Heaven and were swept by the flood into the place of Torments Hell called the place of Giants and why to this Solomon is conceived to allude in Prov. 21.16 The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead in the Heb. it is they shall remain with the Rephaims or Giants These Giants were the men that more especially provoked God to bring the flood upon the World they are also noted as the first inhabitants of Hell therefore from them the place of Torments takes its name and the damned are said to remain in the place of Giants Hell called Tophet and why Sometimes Hell is called Trophet Isa. 30.33 This Tophet was in the valley of Hinnom and was famous for divers things There the children of Israel caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch or sacrificed them to the Devil drowning their horrible shrieks and ejulations with the noise of Drums In this valley also was the memorable slaughter of eighteen hundred thousand of the Assyrian Camp by an Angel in one night There also the Babylonians murthered the people of Ierusalem at the taking of the City Ier. 7.31 32. So that Tophet was a meer Shambles the publick chopping block on which the limbs both of young and old were quartered out by thousands it was filled with dead Bodies till there was no place for burial By all which it appears that no spot of ground in the World was so famous for the fires kindled in it to destroy men for the doleful cries that echo'd from it or the innumerable multitudes that perished in it for which reasons it is made the embleme of Hell Sometimes it is called a lake of fire burning with brimstone Hell a lake of fire Rev. 19.20 denoting the most exquisite torment by an intense and durable flame And in the Text it 's called a prison A prison where the Spirits of ungodly men are both detained and punished This notion of a Prison gives us a lively representation of the miserable state of damned Souls and that especially in the following particulars First Prisoners are arrested and seized by authority of Law 't is the Law which sends them
thither and keeps them there The Mittimus of a Justice is but the instrument of the Law whereby they are deprived of liberty and taken into custody The Law of God which sinners have both violated and despised at death takes hold of them and arrests them 'T is the Law which claps up their Spirits in Prison and in the name and authority of the great and terrible God commits them to Hell All that are out of Christ are under the curse and damning sentence of the Law which now comes to be executed on them Gal. 3.10 Secondly Prisoners are carried or haled to prison by force and constraint Natural force backs legal authority The Law is executed by rough and resolute Bayliffs who compel them to go though never so much against their will This also is the case of the wicked at death Satan is Gods Bayliff to hurry away the Law-condemned Soul to the infernal Prison The Devil hath the power of death Heb. 2.14 as the Executioner hath of the Body of a condemned man Thirdly Prisoners are chained and bolted in Prison to prevent their escape so are damned Spirits secured by the power of God and chained by their own guilty and trembling Consciences in Hell unto the time of Judgment and the fulness of misery not that they have no torment in the mean time Alas Were there no more but that fearful expectation of wrath and fiery indignation spoken of by the Apostle Heb. 10.27 it were an inexpressible torment but there is a further degree of torment to be awarded them at the judgment of the great day to which they are therefore kept as in Chains and Prisons Fourthly Prisons are dark and noisome places not built for pleasure as other houses are but for punishment so is Hell Jud. v. 6. Reserved in everlasting chains under darkness as he there describes the place of torments yea utter darkness Matth. 8. v. 12. extream or perfect darkness Philosophers tell us of the darkness of this World non dantur purae tenebrae that there is no pure or perfect darkness here without some mixture of light but there is not a glade of light not a spark of hope or comfort shining into that Prison Fifthly Mournful sighs and groans are heard in Prisons Psal. 97.11 Let the sighing of the Prisoners come before thee saith the Psalmist But deeper sighs and emphatical groans are heard in Hell There shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Matth. 8 12. Those that could not groan under the sence of sin on Earth shall howl under anguish and desperation in Hell Sixthly There is a time when Prisoners are brought out of the Prison to be judged and then return in a worse condition than before to the place from whence they came God also hath appointed a day for the solemn condemnation of those Spirits in Prison The Scriptures call it the iudgement of the great day Iude v. 6. from the great business that is to be done therein and the great and solemn assembly that shall then appear before God But I will insist no longer upon the display of the Metaphor My business is to give you a representation of the state and condition of damned Souls in Hell and to assist your conceptions of them and of their state 'T is a dreadful sight I am to give you this day but how much better is it to see than to feel that wrath the treasures thereof shall shortly be broken up and poured forth upon the Spirits of men You had in the former Discourse a faint umbrage of the Spirits of just men in glory in this you will have an imperfect representation of the Spirits of wicked men in Hell and look as the former cannot be adequate and perfect because that happiness passeth our knowledge so neither can this be so because the misery of the damned passeth our fear The case and state of a damned Spirit will be best opened in these following Propositions PROP. I. That the guilt of all sin gathers to and settles in the Conscience of every Christless sinner and makes up a vast treasure of guilt in the course of his life in this World THE high and awful power of Conscience belonging to the understanding faculty in the Soul of Man was spoken to before as to its general nature Page 21. And that conscience certainly accompanies it and is inseparable from it was there shewed I am here to consider it as the seat or centre of guilt in all unregenerate and lost Souls For look as the tides wash up and leave the slime and filth upon the shore even so all the corruption and sin that is in the other faculties of the Soul settles upon the conscience Their mind and conscience saith the Apostle is defiled Tit. 1.15 it is as it were the sink of a sinners Soul into which all filth runs and guilt settles The conscience of every Believer is purged from its filthiness by the blood of Christ Heb. 9.14 his blood and his Spirit purifie it and pacifie it whereby it becomes the region of light and peace but all the guilt which hath been long contracting through the life of an unbeliever fixes it self deep and fast in his conscience It is written upon the Tables of their hearts as with a pen of Iron Jer. 17.1 i. e. guilt is as a mark or character fashioned or ingraven in the very substance of the Soul as letters are cut into glass with a Diamond Conscience is not only the principal engagée obliged unto God as a Judge but the principal director and guide of the Soul in its courses and actions and consequently the guilt of all sin falls upon it and rests in it The Soul is both the spring and fountain of all actions that go outward from man and the term or receptacle of all actions inward but in both sorts of actions going outward and coming inward conscience is the chief Counsellor Guide and director in all and so the guilt which is contracted either way must be upon its head 'T is the bridle of the Soul to restrain it from sin the eye of the Soul to direct its course and therefore is principally chargeable with all the evils of life Bodily members are but instruments and the will it self as high and noble a faculty or power as it is moveth not until the judgment cometh to a conclusion and the debate be ended in the mind Now in the whole course and compass of a sinners life in this World what treasures of guilt must needs be lodged in his conscience What a Magazine of sin and filth must be laid up there 'T is said of a wicked man Job 20.11 His bones are full of the sins of his youth meaning his Spirit Mind or Conscience is as full of sin as bones are of Marrow yea the very sins of his Youth are enough to fill them and Rom. 2.5 they are said to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath which is only done
all the city cryed out When Paul tooâ— his leave of Antioch and told them they should see his face no more how did the poor Christians lament and mourn as cut at the heart by that killing word Acts 20.37 38. It made Christs bowels to yearn and roll within him when he saw the multitude scatter'd as sheep having no shepherd Matth. 9.36 Matthew Paris tells us in the year 1072. when preaching was supprest at Rome Letters were then framed as coming from Hell wherein the Devil gave them thanks for the multitude of Souls sent to him that year but we need no Letters from Hell we have a sad account from Heaven in what a sad state those Souls are left from whom the means of Salvation are cut off Where no vision is the people perish Prov. 29.18 and Hosea 4.6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge 'T is sad when those Stars that guide Souls to Christ as that which the Wise-men saw did are set and wandring Stars shall shine in their places O if God remove the golden Candlestick out of its place what but the desolation and ruine of millions of Souls must follow We account it insufferable cruelty for a man to undertake the pilotting of a Ship full of Passengers who never learnt his Compass or an ignorant Empirick to get his living by killing mens bodies but much more lamentable will the state of Souls be if ever they fall which God in mercy prevent into the hands of Popish Guides or blind Leaders of the blind Inference VII IF the Soul be of so precious a Nature it can never live upon such base and vile food as earthly things are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id quod à nobis rejectum projicitur canibus The Apostle Phil. 3.8 9 calls the things of this World Dogs meat and judge if that be proper food for such noble and high-born Creatures as our Souls are An immaterial Being can never live upon material things they are no bread for Souls as the Prophet speaks Isa. 55 2. Why do ye spend money i. e. time and pains thoughts and cares for that which is not bread Your Souls can no more live upon carnal than your bodies can upon spiritual things Earthly things have a double defect in them by reason whereof they are called things of nought Amos 6.13 of no worth or value they are neither suitable nor durable and therefore in the Souls eye not valuable 1. They are not suitable What are Corn and Wine Gold and Silver Pleasures and Honours to the Soul The body and bodily senses can find somewhat of refreshment in them but not the Spirit that which is bread to the body affords no more nourishment to the Soul than wind or ashes Isa. 44.20 Cinis est crassior illa materia in quam combustum redigitur He feedeth of ashes Ashes are that light and dry matter into which fuel is reduced by the fire the fuel before it was burnt had nothing in it fit for nourishment or if the sap or juice that was in it might in any respect be useful that way yet all that is devoured and lickt up by the fire and not the least nutriment left in the ashes and such are all earthly things to the Soul of man I am the bread of life saith Christ. A Soul can feed and feast it self upon Christ and the Promises these are things full of marrow and fatness substantial and proper Soul-nutriment 2. As earthly things are no way suitable to the Soul so neither are they durable The Apostle reduceth all earthly things to three Heads the lusts of the Eye the lusts of the Flesh and the pride of Life 1 Ioh. 2.16 he calls them all by the name of that which gives the lustre and beauty to them and pronounceth them all fading transitory vanities they all pass away as time so these things that are measured by time are in fluxu continuo always going and at last will be all gone Now the Soul being of an immortal Nature and these things of a perishing nature it must necessarily and unavoidably follow that the Soul must overlive them all and if it will do so what a dismal case are those Souls in for whom no other provision is made but that on which it cannot subsist whilst it hath them no more than the body can upon ashes or wind and if it could yet they will shortly fail it and pass away for ever So then it is beyond debate that there lies a plain necessity upon every man to make provision in time of things more suitable and durable than earthly treasures are or the Soul must perish as to its comfort to all Eternity Hence is that weighty counsel of him that came to save them Luke 12.33 Provide your selves bags that wax not old a treasure in Heaven that saileth not i. e. an happiness which will last as long as your Souls last Certainly the moth-eaten things of this World are no proâ—â—sion for immortal Spirits and yet multitudes think of â—â—â—ther provision for them but live as if they had nothing to do in this World but to get an Estate Alas what are all these things to the Soul They signifie somewhat indeed to the body and that but for a little time for after the Resurrection the bodies of the Saints become spiritual in their qualities and no more need these material things than the Angels do 'T is madness therefore to be so intent upon cares for the body as to neglect the Soul but to ruine the soul and drown it in perdition for the sake of these provisions for the flesh is the height of madness Inference VIII IF the Soul be so invaluably precious then it is a rational and well advised resolution and practice to expose all other things to hazard yea to certain less for the preservation of the more precious Soul 'T is better our bodies and all their comforts should perish than that our Souls should perish for their sakes Nature it self teacheth us to offer an hand or arm to the stroke of a Sword to save a blow from the head or put by a thrust at the heart It is recorded to the praise of those three Worthies Dan. 3.28 That they yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God By this rule all the Martyrs of Christ governed themselves still slighting and exposing to destruction their bodies and Estates to preserve their Souls reckoning to save nothing by Religion but their Souls and that they had lost nothing if they could save them They loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 12.11 Then do we live like Christians when the cares of our bodies are swallowed up and subdued by the cares of our Souls and all Creature-loves by the love of Christ those blessed Souls hated their own bodies and counted them their enemies when they would draw them from Christ and his Truths
of Birds Beasts and Plants indeed any thing rather than their own Souls which are certainly the most excellent Creatures that inhabit this World They know the true value and worth of other things but are not able to estimate the dignity of that high-born Spirit which is within them A Spirit which without the addition of any more natural Faculties or Powers if those it hath be but sanctified and devoted to God is capable of the highest Perfections and Fruitions even compleat Conformity to God and the satisfying Visions of God throughout eternity They Herd themselves with Beasts who are capable of an equality with Angels O what compassionate tears must such a consideration as this draw from the eyes of all that understand the worth of Souls As for me it hath been my sin and is now the matter of my Sorrow that whilst Myriads of Souls of no higher Original than mine are some of them beholding the highest Majesty in Heaven and others giving all diligence to make sure their Salvation on earth I was carried away so many years in the course of this World like a drop with the Current of the Tide wholly forgetting my best self my invaluable Soul whilst I prodigally wasted the stores of my time and thoughts upon Vanities that long since passed away as the waters which are remembred no more * Nec enim pudet Sanctoâ— viros postquam renovata corda fuerint per resipiscentiam lapsus sui dedecoris ad dei gloriam meminisse Nihil nobis decedit quod cedit in illius honorem qui praeteritis peccatis nostris ab inferno nos transfert in Coelum Brightman in Cantic p. 12. It shall be no shame to me to confess this folly since the matter of my Confession shall go to the glory of my God I studied to know many other things but I knew not my self It was with me as with a Servant to whom the Master commits two things viz. The Child and the Child's Clothes the Servant is very careful of the Clothes washes and brushes starches and steels them and keeps them safe and clean but the Child is forgotten and lost My Body which is but the Garment of my Soul I kept and nourished with excessive care but my Soul was long forgotten and had been lost for ever as others daily are had not God rouz'd it by the Convictions of his Spirit out of that deep Oblivion and deadly slumber When the God that formed it out of free grace to the work of his own hands had thus recovered it to a sense of its own worth and danger my next work was to get it united with Christ and thereby secured from wrath to come Which I found to be a work of difficulty to effect if it be yet effected and a work of time to clear though but to the degree of good hope through grace And since the hopes and evidences of Salvation began to spring up in my Soul and settle the state thereof I found these three great words viz. Christ Soul and Eternity to have a far different and more awful sound in my ear than ever they used to have I looked on them from that time as things of greatest certainty and most awful Solemnity These things have lain with some weight upon my thoughts and I have felt at certain seasons a strong inclination to sequester my self from all other Studies and spend my last days and most fixed Meditations upon these three great and weighty Subjects I know the subject matter of my Studies and Enquiries be it never so weighty doth not therefore make my Meditations and Discourses upon it great and weighty Nor am I such a vain Opinionaâ—or as to imagine my Discourses every way suitable to the dignity of such Subjects No no the more I think and study about them the more I discern the indistinctness darkness crudity and confusion of my own conceptions and expressions of such great and transcendent things as those But In magnis voluisse sat est I resolved to do what I could and accordingly some years past I finished and published in two parts the Doctrine of Christ and by the acceptation and success the Lord gave that He hath encouraged me to go on in this Second part of my work how unequal soever my Shoulders are to the burden of it The Nature Original Immortality and Capacity of mine own Soul for the present lodged in and related to this vile Body destinated to Corruption Together with its Existence Imployment Perfection Converse with God and other Spirits both of its own and of a Superiour Rank and Order when it shall as I know it shortly must put off this its Tabernacle These things have a long time been the matters of my limited desires to understand so far as I could see the Pillar of fire God in his Word enlightening my way to the knowledge of them Yea such is the value I have for them that I have given them the next place in my esteem to the knowledge of Iesus Christ and my interest in him God hath formed me as he hath other men a prospecting Creature I feel my self yet uncentred and short of that state of rest and satisfaction to which my Soul in its Natural and Spiritual Capacity hath a Designation I find that I am in a continual motion towards my everlasting abode and the expence of my time and many Infirmities tell me I am not far from it By all which I am strongly prompted to look forward and acquaint my self as much as I can with my next place state and imployment I look with a greedy and inquisitive eye that way Yet would I not be guilty of an unwarrantable Curiosity in searching into unrevealed things how willing soever I am to put up my head by faith into the World above and to know the things which Iesus Christ hath purchased and prepared for me and all the rest that are waiting for his appearance and Kingdom I feel my Curiosity checked and repressed by that Elegant Paronomasia Rom. 12.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In all things I would be wise unto Sobriety I groan under the effects of Adam's itching Ambition to know and would not by repeating his sin increase my own misery Nor yet would I be scared by his Example into the contrary evil of neglecting the means God hath afforded me to know all that I can know of his revealed Will. * Cui â—niâ— veritas comâ—erta sine Deo Cui Deus cognitus sine Christo Cui Christus exploratus sine Spiritu Cui Spiritus â—ccommodatus sine fide Tertul de Anima The helps Philosophy affords in some parts of this Discourse are too great to be despised and too small to be admired I confess I read the Definitions of the Soul given by the Ancient Philosophers with a Compassionate smile When Thales calls it a Nature without Repose Asclepiades an Exercitation of sense Hesiod a thing composed of Earth and Water Parmenides
a thing composed of Earth and Fire Galen saith it is heat Hippocrates a Spirit diffused throughout the Body Plato a Self-moving Substance Aristotle calls it Entelechia that by which the Body is moved If my Opinion should be asked which of all these Definitions I like best I should give the same Answer which Theocritus gave to an ill Poet repeating many of his Verses and asking which he liked best Those said he which you have omitted Or if they must have the Garland as the prize they have shot for let them have it upon the same reason that was once given to him that always shot wide Difficilius est toties non attingere Because it was the greatest difficulty to aim so often at the Mark and never come near it One Word of God gives me more light than a thousand such laborious trifles As Caesar was best able to write his own Commentaries so God only can give the best account of this his own Creature on which he hath impressed his own Image Modern Philosophers assisted by the Divine Oracles must needs come closer to the Mark and give us a far better account of the nature of the Soul Yet I have endeavoured not to cloud this Subject with their Controversies or abstruse Notions remembring what a smart but deserved check Tertullian gives those Qui Platonicum Aristotelicum Christianismum procudunt Christianis Words are but the Servants of Matter I value them as Merchants do their Ships not by the gilded Head and Stern the neatness of their Mould or curious Flags and Streamers but by the soundness of their Bottoms largeness of their Capacity and richness of their Cargoe and loading The quality of this Subject necessitates in many places the use of Scholastick terms which will be obscure to the Vulgar Reader but apt and proper words must not be rejected for their obscurity except plainer words could be found that fit the Subject as well and are as fully expressive of the matter The unnecessary I have avoided and the rest explained as I could The principal fruits I especially aim at both to my own and the Readers Soul are that whilst we contemplate the freedom pleasure and satisfaction of that Spiritual Incorporeal People who dwell in the Region of light and joy and are hereby forming to our selves a true Scriptural Idea of the blessed state of those disembodied Spirits with whom we are to serve and converse in the Temple-worship in Heaven and come more explicitely and distinctly to understand the Constitution Order and Delightful imployment of those our everlasting Associates We may answerably feel the fond and inordinate love of this Animal life subacted and wrought down the frightful Vizard of death drop off and a more pleasing Aspect appear that no upright Soul that shall read these Discourses may henceforth be convuls'd at the name of death but chearfully aspire and with a pleasant expectation wait for the blessed season of its transportation to that blessed Assembly 'T is certainly our ignorance of the life of Heaven that makes us dote as we do upon the present life There is a gloom a thick Mist overspreading the next life and hiding even from the eyes of Believers the glory that is there We send forth our thoughts to penetrate this Cloud but they return to us without the desired success We reinforce them with a Sally of new and more vigorous thoughts but still they come back in confusion and disappointment as to any perfect account they can bring us from thence though the oftner and closer we think the more still we grow up into acquaintance with these excellent things Another benefit I pray for and expect from these labours is that by describing the horrid state of those Souls which go the other way and shewing to the living the dismal condition of Souls departed in their unregenerate state some may be awakened to a seasonable and effectual Consideration of their wretched Condition whilst they yet continue under the means and among the Instruments of their Salvation Whatever the fruit of this Discourse shall be to â—thers I have cause to bless God for the advantages it hath already given me I begin to find more than ever I have done in the separate state of sanctified Souls all that is capable of attracting an intellectual nature and if God will but fix my mind upon this state and cause my pleased thoughts about it to settle into a frame and steddy temper I hope I shall daily more and more depreciate and despise this common way of existence in a Corporeal Prison and when the blessed season of my departure is at hand I shall take a chearful farewel of the greater and lesser Elementary World to which my Soul hath been confined and have an abundant Entrance through the broad gate of Assurance unto the blessed unbodied Inhabitants of the World to come A Synopsis or View of the Soul in the state of Composition in six Particulars in this first Table of Life viz. The Soul of Man is considered in this Treatise two ways First in the state of Composition Secondly In the state of Separation 1. In its general Nature a Substance proved to be so 1. By its Creation Page 11 2. By its single Existence p. 11 3. By its Sâ—â—tentation of the Body p. 12 4. By the subjecting of Habits and Affections in it p. 13 2. In its Essential Properties which are six 1. It is a Vital substance whose life is not from it self but 1. It receives it from God p. 13 2. Communicates it to the Body p. 13 2. An Immortal substance proved by eight Arguments 1. The simplicity of its Nature p. 96 2. The Veracity of God in his promises and threats p. 98 3. The Consent of all Nations p. 100 4. It s everlasting habits which are inseparable p. 103 5. The Peculiar dignity of Man p. 105 6. His desires of Immortality p. 107 7. Its returns after death p. 108 8. The Absurdities clogging the Negative p. 109 3. Endued with Understanding to which belong 1. Thoughts to the Speculative 2. Conscience to the Practical understanding p. 20 4. And a Will which glorieth in 1. It s Liberty p. 23 And 2. It s Dominion both 1. Despotical p. 24 2. Political p. 24 Yet both restrained in some particulars 1. As to the Body p. 25 2. As to the thoughts p. 26 3. As to the Conscience p. 27 5. Affections and Passions where is shewed 1. Their rise in the Soul p. 28 2. Their use to the Soul p. 29 6. It s inclination to the Body which differenceth it from other Spirits p. 29 3. It s Excellent Original about which we have 1. Errors refuted that it was not 1. By Seminal Traduction p. 31 2. By Angelical Procreation p. 32 3. By Coâ—taneous Creation p. 33 2. It s true Original asserted â—y immediate Creation p. 34 3. Objections against this Assertion answered p. 37 â—â— 4. It s Union with the Body
rejoyceth in the essential Properties of a Spirit for it is an incorporeal Substance as Spirits are It hath not partes extra partes extension of parts nor is it divisible as the body is It hath not Dimensions and Figures as matter hath but is a most pure invisible and as the acute and judicious Dr. More expresseth it an indiscerpible Substance It hath the Principle of Life and Motion in it self or rather it is such a Principle it self and is not moved as the dull and sluggish matter is per aliud by another It s efficacy is great though it be unseen and not liable to the Test of our touch as no spiritual substances are A Spirit saith Christ hath not Flesh and Bones Luke 24.39 We both grant and feel that the Soul hath a love and inclination to the body which indeed is no more than it is necessary it should have yet can we no more inferr its Corporeity from that love to the body than we can infer the Corporeity of Angels from their affection and benevolent love to men It is a Spirit of a nature vastly different from the body in which it is immersed Mr. How 's Funeral Serm. p. 9 10. There is saith a learned Author no greater mystery in nature than the union betwixt the Soul and Body That a Mind and Spirit should be so ty'd and linkt to a clod of Clay that while that remains in a due temper it cannot by any art or power free it self What so much a-kin are a Mind and a piece of Earth a Clod and a Thought that they should be thus affixed to one another Certainly the heavenly pure Bodies do not differ so much from a dunghil as the Soul and Body differ they differ but as more pure and less pure matter but these as material and immaterial If we consider wherein consists the Being of a Body and wherein that of a Soul and then compare them the matter will be clear We cannot come to an apprehension of their Beings but by considering their primary passions and properties whereby they make discovery of themselves The first and primary affection of a body * Philosophical Essay â— 2. §. 2. p. 39. as is rightly observed is that extension of parts whereof it is compounded and a capacity of Division upon which as upon the fundamental mode the particular Dimensions that is the figures and the local motion do depend Again for the Being of our Souls if we reflect upon our selves we shall find that all our knowledge of them resolves into this that we are Beings conscious to our selves of several kinds of cogitations that by our outward senses we apprehend bodily things present and by our imagination we apprehend things absent And that we oft recover into our apprehension things past and gone and upon our perception of things we find our selves variously affected Let these two properties of a Soul and Body be compared and upon the first view of a considering mind it will appear that Divisibility is not Apprehension or Judgment or Desire or Discourse That to cut a body into several parts or put it into several shapes or bring it to several motions or mix it after several ways will never bring it to apprehend or desire No man can think the combining of Fire and Air and Water and Earth should make the lump of it to know or comprehend what is done to it or by it We see manifestly that upon the division of the body the Soul remains entire and undivided It is not the loss of a Leg or Arm or Eye that can maim the Understanding or the Will or cut off the affections Nay it pervades the body it dwells in and is whole in the whole and whole in every * Understand iâ— negatively that the Soul is not in the parts of the body per partes part in one part and part in another seeing it is indivisible and hath no parts part which it could never do if it self were material Yea it comprehends in its understanding the body or matter in which it is lodged and more than that it can and doth form conceptions of pure spiritual and immaterial Beings which have no Dimensions or Figures all which shâ—ws it to be no corporeal but a Spiritual and immaterial Substance 3. As it derives its Being from the Father of Spirits in a peculiar way and rejoyceth in its spiritual properties so at death it returns to that great Spirit from whence it came It is not annihilated or resolved into soft Air or suckt up again by the Element of Fire or catcht back again into the soul of the World as some have dreamed but it returns to God who gave it to give an account of it self to him and receive its Judgment from him Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return to God who gave it Eccles. 12.7 Each part of Man to its like dust to dust and spirit to spirit Not that the Soul is resolved into God as the Body is into Earth but as God created it a rational Spirit conscious to it self of moral good and evil so when it hath finisht its time in the body it must appear before the God of the Spirits of all flesh its Arbiter and final Judge By all which we see that as it is elevated too high on the one hand when it is made a particle of God himself not only the Creature but a part of God as * Anima autem mentis particeps facta non solum Dei opus est verum etiam pars neque ab â—o sed de eo ex eo facta Plut. de Qu. Platon Plutarch and †Quomoda credibile vidatur tam axiguam mentem humanam membranulâ etrebri aut corde â—aud â—mplis spaciis inâ—lusam tantam Coeli mundique magnitudinem capere nisi illius divinae fâ—licisque animae particula esset indivisibilis Philo. Philo Iudaeus and others have term'd it a Spirit it is but of another and inferiour kind So it is degraded too low when it is affirmed to be matter though the purest finest and most subtle in nature which approacheth nearest to the nature of a spirit A Spirit it is as much as an Angel is a Spirit though it be a spirit of another species This is the name it is known by throughout the Scriptures In a word it is void of mixture and composition there are no jarring qualities compounded Elements or divisible parts in the Soul as there are in bodies but it is a pure simple invisible and indivisible Substance which proves its spirituality and brings us to the fourth particular viz. IV. It is an immortal Substance 4 An immortal Substance The simplicity and spirituality of its nature of which I spake before plainly shews us that it is in its very nature designed for Immortality for such a being or Substance as this hath none of the seeds of Corruption and Death in
Hebrew it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word in thy heart so Matth. 9.3 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they spake within themselves i. e. they thought in their hearts Matth. 21.25 The Objects presented to the mind are the Companions with whom our hearts talk and converse Thoughts are the figments and Creatures of the mind They are formed within it in 〈◊〉 innumerable The power of cogitation is in the mind yea in the spirit of the mind * Phantasia mâ—nti offert phantasmata Picol The fancy indeed whilst the Soul is embodied ordinarily and for the most part presents the appearances and likenesses of things to the mind but yet it can form thoughts of things which the fancy can present no Image of as when †When we think of God saith â—â—rx Tyr. Diss. 1. we must think of nothing material 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Soul thinks of God or of itself This power of cogitation goes with the Soul and is rooted in it when it is separated from the body and by it we speak to God and converse with Angels and other spirits in the unbodied State as will be more fully opened in the process of this Discourse 2. The Conscience belongs also to this faculty What Conscience is for it being the judgement of a man upon himself with respect or relation to the judgment of God it must needs belong to the understanding part or faculty Thoughts are formed in the speculative but Conscience belongs to the practical understanding Iudicium appello conscientiam ut ad intellectâ—m eam 〈◊〉 osteâ—â—am Ames It is a very high and awful power it is solo Deo minor and rides as Ioseph did in the second Chariot The next and immediate Officer under God He saith of Conscience with respect to every man as he once said of Moses with respect to Pharaoh See I have made 〈◊〉 a God to Pharoah Exod. 7.1 The voice of Conscience is the voice of God for it is his Vicegerent and Representative What it binds on earth is bound in heaven and what it looseth on earth is loosed in heaven It observes records and bears witness to all our actions and acquits or condemns as in the name of God for them Its Consolations are most sweet and its Condemnations most terrible so terrible that some have chosen death which is the King of terrours rather than to endure the scorching heat of their own Consciences The greatest Deference and Obedience is due to its Commands And a man had better * Quas nos oportet mortes praeeligere quod non supplicium potius ferre immo iâ— quam profundam infeâ—ni Abyssum â—oâ— intraâ—e quà m coâ—tra conscientiam atteâ—tari Zuingâ— indure any rack or torture in the world than incur the torments of it It accompanies us as our shadow whereever we go and when all others forsake us as at death they will Conscience is then with us and is never more active and vigorous than at that time Nor doth it forsake us after death but where the Soul goes it goes and will be its Companion in the other world for ever How glad would the Damned be if they might but have left their Consciences behind them when they went hence but as Bernard rightly * Ipsa judicat ipsa imperat ipsa observat ipsa judicat ipsa toâ—toâ— ipsa carcer Bern. lib. de Conse cap. 9. It is both Witness Judge Tormentor and Prison it accuseth judgeth punisheth and condemneth And thus briefly of the understanding which hath many Offices and as many names from those Offices It is sometimes called Wit Reason Vnderstanding Opinion Iudgment And why we bestow so many names upon one and the same faculty the learned Author of that small but excellent †Nosce Teipsum p. 48 49. Tract de Anima gives us this true and ingenious account THe Wit the Pupil of the Souls clear eye And in mans world the only shining Star Looks in the Mirroir of the Phantasie Where all the gatherings of the Senses are And after by discoursing to and fro Anticipating and Comparing things She doth all universal natures know And all Effects into their Causes brings When she rates things and moves from ground to ground The name of Reason she obtains by this But when by reason she the truth hath found And standeth fixt she Understanding is When her Assent she lightly doth incline To either part she is Opinion light But when she doth by principles define A Certain truth she hath true Judgements fight And as from Senses Reasons work doth spring So many Reasons Vnderstanding gain And many Vnderstandings Knowledge bring And by much Knowledge Wisdom we obtain VI. 6 Endued with a Will What the Will is God hath endued the Soul of man not only with an Vnderstanding to discern and direct but also with a Will to govern moderate and over-rule the actions of Life The Will is a faculty of the rational Soul whereby a man either chuseth or refuseth the things which the understanding discerns and knows This is a very high and noble power of the Soul The understanding seems to bear the same relation to the Will as a grave Counsellour doth to a great Prince It glories in two excellencies viz 1. Liberty 2. Dominion 1. It hath Freedom and Liberty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zeno. it cannot be compelled and forced Coaction is repugnant to its very nature In this it differs from the understanding that the understanding is wrought upon necessarily but the will acts spontaneously This Liberty of the Will respects the choice or refusal of the means for attaining those ends it prosecutes according as it finds them more or less conducible thereunto The Liberty of the Will must be understood to be in things natural which are within its own proper sphere not in things supernatural It can move or not move the Body as it pleases but it cannot move towards Christ in the way of faith as it pleaseth it can open or shut the hand or eye at its pleasure but not the heart True indeed it is not compelled or forced to turn to God by supernatural grace but in a way sutable to its nature it is determined and drawn to Christ Psal. 1.10.3 It is drawn by a mighty power and yet runs freely Cant. 1.4 Draw me we will run after thee Efficacious grace and victorious Delight is a thing very different from compulsive force Pelagiuâ— as a late * Dr. Manton in Psal. 119. v. 36. Author speaks at first gave all to nature acknowledged no necessity of divine grace but when this proud Doctrine found little countenance he called nature by the name of grace And when that deceit was discovered he acknowledged no other grace but outward instruction or the benefit of external revelation to discourse and put men in mind of their duty Being yet driven farther he acknowledged the grace of Pardon and before a man could do any thing
their own trembling and condemning Consciences There would not be so many pale sweating affrighted Consciences on Earth and in Hell if the Will had any command or power over them Tam frigida mens est Criminibus tacitâ sudaâ—t praecordia culpâ 'T is an horrible sight to see such a trembling upon all the members such a cold Sweat upon the panting bosom of a self-condemned and wrath-presaging Soul in which it can by no means relieve or help it self These things are exempt from the liberty and dominion of the Will of man but notwithstanding these exemptions it is a noble faculty and hath a vastly extended Empire in the Soul of man It is the door of the Soul at which the spirit of God knocks for entrance When this is won the Soul is won to Christ and if this stand out in rebellion against him he is barr'd out of the Soul and can have no saving union with it The truth of grace is to be judged and discerned by its compliance with his call and the measure of Grace to be estimated by the degree of its subjection to his Will VII The Soul of man is not only endued with an Vnderstanding 7 Furnished with various Affections and Passions and Will but also with various Affections and Passions which are of great use and service to it and speak the excellency of its nature They are originally designed and appointed for the happiness of man in the promoting and securing his chiefest good to which purpose they have a natural aptitude For the true Happiness and Rest of the Soul not being in it self nor in any other creature but in God the Soul must necessarily move out of it self and beyond all other created Beings to find and enjoy its true felicity in him The Soul considered at a distance from God its true Rest and happiness is furnished and provided with desire and hope to carry it on and quicken its motion towards him These are the arms it is to stretch out towards him in a state of absence from him And seeing it is to meet with many obstacles Enemies and difficulties in its course which hinder its motion and hazzard its fruition of him Passio animae nihil aliud est quam motus apâ—etitivae virtutis in prosecutione boni vel fugâ— mali God hath planted in it Fear Grief Indignation Iealousie Anger c. to grapple with and break through those intercurrent difficulties and hazzards By these weapons in the hand of grace it conflicts with that which opposes its passage to God as the Apostle expresseth that holy fret and passion of the Corinthians and what a fume their souls were in by the gracious motion of the irascible appetite 2 Cor. 7.11 For behold this self same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves yea what indignation yea what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge Much like the raging and strugling of Waters which are interrupted in their course by some dam or obstacle which they strive to bear down and sweep away before them But the Soul considered in full union with and fruition of God its supream Happiness is accordingly furnished with the affections of Love Delight and Ioy whereby it rests in him and enjoys its proper blessedness in his presence for ever Yea even in this life these affections are in an imperfect degree exercised upon God according to the prelibations and enjoyments it hath of him by faith in its way to Heaven In a word The true uses and most excellent ends for which these affections and passions are bestowed upon the Soul of man are to qualifie it and make it a fit subject to be wrought upon in a moral way of perswasions and allurements in order to its union with Christ for by the affections as Mr. Fenner rightly observes the Soul becomes marriageable or capable of being espoused to him and being so then to assist it in the prosecution of its full enjoyment in Heaven as we heard but now But alas how are they corrupted and inverted by sin The concupiscible appetite greedily fastens upon the Creature not upon God and the irascible appetite is turned against holiness not sin But I must insist no farther on this subject here it deserves an intire Treatise by it self VIII 8 And an inclination and love to the Body The Soul of man hath in the very frame and nature of it an inclination to the body There is in it a certain Pondus or inclination which naturally bends or sways it towards matter or a body There are three different Natures found in living Creatures viz. 1. The Brutal 2. The Angelical 3. The Humane 1. The Soul of a Brute is wholly confined to and dependent on the matter or body with which it is united It is dependent on it both in esse in operari In its being and working it is but a material form which rises from and perisheth with the body The Soul of a Brute Lord Chief Justice Hale in his Treatise de Animâ— p. 56. saith a great Person is no other than a fluid bodily Substance the more lively subtil and refined part of the blood called spirit quick in motion and from the Arteries by the branches of the Carotides carried to the Brain and from thence conveyed to the Nerves and Muscles moves the whole frame and mass of the body and receiving only certain weak impressions from the Senses and of short continuance hindred and obstructed of its work and motion vanishes into the soft Air. 2. An Angel is a Spirit free from a body and created without an appetite or inclination to be imbodied The Stoicks call the Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 souly substances And the Peripateticks formas abstractas abstract forms They are Spirits free from the fetters and cloggs of the body * Angelus est anima perfecta anima est Angelus imperfectus Bell de Ascen mentis An Angel is a perfect Soul and an Humane Soul an imperfect Angel Yet Angels have no such rooted disaffection and abhorrence of a body but that they have and can in a ready obedience to their Lords commands and delight to serve him assume bodies for a time to converse with men in them i.e. Aerial Bodies in the figure and shape of humane bodies So we read Gen. 18.2 three men i.e. Angels in humane shape and appearance stood by Abraham and talked with him and at Christs Sepulchre Luke 24. There appeared two men in shining garments But they abide in these bodies as we do in an Inn for a night or short season they dwell not in them as our souls in those houses of flesh which we cannot put on and off at pleasure as they do but as we walk in our garments which we can put off without pain 3. The humane Soul is neither wholly tyed to the body as the brutal soul is nor
humane souls to be created together before their bodies and placed in some glorious and suitable Mansions as the Stars till at last growing weary of Heavenly and falling in love with Earthly things for a punishment of that Crime they were cast into Bodies as into so many Prisons Origen suckt in this Notion of the praeexistence of Souls And upon this supposition it was that Porphyry tells us in the life of Plotinus that he blushed as often as he thought of his being in a Body as a man that had lived in reputation and honour blushes when he is lodged in a Prison The ground on which the Stoicks bottomed their Opinion was the great dignity and excellency of the Soul which inclined them to think they had never been degraded and abased as they are by dwelling in such vile bodies but for their faults And that it was for some former sin of theirs that they slid down into gross matter and were caught into a vital union with it Whereas had they not sinned they had lived in celestial and splendid habitations more suitable to their dignity But this is a pure creature of fancy for 1. no Soul in the world is conscious to it self of such a praeexistence nor can remember when it was owner of any other habitation than that it now dwells in 2. Nor doth the Scripture give us the least hint of any such thing Some indeed would catch hold of that expression Gen. 2. 2. God rested the seventh day from all the works which he had made And it is true he did so the work of Creation was finished and sealed up as to any new species or kind of creatures to be created no other sort of souls will ever be created than that which was at first But yet God still creates individual Souls My father worketh hitherto and I work of the same kind and nature with Adams Soul And 3. for their detrusion into these bodies as a punishment of their sins in the former state if we speak of sin in Individuals or particular persons the Scripture mentions none either original or actual defiling any Soul in any other way but by its union with the body Praeexistence therefore is but a Dream But to me it 's clear that the Soul receives not its being by Traduction or Generation for that which is generable is also corruptible but the spiritual immortal Soul as it hath been proved to be is not subject to Corruption Nor is it imaginable how a Soul should be produced out of matter which is not endued with reason Or how a bodily Substance can impart that to another which it hath not in it self If it be said the Soul of the child proceeds from the Soul of the Parents that cannot be for spiritual Substances are impartible and nothing can be discinded from them Absâ—rdum est aliunde esse animam â—â—stâ—am aliunde animam Adae cum omnes sunt ejusdem speciti Zanch. And it is absurd to think the Soul of Adam should spring from one Original and the souls of all his off-spring from another whilst both his and theirs are of one and the same Nature and species To all which let me add that as this Assertion of their Creation is most reasonable so it is most scriptural It is reasonable to think and say †Nalla virtus aâ—liâ—a agit ultâ—a sâ—â—m genus sâ—d Anima â—â—tellectiva excedit totum genus corporae natarae cum sit sâ—bstantia sâ—iritualis c. Conâ—ubâ— that no active power can act beyond or above the proper Sphere of its activity and ability But if the Soul be elicited out of the power of matter here would be an effect produced abundantly more noble and excellent than his cause And as it is most reasonable so it is most Scriptural To this purpose divers Testimonies of Scripture are cited and produced by our Divines amongst which we may single out these four which are of special remark and use Heb. 12.9 Furthermore we had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live Here God is called the Father of Spirits or of Souls and that in an emphatical Antithesis or contradistinction to our natural Fathers who are called the Fathers of our Flesh or Bodies only The true scope and sense of this Text is with great judgment and clearness given us by that learned and judicious Divine Mr. * Pembâ—e de Origine Animae p. 59. Nihil apertins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ista Antithesi Carnem corpusque à pareâ—tibâ—s animas à Deo accipimus Quod si vilioris partis Authores qui minus in nos juris habent patienter caâ—ligantes fâ—â—â—imus quà m aequiore animo â—â—remus eâ—m qui sâ—premum in nos jus obtinet utpote partis quae in nobis est praestantiâ—sima unicus Datoâ— Conditorquâ— Pemble in these words Nothing is more plain and emphatical than this Antithesis We receive our flesh or body from our Parents but our souls from God if then we patiently bear the chastisements of our Parents who are Authors of the vilest part and have the least right or power over us with how much more equal a mind should we bear his chastisements who hath the supream right to us as he is the Father and only giver of that which is most excellent in us viz. our souls or spirits Here it seems evident that our souls flow not to us in the material Chanel of fleshly generation or descent as our bodies do but immediately from God their proper Father in the way of Creation Yet he begets them not out of his own Essence or Substance as Christ his natural Son is begotten but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of nothing that had been before as Theodoret well expresseth it Agreeable hereunto is that place also in †Testimonium satis clarum quo docâ—mur pari passâ— haectria ambulare expansionem câ—â—li fâ—â—dationem teâ—rae â—ormationem animae ratioâ—alis Zech. 12.1 The Lord which stretcheth forth the Heavens and layeth the foundations of the Earth and formeth the spirit of man within him Where the forming of the spirit or soul of Man is associated with those two other glorious effects of Gods creating power namely the expansion of the Heavens and laying the foundations of the Earth all three are here equally assumed by the Lord as his remarkable and glorious works of Creation He that created the one did as much create the other Now the two former we â—ind frequently instanced in Scripture as the effects of his creating Power or works implying the Almighty power of God and therefore are presented as strong props to our Faith when it is weak and staggering for want of visible matter of incouragement Isa. 40.22 and 42.5 Ierem. 10.12 Iob 9.8 Psal. 104.2 q. d. Are my people in Captivity and their Faith nonplust and at a loss
because there 's nothing in sight that hath a tendency to their deliverance no prepared matter for their Salvation why let them consider who it was that created the Heavens and the Earth yea and their Souls also which are so perplexed with doubts out of nothing the same God that did this can also create Deliverance for his people though there be no praeexistent matter to work it out of Râ—solâ—it Soâ—omon utramque â—ominis partem in suâ— prima principia Ut ergo corpus in terram unde sâ—mptum est resolvâ—t ita etiam si anima ex â—â—ablâ—â—tia câ—lâ—â—ti vel ex anima ut â—lato ait mâ—â—di esset facta in eam resolâ—isset Solomon 〈…〉 simpâ—iciteâ— de ipsa dicit eaâ— reditâ—ram ad Deâ—m qui dedâ—t illam docet eam è nihito in quod resolvi non possâ—t creaâ—am esse Zanch. Add to this that excellent place of Solomon in Eccles 12. 7. Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit to God who gave it Where he shews us what becomes of Man and how each part of which he consists is bestowed and disposed of after his Dissolution by Death And thus he states it These two constitutive parts of Man are a Soul and a Body These two parts have two distinct Originals The Body as to its material cause is Dust the Soul in its nature is a Spirit and as to its Origin it proceeded from the Father of Spirits 't is his own creature in an immediate way He gave it He gave it the being it hath by Creation and gave it to us i.e. to our bodies by Inspiration Now qualis Genesis talis Analysis When death dissolves the union which is betwixt them each part returns to that from whence it came dust to dust and the Spirit to God that gave it The Body is expressed by its material cause dust the Soul only by its efficient cause as the gift of God because it had no material cause at all nor was made out of any praeexistent matter as the Body was And therefore Solomon here speaks of God as if he had only to do with the Soul leaving the Body to its material and instrumental causes with whom he concurrs by a general influence 'T is God not Man alone or God by Man that hath given us these bodies but 't is not Man but God alone who hath given us these souls He therefore passeth by the Body and speaks of the Soul as the gift of God because that part of Man and that only flows immediately from God and at death returns to him that gave it All these expressions The Father of Spirits the former of the spirit in Man the Giver of the Spirit how agreeable are they to each other and all of them to the point under hand that the Soul flows from God by immediate Creation You see it hath no principle out of which according to the order of nature it did arise as the body had and therefore it hath no principle into which according to the order of nature it can be returned as the body hath but returns to God its efficient cause if reconciled to a Father not only by Creation but Adoption if unreconciled as a creature guilty of unnatural Rebellion against the God that formed it to be judged II. God created and infused it into the body with an inherent inclination and affection to it Anima quae est corporis organici perfectio corpus necessariâ—â— est non est enim forma separata i e. propriè forma est itaque materiam requirit usque adâ—o ut anima à corpore sâ—jâ—â—cta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tamen inclinationem retine â—t suam quam corporis resurrectio coâ—seâ—uitur The nature of the Soul and Body are vastly different there is no affinity or similitude betwixt them but it is in this case as in that of Marriage Two persons of vastly different Educations Constitutions and Inclinations coming under Gods Ordinance into the nearest relation to each other find their affections knit and endeared by their relation to a degree beyond that which results from the union of blood So it is here Whence this affection rises in what acts it is discovered and for what reason implanted will be at large discovered in a distinct branch of the following Discourse to which it is assigned Mean while I find my self concerned to vindicate what hath been here asserted from the Arguments which are urged against the immediate Creation and infusion of the Soul and in defence of the opinion of its Traduction from the Parents To conceal or dissemble these Arguments and Objections Cameronis praelect in Matth. p. 121. would be but a betraying of the truth I have here asserted and give occasion for some jealousie that they are unanswerable To come then to an issue and first It is urged Object 1. that it is manifest in it self and generally yielded that the souls of all other creatures come by generation and therefore its probable that humane souls flow in the same Chanel also There is a specifick difference betwixt rational souls Sol. and the souls of all other creatures and therefore no force at all in the consequence A material form may rise out of matter but a Spiritual rational Being as the Soul of Man is cannot so rise being much more noble and excellent than Matter is What Animal is there in the world out of whose Soul the acts of reason spring and flow as they do out of humane Souls Are they capable of inventing or which is much less of learning the Arts and Sciences Can they correct their senses and demonstrate a Star to be far greater than the whole Earth which to the eye seems no bigger than the rowel of a Spurr Do they foreknow the Positions and Combinations of the Planets and the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon many years before they suffer them And if they cannot perform these acts of reason as it is sure they cannot how much less can they know fear love or delight in God and long for the enjoyment of him These things do plainly evince humane Souls to be of another species and therefore of an higher Original than the souls of Brutes If all have one common nature and Original why are they not all capable of performing the same rational and Religious Acts Object 2. But though it should be granted that the Soul of the first Man was by immediate Creation and Inspiration from God yet it follows not that the souls of all his posterity must be so too God might create him with a power of begeting other souls after his own Image The first tree was created with its seed in it self to propagate its kind and so might the first Man Sol. 1. Trees Animals and such like were not created immediately out of nothing as the Soul of Man was but the Earth was the praeexistent matter out of which they
were produced by the word of Gods blessing and power but mans Soul was immediately breathed into him by God and had no praeexistent matter at all And besides all humane souls being of one species have therefore one and the same Original The Soul of the poorest child is of equal Dignity with the Soul of Adam And if we consult Iob 33.4 we shall find Elihu giving us there the same account and almost in the same words of the Original of his Soul that Moses in my Text gives us of the Original of Adams Soul The Spirit of God hath formed me and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life But it is evident Sol. 2. souls spring not from the Parent as one Plant or Animal doth from another For they have their seed in themselves apt and proper to produce their kind but the seed of souls is not to be found in man It is not to be found in his Body for then as was said before a spiritual and nobler Essence must be produced out of a material and baser matter i.e. the matter must give to the Soul that which it hath not in it self Nor is it to be found in his Soul for the Soul being a pure simple and indivisible Being can suffer nothing to be discinded from it towards the production of another Soul A spirit as the Soul is is Substantia simplex impartibilis an uncompounded and indiscerpible or impartible Being Nor can it spring partly from the Body and partly from the Soul as from con-causes for then it should be partly corporeal and partly incorporeal as its causes are So that there is no Matter Seed or principle of Souls found in man and to be sure as Baronius strongly argues * Pateâ— neque producit animam filii ex aliqua re praeâ—â—ilente neque producit eam ex nulla 〈◊〉 praeexistente hâ—c enimâ—est creare eâ—go nullo modo eam producit Baronius dissert secunda de Origine Animae p. 120. he cannot produce a Soul without praeexistent matter for that were to make him Omnipotent and assign a creating power to a creature Besides that which is generable is also corruptible as we see Trees Animals c. which are produced that way to be but the Soul is not corruptible as hath in part been already proved and will more fully in the following Discourse So that Adam's Soul and the Souls of his posterity spring not from each other but all from God by Creation If the Soul be created and infused immediately by God Object 3. either it comes out of his hands pure or impure if pure how comes it to be defiled and tainted with sin If impure how do we free God from being the Author of sin If the question be Sol whether souls be pure or impure as soon as they are united with their bodies the answer is They are impure and tainted as soon as united For the union constitutes a child of Adam and consequently a sinful impure creature But if it respect the condition and state in which God created them I answer with Baronius †Aniâ—â—â—â—strae à Deo creante 〈◊〉 aâ—cipiunt puritatem sâ—u justitiam neque imparitatem propensionem ad malum Seâ— tantâ—m essentiam spiritualem proprieâ—ates ab essentia dimanâ—â—tes Baron exerciâ— p. 103. They are created neither morally pure nor impure they receive neither purity nor impurity from him but only their naked essence and the natural powers and properties flowing therefrom He inspires not any impurity into them for he cannot be the Author of Sin who is the Revenger of it Nor doth he create them in their original purity and rectitude for the sin of Adam lost that and God justly withholds it from his posterity Who wonders saith one Ienkins on Jude Vol. 1. p. 559. to see the Children the Palaces and Gardens of Traitors to droop and decay and the Arms of his House and badge of his nobility to be defaced and reversed That which is abused by man to the dishonour of God may justly be destroyed I add in this case or withheld by God to the detriment of man Adam voluntarily and actually deprived himself and meritoriously deprived all his posterity of that original righteousness and purity in which he was created As an holy God he cannot inspire any impurity and as a just and righteous God he may and doth withhold or create them void and destitute of that holiness and righteousness which was once their Happiness and Glory Object 4. But how come they then to be defiled and tainted with original sin It 's confessed God did not impure them and the body cannot for it being matter cannot act upon a spirit yea of it self it 's a dead lump and cannot act at all Sol. What if this be one of those mysteries reserved for the world to come about which we cannot in this state solve every difficulty that may be moved Must we therefore deny its divine original What if I cannot understand some mysteries â—an sinâ—e the 〈◊〉 bein◠〈…〉 understands noâ— himâ—eâ—â— nor will 〈…〉 restored to himself in glory 〈…〉 p. 33â— or answer some questions about the Hypostatical union of the two natures in the wonderful Person of our Emmanuel must I therefore question whether he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-Man We must remain ignorant of some things about our own souls till we come into the condition of the spirits of just men made perfect Mean time I think it much more our concernment to study how we may get sin out of our souls than to puzzle our brains to find how it came into them But that the Objector may not take this for an handsome slide or go-by to this great Objection I return to it in a few particulars 1. That I think not original sin follows either part singly The Soul say some in the moment of 〈◊〉 creation and infusion by God being united with the Body by the plastick and formative vertue of the parental seed the Parent may be truly said to generate the man though he do not produce the form Because proper generation consists in the union and not the production of parts So that Original sin is not propagated from Body to Body noâ— yet from Soul to Soul but from man to man it comes in neither by the Soul alone nor by the body alone a part from the Soul but upon the union and conjunction of both in one person 'T is the union of these two which constitutes a child of Adam and as such only we are capable of being infected with his sin 2. And whereas it is so confidently asserted in the Objection That sin cannot come into the Soul by or from the body because it being matter cannot act upon a Spirit I say this is gratis dictum easily spoken but difficultly proved Cannot the Body act upon or influence the Soul Pray then how comes it to pass that so
