The Greatness of the Soul, Sermon (2 of 3)
And herein will that state of the Damned be worse than it is now with the fallen Angels; for though the fallen Angels are now cast down to Hell, in Chains, and sure in themselves at last to partake of eternal judgment; yet at present hJob. 1. 7. ch. 2. 2.they are not so bound up as the lamned Sinners shall be: for not withstanding their Chains and their being the Prisoners of the horrible Hells: yet they have a kind of liberty granted them, and that liberty will last till the time appointed; to tempt, to plot, to contrive and invent their mischiefs against the Son of God and his. And though Satan knows that this at last will work for his future condemnation, yet at present he finds it some diversion to his trembling mind, and obtains through his being so busily imploying of himself against the Gospel and its professors, something to sport and refresh himself withal; yea, and doth procure to himself some small crumbs of minutes of forgetfulness of his own present misery, and of the Judgment that is yet to pass upon him; but this priviledge will then be denied to him that has lost himself, there will be no cause nor matter for diversion; there it will (as in the old World) rain day and night iRevel. 14. 10, 11.Fire and Brimstone from the Lord out of Heaven upon them; misery is fixed, the Worm will be always sucking at, and gnawing of, their Soul: Also as I have said afore, all the Powers, Sences and Passions of the Soul will throw their Darts inwards, yea, of God will be made to do it to the utter unspeakable and endless torment of him that has lost himself. Again,
3. All therefore that he that has lost himself can do, is to sit down by the Loss; Do I say he can do this? Oh! if that could be, it would be to such a Mercy; I must therefore here correct my self, kThey cannot sit down by the Loss.that th…y cannot do, for to sit down by the Loss, implies, a Patient enduring, but there will be no such grace as patience in Hell with him that has lost himself; here will also want a bottom for patience, to wit, the Providence of God for a Providence of God, though never so dismal, is a bottom for patience to the afflicted: but Men go not to Hell by Providence, but by Sin. Now Sin being the Cause other effects are wrought; for they that go to Hell, and that there miserably perish, shall never say it was God by his providence that brought me hither, and so shall not have that on which to lean and stay themselves.
They shall justifie God, and lay the sault upon themselves, concluding that it was sin with which their Souls did voluntarily work; yea, which their Souls did such in as sweet Milk, that is the Cause of this their torment. Now this will work a…ter another manner and will produce quite another thing than patience, or a Patient enduring of their torment; for their seeing that they are not only lost, but have lost themselves, and that against the ordinary means that of God was provided to prevent that loss; yea, when they shall see what a base thing Sin is, how that it is the very worst of things, and that which also makes all things had; and that for the sake of that they have lost themselves; this will make them …ret, and gnash and gnaw with anger themselves; this will set all the Passions of the S…ul save love (for that I think will be stark dead) all in a Rage, all in a self-tormenting Fire. You know there is nothing that will sooner put a Man into, and manage his rage against himself, than will a full Conviction in his Conscience, that by his own only folly, and that against caution, and councel and reason to the contrary, he h…th brought himself into extream distress and misery. But how much more will it make this fire burn, when he shall see all this is come upon him for a Toy for a Bauble, for a thing that is worse than nothing.
Why this is the case with him that has lost himself and therefore he cannot sit down by the Loss, cannot be at quiet under the Sense of his Loss. For sharply and wonderful piercingly, considering the Loss of himself, and the Cause thereof which is Sin, he salls to a tearing of himself in pieces with thoughts as hot as the Coals of Juniper, and to a gnashing upon himself for this; also the divine Wisdom and Justice of God helpeth on this self-tormenter in his self-…ormenting work, by holding the Justice of the Law against which he has offended, and the unreasonableness of such offence continually before his Face. For if to an inlightned Man who is in the door of hope, the sight of all past evil Practices will work in him vexation of Spirit to see what fools we were, lEccl. 1. 14.how can it but be to them that go to Hell a vexation, only to understand the Report, the Report that God did give them of Sin, of his Grace, of Hell, and of everlasting Damnation; mIsa. 28. 19.and yet that they should be such fools to go thither. But to pursue this head no further I will come now to the next thing.
2. As the Loss of the Soul nThe Loss of the Soul a double Loss.is in the Nature of the Loss, a Loss peculiar to it self. So the Loss of the Soul is a double Loss; it is, I say, a Loss that i… double, lost both by Man and God; Man has lost it, and by that Loss has lost himself, God has lost it, and by that Loss it is cast away. And to make this a little plainer unto you, I suppose it will be readily granted that Men do lose their Souls, but now how doth God lose it? The Soul is God's as well as Mans; oJer. 38. 16. Ezek. 18. 4.Mans because it is of themselves, God's because it is his Creature; God has made us this Soul, and hence it is that all Souls are his.
Now the Loss of the Soul doth not only stand in the Sin of Man, but in the Justice of God; hence he says, What is a Man advantaged, if he gains the whole World, and lose himself, pLuk. 9. 25.or be cast away. Now this last clause [or be cast away] is not spoken to shew what he that has lost his Soul has done (though a Man may also be said to cast away himself) but to shew what God will do to those that have lost themselves: what God will add to that Loss. God will not cast away a righteous Man, but God will cast away the qJob 8. 20. Mat. 13. 48.wicked, such a wicked one as by the Text is under our consideration. This then is that which God will add, and so make the sad state of them that lose themselves double. The Man for Sin has lost himself, and God by Justice will cast him away: according to that r1. Sam. 25. 29.of Abigail to David, The Soul of my Lord, said she, shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, and the Souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the midst of a Sling. So that here is God's hand as well as Man's; Man's by Sin, and God's by Justice. God shall cast them away; wherefore in the Text above-mentioned, he doth not say, or cast away himself, as meaning the act of the Man whose Soul is lost, but, or be cast away, supposing a second Person joyning with the Man himself in the making up of the greatness of the Loss of Soul: to wit, God himself, who will verily cast away that Man who has lost himself. God shall cast them away; that is, exclude them his favour or protection, and deliver them up to the due reward of their deed! he shall shut them out of his Heaven, and deliver them up to their Hell; he shall deny them a share in his Glory, and shall leave them to their own shame; he shall deny them a Portion in his Peace, and shall deliver them up to the Torments of the Devil and of their own guilty Consciences; he shall cast them out of his affection, pity and compassion, and shall leave them to the Flames that they by Sin have kindled, and to the Worm or biting Cockatrice that they themselves have hatched, nursed and nourished in their bosoms. And this will make their loss double, and so a Loss that is loss to the uttermost: a Loss above every Loss. A Man may cast away himself, and not be cast away of God; a Man may be cast away by others, and not be cast away of God; yea, what way soever a Man be cast away, if he be not cast away for Sin, he is safe, he is yet sound, and in a sure hand: But for a Man, so to lose himself as by that loss to provoke God to cast him away too, This is fearful.
The casting away then, mentioned in Luke, is a casting away by the Hand of God, by the revenging Hand of God, and it supposeth two things.
