was King of Cyprus Titulo Rex insulae animo autem pecuniae miserabile mancipium He was in title the King of the Cyprian-Isle but in truth he was a miserable Bondslave to his Pelf Now what profit is it to gain and increase that mony which begetteth and increaseth misery And if it be so little profit simply to gain the World certainly there is lesse profit in the gaining of it if a man must pay his own Soule for it And this brings us to the second Querie that Hypothetical Question that includes the whole Text What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule And this Question sets us to consider of the second sort of Wares the Ware Exported concerning which three Circumstances were proposed to be considered 1. The Nature or Quality 2. The Number or Quantity 3. The Relation or Propriety First for the Nature or Quality we may observe that it See Nemesius of the Nature of Man is a Soul Yet not a Vegitative Soule such as is in the Plants Nor yet a Sensitive Soule such as is in Birds and Beasts But a Reasonable Soule such as is in Man such a Soule as makes him to be a Man It is is his Soule his owne Soule I shall It is the soule of man that makes him to be a man See Philip of Mornay's Trunesse of Christian Religion translated by St Phil. Sidney chap. 14. not tell you what Aristotle sayes of the Soule of Man nor yet how other Philosophers use to define it But let me tell you thus much of it that it is an Heavenly Jewell in a Câ—binet of Earth and a Jewel of that worth it is that not all the Diamonds in the World though never so curiously cut and never so artificially set in the richest Rings of the most refined gold may be valued with it though it be cabined in the most deformed lump of Red Earth There be many Reasons in it to raise the estimate of it I 'le name some of them As first it is the Medal of the Almighty The lively Image of the living God Or the Tablet upon which that King of Kings and Lord of Lords hath drawn his owne likenesse Now shall the Image of a Mortall King stamped on the substance of the Earth or the Earthly substance of Gold or Silver make man so to esteem it as to become an Idolater towards it and shall not the Image of the Immortal King of Kings imprinted in his own Workmanship upon the Heavenly substance of Mans soule perswade him far more highly to value that And a second reason why this Merchant Man should inhaunce Dei insignita imagine decorata similitudine St Bern. Medita de digniâ— animae Mens nostra Dei similis c. Gregor Nyss disputat de anima Resurr the price of his Soul may be this because it is a spirit an Immateriall substance It is indeed within the substance of the body but yet without a bodily substance And the more that any substance be spiritualized the more puâ— and precious it is and the more ennobled And the further that any substance be distanced from the nature of a body the nearer it drawes to the Nature of God For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is a Spirit And the spirituality of the Soule does far exalt it above the body as comming nearer to the purity of God who is a Spirit And therefore it is well asserted by St Bernard that the worst of soules in respect of substance is far more excellent then the best of bodies and ought to be valued far above them A third Reason to perswade this Merchant-man to value his Soul at a very dâ—ar rate may be the Immortality of it It is immortal as well as immaterial Indeed man dies at See the Immortality of the soul discoursed of largely and very learnedly by Philip of Mornay Lord of Plâ—ssie in the Truenesse of Christ Religion c. 14. 15. his appointed time but the soul of man does never die By death the whole man is dissolved but the whole of man is not destroyed by death The soul of man doth live when man is dead The soul is doomed at the instant of death either to enjoy everlasting felicity in Heaven or to endure everlasting misery in Hell And that endlesse misery is often called Mors secunda the second death Yet is it not so called that we should think that the Soul doth cease to live in hell but rather â—ecause it ceaseth to enjoy its life The damned Non enim quia solvitur compositum inde etiaÌ„ necessariò consequitur una cum composito dâ—ssolvi id quod compositum non est Greg. Nyssen disput de Anim. Resurr souls in Hell live not there to enjoy life but to endure grief And therefore their life there is said to be no life Simplex vita non est vivere sed valere meerly to live is no life but to live indeed is to enjoy life It is a kind of death for one to live in pain that hath lived at ease It is a kind of death for one to live in prison that hath lived at liberty A kind of death for one to live in penury that hath lived in plenty Those damned Souls that lie imprisoned in Hell do all live there in pain for living here in pleasure their joyes are turned into pains and their life now is worse then death Their Damnation in Hell is like to Death in four respects In damnatione novissima quaÌ„vis homo sentire non desinaâ— tamen quia sensus ipse nec voluptate suavis nec quiete salubris sed doâ—oâ—â— poenalis est non immeritò mors est potius appellaâ—a quam vita S. August and for its likenesse in each respect it is called Death First it is like it for Separation In temporal dâ—ath the Quamvis enim humana anima vâ—raciter immortalis perhibâ—tur habet tamen etiam ipsa mortem suam Soul which gave life to the Body is separated from it So in Damnation the Lord of life which gave life to the Soul is separated from that Mortâ—ae sunt animae hoc est à Deo desertâ— saith S. Austine The damned soules are dead that is forsaken of God For Sicut mors corporis est cum id deserit animâ— ita mors animae est cum eam deserit Deus As it is the death of S. Aug. de Civ Dei l. 13. c. 2. the body when it is forsaken of the soul so it is the death of the soul when it is forsaken of God Sicut enim anima discedente moritur corpus sic anima Deo dâ—sâ—rente mori credenda est Secondly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Place Hell is a place of Darknesse a place that is very disconsolate Primasius super Apocalyp cap. 18. so is the Grave And therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sheol with the Hebrews signifiâ—s both Hell