I find that God hath answerably endued and furnished it with an Vnderstanding Will and Affections whereby it is capable of being wrought upon by the spirit in the way of Grace and Sanctification in this world in order to the enjoyment of God its chief happiness in the world to come By this its Understanding I am distinguished from and advanced above all other creatures in this World I can apprehend distinguish and judge of all other intelligible Beings By my Understanding I discern truth from falsehood good from evil It shews me what is fit for me to chuse and what to refuse To this faculty or power of Understanding my thoughts and conscience do belong The former to my speculative the latter to my practical Understanding My thoughts are all formed in my mind or Understanding in innumerable multitudes and variety By it I can think of things present or absent visible or invisible of God or my self of this or the world to come To my Understanding also belongs my Conscience a noble Divine and awfull power By which I summon and judge my self as at a solemn Tribunal bind and loose condemn and acquit my self and actions but still with an eye and respect to the judgment of God Hence are my best comforts and worst terrors This Understanding of mine is the director and guide of my Will That is as the Counsellor This as the Prince It freely chuseth and refuseth as my Understanding directs and suggests to it The members of my Body and passions of my Soul are under its Dominion The former are under its absolute command the latter under its suasions and insinuations though not absolutely and always with effect and success And both my Understanding and Will I find to have great influence upon my Affections These Passions and Affections of my Soul are of great use and dignity I find them as manifold as there are considerations of good and evil They are the strong and sensible motions of my Soul according to my apprehensions of good and evil By them my Soul is capable of union with the highest good By love and delight I am capable of enjoying God and resting in him as the Centre of my Soul This noble Understanding Thoughts Conscience Will Passions and Affections are the principal faculties acts and powers of this my high and heaven-born Soul And being thus richly endowed and furnished I find it could never rise out of matter created and infused with an inclination to the Body or come into my Body by way of natural generation the Souls of Brutes that rise that way are destitute of Understanding Reason Conscience and such other excellent faculties and powers as I find in mine own Soul They cannot know or love or delight in God or set their affections on things spiritual invisible and eternal as my Soul is capable to do it was therefore created and infused immediately into this body of mine by the Father of Spirits and that with a strong inclination and tender affection to my flesh without which it would be remiss and careless in performing its several Duties and Offices to it during the time of its abode therein Fearfully and wonderfully therefore am I made and designed for nobler ends and uses than for a few daies to eat and drink and sleep and talk and dye My Soul is of more value than ten thousand Worlds What shall a man give in exchange for his Soul USE FRom the several parts and branches of this Description of the Soul we may gather the choice Fruits which naturally grow upon them in the following Inferences and Deductions of truth and duty For we may say of them all what the Historian doth of Palestine that there is nihil infructuosum nihil sterile No Branch or Shrub is barren or unfruitful Let us then search it Branch by Branch and Inference I. I The Soul a substantial Being Tanta praerogativa manifeâ—â—e testâ—tur ipsius animam penes quam â—atio principatus est non esse materialem caducam sed sâ—perioris cujusdam atque eminentis naturae à conditione reliquarum animarum longeÌ„ distantem Coâ—imb Disp. de Anima separ p. 584. FRom the substantial Nature of the Soul which we have proved to be a Being distinct from the Body and subsisting by it self we are informed That great is the difference betwixt the death of a Man and the death of all other creatures in the world Their souls depend on and perish with their bodies but ours neither result from them nor perish with them My Body is not a Body when my Soul hath forsaken it but my Soul will remain a Soul when this body is crumbled into dust Men may live like beasts a meer sensual life yea in some sense they may dye like beasts a stupid death but in this there will be found a vast difference Death kills both parts of the Beasts destroyes matter and form it toucheth only one part of Man it destroyeth the Body and only dislodgeth the Soul but cannot destroy it In some things Solomon shews the Agreement betwixt our death and theirs Eccles. 3.19 20 21. That which befallâ—th the Sons of Men befalleth the Beasts even one thing befalleth them As the one dyeth so dyeth the other all go to one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again We breathe the same common air they breathe we feel the same pains of death they feel our bodies are resolved into the same earth theirs are O! but in this is the difference The spirit of Man goeth upward and the spirit of a Beast goeth downward to the Earth Their spirits go two ways at their dissolution The one to the Earth the other to God that gave it as he speaks cap. 12.7 Though our Respiration and Expiration have some Agreement yet great is the odd in the consequences of death to the one and other They have no pleasures nor pains besides those they enjoy or feel now but so have we and those eternal and unspeakable too The Soul of Man like the bird in the shell is still growing and ripening in sin or grace Conâ—â—â—tuâ— fuit discretum et reâ—â—itque unde veneraâ— terra deo sâ—m spiritus sa sâ—m Epichâ— till at last the shell breaks by death and the Soul flees away to the place it is prepared for and where it must abide for ever The body which is but it's shell perisheth but the Soul lives when it is fallen away How doth this consideration expose and aggravate the folly and madness of the sensual world who herd themselves with beasts though they have souls so near of kin to Angels The Princes and Nobles of the World abhorr to associate themselves with Mechanicks in their shops or to take a place among the sottish rabble upon an Ale-bench They know and keep their distance and Decorum as still carrying with them a sense of Honour and abhorring to act beneath it But we equalize our high and
considerations wherein there are remarkable differences betwixt Soul and Soul As 1. some Souls are much better lodged and accommodated in their bodies than others are though none dwell at perfect rest and ease God hath lodged some Souls in strong vigorous comely bodies others in feeble crazy deformed and uncomfortable ones The Historian saith of Galba Anima Galbae male habitat The Soul of Galba dwelt in an ill Body And a much better man than Galba was as ill accommodated Iohn wishes in behalf of his beloved Gaius that his body might but prosper as his Soul did Epist. 3. v. 2. Timothy had his often infirmities Indeed the world is full of instances and examples of this kind * 〈◊〉 Bp. of Abâ—lâ—m had so stroâ—g and firm a conâ—titution to eâ—dure severe studies that he is said 〈◊〉 inâ—estina 〈◊〉 to have hâ—d a body of Brass If some Souls had the advantages of such bodies as others have who make little or very bad use of them O what service would they do for God! 2. There is a remarkable difference also betwixt Soul and Soul in respect of natural gifts and abilities of mind Some have great advantages above others in this respect The natural spirits and organs of the body being more brisk and apt the Soul is more vegete vigorous and able to exert it self in its sunctions and operations How clear nimble and firm are the apprehensions fancies and memories of some souls beyond others What a Prodigy of memory fancy and judgment was Father Paul the Venetian and Suarez of whom Strada saith such was the strength of his parts that he had all S. Augustine's works the most copious and various of all the Fathers as it were by heart so that I have seen him saith he †Statim 〈◊〉 loco 〈…〉 readily pointing with the finger to any place or page he disputed of Our Dr. Reynolds excell'd this way to the astonishment of all that knew him so that he was a living Library a third Vniversity But above all the character given by Vives of Budeuâ— is amazing that there was nothing written in Greek or Latin which he had not turned over and examined That both languages were alike to him speaking either with more facility than he did the French his mother tongue and all by the penetrating â—orce of his own natural parts without a Tutor so that †Qâ—o viro Gallia aâ—â—tiore ingeâ—io 〈…〉 produxit hic 〈◊〉 atate nec Itaâ—â—a quidem Lud. Viv. in 1â— cap. de civit Deâ— France never brought forth a man of sharper wit more piercing judgement exact diligence and greater learning nor in his time Italy it self Foelix foecundum ingenium quod in se uno invenit Doctorem Discipulum A happy and fruitful wit which in it self found both a Master and a Scholar And yet Pasquier relates what is much more admirable of a young man who came to Paris in the twentieth year of his age and in the year 1445 and shewed himself so excellent and exact in all the Arts Sciences and Languages that if a man of an ordinary good wit and sound constitution should live an hundred years and during that time study incessantly without eating drinking sleeping or any recreation He could hardly attain to that perfection 3. And yet a far greater difference is made betwixt one Soul and another by the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God This makes yet a greater disparity for it alters and new moulds the frame and temper of the Soul and restores the lost Image of God to it by reason whereof the righteous is truly said to be more excellent than his neighbour Prov. 12.26 This ennobles the Soul and stamps the highest dignity and glory upon it that it is capable of in this world 'T is true it hath naturally an excellency and perpetuity in it above other Beings as Cedar hath not only a beauty and fragrancy but a soundness and durability far beyond other trees of the Wood But when it comes under the sanctification of the spirit then it is as Cedar overlaid with gold 4. Lastly a wonderful difference will be made betwixt one Soul and another by the judgement of God in the great day Some will be blessed and others cursed Souls Matt. 25. ult some received into glory others shut out into everlasting misery Matth. 8.11 12. Many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Iacob in the kingdom of Heaven but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth And that which will be the sting and aggravation of the difference which will then be made will be this Parity and Equality in the nature and capacity of every Soul by reason whereof they that perish will find they were naturally as capable of blessedness as those that enjoy it and that it was their own inexcusable negligence and obstinacy that was their ruine Inference IV. III The Soul a created Substance IF God be the immediate Creator and Former of the Soul of Man Then sin must needs involve the most unnatural evil in it as it is an horrid violation of the very law of nature No title can be so full so absolute as that which Creation gives How clear is this in the light of reason If God created my Soul then my Soul had once no Being at all That it had still remained nothing had not the pleasure of its Creator chosen and called it into the Being it hath out of the millions of meer possible Beings For as there are millions of possible Beings which yet are nothing so there are millions of possible Beings which never shall be at all So that since the pleasure and power of God was the only fountain of my Being he needs must be the rightful owner of it What can be more his own than that whose very Being flowed meerly from him and which had never been at all had he not called it out of nothing And seeing the same pleasure of God which gave it a Being gave it also a reasonable Being capable of and fitted for moral Government by laws which other inferiour natures are incapable of it must needs follow that he is the supream Governour as well as the rightful owner of this Soul Moreover it is plain that he who gave my Soul it's Being and such a Being gave it also all the good it ever had hath or shall have and that it neither is nor hath any thing but what is purely from him And therefore he 〈◊〉 needs â—e my most bountiful benefactor as well as 〈◊〉 owner and supream Governour There is not a Soul which he hath created but stands bound to him in all these ties and titles Now for such a creature to turn rebelliously upon its absolute owner whose only and wholly it is upon its supream Governour to whom it owes intire and absolute Obedience upon its
respects the excellency of the Spiritual above the Animal life not in point of Priority for that which is natural is before that which is spiritual and it must be so because the natural Soul is the recipient Subject of the spirits quickning and sanctifying operations but in point of dignity and real excellency To how little purpose or rather to what a dismal and miserable purpose are we made living souls except the Lord from Heaven by his quickning power make us spiritual and holy Souls The natural Soul rules and uses the body as * Corpus organo simile est anima Aâ—tificis ratioâ—em obtinet Irenaeus lib. 2. an Artificer doth his Tools and except the Lord renew it by grace Satan will rule that which rules thee and so all thy members will be instruments of inquity to fight against God The actions performed by our bodies are justly reputed and reckon'd by God to the Soul †Omnia quaecunque fecerit corpus sive bonum sive malum animae reputantur Origen in Job because the Soul is the spring of all its motions the fountain of its life and operations What it doth by the body its instrument is as if it were done immediately by it self for without the Soul it can do nothing Inference VII V A Spiritual Substance MOreover from the immaterial and spiritual nature of the Soul we are informed That Communion with God and the enjoyment of him are the true and proper intentions and purposes for which the Soul of Man was created Such a nature as this is not fitted to live upon gross material and perishing things as the body doth The food of every creature is agreeable to its nature one cannot subsist upon that which another doth As we see among the several sorts of Animals what is food to one is none to another In the same Plant there is found a root which is food for Swine a stalk which is food for Sheep a flower which feeds the Bee and a seed on which the Bird lives The Sheep cannot live upon the root as the Swine doth nor the Bird upon the flower as the Bee doth But every one feeds upon the different parts of the Plant which are agreeable to its Nature So it is here our bodies being of an earthly material Nature can live upon things earthly and material as most agreeable to them they can relish and suck out the sweetness of these things but the Soul can find nothing in them suitable to its nature and appetite it must have spiritual food or perish It were therefore too brutish and unworthy of a man that understood the nature of his own Soul to chear it up with the stores of earthly provisions made for it as he did Luk. 12.20 I will say to my Soul Soul thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry Alas the Soul can no more eat drink and be merry with carnal things than the Body can with spiritual and immaterial things It cannot feed upon bread that perisheth it can relish no more in the best and daintiest fare of an earthly growth than in the White of an Egg But bring it to a reconciled God in Christ to the Covenant of Grace and the sweet promises of the Gospel set before it the joyes comforts and earnests of the Spirit and if it be a sanctified renewed Soul it can make a rich Feast upon these These make it a â—east of fat things full of Marrow as it is expressed Isaiah 25.6 Spiritual things are proper food for spiritual and immaterial Souls VI A Spiritual Substance Inference VIII THE spiritual nature of the Soul farther informs us That no acceptable service can be performed to God except the Soul be imployed and ingaged therein The Body hath its part and share in Gods worship as well as the Soul but its part is inconsiderable in comparison Prov. 23.26 My Son give me thy heart i. e. thy Soul thy Spirit The holy and religious acts of the Soul are suitable to the nature of the Object of worship Iohn 4.24 God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth Spirits only can have Communion with that great Spirit They were made spirits for that very end that they might be capable of converse with the Father of Spirits They that worship him must worship in Spirit and in Truth That is with inward love fear delight and desires of Soul that is to worship him in our spirits And in Truth i. e. according to the rule of his word which prescribes our duty Spirit respects the inward power Truth the outward form The former strikes at Hypocrisie the latter at Superstition and Idolatry The one opposes the inventions of our Heads the other the loosness and formality of our Hearts No doubt but the service of the body is due to God and expected by him for both the souls and bodies of his people are bought with a price and therefore he expects we glorifie him with our souls and bodies which are his But the service of the body is not accepted of him otherwise than as it is animated and enlivened by an obedient Soul and both sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Separate from these bodily exercise profits nothing 1 Tim. 4.8 What pleasure can God take in the fruits and evidences of mens Hypocrisie Ezek. 33.31 Holy Paul appeals to God in this matter Rom. 1.9 God is my witness saith he whom I serve with my spirit q. d. I serve God in my spirit and he knows that I do so I dare appeal to him who searches my heart that it is not idle and unconcerned in his service The Lord humble us the best of us for our careless dead gadding and vain spirits even when we are engaged in his solemn services O that we were once so spiritual to follow every excursion from his service with a groan and retract every wandring thought with a deep sigh Alas a cold and wandring spirit in duty is the disease of most good men and the very temper and constitution of all unsanctified ones It is a weighty and excellent expression of the Iews in their Euchologium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b. â— qâ—a re potius praeveniâ—m faciem 〈◊〉 nisi spiritu meo nihil enim est homini praeciosius animâ suà or Prayer-Book Wherewithall shall I come before his face unless it be with my spirit For man hath nothing more precious to present to God than his Soul Indeed it is the best man hath thy heart is thy totum posse 't is all that thou art able to present to him If thou cast thy Soul into thy duty thou dost as the poor Widow did cast in all that thou hast And in such an offering the great God takes more pleasure than in all the external costly pompous ceremonies adorned Temples aâ—â— external devotions in the World It is a remarkable anâ—â—â—tonishing expression of
hath layed out the treasures of his wisdom power and goodness in this noble structure he built it for an habitation for himself to dwell in And indeed such noble rooms as the Understanding Will and Affections are too good for any other to inhabit But sin hath set open the gates of this hollowed Temple and let in the abomination which maketh desolate All the doors of the Soul are barr'd and chain'd up against Christ by ignorance and infidelity he seeks for admission into the Soul which he hath made but findeth none A forcible entry he will not make but expects when the Will shall bring him the keys of the Soul as to its rightful owner So he expresseth himself to us in Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand â—â— the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me his standing at the door denotes his earnest desire and patient waiting in the use of all those means that are introductive of Jesus Christ into the Souls of men His knocking signifies the various essaies he makes by Ordinances and providences externally and the convictions and perswasions of his Spirit and the Consciences of sinners internally every call of the word and every conviction of Conscience is a Call a Knock from Heaven at the door of the Soul for the admission of Christ into it By the souls hearing his voice and opening the door understand its approbation and consent to the motion and offer of God By Christs coming in is meant his uniting that Soul unto himself that opens to him And as his coming in denotes union so his supping with the Soul and the Soul with him denotes his sweet Communion imperfect here compleat and full in Heaven O The admirable condescensions of God to poor sinners The God that formed you with a word and can as easily ruine you with a frown yet waits at the gates of your Souls for admission into them There be many Souls within the sound of this complaint that have kept God out of his own right all their days They have shut out Jesus Christ and delivered up their Souls to Satan if he but knock by a slight Temptation the door is presently opened but Jesus Christ may wait in vain upon them from Sabbath to Sabbath and from Year to Year But the longest day of his patience hath an end And there is a refusal of Grace after which no more tenders of mercy shall ever be made What say you Souls will you at last open the door to Jesus Christ or will you still exclude him If you will open to him he will not come in empty-handed he will bring a feast with him such a feast as you never tasted any thing like it in your lives But if you will not open to him then I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you this day that you have once more barr'd the doors of your Souls against him whose pleasure and power gave them their very Beings Against him who is their Soveraign Lord and rightful Owner and consequently this Act of yours must stop your mouths and deprive you of all Pleas and Apologies when you shall knock hereafter at the door of mercy and God shall for ever shut it up against you according to his juâ—t but dreadful threatnings Matth. 7.22 Prov. 1.24 25 And thus much of the Divine Original and excellent Nature of the Soul of Man Having taken a view of this excellent Creature the Soul in opening the former Proposition we come next to the consideration of its union with the Body in this second Proposition DOCT. II. Doct. II. THat the Souls and Bodies of men are knit together by the feeble band of the breath in their Nostrils Mr. How in a Funeral Sermon p. 9 10. There is saith a learned Man no greater mystery in nature than the union betwixt the Soul and Body That a mind and spirit should be so tyed and linked with a clod of Clay that while that remains in a due temper it cannot by any art or power free it self It can by an act of the Will move an hand or a foot or the whole body but cannot move from it one inch If it move hither or thither or by a leap upward do ascend a little the body still follows it cannot shake or throw it off We cannot take our selves out by any allowable means we cannot nor by any at all that are at least within meer humane power as long as the temperament lasts While that remains we cannot go if that fail we cannot stay though there be so many open avenues could we suppose any material bounds to hem in or exclude a spirit we cannot go out or in at pleasure A wonderful thing And I wonder we no more wonder at our own make and frame in this respect What so much akin are a mind and a piece of earth a clod and a thought that they should be thus affixed to one another My design here is to shew by what ligament tye or bond it hath pleased the great and wise Creator to affix and link these so different parts of man together and this Moses in the Text tells us is no other but the breath of his nostrils The Breath and Soul of Man are two distinct things His Breath is not his Soul nor his Soul his Breath but the Nexus or bond that couples and unites his Soul and body in a personal union The Body hath no life in it self but its life results from its union with the Soul Iames 2.26 this union is maintained by the breath of our nostrils which upon that account is here called the breath of life What breath is Breath is an act of life proceeding from the Souls union with its Body and ending with the dissolution of it Life is continued by its respiration and ended by its expiration Whilest we live and whilst breath is in our bodies are terms Synonymous That little quantity of air which we thus breath in and out at our nostrils is more to us than all the three Regions of air which fill up the vast space between earth and heaven It is in a sense our life For the use and office of Respiration the Lungs were formed and placed where they are not without the most wise counsel and direction of God What the Lungs are They are that organ in the * Pulmo est spirandi respirandi instrumentum ad pulmones inducitur sâ—â—ula quae dicitur Trachea arteria ad geminos usus condita c. body which by the help of that Arterie called Arteria trachea leading to them as a Chanel for the passage of air from the mouth and nostrils the air is transmitted to and ventilated by them for the refreshment of the * Cor movetâ—r motu duplici nempe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qua caloâ— innatus attracto aëre mitigatur
flows not so much from the nature of either as from the will and pleasure of God who hath appointed them to be so He can but never will annihilate them But the Soul depends upon matter in all its operations Object 3. nothing is in the Understanding which was not first in the Senses it useth the natural Spirits as its Servants and Tools in all its Operations and therefore how can it either subsist or act in a State of Separation 1. The Hypothesis is not only uncertain Sol. but certainly false There are acts performed by the Soul even whilst it is in the Body wherein it makes no use at all of the Body Such are the acts of Self-intuition and Self-reflection and what will you say of its Acts in Raptures and Ecstasies such as that of Paul 2. Cor. 12.2 and Iohn Revel 21.10 what use did their Souls make of the bodily senses or natural Spirits then 2. And though in its ordinary actions in this life it doth use the Body as its Tool or Instrument in working doth it thence follow that it can neither subsist or act separate from them in the other World Whilst a man is on Horseback in his Journey he useth the help and service of his Horse and is moved according to the motion of his Horse but doth it thence follow he cannot stand or walk alone when dismounted at his Journeys end We know Angels both live and act without the ministry of Bodies and our Souls are Spiritual Substances as well as they But many Scriptures seem to favour the total cessation of the Souls actions Object 4. if not of its being also after Separation as that in 2 Sam. 14.14 We must needs dye and are as Water spilt upon the ground which cannot be gathered up and Psal. 88.10 11 12. with Isaiah 38.18 19. The dead cannot praise thee Sol. Those words of the Woman of Tekoa are not to be understood absolutely but respectively and the meaning is that the Soul is in the Body as some precious liquor in a brittle glass which being broken by death the Soul is irrecoverably gone as the Water Spilt on the ground which by no humane power or art of man can be recovered again All the means in the World cannot fetch it back into the Body again She speaks not of the Resurrection or what shall be done in the World to come by the Almighty power of God but of what is impossible to be done in this World by all the skill and power of Man And for the expression of Heman and Hezekiah they only respect and relate to those services their Souls were now imployed about for the praise of God with respect to the conversion or edification of others as Psal. 30.8 9. or at most to that mediate service and worship which they give God in and by their attendance upon his ordinances in this World and not of that immediate Service and praise that is performed and given him in Heaven by the Spirits of just men made perfect such was the sweetness they had found in these Ordinances and Duties that they express themselves as loth to leave them The same answer solves also the Objections grounded upon other mistaken Scriptures as that Psal. 78.39 where man is called a wind that passeth away and cometh not again It is only expressive of the frailty and vanity of the present animal life we live in this World to which we shall return no more after death it denies not life to departed Souls but the end of this animal life at death the life we live in the other World is of a different nature Inference I. IS the Soul Immortal Then 't is impossible for Souls to find full rest and contentment in any enjoyments on this side Heaven All temporary things are inadaequate and therefore unsatisfying to our Souls What gives the Soul rest and satisfaction must be as durable as the Soul is for if we could possibly find in this World a condition and state of things most agreeable in all other respects to our desires and wishes yet if the Soul be conscious to it self That it shall and must over-live and leave them all behind it it can never reach true contentment in the greatest affluence and confluence of them Man being an immortal is therefore a prospecting Creature and can never be satisfied with this That it 's well with him at present except he can be satisfied that it shall be so for ever The thoughts of leaving our delightful and pleasant enjoyments imbitters them all to us whil'st we have them All outward things are in fluxu continuo passing away as the Waters 1 Cor. 7.31 Riches are uncertain 1 Tim. 6.17 They fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven and with Wings of their own making Prov. 23.5 i. e. as the Feathers that enable a Bird to fly from us grow out of his own substance so doth that vanity that carries away all earthly enjoyments This alone would spoil all Contentment Inference II. THen see the ground and reason of Satans envy and enmity against the Soul and his restless designs and endeavours to destroy it It grates that Spirit of envy to find himself who is by nature Immortal sunk everlastingly and irrecoverably into misery and the Souls of Men appointed to fill up those vacant places in Heaven from which the Angels fell No Creature but Man is envied by Satan and the Soul of Man much more than his Body 'T is true he afflicts the Bodies of Men when God permits him but he ever aims at the Soul when he wounds the Body Heb. 10. 37. This roaring Lyon is continually going about seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 'T is the precious Soul he hunts after that 's the Morsus Diaboli the Bit he gapes for as the Woolf tears the Fleece to come at the Flesh. All the pleasure those miserable Creatures find is the success of their temptations upon the Souls of Men. 'T is a kind of delight to them to plunge Souls into the same condemnation and misery with themselves This is the trade they have been driving ever since their Fall By destroying Souls he at once exercises his revenge against God and his envy against man which is all the relief his miserable condition allows him Inference III. DO the Souls of Men overlive their Bodies Then 't is the height of madness and spiritual Infatuation to destroy the Soul for the Bodies sake To cast away an Immortal Soul for the gratification of perishing flesh to ruine the precious Soul for ever for the pleasures of sin which are but for a moment yet this is the madness of millions of Men. They will drown their own Souls in everlasting perdition to procure unnecessary things for the Body 1 Tim. 6.9 They that will be rich c. Every cheat and circumvention in dealing every lye every act of oppression is a wound given the Immortal Soul for the procuring some accommodations to
make Idols of our own Bodies we rob God yea our own Souls to give to the Body It is not a natural and kindly heat of love but a meer feavourish heat which preys upon the very Spirits of Religion which is found with many of us This feavourish distemper may be discovered by the beating of our pulse in three or four particulars 1. This appears by our sinful indulgence to our whining appetites We give the flesh whatsoever it craves and can deny it nothing it desires pampering the Body to the great injury and hazard of the Soul Some have their conversation in the lusts of the flesh as it is Eph. 2.3 Trading only in those things that please and pamper the flesh They sow to the flesh Gal. 6.8 i.e. all their studies and labours are but the sowing of the seeds of pleasure to the flesh Not an handful of spiritual Seed sowen in Prayer for the Soul all the day long what the Body craves the obsequious Soul like a slave is at its beck to give it Tit. 3. 3. Serving diverse lusts and pleasures attending to every knock and call to fulfil the desires of the flesh O how little do these men understand the life of Religion or the great design of Christianity which consists in mortifying and not pampering and gratifying the Body Rom. 14. 13 14. And according to that rule all serious Christians order their Bodies giving them what is needful to keep them serviceable and useful to the Soul but not gratifying their irregular desires giving what their wants not what their wantonness calls for So Paul 1 Cor. 9.27 I beat it down and keep it under he understood it as his Servant not his Master He knew that Hagar would quickly peark up and domineer over Sarah expect more attendance than the Soul except it were kept under These two verbs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are very emphatical the former signifies to make it black and blue with buffeting the other to bring it under by checks and rebukes as Masters that understand their place and Authority use to do with insolent and wanton Servants It was a rare expression of an Heathen Major sum ad 〈◊〉 natus quà m ut corporis mei sim mancipium I am greater and born to greater things than that I should be a drudge or Vassal to my Body And it was the saying of a pious Divine when he felt the flesh rebellious and wanton Ego faciam aselle ut non calcitres I will make thee thou Ass that thou shalt not kick I know the superstitious Papists place much of Religion in these external things but though they abuse them to an ill purpose there is a necessary and lawful use of these abridgments and restraints upon the Body and it will be impossible to mortifie and starve our lusts without a due rigour and severity to our flesh But how little are many acquainted with these things They deal with their Bodies as David with Adonijah of whom it 's said 1 Kings 1.6 His Father had not displeased him at any time in saying Why hast thou done so And just so our flesh requites us by its Rebellions and Treasons against the Soul it seeks the life of the Soul which seeks nothing more than its content and pleasure this is not ordinate love but fondness and folly and what we shall bitterly repent for at last 2. It appears by our sparing and favouring of them in the necessary uses and services we have for them in Religion Many will rather starve their Souls than work and exercise their Bodies or disturb their sluggish rest thus the idle excuses and pretences of endangering our health oftentimes put by the duties of Religion or at least lose the fittest and properest season for them We are lazying upon our beds when we should be wrestling upon our knees The World is suffered to get the start of Religion in the morning and so Religion is never able to overtake it all the day long This was none of David's course he prevented the dawning of the morning and cryed Psal. 119.147 and Psal. 5.3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up And indeed we should consecrate unto God the freshest and fittest parts of our time when our bodily Senses are most vigorous and we would do so except God by his providence disable us were our hearts fully set for God and Religion lay with weight upon our Spirits Some I confess cannot receive this injunction being naturally disabled by prevailing infirmities but those tha◠〈◊〉 ought to do so But O how many slothful excuses doth the flesh invent to put off duty We shall injure our health c. O the hypocrisy of such pleas if profit or pleasure call us up we have no such shifts but can rise early and sit up late O Friends why hath God given you Bodies if not to waste and wear them out in his service and the service of your own Souls if your Bodies must not be put to it and exercised this way where is the mercy of having a Body If a stately Horse were given you on this condition that you must not ride or work him what benefit would such a gift be to you Your Bodies must and will wear out and it 's better wear them with working than with rusting we are generally more sollicitous to live long than to live usefully and serviceably and it may be our health had been more precious in the eyes of God if it had been less precious in our own eyes 'T is just with God to destroy that health with diseases which he sees we would cast away in slothfulness and idleness Think with thy self had such a Soul as Timothies or Gaius's been blessed with such a Body as thine so strong and vigorous so apt and able for service they would have honoured God more in it in a day than perhaps you do in a year Certainly this is not love but laziness not a due improvement but a sinful neglect and abuse of the Body to let it rust out in idleness which might be imployed so many ways for God for your own and others Souls Well remember death will shortly dissolve them and then they can be of no more use and if you expect God should put glory and honour upon them at the Resurrection use them for God now with a faithful self-denying diligence 3. It appears by our cowardly shrinking from dangers that threaten them when the glory of God our own and others Salvation Here the Soul receives a deadly wound upon it self toward it â—ff from the Body So did Spira bid us expose and not regard them Some there are that rather than they will adventure their flesh to the rage of man will hazard their Souls to the wrath of God They are too tender to suffer pain or restraint for Christ but consider not wâ—â—t
a very short period of time when those few years are past then I must go to my long home my everlasting abode never more to return to this world The way whence I shall not return elsewhere called the way of all flesh Iosh. 23.15 and the way of all the earth 1 King 2.2 Eccles. 8.8 There is no man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that War By Spirit understand the natural Spirit or breath of life which as I shewed before connects or tyes the Soul and Body together this Spirit no man can retain in the day of death we can as one speaks as well stop the Chariot of the Sun when posting to night and chase away the shadows of the evening Mortem inquit Seâ—eca nulla diligentia evitat nulla soelicitas domat nulla potentia vincit as escape this hour of darkness that is coming upon us A man may escape the Wars by pleading priviledge of years or weakness of Body or the Kings protection or by sending another in his room but in this War the press is so strict that it admits no dispensation young or old weak or strong willing or unwilling all 's one into the field we must go and look that last and most dreadful Enemy in the face 'T is in vain to think of sending another in our room for no man dyeth by Proxy or to think of compounding with death as those self-deluding Fools did Isai. 28.15 Who thought they had been discharged of the debt by seeing the Sergeant no no there is no discharge in that War Nihil prodest ora concludere vitam fugientem retinere saith Hierom on that Text Let us shut our mouths never so close struggle against death never so hard there is no more retaining the Spirit than a woman can retain the fruit of her Womb when the full time of her deliverance is come Suppose a man were sitting upon a Throne of Majesty surrounded with armed Guards or in the midst of a Colledge of expert and learned Physicians death will pass all these Guards to deliver thee the fatal message neither can Art help thee when Nature it self gives thee up The Law of Mortality binds all good and bad young and old the most useful and desirable Saints whom the World can worst spare as well as useless and undesireable sinners Rom. 8.10 and if Christ or though Christ be in you the Body is dead because of sin Peter himself must put off his Tabernacle for they are but Tabernacles frail and moveable frames not built for continuance these will drop off from our Souls as the Shell falls of from the Bird in the Nest be our earthly Tabernacles never so strong or pleasant (2) The speediness of death The Scriptures borrow Metaphors from all the Elements to this purpose we must depose them and that shortly our lease in them will expire quickly we have but a short term Iames 4.14 Like a thin mist in the morning which the Sun presently dissipates this is a Metaphor chosen from the Air You have one from the Land where the swift Post runs Iob 9.25 So doth our life from Stage to Stage till its journey be finished and a third from the Waters there Sail the swift Ships Iob 9.26 which weighing Anchor and putting into the Sea continually lessen the Land till at last they have quite lost sight of it from the Fire Psal. 58.4 The lives of men are as soon extinct as a blaze made with dry thorns which is almost as soon out as in Thus you see how the Spirit of God hath borrowed Metaphors from all the Elements of Nature to shadow forth the brevity and frailty of that life we now live in these Tabernacles So that we may say 〈◊〉 one did before us Nescio an dicenda sit vita mortalis an vitalis mors I know not which to call it a mortal life or a living death The continuance of these our Tabernacles or Bodies is short whether we consider them absolutely or comparatively I. Absolutely if they should stand seventy or eighty years which is the longest duration Psal. 90.10 How soon will that time run out what are years that are past but as a dream that is vanished or as the waters that are past away It is in fluxu continuo there is no stopping its swift course or calling back a moment that is past Death set out in its journey towards us the same hour we were born and how near is it come this day to many of us it hath us in chase and will quickly fetch us up and overtake us but few stand so long as the utmost date II. Comparatively let us compare our time in these Tabernacles 1 either with Eternity or with him who inhabits it and it shrinks up into nothing Psal. 39.5 Mine age is nothing unto thee So vast is the disproportion that it seems not only little but nothing at all Or 2 with the Duration of the Bodies of men in the first Ages of the World when they lived many hundred years in these fleshly Tabernacles The length of their life was the benefit of the World because Religion was then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing handed down from Father to Son but certainly it would be no benefit to us that are in Christ to be so long suspended the fruition of God in the everlasting Rest. The Grounds and Reasons of this Necessity that lies upon all to put off their earthly Tabernacles so soon are 1. The Law of God or his Appointment 2. The Providence of God ordering it suitably to this Appointment 1. The Law or Appointment of God which came in force immediately upon the Fall Genes 2.17 In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye And accordingly it took place upon all mankind immediately upon the first Transgression Rom. 5.12 Death entred by sinâ—â— The threatning not his immediate actual personal death in the day that he should eat but a state of Mortality to commence from that time to him and his posterity hence it s said Heb. 9.27 It is appointed to all men once to die 2. The Providence of God ordering and framing the Body of man suitably to this his Appointment Quotidie moâ—imur quotidie enim demitur aliquâ— pars vita tunc quoque cum crescimus vitâ— decrescit Iâ—fantiam amisimus deinde Adolescentiâ—m usque ad besternam quicquid transit temporis perit a frail weak Creature having the seeds of death in his Constitution Thousands of Diseases and Infirmities are bred in his Nature and the smallest pore in his Body is a door large enough to let in death Hence his Body is compared to a piece of cloth which Moths have fretted Psal. 39.11 it 's become a seary rotten thing which cannot long hang together And indeed it is a wonder it continues so long as it doth
but myriads in the plural number and set down indefinitely too may note many millions of Angels and therefore we fitly tender it to an innumerable company of Angels They had the ministry of Angels as well as we thousands of them ministred to the Lord in the dispensation of the Law at Sinai Psal. 68.17 But this notwithstanding we are come to a much clearer knowledge both of their present Ministry for us on earth Heb. 1.14 and of our fellowship and equality with them in Heaven Luke 20.36 3 Ye are come to the general assembly and Church of the first-born whose names are written or enrolled in Heaven This also greatly commends and amplifies the priviledges of New Testament-Believers the Church of God in former ages was circumscribed and shut up within the narrow limits of one small Kingdom which was as a garden inclosed out of a waste wilderness but now by the calling in of the Gentiles the Church is extended far and wide Eph. 3.5 6. It is become a great Assembly comprizing the Believers of all Nations under Heaven and so speaking of them collectively it is the general convention or Assembly which is also dignified and ennobled by two illustrious characters viz. 1 that it is the Church of the first-born i. e. consisting of Members dignified and priviledged above others Primogeniti Israelitarum scripti crant in matricula terrestri hi vero in albo coelesti as the first-born among the Israelites did excel their younger Brethreâ— 2 That their names are written in Heaven i. e. registred or enrolled in Gods book as Children and Heirs of the Heavenly inheritance as the first-born in Israel were registred in order to the Priesthood Num 3.40 41. 4 Ye are come to God the Iudge of all But why to God the Judge this seems to spoil the harmony and jar with the other parts of the discourse No no they are come to God as a righteous Judge who as such will pardon them 1 Iohn 1.9 crown them 2 Tim. 4.8 and avenge them on all their oppressing and persecuting Enemies 1 Thes. 1.5 6 7. 5 And to the Spirits of just men made perfect A most glorious priviledge indeed in which we are distinctly to consider 1. The quality of those with whom we are associated or taken into fellowship 2. The way and manner of our association with them 1. The Quality of those with whom we are associated or to whom we are said to be come and they are described by three characters viz. 1 1 Spirits of Men. viz. 2 Spirits of just Men. viz. 3 Spirits of just Men perfected or consummated 1 They are called Spirits that is immaterial substances strictly opposed to Bodies which are no way the objects of our exteriour Senses neither visible to the eye nor sensible to the touch which were called properly Souls whilst they animated Bodies in this lower World but now being loosed and separated from them by death and existing alone in the World above they are properly and strictly stiled Spirits 3 They are the Spirits of just Men. Man may be termed just two ways 1 by a full discharge and acquittance from the guilt of all his sins and so believers are just men even whilst they live on Earth groaning under other imperfections Acts 13.39 or 2 by a total freedom from the pollution of any sin And though in this sence there is not a just man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not Eccles. 7.22 yet even in this sense Adam was just before the Fall Eccles. 7.29 according to his original constitution and all believers are so in their glorified condition all sin being perfectly purged out of them and its existence utterly destroyed in them On which account 3 They are called the Spirits of just men made perfect or consummate The word perfect is not here to be understood absolutely but synecdochically they are not perfect in every respect for one part of these just Men lies rotting in the grave but they are perfected for so much as concerns their Spirit though the flesh perish and lie in dishonour yet their Spirits being once loosed from the Body and freed radically and perfectly from sin are presently admitted to the facial vision and fruition of God which is the culminating point as I may call it higher than which the Spirit of man aspires not and attaining to this it is for so much as concerns it self made perfect Even as a Body at last lodg'd in its centre gravitates no more but is at perfect rest so it is with the Spirit of man come home to God in glory 't is now consummate no more need to be done to make it as perfectly happy as it is capable to be made which is the first thing to be considered viz the Quality of those with whom we are associated 2. The second follows namely the way and manner of our association with these blessed Spirits of just Men noted iâ— this expression we are come He saith not we shall come hereafter when the Resurrection hath restored our Bodies or after the general Judgment but we are come to these Spirits of just Men. The meaning whereof we may take up in these three particulars 1 We that live under the Gospel-light are come to a clearer apprehension sight and knowledge of the blessed and happy estate of the Souls of the righteous after death than ever they had or ordinarily could have who lived under the Types and shadows of the Law Eph. 3.4 5. And so we are come to them in respect of clearer apprehension 2 We are come to those blessed Spirits in our Representative Christ who hath carried our nature into the very midst of them and whom they all behold with highest admiration and delight By Christ who is entred into that holy place where these Spirits of just Men live we are come into a near relation with them For he being the common head both to them in Heaven and to us on Earth we and they consequently make but one Body or society Eph. 2.19 whereupon notwithstanding the different and remote Countries they and we live in we are said to sit together with them in Heavenly places Ephes. 3.15 and Ephes. 2.6 3 We are come That is we are as good as come or we are upon the matter come there remains nothing betwixt them and us but a puff of breath a little space of time which shortens every moment we are come to the very borders of their Country and there is nothing to speak of betwixt them and us and by this expression we are come he teacheth us to account and reckon those things as present which so shortly will be present to us and to look upon them as if they already were which is the highest and most comfortable life of Faith we can live on Earth Hence the Note is DOCT. That righteous and holy Souls once separated from then Bodies by death are immediately perfected in themselves and associated with others alike
ejusdem animae id est informationis seu unionis erga corpus Conimâ—r Some call it the privation of the second Act of the Soul that is its Act of informing or enlivening the Body Others according to Scripture phrase the departing of the Soul from the Body So Peter stiles it 2 Pet. 1.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my departure i.e. after my death Relictio câ—rporis depositio sarcine gravis modo aliea sarcina non patietur qâ—â homo praecipitetur in gehennem August Augustine calls it the laying down of an heavy burthen provided there be not another burden for the Soul to bear afterwards which will sink it into Hell In respect of the Body which the Soul now forsakes it is called the putting off this Tabernacle 2 Pet. 1.14 And the dissolving the earthly House or Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5.1 In respect of the terminus à quo the place from which the Soul removes at death it is called our departure hence Phil. 1.23 or our weighing Anchor and loosing from this coast or shoar to sail to another In respect of the terminus ad quem the place to which the Spirits of the just go at death it is called our going to or being with the Lord ibid. To conclude in respect of that which doth most lively resemble and shadow it forth it is called our falling asleep Acts 7. ult our sleeping in Iesus 1 Thes. 4.14 This Metaphor of sleep must be stretched no further than the Spirit of God designed in the choice of it which was not to favour and countenance the fancy of a sleeping Soul after death but to represent its state of placid rest in Jesus's bosom if it refer at all to the Soul for I think it most properly respects the Body Locus Sepulturae consecratus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc est dormitorium appeâ—iâ—tur and thence the Sepulchres where the Bodies of the Saints were laid got the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dormitories or sleeping places This is its last farewel to this world never more to return to a low animal life more Iob 7.9 10. For as the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more he shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more The Soul is no more bound to a Body nor a Retainer to Sun Moon or Stars to meat drink and sleep but is become a free single abstracted being a separate and pure Spirit which the Latins call Lemures Manes Ghosts or Souls of the dead and my Text Spirits made perfect a being much like unto the Angels who are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodiless Powers An Angel as one speaks is a perfect Soul a Soul is an imperfect Angel I do not say that upon their Separation they become Angels for they will still remain a distinct Species of Spirits Semper à corporis compedibus nexibus liberi Max. Tyr. Angels have no inclination to Bodies nor were ever fettered with cloggs of flesh as Souls were And by this you see what a difference there is betwixt these two considerations of death How gastly and affrighting is it in its previous pangs how lovely and desireable in the issue and result of them which is but the change of Earth for Heaven men for God sin and misery for perfection and glory PROP. III. The Separation of the Soul and Body makes a great and wonderful change upon both but especially upon the Soul THere is a twofold change made upon man by death one upon his Body another upon his Soul The change upon the Body is great and visible to every eye A living Body is changed into a dead carcase A beautiful and comely Body into a loathsome spectacle that which lately was the object of delight and love is hereby made an abhorrence to all flesh Bury my dead out of my sight Gen. 23.4 What the Sun is to the greater that the Soul is to the lesser World When the Sun shines comfortably how vegete and chearful do all things look How well do they thrive and prosper The Birds sing merrily the Beasts play wantonly the whole Creation enjoyeth a day of light and joy but when it departs what a night of horror followeth How are all things wrapt up in the sable Mantle of darkness Or if it but abate its heat as in Winter the Creatures are as it were buried in the winding-sheet of Winters frost and Snow just so it is with the Body when the Soul shineth pleasantly upon it or departs from it That Body which was fed so assiduously cared for so anxiously loved so passionately is now tumbled into a pit and left to the mercy of crawling Worms The change which judgment made upon that great and flourishing City Nineveh is a fit emblemâ— to â—hadow forth that change which death makes upon humane Bodies That great and renowned City was once full of people which thronged the streets thereof there you might have seen children playing upon the Thresholds Beauties shewing themselves through the windows Melody sounding in its Palaces But what an alteration was made upon it the Prophet Zephaniah describes Chap. â— v. 14. Flocks shall lye down in the midst of her all the Beasts of the Nations both the Cormorant and the Bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it their voice shall sing in the windows desolation shall be in the thresholds for he shall uncover the Cedar work Thus it is with the Body when death hath dislodged the Soul Worms nestle in the holes where the beautiful eyes were once placed Corruption and desolation is upon all parts of that stately structure But this being a vulgar Theam I shall leave the Body to the dust from whence it came and follow the Soul which is my proper subject pointing at the changes which are made on it The essence of the Soul is not destroyed or changed by the Bodies ruine It is substantially the self same Soul that it was when in the Body The supposition of an essential change would disorder the whole frame and model of Gods eternal design for the Redemption and glorification of it Rom. 8.29 30. but yet though it undergo no substantial change at death yet divers great and remarkable alterations are made upon it by sundering it from the Body As 1. It is not where it was It was in a Body immerst in matter married unto flesh and blood but now it is out of the Body uncloathed and stript naked out of its garments of flesh like pure Gold melted out of the ore with which it was commixed or as a Birdlet out of her Cage into the open Fields and Woods This makes a great and wonderful change upon it 2. Being free from the Body it is consequently discharged and freed from all those â—ares studies fears and sorrows to which it was here enthralled and subjected upon the Bodies account It puts off all those
ascend by the virtue of his Ascension 'T is therefore rather for the State and Decorum than any absolute necessity that they attend us in our Ascension God will not only have his people brought home to him safely but honourably They shall come to their Fathers house in a becoming Equipage as the Children of a King This puts honour upon our Ascension day that day is adorned by the attendance of such illustrious Creatures upon us 'T is no small honour which God herein designes for us that Creatures of greater dignity than our selves shall be sent from Heaven to attend and wait upon us thither Yea That our Ascension day should in this resemble Christ's Ascension is an honour indeed When he ascended there were multitudes of these heavenly Creatures to wait upon him Psal. 68.17 18. The Chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place Thou hast ascended on high c. A Cloud was prepared as a Royal Chariot to carry up the King of Glory to his Princely Pavillion and then a Royal Guard of mighty Angels to wait upon his Chariot if not for support yet for the greater State and Solemnity of their Lords Ascension And Oh what Jubilations of blessed Angels were heard that day in Heaven How was the whole City of God moved at his coming the Triumph is not ended to this day no nor ever shall Now herein God greatly honours his people that there shall be some resemblance and conformity betwixt their Ascension and Christs * Quomodo inservierunt capiti eo modo inserviunt etiam membris Gaudent inserviâ—â— iâ—lis in terris quosaliquando socios habebunt in coelis Gerhard they rejoice to attend those to Heaven who must be their fellow Citizens for ever in Heaven It is convenient also that those who had the charge of us all our life should attend us to our Fathers house at our death In the one they finish their ministry in the other they begin their more intimate Society Moreover the Angels are they whom God will imploy to gather together his Elect from the four winds of Heaven at the great day Matth. 24.31 and who more fit to attend their Spirits to Heaven singly than those who must collect them into one Body at last and wait upon that collective Body when they shall be brought to Christ Psal. 45.14 Object But the sight and presence of Angels is exceeding awful and overwhelming to humane nature it will rather astonish and terrifie than refresh and chear us to find our selves all on a suddain surrounded and beset with such Majestick Creatures We see what effects the appearance of an Angel hath had upon good men in this World We shall die said Manoah for we have seen God Judg. 13.22 So Eliphaz a Spirit passed before my face the hair of my flesh stood up Iob 4.15 Sol. True whilst our Souls inhabit these mortal and sinful Bodies the appearance of Angels is terrible to them and cannot be otherwise partly upon a natural and partly upon a moral account The dread of Angels naturally falls upon our Animal Spirits They shrink and tremble at the approach of Spirits not only the Spirits of Men but of Beasts quail at it A Dog or an Horse is terrified at it as well as a Man Numb 22.25 The dread of Spirits strikes the Animal or natural Spirits primarily and the mind or rational Soul by consent There is also another cause of fear in man upon the sight or presence of Angels viz. A Consciousness of guilt Whereever there is guilt there will be fear especially upon any extraordinary appearance of God to us though it be but imediately by an Angel But when the Soul is freed both from flesh and sin and shall enjoy it self in a nature like to these pure and holy Spirits the dread of Angels is then vanished and the Soul will take great content and satisfaction in their Company and Communion The Soul then finds it self a fit Companion for them looks upon them as its fellow Servants for so they are Revel 19.10 and the Angels look upon the Spirits of just men not as Inferiours and Underlings but with great respect as Spirits in some sense nearer to Christ than themselves So that henceforth no dread falls upon us from the presence of these excellent Creatures but each enjoyeth singular delight in each others Society And thus we see in what honourable and pleasing Company the souls of the just go hence to their Father's house and bosome PROP. V. The Soul is not so maimed and prejudiced by its separation from the Body but that it both can and doth live and act without it and performs the acts of Cogitation and Volition without the aid and ministry of the Body I Know it is objected by them that assert the Souls sleeping till the Resurrection that though its essence be not destroy'd by death yet its Operations are obstructed by the want and absence of the Body its Tool and Instrument and thus they form their Objection All that the Soul understands Object it understands by Species that is the Images of things which are first formed in the Phantasie Conditiones Intellectus sunt tres 1 Objectum ens verum intelligibile 2 Phantasma vel species sensilâ— in Phâ—ntasia latens 3 Species intelligibilis quae est accidens spirituale repraesentaâ—s idealiter intellectui rem materialem existentem extra intellectum As when we would conceive the nature of an House a Ship a Man or a Beast we first form the Image or Species thereof in our fancy and then exercise our thoughts about it But this depending upon bodily Organs and Instruments the separated Soul can form no such Images It hath no such innate Species of its own but comes into the World an abrasa tabula white paper and being deprived by separation of the help of Senses and Phantasms it consequently understands nothing Thus the Soul in its state of Separation is represented to us as wounded in its Powers and Operations to that degree which seems to extinguish the very nature of it But Sol. 1. We deny that the Soul knows nothing now but by Phantasms and Images Intellectus incorporea immaterialia contemplatur ut Deum intelligentias sed haec nullo modo in phantasiam cadunt cum sunt extra limites corporeatum viriam Conimb de Anima lib. 3. cap. 8. Q. 8. For it knows it self it s own nature and powers of which it cannot possibly feign or form any image or representation What form shape or figure can the fancy of a man cast his own Soul into to help him to understand its nature And what shall we say of its understanding during an ecstasie or Rapture Doth the Soul know nothing at such a time Doth a dull Torpor seize and benumb its intellectual powers No no the Understanding is never more bright clear apprehensive
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 conseâ—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 sâ—â—â—times over Sin and sometimes over Grace but now the â—â—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
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 inâ—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
