give all the respect that may bee to him because hee is the onely Saviour of souls And for the blood of the Covenant take heed you sin not against that let it not bee accounted as a common thing Oh do not prize the satisfying of your own lusts rather than the blood of the Covenant and all the good that was purchased by that blood when any wretched sinner shall hear the Gospel preached to him and yet shall prize the living in any base wicked way of sin I say such a one doth trample the blood of the everlasting Covenant under his feet and the language of his heart and actions is nothing but this whatsoever is spoken concerning the blood of the everlasting Covenant revealed in the Gospel I do prize the satisfying the lusts of mine own heart more than all the good that is in the Covenant now do you think can such a soul as this bee saved now you sin against the blood of the Covenant when you come hand over head to the Sacrament and thereby you come to bee guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ People are mighty earnest about coming to Sacraments now do but read 1 Cor. 11. It is a Scripture which I know you that are acquainted with Scripture are not unacquainted with vers 27. Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall bee guilty of the body and blood of the Lord And what then vers 29. Hee eateth and drinketh his own damnation When you would have the Sacrament as the seal of the blood of Christ and yet come in your sin and filthiness and do not discern the Lords body you come to bee guilty of the blood of Christ and so to bee guilty of your own damnation and so many think to seal their souls by eating and drinking the damnation of their souls for there is nothing set out in Scripture that furthers more the damnation of a soul than to sin against the blood of the Covenant I know some make that Scripture their damnation to themselves that is that they are onely to bee reproved and condemned for doing so but wee are to inlarge Scripture to the uttermost that may bee and seeing the Scripture hath made the sin against the blood of Christ in other places so dreadful wee may very well understand that place in the most dreadful sense that may bee Now if in case you come unworthily you hear what the Scripture speaks it is guiltiness of the blood of Christ and eating and drinking your own souls damnation And then take heed of sinning against the mercy of God let not mercy harden you but let it soften your hearts Oh that soul is in a good forwardness to bee saved that every time it thinks of the mercy of God it findes it self to melt before the Lord and mourn bitterly for sin when as it applies the mercy of God to it self I that is a good evidence but now when you think or speak of Gods mercy you finde your hearts the more hardened in sin Oh this is dreadful for how can such a soul be saved that sins against the mercy and love of Jesus Christ for who shall hear and plead for thy soul before God when as thou art guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ and what is it that shall bee thine attonement before the Father It must bee blood Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin And what blood must bee for the remission of thy sin when as thou tramplest the blood of the Covenant under thy feet and when thou sinnest against mercy what is it that must recover thee but the mercy of God when thou comest to God in the anguish of thy soul Now if thy case bee thus that Jesus Christ shall plead against thee and say Oh Father Father avenge thy self upon this wretch that hath not onely sinned against thy work of Creation but against the work of Redemption that I went into the world to work Father let this soul perish eternally that hath rejected mee and received every base wretched lust before mee now shall that soul bee saved that shall have the blood of the Covenant cry against it and mercy it self cry to the Lord against it Lord avenge my cause for I have been most abominably and cursedly abused by this wretch when not onely the Law of Gods Justice and Satan accuses thee but Christ and his blood and the Gospel it self how shall such a soul bee saved now then if you would have your souls saved take heed of sinning against Jesus Christ against the Gospel and against the blood of God and against the mercy of God Eleventhly If thou wouldest have thy soul saved take heed of sinning against the Spirit of Grace the good Spirit of God that must draw thee to Christ and guide thee in the way of salvation if ever thou beest saved Now take heed of sleighting the motions of Gods Spirit oh do not sleight any motion of the Spirit of God how dost thou know but when there comes in any motion of Gods Spirit it comes in to save thee at this time thou canst not tell but that at any time when Gods Spirit doth assist his Word thy soul may depend upon that time so as God may say had this soul followed on the work at this time it might have been saved but upon it s not following it on it shall not bee saved doth Gods Spirit begin to move thy soul when thou art hearing the Word Oh do not go into wicked company and so lose all again but get alone in thy closet and fall down even upon thy face and cry to God that hee would follow on the work of his Spirit that hee hath begun in thee Oh Lord I lived a long time in a dead-hearted condition never minding the good of my soul but thou hast begun to stir mee and Lord I hope it is the beginning of thy saving work upon my soul Oh that thou wouldest go on with it How many upon their sick-beds and death-beds would give a thousand worlds if they had them that they could have such stirrings of the Spirit of God as sometimes they have felt Oh now when the Spirit stirs and temptation stirs take heed of listening to temptation and rejecting the motions of Gods Spirit but think of that that wee read on of the people of Israel when they were going to Canaan they were very near Canaan and when they were upon the borders of it they refused to go into the Land when God would have them and upon that The Lord did swear in his wrath Psal 95.10 that they should never enter into his rest So when the Spirit of God begins to bring thee near to salvation that it may bee said of thee as Christ to the young man Thou art not far from the Kingdome of Heaven O take heed of hearkening to temptation lest the Lord swear that thou shalt never enter into
