Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A65802
|
The state of the future life, and the present's order to it consider'd by Tho. White, Gent.
|
White, Thomas, 1593-1676.
|
1654
(1654)
|
Wing W1842; ESTC R15645
|
17,794
|
128
|
to those once honour'd and belov'd Companions of their wickedness in this world whom either whilst they liv'd they had courted into their Sins or been by them allur'd and draw'n into their's and so in an instant and to all Eternity become depriv'd of all even false Friendship vain Honour and whatever seeming Goods they so passionatly affected and ambitiously sought for in this life The third Point LAstly though their Bodies then remain perfectly subject to their Souls yet ev'n this subjection through the inâ—disposition of their Souls can only serve to render them more miserable and hateful their Eyes and Countenances fram'd according to the horror of their guilty Consciences and tormented Thoughts how can they but be most ugly and abominable the rest of their Members in what strange Postures expressing the distraction of their Minds beyond all Bedlams for their mad and extravagant deformities and if any occasion of Action should be offer'd them without any Prudence or consideration at the very first motion how prone to all wickedness and unable to resist any evill Only secure by their state of Immutabiliry Unhappy Immutabiliry which only serves them never to be chang'd from but eternally to endure Torments that would quickly dissolve any thing less than an immortal Body Conclusion COnclude then Whoever loves his Soul in this life that is inordinatly and according to Flesh and Blood truly loses it in the next world as our Lord foretold and falls into the evills which here he labours so much to shun but with a very disadvantageous advantage for by fearing little ills he falls into infinite great ones and by declining momentany sufferings he runs into eternal Take up therefore as the Apostle exhorts thee this Buckler of Faith and by the serious consideration of the next life's future evills defend thy self against the fyery Darts of thine Enemies fight courage things put together are any ways coÌ„parable ev'n to the least degree of it 't is evident that then our whole life is best when 't is best fitted and order'd for obtaining this End and if in any part it be ill or less well dispos'd for It so far 't is vicious or at least imperfect Wherefore 't is the sole business of all prudent Persons so to order their whole life to the utmost of their power as may most directly and certainly lead them to attaining this happiness proportionating every Part thereof to the scope of the Whole and having still the End so considerately before their eyes that all their Actions may be squar'd and levell'd to it The second Point SEcondly Since the chief and proper Action of a Man towards his End is the Love of it and the highest Good is above all to be loved 't is evident Those actions and endeavours to This End are best which beget and breed in Our selves a strong and solid Love to It. Now there are two ways or Mediums to engender and encrease Love One by purging our hearts from all other Loves and Affections that so we may more freely and entirely attend to this we are in pursute of the Other by considering and Meditating on as well the great Goods contain'd in the End or thing we desire to Love as the extream Evils that follow or accompany their Loss or privation Wherefore 't is cleer Our chief labour and study ought to be so to order our life that we may both often and seriously think on this our End and the infinite Happiness it contains and that in all we undertake our Affections be not corrupted and adulterated with the least Love of the things themselves but our works be done purely for the Love of this blessed End and all our intentions aym at the encrease of this Love The third Point THirdly Since by every deliberate Action we aym at some End or pretend the attaining some Good which we seek either purely for it self without any farther reference or else intend this as a means to some other 't is evident that in every such Action we love something as the last End for which we do it If then it be not done for the love of true Beatitude which is the Enjoyment of God it must needs follow we do It only for the love of some false Good as Pleasure Riches or the like and that in every such Action we love some false Good as our last End Wherefore it imports us to walk very cautiously with our God and purify all we can our intentions seeing no considerâ—t action can be surely indifferent but either advances towards or swerves from our true and only Felicity His beatifying sight Conclusion COnclude with thaÌ„ksgiving to the Almighty for this special favour of bringing thee thus seriously to reflect on thy ways And if thou findest that hitherto thou hast been too negligent in a business of such consequence strive henceforward to renew in thy self the fervour of Charity with so much more care and diligence as thou hast already lost time Do what good thou canst in the day of this life for our great Master tells us When the night of death shal come it will be too late to help our selves but such as we are then found must be our lot for all eternity The eighth Consideration Piety is conformable to Man's Nature whence such as live according to Vertue are most happy even in this World The first point COnsider Since every one's particular End is that of Humane Nature and it cannot stand with the Wisdom and Goodness of our Creatour to have made our Nature other than such as was fit and conformable to obtain the End for which it was created it must needs follow that the actions by which we are to procure this End are also conformable to our Nature And since What is agreeable to Nature is pleasant and delightful it must follow again that Those Actions are very grateful and sweet and therefore a Pious Life which consists of such Actions is not a crabbed and unpleasant but on the contrary a life full of sweetness and most apt to yield content And if some passages in it seem a little harsh that they are but Medicinal and whereby we are preserv'd from falling into others far more hurtfull and worse to be digested wherefore that These also are sweet in their effect not only in respect of the Future Life but even of the Present and like a bitter Potion to be swallow'd with a joyful hope of the Health they induce The second point AGain Since a Pious life orders the whole course of our Actions to one end so rendring them all conformable to one another it clearly exempts our lives from all inward opposition and contradiction and keeps us in perfect Peace with our selves whereas on the contrary a Vicious life wich precipitates us according to our Passions to follow now this now that Concupiscence must needs fill our Souls with repugnant Affections make us lead a life full of
