Parts of the Text. The excellen- cy of mans foul. :4 Aug. I. By natures and that in re- (pea- Plato. t. Of the ori- ginal. Aug. Manichean. Heb, 12. p. ,..The Image. Plato. Ariflotle. . The carelefsMerchant, or, Butfecondly, what if the earthly mind of man dream ofa Meífias temporal, and that they muft be promoted to places ofeminency, and filled graciotu Lorda f the cafe istoo palpable : for if Chrift warn his Difciples,and tell them ofhis approach- ing deathatJerufalem, he (hall be Pure to meet with a check ; no fuch matter, it (hall not be fo to thee. Oh! here is a Orange metamorphife, a fudden alteration; before a Confeffor, and now a controller : there is no wifdome of the fpirit in this, and therefore no commendation for this, but becaufe he was fomewhat too for- ward, get theebehind me, for thou are an offence tome; behold the Angels defcend. And furely this carnal wifdom had been able to weigh themdown to the neither- moft hell, had not the wifdomof the wifeft curbed, and fubdued, and reftrained it. What, not fuller? Yes, Peter alto muff fuller; and all that will followChrifi, melt renounceall the inticements of the world, and mortifie all the corrupt exor. bitancies of the flefh,and refill allthe temptations ofthe Divel. For what ua man prOfitedifbegain the whole world,- and loft hitfold? Whi li words are áíiexaggeration of the woful eftate of a temporizingPro- fetlor, of a carnal Gofpeller, and theyreach to our confideration thefe fourgene- rals. Firft, the excellency, and worth of mans foul, which isof greatervalue than the whole world. Secondly, the poffibility ofthe lofs, a man may lofehis ownfonl. Thirdly, the compoflibility ofoutward profperity, he may lofe his foul ingain- a ing the whole :world., And then lady; the woful bargain in fuchan exchange, what it aman-profited? Of thefe in order. Firft of the furpaffing excellency, and dignity ofmans foul: it is valued and prized here above the whole world. It was the plaufible conceit ofcertain Phi- lofephers, that the world was a great man, and that manwas a littleworld: a little vvorld indeed, but as Saint Anflin tearms him, a great vvonder : for vvithin this little vvorld , there is a reafonable foul vvorth all the vvorld. To render an exaa definition ofthe foul, it requires thetongue ofan Angel, rather than ofaman : it paffes the comprehtnfronoftravellersto apprehend the nature of thefoul : for there three,God,Angels,and mans Soul,they areunknovvn to us; vve may fooner admire their excellency, than conceive their nature; and argue of their operations, than attain . their knovvledge ; of fuch fublimity is the foul of man, fo Angelical and Divine ; the excellency vvhereofis commended to as by three difiin& voyces, of Nature. Grace. Glory. For, firft in the order of Nature, it is the greatefl thing, faith Plato, that we may conceive in a narrow room : the,moft noble thing that all the frame of nature af- fords ; and that, In fefpe&oftheOriginal Image. Tas ref-pea of the Original, the foul ofman kath no begining here : there was novoyce direeted to the earth, or to the water, for the produ &ton ofAdams foul, but a ferious confultation of the facred Trinity , and a breathing into bis noflrais ¿ e breath of life. Saieh Saint Auflin, he created it by infufion, and infufed it by creation. And thePhilofoper well concludes, that the foul as it is not from with- out, it is onely divine. Therefore the Mauichees extolledit too high,when they deemed it a portion ofGodsfubftance : let not others abafe,and deprefs it toolow, ro think it is derived from Parents ; it comes not of their fubflance : it is enough for them to be the fathers ofthefle/h, qodaleneù the Father of/pit-au, as the Apofile makesthe antidtefis, [Feb. 12.9. Secondly, for the Image, the foul is moll like God, faith Plato ; faith Ariflotle, it is of the neared kin, of the greatcft confanguinity, as I may fay : and the Lord himfclf lignifies fomuch,Afrer our !mage let so make man.fhcn the foulofman isnot Ramped
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