him but to keep his body from stinking yet know whatsoever thou art though now a sinful wretched vile creature and art deprived of the chief excellency that thy soul is capable of yet that soul of thine that thou hast is capable of the highest good thing that an infinite God hath to communicate Oh that God by your owning of this would a little but raise your spirits to think that you have been deluded and deceived all this while this is the excellency now of your souls in reference unto God Fifthly And yet there is in the next place A further reference that your souls have to God and that is the contiguity as I may so speak with God himself that is of all things that are here in this world the soul of man it is that that is next unto God himself Next to God you will say what do you mean when you say that the soul of man it is contiguous unto God I mean this that God hath made all creatures for himself but hee hath made them all for himself to come to him by man hee hath made all these inferiour things in the world for man and man for himself and so God comes to attain the end of all things in this world by man so that man is next unto God God would have the glory of all the creatures in the world but how by man saith God All these things that I have made I will have them bee in subjection to man for so they were in their first Creation and as I shall appear in all other of my works so shall this creature honour mee and fear mee and admire mee and magnifie mee upon the taking notice of and receiving in that good that there is in any creature All the goodness there is in the creature it comes to mee but how shall I have the glory of it all why I will make a creature that shall bee as it were between mee and other creatures that shall partake of the nature of other creatures but so as hee shall have a certain kinde of divine Beam of my excellency and shall bee able to take notice of mee and to receive in my goodness what hee doth receive in of the sweetness of the creature hee shall receive it in as my sweet and my goodness Incoms from mee and so hee shall reflect it upon my face again so that mans soul is like a Glass as you see a Glass that takes the beams of the Sun that shines upon it and casts it toward the Sun again as upon a wall the beams of the Sun comes into the Glass and then the Glass can reflect it this way or that way So the glory of God shines in the world and mans soul is as the glass and when it was in its first purity was as a clear chrystal glass and received in all the beams of Gods glory all the glory of God I say that did shine in all his creatures was received into mans soul as the beams of the Sun into a glass and now man was able to reflect the glory of these beams upon the face of God again and to return all again to God for as all things that are good come from him so all good should return again to him but now how comes the Lord to have an injoyment as it were of his goodness that hee lets out from himself How comes hee to have it return back again to himself Why the way of his returning it is by the Angels in heaven and the spirits of men these are the two excellent creatures that God doth make use of to fetch in all the glory that hee hath from all his creatures that they in an active way should reflect it all upon the face of God again certainly the soul of man is of an excellent nature then that is contiguous with God himself next unto him It is no matter whether a man bee rich or poor learned or unlearned yet hee hath a soul that is capable of this Yet further For the excellency of the soul The excellency of the soul discovered in its relation to Angels as it is excellent in relation to God so in relation to the Angels It is of the same kinde of nature that they are of they are spirits and so is the soul of man yea it hath the very same name with God himself God is a Spirit and so is the soul of man it is of the very same nature with the Angels and so is able to converse with them as well as with God himsâ—lf but for the way and manner of converse with those spirits that is little revealed in the word and therefore wee can say littâ—e of it And further The excellency of mans soul 3 The excellency of the soul in 1 Indowments of it it will appear in the excellent endowments of it Look upon the soul of man in his fallen estate and what admirable endowments some men have as in the excellent knowledge that some men have of Arts and Sciences the knowledge of the heavens it is a very gâ—orious thing that they are able to ascend up in their understanding and to know all the motions of the heavens and can tell you to a minute of an hour what kinde of motions there will bee as appears plainly by eclipses The arts of Navigation that they can compass the world up and down that way If it were but in these sensible things that wee see so much art in as in these mighty buildings which shows that a man out of a deal of rubbish can raise and erect such a building as this is this shows the excellency of mans soul and if there bee so much excellency in it naturally thâ—t it can do such things then what can it bee raised unto and inabled unto by a divine power What can it do when it is inlarged by grace and made partaker of the Divine nature 4. The souls excellency demonstrated from its immortality Luke 12.4 5. And further The excellency of the soul appears in the immortality of it Fear not them that can kill the body and can do no more Certainly if the soul were mortal as the body is then that man that kills the body kills the soul too and therefore wee may fear a man not onely because hee can kill the body but because hee can kill the soul but saith Christ Fear not them that can kill the body and can do no more The soul is as an Eagle when a man dyes that gets out of the Cage and so it flyes away saith Stephen when hee was to dye Act. 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my spirit Why if so bee that his spirit had dyed with his body he need not have said Lord Jesus receive my spirit Phâ—l 1.23 And so St. Paul I am in a streight and know not what to do whether to live or dye but hee thought it was better for him to bee dissolved it was not to bee destroyed
