THE Souls Worth and Danger OR A DISCOURSE Exciting and directing to the Due Care of its Eternal Salvation UPON THE WORDS OF OUR BLESSED SAVIOUR S t Mat. 16. 26. What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul CAMBRIDGE Printed for the Author 1677. THE Souls Worth and Danger S t Mat. 16. 26. What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul OUr Saviour v. 24. tells the Apostle Peter and all other his faithful disciples that rather then deny him they must deny themselves for his sake and that so far as should be needful they must take up their Cross and follow him In all which they must not be hindred 1. with the loss of life for says he v. 25. the words before the Text Whosoever will save his life shall lose it c. nor 2. should they be hindred with the loss of reputation for says he v. 27. the words immediatly following the text The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father and reward every man according to his works and then there shall be a resurrection of their names as well as of their persons Nor 3. should the loss of the world hinder them for says he in the words of the text it self What is a man profited though he should gain the whole world and lose his own Soul The question is put so as to include a strong denyal What is a man profited That is he is not profited at all And again what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul that is there is nothing that he can give in exchange for it And therefore our Saviour is to be understood as if he had said They that will disobey me may 't is true be gainers in the world for a while but if they should be gainers of the whole world their gains would not be so great as their loss the incomparable invaluable irrecoverable loss of their precious Souls Job 27. 8. What is the hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained though he hath gained never so much when God taketh away his Soul For as it is Psal 49. 6 8 17. He that trusted and boasted in his wealth here when he dieth he shall carry nothing away his glory shall not descend after him Or if it might it would not buy his pardon or be a sufficient ransome to God For the redemption of the Soul is precious and therefore thus ceaseth for ever Whence we may observe as the subject of the following discourse That each ones Soul is to them more worth then the World Or that they will be exceeding great losers that lose their own Souls though it should be by the gaining of the whole World And this may be made out by considering first what it is to gain the World and the worhtlesness thereof though gained and next by shewing what it is to lose the Soul and the preciousness of that if lost First therefore as to the gaining of the world we are to remember that 1. By the world as S t John 1. 10. is sometimes meant the whole visible fabrick of the heavens we breath in and the earth we tread upon and thus the Text must be understood only by way of supposition for otherwise neither Ahasuerus nor Alexander nor any the greatest Conqueror ever gained so much as to become absolute Master of the whole earthly Globe 2. By the world may sometimes as S t John 15. 19. be meant the wicked of the world And so but too many think they have gained what they most desire if they may but enjoy the frequent Society of the most lewd and wicked people concerning whom says Saint Hieron Discamus Sanctam superbiam sciamus nos esse illis meliores As if he should have said Let us Christians learn an holy pride and as it may be without any Pharisee-like boasting let us know our selves too good for the Company of such infectious lepers of the world 3. By the world may here be Chiefly meant the things of the world worldly profits honours and pleasures As 1 John 2. 16. The lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eyes the pride of life And so with some to gain the world is by men-pleasing or time serving by flatteries or briberies to get honours and preferment in the world Not a few being willing to give away the world in this sense to gain it in another Again with others to gain the world is by immodest apparelling or inticing behaviour or by the frequent use of unseasonable and immoderate recreation or by luxurious and riotous living to get the sinful sensual pleasures of the world And further with the most to gain the world is to get the wealth and profits thereof by covetousness or by oppression extortion or by fraudulent unrighteous dealing or by abusing a lawful calling or using that which is unlawful so as to live much upon the sins of others in furthering their pride or idleness or prodigality or quarrelsomness or wanton lewdness or beastly drunkenness or the like In a word to gain the world in this sense is by any undue means to get whatsoever in the world the heart of carnal wretches can most desire and which is as a world to them Between whom and sincere Christians there is always this vast difference Good and faithful Christians seek the favour and fruition of God in Christ and their own Souls salvation as their main end and in order thereunto make religion their business and all worldly things even which may be innocently used with them come in but on the by so as if it shall seem good to God they can either have them or be without them Whereas to carnal people that lose their Souls in the pursuit of the world their main end is the pleasing of the flesh thereby some way or other which their sex age education constitution of body or condition of life most tempts and leads them to And with them Religion that comes in but on the by and if they need it not for a pretence they can most easily be without it Yet after all when such people have with the contempt of Gods service the wounding of their consciences and the abuse of their pretious Souls gotten the most they can of the world at the last they are forced by their own sad Experience to confess the vanity and worthlesness of it 'T is true these outward worldly things as they proceed from God and may lead to him as they may fit men for great offices and noble imployments as they may be used for our own and others wellfare and as they are a means to sustain us in this life while we are seeking after eternal life so they are the good blessings of God which we may labour after and ought to be
Son through the Spirit with nothing but a state of grace and salvation and the fruition of God All that worth which silver and gold and such worldly things have is not so much in their own nature as from our esteem or from some outward humane appointment but we can never thus make them equally excellent with our selves 'T is true by a wilful slavery to sin we may as the Prophet speaks Jerem. 6. 30. turn our selves into brasse and iron and reprobate silver we may unman and unchristian our selves we may undervalue and debase our Souls blotting out the image of God and writing upon them the superscription of earth and the world Thus indeed the Epicure may greatly delight in sensual pleasures and the ambitious mind in flattering titles and the frothy wit in abusive lightness Thus 't is true carnal and worldly things to carnal and worldly hearts may become but too sutable dear and precious But the desires of a gracious heart are after higher and better things For every faithful Christian considers that God hath made even our bodies upright and our faces lifted from the earth that we might conceive how far from it our heaven-born Spirits should be elevated towards himself and Christ and heavenly Glory which are therefore most excellent because most proportionable and sutable to our Souls in their utmost capacities 5. And lastly the worthlesness of the world appears by its unprofitableness As Samuel said to the people 1 Sam. 12. 20 21. Turn ye not aside from serving and following the Lord for then should ye go after vain things which cannot profit because they are vain Too many indeed are ready to think the profits of the world worth their gaining even by the loss of their consciences of heaven and God himself And as for those who make conscience of their waies and endevour to walk circumspectly closely and humbly with God who scrupulously forbear prophane rash oaths and idle discourse who are sensible of the least secret sin who avoid what they can all occasions and appearances of evil who withstand the corruptions of the times and places they live in though they gain less in the world these are often accounted such as know not what is best for themselves But S t Paul assures us that such Godliness with contentment is the truest gain whereas the world when you have spent all your thoughts and the labour of your lives upon it though it may further you in some lesser respects yet it cannot profit you in the main thing necessary It cannot procure us the favour of God who regardeth not the rich man more then the poor for they are all alike the work of his hands He accounts of all not according to their meanness or greatness but according to their real piety and goodness Prov. 19. 1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity then he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool Prov. 28. 6. Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness then he that is perverse in his ways though he be rich Observe They are the poor that walk in their integrity that know love and serve God not that kind of poor who are grossely ignorant and neglectful of God and who lead sensual sloathful and heathenish lives though they above others might be most easily convinced of the emptiness and unprofitableness of the world and so have greater care of their Souls salvation seeking out after God in Christ to supply their Spiritual necessities that it may be better with them in the life to come Again the world cannot ease the pain of an afflicted conscience nor can it give us the grace we want Ordinarily 't is so abused that it makes people not more thankful but more forgetful of God nor doth it as it ought draw their hearts nearer to God but sets them at a further distance from him nor doth it make them more humble but more haughty nor more constant and sincere in duties but more unfit for any good word or work Nor can the world profit us in the day of wrath When the sinful pleasures of youth are ended by sickness age or death what can be left but the worm of conscience bred out of them to torment the Soul for ever Have you not sometimes considered with your self how soon the world and its pleasures will turn you off How can you but now and then take notice of your own frailties which tell you how certainly and shortly you must lie down in the dust Do you not sometimes go to the house of mourning or stand by dying people confessing the world to be nothing worth and complaining of the losse of their time and strength spent upon it And do you not see how little it doth for them in their greatest need Oh therefore let this prevail with us to prize our Souls above the world let this with what hath been considered in the foregoing particulars make us set as light by it as it doth or will do by us Let us henceforth make Christ our treasure and count it our happiness to honour and worship him as we ought to do Let us make God our portion and sit down content with him alone and let them who can get no better take the world and the pleasures of it Having now seen what it is to gain the world and the worthlesness thereof though gained we are in the next place to consider what it is to lose the Soul and the preciousness of that if lost As to the losing of the Soul the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here rendred to lose signifies to have a mulct or punishment inflicted and so may import not only the fatal final losse or damnation of the Soul but also any losse or damage that belongs to it here or hereafter 1. Therefore to lose the Soul is to lose ones self A mans Soul is the principal part of himself and so it is in S t Luke ch 9. 25. What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself Soul and body too and be cast away 2. To lose the Soul implies a being deprived of all further opportunities and seasons of grace of all virtuous and gracious endowments which are as the life of the Soul When Christ calls by death or Judgement they that like the foolish virgins have not oyl in their lamps and their lamps trimmed that have not their Souls adorned with the saving graces of his Spirit they shall not enter with him Having waited so long already and all in vain he will now stay no longer till they go and buy for themselves but will shut the door of mercy against them for ever 3. The losing of the Soul implyes the losse of all such earthly enjoyments as sensual hearts love and prize above their Souls and for which they undoe themselves for ever Oh who can express the wretchedness of such people when they shall stand before the Judgment seat of God to
which are abstracted from bodily substances In adversity there may be solid joys in the mind as there may be real torments upon a mans spirit which the Primitive Christians and Martyrs being freed from made little reckoning of their outward sufferings but endured them as Sozomen says as if their bodies had been other folks and not their own In prosperity too there may be a power in mans Soul to curb the body in that which is most sutable and pleasing which a beast cannot do 1 Cor. 9. 27. I keep under my body and bring it into subjection St Mat. 18. 8 9. Prov. 23. 1 2. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler consider diligently what is before thee And put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite Again when the body faints with age or sickness the Soul may have strong desires after God and eternity And when the body returns to the dust the immortal spirit goes to him that gave it to be judged to weal or woe I desire says the Apostle to be dissolved and be with Christ Father says our Saviour into thy hands I commend my spirit S t Luke 23. 43. and 46. to the penitent thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise The body you see then though curiously wrought or imbroydered is but the cabinet of a more precious Soul which as was said is chiefly the man Oh therefore let us not live as if we were all of a piece and the body was the man as if that only was to be adorned pampered and provided for God having given us Souls capable of all those excellencies which he is pleased to impart to the best of his Creatures let us count them richly worth the care and labour of an holy Christian life Far be it from us to be willing of so much pains for the world and to call farless for the Soul too much ado Far be it from us to think our precious Souls no more worth then honour wealth or foolish mirth Oh far be it from us to count them so worthless as to be abused to the basest drudgery to be poysoned with sin and sensuality or to be ventured for a thing of nought But thus you have seen both what it is to gain the world and what to lose the Soul as also the worthlesness of the one though gained and the preciousness of the other if lost which if you compare and duely consider you will acknowledge as our Saviour here hath taught us That each ones Soul is of such worth and excellency that they must needs be exceeding great losers who lose their Souls though it could be by the gaining of the whole world As for the more full and particular improvement of this weighty truth which so nearly concerns every one of us you may take it in the following inferences Use 1. Is the Soul of any man or woman whatsoever more worth then a world Hence then O Christian learn to entertain right thoughts concerning the dignity of thy nature and let this 1. make thee hate to dishonour thy self by thinking speaking or doing any thing unworthy of a rational Soul much more of a Christian Let this make thee afraid to live and dye so vilely as at last with the wicked to wish thou hadst been made a toad or serpent or that thou hadst never been born 2. Rather let this consideration make thee careful to live holily to Gods glory and so to praise him for thy Soul made capable of so excellent a work as to love serve and honour him here and of so glorious a reward as to enjoy him hereafter 3. Let the same consideration move thee to praise God also for Christ the Lover of Souls who hath done and suffered so much for their eternal welfare and in him to praise the Lord especially for all other Soul mercies and advantages Though he should be pleased to keep thee short of other things say with a thankful heart as Eph. 1. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Gaius had a Sickly body but was happy in the prosperous state of his Soul Beloved says S t John Epistle 3. v. 2. I wish that thou mayst prosper and be in health even as thy Soul prospereth 4. Let this dignity of thy humane nature help thee to see the dignity of thy holy religion And remember though every thing else be mean about thee yet thy sincere religiousness relating to the precious Soul is no mean but an excellent thing which as Solomon says makes the righteous more excellent then his neighbour 5. Let this further make thee to carry they self alwaies humbly and courteously towards the meanest people thou canst meet with considering that though thou mayst differ from them in some outward respects yet they have Souls which in their own nature are as precious as thine own Use 2. Is the Soul more worth then a world and shall they be such exceeding great losers that lose their Souls though by the gaining of the whole world See then a great help Christians have to beat back Satans temptations when tempted to evil as Eve and our Saviour by any thing in the world Should a Chapman bid thee for any part of thy goods not so many pence as they are worth pounds wouldst thou not turn away with scorn from one that offered thee so much to thy loss Or if but for thy life thou couldst have an earthly crown or the whole world layd in thy hand wouldst thou not utterly refuse it knowing it could do thee no good at all when thy life was gone Wilt thou then exchange thy so precious Soul to its eternal undoing when offered for it but a morsel of base gain or a cup of stoln pleasure which will vanish in a moment Therefore 1. When about to lye dissemble curse or swear blasphemously if the next abuse of thy tongue would cost thee the certain loss of that unruly member would not self-love make thee refrain from such evil and wilt thou not do so much more for the love of God and to prevent the loss of thy precious Soul Take not his name who made thy mouth in vain It gets thee nothing and hath no excuse Lust and wine plead a pleasure avarice gain But the Cheap swearer through his open sluce Le ts his Soul runne for nought as little fearing Were I an Epicure I could bate swearing Again 2. when tempted to drink more then will do thee good if one should assure thee that the next needless cup was mixed with deadly poyson thou wouldest certainly refuse it counting thy life more precious then to be so vilely cast away shouldst thou not then much rather resolutely and constantly avoid such beastly drunkenness as manifestly endangers the life and happiness of thy far more precious Soul 3. So when tempted next to Ale-house gaming and stage-plays in
