Forty Sermons, Sermon 32
SERMON XXXII.
LUKE 21. 19.
I. Sermon, Preacht at St. Maries. May 13. 1649.In your Patience poſſeſs ye your Souls.
OUr Saviour, in the beginning of this Chapter, is foretelling Jeruſalem's deſtruction, verſ. 6. but as a forerunner of it, he foretells alſo his Servants Perſecution, that they ſhall be perſecuted by Enemies, v. 12. betrayed by Friends, v. 16. and hated by all, v. 17. As when the Ship, Acts 27. 42. was ready to be wracked, they would firſt have killed Paul, who alone kept them from drowning: A fooliſh miſtake of a mad World, to do the Godly moſt hurt, when they ſhould moſt ſtand them in ſtead; when the Night is putting in, to put out the Candle which ſhould give them light; and when the Houſe is falling, to make ſure of it, they will needs pull down the Pillars that uphold it [the Holy Seed being foreign ſtatumen eorum, Iſa. 6. 13.] So ſottiſh is the World's malice, which otherwhile uſeth to be too ingenious in doing miſchief to the Godly, as it were on purpoſe to undoe themſelves.
But although they be ſuch Enemies to themſelves, yet Chriſt is a better Friend to his Servants; and therefore as he encourageth them, telling them, That not an hair of their head ſhall periſh, v. 18. ſo he directs them in this 19th Verſe, In your Patience poſſeſs ye your Souls.
In which words we have three Particulars; which, according to the Metaphor here uſed, we may call,
1. The Freehold, and that's their Souls.
2. The Seiſin foreign, They are to be kept in poſſeſſion; Poſſeſs ye your Souls.
3. The Tenure, and that is the Tenure of Patience; and ſo foreign, In your Patience poſſeſs ye your Souls.
1. For a little opening of the words, and firſt for Patience; it's duplex, Activa, Paſſiva. The one forbears, the other bears; both ſuffer, though in a different way.
Active, ſo called, in reference to acting, but improperly a minime agendo, becauſe it acts not when Paſſion's Fingers itch, and would fain be doing; and ſo it's defined, quae malum non infert, that even when provoked, doth no evil, which the Greeks expreſs by foreign, or long ſuffering. This is eminently and eſſentially in God, who when we provoke him, is yet foreign long-ſuffering, Exod. 34. 6. even a God of Patience.
But Patience Paſſive is that, quae malum fert, that quietly ſuffers evil from others, which is more properly this foreign in the Text; not properly falling upon God, who ſimply is impaſſible, but is that which by his Grace he works in his ſuffering Servants; when in an humble ſubmiſſion to his Will, out of Faith in his Promiſe, in hope of his aſſiſtance and deliverance, they neither ſink in deſpondency under the burden, nor riſe up in rage againſt him, or the Inſtrument he ſtrikes with, but willingly ſubmit, and quietly wait for the Salvation of God, Lament. 3. 26, 27. If you will have Tully's deſcription of it, Patientia eſt honeſtatis & utilitatis (let us add & Religionis) cauſâ rerum arduarum ac difficilium voluntaria ac diuturna perpeſſio. Or if rather you would have Bede's, Patientia vera eſt aliena mala aequanimiter perpeti, contra eum quoque qui mala irrogat nullo dolore moveri. This is properly this foreign in the Text; by which when diſpoſſeſſed of all things elſe, we are even then able to poſſeſs our Souls.
2. foreign, Poſſeſs ye, ſo it's uſually read, and ſo it holds forth a Command; though ſome read it foreign, ye may, or ſo ye ſhall poſſeſs; and ſo it contains a Promiſe. I ſhall make uſe of both, and here only add, that this word in the Greek, anſwerable to foreign in the Hebrew, ſignifieth both acquirere, and conſervare, both to procure and preſerve; and Patience doth F. Illyricu….both.
3. For the laſt word foreign, I need not tell you, that although it moſt properly ſignifie the Soul, yet oft in Scripture is put for Mat. 16. 26.the †Gen. 46. 15. Levit. 4. 2.whole Man, and ſometime for our *1 Sam. 26. 21.bodily Life. Your Souls, your ſelves, your outward Life. Patience, as a ſure guard, keeps you in poſſeſſion of all.
A word for natural Life, which I exclude not in reference to 1 Life.verſ. 18. they ſhould not periſh; and here patience is a preſervative. As God gives us poſſeſſion of it, ſo patience helps to Doct. 1 keep it. So we find in Scripture, meek Moſes and patient Job long-liv'd, whilſt bloody and violent Men live not out half their days, Pſal. 55. 23. As ſtormy Winter days uſe to be ſhort, whilſt it's long before the Sun ſet in a ſerene calm Summer's day. The Prophet ſaid, In quietneſs and confidence ſhall be your ſtrength, Iſa. 30. 15,and thereby alſo their ſafety, whilſt frowardneſs and haſtineſs makes haſte only to deſtruction. Job's Wife, when ſhe ſaid, Job 2. 9.Curſe God and die, ſpake truth, when ſhe gave bad counſel; for it's curſe and die, there's but a ſtep between diſcontented curſing and dying. But if there be any ſuch thing in this frail fading World, as via recta ad vitam longam, (which the Title of his Book promiſeth); amongſt other Vertues and Graces, Patience muſt be one of our Guides and Companions; and this, whether we conſider either God, or others, or our ſelves.
