On the Excellency of the Soul. 24f him : Oh let your thoughts run much upon your fouls, I am thus and thus 'in- regard of my outward ehate ; in re= Bard of my body, through Gods mercy I" have all my limbs and fenfes, and comfortable provifion for it : Oh but my foul, how is it with thee? bee often conferring with your fouls as you lo. ow one friend loves to confer with a- nother : Can you fay you love fuch a friend that is your next neighbour , and never fpend any time in conference together , fcarce ever fpeak one with another ? Certainly fo it is with the fouls of men , they think but little of the tearms that their fouls are in with God, of what conditi- ons their fouls are in, whether good or bad , and the day is yet to come wherein many a man hath fpent one half hour in conference with his foul , to know how tearms do Rand between his foul and the Almighty God : Oh love your fouls by thinking on them , and thinking often what should become of them. ì, And further , love them by making their Empereffes of your bodies, by keeping your bodies under them : Thofe that the Scripture fers out unto us which have had the mol precious fouls , they have ever more beat down their bodies , and ke- t them low : You know Paul that was one of the moll precu.us fpirited men that ever lived upon the face of the "ea°,-h , yet faith hee, I beat down my body, I beat it black,aaad blew lefp' after I have preached to others, I my felf become a Reprobate ; hee did not think his happi- nefs to confif in pampering his body , no, but hee beat it down, and therein hee (hewed his love to his foul, in that hee made his foul CO bee Emperefs as it were. It is the fpeech of a learned man upon thofe words, Subdue the earth, that is thy body, and all earthly things, to that fpiritual part of chine, thy foul. If one should tell you what the ancient Martyrs, and worthy Inlrumeors of God that were precious 'men in their time , how hardly they ufed their bodies it would hardly'bee beleeved by you; but this is certain, there was never any that knew the true worth of their fouls, but they made' them rh: Ein- H h pe :effes
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