it is but a dissolution hee rather desired a dissolution that hee might bee with Christ which is best of all Certainly it was this that made the streight If I dye I shall bee with Christ immediately and if I live I shall injoy some communion with him and likewise do a great deal of service for him If Paul had thought that his soul and body should have dyed both together certainly hee would have desired to have lived rather than to dye for when hee did live his soul did injoy communion with Jesus Christ and hee did do abundance of service for him Now is it possible to think that a man that did so much service for Christ as ever man did and that injoyed so much sweet communion with Jesus Christ that such a man should bee willing to dye Certainly no but that hee knew that upon the dissolution of his body his soul should injoy further communion with Jesus Christ than it could do here It is an immortal substance it runs parallel with eternity of such an excellent nature the soul of man is And then further in this appears The excellency of it that it is the measure of all other kinde of excellency 5 The soâ—ls excellency shewed in being the measure of all other excellencies The soul of man is the measure of all other kinde of excellencies as thus look how far any thing may bee subservient for the good of the soul so far that thing hath an excellency in it and if it bee not subservient for the good of the soul it hath no worth and excellency in it as thus Suppose a man have a great estate in the world great comings in many friends many places now there is some excellency you will say in these things but are these subservient for the good of thy soul that thy soul can injoy communion with God so much the better then these things are good to thee but if so bee that these things hinder the work of thy soul and do not help it forward in the service that it is most capable of and made for there is no excellency in these things And indeed I know no one better sign that a man doth understand the true worth of his soul than this What doth hee account to bee the measure of the excellency of all the things of this world Thou wouldest fain have an estate and outward things in abundance as other men have Why thou sayest they are the good creatures of God I grant it they are so but now wherein dost thou think the excellency of these creatures doth most consist Certainly if thou comest to know the true worth of thy soul thou wilt say God gives mee these outward things and blessed bee his Name by a more large portion of these things am I inabled to do more large service for God my soul is freed from incumbrances in the world and they do help forward the work that my soul is specially concerned in viz. the service of God and therefore I account it a greater good to injoy these things than to bee without them now if thou comest to reason in this manner it is a sign that God hath shewn thee what the true worth and excellency of thy soul is 6 The price paid for souls proves its excellency But that I might draw to a conclusion This is that that above all things will demonstrate the worth and excellency of the soul The great price that was paid for it That Jesus Christ should bee willing to lay down his life to purchase the pardon of the sin of thy soul to deliver thy soul from eternal misery 1 Pet. 1.18 this shews the great worth of the soul Wee are not redeemed by silver and gold saith the Apostle Peter by any of these corruptible things Vers 19. but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ According to the price that is paid for one you may know the worth of such a one Suppose there were divers men that were taken captives one is but an ordinary Mariner you will say perhaps forty pound will redeem such a one but suppose the other bee a Gentleman or a Knight a Noble-man there must go five hundred or two or three thousand pounds for their redemption according to the excellency of the man so must bee the price of his ransome So my brethren when wee consider the price of mens souls that were taken captive by sin what was paid for them it was a price that was more worth than ten thousand thousand worlds certainly the soul is of an excellent nature Indeed it cannot bee imagined that Jesus Christ would have taken mans nature upon him and dyed an accursed death to have saved the whole world from being dissolved Suppose it had lain upon this that heaven and earth must have been dissolved except Jesus Christ would take mans nature upon him certainly Jesus Christ would have suffered heaven and earth to have gone to nothing rather than to have done as he did But when Jesus Christ saw that these immortal souls by their sin were brought into such a condition that they must perish to all eternity except hee come and take their nature upon him and lay down his life and dye an accursed death saith Jesus Christ rather than such precious souls which my Father hath made capable of injoyment of so much good from him and bringing glory to him rather than these should perish I am content to come and dye and suffer the wrath of my Father surely the price that was paid for souls doth hold forth the great worth of them In the death of Christ wee may read in large characters the worth of a soul And my brethren Even the body its self 7 The excâ—llency of the soul proved from the body because it is as the case of the soul it is a very excellent thing Of all the corporeal things that ever God hath made the body of man is the most excellent thing therefore David in Psal 139. speaking of his body saith verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well And then vers 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth When I was curiously wrought From 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word in the Hebrew signifies Imbroydred the body of man is Imbroydery and hence in Gen. 2. it is said there that God formed man ampigore and here in Psal 139. God did imbroyder him And therefore Gallen that was an Atheist a long time when hee came to see the Anatomy of a mans body hee cryed out Now I adore the God of Nature Now the Lord hath wrought the body so curiously because it is the case of the soul and that being such an excellent creature must have a suitable case As if you have a curious Watch you will not put it into