Firſt, For God, we read that with the froward he will deal Reaſ. 1 frowardly, Pſal. 18. 26. but he delighteth to beautifie the meek with Salvation. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah tears his Prey when it ſtruggles and reſiſts, but ſpares it when it lies quiet and proſtrate; ſo that if you be weary of your life, you may go to it at ſharp; but if you mean to ſave it, your wiſeſt way is to ſubmit, and quietly to lay down your Weapons Crudelem medicum, &c. The unruly impatient Patient makes his Phyſician cruel; and the Child's ſtrugling doth but increaſe his ſtripes, whilſt a quiet kiſſing the Rod oft ſaveth the whipping. Our God is our Phyſician and Father. We provoke him to Wrath, when we are provoked to impatience by what-ever correction is inflicted by him. But it's meet to be ſaid to him by every dutiful Child, and in ſuch a Child's Language, I have born chaſtiſement, and I will not offend any more; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more, Job 34. 31, 32. and that's the way to prevent a ſecond bout. With the Bird of Paradiſe, by a meekned moan, to mourn it ſelf out of the Snare; not with the wild Bull in the Net, Iſa. 51. 20. to tumble and rave, and ſo the more to entangle himſelf in the Snare. When God hears Ephraim bemoaning himſelf, Ephraim hears God comforting him, and telling him, that he is his dear Son and pleaſant Child, that ever ſince he spake againſt him, he did earneſtly remember him; that his Bowels were troubled for him, and that he would ſurely have mercy upon him, Jer. 31. 18, 19, 20. Whilſt we frowardly ſtruggle, 1. our Hearts fret againſt God; and 2. we would be our own Saviours, and both theſe betray us to danger. But by a patient lying under God's hand, as we acknowledg his Sovereignty, and righteous Proceedings, ſo we reſign up our ſelves to him, who hath a ſurer hand than ours to keep that wherewith it is betruſted. And thus Patience helps to hold our Souls in Life; firſt in reference to God.
And, ſecondly, in reference to other Men, whom we are at a Reaſ. 2 conteſt with, and (it may be) in danger of; for with them (though froward) Solomon's obſervation holds good, A ſoft anſwer turneth away wrath; but grievous words ſtir up anger, Prov. 15. 1. As the ſoft Wall damps the fierceſt Shot, whilſt the claſhing of two earthen Pitchers breaks either one or both. Fatigatur De Patient. c. 8.improbitas patientiâ tuâ, ſaith Tertullian; Patience either wins or wearies the moſt enraged Enemy, ſo that either he will not, or he cannot hurt. How eaſily doth the weak Man, when provoked by patient forbearing, prevent his own miſchief? Whilſt the paſſionate Male-content, either by buſie buſling begins the Quarrel, or by giving the ſecond ſtroke makes the Fray; and both ways, as the furious Horſe ruſheth into the Battel, and ſo too often ſins againſt his own Life.
But were there none other to hurt us, yet impatience can Reaſ. 3 make our ſelves to be our own Executioners. Whether Achitophel was ſtrangled with an Halter, or ſuffocated with ſome Humors raiſed by his grief, ſome of late diſpute. The Hebrew foreign may ſignifie both. But which ſoever of them it was, I Heniſius. Grotius.am ſure his impatience of a neglect was the cauſe of it in him; as in both kinds it hath been with divers others. Impatience of Pain, Poverty, Diſgrace, and the like, hath proved in this unhappy World one of the great Apollyons and Abaddons, chief Engines in murdering, not onelyonly others, but our ſelves alſo. What ſudden Inflammations, what pining Conſumptions, Frenzies, Lethargies, and other ſplenetick Diſtempers hath it caſt many a Man into? and ſo betrayed them ſometimes to more gentle and lingring; ſometimes to more ſudden and violent deaths, and that ſometimes by their own hands? Paſſions with a witneſs, which make both Body and Soul joint-ſufferers, like bluſtering ſtorms that daſh theſe frail Veſſels againſt the Rocks; or like roaring and riotous Gueſts and Inmates, that ſet on fire, and pull down thoſe Houſes of Clay, which they are in preſent poſſeſſion of.
But on the contrary, A patient or cool Spirit, as Solomon phraſeth it, Prov. 17. 27. how timely doth it prevent theſe ſparks from kindling, or happily quench them when they begin to flame, by compoſing the mind, that it dare not quarrel with God, nor pitch the Field with a Man's own ſelf; and ſo quiets the Body, that it either prevents Bodily Diſtempers, or helps to bear them quietly, that they do not prove deadly? whilſt the unruly ſick Man by raving and tumbling kills himſelf; another more patient, by being quiet, doth ſopire morbum, and by lying ſtill, makes haſte to his recovery. Poſſeſs but thy Soul with Patience, and it Patientiae infirmum non extendit. Tertul. c. 15. Centrae infirmus qui impatiens eſt, ipſâ impatient…â citius devolvitur in mortens. Cerda in locum.will keep thee in longer poſſeſſion of the frail Tabernacle of thy Body. Indeed, ſhort-winded Men are ſoon at their Journies end, but they that are longer breathed are ſo more ways than one, able through many difficulties to run a longer race, and at laſt in a late evening of a long day come to the end of it in peace. Diſcontents, I confeſs, may be long-liv'd, but ſo uſually are not froward, impatient, diſcontented Men. But when the Pſalmiſt tells us that the Meek ſhall inherit the Earth; *Pſal. 37. 11.that Phraſe expreſſeth as a ſurer title, ſo a longer continuance; and thus, as our Souls are ſometimes put for our Lives, even ſo by our Patience we are kept in poſſeſſion of them. So foreign (as I ſaid ſome read it) you may, you ſhall.
