Com.6. Ófthefpiritual thxrthër ofthe Soul. Chap. 5. 415 and therefore if the blond of the Body cry to God for vengeance, it is certain that Gen. 4.10. the blond ofthe Soul will cry much louder. Now the life of the Soul may be faid to be taken away, t. In refped of the pre- fent, 2. Of the life to come. a. ifa man live not here with a contented minds ifhírfoal be not filledwithgood, Ecclef. 6.3. as the Preacher fpeaks, an untimely birth is better thanhe.; that is , he had as good never to have been born : now he that minifiers occafion to difcourage ( as the A- poflte ) or todifcontent another, and fo makes his life odious tohim, he offends againfl this Commandment. We fee in 7acob what grief can do : Simeon being Col. 3.2t. detained in Egypt, and Benjamin to be carried thither, if any mifchief fhould befall him, he tells his other fons, he fhould be but a dead man ; but affoon as Gen. 42.38. he heard of yofepbi welfare , it is faid that his Spirit revived , as we faid 45.27. before. This killing of the Spirit cometh three ways , in oppofition to thofe three things, wherein the life of the Soul confifts, ofwhich we fpake before, viz. a. Joy, 2. Peace, 3. Love. Againft the firft is, when men grieve others, as the Egypti- ans did the Ifraelites, when they brought them in amaritadinem Jpiritus, into bit- ternefi of fpirit. Againft the fecond, when they bring them as they did the Iftae- lites, in anxietatem fpiritus, into anguifh offoul, Co that they would not hearken Exod. r. 14. to Mores, when he brought a meffage to God ; when the heart is broken with for- row, the inward peace and harmony is difturbed : for beavinejs in the heart makes prov. 12.25. it 'loop, as Solomon obferved. Againft the third, when a man is brought to a hating and loathing ofhimfelf, and all other things, fo that he can take no joy in any thing, None of thefe muff be done to any Neighbour, but leali of all to the godly. It is a wicked thing to grieve the foul ofa righteous Lot, for by this means we bring him to the firft death, to ásnrPia, dulnefs and deadnefs of fpirit, whereby he is not fit 2 Pet a. e. to go about any thing that is good. This is done by provocation or irritation, ( as they provoked God in the Wildernefs,) and therefore all irritation muff be Pfalm 95. 8. avoided. 2. The Soul alfo may be murthered in refped of the life to come; efpecially by him, to whom the cure of it is committed: And this may be clone diversways ; as fometimes by him that hath the cure ; as, t. By caufing men to (tumble at the Law, Scandalizoftis in lege, faith the Mal. 2. 8: Prophet : or by teaching as Balaam did Balok, to cart a (tumbling-block' be- fore the Children of Iurael , which Chrift taxes in Come of the Church of Per-Rev. 2: 14. gamas. a. Indirealy, and by negligence innot doing his Duty. The Prophet faith of Ezek. 33.6. fuch, that if any perilh through his default, the Lord will require Lis blood at his hands. Profper upon thefe words faith, Hoc eft dicere, &c. that is to fay, if thou (halt not tell a manofhis faults,that he may beconverted and live, I will condemn thee into-everlafting-fire, that haft not rebukedhim, who by reafon of thy filenee hath finned. Saint Aaguftine faith, Omnie qui male vivit in confpeelu Comm quibus prxpojieus eft, 1, de pallore. quantum in ipfa eft, occidit, & forte qui imitatur, mariner, qui non imitatur, vivit; tarnen quantum ad ilium pertinent, ambo occident. He that liveth ill in the fight of thole over whom he is fet, as much as in him lies, kills them ; and perhaps he that £oolows his example, dies, and he that follows not, lives, yet in refpeû ofhis care, they both die. And therefore it is that Profper tells them, Sanfté de/let vi- de vet: con- vere propter exemplum, & docere propier adminifirationit fue officium , certus , quad tetapl. 1. t. nibil ei juftitia Jufragetur, de cujus manu anima pereuntia exigitur s a Minifter ought to live pioufly for examples-fake, and to teach fo in regard ofthe performance of his Duty, being allured, that Juftice will not favoùr him, from whole hands the foul of him that perifheth, is exalted. And Saint 7erome , Penfet ergo facerdos, qui rn.'ear; ad fatisfaciendurn diftrifis judicio de fits tantummodo anima fartaffe vi.0 jujfid i, ér quoi regendie Jubditis prxe(t reddende apedDeism rationia tempore, err , zit ita di- cam, tot folus animas babet : let the Prieft therefore confider and lay to heart , how he that perhaps can hardly tell how to fatisfieor anfwer for his own foul at he day ofJudgment,will be able to render account for fo many fouls, as are committed to his charge. 2. Though
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