to him Vpon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost And I saw and bear Record that this was the Son of God Joh. 1. 33 34. where you may observe that though it was revealed to him only that he was the Person that should baptize with the Holy Ghost upon whom the Spirit descended yet he bare Record also that this Person was the Son of God rationally concluding that this visible Glory which was such an infallible Token of the special Presence of the Divinity was never to be communicated to any but the Son of God And it is very observable that at both these Times when our Saviour was arrayed in this glorious Splendor he is declared by a Voice from Heaven to be the Son of God it being the Father's Intention at once to manifest him to be his Son both by Word and Deed and at the same time when he declared him to be his Son to array him in such a Glory as became the Dignity of his Person 2dly The great and stupendous Miracles that he wrought were such as became his only begotten Son 'T is true it cannot be denied but several Miracles have been wrought by meer Men they being authorized by God and assisted by his Almighty Power but so many and so great as our Saviour wrought were never performed by any Mortal For as to the Number of them they were more than ever were wrought by Moses and all the Prophets together for besides those that are recorded which were all performed within the Space of four Years at most St. Iohn tells us that he wrought so many that the World could not contain the Records of them Ioh. 21. 25. which though it be an Hyperbolical Expression yet denotes thus much at least that the Number of them was so great that they were almost innumerable And as to the Greatness of them they did apparently exceed all that ever were wrought before in the World For he did not only raise the Dead but he raised himself also after he had been barbarously murdered by his Enemies He made the Winds and Sea obey him and with the Word of his Mouth vanquished the Devils and drave them from their Habitations and forc'd them against their Wills and their Interest to acknowledge him to be the Son of God And whereas the Miracles of Moses and the Prophets were most of them noxious they being Acts of Divine Vengeance upon the Wicked and Vngodly and consequently more apt to terrify than to oblige those that beheld them the Miracles of our Saviour were all of them Expressions of his unfeigned Love and Good-Will to the World For among all that vast Number of wondrous Works that he wrought there is not one to be found by which any Man was ever prejudiced unless it was his dismissing the Devils into the Swine of the Gadarens which without all doubt he did in Kindness and Good-will to the Owners who being so cruel to themselves as to prefer their Swine before their Saviour it was great Charity and Mercy to deprive them of that which was so apparent a Hindrance to their Enjoyment of a far greater Good So that all his wondrous Works were nothing but Acts of Kindness and Beneficence for he went about doing Good curing all that were possessed with the Devil and healing all manner of Diseases And whereas none of those that wrought Miracles before him could ever pretend to perform them by any immanent Power of their own but had only a transient Power given them for the present Miracle which they either obtained from God upon their Prayers and Supplications or was given by God for the Execution of his own Will and Command the blessed Iesus had this Power subjected and abiding in him so that he could exert it when and where and as often as he pleased and whether he were absent or present with the Word of his Mouth he could do what he would yea and many times he performed his wondrous Works without any Word or Sign intervening even by a silent Virtue proceeding from that miraculous Power with which he was endued and of all his Miracles there is only one which he performed upon Prayer and Supplication to his Father and that was his raising Lazarus from the Dead the Reason of which he himself gives Ioh. 11. 42. Because of the People which stand by that they may believe that thou hast sent me Intimating that he did not offer up this Prayer to his Father with design to obtain of him any new Power of working Miracles which he was already endued with in an abundant measure but that hereby I might signify to the People how acceptable I am to thee and let them see that I do all my Works in thy Name And that he had this Power is evident in that he did so plentifully communicate it to his Apostles and Followers which neither Moses nor the Prophets were ever able to do For thus Luke 10. 19. he expresly tells his Seventy Disciples Behold I give you power to tread on Serpents and Scorpions and so also when he dismissed his Twelve Apostles into Iudea Matth. 10. 8. he bids them Go heal the Sick cleanse the Lepers raise the Dead cast out Devils for freely ye have received saith he and therefore freely give From all which it is apparent how far the miraculous Works of our Saviour did exceed all those that ever were done before him and being so great and excellent so far transcending all that ever was done by any Mortal they plainly demonstrated him to be the Son of God and very well became the Dignity of his Person For how could he have done all these mighty Things by a Power immanent in himself had he not been the Son of an Omnipotent Father And in what more becoming Way could he have expressed that Omnipotent Power which he derived from his Father than in those astonishing Miracles of Love which he wrought in the World 3dly The excellent and divine Doctrine which he taught was such as became the only begotten Son For certainly if we consider the excellent Frame and Contrivance of the Christian Religion we cannot but confess it to be most Divine and Godlike most worthy of that infinite Wisdom and Goodness from whence it was derived For Religion in general is the means of advancing Rational Beings to that Perfection and Happiness for which the great Creator hath designed and intended them and certainly never was there any Religion in the World more adapted to advance this noble Design of God than that which our Saviour hath taught For as for its Agenda what it requires to be done they all consist in acting reasonably and according to the Dignity of our Nature in thinking speaking and practising in loving and hating desiring and delighting hoping and fearing as becomes Reasonable Beings placed in our Condition and Circumstances and do require nothing of us but