And therefore for the Application, foreign (as the common Ʋſe. reading is) Chriſt here commands us to endeavour that we may poſſeſs our lives in Patience. At the beſt, we are but Tenants at will; and if ſome of us conſider our Ages, and others our Weakneſs, and all of us the perilous Times we are caſt into, we may well think that our Leaſes are faſt haſting to an expiration. What Man therefore is he that deſireth Life, and loveth many days, let him ſeek peace, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, Pſalm. 34. 12, 13, 14. and let me add, Patience; for Patience is one of the beſt Preſervatives. Prayers and Tears were wont to be the Churches beſt offenſive Weapons, and Patience one of the chiefeſt Defenſives. Not by Might, nor by Power, but by my Spirit, ſaith God, when he ſtiles himſelf the Lord of Hoſts, Zech. 4. 6. And truly the Spirit of Meekneſs and Patience hath in it the Spirit of a Conqueror. As therefore Chriſt our Lord vanquiſhed the Devil, not by fighting Qui pro nobis mundum vicit, non a…mato milite, ſed irriſà cruce. Auſtin. in Pſal. 62. ad finem.but by dying: ſo our way to overcome the World, and ſave our lives, is rather by patient yeelding and ſuffering, than by peeviſhly contending. I mean, not by a baſe unworthy complying with Mens ſins, but by a generous ſuffering of their rage, and ever with a ſilent and meek ſubmiſſion to the righteous Judgment of God. Yea, in the way of thy Judgments have we waited for thee, O Lord, ſaid the humbled Church, Iſa. 26. 8. And waiting, as it implyeth a ſtill and quiet attendance, ſo with God it ever finds at laſt a gracious acceptance. Thou wilt never bid that Beggar ſtay and wait, whom thou at laſt intendeſt to ſend away empty; much leſs will God make thee content quietly to wait, whom he intends to ſend away diſcontented, by wholly fruſtrating thee of thy Expectation. The prudent ſhall keep ſilence in that time, for it is an evil time, ſaith the Prophet, Amos 5. 13. How evil our times are I need not ſay; and therefore if we would ſhew our ſelves prudent and wiſe for our ſelves, as we love our lives, let us keep ſilence; and that's the Expreſſion which in the Old Teſtament Patience is uſually and almoſt only ſet out by. Not a malicious ſilence, (as Abſalom's was, 2 Sam. 13. 22.) whereby we bite in for the preſent, but lie in inſidiis to watch opportunities of miſchief and revenge; but a ſhamefaced ſilence, in ſenſe of our own confuſion and guilt; an humble meek ſilence, not murmuring againſt God's dealings, or an angry clamouring at evil Mens proceedings; but a quiet ſubmitting to his hand, and a patient enduring (as long as God continues it) of their oppreſſions, ſaying (if any thing) with the Church, I will bear the indignation of the Lord, becauſe I have Micah 7. 9.ſinned againſt him; or rather with our Saviour, though led as a Sheep to the Slaughter, and as the Lamb before the Shearer, ſo Act. 8. 32.open we not our mouths; as Paulinus to his Friend, Nos taceamus Epiſt. 1. ad Aprum.iſtis loquentes ad Dominum ſilentio humilitatis, & voce patientiae; & tunc ipſe qui invictus eſt, pugnabit pro nobis, & vincet in nobis. So the dumb Dove's mourning in a far Country was heard, and ſhe delivered, if you compare the Argument and the 56th Pſalm together. And Chriſt the meek ſilent Lamb, though ſlaughtered, yet ſhortly after was raiſed from the dead: to whom if we be Uniſons in this ſweet ſtill-Muſick, we ſhall for certain have our lives for a prey, either preſerved or reſtored; either kept from death, or if the two Witneſſes be now to be ſlain, ſhall have part in a better Reſurrection: For ſo if we ſhould take the word in the Text for our lives, ſo it holds good that by our patience we may, and therefore ought to poſſeſs our Souls.
But take the word Soul in its more proper ſignification, for 2 Soul.that nobler part of Man; and ſo moſt underſtand our Saviour's meaning, when he here ſaith, In your patience poſſeſs ye your Souls.
In which words we have theſe two Particulars conſiderable.
1. That it's our duty to poſſeſs our Souls.
2. That Patience is one ſpecial means to keep this poſſeſſion.
As always, ſo eſpecially in evil and perilous Times (for ſuch Doct. 2 our Saviour here ſpeaks of) whatever elſe we are deprived or thruſt out of, our great care and endeavour muſt be to poſſeſs our Souls. Whatſoever the force be, we muſt ſtand to it, and keep poſſeſſion. Above all keepings, keep thy Heart, ſaith Solomon, Prov. 4. 23. And keep thy Soul diligently, ſaith Moſes, Deut. 4. 9. Take heed to your Spirit, ſaith the Prophet, Mal. 2. 15. And ſo here, In your patience poſſeſs ye your Souls, ſaith our Saviour. A dear and great Pledg it is, which both God and his People do mutually betruſt each other with, and both to our preſent purpoſe. They him, looking at it as their Jewel, and conſidering their own weakneſs and heedleſsneſs, leave it to be kept in his ſafer Hand. That we may poſſeſs it, (as the Child gives the Mother that it would have kept) we put it into God's Hands to keep it for us. And ſo it's Paul's foreign, 2 Tim. 1. 12. his Depoſitum which he leaves with God. And our dying Saviour, when now to be diſpoſſeſt of his Life, that he might keep poſſeſſion of his Soul, ſaith, Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit, Luke 23. 46.
And he them; it being one of his chief Maſter-pieces, and Poſſeſſio ſiduciaria.therefore as ſoon as it comes out of his hands, he commends it to every Man's beſt care, as a great Talent which he betruſts us with, and will have at laſt a ſtrict account of: At our Birth ſent out from him, and in Death, Eccleſ. 12. 7. again to return to him, that he may have an account how it hath been abuſed or improved, whether kept or loſt: When thruſt out of this Houſe of Clay, whether we have not loſt it, and it Heaven. For ſo this poſſeſſing of our Souls includes a double care and endeavour, 1. That it be not utterly loſt. 2. No, nor ſo Diſtempered and Diſguiſed, that neither we nor it be our ſelves.
1. Firſt, I ſay, our care muſt be ſo to poſſeſs our Souls, that they be not utterly loſt; for ſo the Scripture ſpeaks of loſing the Soul, Mat. 16. 26. And what is quite loſt, is then out of our poſſeſſion. And on the contrary, that in Matthew, He that endures to the end, ſhall be ſaved, Chap. 10. 22. and this of the Text, In your patience, poſſeſs ye your Souls, are by learned Interpreters Grotius Brugenſis.made Parallel; ſo that foreign and foreign, to poſſeſs the Soul, and to ſave it, is one and the ſame thing. And this therefore ſhould be a great part of our greateſt care, that our Souls may be ſo poſſeſſed, as they may be ſaved: And that, although in dangerous Times, all elſe may ſoon be loſt, yet that a ſure Courſe may be taken, that our Souls do not periſh eternally.