the line of modesty in what I shall speak about them And the first is this QUERIE I. Querie 1. Whether any Notion or Conception can be formed of a separate Soul and if so how we may be assisted duely to form it and conceive of it Sol. Solution §. 1. 1. It must be acknowledged not only very difficult but an impossible task for a Soul immersed in matter and so unacquainted with its own Nature and Powers as it is in its embodied state to gain a perfect clear and adequate Conception of what it shall be in the World to come Expect not then a perfect image much less any magnificent draught of this excellent Creature This would be the same thing as to go about to depaint the Sun in its Glory Motions and Influences with a Pencil I shall think I have done enough if I can but give you any umbrage or faint representation of this sublime and Spiritual Being and the manner of its subsisting and acting out of the body For seeing it is by nature invisible and in most of its actions whilst it is in the state of composition it makes the same use of the body and natural Spirits that a Scribe doth of his Pen and Ink without which he cannot decipher the Characters which are formed in his fancy it must needs be difficult to conceive how it subsists and acts in its separate state §. 2. But though we acknowledge it to be a great difficulty to trace it beyond the Limits of this World though we perceive nothing to depart from the Body at the instant of its expiration but a puff of breath which vanishes like Smoke into the air And though Atheistical Witts daringly pronounce an immaterial substance to be a meer Iargon Hobs Leviathan cap. 34. a Contradiction in terminis which being joined together destroy one another Yet all this doth not make the Notion of a separate Soul impossible much less undermine its existence in its unbodied and lovely state the Scriptures having so abundantly obviated all these Atheistical Suggestions by so many plain Discoveries of the Happiness of some and Misery of others after this Life Yea my Text answers us That Death is so far from destroying or annihilating that it perfects the Spirits of the Just. §. 3. There can be no more difficulty in conceiving of a separate Soul than there is in conceiving of an Angel For it is certain that a separated Soul and an Angel are the liveliest and clearest representations of each other in the whole number of created Beings Dr. More 's Immortality of the Soul lib. 2. cap. 17. § 4. 8. Bell. de Ascen mentis Some make the difference betwixt them little more than of a Sword in the Scabbard from one that is naked A Soul is but a Genius in the Body and a Genius or Angel is a Soul out of a Body An Angel saith another is a compleat and perfect Soul a Soul an imperfect and incompleat Angel The separate Soul doth not become an Angel by putting off the Body they are and still will be divers Species but in this they agree that in their common nature they are both Spirits that is Immaterial Substances endued with Vnderstanding Will and active power And I know not why the one should not be as intelligible as the other or if there be any advantage the Soul certainly must have it seeing our acquaintance with Souls is much more intimate than with Angels Angels indeed have larger Capacities and have no natural inclination to be embodied as Souls have but their common Nature as they are Spirits is the same And if we can conceive of one we may also of the other §. 4. But the difficulty seems to lie in this how the Soul can subsist alone without a Body and how the habits of Grace which were infused into it in this life by Sanctification do inhere in it or can be reduced into act by it when it hath no bodily Organs to work by As to the first there is no difficulty at all if we once rightly apprehend what is meant when we call it a Spiritual Substance that is a Being by it self independent upon any other Creature as to its existence as was opened before The Soul depends not for its life upon the Body but the Body upon the Soul It is the same Sword when it is drawn as it was when sheathed in its Scabbard the Soul is as much it self when separated from the Body as it was when united with it it s Being is independent on it it can live and act in a Body and it can do so without it For it is a distinct Being from its Body a substantial Being by it self And §. 5. As for the habits of grace which accompany it to Heaven it would much facilitate our apprehension of it if we but compare acquired and infused habits with each other 'T is true they are of different Natures and Originals but the Soul is the subject of them both and their inhesion and improvement is much after the same manner Take we then an acquired habit into consideration which is nothing else but a permanent Quality rendering the subject of it prompt and ready to perform a work with ease Suppose that of Musick or Writing and we shall find these habits to be safely lodged in the Soul as well when the body is laid into the deepest sleep which is the Image of death as when it is awake and most active for they are both Artists when asleep and need learn no new Rules to play or write when you awake them which shews the habits to be permanently rooted in their minds Infused habits of grace are as deeply rooted in the Soul yea deeper than any acquired habit can be For when Knowledge and Tongues shall be done away love abideth 1 Cor. 13.8 viz. after death when the Body is asleep in the Grave §. 6. Add hereto that these habits of grace are inseparably rooted or lodged in a subject which is by nature a Spirit that is to say The Understanding and Will are the primary Faculties of the Soul and are therefore called Inorganical because not affixed to any Member of the Body as the sensitive Appetite and locomotive Powers are to their proper Organs The Soul therefore hath the free use and exercise of them in its separate state an intelligent active Being able to use its faculties of Understanding Will and Affections and consequently in their use to reduce these habits of Grace inherent in them into act without the help of the Body For to suppose otherwise were to dispirit it and destroy the very nature of it Moreover let this Spirit thus furnished with gracious habits be now considered in separation from the Body in which state it enjoyeth and rejoyceth in a double Priviledge it never had before viz. Perfection both of it self and of its Graces and the nearest access to God it is capable of 2 Cor. 5.6
Absent from the Body and present with the Lord. It hath now no body to clog or cloud it nor can it complain of distance from God as it did in this World O at what rate must we conceive the love and delight of a Soul under these great advantages to cast out their very Spirits as I may say in their glorious Activities and Exercises Well then here you find A Spirit naturally endued with Understanding Will and Affections in these Faculties and Affections the habits of Grace permanently rooted which therefore accompany it in its ascension to glory an ability to use and exercise these Faculties and Graces and that in a more excellent degree and manner than it did or could in this World the subject and habits inherent being now both made perfect The clog of flesh knockt off and all distance from God removed by its coming home to him even as near as the capacity of the Soul can admit Conceive such a Spirit so qualified now rankt in its proper order among innumerable other holy and blessed Spirits which surround the Throne of God beholding his face with infinite delectation and acting all its Powers and Graces to the highest in the worshipping praising loving and admiring him that sitteth on the Throne and the Lamb for evermore And then you have a true though imperfect Idea or Notion of the Spirit of a just man made perfect I will not here make use of the other Glass to represent a damned Soul separate for a time from its Body and for ever from the Lord that will be shewn you in its proper place Querie 2. QUERIE II. Whether there be any difference in the separation of Gracious Souls from their Bodies and if so in what particulars doth th◠difference appear Sol. §. 1. For the clear stating and satisfying of this Question I will lay down some things negatively and some things positively about it On the negative part I desire two things may be noted 1. First That there is no difference betwixt the separation of one gracious Soul and another in point of safety Every regenerate Soul is fully secured in and by Jesus Christ from the danger of perishing and is out of hazzard of the Wrath to come This must needs be so because all that are in Christ are equally justified by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness without difference to them all Rom. 3.22 Even the Righteousness of God which is by Faith of Iesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference By vertue whereof they are all equally secured from Wrath to come one as well as another as all that sailed with Paul so all that die in Christ come safe to the shoar of Glory and not one of them is lost The sting of Death smites none that are in Christ. 2. Secondly There is no difference betwixt the departing Souls of just men in respect of the supporting presence of God with them in that their hour of distress that Promise belongs to them all Psal. 91.15 I will be with him in trouble and so doth that Heb. 13.5 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Their God is certainly with them all to order the Circumstances of their death and all the Occurrences of that day to his glory and their good Supports I have said a good man in such an hour though Suavities I want and so they have also who meet with the hardest tug at death But notwithstanding their equality in these Priviledges there is a great difference betwixt the departing Souls of just men And this difference is manifest both in the I. External Circumstances of their death II. Internal Circumstances of their death I. In the External Circumstances of their death all have not one and the same passage to Heaven in all respects for 1 First some go thither by the ordinary road of a natural death from their Beds and the arms of lamenting friends to the arms and bosome of Jesus Christ But others swim through the Red Sea to Canaan from a Scaffold to the Throne from a Gibbet or Stake to their Fathers house from insulting Enemies to their triumphant Brethren the Palm-bearing Multitude This is a rough but honourable way to Glory 2 Some lie long under the hand of death before it dispatch them it approaches them by slow and lingering paces they feel every step of death distinctly as it comes on towards them But others are favoured with a quick dispatch a short passage from hence to Glory Hezekiah feared a pineing sickness Isa. 38.10 12. what he feared many feel O how many Days yea Weeks and Months have many gracious Souls dwelt upon the brink of the Pit crying How long Lord how long 3 The pains and throes of death are more acute and sharp to some of Gods people than to others Death is bitter in the most mild and gentle form of it Two such dear and intimate Friends as the Soul and Body are cannot part without some tears groans or sighs and those more deep and emphatical than the groans and sighs of the living use to be But yet comparatively speaking the death of one may be stiled sweet and easie to anothers Latimer and Ridley found it so though burnt in the same flame In this respect all things come alike to all and the same difference is found in the worst as well as in the best men Some like Sheep are laid in the Grave Psal. 49.14 others die in the bitterness of their Soul Iob 21.25 and by this no man knows either love or hatred II. There are beside these some remarkable Internal differences in the dissolution of good men the sum whereof is in this 1. That some gracious Souls have a very hard strait difficult entrance into Heaven just as it is with Ships that sail by a very bare wind all their art care and pains will but just weather some head-land or Cape they steer fast by some dangerous Rock or Sand and with a thousand fears and dangers win their Port at last Saved they are but yet to use the Apostles phrase scarcely saved or saved as by fire And this difficulty ariseth to them from one or all these causes 1 It ordinarily ariseth from the weakness of their faith which is in many Souls without either the light of evidence or strength of reliance neither able to dissolve their doubts nor steadily repose their hearts and thus they die much at the rate they lived poor doubting and cloudy though gracious Souls They can neither speak much of the comfort of past experiences nor of the present foretasts of Heaven 2 The violent assaults and batteries of temptations make the passage exceeding difficult to some O the sharp conflicts and dreadful combates many poor Souls endure upon a death-bed O the charges of hypocrisie fortified by neglects of duty formality and bye-ends in duty falls into sin after conviction and humiliation c. all which the Soul is apt to yield to
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 haâ—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 quà m Spiâ—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 remembraâ—â—â— 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 oâ—itâ—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 religiosâ— 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 paâ—sâ—m prohibetur ut Deut. 18.10 11. Sed si homines à mortuis non suscitentur legibus haâ—d opus est si mortuirogati non aliquando responderent ab hominibus haudquaquam coâ—â—â—â—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
signifying a Messenger or one sent And for the mischief done by Spirits in this World the Scriptures ascribe that to the Devils those unquiet Spirits have their Walks in this World they compass the whole earth and walk up and down in it Iob 1.7 and 1 Pet. 5.8 they can assume any shape yea I doubt not but he can act their Bodies when dead as well as he did their Souls and Bodies when alive how great his power is this way appears in what is so often done by him in the Bodies of Witches They are not ordinarily therefore the Spirits of men but other Spirits that appear to us 2 If God should ordinarily permit the Spirits of men inhabiting the other World a liberty so frequently to visit this what a gap would it open for Satan to beguile and deceive the living Quid enim idololatriam inter Ethnicos Christianos magis propagavit Hinc fluxâ—runt multae perigrinationes monasteria delubra dits festi alia Lav. In Job 33. What might he not by this means impose upon weak and credulous Mortals There hath been a great deal of Superstition and Idolatry already introduced under this pretence he hath often personated Saints departed and pretended himself to be the Ghost of some venerable person whose love to the Souls of the people and care for their Salvation drew him from Heaven to reveal some special Secret to them Swarms of Errors and superstitious and idolatrous Opinions and Practices are this way conveyed by the tricks and artifices of Satan among the Papists which I will not blot my Paper withal only I desire it may be considered that if this were a thing so frequently permitted by God as is pretended upon what dangerous terms had he left his Church in this World seeing he hath left no certain marks by which we may distinguish one Spirit from another or a true Messenger from Heaven from a counterfeit and pretended one But God hath tied us to the sure and standing rule of his Word forbidding us to give heed to any other voice or spirit leading us another way Isa. 8.19 2 Thes. 2.1 2. Gall. 1.8 It was therefore a discreet reply which one of the Ancients made when in Prayer a Vision of Christ appeared to him and told him Thy Prayers are heard for thou art worthy The good man immediately clapt his hands upon his eyes and said Nolo hic videre Christum c. I will not see Christ here it is enough for me that I shall behold him in Heaven To conclude My Opinion upon the whole matter is this that although it cannot be denied but in some grand and extraordinary cases as at the transfiguration and Resurrection of Christ. God did and perhaps sometimes though rarely may order or permit departed Souls to return into this World yet for the most part I judge those Apparitions are not the Souls of the Dead but other Spirits and for the most part evil ones Lib. de cura pro mortuis Of this Judgment was St. Augustine who when he had at full related the Story above of the Fathers Ghost directing his Son to the Acquittance yet will not allow it to be the very soul of his Father but an Angel where he farther adds If saith he the souls of the dead might be present in our affairs they would not forsake us in this sort especially my Mother Monica who in her life could never be without me surely she would not thus leave me being dead Object 1. Objection 1. But it was pleaded before that we allow the Apparitions of Angels and departed Souls if they be not Angels at least are equal unto Angels and in respect of their late relation to us are more propense to help us than Spirits of another sort can be supposed to be Sol. Solution It seems too bold an imposing upon Soveraign Wisdom to tell him what Messengers are fittest for him to send and imploy in his service who hath taught him or been his Counsellor Object 2. Object 2. But these offices seem to pertain properly to them as they are not only fellow-members but the most excellent members of the mystical Body to whom it belongs to assist the meaner and weaker Sol. Sol. If there be any force of reason in this Plea it carries it rather for the Angels than for departed Souls for Angels are gather'd under the same common head with the Saints the Text tells us we are come to an innumerable company of Angels they and the Saints are fellow Citizens and we know they are a more noble order of Spirits and as for their love to the Elect it is exceeding great as great to be sure as the departed Souls of our dearest Relatives can be For after death they sustain no more civil Relations to us all that they do sustain is as fellow members of the same body or fellow Citizens which Angels also are as well as they Object 3. Object But saith the Doctor the reason why all Nations pay so great honour and religious care to the Wills of the Dead is a supposition that they still continue in the same mind after death and will avenge the Falsifications of Trusts upon injurious Executors else no reason can be given why so great a stress should be laid upon the Will of the Dead Sol. Sol. This is gratis dictum to say no worse a cheap and unwary expression can no reason be given for the religious observance of the Testaments of the dead but this Supposition I deny it for though they that made them be dead yet God who is witness to all such acts and trusts liveth and though they cannot avenge the frauds and injustice of men he both can and will do it 1 Thes. 4.6 which I think is a weightier ground and reason to inforce duty upon men than the fear of Ghosts Besides This is a case wherein all the living are concerned all that die must commit a trust to them that survive and if frauds should be committed with impunity who could safely repose confidence in another Quod tangit omnes tangi debet ab omnibus that which is of general concernment and becomes every mans interest infers a general Obligation upon all As for the Letters of Elijah 't is a Vanity to think they came Post from Heaven no no they were doubtless left behind him out of due care to the Government and produced in that fit occasion Object 4. Object 4. But what need of a Law to prohibit Necromancy or consultation with the Dead if it were not practicable Sol. Sol. I do not think the wicked art there prohibited enabled them to recal departed Souls but it was a conversing with the Devil who personated the dead and therein a kind of homage was paid him to the dishonour of God or he might possibly raise the Bodies of wicked men and appear in them but I think the Spirits of the dead return not
except as was before limited Object 5. Object 5. But the matters they discover are found to be true and the causes in which they concern themselves are just real Murthers are detected by them and real frauds and injuries corrected and rectified but the Devil being himself a lyar and Deceiver would never do it 't is not his interest to discover or discourage such things Sol. Sol. Though it be not his interest meerly to discover it yet it is certainly his interest to precipitate wicked men and hasten their ruine by the hand of Justice and he will speak the truth and seem to own a righteous cause to bring about his great design of ruining the Souls and Bodies of men I will shut up with three Cautions Caution I. Strain not Conscience to enrich Posterity be true to the trusts committed to you by the Dead or by the Living remembring that though they be dead and cannot avenge the wrong yet the Lord lives and will surely do it in a severer manner than they could should they appear in the most terrible and frightful forms to you Beside your own Consciences will haunt you worse than a Ghost Be just and true therefore in all your Promises and trusts for God is the Avenger Caution II. Finish your work for eternity before you die for as the Cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the Grave shall come up no more he shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Job 7.9 10. Your Souls will be fixed in eternity soon after they are loosed from your Bodies when death comes away you must go willing or unwilling ready or unready but no returning hither how willing soever Caution III. Keep your selves from that heathenish and accursed practice of consulting the Devil about your absent or dead Relations a practice too common in Sea-port Towns and of deep and heinous guilt before God Isa. 8.19 And when they shall say unto you seek unto them that have familiar Spirits and unto Wizards that peep and muter should not a people seek unto their God for the living to the dead You need not call the Devil twice that subtil and officious Spirit draws the living into his Net by such a bait as this You meet your Mortal enemy under the disguise of your dead friend QUERIE V. Whether the separated Souls of the just in Heaven have any converse or communication with each other and how that can be seeing all the Organs and Instruments of speech and hearing are laid aside with their Bodies It seems impossible that separated or unbodied Spirits should converse together seeing the instruments by which the thoughts are communicated from one to another are perished in the Grave Suppose the Tongue of a man to be cut out his eyes and hands perished or made useless whilst the Soul remains in the Body it may enjoy its own thoughts within it self but it is impossible to signifie them to another by words or signs Or suppose a man in a deep sleep wherein the Senses are only bound for a little time he may indeed exercise his own fancy in a pleasant Dream but another cannot understand how it is entertained but in death the Senses are not bound but extinguished Beside we must not think the felicity of the departed holy Souls to consist in mutual Converses one with another but in their ineffable Visions of God and Communion with him To him who is Omniscient and understands their most inward thoughts they can freely communicate them and receive his as well as pour forth their own love but to do it to their fellow Creatures who see not as God doth seems impossible Indeed it was never doubted but after the Resurrection they shall both know and talk with one another in a more excellent and perfect manner than now they do but till that time the Reasons above seem to perswade us that all the Converses above are only betwixt God and them which indeed is enough to make them happy and indeed if this ability be allowed to separated Souls it seems to render the Resurrection of their Bodies needless for they are well enough without them But certainly the Spirits of just men are not Mutes such an August Assembly of holy and excellent Spirits do not live together in their Fathers House without mutual Converse and fellowship with each other as well as with God That acute and judicious Divine Mr. Ioseph Symonds in the Epistle to his Book entitled Sight and Faith expresseth himself about this matter thus I often think saith he of the Communion of the Spirits of men which certainly is more than many are acquainted with though we act one upon another in our present state by the help of sense yet we are wrought and designed to a more excellent way Angels and the Spirits of men made perfect converse and trade in a mutual Communication not without sense but without such sense as ours This as eternal life begins here and is found in some degrees in this Mortal State though not in so visible appearances as to lie open to much observation Angels good and bad do act upon our Spirits and our Spirits hold converse with them and with the Father of Spirits which may be discerned in secret Parlies and Discourses betwixt them and us much of this appears in David's Psalms and there passeth not only an inward speech but there are invisible approaches entertainments and touches which Paul found when bound in the Spirit and under the working of God which wrought in him mightily Col. 1.29 it is also most certain that our Souls are not mute and shut out from all mutual Traffick with each other except what they have by the mediation of Senses Instances are found that as they say of two Needles toucht with the Loadstone the Spirit of one at a distance hath found it self affected with the motion and state of another And this we are all sensible of that there is a strong desire in us to Communion of Spirits and that because the way most ready and convenient to our bodily state is by sense we are carried with much inclination to maintain intercourse of our minds and Spirits by sense but as being made to a better way our Souls are not satisfied with this present way as being both painful and short we cannot give an exact Copy of our Apprehensions Desires Designs Delights and other affections by these two great Mediators of Communion the Eye and the Ear but because we are in so great a measure confin'd to this course our Souls as it were stand in these two gates to send and receive mutual Embassies each from other Which way as it is short in it self so it is much shortned by distances disaffections impotencies and disparities I cannot imagine that men in the state of imperfection should have so many ways to communicate their minds as by speaking writing c. Yea that the
catch a few moments in the intervals of pain and then are put by all again Consideration IV. There is no man living but hath something to do for his own Soul in a dying hour and something for others also Suppose the best that can be supposed that the Soul be in real Union with Christ and that Union be also clear yet it is seldom found but there are some assaults of Satan or if not yet how many Relations and Friends need our experiences and Counsels at such a time How many things shall we have to do after our great and main work is done And others have a great deal more to do though as safe as the former O the Knots and Objections that are then to be dissolv'd and answered The unusual Onsets and Assaults of Satan that are then to be resisted And yet most dying persons have much more upon their hands than either of the former The whole work of Repentance and Faith is to do when time is even done Consideration V. Few yea very few are found furnished â—â—â—h Wisdom Experience and Faithfulness to give dying Persons any considerable assistance in Soul affairs it may be there may be found among the Visitants of the Sick now and then a person who hath a word of Wisdom in his heart but then either he wants opportunity or courage and faithfulness to do the part of a true Spiritual friend Elihu describes the person so qualified as he ought for this work Iob 33.23 24. and calls him one among a thousand Some are too close and reserved others too trifling and impertinent Some are willing but want Ability others are able but want faithfulness Some cut too deep by uncharitable censoriousness others skin over the wound too slightly speaking Peace where God and Conscience speak none So that little help is to be expected Consideration VI. How much therefore doth it deserve to be lamented that where there is so much to do so little time to do it and so few to help in the best improvement of it all should be lost as to their Souls by earthly incumbrances and wordly affairs which may have been done sooâ—â—â—nd better in a more proper season O therefore let mâ—â—â—erswade all men to take heed of bringing the proper business of healthful days to their sick beds Inference IV. What an excellent creature is the Soul of man which is capable not only of such preparations for God whilst it is in the Body but of such sights and enjoyments of God when it lives without a Body Here the Spirit of God works upon it in the way of grace and sanctification Eph. 2.10 The scope and design of this his workmanship is to qualifie and make us meet for the life of Heaven 2 Cor. 5.5 For this self same thing or purpose our Souls are wrought or moulded by grace into quite another frame and temper than that which nature gave them and when he hath wrought out and finished all that he intends to be wrought in the way of sanctification then shall it be called up to the highest injoyments and imployments for ever that a creature is susceptible of Herein the dignity of the Soul appears that no other Creature in this World beside it hath a natural capacity either to be sanctified inherently in this World or glorified everlastingly in that to come to be transformed into the image and filled with the joy of the Lord. There are Myriads of other Souls in this World beside ours but to none of them is the Spirit of sanctification sent but only to ours The Souls of Animals serve only to move the dull and sluggish matter and take in for a few days the sensitive pleasures of the Creation and so expire having no natural capacity of or designation for any higher imployment or enjoyment And it deserves a most serious animadversion that this vast capacity of the Soul for eternal blessedness must of necessity make it capable of so much the more misery and self torment if at last it fail of that blessedness For it is apparent they do not perish because they are uncapable but because they are unwilling not because their Souls wanted any natural faculty that others have but because they would not open those they have 〈◊〉 â—â—ceive Christ in the way of faith and obedience as others did Think upon this you that live only to eat and drink and sleep and play as the Birds and Beasts of the field do what need was there of a reasonable Soul for such sensual imployments do not your noble faculties speak your designation for higher uses and will you not wish to exchange Souls with the most vile and despicable Animal in this World if it were possible to be done Certainly it were better for you to have no capacity of eternal blessedness as they have not if you do not enjoy it and no capacity of torment beyond this life as they have not if you must certainly endure it Inference V. IF our Souls and Bodies must be separated shortly how patiently should we bear all lesser that may or will be made betwixt us and any other enjoyments in this World No union is so intimate strict and dear as that betwixt your Souls and Bodies All your relations and enjoyments in this World hang looser from your Souls than your Bodies do and if it be your duty patiently and submissively to suffer a painful parting pull from your Bodies it is doubtless your duty to suffer meekly and patiently a separation from other things which are but a prelude to it and a meer shadow of it 'T is good to put such cases to our selves in the midst of our pleasant enjoyments I have now many comfortable Relatives in the World Wife Children Kindred and Friends God hath made them pleasant to me but he may bereave me of all these Doth not Providence ring such changes all the World over Are not all Kingdoms Cities and Towns full of the sighs and laments of Widows Orphans and Friends bereaved of their pleasant and useful Relations But if God will have it so 't is our duty to bound our sorrows remembring the time is short 1 Cor. 7.29 In a few days we must be stript much nearer even out of our own Bodies by death God may also separate betwixt me and my health by sickness so that the pleasure of this World shall be cut off from me but sickness is not death though it be a prelude and step towards it I may well bear this with patience who must submissively bear sharper pains than these ere long Yea and well may I bear this submissively considering that by such imbittering and weaning providences God is preparing me for a much easier dissolution than if I should live at ease in the Body all my days till death come to make so great and suddain a change upon me God may also separate betwixt me and my liberty by restraint It hath been the lot of the best men that ever
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
of their torment in Hell Rev. 18.7 so much torment and sorrow as there was delight and pleasure in sin 4. To conclude the pleasures of sin are but for a season as you read Heb. 11.25 but the wrath of God in Hell is for ever and ever There is a time when the pleasures of sin cannot be called pleasure to come but the Wrath of God that will still be wrath to come O consider for what a trifle you sell your Souls When Lysimachus parted with his Kingdom for a draught of water he said when he had drank it For how short a pleasure have I sold a Kingdom And Ionathan lamented 1 Sam. 14.43 I tasted but a little Honey and I must die Satan would not charm so powerfully as he doth with the pleasures of sin if this point were well believed and heartily applied Inference III. WHat a matchless madness is it to cast the Soul into Gods Prison to save the Body out of Mans Prison Men have their Prisons and God hath his but because the one is an Object of Sense and the other an Object of Faith that only is feared and this slighted all over this unbelieving World except by a very small number of men who tremble at the Word of God Now this I say is the height of madness and will appear to be so in a just Collation of both in a few Particulars 1 Mans Prison restrains the Body only Gods Prison Soul and Body Matt. 10.28 The Spirits of Men as my Text speaks are the Prisoners there O what a vast odds doth this single difference make A thousand times more than the captivating and binding of the greatest King or Emperour differs from the imprisonment of a poor Mechanick or Vagrant Beggar 2 In Mans Prison there are many comforts and unspeakable refreshments from Heaven but in Gods Prison none but the direct contrary You read of the Apostles Acts 16.25 how they sang in the Prison the Spirit of God made them a Banquet of heavenly Ioys and they could not but sing at it though their feet were in the stocks their Spirits were never more at liberty Algerius dated his Letters from the delectable Orchard of the Leonine Prison where saith he flows the sweetest Nectar Another tells us Christ was always kind to him but since he became a Prisoner for him he even overcame himself in kindness I verily think saith he the Chains of my Lord are all overlaid with pure Gold and his Cross perfumed but the worst terrours of the Prisoners in Hell come from the presence of the Lord 2 Thes. 1.9 God is a terrour to them 3 The cause for which a man is cast into Prison by men may be his Dâ—ty and so his Conscience must be at least quiet if not joyful in such Sufferings So it was with Paul Acts 28.20 For the hope of Israel am I bound with this Chain This diffuses Joy and Peace through the Conscience into the whole man but the cause for which men are cast into Gods Prison is their sin and guilt which armes their own Consciences against them and makes them as you heard before Self-tormentors terrours to themselves What odds is here 4 In Mans Prison the most excellent Company and sweet Society may be found Paul and Silas were fellow Prisoners In Queen Maries days the most excellent Company to be found in England was in the Prisons Prisons were turned into Churches But in Gods Prison no better Society is to be found than that of Devils and damned Reprobates Matth. 25.41 5 In Mans Prison there is hope of a comfortable deliverance but in Gods Prison none Matt. 5.26 Thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the last Mite 'T is an everlasting Prison Compare these few obvious Particulars and judge then what is to be thought of that man who stands readier to cast himself into any guilt than into the least Suffering What is it but as if a man should offer his Neck to the Sword to save his hand The Lord convince us what trifles our Estates Liberties and Lives are to our Souls or to the peace and purity of our Consciences Inference IV. WHat an invaluable mercy is the pardon of sin which sets the Soul out of all danger of going to this prison When the debt is satisfied a man may walk as boldly before the prison door as he doth before his own they that owe nothing fear no Bayliffs 'T is the Law as I said before that commits men to Prison a Mittimus is but an instrument of Law but the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in them that believe Rom. 8.4 Yea they are made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 There can be no process of Law against them For who shall condemn when it is God that justifieth Rom. 8.33 34. And that divine justice might be no bar to our faith or comfort he adds It is Christ that died and yet farther to assure us that his death hath made plenary satisfaction to God for all our sins and debts it added Yea rather that is risen again q. d. If the debts of believers to God were not fully paid and satisfied for by the blood of Christ how comes it to pass that our Surety is discharged as by his Resurrection he appears to be O Believer thy Bonds are Cancelled the hand-writing that was against thee is nailed to the Cross the blood of Christ hath done that for thee that all the Gold and Silver in the World could not do 1 Pet. 1.18 19. It is a counter price 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eâ—t pretium ex adverso respondent fully answering to thy debts Matth. 20.28 And hence to the Eternal joy of thy heart result three properties of thy pardon which are able to make thine eyes gush out with tears of joy whilst thou art reading of it 1. It is a free pardon to thy Soul though it cost Christ dear it costs thee nothing We have redemption even the remission of sins according to the riches of his grace Eph. 1.7 The project of it was Gods not thine the price for it was Christs blood not thine the glory and riches of free grace are illustriously displayed in thy forgiveness 2. It is as full as it is free a compleat and perfect cause produceth a compleat and perfect effect Acts 13.39 Iustified from all things what ever thy sins be for nature number or circumstances of aggravation they cannot exceed the value of the meritorious cause of Remission The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin 3. It must be as firm as it is free and full even an irrevocable pardon for ever more Christ did not shed his blood at an hazzard the way of justification by faith makes the promise sure Rom. 4 16. The justified shall never come again under condemnation O the unspeakable joy that flows from this Spring O the triumphs of faith upon this foundation It is not ravishing melting overwhelming and amazing
Soul of a Begger is of the same Species Original and Capacity of happiness with the Soul of the most illustrious Prince and sometimes greater Excellencies of mind are found in the lowest rank and order of men Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish King Eccles. 4.13 but the Soul of the meanest person in the World is better than all the bodies in it and therefore to make the noble and high-born Soul a slave a meer drudge to the vile body as the Apostle calls it Phil. 3.21 The body of this vileness what is it but to set the Begger on Horse-back and make the King lacquey after him on foot It was a generous resentment that an Heathen had of the dignity of his own Soul Major sum ad majora natus quà m ut corporis mei sim mancipium Seneca and a very just abhorrence of so vile an abuse of it when he said I am greater and born to greater things than that I should be a slave to my body I know there is a debt of duty the Soul owes to its own body and few Souls are to be found too careless or dilatory in the discharge thereof where one Soul needs the Spur in this case thousands need the Curb Most Souls are over-heated with zeal for the concerns of the flesh worn out and spent in its constant drudgery their whole life is but a serving of divers lusts and pleasures as the Apostle speaks Tit. 3.3 Imperious lusts are cruel Task-masters they give the Soul no rest the more provision the Soul brings in to satisfie them the more they rage like fire by the addition of more fuel What a sad sight is it to see a noble immortal Soul enslaved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostles word is Tit. 1.7 to wine to filthy lucre to a thousand sorts of vassallage like a Tapster in a common Inn now running up stairs and then down at every ones knock and call O what perpetual hurry and noise do thousands of Souls live in so that they have no time to retire into themselves and think for what end and use they were created and sent into this World all their thoughts all their cares all their studies and labours are taken up about that perishing clogging ensnaring body which must so shortly fall a prey to the worms How many millions of poor Creatures are there that labour and toil all their life long for a poor bare maintenance of their bodies and never think they have any other business to do in this World And how many of an higher rank are charm'd by a thick succession of fleshly delights and pleasures into a deep oblivion of their eternal concerns so that their whole life is but one intire diversion from the great business and proper end of it Iam. 5.5 Ye have lived in pleasure on earth lived in them as the fish doth in the water its proper Element or the Eel in the mud Sometimes it falls out at the very close of a vain voluptuous life when they see all their delights shrinking away at the approaches and appearance of death that they begin to be a little startled at the change which is about to be made upon them and to cry O what shall we do now Ah poor Souls is that a time to think what you shall do when you are just stepping into the awful state of Eternity O that this had been thought on in season but you could find no leisure for one such thought Now you begin to wish time had been rescued out of the hands of the cares and pleasures of this life for better purposes but it 's gone and never more to be recalled Inference II. IS the Soul so invaluably precious then the Salvation of the Soul is to be the great care and business of every man in this life Where one thought is spent about this question What shall I eat drink and put on a thousand should be spent about that question What shall I do to be saved If a Treasure of ten or twenty thousand pounds were committed to your trust and charge and for which in case of loss you must be responsible would not your thoughts cares and fears be working night and day about it till you be satisfied it is safe and out of danger and then your mind would be at rest but not before Thy Soul O man is more worth than the Crowns and Treasures of all the Princes in the World if all their Exchequers were drained and all their Crown-Jewels sold to their full value they could never make up half a Ransom for the Soul of the poorest and meanest man This invaluable Treasure is committed to your charge if it be lost you are lost for ever that which St. Matthew calls the losing of the Soul in my Text St. Luke calls losing himself if the Soul be lost the man is lost the body is but as a Boat fastned to the stern of a stately Ship if the Ship sink the Boat follows it O therefore what thoughts what fears what cares should exercise the minds of men day and night till their precious Souls be out of all danger Methinks the sound of this Text should ring a perpetual Alarm in the ears of careless sinners and make them hasten to the Ensurance-Office as Merchants do who have great Adventures in danger at Sea It was counsel given once to a King and worthy to be prest upon all from the King to the Begger to ruminate these words of Christ one quarter of an hour every day What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul certainly it would make men slack their pace and cool themselves in their hot and earnest pursuit of the trifles of this World and convince them that they have somewhat else to do of far greater importance It was not without great and weighty reason therefore that the Apostle Peter exhorts to all diligence to make our calling and election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 there are two words in this Text of extraordinary weight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Give all diligence the word is study the utmost intention of the mind pondering and comparing things in the thoughts valuing reasons for and objections against the point before us this is study and such as calls for all diligence where the subject matter is as to be sure here it is of the greatest importance and what is the subject matter of all this study and diligence Why it is the most solemn of all works that ever came under the hand of man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make our calling and election sure firm stable or fixed as a building raised upon square and strong foundation or as a conclusion is sure when regularly drawn from certain and indubitable premisses there can never be too much care too much study or pains about that which can never
hurry them onward You read not only of single persons but whole Nations drown'd in this Gulph Psal. 9.17 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God How rare is the conversion of a Soul in the dark places of the Earth where the sound of the Gospel is not heard the Devil drives them along in huge droves to destruction scarce a man reluctating or hanging back And though some Nations enjoy the inestimable priviledge of the Gospel of Salvation yet multitudes of precious Souls perish notwithstanding sinking into Hell daily as it were betwixt the merciful arms of a Saviour stretched out to save them The light of Salvation is risen upon us but Satan draws the thick curtains of ignorance and prejudice about the multitude that not a beam of saving light can shine into their hearts 2 Cor. 4.3 4. But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them If our Gospel Ours not by way of institution as the Authors but by way of dispensation as the Ministers and Preachers of it and certainly it was never preached with that clearness authority and efficacy by any meer man as it was by Paul and the rest of the Apostles and yet the Gospel so powerfully preached is by him here supposed to Be hid If not as to the general light and superficial knowledge of it yet as to its saving influence and converting efficacy upon their hearts this never reacheth home to the Souls and spirits of multitudes that hear it but it is never finally so hidden except To them that are lost So that all those to whom the converting and saving power of the Gospel never comes whatever other knowledge they have whatever duties they perform whatever names and reputations they may have among men yet this Text looks upon them all as a lost generation they may have as many amiable homilitical Vertues as sweet and lovely Natures as clear and piercing eyes in all other things as any others but they are such however Whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded Satan is here called the God of this World not properly but by a Mimesis because he challenges to himself the honour of a God aâ—d hath a world of Subjects that obey him and to secure their obedience he blinds them that they may never see a better way or state than that he hath drawn them into Therefore he is called the Ruler of the darkness of this World who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience the eye of the Soul is the mind that thinking considering and reasoning power of the Soul this is as the Philosophers truly call it the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the leading faculty to all the rest the guide to all the other faculties which in the order of Nature follow this their Leader if therefore this be blinded the Will which is caeca potentia a blind power in it self and all the Affections blindly following the blind all must needs fall into the ditch And this is the case of the far greater part of even the professing World Let us suppose a number of blind men upon an Island where there are many smooth paths all leading to the top of a perpendicular cliff and these blind men going on continually some in one path and some in another but all in some one of those many paths which lead to the brink of their ruine which they see not it must needs follow if they all move forward the whole number will in a short time be cast away the Island clear'd and its Inhabitants dead and lost in the bottom of the Sea This is the case of the unregenerate World they are now upon this habitable spot of earth environed with the vast Ocean of Eternity there are multitudes of paths leading to eternal misery one man takes this way another that as it is Isa. 53.6 We have turned every one to his own way one to the way of pride another to the way of covetousness a third to the way of persecution a fourth to the way of Civility and Morality and so on they go not once making a stand or questioning to what end it will bring them till at last over they go at death and we hear no more of them in this world and thus one generation of sinners follows another and they that come after approve and applaud those miserable wretches that went before them Psal. 49.13 and so Hell fills and the World empties its Inhabitants daily into it Now I will make it my work out of a dear regard to the precious Souls of men and in hope to prevent which the Lord in mercy grant the loss and ruine of some under whose eyes this Discourse shall fall to note some of the principal ways in which precious Souls are lost and to put such bars into them as I am capable to put and among many more I will set a mark upon these following twelve paths wherein millions of Souls have been lost and millions more are confidently and securely following after among which 't is likely some are within one step one day or hour to their eternal downfal and destruction There is but one way in all the world to save and preserve the precious Souls of men but there are many ways to lose and destroy them it is here as it is in our natural birth and death but one way into the World but a multitude out of it And first The first way to Hell discovered 1. And to begin where indeed the ruine of very many doth begin it will be found that an ill Education is the high way to destruction Vice need not be planted if the Gardiner neglect to dress sow and manure his Garden he need not give the weeds a greater advantage but if he also scatter the seed of Hemlock Docks and Nettles into it he spoils it and makes it fit for nothing Many Parents and those godly too are guilty of too many neglects through carelesness worldly incumbrances or fond indulgence and whilst they neglect the season of sowing better seed the Devil takes hold of it if they will not improve it he will if they teach them not to pray he will teach them to curse swear and lye if they put not the Bible or Catechise into their hands he will put obscene Ballads into them and thus the off-spring of many godly Parents turn into degenerate plants and prove a generation that know not the God of their Fathers This debauched Age can furnish us with too many sad instances hereof Thus they are spoiled in the bud simple ignorance in youth becomes affected and wilful ignorance in age blushing sins in children become impudent sins in age and all this for want of a timely and prudent preventing care Others
whose Name is called upon them I therefore shall first address my Discourse to the Professors of Religion beseeching them in the bowels of Christ to take pity upon the multitudes of Souls which are daily ruined and destroyed by their scandals and miscarriages Did you live according to the rules you profess your well-doing would put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 1 Pet. 2.15 and consequently the ruine of many might be prevented I remember Bernard speaking of the lewd and loose life of the Priests of his time sighs out this just and bitter complaint to God about it Bern. in Convers Pauli Ser. 1. Misera eorum conversatio plebis tuae miserabilis subversio est O Lord saith he their miserable conversation is the miserable subversion of thy people O of how many who glory in the Title of the Sons of the Church Ecce qui jactant se redemptos à tyrannide Satanae qui praedicant se mortuos mundo nihilominus à cupiditatibus suis vincuntur Salvian Vbi est catholicalex quam credunt ubi pietatatis castitatis exempla quae discant Evangilia legant impudici sunt Apoâ—olos audiunt inebriantur may Christ say as Iacob did of his two lewd Sons Simeon and Levi Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the Inhabitants of the Land Gen. 34.30 And how many Professors who pretend to more than ordinary reformation and holiness do shed Soul blood by their scandalous conversations Salvian brings in the wicked of his Age upraiding the loosness of Christians in this manner Behold those men who boast themselves redeemed from the Tyranny of Satan and profess themselves dead to the world yet are conquer'd by the lusts of it And Cyprian long before his day brings in the Heathens thus insulting over looser Christians Where is that Catholick Law which they believe Where are the Examples of Piety and Chastity which they should learn They read the Gospel yet are immodest they hear the Apostles yet are drunk O Professors where are your bowels to the poor Souls of sinners If your Neighbours Ox or Ass fall into the pit you are bound to deliver him if you can and will you not do as much for a precious Soul as you would do for a Beast Nay you dig pits by your scandalous lives to destroy them If you sin there are instruments enough to spread it and multitudes of Souls ready perpared to take the infection Say not f they do the fault is theirs for though they are Principals in the murder of their own Souls by taking the scandal yet you are Accessaries in giving it he is a mad man that will kill himself with a Sword and he no better that will put it into his hand O therefore if you have any regard to the precious Souls of men live up to the rules of your Profession O be blame less and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a perverse and froward generation let the heavenliness of your Conversation stop those mouths that accuse you as men of a worldly Spirit let them see by your moderation in seeking it your patience in losing it your readiness in distributing it that it is a groundless calumny under which your Names suffer Let them see by your apparel company and discourses you are not such proud lofty Spirits as you are represented to be Convince them by your flexibleness to all things that are lawful and expedient by manifesting as much as in you lieth that it is the pure bond and tye of Conscience which keeps you from compliance in all other things and by your meekness in suffering for such non-compliance that you are not such turbulent factious Incendiaries as the wicked world slanderously reports you to be Convince the world by your exact righteousness in all your civil dealings and by the lip of truth in all your promises and engagements that you have the fear of God in your hearts as well as the Livery of Christianity upon your backs In a word so live that none may have just ground to believe the impudent slanders the Devil raises in the world against you Let your light so shine before men that they may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Without your care and circumspection the shedding of a world of precious Soul-blood can never be prevented 2. Let me advise and beseech all men to be so just to others and merciful to their own Souls as not to cast them away for ever by receiving prejudices against Godliness from the miscarriages of some that make more than a common profession of it If others stumble before you and break their shins don't you stumble at them and break your necks To prevent this fatal effect of scandal and prejudice at Religion I desire a few particulars may be impartially weighed First Very many of those Scandals bandied up and down the World against the Professors of Godliness are devised and forged in Hell as so many traps and snares to catch and destroy mens Souls to beget an irreconcileable aversation and enmity in men to the ways of God They devise deceitful matters saith the Psalmist against them that are quiet in the land Psal. 35.20 So Ier. 18.18 Come say they let us devise devices against Ieremiah and smite him with the tongue And there is as as little equity in the credulous receiver as there is honesty in the wicked forger of these slanders With one arrow of censure you wound no less than three viz. the honour of God your innocent Brother and your own Souls as to the two former wounds they will in due time be healed God will vindicate his own Name fully and the reputation of his innocent Servants shall be cleared and repaired abundantly but mean time your Souls may perish by the wounds prejudices have given so that you may never be reconciled to Godliness and its Professors whilst you live but turn Scoffers and Persecutors of them Secondly Examine whether the matters that are charged upon them as their Crimes be not their Duties Sometimes it falls out to be so and if so you fight more immediately and directly against God than men This was Davids case Psal. 69.10 When I wept and chastened my soul that was to my reproach my piety was turned to reproach They called his tears Crocodiles tears and his fastings hypocritical shadows of devotion and humility Thus the very matter of his duty was turned into reproach And so it was with the primitive Christians their very owning of themselves to be Christians was crime enough to condemn them Thirdly If Professors of Religion do in some things act unbecoming their holy Profession yet every slip and failing in their lives is no sufficient Warrant for you to censure their persons as hypocrites much less to fall upon Religion it self and condemn it for the faults of them that profess it There 's many an upright heart overtaken by temptation You see
without Plea or Apology for your supine neglects of the seasons of Salvation Argument II. SEcondly The consideration of the uncertainty and slippery nature of these spiritual seasons must awaken in us all care and diligence to secure and improve them This nick of opportunity is tempus labile a slippery season it is but short in it self and very uncertain To day whilst it is said to day saith the Apostle if ye will hear his voice Heb. 3.15 q. d. you have now a short uncertain but most precious and valuable season for your Souls lay hold on it whilst it is called to day for if this season be let slip the time to come is called by another name that is not to day but to morrow Your time is the present time take heed of procrastinating and putting it off till that which is called to day which is your only season be past and gone This precious inch of time though it be more worth than all the other greater parts and portions of your time yet it is as much in fluxu in hasty motion and expence as other parts of time are and being once lost is never more to be recalled or recovered Few men know or understand it whilst it is current other seasons for natural or civil actions are known and stated but the time of Grace is not so easily discerned and therefore commonly mistaken and lost and this comes to pass partly through 1. Presumptuous Hopes 2. Discouraging Fears 1. Presumptuous Hopes which put it too far forth and perswade us this season is yet to come that we have before us Praesumendo sperant sperando perâ—unt and that to morrow shall be as to day Thus through presumption men hope and by their presumptuous hopes they perish this is the ruine of most Souls that perish 2. Discouraging Fears put it too far back and represent it as long since past and gone whilst it is yet in being and in our hands By such pangs of desperation Satan cuts the very nerves of industry and diligence and causes Souls to yield themselves as by consent for lost and hopeless even whilst the Gospel is opening their eyes to see their sin and misery which is a part of the work in order to their recovery Thus the eyes of thousands are dazled that they cannot discern the season of Mercy and so it slides from them as if it had never been God came near them in the means of their Conversion yea and nearer than that in the motions of his Spirit upon their Consciences and Affections but they knew not the time of their visitation and now the things of their peace are hidden from their eyes Had those Convictions been obeyed and those purposes that were begotten in their hearts been followed home by answerable executions of them happy had they been to all Eternity but their careless neglects have quenched them and the door is shut and who knows whether it may be opened any more O dally not with the Spirit of God resist not his calls his motions upon the Soul are tender things they may soon be quenched and never recovered Argument III. NEglect not the seasons of Mercy the day of Grace because opportunity facilitates the great work of your Salvation it is much easier to be done in such a season than it can be afterwards an impression is easily made upon wax when it is melted but stay a while till it be hardned and if you lay the greatest weight upon the seal it leaves not its impress upon it Much so it is with the heart there is a season when God makes it soft and yielding when the affections are thawed and melted under the Word Conscience is full of sense and activity the will pliable now is the time to set in with the motions of the Spirit there is now a gale from Heaven if you will take it and if not it tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the sons of men Neglect of the season is the loss of the Soul The heart like melted wax will naturally harden again and then to how little purpose are your own feeble essays Heb. 3.15 't is both easie and successful striving when the Spirit of God strives in you and with you you are now workers together with God and such work goes on smoothly and sweetly that which is in motion is easily moved but if once the heart be set you may tug to little purpose Argument IV. THE infinite importance and weight of Salvation is alone instead of all motives and arguments to make men prize and improve every proper season for it It is no ordinary concern it is your life yea it is your eternal life The solemnity and awfulness of such a business as this is enough to swallow up the spirit of a man O what an awful found have such words as these Ever with the Lord Suppose you saw the Glory of Heaven the full reward of all the labours and sufferings of the Saints the blessed harvest of all their prayers tears diligence and self-denial in this world or suppose you had a true representation of the Torments of Hell and could but hear the wailings of the damned for the neglect of the season of Mercy and their passionate but vain wishes for one of those days which they have lost would you think any care any pains any self-denial too much to save and redeem one of these opportunities Surely you would have a far higher estimation of them than ever you had in your lives A Tryal for a mans whole Estate is accounted a solemn business among men the Cast of a Dye for a mans life is a weighty action and seldom done without anxiety of the mind and trembling of the hand yet both these are but Childrens Play compared with Salvation-work Three things put an unspeakable solemnity upon this matter it is the precious Soul which is above all valuation that lies at stake and is to be saved or lost The saving or losing of it is not for a time but for ever and this is the only season in which it will be eternally saved or cast away all hangs upon a little inch of time which being over-slipt and lost is never more to be recalled or recovered Lord with what serious spirits deep and weighty consideration fears and tremblings of heart should men and women attend the seasons of their Salvation Believe it Reader since thy Soul projected its first thought there never was a more weighty and concerning subject than this presented to thy thoughts O therefore let not thy thoughts trifle about it and slide from it as they use to do in other things of common concernment Argument V. IF we set any value upon the true pleasure of life or solid comforâ— of our Souls at death let us by no means neglect the special seasons and opportunities of Salvation we now enjoy These two things the pleasure of life and comfort in death should be prized by every