cursing the time that ever they came into thy family where they saw so much wickedness where there was no worshiping of God or means to come to the knowledge of him whereupon they went on securely in sin and are now swallowed up in the bottomless pit of destruction Or suppose any of thy children following thy steps in wickedness and contemning Gods word and worship as they saw thee do should now be sunk down to eternal misery there cursing the day that ever they were born of such a Parent or crying out against thee for neglecting them for suffering them to swear lye and do evil without severe rebukes for letting them prophane the Lords-day for neither instructing them thy self nor causing them to be instructed by others in the waies of God Were this so it might make the most flinty heart to ake and tremble Therefore that it may never be so with thee resolve duly to promote godliness in thy family however thou standest therein related Dwell with thy wife as a man of knowledge as heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindred 1 Pet. 3. 7. Labour that thy servants may know and serve God they will be to thee more faithful Bring up thy children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord they will be to thee more dutiful Pray with them and for them put them upon learning such verses of Scripture as will further their holy walking Encourage all under thy roof to observe better the Lords day Suffer them not to mis-spend so much of that precious time in such idle trifling and unlawful practices as too many do Thou hadst need chuse a right path that hast thy servants and children or others near thee following thee to heaven or hell Be therefore exact in thy actions that they may have the fairer copy to write after Weigh thy words considering that they will learn thy language Remember that Faith and Troth sound not so well as yea and nay our Saviour being Judge S t Mat. 5. 37. Be afraid to have the Devil so often in thy mouth lest others about thee have him both in their tongue and their heart too Repeat not others oaths nor speak irreverently of the great God and his Word Let no corrupt communication proceed out of thy lips but that which some ways tends to good In all thy religious performances be very serious and sincere that they may see thou art in good earnest about Soul-affairs and matters of eternity Oh be careful thus if it be possible by thy pious exhortations thy devout prayers and thy exemplary behaviour to bring the Souls of all under thee and near thee unto Christ And make that still thine which once was good Joshua's resolution and practice Josh 24. 15. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Use 5. Is each ones Soul of so great worth and the losse of it to them so dreadful and undoing as not to be recompenced with the gaining of the whole world See then further how exceeding careful we should every one of us be of our own Souls and how we may not always count them the happiest people who have all worldly things here for a while that heart can wish but those rather who are most careful of their precious Souls everlasting happiness in the world to come Now if thou wouldst understand whether thou thy self art herein rightly careful or no thou mayst know it by looking to the sincerity of thy conversion or thy due care of believing such truths exercising such graces and performing such duties as God requires of all regenerate Christians And which thou mayst find set down in the Directions Questions and Answers of the foregoing Book especially from page 84 to page 93. As also in the prayers thereof which teach us at once both what to ask and what to do and be in order to the Souls eternal welfare For having such prayers to use we may study our petitions before and so the sense of our minds may keep pace with our words and our affections go along with our sense Thus Gods Spirit assisting our devotion would beenlivened and our prayers become the rule of our conversation when we swarve from them they would make us blush into amendment But more particularly to know that thou art in good earnest desirous to save thy Soul 1. Being Christ the Physician of Souls works not a cure upon one every whit whole nor is prized by them that feel no need of him S t Mat. 9. 12 13. hast thou had an imbittering sense of the evil and danger of sin and an humbling sight of thy Souls lost condition by nature as fallen from God and inordinately set upon worldly vanities Hast thou seen that this is not a state to be rested in and therefore been solicitous after a better carefully in effect asking like them Acts 2. 37. what shall I do to be saved 2. Hast thou hereupon been heartily willing to receive Christ as offered in the Gospel for thy Lord as well as thy Jesus or Saviour And as thy Lord dost thou yield to the sanctifying work of his word and spirit and art thou so guided by his Laws as ordinarily to practice the most strict holy costly and self-denying duties which thou knowest him to require of thee And again as thy Jesus dost thou feel the power of his death killing sin in thee doth he by his bloodshed not only pardon thy sins but also save and deliver thee from them so that thou heartily strivest against all known sin and overcomest all grosse sins and when fallen under any prevailing temptation risest again by repentance begging forgiveness of God in his blood and resolving by his grace to watch and resist more carefully for the time to come Acts 16. 30 31. Ezek. 36. 25 26 27 Acts 3 26 Tit. 2. 11 12 14. 3. Art thou so sensible of what Christ thy Redeemer hath done and suffered for thee and of thy many engagements to him upon that account as to love him above all and constantly to cleave unto him in every condition And hath Christ so brought thee back again to God that thou takest him for thy portion and lovest him with all thy heart Soul and strength and chusest to live with him in his favour and glory without sinning or offending him any more rather then sinfully to enjoy the delights of the world and want the favour of God Eph. 6. 24. Phil. 3. 8. S t Mat. 22. 38. Psa 73. 25 26 27 28. 4. Moreover art thou so convinced of the Souls worth and the worlds vanity of the certainty and excellency of heavenly glory and the intollerableness of eternal misery of the goodness of the Divine precepts and the need of obeying them art thou I say so convinced of this as sincerely to set thy self to perform all those holy spiritual duties in heart and life which God hath absolutely commanded thee being sorry thou canst perform them no better
from brute beasts What is it but the Soul by which you are thinking reading or asking what a Soul is What is it but the Soul which is the fountain of precious life and therefore much more precious in it self Prov. 6. 26. The adulteress will hunt for the precious life The words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the precious Soul What is the Soul but the rational nature containing the sensitive and vegetative The Principle or first Act by which we move perceive understand and freely will And how do these acts speak the excellency of the Powers from whence they flow and how do those Powers shew the worth of the Soul it self 2. Consider its Excellency in relation to Christ our Redeemer What can more clearly demonstrate the preciousness of it then the greatness of that price which he payd for it Being willing to lay down his life to deliver the Soul from eternal misery 1 S t Pet. 1. 18 19. The Apostle says we are not redeemed with gold or silver or any such corruptible things but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ The more noble the person taken captive the larger is the summe required for his ransome Our Saviour in all likelihood would not have done what he did to keep the whole frame of heaven and earth from being dissolved but to save those precious immortal Souls from perishing which were capable of enjoying so much good from God and bringing so much glory to him he was ready to take our nature to suffer his Fathers wrath to live a painful life and dye an accursed death by all which we may read in most fair and large Characters the worth of the Soul 3. Consider its excellency in relation to the Holy Ghost our Sanctifier Oh how precious must that needs be which is cleansed quickned and beautified with precious faith as 't is called 2 Pet. 1. 