2. But ſecondly, This care of a Man's poſſeſſing his Soul is not only that it be not wholly loſt at laſt, but that for the preſent in greateſt Diſtractions he be (as the Latine phraſe is) Animi, (or Sui) compos, truly himſelf, his own Man; yea, maſter of his own Soul and its Faculties, Paſſions and Operations, which at ſuch times oft are quite ſtounded, or prove very wild and unruly. Men dead with fear, as in Nabal, 1 Sam. 25. 27. and there is no Life; drunk with grief, as they Jer. 25. 27. and there's no ſenſe; And mad with Oppreſſion, as even the wiſe Man ſometimes is, as the wiſeſt King tells us, Eccleſ. 7. 7. But where's then his Wiſdom? Which is then ſwallowed up, Pſal. 107. 27. Nay, What's become of his Soul? When, Nec manus, nec pes, &c. when neither the Eye can ſee what's before it, or the Ear take heed what's ſaid to it; the Man knows not what either he ſaith, or doth; where he is, or whither he goeth: In theſe Animi deliquia & deliria the Man is truly Exanimated, bereft of his Soul; the Mind and Underſtanding amazed, confuſed and darkned; the Affections and Paſſions in a mutiny and perfect uproar: But where's the Soul; that foreign all this while, that ſhould keep better order? Is it in being? Or is the Man in poſſeſſion of it, which is wholly poſſeſt with Amazements and Confuſions, as a Town now entred and poſſeſſed by a Conquering Enemy? This too often in perilous Times is our Sin and Miſery. But our Saviour in the Text points out to us what at all times, and even then, is our duty, to take care, that whatever elſe we loſe, that there be not Ejectio firmae, that we be not ſo caſt out of our Freehold, but that by Faith and Patience (the one as the Fundamentum, and the other as the Suſtentaculum of all Virtues, as Anſelm diſtinguiſheth them) we may ſtill be our ſelves, and poſſeſs our Souls, not frighted out of our ſelves by Fears, or ſunk below our ſelves by overmuch Heavineſs; but then ſpeak and act with Nehemiah, Chap. 6. 11. like and worthy our ſelves; with Jehoſhaphat, when we know not what to do, to be ſo much our ſelves, as to know how to do that which is beſt; not like gaſter'd Men to look wildly 2 Chron. 20. 12.about us, but with a fixed Eye to God above us; not to be out of our Wits, but to go out to God; and as David, when the ſorrows of Death and Hell took hold on him (Pſal. 116. 3.) to retire inward to our Hearts with his, Return unto thy reſt, O my Soul, Ver. 7.even when the ſorrows of Death and Hell took hold on him, enough to Exanimate him, yet to retire inward; as a Man into his Houſe out of the Crowd, in which he was like to be loſt; or like a wiſe Pilot, thruſting his Ship out of the Storm into the Harbour: And then how ſafely doth he ſtand firm on the Shoar, whilſt he ſeeth others over-whelmed with the Waves? So to turn into our Souls, and to turn them over to God, and there quietly to reſt; this is indeed to be our ſelves, and to poſſeſs our ſouls, Dum nobis ipſis dominari diſcimus, hoc ipſum incipimus poſſidere quod ſumus, as Bede ſpeaks. And thus whilſt Chriſt hath held the Heads and Hearts of his Servants, they have been never more themſelves, than when beſides him they have had leaſt elſe to reſt either Head or Heart upon; never enjoyed themſelves, or poſſeſſed their Souls more, than when now to be diſpoſſeſſed of all elſe beſides; as take a Believer on his Death-bed, or a Martyr at the Stake. It's but God's bidding Aaron, go up to Mount Hor, and put off his Garments and die, Numb. 20. 25, 26, 27, 28. No more than a Parent's bidding his Child go up to his Chamber, and put off his Clothes and ſleep. They are fully themſelves, nay, then more than ever above themſelves; now that the Soul is mantling, and almoſt upon the Wing, to flie upward in Divineſt Contemplations and elevated Expreſſions. (Some of which Mylius gathers up in his Book, which he calls Apophthegmata morientium). When the dying Man's tongue faulters, he ſpeaks Apophthegmes, nay Oracles, and though the bodily Eye grows dim in that ſhadow of death; yet that's but the ſhutting of the outward window, whilſt a more glorious Light is ſet up within to enlighten that darkneſs, and ſo that gloomy Evening is but the dawning of the now haſting Morning of the beatifical Viſion. O the admirable farewel-ſpeeches of Martyrs at their Sufferings! Thoſe high-raiſed Expreſſions, that raviſhed other Men's hearts, ſhewed plainly that they then moſt fully poſſeſſed their own Souls. Sure, Stephen was perfectly himſelf and above himſelf; that, when the Stones flew ſo faſt at him, he could ſo quietly and orderly kneel down, and look up to Heaven, and pray for his Murderes, Acts 7. 59, 60. as were Daniel's Companions, Chap. 3. 25. who, when caſt into the Furnace, did not fall all along, as Saul, 1 Sam. 28. 20. or down into the Furnace, as their Enemies did, but then walked erect in the midſt of the Fire, and as the Apocryphal Addition ſaith, there ſung forth God's Praiſes; yea, and therein exactly kept time and tune, foreign, (as Chryſoſtom obſerves) in the ſame Order that God made his Creatures they there ſung his Praiſes.
And thus in theſe two Particulars, we ſee what's meant by this poſſeſſing of our Souls, namely when ſuch care is taken that they now be not diſtemper'd, nor at laſt utterly loſt.