the Sun beams or the highest Angel a contemptible Worm and infinitely more beyond all comparison The third Point LAstly All other objects of delight may be coÌ„prehended by our Understanding may be contemn'd by our Will as less than our Soul and not able to satisfie it only Almighty God so fills and oversatisfies that entirely possessing our Affections He as it were forces the Soul to love and delight more than of its own nature it possibly could nor can it ever be weary of the good it enjoys but still with its whole and more eager desire will hug and cling to its beloved Object so that a Soul which sees God seeks nothing else but rests fully satisfied as it were lull'd into a dear contentment wherein it remains so absorpt and wholy ravisht that it sweetly languishes and dissolves into Spirits and flames of love the better to inessence and incorporate it self into God Thus then thou feest clearly demonstrated this great-concerning Truth that No delight can be comparable to thy Beatitude and that 't is no wonder to hear our Blessed Lord and Master in a manner labour to express it when He said Mensuram plenam confertam coagitatam supereffluentem dabunt in sinus vestros You shall be paid with good measure heap'd up and press'd down and thrust together and yet running over into your Bosoms Conclusion COnclude therefore with a full resolution by all thy works and best endeavours and even if need be with the hazard and loss of all other Goods to purchase this hidden Treasure this precious Pearl which at length though late thou hast hit on and to think nothing considerable nor to be car'd for in comparison of this to pitty the unhappiness of those poor Souls that spend their whole Affections in toys and trifles of this Life neglecting this only necessary good and to rejoyce in the secret of thy Bosom that being vouchsaf'd grace now to see that the wisdom of this world is in very truth but folly it has pleas'd thy kind Lord to number thee amongst those few that are truly wise The third Consideration The happy State of the Just's Bodys after their Resurrection The first Point COnsider When the last day shall restore thee thy Body again it shall be endow'd with such a degree of health as will be most convenient for all thy operations both Spiritual and Corporal accompany'd with an incapacity of deficience or Corruption and wth such an Agility as the most perfect disposition of the Nerves can cause with access of all possible swiftness and a power of raising or depressing thy self at pleasure as also of consisting with or penetrating any other Body to all which thou shalt have such a graceful Comeliness with so rare a Beauty of Light and Colour whose like shall not be found in any other Body but thine that thereby thou shalt become an ornament to the Universs adding so peculiar a grace to all the rest that without thee that whole mass of glorious Bodies would seem in a manner lame and defective The second Point MOreover All the laudable actions of thy whole life shall be known to all the Men and Angels that are or ever were who admiring all and every perfection in them even to the least circumstances and thoughts that accompany'd them shall from their very hearts and by the force of truth love and praise thee for them nay the very Devils and damned souls shall honour thee but with envy grief and repentance and what may seem more strange thy very sins shall be then a glory to thee both because thou o'recam'st and forsook'st them and that even in their commission there was possibly some laudable circumstance and which avayl'd to thy salvation So that then thou shalt have so many Friends so many Admirers of thy Vertue as there are Saints and Angels so many VVitnesses of thine Excellency as there are damned souls and Devils who obstinate in their own malice by their Torments shall confess and encrease thy Glory The third Point ADde to this Neither the Devils nor damned souls shall be able in any thy least Motion or Will to resist thee all the Saints and Angels shall observe and comply with thy desires more punctually then any obsequious servant ever watch'd their Masters eye and no Corporeal nature shal be able to contest with thee but all Bodies shall obey thee in what ever thou hast a mind to So that there thou shalt neither want Power where none shall contradict thee nor Riches where nothing shall be denyed thee Conclusion COnclude then Whatever Good thou shalt here forsake for God and Vertu 's Love will not be lost but there restor'd with Interest whether Friends Wealth Honour or Dominion Wherefore doubt not like a prudent Merchant to venture thy Goods to the Sea of Fortune and storms of Persecution whence thou shalt find an indefectible Treasure layd up in Heaven for thee or like the good Husbandman to sow in the Winter of Adversities though with some reluctance sorrow thy seed in Vertu 's ground expecting the precious fruit it shall infallibly yield thee in the Summer of Eternity Having so firm an assurance as the express VVord of God They that sow in tears shall reap in jâ—y The fourth Consideration The intollerable Pains of the Damned for the Loss of this happy Knowledge and Sight of God The first Point COnsider Man's Soul being created for the Vision of Almighty God as properly and more than a knife is made to cut any Vessel to be fill'd and all heavy things for their Center and a knowing substance when it wants the good for which it was made being very unquiet and full of Pain and that so much the more as it's Nature is more excellent it's Force greater and Inclination more Violent It must needs follow that such a Soul when it shall know what an infinite Good the Almighty is who alone is able to satisfie its Appetite will be fill'd with a sorrow for so great a Joss equal to the excellency of its Nature and the force of its Inclination Reflect then with what Violence a huge stone falls to it's center or a Mighty Bow of Steel let loose unbends its self or Powder set on fire breaks all to make it's way and be assured the sorrow of an unhappy Soul who now sees of what good it remains depriv'd will be as far more Violent than all these as its Nature and Forces surpass the activivity of the strongest Bodies The second Point AGain When this poor Soul shall be convinc'd how slender base sordid fading and almost momentany all those things were for which it contemn'd and lost this infinite and only Good that might so easily have been obtain'd even with far less pains than were often employ'd on those transitory toys and with far more security since none could hinder it but it self no not it self deprive it self of this when once