handling of which I shall do these two Things 1. Explain to you what this Glory of the Word was which the Apostle tells us they beheld 2. Shew you that it was the Glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father 1. What was that Glory of the Word which the Apostle tells us they beheld I answer in general By this Glory here must be understood something that is resemblant to the Glory of his dwelling in the Tabernacle because as I have already shewed you the Apostle seems plainly to refer to it in that he doth not only tell us that the Word tabernacled among us which alludes to his Tabernacling among the Iews but he also tells us that they saw his Glory which alludes to that Glory of the Lord which the Iews beheld in that ancient Tabernacle Since therefore the Apostle mentions this Glory of the Word Incarnate by way of Allusion to the Glory of his Divine Presence in the Tabernacle it must necessarily bear some Resemblance or Proportion to it because else it would be no proper Allusion The best Way therefore for us to discover what this Glory of Christ was which they beheld is to consider wherein the Glory of the Divine Presence in the Tabernacle did chiefly discover it self and that you shall find was in these four Things First In a bright and luminous Appearance Secondly In exerting of an extraordinary Power Thirdly In giving Laws and Oracles Fourthly In sensible Significations of its own immaculate Sanctity and Purity And in Proportion and Correspondence to these the Glory of the Word Incarnate also must consist in these four Things 1st In the visible Splendor and Brightness with which his Person was arrayed at his Baptism and more especially at his Transfiguration 2 dly In those great and stupendous Miracles that he wrought in the Course of his Ministry 3dly In the incomparable Purity and Goodness of his Life 4thly In the surpassing Excellency and Divinity of his Doctrine 1st That Glory of the Word which St. Iohn and the Apostles beheld consisted in that visible Splendor and Brightness with which his Person was arrayed at his Baptism and more especially at his Transfiguration in Resemblance to that visible Splendor and Brightness in which he appeared in the Mosaick Tabernacle where it is frequently said that the Glory of the Lord abode and appeared as you may see Exod. 24. 16. 40. 34. Which Glory it 's evident discovered its self in an extraordinary visible Splendor that shone forth from between the Cherubims and diffused it self thence all over that sacred Habitation And accordingly in Ezek. 43. 2. it is said that the Glory of the God of Israel came from the Way of the East and the Earth shone with his Glory which denotes that it was extraordinary bright and luminous since the Earth shone with the very Reflection of it And in this same glorious Splendor was Christ arrayed first at his Baptism and afterwards at his Transfiguration For at his Baptism it is said that the Heavens were open'd unto him and that he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him Matth. 3. 16. where by the Holy Ghost's descending like a Dove it is not necessary we should understand his descending in the Shape or Form of a Dove but that in some glorious Form or Appearance he descended in the same manner as a Dove descends and therefore St. Luke expresses it thus And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily Shape like a Dove upon him Luke 3. 22. that is he descended in some very glorious and visible Appearance in the same Manner as Doves are wont to descend when they come down from the Skies and pitch upon the Earth But what that Shape was in which he appeared is not here expressed but that which seems to be most probable is this that the Holy Ghost assuming a Body of Light or surrounded as it were with a Guard of Angels appearing in luminous Forms came down from above just as a Dove with his Wings spread forth is observed to do and lighted upon our Saviour's Head and the Reason why I think so is this both because where-ever any mention is made of God's or the Holy Ghost's appearing in an indefinite Form it is always in a Body of Light and visible Splendor of which I have given you sundry Instances and also because it seems to have been a very early Tradition in the Church that it was in a very glorious Appearance of Light that the Holy Ghost came down upon our Saviour And therefore in the Gospel of the Nazarens as Grotius observes it 's said that upon the Holy Ghost's Descent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immediately a great Light shone round about the Place and Iustin Martyr speaking of our Saviour's Baptism saith expresly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that there was a Fire lighted in the River Iordan that is the Water immediately after he was baptized in it seemed to be all on fire by the Reflection of that bright and flaming Appearance in which the Holy Ghost descended upon him so that while he wore this Crown of visible Light his Head as the Painters are wont to express it was circled round with the Rays of that Glory in which he was wont to appear from between the Cherubims And this Glory of his was questionless seen by many of the Apostles who were sundry of them Disciples to Iohn the Baptist and so many reasonably be supposed to be present at the Baptism of our Saviour And as for his Transfiguration upon Mount Tabor it is said that upon it his Face did shine as the Sun and that his Raiment was white as the Light or as St. Luke expresses it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is his Raiment was like the Whiteness of a Flash of Lightning Luke 9. 