Which in the App…ication is that which is further to be preſſed Ʋſe. upon us, as that which our Saviour here expreſly and peremptorily commands us, and (which is to be obſerved) at ſuch a buſie time when you would think his Diſciples had ſomething elſe neceſſarily to look after, when ſo Hated, Perſecuted, Betrayed, as in the fore-going Verſes, when every way ſo beſet, and ſo wholly endangered. If Nature and Senſe, like Pharez, (as Gen. 38. 28, 29.it's ready) ſhould put out its hand firſt it would find ſomething next hand firſt to lay hold on; here would be Wife, Children, Parents, Friends, to be provided for: It may be my Eſtate, yea, my Life to be ſecured and taken care of. How ſhall I make ſuch a Friend? Or what way to pacifie ſuch an Enemy? How ſhall I anſwer when called before ſuch a King and Ruler? v. 12. But our Saviour would take them off from ſuch diſtracting cares, foreign, &c. In all this unſettledneſs, ſettle you your heart not to meditate, v. 14. not to be over-anxious for thoſe things, but here in the Text he would have them to make ſure of their Chance. Let Martha, like the good Houſe-Wife, be Luke 10. 41, 42.troubled about many things. But ſee that you, like wiſe Chriſtians with Mary, make ſure of the one thing neceſſary, as though he had ſaid, in your getting your other Goods out of the Scare-fire, be ſure you look that you ſave your ſelves. And whatever elſe Thieves and Robbers run away with, be ſure to keep poſſeſſion of your Souls, that the Man be not firſt Wounded, and at laſt Killed out-right, that your Souls be not now Defiled, Diſtracted, or Diſtempered, and at laſt Periſh everlaſtingly. Let thy Soul be precious in thine Eyes (as 1 Sam. 26. 21.) that it may not be as 1 Kings 20. 39, 40. it miſſing, thy everlaſting Life go for it. This is here our beſt Friend's advice, and that which his beſt Servants have followed. What ever elſe hath comparatively been neglected, yet their God and their Souls have been ſecured. David was ſo encompaſſed with outward Enemies and Dangers, that he had his good Name, Eſtate, and his very Life to defend and provide for. But his Soul was his Darling, which he tenders as much as he can himſelf: And becauſe his care and ſtrength was too ſhort, he commends it to God; it in a manner only, it I am ſure eſpecially, and that frequently and moſt pathetically. How often do you hear thoſe ſweet ſtrains among his bitter Complaints? Lord, keep my ſoul, Pſal. 6. 4. & 7. 2. & 17. 13. & 22. 20. & 25. 20. & 86. 2. & 142. 8.preſerve my ſoul, deliver my ſoul, leave not my ſoul deſtitute. In which places though Life may be in part meant, yet the Soul properly ſo called, is not to be excluded. And if it be the Will of God that we ſhould know how to p…ſseſs our Bodies in H… lineſs, (1 Theſ. 4. 3, 4.) it's all reaſon that according to the former Particulars, we ſhould endeavour to poſſeſs our ſouls in Patience. And that upon theſe following Grounds and Conſiderations. 1. Becauſe all outward Comforts and Poſſeſſions may be loſt. 2. Even then, if due care be taken, our ſouls may be ſecured. 3. Yet they are in greateſt danger to be Aſſailed. 4. Of ſuch unvaluable worth, that the ſaving and poſſeſſing of them will more than countervail the loſs of all elſe. As on the contrary, the loſs of them is both irrecoverable, and unvaluable; not to be made up by all other Enjoyments; and if joyned with other loſſes makes them complete, and utterly undoing.
1. We had need be careful and watchful to keep poſſeſſion of our ſouls, that we may be beſt poſſeſſed of ſomething. Becauſe of all elſe we may eaſily be diſpoſſeſſed. At all Times it's poſſible, but in perilous Times too likely and probable. He was but a fool, and that upon Record, that ſaid to his ſoul, he had Goods Luke 12. 19, 20.laid up for many years, when the following night turn'd him out of poſſeſſion of all. The Women of my People have you caſt out of their pleaſant Houſes, ſaith the Prophet, Mic. 2. 9. I need not tell you how ſuddenly Job was partly Plundered by the Chaldeans and Sabeans, and partly by an immediate Hand of God ſtript naked of all. Our Saviour in general, hath ſaid of all Treaſures upon Earth, that the Moth and Ruſt will corrupt, and Mat. 6. 19.Thieves break through and ſteal: Either of themſelves will decay, as the Cloth breeds that Moth, and the Iron that Ruſt which conſumes it, or at leaſt ſome either violent Hand will break through, or ſome falſe Fingers will more ſlily ſteal and carry away. The Graſs will either wither of it ſelf, or be cut down by the Sithe; ſo that Sidonius truly affirms, Hominem in Lib. 7. Epiſt. 4.hunc mundum non tam editum quam ejectum: Like a Ship-wrackt Man, Ship ſplit, his Goods ſunk in the Sea, or made a Prey of on the Shoar: And it's well if he ſcape with his Life, and that ſooner or later will be ſunk too; for Death will be ſure to turn all out of Doors, when it ſeiſeth upon us: But when Death thus diſpoſſeſſeth our very ſouls of their Bodies, would it not be ſorrow upon ſorrow, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, Phil. 2. 27. for us then to be diſpoſſeſſed of our ſouls alſo, to loſe all and our ſouls to boot? When Out-works are taken, to have no Fort within to flie to: To come to Adrian's animula, vagula, blandula, quae nunc abibis in loca? Not then to know whither our Souls ſhall go, or to be the more exanimated, if we do, how woful and miſerable will it be? Eſpecially he ſo great an Aſtronomer, Qui cuncta de ſe ſcivit & praeſcivit; able before-hand to write a Diary of all things that ſhould befal him, until the hour of his death, and then to be at a loſs. You have taken away my Gods that I have made, and the Prieſt, and what have I more, ſaid Micah, when the Children of Dan had plundered him, Judg. 18. 24. Poor wretched undone Man! They took away the Gods that thou hadſt made: But wouldſt thou have been at ſuch a loſs, if thou hadſt had an intereſt in that God that made thee? They had ſtolen away thy Prieſt; but if he had not firſt ſtolen away thy heart, thou mighteſt then have poſſeſſed thy ſoul, which might have beeh both Prieſt and Temple for thee to have taken Sanctuary in. Which leads to,