Πνευματολογια· 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 seasonably 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 IOHN FLAVEL Minister of the Gospel of Iesus Christ late of Dartmouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Trism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phocylides Quid de Turcis Tartaris Moschis Indis Persis aliisque omnibus nunc temporis Barbaris Nationibus dicâm Nemo tam Barbarus aut impius est qui non sentiat post mortem superesse loca in quibus animae aut pro malefactis puâ—iantur aut coronentur deliciisque perfruantur pro benefactis Zanch. de Animae immortalitate p. 653. London Printed for Francis Tyton at the Three Daggers in Fleetstreet 1685. To the much honoured his dear Kinsman Mr. Iohn Flavell and Mr. Edward Crispe of London Merchants and the rest of my worthy Friends in London Ratcliffe Shadwell and Lymehouse Grace Mercy and Peace Dear Friends AMong all the Creatures in this lower World none deserves to be stiled great Nihil interra magnum praeter hominem nihil in homine praeter mentem Favorin Eâ—coelo descendit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Juvenal Nulla scientia melior illa qua homo novit scripsum relinque ergo caetera teipsum discute per te curre in te confiste à te incipiat cogitatio tua in te finiatur but Man and in Man nothing is found worthy of that Epithet but his Soul The study and knowledge of the Soul was therefore always reckoned a rich and necessary improvement of time All Ages have magnified these two words know thy self as an Oracle descending from Heaven No knowledge saith Bernard is better than that whereby we know our selves leave other matters therefore and search thy self run through thy self make a stand in thy self let thy thoughts as it were circulate begin and end in thy self Strain not thy thoughts in vain about other things thy self being neglected The study and knowledge of Iesus Christ must still be allow'd to be most excellent and necessary But yet the Worth of Necessity of Christ is unknown to Men till the value wants and dangers of their own Souls be first discovered to them The disaffectedness and aversation of men to the study of their own Souls is the more to be admired not only because of the weight and necessity of it but the alluring pleasure and sweetness that is found therein What * Quid jucundius quam scire quid simus quid fuerimus quid â—rimus cum his etiam divina atque suprema illa post obitum Mundique vicissitudines Cardan speaks is experimentally felt by many that scarce any thing is more pleasant and delectable to the Soul of man than to know what he is what he may and shall be and what those Divine and Supream things are which he is to enjoy after death and the Vicissitudes of this present World For we are Creatures conscious to our selves of an immortal Nature and that we have something about us which must overlive this mortal flesh and is therefore ever and anon some way or other hinting and intimating to us its expectations of and designations for a better life than that it now lives in the Body and that we shall not cease to bee when we cease to breathe And certainly my Friends Discourses of the Soul and its immortality of Heaven and of Hell the next and only receptacles of unbodied Spirits were never more seasonable and necessary than in this Atheistical age of the World wherein all serious piety and thoughts of immortality are ridicul'd and hissed out of the company of many As if those old condemned Hereticks the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who asserted the corruptibility and mortality of the Soul as well as Body had been again revived in our days And as the Atheism of some so the tepidity and unconcerned carelessness of the most needs and calls for such potent Remedies as Discourses of this kind do plentifully afford I dare appeal to your charitable Judgments whether the Conversations and Discourses of the Many do indeed look like a serious pursuit of Heaven and a flight from Hell Long have my thoughts bended towards this great and excellent Subject and many earnest desires I have had as I believe all thinking persons must needs have to know what I shall be when I breathe not But when I had engaged my Meditations about it two great rubs opposed the farther progress of my thoughts therein Namely I. The difficulty of the Subject I had chosen And II. The distractions of the times in which I was to write upon it I. As for the Subject such is the subtilty and sublimity of its nature and such the knotty Controversies in which it is involv'd that it much better deserves that inscription than Minerva's Temple at Saum did * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Never did any Mortal reveal me plainly Animam praesentem mentis acie vix aut ne vix quidem assequimur sed qualis sit futura quomodo indagabimus Laboranthic maxima ingenia caligo conatus etiam generosos non rarò eludit Jos. Stern de Morte cap. 20. It is but little that the most clear and sharp-sighted do discern of their own Souls now in the state of composition and what then can we positively and distinctly know of the life they live in the state of Separation The darkness in which these things are involved doth greatly exercise even the greatest Witts and frequently elude and frustrate the most generous attempts Many great Scholars whose natural and acquired abilities singularly furnished and qualified them to make a clearer discovery have laboured in this field usque ad sudorem pallorem even to sweat and paleness and done little more but intangle themselves and the Subject more than before This cannot but discourage new attempts And yet without some knowledge of the hability and subjective capacity of our Souls to enjoy the good of the World to come even in a state of absence from the Body a principal relief must be cut off from them under the great and manifold tryals they are to encounter in this evil World As for my self I assure you I am deeply sensible of the inequality of my shoulders to this Burthen and have often enough since I undertook it of that
to your inquisitive and searching minds 'T is possible they may be censured by some as undeterminable and unprofitable Curiosities but as I hate a presumptious intrusion into unrevealed Secrets so I think it a weakness to be discouraged in the search of truth so far as it is fit to trace it by such damping and causeless Censures Nor am I sensible I have in any thing transgressed the bounds of Christian Sobriety to gratifie the Palate of a nice and delicate Reader I have also here set before the Reader an Idea or representation of the state and case of damned Souls that if it be the Will of God a seasonable discovery of Hell may be the means of some mens recovery out of the danger of it and closed up the whole with a Demonstration of the invaluable preciousness of Souls and the several dangerous snares and artifices of Satan their professed Enemy to destroy and cast them away for ever This is the design and general scope of the whole and of the principal parts of this Treatise and Oh that God would grant me my hearts desire on your behalf in the perusal of it Even that it may prove a sanctified instrument in his hand both to prepare you for and bring you in love with the unbodied life to make you look with pleasure into your Graves and die by consent of Will as well as necessity of Nature I remember Dr. Staughton in a Sermon preached before King Iames relates a strange Story of a little Child in a Shipwrack fast asleep upon its Mothers lap as she sate upon a piece of the Wrack amidst the Waves the Child being awaked with the noise asked the Mother what those things were she told it they were drowning Waves to swallow them up the Child with a pretty smiling Countenance beg'd a stroke from its Mother to beat away those naughty Waves and chid them as if they had been its Play-mates Death will shortly Shipwrack your Bodies your Souls will sit upon your lips ready to expire as they upon the Wrack ready to go down Would it not be a comfortable and most becoming frame of mind to sit there with as little dread as this little One did among the terrible Waves Surely if our Faith had but first united us with Christ and then loosed our hearts off from this inchanting and ensnaring World we might make a fair step towards this most desireable temper but unbelief and earthly mindedness make us loth to venture I blush to think what bold adventures those men made who upon the Contemplation of the Properties of a despicable stone first adventured quite out of sight of Land under its conduct and direction and securely trusted both their Lives and Estates to it when all the eyes of Heaven were vail'd from them amid'st the dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Sky when I either start or at least give an unwilling shrug when I think of adventuring out of sight of this World under the more sure and steady direction and conduct of Faith and the Promises To cure these evils in my own and the Readers heart these things are written and in much respect and love tendered to your hands as a Testimony of my Gratitude and deep sense of the many Obligations you have put me under That the Blessings of the Spirit may accompany these Discourses to your Souls afford you some assistance in your last and difficult work of putting them off at death with a becoming chearfulness saying in that hour Can I not see God till this Flesh be laid aside in the Grave Must I die before I can live like my self Then die my Body and go to thy dust that I may be with Christ. With this design and with these hearty Wishes dear and honoured Cousin and worthy Friends I put these Discourses into your hands and remain Your Most obliged Kinsman and Servant Io. Flavell THE PREFACE AMong many other Largesses and rich Endowments bestowed by the Creators bounty upon the Soul of Man the * Demonstravimus à communâ— omnium jam inde à condito orbe gentium ac populâ—rum prâ—sertim bâ—nâ—rum literatorum Consensione animam humanam incorruptibilem immortalem esse â—oque corrupto corpore ipâ—um â—anere superstitem ut in sempiternum aut pro benefactuà Deo coronetur aut pro malefactâ—â—s puniatur Zanch. de Aâ—lmarum immortalâ—tate p. 653. Sentiments and impressions of the World to come and the ability of reflection and self-intuition are peculiar invaluable and heavenly gifts By the former we have a very great Evidence of our own immortality and designation for nobler employments and enjoyments than this imbodied state admits and by the latter we may discern the agreeableness or disagreeableness of our hearts and therein the validity of our title to that expected blessedness But these heavenly gifts are neglected and abused all the World over Degenerate Souls are every where fallen into so deep an Oblivion of their excellent Original Spiritual and Immortal nature and alliance to the Father of Spirits That to use the upbraiding expression of a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Max. Tyr. Diss. 41. Philosopher they seem to be buried in their Bodies as so many silly Worms that lurk in their holes and are loth to peep forth and look abroad So powerfully do the Cares and Pleasures of this World charm all except a small remnant of regenerate Souls that nothing but some smart stroke of Calamity or the terrible Messengers of death can startle them and even these are not always able to do it and when they do all the effect is but a transient glance at another and an unwilling shrug to leave this World and so to sleep again And thus the Impressions and Sentiments of the World to come which are the natural growth and Off-spring of the Soul are either stifled and supprest as in Atheists or born down by impetuous masterly lusts as in Sensualists And for its self-reflecting and considering Power it seems in many to be a power received in vain It is with most Souls as it is with the Eye which sees not it self though it see all other Objects There be those that have almost finished the course of a long life wherein a great part of their time hath lain upon their hands as a cheap and useless Commodity 〈◊〉 Dei est ista vita mortalis ubi homo vanitati similis factus est dies ejus velut umbra praetereunt Aug. de Civâ—â— lib. 21. c. 24. which they knew not what to do with who yet never spent one solemn entire hour in discourse with their own Souls What serious heart doth not melt into Compassion over the deluded Multitude who are mockt with Dreams and perpetually busied about Trifles Who are after so many frustrated attempts both of their own and all past Ages eagerly pursuing the fleeing shadows who torture and rack their brains to find out the Natures and Qualities
Divine Original created and inspired immediately by the Lord. Doct. II. That the souls and bodies of men are linkt or knit together by the feeble band of the breath of their nostrils In the prosecution of these two Propositions many things will come to our hands of great use in Religion which I shall labour to lay as clearly and orderly in the Readers understanding and press as warmly upon his heart as I can And first of the first Doct. III. Doct. I. That the Soul of man is of Divine Original created and inspired immediately by the Lord. In this first Proposition two Things are to be distinctly pondered viz. I. The Nature of the Soul II. The Original of the Soul Or what it is and from whence it came I. The First thing which arrests our thoughts and requires their immoration and exercise is the Nature of the Soul or what kind of Being it is Those that are most curiously inquisitive into all other Beings 1 The Nature of the Soul and put Nature upon the rack to make her confess her secrets are in the mean time found shamefully slight and negligent in the study of themselves Few there are that can prevail with themselves to sit down and think close to such questions as these are What manner of being is this Soul of mine Whence came it Why was it infused into this Body And where must it abide when Death hath dislodg'd it out of this frail Tabernacle There is a natural aversation in Man to such exercises of thoughts as these although in the whole Universe of Beings in this lower World a more noble or desirable Creature is not to be found * Qui igitur de Anima unquam disputarunt ii certè non de re inani quae nihil praeter nomen habeat sed de re gravissima maximique momenti quâ nihil sub coelo praestantius disputâsse judicandi sunt Zancâ— de Anima lib. 2. page 555. The Soul is the most wonderful and astonishing piece of Divine workmanship 'T is no Hyperbole to call it the Breath of God the Beauty of Man the Wonder of Angels and the Envy of Devils One Soul is of more value than all the Bodies in the World The Nature of it is so Spiritual and sublime that it cannot be perfectly known by the most acute and penetrating understanding assisted in the search by all the aids Philosophy can contribute It is not my design in this Discourse to treat of the several Faculties and Powers of the Soul or to give you the Rise Natures or Numbers of its Affections and Passions but I shall confine my Discourse to its general Nature and Original And seeing none can so well discover the Nature of it as he who is the Author of it as * Si quid de Anima examinandum est ad Dei regulas dirigat certè nulâ—um alium potiorem animae Demonstratorem quà m Auctorem c. Tertul. de Anima Tertullian speaks I therefore justly expect the best light from his Word though I will not neglect any other aid he is pleased elsewhere to afford * Dum vivisicat Corpus anima est dum vult animus dumscit mens dum recolit memoria dum rectum judicat ratio dum spirat Spiritus Isidor Eâ—ym v. The Soul is variously denominated from its several Powers and Offices as the Sea from the several Shores it washes I will not spend time about the several Names by which it is known to us in Scripture but give you that description of it with which my understanding is most satisfied which take thus The Description of the Soul The Soul of Man is a vital spiritual and immortal Substance endowed with an Vnderstanding Will and various Affections created with an Inclination to the Body and infused thereinto by the Lord. IN this Description we have the two general parts into which I distributed this Discourse viz. it s general Nature and Divine Original The Nature of the Soul is expressed to us in these following terms 1 A Substance 1. It is a Substance That is to say not a quality or an accident inhering in another Being or subject as whiteness doth in the Snow but a Being * Anima est Ens per se i. e. non est in aliquo per modum partis aut forma à quo in suo esse dependeat Colleg. Conimbr in lib. 11. by it self Qualities and Accidents have no Existence of their own but require another Being or subject to their Existence but the Soul of Man is a Substantial Being of it self which will evidently appear upon the following Grounds 1. Because it is in a strict and proper sense created by God He formeth or createth the Spirit in Man Zech. 12.1 To him we are advised to commit it as to a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4.19 The substantial Nature of the Soul is implyed in the very Notion of its Creation for * Quicquid à Deo propriè Câ—eatum est suâ—stantia est accidentia enim noâ— dicuntur creari sed concreari Polâ—ni Syntag. p. 319. whatsoever is created is a Substance an Ens per se. Accidents are not said to be created but concreated the Crasis of humours and results of matter are not substances created but things rising in a natural way from created Substances They flow from and as to their very Essence depend upon praeexistent matter but the Soul was created out of nothing and infused into the body after it was formed and organized which evidenceth its substantial Nature 2. This evidenceth the Soul to be a Substance that it can and doth exist and subsist by it self alone when separated from the body by Death Luk. 23.43 To day shalt thou i. e. thy Soul be with me in Paradise and Matth. 10.28 Fear not them that kill the body but are not able to kill the Soul Were the Soul but an Accident a Quality a Result he that kills the Body must needs kill the Soul too As he that casts a Snow-ball into the fire must needs destroy the whiteness with the Snow Accidents fail and perish with their Subjects but seeing it's plain in these and many other Scriptures the Soul doth not fail with the body nothing can be more plain and evident than that it is of a substantial Nature When the Spaniards came first among the poor Indians they thought the Horse and his Rider to be one Creature as many ignorant ones think the Soul and Body of Man to be nothing but Breath and Body whereas indeed they are two distinct Creatures as vastly different in their Natures as the Rider and his Horse or the Bird and his Cage While the Man is on Horseback he moves according to the motion of the Horse and whilst the Bird is incaged he eats and drinks and sleeps and hops and sings in his Cage But if the Horse fail and dye under his Rider or the Cage be broken the Man can go on
created without inclination to a body as Angels are but loves and inclines to it though it can both live and act without it when it is parted from it at death The proof of this Assertion and the Reasons why God created it with such an inclination will in their proper place be more fully spoken to in the following Discourse All that I shall add is that in this as well as in some other respects our souls are made a little lower than the Angels but when they are uncloathed of the body and have received it again in a new Edition a Spiritual body then they shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equal unto Angels in the way and manner of life and action Thus I have as briefly as I can dispatcht the first thing propounded viz. The Nature of the Soul in the explication of these seven particulars It is a Substance a Vital Spiritual and immortal Substance a Substance endued with Vnderstanding Will Affections and an Inclination to the body And now we are come to the II. Branch viz. It s Original and Infusion 2 The Souls Original and Descent I. As to its Original I have described it to be immediately from God in the way of Creation An honour done to no other living Creature except Angels The world hath been troubled with a great many extravagant and wild notions about the Original of the Soul of man a certain Mark and Argument of its Apostasie from God * Solinus resert de quodam quod accepto vâ—lâ—ere in occipitio ad tantam devenit ignorantiam ut nesciret se habuisse nomen Augustodun de Philosoph Mundi lib. 4. c. 24. Solinus writes of one who by a wound in the hinder part of his head fell into such a degree of Ignorance and Oblivion that he forgot his own name and could not tell whether he had any name at all But O! What a stunning blow did man receive by the Fall that he should forget the very Author of his Being and rather claim alliance and derive the Being of his Soul from any thing than God though it bears the very Marks and Characters of its divine Author and Father upon it The principal errours about the Origin of the Soul for that wild notion of Epicuruâ— hath been laid so flat by the pens of many learned men that it is a vanity to strike one blow more at it may be reduced to these three heads 1. First some affirm it to be by way of †Datur agens Physicum quod aliud esse non potest quam parens qui â—i seminis animam è materiae sinu eliciat Traduction or natural generation from the Parents to the Child This opinion is very ancient Tertullian and divers of the Western Fathers closed with it as judging it the best expedient to solve the difficulties of the souls taint and defilement with Original sin But Antiquity is no pass-port for errours The gray hairs of opinions as one well notes are then honourable when they are found in the way of truth Dr. Brown tells us he should rather incline to the Creation Religio Medici â— 36 than the Traduction of the Soul though either opinion saith he will consist well enough with Religion did not one Objection haunt him and this is a Conclusion from the equivocal and monstrous productions by unnatural Copulations As of a Man and Beast for if the Soul of man saith he be not transmitted and transfused in the Seed why are not those productions meerly Beasts but have also an impression and tincture of reason in as high a measure as it can evidence it self in those improper Organs Which way the Doctors judgment had inclined in this Controversie had been of no great consideration to the determination of it Though it is pity we should lose his consent and company for the sake of such a beastly Objection as this which haunts his mind for if there be any such creatures that seem to have a tincture of reason it is but a tincture and a seeming not a real tincture neither which many other Brutes have The Dr. is too well acquainted with Philosophy and a man of too much reason to allow himself to think that such a production as he speaks of hath two Natures and essential Forms in one body as of a Man and a Horse He knows that every entity hath but one specifical Essence and can have no more except he will place one and the same thing under diverse Species in the predicament of substance And as there cannot be two distinct forms so neither can there be a mixtion of them in the Centaure or monstrous Birth For ex duobus entibus per se non fit unum â—ns per se. But he confesseth this Objection was bred among the Weeds and Tares of his own Brain a rank soil no doubt and I am pretty confident he had weeded it out in his latter years for I find this notion of Centaures that is half Horses half Men put into its proper place among his Vulgar Errours Book 1. chap. 4. And so I suppose that rubb being out of the way he returned again to us 2. A Second opinion was that they were procreated by Angels and that which gave the ground such as it is to this Opinion or Fancy is the similitude or resemblance which is found betwixt Angels and the Souls of Men. * Perfectum est qâ—od aliud sibi siâ—ile producit sed immatâ—iales substantiae â—ulto perfectiores sunt quam corporatae ergo cum â—ic alias sibi secundum speciem similes effâ—â—iant potiori ratione poterunt Angeli substantiam aliquam incorpoream inferio is natarae procreare id est Animam humanam D. Dionys. cap. 4. de divinis nominibus But this fancy needs not any industry to overthrow it for though it be certain there is a similitude and resemblance betwixt Angels and Souls both being immaterial and spiritual Substances yet Angels neither propagate by generation nor is it in their power to create the least Fly or Worm in the world much less the Soul of man the highest noblest and most excellent Being Great power they have but no creating power that is Gods incommunicable property and procreate our souls they did not for they are spirits yet spirits of another species 3. A Third sort there are who deny not that Souls are created Substances The coëtaneous creation of Souls rejected and proceeded from God but affirm withal that he created them simul semel together and at once as the Angels were and that not one by one as men are born into the world Of this opinion was Plato who thought all * Plato in Timaâ—o finxit Deum omnes animas hâ—meras ante corpora simul â—easse in coâ—paribus stellis coâ—stitnisse tum eas coelestium rerum tâ—dio teâ—renarum amâ—re captas ut tanti scelâ—ris panas luâ—rtâ—t in corpora tanqâ—â—m in carcerem conjectas
many souls become foolish forgetful injudicious c. by their union with ill disposed Bodies Nothing is more sensibly plain and evident than that â—â—ere is a reciprocal Communication betwixt the Soul and Body The Body doth as really though we know not how affect the Soul with its dispositions as the Soul influences it with life and motion The more excellent any form is the more intimate is its union and conjunction with the matter The Soul of man hath therefore a more intimate and perfect union with the Body than light hath with the Air Which is made by some the best Emblem and Similitude to shadow forth this union But the union betwixt them is too intimate to be conceived by the help of any such Similitudes That this infection is by way of Physical agency as a rusty Scabbard infects and defiles a bright Sword when sheathed therein I will not confidently affirm as some do It may be by way of Natural Concomitancy as Estius will have it or to speak as Dr. Reynolds modestly and as becomes men that are conscious of darkness and weakness by way of ineffable resultancy and emanation 3. In summ Original Sin consists in two things viz. 1. In the privation of that original rectitude which ought to be in us 2. In that habitual Concupiscence which carrieth nature to inordinate motions This Privation and inordinate inclination make up that original corruption the rise whereof we are searching for and to bring us as near it as we can come without a daring intrusion into unrevealed Secrets our solid Divines proceed by these steps in answering this Objection 1. If it be demanded how it comes to pass that an Infant becomes guilty if Adam's sin The answer is because he is a child of Adam by natural generation 2. But why is he deprived of that Original rectitude in which Adam was created They answer because Adam lost it by his sin and therefore could not transmit what he had lost to his posterity 3. But how comes he to be inclined to that which is evil Their answer is because he wants that original rectitude For whosoever wants original rectitude naturally inclines to that which is evil And so the propension of Nature to that which is evil seems to be by way of Concomitancy with the defect or want of original righteousness And thus I have given some account of the Nature and Original of the Soul of Man though alas My dim eyes see but little of its excellency and glory Yet by what hath been said it appears the Masterpiece of all God's works of Creation in this lower World But because I suspect the Description I have given of it will be obscure and cloudy to vulgar Readers of a plain and low capacity by reason of divers Philosophical terms which I have been forced to make use of and reckoning my self a debtor to the weak and unlearned as well as others I will endeavour to strip this Description of the Soul for their sakes out of those artificial terms which darken it to them and present it once more in the most plain and intelligible Epitome I am capable to give it in that so the weaker understanding may be able to form a true notion of the Nature and Original of the Soul in this manner This Soul of mine is a true and real Being The Soul a Substance Not a fancy a conceit a very nothing It hath a proper and true Being in it self whether I conceit it or not Nor indeed can I conceive of it but by it It is not such a thing as whiteness is in Snow a meer accident which depends upon the Snow in which it is for the Being it hath and must perish as soon as the Snow is dissolved my Soul doth not so depend upon my Body or any other fellow creature for its Being but is as truly a Substance as my Body is though not of so gross and material a kind and nature My Soul can and will subsist and remain what it is when my Body is separated from it but my Body cannot subsist and remain what it now is when my Soul is separated from it So that I find my Soul to be the most substantial and noble part of me it is not my Body but my Soul which makes me a man And if this depart all the rest of me is but a dead log a lump of inanimate Clay a heap of vile dust and corruption From this independent subsistence it hath in it self and the dependence its properties and affections have upon it I truly apprehend and call it a Substance But yet when I call it a Substance but a Spiritual Substance I must not conceive of it as a gross material palpable substance such as my Body is which I can see and feel No there are spiritual substances as well as gross visible material Substances An Angel is a Spiritual Substance a real creature and yet imperceptible by my sight or touch such a substance is my Soul Spiritual substances are as real and much more excellent than bodily substances are I can neither see hear nor feel it but I both see hear and feel by it My Soul is also a vital Substance A Vitaâ— Substanâ—â— It is a principle of life to my Body It hath a life in it self and quickens my body therewith My Soul is the spring of all the actions and motions of life which I perform It hath been an errour taken in from my childhood That sense is performed in the outward Organs or members of my Body as Touching in the Hand seeing in the Eye Hearing in the Ear c. in them I say and not only by them As if nothing were required to make Sense but an Object and an Organ No no it is not my Eye that seeth nor my Ear that heareth nor my Hand that toucheth but my Soul in and by them performs all this Let but an Apoplex hinder the operations of my Soul in the Brain and of how little use are my Eyes Ears Hands or Feet to me My life is originally in my Soul and secondarily by way of Communication in my Body So that I find my Soul to be a vital as well as a spiritual Substance An Immortal Substance And Being both a vital and Spiritual Substance I must needs conclude it to be an immortal Substance For in such a pure spiritual nature as my Soul is there can be found no seeds or principles of Death Where there is no composition there will be no dissolution My Body indeed having so many jarring humours mixed elements and contrary qualities in it must needs fail and dye at last But my Soul was formed for immortality by the simplicity and spirituality of its nature No sword can pierce it from without nor opposition can destroy it from within Man cannot and God will not endued with Vnderstanding Will and Affections And being an immortal Spirit fitted and framed to live for ever
noble Souls in the manner of life with the Beasts that perish Our Tables differ little from the Crib at which they feed or our Houses from the Stalls and Stables in which they lie down to rest in respect of any Divine worship or Heavenly communication that is to be heard there Happy had it been for such men if so they live and dye that their souls had been of no higher Extraction or larger Capacity or longer Duration than that of a Beast for then as their comforts so also their miseries had ended at death And such they will one day wish they had been A Separate Soul immediately capable of Blessedness Inference II. THe Soul of Man being a Substance and not depending in its Being on the Body or any other fellow creature There can be no reason on the Souls account why its blessedness should be delayed till the Resurrection of the Body 'T is a great mistake and 't is well 't is so that the Soul is capable only of social Glory or a Blessedness in partnership with the Body And that it can neither exert its own powers nor enjoy its own happiness in the absence of the body The opinion of a sleeping interval took its riâ—e from this errour as it is usual for one mistake to beget another they conceived the Soul to be so dependent upon the Body at least in all its operations that when death rends it from the Body it must needs be left as in a swoon or sleep unable to exert its proper powers or enjoy that felicity which we ascribe to it in its state of separation But certainly its substantial Nature being considered it will be found that what perfection soever the body recieves from the Soul and how necessary soever its dependence upon it is * Anima rationâ—â—iâ— nihil 〈…〉 possâ—tâ—r 〈◊〉 Coâ—imâ—r Disp. 2. Art 3. The Soul receives not its perfection from the Body nor doth it necessarily depend on it in its principal operations but it can live and act out of a Body as well as in it Yea I doubt not but it enjoys it self in a much more sweet and perfect liberty than ever it did or could whilst it was clogged and fettered with a body of flesh Doubtless * Proculdubio cum â—i mortis expâ—imitur de câ—â—â—â—â—tione caâ—nâ—s ipsa eâ—pressiâ—ne colatu 〈…〉 to de oâ—panâ—o coâ—pore â—umpit in apertâ—m ad mâ—ram pâ—â—am sua◠〈◊〉 statim semetipsam in expeditione substantiae recognoscit ut de somno emergens ab imaginibas ad veritates Tertul. in lib. de Anima saith Tertullian when it is separated and as it were strained by death it comes out of darkness into its own pure perfect light and quickly finds it self a substantial Being able to act freely in that light Before the eyes of the dead body are closed I doubt not but the believing Soul with open eyes beholdeth the face of Jesus Christ Luk. 23.43 Philip. 1.23 but this will also be further spoken to hereafter II Immediately Created Inference III. THe Souls of men being created immediately out of nothing and not seminally traduced it follows That all souls by nature are of equal value and dignity One Soul is not more excellent honourable or precious than another But all by nature equally precious The Soul of the poorest Beggar that cries at the door for a crust is in its own nature of equal dignity and value with the Soul of the most glorious Monarch that sits upon the Throne And this appears to be so 1. First because all souls flow out of one and the same fountain viz. the creating power of God They were not made better or worse finer or courser matter but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of nothing at all The same Almighty power was put forth to the forming of one as of another All Souls are mine saith he that created them Ezek. 18 4. The Soul of the Child as well as the Father the Soul of the Beggar as well as the King Those that had no praeexistent matter but received their beings from the same efficient cause must needs be equal in their original nature and value The bodies of men which are formed out of matter do greatly differ from one another some are moulded as we say è meliori luto out of better and finer Clay some are more exact elegant vigorous and beautiful than others but Souls having no matter of which they consist are not so differenced 2. Secondly All souls are created with a capacity of enjoying the infinite and blessed God They need no other powers faculties or capacities than they are by nature endued with if these be but sanctified and devoted to God to make them equally happy and blessed with them that are now before the Throne of God in Heaven and with unspeakable delight and joy behold his blessed face We pass through the fields and take up an Egg which lies under a clod and see nothing in it but a little squalid matter yea but in that Egg is seminally and potentially contained such a melodious Lark as it may be at the same time we see mounting Heavenward and singing delicious notes above So 't is here Those poor despised souls that are now lodged in crazy despicable bodies on Earth have in their Natures a capacity for the same imployments and enjoyments with those in Heaven They have no higher Original than these have and these have the same capacity and hability with them They are Beings improvable by grace to the highest perfections attainable by any Creature If thou be never so mean base and despicable a creature in other respects yet hast thou a Soul which hath the same alliance to the Father of Spirits the same capacity to enjoy him in glory that the most excellent and renowned Saints ever had 3. Thirdly All Souls are rated and valued in Gods book and account at one and the same price and therefore by nature are of equal worth and dignity Under the Law the Rich and the Poor were to give the same Ransom Exod. 30.15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel The Redemption of Souls by the Blood of Christ costs one and the same price The poorest and most despised Soul that believes in Jesus is as much indebted to him for the Ransom of his Soul as the greatest and most illustrious person in the World Moses Abraham Paul c. did not cost Christ one farthing more than poor Lazarus or the meanest among all the Saints did The Righteousness of Christ is unto all and upon all that believe and there is no difference Rom. 3.22 But yet we must not understand this Parity of humane Souls universally or in all respects Though being of one species or common nature they are all equal and those of them that are purchased by the blood of Christ are all purchased at one rate Yet there are divers other respects and
his own in this case Isai. 66.1 2. Thus saith the Lord the Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my footstool where is the house that ye build to me and where is the place of my rest For all these things have mine hands made and all these things have been saith the Lord but unto this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word q. d. Think not to please me with magnificent Temples and adorned Altars if I had pleasure in such things Heaven is a more glorious Throne than any you can build me and yet I have more delight in a poor contrite spirit that trembles with an holy awe and reverence at my word than I have in Heaven or Earth or all the works of my hands in either O if there had been more trembling at his word there had not been such trembling as now there is under fears of the loss and removal of it Some can superstitiously reverence and kiss the sacred dust of the sanctuary as they call it and express a great deal of zeal for the externals of religion but little consider how small the interest of these things is in Religion and how little God looks at or regards them Inference IX HOw much are the spirits of men sunk by sin below the dignity and excellency of their Nature Our Souls are Spirits by nature yet have they naturally no delight in things spiritual They decline that which is homogeneal and suitable to Spirits and rellish nothing but what is carnal and unsuitable to them How are its affections inverted and misplaced by sin That noble spiritual Heaven-born creature the Soul whose Element and Centre God alone should be is now fallen into a deep Oblivion both of God and it self and wholly spends its strength in the pursuit of sensual and earthly enjoyments and becomes a meer drudge and slave to the body Carnal things now measure out and govern its delights and hopes its fears and sorrows O how unseemly is it to bâ—â—â—ld such an high-born spirit lackying up and down the Woâ—â—d in the service of the perishing flesh Their heart saith the Prophet goeth after their Covetousness Ezek. 33.31 as a Servant at the beck or nod of his Master O! how many are there to be found in every place who melt down the precious affections and strength of their Souls in sensitive brutish Pleasures and Delights Iames 5.5 Ye have lived in pleasures upon Earth as the Fish in the Water or rather as the Eel in the Mud never once lifting up a thought or desire to the spiritual and eternal pleasures that are at Gods right hand Our Creation did not set us so low we are made capable of better and higher things God did not inspire such a noble excellent spiritual Soul into us meerly to salt our bodies or carry them up and down this world for a few years to gaze at the vanities of it It was a great saying of an Heathen * Maior sum ad majora natus quam â—t carporis â—ti sim mancipium Seneca I am greater and born to greater things than that I should be a slave to my body We have a spirit about us that might better understand its Original and know it is so base a Being as its daily imployments speak it to be The Lord raise our apprehensions to a due value of the dignity of our own Souls that we may turn from these sordid imployments with a generous disdain and set our affections on what is agreeable to and worthy of an high-born spirit Inference X. VII The Soul an immortal Substance IS the Soul of Man a Vital Spiritual and immortal Substance Then it is no wonder that we find the resentments and impressions of the world to come naturally ingraven upon the Souls of men all the world over These impressions and sentiments of another life after this do as naturally and necessarily spring out of an immortal Nature as branches spring out of the body of a Tree or feathers out of the body of a Bird. So fairly and firmly are the characters and impressions of the life to come sealed upon the immortal spirits of all men that no man can offer violence to this truth but he must also do violence to his own Soul and unman himself by the denial of it Who feels not a cheariness to spring from his absolving and an horrour from his accusing Conscience Neither of which could rise from any other prinple than this We arâ— Beings conscious to our selves of a future State and that our Souls do not vanish when our breath doth That we cease not to be when we cease to breathe And this is common to the most Barbarous and Salvage Heathens They shew saith the Apostle the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience also bearing them witness and their thoughts in the mean while accusing or else excusing one another By the work of the Law understand the summ and substance of the Ten Commandments comprizing the duties to be done and the sins to be avoided This work of the Law is said to be written upon the Hearts of the Gentiles who had no external written Law upon their hearts it was written though many of them gave themselves over to all uncleanness and they shewed or gave evidence and proof that there was such a Law written upon their hearts They shewed it two ways 1. Some of them shewed it in their Temperance Righteousness and moral honesty wherein they excelled many of us who have far greater Advantages and Obligations 2. In the efficacy of their Consciences which as it clear'd and comforâ—ed them for things well done so it witnessed against them yea judg'd and condemned them for things ill done And these evidences of a Law written on the heart are to be found where-ever men are to be found Their ignorance and barbarity cannot stifle these sentiments and impressions of a future State and a just Tribunal to which all must come And the universality of it plainly evinces that it springs not out of Education but the very nature of an immortal Soul Let none say that these universal impressions are but the effects of an universal Tradition which hath been time out of mind spread among the Nations of the World For as no such universal Tradition can be proved so if it could the very propension that is found in the minds of all men living to embrace and close with the proposals of a life to come will evince the agreeableness of them to the nature of an immortal Soul Yea the natural closing of the Soul with these Proposals will amount to an evidence of the reality and existence of thosâ— invisible things For as the natural senses and their Organs prove that there are colours sounds savours and juices as well as or rather because there are Eyes Ears c. naturally fitted to close with and receive them so it
is here if the Soul naturally looks beyond the line of time to things eternal and cannot bound and confine its thoughts and expectations within the too narrow limits of present things surely there is such a future state as well as Souls made apprehensive of it and propense to close with the discoveries thereof So natural are the notions of a future state to the Souls of men that those who have set themselves designedly to banish them and struggled hard to suppress them as things irksome and grievous to them giving intâ—rruption to their sensual lusts and pleasures Yet still these apprehensions have returned upon them and gotten a just victory over all their objections and prejudices They follow them wheresoever they go they can no more flee from them than from themselves whereby they evidence themselves to be natural and indelible things Inference XI VIII Endued with Vnderstanding Will and Affections HAth God endued the Soul of man with Understanding Will and Affections whereby it is made capable of knowing loving and enjoying God 'T is then no wonder to find the malice and envy of Satan engaged against man more than any other Creature and against the Soul of man rather than any thing else in man It grates that spirit of envy to see the Soul of Man adorning and preparing by sanctification to fill that place in glory from which he fell irrecoverably It cut Haman to the very heart to see the honour that was done to Mordecai much more doth it grate and gall Satan to see what Jesus Christ hath purchased and designed for the Souls of Men. Other creatures being naturally uncapable of this happiness do therefore escape his fury but men shall be sure to feel it as far as he can reach them 1 Pet. 5.8 Your Adversary the Devil goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour He walks to and fro that speaks his diligence seeking whom he may devour that speaks his design his restlessness in doing mischief is all the rest and relief he hath in his own torments 'T is a mark of pure and perfect malice to endeavour to destroy though he knows he shall never be successful in his attempts We read of many bodies possessed by him but he never takes up his quarters in the body of any but with design to mischief the Soul No room but the best in the house will satisfie him no blood so sweet to him him as Soul-blood If he raise persecution against the bodies of men it is to destroy their souls holiness is that he hates and happiness is the Object of his envy The Soul being the Subject of both is therefore pursued by him as his prey Inference XII UPon the consideration both of its excellent nature and divine Original it follows That the corruption and deacing of such an excellent creature by sin deserves to be lamented and greatly bewailed and the recovery of it by sanctification to be studied and diligently prosecuted as the great concern of all men What a Beautiful and Blessed creature was the Soul of Man at first whilst it stood in its integrity His mind was bright clear and apprehensive of the Law and Will of God His Will chearfully complied therewith his sensitive appetite and inferiour powers stood in an obedient subordination God made man upright Eccles. 7.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 straight and equal bending to neither extream The Law of God was fairly engraven upon the table of his heart Principles of holiness and righteousness were inlayed in the very frame of his mind fitting him for an exact and punctual discharge of his duties both to God and Man This was the soundness of his constitution the healthful temper of his inner man Whereby it became the very region of light peace purity and pleasure For think how serene lightsome and placid the state of that Soul must be in which there was no obliquity not a jarr with the divine will But joy and peace continually transfused through all its faculties But sin hath defaced its Beauty raz'd out the divine Image which was its glory and stampt the very Image of Satan upon it Turn'd all its noble powers and faculties against the Author and Fountain of its Being Surely if all the posterity of Adam from the beginning to the end of the world should do nothing else but weep and sigh for the sin and misery of the fall it could not be sufficiently deplored Other sins like single bullets kill particular persons but Adams sin like a Chain-shot mowed down all mankind at once It murthered himself actually all his posterity virtually and Christ himself occasionally O! what a black train of doleful consequents attend this sin It hath darkned the bright eye of the Souls understanding 1 Cor. 2.14 made its complying and obedient will stubborn and rebellious Ioh. 5.40 rendered his tender heart obdurate and senseless Ezek. 36.26 filled its serene and peaceful Conscience with guilt and terror Tit. 1.15 The consideration of these things is very humbling and should cause those that glory in their high and illustrious Descents to wrap their silver Star in Cypress and cover all their glory with a mourning Vail But this is but one part of their duty How should this consideration provoke us to apply our selves with most serious diligence to recover our lost beauty and dignity in the way of sanctification This is the great and most proper use of the Fall as Musculus excellently speaks ut gratiam Christi eo subnixius ambiamus to inflame our desires the more vehemently after grace Sanctification restores the Beauty of the Soul which sin defaced Eph. 4.24 Col. 3.10 Yea it restores it with this advantage that it shall never be lost again holiness is the beauty of God imprest upon the Soul and the impression is everlasting Other beauty is but a fading flower time will plow up deep furrows upon the fairst faces But this will be fresh to eternity All moral vertues homilitical qualities which adorn and beautifie Nature and make it attractive and lovely in the eyes of men are but separable accidents which Death discinds and crops off like a sweet flower from the stalk Iob 4.21 Doth not their excellency that is in them go away But sanctification is inseparable and will ascend with the Soul into Heaven O! that God would set the glass of the Law before us that we may see what defiled souls we have by nature that we might come by faith to Jesus Christ who cometh to us by water and by blood 1 Ioh. 5.6 Inference XIII TO conclude Upon the consideration of the whole matter before us if this excellent creature the Soul receive both its Being and excellencies from God Then he that formed it must needs have the full and only right to possess and use it and is therefore most injuriously kept out of the possession of it by all unsanctified and disobedient persons The Soul of Man is a building of God he
first Seal opened Ver. 2. gives the Church a very encouraging and comfortable prospect of the Victories Successes and Triumphs of Christ notwithstanding the Rage Subtilty and power of all its Enemies He shall ride on Conquering and to Conquer and his Arrows shall be sharp in the Hearts of his Enemies whereby the People shall fall under him And this chearing Prospect was no more than was needful For Seal 2. The second Seal opened ver 3. and 4. represents the first bloudy Persecution of the Church under Nero whom Tertullian calls Dedicator damnationis nostrae Tertul. Apol. cap. 5. He that first condemned Christians to the Slaughter And the Persecution under him is set forth by the Type of a red Horse and a great Sword in the hand of him that rode thereon His cruelty is by Paul compared to the mouth of a Lion 2 Tim. 4.17 Paul Peter Bartholomew Barnabas Mark are all said to dye by his cruel hand and so fierce was his rage against the Christians that at that time as Eusebius saith * Adeo ut videret repletas humanis corporibus civitates jacentes mortuos simul cum parvulis senes foeminarumque absque ulla sexûs reverentia in publico rejesta Cadavera a man might then see Cities lie full of dead Bodies the old and young Men and Women cast out naked without any reverence of Persons or Sex in the open street Tacit. lib. 15. Annal. And when the day failed Christians saith Tacitus were burnt in the night instead of Torches to give them light in the Streets Seal 3. The third Seal opened v. 5.6 sets forth the calamities which should befal the Church by Famine Yet not so much a literal as a figurative Famine as a grave and learned Commentator * Durham in Loc. expounds it like that mentioned Amos 8.11 12. which fell out under Maximinus and Trajan The former directing the Persecution especially against Ministers in which many bright Lamps were extinguished The latter expresly condemned all Christian Meetings and Assemblies by a Law The Type by which this Persecution was set forth is a black Horse A gloomy and dismal day it was indeed to the poor Saints when they eat the bread of their Souls as it were by weight for he that sate on him had a pair of ballances in his hand Then did Iohn hear this sad voice A measure of wheat for a Penny and three measures of Barley for a penny That quantity was but the ordinary allowance to keep a man a live for a day And a Roman Penny was the ordinary wages given for a days work to a labourer The meaning is that in those days all the Spiritual food men should get to keep their Souls alive from day to day with all their travel and labour should be but sufficient for that end The fourth Seal opened Seal 4. ver 7.8 represents a much more sad and doleful state of the Church for under it are found all the former sufferings with some new kinds of trouble superadded Under this Seal death rides upon the pale Horse and Hell or the Grave follows him 'T is conceived to point at the presecution under Dioclesian when the Church was mowed down as a Meadow The fifth Seal is opened in my Text Seal 5. under which the Lord Jesus represents to his servant Iohn the state and condition of those precious Souls which had been torn and separated from their Bodies by the bloudy hands of Tyrants for his name sake under all the former persecutions The design whereof is to support and encourage all that were to come after in the same bloudy path I saw under the Altar c. in which we have an account I. Of what Iohn saw II. Of what he heard I. First we have an account of what he saw I saw the Souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held Souls in this place are not put for the Bloud or the dead Carcasses of the Saints who were slain as some have groundlessly imagined but are to be understood properly and strictly for those Spiritual and immortal substances which once had a vital Union with their Bodies but were now separated from them by a violent death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anima proimmortali Spiritâ— hominis capituâ— sicuti Matt. 10.28 hoâ— sensu dicit hîc Iohannes se vidisse animas c. Marlorat in loc yet still retained a love and inclination to them even in the state of Separation and are therefore here brought in complaining of their shedding of their blood and destruction of their Bodies These Souls even of all that dyed for Christ from Abel to that time Iohn saw that is in Spirit for these immaterial substances are not perceptible by the gross external senses Animâ— Coâ—â—oribus exutae invisibileâ— sunt occulis corpoâ—â—is vidit ergo â—as Iohannes Spiritu Paraus in loc He had the priviledge and favour of a Spiritual representation of them being therein extraordinarily assisted as Paul was when his Soul was rapt into the third Heaven and heard things unutterable 2 Cor. 12.2 God gave him a transient visible representation of those holy Souls and that under the Altar he means not any material Altar as that at Ierusalem was but as the holy place figured Heaven so the Altar figured Jesus Christ Heb. 13.10 And most aptly Christ is represented to Iohn in this figure and Souls of the Martyrs at the foot or basis of this Altar thereby to inform us 1 that however men look upon the death of those persons and though they kill their names by slanders as well as their persons by the Sword yet in Gods account they dye as Sacrifices and their blood is no other than a drink-offering poured out to God which he highly prizeth and graciously accepteth Suitable whereunto Pauls expression is Philip. 2.17 2 That the value and acceptation their death and blood shed hath with God is through Christ and upon his account for it is the Altar which sanctifieth the gift Matth. 23.19 and 3. it informs us that these holy Souls now in a state of Separation from their Bodies were very near to Iesus Christ in Heaven They lay as it were at his foot Once more They are here described to us by the cause of their sufferings and death in this World and that was For the word of God and for the Testimony which they held i. e. They dyed in defence of the Truths or will of God revealed in his word against the Corruptions Oppositions and Innovations of Men. As one of the Martyrs that held up the Bible at the Stake saying This is it that hath brought me hither They dyed not as Malefactors but as Witnesses They gave a threefold Testimony to the truth a lip Testimony a life Testimony and a blood Testimony whilst the Hypocrite gives but one and many Christians but two Thus we have an account of what
Iohn saw II. Next he tells us what he heard and that was 1. A vehement Cry from those Souls to God 2. A gracious Answer from God to them 1. The cry which they uttered with a loud voice was this How long O Lord Holy and True dost thou not avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the Earth A cry like that from the blood of Abel Yet let it be remembred 1 This cry doth not imply these holy Souls to be in a restless state or to want true satisfaction and repose out of the Body noâ— yet 2 that they carried with them to Heaven any malevolent or revengeful disposition but that which is principally signified by this Cry is their vehement desire after the abolition of the Kingdom of Satan and the Completion and Consummation of Christs Kingdom in this World That those his Enemies which oppose his Kingdom by slaying his Saints may be made his footstool which is the same thing Christ waits for in glory Heb. 10.13 2. Secondly Here we find Gods gracious Answer to the cry of these Souls in which he speaks satisfaction to them two ways 1. By somewhat given them for present 2. By somewhat promised them hereafter 1. That which he gives them in hand White Robe were given to every one of them It is generally agreed that these white Robes given them denote heavenly Glory the same which is promised to all sincere and faithful ones who preserve themselves pure from the corruptions and defilements of the World Revel 3.4 and it is as much as if God should have said to them Although the time be not come to satisfie your desires in the final ruine and overthrow of Satans Tyrannical Kingdom in the World and Christs consummate Conquest of all his Enemies yet it shall be well with you in the mean time you shall walk with me in white and enjoy your glory in Heaven 2 And this is not all but the very things they cry for shall be given them also after a little season q. d. wait but a little while till the rest that are to follow in the same suffering path be got through the red-Sea of Martyrdome as you are and then you shall see the foot of Christ upon the necks of all his Enemies and justice shall fully avenge the precious innocent blood of all the Saints which in all Ages hath been shed for my sake from the blood of Abel to the last that shall ever suffer for Righteousness sake in the World From all which this Conclusion is most fair and obvious DOCTRINE THat the Souls of men perish not with their Bodies but do certainly over-live them and subsist in a state of separation from them Matth. 10.28 Fear not them that kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul The Bodies of these Martyrs of Jesus were destroyed by divers sorts of torments but their Souls were out of the reach of all those cruel Engines They were in safety under the Altar and in glory cloathed with their white Robes when the Bodies they lately inhabited on earth were turned to ashes and torn to pieces by wild Beasts The point I am to discourse from this Scripture is the immortality of the Soul for the better understanding whereof let it be noted that there is a twofold Immortality I. Simple and absolute in its own Nature II. Derived dependent and from the pleasure of God In the former Sense God only hath Immortality as the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. 6.16 our Souls have it as a gift from him He that created our Souls out of nothing can if he please reduce them to nothing again but he hath bestowed Immortality upon them and produced them in a nature suitable to that his appointment fitted for an everlasting life So that though God by his absolute power can yet he never will annihilate them but they shall and must live for ever in endless Blessedness or Misery Death must destroy these mortal Bodies but it cannot destroy our Souls And the certainty of this assertion is grounded upon these reasons and will be cleared by these following Arguments Argument I. THe first Argument for proof of the Souls Immortality may be taken from the Simplicity Spirituality and uncompoundedness of its Nature It is a pure simple unmixed Being * Interitus est discessus Secretio direptuâ— earum partium qâ—ae conjuctione aliqua tenebaâ—tur Tâ—lly Death is the Dissolution of things compounded where therefore no composition or mixture is found no death or dissolution can follow Death is the great Divider but it is of things that are divisible The more simple pure and refined any material thing is by so much the more permanent and durable it is found to be The nearer it approacheth to the nature of Spirits the farther it is removed from the power of death but that which is not material or mixed at all is wholly exempt from the stroke and power of death It is from the contrariant qualities and jarring humours in mixed Bodies that they come under the Law and power of dissolution Matter and Mixture are the doors at which death enters naturally upon the Creatures But the Soul of man is a simple spiritual immaterial and unmixed Being not compounded of matter and form as other Creatures are but void of matter and altogether Spiritual as may appear in the vast capacity of its understanding faculty which cannot be straitned by receiving multitudes of Truths into it It need not empty it self of what it had received before to make way for more truth nor doth it find it self clogg'd or burthened by the greatest multitudes or varieties of Truths but the more it knows the more it still desires to know It s capacity and appetite are found to inlarge themselves according to the increase of knowledge So that to speak as the matter is if the Knowledge of all Arts Sciences and Mysteries of Nature could be gathered into the mind of one man yet that mind would thirst and even burn with desire after more knowledge and find more room for it than it did when it first sipt and relished the sweetness of truth Knowledge as Knowledge never burthens or cloys the mind but like fire increases and enlarges as it finds more matter to work upon Now this could never be if the Soul were a material Being Take the largest Vessel and you shall find that the more you pour into it the less room is still left for more and when it is full you cannot pour in one drop more except you let out what was in it befoâ—e But the Soul is no such Vessel it can retain all it had and be still receptive of more so that nothing can fill it and satisfie it but that which is infinite and perfect The natural appetite after food is sometimes sharp and eager but then there is a stint and measure beyond which it 〈◊〉 not but the appetite of the mind is more eager and unlimiâ—â—d it never
