deserve Other things are more thought of and minded than this and the means we think proper to obtain them are more diligently and delightfully used than those God hath directed us to to make the Salvation of our Souls sure But tho we provide our selves other work this remains our Duty our heedlessness and omission is not to be Justified cannot discharge us from our Obligation 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 Matt. 16.26 In discoursing of this Doctrin I will observe this plain and easie Method First I will explain the words in which it is Propounded Secondly Mind you of some Reasons why every Man should be so concerned for the Salvation of his Soul Thirdly Take notice of some Inferences which the Point will evidently afford and which may and ought to be improved by us to our great Advantage First I am to explain the terms of the Proposition which may be done by answering these two Questions First What are we to understand by the Salvation of the Soul Secondly What is meant by a Person 's being very much concerned for it First What are we to understand by the Salvation of the Soul The Soul is the most excellent part of Man that part on which the Image of God was at first principally Stamp'd and Imprinted which doth distinguish him from and dignifie him above all the lower parts of the Creation and which renders him capable of Knowing Loving Serving and Enjoying God the Sovereign Good It is an immaterial spiritual Substance which is not like the Body lyable to Corruption and Death but when separated from it doth enter into a State either of such Happiness and Pleasure we cannot at present form an adequate Idea of or of Misery and Torment altogether unconceiveable In which Estate it must continue unalterably to all Eternity The Salvation of the Soul then is its exemption and Freedom as from all the Sins Temptations and Evils unto which Man is obnoxious in this Life so from all the Miseries Curses and Plagues Sin doth expose and make Man lyable to in the next World and its fruition of God and Christ and all that Glory and Blessedness in Heaven God hath prepared for and promised thorough Christ to them who faithfully accept of and comply with the terms he hath propounded in his Word Rom. 6.22 23. Rom. 21.6 7 c. Matt. 25.34 If any one should now enquire why the Salvation of the Soul is so much insisted on when it is most true in it self and certain unto Christians that the Body as well as the Soul will in the next World be in a State of Happiness or Misery for ever Or why People should not rather be minded that it behoves them to take care to provide for the Salvation of their whole Man than thus to be put in mind of and excited to concern themselves for the Salvation of one part of themselves It may be pertinently enough replied That the Soul being the noblest part is ordinarily put for the whole Man So that for a Person to mind the Salvation of his Soul is the same thing with his minding the Salvation of himself Our blessed Saviour speaking of this same matter the Evangelist St. Matthew relates his discourse in these words I or 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 Matt. 16.26 St. Luke delivers it thus For what is a Man advantaged if he gain the whole World and lose himself or be cast away Luke 9.25 Besides the Body when the Soul is departed from it doth not presently pass unto a State of Torment or Joy but is laid in the Grave where it remains without any sense of either till the Resurrection whence it must be raised up and fitted for and united to its own Soul to share with in that State to which it was assigned immediately after it was separated from the Body The Soul after its departure from the Body appears before God and is sentenced to a State either of Horror and Torment or of Satisfaction Joy and Pleasure Luke 16.22 23. Luke 23.43 So that the Salvation of the Soul doth note a freedom from Sin Misery and Torment and enjoying a State of eminent Delight and Happiness immediately upon its departure out of this World When the Body shall be again united to the Soul it must partake of the same Happiness with the Soul The Salvation of the Soul implies and comprehends in it the Salvation of the whole Man The happiness or misery of the Body at the Resurrection depends on the happy or wretched Estate the Soul was consigned to at its departure from the Body All that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation Joh. 5.28 29. Dan. 12.2 Secondly What is it for a Person to be very much concerned for the Salvation of his Soul Answ To be firmly perswaded that it is of extraordinary importance to him to have his Salvation well secured to desire ardently that it may be so and to apply his utmost endeavours to make it sure by a due and regularuse of those Means God hath appointed for this purpose He hath a sound knowledge of what the Salvation of his Soul doth mean He often thinks with himself of what consequence and moment it is to him that he should be Saved He frequently considers in what State his Soul is and what he may reasonably concludes would become of it if it were presently to be called away from its earthly Tabernacle He seriously considers what course he ought to take that his Soul may assuredly be saved at last Such kind of thoughts do often occur to him and he is careful to entertain them and prosecute them with seriousness till they produce some good effect What can we think of those who obstinately neglect to meditate