This is the first Use Look upon all that have these souls with an honourable respect considering they have that that is of so much worth Use 2 And then secondly If mans soul bee of so much worth how can wee look upon many people but have our hearts raised in the meditation of the dreadfulness of Gods Justice upon men for sin thus God hath made man an excellent creature and given to every one a soul more worth than the world but now when wee look upon some people that have lost the beauty of their souls and now have no other use of their souls but it may bee all their dayes to bee imployed in scraping of kennels and raking in the dust-heaps in your streets in attending upon horses and swine and this is all that they have to do in their lives Oh what a low condition is man fallen into that hath no other use of such a rational immortal substance that God hath given him but meerly to make him serviceable all his dayes to tend swine beasts horses scrape kennels and such kinde of things as these are But you will say It is lawful for men to bee imployed in these and poor people must bee imployed in them That is true It is lawful to bee imployed in such things but now when men and women have such poor and mean imployment and have no higher thoughts but meerly to get bread by such imployments and their souls busied all their dayes about nothing else but those things this shews the woful fall of man and manifests a dreadful fruit of Gods Justice upon the children of men for their sin Certainly Man that was made in honour is become like the beast that perisheth in this regard And when wee see the condition of men to bee so low so base and vile as they are so beneath the excellency of a rational and immortal soul Oh let us raise our thoughts to the meditation Gods divine Justice it is a fearful fruit of the justice of God upon man for sin what is this the creature that hath an immortal soul made by God more worth than ten thousand worlds that lies scraping from morning to night in a kennel and hath no other thoughts for any higher excellency but onely if it can get a lump of bread to live by there is all they have to do as if they were born for no other end Oh! think then is this the creature that hath such an excellent soul surely sin hath made a great breach between God and man and hath brought man-kinde into a very low and mean condition and yet worse are those than these that have no other use of their souls than to bee drudges to the Devil and slaves unto their lusts but of this wee shall speak to more afterwards but now I onely mention it as to give a hint to the meditation of Gods justice upon man for his sin Thirdly If the soul of a man bee of so great an excellency Use 3 then certainly it must needs bee an honourable work for to bee busied about souls an honourable imployment for God to set one man or more to look to and tend the souls of others Oh! what a difference is there in the imployment between working in Wood and Iron all day long or scraping in the dust heaps as before and in an imployment of attending upon souls to bee used by God as the instrument of converting of these souls and bringing of them to their former excellency in which they were made yea and to raise them to a higher excellency than ever they had in the first Creation If wee prize mens imployments by the subject of their imployment then certainly this is the most glorious imployment that any Creature in the world can bee capable ofâ— what is the reason you account a Gold-smith a better trade than a Black-smith but because of the subject that the one works about rather than the other one works upon Iron and the other upon Silver and Gold therefore one is a more honourable Trade than the other Now if the subject upon which they work makes one to bee more honourable than the other what Trade in the world can be so honourable as the work of the Ministery that works altogether about immortal souls in bringing them to God to live to God and to enjoy communion with him why do wee account a Physician a more honourable Profession than a Horse-leech one looks to the bodies of Beasts and the other to the bodies of Men If there bee such a difference between the body of a Beast and the body of a Man that hee that is imployed about the one is accounted honourable and hee that is imployed about the other is accounted low then certainly the imployment of the Ministery must needs bee honourable for it is about souls The Magistrate looks unto your peace the Lawyer to your estates the Physician to your bodies and the Divine to your souls though outward respects may bee given more and should bee to the Magistrate yet certainly the imployment about immortal souls must needs bee the honourablest in the world It is the honour of the Angels in Psa 91. to take care of the bodies of the Saints If it bee the glory of Angels to take care of Gods people what glory is it that God puts upon the Ministers of the Gospel to look to souls and truly in this thing God hath put more glory upon Men than upon Angels for God hath not made it to bee his set ordinance that Angels should convert souls but hee hath made it so that men should bee made use of to convert souls by preaching the word and let all the Angels in Heaven shew an imployment so honourable as this imployment is You would account it a great honour to have the Body of a Prince to watch over Surely there is no immortal soul but is more precious than all the Princes in the world and if the Lord should give unto you the care of all the Creatures except the souls of men it were not such an honourable work as to give you the care of any one immortal soul saith the Apostle in 2 Cor. 4. the beginning Let a man esteem of us as the dispensers of the Mysteries of Christ Let them esteem of us it is true Ministers of the Gospel should bee willing to lie under the feet of any to do good to their souls but because wee know that it is a great hinderance to the work of their Ministery when brutish carnal spirits have low and mean esteem of their work therefore wee finde that the Apostle would ever bee setting up the honour of this work Let a man esteem of us as the dispencers of the Mysteries of Christ and in 1 Thes 5.12 13. Wee beseech you brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem of them very highly in love for their works sake And so