2. The ſecond thing propounded, That when all elſe is loſt, yet if due care be taken, the ſoul even then may be ſecured. Our Eſtate and Eſteem, yea, our Life it ſelf, though they be our own, yet they are to be Inventoried amongſt thoſe foreign, things of another Man's, of which our Saviour ſpeaks, Luke 16. 12. becauſe he that cares not for his own Life, may eaſily be maſter of mine: But our ſouls and our God, are that foreign, among thoſe things which are ſo our own, that, unleſs it be by our own default, as no Creature gave them, ſo none can take them away. That violent Hand which takes away Riches, Honours, Friends, and Life it ſelf, doth but with Joſeph's Miſtreſs, get the Garment whilſt the Man goeth free. If we be but as wiſe as the Serpent, in ſuch a ſtrait we loſe but the skin, but find our ſelves. Job when ſtript of all, at worſt was not a maimed but a naked Man, Chap. 1. 21. but yet himſelf, a Man ſtill; and by being naked, it may be coming nearer to our firſt Innocency and Perfection. It's the infinite Perfection of God that he is foreign, perfectly Self-ſufficient, that neither needs, nor indeed can go out of himſelf for any ſupply; and as in the foul of Man appears moſt the Image of God, ſo herein it bears one of the livelieſt Reſemblances of his Divine Perfection; that, as to all outward things it's Self-ſufficient, and that however, in regard of the neceſſities of the body to which it is joyned, it is forced to go abroad into the World, and thereby too oft is defiled (as Dinah was) in ſuch Excurſions, yet it's beſt when it Gen. 34. foreign. Plato. As Moraliſts to the pacifying our grief and paſſions, tell us what time will wear out at laſt, Wiſdom and Virtue ſhould enable us to abate and qualifie at the preſent: So here with ſome inverſion, this is a hard Leſſon to us, that are ſo immerſed in outward and earthly Objects.keeps within at Home, converſing with and enjoying of it ſelf, which it doth moſt, when it is leaſt troubled with outward things. What therefore it doth of it ſelf in a more gentle way, in abſtracting it ſelf▪from Bodily and outward Objects, the very ſame is done, though by a more violent hand, when Man or D…vil plucks theſe outward things from it. Thereby it's left in retirement with it ſelf, and never more ſafe than when ſo ſhut up. They are Fools and Children that are afraid, and cry when they are alone: But if the wiſe Man be Nunquam minus ſolus, quam cum ſolus; I am ſure the Godly Man, if he be wiſe, is never leſs loneſome than when alone, whilſt he hath a good God, and a good Heart to bear him company. If he in a publick depredation could ſay, Omnia mea mecum, he carried all that was his with him, when he left all elſe beſides his naked ſelf behind him; I know no reaſon, but that a Chriſtian may be as Wiſe and Happy, if he prove not an Out-lyer, and live not too much in and upon the World; when all elſe is plundered, yet his ſoul may be ſecured. And accordingly the Apoſtle, 1 Pet. 4: 19. moſt fitly and divinely Inſtructs them that ſuffer according to the Will of God, to commit the keeping of their ſouls to him in well doing. He would have them take care that their ſouls be kept, becauſe he ſpeaks of ſuffering Times, in which nothing elſe it may be can be ſecured; but he makes account their ſouls may.
And yet (which is a third Argument for our greater care and diligence) though our Souls by a careful watch may be ſecured, yet there's greater need of it, becauſe they are in greateſt danger to be aſſailed. Many indeed, and horrid have the Miſeries been, which the Devil and his Inſtruments have inflicted on Men's Bodies, but nothing to thoſe innumerable Temptations and deadly Snares, by which they have ſeized on their Souls. foreign Iſa. 51. 23.The precious ſoul is that which the Adultereſs hunts after, Prov. 6. 26. And they are the ſouls of Men, which the great Whore trades in, Rev. 18. 13. The Devil hath oft poſſeſſed Men's Bodies, but far oftner their Souls, and hath not been unwilling to be diſpoſſeſſed of the one, that he might take more full ſeiſin of the other: It being neither great nor ſmall, which the Syrian fights againſt; not ſo much thoſe Rivers of Blood which have run down in all the great Wars and Slaughters in the World, which he is ſatisfied with, as the Blood of Souls which he thirſts after. God deſires not the Blood of Goats, and Bulls, Pſal. 50. 13. nor doth the Devil principally the Blood of Men, unleſs it be of their Souls. And it's then (he thinks) foreign, he hath hit them under the fifth rib, when like the deviliſh Aſsaſſinate, he kills the Body and damns the Soul together with the ſame blow. And therefore where the Siege is ſtraiteſt, and the Aſſault fierceſt, there our Watch needs be ſtricteſt, and our Guard ſtrongeſt. Becauſe the Soul is moſt laid at, it needs be moſt looked after, that above all keeping we keep our hearts, Prov. 4. 23. ſo as rather to be diſpoſſeſſed of all, than not to poſſeſs our ſouls. (As God above all is to be feared, ſo the Devil eſpecially to be watched, becauſe both (though in their ſeveral ways) when they have deſtroyed the Body, can caſt the Soul into Hell, Luke 12. 5.) Greateſt care therefore need be of our ſouls.