on their future State and refuse to consider what a plain and certain tendency the sins and wickednesses in which they allow and indulge themselves have to make them eternally Miserable Who are so very regardless they leave their Souls to all adventures Never seriously thinking of reasoning and expostulating with themselves about these matters I say what can we think of them but that they are dangerously befotted by Satan and their Lusts if not dreadfully forsaken and given over of God in just Judgment to go on Inconsiderately to the Vengeance of the Great Day We must at least conclude they are not much concerned for the salvation of their Souls We should certainly without any difficulty make such a determination in another Case so circumstanced He feedeth on Ashes a deceived Heart hath turned him aside that he cannot deliver his Soul nor say is
Knowledge and Vertue How much more should I value and endeavour by all means to improve my Soul who behold and discern this Truth in a much clearer Light than he could How do I Blush and with what Grief and Revenge is my Heart rent because of the folly and vanity the wickedness of the past part of my Life because of my unthankfulness for the Gospel and carelesness of my Soul to this time when I read what a Mahometan King is reported to have caused to be writ on the Gates of his Pleasure-House viz. This World will not continue long its Pride and Lustre will soon be gone Remember Brother and apply thy Heart to Him who only intended this World for our Inn. Let not thy Life be united to this Bitter Sweet for it hath Cheated many first Jested with them and afterwards Slaughtered them If thy Soul can but come away from her Prison Pure and Undefiled and reach the Mark it 's no great matter whether thou Diest on a Throne or on a Dung-hill O how Sottish have I been in setting the Riches Pleasures Honors and Accommodations of this present World at so high a Rate preferring them before my Precious Soul And shall I still continue to do so Let so tremendous Folly such desperate Madness be far from me My own experience doth now convince me that the more I have admired the more I have toiled for these things the emptier I am the more I am disappointed the further I am from being satisfied I am sure these things are vain yea and vexatious too They will fade and Perish and are at best but of a short duration What are these and such brittle decaying short-liv'd Enjoyments to a Soul which will abide and Live for ever Were it not for the levity and sickliness of my mind what thousands of considerations would croud in to convince and certifie me that it is my Soul which of all other things is of greatest Worth And can there be a more prodigious Folly a grosser contradiction than for a Man to believe his Soul is Immortal and of greater value than his Imagination can extend unto and yet be regardless of it As to other things which are of value but which we do not exactly understand we usually them esteem according as they are better skill'd in them than we are Will any discreet and prudent Person throw away a Medal a Jewel or Precious-stone or part with it for a Counter a piece of Lead or any such thing because he doth not know its just worth Or will he not rather enquire of some one who understands such things and then esteem and prize it at therate he assures him it is really worth Now we have no reason at all to question but God who Created our Souls and the Lord Jesus Christ who Redeemed and Purchased them do very well understond their worth And by whose determination should we govern our our selves in this Affair but by theirs whose Judgment is most assuredly Infallible And if we will acquiesce in their Judgment in the Case we must certainly esteem our Souls exceeding precious For if our Souls were not exceeding precious the Eternal Father would not have given his Son to purchase them nor would the only Begotten of the Father have laid down his Life for their Ransom Had they judged our Souls such frivolous worthless things as we generally appear to esteem them they would not have been redeemed at all or if they must have been Purchased it would have been with a Price of infinitely less Value than the Blood of him who was the Son of God The most that could have been demanded for them would have been but a very moderate sum of that with which we buy the necessaries for our Temporal Life For what poor and trifling things in this World do People ordinarily pawn and venture their Souls But God and Christ had other thoughts of our Souls than we have Tho we expose our Souls for nought yet if any one Man could purchase the whole World with the loss of his Soul he would be no Gainer yea his loss would be Irreparable What shall a Man give in Exchange for his Soul Matt. 16.26 O! the inestimable price that was paid for these Souls which we do so neglect slight and disregard Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without Blemish and without Spot 1 Pet. 1.18 19. When my thoughts concerning Reasonable Souls have mounted as high as ever they can and when my esteem of them has followed my Thoughts as close as possible how far am I from comprehending and being throughly affected with their full worth Alas what are my most elevated apprehensions to the incomprehensible excellency and merit of that Blood with which they were bought Wo is me who have too long neglected and been careless of my unaccountably precious Soul as if it had been the only