I. God's abhorrence of such a Soul.
II. God's just repaying of it for its wickedness by way of retaliation.
1. It supposeth God's abhorrence of the Soul: that which we abhor that we cast from us, and put out of our favour and respect with disdain, and a loathing thereof: So when God teacheth Israel to loath and abhor their Idols, he bids them sIsa. 30. 22. Mat. 13. 48. Mat. 25. 41.to cast away their very covering as a slinking and menstruous Cloth, and t… say unto it, get you hence. He shall gather the good into Vessels, and cast the bad away. Cast them out of my presence: Well but whither must they go? the Answer is into Hell, into utter darkness, into the Fire that is prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Wherefore to be cast away of God, it sheweth unto us God's abhorrence of such Souls, and how vile and loathsome such are in his divine eyes. And the Similitude of Abigail's sling mentioned before, doth yet further shew us the greatness of this abhorrence, Th… Souls of thine enemies, said she, God shall sling out as out of the middle of a Sling. When a Man casts a Stone away with a Sling, then he casteth it farthest from him. For with a Sling he can cast a Stone farther than by his hand; and he, saith the Text, shall cast them away as with a Sling. But that is not all neither, for it is not only said, That he shall sling away their Souls, but that he shall sling them away as out of the middle of a Sling. When a Stone is placed to be cast away, just in the middle of a Sling, then doth the Slinger cast it furthest of all. Now God is the Slinger, abhorrence is his Sling, the lost Soul is the Stone, and it is placed in the very middle of the Sling, and is from thence cast away: and therefore it is said again, That such shall go into utter outer darkness, that is, furthest off of all. This therefore shews us how God abhors that Man that for sin has lost himself: And well he may; for such an one has not only polluted and defiled himself with Sin (and that is the most offensive thing to God under Heaven) but he has abused the handy Work of God. The Soul, as I said before, is the Workmanship of God, yea, the top-piece that he hath made in all the visible World, also he made it for to be delighted with it, and to admit it into communion with himself: now for Man …hus to abuse God; for a Man to take his Soul, which …s God's, and prostrate it to Sin, to the World, to the Devil, and every beastly Lust, flat against the Command of God, and notwithstanding the Soul was also his; this is horrible, and calls aloud upon that God whose Soul this is, to abhor, and to shew by all means possible his abhorrence of such an one.
2. As this casting of them away, supposeth God's abhorrence of them: so it supposeth God's just repaying of them for their wickedness by way of retaliation.
God all the time of the exercise of his long suffering and forbearance towards them did call upon them, wait upon them, send after them by his Messengers, to turn them from their evil ways: but they tHos. 11. 2.despised at, they mocked, the Messengers of the Lord; also they shut their eyes, and would not see, they stopped their ears and would not understand, and uRev. 10. 21. Job 21. 14. 1…. Mal. 3. 14.did harden themselves against the beseeching of their God. Yea, all that day long he did stretch out his hand towards them, but they chose to be a rebellious and gainsaying People; yea they said unto God, Depart from us, and what's the Almighty that we should pray unto him?
And of all these things God takes notice, writes them down, and seals them up for the time to come, and will bring them out, and spread them before them, saying, I have called and you have refused, I have stretched out mine hand and no Man regarded, I have exercised patience and gentleness, and long suffering towards you, and in all that time you despised me, and cast me behind your back; and now the time, and the exercise of my patience, when I waited upon you, and suffered your manners, and did bear your contempts and scorns is at an end: wherefore I wi… now arise and come forth to the judgment that I have appointed.
But Lord, saith the sinner, we turn now.
But now, saith God, turning is out of season, the day of my patience is ended.
But Lord, says the Sinner, behold our cries.
But you did not, says God, behold nor regard m… cries.
But Lord, saith the Sinner, Let our beseeching fin… place in thy compassions.
But, saith God, I also beseeched, and I was not heard.
But Lord, says the Sinner, our sins lye hard upon us.
But I offered you pardon when time was, says God, and then you did utterly reject it.
But Lord, says the Sinner, let us therefore have i… now.
But now the Door is shut, saith God.
And what then? Why then by way of retaliation, God will serve them as they have served him, and so the wind-up of the whole will be this, They shall have like for like. Time was when they would have none of him, and now will God have none of them. Time was when they cast God behind their back, and now he will cast away their Soul. Time was when they would not heed his calls, and now he will not heed their cries. Time wZach. 11. 8.was when they abhorred him, and now his Soul also loatheth them. This is now by way of retaliation, like for like, scorn for scorn, repulse for repulse, contempt for contempt; according to that which is written, Therefore it came to pass, that as I cryed, xc. 7. 11, 12, 13.and they would not hear: so …hey cryed, and I would not hear, saith the Lord. And …hus I have also shewed you that the Loss of the Soul …s double, lost by Man, lost by God.
But Oh! who thinks of this? who, I say, that …ow makes light of God, of his word, his servants and ways, once dreams of such retaliation, though God to …arn them hath even in the day of his patience, threatned to do it in the day of his wrath: saying, …ecause I called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no Man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh like a Whirl-wind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early but they shall not find me. I will do unto them as they have done unto me, and what unrighteousness is in all this. But,
3. As the Loss of the Soul is a Loss peculiar to it self, and a Loss double; So in the third place, it is a Loss most fearful, because it is a Loss attended with the most heavy Curse of God. This is manifest both in the giving of the rule of Life, and also in, and at the time of execution for the breach of that Rule. It is manifest at the giving of the Rule, Cursed be he that zDeut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10.confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them; and all the People shall say, Amen: It is also manifest that it shall be so at the time of Execution; Depar… aMat. 25. 41.from me, ye Cursed, into everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. What this Curse is, none do know so well as God that giveth it, and as the fallen Angels, and the Spirits of damned Men that are now shut up in the Prison of Hell and bear it. But certainly it is the chief and highest of all kind o… curses: To be cursed in the Basket, and in the stor… in the Womb, and in the Barn, in my Cattle, and i… my Body, are but Flea-bitings to this, though the… are also unsupportable in themselves; only in gene…ral, it may be described thus: But to touch upo… this Curse, it lyeth in a deprivation of all good; an… in a being swallowed up of all the most fearful miserie… that an holy, and just, and eternal God can righteously inflict, or lay upon the Soul of a sinful Ma… Now let reason here come in and exercise it self in the most exquisite manner: Yea, let him now count up all, and all manner of curses and torments that … reasonable and an immortal Soul is, or can be made capable of, and able to suffer under, and when he ha… done, he shall come infinitely short of this great A… thema, this master curse which God has reserved amo…gst his Treasuries, and intends to bring out in that day of battle and war, which he purposeth to make upon damned Souls in that day. And this Go… will do, partly as a retaliation as the former, and partly by way of Revenge. 1. By way of Retaliation: As he loved cursing, so let it come-unto him; a… he delighted not in blessing; so let it be far from him. Again, As he cloathed himself with cursing bPsal. 109. 17, 18, 19, 20.like as with a Garment; so let it come into his Bowels like Water, and like Oyl into his Bones; let it be unto him as … Garment which covereth him, and for a Girdle wherewith he is girded continually; Let this, saith Christ, be the reward of mine Adversaries from the Lord, &c. 2. As this Curse comes by way of Retaliation, so it cometh by way of Revenge. God will right the wrongs that Sinners have done him, will repay vengeance for the despite and reproach wherewith they have affronted him, and will revenge the quarrel of his Covenant. And the beginning of revenges are terrible, what cDeut. 33. 41, 42.then will the whole execution be, when he shall come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ? And therefore this Curse is exeecuted in wrath, in jealousie, in anger, in fury; yea, the d2 Thes. 1. 7, 8, 9.Heavens and the Earth shall be burned up with the fire of that jealousie in which the great God will come, when he cometh to curse the Souls of Sinners, and when he cometh to defie the ungodly.
It is little thought of, but the manner of the coming of God to judge the World, declares what the Souls of impenitent Sinners must look for then. It is common among Men, when we see the Form of a Man's countenance changed, when we see Fire sparkle out of his Eyes, when we read rage and fury in every cast of his Face, even eSee Dan. 3. 19, 23.before he says ought, or doth ought either, to conclude that some fearful thing is now to be done. Why, it is said of Christ when he cometh to judgment, that the Heavens and the Earth fly away (as not being able to endure his looks) that his Angels are clad in fRev. 20. 11, 12. 2 Pet. 3. 7. 2 Thes. 1. 8, 9.flaming fire, and that the Elements melt with fervent heat, and all this is that the Perdition of ungodly Men might be compleated, from the presence of the Lord, in the heat of his anger, from the glory of his power. Therefore God will now be revenged, and so ease himself of his Enemies, when he gPs. 68. 21.shall cause Curses like Milstones to fall as thick as Hail on the hairy Scalp of of such a one as goeth on still in his Trespasses. But 4. As the Loss of the Soul is a Loss peculiar to it self, a Loss double, and a Loss most fearful; so it is a Loss everlasting. The Soul that is lost, is never to be found again, never to be recovered again, never to be redeemed again. It's banishment from God, is everlasting, the fire in which it burns, and by which it must be tormented is a Fire that is ever, everlasting Fire, everlasting burnings, the Adder, the Snake, the Stinging-worm, dyeth not, nor is the Fire quenched; and this is a fearful thing. A man may endure to touch the Fire with a short touch and away, but to dwell with everlasting burnings, that is fearful. Oh, then what is dwelling with them, and in them for ever and ever… We use to say, light burdens far carried are heavy, what then will it be to bear that burden, that guilt, that the Law, and the justice and wrath of God will lay upon the lost Soul for ever? Now tell the Stars, now tell the drops of the Sea, and now tell the blades of Grass that are spread upon the Face of all the Earth if thou canst, and yet sooner may'st thou do this than count the thousands of millions of thousands of years that a damned Soul shall lye in Hell. Suppose every Star that is now in the Firmament was to burn (by himself one by one) a thousand years apiece; would it not be a long while before the last of them was burned out? and yet sooner might that be done, than the damned Soul be at the end of punishment.