and the Grave and so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Greeks Thirdly Damnation is like to Death in respect of Pain Quid sacient intime familiares quales sunt corpus anima quae ab ipso utero ita jucundissime vixerint The spirit may be willing but the flesh will be loath Manchest Al Mondâ— contemp mortis and Griefe Great are the pangs of Death and great the griefe of Man that 's dying and the griefe and pains of Hell are full as great and greater Fourthly and last Damnation is like to Death in respect of Horrour Death is called the King of feares the most terrible of terribles Nature abhorreth nothing more then Death there is nothing that is known to Man more terrible and therefore is Damnation called Death Indeed Damnation is beyond expression terrible yea beyond all apprehension we want words to expresse it by we want things more hideous to resemble it unto We mis-call it Death but it is not Death indeed The Damned may wish for Death but they must not dye The Damned souls are all immortal they are sent to Hell to live in misery yea to live in misery for ever yea for ever and for ever The expression is as useful as it is usual Mark it well for ever and for ever That which is but once for ever can never have an end But the living and lasting Miseries of Hell are said to be for ever and for ever to make us the more seriously to consider of them This Duplication intimateth thus much to us that when the poore damned soule hath passed a thousand years and ten thousands more and as many thousands more as the nimblest imagination can conceive of and more Millions of Ages more then the best Arithmetician can ever multiply yet then he shall be as if he were newly to begin he hath still and still another for ever to endure miseries This it is that does so aggravate the Misery of Man by his Worldly Merchandize If he must lose his Soul for his gaining of the World his losse is infinite because the Damnation of his Soul is endlesse It is for ever and ever It was the thought of this that caused that Right Reverend Parson of Bethlem Parish devout St Hierome to renounce this present World and retire into a Cell or Cave which he either found or founded in Bethlem lest he should lose his Soule for ever and ever in Hell by gaining the World for a time The feare of endlesse torments turn'd his Cell Dr Willans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Into a Jayle and made his Cave his Hell Propter metum Gehennae tali me carceri emancipaveram as he said himself to Heliodorus That good old Father was wont to be portraied with a young Lyon by his side partly to signifie how fiercely he cryed out against the Schismes and Heresies and other sins of others in his time and partly to signifie that he sometimes roared out for the very disquietnesse of his own heart at the sight of his own sin knowing that if his soule must be lost by them his losse would be intolerable because it would be the losse of an immortal substance A fourth Reason to raise the estimate of the Soul may be taken from the Reason in it It is a Reasonable Soul an Intellectual It is chiefly in respect thereof that we are called Reasonable Creatures Nemes of the Nature of Man cap. 14. Substance The richest Treasure of any that Man as man is entrusted with By this he comes to know himselfe By this he comes to know the way to save himselfe By this he comes to know the worth of this and other things If he loseth this he is but a lost man yea without this he is no man at all And therefore Man should value this above all A fifth Reason may be this that the losing or saving of the whole man depends upon the saving or losing of the soule If the Soule of man be turned into Hell at the first Judgement the whole man must be tumbled thither at the second Judgement But if it be translated to Heaven at the Night of Death the Body also shall have a removal thither at the Morning of the Resurrection It is a preposterous Care in many Great ones in this Multus Corporum Curationi impenditur usus multum huic operae in spem medâ—lae datur Nunquid medicinam anima non mâ—retur Etsi varia corpori auxiliae studio tuendae sanitatis adhibentur sas non est tamen animam velut exclusam jacere quasi neglectam morbis suis intabescere atque unam à propriis remediis exulare immo verè plura animae conserenda sunt si corpori tanta praestantur Nam si râ—cte quidam carnem famulam animam verò dominam esse dixerunt non oportet postâ—riâ—re lâ—co nos dominam ponere ac famulam iniquo jure praeferre Eucherius in Epist Paraenet ad Valerianum World to make great provision for their Bodies here before death and also after it but none at all or very little for their Soules Alas for them Let them provide what Physicians they can to prevent the Death of their Bodies yet are they mortal and so must dye And let them prepare what Tombs they will to preserve them after Death Yet if their soules be sent to Hell to be tormented for their sinnes done in their bodies their bodies must be sure they also shall be sent to suffer with their soules As they sinned together so must they suffer But whatever become of their Bodies after death if their Soules be saved when they die their Bodies also shall be saved at the second coming of our Saviour As they have served him together so shall they be saved together by him The happinesse or unhappinesse of the whole man depends upon the happinesse or unhappinesse of his Soule The sixth and last Reason to perswade this Merchant Totus quidem iste mundus ad unius animae pretium aestimari non potest non enim pro tolo mundo Deus animam suam dare voluit quam pro anima humanae dedit Sublimius ergo animae pretium quae non nisi sanguine Christi redimi potuit c. Agnosce homo quam nobilis est anima tua quam gravia suerunt ejus vulnera pro quibus necesse suit Christum Dominum vulnerari Noli ergo vilipendere animae tuae passionem cui à tanta Majestate tantam vides exhiberi compassionem S. Bern. Medit. Man to prize his Soul above the World may be taken from the consideration of that price which our Saviour paid for the redemption of it And was it not very considerable think you that the Sonne of God the welbeloved Sonne of God the onely begotten Sonne of God equal to the Father in goodnesse and power and glory and majesty should condescend so low as to become a Man a Man of no reputation the very scorn and