4. And this as in regard of the danger of them, ſo alſo of the ineſtimable worth of them. foreign My ſoul's my glory, ſaith Jacob, Gen. 49. 6. where the Chaldee hath foreign my precious ones, foreign my Soul is my Darling, or mine Prov. 6. 26. Pſal. 35. 17.only One, ſaith David, Pſal. 22. 20. But ſhould we go no further than the Text; this Phraſe of poſſeſſing the ſoul ſaith, that the ſoul it ſelf is a great poſſeſſion. I may not now inſiſt on all its Worth and Excellencies, that it is Divinae particula aurae, a Sparkle of Heaven, a Glymps of God, in which you may ſee moſt of his Image, and one of the Maſter-pieces of all his Works; of a Spiritual immaterial Conſtitution, of an everlaſting Continuance and Duration, ſo that if it be not poſſeſſed, but loſt one way, it will not be loſt in another: In its Nature far above all this Terreſtrial World, in its Apprehenſions, that which a World cannot ſtint, nor in its Deſires a thouſand Worlds ſatisfie, made for God, and only to be filled with God: So Capacious, as if poſſeſſed and ſaved, can take in much of God, and if neglected and loſt, will take in as much of his Curſe and Wrath: So admirable in its Operations, that it's a ſhame, if for want of poſſeſſing it, it ſhould like a Drunken Man be ſo diſquieted and diſtempered, as to be hindred from them for a time. But ſo precious in it ſelf, that it's a thouſand pities that any of us ſhould fall ſo ſhort of poſſeſſing our ſouls, that ſuch a glorious Creature ſhould be loſt and periſh Eternally. It's in Mundo animarum, in that World of ſouls, in which we ſhall hereafter ſee more fully the worth of ſouls: In Mundo umbrarum, in this world of Shadows, it's but little we ſee, or know either of them, or their Excellencies. But yet ſo much (if we be not grown wholly Brutiſh) as may exceedingly ſhame us, that when others look ſo much to the Cabinet, we take no more care of the Jewel; that when others, nay, our ſelves are ſo diligent to keep the Body in health and life, the precious everlaſting Soul is no better provided for to be kept in a b…er condition; Phyſicians of the Body ſo honoured; and Phyſicians of the Soul ſo ſlighted: The Body decked, and the Soul neglected and ſtarved, nay, by the Bodies being crammed, the Soul to be pined or ſurfeited: That when we ſee ſometimes ſo much Watch and ward to keep poſſeſſion of ſome ſorry Houſe, or ſmall Cottage, and which, it may be at moſt, we have but a ſhort time in; we ſhould either careleſly or wilfully yeeld poſſeſſion to the World, the Devil, and the Fleſh, of theſe ſpiritual immortal Souls of ours, which, if we look to it, may be the glorious Manſions of the Bleſſed God to dwell in, and which to be ſure we muſt dwell with, either in weal or woe to Eternity. Had we nothing elſe to ſay, theſe two words might heighten our Souls worth, and ſhould our care in poſſeſſing of them:
1. They are the purchaſe of the Blood of the Son of God. (And ſhall we trample under foot his Blood in ſo neglecting our Souls, which were purchaſed by the Blood of the Shepherd of Souls? 1 Pet. 2. 25.)
2. And this that they might be holy and glorious Temples for the Bleſſed Spirit of God. O then! be ſure to keep poſſeſſion for ſo happy a Gueſt, that the Devil may not prove an Intruder. And thou that wilt be ſtiff, and earneſt, and peremptory, to maintain thine Intereſt in what thy Father or Friend left thee, do not ſo under-value either thy Saviour or thy Soul, as not to keep poſſeſſion of that, which He at ſo dear a rate hath purchaſed. Our Souls ſhould be precious, that were purchaſed by Blood ſo precious. Let that be ſaid to every incroaching Enemy, what Jephtah ſaid to the invading Ammonite, Judg. 11. 23. The Lord hath diſpoſſeſſed the Amorites before his People, and ſhouldſt thou poſſeſs it? And let their reſolution, ver. 24. be ours, Wilt thou not poſſeſs that which Chemoſh thy God giveth thee to poſſeſs? And ſo, Whatſoever the Lord our God hath given to us, that will we poſſeſs. Our Souls he firſt made, Jer. 38. 16. which we afterward loſt, which he repurchaſed by the Blood of his Son, and reſtored to us to be kept as an everlaſting pledg of his Love; and therefore whatever elſe we loſe, look to it that we here keep poſſeſſion.
But to the quickening of our care herein, I need not ſeek for more particulars to ſet forth the Soul's worth, than what I there propounded.
1. Such, as the ſaving and poſſeſſing of it,
1. Crowns all other Enjoyments. Wiſdom with an Inheritance doth well, Eccleſ. 7. 11. but if mens ſana in corpore ſano, it's much better. It was a Solomon's happineſs, that amidſt all his delights of the Sons of Men, his Wiſdom alſo remained with him. It's an happy ſaving Bargain indeed, if a Man, eſpecially in loſing times, when he ſaves his Eſtate and his Life, can ſave his Soul too, without which a Man with all his other Gettings and Enjoyments is but like a dead Body ſtuck with Flowers; or as a Room round-about-hung, and richly furniſhed, and nothing but the dead Maſter's Hearſe in the midſt of it.
2. Countervails all other Loſſes. David's Mouth praiſeth God with joyful Lips, though in a dry and thirſty Land, when his Soul is filled with marrow and fatneſs, Pſal. 63. 1, 5. And though he was for the outward Man at a weak paſs, yet it was a ſufficient ſupport that God had ſtrengthned him with ſtrength in his Soul, Pſal. 138. 3. Though I poſſeſs months of vanity, Job 7. 3. and with him be ejected out of all; if yet in poſſeſſion of my Soul, I am no harbourleſs Object. Though the invading Enemy hath quite broke down the Fence, and laid all open and waſte; yet as long as with the Chriſtians in Juſtin Martyr, we have foreign; When they have poſſeſſed themſelves, and taken away all with them, if they have left but a good God, and a good Conſcience; a Soul, and a Saviour, it's but the Casket that's loſt, the Treaſure is ſaved, and lends them a Key for Paul's Riddle of having nothing, and yet poſſeſſing all things. In this ſenſe dum Anima eſt, spes eſt, as long 2 Cor. 6. 10.as my Soul is mine own, I am not only in hope, but in poſſeſſion. No cauſe to faint, though the outward Man periſh, if the inward Man be renewed, 2 Cor. 4. 16. nor to complain, if the ſame hand that caſts the Chriſtian's Body to the Beaſts, caſts his Soul at the ſame time into his Saviour's Boſom. Paul meant not to kill, but to cure the inceſtuous Perſon, when he would have him delivered even to Satan to the deſtruction of the fleſh, if his Spirit may but thereby be ſaved in the day of the Lord Jeſus, 1 Cor. 5 5. and that will make amends for all. Thus we ſee that the ſaving and poſſeſſing of the Soul crowns all Enjoyments, more than Countervailes all other loſſes.
