268 The carelefs Merchant, or, vf. To take efpe- dal- cate of out fouls. Plato. Aug. The políibili- ty to lofe the foul. Mat. $4. . saefl. Aufm. Row the foul may be loft. VP. the Image ofGod ; he created it with his Word, redeemed it with his Son, and ira whomfoever his grace abides , he will crown it hereafter with his glorious pre- fence. What then remains, but that we efleemour fouls accordingly as God values them. Let us not with the unhallowedvolupttìous ht thefe times, make Lords of ourbodies, and flaves of our fouls. Let us not fpend our dayes in providing for the Tufts of the flefh. Let us not in affe&ation of fairpoffeffons, ofable fervants, ofhopeful Ions, and good friends, content our felves with bad fouls. A mans foul is himfelf, faith Plato. And Owretched Wight, faith Saint eluflin, how haft thou deferved fomuch ill of thy felf, as among all thy goods, to be only thy felfbad ? O remember the fublimityof thy precious foul : thou know eft not what a precious pearl thou haft in thy body, like the hidden treafitre in the Gofpcl, it is ofgreater worth than the whole field. I fay not as he did , know that thou haft a God in thee, yet know that in that better part of thy nature, thou art like to God : for he bath given thee a foul of his own breathing, and (tamped it with the imprefs of his own Image ; and created it capableofthe fruition ofhis own prefencein endlefs glory. In the confederationwhereof walk worthilyofthis preciousdivine infpi- ration. Thy Soul is a fpirit, let thy ,thoughts befpiritual. Thy foul is immortal, let thy meditations be of immortality, and renounce thy bodyand good name, and gifts of the world, for the gainingof thy foul ; for whatHall it proßir aman togain the whole world, and to lofe his own foul? So much (hall ferve to be fpoken of the firft point : the furpafiingexcellency and dignity of the foul, it is valued and pri- zed here above the whole world. Now, the next is the poffibility, that a man may lofe his own foul. The men- tion whereofcaufeth the to remember,that paflsgebetween Chrift and his Difciples, Mat. z4. TheDifciples point Chrift to theftatcly buildings of the Temple ; but they were loon damped, when Chrift told them, that after a while there fhould not a /lone, be left upon a /lone. So perhaps , you are taken with admiration at the former part of the difcourfe, concerning the excellency ofmans foul, but are damped, to confider that a man may late it. Iy is a fubflance immortal, inrefpett of the beingof it; but defiled with fin, it is adjudgeable to death in regard ofthe well-being ; and a poflibility fo todie, is nothingrepugnant to the immortalityof the foul. Thedamned fpirits they are alwayes dying, and are never dead; they are alwayes deprived of Gods comfortable pretence, and arc neverreleafed of their hc11t1h torments ; As the Apoftle faith in another cafe, as dying, andyet behold they live ; at living,. andyet behold they die. The foul expiring is the death of the body, and God forfaking is the death of the foul. But youwill fay, how is it poffible? The queftion is foonrefolved, if we ponder the caufes ofdeath. A thoufand mortal maladies there are to kill the body, and there are a thoufand deadlydifeafes to defiroy the foul. There is no fin fo finali, but in the rigourof Gods juftice, and in its own nature, it may damn the foul. When God inthe beginning ftated man inParadife, he gave him a fpecial caveat about the treeof knowledge, hegives him a command thus ; In the day thou eateff, thou /halt die. What, forbare eating? No, beloved, but for the fin, for tranf- grefrìng fo fsnall acommandment of fogreat a God. Sin alone makesa feparation between God and the foul, and caufeth the deathof the foul ; the!Out that gm, the famefhak die. It may teach us,thatfor the time that we live in this world,there is nothingeafer than to fin. There is a tree of Life, and a tree ofKnowledge, and by eatingof the tree forbidden cometh death: there is a way offelicity,and a way to deftrufkion ; there is a Godof falvation, and a ghoftly enemy, and by-adhering to the principality of fn, a man may lofe his own foul,. Is it pofíible then that a man may lofe his fourthat is foprecious? and have we not great reafon to try, and to fufpe& ourfelves, touchingour ftanding towards God ? Is there not amain neceffity to feek the meansto preferveus in the compafs, and Peals ofgrace ? It is lamentable to confider how inbodily difeafes men canopen their grief, and leek for help , and fend to fome learned Phyfician. We. cango to
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