life in Christ and with him And hee that layes downe his life for Christ his Saviours sake shall take it up againe for his owne with immortality added to it Let no Man therefore either thinke or say that sufferings are the onely Salaries or the sole rewards that our Saviour Christ vouchsafeth to bestow upon his Souldiers and upon his Servants For never did any Souldier beare armes under the commands of a more Noble Captaine or more excellent Generall Nor can any man serve a better or more generous Master The Proto-Martyr was S. Steven Hee was the first that ever Dorotheus warred under the Banner of Christs Crosse to the losse of life The vaunt-gard was led on by him and hee himselfe did march in the very front to bid the enemy battell and was hee no way rewarded thinke yee Had hee nothing bestowed upon him but onely a volley of stones Did hee lose all salaries Acts 7. 59. with himselfe Oh no! Did hee not rather winne that life which is eternall by losing of his temporall life in that Bed of Honour And has hee not ever since beene invested with the Crowne of Martyrdome And has not that beene ever deemed As soone as he was ordained as though hee were appointed for this purpose stoned to death by them that slew the Lord and for this cause as the first triumphing Martyr of Christ according to his Name hee beareth a Crowne Eusebius l. 2. 1. Acts 7. 55 56. a Crowne of Glory Who ever called that first Brigade of holy Martyrs a forlorne-Hope that was carryed on by his Christian Gallantry and valiant Christianity Yet it was the first Party that faced the foe and gave the Onset Did not the very Heavens open to give Quarter to his Soule when it was beaten from the littler Garison of his Body by a charge of stones They are happy losers that are so beate into Heaven S. Paul was an other valiant Champion for the Lord of Hosts He fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of Men and 1 Cor. 15. 32. Linus Epis de Passione Pauli Dorotheus Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 22. overcame them And was there no reward bestowed upon him for fighting his good fight but onely the Romane Axe sharpened with Neronian cruelty Yes hee knew there was laid up for him a Crowne of Righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Judge would give unto him Or had Gods humble servant holy Job no better wages then a Dung-hill and a Pot-sheard for serving in such Paines to such Job 2. 7 8. Poverty with such Patience Pained hee was in his flesh till pined unto skin and bones And poore hee was to a very Proverb Job 2. 10. yet patient to a Miracle And had hee no remuneration Yee shall finde hee had and that a large one too if yee shall consult the vouchee of his sacred and authentick story towards the Job 42. 10 12. conclusion of it God was as free to him as hee had beene faithfull to God Job was not long in Misery before the Lord did manifest his bounty to him through the abundant riches of his Mercy The Crowne of Thornes was put upon our Saviours Head but was soone pulled off againe And his tender Limmes were fastened to the Crosse but could not be made so fast unto it but that they were soon loosed from it The Misery of the Crosse was quickly changed into the Majesty of a Crowne And the Paine of the Thornes into the Pleasure of a Throne The Soule of our Saviour was not left in the Hell of Sufferings Nor shall the Sufferings of Hell be left in any Soule that is our Saviours His Soule was soone translated with His Body unto Blisse and Acts 1. 9. Glory and so shall all the Soules and Bodies that belong to him Hee hath Coronets of Happinesse to Nobilitate the Heads of all his faithfull followers And hee hath Palmes of Victory to Honestate the Hands of all I doe not say the Martyred Army of Nobles But the Noble Army of Martyrs and hath stoles of Holinesse to compleate even all the Host of Heaven Cap aâ—pe The Saints on Earth are all but Viatores way-faring-Men wandering Pilgrims farre from home But the Saints in Heaven are Comprehensores safely arrived at the end of their journey All wee here present for the present are but meere strangers in the midst of danger wee are losing our selves and losing our lives in the Land of the dying But ere long wee may finde our lives and our selves againe in Heaven with the Lord of life being found of him in the Land of the Living If when wee die we be in the Lord of Life our soules are sure to be bound up in the bundle of Life that so when wee live againe we may be sure to finde them in the life of the Lord. Now we have but a dram but a scruple but a graine of happinesse to an ounce to a pound to a thousand weight of heavinesse Now wee have but a drop of joy to an Ocean of sorrow But a moment of ease to an Age of S. August l. solil cap. 35. Paine But then as S. Austine very sweetly in his Soliloquies wee shall have endlesse ease without any paine true happinesse without any heavinesse the greatest measure of felicity without the least of misery the fullest measure of joy that may be without any mixture of griefe Here therefore as S. Gregory the Nazianz. in funere patris Divine adviseth us let us ease our heaviest loads of sufferings and sweeten our bitterest cups of sorrows with the continuall Meditation and constant expectation of the fulnesse of joy in the presence of God and of the pleasure at his right Hand for evermore And thus by this vast circumference of the Suburbs yee may easily gesse that this Text is a City of more then one whole dayes journey Yet can I make but halfe one Sabbath-dayes-journey into the Parts and thorow the Passages of the same And therefore I cannot stand as otherwise I should to shew you all the Remarkables in it I shall only point at the chiefest When that antient Pillar of the Church S. Augustine the Ornament of Hippo had enlarged his City of God into 22 Books hee then confest that all that he had written was but stilla de mari scintilla de fâ—co as a drop to the Ocean or the smallest sparkle to the heape of fire upon the Harth What an unequall proportion then must one Sermon needs hold with such a copious subject as this Ezechiel the Prophet drew forth a lively Portraiture Ezech. 4. 1. of the Earthly Jerusalem within the small compasse of a Tile But this Prophetick Swan of Jordan this unfabled Muse of Syon this Hebrew Syren holy David a Musicall Prophet a Propheticall Musician an inspired Songster the sweete singer of Israel yea Israels sweetest Orpheus hath both sung the Prayses and penned the Portraiture of the
