A PASTORAL LETTER FROM A MINISTER TO HIS Parishioners Being an Earnest EXHORTATION To them to take Care of their SOULS AND A Preparative in order to render all his Future Methods of Instruction more effectual to their Edification DVBLIN Printed by John Brocas in School-House-Lane for J. Millner Bookseller in Essex-street 1700. Price stitcht 1d .. The Earnest Exhortation of a Minister to his Parishioners to take Care of their Souls Most Dearly Beloved Neighbours MY Hearts desire and Prayer to God for you is that you may be saved and my most sincere Endeavours shall ever be by all Christian Meâ—â—ods I can think of to promote your Salvation And â—â—ing I cannot hope either by Doctrine or by Reproof 〈◊〉 by Instruction in Righteousness to prevail upon those 〈◊〉 comply with any Methods I can devise for the good 〈◊〉 their Souls who are not throughly sensible of the 〈◊〉 of them I think it requisite in order to make 〈◊〉 future Labours more effectual with you to lay â—â—fore you such Considerations as may make you sensiâ—â—e of the inestimable Value of your Immortal Souls 〈◊〉 I take it for granted that you believe you have â—ouls My business is to awaken you to a serious Conâ—â—â—n for their everlasting Welfare a Concern the â—ost necessary of all others and yet I fear very litâ—â—e laid to Heart for otherwise the generality of Men â—ould not possibly live as they do They would not â—â—ploy all their Care and Pains in providing a Mainâ—â—nance for these perishing Bodies and leave the most â—â—luable part of themselves their Souls altogether â—eglected Were we to die as the brute Beasts and â—â—at when our dead Bodies are laid in the Grave there â—ere an end of us if this determined all our Hopes â—â—d Fears and we returned to our native Dust therein â—o remain for ever then might we Eat and Drink â—â—d take our fill of Pleasure in this World as too maâ—y do But if the Soul when it leaves the Body does immediately enter into a state of Happiness or Misery if there be a Resurrection both of the Just and the Unjust as most certainly there is if a future Account must be given of every thing done in the Body Whether it be Good or whether it be Evil and if our Eternal State shall be appointed us either in Bliss or Torment according as we have behaved our selveâ— in this life as undoubtedly if shall methinks it behoves every one of us to look well about us to enquire seriously what we have been doing all thiâ— while whither the Path we are in leads us and whaâ— will our future State be In order to perswade you to apply your thought to these most important Considerations I know no Method which through God's Blessing seemeth morâ— likely than to lay before you the inestimable Valuâ— of your Souls the infinite Concern you have in theiâ— Welfare how liable they are to be lost and undonâ— for ever what excellent Provision our most Graciouâ— God hath made for their Security and how just iâ— will be in him to condemn them to the extremity oâ— Misery if you wilfully neglect the Care of them First therefore I intreat you to consider the greaâ— Worth and Value of the Soul Remember that it iâ— the immediate Off-spring of God that it came froâ— Heaven from the Father of Spirits God breathed intâ— Man the Breath of Life and Man became a livinâ— Soul Gen. 2. 7. God made Man in his own Image noâ— according to the likeness of any of the rest of the Creatures a little lower than the Angels and crowned hiâ— with Glory and Immortality This is our peculiar Prâ—vilege beyond all the Beings of this lower World that we resemble our Maker who is the most excelleâ—â— Being This is the Prerogative of that Spiritual anâ— Immortal part of us our Soul and consequently thâ— Soul of Man must needs be exceeding Precious anâ— Valuable Our Bodies are Houses of Clay whose Foundations are in the Dust and though as the Psalmist saith â—hey are curiously wrought and fashioned yet all the Workmanship bestowed on them is that they may be â—erviceable to our Souls fit Tabernacles for that Immortal part to dwell in The Worth whereof will â—urther appear from that wonderful Esteem those have â—f it who may be supposed to be best acquainted with â—â—e true Value of Souls Thus God the Father takes great Delight in being â—â—lled and esteemed a Lover of Souls and accordâ—â—gly hath laid out his Thoughts from everlasting for â—â—e bringing in of them to himself The Councils and â—ontrivances of Heaven have been spent on them The â—â—ther thought nothing too dear to secure and save â—â—em and therefore when he foresaw we would not â—ontinue in that state