1. And so we may say with precious hope and charity with precious wisdome meekness temperance patience Oh the Excellent supernatural operations of such a Soul The mind is busie to know God in Christ and to understand his will revealed in his word The memory thinks of him the conscience stands in awe of him the Will chooseth and embraceth him the heart trusts in him and is set upon him The affections are taken up in loving him rejoycing in him fearing to offend him desiring to please and enjoy him These are the truly noble and worthy imployments of the Soul as redeemed and sanctified and renewed after the image of God 4. Consider further its excellency with relation to the heavenly Angels For why should they attend us as ministring spirits if our Spirits were not of an excellent angelical nature and fit to minister unto God Nay 5. may not the faln accursed angels and Satan himself tell us the worth of a Soul by his being so much the enemy of its Salvation when he compasseth the earth Job 1. 7. and goeth about night and day to devour and deceive them 1 Pet. 5. 8. 6. Why should God if it were not for our precious immortal Souls give us the Scriptures and an excellent religion to shew us the way to happiness Or why should he in the Scriptures dignifie us with such honourable titles as to be called his Friends his Children to be called the spouse and the members of Christ 7. Why too should Ministers be appointed by him to preach and pray and labour for us if we had not such precious Souls to save or lose Hebr. 13. 17. Obey them that have the rule over you for they watch for your Souls Why should they preach in season and out of season and be so reviled and suffer so much to perform their work but that they know That he that winneth Souls is wise Prov. 11. 30. And that he which converteth a sinner from the errour of his ways shall save a Soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins 8. Moreover why should such store of other mercies be provided for us Why should a world of creatures whose corporeal substance seems as excellent as ours attend and serve us if we were but an ingenious sort of brutes and had not reasonable immortal Souls more worth then the world Other Creatures are made for man and man for God to glorifie him by them and for them And surely they have a right estimate of the Souls worth who measure by it the worth of all worldly things who reckon of their in-comes their friends estates preferments according as they help or hinder them in the service of God counting them more or less excellent as they are more or less subservient to his honour and their own or others Souls everlasting happiness 9. Consider the precious Soul in its tendency which is to an eternal enjoyment of God an infinite good and that as fully as humane nature is capable of and that in a state of absolute perfection Intellectus quaerit Deum The Soul reacheth after God and this speaks its excellency that he alone can satisfie it O Lord says S t Augustin thou hast made us for thy self and our heart is unquiet till it comes unto thy self Here O Christian thy weaknesses are thy grief and thy afflictions or meanness may render thee despicable in the eyes of the world but being sincerely converted thy Soul is in a tendency to that happiness where it shall be enlarged and perfected to partake the more of God Where it s best faculties shall be united to the best object in the best and fullest manner to eternal ages If sincerely converted to God thy Soul is in a tendency to that illustrious heavenly glory which is only sutable to it and which will render far more precious and illustrious both it and thy body too after the resurrection 10. Hence we adde one consideration more of the Souls excellency and that is in respect of the body here David speaking of the body Psa 139. 14 15. O Lord says he I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvellous are thy works and that my Soul knoweth right well My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought or imbroydered in the lowest parts of the earth Galen more atheistical before when he came to see the anatomy of mans body and considered the excellent frame thereof Now says he I adore the God of nature Yet we know the body is but the case or instrument of the Soul which so far exceeds it that in many things with God the willingness and pure intention of the mind is chiefly lookt at without which bodily exercise profiteth little Though a man give his body to be burnt if there be wanting the charity of the Soul it availeth nothing 1 Cor. 13. 3. Nay there are several actions of the Soul which are beyond that which concerns the body at all as the knowing of God and the life to come and many notions in mathematicks and other sciences
thankful for But as they are abstracted from God and inordinately loved sought and trusted in so they have this five-fold vanity which is but too easily discovered in them namely their unsatisfactoriness their commoness their deceitfulness their unsuitableness and unprofitableness 1. That which speaks the little worth but great vanity of worldly things is their unsatisfactoriness Ahab had the possession of a wealthy Kingdome and yet for want of Naboths vineyard only how was he heart-sick so as to take no content in all his other enjoyments 1 Kings 21. 4. In like manner to what a wonderful height of dignity and earthly happiness was Human advanced and yet how did so inconsiderable a thing as the want of poor Mordecaie's knee damp all the delights of his proud heart Esther 5. 11 12 13. Knock at the door of the Choicest earthly possessions and they will tell you one by one sufficiency is not in me The creature if parted from God is empty and the Soul too and what fulness can be had by adding one emptiness to another Many a poor man hath thought if I had but enough to supply such necessaries and discharge such debts how chearfully would I serve the Lord without distraction and not care so much for the world any more But when these desires have been granted they have found themselvs still unsatisfied being ready now to thirst as much after fulness as before after necessaries It is God only who is All-sufficient both as to his own happiness and our satisfaction Gen. 17. 1. It is Christ the uncreated Wisdome Prov. 8. 21. Who fills the treasures of those that love him and causeth them to inherit substance And if he do not make God ours as well as the creature our condition will be but like theirs mentioned Haggai 1. 6. Ye have sown much and bring in little Ye eat but ye have not enough Ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes Solomon that was so rich to compass all worldly accommodations and so wise to find out what was best in them to be enjoyed after a full experience tells us that if they lead not to God they will be but vanity and vexation of Spirit 2. How doth the Commonness of these worldly things abate the value of them Eccl. 9. 1 2. They come alike to all and none can certainly know by them either love or hatred whether they be the friends or enemies of God You cannot say God gives me poverty therefore he hates me or he gives me riches therefore he loves me such conclusions are weak and deceitful For the good may be afflicted as well as the bad and sometimes undergoe the heaviest burden of earthly trouble Luke 16. 15. And on the other hand the wicked may flourish for a while as well as the righteous and sometimes enjoy the greatest measure of worldly prosperity Psal 17. 13 14. Renewing grace is a certain sign of Gods favour and a special distinguishing mercy and therefore highly to be esteemed and earnestly sought after but outward comforts common natural gifts and acquired abilities as a fair estate an healthful body a faithful memory a quick understanding a ready utterance or the like these though blessings in themselves yet are but blessings of the left hand such as are given to the heathen Idolater as well as to the Christian Worshipper to the clean and unclean to him that sacrificeth and him that sacrificeth not And therefore this their commonness shews much of their vanity and worthlesness 3. How is there in worldly things a vanity of deceitfulness which also speaks them less valuable How many people come to the world as to a lottery looking for a prize but go away cheated with a blank How often doth the world by promising much and performing little first abuse our Judgements and then frustrate our hopes and expectations Have you not sometimes found creature-confidences like the trusting in the Staff of a brokenreed whereon if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it Isa 36. 6. Have you not sometimes enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season and flattered your self with the long continuance of them Whereas that season is gone and never returns again Can you not remember what happiness you may have promised your self in such a friend such a purchase such a preferment but some unexpected disappointment or other some Crosse or other hath much imbittered them unto you and lessened your comfort in their enjoyment The mutability of the world is the great deceit of it which that we may avoid let us duly consider what the Apostle hath written 1 Tim. 6. 6 7 8 9 10 17 18 19. And again 1 Cor. 7. 29 30 31. Oh let us not suffer our selves to be imposed upon counting that to continue long which he according to the experience of all tells us shall abide but a short while and then passe away Oh let us not think with them Isa 56. 12. what carnal delights we will have this day and to morrow much more abundant Oh let us not say with him S t Luke 12. 