celeberrimus Volateran Anthropol Homeri duo fuerunt Volateran Anthropol l. 17. approved Historiographers to Homer the Prince of Poets and other famous Wits that were his followers That Poeticall Paradise the Elysian Field could make a Pagan give his longum vale to this present world with notable resolution And shall not the reall pleasures of the Celestiall Paradise the fulnesse of joy in the glorious presence of God encourage a Christian at his death to depart as comfortably as a faithless Grecian Why should Fantasie in a Heathen be more powerful than Faith in a Christian Is not that company as good which we beleeve to be in the glorious presence of God as that which he imagined to be in Elysio Campo And are not the joyes as many and as great Why then should not every true Beleever cheare up himselfe at his departure by thinking of his going to S. Peter S. Paul S. James S. John and to all that glorious Company of Apostles in that presence of God And of his going to Elias and Elisha and Isaiah and Ezechiel and to Daniel and all that goodly fellowship of the Prophets And of his going to S. Steven the Proto-Martyr and to Ignatius and to Justinus and to our Cranmer and our Ridly and our Hooper and our Taylor and all that Noble Army of Martyrs And of his going to that Reverend Patriarch Abraham the Father of the faithfull and to Isaac and to Jacob and to all the holy Patriarchs in the Kingdome of God And of his going to the holy Angels and Arch-Angels and Thrones and Powers and Principalities and to the Spirits of all just Men made perfect Who can thinke of Hebr. 12. 23. being thus transported and not be transported with the very thought of it Surely it must needs be a very Consolatory Viaticum to the soule of a dying Christian to thinke of exchanging Earth for Heaven and the sordid Company of Sinners for the sweet society of Saints Who can thinke of Reigning with holy David and good Quae dementia est amare pressuras poenas lacrymas mundi S. Cypr. de Mortal Egredere anima mâ—a S. Hieron in vit Hilar. Luke 2. 29. 30. Octogenarius ille ceciâ—it â—lor Draxel Zodiac Christian Josias and with Christ Jesus himselfe in his Kingdome of Glory and still desire to bee subject to his owne corruptions and the corruptions of others Hee that thinkes upon the fullnesse of joy in the presence of God and the pleasures at his right Hand for evermore can never wonder that old Hilarion should entreate his owne soule to be packing thither When Swan like Simeon had but seene his Saviour in his state of Humiliation hee could not chuse but sing his nunc Dimittis Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word When his Saviour and ours was come into this World and hee had taken him into his Armes hee desired leave then of the Lord to take his leave of the World that so he might leave his soul in the Armes of his Saviour And they that have seen their Saviour by the eye of Faith as now hee is to be seen in his state of Exaltation and have embraced him in Augu. de Civit. Dei l. 19. Psal 39. 12. Et ideo â—anquam peregrinus ad illam Sanctorum omnium patriam â—estinabat S. Ambros de â—on Mort. the Armes of their afffections can never be unwilling to depart in peace that with the God of Peace and Prince of Peace they may have peace in life eternall and eternall life in peace as S. Augustine turnes it very wittily Are we not all Pilgrimes here and are wee not allmost lost in dangerous wayes and desperate Times Who then can chuse but wish himselfe at home Caelum Patria Christus via vita nostra deambulacrum Heaven is our Home Christ is our Way thither and this life is our Walke Our Home is pleasant our Way perfect but our Walke painefull Yet there is a necessity of our Walke and there is Adversity in our Way But there is Felicity at our Home Wee are all here upon our Walke And wee all have heard of our onely Way and who does not John 14. 6. Heb. 10. 20. wish with all his heart that he were at home I 'le speak even all your Errands in a word and send you homeward Remember whither yee are going and stay not by the way for feare it be too late ere yee get home Remember your Way and stray not from it for feare yee lose your selves and never come neere home But be sure to keepe your Way and be content to travell hard and yee may be sure ere long yee shall reach home and receive a wellcome home by all the Saints in Glory and a Crowne of Glory by Christ our Saviour and the fullnesse of joy in the Presence of God and pleasures at his right Hand for evermore Amen Amen * ⎠* FINIS A SERMON OF THE WORLDS VANITY AND THE SOVLS EXCELLENCY Preached in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in the fore-noone Octob. 9. 1642. By Edw. Willan M. A. C. C. C. in Ca. Homer Iliad 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed for RICHARD ROYSTON at the Angel in Ivie-lane 1651. TO The Worshipfull Robert Style Esquire his ever honored Patron AND To the Right Worshipfull Robert Aylet Dr. of Law and one of the Masters of the CHANCERY Gentlemen THis Sermon was appointed for the Crosse But I hope there is no crosse appointed for this Sermon It came not at the Crosse when it was preached And I hope no crosse shall come at that when it is printed It took sanctuary in the Quire and so was delivered to an extraodinary multitude of Hearers But iâ— now requires another kinde of sanctuary to be delivered from the multitude of ordinary Censurers Your kinder countenances may prove such a sanctuary to it It is a Sermon of Merchant-Adventurers and it hath made me a Venturer though no Merchant And in this Paper-bottome I have made a twofold Adventure The first is of this Tendry of Respect and Service to your Worships for the gaining of your favours for the Protection of the other And that other is not an adventure of a Soule for the gaining of the World but of a Sermon about the World and the Soule into the World for the gaining of Soules And your joynt favours as I conjecture may prove a very safe Convoy to it thorow the World Caeptis aspirate It was the one of your good Worships which called it then unto the Pulpit or caused it to be called thither And it is the other that hath now called it unto the Presse or occasioned the Printing of it And now whose shall I call it It might sometimes have been called mine But it hath been miscalled I know not whose I remember well I heard the Character of a