29. So that from Head to Foot he was all inrobed in a visible Glory and covered with all that Brightness and dazling Splendor in which he was wont to appear in the Tabernacle of Moses And accordingly you have mention made of a Cloud that over-shadowed the three Disciples whilst Iesus remained in his Transfiguration which is exactly agreeable with that Cloud that covered the Tabernacle of Moses whilst the Glory of the Lord filled it as you may see Exod. 40. 34. And that this glorious Transfiguration was a Part of that Glory of the Word which St. Iohn here says they beheld is evident because himself was one of the three Disciples that were Eye-Witnesses of this glorious Scene and it is expresly said of him and his Brethren that they saw his Glory and the two Men that stood with him Luke 9. 32. 2dly This Glory which they saw consisted in those great and stupendous Miracles that he wrought in the Course of his Ministry in Proportion to that extraordinary Power in which the Glory of the Divine Presence discovered it self in the Tabernacle of Moses For thus we find that it was from the Tabernacle
a Mind to stear and manage it it would be an equal Chance whether we did well or ill with it So that unless there were some Vnderstanding either within or without us to conduct our active Powers and determine them to our Good we were as good be altogether without them because while they act by Chance it is at least an equal Lay whether they will injure or advantage us Since therefore Vnderstanding is the Rule and Measure of all our other Powers it necessarily follows that it self is the greatest and noblest of them all What an excellent Being therefore must a Soul be in which this great and Sovereign Power resides a Power that can collect into it self such prodigious Numbers of simple Apprehensions and by comparing one with the other can connect them into true Propositions and upon each of these can run such long and curious Descants of Discourse till it hath drawn out all their Consequents into a Chain of wise and coherent Notions and sorted these into such various Systems of useful Arts and Sciences That can discern the Harmonious Contextures of Truths with Truths the secret Links and Junctures of coherent Notions trace up Effects to their Causes and sift the remotest Consequents to their natural Principles That 〈◊〉 Abroad its sharp-sighted Thoughts over the whole Extent of Beings and like the Sun with it s out-stretched Rays reach the remotest Objects That can in the Twinkling of an Eye expatiate through all the Vniverse and keep Correspondence with both Worlds can prick out the Paths of the Heavenly Bodies and measure the Circles of their Motion span the whole Surface of the Earth and dive into its Capacious Womb and there discover the numerous Offsprings with which it is continually teeming That can sail into the World of Spirits by the never-varying Compass of its Reason and discover those invisible Regions of Happiness and Misery which are altogether out of our sight whilest we stand upon this hither Shore In a word That can ascend from Cause to Cause to God who is the Cause of all and with its Eagle-Eyes can gaze upon that glorious Sun and dive into the infinite Abyss of his divine Perfections What an excellent Being therefore is that Soul that is endowed with such a vast Capacity of Vnderstanding and with its piercing Eye can reach such an immense Compass of Beings and travail through so vast an Horizon of Truth Doubtless if humane Souls had no other Capacity to value themselves by but only this this were enough to give them the Preheminence over all inferiour Beings and render them the most glorious Part of all this sublunary World 2. The Soul of Man is of vast Worth in Respect of its Capacity of Moral Perfection For by the Exercise of those humane Vertues which are proper to it in this state of Conjunction with the Body it is capable of raising it self to the Perfection of those Angelical Natures which of all Creatures do most nearly approach and resemble the great Creator and Fountain of all Perfection For by keeping a due Restraint upon its bodily Appetites and thereby gradually weaning it self from the Pleasures of the Body it may by degrees be educated and trained up to lead the Life and relish the Joys of naked and immortal Spirits it may be contempered to an incorporeal State so as to be able to enjoy it self without eating and drinking and live most happily upon the Fare of Angels upon Wisdom and Holiness and Love and Contemplation And then by governing its own Will and Affections by the Laws of Reason and Religion it may be degrees improve it self so far in all these Moral Endowments which are the proper Graces of every reasonable Nature as to be at last as perfectly wise and reasonable in its own Choices and Refusals in its Love and Hatred in its Desires and Delights as the Angels themselves are For though it cannot be expected that in this imperfect state a Soul should arrive to such a Pitch as this yet even now it may be growing up and aspiring to it which if it doth as I shall shew you by and by when this is expired it hath another Life to live which being antecedently prepared for by those spiritual