frivolous useless thing in the whole World If I do any longer make but little account of this Soul of mine I shall be unavoidably chargeable with an affected undervaluing what is in it self of unconceivable worth and trampling under foot most ungratefully the precious Blood of the everlasting Covenant and offering the most insufferable contumely to the Lord of Glory who gave himself a Ransom for my Soul Can I sustain so great a load Dare I willfully cast away my Soul to give the greated demonstration of Ingratitude and of sullen Contempt unto Almighty God Shall I be so peevish so malicious so revengeful as to destroy my Soul and sink my self under the most horrid Guilt because my Saviour's Love was so stupendous and amazing Wretch that I am in that I have till now been so unmindful of my Soul which cost my Jesus so dear My dearest Jesus thy Love doth now constrain me Methinks I hear thy Sobs thy Groans the Prayers and Supplications which thou didst offer with strong Crying and Tears Thy earnest Expostulation on the Cross when Dying to Redeem this Soul My Heart is pierced now I must I Grieve I Mourn My Indignation now is kindled I despise I hate I loath whatever would defraud thee of thy Purchase The Beauty Grandeur Pomp and Glory of this World is now as nothing unto me I neither love nor prize nor value any thing but my Soul and as it 's ransomed by thy Blood O! what shall I do that I may attain to prize my Soul as it deserves This this Soul which cost the Son of God so dear May I be duly affected with the Travail of my Saviour's Soul and with the horrors of his Agonies and Death Let me ever with becoming Adoration meditate on rightly understand and constantly retain a lively affectionate powerful constraining sense on my Heart and Spirit of Christ's profoundest Condescention and superlative Grace and Kindness Would Christ dwell in my Heart by Faith and might I be enabled to comprehend
with more Earnestness and better testifie the utmost force and strength of Affection than what you read Deut. 30.19 20. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you that I have set before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing Therefore chuse Life that both thou and thy Seed may Live that thou may'st love the Lord thy God and that thou may'st obey his voice and that thou may'st cleave unto him for he is thy Life and the strength of thy days Are you not in express terms commanded To work out your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling Phil. 2.12 And to give diligence to make your calling and election sure that an entrance may be ministred to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1.10 11. And to seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Matt. 6.33 And to strive to enter in at the strait Gate Luke 13.24 Now can any thing be so execrable as to choose to destroy and make your selves eternally Miserable rather than practically own God's Authority and obey him in that wherein he hath given the fullest discovery of his having a singular regard to your greatest and unconceivable Happiness The Command of God should sway and prevail with us to apply our selves to any thing tho ever so difficult tho we were perfectly ignorant of the Reason why he doth enjoyn and make it our Duty But how much more then should his Command influence us when we evidently perceive the reason of his Command is most expressive of his Love and doth apparently carry with it a wonderful force drawn from Principles so deeply rooted in our Natures as are our own Preservation and Happiness His interesting his Authority thus in this matter should not only prompt us to take notice of the tender regard he hath to our perfect Felicity but also how prone we are to be careless of and neglect it and with what heedfulness care and diligence it behoves us to attend to and follow it lest we should fail and miscarry in so important a Business Secondly It is a business of such weight and consequence that it is to render us capable of attending to it and to assist and quicken us to carry it on with Success that we are endowed with those faculties which are peculiar to us as we are rational Creatures and that we are entrusted with Life and Time after that we arrive to years of Discretion and that those advantages are afforded us which are singularly adapted to further us in it All these are Talents committed to our trust and those who will acknowledge them to be such must needs own they ought to be employed to the ends for which they are especially designed Now seeing they are peculiarly fitted both in their own Nature and by divine Appointment to promote our Salvation it must greatly concern us to use them for that purpose for which they were intended As the Members and parts of our Bodies are naturally fitted and particularly designed for the preservation nourishment and perfection of our outward State so our rational Powers and Faculties are directly and immediately prepared and appoited to be used to secure and advance the good and welfare of our Souls Our Understandings Wills and Affections are never employed so pertinently as when they are duly exercised about those matters which will contribute most effectually to our Salvation This is the noblest and most excellent use we can make of them And if they colud not be improved to this purpose it would not be a valuable advantage to be endowed with them This is also the great business for which God doth allot us