in Heb. 13.17 Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you Oh it is a sad thing if one that God sends to watch for the souls of people shall bee forced to return his account to God with sorrow of heart and say Lord thou that knowest all things knowest what desires I have had and what indeavours to do good to the souls of this people how it hath been my study my prayer to finde out what might bee most profitable for their souls how willing I was to venture my life in seeking to do good to their souls but Oh Lord I have spent care and study and strength and even almost my life in vain little good do I finde done to the souls of this people Lord they reject thy word they contemn it they minde it not there are other things that their hearts are upon to follow the lusts of their flesh as if so bee they had no immortal souls to look unto I say if any faithful Minister of God shall go to God and make his moan thus unto God with grief and trouble of heart it will bee very ill for you it will bee a fearful moan in the ears of God against a people when any Minister shall justly make this to God against them therefore saith the Apostle here Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief Consider so far as any have charge of souls it is a heavy burden that is upon them a heavy weight surely whosoever should take charge of so many thousand souls as belongs to this Congregation would have weight and burden enough upon his shoulders you should pitty them that have this charge over you I remember Chrysostome in his writing upon this very Scripture saith Hee wonders how any of these that are here said to watch over mens souls how any of them could bee saved because the charge is so great that is upon them And I have read of one being called to the work of the Ministery would by any means avoid it and professes that hee would not for all the world have the charge of a soul one day upon him Certainly it is a great work and requires very much seriousness and diligence to have a soul committed to one If a man had a precious Pearl committed to his charge that were worth ten thousand pound that hee must look to it and keep it hee would hardly bee able to sleep quietly after hee had so great a charge committed to him And truly if men are careful that have but beasts committed to them as Jacob said concerning his Unkle Labans cattel that hee look'd to them so as that hee indured the frost in the night and the heat of the day much diligence and care then should they have that have the charge of souls But wee let that pass Yet in the fourth place If souls have such excellency Use 4 then certainly those who have most soul-excellency are the most excellent people wee may judge here who they are that are the most excellent upon the earth The Righteous is more excellent than his neighbour perhaps his neighbour is richer than hee hath a comlier body than hee but yet hee is more excellent why because all excellency must be judged by that that is most proper to the Creature and that that is the chief part of the Creature as if you would judge of the goodness of a knife you will not judge by the haft of it whether it bee good or no but you will judge by the metal of the knife you judge by that wherein the chief of the knife is so if you will judge of the excellency of a man or woman you must judge of his excellency by the excellency of that that is most proper to him Now for Sense for the body why the brute-beasts they have sense they have flesh and blood as well as wee onely wee differ in these rational immortal souls that God hath given to us therefore such whose souls are filled with divine excellency they are to bee most honoured they are indeed the Lords and Ladies of the world therefore the Scripture speaks of those whose out-sides were mean enough in the latter end of the 11th of the Hebrews that wandered in sheep-skins and goat-skins yet they were such as the world was not worthy of them Indeed a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit wee read of the Ark the outside was of Badgers-skins it had a poor and mean outside but within were the Cherubims and Gold was within And so many have very mean outsides but within there is a great deal of excellency and others that have brave outsides and well clad without yet if you look within them oh what vile souls have they the heart of the wicked is little worth saith the Scripture Perhaps his Land may bee somewhat worth and his House but his heart is little worth As many a man that hath perhaps a hand full of sores yet may have a fine imbroidered Glove upon it and a dunghill may bee strewed with herbs and in the winter time filthy dunghills you know are covered with white Snow that in a fair frosty day look as glistering as the Snow that is upon a fine Meddow but still nothing but filth So it is with many a man that hath a fine outside covered over it may bee with a great many outward excellencies but within their spirits nothing but carrion nothing but abominable stuff that is filthy and loathsome in the eyes of God as a sore legg may have a fine stockin oâ— boot upon it and so a sore putrified soul may have a brave outside upon it But that God that is a Spirit that looks unto Spirit and those men that know what spiritual excellency means if they see a man or woman have a filthy defiled corrupt soul they cannot but esteem of them accordingly Whatsoever the body or the out-side bee those are the most excellent in Gods esteem and the holy Angels and the Saints that have the most excellent souls for that is the best part of man Use 5 But fifthly If the soul of man bee so excellent Oh let us bless God for our souls bless God I say that hath given unto you these immortal souls that are of so great a worth Oh what cause have every one of you to bless God that hee did not make you a Toad a Dog a Snake that hee did not make you any vile brute creature but that when you were before him in the common lump out of which God made his creatures that hee would rather choose you to bee one that should have an immortal soul so precious rather than to bee a
