confidence waite for it and when it comes bid it welcome as our friend that comes to free our soul out of the prison of the body the sole impediment of it's perfection and to open the doore to let us into a better world and into a better life Thus of the Person to whom he makes his suit The Lord. 2. Now we are to consider of the Act Take away my soule How doth the Lord take away souls Not by annihilation or reducing them to nothing as at the first Creation Nor by laying them a sleep together with their bodies till the Resurrection the Opinion of the Arabians Nor by a Metempsuchosis transmitting them into some other body to informe them Nor by fixing them as Starrs in the Firmament Nor by sending them into purgatory as the Papists teach But thou that gavest it me take it unto thy self either by thine own immediate power and grace who art a Spirit and the God of the spirits of all flesh or by the Ministery of thy good Angells let them be ready to receive it at the parting of it out of my body as they did the soul of Lazarus and to carry it up to rest and glory Thus Lord take away my soule From hence note first That our souls are immortall they dye not with the body but when the body at the dissolution returns to the earth from whence it was taken the soul returns to God that gave it All the expressions of holy men dying imports as much Lord Jesus receive my spirit saith St. Stephen Father into thy hands I commend my spirit saith our Saviour Lord take away soul saith our Prophet all expressing their faith in this truth That their souls were immortal Feare not them that can kill the body and are not able to kill the soul saith our Saviour So then the soul cannot be killed Our blessed Lord disputing with the Sadduces concerning the Resurrection Mat. 22. tells them out of the Scriptures That God was the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob who were dead and buried a thousand years before and from thence concludeth the immortality of the soul inasmuch as God was not the God of who dead but of the living ver 32. their spirits did never dye their souls were still alive and in being and he was their God Vses First It is of Use to quiet our spirits and to satisfie our minds sometimes troubled upon the consideration of the perplexities of Providence in the cross dispensation of evill and good to the good and the evill here in this world the unravelling of this Clue of the souls immortality from the beginning to the end will guide us through this Labyrinth so that in the end we shall say The wayes of the Lord are right when a day shall come when it shall be said to the Epicures of this world which have had their portion in this life as in Luke 16.25 Sonne Rentember you have had your pleasure in your life time and my servants received pain now they are comforted and you are tormented 2. This Meditation is of Use to comfort and to confirme us against the fear of death either our own or our friends inasmuch as beleeving in the Lord me shall live though we dye And he that liveth and beleeveth in him shall never dye eternally Indeed we shall not dye at all totally for though we lay down our bodies into the earth to sleep yet our spirits shall not dye at all but being delivered from the burden of the flesh shall live with the Lord and be translated into a state of joy and feliâ—ity Et meliore sui parte superstesâ— erit The better part is still living and therefore the Scripture will hardly call it a death but a Sleep a Change a Dissolution a Departure a Translation 3. It is of use for the contempt of this world in which we have no surer footing and of the best things of this world of which we have no better hold nor longer enjoyment but for this short uncertain life 4. This Meditation of the immortality of the soul is of speciall use to teach and to admonish to prepare and to provide for that our future condition to lay up for our selves treasure in Heaven that we may have something to take to when we come into the other world when we shall leave this and all that we have in it behind us to make us friends of the Mammon of iniquity that when time comes they may receive us into the everlasting habitations to lay here a good soundation against the time to come that seeing our fouls are immortall and shall have an eternall being it may be in well being that seeing they shall live eternally it may be in bliss and happiness now is the time to provide for it O how miscrable will be the condition of those souls which having lost their time here when this life is ended shall be swallowed up into eternity and all that while shall live in woe and misery in pain and torment easeless endless and remediless How much better had it been for such if they had never been born Or being born that their souls had dyed with their bodies or living after them there had been some period of time wherein they might have been extinguished But when they must so continue for ever That the worme shall never dye nor the fire never goe out that they shall continue in torment to all eternity Who can conceive the misery of it That word eternity into what a deep bottomeless gulfe doth it swallow up the mind that thinks upon it Great wonder it is and a miracle indeed that a point of such great importance and high concernment should be no more heeded and regarded Some live as if they had no souls at all or if they have any that they are but as the souls of bruits which perish with their bodies and well were it with them if they did so they live as if they never thought to dye and dye as if they never thought to rise again they have no hope in their death nor any care of their immortall soules ever after To these I say no more but this Lord have mercy upon their poor miserable soules they will have time enough hereafter when it is too late to see their error and to repent of this their stupidity and security Secondly Note here the holy and heavenly expressions of the Saints and Servants of the Lord at their departure out of this life O Lord I have waited for thy salvation saith the Patriarke Jacob upon his death bed Gen. 49.18 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace said old Simeon Luke 2.29 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Saint Stephen the holy Martyr with these words breath'd out his soule Lord Jesus receive my spirit Acts 7.59 Our Lord himselfe upon the Cross giving up the ghost with these words breath'd his last Father into thy hands I commend