of Innocence and Happiness â—herein we were at first created he contrived to â—â—ke us capable of another Happiness and that at no 〈◊〉 Expence than the Bâ—ood of his own Beloved Son â—nd certainly God would not have thus concerned â—â—â—self about things of little value no assuredly our â—â—â—ls are exceeding Precious in his Eyes who hath â—oard the greatest Happiness for them and thought â—â—thing too much to secure it Again When the Son of God undertook to rescue â—â—em from the Slavery of Sin and Dominion of the Devil he thought it sufficiently worth his while to â—escend from Heaven and put on the Form of a Serâ—â—nt and make himself of no Reputation to live a â—iserable Life and die a painful and an accursed â—eath And surely he had not so mean an Esteem of 〈◊〉 own heavenly Glory Joh. 1. 18. as to part with â—â—â—or Trifles And then certainly neither can you think our Souls of little worth when the Son of God â—â—ought them worth his dying for He would not have thought sit to pay so vast a Ransom as his prâ—cious Life for a thing of small value yea Himseâ—â— hath assured us beyond all contradiction that thâ— Gain of the whole World is not sufficient Recoâ—pence for the Loss of ones Soul Again The Holy Ghost is still carrying on that greâ—â— Work of God's Mercy in the Salvation of our Soulâ— For their sakes it is that he hath made so many Revâ—lations of God's Will to the World and confirmâ— them by so many Miracles Therefore he still folloâ— us with his preventing and assisting Graces He iâ—spires us with good Thoughts and kindles pious Dâ—sires in us He warmeth our cold Affections and eâ—flameth our Hearts with Devotion He checks and râ—strains us from Sin and upbraids us when we 〈◊〉 it He still importuneth woeth and intreateth thaâ— if possible he may awaken us into a Sense of oâ— danger and excite and quicken us to pursue the Mâ—thods of our own Safety and Happiness What theâ— are not our Souls worth about which the Blessed Spâ—rit takes so much care to save and make them happy The Good Angels are Ministring Spirits for the goâ— of Souls they pitch their Tents about them and thiâ—â— it no Disparagement
for such glorious Beings as they are to guard them and converse with them Theâ— still wait to receive the Souls of good Men wheâ— they depart out of the Body They rejoyce at tâ—â— Conversation of Souls a certain Sign that they haâ—â— an entire Value for them Yea the Devils themselves do know that in God Esteem nothing is so valuable under the whole Heâ—ven as the Souls of Men and therefore as the greaâ—est Instance of Spight and Malice they can do to Goâ— they make it their utmost endeavour to seduce and dâ—stroy them They envy the Happiness Men are capâ—ble of and accordingly labour in their Destructioâ— and triumph when they have accomplished it Thus you see the Soul is of the greatest Value How â—uch then does it behove you to take Care of it What â—adness it to suffer theBody to engross all yourCare â—â—d Thoughts your Labour and Time and to perâ—it that precious and immortal part of you your Soul â—â— be overlooked as a thing not worth any serious noâ—â—ce or regard Especially if you will consider Secondly That the Loss of the Soul is the most intoleâ—able of all other Losses For indeed the Soul may be â—â—st not that it shall cease to be it were well for â—icked Men if it could but it may be undone â—nd miserable and in that sense lost to all Eternity Deprived it may be of that Heaven of Happiness â—hich God hath provided for it of the Enjoyment of â—im in whose Presence is fulness of Joy and at whose â—ight-hand there are Pleasures for evermore Nor is â—is all the Soul is not only capable of being deprived â—f infinite Bliss but of being plunged too in the extreâ—ity of Despair and Misery it is liable to be given oâ—er to the violence and fury of Devils and Devilish â—pirits to be committed to the hateful Society of â—hose miserable Beings where Wrath and Envy 〈◊〉 and Ill-nature only are to be found where no â—oy no Peace no Love ever enter The Misery of which dreadful State the Holy Spiâ—it hath represented by Expressions denoting the â—reatest Horror and Torment by a Lake of Fire and â—rimstone everlasting Flame a never-dying Worm unâ—uenchable Firc c. This is the dismal State the Souls and Bodies of the wicked will be condemned unto for ever wherein they must suffer Day and Night without rest or inâ—ermission O dreadful State with this Addition to the Extremity of Torments that they will never have an end Some Comfort it might be to those miserable Souls had they hopes of any