time in this World We have indeed other things to employ our selves about whilst we are here in the Body but all other Businesses are subordinate should be subservient to this For this is the one thing necessary Life and Time are not allotted us meerly to Eat and Drink and take our Pleasure and Pass-time here or meerly to drudge and toil for the necessaries or varieties of a temporary State but chiefly to provide for a future and eternal Happiness by such ways as God hath prescribed For what is to be done by us in order to our Salvation must be done whilst we have our abode in this World It will be too late to think of busying our selves for our Salvation when we are removed hence The night cometh saith our Saviour when no Man can work Joh. 9.4 Whatsoever therefore thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whether thou goest Eccle. 9.10 So teach us O Lord to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom Psal 90.12 Can we imagin it is for any thing else but to oblige us to and assist us in the minding of our Salvation and to excite and quicken us to a great regular and due concernedness for it that God doth afford us his Word Ordinances and the means of Grace Are they not all evidently designed to mind us that this is that for which we should be most concerned and to direct help and lead us in the true infallible and most suitable way unto Salvation Tit. 2.11 12 13. And is it not certain that our neglecting to improve Gospel advantages to this purpose will exceedingly encrease our Danger and render our State hereafter more than ordinarily Dolorous and Dreadful Wo unto thee Corazin Woe unto thee Bethsada c. Matt. 11.20 c. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2.3 Lay aside the consideration of the Salvation of the Soul and People may attend to and follow all their other Businesses and Affairs every jot as well without the Gospel as with it Thirdly The salvation of a Man's Soul is a matter of the greatest consequence he can possibly concern himself about It is agreeable to the dictates of Reason and the Maxims of Prudence that we should be most concerned for that which doth most concern us And doubtless that which is of the greatest worth and excellency in it self in which all our Interests are wrapt up and without which there is no possibility of our being safe and happy is of the greatest Moment imaginable to us and is that which it behoves and concerns us to use our utmost care about and such is the Salvation of our Souls For if our Souls be safe and happy it is not possible we should be Miserable If we are really in the way to Salvation and have an Interest in God through Christ so that his power becomes engaged to keep us safely unto Salvation let what will happen unto us here it cannot make us unhappy It will not be long before we shall be perfectly out of the reach of every thing that can be called Evil And a well grounded hope of Salvation will make any thing Portable which can befall us in this World
and Slothful Do you quit your selves like good Christians whilst you presume on Salvation in a way which is not consistent with God's Commands Whilst you depend on what the Lord Jesus hath assured you will certainly fail you Whilst you have not one promise in all your Bible to countenance and support your Hope Whilst the whole Doctrin of Salvation the entire Gospel of Christ is against you Whilst you keep and continue in a way directly contrary to that in which all those did walk who are already got to Heaven Fourthly How justly may they be Expostulated with and what keen Reproof do they deserve who have been all their time regardless of the Salvation of their Souls Indeed we are all faulty we have been very defective and wanting we have not done what wemight to further and make our own Salvation sure What reason have we all to be deeply Humbled to smite upon our Breasts and cry out against our selves Ah! miserable and ill-deserving Wretches we are horribly guilty God be Merciful unto us who have been so careless of our own Salvation How have we cumbered our selves been careful and troubled about many needless and unprofitable Matters and left the one thing necessary unheeded How thoughtful and sollicitous have we been about our Food and Apparel What we should Eat and Drink and wherewith we should be Cloathed With what eager vehement desires and affections have we pursued the little Interests of this present World With what unwearied pains have we laboured for very Vanities And how have we all this while shamefully forgotten the holy God! slighted the most compassionate and loving Jesus not looked after nor sought for the Kingdom of Heaven and that Righteousness which prepares for and leads us to it with any tolerable Diligence and Concernedness How have we neglected our eternal Salvation We have not had a due regard to the safety and well fare of our precious and Immortal Souls the duties of Piety and offices of Religion have either been wholly omitted by us or else we have performed them in a very superficial cold and heartless manner Who amongst us all can vindicate and clear himself from this Charge before that God who observes all our ways knows our Hearts and tries our Reins Or what can we alledge and plead in our own Excuse if we have been by our own Confession thus Guilty Is it not highly reasonable and very fit we should all strive to acquire a true sense of our own Guilt and accuse and condemn our selves Cry importunately