2. But on the contrary, the loſs of it,
1. Compleats all other loſſes and miſeries, and makes them utterly undoing. David ſpeaks of his Enemies ſpoiling of his Soul, as their greateſt cruelty, and his chiefeſt miſery, Pſal. 35. 12. The Prophet, Lam. 3. 65. when he had given that heavy blow, that made the heart ake, Lord give them ſorrow of heart; he ſtrikes the Nail to the Head, when he adds, thy Curſe unto them. O woe unto thee, thou haſt added grief unto thy ſorrow, Jer. 45. 3.and a curſe to both, when by thy riotous, unclean, or otherwiſe vicious courſes, thou haſt loſt (it may be) thine Eſtate, thy good Name, the health and ſtrength of thy Body, and which is worſt of all, thy Soul and all. Undone wretch! It was a deſperate prodigal expenſe, which all the Money in thy Purſe, and thy whole other Subſtance could not diſcharge; but thy Soul alſo muſt go in to pay the reckoning. Thy Saviour's Soul being heavy to the death, was more ſad than all his bodily Mat. 26. 38.Sufferings, and that thruſt which lets out the heart-blood of thy Soul, is far beyond all other Wounds, and makes them deadly. To ſee an Enemy in the Habitation, is one of Eli's ſoreſt Afflictions, 1 Sam. 2. 32. and to be a poſſeſſion to Enemies is Edom's heavieſt Curſé, Numb. 24. 18. but not ſo heavy, as to ſee an Enemy poſſeſſed of this inward Manſion. The loſs of the Soul compleats all other loſſes and miſeries.
2. Cannot be made up and recompenced with all other Gains and Enjoyments. The round World is but a Cipher to it. For what is a Man profited, if he ſhould gain the whole World, and loſe his own Soul? ſaith our Saviour, Matth. 16. 26. He that tenders a whole World, makes a great offer; but he that loſes his Mar. 8. 37.Soul for it, ſuſtains a greater loſs; for that World which cannot ſatisfie the deſires of a Soul before it be loſt, cannot ſatisfie for the loſs of a Soul when it is. And therefore the rich Man, Luke 12. 19, 20. was but a Fool for all his Riches; and the Hypocrite, Job 27. 8. is brought in as a deſperate Fool for all his Gain, when God took away both their Souls. How miſerable! when dead, to have ſo many Friends to accompany the Body to the Grave, and Devils only the Soul to Hell, ſuch Funeral Pomp and Tombs? He that hath loſt his Soul, is a poor undone Man; though with the Young Man in the Goſpel he have never ſo great poſſeſſions: Mat. 12. 22.For a Silk Stocken will not cure a broken Leg, nor daintieſt Meat make the ſick Man well, nor all the choiceſt Extractions from the whole Body and Bulk of the Creature, afford a Cordial ſtrong enough to revive a languiſhing loſt Soul. And therefore as the Arabick Proverb adviſeth, Noli gemmam perdere in die feſto; in our greateſt Feaſts it would not have us loſe our Jewel, becauſe it's of ſuch worth, that all the delight we can have in the coſtlieſt Meal, cannot countervail the loſs of it; ſo in all the richeſt of the World's entertainments let us be ſo merry and wiſe together, as to be ſure to look to our Jewel, to our Souls, the loſs of which all elſe can no way compenſate.
3. As being in the laſt place irrecoverable. When our Saviour ſaid, What will it profit a Man, if he win the whole World, and loſe his own Soul? In thoſe words he tells us, that the loſs of it is ineſtimable: But when he adds, or What ſhall a Man give in exchange for his Soul? He would thereby aſſure us, that if after the price of Purchaſe, which he laid down to redeem our Souls, and repoſſeſs us of them, they ſhall yet be ſo neglected, as that they come indeed to be loſt, that Morgage will never be able again to be bought out. No foreign to be given in exchange, but the loſs abſolute and irreparable. But ſhall then ſuch precious Souls be loſt for want of looking to; pawned for Toys, nay ſold outright for Trifles? That thou mayeſt take thy pleaſure, careſt not (as ſometimes thou profanely ſayeſt) if the Devil take thy Soul. Is not this foreign? more ſottiſh than the Indians exchanging Gold for Glaſs, and more profane than Eſau's ſelling his Birth-right for a Meſs of Pottage; by Drunkenneſs, Paſſion, Drowſineſs, Luſt, putting our ſelves out of poſſeſſion of the uſe of our Souls for the preſent, or by theſe and ſuch-like courſes hazarding the utter loſs of them for ever. Should this be the ſad lot of any, as it will be of too many, let it be of ſuch ſenſual Brutes that know not the worth of a Soul, that can ſo eaſily part with it; of ſuch ſordid Muckworms, quibus anima tantum eſt pro ſale, whoſe Souls ſerve only to keep them alive, and to preſerve their Bodies from ſtinking; and who are (as ſuch) ſomething diſtinct from their Souls, as it's intimated of the Fool in the Goſpel, to whom God ſaid, This night ſhall they fetch thy Soul from thee, Luke 12. 20. But for Chriſtians, that believe that the Blood of the Son of God was ſhed to ſave Souls; for Scholars, whoſe Souls are themſelves (Animus cujuſque is eſt quiſque) who ſtudy the nature of Souls, and therefore ſhould know the worth of them; for Divines, whoſe traffique is in trading for Souls; let us have ground to hope better things of you, and ſuch as are foreign, that accompany Salvation, Heb. 6. 9. whilſt like wiſe Men, Prov. 11. 30. you labour to win other Mens Souls, be not ſuch Fools as to loſe your own. It's his Diſciples and Apoſtles that our Saviour eſpecially directs his Speech to in the words of the Text, in which there is a double foreign. Whatever others do, yet you above all in your patience poſſeſs ye your Souls.