Improvements it hath made here will furnish it with Opportunites of improing infinitely faster than here it did or possibly could For in that Life it shall not only be freed from those many Incumbrances which do here retard it in its spiritual Progress nor shall it only be associated with a World of pure and blessed Spirits whose holy Example and wise Converse will doubtless wonderfully edifie and improve it but be also admitted into a more intimate Acquaintance with God who is the Author and Pattern of all Perfection the sight of whose ravishing Beauty will inflame it with a most ardent Love to him and excite it to a most vigorous Imitation of him All which considered it is not to be imagined how much the state of Heaven will immediately improve those happy Souls that are prepared and disposed for it But then considering that Moral Perfection is as infinite as the Nature of God in which there is an Infinity of Holiness and Iustice and Goodness within this boundless Subject there will be Room enough for Souls to make farther and farther Improvements in even to Eternity And then when they shall still be growing on so fast and yet be still forever improving to what a transcendent Height of Glory and Perfection will they at last arrive For tho no finite Soul can ever arrive to an infinite Perfection yet still it may be growing on to it because there will still be possible Degrees of it beyond its present Attainments and when it is arrived to the farthest imaginable Degree yet still it will be capable of farther and so farther and farther to all Eternity And if so O blessed God of what a Capacious Nature hast thou made these Souls of ours which tho they will doubtless improve in Goodness as fast in the other Life as is possible for them with all the Advantages of a Heavenly State yet will never attain to an utmost Period but still be growing perfecter and perfecter forever 3. The Soul of Man is of vast Worth in Respect of its immense Capacities of Pleasure and Delight For its Capacity of Pleasure must necessarily be as large and extensive as its Capacity of Vnderstanding and of Moral Perfection because the proper Pleasure of a Soul results from its own Knowledge and Goodness from its farther Discoveries of Truth and farther Proficiency in inward Rectitude and Vertue and consequently as as it Improves farther and farther in Vnderstanding and in Moral Perfection it must still gather more and more Fuel to feed and encrease its own Joy and Pleasure For the Pleasure of every Being consists in the vigorous Exercise of its Faculties about convenient and agreable Objects but the Faculties of a Soul are Vnderstanding and Will to which
Malice and Obstinacy and its Conscience oppressed with Loads of Guilt sussicient to sink it to the nethermost Hell yet we seem for the Generality to be no more concerned at it than if its Ruin or Recovery were equally indifferent to us We can see it perishing before our Eyes without any Remorse or Compassion we can pass Day after Day without making the least Offer or Attempt to recover it without offering up a Prayer for it or entertaining a serious Thought what will become of it for ever O insensible Creatures that we are thus to neglect and abandon the most precious Part of our selves The Part that makes us Men and by which alone we are capable of being happy or miserable for ever Let me therefore beseech and conjure 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 Fate to take pity upon your perishing Souls to consider the amazing Dangers whereunto you have exposed them and to consult the Means of their Recovery to prick and affect your Hearts with the Sense and Consideration of their impending Ruin till you have forced them to cry out what shall we do to be saved to bath their Wounds with the Tears of Repentance and to pour into them that most sovereign Balm of a serious Purpose and Resolution of Amendment to pray earnestly for them and keep a continual Guard about them and to strive vigorously with those sinful Inclinations that threaten to sink and ruin them And if we will be but content to undergo these necessary Cares and Pains to secure them we shall be sure when they leave these Bodies to reap the Fruits of all in the Possession of an unspeakably happy and glorious Eternity II. I proceed now to the Second Proposition contained in these Words that our precious Souls may be lost And this our Saviour here plainly supposes If he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul The Greek Word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifies to receive a Mulct or to suffer Damage and therefore it is here opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if he shall gain So that the Word doth not denote the absolute Loss or Extinction of the Soul but its undergoing some dreadful Mulct or suffering some irreparable Damage For as Hierocles hath observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Immortal Substances cannot so die as to lose their Being but so as to lose their Well-being they may And accordingly our Saviour himself calls the Punishment of the Wicked in Hell Fire destroying them Mat. x. 28. Fear not them which kill the Body but fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell Where by destroying he doth not mean putting a final End to their Being but putting them into an irrecoverable State of Ill-being for in this State of Destruction they still continue to act to weep and wail and gnash their Teeth as Christ elsewhere tells us Mat. xiii 42. which Actions plainly suppose their Continuance in Being though in a most wretched and deplorable Ill-being So that by the Loss of the Soul here is not meant the Destruction of its Being but its being exposed to an irreparable Damage in the other World And to prove that in this