There are three things couched under this last head that will fill up the punishment of a Sinner.
The first is that it is everlasting.
The second is, that therefore it will be impossible for the Souls in Hell ever to say, now we are got ha… way through our sorrows.
The third is, and yet every moment they shall en…dure eternal punishment.
The first I have touched upon already, and therefore shall not enlarge, only I would ask the wanton or unthinking Sinner, whether twenty or thirty, or forty years of the deceitful pleasures of sin, is so rich a prize as that a man may well venture the ruines that everlasting burnings will make upon his Soul, for the obtaining of them, and living a few moments in them. Sinner, consider this before I go any further, or before thou readest one line more. If thou hast a Soul, it concerns thee; if there be a Hell it concerns thee; and if there be a God that can, and will punish the Soul for Sin everlastingly in Hell, it concerns thee: Because,
In the second place it will be impossible for the damned Soul ever to say, I am now got half way through my sorrows. That which has no end, has no middle. Sinner, make a round Circle or Ring upon the Ground, of what bigness thou wilt: this done, go thy way upon that Circle or Ring, until thou comest to the End thereof; but that, sayest thou, I can never do, because it has no end: I Answer, But thou mayest as soon do that, as wade half way through the lake of Fire that is prepared for impenitent Souls. Sinner, What wilt thou take to make a Mountain o… Sand that will reach as high as the Sun is at Noon? I know thou wilt not be ingaged in such a Work, because it is impossible thou shouldest ever perform it: But I dare say, the task is greater when the Sinner has let out himself to Sin, for a Servant, because the wages is everlasting burnings. I know thou mayest perform thy service, but the wages, the judgment, the punishment is so endless, that thou, when thou hast been in it more millions of years than can be numbred, art not, nor never yet shall be able to say, I am half way through it: And yet,
3. That Soul shall partake of (every moment) that punishment that is eternal. Even as Sodom an… Gomorrha, and the hJude 7.Cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
1. They shall endure eternal punishment, in the nature of punishment. there is no punishment her… wherewith one Man can chastise another, that ca… deserve a greater Title than that of transient or temporary punishment, but the punishment there is eternal, even in every stripe that is given, and in every moment that it grapleth with the Soul: even ever… twinge, every gripe, and every stroke that justice inflicteth, leaveth anguish that in the nature of punishment is eternal behind it. It is eternal, because i… comes from God and lasts for ever and ever. Th… justice that inflicts it has not a beginning, and it … this justice in the operations of it, that is alway… dealing with the Soul.
2. All the workings of the Soul under this punishment, are such as cause it in its sufferings to endur… that which is eternal. It can have no thought … the end of punishment, but it is presently recalled b… the decreed gulf that bindeth them under perpetu… punishment. The iLuke 16. 26.great fixed gulf they know will keep them in their present place, and not suffe… them to go to Heaven; and now there is no othe… place but Heaven or Hell to be in, for then the Eart… and the works that are therein will be burned u… Read the Text, But k… Pet. 3. 10.the Day of the …ord, will co… as a Thief in the Night, in the which the Heavens sh… pass away with a great noise, and the Elements shall m… with servent heat, and the Earth also, and the Wor… …hat are herein shall be burnt up. If then there will be …o third place, it standeth in their minds, as well as …n God's decree, that their punishments will be e…ernal: So then sorrows, anguish, tribulation, grief, …oe and pain, will in every moment of its abiding …pon the Soul, not only flow from thoughts of what …as been, and what is, but also from what will be, …nd that for ever and ever. Thus every thought …hat is truly grounded in the cause and nature of their …tate will roul, toss, and tumble them up and down … the cogitations and fearful apprehensions of the …stingness of their damnation. For I say, their …inds, their memories, their understandings and con…iences will all, and always be swallowed up with …or ever: yea, they themselves will by the means of …hese things be their own tormenters for ever.
3. There will not be spaces, as Days, Months, Years and the like, as now, though we make bold so …o speak (the better to present our thoughts of each …thers capacities) for then there shall be time no …onger; also day and night shall then be come to an …nd. He lJob 26. 10.hath compassed the Waters with bounds, un…il the day and night come to an end, until the end of …ght with darkness. Now when time, and day, …nd night, are come to an end, then there comes in …ternity, as there was before the day and night, or …ime was created: and when this is come, punish…ent nor glory must none of them be measured by …ays, or months, or years; but by eternity it self. Nor shall those concerned either in misery or glory, …eckon of their now new state, as they used to reckon …f things in this World: but they shall be suted in …heir capacities, in their understandings, and appre…ensions, to judge and count of their condition, according, as will best stand with their state in eter…nity.
Could we but come to an understanding of thing done in Heaven and Hell, as we understand ho… things are done in this World, we should be strang… amazed to see how the change of places and of co…ditions, has made a change in the understandings … Men, and in the manner of their enjoyment of thing… But this we must let alone till the next World, a… until our lancing into it, and then whether we be … the Right or Left-hand ones, we shall well know th… state and condition of both Kingdoms. In the mea… time let us addict our selves to the Belief of the Scri…tures of Truth, for therein is revealed the way … mMat. 25. 33.that of eternal life, and how to escape the dam…nation of the Soul. But thus much for the Loss … the Soul, unto which let me add for a conclusion the… Verses following.
These cry alas, but all in vain,
They stick fast in the mire;
They would be rid of present pain,
Yet set themselves on fire;
Darkness is their perplexity,
Yet do they hate the light;
They always see their misery,
Yet are themselves all night.
They are all dead, yet live they do,
Yet neither live nor dye:
They dye to weal, and live to woe;
This is their misery.
Now will confusion so posse…s
…hese Monuments of ire,
…nd so confound them with distress,
…nd trouble their desire;
That what to think, or what to do,
…r where to lay their head,
…hey know not: 'tis the damned's woe:
…o live and yet be dead.
These castaways would fain have life,
…ut know they never shall:
…hey would forget their dreadful plight,
…ut that sticks fast'st of all.
God, Christ and Heav'n, they know are best,
…et dare not on them think:
…hey know the Saints enjoy their rest,
…hile they their tears do drink.
And now I am come to the fourth thing, that is, …o shew you the cause of the Loss of the Soul. That Men have Souls, that Souls are great things, …hat Souls may be lost, this I have shewed you …lready: Wherefore I now proceed to shew …ou the cause of this Loss. The cause is laid …own in the Eighteenth Chapter of Ezekiel in …hese words, Behold nEzek. 18. ….all Souls, says God, are mine, …s the Soul of the fallen, so also the Soul of the Sun is …ine: the Soul that sinneth it shall dye. It is sin then, …r sinning against God, that is the cause of dying, of …amning in Hell Fire, for that must be meant by dy…ng: otherwise, to dye according to our ordinary acceptation of the notion, the Soul is not capable of, being indeed immortal, as hath been afore assert… So then the Soul that sinneth that is, and per…vering in the same, that Soul shall dye, be cast a… or damned. Yea, to ascertain us of the undoubt… Truth of this, the Holy Ghost doth repeat it aga… and that in this very Chapter, saying, The oVerse 20.S… that sinneth, it shall dye.