Deliverance but it must needs exceedingly imbitter every Torment to them to think of that never-ending Duration of Torment to come that after they have been in a consuming condition for Millions of Millions of Ages in Hell they have still an eternal Hell behind and are as far distant from the end of their Miseries as they were when they first begun This must needs plunge the wretched Soul into extreme Desperation This State we are liable to be betrayed unto we are in great danger of it and how we came to be so is what I intreat you in the next Place to consider and to behave your selves accordingly Thirdly Consider the great danger your Souls are in by reason of Sin God created the first Man Adam without Sin and indued his Soul with the full knowledge of his Duty and with such a Strength that he might if he would perform all that was required of him Having thus created the first Man he made a Covenant or Agreement with him to this purpose that if he continued in obedience to God without committing Sin then first that strength of Soul which he then had should still be continued to him and secondly that he should never die but continue in a State of Happiness for ever But on the other side if he committed Sin and disobeyed God then both he and all his Children after him should lose that Knowledge and that perfect Strength which enabled him to do all that God required of him And secondly should be subject to Death and not only so but to Eternal Damnation in Hell This was the Agreement made with Adam and all Mankind in him which we usually call the first Covenant upon which God gave Adam a particular Commandment which was no more but this that he should not presume to eat of one only Tree of that Garden wherein he had placed him which God called The Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. But Adam by the persuasion of the Devil eats of that Tree disobeys God and so brings that first Curse upon himself and all his Posterity And so by that one Sin of his he lost both those together I say the full knowledge of his Duty and the power of performing it And we being born after his Image lost them likewise and so are become both ignorant in discerning what we ought to do and weak and unable to the doing of it having a backwardness to all good and an aptness and readiness to all Evil like a sick Stomach which loaths all wholesom Food and longs after such Trash as may nourish the Disease This is the Source and Original of all Misery The Consequence hereof is that we are now exposed to an infinite Number of Temptations from the World the Devil and our own corrupt Nature that we are ready and inclined to hearken to them and sin against our Maker and thereby are in continual danger of being betrayed to that miserable State before described And this I hope may be sufficient at present to assure you that your Souls are in Danger And yet that you may not neglect them as past hopes but may be encouraged to set your selves in good earnest totake care of them Consider Fourthly What an excellent provision it hath pleased God in his wonderful Mercy to make in order to rescue and deliver them from these dangers and what is required of us in compliance with this great Mercy This God hath done by giving us his Son and in him making a New Covenant with us after we had broken the first He has given us his Son as the great Captain of our Salvation to redeem and Rescue us from the Power and Dominion of the Devil or Satan that great Rebel against God from whom the Devil having caused us to Revolt he carries us captive at his Will causing us to fight against our Maker as many as he can detain in his Servitude But God I say has given us his Son to Rescue and Recover us out of such a fearful State of Sin Rebellion and Misery And this he has done by making in him a New Covenant with us after we had broken the First that is by proposing the most gracious Terms of Reconciliation through him our great Mediator and Redeemer And by making Satisfaction as for our Breach of the first Covenant so for the Sins of as many of us as truly repent of our Transgressions under the Second This