saith till it come to rest in God it is enougâ— because the faculty which produceth it is more 〈◊〉 spiritual and immaterial All matter hath its limits bounds 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 till we attain the desired end which is God and just measures beyond which it cannot be extended But the Soul is boundless and its appetitions infinite is rests not but in the spiritual and infinite Being God alone being is adaequate object and able to satisfie its desires which plainly proves it to be a Spiritual immaterial and simple being And being so two things necessarily follow therefrom 1. That it is void of any Principle of corruption in it self 2. That it is not liable to any stroak of death by any adverse power without it self 1. It cannot be liable to death from any seeds or Principles of Corruption within it self for where there is no composition there is no dissolution the Spirituality and simplicity of the Soul admits of no Corruption 2. Nor is it liable to death by any adverse power without it self No Sword can touch it No instrument of death can reach it 'T is above the reach of all adversaries Matt. 10.28 Fear not them that can kill the Body but cannot kill the Soul The bounds and limits of creature-power are here fixed by Jesus Christ beyond which they cannot go They can wound torment and destroy the Body when God permits them but the Soul is out of their reach A Sword can no more wound it than it can wound or hurt the light and consequently it is and must needs be of an immortal nature But there seems to be a decay upon our Souls in our old Age Object and decaies argue and imply corruption and are so many steps and tendencies towards the death and dissolution thereof The experience of the whole world shews us how the Apprehensions Judgments Wit and Memory of old Men fail even to that degree that they become children again in respect of the abilities of their minds their Souls only serving as it were to salt their Bodies and keep them from putrefaction for a few days longer 'T is a great mistake Sol. there is not the least decay upon the Soul no time makes any change upon the essence of the Soul all the alteration that is made is upon the Organs and Instruments of the Body which decay in time and become inept and unserviceable to the Soul The Soul like an expert and skilful Musician is as able as ever it was but the Body its instrument is out of tune and the ablest Artist can make no pleasing melody upon an instrument whose Strings are broken or so related that they cannot be scrued up to their due height Let Hippocrates the Prince of Physicians decide this matter for us * Anima nostra quoad essentiam mutaâ—i non potest aut alterari siâ—â— cibi siâ—â— potus sive cujuscunque rei alterius accâ—ssu referends est enim omnium alterationum causa aut ad spiritus quibus se immiscet aut ad vasa sive organa que permeat Hippocrates lib. 1. de diaeâ—a The Soul saith he cannot be changed or altered as to its essence by the access of meat or drink or any other thing whatsoever but all the alterations that are made must be referred either to the Spirits with which it mixeth it self or to the Vessels and Organs through which it streameth So that this proves not its corruptibility and being neither corruptible in it self nor vulnerable by any creature without it self seeing man cannot and God will not destroy it the conclusion is strongly inferred that therefore it is immortal Argument II. THE Immortality of the Souls of Men may be concluded from the Promises of everlasting Blessedness and the Threatnings of everlasting miseries respectively made in the Scriptures of truth to the Godly and ungodly after this Life which Promises and Threatnings had been altogether vain and delusory if our Souls perish with our Bodies 1. First God hath made many everlasting Promises of Blessedness yea he hath established an everlasting Covenant betwixt himself and the Souls of the Righteous promising to be their God for ever and to bestow endless Blessedness upon them in the World to come Such a Promise is that Iohn 8.28 I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish And Iohn 4.14 Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into everlasting life And again Iohn 11.26 Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye And once more Rom. 2.7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality eternal Life with multitudes more of like nature Now if these be no vain and delusory Promises as to be sure they are not being the words of the true and faithful God then those Souls to whom they are made must live for ever for if the subject of the Promises must fail consequently the performance of the Promises must fail too For how shall they be made good when those to whom they are made are perished Let it not be objected here That the Bodies of Believers are concerned in the promises as well as their Souls and yet their Bodies perish notwithstanding For we say though their Bodies dye yet they shall live again and enjoy the fruit of the Promises in eternal Glory And whilest their Bodies lie in the Grave their Souls are with God enjoying the covenanted Blessedness in Heaven Rom. 8.10 11. and so the Covenant-Bond is not loosed betwixt them and God by Death which it must needs be in case the Soul perished when the Body doth And upon this Hypothesis that Argument of Christ is built Matth. 22.32 proving the Resurrection from the Covenant God made with Abraham Isaac and Iacob I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living q. d. If Abraham Isaac and Iacob be perished in Soul as well as in Body how then is God their God what is become of the Promise and Covenant-Relation for if one Correlate fail the Relation necessarily fails with it If God be their God then certainly they are in being for God is not the God of the Dead i.e. of those that are utterly perished Therefore it must needs be that though their Bodies be naturally dead yet their Souls still live and their Bodies must live again at the Resurrection by vertue of the same Promise 2. On the contrary many threatnings of eternal misery after this life are found in the Scriptures of truth against ungodly and wicked Persons Such is that in 2 Thes. 1.7 8 9. The Lord Iesuâ— shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming Fire to render Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ who shall be punished with
Soul may be evinced from the everlasting habits which are subjected and inherent in it If these habits abide for ever certainly so must the Souls in which they are planted The Souls of good Men are the good Ground in which the Seed of Grace is sown by the Spirit Matth. 13.23 i. e the subjects in which gracious properties and affections do inhere and dwell which is the formal notion of a Substance and these implanted Graces are everlasting things So Iohn 4.14 It shall be in him a Well of Water springing up into everlasting Life i. e. the Graces of the Spirit shall be in Believers permanent habits fixed Principles which shall never decay And therefore that Seed of Grace which is cast into their Souls at their Regeneration is in 1 Pet. 1.23 called incorruptible Seed which liveth and abideth for ever and it is incorruptible not only considered abstractly in its own simple nature but concretely as it is in the sanctified Soul its Subject for it is said 1 Iohn 3.9 The Seed of God remaineth in him It abideth for ever in the Soul If then these two things be clear to us viz. 1. That the Habits of Grace be everlasting 2. That they are inseparable from sanctified Souls It must needs follow that the Soul their Subject is so too an everlasting and immortal Soul And how plainly do both these Propositions lie before us in the Scriptures As for the immortal and interminable nature of saving Grace it is plain to him that considers not only what the fore cited Scriptures speak about it calling it incorruptible Seed a Well of Water springing up into everlasting life But add to these what is said of these Divine qualities in 2 Pet. 1.4 where they are called the Divine Nature and Ephes. 4.18 The life of God noting the perpetuity of these Principles in Believers as well as their resemblance of God in Holiness who are endowed with them I know it is a great question among Divines An gratia in renatis sit naturà essentià suà interminabilis Whether these Principles of Grace in the Regenerate be everlasting and interminable in their own nature and essence For my own part I think that God only is naturally essentially and absolutely interminable and immortal But these gracious Habits planted by him in the Soul are so by vertue of Gods Appointment Promise and Covenant And sure it is that by reason hereof they are interminate which is enough for my purpose if they be not essentially interminable Though Grace be but a Creature and therefore hath a pesse mori yet it is a Creature begotten by the Word and Spirit of God which live and abide for ever and a Creature within the Promise and Covenant of God by reason whereof it can never actually dye And then as for the inseparableness of these Graces from the Souls in whom they are planted how clear is this from 1 Iohn 2.27 where sanctifying Grace is compared to an Unction and this Unction is said to abide in them And 1 Iohn 3.9 't is called the Seed of God which remaineth in the Soul All our natural and moral Excellencies and Endowments go away when we dye Iob 4.21 Doth not their Excellency that is in them go away Men may out-live their acquired Gifts but not their supernatural Graces These stick by the Soul as Ruth to Naomi and where it goes they go too so that when the Soul is dislodged by Death all its Graces ascend up with it into Glory it carries away all its Faith Love Delight in God all its comfortable experiences and fruits of Communion with God along with it to Heaven For Death is so far from divesting the Soul of its Graces that it perfects in a Moment all that was defective in them 1 Cor. 13.10 When that which is perfect shall come then that which is in part shall be done away as the Twilight is done away when the Sun is up and at its Zenith So then Grace never dyeth and this never-dying Grace is inseparable from its Subject by which it is plain to him that considers That as Graces so Souls abide for ever But this only proves the Immortality of regenerate Souls Object It doth so Sol. but then consider as there be gracious habits in the regenerate that never dye so there are vicious habits in the unregenerate that can never be separated from them in the world to come Hence Iohn 8.21 They are said to dye in their sins and Iob 20.11 Their iniquities ly down with them in the dust and Ezek. 24.13 They shall never be purged Remarkable is that place Revel 22. v. 11. Let him that is filthy be filthy still And if guilt stick so fast and sin be so deeply engraven in impenitent Souls they also must remain for ever to bear the punishment of them Argument V. THE Immortality of the Soul of Man may be evinced from the Dignity of Man above all other Creatures Angels only excepted and his Dominion over them all In this the Scriptures are clear that Man is the Master-piece of all Gods other work Psal. 8.5 6. For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour Thou hast made him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet Other Creatures were made for his service and he is crowned King over them all One Man is of more worth than all the inferiour Creatures But wherein is his Dignity and excellency above all other Creatures if not in respect of the capacity and immortality of his Soul Sure it can be found no where else for as to the Body many of the Creatures excel man in the perfections of Sense greatness of Strength agility of Members c. Nos Aper auditu praecellit aranea tactu vultur odoratu linx visu simia gustu And for beauty Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of the Lilies of the Field The Beasts and Fowls enjoy more pleasure and live divested of those cares and cumbers which perplex and wear out the lives of men It cannot be in respect of bodily perfections or pleasures that man excels other Creatures If you say he excels them all in respect of that noble endowment of Reason which is peculiar to man and his singular excellency above them all 'T is true this is his glory but if you deprive the reasonable Soul of Immortality you despoil it of all both its glory and comfort and put the reasonable into a worse condition than the unreasonable and brutish Creatures for if the Soul may dye with the Body and man perish as the Beast happier is the life of the Beast which is perplexed with no cares nor fears about futurities our Reason serves to little other purpose but to be an engine of Torture a meer Rack to our Souls Certainly the Priviledge of Man doth not consist in that as abstracted from
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
death these witnesses of the spirit are Delusions and his earnests are given us but in jest 3 His Comforting work is a sweet fruit and effect sensibly felt and tasted by believers in this World He is from this Office stiled the Comforter Iohn 16.7 signanter eminenter He so comforts as no other doth or can And what is the matter of his comforts but the Blessedness to come the joys of the coming World Iohn 16.13 Eye hath not seen c. Upon the account of these unseen things he enableth believers to glory in tribulations Rom. 5.4 to despise present things whether the smiles or the frowns of the World Heb. 11.24 and v. 26. But if the being of our Souls fail at death these are but the Phantastick joys of men in a dream and the experiences of all Gods people are found but so many fond conceits and gross mistakes 5. This supposition overthrows the Doctrine of the Resurrection which is the consolation of Christians We according to the Scripture believe that after death hath divorced our Souls and Bodies for a time they shall meet again and be re-united and that the joy at their re-union will be to all that are in Christ greater than the sorrows they felt at parting This seems not incredible to us what ever natural improbabilities and carnal reasons may be against it Acts 26.8 And that because the Almighty power which is able to subdue all things to himself undertakes this task Philip. 3.21 We believe this very same numerical Body shall rise again Iob 21.27 by the return of the same Soul into it which now dwelleth in it and that we shall be the same persons that now we are The remunerative justice of God requiring it to be so We believe the Souls of the righteous shall be much better accommodated and have a more comfortable habitation in their Bodies than now they have 1 Cor. 15.42 43. seeing they shall be made like unto Christ's glorious Body Phil. 3.21 And that then we shall live after the manner of Angels Luke 20.16 without the necessities of this animal life These are the things we look for according to promise and this expectation is our great relief against 1 the fears of death 1 Cor. 15.55 2 against the death of our Friends and Relations 1. Thes. 4.14 3 against all the pressures and afflictions of this life Iob 19.25 26 27. But if the being of our Souls fail at death all hopes and comforts from the Resurrection fail with it for it is not Imaginable that the body should rise till it be revived nor how it should be revived but by the re-union of the Soul with it and if it be not the same Soul that now inhabits it we cannot be the same persons in the Resurrection we are now and consequently this supposition subverts not only the Doctrine of the Resurrection but 6 It overthrows also the faith of the Iudgment to come For if the Soul perish the Body cannot rise or if it rise by a new created Soul the person raised is another and not the same that lived and dyed in this World and consequently the rewards and punishments to be bestowed and awarded to all men in that day cannot be just and equal for we believe according to the Scriptures that 1 The actions which men perform in this life are not transient but are filed to their account in the world to come Gal. 6.7 here we sow and there we reap Actions done in this World are two ways considerable viz. Physically or Morally in the first consideration they are transient in the last permanent and everlasting A word is spoken or an Act done in a moment but though it be past and gone and perhaps by us quite forgotten God registers it in his Book in order to the day of account 2 We believe that God hath appointed a day in which all men shall appear before his judgment seat to give an account of all they have done in the Body whether it be good or evil 2. Cor. 5.10 3 And that in order hereunto the very same persons shall be restored by the Resurrection and appear before God the very same Bodies and Souls which did good or evil in this World shall not the Judge of all the earth do right Justice requires that the rewards and punishments be then distributed to the same persons that did good or evil in this World which strongly infers the immortality of the Soul and that it certainly overlives the Body and must come back from the respective places of their abode to be again united to them in order to their great account By all which you see the clearest proof of the Souls Immortality and how the contrary supposition overthrows our Faith Duties and Comforts Yet all this notwithstanding how apt are we to suspect this Doctrine and remain still dis-satisfyed and doubting about it when all is said which comes to pass partly from 1 the subtilty of Satan who knows he can never perswade men to live the life of Beasts till he first perswade them to think they shall dye as the Beasts do and partly from the influence of Sense and Reason upon us whereby we do too much suffer our selves to be swayed and imposed upon in matters of greatest moment in Religion For these being proper Arbiters and Judges in other matters within their Sphere they are arrogant and we easy enough to admit them to be Arbiters also in things that are quite above them hence come such plausible objections as these Object 1. The Soul seems to vanish and dye when it leaves the Body for when it hath strugled as long as it can to keep its possession in the Body and at last is forced to depart we can perceive nothing but a puff of breath which immediately vanishes into air and is lost Sol. We cannot perceive therefore it is nothing but what we do and can perceive viz. a puffe of vanishing breath By this argument the being of the Soul in the Body is as questionable as after its departure out of the Body for we cannot discern it by sight in the Body yea by this Argument we may as well deny the existence of God and Angels as of Souls for it is a spiritual and invisible being as they are our gross senses are incapable of discerning Spirits which are immaterial and invisible substances Object 2. But you allow the Soul to have a rise and beginning it is not eternal à parte antà and it is certain what ever had a beginning must have an end Every thing which had a beginning may have an end Sol. and what once was nothing may by the power that created it be reduced to nothing again But though we allow it may be so by the absolute power of God we deny the consequence that therefore it shall and must be so Angels had a beginning but shall never have an end And indeed their Immortality as well as ours
oppose those things which God hath subordinated bring this home to your natural or civil actions eating drinking Plowing or Sowing and see how the consequence will look Object 3. Say not 't is a mercenary Doctrine and disparages free Grace for are not all the enjoyments and comforts of this life confessedly from free Grace though God hath dispensed them to you in the way of your diligence and industry Object 4. To conclude say not the difficulties of Salvation are insuperable 't is so hard to watch every motion of the heart to deny every lust to resist a suitable temptation to suffer the loss of all for Christ that there is no hope for overcoming them For 1 God can and doth make difficult things easie to his people who work in the strength of Christ Philip. 4.13 2 These same difficulties are before all others that are before you yet it discourageth not them Philip. 3.11 Others strive to the uttermost There are extreams found in this matter some work for Salvation as an hireling for his wages so the Papists these disparage Grace and cry up works Others cry down obedience as legal as the Antinomians and cry up grace to the disparagement of duties avoid both these and see that you strive but 1 think not Heaven to be the price of your striving Rom. 4.3 2 strive but not for a spurt let this care and diligence run throughout your lives whilst you are living be you still striving your Souls are worth it and infinitely more than all this amounts to Inference VI. DOth the Soul overlive the Body and abide for ever Then 't is a great evil and folly to be excessively careful for the mortal Body and neglective of the immortal Inhabitant In a too much indulged Body there ever dwells a too much neglected Soul The Body is but a vile thing Philip. 3.21 the Soul more valuable than the whole World Matt. 16.26 to spend time care and pains for a vile Body whilst little or no regard is had to the precious Immortal Soul is an unwarrantable folly and madness To have a clean and washed Body and a Soul all filth as one speaks a Body neatly cloathed and dressed Carzv p. 148.149 with a Soul all naked and unready a Body fed and a Soul starved a Body full of the Creature and a Soul empty of Christ these are poor Souls indeed We smile at little children who in a kind of laborious idleness take a great deal of pains to make and trim their Babies or build their little houses of Sticks and straws And what are they but children of a bigger size that keep such ado about the Body a house of Clay a weak pile that must perish in a few days 'T is admirible and very convictive of most Christians what we read in an Heathen I confess saith Seneca there is a love to the Body implanted in us all 〈◊〉 insitâ—m esse nobis corpoâ—is nostri charitatem Fateâ— nos hujus gereâ—e tutelam nec nego indulgendum illi serâ—iendum nego Multus enim serviet qui corpori servit qui pro illo nimium timet qui ad illud omnia refert hujus nos nimiâ—â— amor timoribus inquietat solicitudinibus onerat contumeliâ—s objicit bonesâ—um ei vile est câ—i corpus nimis charum est agatur ejus diligentissimè cura ita tamen ut cum exiget ratio cum dignitas cum fides mittendum in ignem sit Seneca Ep. 14. p. 545. we have the Tutilage and charge of it we may be kind and indulgent to it but must not serve it but he that serves it is a servant to many cares fears and passions Let us have a diligent care of it yet so as when Reason requires when our Dignity or faith requires it we commit it to the fire 'T is true the Body is beloved of the Soul and God requires that it moderately care for the necessities and conveniences of it but to be fond indulgent and constantly sollicitous about it is both the sin and snare of the Soul One of the Fathers being invited to dine with a Lady and waiting some hours till she was drest and fit to come down when he saw her he fell a weeping and being demanded why he wept O saith he I am troubled that you should spend so many hours this morning in pinning and trimming your Body when I have not spent half the time in Praying Repenting and caring for my own Soul Two things a Master commits to his Servants care saith one the Child and the Childs cloaths it will be but a poor excuse for the Servant to say at his Masters return Sir here are all the Childs cloaths neat and clean but the child is lost Much so will be the account that many will give to God of their Souls and Bodies at the great day Lord here is my Body I was very careful for it I neglected nothing that belonged to its content and well-fare but for my Soul that is lost and cast away for ever I took little care or thought about it 'T is remarkable what the Apostle saith Rom. 8.12 We owe nothing to the flesh we are not in its debt we have given it all more than all that belongs to it but we owe many an hour many a care many a deep thought to our Souls which we have defrauded it of for the vile Bodies sake You have robb'd your Souls to pay your flesh This is madness Inference VII HOW great a blessing is the Gospel which brings life and immortality to light the most desirable mercies to immortal Souls This is the great benefit we receive by it as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. 1.10 Christ hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel Life and immortality by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for immortal life the thing which all immortal Souls desire and long for These desires are found in Souls that enjoy not the Gospel-light for as I said before they naturally spring out of the very nature of all immortal Souls But how and where it is to be obtained that is a secret for which we are entirely beholding to the Gospel-discovery It lay hid in the Womb of Gods purpose till by the light of Gospel Revelation it was made manifest But now all men may see what are the gracious thoughts and purposes of God concerning men and what that â—s he hath designed for their Immortal Souls even an Immortal life and this life is to be obtained by Christ than which no tidings can be more welcome sweet or acceptable to us O therefore study the Gospel This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17.3 And see that you prise the Gospel above all earthly Treasures 'T is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation you have two inestimable benefits and blessings by it 1 It manifests and reveals eternal life to you
which you could never have come to the knowledge of any other way those that are without it are gropeing or feeling after God in the dark Acts 17.27 Poor Souls are conscious to themselves that there is a just and terrible God and that their sins offend and provoke him but how to atone the offended Deity they know not Mica 6.6 7. But the way of Reconciliation and life is clearly discovered to us by the Gospel 2 As it manifests and reveals Eternal life to us so it frames and moulds our hearts as Gods sanctifying Instrument for the enjoyment of it 'T is not only the Instrument of Revelation but of Salvation the word of life as well as the word of light Philip. 2.16 It can open your hearts as well as your eyes and is therefore to be entertained as that which is the first rank of Blessings a peerless and inestimable Blessing Inference VIII IF our Souls be immortal certainly our enemies are not so formidable as we are apt by our sinful fears to represent them They may when God permits them destroy your Bodies they cannot touch or destroy your Souls Matth. 16.28 As to your Bodies no enemy can touch them till there be leave and permission given them by God Iob 1.10 The Bodies of the Saints as well as their Souls are within the line or hedge of Divine Providence They are securely fenced sometimes mediately by the ministry of Angels Psal. 34.7 And sometimes immediately by his own hand and power Zech. 2.5 As to their Souls whatever power Enemies may have upon them when divine permission opens a gap in the hedge of Providence for them yet they cannot reach their Souls to hurt them or destroy them but by their own consent They can destroy our perishing flesh it is obnoxious to their malice and rage they cannot reach home to the Soul no Sword can cut asunder the band of Union betwixt them and Christ they would be dreadful Enemies indeed if they could do so Why then do we tremble and fear at this rate as if Soul and Body were at their mercy and in their power and hand The Souls of those Martyrs were in safety under the Altar in Heaven they were cloathed with white Robes when their Bodies were given to be meat to the Fowls of Heaven and Beasts of the Earth The Devil drives but a poor trade by the persecution of the Saints he tears the nest but the bird escapes he cracks the Shell but loseth the Kernel Two things make a powerful defensative against our fears 1 That all our Enemies are in the hand of Providence 2 That all providences are steered by that promise Rom. 8.28 Inference IX IF Souls be Immortal Then there must needs be a vast difference betwixt the aspects and influences of death upon the Godly and Vngodly O if Souls would but seriously consider what an alteration death will make upon their condition for evil or for good how useful would such meditations be to them 1 They must be disseized and turned out of these houses of Clay and live in a state of separation from them of this there is an inevitable necessity Eccles. 8.8 'T is in vain to say I am not ready ready or unready they must depart when their lease is out 'T is as vain to say I am not willing for willing or unwilling they must be gone there 's no hanging back and begging Lord let death take another at this time and spare me for no man dies by a Proxy 2 The time of our Souls departure is at hand 2 Pet. 1.13 14. Iob 16.22 The most firm and well built body can stand but a few days but our ruinons Tabernacles give our Souls warning that the day of their departure is at hand The lamp of life is almost burnt down the glass of time almost run yet a few a very few days and nights more and then time nights and days shall be no more 3 When that most certain and near approaching time is come wonderful alterations will be made on the state of all Souls Godly and Ungodly 1 A marvellous alteration will then be made on the Souls of the Godly For 1 no sooner is the dividing stroak given by death and the parting pull over but they shall find themselves in arms of Angels mounting them through the upper Regions in a few moments far above all the aspectable Heavens Luke 16.22 The airy Region is indeed the place where Devils inhabit and have their haunts and walks but Angels are the Saints Convoy through Satans Territories from the arms of mourning Friends into the welcome arms of officious and benevolent Angels 2 from the sight and converses of men to the sight of God Christ and the general assembly of blessed and sinless Spirits The Soul takes its leave of all men at death Isa. 38.11 Farewell vain World with all the mixed and imperfect comforts of it and welcome the more sweet suitable and satisfying company of Father Son and Spirit holy Angels and perfected Saints Heb. 12.23 3 From the bondage of corruption to perfect liberty and everlasting freedom so much is implied Heb. 12.23 The Spirits of just men made perfect 4 From all fears doubtings and questionings of our conditions and anxious debates of our title to Christ to the clearest fullest and most satisfying assurance for what a man sees how can he doubt of it 5 From all burdens of affliction inward and outward under which we have groaned all our days to everlasting rest and ease 2 Cor. 5.1 2 3. O what a blessed change to the righteous must this be 2 A marvellous change will also be then made upon the Souls of the ungodly who shall then part from 1 all their comforts and pleasant enjoyments in the World for here they had their consolation Luke 16.25 here was all their Portion Psal. 17.14 And in a moment find themselves arrested and seized by Satan as Gods Gaoler hurrying them away to the prison of Hell 1 Pet. 3.19 There to be reserved to the judgment of the great day Jude v. 6. 2 From under the means of Grace Life and Salvation to a state perfectly void of all means instruments and opportunities of Salvation Iohn 9.4 Eccles. 9.10 never to hear the joyful sound of preaching or praying any more never to hear the wooing voice of the blessed Bridegroom saying Come unto me come unto me any more 3 From all their vain ungrounded presumptuous hopes of Heaven into absolute and final desperation of mercy The very sinews and nerves of hope are cut by death Prov. 14.32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death These are the great and astonishing alterations that will be made upon our Souls after they part with the Bodies which they now inhabit O that we who cannot but be conscious to our selves that we must overlive our Bodies were more thoughtful of the condition they must enter into after that separation which is
is generally a burthened and a groaning life 2 Cor. 5.2 In this Tabernaele we groan being burthened Here the Saints feel 1 A burthen of sin Rom. 7.24 this is a dead and a sinking weight 2 A burthen of Affliction of this all are Partakers Hebr. 12. though not all in an equal degree or in the same kind yet all have their burthens equal to and even beyond their own strength to support it 2 Cor. 1.8 pressed above measure 3 A burthen of inward troubles for sin and outward Troubles in the Flesh both together so had Iob Heman David and many of the Saints Certainly this befals them not 1 Casually Iob 5.6 It rises not out of the Dust 2 Nor because God loves and regards them not for they are fruits of his love Heb. 12.6 Whom he loveth he correcteth 3 Nor because he takes pleasure in our groans Lamen 3. To tread under his feet the Prisoners of the earth the Lord hath no pleasure 'T is not for his own pleasure but his Childrens profit Heb. 12.10 And among the prâ—fits that result from these burthens this is not the least to make you less fond of the body than you would else be and more willing to be gone to your everlasting rest And certainly all the Diseases and Pains we endure in the Body whether they be upon inward or outward accounts by Passion or Compassion from God or Men will be found but enough to wean us and loose off our hearts from the fond love of life Afflictions are bitter things to our taste Ruth 1.20 so bitter that Naomi thought a name of a contrary signification fitter for her afflicted condition Call me Marah i. e. bitter not Naomi pleasant beautiful And the Church Lam. 3.19 calls them Wormwood and Gall. The great design of God in afflicting them is the same that a tender Mother projects in putting Wormwood to her Breast when she would wean the Child It hath been observed by some discreet and grave Ministers that before their remove from one place to another God hath permitted and ordered some weaning Providence to befal them either denying wonted success to their labour or alienating and cooling the affections of their people towards them which not only makes the manner of their departure more easie but the grounds of it more clear Much so it falls out in our natural death the comfort of the World is imbittered to us before we leave it The longer we live in it the less we shall like it We overlive most of our Comforts which engaged our hearts to it that we may more freely take our leave of it It were good for Christians to observe the voice of such Providences as these and answer the Designs of them in a greater willingness to die 1. Is thy Body which was once hail and vigorous now become a crazy sickly pained body to thee neither useful to God nor comfortable to thee a Tabernacle to groan and sigh in And little hopes it will be recovered to a better temper God hath ordered this to make thee willing to be divorced from it The less desireable life is the less formidable death will be 2. Is thy Estate decayed and blasted by Providence so that thy life which was once full of Creature-Comforts is now fill'd with Cares and Anxieties O 't is a weaning Providence to thee and bespeaks thee the more chearfully to bid the World farewel The less comfort it gives you the less it should entangle and engage you We little know with what aking hearts and pensive breasts many of Gods people walk up and down though for Religion or Reputations sake they put a good face upon it but by these things God is bespeaking and preparing them for a better State 3. Is an Husband a Wife or dear Children dead and with them the comfort of life laid in the dust Why this the Lord sees necessary to do to perswade you to come after willingly 'T is the cutting asunder thy roots in the earth that thou maist fall the more easily O how many stroaks must God give at our Names Estates Relations and Health before we will give way to the last stroak of death that fells us to the ground 4. Do the times frown upon Religion Do all things seem to threaten stormy times at hand Are desireable Assemblies scattered Nothing but Sorrows and Sufferings to be expected in this World By these things God will imbitter the earth and sweeten Heaven to his People 5. Is the beauty and sweetness of Christian Society defaced and decayed That Communion which was wont to be Pithy Substantial Spiritual and Edifying becomes either frothy or contentious so that thy Soul hath no pleasure in it This also is a weaning Providence to our Souls Strigelius desired to die that he might be freed ab implacabilibus Theologorum odiis from the Wranglings and Contentions that were in his time Our fond affection to the Body requires all this and much more to wean and mortifie them Inference IV. HOW Comfortable is the Doctrine of the Resurrection to Believers which assures them of receiving their Bodies again though they part with them for a time Believers must die as well as others their Union with Christ priviledges them not from a Separation from their Bodies Rom. 8.10 Heb. 9.27 But yet they have special grounds of Consolation against this doleful separation above all others For 1. Though they part with them yet they part in hopes of receiving them again 1 Thessal 4.13 14. They take not a final leave of them when they die Husbandmen cast their Seed-corn into the earth chearfully and willingly because they part with it in hope so should we when we commit our Bodies to the earth at death 2. Though death separate these dear Friends from each other yet it cannot separate either the one or other from Christ Luke 20.37 38. I am the God of Abraham c. Your very dust is the Lords and the Grave rots not the Bond of the Covenant 3. The very same Body we lay down at death we shall assume again at the Resurrection Not only the same specifical but the same Numerical Body Iob 19.25.26 With these eyes shall I see God 4. The unbodied Soul shall not find the want of its Body so as to afflict or disquiet it nor the Body the want of its Soul but the one shall be at rest in Heaven and the other sweet asleep in the Grave and all that long interval shall slide away without any afflicting sense of each others absence The time will be long Iob 14.12 but if it were longer it cannot be afflicting considering how the Soul is cloathed immediately 2 Cor. 5.1 2. and how the Body sleeps sweetly in Jesus 1 Thess. 4.14 5. When the day of their re-espousals is come the Soul will find the Body so transformed and improved that it shall never receive prejudice from it any more but a singuler addition to its Happiness and Glory Now it clogs us
the matter of their Election which in it self is necessary and unavoidable so did Paul Philip. 1.23 but others are drawn or rent by plain violence from the Body Iob 27.8 when God draws out his Soul That man is happy indeed whose heart falls in with the Appointment of God so voluntarily and freely as that he dare not only look death in the face with confidence but go along with it by consent of will Remarkable to this purpose is that which the Apostle asserts of the frame of his own heart 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. Here is both Confidence and Complacence with respect to death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word signifies Courage Fortitude or if you will an undaunted boldness and presence of mind when we look the King of Terrours in the face We dare venture upon death we dare take it by the cold hand and bid it welcome We dare defie its Enmity and deride its noxious power 1 Cor. 15.55 O Death where is thy sting And that 's not all we have Complacence in it as well as Confidence to encounter it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are willing the Translation is too flat we are well pleased it is a desirable and grateful thing to us to die But yet not in an absolute but comparative Consideration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are willing rather i.e. rather than not see and enjoy our Lord Jesus Christ rather than to be here always sinning and groaning There is no Complacency in death in it self it is not desirable But if we must go through that strait gate or not see God we are willing rather to be absent from the Body So that you see death was not the matter of his submission only he did not yield to what he could not avoid but he ballances the evils of death with the Priviledges it admits the Soul into and then pronounces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are content yea pleased to die We cannot live always if we would and our hearts should be wrought to that frame as to say we would not live always if we could Iob 7.16 I would not live always or long saith he But why should Iob deprecate that which was not attainable I would not live alway he needed not to trouble himself about that it being impossible that he should both Statute and Natural Law forbid it Ay but this is his sense supposing no such Necessity as there is if it were pure matter of Election Upon a due ballancing of the accounts and comparing the good and evil of death I would not be confined always or for any long time to the Body It would be a bondage unsupportable to be here always Indeed those that have their Portion their All in this life have no desire to be gone hence They that were never changed by grace desire no change by death if such a Concession were made to them as was once to an English Parliament that they should never be dissolved but by their own consent when would they say as Paul I desire to be dissolved But it 's far otherwise with them whose portion and affections are in another World they would not live always if they might knowing that never to die is never to be happy If you say Qu. this is an excellent and most desirable temper of Soul but how did these holy men attain it Or what is the course we may take to get the like frame of willingness Sol. They attained it and you may attain it in such Methods as these 1. They lived in the believing views of the invisible World and so must you if ever death be desirable in your eyes 2 Cor. 4.18 It 's said of all that died comfortably that they died in faith Hebr. 11.13 You will never be willing to go along with death except you know where it will carry you 2. They had assurance of Heaven as well as Faith to discern it Assurance is a lump of Sugar indeed in the bitter Cup of death nothing sweetens like it So 2 Cor. 5.1 so Iob 19.26 27. This puts Roses into the pale Cheeks of death and makes it amiable 1 Cor. 15.55 56. and Rom. 8.38 39. 3. Their hearts were weaned from this World and the inordinate affectation of a terrene life Philip. 3.8 all was dung and dross for Christ they trampled under foot what we hug in our Bosomes So 't is said Hebr. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves c. And so it must be with us if ever we obtain a Complacency in death 4. They ordered their Conversations with much Integrity and so kept their Consciences pure and void of offence Acts 24.16 Herein do I exercise my self c. and this was their Comfort at last 2 Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing c. So Iob 27.5 My Integrity will I not let go till I die O this unstings death of all its terrours 5. They kept their love to Christ at the height that flame was vehement in their Souls and made them despise the terrour and desire the friendly assistance of death to bring them to the sight of Jesus Christ Philip. 1.23 so Ignatius O how I long c. Thus it must be with you if ever you make death eligible and lovely to you which is terrible in it self There is a loveliness in the death as well as in the life of a Christian. Let me die the death of the righteous said Balaam Inference II. MUst we put off these Tabernacles of Flesh Many cry out on a death-bed O â—end for Ministers and Christians to pray Alas What can they do then Is that a time for so great a work to be shuffled up in a hurry amidst distractions and Agonies How necessary is it that every Soul look out in season and make provision for another habitation If you must be turned out of one house you must provide another or lie in the streets This the Apostle comforted himself with that if uncloathed he should not be found naked 2 Cor. 5.1 a building of God an house not made with hands You must turn out and that shortly from these earthly Habitations O what provision have you made for your Souls against that day The Soul of Adrian was at a sad loss when he saw he must be turn'd out of this World O Animula vagula blandula heu quo vadis But it was Abraham Isaac and Iacob's Priviledge that God had preâ—â—â—â—d for them a City Heb. 11.16 I know it 's a common presumption of most men that they shall be in Heaven when they can be no longer on earth Praesumendo sperant sperando pereunt But a few moments will convince them of their fatal mistake their poor Souls will meet with a confounding repulse like that Matth. 7.22 There is indeed a City full of heavenly Mansions prepared for some but who are they
of God a burthen to themselves Iob 7.20 21. Yea under these burthens they would sink did not the Lord sustain them Psal. 55.22 But God will put a speedy and final end to all these things when you put off this Tabernacle you put off with it all those burdens inward and outward The Soul presently feels a great load off its shoulders It shall never groan more God shall thenceforth wipe away all tears from their eyes For why are those burdens now permitted and imposed by the Lord upon you but 1 To prevent sin Hosea 2.6 They are your clogs to keep you from straying 2 To purge out sin Isaâ— 27.9 3 To make you long more for Heaven and the rest to come But all these ends are accomplished in that day you put off your Tabernacles for then sin is gone and rest is come Inference VI. MUst you shortly put off those Tabernacles then spare them not whilst you have them but imploy them for God with all diligence Shortly they shall be useless to you yea meat for Worms now they may â—e serviceable and their Service is their honour Ambrose said of Valentinian No man was ever such a Serâ—ant to hiâ— Master as Valâ—â—tinan's Body was to his Soul you received them not for such low ends as you imploy them for See 1 Cor. 6. 20. Glorifie God in your Souls and Bodies which are his You expect to have them glorious Bodies one day Oh then let them be serviceable Bodies now Be not fond of them to that degree many are who chuse rather to have them eaten out with rust than worn out with service It is your present honour to be active and will be your singular comfort another day What greater comfort when you come to put them off at death than this that you have imployed them faithfully for God Inference VII LOok beyond this embodyed state and learn to live now as you hope to live shortly Begin to be what you expect to be You know the time is at hand that you shall live above all bodily concernments and imployments the Soul shall be a drudge to the Body no more You shall be as the Angels Matth. 22.30 not marrying nor given in Marriage which is Synecdochically put for all Carnal Imployments and Enjoyments eat no more drink no more sleep no more buy and sell no more Now suit your selves as much as your State and the Duties of Religion will suffer you to that State before-hand The summ of what I aim at is in 1 Cor. 7.29 30. Be in all your Relations as if you had none Look on those things as if already they were not which shortly must be none of yours and both acquaint and accustome your thoughts to the life of separation from the Body which you must shortly live which brings me home to the next point viz. The Condition of Humane Souls in the State of Separation TEXT Heb. 12.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And to the Spirits of just Men made perfect THE particular scope of this context falls in with the general design of the whole Gospel which is to perswade men to a life of Holiness The matter of the exhortation is most weighty and the Arguments inforcing it most powerful he doth not talk but dispute he doth not say but prove that greater and more powerful engagements unto holiness lye upon those who live under the Gospel than upon the people who lived under the Law And thus the Argument lies in this Context If God at the delivering of the Law upon Mount Sinai strictly enjoyned and required so great Purity and Holiness in that people Exod. 19.10 signified by the Ceremonies of two days preparation the washing of their cloaths abstinence from conjugal society c. much more doth he require and expect it in us who are come under a much more excellent and Heavenly dispensation than theirs was To make good the sequel he compares the legal and the evangelical Dispensations in many particulars verse 18 19 20 21 22 23. giving the Gospel the preference throughout the whole Collation In summ the priviledges of the New Testament-Believers are here stated both negatively and positively 1. Negatively by shewing what we are exempted from 2. Positively shewing what we are come unto First Negatively What we are exempted or freed from verse 18 19 20 21. We are not come unto the Mount that might be touched c. The summ of all is this that the promulgation of the Law was accompanied with amazing dread and terror For after Moses by command from God had sanctified the Mount and set Rails about it that neither Priest nor People Man nor Beast might touch the very borders of it lest they dye the Lord descended in fire upon the top of the Mountain the third day in the morning with most terrible tokens of Divine Majesty sc. with Thundrings Lightnings dark clouds and the noise of a Trumpet exceeding loud the Mount was covered with smoak as the smoak of a Furnace and flames mounting up unto the midst of Heaven Crebris micat ignibus ather the whole Mountain shaking and trembling exceedingly out of this horrid Tempest the awful voice of God was heard all the people in the Camp trembling yea and Moses himself quaking for fear This was the manner of the Laws Promulgation but to such a terrible Dispensation as this we are not come which is the negative part of our priviledge Secondly He opens the positive priviledges to which we are come 1 Ye are come saith he to mount Sion not the Earthly but the Spiritual Sion Mount Sion was the place celebrated above all the World for the Worship of God Psal. 87.7 All my springs saith God are in thee There was the Temple the Ark of the Covenant the glory of the Lord dwelling between the Cherubims The Priests that attended the service of God had their residence there as the Angels have in Heaven Thither the Tribes went up from all quarters of Iudea Psal. 84. as the children of God now do to Heaven from all Quarters of the World Iudea was the best Kingdom in the World Ierusalem the best City in that Kingdom and Sion the most glorious place in that City Here Christ taught his heavenly Doctrine near to it he finished his glorious work of Redemption Hence the everlasting Gospel went forth into all the world and on these considerations it s put to signifie the Gospel-Church or State in this place and is therefore called the heavenly Ierusalem in the following words We do not come to the literal Sion nor to the earthly Ierusalem but to the Gospel Church or State which may be called an Heaven upon earth compared with that literal Ierusalem 2 Ye are come to an innumerable company of Angels Gr. to myriads of Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hellenistae dicunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sine alio additamento ad significandam innumeram multitudinem Grot. a myriad is ten thousand
passions and burdens with it never spends one thought more about Food and Raiment Health and Sickness Wives and Children Riches or Poverty but lives henceforth after the manner of Angels Matth. 22.30 It is now unrelated to and therefore unconcerned about all these things 3. In the unbodied state it is perfectly freed from sin both in the Acts and Habits a mercy it never enjoyed since the first moment it dwelt in the Body The cure of this disease was indeed begun in the Work of Sanctification but is not perfected till the day of the Souls glorification 'T is now and not till now a Spirit made perfect that is a Soul enjoying its perfect health and rectitude No more groans tears or lamentations upon the account of in-dwelling sin 4. The way and manner of its converse with and enjoyment of God is changed There are two mediums by which Souls converse with God in the Body viz 1 One internal sc Faith 2 The other external sc. Ordinances 1 If a man walk with God on earth it must be in the use and exercise of Faith 2 Cor. 5.7 nor can there be any communion carried on betwixt God and the Soul without it Heb. 11.6 2 The external mediums are the ordinances of God or duties of Religion both publick and private Psal. 63.2 Betwixt these two mediums of Communion with God this remarkable difference is sound the Soul may see and enjoy God by Faith in the want or absence of Ordinances but there is no seeing or conversing with God in the greatest plenty and purity of Ordinances without Faith Heb. 4.2 But in the same moment the Soul is cut off from union with the Body it is also cut off from both these ways of enjoying God 1 Cor. 13.12 Isai. 38.11 But yet the Soul is no loser nay it is the greatest Gainer by this change The Child is no loser by ceasing to derive its nourishment by the Navel when it comes to receive it by the mouth a more noble way whereby it gets a new pleasure in tasting the variety of all delectable Food Hezekiah bemoaned the loss of Ordinances upon his supposed death-bed saying I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the Land of the living q. d. Now farewel Temple and Ordinances I shall never go any more into his Temple where my Soul hath been so often cheared and refresht with the displays of his grace and goodness I shall never more join with the Assembly of his people on earth And suppose he had not sure he would have lost nothing had he then exchanged the Temple at Ierusalem for the Temple in Heaven and Communion with sinful imperfect Saints on earth for fellowship with Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect By this change we lose no more than he loseth who whilst he stands delightfully contemplating the image of his dearest friend in a glass hath the glass snatcht away by his friend whom he now seeth face to face Upon this change of the mediums of Communion it will follow that the Communion betwixt God and the separate Soul excells all the Communion it ever had with him on Earth in 1 The Clearness in 2 The Sweetness of it in 3 The Constancy 1 Its Visions of God in the state of Separation are more clear distinct and direct than they were on earth Clouds and Shadows are now fled away The Soul now seeth as it is seen and knoweth as it is known its apprehensions of God there differ from those it had here as the crade and confused apprehensions of a Child do from those we have in the manly state 2 They are also more sweet and ravishing As our Visions are so are our Pleasures Perfect Visions produce perfect Pleasures The faculties of the Soul now and never till now lie level to that rule Matth. 22.37 The Visions of God command and call forth all the heart and soul mind and strength into acts of love and delight It was not so here if the Spirit were willing the Flesh was weak but there the clog is off from the foot of the Will 3 More constant fixed and steddy 'T is one of the greatest difficulties in Religion to fix the thoughts and cure the wildness and roveings of the fancy The heart is not steddy with God and hence are its ups and downs heatings and coolings which are things unknown in the perfect state By all which it appears the change by Dissolution is great and marvelous both upon Body and Soul but upon the Soul more especially PROP. IV. The Souls of the Righteous at the instant of their Separation are received by the blessed Angels and by them transferred unto the place of Blessedness THough Angels are by nature a superiour order of Spirits differing from men in Dignity as the Nobles and Barons in the Kingdoms of this World differ from inferiour Subjects yet are they made ministring Spirits i.e. serviceable Creatures in the Kingdom of Providence to the meanest of the Saints Heb. 1.14 and herein the Lord puts a singular honour upon his people in making such excellent Creatures as Angels serviceable to them Luther assigns to them a double office sc. to sing the praises of God on high and to watch over his Saints here below Their Ministry is distinguished into three Branches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Admonition or warning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Protection and defence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for succour help and comfort This last office they perform more especially at the Souls departure Like tender Nurses they keep us whilst we live and bring us home in their arms to our Fathers house when we die They are about our death-beds waiting to receive their precious charge into their arms and bosomes When Lazarus breathed out his Soul the Text saith it was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosome Luke 10.22 And upon this account Tertullian calls them Evocatores animarum the Callers forth of Souls At the Translation of Elijah they appeared in the form of Horses and Chariots of fire 2 Kings 2. 11. Horses and Chariots are not only design'd for conveyance but for conveyance in State and truly it is no small honour to have such a noble Convoy and Guard to attend our Souls to Heaven If it be demanded Object What need is there of their help or company Cannot God by his immediate hand and power gather home the Souls of his people to himself at death He inspired them into our Bodies without their help and can receive them again when we expire them without their aid True Sâ—lâ—t he can do so but it hath pleased him to appoint this method of our Translation not out of meer necessity but bounty Souls ascend not to God in the vertue of the Angels wings or arms but of Christ's Ascension Had not he ascended as our head and representative all the Angels in Heaven could not have brought our Souls thither He ascended by his own power and we
implanted in a weak and imperfect Soul go with it to glory where they exert themselves in a more high and perfect way of acting than ever they did here below The languishing spark of love is there a vehement flame the saint remiss and infrequent delight in God is there at a constant ravishing and transporting height 4 To conclude As all implanted habits of grace ascend with the sanctified Soul to Heaven for the Soul ascends not thither as a natural but as a new Creature so all the effects results and sweet improvements of those Graces which we gathered as the pleasant fruits of them on earth these accompany and follow the Soul into the other World also Their Works follow them Rev. 14.13 They go not before in the notion of merits to make way for them but they follow or accompany them as Evidences and comfortable Experiences I doubt not but the very remembrance of what past betwixt God and the Soul here betwixt the day of its Espousals to Christ and its Divorce from the Body will be one sweet ingredient into their blessedness and joy when they shall be singing in the upper Region the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. They were never given to be lost or left behind us And thus you see with what a rich Cargo the Soul sails to the other World though if it had no other it would never drop Anchor there PROP. VII The Souls of the just when separated from their Bodies do not wander up and down this World nor hover about the Sepulchres where their Bodies lie nor are they detain'd in any Purgatory in order to their more perfect Purification nor do they fall asleep in a benummed stupid State But do forthwith pass into glory and are immediately with the Lord. WHen once the mind of man leaves the Scripture-guidance and direction which is to it what the Compass or Pole-star is to a Ship in the wide Ocean Whither will it not wander In what uncertainties will it not fluctuate And upon what Rocks and Quick-sands must it inevitably be cast Many have been the foolish and groundless Conceits and Fancies of men about the Receptacles of departed Souls 1. Some have assigned them a restless wandering life now here now there without any certain dwelling place any where The only ground for this fancy is the frequent Apparitions of the Ghosts or Spirits of the dead whereof many instances are given and who is there that is a stranger to such Stories Now if departed Souls were fixed any where this World would be quiet and free from such disturbances I make no doubt but very many of these Stories have been the industrious Fictions and Devices of wicked and superstitious Votaries to gain reputation to their way speaking lies in Hypocrisie to draw Disciples after them And many others have been the Tricks and Impostures of Satan himself to shake the credit of the Saints Rest in Heaven and the imprisonment of ungodly Souls in Hell as will more fully appear when I come to speak to that Question more particularly 2. Others think when they are loosed from the Body at death they hover about the Graves and solitary places where their Bodies lie as willing seeing they can dwell no longer in them to abide as near them as they can just as the surviving Turtle keeps near the place where his Mate died and may be heard mourning for a long time about that part of the Wood. This opinion seeks countenance and protection from that law Deut. 18.10 11. which prohibits men to consult with the dead of which restraint there had been no need nor use if it had not been practised and such practices had never been continued if departed Souls had not frequented those places and given answers to their Questions But what I said before of Satans Impostures is enough for present to return to this also Bell. lib. 2. de Purg. cap. 6. 3. The Papists send them immediately to Purgatory in order to their more thorough Purification This Purgatory Bellarmin thus describes It is a certain place wherein as in a Prison Souls are purged after this life that were not fully purged here to the intent they may enter pure into Heaven and though the Church saith he hath not defined the place yet the School-men say it is in the Bowels of the Earth and upon the borders of Hell And to countenance this profitable Fable divers Scriptures are by them abused and misapplied as 1 Cor. 3.15 Matth. 5.25 26. 1 Pet. 3.19 all which have been fully rescued out of their hands and abundantly vindicated by our Divines who have proved God never kindled that fire to purifie Souls but the Pope to warm his own Kitchin 4. Another sort there are who affirm they neither wander about this World nor go into Purgatory but are cast by death into a Swoon or sleep remaining in a kind of benummed condition till the Resurrection of the Body This was the Errour of Beryllus and Irenaeus seems to border too near upon it when he saith The Souls of Disciples shall go to an invisible place appointed for them of God Discipulorum Animae abibunt in invisibilem locum definitam â—is à Deo ibi usqâ—e ad Resurrectionem commorabuntar sustinentes Resurrectionem Post recipientes corpora perfectè resurgentes i. e. corporaliter quemadmodum dominus resurrexit sic venlent ad conspectum Dei Iren. lib. 5. and shall there tarry till the Resurrection waiting for that time and the receiving their Bodies and perfectly i.e. corporally rising again as Christ did they shall come to the sight of God All these mistakes will fall together by one stroak for if it evidently appear as I hope it will that the Spirits of the just are immediately taken to God and do converse with and enjoy him in Heaven Then all these Fancies vanish without any more labour about them particularly Now there are four Considerations which to me put the immediate glorification of the departed Souls of Believers beyond all rational doubt 1 Heaven is as ready and fit to receive them as ever it shall be 2 They are as ready and fit for Heaven as ever they shall be 3 The Scripture is plainly for it And 4 There is nothing in reason against it 1 Heaven is as ready and fit to receive them when they die as ever it shall be Heaven is prepared for Believers 1 By the purpose and Decree of God and so far it was prepar'd from the Foundation of the World Matth. 25.34 2 By the death of Christ whose blood made the purchace of it for Believers and so meritoriously opened the Gates thereof which our sins had barred up against us Heb. 10.19 20. 3 By the Ascension of Christ into that holy place as our Representative and Forerunner Iohn 14.2 This is all that is necessary to be done for the preparation of Heaven and all this is done as much as ever God design'd should be
the separate Soul is out of Gun-shot 'T were as good discharge an Arrow at the body of the Sun as a temptation at a translated Soul Consectary III. Separated Souls are more lovely Companions and their Converses more sweet and delightful than ever they were in this World It was their corruption which spoil'd their Communion on earth and it is their spotless holiness which makes it incomparably pleasant in Heaven The best and loveliest Saints have something in them which is distastful even sweet Bryars and holy Thistles have their offensive Prickles but when that which was so lovely on earth is made perfect in Heaven and nothing of that remains in Heaven which was so offensive in them on earth O what delightful Companions will they be O blessed Society O most desirable Companions let my Soul for ever be united to their assembly I love them under their Corruptions but how shall my Soul be knit to them when it seeth them shining in their Perfections PROP. IX The Pleasures and Delights of the separate Spirits of the just are incomparably greater and sweeter than those they did or at any time could experience in their bodily state WIth what a pleasant face would death smile upon Believers what Roses would it raise in its pale cheeks if this Proposition were but well setled in our hearts by faith And if we will not be wanting to our selves it may be firmly settled there by these four Considerations which demonstrate it Consideration I. Whatsoever Pleasure any man receives in this World he receives it by means of his Soul Even all corporeal and sensitive delights have no other relish and sweetness but what the Soul gives them which is demonstrable by this that if a man be placed amidst all the pleasing Objects and Circumstances in the World if he were in that Centre where he might have the confluence of all the delights of this World yet if the Spirit be wounded there is no more relish or savour in them than in the White of an Egg. What pleasure had Spira in his Liberty Estate Wife and Children These things were indeed proposed and urged again and again to relieve him but instead of pleasure they became his horrour let but the mind be wounded and all the mirth is marr'd one touch from God upon the Spirit destroys all the joy of this World Nay Let but the intention of the mind be strongly carried another way and for that time though there be no guilt or wound upon the Soul the most pleasant enjoyments lose their pleasure What Delight think you would bags of Gold sumptuous Feasts or exquisite melody have afforded to Archimedes when he was wholly intent upon his Mathematical lines By this then it is evident that the rise of all pleasure is in the mind and the most agreeable and pleasing Objects and Enjoyments signifie nothing without it The mind must be found in it self and at leisure to attend them or we can have no pleasure from them Consideration II. Of all Natural Pleasures in the World Intellectual Pleasures are found to be most agreeable and connatural to the Soul of man The more refined and remote from sense any pleasure is the more grateful it is to the Soul those are certainly the sweetest Delights that spring out of the mind A drop of intellectual pleasure is valued by a generous and well tempered soul above the whole Ocean of impure Joys which come to it sophisticated and tang'd through the muddy Channels of sense No sensualists in the World can extract such pleasure out of Gold Silver Meat and Drink as a searching and contemplating mind finds in the discovery of truth * In qua simulac pedem posui foribus pessulum obdo in ipso aeternitatis gremio inter tot illustres animas sedem mihi sumo cum ingenti quidem animo ut sâ—bindè magnaetum misereat qui hanc faelicitatem ignorant Epist. Prin. Heynsius that learned Library-keeper of Leyden professed that when he had shut up himself among so many illustrious Souls he seemed to sit down there as in the very lap of Eternity and heartily pitied the Rich and Covetous Worldlings that were strangers to his Delights †Arcana coeli naturae secreta ordinem universi scire majoris foelicitatis dulcedinis est quam câ—gitatione quis assequi potest aut mortalis sperare And Cardan tells us that to know the secrets of Nature and the order of the Universe hath greater pleasure and sweetness in it than the thoughts of Man can fathom or any Mortal hope for Yea such beauty saith * Talis est Mathematum pulchritudo ut his indignum sit divitiarum phalâ—ras istas bullas puerilia spectacula comparari Plutarch there is in the Study of the Mathematicks that it were unworthy to compare such Baubles and Bubbles as Riches with it Yea saith another †Dulce est extingui Mathematicarum artium studio Leon. Diggs it were a sweet thing to be extingnished in those Studies Iulius Scaliger was so delighted with Poetry that he protested he had rather be the Author of twelve Verses in Lucan than Emperour of Germany And to say truth there is a kind of * Talis suavitas ut cum quis ea degustaverit quasi circeis poculis captus non potest â—nquam ab illis divelli Cardan enchanting sweetness in those intellectual Pleasures and Feasts of the mind such a delight as hardly suffers the mind to be pull'd away from it These Pleasures have a finer edge an higher gust a more agreeable savour to the mind than sensitive ones as approaching much nearer to the nature of the Soul which is spiritual Consideration III. And as Intellectual pleasures do as far exceed all sensitive pleasures as those which are proper to a man do those which we have in common with Beasts So Divine pleasures do again much more surmount Intellectual ones For what compare is there betwixt those joys which surprize a Scholar in the discovery of the Secrets of Nature and those that overwhelm and swallow up the Christian in the discovery of the glorious Mysteries of Redemption by Christ and his own personal interest therein To solve the Phaenomena of Nature is pleasant but to solve all the difficulties about our Title to Christ and his Covenant that is ravishing Archimedes his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have found it was but the frisk or skip of a Boy that rapturous voice of the Spouse My Beloved is mine and I am his These are Entertainments for Angels 1 Pet. 1.12 a short Salvation for the season it is felt and tasted 1 Pet. 1.8 after these delights all others are insipid and dry And yet one step higher Consideration IV. All that divine pleasure which ever the holiest and devoutest Soul enjoyed in the Body is but a Sip or Praelibation â—ompared with those full draughts it hath in the unbodied State Whilst it is embodied it rejoyceth in the