Now the Soul may divers ways be said to si… gainst God. As
1. In its receiving of sin into its bosom, and in … retaining, and entertaining of it there. Sin m… first be received before it can act in, or be acted … the Soul. Our first Parents first received in the s…gest, or motion, and then acted it. Now it is … here to be disputed, when sin was received by t… Soul, so much as whether ever the Soul received si… for if the Soul has indeed received sin, into it se… then it has sinned, and by doing so, has made it se… an object of the wrath of God, and a fire-brand of H… I say, I will not here dispute when sin was receiv… by the Soul, but it is apparent enough, that it r… ceived it betimes, because in old time, every Ch… that was brought unto the Lord, was to be redeeme… and that at a pEx. 13. 13. c. 34. 20. Num… 18. 15, 16.Month old: which to be sure, u… very early; and implyed that then, even then, th… Soul in God's judgment stood before him as defil… and polluted with sin. But although I said, I w… not dispute at what time the Soul may be said to r…ceive sin, yet it is evident that it was precedent … the redemption made mention of just before, and … before the Person redeemed had attained to the Ag… of a Month. And that God might in the Languag… Moses, give us to see cause of the necessity of this …emption, he first distinguisheth, and saith, The …lling of a Cow, or the firstling of a Sheep, or the …stling of a Goat, did not need this redemption, for …ey were clean or holy. But the first-born of Men, …o was taken in lieu of the rest of the Children, and …e firstling of unclean Beasts, thou shalt surely redeem, …th he. But why was the first-born of Men coupled …th unclean Beast, but because they were both un…an. But how? I Answer, the Beast was unclean by …od's ordination, but the other was unclean by sin. …ow then it will be demanded, How a Soul before it as a Month old, could receive sin to the making of … self unclean? I Answer, There are two ways of …ceiving, one active, the other Passive: This last the way by which the Soul at first receiveth sin, and … so receiving … becometh culpable, because polluted …d defiled by it. And this passive way of receiving often mentioned qEx. 27. 3. 2 Chr. 4. 5. Mat. 13. 20, 22, 23.in Scripture. Thus the pans …ceived the ashes: thus the molten Sea received three …ousand Baths: thus the Ground receiveth the Seed: …nd this receiving is like that of the Wooll, which …ceiveth the Dye, either Black, White or Red; …nd as the Fire that receiveth the Water till it be all …uenched therewith, or as the Water receiveth such …inking and poisonous matter into it, as for the …ke of it, it poured out and spilt upon the Ground. …ut whence rPsal. 51.should the Soul thus receive sin? I an…er, from the Body, while it is in the Mothers Belly, …he Body comes from polluted Man, and therefore … polluted (Who can bring sJob 14. 4.a clean thing out of an …clean?) The Soul comes from God's hand, and …herefore as so, is pure and clean; but being put into this Body, it is tainted, polluted, and defiled w… the faint, stench and filth of sin: nor can this ste… and filth be by Man purged out, when once from … Body got into the Soul; sooner may the Blackam… change his Skin, or the Leopard his Spots, than … Soul, were it willing, might purge it self of this p…lution. Tho' thou wash thee with Nitre, and take … much Sope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, … the Lord God.
2. But as I said, the Soul has not only received … but retains it, holds it, and shews no kind of r…stance. It is enough that the Soul is polluted … defiled, for that is sufficient to provoke God to … it away; for which of you would take a Cloth anno…ed with stinking ulcerous Sores to wipe your Mo…withal, or to thrust it into your bosoms? and … Soul is polluted with far worse pollution than a… such can be; but this not all, it retains Sin as … Wooll retains the Dye, or as the infected Water …ceives the stench or poisonous scent. I say, it …tains it willingly, for all the Power of the Soul is … only captivated by a seizure of sin upon the Soul, … it willingly, heartily, unanimously, universally … leth in with the natural filth and pollution that is sin, to the estranging of it self from God, and obtaining of an intimacy and compliance with … Devil.
Now this being the state and condition of … Soul from the Belly; yea from before it sees the li… of this World. What can be concluded, but … God is offended with it? For how can it otherw… be, since there is holiness and justice in God? He … those that are born of a Woman, whose Original … by carnal conception with Man, are said to be Serpents so soon as born. tPsal. 58. 3, 4.The wicked, and all … are so, go astray as soon as they are born, speaking …es. Their Poyson is the Poyson of a Serpent, they are … the deaf Ad…er that stoppeth his Ear. They go a…ay from the Belly, but that they would not do, if …ght of the Powers of their Soul was unpolluted, …ut their Poyson is the Poyson of a Serpent. Their Poy…n what is that? their pollution, their original pol…tion, that is as the Poyson of a Serpent. To wit, …ot only deadly, for so Poyson is; but also heredita…y. It comes from the old One, from the Sire and …am; yea it is also now become connatural to and with them, and is of the same date with the Child as …orn into the World. The Serpent has not her Poy…on in the Original of it, either from imitation, or from other infective things abroad, though it may by …uch things be helped forward and encreased, but she brings it with her in her bowels, in her nature, and …it is to her as suitable to her present condition as is that which is most sweet and wholsome to other of the Creatures. So then every Soul comes into the World as poisoned with sin; nay, as such which have Poyson connatural to them, for it has not only received sin as the Wooll has received the Dye, but it retaineth it. The infection is got so deep, it has taken the bl…ck so effectually, that the …ire, the very Fire of Hell can never purge the Soul there from.
And that the Soul has received uEzek. 16.this infection thus early, and that it retains it so surely, is not only signified by Childrens coming into the World besmeared in their Mothers Blood, and by the Firstborn's being redeemed at a month old; but also by the first inclinations and actions of Children when they are so come into the World. Who sees not, that lying pride, disobedience to parents, and …poerisie do put forth themselves in Children be… they know that they do either well or ill in so doi… or before they are capable to learn either of th… arts by imitation, or seeing understandingly … same things done first by others? He that sees … that they do it naturally, from a principle, from … inherent principle, is either blinded, and has …tained his darkness by the same sin as they, or … suffered himself to be swayed by a delusion fro… him who at first infused this spawn of sin into Ma… nature.
Nor doth the averseness of Children to morali… a little demonstrate what has been said. For as … would make a Serpent sick, should one give it strong Antidote against his Poyson; so then a… Children, and never more than then disturbed … their minds, when a strict hand and a stiff rein b… moral discipline is maintained over and upon them True, sometimes restraining gra…e corrects them but that is not of themselves. But more oft hypocrisie is the great and first moving Wheel to all thei… seeming compliances with admonitions, which indulgent Parents are apt to overlook; yea, and sometimes through unadvisedness to commit for the principles of grace. I speak now of that which comes before conversion.
But as I said before, I would not now dispute, only I have thought good thus to urge these things to make my assertion manifest, and to shew what is the cause of the damnation of the Soul.
3. Again, As the Soul receives sin, and retains it so it also doth entertain it; that is, countenance, smile upon, and like its complection and nature well. A Man may detain, that is, hold fast a thing which yet he doth not regard; but when he en…rtains, then he …untenances, likes, and delights in the company. … then is first received by the Soul, as has been … explained, and by that reception is polluted and …filed. This makes it hateful in the Eyes of Justice, is now polluted. Then secondly, this sin is not …ly received but retained, that is, it sticks so fast, …des so fixedly in the Soul, that it cannot be gotten it, this is the cause of the continuation of abhor…nce: for if God abhors because there is a Being of … there, it must needs be that he should continue to …hor, since sin continues to have a Being there. But …en, in the third place, sin is not only received, … …etained, but entertained by the now defiled and pol…ted Soul: wherefore this must needs be a cause of …e continuance of anger, and that with aggravati…: When I say, entertained, I do not mean, as …en entertain their Enemies, with small and great …ot; but as they entertain those whom they like, and …ose that are got into their affections.
