to tbe E PH E S I A N S. 9 fortsofwoys as this. YoU: know, it was the firfl: original Curie, that whereby r.'>~ God exprelTed all the Curfe, In the day thort eatejl thereof thou jlu!t jin·ely dre !Le ~ De,lfb. And therefore here you fee, when Tmtl would exprefs himfelf to the uttermofl: (as for certain he fets himfelf to do) he faith, Yo1t are dead irz S;,, and Trejp),_ges. And rho other expreffions might in Come refpell: manifdl: and illufl:rate the Grace of God more, as to call a Man an Enemy to God, os the Apofl:le elfewhere cloth, which illuftratetth the Grace of God in refpell: of P,u·- don . which to be dead in Sins and Trefpaffes, or condemned to Death for Sin 'alfo cloth : yet to C1y, a Man is dead in them, that expreffeth more our Mifery, and our unexrricable condition, ond our unability ro _get out of it. The truth is my Brethren, Death, take 1t 111 a natural way, 1t rs the Sum of all Evil, f;r 'tis the deprivation of all good; fo take it in a fpiritual way, it is com– prehenfively all evil whatfoever. The utmoll Mrfery that can befall~ Man, as he is a natural Man, what rs It? It IS to dre. A bvmg Dog, fi11th Sotomo•, 1S better than a dead Lion. A Worm is better than a Man when He is dead, take him as he is a Man, if he !hould not rife again. Death ftrips him ofall Excellencies proper to a Man, makes him worfe than a Stock or Stone; for when he is dead he ftinketh, which a Stock or Stone doth not. Therefore the Apofl:!e, to fet forth our Spiritual Mifery, takes that expreffion rather than any other. And rho it is but a Similitude, yet know this for a general Truth, and a certain Rule, that all Similitudes taken from outward, bodily, or worldly things, and affumed up to Spiritual, the Spiritual are the realities, and the other are but the !hadows. Run over all the courfe of Spiritual things, that belong to that other World, and all outward things that they are compared unto, they are but the !hadows of them : As Chrift is Gid to be a Vine, but a tme Vine, the other is but a !hadow; fo this being a fpiritual Death, bodily Death, and all the evils thereof, they are but the !hadows of it. That look, as when we fay of Beer or Wine, that bath lofl: its Spirits, that it is dead; yet this is but a poor Death, in coinparifon offeeing a Man die, or a Prince: So to fay, a Man is dead, ([peaking of his Body) it is even tO C1y dead Drink, in comparifon of a dead Man, if you will compare it with this Death, the Death of his Soul in Sins and Trefpaffes. The Death of a Man is infinitely more than the Death of a Beaft, the Death of a King more than the Death ofother Men, (we !peak now in a natural way ) ; but the Death of the Soul of a Man in Sin, is infinitely more than the Death of the Body, by how much the more the Soul tranfcendeth the Body, and uur fpiritual condition tranfcendeth our natural Life, which it doth as fur as a Man (taken in himfelf, or take the Body fimply confidered, without relation at all to the Soul,) doth tranfeend a Beafl:. And fo now that is the reafon, why the Apofl:le Gngleth out . this expreffion of [Death J to exprefS our natural Condition by, rather than any other whatfoever. Now in the fecond place, to defcribe this Death, tho but in the general firfl:, and fo come to Particulars, which the Apofl:le intendeth. This Death of the Soul is not a Phyfieal Death. The Death of the Body is a phyGeal natnral Death, for when the Body dies, all the ACl:ions of Life that were once in .it ceafe; but all ACl:ions of Life of all forts of Life, do not ceafe in the Soul, when it is thm dead in Sin; for if fo, the Soul !hould lofe Under– /landing, Will, and Affell:ions, and all, which is impoffible it !hould for then it mull ceafc to be a Soul. It is not therefore a Phyfical Death that rh~ Armini– ans Objell:ions tend to ; fay they, A Man is not wholly dead, why? becaufe he underfl:andeth, and h~ willeth. It is true, it is not a phyfical Death, but it is a moral Death, that rs, m refpell: of the holy all:ings and w~JI-being of the Soul. That look as the Soul, whrle It IS m the ·Body, is the well-being of the Body, the Body bath allus excellencresfrom the Soul: fo there is anfwerably in the Soul of Man, ( accordmg to ~heoriginal conflitution of that firfl: making) a Soul of that Soul, and a L1fe fprmgmg from rt, there was the Spirit of God ; and there– fore they are Ia!d m the 19th Verfe ofthe Epiftle of Jrrde, to be withorrt the Spirit. There was the Image of God, there was the Life ofGod, it is the very expreffion the Apoftle ufeth, Ephef4- r8. It is the Summary of fpiritual Life. It is called the Life of God. Now what is it makes God live an happy Life? He liveth in Hunfelf: Such was the Life of the Soul; it was to live in that God that liveth in * B Himfdf,
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