Mic. 5.7 2. No grace is or can be acted here without the clog of a contrary corruption upon its heel Rom. 7.21 When I would do good evil is present with me Every beam of faith is presently darkned by a cloud of unbelief Mark 9.24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief Saepè in libro experientiae legimus quomodo à corde nostro relinquimar nunc est nobisâ—um nunc alibi nunc avoâ—at nunc recurrit in sola lubricitate manens Bern. We often read in the Book of experience saith one what an inconstant fickle thing the heart is in duties Now it is with us by and by it 's fled away and gone we know not where to find it It is constant only in its inconstancy and lubricity There is iniquity in our most holy things which needs pardon Exod. 28.38 Our best duties have enough in them to damn us as well as our worst sins but in that perfect state above grace flows purely out of the Soul as beams do from the Sun or crystal streams from the purest Fountain No impure or imperfect acts proceed from Spirits made perfect 3. Here the graces of the Saints are never or very rarely acted in their highest and most intense degree When they love God most fervently there is some coldness in their love Who comes up to the height of that rule Matt. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy strength When we meditate on God it is not in the depth of our thoughts without some wanderings and extravagancies 't is very hard if not impossible for the Soul to stand long in its full bent to God But in Heaven it doth so and will do so for ever without any relaxation or remission of its fervour Christ among the Saints and Angels in Heaven is as a mighty Load-stone cast in amongst many Needles which leap to him and fix themselves inseparably upon him They all act in glory as the fire doth here to the utmost of their power and ability There is no note lower than Glory to God in the highest 4 The most spiritual Souls on earth who live most with God have and must have their dayly and frequent intermissions The necessities of the Body as well as the defectiveness of their graces require and necessitate it to be so Our hands with Moses will hang down and grow weary Our affections will cool and fall do what we can But as the Spirits of just men made perfect know no remissions in the degree so neither any intermissions in the actings of their grace They shall serve him day and night in his Temple Rev. 7.15 You that would purchase the continuance of your spiritual comforts but for a day with all that you have in this World will there enjoy them at full without any intermitting throughout eternity 5. If the best hearts on earth be at any time more than ordinarily enlarged in spiritual comforts they need presently some humbling providence to hide pride from their eyes Even Paul himself must have a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to buffet him Bernard could never perform any duty with comfortable enlargement but he seemed to hear his own heart whisper thus benè fecisti Bernarde O well done Bernard But in Heaven the highest comforts are injoyed in the deepest humility and the intire glory is ascribed to God without any unworthy defalcations Rev. 4.10 They put not the Crown upon their own heads but Christs they cast down their Crowns and fall down at the feet of him that sitteth upon the Throne 6. All Assemblies for worship in this World are mixed They consist of Regenerate and Unregenerate living and dead Souls this spoils the harmony and allays the comfort of mutual Communion In a Congregation consisting of a 1000 persons Ah! How few comparatively are there that are heartily concerned in the Duty But it is not so above There are ten thousand times ten thousand even thousands of thousands before the Throne loving adoring praising and triumphing together and not a jaring string in all their Harps 7. Here the worship of God is impured mixed and adulterated by the sinful additions and inventions of men This gracious Souls groan under as an heavy burden sighing and praying for Reformation as knowing they can expect no more of Gods presence than there is of his Order and Institution in Worship But above all the Worship is pure the least pin in the heavenly Tabernacle is according to the perfect pattern of the divine Will 8. We have here Duties of divers kinds and natures to perform All our time is not to be spent in loving praising and delighting in God but we must turn our selves also to searching watching and Soul-humbling work Sometimes we are called to get up our hearts to the highest praise and then to humble them to the dust for sin and judgments One while to sing his praises and another while to sigh even to the breaking of our loins but the Spirits of just men made perfect have but one kind of imployment viz praising loving and delighting in God There is no groaning sighing searching or watching-work in that state 9. The most illuminated Believers on Earth have but dark and crude apprehensions of Christs intercession work in Heaven or of the way and manner in which it is there performed by him We know indeed that our High-Priest is for us entred within the vail Heb. 6.20 That he appears in that most holy place for us Heb. 9.24 That he there represents his sufferings for us to God standing before him as a Lamb that had been slain Rev. 5.6 That he offers up our prayers with his incense to God Rev. 8.3 But the immediate intuition of the whole performance by the person of Christ in Heaven the beholding of him in his work there with the smiles and honours the delight and satisfaction of the Father in his Person and Work certainly this must be a far different thing and what must make more deep and suitable impressions upon our hearts than ever the most affecting view of them by Faith at this distance could do 10. In such ravishing sights and joyful ascriptions of glory to him that sâ—tteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore all the separated Spirits of the just are imployed and wholly taken up in Heaven as they come in their several times thither and will be so imploy'd in that Temple-service unto the end of the World when Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father and thenceforth God shall be all in all The illustration and confirmation of this assertion we have in these two or three particulars 1 That all the Spirits of just men from the beginning of the World until Christs ascension into Heaven did enter into Heaven as a place of rest as a City prepared for them of God Heb. 11.16 and did enjoy blessedness and Glory there but yet there seems to
of the state of his Soul and then of the life to come and the manner of its being and living in Heaven in the views of all those things which are now pure Objects of Faith and Hope After a while he perceived his thoughts begin to fix and come closer to these great and astonishing things than was usual and as his mind setled upon them his affections began to rise with answerable liveliness and vigour He therefore whilst he was yet Master of his own thoughts lifted up his heart to God in a short Ejaculation that God would so order it in his Providence that he might meet with no interruption from Company or any other Accident in that Journey which was granted him for in all that days journey he neither met overtook or was overtaken by any Thus going on his way his thoughts began to swell and rise higher and higher like the waters in Ezekiel's Vision till at last they became an overflowing flood Such was the intention of his mind such the ravishing tastes of heavenly Joys and such the full assurance of his interest therein that he utterly lost the sight and sense of this World and all the concerns thereof and for some hours knew no more where he was than if he had been in a deep sleep upon his Bed At last he began to perceive himself very faint and almost choaked with blood which running in abundance from his Nose had discoloured his Cloaths and his Horse from the Shoulder to the Hoof. He found himself almost spent and nature to faint under the pressure of joy unspeakable and unsupportable and at last perceiving a Spring of water in his way he with some difficulty alighted to cleanse and cool his face and hands which were drenched in Blood Tears and Sweat By that Spring he sate down and washed earnestly desiring if it were the pleasure of God that might be his parting place from this World He said Death had the most aimable face in his eye that ever he beheld except the face of Jesus Christ which made it so and that he could not remember though he believed he should die there that he had one thought of his dear Wiâ—e or Children or any other earthly Concernment But having drank of that Spring his Spirits revived the Blood stenched and he mounted his Horse again and on he went in the same frame of Spirit till he had finished a Journey of near thirty Miles and came at Night to his Inn. Where being come he greatly admired how he came thither that his Horse without his direction had brought him thither and that he fell not all that day which past not without several Trances of considerable continuance Being alighted the Inn-keeper came to him with some astonishment being acquainted with him formerly O Sir said he what is the matter with you You look like a dead man Friend replied he I was never better in my life Shew me my Chamber cause my Cloak to be cleansed burn me a little Wine and that is all I desire of you for present Accordingly it was done and a Supper sent up which he could not touch but requested of the people they would not trouble or disturb him for that Night All this Night passed without one wink of sleep though he never had a sweeter Nights rest in all his life Still still the joy of the Lord overflowed him and he seemed to be an Inhabitant of the other World The next Morning being come he was early on Horse-back again fearing the Divertisements in the Inn might bereave him of his joy for he said it was now with him as with a man that carries a rich treasure about him who suspects every Passenger to be a Thief but within a few hours he was sensible of the ebbing of the Tyde and before Night though there was an heavenly serenity and sweet peace upon his Spirit which continued long with him yet the Transports of joy were over and the fine edge of his delight blunted He many years after called that day one of the days of Heaven and professed he understood more of the life of Heaven by it than by all the Books he ever read or Discourses he ever entertained about it This was indeed an extraordinary foretast of Heaven for degree but it came in the ordinary way and method of Faith and Meditation 2. There are also immediate Illapses of Heavenly joy into the hearts of Believers at some times of which we may speak as the Prophet doth of the Dew and Rain that it tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the Sons of men a surprizing light and joy like that Cant. 6.12 Or ever I was aware my soul made me like the Chariots of Aminadab There is a witness of the Spirit distinct from that of Water and Blood 1 Iohn 5.8 that is a witness or sealing which comes not in an Argumentative way by reasoning from either justification or sanctification But seems to come immediately from the Spirit I know both sorts of Testimones how clear and sweet soever they are for the present are liable afterwards to be call'd into question but certainly during the abode of them upon the Soul they are no less than a short Salvation a real participation of the joy of the Lord. And that which makes them so ravishing and transporting is 1 The infinite weight with which the concerns of Eternity lie upon the hearts and thoughts of the People of God nothing lies so near to their Spirits in all the World as the Matters of Salvation do and have still done ever since God throughly awakened them in their first effectual Conviction Nec calor nec sanguis nec sensus nec vox superesset Ep. ad Melanct. 'T is said of Luther there was such a strong impression of God upon his Spirit in his first Conviction that there was neither Heat nor Blood nor Sense nor Speech discernable in him though it rise to that height but in few yet it settles in a deep serious and most solemn sense and Solicitude in all This heightens the Joy 2 The restlessness of the Soul whilst Matters of Salvation hang in a dubious sense must needs proportionably overflow it with joy when God shall clear it It was the Saying of one and is the sense of many more I have born said she seven Children and they have all cost me dear yet could I be well content to bear them all over again for one glimpse of the Love of God to my Soul This heightens the joy above expression And now having explained the substance of the Doctrine in these twelve Propositions it remains that as a Mantissa or Cast upon the whole I farther clear what belongs to this Subject in the Solution of several Queries about the Soul in its unbodied and separate state and though the Nature of some of these Queries may seem too curious yet I shall labour to speak according to the rules of Sobriety and contain my self within
his eyes upon the plaisterd wall within side the bed and whilst he was vehemently begging of God the life of his Friends there appeared upon the plaister of the wall before him the Sun and the Moon shining in their full strength The sight at first amaz'd and discomposed him so far that he could not continue his Prayer but kept his eye fixed upon the body of the Sun at last a small line or ring of black no bigger than that of a Text pen circled the Sun which increasing sensibly eclipsed in a little time the whole Body of it and turned it into a blackish colour which done the figure of the Sun was immediately changed into a perfect Death's head and after a little while vanished quite away The Moon still continued shining as before but whilst he intently beheld it it also darkned in like manner and turned also into another Death's head and vanished This made so great an impression upon the beholder's mind that he immediately awaked in confusion and perplexity of thoughts about his dream and awakning his wife related the particulars to her with much emotion and concernment but how to apply it he could not presently tell only he was satisfied that the dream was of an extraordinary nature At last Ioseph's dream came to his thoughts with the like Emblems and their interpretation which fully satisfied him that God had warned and prepared him thereby for a suddain parting with his dear Relations which answerably fell out in the same order his Father dying that day fortnight following and his Mother just a month afterwards I know there is much vanity in dreams and yet I am fully satisfied some are weighty significant and declarative of the purposes of God 3. Lastly An unusual and extraordinary elevation of the Soul to God and enlargement in Communion with him hath been a signifying forerunner of the death of some good men For as the Body hath its levamen anteferale lightning before death and is more vegete and brisk a little before its dissolution so it is sometimes with the Soul also I have known some persons to arrive on a suddain to such heights of love to God and vehement longings to be dissolved that they might be with Christ that I could not but look upon it as Christ did upon the box of Oyntment as done against their death And so indeed it hath proved in the event Thus it was with that renowned Saint Mr. Brewen of Stapleford as he excelled others in the holiness of his life so he much excelled himself towards his death his motions towards Heaven being then most vigorous and quick The day before his last sickness he had such extraordinary enlargements of heart in his Closet-Duty that he seemed to forget all the concernments of his Body and this lower World And when his wife told him Sir I fear you have done your self hurt with rising so early he answered If you had seen such glorious things as I saw this morning in private prayer with God you would not have said so for they were so wonderful and unspeakable that whether I was in the Body or out of the Body with Paul I cannot tell And so it was with learned and holy Mr. Rivet who seemed as a man in Heaven just before he went thither And so if hath been with thousands beside these I confess it is not the lot of every gracious Soul as was shew'd you in the last Question nor doth it make any difference as to the safety of the Soul whatever it makes as to comfort Let all therefore labour to make sure their Union with Christ and live in the daily exercises of grace in the duties of Religion and then though God should give them no such extraordinary warnings one way or another they shall never be surprized by death to their loss let it come never so unexpectedly upon them Quest. It may be also queried whether Satan by his Instruments may not foretel the death of some men How else did the Witch of Ender foretel the death of Saul And the Southsayers the death of Caesar upon the Ides i. e. the fifteenth day of March which was the fatal day to him Sol. Foreknowledg of things to come which appear not in their next causes is certainly the Lords Prerogative Isai. 41.23 Whatever therefore Satan doth in this matter must be done either by conjecture or commission As to the case of Saul 't is not to be questioned but that he knowing the Kingdom was made to David by promise and that the Lord was departed from Saul and saw how near the Armies were to a Battel might strongly conjecture and conclude and accordingly tell him To morrow thou shalt be with me 1 Sam. 28.19 And so for the death of Caesar The Devil knew the conspiracy was strong against him and the Plot laid for that day and so it was both easie for him to reveal it to the South-sayers and his interest to do it thereby to bring that cursed Art into reputation As for other signs and forewarnings of death by the unusual resort of doleful Creatures as Owls and Ravens vulgarly accounted Ominous Wall-watches upon this account called Death-watches and the eating of wearing-apparel by Rats I look upon them generally as supertitious fancies not worthy to be regarded among Christians God may but I know not what ground we have to believe that he doth commissionate such Creatures to bring us the message of death from him To conclude therefore Let no man expect or depend upon any such extraordinary premonitions and warnings of his change or neglect his daily work and duty of preparation for it We have warnings in the Word in the examples of Mortality frequently before us in all the diseases and decays we often feel in our own Bodies and by the signs of the times which threaten death and desolation Be ye therefore always ready for ye know not in what watch of the night your Lord cometh QUEST IV. Whether separated Souls have any knowledg of or commerce and intercourse with men in this life and if not What is to be thought of the Apparitions of the Dead 1. By separated Souls understand the departed Souls both of the Godly and Ungodly indifferently and not as it is restrained to one sort only in the Text for of both it is pretended there are frequent Apparitions after death 2. By the knowledge such Souls are supposed to have after death both of persons and things in this lower World we understand not a general knowledg which one fort of them have of the state and condition of the Church militant on earth for this we think cannot be denyed to the Spirits of the just made perfect seeing they are still fellow Members with us of the same mystical body of Christ and do behold our High-Priest appearing before God and offering up our prayers for us and long for the consummation of the Body of Christ as well as cry for vengeance
Dinner though an handsom Treat was provided these words were sounding in his ears frequently during the remainder of his life he was never shy or scrupulous to relate it to any that asked him concerning it nor ever mentioned it but with horrour and trepidation they were both men of a brisk humour and jolly Conversation of very quick and keen parts having been both Vniversity and Inns-of-Court Gentlemen The Apparition of the Ghost of Sir George Villiers Father of the Duke of Buckingham giving three solemn warnings by three several Apparitions to his Servant Mr. Parker is a known and credible Story But I will wade no farther into Particulars they are almost innumerable let these suffice for a taste 2 In the next place therefore I will lay down some Concessions about this matter and the First Concession is this That the separated Souls or Spirits of men are capable of performing and executing any Ministry or Service for God if he should please to commissionate them so to do as well as Angels are whom we know he frequently imploys about the persons and affairs of his people on earth Though they become not Angels by their separation as Maximus Tyrius calls them but remain Spirits specifically distinct from them yet are they Spiritual Substances as the Angels are This their nature capacitates them either to live and act out of the Body or to assume as Angels do an aerial Body for the time of their Ministry nor do I know any thing in Scipture or Philosophy repugnant hereunto Concession 2. It cannot be doubted but upon some special and extraordinary reasons and occasions some departed Souls have returned to and appeared in this World by order and commission from God This is too manifest to be doubted by any that understands and believes the instances recorded in Scripture Moses and Elias long after their departure appeared to and talked with Christ upon the holy Mount in the presence of some of his Apostles Matth. 17.3 nor is there any reason to question the reality of their Apparition or to think it to be no more than a Phantasm Non enim conveniâ—bat ut veritas mendacio vel imaginariis testibus probaretur Maldon Capellus in loc or imaginary resemblance of these persons but very Moses and Elias themselves For they came to be Witnesses to Christs Prophetical office and it was not fit so great a point should be attested by imaginary Witnesses or that they should be called Moses and Elias if they were not the very same persons 'T is therefore most likely they both appeared in their own Bodies Credibilius est verè corporibus suis apparnisse Parcus in loc for Moses's Body we know was hidden by the Lord aud Elias his Body immediately translated with his Soul to Heaven when therefore the Lord would send them upon this solemn errand the Soul of Moses probably re-assumed that Body which was never found by man and Elias was already embodied and fit immediately for this Expedition In like manner we read Matth. 27.52 53. that at the Resurrection of our Lord many Bodies of the Saints arose and appeared unto many these were no Phantasms but the very Souls of the departed Saints returned having re-assumed their own Bodies unto this World not only to confirm the truth of Christs Resurrection and adorn that great day But as a Specimen or handsel of the Resurrection of all the Saints in the vertue of his Resurrection at the great Day Nor will I deny but upon some lesser though never without weighty and solemn occasions and reasons God may sometimes send the Souls of the dead back again into this World as in the cases before recited to evidence against the Atheism of men c. Augustine relates a memorable example which fell out at Millan Aug. in lib. de cura promortuis agenda where a certain Citizen being dead there came a Creditor to whom he had been indebted and unjustly demanded the money of his Son The Son knew the Debt was satisfied by his Father but having no Acquittance to shew his Father appeared to him in his sleep and shew'd him where the Acquittance lay whether it were the very Soul of his Father or rather an Angel as Augustine thinks is not certain though the one as well as the other be possible But though rarely and upon some weighty and solemn occasions some Souls have returned and appeared yet I judge this is not frequently done upon slight and ordinary errands and therefore to give you my own thoughts I judge 3 That those Apparitions which seem to be and are generally reputed and taken for the Souls of the Dead are not indeed so but other Spirits putting on the shapes and resemblances of the Dead and for the most part tricks of the Devil to delude or disquiet men Religio Med. Sect. 37. p. 82. In this I think the learned Dr. Brown delivered his judgment more solidly and orthodoxly than in some other points when he saith I believe that the whole frame of a Beast doth perish and is left in the same State after death as before it was martialled into life That the Souls of men know neither contrary nor corruption that they subsist beyond the body and continue by the priviledge of their proper nature and without a Miracle that the Souls of the faithful as they leave earth take possession of Heaven That those Apparitions and Ghosts of departed persons are not the wandering Souls of men but the unquiet Walks of Devils prompting and suggesting us unto mischief blood and Villany And with this Opinion I concur as to the ordinary and common Apparitions of the dead and my Reasons are 1 Because the Scriptures every where describe the state of departed Souls as a fixed state either in Heaven or in Hell and assigns the good or evil done in this World by Spirits not to the departed Spirits of men but to Angels or Devils and it is our duty to regulate our Conceits by Scripture and not according to the vain Philosophy of the Heathens or the Superstitious Traditions and Opinions of Men. As for the Souls of the godly they are at rest with Christ Rev. 14.13 Isai. 57.2 and as fixed as pillars in the house of God Rev. 3.12 And for the wicked their Spirits are confin'd and secured in Hell as in a Prison 1 Pet. 3.19 there is a fixed Gulph betwixt them and the living Luke 16.27 28 29 30 31. What good offices are to be done by Spirits for us the Angels are Gods Commission-Officers to do them Hebr. 1.14 They are all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation these are the Spirits sent forth to walk to and fro through the earth Zech. 1.10 their Ministry was emblematically represented in Iacob's Vision where they were seen ascending and descending as upon a Ladder betwixt Heaven and Earth Gen. 28.12 Yea their very name Angel is a name of office
very Birds and Beasts are by nature enabled to signifie to each other their Inclinations and that the Spirits of just men which are the best of all humane Spirits and that when made perfect too which is the best and highest state attainable by them should have none but live at a greater disadvantage in this respect than they did or the very Birds and Beasts in this World do The summ of my thoughts about this matter I will lay down in the following Sections §. 1. The state of Heaven as was at large open'd in our eleventh Proposition being an Association of Angels and blessed Souls for the glorifying and praising of God in his Temple there and this Worship being carried on by joint consent as appears by their joint ascriptions of Glory to God Rev. 7.9 10 11 12 they must of necessity for the orderly carrying on of this heavenly Worship understand each others mind and communicate their thoughts for without this 't is not imaginable how a joint or common service in which thousands of thousands are imployed can be decorously and orderly managed except we conceive of them as so many Machines or wind-instruments that are managed by an intelligent Agent though themselves be senseless and meerly passive certainly their consent is a different thing from that of the Keys of an Harpsicord or strings of a Lute they are Intelligent Beings who understand their own and each others mind and beside without this ability that Society in Heaven would be less comfortable as to mutual refreshing fellowship than the Society of the Saints is here So that it is not to be doubted but these Noble and Excellent Spirits can and do Communicate their thoughts to each other and that in a most excellent way §. 2. But yet we cannot imagine these Communications betwixt them to be by words formed by such instruments and Organs of Speech as we now use for they are bodiless Beings words and articulate sounds are fitted to the use and service of embodied Spirits It is therefore probable that they conveigh and communicate their minds to one another as the blessed Angels do Ceâ—â—tat Angelos linguas non habâ—â—e est autem in 〈◊〉 aliqâ—â—d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 linguis per quod conceâ—tas sibi muâ—â— tradunt Lights not with Tongues of flesh though we read of the Tongues of Angels 1 Cor. 13.1 but in a way somewhat analogous to this though much more noble and excellent For look as the Scripture stiles the most excellent food Angels food so the most excellent Speech or most eloquent Tongues Angels Tongues The purest Rhetorick that ever flowed from the lips of the most charming Orator is but babling to the Language of Angels or of Spirits made perfect When Paul was rapt into the third Heaven where he was admitted to the sight and hearing of this blessed Assembly it 's said he heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words unspeakable Spiritual Language such as his Tongue neither could or ought to utter such as none but heavenly Inhabitants can speak and Dan. 8.13 I heard saith Daniel one Saint speaking and another Saint said unto that certain Saint that spake c. He heard the enquiries of the Angels desiring to know the Mystery from the Mouth of Christ. A Language they have but not like ours §. 3. The Communications of Angels and Souls in Heaven is therefore conceived to be an ability in those blessed Spirits silently and without sound to instil and insinuate their minds and thoughts to each other by a meer act of their Wills just as we now speak to God or our selves in our hearts Dicimur nobis ipsis in animo loqui cum aliquid actu cogitamus animo volvimus cogitamus autem actu ex voluntatis imperio hoc est cum volumus Zanch. when our lips do not move or the least outward sign appears There are two ways by which the Souls of men speak one outwardly by the Instruments of Speech or sensible signs the other inwardly without sound or sign This inward silent Speech is nothing else but an act of the Will calling forth such things into our actual Thoughts and Meditations which before lay hid and quiet in the Memory or habit of knowledge These thoughts or actual revolvings of things in the mind is in Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Word or Speech in the heart Deut. 15.9 Take heed to thy self that there be not a wicked word in thy heart we translate a wicked thought thoughts are the words and voice of the Soul and so Matth. 9.3 they spake within themselves i.e. their Souls spake though their lips moved not all Meditation is an inward Speech in the Soul and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indifferently signifies both to speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum puncto sinistro locutus est oâ—e aut corde cogitavit meditatus est and to meditate The Objects which we revolve in our thoughts are so many Companions with whom we converse and thus a man like Heinsius may be in the midst of abundance of excellent Company when he is all alone And this is silent talk to our selves without any sound or noise Object But you will say though the Spirit of a man can thus talk to or with it self Duo sunt oâ—lia aliorum respectu quorum nisi utrumque à te referetur fieri non potest ut que tu habes in intellecta corde tuo oâ—culta â—a alius habere cognosâ—ere queat urum ex parte animi est voluntas nisi enim quae occulâ—a latent in corde tuo ea vilis aliis patefieri quis ea percipiatâ— alterum est ipsum corpus carniâ—m ac proindè licèt quasi aperto priori interiorique ostio velis que in animo volvis alicui patefacere nisi tamen hoc etiam alterum externum reâ—eres nullo modo ab aliis hominibus cognosci poterunt Zâ—nch de operibus Dei lib. 3. cap. 19. yet this can signifie nothing to others For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man that is in him 1 Cor. 2.11 It is not therefore enough to open this internal door of the Will for except we open also the external door of the lips no man can know our minds or be admitted into the secrets of our Souls should we never so earnestly desire that another should know our mind except we please also to discover it by word or sign he cannot know it and therefore an act of the Will is not sufficient without some external signification superadded And these Souls being bodiless can give no such outward signification There is indeed a necessity among men in this World to unlock another door beside that of their Will Sol. to communicate the Secrets of their hearts to others Quoniam igitur Angeli iis carent crassis corporibus idcirco nihil impedit quo minus qâ—â— unus Angelus in sua versat mente
thus lamented it self Wo is me that I dwell in Mesheck It inclosed their Souls within it's mud walls which intercepted the light and joy of God's face Death therefore did a most friendly office when it set it at liberty and brought it forth into its own pure and pleasant light and liberty These blessed Spirits now rejoyce as Prisoners do in their recovered liberty and can it be supposed after all these sufferings groans and sighs to be dissolved they can be willing to be embodied again Surely there is as little reason for Souls at liberty to desire to be again embodied as there is for a Bird got out of the Snare or Cage to flie back again to its place of confinement and restraint Yea when we consider how loth some holy Souls when under the excruciating pains of sickness and as yet in the sight of this alluring World have been to â—ear of a return to it by the recovery of their health we cannot think but being quite out of the sight of this and in the fruitions of the other World the thoughts of the Body must needs be more loathsome to them than ever We read that when a good man in time of his sickness was told by his friends that some hopeful signs of his recovery began now to appear he answered And must I then return to this Body I was as a sheep driven out of the Storm almost to the Fold and then driven back into the storm again Or as a weary Traveller near his home who must go back again to fetch something he had neglected or as an Apprentice whose time was almost out and then must begin a new Term. Of some others it hath been also noted that the greatest infirmities they discovered upon their death-bed have been their too passionate desires to be dissolved and their unsubmissiveness to Gods will in their longer stay in the Body Now the Bodies of the Saints being so cheerfully forsaken and that only upon a foretaste of Heaven by Faith how can it be thought they should find any inclination to a re-union when they are so abundantly satisfied with the joys of his face in Heaven Certainly the Body hath been no such pleasant habitation to the Soul that it should cast an eye or thought that way when it is once delivered out of it If it were burdensome here a thought of it would be loathsome there 2. We have shew'd before that the separate Soul wants not the help of the Body but lives and acts at a more free and comfortable rate than ever before 'T is true it is not now delighted with meat and drink with smells and sounds as it was wont to be but then it must be considered that it is happiness and perfection not to need them It is now become equal to the Angels in the way and manner of its living and what it enjoyed by the ministry of the Body it eminently and more perfectly injoys without it What perfections can the Soul receive from matter Anima rationalis nihil perfectionis recipit à materia quod extra ilâ—am non posset recipeâ—â— ergo cum sepâ—rata fuerit in ilâ—am propensa non dicetur Conimbr What can a lump of flesh add to a Spirit And if it can add nothing to it there is no reason why it should hanker after it and incline to a re-union with it It added nothing of happiness to it but much of trouble and therefore becomes justly undesireable to it 3. The supposition of such a propension and inclination seems no way to suit with that state of perfect rest which the Souls of the just enjoy in Heaven The Scriptures tell us that at death they enter into rest Isa. 57.2 Heb. 4.9 That they rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 But that which inclines and desires especially when the desired enjoyment as in this case is suspended so long must be as far from Rest as it is from satisfaction in the enjoyment of the thing desired We know what Solomon hath observed of such a life and his observation is experimentally true that hope defer'd makes the heart sick Prov. 13.12 Who finds not his own desires a very rack to him in such cases If we be kept but a few days in earnest expectation and desire of an absent Friend and he comes not what an uneasie life do we live But here we must suppose some have such an unsatisfied life for hundreds and others for thousands of years already and how much longer they may remain so who can tell We use to say lovers hours are full of Eternity These reasons seem to carry it for the Negative But if the matter be weighed once more with the following reasons in the counter scale and prejudice do not pull down the balance we shall find the contrary conclusion much more strong and rational For Argument I. THE Soul and Body are the two essential constitutive parts of Man either of these being wanting the Man is not compleat and perfect The good of the whole is the good of the parts themselves and every thing hath a natural desire and appetite to its own good and perfection Anima separata ad unionem corporis propeâ—sa est nam illa vult totius compositi actualem constitutionem cum propter hanc tanquam finem illa sit in entium latitudine inveniatur Atque haec est illa perfectio quam anima obtinet ex illo appetitu nam bonum totius compositi est bonum ipsarum partium Affirmandum itaque est animan separatam naturaliter desiderare resurrectionem Alstedii Nat Theol. pars prima p. 214 215. 'T is confessed the Soul for as much as concerns it self singly is made perfect and enjoys blessedness in the absence of the Body but this is only the perfection and blessedness of one part of man the other part viz the Body lies in obscurity and corruption and till both be blessed and blessed together in a state of composition and re-union the whole man is not made perfect For this therefore the Soul must wait Argument II. THough death hath dissolv'd the Union yet it hath not destroyed the relation betwixt the Soul and Body that dust is more to it than all the dust of the whole earth Hence it is that the whole person of a Believer is sometimes denominated from that part of him namely his Body which remains captivated by death in the grave Hence 2 Thes. 4.15 dead believers are called those that sleep which must needs properly respect the Body for the Soul sleeps not and shews what a firm and dear relation still remains betwixt these absent Friends Now we all know the mighty power of relation if it be least among entities yet surely it is one of the greatest things in the World in efficacy It is difficult to bear the absence of our dear Relatives especially if we be in prosperity and they in adversity As the case here is betwixt the Spirit in Heaven
and it's Body in the Grave This associated with Angels that prey'd upon by Worms Ioseph's case is the liveliest Embleme that occurs to my present thoughts to illustrate the point in hand He was advanced to be Lord over all Aegypt living in the greatest pomp and splendor there Gen. 43.29 30 31. but his Father and Brethren were at the same time ready to perish in the land of Canaan He had been many years separated from them but neither the length of time nor honours of the Court could alienate his affections from them O see the mighty power of Relation No sooner doth he see his Brethren and understand their case and the pining condition of Iacob his Father but his bowels yearned and his compassions rolled together for them Yea he could not forbear nor stifle his own affections though he knew how injurious his Brethren had been to him and betrayed him as the Body hath the Soul Yet all this notwithstanding he breaks forth into tears and outcries over them which made the house ring again with the news that Ioseph's brethren were come Nor could he be at rest in the lap of honour and plenty until he had gotten home his dear and ancient Relations to him Thus stands the case betwixt Soul and Body Argument III. THE regret reluctancy and sorrows expressed by the Soul at parting do strongly argue its inclination to a re-union with it when it is actually separated from it For why should we surmise that the Soul which mourn'd and groan'd so deeply at parting which clasp'd and embraced it so dearly and affectionately which fought strugled and disputed the passage with death every foot and inch of ground it got and would not part with the Body till by plain force it was rent out of its arms should not when absent desire to see and enjoy its old and endeared friend again Hath it lost its affection though it continue its relation that 's very improbable Or doth its advancement in Heaven make it regardless of its Body which lies in contempt and misery that 's an effect which Christs personal glory never produced in him towards us nor a good mans perferment would produce in him to his poor and miserable friends in this World as we see in the case of Ioseph but now instanced in It is therefore harsh and incongruous to suppose the Souls love to the Body was extinguished in the parting hour and that now out of sight out of mind Object But was it not urged before in opposition to this assertion that the Souls of the righteous looked upon their Bodies as their Prisons and sighed for deliverance by death and greatly rejoiced in the hope and foresight of that liberty death would restore them to How doth this consist with such reluctancies at parting and inclinations to re-union Sol. The objection doth not suppose any man to be totally free from all reluctancies and unwillingness to die The holiest Souls that ever lived in Bodies of flesh will give an unwilling shrug when it comes to the parting point 2 Cor. 5.2 But this their willingness to be gone arises from two other grounds which make iâ— consistent enough with its reluctancies at parting and inclination to a second meeting 1 This willingness to die doth not suppose the Souls love to the Body to be utterly extinguished but mastered and overpowered by another and stronger love There is in every Christian a double love one natural to the Body and the things below the other supernatural to Christ and the things above the latter doth not extinguish though it conquer and subdue the other Love to the Body pulls backward love to Christ pulls forward and finally prevails This is so consistent with it that it supposes natural reluctation and unwillingness to part 2 The willingness of Gods people to be dissolved must not be understood absolutely but comparatively In that sense the Apostle will be understood 2 Cor. 5.8 We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and present with the Lord. i. e. Rather than to live always a life of sin sorrow and absence from God Death is not desireable in and for it self but only as it is the Souls outlet from sin and its inlet to God So that the very best desire it but comparatively and it is but few who find the love of this animal life subacted and overpowered by high raised acts of faith and love The generality even of good Souls feel strong renitencies and suffer sharp conflicts at their dissolution All which discovers with what lothness and unwillingness the Soul unclasps its arms to let go its Body Now as Divines argue the frame of Christs heart in Heaven toward his people on earth from all those endearing passages and demonstrations of love he gave them at parting so we here argue the continued love and inclination of the Soul to its Body after it is in Heaven from the manifold demonstrations it gave of its affection to it in this World especially in the parting hour No considerations in all the World less than the more full fruition of God and freedom from sin could possibly have prevailed with it to quit the Body though but for a time and leave it in the dust Which is our third Argument Argument IV. AND as the dolorous parting hour evidenceth it so doth the joy with which it receives it again at the Resurrection If it part from it so heavily and meet it again with joy unspeakable sure then it still retained much love for it and desires to be re-espoused to it in the interval Now that its meeting in the Resurrection is a day of joy to the Soul is evident because it is called the time of refreshment Acts 3.19 And they awake with singing out of the dust Isai. 26.19 If the direct and immediate scope of the Prophet point not as some think it doth at the Resurrection yet it is allowed by all to be a very lively allusion to it which is sufficient for my purpose And indeed none that understands and believes the design and business of that day can possibly doubt but there was reason enough to call it a time of refreshment a singing morning for the Souls of the righteous come from Heaven with Christ and the whole host of shouting Angels not to be speclators only but the subjects of that days triumph They come to re-assume and be re-espoused to their own Bodies this being the appointed time for God to vindicate and rescue them from the tyrannical power of the Grave to endow them with spiritual qualities at their second marriage to their Souls that in both parts they may be compleatly happy O the joyful claspings and dear embraces betwixt them who but themselves can understand And by the way this removes the objection forementioned of the miseries and prejudices the Soul suffered in this world in and from the Body For now it receives it a spiritual Body i.e. so
were in the World and if it should be ours also we should not be much startled at it considering these Bodies of ours must be shortly pent up in a straiter darker and more loathsome place of confinement than any prison in this World can be The grave is a darker place Iob 17.13 And your abode there will be longer Eccles. 11.8 These and all other our outward enjoyments are separable things and its good thus to alleviate our loss of them Inference VI. HOw Heavenly should the tempers and frawles of those Souls be who are Candidates for Heaven and must be so shortly numbred with the Spirits of just men made perfect 'T is reasonable that we all begin to be that which we expect to be for ever To learn that way of living and conversing which we believe must be our everlasting life and business in the World to come Let them that hope to live with Angels in Heaven learn to live like Angels on Earth in Holiness Activity and ready obedience There is the greatest reason that our minds be there where our Souls are to be for ever A spiritual mind will be found possible congruous sweet and evidential of our interest in that glory to all those holy Souls who are preparing and designed for it First it is possible notwithstanding the clogs and entanglements of the Body to be heavenly minded Others have attained it Philip. 3.20 Two things make an heavenly conversation possible to men viz. 1. The natural abilities of the Mind 2. The gracious principles of the Mind 1. The natural abilities of the mind which can in a minutes time dispatch a nimble messenger to Heaven and mount its thoughts from this to that World in a trice The power of cogitation is a rich endowment of the Soul such as no other creature on earth is participant of Though spiritual thoughts be not the natural growth of the Soul yet thoughts capable of being spiritualized are And without this ability of projecting thoughts all intercourse must have been cut off 2. The gracious principles implanted in the Soul do actually incline the mind and mount its thoughts heaven-ward Yea this will prove more than a possibility of a conversation in Heaven whilst Saints tabernacle on earth in Bodies of flesh it will almost prove an impossibility that it should be otherwise For these spiritual principles setting the bent and tendency of the heart heaven-ward we must act against the very law of our new Nature when we place our affections elsewhere Secondly A mind in heaven is most congruous decorous and comely for those that are the enrolled inhabitants of that heavenly City Where should a Christians love be but where his Lord is Our hearts and our homes do not use to be long asunder It becomes you so to think and so to speak now as those who make account to be shortly singing Allelujahs before the throne Thirdly 'T is most sweet and delightful no pleasure in all this World comparable to this pleasure Rom. 8.6 To be spiritually minded is life and peace 'T is a young Heaven born in the Soul in its way thither Fourthly To conclude It is evidential of your interest in it an agreable frame is the surest title Col. 3.1 2. Matth 6.21 If Heaven attract your minds now it will centre them for ever USE II. THis Doctrine of the separation of the Spirits of the Just from their Bodies as it lyes before you in this Discourse affords a singular help to all the people of God to entertain lovely and pleasant thoughts of that day to make death not only an unregretted but a most pleasant and desirable thing to their Souls I know there is a pure simple natural fear of death from which you must not expect to be perfectly freed by all the Arguments in the World And there is a reverential awful fear of death which it would be your prejudice and loss to have destroyed You will have a natural and ought to have a reverential fear of death the one flows from your sensitive the other from your sanctified nature But it is a third sort of fear which doth you all the mischief a fear springing in gracious Souls out of the weakness of their Graces and the strength of their unmortified affections A fear arising partly out of the darkness of our minds and partly out of the sensuality and earthlyness of our hearts this fear is that which so convulseth our Souls when death is near and imbitters our lives even whilst it is at a distance He that hath been over-heated in his affections to this World and over-cooled by diversions and temptations neglects and intermissions to that World cannot chuse but give an unwilling shrug if not a frightful screech at the appearance of death And this being the sad case of too many good and upright Souls for the main and there being so few even amongst serious Christians that have attained to that courage and complacence in the thoughts of death which the Apostle speaks of 2 Cor. 5.8 to be both confident and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord I will from this discourse furnish them with some special assistance therein But withal I must tell you upon what great disadvantages I am here to dispute with your fears so strong is the current of natural and vicious fear that except a special hand of God back and set on the Arguments that shall be urged they will be as easily swept away before it as so many Straws by a rapid Torrent nor will it be to any more purpose to oppose my breath to them than to the Tides and Waves of the Sea Moreover I am fully convinced by long and often experience how unsteady and inconstant the frames and tempers of the best hearts are and that if it be not full home yet it is next to an impossibility to fix them in such a temper as this I aim at is Where is that man to be found who after the revolutions of many years and in those years various dispensations of providence without him altering his condition and greater variety of temptations within can yet say notwithstanding all these various aspects and positions his heart hath still held one steddy and invariable tenour and course Alas there be very few if any of such sound and Athletick temper of mind whose pulse beats with an even stroke through all inequalities of condition alike free and willing at one time as another to be uncloathed of the Body and to be with Christ. This heighth of faith and depth of mortification this strength of love to Christ and ardour of holy desire are degrees of grace to which very few attain The case standing thus it is no more than needs to urge all sorts of Arguments upon our timorous and unsteady hearts and it 's like to prove an hard and difficult task to bring the heart but to a quiet and unregretting submission to the appointment
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 befâ—â—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 â—â—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
themselves first into a deep guilt by compliance with Antichrist and receiving his mark then into an Hell upon Earth the remorse and horrour of their own consciences which gives them no rest day nor night he immediately subjoyns v. 13. Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord yea from henceforth saith the spirit c. Oh 't is a special blessing and favour to be hid out of the way of those temptations and torments in a seasonable and quiet grave Argument IX YOur fixed aversation and unwillingness to die will provoke God to imbitter your lives with much more affliction than you have yet felt or would feel if your hearts were more mortified and weaned in this point You cannot think of your own deaths with pleasure no nor yet with patience Well take heed lest this draw down such troubles upon you as shall make you at last to say with Iob chap. 10. v. 1. My Soul is weary of my life An expression much like that 2 Sam. 1.9 Anguish is come upon me because my life is whole in me My Soul is hardened or become cruel against my life as the Chaldee renders it There is a twofold weariness of life one from an excellency of spirit a noble principle the ardent love of Jesus Christ Phil. 1.23 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Another from the meer pressures of affliction and anguish of Spirit under heavy and successive stroaks from the hand of God and men Is it not more excellent and desireable to groan for death under a pressure of love to Christ than of afflictions from Christ I am convinced that very many of our afflictions come upon this score and account to make us willing to dye Is it not sad that God is forced to bring death upon all our comfortable and desireable things in this World before he can gain our consents to be gone Why will you put God upon such work as this Why cannot he have your hearts at a cheaper rate If you could dye many of your comforts for ought I know might live Had Iacob come to Absalom when he sent for him the first or second time Absalom had never set his field of Barly on fire 2 Sam. 14.30 And if we were more obedient to the will of God in this matter 't is likely he would not consume your health and Estates and Relations with such heavy strâ—â—ks as he hath done and will yet farther do except your wills be more compliant Alas To cut off your comforts one after another and make you live a groaning life the Lord hath no pleasure in it but rather he had you should lose these things than that he should lose your hearts on Earth or company in Heaven Impatiens aegrotus crudelem facit Medicum Argument X. THe decree of death cannot be reversed nor is there any other ordinary passage for the Soul into Glory but through the gates of death Heb. 9.27 It is appointed for all men once to die but after that the Iudgment There is but one way to pass out of the obscure suffocating life in the Womb into the more free and nobler life in the World viz. through the Throes and Agonies of Birth And there is ordinarily but one way to pass from this sinning groaning life we live in this World to the enjoyment of God and the Glory above but through the Agonies of death You must cast as it were your Secundine once again I mean this vile body before you can be happy Heaven cannot come down to you you cannot see God and live Exod. 33.20 It would certainly confound and break you to pieces like an earthen Pitcher should God but ray forth his Glory upon you in the state you now are and it is sure you cannot expect the extraordinary savour of such a translation as Enoch had Hebr. 11.5 Or as those Believers shall have that shall be found alive at Christ's coming 1 Thes. 4.17 You must go the common road that all the Saints go but though you cannot avoid you may sweeten it God will not reverse his Decree but you may and ought to arm your selves against the fears of it Ahashuerus would not re-call the Proclamation he had emitted against the Iews but he gave them full liberty to take up arms to defend themselves against their Enemies 'T is much so here the Sentence cannot be revoked but yet he gives you leave yea he commands you to arm your selves against death and defie it and trample it under the feet of Faith Argument XI WHen you find your hearts reluctate at the thoughts of leaving the Body and the comforts of this World then consider how willingly and chearfully Iesus Christ left Heaven and the Bosome of his Father to come down to this World for your sakes Pr. 8.30 31. Ps. 40.7 Loe I come c. O compare the frames of your hearts with his in this point and shame your selves out of so unbecoming a temper of Spirit 1 He left Heaven and all the Delights and Glory of it to come down to this World to be abased and humbled to the lowest you leave this World of sin and misery to ascend to Heaven to be exalted to the highest He came hither to be impoverished you go thither to be enriched 2 Cor. 8.9 yet he came willingly and we go grudgingly 2 He came from Heaven to Earth to be made sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 we go from Earth to Heaven to be fully and everlastingly delivered from sin yet he came more willingly to bear our sins than we go to be delivered from them 3 He came to take a body of Flesh to suffer and die in Heb. 2.24 you leave your Bodies that you may never suffer in or by them any more 4 As his Incarnation was a deep abasement so his death was the most bitter death that ever was tasted by any from the beginning or ever shall to the end of the World and yet how obediently doth he submit to both at the Father's Call Luke 12.50 I have a Baptism to be baptized with and how am I straitened till it be accomplished Ah Christians your death cannot have the ten thousandth part of that bitterness in it that Christ's had I remember one of the Martyrs being asked why his heart was so light at death returned this answer because Christs heart was so heavy at his death O there is a vast difference betwixt one and the other the Wrath of God and Curse of the Law was in his death Gal. 3.13 but there is neither Wrath nor Curse in your death who die in the Lord Rom. 8.1 God forsook him when he hanged upon the Tree in the Agonies of death Matth. 27.46 My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But you shall not be forsaken He will make all your Bed in sickness Psal. 41.3 He will never leave you nor forsake you Heb. 13.5 Yet he regretted not but went as a Sheep or Lamb Isa. 53.7 O reason
your selves out of this Reluctancy at death by this great Example and Pattern of Obedience Argument XII LAstly Let no Christian be affrighted at death considering that the death of Christ is the death of Death and hath utterly disarmed it of all its destructive power If you tremble when you look upon death yet you cannot but triumph when you look believingly upon Christ. For 1 Christ died O believer for thy sins Rom. 4.25 his death was an expiatory Sacrifice for all thy guilt Gal. 3.13 so that thou shalt not die in thy sins the pangs of death may and must be on thy outward man but the guilt of sin and the Condemnation of God shall not be upon thy inner man 2 The death of Christ in thy room hath utterly destroyed the power of death which once was in the hand of Satan Heb. 2.14 Col. 2.14 15. his power was not authoritative but executive Not as the power of a King but of a Sheriff which is none at all when a Pardon is produced 3 Christ hath assured us that his Victory over death shall be compleat in our persons It is already a compleat personal Victory in respect of himself Rom. 6.9 he dieth no more death hath no more Dominion over him It 's an incompleat Victory already as to our persons It can dissolve the Union of our Souls and Bodies but the Union betwixt Christ and our Souls it can never dissolve Rom. 8.38 39. and as for the power it still retains over our dust that also shall be destroyed at the Resurrection 1 Cor 15.25 26. comp with verses 54 55 56 57. so that there is no cause for any Soul in Christ to tremble at the thoughts of a separation from the body but rather to embrace it as a priviledge death is ours O that these arguments might prevail O that they might at last win the consent of our hearts to go along with death which is the Messenger sent by God to bring us home to our Fathers house But I doubt when all is said we are where we were all this suffices not to overcome the Regrets and Reluctancies of Nature still the matter sticks in our minds and we cannot conquer our disinclined Wills in this matter What is the matter Where lie the Rubbs and Hinderances O that God would remove them at last Object 1. This is a common Plea with many I am not ready and fit to die were I ready I should be willing to be gone Sol. 1 How long soever you live in the Body there will be somewhat still out of order something still to do for you must be in a state of imperfection whilst you remain here and according to this Plea you will never be willing to die 2 Your willingness to be dissolved and to be with Christ is one special part of your fitness for death and till you attain it in some good measure you are not so fit to die as you should be 3 If you be in Christ you have a fundamental fitness for death though you may want some circumstantial Preparatives And as to all that is wanting in your sanctification or obedience now it will be compleated in a moment upon your dissolution Object 2. Others plead the desire they have to live is in order to God's further service by them in this World O say they it was David 's happiness to die when he had served his Generation according to the Will of God Acts 13.36 If we had done so too we should say with Simeon ` Now lettest thou thy Servant depart in peace Sol. 1 God needs not your hands to carry on his service in the World he can do it by other hands when you are gone Many of greater Gifts and Graces than you are daily laid in the Grave to teach you God needs no mans help to carry on his Work 2 If the service of God be so dear to you there is higher and more excellent Service for you in Heaven than any you ever were or can be imployed in here on earth O why don't you long to be amidst the thick of Angels and Spirits made perfect in the Temple-Service in Heaven Object 3. O but my Relations in the World lie near my heart what will become of them when I am gone Sol. 1 'T is pity they should lie nearer your hearts than Jesus Christ if they do you have little reason to desire death indeed 2 Who took care of you when death snatcht your dear Relations from you who possibly felt the same workings of heart that you now do Did you not experience the truth of that word Psal. 27.10 When Father and Mother forsaketh me then the Lord taketh me up and if you be in the Covenant God hath prevented this Plea with his Promise Ier. 49.11 Leave thy fatherless Children to me I will keep them alive and let their Widows trust in me But I desire to live to see the felicity of Zion before I go hence Object 4. and the answer of the many Prayers I have sowen for it I am loth to leave the People of God in so sad a condition The publickness of thy Spirit and Love to Zion Sol. is doubtless pleasing to God but it is better for you to be in Heaven one day than to live over again all the days you have lived in earth in the best times that ever the Church of God enjoyed in this World the Promises shall be accomplished though you may not live to see their accomplishment die you in the faith of it as Ioseph did Gen. 50.24 But alas the matter doth not stick here this is not the main hinderance I will tell you where I think it lies 1 In the hesitancy and staggering of our faith about the certainty and reality of things invisible 2 In some special guilt upon the Conscience which appals us 3 In a negligent and careless course of life which is not ordinarily blessed with much evidence or comfort 4 In the deep engagements of our hearts to earthly things they could not be so cold to Christ if they were not overheated with other things Till these Distempers be cured no Arguments can prosper that are spent to this end The Lord dissolve all those ties betwixt us and this World which hinder our consent and willingness to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better And now we have had a glance a glimmering light a faint umbrage of the state of separated Souls of the just in Heaven It remains that I shew you somewhat of the state and case of damned Souls in Hell A dreadful Representation it is but it is necessary we hear of Hell that we may not feel it 1 Pet. iii. ver 19. By which also he went and preached unto the SPIRITS in PRISON IN the former Discourse we have had a view of Heaven and of the Spirits of just men made perfect the Inhabitants of that blessed region of light and glory