for Pardon and Mercy immediately resolve and in a dependance on Divine assistance presently set upon a faithful and most vigorous Amendment Sure it will become us to apply our selves speedily To work out our Salvation with fear and trembling and to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure And if those who have made the greatest proficiency in Religion have so much occasion to upbraid themselves and to acknowledge that they deserve to have their Faces covered with Shame and Confusion If such be scarcely saved then what may be said of others Where shall the Wicked and Ungodly the openly Vicious and Prophane the Unrighteous and Unmerciful the Luxurious and the Covetous the Formalist and the Hypocrite appear All People are busie and much concerned for something or other We are concerned much for our Bodies for our Temporal Life Health and Happiness for our Ease our Pleasure our Profits for our Houses Lands Cattle Wares Merchandize c. But how few are concerned half so much for their Souls and their Salvation as they are for those momentary transient and uncertain things Yet every Man ought to be more concerned for the Salvation of his Soul than for all other things Sirs reflect upon your selves and with good deliberation consider your State and in what manner you have hitherto behaved your selves and what is your Disposition and Carriage Do you not indulge your selves in your Lusts and vicious Courses tho you have been often admonished and warned and advised to the contrary Are you not industrious and diligent in providing for and fulfilling the Lusts of the Flesh Do you not conform your selves to the sinful fashions and customs of this evil World Do you not live and persist in those practices you are convinced in your Consciences are disallowed and condemned by him who will be your Judge and which you have at least pretended solemnly to Renounce Are you not Enemies in your minds to the power of Godliness Do you not make it appear by your practices that you are not willing to be reconciled to a serious gracious and heavenly course of Life How can you pretend you are concerned for your Salvation whilst you obstinately refuse to walk in the only Way which leads unto it Do you not make light of Christ Are you not contentedly ignorant of the great Truths relating to his Person his Natures and his Offices or at least of the practical Improvement you should make of them Do you not sturdily reject his gracious Invitations contemn his Authority and refuse to follow his Example Does not the World and your Pleasures carry away your Affections and Hearts from him Do you not undervalue the Ordinances instituted in the Gospel and make little or no account of the means of Grace Are you not altogether Heartless and Formal in and careless in being made better by the use of them Do you not ordinarily allow any thing to excuse you from attending on God in them tho God hath writ to you the great things of his Law Hos 8.12 Do you not account them as a strange thing Are you not altogether unconcerned for the due and serious performance of the private duties of Religion Do you not pass over Days and Weeks without examining your Hearts and enquiring into your Practices and the State and condition of your Souls without reading the word of God so as to inform your selves thereby in his Mind and quicken you to your Duties without praying with such a composedness of Spirit and affectionateness of Soul as the nature of that Duty and your own Cases call for Do you at all delight in serious religious spiritual Discourse Or do you make any enquiries for your sound Instruction and safe guidance in the way to Blessedness and for your assistance towards Salvation May you not easily convince your selves from these and the like Instances that you do not heartily concern your selves for but are indeed regardless of the Salvation of your Souls And will you obstinately continue so O! how extreamly dangerous is your Estate How justly are you to be reproved seeing you have pass'd over so much of your time in a neglect of that which should have been most deeply Imprinted on your Hearts and should have had the most powerful influence on your whole Practice Your guilt is exceeding great and you are absolutely without Excuse You act against all the principles of Reason and dictates of common
in its being fitted for the use and service of my Soul during its abode in it And can I by any means be reconciled to cast off all concern for it and to make such a Heaven-born Off-spring a Slave to my drossy and earthly Part Does not all corporal Beauty and Lustre presently disappear and vanish after the Soul is separated from it How great a Value should we set upon our Souls were we seriously and strongly perswaded that as soon as they leave our Bodies they must return to God who gave them Eccles 12 7. It is true we cannot at present distinctly and fully understand what the Soul is but we easily perceive we have such a noble and sublime Part by those Actions which are peculiar to it It Thinks it Understands it Wills and Chuses it Loves it Reflects upon it Self and all its Actings it converses with Objects which are not Objects of Sense it compares sensible Objects one with another and raiseth notions from them And we are sure the Body can do none of these things when the Soul is gone from it And tho it is naturally void now of its Primitive Holiness and Purity yet it still retains some Marks and Characters of