they must receive the good even of all that Christ hath done for them And now if you will but lay these things to Heart your Reason and your Interest will both direct you how to behave your selves Methinks I hear some of you as Men deeply affected with the sense of these things with a serious and compassionate regard to their Souls crying out with St. Peter's hearers Men and Brethren what must we do to be saved I would to God that every Man would make this application to himself and if they do not it is too certain a sign that either they believethat they have no immortal Souls or that it is impossible they should for ever miscarry Give me leave a little to reason the case with you my dear Neighbours to perswade you to take care of your Souls Are they made after the Image and Similitude of God Why then will ye suffer them to be transformed to the Image of Satan Has God provided a Heaven of Happiness for them Why will ye be so cruel and unjust to them as to expose them to the intolerable Flames of Hell Since God the Father hath rated them at the highest value and expressed his chief concern for them Why will ye neglect and undervalue them as things of no price since God the Son thought not his own Blood too great a price for them Why do ye chuse to sell them for the trifling Vanities of this World since the Holy Ghost is continually at work to preserve them Whence comes it to pass that ye hardly think them worthy the slenderest part of your care since the blessed Angels are imployed in ministring unto them Why do ye defeat all their endeavours for your good since they rejoyce at the Conversion of Souls Why will ye refuse to afford them this matter of rejoicing where the greatest advantage will be your own Wherefore do you seek to gratifie our common Adversary the Devil so far as to permit him to disappoint the gracious purposes of God towards us Oh that Men can be so senseless as to see their Souls perishing before their Eyes without Remorse or Compassion that they can pass day after day without making any offer or attempt to recover them Consider you have not only the sin of your first Parents to be forgiven you but also innumerable Actual sins of your own and those perhaps committed against the light of your own Consciences against the express command of God against the dictates of the Holy Spirit against frequent Warnings and Admonitions from others and contrary to many repeated Vows and Resolutions These are aggravations suffistill there is hope there is a remedy even for such Sinners if they repent and return from their Sins and become sincerely obedient to the Laws of God and accept the Lord Jesus as their King their Priest and their Prophet God will for his sake accept them Remember that 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. This was the ransom of Souls which God required and if you reject this he will accept no other and you do reject it and God so interprets it if you do not accept him upon his own terms if you do not give up your selves unto Christ to be guided and governed as well as saved by him otherwise you renounce all your part and interest in his Blood and do as it were declare you will not be beholding to him and then surely you cannot complain that God is unmerciful it he take the Forfeiture and condemn those who would not be saved by him The promises and Threatnings of the Gospel and all other the Methods which God hath used to reform and reclaim Sinners are all Instances of his great goodness to us of his zeal and concern for our Happiness and if we still continue to reject and set them atnought how just as well as severe will be our Condemnation Has he taken all imaginable care to oblige you to be king to yourselves and faithful to your truest interest and will ye still forsake your own Mercies If you thus wilfully seek your own ruin how righteous will it be in God to plague you to the utmost extremity Let me therefore beseech you even by all that is Sacred and Serious by every thing that is Dear and precious to you by your best hopes and the most important concern of your everlasting Being to take pity upon your poor Souls to consider the dangers whereto they are exposed to consult and comply with the means of their Preservation Learn I pray you to affect your Hearts with a serious sence of your danger to repent earnestly of your past sins sincerely resolve to be more Holy Watchful and Circumspect for the time to come pray earnestly for the Graces of God's Holy Spirit cherish in your Souls a lively Faith in the Mercies of God thro' Christ and in all respects as God shall enable you and you shall be hereafter from time to time instructed let your Prayers and your Endeavours be that you may be wise unto Salvation And that you may abound in all spiritual Wisdom and Understanding and may be accepted as faithful Servants of God and our Lord Jesus Christ in the great day of Accounts as it is the earnest Prayer so it shall be the constant endeavour of Your affectionate Servant in Christ Jesus FINIS