Sense a Soul may be lost I shall endeavour these two Things First To shew you what Damages the Soul is liable to in the other World Secondly Upon what Accounts it is liable to and in Danger of them I. What Damages the Soul is liable to in the other World To which I answer that there is a seven-fold Damage whereunto the Soul of Man may be exposed hereafter 1st It is liable to be deprived of the highest Happiness it is capable of 2ly It is liable to the most dreadful Punishment and Correction of the Father of Spirits 3ly It is liable to the Fury and Violence of Devils and other malignant Spirits 4ly It is liable to be consmed to the most dismal and uncomfortable Abodes 5ly It is liable to the perpetual Vexations of its own cross wild and furious Passions 6ly It is liable to the intolerable Anguish of its own guilty Conscience 7ly It is liable to indure all these dismal Things for ever 1st The Soul of Man is liable to be deprived of the highest Happiness it is capable of The highest Happiness that a Soul is capable of is to enjoy God that is to know and love and resemble him and to be admitted into the noble Society of those pure and blessed Spirits that do thus enjoy him of all which Happiness a Soul may be for ever deprived by its own vicious and depraved Temper For besides that by such a Temper it may provoke the just and holy God who hath the Disposal of the fate of Souls to deprive it of and banish it from this Happiness for ever it may thereby also utterly incapacitate it self from ever enjoying it it may promote and raise that Temper to such a Degree of Aversation and Antipathy to God and â—anker it into such an inveterate Enmity to all the Perfections of his Nature as that at last it may be utterly incapable of any such beatifical Knowledg of them as can any ways incline it to love and imitate him For the Apostle tells us that the carnal Mind is enmity to God Rom. viii 7. From whence it is evident that in every Degree of Sin there is a Degree of Aversation to God which Aversation may be improved into such an implacable Malice against him as that our Knowledg of him instead of endearing him to us or ingaging us to imitate him may only avert us from provoke and irritate us against him and by presenting to us those immense Perfections for which he deserves our dearest Love and deepest Adoration may only fill our Minds with the greater Rage and more invincible Horror And when the Soul is arrived to such a Degree of Malignity against God it is as impossible for it to injoy him as to be recreated with Torment or delighted with the Objects of its own Antipathies And for the same Reason also it must be incapable of enjoying the Society of blessed Spirits because it hath acquired a Temper that is infinitely repugnant to their Heavenly Genius so that if such a prejudiced Soul should when it is arrived into Eternity find the Gates of Heaven open to receive it it would doubtless be so offended at every thing that is Heavenly so startled at the Sight of God and the Displays of his hated Perfections and seized with such a Horror against those god-like Beings that dwell there and are perpetually contemplating and adoring loving and imitating him that it would fly away of its own Accord from that blisful Habitation as Bats and Owls do from the Light of the Day and rather chuse to banish it self into eternal Darkness and Despair than be shut up for ever in a
Souls with such dreadful Imaginations as are far more sharp and exquisite than any bâ—dily Torment And if now they have such Power over us when God thinks fit to let them loose what will they have hereafter when these our wretched Spirits shall be wholly abandoned to their Mercy and they shall have a free Scope to exercise their Fury upon us and glut their hungry Malice with our Vexations and Torments It seems at least a mighty probable Notion that that horrid Agony of our Saviour in the Garden which caused him to shriek and grone and sweat as it were great Drops of Blood was only the Effect of those preter-natural Terrors which the Devils with whom he was then in Combat impressed upon his innocent Mind And if they had so much Power over his pure and mighty Soul that was so strongly guarded with the most perfect and unspotted Vertues what will they have over ours when God hath abandoned us to them and thrown us as Preys into their Mouths with what an hellish Rage will they fly upon our guilty and timorous Souls in which there is so much Tinder for their injected Sparks of Horror to take Fire on When therefore our guilty Spirits shall not only be liable to the Scourge of God but Devils and damned Ghosts too shall have their full Swing at them doubtless the Hell within them will be far more intollerable than any Hell of Fire and Brimstone without them 4ly The Soul of Man is also liable to be confined to the most dismal and uncomfortable Abodes What or where the Abode of wicked Spirits is till the Morn of the Resurrection is no where expressly determined in the Holy Scripture but since wheresoever they are they are doubtless under the Power and Dominion of the Devil who as the Scripture assures us is Prince of the Power of the Air it is highly probable that their present Residence is in these lower Regions of the World that either being chased by those infernal Powers under whose Tyranny they are they are continually hurrying about in these inferior Tracts of Air or which perhaps is more probable that they are imprisoned by those invisible Ministers of the divine Justice vvithin the dark Abysses and under-ground Vaults of the Earth and not permitted but upon special Occasions to come abroad into this upper Region of Light and Liberty But vvheresoever they are it is doubtless in some such horrid and dismal Prison as is fit only to receive such vile