Sermon from a young Practitioner so like unto it that I might justly challenge it I must confesse the Title to it is not worth a quarrel yet there may be right in a Penny as well as in a Pound And the Poet Virgil would not lose his Title to a Distichon by his perpetual silence His Distichon was such as he might very well own And therefore when he saw that Augustus did approve it and that Bathyllus tacentibus aliis did asselfe the praises of it he did inscribe his lines againe which were these Nocte pluit tota redeunt spectacula mane Ti. Claud. Doâ—at de vita P. Virgilii Maronis Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet And then subscribed this claim unto them Hos ego versiculos feci tulit alter honores Sic vos non vobis nidificat is aves Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves Sic vos non vobis mellificat is apes Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves I shall spare the Young-mans name I would not have him to be as Bathyllus was Romae fabula But I have presumed to set both your Names before my Sermon because I know it hath been had before both your Worships Be pleased with it from the Presse as well as from the Pulpit And let me call it Yours And call me Gentlemen Your Worships most Humble Servant Edward Willan Of the Worlds Vanity and the Soules Excellency Matt. 16. 26. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soule THe Coral and the Chrystal are accounted pretious stones by skilfull Lapidaries And therefore it is neither a fault nor yet a folly for such as finde them in their Travels to stoop down and take them up Yet are they but minus pretiosi of an inferiour worth with the chief Philosophers And therefore it would not onely be a folly but a fault too for any Traveller to turmoile himself in gathering of an heavy burden of these together and in the mean time to neglect or for their sakes to reject a richer bootie of Jasper-stones or Saphir-stones or of Amethysts or the like We are all Travellers wandring through the wildernesse of this transitorie World towards that City of pure Gold â—â—er as Chrystal the foundations of whose Wals are garnished with Berils with Emeraulds with Chrysolites and all manner of pretious stones as St. John describes that new Hierusalem Revel 21. Now in this our Pilgrimage we meet with Marbles and we meet with Jacincts with lesse pretious-stones and with more pretious Gemms I mean the lesse worthy blessings of Gods left-hand the more worthy blessings of Gods right-hand Gen. 1. 29. 28 29. 30 31. Earthly Treasures and Heavenly Treasures And lawfull it is to gather the meaner of these Treasures together and to use the meanest of them For God who made them all did make them good and for the good of man it was that he made them so God made this present World for man but man himself for another to come farre better then this present And man does fool himself extreamly when he sels the reversion of that to come for ever for this present which is but for the present That other is without compare this but a very nothing to it Let no man therefore overvalue this or postpone that unto it Let every man be ware that in stooping down to take up Earthly Things he does not let fall Heavenly Or that for the gaining of this baser World of drossie Earth he doth not lose the refined substance of his most precious Soule For What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soule Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soule The most Emphatical words in this Text are Metaphorical For borrowed they are either from that richer way of Merchandizing by Whole-sale or from that poorer way of Peddling by Retaile I must needs follow the Metaphore in my discourse and the rather because it is in this Place A place Londinium senat Navale vel Vrbs navium c. Vrbes plurimae à navibus nomina tulerunt uti Naupactus Naustathmos Nauplia c. Sed ex his nulla meliori jure Navalis nomen sibi assumere possit quam Londinium nostrum Tamasi adposita qui placidissimus rerum in orbe nascentium Mercator statis horis Oceani aestibus superbus alveo tuto praealto navium quamlibet magnarum capacissimo tantas Orientis Occidentis opes quotidie in vehit ut cum Orbis Christiani Emporiis de secunda palma hodie contendat c. Camden in Brit. de Middlesex of Commerce The very Metropolis of this Kingdome the chiefest place of Merchandize and the place of the chiefest Merchants and other Traders that labour to gaine this present World by the several wayes of chaffering for it Here therefore give me leave to deale with you in some of your own terms that so I may trade the Commodity of this Text of Trading with the greater profit to you In the Text there are two Questions proponed to you The first in these Words What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul The second in these What shall a man give in exchange for his soule The first seems to relate to your Trading by way of Commerâ—e The second to your trading by way of Merchandizing Exchange In both together there are two Considerables 1. The Mystery of Worldly Merchandize 2. Misery by The first in the first question The second in the second Yea both may be observed in either of both I shall discourse Ostenditur quam inutile sit lucrum vitae temporalis imâ—totius mundi cum perditione animae quam irreparabile sit damnum perditionis animae Jasen in commen in concor of both as they are both discovered in the first question which refers to Trading by way of Commerce In these words What is a man profited if he shall gaine the whole World and lose his own soule In which words we may observe these Foure particulars I. A Merchant II. His Wares III. The Merchandize it self IV. The Ballance of Trade First the Merchant Man What is a man profited Secondly the Wares and they are of two sorts The 1. Imported The 2. Exported The Ware imported the whole World The Ware exported his own Soule Concerning the first two Circumstances are considerable 1. A Variety 2. A Monopoly The Variety the World The Monopoly the whole World Concerning the second three Circumstances are remarkable 1. The Qualitie or Nature 2. The Quantity or Number 3. The Propriety or Relation For Nature or Quality it is a Mans Soule For Number or Quantity it is his One soule his onely soule in the singular number For Relation or Propriety it is his own soule And lose his own soule Thirdly the