the Divine Image upon it and it is still capable of having its first Excellency and Beauty Repaired Restored Improved Oh! how large and vast are its Capacities What work can it do What Exercises may it perform What Objects can it converse with What great and glorious things may it be employed about And what blessed Privileges may it be advanced unto It is capable of having the Divine Image again Imprinted on it with a Lustre and Glory far exceeding the utmost our most extended thoughts can possibly comprehend or reach unto It is capable of Divine Illumination and effectual Sanctification of a partial but blessed and joyful Communion with God at present and a perfect Fruition of him hereafter God forbid that I should any longer prostitute neglect or make little account of that part of my self which is so Spiritual in its Nature which the Great Holy and Munificent God hath endued with such Powers and already advanc'd to such Dignity which may be improved and ascend in this World to such Honour and Eminency and is capable of inheriting such Glorious and incomprehensible Recompences in the next World If I be regardless of such a Soul and yet vehemently pursue and inordinately prize a few empty Trifles some lying Vanities what shall I alledge to excuse my self Must I not be Self-condemned Will not all the Ranks and Orders of Beings Condemn me With what Confusion must my Face be covered May not the whole System of Nature Tremble be Ashamed and Blush at such a Prospect to have a view of a Rational Creature one that hath so capacious a Soul and yet more stupid and blockish than its most sullen and dreggy Part Lord let not such Shame be my Portion Let me never fall into nor sink under such Guilt What! shall I be voluntarily cruel to shall I hate and so dishonour the noblest part of my Self Shall I willfully cast away my Soul which if I take a due care of will in a little time mount above the Stars and be settled in a State incomprehensibly Joyous and full of Glory No I will now awake and rouse up all my Powers and Strength and tho I cannot exactly understand the worth of my Soul no more than I can what it is yet I will endeavour to be as just to it as possibly I can I will prefer it above all the Objects of Sense above every thing that Time diminishes above every thing that hath either Vexation or Vanity inscribed upon it And I will do all I can in a firm dependance on Divine Grace that this Soul of mine may assuredly arrive at the full Fruition of all those great and blessed things which are laid up in store for truly pious and devout vertuous and upright sanctified and religious Souls What raised thoughts should I have of a Soul that is not liable to the Shocks and Violences to which my Body is every Hour subject A Soul that cannot be at all impared by any of those rude Assaults which may Surprize and which may unexpectedly and irresistibly hurry my Earthly part to Dust Our Souls will endure for ever let all Created Powers do what they can against them They do not yield they are not subject to the Alterations which are incident to what is is Mortal They are Immortal they cannot Die but when their Houses of Clay are Dissolved they pass and enter into a State more suitable to their Spiritual Nature They will retain their Beings Powers and Properties after that the Worms have glutted themselves with our Flesh and Humors after that our Bodies have past through all the Changes to which such Matter is liable If I believe my Soul is Immortal what a value must I set upon it We prize any thing of worth much the more if it will be of long continuance How should I then esteem a Soul which will abide for ever What Reasons can I produce for my having beeen so intent upon the acquiring and so industrious and unwearied to obtain things which cannot Satisfie which may soon Fade and which must certainly Perish Misguided foolish and infatuated Wretch O how do I now bewail my Folly and my Wickedness who have so vainly yea so impiously abus'd my self misimployed my Strength and squandred away my precious time Away you gilded false you mask'd disguis'd Temptations Be gone you empty lying treacherous Pleasures of Sense You have already cheated and deceived me too long You have robb'd abus'd and wrong'd me hitherto You can never repair the damage you have done me I now with all Solemnity renounce and cast you off I am resolv'd through Grace to despise contemn and vilifie you all I can and to have no more to do with you whilst I Live What relation can you pretend to a Soul which will continue live and act through all the long and undeterminable duration of Eternity I will not any more allow you the Service of a Thought I loath and detest you I earnestly desire and pray that as long as I am on Earth my Heart may be fill'd with an insuperable Indignation against you all and against every thing that cannot be improved to the benefit and advantage of my Immortal Soul Should I be careless of my Soul any longer now that Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel which Gospel I am favoured with for the guiding and directing of my Heart and Life I should not only be altogether inexcusable but the very Heathens will rise up in Judgment against me to my greater and more terrible Condemnation 'T is said of Pythagoras that when he heard of the Immortality of the Soul He presently gave off that diligent attendance to his Body to which he had addicted himself and made it his business to improve in