most men for one to pray thus for them Oh Lord give them such bodies as they have souls it were as much as to say Lord Let that body bee blasted let it bee filled with diseases let it bee filled with rottenness let it consume away let it bee a noysome and loathsome body for his soul is so The souls of most men are filled with diseases are noysome and loathsome in the eyes of God It is a happy thing my brethren to have better souls than bodies that was the happiness of Gaius and so it would bee your happiness if you could say so you have great care of the bodies of your children I but have you a greater care of their souls if you have it would bee an excellent sign that God hath made you to understand what true excellency means It is a great question among Divines and among Philosophers too about the propagation of the soul how it comes in whether by the Parents or immediate creation truly there is one argument that it is not like to come in by the Parents because wee see that there is scarce any Parents that have any care of the souls of their children but altogether caring that their bodies may bee fine and that they may bee brave and as they look at their children so they look at themselves they love their bodies to the uttermost to make provision for the flesh but no further What a deal of do would there bee if when any of your children goes abroad or husband or wife If you should hear that they have gotten a fall and broke their legs or arms but now when you go abroad and fall into sin and get a wound to your souls as every sin it gives a deadly wound yea such a wound as onely the blood of Jesus Christ is able 〈◊〉 cure it and there is nothing made of all this as if wee were nothing but lumps of flesh Oh have a care of your souls and labour to love them and make them to bee your Darling you had need have a care of them for as they are precious so they are tender as it is with Watches and curious Instruments those that are most curious are the easiest hurt the very air will put them out of temper and so the souls of men because they are things so excellent they are things of a very curious nature and a little thing wil hurt them As a little thing will hurt the eye for that is a more excellent member than your finger or leg so the soul is a more excellent part and therefore it is that that is most in danger to bee hurt and mischiefed yea and to perish and if your soul perishes your body will follow after what will become of that if your soul bee lost and perish but the onely way to love your bodies well and aright it is to love your souls The Third SERMON ON The Excellency of the Soul Matth. 16.26 For what is a man profited if hee shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul I Shall speak something unto a Use that was mentioned the last day and that was this If God hath given unto us such precious souls Oh then let not us dishonour our souls Dishonour them Why how may a man dishonour his soul 1 Why first when hee lives idlely and makes no use at all of it any more than if hee had but the soul of a Brute Psal 24.5 speaking of him that had not lift up his soul unto vanity I remember the old Latin Arius Montanus turns it Hee that hath received his soul in vain And indeed most people do receive their souls from God in vain or to no purpose they make no more use of them than the Philosopher said of the Swine that had his soul onely as salt to keep the flesh from stinking there is all the use many men make of their souls onely to keep their bodies from smelling and from corruption Secondly Wee dishonour our souls when wee imploy them about low and mean things unworthy of them and make them to bee the chief things that wee imploy them about It is the misery of man so to do that I spake of before and it is the sin of man so to do How many men that have such precious immortal souls as these are know no higher good to imploy them about than to bee it may bee all day or night in shuffling a pair of Cards or casting of Dice or at Tables there is the highest good that they know how to imploy their souls about What a poor mean low thing is this what a dishonour to such a soul as this If so bee any of you have servants that are of good breeding good parentage that are of excellent parts that have lived long with you that have skill in your Trade if you should set them to do nothing but pick straws they would account it a great dishonour put upon them Truly what do you with these precious immortal souls of yours that are so much worth even more than the world but imploy them in such poor things even to pick straws as it were if a man should have pearls that every one of them were worth a Kingdome and hee should know no other use to make of them than to stop holes in Mud walls one would think it as to bee great folly in him so a great dishonour put upon those pearls that are of so much worth why your souls are more worth every one of them than all the Pearls and Kingdomes in the world and for you to do nothing else but spend the strength of your souls about gathering of a little dirt together here in this world it is a great dishonour to your souls Wee have a story of Domitian that was a great Emperour and yet hee had such a low and mean spirit as that hee would spend the greatest part of his time in catching of Flies This is recorded of him as an argument of the lowness and meanness of his spirit unworthy a man of so great a dignity Oh so our souls that God hath made so high and put such glory upon what are they busied about in most people I remember Gregory Nyssen hee tells of some and among others of Origen to bee of that opinion that the souls of men were made altogether at the first Creation and lived glorious spirits till they sinned against God and all those that sinned against God were thrust into the bodies of men as into a prison and those that did not sin they â—ive still with God in glory And Jerome as I remember in his 32. Epist speaks of that opinion that did prevail and wee finde Plato though a heathen hee speaks of the souls of men and thought that they were made altogether before their bodies if not from eternity These men they thought the souls of men so precious as that they could not come