enlarged to the uttermost PROP. IV. The wrath indignation and revenge of God poured out as the just reward of sin upon the so capacious Souls of the damned is the principal part of their misery in Hell IN the third Proposition I shew'd you that the Souls of the damned can hold more misery than all the creatures can inflict upon them When the Soul suffers from the hand of man its sufferings are but either by way of sympathy with the Body or if immediately yet it is but a light stroke the hand of a creature can give But when it hath to do with a sin revenging God and that immediately this stroke cuts off the spirit of man as the expression is Psal. 88.16 The Body is the cloathing of the Soul Most of the arrows shot at the Soul in this World do but stick in the cloaths i. e. reach the outward man but in Hell the Spirit of man is the white at which God himself shoots All his envenomed arrows strike the Soul which is after death laid bare and naked to be wounded by his hand At death the Soul of every wicked man immediately falls into the hands of the living God and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God as the Apostle speaks Heb. 10.31 Their punishment is from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2 Thes. 1.9 They are not put over to their fellow creatures to be punished but God will do it himself and glorifie his power as well as justice in their punishment The wrath of God lies immediately upon their Spirits and this is the fiery indignation which devoureth the adversaries Heb. 10.27 A fire that licks up the very Spirit of man who knoweth the power of his anger Psal. 90.11 How insupportable it is you may a little guess by that expression of the Prophet Nahum 1.5 6. The mountains quake at him and the hills melt and the earth is burnt at his presence yea the World and all that dwell therein Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger His fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him And as if anger and wrath were not words of a sufficient edge and sharpness it s called fiery indignation and vengeance words denoting the most intense degree of divine wrath For indeed his power is to be glorified in the destruction of his enemies and therefore now he will do it to purpose He takes them now into his own hands No creature can come at the Soul immediately that is Gods prerogative and now he hath to do with it himself in fury and revenges poured out Can thy hands be strong or thy heart endure when I shall deal with thee Ezek. 22.14 Alas the spirit quails and dies under it This is the Hell of Hells What doleful cries and laments have we heard from Gods dearest children when but some few drops of his anger have been sprinkled upon their Souls here in this world But alas there is no compare betwixt the anger or fatherly discipline of God over the Spirits of his children and indignation poured out from the beginning of revenges upon his enemies PROP. V The separate Spirit of a damned man becomes a tormentor to it self by the various and efficacious actings of its own conscience which are a special part of its torment in the other World COnscience which should have been the sinners curb on earth becomes the Whip that must lash his Soul in Hell Neither is there any faculty or power belonging to the Soul of man so fit and able to do it as his own conscience That which was the seat and centre of all guilt now becomes the seat and centre of all torments The suspension of its tormenting power in this World is a mystery and wonder to all that duely consider it For certainly should the Lord let a sinners conscience flie upon him with rage in the midst of his sins and pleasures it would put them into an Hell upon Earth as we see in the doleful instances of Iudas Spira c. but he keeps an hand of restraint upon them generally in this life and suffers them to sleep quietly by a grumbling or seared conscience which couches by them as a sleepy Lion and lets them alone But no sooner is the Christless Soul turn'd out of the Body and cast for eternity at the bar of God but conscience is rouzed and put into a rage never to be appeased any more It now racks and tortures the miserable Soul with its utmost efficacy and activity The mere presages and forebodeings of wrath by the consciences of sinners in this World hath made them lye with a ghastly paleness in their faces an universal trembling in all their Members a cold sweating horrour upon their panting bosoms like men already in Hell but this all this is but as the sweating or giving of the stones before the great rain falls The activities of conscience especially in Hell are various vigorous and dreadful to consider such are its recognitions accusations condemnations upbraidings shameings and fearful expectations First the consciences of the damned will recognize and bring back the sins committed in this World fresh to their mind for what is conscience but a Register or book of Records wherein every sin is ranked in its proper place and order this act of conscience is fundamental to all its other acts for it cannot accuse condemn upbraid or shame us for that it hath lost out of its memory and hath no sense of Son remember said Abraham to Dives in the midst of his torments This remembrance of sins past mercies past opportunities past but especially of hope past and gone with them never to be recovered any more is like that fire not blown of which Zophar speaks which consumes him or the glistering Sword coming out of his Gall Iob 20.24 c. Secondly It chargeth and accuseth the damned Soul and its charges are home positive and self-evident charges a thousand legal and unexceptionable Witnesses cannot confirm any point more than one Witness in a mans bosome can do Rom 2.15 it convicts and stops their mouths leaving them without any excuse or Apology Just and righteous are the Judgments of God upon thee saith Conscience in all this Ocean of misery there is not one drop of injury or wrong the Judgment of God is according unto truth Thirdly It condemns as well as chargeth and witnesseth and that with a dreadful Sentence backing and approving the â—entence and Judgment of God 1 Iohn 3.21 every self-destroyer will be a self-condemner This is a prime part of their misery Prima est haec ultio Juven Sat. 13. quod se Iudice nemo nocens absolvitur improba quamvis Gratia fallacis Praetoris vicerit urnam Fourthly The upbraidings of Conscience in Hell are terrible and insufferable things to be continually hit in the teeth and twitted with our
madness wilfulness and obstinacy as the cause of all that eternal misery which we have pull'd down upon our own heads What is it but the rubbing of the wound with Salt and Vinegar Of this torment holy Ioâ— was afraid and therefore resolv'd what in him lay to prevent it when he saith Iob 27.6 My heart i.e. my Conscience shall not reproach me so long as I live O the twits and taunts of Conscience are cruel cuts and lashes to the Soul Fifthly The shameings of Conscience are unsufferable torments Shame arises from the turpitude of discovered actions If some mens secret filthiness were but published in this World it would confound them what then will it be when all shall lie open as it will after this life and their own Consciences shall cast the shame of all upon them They shall not only be derided by God Prov. 1.26 but by their own Consciences also Lastly The fearful expectations of Conscience still looking forward into more and more wrath to come this is the very summ and complement of their misery What makes a Prison so dreadful to a Malefactor but the trembling expectations he there lives under of the approaching Assizes Much after the same rate or rather after the rate of condemned persons preparing for Execution do these Spirits in Prison live in the other World But alas no instance or similitude can reach home to their case PROP. VI. That which makes the torments and terrours of the damned Spirits so extream and terrible is that they are unrelievable miseries and torments for ever They are not capable either of 1. A partial relief by any mitigation or 2. A compleat relief by a final cessation 1. Not of a partial relief by any mitigation could they but divert their thoughts from their misery as they were wont to do in this World drink and forget their sorrows or had they but any hope of the abatement of their misery it would be a relief to them But both these are impossible Their thoughts are fixed and determined to remove them though but for a moment from their misery is as impossible as to remove a Mountain their sin and misery is ever before them As the blessed in Heaven are bono confirmati so fixed and setled in blessedness that they are not diverted one moment from beholding the blessed face of God for they are ever with the Lord so the damned in Hell are malo obfirmati so setled and fixed in the midst of all evil that their thoughts and miseries are inseparable for ever 2. Much less can their undone state admit the least hope of relief by a final cessation of their misery All hope perisheth from them and the perishing of their hope is the plainest proof that can be given of the eternity of their misery For were there but the remotest possibility of deliverance at last hope would hang upon that possibility and whilst hope lives the Soul is not quite dead the death of hope is the death of a mans Spirit the cutting off of the Soul from God and the last act of hope to see or enjoy him for ever is that death which an immortal Soul is capable of suffering Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire is that Sentence which strikes hope and soul dead for ever In these six Propositions you have the true and terrible Representation of the Spirits in Prison or the state of damned Souls I have not mentioned their association with Devils or the dismal place of their confinement which though they compleat their misery yet are not the principal parts of it but rather Accessories to it or Rivers running into the Ocean of their misery The summ of their misery lies in what was opened before and the improvement of it is in that which followeth Inference I. IS this the state of ungodly Souls after death Then it follows that neither death nor annihilation are the worst of evils incident to man Aristotle calls death the most terrible of all terribles and the Schoolmen affirm Annihilation to be a greater evil than the most miserable being but it is neither so nor so the Wrath of God the Worm of Conscience are much more bitter than death The pains of death are natural and bodily pains the Wrath of God and anguish of Conscience are spiritual and inward that is but the pain of a few hours or days these are the unrelieved torments of eternity And as for Annihilation what a favour would the damned account it Indeed if we respect the glory of Gods justice which is exemplified and illustrated in the ruine of these miserable souls it is better they should abide as the eternal monuments thereof than not be at all but with respect to themselves we may say as Christ doth of the Son of Perdition Matth. 26.24 Good had it been for them if they had never been born For a mans Soul to be of no other use than a vessel of wrath to receive the indignation and be filled with the fury of God surely an unâ—timely Birth that was never animated with a reasonable Soul is better than they for alas they seek for death but it flies from them The immortality of their Souls which was their dignity and priviledge above other Creatures is now their misery and that which continually feeds and perpetuates their flame Here is a Being without the comfort of it a Being only to howl and tremble under Divine wrath a Being therefore which they would gladly exchange with the contemptiblest Fly or most loathsome Toad but it cannot be exchanged or annihilated Inference II. HEnce it follows That the pleasures of sin are dear bought and costly pleasures There is a greater disproportion betwixt that pleasure and this wrath than betwixt a drop of Honey and a Sea of Gall. Could a man distil all the imaginable pleasure of sin and drink nothing else but the highest and most refined delights of it all his life though his life should be protracted to the Term of Methuselahs Yet one day or night under the wrath of God would make it a dear bargain But 1. 'T is certain sin hath no such Pleasures to give you they are all imbitter'd either by adverse stroaks of Providence from without or painful and deadly gripes and twinges of Conscience within Iob 20.14 His meat in his Bowels is turned it is the gall of Aspes within him 2. 'T is as certain the time of a sinner is near its Period when he is at the height of his pleasure in sin for look as high delights in God speak the Maturity of a Soul for Heaven and it will not be long before such be in Heaven so the heights of delight in sin answerably speak the Maturity of such a Soul for Hell and it will not be long ere it be there Sin is now a big Embryo and speedily the Soul travels with death 3 According to the measure of delights men have had in sin will be the degrees and measures
to think thus with thy self Here sit I with a joyful plenary free pardon of sin in my hand whilst many who never sinned to that height and degree I have lye groaning howling sweating and trembling under the indignation of God poured out like fire upon their Souls in Hell A greater sinner saved and lesser damned O how unspeakably sweet is that rest into which my terrified and diquieted Soul is come by faith Rom. 5.1 Heb. 4.3 We which have believed do enter into rest O blessed calm after a dreadful Tempest This poor breast of mine was lately panting sweating trembling under the horrors of wrath to come terrified with the visions of Hell No other sound was in mine ears but that of fiery indignation to devour the adversaries O what price can be put upon my quietus est What value upon a pardon delivered as it were at the ladders foot O precious hand of faith that receives it but oh the most precious blood of Christ which purchased it If Satan now come with his accusations the law with its comminations death with its dreadful summons I have in a readiness to answer them all Here is the law the wrath of God and everlasting burnings the just demerit of sin upon one side and a poor sinful creature on the other side but the Covenant of grace hath solv'd all An Act of oblivion is past in Heaven I will forgive their iniquities and their sins and transgressions will I remember no more In this Act of Grace my Soul is included I am in Christ and there is no condemnation Dye I must but damned I shall not be My debts are paid my bonds are cancelled my Conscience is quieted let death do its worst it shall do me no harm that blood which satisfies God may well satisfie me Inference V. HOw amazingly sad and deplorable is the security and stilness of the Consciences of sinners under all their own guilts and the immediate danger of Gods everlasting wrath Philosophers observe that before an Earthquake the Wind lies and the weather is exceeding calm and still not a breath of wind going So it is in the Consciences of many just before the tempest and storm of Gods wrath pours down upon them What a golden morning open'd upon Sodom and began that fatal day Little did they imagine showres of fire had been ready to fall from so pleasant and serene a skie as they saw over their heads How secure still and unconcerned are those to day who it may be shall rage roar and tremble in Hell to morrow Caesar hearing of a Citizen of Rome who was deep in debt and yet slept soundly would needs have his Pillow as supposing there was some strange charming virtue in it It is wonderful to consider what shift men make to keep their consciences in that stilness and quiet they do under such loads of guilt and threatnings of wrath ready to be executed upon them It must be some strong Opium that so stupefies and benums their Consciences and upon enquiry into the matter we shall find it to be the effect of 1. A strong delusion of Satan 2. A Spiritual judicial stroke of God 1. This stilness of Conscience upon the brink of damnation proceeds from the strong delusions of Satan blinding their eyes and feeding their false hopes he removes the evil day at many years imaginary distance from them and interposeth many a fair day betwixt them and it and in that interposed season time enough to prepare for it without such an artifice as this his house would be in an uproar but this keeps all in peace Luke 11.21 Praesumendo â—â—erâ—nt perando pereâ—nt By presuming he feeds their hopes and by their hopes destroys their Souls Some he diverts from all serious thoughts of this day by the pleasures and others by the cares of this life and so that day cometh upon them unawares Luke 21.34 2. This stilness of Conscience in so miserable and dangerous a state is the effect of a spiritual judicial stroke of God upon the children of wrath That 's a dreadful word Isaiah 6.10 Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes Pinguedo non refractaria solum facit animalia sed omnis expers sensus est consetientibus Physicis Glass the Eye and Ear are the two principal doors or inlets to the heart when these are shut the heart must needs be insensible as the fat of the Body is There is a Spirit of a deep sleep poured out judicially upon some men Isa. 29.10 Such as that upon Adam when God took a Rib from his side and he felt it not but this is upon the Soul and is the same as to give up a man to a reprobate sense Inference VI. THe case of distressed Consciences upon earth is exceeding sad and calls upon all for the tenderest pity and utermost help from men You see the labourings of Conscience under the sense of guilt and wrath is a special part of the Torments of Hell of which there is not a livelier Emblem or Picture than the distresses of Conscience in this World It must be thankfully confessed there are two great differences betwixt the terrours of Conscience here and there One in the degrees of anguish the other in the reliefs of that anguish The ordinary distresses of Conscience here compared with those of the damned are as the flame of a Candle to a fiery Oven a mild and gentle fire Or as the Sparks that fly out of the top of a Chimney to the dreadful eruptions of Vesuvius or Mount Aetna Beside these are capable of relief but those are unrelievable their hearts die because their hope is perished from the Lord. But yet of all the miseries and distresses incident to men in this World none like those of distressed Consciences the terrours of God set themselves in array or are drawn up in Batalia against the Soul Iob 6.4 Whilst I suffer thy terrors saith Heman I am distracted Psal. 88.15 Yea they not only distract but cut off the Spirit as he adds v. 16. They lick up the very Spirit of a man and none can bear them Prov. 18.14 for now a man hath to do immediately with God yea with the Wrath of the great and dreadful God and this wrath which is the most acute and sharp of all torments falls upon the most tender and sensible part the Spirit and Mind which now lies open and naked before him to be wounded by it No Creature can administer the least relief by the application of any temporal comfort or refreshment to it Gold and Silver Wife and Children Meat and Melody signifie no more than the drawing off a silk stockin to cure the Paroxysms of the Gout All that can be done for their relief is by seasonable judicious and tender Applications of Spiritual Remedies and what can be done ought to be done for them What heart can hear a voice like that of Iob
They looked upon trifles as things of greatest necessity and the most necessary things as meer trifles putting the greatest weight and value upon that which little concerned them and none at all upon their greatest concernment in the whole World Luke 12.21 Secondly The perpetual diversions that the trifles of this World gave them from the main use and end of their time O what a hurry and thick succession of earthly business and encumbrances filled up their days So that they could find no time to go alone and think of the awful and weighty concernments of the World to come Iames 5.5 Thirdly The total waste and expence of the only season of Salvation about these vanished impertinent trifles which is never more to be recovered Eccles. 9 10. Fourthly That these deluding shadows the pleasures of a moment is all they had in exchange for their Souls a goodly price it was valued at Matth. 16.26 Fifthly That by such a life they have not only ruined their own Souls but put their posterity by their education of them in the same course of life into the same path of destruction in which they went to Hell before them Psal. 49.13 Their posterity approve their saying Inference X. HOw rational and commendable is the courage and resolution of those Christians who chuse to bear all the sufferings in this World from the hands of men rather than to defile and wound their consciences with sin and thereby expose their Souls to the wrath of God for ever That which men now call Pride Humour Fancy and Stubbornness will one day appear to be their great wisdom and the excellency of their Spirits It is the tenderness of their Consciences not the pride and stoutness of their stomachs which makes them inflexible to sin they know the terrours of a wounded Conscience and had rather endure any other trouble from the hands of men than fall by known sin into the hands of an angry God Try them in other matters wherein the glory of God and peace or purity of their Consciences are not concerned and see if you can charge them with stubbornness and singularity It was the excellency of the Spirits of the Primitive Christians that they durst to tell the Emperour to his face when he threatned them with torments Pardon us O Emperour thou threatnest us with a Prison Ignoscâ— Imperator tu carcerem miâ—aris Deus Gehennam but God with Hell Do we call that ingenuity and good Nature which makes the mind foâ—t and tractable to temptations and will rather venture upon guilt than be esteemed singular Salvian tells us of some in his time Mali esse coâ—untur ne viies habiantur who were compelled to be evil lest they should be accounted vile and was that their excellency May I not fitly apply the words of Salvian here O in what honour and repute is Christ among Christians when Religion shall make them base and ignoble He that understands what the punishment of sin will be in Hell should endure all things rather than yield to sin on Earth Indeed if you that threaten and tempt others to violate their Consciences could bear the wrath of God for them in Hell it were somewhat but we know there is no suffering by a Proxy there they tremble at the word of God and have felt the burden of guilt and dare not yield to sin though they yield their Estates and Bodies to prevent it Inference XI HOw patiently should we bear the afflictions of this life by which sin is prevented and purged The discipline of our Spirits belongs to God the Father of Spirits he corrects us here that we may not be punished hereafter 1 Cor 11.32 We are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the World It is better for us to groan under afflictions on Earth than to roar under revenging wrath in Hell Parents who are wise as well as tender had rather hear their children sob and cry under the rod than stand with halters about their necks on the ladder bewailing the destructive indulgence of their Parents Your chastisements when sanctified are preventive of all the misery opened before It is therefore as unreasonable to murmur against God because you smart under his rod as it would be to accuse your dearest friend of cruelty because he strain'd your arm to snatch you from the fall of an house or wall which he saw ready to crush and overwhelm you in its ruins If we had less affliction we should have more guilt We see how apt we are to break over the hedg and go astray from God with all the clogs of affliction designed for our restraint what should we do if we had no clog at all It is better for you to be whipt to Heaven with all the rods of affliction than coached to Hell with all the pleasures of the World Christian thy God sees if thou do not that all these troubles are few enough to save thee from sin and Hell Thy corruptions require all these rods and all little enough If need be ye are in heaviness 1 Pet. 1.6 If there be need for it thy dearest comforts on Earth shall die that thy Soul may live but if thy mortification to them render their removal needless thou and they shall live together 'T is better be preserved in brine than rot in Honey Sanctified afflictions working under the efficacy of the blood of Christ are the safest way to our Souls Inference XII HOw doleful a change doth the death of wicked men make upon them from Palaces on Earth to the Prison of Hell No sooner is the Soul of a wicked man stept out of his own door at death but the Serjeants of Hell are immediatly upon it serving the dreadful summons on the Law-condemned wretch This arrest terrifies it more than the hand-writing upon the plaister of the Wall did him Dan. 5.5 How are all a mans apprehensions changed in a moment Out of what a deep sleep are most and out of what a pleasant dream of Heaven are some awaked and startled at death by the dreadful arrest and summons of God to condemnation How quickly would all a sinners mirth be dampt and turned into houlings in this World if Conscience were but throughly awakened It is but for God to change our apprehensions now and it would be done in a moment but the eyes of most mens Souls are not opened till death hath shut their bodily eyes and then how suddain and how sad a change is made in one day O think what it is to pass from all the pleasures and delights of this World into the torments and miseries of that World from a pleasant Habitation into an infernal Prison from the depth of security to the extremity of desperation from the arms and bosoms of dearest Friends and Relations to the Society of damned Spirits Lord what a change is here Had a gracious change been made upon their hearts by grace no such doleful change
could have been made upon their state by death Little do their surviving Friends think what they feel or what is their estate in the other World whilst they are honouring their Bodies with splendid and pompous Funerals None on earth have so much reason to fear death to make much of life and use all means to continue it as those who will and must be so great losers by the exchange Inference XIII SEe here the certainty and inevitableness of the judgment of the great day This Prison which is continually filling with the Spirits of wicked men is an undeniable evidence of it for why is Hell called a Prison and why are the Spirits of men confined and chained there but with respect to the judgment of the great day As there is a necessary connection betwixt sin and punishment so betwixt punishing and trying the Offender there are millions of Souls in custody a world of Spirits in Prison these must be brought forth to their Tryal for God will lay upon no man more than is right the legality of their Mittimus to Hell will be evidenced in their solemn day of Tryal God hath therefore appointed a day in which he will judge the World in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained Acts 17.31 Here sinners run in Arrears and contract vast debts in Hell they are seiz'd and committed at Judgment tryed and cast for the same This will be a dreadful day those that have spent so prodigally upon the patience of God must now come to a severe account for all they have past their particular judgment immediately after death Eccles. 12.7 Hebr. 9.27 by this they know how they shall speed in the general judgment and how it shall be with them for ever but though this private Judgment secures their Damnation sufficiently yet it clears not the Justice of God before Angels and Men sufficiently and therefore they must appear once more before his Bar 2 Cor. 5.10 In the fearful expectation of this day those trembling Spirits now lie in Prison and that fearful expectation is a principal part of their present misery and torment You that refuse to come to the Throne of Grace see if you can refuse to make your appearance at the Bar of Justice You that brav'd and brow-beat your Ministers that warn'd you of it see if you can out-brave your Judge too as you did them Nothing more sure or awful than such a day as this Inference XIV HOw much are Ministers Parents and all to whom the charge of Souls is committed bound to do all that in them lies to prevent their everlasting misery in the World to come The great Apostle of the Gentiles found the consideration of the terror of the Lord as a spur urging and enforcing him to ministerial faithfulness and diligence 2 Cor. 5.11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men and the same he presseth upon Timothy 2 Tim. 4.1 2. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom Preach the Word be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and Doctrine O that those to whom so great a trust as the Souls of men is committed would labour to acquit themselves with all faithfulness therein as Paul did warning every one night and day with tears that if we cannot prevent their ruine which is most desireable yet at least we may be able to take God to Witness as he did that we are pure from the blood of all men O consider my Brethren if your faithful plainness and unwearied diligence to save mens Souls produce no other fruit but their hatred of you now yet it is much easier for you to bear that than that they and you too should bear the Wrath of God for ever We have all of us personal guilt enough upon us let us not add other mens guilt to our account to be guilty of the blood of the meanest man upon the earth is a sin which will cry in your Consciences but to be guilty of the blood of Souls Lord who can bear it Christ thought them worth his heart blood and are they not worth the expence of our breath Did he sweat blood to save them and will not we move our lips to save them 'T is certainly a sore Judgment to the Souls of men when such Ministers are set over them as never understood the value of their peoples Souls or were never heartily concerned about the Salvation of their own Souls MATTH 16.26 For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul DIfficult Duties need to be enforced with powerful Arguments in the 24th verse of this Chapter our Lord presseth upon his Disciples the deepest and hardest duties of self-denial acquaints them upon what terms they must be admitted into his service If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me This hard and difficult Duty he enforceth upon them by a double Argument viz. from 1. The vanity of all sinful shifts from it v. 25. 2. The value of their Souls which is imported in it v. 26. They may shift off their Duty to the loss of their Souls or save their Souls by the loss of such trifles If they esteem their Souls above the World and can be content to put all other things to the hazard for their Salvation making account to save nothing but them by Christianity then they come up to Christs terms and may warrantably and boldly call him their Lord and Master and to sweeten this choice to them he doth in my Text balance the Soul and all the World weighing them one against the other and shews them the infinite odds and disproportion betwixt them What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul What is a man profited There is a plain Meiosis in the Phrase and the meaning is how inestimably and irreparably is a man damnified what a Soul-ruining bargain would a man make If he should gain the whole world There is a plain Hyperbole in this Phrase for it never was nor will be the lot of any man to be the sole Owner and Possessor of the whole world * Hypotheticâ â—âc hyperbole amissionis salutis aeternae atrocitas summa notatur S. Glassius Non magis juvabitur qâ—à m qui acquirit Venetias ipse verò suspâ—ndatur ad portam Pareus in loc But suppose all the power pleasure wealth and honour of the whole World were bid and offer'd in exchange for a mans Soul what a dear purchace would it be at such a rate What were this saith one but to win Venice and then be hang'd at the gate of it As that man acts like a
and the body too in the chase and prosecution of Truth Veritas in putâ—â— when it lyes deep as a subterranean treasure the mind sends out innumerable thoughts re-inforcing each other in thick successions to dig for and compass that invaluable treasure if it be disguised by misrepresentations and vulgar prejudice and trampled in the dirt under that disguise there is an ability in the mind to discern it by some lines and features which are well known to it and both owne honour and vindicate it under all that dirt and obloquy with more respect than a man will take up a pâ—ece of Gold or a sparkling Dâ—amond out of the gutter it searches after it by many painful deductions of reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Archim and triumphs more in the discovery of it than in all earthly treasures no gratification of sense like that of the mind when it grasps its prey for which it hunted The mind passes through all the works of Creation it views the several creatures on earth considers the fabrick use and beauty of Animals the signatures of Plants penetrating thereby into their Nature and Virtues it views the vast Ocean and the large train of Causes laid together in all these things for the good of man by God whose Name it reads in the most diminutive creature it beholds on earth It can in a moment mount it self from Earth to Heaven view the face thereof describe the motions of the Sun in the Ecliptick calculate Tables for the motions of the Planets and fixed Stars invent convenient Cycles for the computations of Time foretel at a great distance the dismal Eclipses of the Sun and Moon to the very Digâ—â— and the â—ortentous Conjunctions of the Planets to the very minute of their Ingress these are the pleasant imployments of the Understanding But there is an higher game at which this Eagle plays it reckons it self all thiâ—â—â—â—â—ile imploy'd as much beneath its capacity as Domitian in catching flies though these be lawful and pleasant exercises when it hath leisure for them yet it is fitted for a much nobler exercise even to penetrate the glorious Mysteries of Redemption to trace redeeming love through all the astonishing methods and manifold discoveries of it and yet higher than all this it is capable of an immediate sight or facial vision of the blessed God short of which it receives no pleasure that is fully agreeable to its noble powers and infinite appetite View its Will and you shall find it like a Queen upon the Throne of the Soul swaying the Scepter of Liberty in her hand Culverwell as one expresseth it with all the affections waiting and attending upon her No Tyrant can force it no torment can wrest the golden Scepter of Liberty out of its hand the keys of all the Chambers of the Soul hang at its girdle these it delivers to Christ in the day of his power victorious Grace sweetly determines it by gaining its consent but commits no rape upon it by unnatural coaction God accepts its offering though full of imperfections but no service is accepted without it how excellent soever the matter of it View the Conscience and Thoughts with their self-reflexive abilities wherein the Soul retires into it self and sits concealed from all eyes but his that made it judging its own actions and censuring its estate viewing its face in its own glass and correcting the indecencies it discovers there Things of greatest moment and importance are silently transacted in this Council-chamber betwixt the Soul and God so remote from the knowledge of all Creatures that neither Angels 1 Cor. 2.11 Devils or men can know what it is doing there but by uncertain guess or revelation from God here it impleads Rom. 2.15 condemns and acquits it self as at a privy Session with respect to the Judgment of the great Day here it meets with the best of comforts 2 Cor. 1.12 and with the worst of terrors Take a survey of its Passions and Affections and you will find them admirable see how they are placed by Divine Wisdom in the Soul some for defence and safety others for delight and pleasure Anger actuates the Spirits and rouzeth its courage enabling it to break through difficulties Fear keeps Sentinel watching upon all dangers that approach us Hope forestals the good and anticipates the joys of the next Life and thereby supports and strengthens the Soul under all the discouragements and pressures of the present life Love unites it to the chiefest Good he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him Zeal is the Dagger which love draws in Gods cause and quarrel to secure it self from sin and testifie its resentments of Gods dishonour O what a Divine spark is the Soul of man well might Christ prefer it in dignity to the whole World 3. Thirdly The worth of a Soul may be gathered and discerned from its subjective capacity and hability both of Grace and Glory It is capable of all the graces of the Spirit of being silled with the fulness of God Eph. 3.19 to live to God here and with God for ever What excellent Graces do adorn some Souls How are all the rooms richly hanged with Divine and costly Hangings that God may dwell in them This makes it like the carved works of the Temple overlaid with pure Gold here is Glory upon Glory a new Creation upon the old in the inmost parts of some Souls is a spiritual Altar erected with this Inscription Holiness to the Lord Here the Soul offers up it self to God in the sacred flames of Love and here they sacrifice their vile affections devoting them to destruction to the glory of their God here God walks with delight even a delight beyond what he takes in all the stately Structures and magnificent adorned Temples in the whole World Isa. 66.1 2. No other Soul besides mans is marriageable to Christ or capable of Espousals to the King of Glory they were not designed and therefore not endued with a capacity for such an honour as this but such a capacity hath every Soul even the meanest on Earth and such honour have all his Saints others may 2 Cor. 11.2 Eph. 5.27 but they are betrothed to Christ in this World and shall be presented without spot before him in the World to come It is now a lovely and excellent Creature in its naked natural state much more beautiful and excellent in its sanctified and gracious state but what shall we say or how shall we conceive of it when all spots of sin are perfectly washed off its beautiful face in Heaven and the glory of the Lord is risen upon it When its filthy garments are taken away and the pure robes of perfect Holiness as well as Righteousness superinduced upon this excellent Creature If the imperfect beauty of it begun in Sanctification enamouâ—ed its Saviour and made him say Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes with one of the
chains of thy neck what will its beauty and his delight in it be in the state of perfectâ—punc Glorification As we imagine the Circles in the Heavens to be vastly greater than those we view upon the Globe so must we imagine in the case before us 4. Fourthly The preparations God makes for Souls in Heaven speak their great worth and value When you lift up your eyes to Heaven and behold that bespangled Azure Canopy beset and inlaid with so many golden Studs and sparkling Gems you see but the floor or pavement of that place which God hath prepared for some Souls He furnished this World for us before he put us into it but as delightful and beautiful as it is it is no more to be compared with the Fathers house in Heaven than the smallest ruined Chapel your eyes ever beheld is to be compared with Solomons Temple when it stood in all its shining glory When you see a stately magnificent Structure built richest Hangings and Furniture prepared to adorn it you conclude some great persons are to come thither such preparations speak the quality of the Guests Now Heaven yea the Heaven of Heavens the Palace of the great King the Presence-chamber of the Godhead is prepared not only by Gods Decree and Christs Death but by his Ascension thither in our Names and as our Forerunner for all renewed and redeemed Souls Ioh. 14.2 In my Fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you And where is the place prepared for them but in his Fathers house the same place the very same house where the Father Son and Spirit themselves do dwell such is the love of Christ to Souls that he will not dwell in one house and they in another but as he speaks Ioh. 12.26 Where I am there shall my servant also be There is room enough in the Fathers house for Christ and all the Souls he redeemed to live and dwell together for evermore His Ascension thither was in the capacity of a common or publick person to take Livery and Seisin of those many mansions for them which are to be filled with their inhabitants as they come thither in their respective times and orders 5. Fifthly The great price with which they were redeemed and purchased speaks their dignity and value No wise man will purchase a trifle at a great price much less the most wise God Now the redemption of every Soul stood in on less than the most precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. You know saith the Apostle there that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold But with the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb without blemish and without spot All the gold and silver in the world was no Ransom for one Soul nay all the blood of the Creatures had it been shed as a Sacrifice to the glory of Justice or even the blood which is most dear to us as being derived from our own I mean the blood of our dear Children even of our first-born the beginning of our strength which usually have the strength of affection I say none of this could purchase a pardon for the smallest sin that ever any Soul committed much less was it able to purchase the Soul it self Micah 6.6 7. Thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oyl or our first-born are no ransom to God for the sin of the Soul It is only the precious Blood of Christ that is a just ransom or counterprice as it 's called Matth. 20.28 Now who can compute the value of that Blood such was the worth of the Blood of Christ which by the communication of properties is truly stiled the Blood of God that one drop of it is above the estimations of men and Angels and yet before the Soul of the meanest man or woman in the World could be redeemed every drop of his Blood must be shed for no less than his Death could be a price for our Souls Hence then we evidently discern an invaluable worth in Souls A whole Kingdom is taxed when a King is to be ransomed the delight and darling of Gods Soul must dye when our Souls are to be redeemed O the worth of Souls 6. Sixthly This evidences the transcendent dignity and worth of Souls that Eternity is stampt upon their actions and theirs only of all the Beings in this World the acts of Souls are immortal as their Nature is whereas the actions of other Animals having neither moral goodness or moral evil in them pass away as their Beings do The Apostle therefore in Gal. 6.7 compares the actions of men in this world to seed sown and tells us of everlasting fruits we shall reap from them in the next life they have the same respect to a future account that seed hath to the Harvest he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity i. e. everlasting disappointment and misery Prov. 22.8 and they that now sow in tears shall then reap in joy Psal. 126.5 every gracious action is the seed of joy and every sinful action the seed of sorrow and this makes the great difference betwixt the actions of a rational Soul and those done by Beasts and if it were not so man would then be wholly sway'd by sense and present things as the beasts are and all Religion would vanish with this distinction of actions Our actions are considerable two ways physically and morally in the first sense they are transient in the last permanent a word is past assoon as spoken but yet it must and will be recalled and brought into the Judgment of the great Day Matth. 12.36 whatever therefore a man shall speak think or do once spoken thought or done it becomes eternal and abides for ever Now what is it that puts so great a difference betwixt humane and brutal actions but the excellent Nature of the reasonable Soul 'T is this which stamps immortality upon humane actions and is at once a clear proof both of the immortality and dignity of the Soul of man above all other Creatures in this World 7. Seventhly The contention of both Worlds the strife of Heaven and Hell about the Soul of man speaks it a most precious and invaluable Treasure The Soul of man is the Prize about which Heaven and Hell contend the great design of Heaven is to save it and all the plots of Hell to ruine it Man is a Borderer betwixt both Kingdoms he lives here upon the Confines of the spiritual and material World and therefore Scaliger fitly calls him Vtriusque mundi nexus one in whom both worlds meet his body is of the earth earthly his Soul the off-spring of a Deity heavenly It is then no wonder to find such tugging and pulling this way and that way upward and downward such â—allies from Heaven to rescue and save it such incursions from Hell to captivate and ruine it The infinite Wisdom of God hath laid the plot
and design for its Salvation by Christ in so great depth of counsel that the Angels of Heaven are astonished at it and desire to pry into it Christ in pursuance of this eternal project came from Heaven professedly to seek and to save lost Souls Luke 19.10 He compares himself to a good Shepherd who leaveth the ninety nine to seek one lost sheep and having â—ound it brings it home upon his shoulders rejoycing that he hath found it Luke 15.5 Hell imploys all its skill and policy sets a-work all wiles and stratagems to destroy and ruine it 1 Pet. 5.8 Your adversary the Devil goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour The strong man armed gets the first possession of the Soul and with all his forces and policies labours to secure it as his property Luke 11.21 Christ raises all the spiritual Militia the very posse Coeli the Powers of Heaven to rescue it 2 Cor. 10.4 5. And do Heaven and Earth thus contend think you de lana caprina for a thing of nought No no if there were not some singular and peculiar excellency and worth in mans Soul both worlds would never tug and pull at this rate which should win that Prize It was a great Argument of the worth and excellency of Homer that incomparable Poet that seven Cities contended for the honour of his Nativity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Smyrna Rhodes Coâ—ophon Salamis Chins Argos and Athens were all at strife about one poor man who should crown themselves with the honour of his birth but when Heaven and Hell shall contend about a Soul certainly it much more speaks the dignity of it than the contention of seven Cities for one Homer What are all the wooings expostulations and passionate beseechings of Christs Ministers what are all the convictions of Conscience and strong impressions made upon the affections what are all strokes from Heaven upon men in the way of sin I say what are all these but the tuggings of Heaven to draw Souls out of the snares of Hell And what are the hellish temptations that men feel in their hearts the alluring objects presented to their eyes the ensnaring examples that are set round about them but the tuggings of Satan if possible to draw the Souls of men into the same condemnation and misery with himself Would Heaven and Hell be up in Arms as it were and strive at this rate for nothing Thy Soul O man how vilely soever thou depreciatest and slightest it is of high esteem a rich purchace a Creature of nobler rank than thou art aware of The wise Merchant knows the value of Gold and Diamonds though ignorant Indians would part with them for Glass-beads and Tinsel toyes And this leads us to 8. The eighth Evidence of the invaluable worth of Souls which is the joy in Heaven and the rage in Hell for the gain and loss of the Soul of man Christ who came from Heaven and well knew the frame and disposition of the Inhabitants of that City Quoties bene agimus gaudent Angeli tristantur Daemones quoties à bono deviamus Diabolum laetificamus Angelos suo gaudio defraudamus August tells us That there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Luke 15.7 10. No sooner is the heart of a sinner darted with conviction broken with sorrow for sin and begins to cry Men and brethren what shall I do but the news is quickly in Heaven and sets all the City of God a rejoycing at it as is in the chief City of a Kingdom when a young Prince is born We never read that Christ laughed in all his time on Earth but we read that he once rejoyced in Spirit Luke 10.21 And what was the occasion of that his joy but the success of the Gospel in the Salvation of the Souls of men Now certainly it must be some great good that so affects Christ and all his Angels in Heaven at the sight of it the degree of a wise mans joy is according to the value of the object thereof no man that is wise will rejoyce feel his heart leap within him for gladness at a small or common thing And as there is joy in Heaven for the saving so certainly there is grief and rage in Hell for the loss of a Soul No sooner had God by Pauls Ministry converted one poor Lydia at Philippi whither he was called by an immediate Express from Heaven for that service but the Devil put all the City into an uproar as if an Enemy had landed on their Coast and raised a violent Persecution which quickly drave him thence Acts 16.9 14 22. And indeed what are all the fierce and cruel persecutions of Gods faithful Ministers but so many efforts of the rage and malice of Hell against them for plucking Souls as so many captives and preys out of his paws For this he owes them a spight and will be sure to pay them if ever he get them at an advantage But all this joy and grief demonstrates the high and great value of the Prize which is won by Heaven and lost by Hell 9. Ninthly The institution of Gospel-Ordinances and the appointment of so many Gospel-Officers purposely for the saving of Souls is no small evidence of what value and esteem they are No man would light and maintain a Lamp fed with golden Oyl and keep it burning from Age to Age if the work to be done by the light of it were not of a very precious and important nature what else are the Dispensations of the Gospel but Lamps burning with golden Oyl to light Souls to Heaven Zech. 4.2 3 4 12. compared a magnificent Vision is there presented to the Prophet viz. a Candlestick of Gold with a Bowl or Cistern upon the top of it and seven Shafts with seven Lamps at the ends thereof all lighted and that these Lamps might have a constant supply of oyl without any accessary humane help there are presented as growing by the Candlestick two fresh and green Olive-trees on each side thereof ver 3. which do empty out of themselves golden Oyl ver 12. naturally dropping and distilling it into that Bowl and the two Pipes thereof to feed the Lamps continually Under this stately Emblem you have a lively representation of the spiritual Gifts and Graces distilled by the Spirit into the Ministers of the Gospel for the use and benefit of the Church as you find not only by the Angels Exposition of it here but by the Spirits allusion to it and accommodation of it in Rev. 11.3 4. See herein what price God puts upon the salvation of Souls Gospel Lamps are maintain'd for their sakes not with the sweat of Ministers brows or the expence and waste of their Spirits but by the precious Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit continually dropping into them for the use and service of Souls These ministerial Gifts and Graces are Christs
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
Christs Commission to preach good tidings to the meek and to bind up the broken-hearted Isa. 61.1 and not only inserts it in Christs Commission but gives the same in solemn charge to all his inferior Messengers whom he imploys about them Isa. 35.3 Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees say to them that are of a fearful heart Be strong fear not 2. His special regard to Souls is evidenced in his severe prohibitions to all others to do nothing that may be an occasion of ruine to them He charges it upon all That no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way Rom. 14.13 that by the abuse of our own liberty we destroy not him for whom Christ died Rom. 14.15 And what doth all this signifie but the precious and invaluable worth of Souls 12. Lastly It is not the least evidence of the dignity of mans Soul that God hath appointed the whole Host of Angels to be their Guardians and Attendants Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation Heb. 1.14 Are they not It is no doubtful question but the strongest way of affirmation nothing is surer than that they are All Not one of that heavenly Company excepted The highest Angel thinks it no disparagement to serve a Soul for whom Christ die Well may they all stoop to serve them wâ—en they see Christ their Lord hath stooped even to death to save them They are all of them Ministring Spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 publick Officers to whom their Tutelage is committed to them it belongs to attend serve protect and relieve them The greatest Peers and Barons in the Kingdom think it not below them to wait upon the Heir apparent to the Crown in his Minority and no less dignity is here stampt by God upon the Souls of men whom he calls Heirs of Salvation And in some respect nearer to Christ than themselves are on this account it is that the Angels delight to serve them Christs little ones upon earth have their Angels which always behold the face of God in Heaven Mat. 18.10 and therefore saith our Lord there Take heed you despise not one of these little ones they are greater persons than you are aware of Nor is it enough that one Angel is appointed to wait upon all or many of them but many Angels even a whole Host of them are sometimes sent to attend upon one of them As Iacob was going on his way the Angels of God met him and when he saw them he said This is Gods host Gen. 32.1 2. The same two offices which belong to a Nurse to whom the Father commits his Child belong also to the Angels of Heaven with respect to the Children of God viz. to keep them tenderly whilst they are abroad and bring them home to their Fathers house at last And how clearly doth all this evince and demonstrate the great dignity and value of Souls Was it an Argument of the Grandeur and Magnificence of King Solomon that he had two hundred men with Targets and three hundred men with Shields of beaten Gold for his ordinary Guard every day And is it not a mark of far greater dignity than ever Solomon had in all his glory to have Hosts of Angels attending us In comparison with one of this Guard Solomon himself was but a Worm in all his Magnificence And now lay all these Arguments together and see what they will amount to You have before you no ordinary Creature for 1. it was not produced as other Creatures were by a meer word of command but by the deliberation of the great Council of Heaven and 2. such are the high and noble faculties and powers found in it as render it agreeable to and becoming such a Divine Original Yeâ— 3. by reason of these its admirable powers it becomes a capable subject both of Grace here and Glory hereafter 4. Nor is this its capacity in vain for God hath made glorious preparations for some of them in Heaven 5. And purchased them for Heaven and Heaven for them at an invaluable price even the precious Blood of Christ. 6. And stampt immortality upon their actions as well as natures 7 Both Worlds contend and strive for the Soul as a prize of greatest value 8 Their Conversion to Christ is the Triumph of Heaven and Rage of Hell 9. The Lamps of Gospel-Ordinances are maintained over all the reformed Christian World to light them in their passage to Heaven 10. Great rewards are propounded to all that shall heartily endeavour the salvation of them 11. The care of Heaven is exceeding great and tender over them And 12. the heavenly Host of Angels have the charge of them and reckon it their honour to serve them These things duly weighed bring home the conclusion with demonstrative clearness to every mans understanding That one Soul is of more value than the whole World which was the thing to be proved What remains is the improvement of this excellent subject in these following Inferences Inference I. THE Soul of man appearing to be a Creature of such transcendent dignity and excellency this truth appears of equal clearness with it That it was not made for the body but the body for it and therefore it is a vile abuse of the noble and high-born Soul to subject it to the lusts and enslave it to the drudgery of the inferior and more ignoble part The very Law of Nature assigns the most honourable places and imployments to the most noble and excellent Creatures and the baser and inferior to things of the lowest rank and quality The Sun Moon and Stars are placed by this Law in the Heavens but the Ignis fatuus and the Glow-worm in the Fens and Ditches Princes are set upon Thrones of Glory the Beggers lodg'd in Barns and Stables and if at any time this order of Nature be inverted and the baser suppress and perk over the more noble and honourable Beings it is looked upon as a kind of Prodigy in the Civil World and so Solomon represents it Eccles. 10.7 I have seen servants upon horses and Princes walking as servants upon the earth i. e. I have seen men that are worthy of no better imployments than to rub Horses heels in the Saddle with their Trappings and men who deserve to bear rule and to govern Kingdoms men who for their great ability and integrity deserved to sit at Helm and moderate the Affairs of Kingdoms these have I seen walking as servants upon the earth and this he calls an evil under the Sun that is an Ataxie confusion or disorder in the course of Nature Now there can never be that difference and vast odds betwixt one man and another as there is betwixt the Soul and the body of every man A King upon the Throne is not so much above a Begger that cryes at our doors for a crust as the Soul is above a body for the
be too well secured Many Souls never spent one solemn hour in a close and serious debate about this matter others have taken a great deal of pains about it they have broken many nights sleep poured out many prayers made many a deep search into their own hearts walked with much conscientious watchfulness and tenderness proposed many a serious case of Conscience to the most judicious and skilful Ministers and Christians and after all their security is not such as fully satisfies and probably one reason of it may be the great weight wherewith the matters of their Salvation lye upon their spirits O that these Soul-concerns did bear upon all as they do upon some it requires more time more thoughts more prayers to make these things sure than most are aware of Inference III. IF the Soul be so precious then cetainly it is the special care of Heaven that which God looks more particularly after than any other Creature on Earth There is an active vigilant Providence that superintends every Creature upon Earth there is not the most despicable diminutive Creature that lives in the World left without the line of Providence God is therefore said to give them all their meat in due season and for that end they all wait upon him Psal. 104.27 as a great and provident House-keeper orders daily convenient provisions for all his Family even to the least and lowest among them the smallest Insects and Gnats which swarm so thick in the Air and of the usefulness of whose Being it is hard to give an account yet as the incomparably learned Dr. More well observes Antidote p. 82. these all find nourishment in the World which would be lost if they were not and are again convenient nourishment themselves to others that prey upon them But Man is the peculiar special care of God and the Soul of man much more than the body Hence Christ fortifies the Faith of Christians against all distrusts of Divine Providence even from their Excellency above other Creatures Matth. 10.31 Ye are of more value than many sparrows and Matth. 6.26 your heavenly Father feeds the Fowls of the Air and are ye not much better than they and vers 30. he cloaths the grass of the field and shall he not much more cloath you And so the Apostle 1 Cor. 9.9 Doth God take care for oxen or saith he it altogether for our sakes for our sakes no doubt this is written In all which places the dignity of man above all Animals and Vegetables in respect of both natural Excellency of his reasonable Soul but especially the gracious endowments of it which endear it far more to its Maker this is the very hing of the Argument and a firm ground for the Believers Faith of Gods tender care over both parts but especially the Soul The body of a Believer is Gods Creature as well as his Soul but that being of less value hath not such a degree of care and tenderness expressed towards it as the Soul hath the Fathers care is not so much for the Childs cloaths as it is for the Child himself Besides the immediate wants and troubles of the Soul which are Idiopathetical are far more sharp and pinching than those it suffers upon the bodies account which are but Sympathetical and therefore when-ever such an excellent Creature as a sanctified Soul which is in Christ or a Soul designed to be sanctified which is moving towards Christ fall under those heavy pressures and distresses as they often do and are ready to fail let it be assured its merciful Creator will not fail to relieve support revive and deliver it as often as it shall fall into those deep distresses Hear how his compassionate tenderness is expressed towards distressed Souls Isa. 49.15 Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Sooner shall a Woman the more tender Sex forget not the Nurse-child that only sucks her breast but the child yea the son of her womb and that not when grown and placed abroad but whilst it hangs upon her breast and draws love from her heart as well as milk from her breast than God will forget a Soul that fears him Let gracious Souls fortifie their Faith therefore in the Divine care by considering with what a peculiar eye of estimation and care God looks upon them above all other Creatures in the World only beware you so eye not the natural or spiritual excellencies of your Souls as to expect mercy for the sake thereof as if your Souls were worthy for whose sake God should do this no no sin hath nonsuited that Plea all is of free Grace not of debt but he minds us what reputation the new Creation brings the Soul into with its God Inference IV. IF the Soul of man be so precious how precious and dear to all Believers should the Redeemer and Saviour of their precious Souls be Vnto you therefore that believe he is precious saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 2.7 though he be yet out of our sight he should never be one whole hour together out of our hearts and thoughts 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory The very Name of Christ saith Bernard Mel in ore melos in aure jubilum in corde Bern. is Honey in the mouth Melody in the ear and a very Jubilee in the heart The blessed Martyr Mr. Lambert made this his Motto None but Christ none but Christ. Molinus was seldom observ'd to mention his Name without dropping eyes Iulius Palmer in the midst of the flames moved his scorched lips and was heard to say Sweet Iesus and fell asleep Paul fastens upon his Name as a Bee upon a sweet flower and mentions it no less than ten times in the compass of ten verses 1 Cor. 1. as if he knew not how to leave it There is a twofold preciousness of Christ one in respect of his essential Excellency and Glory in this respect he is glorious as the only begotten Son of God the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image or Character of his Person Heb. 1. the other is in respect of his relative usefulness and suitableness to all the needs and wants of poor sinners as he is the Lord our righteousness made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption none discern this preciousness of Christ but those that have been convinced of sin and have apprehended the wrath to come the just demerit of sin and fled for refuge to the hope set before them and to them he is precious indeed Consider him as a Saviour from wrath to come and then he will appear the most lovely and desirable in all the World to your Souls he that understands the value of his own Soul the dreadful nature of the wrath of God the near approaches