and desperate Malefactors and secure them till the great Assizes vvhen they shall be brough forth to receive their Tryal and final Judgment And then being united to their Bodies and thereby made liable to corporeal Torments the Scripture expresly affirms that they shall be shut up in everlasting Flames and be tormented for ever in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone for then the Lord himself shall come in Flames of Fire to render Vengance to all those that obeyed not his Gospel and having vvith those raging Flames set every Part of this lower World on Fire he vvill re-ascend vvith all his Train to the celestial Mansions and leave the Wicked vveltring for ever in this burning Vault belovv for it is plain that the everlasting Fire to vvhich he vvill then Sentence them is the Conflagration of the World vvhich after the Iust are raised and caught up into the Clouds above the Reach of its aspiring Flames shall break forth on every side and turn all this Atmosphere into a Furnace of inquenchable Fire and therein shall those wicked Miscreants that vvould not be reclaimed be condemned to live for ever For the Judgment being ended the Judg and all his Retinue shall return and leave them in the midst of a burning World surrounded vvith Smoak and Fire Darkness and Confusion and vvrapt in fierce and merciless Flames vvhich shall stick close to and pierce through and through their Bodies and for ever prey upon but never consume them And vvhat an intolerable Mulct this is I leave every Mans natural Sense to judg 5ly The Soul of Man is also liable to the perpetual Vexations of its own cross wild and furious Passions We have sufficient Experience in this Life how vexatious our cross and excessive Passions are for when our Passions are divided and contrary Objects have raised contrary Desires and Appetites in us how do they rend and distract our Souls and cause perpetual Mutinies and Tumults within us But by Reason of those many sensual Gratifications with which we now make a shift to stop the Mouths of those Daughters of the Horse-Leech when they cry out give give we cannot be so sensible of the Trouble and Vexation of them but unless we now subdue and mortifie them we shall be forced to carry them into Eternity along with us For by being separated from their Bodies the Souls of Men are never separated from their prevailing Tempers but in their separated State are for the main of the same Disposition as they were here and do retain the same Passions and Appetites 'T is true they cannot be supposed to retain their bodily Appetites after they have thrown off their Bodies but when they have wholly accustomed themselves in this Life to fleshly Pleasures and have never Experienced spiritual ones it is impossible but that in the other they should be tormented with an outragious Desire of being imbodied again that so being incapable of relishing any other they may repeat those fleshly Pleasures which heretofore they were accustomed to and act over the brutish Scene anew And this vehement Hankering of these carnalized Souls to return into their Bodily State is perhaps the only Sensuality that a seperate Soul is capable of but it is such a Sensuality as must necessarily render such Souls extreamly miserable for in that State it will be like the Hunger of a Starving Man that is Immured between two dead Walls that is it will be a fierce Desire without Hope of Satisfaction a corroding Hunger sharpened with Despair of Food than which there is nothing more intolerably grievous and tormenting For how will it vex the wretched Spirit to look back from the Shores of Eternity into this corporeal World and to ruminate thus with it self O miserable Creature that I am here am I cast away for ever upon a strange and desolate Shore where I must Famish for want of Food pine away a long Eternity and wander to and fro for ever tormented with restless Rage and hungry unsatisfied Desires where there is not one Pleasure that I can relish not an Object that I can taste any sweetness in Wo is me yonder are all my Ioys and Comforts all that is dear and precious to me O that I might go back again and be once more restored to the Injoyment of them but alas between me and them there runs an impassible Gulph that deprives me of all hope of returning For thus will the unhappy Soul torment it self with an outragious Longing for
their Land of Canaan and the spiritual Sense of all their general Promises of good Things to come They had all the Articles of Faith and all the Instances of Duty that were necessary to their Attainment of eternal Life exhibited to them in the Writings of their Prophets and the Types and Figures of their Law For it was by this Rule alone that all the holy Men of the Iewish Nation did live and believe and either this was sufficient to guide and direct them to eternal Life or they were left under a fatal Necessity of falling short of it It was the Law of the Lord that did enlighten their Eyes and rejoyce their Hearts and convert their Souls and it was in keeping it that they found great Reward Ps. 19. 7 8 11. And therefore either they fell short of the Reward of eternal Life notwithstanding this their Illumination and Conversion or they found it in keeping that Law by which they were illuminated and converted and if in keeping their Law they found eternal Life then it 's certain that in their Law they had it So that these Words of our Saviour for in them ye think ye have eternal life do not imply that they were mistaken in thinking so or at least they only imply that they were mistaken in thinking to obtain eternal Life by adhering to the prime and literal Sense of their Law without pursuing the Mystery and Spiritual Meaning of it which was indeed the Error of the Pharisees with whom our Saviour is here discoursing For the internal Sense and Mystery of their Law was the Gospel all whose Articles of Faith and Precepts of Duty were though darkly and obscurely expressed and represented in the Types and Figures of the Mosaick Institution And hence the Apostle tells us that both the Priests and their Oblations did serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Heb. 8. 