of his glorious appearing as it follows in the same Text When Christ shall appear in flaming fire to render vengeance 2 Thes 1.7 When the Sonne of Man shall come in the Clouds with power and great glory and all his holy Angels with him That 's the day of his appearing at that day shall St. Paul receive his Crowne not before till then it is layd up for him At that day shall those souls under the Altar before mentioned receive their Crowns of Martyrdome also for the present there were white Robes given to every one of them but not the Crowns till that day The same also doth he affirme of the state of the souls of wicked men separated from their bodies Sic puniri ut etiam reserventur in diem judicii longe aliis asperioribus paenis aeternis videlicet in corpore anima cruciandi That they are so punished here during the time of their separation that they are also reserved unto the Judgement of the great day then to be tormented in body and soul with farr more sharp and grievous punishments for evermore But if you would see more of Antiquity in these matters and will be at the pains of it doe but consult Athanasius in an Epistle of his cited by Epiphanius Haeres 77. and in his Book De Incarnatione Verbi St. Cyrill De râ—â—ta side ad Theodosium OeÌ„cumenius and divers others who in their Expositions of that Text in St. Peter 1 Pet. 3.19 Who was put to death as concerning the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit By which Spirit he went and Preach't to the spirits which are in Prison We prove first Christs descent into Hell and upon the words following That he Preach't unto the spirits or souls detained in that Prison As Saint Jude saith of the evill Angells That they are in prison and bound in chains of darkness reserved unto the judgement of the great day The evill Angells and the souls of wicked men both in the same condition both secur'd in Prison both in chains both reserv'd unto the judgement of the great day And it will follow by the rule of opposits That if the souls of the Saints and Martyrs be not yet in the fruition of their perfect and consummate happiness then neither are the souls of wicked men in that exquisite torment which they are condemned unto and into which they shall be cast at the judgement of the great day but that there is an intermediate estate though that very wretched and miserable under which they lye untill that day And I think this is sufficiently proved in both the branches of it by Scriptures strong and cleere for it and by the jugdements of holy and learned men commenting upon them and so is a sufficient answer to the first Part of the exception and enough to free me from Preaching New Doctrine and to declare that I am not alone in this Opinion Of the intermediate estate of souls separated from the body both of the just and the unjust nor walk in an untroden path where no foot is gone before me The second Part of the exception lyes in this That it is useless That admitting these tenents be true yet they are useless It demands therefore Whereto they are usefull To which I Answer Sol. The knowledge of them is usefull to many speciall purposes particularly to these First It is very satisfactory to the minde of every man I think that hath a soule to know the state of it both present and future yea to know as much of it as is knowable Knowledge is pretious and a great delight unto the soule When wisedom entreth into thy heart and knowledge delighteth thy soule saith Solomon Prov 2.10 So knowledge is a delight unto the soule and the more high and excellent the object is about which it is conversant the more excellent and pretious is the knowledge But what more high and pretious object can there be next unto God and the Angells then the spirits and souls of men What more worthy to take up our most serious thoughts and diligent studies then the disquisition of those high things that doe concerne them What more satisfactory then the attaining of them in all those things that are knowable Secondly 'T is usefull for preserving of men against Atheisme that bruitish sinne which doth so spread it selfe in the world and invaded so great a part of the Sonns of men for though they doe not speak out plainly with their Tongues yet how many of them say in their hearts and lives There is no God nor Devill nor Heaven nor Hell nor Angells nor Spirits nor souls of Men and all through their ignorance of this Point That they cannot satisfie themselves what becomes of the souls of men separated from their bodies through so long a tract of time as two three foure or five thousand years intermediate between the time of their dissolution by Death and their re-union again at the Resurrection Thirdly 'T is usefull to confirme men in the assurance of the Immortality of the soule while it informes them what becomes of it where it is and what it does or suffers where is the place of it what the state of it what the imployments what the enjoyments Concerning all which being before ignorant and in the dark they could not tell what to think of the souls of men more then of bruits of which Solomon takes notice Eccles 3.20 21. speaking in their Language Who knoweth whether the spirit of Man ascend upward and the spirit of a Beast descend downward All goe to one place c. and therefore rann away in their own fancies and vain imaginations into divers errors concerning the souls of men dying some imagining they were annihilated and altogether extinguished Some that they were layd asleep as the bodies were till the Resurrection Some that they were transmigrated out of one body into another Some one thing some another in the midst of these doubtfull varieties they began to question whether there were any difference between the souls of men and of bruits as Solomon here intimates and for want of some more distinct knowledge in this matter lived at a venture Against all these errors and evills the truths here delivered are a sure and soveraigne remedy the vain imaginations in which men rann away in the variety of their own fancies concerning the extinction annihilation sleeping transmigration c. of the souls of men dying all dye before these truths here delivered and vanish away and mens minds are setled and confirmed in the assurance of the immortality of the souls while they doe distinctly informe them what becomes comes of them into what receptacles they are received upon their separation and in what severall states they pass their immortality Fourthly It is usefull for admonishing of all men while they are in the body to take care of their souls and to provide for their future condition to preserve them pure that upon their separation they may