And therefore the wrath of God must certainly be … out upon the Soul, to the everlasting damnation …f it.
Now that the Soul doth thus entertain sin is mani…est by these several particulars.
1. It hath admitted it with complacence and de…ght into every Chamber of the S…ul: I mean it has …een delightfully admitted to an ente…tainment by all …e powers or faculties of the Soul. The aIsa. 65. 12. C. 66. 3.Soul …ath chose it rather than God, it also at God's com…and refuseth to let it go, yea, it chuseth that …octrine, and loveth it best (since it must have a …octrine) that has most of sin, and baseness in it. …hey bIsa. 30. 10.say to the Seers, See not, and to the Prophets, Prophesie not unto us right things, speak unto us smoothings, Prophesie deceits.
These are signs that the Soul with liking hath e…tertained sin: And if there be at any time, as indee… there is, a Warrant issued out from the Mouth … God to apprehend, to condemn and mortifie sin. Wh… then,
2. These shifts the Souls of Sinners do presently make for the saving▪ of sin from those things that b… the World Men are commanded to do unto it.
1. They will if possible hide it, and cProv. 28. 13. Job 20. 12, 13.not suffe… it to be discovered. He that hideth his sins shall … prosper. And again, They hide it and refuse to let … go. This is an evident sign that the Soul has a favou… for sin, and that with liking it entertains it.
2. As it will hide it, so it will excuse it, and plea… that this and that piece of wickedness is no such ev…thing, Men need not be so nice and make such … puther about it, calling those that cry out so hotly against it, Men more nice than wise: Hence the Prophets of old used to be called mad-men, and the World would reply against their doctrine; Wherei… dMal. 1. 6, 7▪ C. 3. 8, 13.have we been so wearisome to God, and what have … spoken so much against him?
3. As the Soul will do this, so to save sin, it wi… cover it with names of vertue, either moral or civil▪ and of this God greatly complains, yea, breaks ou… into anger for this, saying, W… eIsa. 5. 20.to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light an… light for darkness; and put bitter for sweet, and swee… for bit…er.
4. If convictions and discovery of sin be so stron… and so plain, that the Soul cannot deny but that it … sin, and that God is offended therewith: then it will give flattering promises to God that it will indeed put it away, but yet it will prefix a time that shall be long first, if it also then at all performs it, saying yet a little sleep, yet a little slumber, yet a little folding of sin in mine arms, till I am older, till I am richer, till I have had more of the sweetness and the delights of sin. Thus, Their fIsa. 66. 3.Soul delighteth in their abominations.
5. If God yet pursues, and will see whether this promise of puting sin out of doors shall be fulfilled by the Soul, why then it will be partial in God's Law, it will put away some, and keep some; put away the grossest and keep the finest; put away those that can best be spared, and keep the most profitable for gMal. 2. 9.a help at a pinch.
6. Yea, If all sin must be abandoned, or the Soul shall have no rest, why then the Soul and Sin will part (with such a parting as it is) even as Phaltiel parted with David's Wife, h2 Sam. 3. 16. Ruth. 1. 14.with an ill will and a sorrowful mind, or as Orpha left her Mother with a Kiss.
7. And if at any time they can, or shall meet with each other again, and no Body never the wiser: O what courting will be betwixt Sin and the Soul; and this is called iEzek. 8. 12.doing of things in the dark.
By all these and many more things that might be instanced, it is manifest that sin has a friendly entertainment by the Soul, and that therefore the Soul is guilty of damnation: For what do all these things argue, but that God, his word, his ways and graces are out of favour with the Soul, and that sin and Satan are its only pleasant companions. But, Secondly, That I may yet shew you what a grea… thing sin is with the Soul that is to be damned. I wi… shew how sin by the help of the Soul is managed from the motion of sin, even till it comes to the very act; for sin cannot come to an act without the help o… the Soul. The Body doth little here, as I shal… further shew you anon.
There is then a motion of sin presented to the Soul (and whether presented by sin it self, or the Devil, we will not at this time dispute) motions of sin and motions to sin there are, and always the end o… the motions of sin are to prevail with the Soul t… help that motion into an act. But I say, mIsa. 57. 5. Jer. 5. 8.There is a motion to sin, moved to the Soul; or as Jame… calls it a conception: Now behold how the Soul deal… with this motion, in order to the finishing of sin that death might follow.
1. This motion is taken notice of by the Soul: but is not resisted nor striven against, only the Soul lift… up its eyes upon it, and sees that there is present, … motion to sin; a motion of sin presented to the Soul that the Soul might Midwife it from the Conceptio… into the World.
2. Well, Notice being taken that a motion to sin i… present, what follows, but that the fancy or im…gi…nation of the Soul taketh it home to it, and doth no… only look upon it and behold it more narrowly, bu… begins to trick and trim up the sin to the pleasing o… it self and of all the Powers of the Soul. That this is true, is evident, because God findeth fault with th… imagination as with that which lendeth to sin, th… first hand, and that giveth to it the first lift toward its being helped forward to act. And nRom. 7. 5.God sa… that the wickedness of Man was great in the Earth (tha… oGen. 6. 5, 12, 13.…s, many abominable actions were done: for all flesh had corrupted God's way upon the Earth.) But how came this to be so? why, every imagination of the thoughts, or of the motions that were in the Heart to sin, was evil, …nly evil, and that continually. The imagination of the thoughts was evil, that is, such as tended not to deaden or stifle, but such as tended to animate and forward the motions or thoughts of sin into action; every imagination of the thoughts, that which is here called a thought, is by Paul to the Romans called a motion: now the imagination should and would, had it been on God's side, so have conceived of this motion of and to sins, as to have presented it in all its features so ugly, so ill favoured and so unreasonable a thing to the Soul, that the Soul should forthwith have let down the Sluce, and pulled up the Draw bridge, put a stop with greatest defiance to the motion now under consideration: but the imagination being defiled, it presently at the very first view or noise of the motion of sin, so acted as to forward the bringing the said motion or thought into act. So then, the thought of sin, or motion thereto, is first of all entertained by the imagination and fancy of the Soul, and thence conveyed to the rest of the Powers of the Soul to be condemned, if the imagination be good; but to be helped forward to the act, if the imagination be evil. And thus the evil imagination helpeth the motion of, and to, sin towards the act, even by dressing of it up in that guise and habit that may best delude the Understanding Judgment and Conscience: and that is done after this manner; Suppose a motion of sin to commit fornication, to swear, to steal, to act covetously, or the like, be propounded to the fancy and imagination; the imagination if evil presently dresseth up this motion in that gar… that best suiteth with the nature of the Sin. As if it be the Lust of Uncleanness, the… is the Motion to sin drest up in all the imaginable pleasureableness of that Sin; if to Covetousness, the… is the Sin drest up in the Profits and Honours that attend that Sin, and so of Theft and the like; but if the Motion be to swear, hector or the like, then i… that Motion drest up with valour, and manliness: and so you may count of the rest of sinful Motions, and thus being trimmed up like a Bartholomew Baby, it is presented to all the rest of the Powers of the Soul, where with joint consent it is admired and imbraced to the firing and inflaming all the Powers o… the Soul.
And hence it is that Men are said to inflame themselves with their Idols under every g…een Tree: An… to be as fed Horses, neighing after their Neighbour's mIsa. 57. 5. Jer. 5. 8.Wife: for the Imagination is such a forceable Power, that if it putteth forth it self to dress up and present a thing to the Soul, whether that thing be evil or good, the rest of the Faculties cannot withstand it. Therefore when David: prayed for the Children of Israel, he said, I have seen with joy, thy People, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee; that is, for preparations to build the Temple. O Lord God, saith he, keep this for ever in the Imagination n1 Chron. 29. 17, 18.of the Thoughts of the Heart of thy People for ever, and prepare their hearts unto thee. He knew that as the Imagination was prepared, so would the Soul be moved, whether by evil or good; therefore as to this he prays that their imagination might be ingaged always with apprehensions of the beauteousness of the Temple, that they might always, as now, offer willingly for its building.