5. So that the heavenly Things contained in the Gospel were the substantial Idea's which those Legal Types and Patterns contained and represented and the same Author calls that Law a shadow of good things to come Heb. 10. 1. that is it was an obscure Scheme or Prefiguration of the Mercies of the Gospel of which eternal Life is a principal Part. Since therefore the Law was nothing else but only the Gospel in dark and obscure Cyphers if in this we Christians have eternal Life in that the Iews had it also And therefore the Reason which our Saviour here urges to oblige the Iews to search the Scriptures of the Old Testament for in them ye think ye have eternal life doth at least equally oblige us Christians to search the Scriptures both of the Old and New For if they had just Reason to think they had eternal Life in the Old Testament and were thereupon obliged to search into it we have rather more Reason to think that we have eternal Life in the New since the New Testament is nothing else but only the Old decyphered and unriddled and therefore we must not only have eternal Life in this as they had in that but we must also have it far more expresly than they In the Prosecution of this Argument therefore I shall endeavour these Two Things I. To shew you that in the Holy Scriptures we have eternal Life II. That this is a very forcible Reason to oblige us to search them I. First that in the Holy Scriptures we have eternal Life that is that in them we have eternal Life proposed to us together with all that is necessary to be believed and practised by us in order to our obtaining it or in other words that the Holy Scripture is a sufficient Rule both of Faith and Manners to guide and direct 〈◊〉 to eternal Happiness And this is one Article of the Faith of the Church of England which we are required to explain to the People for so in her sixth Article our Church professes that the Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein or may be proved thence is not required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation Now to make the Scripture a sufficient Rule as to all Things necessary to Salvation there are two Things necessary First That it should be full and Secondly That it should be clear both which the Holy Scripture is in an eminent Degree as containing in it all that is necessary to be believed and done in order to eternal Life And this will evidently appear from these three following Propositions 1. That the Holy Spirit inspired the Writers of the Scripture with all that is necessary to eternal Life 2. That they preached to the World all those Necessaries with which the Holy Spirit inspired them 3. That all those necessary Truths which they preached are comprehended in those Sacred Writings of theirs of which the Holy Scripture consists 1. That the Holy Spirit inspired the Writers of the Scripture with all that is necessary to eternal Life For first our Saviour by whom they were originally instructed declares that as the Father loved him and shewed him all things that himself did Ioh. 5. 20. so he had made known to them all things that he had heard of his Father Ioh. 17. 8. And then when he went from them and ceased to instruct them in his own Person he promised that by his Spirit he would teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever he had said unto them Ioh. 14. 26. and that by the same Spirit he would guide them into all Truth Ioh. 16. 13. If therefore the Spirit did perform this Promise to them as there is no doubt but he did then we are sure that he did teach them over again whatsoever Christ had taught them before and if Christ had taught them whatsoever he had heard of his Father as he declares he had then it is certain either that he taught them all Things necessary to eternal Life or that he himself had not heard from his Father all Things that are necessary thereunto 2. That as they were taught by the Spirit all Things necessary to eternal Life so what they were taught they preached and delivered to the World For so our Saviour commanded them to go forth into all the World and teach all Nations to observe all those things which he had commanded them Matth. 28. 19 20. Which Injunction of his they strictly observed for so we are told that in Obedience to it they went forth and preached every where Mark 16. 20. And that their preaching extended to all Things necessary to Salvation is evident from their own Testimony For thus St. Paul tells the Ephesians that he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole Counsel of God Acts 20. 27. And to be sure in the whole Counsel of God all that is necessary to Salvation must be included And concerning that Gospel which he