19 20. Soul take thine ease eat drink be merry thou hast much goods layd up for many years Least we be awakened with that terrible voice of God saying as unto him Thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Why should we inordinately set our hearts and affections on that which is not for as Prov. 23. 5. Riches honours pleasures make themselves wings and fly away When we think our selves most sure of them when we trust most in them when by the abuse of them we are become most proud stomackful secure and negligent of Gods service then are we most sadly deceived then the wing of prodigality of oppression of casualty sweeps them from us or else the wing of death carries us away from them in a moment But suppose the world to perform more then it promiseth and that we could be sure of it for a very considerable while yet have we not immortal Souls to provide for Have we not matters of life or death to look after And what can all the world be to this Oh therefore how nearly doth it concern us to lay up in store for our selves a sure foundation for the time to come to anchor our Souls upon Christ the rock of ages who will never deceive us and not to hazard them for any thing in this worthless because deceitful and changeable world 4. That which further shews the worthlesness of the things of the world is their vanity of unsutableness in respect of the precious Soul Those are corporeal and fading this is spiritual and immortal Those are limited and finite beings this a substance of unbounded desires and can be fully satisfied with nothing but communion with the Father and the
receive their just doom in the most forlorn and desolate condition stript and forsaken of all carnal comforts friends possessions and outward accommodations whatsoever which to the hazard of their Souls they have grasped at and used in a sinful way and therefore must now lose both the Soul and them too eternally 4. The losing of the Soul implyes the losing of Christ and Heaven and the blessed Vision of God for ever And this indeed is the loss of losses such as there was never the like before nor ever can be again after it The fore-mentioned might be born but hardly but this is intollerable This worst effect of sin Depart from me or go away from me is as terrible a word as everlasting fire For alass Whither shall they go that go from God when he alone hath the power of eternal life Ten thousand words cannot speak a Soul more unhappy then those two words without God Eph. 2. 12. Thou mayst be without riches without friends without health without liberty nay without all outward blessings and yet be blessed but if without God thou art cursed with a curse The hypocrites hell which is the hottest of all other is set out by this Job 13. 16. The hypocrite shall not come before God When God would most powerfully perswade to dutie this is his motive Jerem. 7. 27. Obey my voice and I will be your God When he would most effectually disswade from sin this is his argument Jerem. 6. 8. Be instructed O Jerusalem least my Soul depart from you And again Hos 9. 12. Wo unto them when I depart from them How sad a saying is that of Sauls 1 Sam. 18. 15. I am sore distressed for the Philistins are upon me and God is departed from me How mournfully doth Micah bemoan the loss even of his helpless idols Judges 18. 24. Ye have taken away my Gods and what have I more and what is this ye say unto me what aileth thee How sadly is holy David and our Blessed Saviour afflicted at Gods absence in part and for a while My God my God why hast thou forsaken me says the one Lord says the other Psal 88. 14 15. why castest thou off my Soul Why hidest thou thy face from me I am afflicted and ready to dye while I suffer thy terrours I am distracted Do these so complain of Gods absence in part and for a while how bitterly then will the lost Soul complain when forsaken of God utterly and eternally Some are ready to say to God as Job 21. 24. Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways They think him sometimes too near them in a Sermon in a private instruction in a motion of his Spirit or in a conviction of conscience and could wish him with his holy Laws farther off that they might sin more securely but let such beware least he take them at their word and give them their wish to their woe in banishing them everlastingly from his comfortable presence Oh with what tormenting grief will they then behold those Soul-ravishing delights which the righteous have in the presence of God the fountain of all good whilst they are sentenced to an eternal separation from him How sad and deformed a spectacle is the body from which the Soul is parted oh how sad then shall the condition of that Soul be from which God is parted for ever This though very grievous yet is not all for 5. and lastly the losing of the Soul implies further it s being brought to the highest degree of sin and consequently to such a fulness of sorrow and such a weight of Gods burning eternal wrath as no heart can conceive or tongue express They that would choose sin to save themselves from a little trouble or affliction will find that now what they feared and ten thousand times more is come upon them The wicked could now wish their Souls were so lost as to cease to be that they might cease to be tormented but God by his infinite power will both uphold them in their being and make them more sensible of pain then ever that they may be the subjects of greater punishment And now the Conscience of a lost Soul gnaws to think so many nights I went to bed prayerless so many times I swallowed down unlawful gain so many hours I spent in revelling foolish sporting or idle unprofitable talking so many opportunities of receiving good at the Lords-supper and other ordinances I have lost because I would not prepare for them nor so much as defile my foot or endure a little cold or trouble to be present at them Oh that I had been more diligent in the practice of religion and holiness oh that I had kept the Lords-day better and been more innocent in my walking all the week after though a less gainer in the world Oh that I had never known such or such a sin which I loved lived in plotted and contrived and by which I have now wrought my own eternal ruine Oh that I had spent but half my mis-spent time in praying and studying Gods Word in doing good and watching over my ways then had I been yonder in Heaven but now I must be for ever tormented in these flames Thou mayst now so under value thy Soul as to spend much more time upon thy beasts then upon it though Truth it self tells us in the Text that it is more worth then a world But that which is now despised in hell will be esteemed and the damned shall fully know the price of this Pearl whether they will or no. But it is far better to know and believe it now that we may be more careful of its preservation Consider therefore I beseech you in the next place the preciousness of the Soul in these several respects 1. As to God our maker for did not he at first make it in innocency after his own glorious image in knowledge righteousness and holiness Gen. 1. 26. Eph. 4. 14. Col. 3. 10. And ever since how is it the body of the Child only the frailer and viler part which is from the substance of the Parents as it was at first formed of the dust of the ground Gen. 2. 7. whereas the precious Soul which is of a Spiritual nature and shall never die hath its immediate being and original from God the Father of Spirits Heb. 12. 9. Infundendo creatur creando infunditur How is it God only from whom it is who can effectually command the Soul to subjection while the Magistrate can but force the outward man And God only who can punish it while man can but kill the body S t Mat. 10. 28. Still even under the state of corruption how is it the Candle of the Lord and the master-piece of his creation shewing the dignity of its nature by its various and noble operations He that by these knows not what the Soul is knows not what a man is For what is it but the Soul which thus distinguisheth us