But as I said, when the Imagination hath thus set forth Sin to the rest of the Faculties of the Soul, they are presently intangled and fall into a flame of love thereto: this being done, it follows that a Purpose to pursue this Motion, till it be brought unto act, is the next thing that is resolved on. Thus Esau after he had conceived of that profit that would accrue to him by murthering of his Brother, fell the next way into a Resolve to spill Jacob's Blood. And Rebecca sent for Jacob, and said unto him. oGen. 27. 42. Jer. 49. 30.Behold thy Brother Esau as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Nor is this purpose to do an evil without its fruit, for he comforted himself in his evil purpose; Esau as touching thee doth comfort himself; purposing to kill thee.
The Purpose therefore being concluded, in the next place the Invention is diligently set to work to find out what means, methods, and ways will be thought best to bring this purpose into practice, and this motion to sin into action. Esau invented the pGen 27. 42. 2 Sam. 11. 13.Death of his Brother, when his Father was to be carried to his Grave; David purposed to make Vriah Father his Bastard-Child, by making of him drunk. Amnon purposed to ravish Tamar, and the means that he invented to do it, were by feigning himself sick. Absalom purposed to kill Amnon, and invented to do it qLuke 22▪ 3, 4, 5, 6.at a Feast. Judas purposed to sell Christ, and invented to betray him in the absence of the People. The Jews purposed to kill Paul, and invented to intreat the Judge of a Blandation to send for him, rActs 23. 12, 13, 14, 15.that they might murther him as he went.
Thus you see how sin is in the Motion of it handed through the Soul; First, it comes into the Fancy or Imagination by which it is so presented to the Soul, as to inflame it with desire to bring it into act, so from this desire the Soul proceedeth to a purpose of enjoying, and from a purpose of enjoying to inventing how, or by what means it had best to attempt the accomplishing of it.
But further, When the Soul has thus far by its wickedness pursued the Motion of Sin to bring it into action: then to the last thing, to wit, to endeavour to take the opportunity, which by the Invention… is judged most convenient, so to endeavours it goes till it has finished Sin, and finished, in finishing of that, its own fearful damnation. Then Lust when it sJam. 1. 15.hath conceived, bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.
And who knows, but God and the Soul, how many letts, hindrances, convictions, fears, frights, misgivings, and thoughts of the Judgment of God all this while are passing and repassing, turning and returning over the Face of the Soul? How many times the Soul is made to start, look back and tremble, while it is pursuing the pleasure, profit, applause or preferment that Sin when finished, promiseth to yield unto the Soul? for God is such a lover of the Soul, that he seldom lets it go on in Sin, but he cries to it by his word and providences; Oh! do not this abominable thing that I hate; especially at first, until it shall have hardened it self, and so provoked him to give it up in Sin-revenging Judgment to its own ways and doings, which is the terriblest Judgment under Heaven: And this brings me to the third Thing, the which I now will speak to.
3. As the Soul receives, detains, entertains, and willily worketh, to bring Sin from the motion into act, so it abhorreth to be controuled and taken off of this work; My Soul loathed them, says God, tZech. 11. 8.and the… Soul also abhorred me: My Soul loathed them because they were so bad, and their Souls abhorred me, because I am so good. Sin then is the Cause of the Loss of the Soul; because it hath set the Soul, or rather, because the Soul of love to sin, hath set it self against God. Wo unto their Souls, for they uIsa. 3. 9.have rewarded evil unto themselves.
That you may the better perceive that the Soul through sin has set it self against God: I will propose, and speak briefly to these two things:
I. The Law.
II. The Gospel.
1. For the Law, God has given it for a Rule of Life, either as written in their Natures, or as inserted in the Holy Scriptures: I say, for a Rule of Life to all the Children of Men, but what have Men done, or how have they carried it to this Law of their Creator, let us see, and that from the Mouth of God himself.
I. wJer. 6. 19. Ch. 9. 13, Ch. 16. 11. Ch. 44.They have not hearkened unto my Law.
II. They have forsaken my Law.
III. They have forsaken me, and not kept my Law.
IV. They have not walked in my Law, nor in my Statutes.
V. xEz…k. 22. 26. Hos. 8. 1….Her Priests have violated my Law.
VI. And saith God, I have written to him the great Th…ngs of my Law, but they were counted as a strange Thing.
Now whence should all this disobedience arise … not from the unreasonableness of the Commandment, but from the Opposition that is lodged in the Soul against God and the Enmity that it entertains against goodness. Hence the Apostle speaks of the Enmity, and says, That Men are enemies in their Minds, their yCol. 1. 21.Souls, as is manifest, by wicked works.
This, if Men went no further, must needs be highly provoking to a just and holy God: yea, so highly offensive is it, that to shew the heat of his zRom. 2. 8, 9.anger, he saith, Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every Soul of Man that doth evil (and this is evil with a witness) of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile, that doth evil, that breaketh the Law, for that evil he is crying out against now. But,
2. To speak of the Gospel, and of the Carriage of sinful Souls towards God under that dispensation.
The Gospel is a Revelation of a sovereign Remedy, provided by God through Christ, for the Health and Sal…ation of those that have made themselves objects of wrath by the Breach of the Law of Works. This is manifest by all the Scripture: But how doth the Soul carry it towards God, when he offereth to deal with it under and by this dispensation of grace? Why, just as it carried it under the Law of Works, they oppose, they contradict, they blaspheme, and forbid that this Gospel be mentioned. What higher aActs 13. 45. Chap. 18. 6. 2 Tim. 2. 25. 1 Thes. 2. 13, 14, 15.affront or contempt can be offered to God and what greater disdain can be shewn against the Gospel? Yet all this the poor Soul to its own wrong offereth against the way of its own salvation as it is said in the Word of Truth, bProv. 8. 36.He that sinneth against me, wrongs his own Soul, all that hate me, love death.
But further, The Soul despiseth not the Gospel in that revelation of it only, but the great and chief bringer thereof with the manner also of his bringing of it.
The Bringer, the great Bringer of the Gospel is the good Lord Jesus Christ himself, he came and preached Peace to them that the Law proclaimed cEph. 2. 17.War against; he came and preached Peace to them that were far off, and to them that were nigh. And it is worth your observation, to take notice how he came, and that was and still is (as he is set forth in the Word of the Gospel) to wit, First as making peace himself to God for us, in and by the Blood of his Cross, and then as bearing (as set out by the Gospel) the very Characters of his sufferings before our faces in every tender of the Gospel of his grace unto us. And to touch a little upon the Dress in which by the Gospel Christ presenteth himself unto us, while he offereth unto sinful Souls his peace, by the Tenders thereof.
1. dIsa. 9. 6. Luke 2. 9. 10, 11, 12. 1 Cor. 15. 3. Gal. 3. 13. Rom 10. 4. Dan. 9. 24.He is set forth as born for us, to save out Souls.
2. He is set forth before us, as bearing of our Sins for us, and suffering God's Wrath for us.
3. He is set forth before us, as fulfilling the Law for us, and as bringing of everlasting righteousness to us for our covering.
Again▪ As to the manner of his working out the Salvation of Sinners for them, that they might have Peace and Joy, and Heaven and Glory for ever;
1. He is set forth as sweating of Blood while he eLuk. 22. 24.was in his Agony, wrestling with the Thoughts of Death, which he was to suffer for our Sins, that he might save the Soul.
2. He is set forth as crying, weeping and mourning under the Lashes of Justice, fHeb. 3. 7.that he put himself under, and was willing to bear for our Sins.
3. He is set forth as betrayed, apprehended, condemned, spit on, scourged, buffeted, mocked, crowned with Thorns, crucified, pierced with Nails and a Spear: To save the Soul from being betrayed by the Devil and Sin; to save it from being apprehended by Justice, and condemned by the Law; to save it from being spit on in a way of contempt by holiness. To save it from being scourged with guilt of Sins as with Scorpions. To save it from being continually buffeted by its own Conscience. To save it from being mocked at by God. To save it from being crowned with ignominy and shame for ever. To save it from dying the second Death. To save it from wounds and grief for ever.