thy soul such a soul as this is I say if it should now depart would bee lost for God doth not save souls but by manifesting himself to them Phil. 2.12 hee would have all to work out their salvation with fear and trembling Certainly though the principle of our salvation bee without us yet the Lord that made us without our selves will never save us without our selves whosoever God doth save hee doth make them solicitous and careful about the work of the salvation of their souls Now if thy conscience tells thee that to this day thy care hath been about many vanities but as for having thy heart taken up with the saving thy soul thou knowest not what belongs to this I say if God should work no more in thee than hee hath done if thou shouldest now die thou wouldest bee lost Thirdly That soul to whom the Lord hath not revealed the glory of the mysteries of the Gospel that yet hath the Gospel kept hidden from it that doth not see into the glorious work of God in the covenant of Grace in those great counsels of God and great things that God hath done for the salvation of mankind in Jesus Christ that soul would bee lost if it should now go from the body and no further work of God upon it That Scripture that divers times you have heard named is proof sufficient for it If our Gospel bee hidden it is hidden to those that are lost 2 Cor. 4.3 Now certainly my brethren if God hath revealed to your souls the glorious things of the Gospel they cannot but bee taking things to you they cannot but cause much stirring much activeness mighty workings in your souls when once the glorious light of the Gospel comes into a soul I say it cannot but cause mighty stirrings and workings in such a soul When I see people sit deadly and dully under the means of Grace under the preaching of the glorious things of the Gospel I cannot but think with my self Lord do these people know what Jesus Christ is and understand what the great things are that God hath done for the salvation of man-kind certainly did they but know the wonderful and strange works of God about the salvation of the souls of the children of men their hearts could not but stir within them and work in another manner than yet they have done Fourthly That soul that hath no other righteousness to tender â—p unto God but its own righteousness if now it should depart would bee lost eternally Whatever man or woman it bee that have lived the most unblameable in his life and conversation that hath been the most righteous that no man could bee able to blame him for any thing yet I say if this man or woman hath no other righteousness to tender up unto God but his own certainly this soul would bee a lost soul for ever the truth is even the soul of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the souls of all the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs all of them would bee lost eternally had they no other righteousness to tender up to God but their own much more those who have only a Civil righteousness and a meer natural righteousness such righteousness as is attainable by the very light of nature such a righteousness as St. Paul speaks on in the 3. of the Philippians that hee lived unblameably how hee was a Pharisee and hee accounted that righteousness of his conversation to bee gain yet afterwards when Christ was revealed to him hee accounted it but loss for hee saw that it would endanger the loss of his soul eternally the resting upon that Quest You will say the soul that hath no other righteousness but his own to tender up to God is that soul lost why what other righteousness is there besides that which is a mans own Answ To that I answer There is a supernatural righteousness the righteousness of a Mediatour God-Man that is come into the world to stand between lost souls and an infinite provoked God and that is made over to the soul by Faith and that soul that is saved by the hand of Faith doth tender up the righteousness of that Mediatour God-Man for the satisfaction of infinite divine Justice and the appeasing of infinite wrath and that is the soul that is saved but that soul that is not acquainted with such a righteousness that hath not such a righteousness made over to it by Faith the righteousness of the Son of God the righteousness that is by Faith in Christ that soul if it should now depart from the body and the Lord work no otherwise upon it than hee hath yet done certainly hee would bee a lost soul and that is the fourth evidence of a soul that would presently bee lost if it should now depart from the body Fifthly A fifth evidence is this That soul that God hath not made in some measure at least to feel the weight and burden of sin discovered sin unto it as a greater burden than all burdens whatsoever if such a soul should depart it would prove to bee lost and that upon this Reason Because without repentance a soul must needs bee lost Except yee repent Luk 13.3 yee shall all likewise perish saith Christ Now repentance cannot stand with feeling sin light much less with joy in sin Repentance whether before Faith or after wee will not now speak of whether a Legal repentance or an Evangelical repentance yet it must bee such a repentance as must bee apprehensive and sensible of sin as a greater evil than all the evils that it is liable to here in the world It must feel sin as it is against God feel sin as sin so as to bee a burden to it the measure of it how far and how weighty sin should bee wee do not now stand upon but that sin should bee found a great burden yea an intollerable burden so that were it not for an infinite Mediatour the soul could not stand under the burden that is necessary in the work of repentance and so the soul to come to sorrow for sin as sin and this is the repentance which is unto life which cannot bee except the soul doth feel in some measure the weight and burden of sin Sixthly Again that man or woman that walks after the flesh in a course of sin to give satisfaction and contentment unto the flesh that makes it to bee the great care and indeavour of it for to satisfie the flesh such of you whose consciences tell you that the contentment of your hearts is some fleshly thing and that in the course of your lives you walk after the flesh certainly if you should now die your souls would bee lost and that is clear out of Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Therefore those that do not walk after the spirit but after the flesh there is condemnation unto them at the present O!