hopes of a little sordid gain or pleasures mayst thou not remember how deeply thou makest thy own and others Souls guilty of abundance of sin vanity and prophaneness and then think how dear bought thy mirth would be if that nights laughter should as it may for any thing thou knowest end in weeping and gnashing of teeth As also how little gainer thou wilt be when thou hast staked and lost if not the maintenance of thy family yet thy time reputation and the credit of religion and therewith the favour of God the peace of thy conscience and the happiness of thy Soul 4. Moreover how powerfully should the same consideration perswade each one to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the spirit 1 Pet. 2. 11. As also 5. not to covet to be rich in a sinful way because they that do so fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6. 9 10. And again Jerem. 17. 11. As the Partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not so he that getteth riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool The next temptation that comes to draw thee like Esau Judas Ahab or Achan to gain some little trifle or to get some swinish pleasure Thy conscience may tell thee that if thou dost deliberately commit such a sin thou dost at the same time wilfully in a manner sell or pawn thy Soul which is of so great value or at the best dost for a small matter most sadly venture the loss of it For thou knowst that the sin is damning in its own nature and thou canst not tell but thou mayst dye with the guilt of it upon thy conscience being thou canst not tell whether God will give thee time or an heart to repent of it or no. Which of us should not be afraid to consent to any wilful sin if we verily thought we should dye presently upon the doing of it Should the Tempter offer us all the Kingdomes of the world as a reward of our iniquity surely we should see sufficient reason like our Saviour to refuse to fall down and worship him or any ways to yield unto him considering that by dying instantly upon the deed done we might lose a Soul as our Saviour tells us more precious then the world Or as in an ancient inscription upon a certain monument in this Land Who so him bethoft Inwardly and oft How hard it were to flit From bed unto the pit From pit into pain That nere shall cease again He would not do one sin All the world to win If therefore tempted to any of the fore-mentioned evils or any other think seriously with thy self would I now do this if I were to leave this world presently and my Soul call'd to an account as soon as it is done And then think further with thy self that thus it may be for ought thou knowest for thus in Gods just judgment it hath been with many a one Many like Belshazzar Elah or Amnon have dyed in the midst of their drunken Cups Dan. 5. 6. 1 Kings 16. 9 10. 2 Sam 13. 26. More like Corah and his company have been swept away in their rebellious courses either against Minister or Magistrate Others like Zimri or Cozbi have been smitten with death in the act of their uncleanness Not a few have begun frivolous and malicious law-suits and dyed in the prosecution of them In some peoples mouths a lye a curse or a rash oath have been their last words In other peoples lives a fraud or oppression have been their very last actions Christian Reader surely this should lay a constant restraint upon thee and make thee watchful against all vicious practices least thou be tempted so to sin against thy own Soul at any time that on the morrow it will be too late to repent thee of it least on any worldly account for a thing of nought thou hazard thy Soul more worth then a thousand worlds Oh resolve henceforth stedfastly with thy self however tempted to any destructive wickedness of life by Gods assistance to keep thy precious Soul safe and innocent whatever thou gettest or whatever thou losest in this worthless and perishing world Use 3. Is the Soul so precious and the loss of it so dreadful Let this then be further improved to make every faithful Christian watchful against errour in Judgment as well as against wickedness of life and conversation Heresies are reckoned by the Apostle among the works of the flesh Gal. 5. 19 20. And some are said to be damnable 2 Peter 2. 1 2 3. and 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved For this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness This Use much concerns thee if thou livest near or among Seducers who by their often gainsaying in private what thou hearest in publick by their interest and familiarity with thee by their seeming piety and sheeps-cloathing by their confident assertions and proud pharisaical boastings by their cunning reasonings their fair flattering words or their terrible threats would bear thee down from truth and unity But to keep safe thy Soul be intreated to these few things 1. Forget not how errour leads to schism and separation which is full of horrible impiety For is not schism or causless dividing from the congregations of Christian people a breach of peace and so a violation of the very Testament of our Lord St John 14. 27. As also of love and so a disowning the Chief badge whereby Christs disciples are known from the infidel world S t John 13. 35. Is not schism further a subdividing of the Church into factions and parties who expose and discover each others infirmities to the wicked and to the common adversary so that they are scandalized and entertain hard thoughts of religion and of God the Authour of it and are prejudiced against all the perswasions of the Gospel though designed for their own good Oh how heavy an account will such discredit of religion such dishonour of God such frustrating of Christs Gospel-designs and the miscarriage of such a multitude of Souls amount to Again is it not schism and division that lessens the Common strength by dispersing it into many smaller societies Did those who withdraw from us joyn with us and strengthen our hands as they may do and be never the lesse holy but the more we might hinder more evil and more convince the ungodly and do much more good But now separating from us and speaking all the evil they can against us and against what
custody would you not be the more sollicitous especially if you saw they were in continual danger and if further you knew that if any of them should be lost by your default you should certainly lose your life for it But now which is much more we are entrusted with many very many precious Souls each of them more worth then a world and they are we see in great and apparent danger to be ruined for ever by manifold errour and wickedness and by innumerable temptations of the flesh the devil and the world and we know moreover that if any of them perish through our neglect our own Souls may come to perish with them and for them as was said to him who had one to keep 1 Kings 20. 39 42. If thou let this man go or be missing thy life shall go for his life Have we not then need to be watchful to the uttermost of our power and to be carefull all the ways we can for their safety and preservation Consider well Acts 20. 17 18 19 20 21 26 27. Ye know after what manner I have been with you at all seasons serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shewed you and have taught you publickly and from house to house Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsell of God and Ezek. 3. 17 18 19 20. 21. as also Ezek. 33. 2 to 9. O son of man I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me When I say unto the wicked O wicked man thou shalt surely dye If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way that wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thine hand Nevertheless if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it if he do not turn from his way he shall die in his iniquity but thou hast delivered thy Soul If we be faithful as every honest man should be in his trust we may you see deliver our own Souls but if we be negligent watchmen there are these things among many others which will sadly aggravate our condemnation 1. When admitted to places of imployment we take upon us the cure of Souls for their edification and salvation 2. That we may attend this care the better we receive a benefit piously given to free us from all other cares 3. In order to this I mean the care of Souls for their edification and Salvation our Masters and Tutors instructed us and our parents devoted us to the service of Christ 4. To this too we devoted and gave up our selves professing or hoping that we were thereunto inwardly called and moved by the Holy Ghost 5. For this end we have also been outwardly called or set apart by the Church for the work of the Ministry 6. Moreover when ordained we did solemnly promise and engage this way to bend our studies and to use both publick and private monitions and exhortations as well to the sick as to the whole within our cures as need should require and occasion be given 7. And which we may adde in the last place we were then by the Bishop ordaning most gravely charged and exhorted in these words Brethren we exhort you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you have in remembrance in how high a dignity and to how weighty an office and charge ye are called That is to say to be messengers watchmen and stewards of the Lord to teach and to premonish to feed and to provide for the Lords family to seek for Christs sheep that are dispresed abroad and for his Children who are in the midst of this naughty world that they may be saved through Christ for ever Have alwaies therefore printed in your remembrance how great a treasure is committed to your charge For they are the sheep of Christ which he bought with his death and for whom he shed his blood The Church and Congregation whom you must serve is his Spouse and his Body And if it shall happen the same Church or any member thereof to take any hurt or hindrance by reason of your negligence ye know the greatness of the fault and also the horrible punishment that will ensue Wherefore consider with your selves the end of your Ministry towards the Children of God towards the spouse and body of Christ and see that you never cease your labour your care and diligence untill you have done all that lieth in you according to your bounden dutie to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your charge unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ that there be no place left among you either for errour in religion or viciousness of Life Now after all this If we do our utmost for the Souls health of them committed to our charge if we leave no good means thereof unattempted If we should labour for this night and day with tears as