Dost thou understand me, sinful Soul? He wrestled with Justice, that thou mightest have rest; he wept and mourned that thou mightest laugh and rejoyce; he was be…rayed that thou mightest go free; was apprehended that thou mightest escape; he was condemned that thou mightest be justified; and was killed, that thou mightest live; he wore a Crown of Thorns, that thou mightest wear a Crown of Glory; and was nailed to the Cross with his Arms wide open, to shew with what freeness all his Merits shall be bestowed on the coming Soul, and how heartily he will receive it into his bosom.
Further▪ All this he did of meer good will, and offereth the Benefit thereof unto thee freely; yea he cometh unto thee in the Word of the Gospel, with the Blood running down from his Head upon his Face, with his Tears abiding upon his Cheeks, with his holes as fresh in his hands and his feet, and as with the Blood still bubling out of his side, to pray thee g2 Cor. 5.to accept of the Benefit, and to be reconciled to God thereby. But that saith the sinful Soul to this? I do not ask what he saith with his Lips, for he will assuredly flatter God with his Mouth; But what doth his actions and carriages declare as to his acceptance of this incomparable benefit? For a wicked man hProv. 6. 12, 13.speaketh with his feet, and teacheth with his fingers. With his feet, that is, by the way he goeth; and with his fingers, that is, by his acts and do…ngs. So then what saith he by his goings, by his acts, and doings unto this incomparable benefit, thus …rought unto him from the Father, by his only Son Jesus Christ? What saith he? Why, he saith, That he doth not at all regard this Chr…st, nor value the Grace thus tendered unto him in the Gospel.
First he saith, That he regardeth not this Christ, that he seeth nothing in him why he should admit him to be enterta…ned in his affections. Therefore the Prophet speaking in the Person of Sinners says, iIsa. 53. 2, 3.He (Christ) ha…h no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him: And then adds to shew what he meaneth by his thus speaking, saying, He is d…s…ised and rejected of Men. All this is spoken with reference to his Person, and it was eminently fulfi…ed upon h…m in the days of hi… flesh, when he was hated, maligned and persecuted to death by Sinners. And is sti… fulfilled in the Souls of Sinners, in that they cannot abide to think of him with thoughts that have a Tendency in them to separate them and their Lusts asunder, and to the making of them to imbrace him for their darling, and the taking up of their Cross, to follow him. All this Sinners speak out with loud voices, in that they stop their ears and shut their eyes, as to him, but open them wide, and hearken diligently to any thing that pleaseth the Flesh, and that is a Nursery to Sin. But,
2. As they despise and reject, and do not regard his Person, so they do not value the Grace that he tendereth unto them by the Gospel; this is plain by that indifferency of spirit that always attends them, when at any time they hear thereof, or when it is presented unto them.
I may safely say, That the most of Men who are concerned in a Trade, will be more vigilant in dealing with a Twelve-penny Customer, than they will be with Christ, when he comes to make unto them by the Gospel, a tender of the incomparable Grace of God. Hence they are called fools, kProv. 17. 16.Because a price is put into their hands to get wisdom, and they have no heart unto it. And hence again it is, that that bitter complaint is made, lPsal. 81. 11.But my People would not hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me.
Now these things being found, as practised by the Souls of Sinners, must needs after a wonderful manner provoke; wherefore no marvel that the Heavens are bid to be astonished at this, and that damnation shall seize upon the Soul for this.
And indeed, The Soul that doth thus by practice mJer. 2.(though with his mouth (as who doth not?) he shall shew much love) he doth interpretatively say these things:
1. That he loveth Sin better than Grace, and darkness better than light, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed. And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the World, and Men love darkness more than light (as is manifest) because their deeds are evil.
2. They do also by their thus rejecting of Christ and Grace, say, That for what the Law can do to them, they value it not; they regard not its thundering threatnings, nor will they shrink when they come to endure the Execution thereof; wherefore God to deter them from such bold and desperate ways, that do interpretatively fully declare that they make such desperate conclusions, insinuates, that the Burden of the Curse thereof is intolerable, saying▪ Can pEzek. 22. 14.thy Heart endure, or can thy Hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee, I the Lord have spoken it, I will do it.
3. Yea by their thus doing, they do as good as say, That they will run the hazzard of a sentence of death at the day of judgment, and that they will in the mean time joyn Issue and stand a Tryal at that day with the great and terrible God: What else means their not hearkning to him, their despising of his Son, and the rejecting of his grace: yea, I say again, what else means their slighting of the Curse of the Law, and their chusing to abide in their sins till the day of death and judgment. And thus I have shewed you the Causes of the Loss of the Soul: And assuredly these things are no fables.
Object. But some may Object, and say, But you denounce all against the Soul, as if the Body was in no fault at all; or as if there were no punishment assigned for the Body.oJohn 3. 19.
I Answer, The Soul must be the part punished, because the Soul is that which sins. Every (q) Si… that a Man doth is without the Body; Fornication or Adultery excepted. Is without the Body, that is, as to the wilily inventing, contriving and finding out ways to bring the motions of sin into action. For alas! What can the Body do as to these? it is in a manner wholly passive, yea, altogether as to the lusting and purposing to do the wickedness, excepting the sin before excepted; Ay, and not excepting that, as to the rise of that Sin; for even that with all the rest ariseth and proceedeth out of the Heart, the Sul. For r1 Cor. 6. 18.from within, out of the Heart of Man proceed fornication, adultery, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil…eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within and d…fil… the Man: that is, the outward Man. But a difference must always be put betwixt defiling and being defiled, that which do… sileth being the worst: not but that the Body shall have its share of judgment, for sMark 7. 21, 22, 23.Body and Soul must be destroyed in Hell; the Body as the Instrument. the Soul as the Actor; but oh! the Soul▪ the Soul, the Soul is the Sinner, and therefore the Soul, as the Principal, must be punished.
And that God's indignation burneth most again… the Soul, appears, in that death-hath seized upo… every Soul already, for the Scripture saith. That every tLuk. 12. … Matth. 10. 28.natural or unconverted Man is dead. Dead How? Is his Body dead? No verily, his Bod… liveth, but his Soul is dead. Dead! but with wha… death? Dead to God, and to all things Gospell good, by reason of that benum…ing stupefying and senselesness that by God's just Judgment for and by sin, hath *Eph. 2. 1, 2, 3. 1 Tim. 5. 6.swallowed up the Soul. Yea▪ if you observe, you shall see, that the Soul goeth first, or before in punishment, not only by what has been said already, in that the Soul is first made a partaker of death, but in that God first deals with the Soul by convictions, yea, and terrors, perhaps while the Body is well; or in that he giveth up the Soul to judicial hardness, and further blindness, while he leaveth the Body to do his Office in the World: yea, and also when the day of death, and dissolution is come, the Body is spared while the Soul is tormented in unutterable torment in Hell. And so I say, it shall be spared, and the Clods of the Valley shall be sweet unto it while the Soul mourneth in Hell for Sin: 'tis true, at the Day of Judgment because that is the last and final Judgment of God on Men, then the Body and Soul shall be re-united or joyned together again, and shall then together partake of that recompence for their wickedness which is meet. When I say, The Body is spared, and the Soul tormented, I mean not that the Body is not then at death made to partake of the wages of Sin: For uRom. 6.the wages of Sin is death: But I mean the Body partakes then but of temporal death, which as to sense and feeling, is sometimes over presently, and then resteth in the Grave, while the Soul is tormenting in Hell: yea, and why is Death suffered to slay the Body? I dare say, not chiefly for that the indignation of God most burneth against the Body; but the Body being the House for the Soul in this World, God even pulls down this Body, that the Soul may be stript naked; and being stript, may be carried to Prison, to the Place where damned Souls are, there to suffer in the beginning of suffering, that punishment that will be endless.
