510 THE UNLAWFULNESS OF SELF-MURDER. that he will take care to execute his own just vengeance upon a self-murderer in the invisible world, though he hath puthimself out of the reach of human vengeance. Or suppose after all I have not hit upon the exact sense of the image of God in this place, yet this is very certain, that let the image of God signify what it will, this image is as much in- jured by the murder of one's self, as by the murder of one's neighbour, and therefore the prohibition stands in the same force against both. III. Consider that our Saviour himself when he had a body prepared for him by the Father, and was sent into the world, seems to acknowledge that as he stood in the rank of men, he had not power or authority to lay down his own life, but by the commandment of God his Father. He speaks of it as a special and peculiar commission, that he had power to lay down his life as well as power to take it again, neither of which other mortals are invested with ; John x. l8. " I lay down my life of myself ; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again : This commandment have I received of my Father." The origi- nal word for power is tffamc, which signifies right or authority, which he derived from the peculiarity of his divine commission. Otherwise he had been obliged to have used all his native power and skill to have saved himself from the hands of his enemies. Now if our Saviour himself considered merely as man, and ab- stracted from his divine nature, had not a rightto dispose of his own life at pleasure, without divine commission, certainly no other man may claim this right. IV. Consider, that had this practice been lawful, all the pious persons from Adam to this day, who had been plunged into extreme distress and anguish of mind or body in this world, might have relieved themselves by this method ; all the martyrs and confessors of scripture who were stoned, who were sawn asunder, who were put into lions' dens, who were scourged and tortured, seem to be guilty of great folly, if they themselves might lawfully have put an end to their miseries by this shorter method : And the honours that the bible casts upon these men are vain honours, if they endured these terrible trials, when they might have escaped them all without guilt or transgression. Let it be noted also, that many good men of old have earn- estly wished to die, particularly Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, &c. but not one of them durst indulge a thought of procuring death to themselves, as being under the most certain impressions of the horrible and crying impiety of such a practice : The utmost ef- torts they made toward it was to pray God to release them, but they never dared to attempt their own release. V. Consider what sort of men they have been who are re- corded in scripture as self murderers. Ahithophel, a false trai-
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