from the time of it's first being in him whether by Creation or by infusion or by traduction generation I dispute not nor of the praeexistence of it before an Opinion that hath great Patrons too especially among the Philosophers the Gymnosophists of Egypt the Brachmans of India the Magi of Persia and the Jewish Cabalists and among them some Christians also Origen for one but I wave that dispute too But I date my discourse from the souls first being in the body from that beginning it passes it's immortality under three conditions or a three-fold estate every one of them different from other The first is the state of the foule during the time of it's being in the body which it doth actuate and informe The second is the state of it between the time of the separation of it from the body by dissolution and there union of it again with the body at the Resurrection the day of Judgement And the third is from that day to Eternity and for ever after That these three states of the soule are different one from the other is evident enough Of the first of these we have experience in this life while our souls are in our bodies which are given unto us to actuate and informe them and to use them as Organs or Instruments for glorifying God by them and doing good Glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits for they are his 1 Cor. 6.20 this is done by giving up the faculties of the one and the parts of the other Not as members of unrighteousness to unrighteousness but as instruments of righteousness unto holiness and accordingly as we have so done shall we give an account unto God in the day of account For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ to render an account for the things done in the body whether they be good or evill 1 Cor. 5.15 Therefore now is the time of working now is the time of doing our selves good now is the time of laying a good foundation for the time to come now is the time of laying up that which may be for the furtherance of our account then now in this first estate of the soule while it is in the body must we provide for the well-being of it in the second estate and in the third and to Eternity Now as this first estate of the soule in the body is different from the second estate of it as it is separated from the body so is that second estate of it out of the body different from the third estate of it when it shall be re-united to the body again and put into that estate in which it shall remain for ever and to all Eternity It is the generall Opinion of men but withall a generall mistake That as soon as ever the soule is separated from the body it passes immediately into that estate either of joy glory or of misery and torment in which it shall remain for ever without any alteration True it is That at the separation of the soule from the body there is a particular judgement passes upon it by which it is made known to it what shall become of it Eternally and is presently put into the beginnings either of the one or the other and into a state previous to that third estate in which it is to remain for ever without alteration but that either the souls of wicked men are immediately upon their separation from the body cast into that extremity of misery and torment which is prepared for them Or that the souls of the just doe then pass into that heigth of joy and glory which God hath prepared for them I doe confidently deny and shall prove the contrary in both the parts of it And first for the souls of wicked men that they are not upon their separation from the body cast into that extremity of torment which is prepared for them I prove by an Argument à Majori thus The very Devills themselves are not yet cast into that extremity of torment that they are condemned unto Therefore the souls of wicked men are not immediately upon their separation cast into those torments The Consequence of this Argument is clear for no man will judge the state of wicked men to be worse then the state of Devills The Antecedent I prove by two clear testimonies of Scripture The first out of St. Mat. 8.29 where those fierce Devills which had possessed two men among the Gergesens seeing Christ comming towards them are stricken with terror at his presence and cry out What have we to doe with thee Jesus thou Sonne of God Art thou come to torment us before the time They knew they were condemn'd to torment but there was a time set when they should be cast into it but that time was not yet come and therefore seeing him comming towards them they cry out against him as if he came to antedate their misery by casting them into it before the time Art thou come to torment us before the time The other proofe is both a confirmation of the truth in hand and an illustration of this Text It is in the Epistle of Jude ver 6. The Angels also which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day where you have the time when they shall be cast into that extremity of torment unto which they are condemned at the judgement of the great day and the estate that they are in in the mean time they are reserv'd in chains of darkness the chains noting the safe keeping and securing of them that thus can no ways make their escape And the darkness noting their dismall and uncomfortable condition all that while They are reserv'd in chains of darkness unto the Judgement of the great day an expression borrowed from the state of condemned prisoners which after they are condemn'd are secured in chains or fetters and cast into the dungeon and there reserved unto the day of Execution And this is a sufficient proofe of the truth of this assertion in the first part of it as touching the souls of wicked men That the state of their souls from the day of their separation from their bodies untill the day of Judgement is not the same that it shall be after that day though it be a woefull estate too as will farther appear in the sequel of this discourse We are now to make good this Proposition in the other part of it Concerning the souls of the just that they enter not presently upon their dissolution into the fullness of joy and glory intended them and prepared for them And for that I alledge Rev. 6.9.10.11 where at the opening of the fifth Seale St. John sees under the Altar the souls of them that were killed for the Word of God and for the testimony which they maintained And they cryed with a loud voyce saying How long Lord how long holy and