was bound by thy command to obey them Therefore look to your own Souls if they be so desperate to cast away their own If some Children had not minded their own Salvation more than their Parents minded it they had never been saved 3. Let this consideration work upon the hearts and bowels of all serious Christians to pity and help those that are like to perish under this temptation and if their Parents be so ignorant that they cannot or so negligent that they do not instruct and warn their own Children you that at any time have an opportunity to help them have compassion on them and do it 'T is true they are none of your Children by Nature but would it not be a singular honâ—â—â— and comfort to you if God should make them so by 〈…〉 thousands of Children and it may be some of you 〈◊〉 more indebted to meer strangers upon this accoun◠〈…〉 their nearest relations you know not how much 〈…〉 nal word may do them all have not ability 〈…〉 ly useful this way as a late worthy Minister of our own Nation hath been who in compassion to the â—ark and barbarous corners in Wales where ignorance and poverty shut up the way of Salvation to them at a vast exâ—â—nce procured the Translation and Printing of the Bible in their own Tongue and freely sent it among them O you that have the bowels of Christians in you pity and help them What is it for the saving of a precious Soul to drop a serious Exhortation as you have opportunity upon them to bestow a Bible or suitable Book upon them Believe it these little summs of shillings and pence so bestow'd will stand for more in the Audit day than all the hundreds and thousands other ways expended The second way to Hell discovered II. A second way to Hell in which multitudes are found hastening to their own dâ—mnation is the way of affected ignorance The generality of people even in a Land enlightned with the Gospel are found grosly ignorant of Christ the true and only way to Heaven and of Repentance and Faith the only way to Christ and thus the people perish for want of knowledge Hosea 4.6 If the Tree of Knowledge had been hedg'd in from the common people as it is in Popish Countries and it had been criminal to find a Bible in our houses there might have been some cloke and pretence for our ignorance but to be stupidly ignorant of the most obvious plain and necessary Truths aâ—â— yet bred up among Bibles and Ministers O how ominous a darkness is this forboding the blackness of darkness for ever For if the hiding of the Gospel from the hearts of men be a token to them that they are lost Souls how much notional light soever they may have much more must they be lost to all intents from whose heads and hearts too it is judicially hidden They that know not God are in the Catalogue of the damned 2 Thess. 1.8 and if this be life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent then this must be death eternal to be grosly and affectedly ignorant both of God the 〈◊〉 and Christ the Way by the Rule of true Opposition Ioh. 17.3 〈◊〉 over the several Countries in the professing World go into the Families of Country-Farmers day-labourers and poor people and except here and there a family or person into whose heart God hath graciously shined what barbarous brutish ignorance overspreads them They converse from morning to night with Beasts though they have Souls which are fit Companions for Angels and capable of sweet converse with God The earth hath open'd her mouth and swallowed up all their time strength thoughts and Souls as it did the bodies of Corah and his Company They know the value of an House or Cow but know not the worth of Christ pardon or their own Souls They mind daily what work they have to do with their hands but forget all they have to do upon their knees Their whole care is to pay their Fine or Rent to their Landlord but not a thought who shall pay their debts to God They are so 〈◊〉 om putting unnecessary business aside to make way for the service of God that Gods service is put aside as an unnecessary business to make way for the World the world holds them fast till they are asleep and will be sure to visit them assoon as their eyes are open that there may be no vacancy or door of opportunity left open for a thought of their Souls or another life to slip in Or if at any time they think or speak of these matters then the world like Pharaoh when Israel spake of sacrificing is sure to speak of more work And thus they live and die without knowledge there is no key of knowledge as it is fitly called Luke 11.52 to open the door of the Soul to Christ he and his Ministers therefore must stand without pity they may but help they cannot till knowledge open the door Satan is Ruler of the darkness of this world Eph. 6.12 that is of all blind and ignorant Souls Ignorance is the chain with which he binds them fast to himself and till that chain be knockt off by Divine illumination they cannot be emancipated and made free of Christs Kingdom Acts 26.18 To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Ignorance indeed incapacitates a man to commit the unpardonable sin but what the near whilst it disposes him to all other sins which damn as well as that By ignorance it is that all the Essays of the Gospel for mens Salvation are frustrated that naked assent is put in the place of saving Faith Morality mistaken for Regeneration a few dead Duties laid in the room of Christ and his Righteousness Indeed it would fill a greater Book than this to shew the mischievous effects of ignorance and how many ways it destroys the precious Souls of men but seeing I can speak but little in this place to it let me bar up this way to Hell if it be possible by a few serious Considerations The second way to Hell shut up 1. Let the ignorant consider God hath created their Souls with a capacity of knowing him and enjoying him as well as others that are fam'd in the world for knowledge and wisdom There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Alâ—â—â—â—â—â— giveth them understanding The faculty is in man but the wisdom and knowledge that enlightens it is from God as the Dial shews the hour of the day when the Sun-beams fall upon it If therefore God be sought unto in the use of such helps and means as you have even the weakest and dullest Soul hath a capacity of being made wise unto Salvation Psal. 19.7 The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple Augustine tells us of a man so weak and simple that he was commonly reputed a Fool in all the
Neighbourhood and yet saith I believe the grace and fear of God was in him for when he heard any to swear or take the Name of God in vain he would throw stones at them and shew his indignation against sin by all the signs he could make 2. You that are so grosly ignorant in the matters of your Salvation are many of you very knowing prudent and subtle persons in the affairs of the world Luke 16.8 The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light Had those parts which you have been improved and heightned by study and observation about spirituals as they have been about earthly things you had neither been so ignorant or dead-hearted as you are you might have been as well verst in your Bibles as you are in the Almanacks you yearly buy and study you might have understood the proper seasons of Salvation as well as of Husbandry The great and necessary points on which your Salvation depends are not so many or so abstruse and intricate but your plain and inartificial heads might have understood them and that with less pains than you have been at for your bodies What though you cannot comprehend the subtleties of Shoolmen you may apprehend the Essentials of Christianity If you cannot strictly and scholastically define Faith what hinders if your hearts were set upon Christ and Salvation but you may feel it which is more than many learned men do that can define and dispute about it You cannot put an Argument in Mood and Figure no matter if you can by comparing your Bibles and hearts together draw savingly and experimentally this conclusion I am in Christ and my sins are pardoned You cannot determine whether Faith goes before Repentance or Repentance before Faith but for all that you might feel both the one and the other upon your own Souls which is infinitely better 'T is not therefore your incapacity but negligence and worldiness that is your ruine 3. How many are there of your own rank order and education all whose external advantages and helps you have and all your incumbrances and discouragements they had who yet have attain'd to an excellent degree of saving knowledge and heavenly wisdom How often have I heard such spiritual savoury experimental Truths in Conference and Prayer from plain Rusticks such spiritual Reasonings about the great concerns of Salvation such judicious and satisfying resolutions of Cases depending upon the sensible and experimental part of Religion as hath humbled convinced and shamed me and made me say Surgunt indocti c. these are the men that will take Heaven from the proud and scornful Ingeniosi of the World not many wise not many learned and acute many knowing and learned heads are in Hell and many illiterate and weak ones gone to Heaven and others in the way thither who never had better education stronger parts or more leisure than your selves so that you are without excuse 4. To conclude Would you heartily seek it of God and would the Spirit which he hath promised to give them that ask him become your Teacher how soon would the light of the saving knowledge of God in the face of Christ shine into your hearts No matter how ignorant dull and weak the Scholar be if God once become the Teacher You are not able to purchase or want time to read many Books but if once you were sanctified persons the anointing you would receive from the Father would teach you all things 1 Ioh. 2.27 your own hearts would serve you for a Commentary upon a great part of the Bible it would make you of a quick understanding in the fear of the Lord one drop of your knowledge would be more worth than all learned Arts and Sciences in the world to you And is God so far from you and his illuminating Spirit at such a distance that there is no hope for you to find him Is there never a private corner about your Houses or Barns or in the fields where you can turn aside if it be but a quarter of an hour at a time to pour out your Souls to God and beg the Spirit of him Miserable Wretch is thy whole life such a cumber and clatter of cares and puzzles about the World that thou hast no leisure to mind God Soul or Eternity O doleful state the Lord in mercy pity and awaken thee Wilt thou not once strive and struggle to save thy Soul What perish as it were by consent how great then is thy blindness The third way to Hell discovered Quam frigida jejuna sit eorum desensio qui exemplo c. potentiorum se tutos pu 〈…〉 Jun. Paâ—â—â— lib. 2. III. A vast multitude of precious Souls are lost for ever by following the Examples and being carried away with the course of this World 'T is indeed a poor excuse a silly Argument that the multitude do as we do yet as Iunius rightly observes Mens Consciences take Sanctuary here and they think themselves safe in it for thus they reason If I do as the generality do Argumentum turpissimum est turba Seneca I shall speed no worse than they speed and certainly God is more merciful than to suffer the greatest part of Mankind to perish they resolve to follow the beaten road let it lead whither it will Thus the Ephesians in their unregenerate state walked according to the course of this world Eph. 2.2 and the Corinthians were carried away unto dumb Idols even as they were led 1 Cor. 12.2 just as a drop of water is carried and moved according to the course and current of the Tide For look as every drop of water in the Sea is of one and the same common nature so are all carnal and unsanctified persons and as these waters being collected into one vast body in the Ocean unite their strength and make a strong current this way or that so doth the whole collective body of the unregenerate World all the particular drops move as the Tide moveth Hence they are said to have received the spirit of the world 1 Cor. 2.12 one common Spirit or Principle acts and rules them all and therefore they must needs be carried away in the same course And there are two special considerations that seem to determine them by a kind of necessity to do as the multitude do the one is that they find it the easiest and most commodious way to the flesh here they meet with quietness and safety hereby they are exempt from reproaches losses persecutions and distresses for Conscience sake rest is sweet and here only they think to find it The other is the prejudice of singularity and manifold tribulations they see that little handful that walk counter to the course of the World involved in this startles them from their company and fixes them where they are Against such sensible Arguments it is to no more purpose to oppose spritual Considerations motives drawn from the safety of the Soul
shall be done for them Is there no way for their deliverance O that God would direct and bless the following considerations to them if it may be expected they may at any time get through the brake in which they are involved and find them at leisure to bethink themselves The sixth way to Hell shut up by five Considerations 1. Bethink thy self poor Soul as much as thou art involved and plunged in the necessities and distracting cares of this life others many others as poor as necessitous and every way as much embroil'd in the cares of the world as you are have minded their Souls and taken all care and pains for their Salvation notwithstanding yea though millions of your rank and order are destroyed by these snares of the Devil yet God hath a very great number indeed the greatest of any rank of men among those that are low poor and necessitous in the world The Church is called the Congregation of the poor Psal. 74.20 because it consisteth mostly of men and women of the lowest and most despicable condition in this world They are all poor in Spirit and most of them poor in purse Hearken my beloved Brethren saith Iames hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom Jam. 2.5 Now if others many others as much intangled in the necessities cares and troubles of the world as you have yet struggled through all those difficulties and discouragements to Heaven why should not you strive for Christ and Salvation as well as they Your Souls are as valuable as theirs and their discouragements and hinderances as great and as many as yours 2. Consider your poor and necessitous condition in the world hath something in it of motive and advantage to excite and quicken you to a greater diligence for Salvation than is found in a more full easie and prosperous state for God hath hereby imbitter'd this world to you and made you drink deeper of the troubles of it than other men they have the honey and you the gall they have the flour and you the bran But then as yoâ— have not the pleasures so you have not the snares of a prosperous condition and your daily troubles cares and labours in it do even prompt you to seek rest in Heaven which you cannot find on Earth Can you think you were made for a worse condition than the Beasts what to have two Hells one here and another hereafter Surely as low miserable and despicable as you are you are capable of as much happiness as any of the Nobles of the World and in your low and afflicted condition stand nearer to the door of hope than they do Ah! methinks these thoughts do even put themselves upon you when your spirits are overloaded with the cares and your bodies tired with the labours of this life Is this the life of troubles I must expect on Earth Hath God denied me the pleasures of this World O then let it be my care my study my business to make sure of Christ to win Heaven that I may not be miserable in both Worlds How can you avoid such thoughts or put by such meditations which your very station and condition even forceth upon you 3. Consider how all your troubles in this World would be sweetned and all your burdens lightned if once your Souls were in Christ and in Covenant with God O what hearts-ease would Faith give you What sweet relief would you find in Prayer These things like the opening of a Vein or Tumor when ripe would suddenly cool relieve and ease your spirits Could you but go to God as a Father and pour out your hearts before him and roll all your cares and burdens wants and sorrows upon him you would find a speedy out-let to yâ—ur troubles and an inlet to all peace all comfort and all refreshments such as all the riches honours and fulness of this world cannot give you would then find Providence engage it self for your supply and issue all your troubles to your advantage Heb. 13.5 Isa. 41.17 Psal. 34.9 10. Psal. 91.15 Rom. 8.28 You would suck the breasts of those Promises in the Margent and say all the dainties in the world cannot make you such another Feast You would then see your bread your cloaths and all provisions for you and yours in Gods promises when you are brought to an exigence and would certainly find performances as well as promises all along the course of your life 4. Say not you have no time to mind another world God hath not put any of you under such an unhappy necessity you have one whole day every week allowed you by God and Man for your Souls you have some spare time every day which you know you spend worse than in heavenly thoughts and exercises yea most Callings are such as will admit of spiritual exercises of thoughts even when your hands are exercised in the affairs of this life Besides there are none of you but have and must have daily some relaxations and rest from business and if your hearts were spiritual and set upon Heaven you would find more time than you think on without prejudice to your Callings yea to the great furtherance of them to spend with God I can tell you when and where I have found poor Servants hard at work for Salvation labouring for Christ some in the Fields others in Barns and Stables where they could find any privacy to pour out their Souls to God in prayer As Lovers will make hard shifts to converse together so will the Soul that is devoted to God and in earnest for Heaven And though your opportunities be not so large they may be as sweet as successful and to be sure sincere as those whose condition affords them more time and greater external conveniencies than you enjoy More business is sometimes dispatcht in a quarter of an hour in prayer yea let me say in a few hearty ejaculations of Soul to God in a few minutes than in many long and elaborate duties If thou cast in thy two mites of time into the Treasury of Prayer having no more thou mayst as Christ said of the poor Widow give more than those that cast in of their great abundance of time and Talents 5. Lastly Consider Jesus Christ is no Respecter of persons the poorest and vilest on earth are as welcome to him as the greatest He chose a poor and mean condition in this World himself conversed mostly among the poor never refused any because of his poverty God accepteth not the persons of Princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the work of his hands Job 34.19 and that both in respect of their natural constitution as men and their Civil condition as rich or poor men Riches and poverty make a great difference in the respects of men but none at all with God If thou be one of Gods poor he will accept love and honour thee above the greatest if
their miscarriages but you see not their humiliations and self-condemnations before God for them Fooâ— and fearful saith a grave Divine was the scandal of David Ier. Dyke of Scandal p. 33. and what was the issue Presently the Enemies of God and Godliness began to lift their heads and fall foul upon Davids Religion 2 Sam. 12. they blasphemed the Name of God O this is he that was so grand a Zealot that the zeal of Gods house did eat him up This is the man that out of his transcendent zeal danced before the Ark. This is he that prayed thrice a day at morning noon and night This is he that was so precise and strict in his family that a wicked person should not dwell in his house This your great precise Zealot hath defiled the Wife and murdered the Husband Now you see what his Religion is now you see what comes of this profession of so much Holiness and Godliness O that men would seriously consider their evil in such censures as these What is all this to Religion Doth Religion any way countenance or patronize such practices Nay doth it not impartially and severely condemn them It is the glory of the Christian Religion that it is pure and undefiled Iam. 1.27 These practices flow from no Principle of Religion nor are chargeable upon it for it teacheth men the very contrary Tit. 2.11 12. If I see a Papist sin boldly or an Arminian slight Grace I justly condemn their Principles in and with their practices because Popery sets Pardons to Sale and Arminianism exalts Nature into the place of Grace but doth the Doctrine of the Gospel lead to any immoralities Charge it if you can Fourthly And as sensless a thing it is to condemn all for the miscarriages and faults of some which yet is the common practice of the world Are all that profess Godliness loose and careless No no many are an ornament to their holy Profession and the glory of Christianity And why must the innocent be condemned for the guilty What is your reason and ground for that Why might not the Enemies of Christianity have condemned the Eleven Apostles upon the fall of Iudas had they not as good Warrant for it as you have for this To conclude You little know what a snare of the Devil is laid for your Souls in all those prejudices and offences you take at the ways and Professors of Godliness and what a wo you bring upon your own Souls by them You speak evil of persons and things you know not and prejudice is like still to keep you in ignorance of them Wo to the world saith Christ because of offences and Blessed is he that is not offended at me The eleventh way of ruining the precious Soul opened XI The eleventh way wherein abundance of precious Souls perish in the Christianized and professing World is the way of formal Hypocrisie in Religion and Zeal about the Externals of Worship Such a generation of men have in all Ages mingled themselves with the sincere Worshippers of God and the inducement to it is obvious the form of Godliness is an honour but the power of it a burden By the former earthly interests are accommodated by the latter they are frequently exposed and hazarded We find in the Jewish Church abundance of such chaff intermixed with the wheat which the Doctrine of Christ discovered and purged out of the floor Matth. 3.9 12. Such were the Pharisees who were exceeding zealous for Traditions and the external Rites and Ceremonies of the Law but inwardly full of all filthiness Matth. 15.7 8 9. men that honoured the dead and persecuted the living Saints that reverenced the material Temple and destroyed the living Temples that strain'd at Gnats of Ceremonies and swallowed down the grossest immoralities And well had it been if this generation had ended with that state and time of the Church but we find a Prophecy of the increase of these men in the later days 2 Tim. 3.5 which is every where sadly verified Religion runs into stalk and blade into leaves and suckers which should be concocted into pith and fruit Yea it is of sad consideration that amongst many high Pretenders to Reformation their Zeal which should nourish the vitals of Religion and maintain their daily work of Mortification and Communion with God spends it self in some by opinion whilst practical Godliness visibly languisheth in their Conversations How many are there that hate doctrinal errours who yet perish by practical ones who hate a false Doctrine but mean time perish by a false heart 'T is very difficult to reclaim this sort of men from the errour of their way and thereby save their Souls from Hell However let the means be used and the success left with God The way to Hell by Formality barred up 1. No sin intangles the Souls of men faster or damns them with more certainty and aggravation than the sin of formal Hypocrisie It holds the Soul fastest on Earth and sinks it deepest into Hell There was no sort of men upon whom the Doctrine of Christ and the Apostles had so little success and effect as the Scribes and Pharisees they derided him when Publicans and sinners trembled and believed Luke 16.14 15. the form of Godliness wards off all convictions their zeal for the Externals of Religion secures them against the fears of damnation whilst in the mean while their Hypocrisie plunges them deeper into Hell than others that never made such shews of Sanctimony and Devotion He shall appoint him his portion with hypocrites Matt. 24.51 that is he shall be punished in Hell as Hypocrites are punished viz. with the greatest and forest punishment Hypocrisie is a double iniquity and will be punished with double destruction their ungrounded hopes of Heaven serve but to pully up their wretched Souls to a greater height of vain confidence which gives them the more dreadful jerk in their lamentable and eternal disappointment 2. Blind superstitious Zeal which spends it self only about the Externals of Religion usually prepares and ingageth men in a more violent persecution of those that are really godly and conscientious The Lord opened a great door of opportunity at Antioch to Paul the whole City came together to attend the discoveries of Christ in the first publication of the Gospel and the poor Gentiles began to taste the sweetness of the Gospel but the Devil perceiving his Kingdom begin to totter immediately stirred up his instruments to persecute the Apostles and drive them out of the Country and who more fit for that work than the devout and honourable women Acts 13.15 these stirred up their Husbands and all they had influence upon Satan per costam tanquam per scalam ad câ—r ascendit Gregor under a fair pretence of zeal for the Law to obstruct the progress of the Gospel No Bird saith one like the living Bird to draw others into the net Men of greatest names and pretensions to Religion if graceless are the
us it were bad enough a wrong to the Soul is a greater evil than the ruine of the body or estate and all the outward enjoyments of this life can be but to lose the precious Soul and destroy it to all Eternity O who can estimate such a loss Now the result and last effect of sin is death the death of the precious Soul Rom. 6.21 The end of those things is death So Ezek. 18.4 The soul that sinneth shall dye Sin doth not destroy the Being of the Soul by annihilation but it doth that which the damned shall find and acknowledge to be much worse it cuts off the Soul from God and deprives it of all its felicity joy and pleasure which consists in the enjoyment of him Such is dolefulness and fearfulness of this result and issue of sin that when God himself speaks of it he puts on a passion and speak of it with the most feeling concernment Ezek 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked turn ye turn ye for why will ye dye O house of Israel q. d. why will ye wilfully cast away your own Souls why will ye chuse the pleasures of sin for a season at the price of my wrath and fury poured out for ever O think upon this you that make so light a matter of committing sin We pity those who in the depth of melancholy or desperation lay violent hands upon themselves and in a desperate mood cut their own throats but certainly for a man to murder his own Soul is an act of wickedness as much beyond it as the value of the Soul is above the body Inference IV. WHat an invaluable Mercy is Iesus Christ to the World who came on purpose to seek and to save such as were lost In Adam all were shipwrackt and cast away Christ is the plank of Mercy let down from Heaven to save some The loss of Souls by the Fall had been as irrecoverable as the loss of the fallen Angels had not God in a way above all humane thoughts and counsels contrived the method of their Redemption 'T is astonishing to consider the admirable Harmony and glorious Triumph of all the Divine Attributes in this great project of Heaven for the recovery of lost Souls 'T is the wonder of Angels 1 Pet. 1.21 the great Mystery of Godliness 1 Tim. 3.16 the matter and burden of the triumphant Song of redeemed Saints Rev. 1.5 and well it may when we consider a more noble Species of Creatures finally lost and no Mediator of reconciliation appointed betwixt God and them this is to save an earthen Pitcher whilst the Vessel of Gold is let fall and no hand stretched out to save it But what is most astonishing is that so great a Person as the Son of God should come himself from the Futhers bosom to save us by putting himself into our room and stead being made a Curse for us Gal. 3 13. he leaves the bosom of his Father and all the ineffable delights of Heaven disrobes himself of his Glory and is found in fashion as man yea becomes as a worm and no man submits to the lowest step and degree of abasement to save lost sinners What a low stoop doth Christ make in his Humiliation to catch the Souls of poor sinners out of Hell Herein was love that God sent his own Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Ioh. 4.10 and so God loved the world Ioh. 3.16 at this rate he was content to save lost sinners How seasonable was this work of Mercy both in its general Exhibition to the World in the Incarnation of Christ and in its particular Application to the Soul of every lost sinner by the Spirit When he was first exhibited to the world he found them all as lost sheep gone astray every one turning to his own way Isa. 53.6 he speaks of our lost estate by Nature both collectively or in general we all went astray and distributively or in particular every one turned to his own way and then in the fulness of time a Saviour appeared And how seasonable was it in its particular application How securely were we wandering onwards in the paths of destruction fearing no danger when he graciously opened our eyes by conviction and pulled us back by heart-turning Grace No Mercy like this it 's an astonishing act of Grace that stands alone Inference V. IF there be so many ways to Hell and so few that escape it how are all concerned to strive to the uttermost in order to their own Salvation In Luke 13.23 a certain person proposed a curious question to Christ Lord are there few that be saved He saw a multitude flocking to Christ and thronging with great zeal to hear him and he could not conceive but Heaven must fill proportionably to the numbers he saw in the way thither but Christs answer ver 24. at once rebukes the curiosity of the Questionist fully solves the question propounded and sets home his own duty and greatest concernment upon him It rebukes his curiosity and is as if he should say Be the number of the saved more or less what is that to thee strive thou to be one of them It fully solves the question propounded by distinguishing those that attend upon the means of Salvation into Seekers and Strivers In the first respect there are many who by a cheap and easie profession seek Heaven but take them under the notion of Strivers i. e. persons heartily ingaged in Religion and who make it their business and so they will shrink up into a small number and it presseth home his great business and concern upon him Strive to enter in at the strait gate By Gate understand whatsoever is introductive to Blessedness and Salvation By the Epithet strait understand the difficulties and severities attending Religion all that suffering and self-denial which those that are bound for Heaven must count and cast upon And by striving understand the diligent and constant use of all those means and duties how hard irksom and costly soever they be The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath a deep sense and Emphasis and imports striving even to an agony and this duty is enforced two wayes upon him and every man else first by the indisputable Soveraignty of Christ from whom the command comes and also from the deep interest and concern every Soul hath in the commanded duty It is not only a simple compliance with the will of God but what also involves our own Salvation and eternal Happiness in it our great duty and our great interest are twisted together in this command your eternal happiness depends upon the success of it A man is not crowned except he strive lawfully i. e. successfully and prevalently O therefore so run so strive that ye may obtain If you have any value for your Souls if you would not be miserable to Eternity strive strive Believe it you will find that the assurance of Salvation
drops not down from Heaven in a night-dream as the Turks fable their Alcoran to have done in that lailato hanzili night of demission as they call it no no the righteous themselves are scarcely saved many seek but few find strive therefore as men and women that are heartily concerned for their own Salvation Sit not with folded arms like so many heaps of stupidity and sloth whilst the door of Hope is yet open and such a sweet voice from Heaven calls to you saying Strive Souls strive if ever you expect to be partakers of the Blessedness that is here to be enjoyed strive to the uttermost of your abilities and opportunities Such an Heaven is worth striving to obtain such an Hell is worth striving to escape such an invaluable Soul is worth striving to save I confess Heaven is not the purchace or reward of your striving No Soul shall boastingly say there Is not this the Glory which my duties and diligence purchased for me And yet on the other side it is as true that without striving you shall never set foot there Say not it depends upon the pleasure of God and not upon your diligence for it is his declared will and pleasure to bring men to Glory in the way though not for the sake of their own striving as in the works of your civil Calling you know all the care toil and sweat of the Husbandman avails nothing of it self except the Sun and Rain quicken and ripen the Fruits of the Earth and yet no wise man will neglect plowing and harrowing sowing and weeding because these labours avail not without the influences of Heaven but waits for them in the way of his duty and diligence rational hope sets all the world awork Do they plow in hope and sow in hope and will not you pray in hope and hear in hope You that know your Souls to be hitherto strangers to Christ and the regenerating work of the Spirit how is it that you take them not aside sometimes out of the distracting noise and hurries of the world and thus bemoan them O my poor graceless Christless miserable Soul how sad a case art thou in others have but thou never feltest the burden of sin thousands in the World are striving and labouring searching and praying to make their Calling and Election sure whilst thou sittest still with folded hands in a supine regardlesness of the misery that is hastening on upon thee Canst thou endure the devouring wrath of God Canst thou dwell with everlasting burnings Hast thou fancied a tolerable Hell Or is it easie to perish Why dost thou not cast thy self at the feet of Christ and cry as long as breath will last Lord pity a sinful miserable undone and self-condemning Soul Lord smite this rockie heart subdue this stubborn will heal and save an undone Soul ready to perish The characters of death are upon it it must be changed or condemned and that in a little time Bowels of pity hear the cry of a Soul distressed and ready to perish And you that do not understand the case and slate your Souls are in you have never a Bible near you O turn to those places 1 Cor. 6.9 10. where you will presently find the more obvious marks and characters God hath set upon the children of perdition and if you find not your self in that Catalogue among the unrighteous Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers Effeminate Thieves Covetous Drunkards Revilers Extortioners c. then turn to Ioh. 3.3 and solemnly ask thy own Soul this question Am I born again Am I a new Creature Or still in the same condition I was born in What solid evidence of the new birth have I to rely upon if I were now within a few gasps of death Am not I the man or woman who live in the very same sins which the Word of God makes the Symptoms and Characters of Damnation And doth not my Conscience witness against me that I am utterly void and destitute of all that saving Grace and a meer stranger to the regenerating work of the Spirit without which there can be no well-bottom'd hope of Salvation And if so are not the tokens of death upon me Am not I a person markt out for misery And shall I sit still in a state of so much danger and not once strive to make an escape from the wrath to come Is this vile body worth so much toil and labour to support and preserve it And is not my 〈◊〉 worth as much care and diligence to secure it from the everlasting wrath of the great just and terrible God O that the consideration of the wrath to come the multitudes all the world over preparing as fuel for it and the door of opportunity yet held open to Souls by the hand of Grace to escape that wrath might prevail with thy heart Reader to strive and that to the uttermost to secure thy precious Soul from the impending ruine EPHES. 5.16 Redeeming the time or opportunity because the days are evil TIme is deservedly reckoned among the most precious mercies of this life and that which makes it so valuable are the commodious seasons and opportunities for Salvation which are vouchsafed to us therein Opportunity is the golden spot of Time the sweet and beautiful flower growing upon the stalk of Time If Time be a Ring of Gold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 opportunity is the rich Diamond that gives it both its value and glory The Apostle well knew the value of Time and seeing how prodigally it was wasted by the most doth therefore in this place earnestly press all men to redeem save and improve it with the utmost diligence In this and the former Verse We have 1. The Duty injoyned Walk circumspectly We have 2. The Injunction explained 1. More generally Not as fools but as wise 2. More particularly Redeeming the time 3. The Exhortation strongly inforced with a powerful Motive Because the days are evil Among these Particulars my Discourse is principally concerned about the Redemption of Time or Opportunities which in this life are graciously vouchsased us in order to that which is to come and here it will be needful To inquire 1. What the Apostle means by Time 2. What by the Redemption of Time 1. Time is taken more largely or strictly according to the double acceptation of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth sometimes Time and sometimes Occasion Season or Opportunity and accordingly is expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tempus and Tempestivitas the latter is the word here used and denotes the commodiousness and fitness of some parts of Time above others for the successful and prosperous management and accomplishment of our main and great business in this world which is to secure our interest in Christ and glorifie God in a course of fruitful obedience For these great and weighty purposes our time is graciously lengthened out and many fit opportunities presented to us in the
revolutions thereof 2. By the Redemption of Time we must understand the study 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 care and diligence of Christians at the rate of all possible pains at the expence of all earthly pleasures ease and gratifications of the flesh to rescue their precious seasons both of Salvation and service out of the hands of temptations which so commonly rob unwary Souls of them Satan trucks with us for our time as we did at first with the silly Indians for their Gold and Diamonds who were content to exchange them for Glass-Beads and Tinsil Toyes Many fair seasons are forced or cheated out of our hands by the importunity of earthly cares or deceitfulness of sensual pleasures at the expence and loss of these we must redeem and rescue our time for higher and better uses and purposes We must spend those hours in prayer meditation searching our hearts mortifying our lusts which others do and our flesh fain would spend in sensual pleasures and gratifications of the fleshly appetite If ever we expect to win the Port of Glory we must be as diligent and careful as Sea-men are to take every gale that blows directly or obliquely to set them forward in their Voyage The note from hence is this DOCTRINE That the wisdom of a Christian is eminently discovered in saving and improving all opportunities in this World for that World which is to come God hangs the great things of Eternity upon the small wyers of times and seasons in this world that may be done or neglected in a day which may be the ground-work of joy or sorrow to all Eternity There is a nick of opportunity which gives both success and facility to the great and weighty affairs of the Soul as well as body to come before it is to seek the bird before it be hatcht and to come after it is to seek it when it is fled There is a twofold season or opportunity of Salvation 1. One was Christs season for the Purchace of it 2. The other is ours for the Application of it 1. Christ had a season assigned him for the impetration and purchace of our Salvation so you hear his Father bespeaking him Isa. 49.8 Thus saith the Lord In an acceptable time have I heard thee and in a day of salvation have I helped thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in tempore opportuno voluntatis vel placito It was the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ to set in with the Fathers time to comply with his season and it became a day of Salvation because it was the acceptable time which Christ took for it 2. Men have their seasons and opportunities for the application of Christ and his benefits to their own Souls 2 Cor. 6.1 2. We then as workers together with God beseech you also that you receive not the grace of God in vain for he saith I have heard thee in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation He exhorts the Corinthians not to dally or trifle any longer in the great concerns of their Salvation for now saith he is your day Christ had his day to purchase it and he procured a day also for you to apply it and this is that day you enjoy it you live under it that golden day is now running O see that you frustrate not the design thereof by receiving the Gospel-grace in vain Now two things concur to make a fit season of Salvation to the Souls of men 1. The external Means and Instruments 2. The Agency of the Spirit internally by or with those external Means 1. Men have then an opportunity for Salvation when God sends the means and instruments of Salvation among them When the Gospel is powerfully preached among a people then there is a door opened to them 2 Cor. 2.12 When I came to Troas to preach the Gospel a door was opened to me of the Lord. God doth as it were unlock the door of Heaven by the preaching of the Gospel Souls have then an opportunity to step in and be saved 2. But yet this is not a wide and effectual door â—s the Apostle phraseth it 1 Cor. 16.9 till the Spirit of God joyns with and works upon the heart by those external means and instruments As the waters of the Pool of Bethesda had no inherent fanative virtue in themselves untiâ— the Angel of the Lord descended and troubled them but both together make a blessed season for the Souls of men then he stands at the door and knocks by convictions and perswasions Rev. 3.20 strives with men as he did with the old world by the Ministry of Noah Gen. 6.3 Now the door of opportunity is indeed opened but this will not always last there is a time when the Spirit ceaseth to strive and when the door is shut Luke 13.25 There is a season when by the fresh impression of some Ordinance or Providence of God mens hearts are awakened and their affections stirred It is now with the Souls of men as it is with Fruit-trees in the Spring when they put forth blossoms if they knit and set fâ—uit follows if they be nipt and blasted no fruit can be expected For all convictions and motions of the affections are to Grace much the same thing as blossoms are to Fruit which are but the rudiment thereof fructus imperfectus ordinabilis somewhat in order to it and look as that is a critical and hazardous season to Trees so is this to Souls I do not say it is in the power of any Soul to make the work of the Spirit effectual and abiding by adding his endeavours to the Spirits motions for then conversion would not be the free and arbitrary act of the Spirit as it is Ioh. 3.8 neither would Souls be born of God but of the will of man contrary to Ioh. 1.13 And yet it is not to be thought or said that mens endeavours and strivings are altogether vain needless and insignificant because though they cannot make the grace of God effectual his Grace can make them effectual they are our duty and God can bless them to our great advantage Now there are among others five remarkable essays efforts or strivings of a Soul under the impression and hand of the Spirit which greatly tend to the fixing settling and securing of that great work upon the Soul and it is seldom known that any Soul miscarries in whom these things are found 1. Deep serious and fixed consideration which lets conviction deep into the Soul and settles it and roots it fast in the heart Psal. 119.59 I thought upon my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies There are close and anxious debates in those Souls in whom convictions prosper to full conversion they sit alone and think close to their great and eternal concerns they carry their thoughts back to the evils of their life past then smite on the thigh and cry What have I done
They run their thoughts forward into Eternity and that to a great depth and then cry What shall I do to be saved They deliberate and weigh in their most advised thoughts what is to be done and that speedily for the escaping of the wrath to come thus they fix those tender weak and hazardous motions which dye away in multitudes of Souls and in the loss of them their seasons of Salvation are also lost 2. The first stirrings and motions of the Spirit upon mens hearts do then become a season of Salvation to them when they are accompanied with spiritual fervent and frequent prayer so it was with Paul Acts 9.11 Behold he prayeth It 's a good sign when Souls get alone and affect privacy and retirement to pour out their fears sorrows and requests to God It is in the Espousals of a Soul to Christ as it is in other Marriages a third person may make the motion and bring the Parties together but they only betwixt themselves must conclude and agree the matter Prayer is the first breath which the new Creature draws in and the last ordinarily it breaths out in this world This nourishes and maturates those weak and tender first motions after God and brings them to some consistence and fixedness in the Soul 3. Then do those motions of the Spirit on mens hearts make a season of Salvation to them when they remain and settle in the heart and are in them per modum quietis by way of rest and abode following the man from place to place from day to day so that whatever unpleasing diversions the necessities and incumbrances of this world at any time give yet still they return again upon the heart and will not vanish or suffer any long suspension but in others who lose their blessed advantage and season it 's quite contrary Iam. 1.23 24. They are as one that seeth his natural face in a glass and goeth away and forgetteth what manner of man he was he sees some spot on his face or disorder in his band which he purposeth to correct but one occurrence or another chops in and he forgets what he saw in the glass and so goes all the day with his spot upon him This was an evanid light purpose which came to nothing for want of a present execution just so it is with many in reference to their great concerns but if the impression abide in its strength if it return and follow the Soul and will not let it be quiet it 's like then to prosper and prove the time of Mercy indeed to such Souls 4 An anxious solicitude and inquisitiveness about the means and ways of Salvation speaks an effectual door of Salvation to be set open to the Souls of men Acts 2.37 16.30 Sirs what must I do to be saved Men and brethren what shall we do q. d. we are in a miserable condition O you the Ministers of Christ instruct counsel and shew us what course to take Is there no Balm in Gilead No door of hope in this Valley of Achor Alas we are not able to dwell with our own fears terrors and presages of wrath to come O for a Messenger one among a thousand to teach us the way of Salvation Thus the Lord rivets and fixes those motions in some Souls which vanish like a morning mist or dew in others 5 Lastly That which secures and compleats this work is the execution of those purposes and convictions by falling without delay to the work of Faith and Repentance in good earnest dallying no more with so great a concernment standing no longer at shall I shall I when mean while time flies away and opportunities are in hazard to be lost but bringing their thoughts and debates to a peremptory resolution as the Lepers at Samaria did and seeing themselves shut up to one only door of hope there they resolve to take up their station lying at the feet of Jesus Christ and casting their poor burdened Souls upon him whatever be the issue When the Spirit of God ripens his first motions to this and carries them through that critical season thus far then there is an effectual door of opportunity opened indeed this is an acceptable time a day of Salvation but O how many thousands miscarry in this season and like trees removed from one soil to another dye in the removal But certainly it is the most solemn and important concern of every Soul to watch upon all these seasons of Salvation when God comes nigh to them by convictions and motions of his Spirit and to put the same value upon these things which they do upon their Souls and the Salvation of them This is the door of Hope set open a fresh gale to carry you home to your Port of Glory Salvation is now come nigh to your Souls there is but a little betwixt you and Blessedness Wise and happy is that Soul which knoweth and improveth its season To perswade and press men to discern and improve such seasons as these is the principal work of the Preachers of the Gospel and that special work to which I now address my self in the following Motives and Arguments Argument I. AND first who that hath the free exercise of Reason and the sense of a future eternal Estate would carelesly neglect any season of Salvation whilst he seeth all the rational world so carefully attending and watching all opportunities to promote and secure their lower concerns and designs for the present life Is not the saving of a mans Soul as weighty a concern as the getting of an Estate You cannot but observe how care Merchants are to nick the opportunity which promiseth them a good turn How y are poor Sea-men look out for a wind to wast them to their Port and industriously shift their Sails to improve every slaw that may set them on in their Voyage How many miles Tradesmen will travel to be in season at a Fayr to put off or purchase Goods to their advantage No entertainments recreations or importunities of friends can prevail with any of these to lose a day on which their business depends all things must give way to their business they all understand their seasons and will not be diverted But alas what childish toyes are all these compared with Salvation What is the loss of a little Money to the loss of a mans Soul If a mans life depended upon his being at such a place by such a precise hour sure he would not over-sleep his time that morning and had he but the least fear of coming too late every stroke of the Clock would strike to his heart and yet remisness and carelesness in such a case as this is infinitely more excusable than in the matter of Salvation Certainly the solicitude and care of all the world for the interests thereof yea your own diligence and circumspection in temporal things will be an uncontroulable and confounding self-conviction to you in the day of your account and leave you
25 will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him Iob 27.9 no no he will not and this is but a just retribution from the righteous God whose calls and counsels men have set at nought but whatever men now think of it it is certainly the greatest misery incident to man in all the world for as no words can make another fully sensible what a priviledge it is to have the ear favour pity and help of God in a day of straits so it is impossible for any words to express the doleful state and case of that Soul whom God casts off in trouble and whose cryes he shuts out 5 Beware of neglecting any Call of God because that Call you are now tempted to neglect may be the last Call that ever God intendeth to give thy Soul Sure I am there is a Call which will be the last Call of God to rebellious Sinners and after that no more Calls but an eternal deep silence his Spirit shall not always strive with man and the more motions and calls you have already slighted the more probable it is that this may be the last Voice of God in a way of Mercy to thy Soul and what if after this God should seal up thy heart and judicially harden it make thy will utterly inflexible and thine ears deaf as he threatens Isa 6.10 What an undone miserable man or woman art thou then O beware of provoking the forest of all Judgments by persisting any longer in a course of rebellion against Light and Mercy 6 Whilst your hearts put off and neglect the Calls of God you can never by any means arrive to the evidence and assurance of your Election for your Election is only secured to you by your effectual calling 2 Pet. 1.10 there is no way for men to discern their Names written in the Book of Life but by reading the work of Sanctification in their own hearts Rom. 10.8 I desire no miraculous Voice from Heaven no extraordinary signs or unscriptural notices and informations in this matter Lord let me but find my heart complying with thy calls my will obediently submitting to thy commands Sin my burden and Christ my desire I will never crave a fairer or surer evidence of thy electing love to my Soul and if I had an Oracle from Heaven an extraordinary Messenger from the other World to tell me thou lovest me I have no reason to give credit to such a Voice whilst I find my heart wholly sensual averse to God and indisposed to all that is spiritual 7. What reason have you why you should not presently embrace the Call of God and thankfully lay hold upon the first opportunity and season of Salvation Have you any greater matters in hand than the Salvation of your precious Souls Is there any thing in all this world that more concerns you If the affairs of this life be so indispensably necessary and those of the world to come so indifferent if you think that meat and drink trade and business wife and children be such great things and Christ Soul and Eternity such little things or if you think the Salvation be a work of the greatest necessity yet it may safely enough be put off to a time of uncertainty I may assure you you will not long be of this mind How soon are all the mistakes of men in these matters rectified in a few moments after death Rectified I say but not remedied your opinion will be changed but not your condition 8. Do you not every day easily and readily obey the Calls of Satan and your own Lusts whilst God and Conscience are suffered to call and strive with you in vain If Satan or your Lusts call you to the Tavern to the World and your sinful Pleasures you speedily comply with their Call and yield a ready obedience if Pride call if Covetousness call if Passion and Revenge call they need not call twice and shall God call and Conscience call only in vain Lord what a Creature is Man become If a vain Companion call you have no power to deny him if God call you have no ear to hear him 9. You cannot but observe the obedience and diligence of many others how seriously painfully and assiduously they ply and follow on the work of their own Salvation and yet they are no more concerned in the events and consequences of these things than you are Doth it not trouble you when you compare your selves with them Do not such thoughts as these sometimes arise in your hearts upon such observations Lord what a difference is there like to be betwixt their end and mine when there is so apparent a difference in our course and conversation Doth not God distinguish persons in this world by the frames of their hearts and tenor of their lives in order to the great distinction he will make betwixt one and another in the Day of Judgment Have not I as precious a Soul to save or lose as any of them What is the matter that I sit with folded arms whilst they are working out Salvation with fear and trembling Why should any man or woman in the world be more careful for their Souls than I for mine Surely its capacity and excellency is equal with theirs though our care and diligence be so unequal 10. To conclude God will shortly give you an irresistible Call to the Grave and after that his Voice shall call to you in your Graves Arise ye dead and come to Iudgment but wo be to you wo and alas that ever you were born if you should hear the Call of God to dye before you have heard and obeyed his Call to Christ. Will your Death-bed be easie to you Can you with any hope or comfort shoot the Gulph of Eternity before you have done one act for the securing your Souls from the wrath to come 'T is a dreadful thing for a poor Christless Soul to sit quivering up on the lips of a dying Sinner not able to stay nor yet to endure a parting pull from the Body in such a case as it is In a word if the God that made and will shortly judge you if the Redeemer that shed his invaluable Blood and now offers you the purchaces and benefits of it if you have any love to or care of your own Souls which are more worth than the whole world if you have any value for Heaven or dread of Hell then for Gods sake for Christs sake for your precious Souls sake trifle with Heaven and Hell no longer but be in earnest to work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling Could I think of any other means or motives that might secure your Souls from danger I would surely use them Could I reach your hearts effectually I would deeply impress this great concern upon themâ—punc but I can neither do Gods part of the work nor yours it is some ease to me I have in sincerity though with much imperfection and feebleness done part of my own
to be worshipped Secondly That we must acknowledg our selves to be under much darkness as to the way and manner of the converse of Spirits with us Dr. Morâ— of the Immortality of the Soul Lib. 2. c. 16. The most acute and learned Dr. More I find of the same Opinion He affirms that departed Souls are capable of a vital Union with an airy vehicle or Body in which they can easily move from place to place and appear to the Living and act in their own affairs as in detecting Murthers rebuking injurious Executors visiting and counselling their Wives and Children forewarning them of such and such courses c. To which we may add the profession of the Spirit thus appearing of being the Soul of such a one as also the similitude of the person And all this ado is in things very just and serious unfit for a Devil with that care and kindness to promote and as unfit for a good Genius it being below so noble a nature to tell a lye All these things put together and rightly weighed the violence of prejudice not pulling down the balance I dare appeal saith he to any Whether it will not be certainly carried for the present cause and whether any indifferent Judge ought not to conclude if these stories which are so frequent every where and in all Ages concerning the Ghosts of men appearing be but true That it is true also that they are their Ghosts c. These are the strongest Arguments I meet with for the â—ffirmative that the matter is possible it may be so and then adding the credible instances that it is so the matter seems to be determined To this purpose Dr. Sterne alledges several instances out of Scripture as that appearance of Samuel unto Saul and the conference betwixt them as also the Letters that were sent to Iehoram by Elijah after that Elijah was translated to Heaven as appears by comparing 2 Chron. 21.12 with 2 Kings 3.11 In which it appears that in Iehosaphat's time who preceded this Iehoram Elijah was dead and yet in Iehoram's time who succeeded him he is said to receive Letters from Elijah The appearance and conference also betwixt Christ and Moses and Elias upon the Mount in the presence of some of the Disciples confirms it Matth. 17.3 These are principal Scripture-instances others are almost innumerable From among that vast heap I will select some few that are most material and of clearest credit * Insularum Scoâ—icarum incolae ad agros cum pro deploratis habentur accedunt rogant at certo à morte die locoq certo ipâ—as conveniant quod mortâ—i tempore loco praestitutis â—râ—â—stant Sterne ibid. It is a thing saith my Author both known and frequent that the Inhabitants of the Scotish Isles when their Friends are dying come to them and request them that upon such or such a day after their death and in such a place they would meet them which the Dead accordingly do at the time and place agreed upon and have sometimes discourse with them Infinite examples of Murthers saith Dr. More have been discovered by Dreams the Souls of the Persons murthered seeming to appear to some or other asleep and to make their complaints to them giving us a notable example out of Baronius of Marsilius Ficinus who having made a solemn vow with Michael Mercatus after they had been pretty warmly disputing of the immortality of the Soul out of the Principles of their Master Plato that whether of them two die first should appear to his Friend and give him certain information of that truth It was Ficinus his fate to diel first and that not long after this mutual resolution He was mindful of his promise when he had left the Body for Mercatus being very intent at his studies betimes on a morning heard a Horse riding by with all speed and observed that he stopt at his window and therewith heard the voice of his Friend Ficinus crying out aloud O Michael Michael vera vera sunt illa That is O Michael Michael those things are true they are true Wherepou he suddainly opened his window and espying Marsilius upon a white Steed called after him but he vanished out of his sight He sent therefore presently to Florence to know how Marsilius did and understood that he died about that hour he called at his window Much to the same purpose is that so famous and well attested story of the apparition of Major George Sydenham to Captain William Dyke Sadducismus Triumphatus second Part p. 183. both of Somerset-shire attested by the worthy and learned Dr. Thomas Dyke a near Kinsman of the Captain's and by Mr. Douch to whom both the Major and Captain were intimately known The summ is this The Major and Captain had many disputes about the Being of a God and the immortality of the Soul in which points they could never be resolved though they much sought for and desired it and therefore it was at last fully agreed betwixt them that he that died first should the third night after his Funeral come betwixt the hours of twelve and one to the little house in the Garden adjoining to Major Sydenham's house at Dulverton in Somerset-shire The Major died first and the Captain happened to lie that very night which was appointed in the same Chamber and Bed with Dr. Dyke he acquainted the Doctor with the appointment and his resolution to attend the place and hour that Night for which purpose he had got the key of that Garden The Doctor could by no means divert his purpose but when the hour came he was upon the place where he waited two hours and an half neither seeing nor hearing any thing more than usual About six Weeks after the Captain and Doctor went to Eaton and lay again in the same Inn but not the same Camber as before at Dulverton The Morning before they went thence the Captain stayed longer than was usual in his Chamber and at length came in to the Doctors Chamber but in a Visage and form much differing from himself with his hair and eyes staring and his whole body shaking and trembling whereat the Doctor wondering demanded what is the matter Cousin Captain The Captain replies I have seen my Major at which the Doctor seeming to smile the Captain said if ever I saw him in my life I saw him but now adding as followeth This Morning said he after it was light some one came to my Bed side and sudainly drawing back the Curtains calls Cap Cap which was the term of familiarity that the Major used to call the Captain by to whom I replied What my Major To which he returns I could not come at the time appointed but I am now come to tell you That there is a God and a very just and terrible one and if you do not turn over a new leaf you will find it so This stuck close to him little Meat would go down with him at