lame in thy body yet if thou canst walk in the wayes of Gods Commandements and run there thou art a happy creature It may be thou wantest food I but if God feed thy soul with spiritual Manna feed thee every day with food from heaven and take care for the feeding of thy soul thou art not so miserable as thou thoughtst thy self thou hast tattered cloaths I but if God hath provided the righteousness of his Son to bee a garment to cloach thy soul every time thou appearest before him thou art a happy creature in that therefore when thy heart is ready to murmure that God hath denied thee bodily mercies that hee hath granted to others think with thy self I but hath not God recompenced mee in soul mercies I make no question but there are many souls that bless God that ever they have lived to this time though they have suffered hard things for their bodies many that have lost and been plundered of all yet bless God that they have lived to the time wherein there was so much plenty of the food of souls Oh those truths of God that have been revealed unto us since those times but had those that had the power before had the power still continued wee had never had such truths made known unto us they account all recompenced in soul-mercies in Eph. 1.3 Blessed bee the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Mark what the Apostle saith there his heart is filled with this Blessed bee God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore that hee hath given us good trading and good incomes that hath given us food and rayment wee are to bless God for this I but the Apostles heart was above this therefore saith hee Blessed bee the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ they are the blessings indeed that wee have cause to bless him for spiritual blessings soul-mercies as for bodily-mercies wee know that the Heathens and Reprobates have had as great a share in as any in the world but blessed bee God though wee bee denied these outward bodily favours yet wee have spiritual blessings Oh thanks bee to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ And this now would bee a good argument that you do know the worth of your souls if you can be blessing of God for spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ above all blessings and account your selves rich enough if you have the riches of spiritual blessings And then further Oh if the soul of man bee so precious What great pitty is it that God should not have the honour of mens souls of such a noble and excellent creature it is great pitty that there should bee any creature under the Sun that God should not have the honour of that God should not have honour from every pile of grass from every bit of bread that is eaten from every stone in the street But now that God should give to mankinde such an excellent spirit a soul more precious than all the world and yet that God should not have the glory of this Oh this is an evil thing under the Sun indeed this must needs go to the heart of God for the truth is God hath his glory from all other creatures by the soul of man As for other creatures hee hath his glory but passively from them but for mans soul hee doth expect to have his glory actively from that that man by his soul should come to know this God the infinite first-being of all things should fear him and worship him and serve him and have communion with him and praise him and therefore David in Psal 103. My soul praise thou the Lord and all that is within mee praise his holy name And again hee concludes My soul praise thou the Lord. And so in Psal 104. Now upon the consideration of what hath been said of the excellency of our souls wee should lay a charge upon them that they do honour God and serve God What a sad charge will this bee to many a man at the great day when God shall say Haddest thou been made a Dog I never had had so much dishonour as I have had I should have had more honour if I had made thee a Dog there I should have had my honour passively and no dishonour from thee But now thou being made an immortal soul as it was capable of honouring mee so of sinning against mee the more excellent a thing is the more capable of evil it is as well as of good no creatures but Angels and men are able to sin against God Oh it is pitty that God should not have the honour of thy immortal soul God had more honour from Nebuchadnezzar when hee was driven out among the beasts than when hee sat upon the Throne as a King And then further that should have been another Use to have laboured to perswade you to take heed of dishonouring these souls of yours God hath put a great deal of glory and excellency upon them do not you dishonour them and many wayes should have been said how men do put dishonour upon their souls only for the conclusion Oh that you would but learn to love your own souls To love them It is a strange exhortation you will say to exhort men to love their souls Oh that you would but do it Psal 22. David calls his soul his Darling the souls of men should bee indeed their Darlings not their bodies It was a speech of a Courtier to his friend saith hee I love you as mine own soul Oh saith hee then you love mee not at all if you had said you had loved mee as your body then I should have thought you had loved mee but I see no love you have to your soul It was the prayer of the Apostle St. John in the Epistle that hee writ to his host Gaius I suppose you that know Scripture are not unacquainted with it in his third Epistle Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and bee in health even as thy soul prospereth I shall close all I intend for the present with this Scripture it seems that Gaius was a holy man but a man of a weakly and sick body and therefore St. John writing to him hee prayes thus Above all things I desire that thy body may but prosper as thy soul prospereth As if hee should say O Gaius thou hast an excellent gracious soul indued with admirable graces of the Spirit of God full of God thy soul is though thy body bee weakly Oh that thou hadst but as good a body as thou hast a soul It seems Gaius had more care of his soul a great deal than of his body but now my brethren consider this Would not this bee a curse to