the Apostle says he did If we should never so often and earnestly beseech you to practice the fore going printed Directions put into your hands and what ever Christian duties our Saviour requires of us If we should follow you from the Church-house to your own houses if no better could be with the most passionate intreaties as for the life of our own Souls and yours who could justly think us too importunate who could reasonably count us too earnest or too busie who could justly blame us for making more a do then needs for all this would be but enough as to some and as to others it would be too little 2. Parents and Family-governours how carefully should they look to it lest any under them should perish by their negligence or wickedness Be assured Christ will erelong say to the as Eliab to David with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness what are become of those precious Souls of thy Children or Servants which I intrusted thee with Nor will it be enough for thee only to answer For my children I brought them up without the charge of the Parish I put them out to trades or I left them competent estates or portions And as for my servants I paid them their wages and gave them meat and drink according to my agreement with them For all this chiefly respects but the body and thy heart would be filled with horrour if the blood of their Souls should be required of thee Oh the cry of a lost Soul is a dreadful thing Suppose any of thy Servants should now be in hell
no more evenly and chearfully yet holding on with a settled resolution and a constant spirit to do thy best though with thy present losse of esteem or ease or worldly enjoyments or life it self Hebr. 11. 25 26. 1 John 5. 3. Psa 19. 11. Rom. 2. 6 7. S t Mat. 10. 37 38 39. If this be thy condition thou rightly prizest thy Soul above the world and providest for its welfare but if it be not oh how earnestly shouldst thou labour that it may speedily be so Delays are dangerous and thou hast too long dishonoured God and hazarded thy Soul already shouldst thou go on in presumption and security might not the Lord be provoked to cut thee off suddenly or give thee up to a spirit of slumber and stupidity Or leave thee to thy self to follow thy own hearts lusts Or cause thy day of grace to end before thy natural life Or may not the love of the world be deeplier rooted hereafter and the incumbrances of it hinder thee more as it hath done too many before thee As for some of the meaner sort which it may be do not so much as learn to read in their younger years or if they do soon forget it again without making up that want by their diligence other ways when they are grown to any bigness either they are set to trades or otherwise to work for a livelihood And when they come to be settled in the world and to have wife and children then they have no heart or leasure to mind the welfare of the Soul but think all their time labours thoughts and strength little enough to provide a bodily sustenance for themselves and families And if they live to be aged though we would take never so much pains to teach and guide them in the ways of Christ they some of them think themselves too old now to learn and are too deep rooted in their own secure and sensual ways to be drawn to forsake them without little lesse then a miracle And though they have all their lives the gracious opportunities of the whole Lords-day yet they spend the most of it in idle talk or sports or trifling worldly occasions and if they chance upon a faire day to come now and then to Church for an hour or two yet it is but in a customary manner without considering seriously what they hear or come thither for and so they spend their days in sorrow and vanity and passe out of the world before they know that great and good and blessed errand they were sent hither about And as for some others when they should resolve to forsake every wilful sin and unfeignedly devote themselves to the service of God and mind the one thing necessary how is some or other of those many unnecessary things which they trouble themselves about still ready to stand in their way Either they are eating or drinking sleeping or playing dressing or undressing or have some whither to go or some body to speak with or some bargain to drive or some work or company which they cannot leave Or they are casting in their heads how to disintangle their estates or raise their families or to avoid the Crosse-blows of their adversaries Or else they are under violent sickness that unfits them for action or some disappointment or quarrel or law-suit or some such trouble hath befallen them which puts their minds out of order or some worldly success and prosperity which puffs them up with a foolish flashy joy Or they have some brave things in expectation which they are musing on and pleasing themselves with before hand till they find themselves deceived when they feel that sting which they bring with them in their enjoyment How do such matters as these fill the heads and hearts of many from year to year in the morning they crowd first into their thoughts and when they are up they accordingly set about one or other of them or fall into some company which takes them up for that day and the like happens to morrow and the next day thus still the multiplicity of earthly cares prevail against the care of their Souls and the love of their sins and pleasures still prevailes against the love of God and for many superfluous things any time is thought convenient but none is found convenient for the one thing necessary till it come to be too late so that the fore-mentioned Soul-saving work must cease for ever Oh therefore let it I say be done speedily and withal sincerely and throughly or else the losse of the Soul may have these further aggravations to be wilful and shameful unexpected and unpitied incomparable and irrecoverable 1. It will be a wilful losse S t John 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life Ezek. 33. 11. Turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel It is a great vexation to a man in this world to see himself ruined meerly by his own wilfulness but if thou shouldst obstinatly destroy thy self to eternity suppose by thy wilful ignorance when thou mightest have been taught better or by any wicked courses when thou wast advised better oh what inexpressible anguish will seise upon thy perishing Soul for ever 2. It will be a shameful losse What can follow but confusion of face when thou shalt see thy neighbours and acquaintance most happy and thy self most miserable What a grievous shame will it be to hear some of those that lived near thee or with thee joyfully praising God and as it were pointing to thee and saying Loe this is the man or the woman that made not God their stay They had the same word the same means with us but they loved their sins more then their Souls or God and therefore while we are raised to everlasting life they are layd under shame and everlasting contempt 3. It will be an unpitied losse If thou losest a friend or liberty or livelihood 't is a comfort that thou mayst find those who will pity and condole with thee and be ready to supply thy necessities but if thou losest thy Soul in that sad condition thou wilt have none to help or pity thee Now the gracious God and merciful Redeemer of the world and all good Christians pity thee but thou pitiest not thy self nor wilt leave thy sins to save thy Soul shall not then the very mercies of God and bowels of Christ be hereafter most justly turned against thee and shall not the Saints and Angels be so far from pitying as rather with rejoycing to glorifie Gods Justice in thy utter destruction 4. It will be an unexpected losse How grievous to cry peace and then be overtaken with trouble and sudden destruction unawares Prov. 29. 1. How grievous to lose thy Soul when perhaps thou wert near the saving it or when thou groundlessly flatteredst thy self thinking thou shouldest do well enough what amazement seiseth on that mans spirit who being in a fair way of thriving hears