2. Therefore the Soul must be the part most sorely punished, because Justice must be distributed with equity. God is a God of knowledge and judgment▪ w1 Sam. 2.by him actions are weighed: actions in order to Judgment. Now by weighing of actions, since he finds the Soul to have the deepest Hand in Sin, and he says that he hath so, of equity the Soul is to bear the burden of punishment; Shall xGen. 19. 25.not the Judge of all the Earth do right, in his famous distributing o… Judgment? He yJob 34. 23.will not lay upon Man more tha… right, that he should enter into judgment with God. The Soul since deepest in Sin, shall also be deepest in punishment. Shall zNumb. 16. 22.one Man sin, said Moses, an… wilt thou be wroth with all the Congregation? He pleads here for equity in God's distributing of Judgment: yea, and so exact is God in the distribution thereof, that he will not punish Heathens so as he will punish Jews; wherefore he saith, of the Jew first aRom. 2. 9.or chiefly, and also to the Gentile: yea, in Hell, he has prepared several degrees of punishment for the several sorts or degrees of offenders, And bLuke 20. 47.some shall receive greater damnation. And will it not be unmeet for us to think, since God is so exact in all his doings, that he will without his weights and measures give to Soul and Body, as I may say, carelesly, not severally, their punishments according to the desert and merit of each?
3. The punishment of the Soul in Hell must needs, to be sure, as to degree, differ from the punishment of the Body there: When I say differ, I mean must needs be greater, whether the Body be punished with the same Fire, with the Soul, or Fire of another nature. If it be punished with the same Fire, yet not in the same way, for the Fire of Guilt with the Apprehensions of indignation and wrath, are most properly felt, and apprehended by the Soul, and by the Body, by vertue of its union with the Soul, and so felt by the Body, if not only, yet I think mostly by way of sympathy with the Soul (and the Cause we say, is worse than the Disease) and if the wrath of God, and the Apprehensions of it, as discharging it self for sin, and the breach of the Law, be that with which the Soul is punished, as sure it is; then the Body is punished by the Effects, or by those Influences that the Soul in its torments has upon the Body, by vertue of that great oneness and union that is between them.
But if there be a punishment prepared for the Body distinct in kind from that which is prepared for the Soul, yet it must be a punishment inferior to that which is prepared for the Soul (not that the Soul and Body shall be severed, but being made of things distinct, their punishments will be by that which is most suitable to each) I say, it must be inferior, because nothing can be so hot, so tormenting, so intolerably unsupportable, as the quickest Apprehensions of, and the immediate sinking under that Guilt and Indignation that is proportionable to the Offence, Should all the Wood and Brimstone, and cumbustible matter on Earth be gathered together for the tormenting of one Body, yet that cannot yield that torment to that, which the sence of guilt and burning hot application of the mighty indignation of God, will do to the Soul: Yea, suppose the Fire wherewith the Body is tormented in Hell, should be seven times hotter than any of our Fire; yea, suppose it again, to be seven times hotter than that which is seven times hotter than ours, yet it must, suppose it be but created fire▪ be infinitely short (as to tormenting operations) of the unspeakable wrath of God, when in the heat thereof he applyeth it to, and doth punish the Soul for sin in Hell therewith.
So then whether the Body be tormented with the same Fire wherewith the Soul is tormented, or whether the Fire be of another kind, yet it is not possible that it should bear the same punishment as to degree, because, or for the causes that I have shewed. Nor inded is it meet it should, because the Body has not sinned so, so grievously as the Soul has done, and God proportioneth the punishment suitable to the Offence.
4. With the Soul by its self, are the most quick and suitable apprehensions of God and his wrath: wherefore that must needs be made partaker of the sorest punishment in Hell; 'tis the Soul that now is most subtle at discerning, and it is the Soul that will be so; then Conscience, Memory, Understanding and Mind, these will be the …eat of torment, since the Understanding will let Wrath immediately upon these, from what it apprehends of that wrath; Conscience will let in the Wrath of God immediately upon these, from what it fearfully feels of that wrath: the Memory will then as a Vessel receive and retain up to the brim of this Wrath even as it receiveth by the Understanding and Conscience, the Cause of this Wrath, and considers of the durableness of it: So then the Soul is the seat and receiver of Wrath, even as it was the receiver and seat of Sin; here then is sin and wrath upon the Soul, the Soul in the Body, and so Soul and Body tormented in Hell-fire.
5. The Soul will be most tormented, because strongest: the biggest Burden must lye upon the strongest Part, especi…lly since also it is made capable of it by its sin. The Soul must bear its own punishment, and a great part of the Bodies too, forasmuch, as so far as Apprehension goes, the Soul will be quicker at that Work than the Body. The Body will have its punishment to lye mostly in feeling, but the Soul in feeling and apprehending both. True, the Body by the help of the Soul will see too, but the Soul will see yet abundantly further. And good reason that the Soul should bear part of the punishment of the Body, because it was through its allurements that the Body yielded to help the Soul to Sin; the Devil presented Sin, the Soul took it by the Body, and now Devil and Soul and Body, and all must be lost, cast away, that is damned in Hell for Sin, but the Soul must be the Burden-bearer.
Object. But you may say, doth not this give incouragement to Sinners to give way to the Body to be in al… its members loose and vain, and wicked, as Instruments to Sin?
Answer. No, Forasmuch as the Body shall also have his share in punishment: for though I have said, the Soul shall have more punishment than the Body; yet I have not said, That the Body shall at all be eased by that; no, the Body will have its due: and for the better making out of my Answer further, consider of these following particulars.
1. The Body will be the Vessel to hold a tormented Soul in, this will be something, therefore Man, damned Man, is called a cRom. 9. 22.Vessel of Wrath; a Vessel, and that in both Body and Soul. The Soul receiveth Wrath into its self, and the Body holdeth that Soul that has thus received, and is tormented with this Wrath of God. Now the Body being a Vessel to hold this Soul that is thus possessed with the Wrath of God, must needs it self be afflicted and tormented with that torment, because of its union with the Body: therefore the Holy Ghost saith, His dJob 14. 22.Flesh upon him shall have pain, and his Soul within him shall mourn: Both shall have their torment and misery, for that both joyned hand in hand in sin, the Soul to bring it to the Birth, and the Body to midwife it into the World; therefore it saith again, with reference to the Body, Let ePsal. 109. 17, 18, 19.the Curse come into his Bowels like Water, and like Oyl into his Bones. Let it be to him as a Garment which covereth him, and as a Girdle, &c. The Body then will be tormented as well as the Soul, by being a Vessel to hold that Soul in, that is now possessed and distressed with the unspeakable wrath and indignation of the Almighty God: and this will be a great deal if you consider,
2. That the Body as a Body, will by reason of its union with the Soul, be as sensible, and so as capable in its kind, to receive correction and torment, as ever, nay I think more; for if the quickness of the Soul, giveth quickness of sense to the Body, as (in some case, at least) I am apt to think it doth, then forasmuch as the Soul will now be most quick, most sharp in Apprehension, so the Body by reason of union, and sympathy with the Soul, will be most quick, and most sharp as to Sense. Indeed if the Body should not receive and retain sense, yea, all its Senses, by reason of its being a Vessel to hold the Soul, the torment of the Soul could not, as torment, be ministred to the Body, no more than the Fire tormented … King of Babylon's-furnace, fDan. 3.or than the King Moab's Lime-kiln was afflicted, because gAmos 2. 1.the King Elom's Bones were burnt to Lime therein. B…t … the Body has received again its senses, now there…e it must, yea, it cannot chuse but must feel that …rath of God that is let out, yea poured out like …ods of Water into the Soul.
Remember also, that besides what the Body re…veth from the Soul by reason of its union and sym…thy therewith, there is a punishment and instru…ents of punishment, though I will not pretend to … you exactly what it is, prepared for the Body …r its joyning with the Soul in Sin, therewith to be …inished; a Punishment, I say, that shall fall imme…ately upon the Body, and that such an one, as will …ost fitly suit with the Nature of the Body, as wrath …nd guilt do most fitly suit the Nature of the Soul.