Merchandize it self or the Negotiating oâ— the Trade which is notably set forth unto us by a strange Paradoxe of gaining and losing by the same bargain yâ—â— of gaining the whole World and losing by the bargain gain the whole world and lose his own soule Fourthly The Ballance of Trade which in the Dialect of Merchants is nothing else but an exact Computation oâ— the casting up of a just Account thereby to know what iâ— S'r Ralph Maddâ—son in his Englands looking in and out lost or gained by the Merchandize What is a man profited as much as to say Ballance the Trade compute the worth of the Ware exported with that of the Ware imported and then tell me What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soule These Minutes of the Text shall be the Measures of my Time and your Patience First of the Merchant Man What is a man profited By â— man here our Saviour meaneth any man whatever He speaketh here not only of such as compasse Sea and Land to gather the Riches of this World together as Ferdinandus Magellanes did Ferdin Magâ—llan Portuga rei nauticae peritissimus impetrata classe 5 navinm à Caesare an Dom. 1519. 10 die August ex Hispali solvit Canarâ—as adit ab iis rectè Brasiliam navigavit Navis ejus à sociis in Hispaniam ducitur 6 Septem 1524. Haec prima suit Navigatio Drake Id. Decemb. 1577. ex Anglia solvit toto terrarum orbe circumnavigato domum redit 4 Kal. Octob. 1580. Tho. Cavendish ex Anglia solvit Jul. 21. 1586. totum terrae ambitum circumnavigavit rediit Sept. 15. 1588. and as our Drake and Cavendish after him with other Circum-Navigaters Nor speaks he only of such as adventure to some special or particular Ports or Places of Merchandise such as Alexandria and Aleppo the Graâ—â— Caire and both the Indies are as thâ—â— Royal Merchant King Solomon did who sent forth ships from Ezion-Gebâ— for the transfretation of Gold froâ— Ophir And as that neighbouring Prince of ours that sâ—â— 1 King 9. 26. 28 forth sumptuous Plate-Fleets for the importation of hâ—â— Perulania But he speaks of any Man that adventures thâ— losse of his Soule by any way of Traffiquing for this present World For thus an indefinite Interrogation may veâ—â— well the universal in the Interpretation And this French Title Merchant as Ambrose Calepine asserteth may be given Diction Hexag to any man that any way deales or chaffers for any thing in this World whether it be for his own use or to trade away again to others And surely such as adventure the losse of an Eternal estate in Heaven for the gaining or the increasing of a Temporal one on Earth are very Merchants indeed Now of such and unto such this Question is most fitly propounded What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soule Thus we have found out the Merchant Man any man Now let us look upon the Wares and they are as you have heard of two sorts The first Imported the second Exported First of the Ware imported concernig which two Circumstances are to be considered 1. A Variety 2. A Monopoly First of the Variety The World Now the World may be considered two wayes 1. Philosophically 2. Theologically First Philosophically and so indeed the World is nothing Conimbâ— lib. 1. de Coelo cap. 1. else but a Variety of things in a beautiful Order Th◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or beautiful Order in that Variety hath given the Appeâ—â—ations to it both in Greek and Latine It is ordinata compages rerâ—â— omnium a well-disposed Pack of all kinds of War s. Omnia Corpora simul sumpta dicâ—â—tir Mundus All Physical Bâ—dâ—s taken and compact together are called the World But there are no Merchants as I conjecture that trade for this World in this Philosophical sense And therefore secondly the World may be considered in a Theological sense and so it must be in this place In a Theological sense by the World is meant the Honours Bâ—ll de Gâ—mit Columbae lib. 3. cap. 10. Riches and Pleasures of this present World He that gains a Variety of thâ—se is sometimes said to gain a World of Riches and Honours and Pleasures It is much for a man to gain all theâ—â— but it is more for him to gain as much as the Text doth speak of For here 's not onely the Variety in the World but the Monopoly of all these and of all of all these in the whole World gain the whole world Could one Merchant but engrosse the Artificial Wares of Archb. Abbots Dâ—scription of the World Dr. Hey Geogra all Qâ—insaio or all the Alexandrian Warcs or all the rich Perfumes or costly Drugs or fragrant Spices of Arabia felix it were enough and more then enough to tympanize his heart with the proudest thoughts of the Wealthy And yet alas all these All 's together can amount to no more then a little Packet or a worthlesse Fardle in compare with that Ingrossment in the Text the gaining of the whole World Yet see the Saviour of the World does question this great gain whether it may be rightly called Profit or no yea rather He puts it out of question by putting forth of this question What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soule Indeed these words are not only one but two Questions the first is Absolute the second Hypothetical The first is in these words What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world The second in these added to the former by way of condition And lose his own soule First of the first But first observe that it is but a meer supposition that is the foundation of both Our Saviour speaketh only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of supposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If he shall gain the whole world i. e. suppose it were possible for him so to do and that he should do so I say suppose it But suppositio nihil ponit The bare supposing of a thing to be is no proving of that thing to be as it is supposed That may be supposed to be which never was and that which never shall be yea that which never can be Such is this thing supposed by our Saviour the gaining of all this present World For alas it is not all the plodding in the World nor all the projecting for it that can gain it all Oh no! It is not all the griping Usury nor all the pinching Misery that can draw so much as ilia terrae the Guts and Garbage of the Earth into one mans Coffers no not so much as the white or yellow Intrails of the Indian-Earth Suppose that a man could have a mind more covetous Ovid. metam lib. 11. then Midas had or be more dunghilly-minded then Crassus or Hortensius And suppose that such a man