unexpected news that all he had is lost and gone 5. It will be an incomparable losse What will it profit a man though he gain the whole world and lose his own Soul It will be a great losse for a small matter the losse of that which is most precious for that which is most vile shouldst thou set thy Soul to sail not for a few pence or a lye or a base lust but for a kingdome or a world thou wouldest be such a loser as to be utterly undone by the bargain 6. It will be an irreparable and so an eternal losse If thou losest one eye thou hast another if thou losest one limb thou hast another If thou losest thy goods thou mayst recover them again or if thou losest thy life thou mayst be a gainer by it thou mayst find it again Mat. 16. 25. but if thou losest thy Soul thou hast not another and all is lost with it and nothing left to redeem it Thy Soul once lost is lost for ever and its ruine is most lamentable because irrecoverable If thou missest at death thou missest for ever and for ever there is no aftergame to be play'd but thou must suffer the vengeance of eternal fire If the great work for which thou wert born be not then done thou art undone to all eternity O eternity eternity they that here could never have enough of the world and sin in thee shall have wrath enough and pain enough After a thousand millions of years space their misery shall be never the nearer an end because it shall have none being easless endless remedyless What shall a man give in exchange for his Soul why there is nothing at all he can give in exchange for it the redemption of it is so precious that it ceaseth for ever Oh that the careless world did but believe and consider the word of God and in particular these words of our Saviour surely they would mind their Souls otherwise then now they do Therefore good Reader be intreated not only to suffer others who are or may be intrusted with the care of thy Soul to be very solicitous for the welfare thereof but be thou as careful too thy self resolving as he did who sayd volo servare animam meam I will O God by all means save my Soul Say with thy self and look up unto God for his grace and spirit to enable thee to say it sincerely O Lord I am sensible of the evil of my ways and of my lost condition without thee and therefore with a penitent Soul I flee unto thee trusting in thy mercy and the merits of thy dear Son Jesus Christ I believe him making satisfaction to thy Justice for the sins of the world to be the only Saviour thereof and thereupon with the full consent of my heart I accept him for my Lord-Redeemer to save me henceforth as well from the power as the guilt of my sins I am unfeignedly willing that henceforth he should rule in me and reign over me by his word and spirit I am O God willing to be saved through him in forbearing to my utmost all that evil which thou hast forbidden in using all those ordinances which thou hast instituted in performing all those duties which thou hast commanded and in doing to my utmost all that good which thou hast required And I further resolve by thy grace assisting so to love thee and believe in thee my God and Saviour as henceforth while breath is continued to serve please worship and glorifie thee all that I can and all the ways that I can If thou hast thus resolved heretofore yet do it again and do it often in the course of thy life it cannot set thee back at all in thy gracious estate it may and will much further and quicken thee in thy holy walking Such an earnest care of thy Souls welfare let it be thy principal care because among others it may have these deserved commendations to be holy and easy safe and successeful prudent and profitable 1. It is an holy care making them that have it desirous to be holy in all manner of conversation and godliness 2. 'T is a prudent care being most earnest for that which is most precious and best deserves it He in the parable might be justly commended for his wisdome who cared not so much what became of other things so he might obtain the pearle which was of great price and purchase the field which had a rich treasure hidden therein 3. 'T is a blessed and successeful care Many are at much care and pains for the world but all in vain but here Christ hath made such provision by the covenant of grace that if we sincerely believe in him and endeavour to be in will word and deed what he requires we shall without fail obtain the end of our faith even the salvation of our Souls 4. 'T is a safe and satisfactory care And if thy Soul be first set a right God-ward and heaven-ward if thou art first devoted unto Christ stedfastly purposing to observe his word and will in all things thou mayst in the next place mind that which concerns thy ingenuous education or the works of thy honest calling more seasonably piously and regularly and by far more safely then others can do For who can with such safety and comfort follow those studies or labours which concern the preservation of life or their natural welbeing as they who have first made sure as to the main stake that which concerns their everlasting well-being Others though in the strongest castle or highest dignity are not free from the danger of hell one minute of an hour But such as these God will keep as the apple of the eye and none can take them out of Christs hands S t John 10. 28 29. Deut. 33. 27. Zach. 2. 8. They may say upon good grounds our Souls are safe to eternity our salvation we shall not misse of and other things we shall have too as God seeth best for our spiritual good and his own glory Mat. 6. 33. 5. The care of the Soul is comparatively an easie care 'T is the ready way to provide also for our bodily welfare not only hereafter but for the most part here too Religious temperance is cheap and healthful Exod 23. 25. Ye shall serve the Lord your God and he shall blesse thy bread and thy water and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee We are sure that the body hath no annoyance which we can prevent and for that the most trades are followed with restless care and toyle but certainly the Soul being much more precious deserves the far greater diligence Yet be but at half that pains to do well which others are at who weary themselves in doing evil take but half that care for thy precious Soul which some do about the affairs of the body and thou mayst be most happy for ever 6. And lastly 't is a delightful and profitable care and
that as to whatever befalls the Christian either in this life or that to come If in this life God give prosperity this care of the Soul will make thee use all outward blessings soberly and temperatly This will make thee ready to honour God with them by works of piety and charity Prov. 3. 9. This will make thee endeavour to enjoy God in all such enjoyments and to tast in their sweetness the sweetness of his love in Christ Jesus And thus thy earthly comforts will prove doubly comfortable and thy gaining in the world become the greatest gain to the Soul Or if God send adversity this will make all thy troubles and calamities to work together for thy good He that lost all by shipwrack and then was more careful for his Soul and eternity sayd well I had been undone if I had not been undone The world by its hard using of Gods servants gets nothing nor do their Souls lose any thing If it turn our breath into sighs and groans we shall with the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 2. groan more earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven And after death the holy Soul cannot but be well Christ who hath redeemed it and prepared heaven for it and it for heaven will thither receive it unto himself where joyntly with the glorified body it shall be most happy for evermore Thus my beloved neighbours you have seen the Souls worth and danger and what care we should have of its eternal salvation to which end you have nothing urged but such solid and weighty truths and duties as are generally owned and manifestly tend to make us holy and happy And now though I be separated from all troublesome affairs that I may thus wholly attend the welfare and service of your Souls and though my eternal life lies out as indeed yours too I can do no more then what I have been endeavouring and am further according to this printed gift ready to do for you The things herein contained still abide to be read and considered by you as often as you please but if any be unwilling thereunto slighting and refusing whatever may thus profit them who can help it How many of those who saw the miracles and heard the sermons of our Blessed Saviour himself and his holy Apostles continued unconverted with what unwearied patience and diligence did the great Evangelical Prophet Isaiah preach above sixty years together to a rebellious and a gainsaying people Isa 65. 2. Rom. 10. 21. Their profitings for a long time did not answer his labours among them but he might comfort himself with a remarkable passage in his own prophecy Isa 49. 4 5. Then I said the words are meant chiefly of Christ sent to the Jews and complaining of them I have laboured in vain I have spent my strength for nought and in vain yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work or my reward with my God And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him Though Israel be not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength God will reward his faithful servants both according to what they have done and moreover according to what they truly desired and endeavoured to do If a few if but any one be really advantaged by what I am endeavouring I shall count my labour well bestowed as 't is said of the reverend and learned D r Hammond a passionate Lover of Souls that he used often to break out in these words with an extraordinary vehemence O what a glorious thing how rich a prize for the expence of a mans whole life were it to be the instrument of rescuing any one Soul But which I often and humbly pray if God shall bow the hearts of more making us all a willing people in the day of his power making us seriously mind our Souls salvation in the fore-mentioned ways of true Christian piety oh how greatly should we rejoyce in his goodness and in one anothers happiness O how blessed a thing would it be when the Lord our maker should thus have the Souls which he hath created and be glorified by them when Christ our Saviour should thus have the immortal spirits which he hath redeemed and be magnified in them when further his unworthy servant should come thus to have the fruit of his ministerial labours and you your selves to have the comfort and everlasting gain FINIS