261 / 1054
on
the excellency of
the
Soul,
261
foul,
but
thou
flattereft
thy
felf,
and
thinkeft thou
flxalt
do
well enough
;
but at length,
before thou
art
aware,
thy
foul may bee
loft,
and
that
unexpeedly
;
then
it
muff
needs bee
dreadful, becaufe
it
is fo
great
and unexpected
As
(for
example)
if
a
Merchant
Ihould hear
that
his
flock
at
the Indies
were there
fafe and
well,
and afterward upon an
inftant there
doth
come news
unexpectedly
that
all
is
loft
and
gone,
Oh
how
doth it damp him
!
and O
confider.
how
it will damp thee hereafter
,
though
now
thoù
doff:
flatter
thy
fell,
If
thy foul
fhould bee loft
eternally?
I
fay,
it
will
bee
a
dreadful
lofs
in
regard of the unexpe&ednefs
of
it.
A fifth aggravation
is
this ,
It
will
prove to bee
a
dread-
ful
lofs, becaufe
the
lofs
of every foul
that ¡hall bee
loft
,
will prove
to bee
a
wilful
lofs:
This,
is
a
great perplexity
to
a
man
in
this
world, when
as
hee doth
fee
bee
is
undone,
and
that
meerly
through
his
own
wilfulnefs; and
this
will
bee the aggravation
of
the
fouls
lofs, that
one day
it
¡hall
plainly
appear
unto
them, that
it
was
through their own
wilfulnefs.
Tee
will
net
come to
mee,
faith Chrift,
that,
you
might have
jo;,o
S.
life;
and
yee wîll
not
indure
to
hear
of
the
danger
yee
are
in,
of being loft
eternally
:
Oh
holy
wilful
muff
the
lofs
of
thofe
fouls
bee, that
will
not
give
ear
to
hear
of
the
dan>
ger
their
fouls
are in;
of
being thus
loft?
And
O
how
wil-
fully do
you
run on
,
in wicked courfes, which
Gòd
.hash
givencommand
unto the
contrary
in
his
Word,
and
how
do
you
wilfully
caft
ofd
the means
that
God bath appointed
for
your
falvation
?
But know,, yee
perish wilfully,
if
yee
wilfully
reje&
oc,neglea
to
improve
the
means
that
God
hath
given for the laving
ofyour fouls:
I
fay,
that
man
or
woman
that
¡hall
wilfully cafl
of}
thofe
truths
of God
that
fhould fave, them
,.
that
tan
'or,
woman
doth wilfully
perish.
Well,
but
you
will
`fay, you
do
not
fin
wilfully, but
you
are-,over
taken
with
fin.
To
which
I
anfwer
, that
the
fin
which
,a
man doth do,
which
outward .carnal motives
K
k
.3
would
49.