of Water The graines of Sand are very small yet if many of them be put together into a Bag or Sack and laid upon the head or shoulders of a man they will presse him down And the drops of Raine are little by themselves yet when many meet together they may cause an inundation Many small sinnes may be as heavy as one great sinne saith S. Austine S. August Epistol 108. ad Seleusian And he fitly resembles the losse of a Soule to the losse of a Merchants ship upon the Sea Sometimes a Ship is lost by one great Wave that overwhelmes it and sinks it right downe and sometimes a Ship is lost by the Water that leaks in by some breach or breaches in the sides or bottome So some mens soules are lost by the sinnes that sue in through their leaking senses and sometimes they are lost by some great sinne that swells above them and sinks them right downe to the very bottome of perdition such was that grand Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram and Num. 16. 1 2. 4. 31 32 33. their factious Complices that rose up against Moses and Aaren to pull them downe It was so heynous and so heavy a sinne that it sunk them all to the pit of destruction the very Earth was not able to bear them with that sinne upon them Some other trifled away theirs soules by little and little But these traded theirs away by whole-sale But which way so ever they be sold they are but lost And in both these wayes of selling them there are two things remarkable First the making of the Bargaine Secondly the performing of the Bargaine First the making of it And it may be made two wayes Explicitely or Implicitely that is Formally or by Consequence First Explicitely or Formally when both parties doe capitulate the Conditions and agree upon the Termes Thus Witches and Wizards and all Confederates with the Devil are said to sell their soules unto him Secondly Implicitely or by consequence and this is when the Devil or his Factors come into the Mart of this World and fall to chaffering for Mens Soules by cheapning of them and bidding like Chapmen for them The Devil comes to the Covetous man and asketh him the price of his Soule He comes to the Voluptuous man and asketh him the price of his And he comes to the Ambitious man and asketh him the price of his The price of the Covetous mans is Wealth the price of the Voluptuous mans is Pleasure and the price of the Ambitious mans is Honour The Devil knows their several prizes but knows not how to pay them downe Yet like himselfe he offers all they ask and promiseth in time to pay them all Matth. 4 9. Haec omnia vobis dabo all these things will I give unto you And then for Earnest or in part of payment he puts a penny or a Teston of unlawful gains into the hands of the Covetous man to conclude the Bargaine with him He procures an opportunity of unlawful Pleasure according to the Voluptuous mans desire to conclude the Bargain with him And by a small Bribe he sets the Ambitious man upon the first step to preferment to conclude with him These men cannot be ignorant of the Devils aims they must needs know that what he offers is but in earnest or in part of payment for their souls yet they take his offers or rather are taken with his temptations and what call you this but a striking up of the bargaine Now the bargain being made the performance is expected But here men think to be too cunning for the Devil himself They never intend to perform the bargain they think to put him off by denying of it They intend to put him to prove it by sufficient witnesses which they think he cannot doe before the Judge at the great Assize But alas for them before it comes to that they may be sure to be Arrâ—sted at the Devils Suit by that bold that inexorable that impartial Serjeant Death Executions will be granted out against them and those not of goods onely nor yet of bodies and goods but of goods and bodies and soules And Death's Warrants run very high Non omittas propter ullam libertatem Attach them where-ever thou findest them There are no places in this world that are priviledged from the Arrests of Death When once this Serjeant Death hath arrested their Bodies their Soules must presently be sent to the Barre of Judgement for particular Sentences Then actum erit the matter will be past cure the bargain will be proved against them by credible witnesses For first the Devils payments will be proved by that Coyn of his those peeces of Devillisme found in their possessions at the time of their attachments Those sinnes which the Devil brought to them or them unto will all be witnesses against them Secondly the Day-book of their own Consciences will be produced as a thousand Witnesses against them for there the Debt of Sin is scored up and never can be crossed untill it be expunged by repentance And now shall not the Judge of all the World do right Yes surely and he will give the Devil his due There is no remedy now the bargain must be performed The Devil bought their Souls and he must have them The Devil is the Jailour of Hell and thither the Judge commands them Take them Jailour saith the Judge that is take them Devil and keep them fast till the general Judgement They might have been wiser before but now there is no help for them It is now too late to repent let Merchantmen beware in time then let no man think to cheat the Devil lest he cheats himself Let no man think himself secure in the middest of danger Think not your selves by the African Promontory the Cape of good Hope when ye are very neer the Magillanean Straights Mistake not those unfortunate Caput bouâ— spâ—t Abbots description of the VVorld Islands neer the Molucco's for the very Canaries If you be not yet arrived at Lucians Island of Dreams doe not dream broad-waking do not imagine your soules to be in safe habours when they are in the midst of Hellish Pyrates This World is like a Sea a dangerous Sea and that Arch-Pyrate the Devll and many Scouts from Hell are coasting this Sea of the World from place to place And the Devil can play the Merchant as well as the Pyrate if he cannot take men in the World he will try to take them by it If he cannot surprize them in it he 'le offer it as a prize unto them and many are taken by it Many sell themselves unto him for it and so undoe themselves for ever for they lose their Souls by the sale which are more worth then all the World And so much they must confesse if they ballance the Trade What is a man profited if he shall gaine the whole world and lose his own soule i. e. Ballance the Trade compare and compute