so evil as its Evils and the one being his Heaven and the other his Hell all other Considerations are overcome by them and to obtain the one and avoid the other he must stick at nothing no not at renouncing his God and his Religion together with all his Hopes of a future Immortality 6. And lastly Living in any known Course of Sin provokes God to give us up to the Power of Delusion For so long as Men submit themselves to the Guidance and Direction of a good Conscience the Spirit of God who is a Spirit of Truth abides with them and not only directs their Wills but also informs their Understandings and enables them to discern the Beauty and Reality of those heavenly Truths which he hath revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures For though since he hath revealed already the whole Will of God to us concerning our eternal Salvation we have no Reason to expect that he will reveal new Truths to us yet seeing so far forth as it is necessary he hath promised and engaged that he will co-operate with us to enable us as well to understand the Will of God as to perform it we have the greatest Reason in the World to depend upon it that so long as we cherish his heavenly Inspirations by yielding to them our free and ready Compliance he will be so far an assâ—sting Genius to our Understandings as to suggest to us those Truths which he hath already revealed and set them before our Eyes in so fair a Light as that we shall not fail more clearly to discern and more distinctly to apprehend them than otherwise we should or could have done For when he writes his Truth upon our Minds it is with such a Victorious Sun-beam as will endure neither Cloud nor Shadow before it Whenever he speaks He speaks not to our Ears but to our Minds and represents Things nakedly and immediately to our Understandings He converses with our Spirits as Spirits do with Spirits without involving his Sense in articulate Sounds or material Representations but objects it to us in its own naked Light and characterizes it immediately on our Understandings And as he proposes the Divine Light to us so he also illuminates our Minds to discern and comprehend it He raises and exalts our Intellectual Powers and as a vital Form to the Light of our Reason invigorates and actuates it and thereby renders its Apprehension of Things more quick and piercing and sagacious Thus doth the Holy Spirit more or less assist us in the true Understanding of Divine Things as he finds us more or less compliant with his heavenly Pleasure and though he stands no more obliged to render our Minds infallible than our Wills impeccable yet so long as by our sincere Obedience to his holy Suggestions we keep our selves under his Conduct and Direction we may depend upon it he will either preserve us from all dangerous Errors or if for just Reasons he should permit us to fall into any such they shall not prove dangerous to us but either we shall be convinced of them while we live or obtain Pity and Pardon for them when we die But whilst we persist in any willful Course of Sin we do not only violate our own Conscience but also repel those good Motions of the Spirit of God whereby he strives to reduce and reclaim us in doing which we continually grieve him and if we do not forbear shall at length provoke him wholly to forsake and abandon us to give us up to our own Hearts Lusts as desperate Wretches with whom he hath hitherto strove and struggled in vain and of whose future Recovery there remains no farther Hope or Prospect And when He hath forsaken us our Mind will not only be left naked and destitute of all those Helps and Advantages for the understanding of Divine Truths which it receives from him but also be exposed to the Cheats and Fallacies of Evil Spirits whose Recreation it is to put Tricks upon our Minds to banter and play upon our easie Faith to cast Mists before our Eyes and therein to juggle away all true Religion from us and foist in the Room of it the most fulsom Errors and Mistakes For so the Apostle tells us of Antichrist the great Deceiver that he should come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved And that for that Cause viz. their not receiving the truth in the love of it God should send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye that is by abandoning them to the Power of cheating and deluding Spirits That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thess. 2. 10 11 12. And God grant that this at last prove not our Fate that because we have sinned against the clearest Light and gone astray in all Unrighteousness under the best and purest Religion in the World we are not at length given up by God to follow the wild Delusions of Antichrist and to believe all those fulsom Lyes and Impostures which he from Age to Age hath been imposing upon the World But whether it prove thus or no this I am sure of that by persisting in any vicious Course against the Light and Conviction of our Consciences we highly provoke Almighty God to withdraw his Grace from us and give us up to our own Hearts Lusts and when this is done our own Hearts Lusts will soon betray and give up our Faith to false and vicious Principles of Religion And now having shewn at large what strong and prevalent Tendencies there are in a wicked Life to Apostacy from true Religion I shall conclude this Argument with two or three Inferences 1. From hence I infer What a great Malignity there is in Mens being inconstant to and apostatizing from the true Religion in Compliance with their sinful Affections it being as you see the ill Daughter of a bad Mother a debauched and a dissolute Conscience and consequently partaking of all its natural Bane and Malignity even as all other bad Effects do of the malignant Nature of their bad Causes But the Truth of this will more fully appear by considering the particular Evils which Mens Inconstancy to and Proneness to revolt from the true Religion implies of which I shall give you these five Instances 1. The great Impiety of it 2. The desperate Folly of it 3. The foul Dishonesty of it 4. The shameful Cowardize of it 5. The vast Hazard and Insecurity of it 1. Consider the great Impiety of it He who can part with his Religion or any Principle of it upon any other Terms than a full Conviction of the Falshood of it is either a down-right Atheist who believing no Religion to be true governs himself by this Principle That the wisest Course is to profess none but that which is uppermost and most for his Interest or a prophane and impious