saith our Apostle God forbid ye we establish the Rom 3. 31. law Indeed they that are in Christ and have Christ living in them are not under the law but under Grace But how Not Rom. 6. 14. under the law to seeke for justification by it but yet they are under it to encrease their sanctification by it They are not under the Curse of the law to Condemnation but under the Course of the law they are for Commendation Not under the Rigor of it but under the Rule of it And he can never be a true disciple of Christ that will not be ruled by it He that would live with Christ in Heaven must live with him on Earth first He that would be like him in the life of Glory must be like also in the life of Grace And he that would be so must labour to be like him in his Moralls He that is Crucified with Christ must live like one that is so Crucified like one that is dead to sinne like one that is dead unto himselfe like one that hath Christ living in him and that can never be untill the life of Christ be represented in his life in the manner or morality of it It is this that our Apostle S. August Serm. 13. de verb. Dom. cheifely points at in the Text when he sayes Christ liveth in him Vnumquodque secundùm hoc vivat unde vivit Saith Saint Austine every thing ought to live according to that by which it liveth The Body liveth of the Soule And the Soule liveth of Christ Let both then live according to those things that give them life let the Body live so after the Soule and the Soule so after Christ that both soule and body may live together with Christ for ever hereafter It is from this kinde of life that a man may have hope in death And it is by this kinde of life that a man may assure himselfe that he is dead Death unto sinne is best attested by the life of Grace It was by this that Saint Paul could ascertaine himselfe of his concrucifixion By this it was that he knew himselfe to be a Mortified member of the mysticall body of Christ He found Christ living in him and that made him say that he was crucified with Christ It is no easie matter for a man to be as this Apostle was a Mortified Man Crucified with Christ But easie it is for a Man to know he is so if he be so yet many are mistaken in this matter and take themselves to be so when they are not but the reason is they doe not observe the Manners of a Man concrucified They doe not observe how it was with Christ when he was crucified or with Saint Paul when he was crucified with Christ They doe not enquire whether it be so with themselves When Christ was crucified he was Patient and so was Paul Isal 53. 7. in all his sufferings for Christ when he was concrucified Are all we so Are we patient in tribulations Can we suffer our 1 Pet. 2. 23. losses and crosses with patience When our Saviour was reviled he revlied not againe When he suffered he threatned not but Committed himselfe to him that Judgeth righteously Doe we doe so So did S. Paul Being reviled we blesse saith he and being Persecuted we Suffer it and being defamed we intreate 1 Corinth 4. 12 13. Againe when Christ was crucified he was very pious Are we Luke 23. 34. so He prayed for the pardon of his Persecutors doe we so So did the Protomartyr Saint Steven and so did Paul and Acts 7. 60. so doe all that are conformed to our Crucified Saviour And if we do not so it is a signe we are not crucified with our Saviour Againe when Christ was crucified he left the world He neither reckoned of the Pompe nor of the Glory of it And so it was with Paul when he was crucified with Christ The world Gal. 6. 14. was crucified to him and he unto the world Now is it so with us If it be so the world may fawne upon us but we will not S. Aug. lib. de Salu. doc cap. 16. fancy it and it may frowne upon us but we will not feare it If we be crucified to that and that to us we will not Court it for any Pleasure nor Covet it for any Profit We will not Chrysost in Math. hom 55. flatter it nor yet be flattered by it We will not seeke to win nor suffer our selves to be wonne by the alurements of it With Paul concrucified we will esteeme all worldly things as Phil. 3. 8. dung and drosse in comparison of Christ Againe when Christ was crucified he was a dead Man and Crucifixum esse est mortuum esse Musculus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Photius Ephes 4. 19. so was Paul and a dead man does not sinne he that is crucified with Christ as Paul was is dead indeed unto sinne and alive unto God Though sin it self be not departed yet the life of sin is gone Sin is mortified in him Now how is it with us How is sin now committed by us Doe we still sinne with greedinesse Does sinne still live in us and we still love to live in sinne If so we are not yet concrucified True it is that the old sinnes of Man as well as the old man of sinnes must have a time to dy after they be crucified There will be sinne in any Regenerate Man as long as he liveth though he be never so long concrucified before his death For if we say we have no sinne we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Yet if we be truly Crucified with Christ the love of sinne will abate in us yea our loving will turne into a loathing of it and though we carry sinne every whither about with us yet we will not be carried every whither about with sinne There will appeare the power of godlinesse in us Counter-manding the Commanding power of sinne though it cannot alwayes prevaile The flesh lusteth against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. and the spirit against the flesh and these two are so contrary that a man cannot doe the things that he would There is a continuall See Perkins in his combate of the Flesh and Spirit Combate between the Regenerate and the Unregenerate parts of any Regenerate Person Such a Person is like that mysticall purse that has both old and new coyne in it The first and second Regenetatus duplici constat homine interiore nimirum ut â—xteriore Zanch. Miscellan lib. 3. Adams are both in the old new Man a living dead man a renewed man crucified with Christ and yet alive Such a person was S. Paul a person that had both sin and sanctitie at once A person crucified with Christ and so dying daily unto sin but not quitedead unto it or dead it may be unto many sins but not to all or dead to all it may