The Profit of Godliness, Sermon 7
Serm. 7. Preached Decemb. 15. 1661.
CHAP. VI. Propos. 2.
THe second Proposition is, That the man will be no gainer at last, who gaineth the world with the loss of his soul: Let us be Judges, what gainer is that man that gaineth an heap of pebbles with the loss of pearls? What doth he gain, who gets a Chest full of dross, with the loss of an house full of gold? Would not we make that man the object of our daily mocking, that stakes down a jewel for glass? I doubt not, but we in our thoughts blame Adam, who for the having and eating a little forbidden fruit, lost Paradise; and Esau also, who for a mess of pottage sold his birthright: Thus do all they, who for the gain of the world, hazzard the loss of their inestimable souls; they purchase pebbles for pearls, dross for gold, glass for a rich jewel, their birthright for pottage, Paradise for an Apple; and as Lysimachus cried out, they lose a Kingdom for a draught of water: This is the reason why Christ called the rich man Fool, Luke 12.20. Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee: or rather, (as it is in the Margin of some Bibles) do they require thy soul: This night shall the Devils require thy soul, then whose shall these things be? you see that this man had gained much goods for many years; he could live upon his gains a merry and contented life for many years: you see he had wit enough for the world: no doubt but his neighbours commended him for a wise man, yet saith God to him, Thou fool: because he gained much goods for many supposed years to come, and lost his soul for millions of millions of ages: it is madness and folly indeed to lose the soul for ever, to gain a momentany world: Stulterum plena sunt omnia: the world is full of such fools: how many are there in every place, who mind the world, and never think they have a soul to save or lose! The Apostle tells us, that man is worse then an Infidel that doth not provide for his own house; or (as it is in the Margin) for his own kindred, having means to do it: then surely, he that doth not provide for his soul, having means and opportunity of grace and salvation, is far worse then an Infidel; he will be more inexcusable, and his damnation will be more intolerable.
CHAP. VII. The Reasons of the Point.
Reason 1 THe first reason to prove the truth of this Doctrine is, because there is no comparison between the soul and the gain of this world: the soul is more above the gold and silver of this world, then gold and silver is above straw and dung.
1. There is no comparison between heaven and earth: the soul of man in respect of its high extraction, is from heaven, heavenly: What are all the profits of the world, but from earth, earthly? the richest Mines of gold and silver lie deepest in the earth, to shew their base extraction. The soul was made to return to heaven, and it is capable of heavenly things: great pity that such a rich treasure should fall to be the portion of Devils: he is no gainer, that loseth an heavenly treasure for the gaining of an earthly.
2. There is no comparison between life and death: all things desire life, and abhor death: thy soul is a living spirit, that gives life to thy body; and the continuance of it, is the continuance of thy life: all the things in the world are dead things, they can neither give life, nor continue life: Is not thy life more then meat, and thy body more then raiment? A living Dogg, saith Solomon, is better then a dead Lion: a living Beggar is better then a dead Nobleman: surely then, a living soul, is better then a world of dead things, than thousands of gold and silver; the loss of one living soul, is more then the gain of a world of de…d things.
3. There is no comparison between the gaining of that which is subject to no loss and chances, and that which is subject to a thousand chances: but thy soul, if it be gained, is not liable to be lost again; it is not exposed to Thieves, moths, rust, canker, corruption, as the gain of the world is. Do we not see how riches are corrupt, garments moth eaten, Gold and Silver cankered, and consumed with rust? God hath many wayes to deprive us of this worlds gain; either the fire shall burn it, or waters drown it, or Thieves rob us of it, or a Son shall riotously waste it, or an unfaithful Servant shall embezz…e and purloin it, or a Suit in Law take it from us: a thousand such like accidents may deprive us, and do and have deprived many of the gain the which they have laboured hard for, and ventured desperately for the gaining thereof. What profit is it to lose a certain soul for such uncertain gain?
4. There is no comparison between that gain, which must and shall perish, being of a perishable nature, and that which cannot perish being incorruptible: now of the gain of this world is corruptible, mu… and will perish in time: St. Peter calls Silver and Gold, corruptible things, 1 Pet 1.18. The whole world is perishable: Heaven and Earth, and all things within the vast embracements of them, are perishable, 2 Pet. 3.11. All these things shall … dissolved: but now thy soul is incorruptible; it cannot, it shall never perish; it is immortal i… shall never die: What the… doth he gain that gaineth mortal and perishable things with the loss of his immortal soul? all the mortal and perishable things in the world cannot make amends for the loss of an immortal soul.
5. What doth he gain that gaineth a momentany thi…g by the loss of an etern…l commodity? …l the ga… you can compass by your labour and diligence, is but for a moment: it is but while you live you shall enjoy it; your life is short, your life is uncertain: this night, this hour they may require thy soul: but admit you should lengthen out your dayes to a thousand years, yet a thousand years is but one day; that space of time is not so much, if compared to eternity: it is but one hour, yea less, it is but a moment: yea less, it is but a small moment; yea it is nothing to eternity: but the gain of thy soul is eternal gain, it runs parallel to eternity, lasting as long as heaven lasteth: Doth that man gain any thing, that gaineth momentany things, & loseth things eternal?
6. What comparison is there in that gain which a man must part with, and shall be separated from, (though he do his utmost to keep it) and that gain which a man shall never part from; and let men, the world, sin and Devils, and all things do their worst, yet they shall never be able to separate a man from this gain, neither here nor hereafter? Labour to gain as much as you can in this world, yet part you must, and shall with all your gain: you shall carry nothing out of the world with you: If when a man dies, and goes out of the world, his gains did go with him: if when they required the soul of the rich fool, they also did require his goods to go with him, and his soul should enjoy his goods, ease, pleasure, honour in another world, there were some profit in gaining the goods of the world, though the soul be lost: but now seeing when a man goeth out of the world, his gains stay behind with him, not one penny of money, or foot of Land, or Degree of Honour goes along with him, what doth he gain? but now the gain of the soul goes along with a man into the world to come; this lives and dies and remains with him to eternity: the worldly gainer when he dies, cries out, Now I lose all, and part with all; but the soul-gainer saith, Now I gain, and shall possess all things.
7. Consider, For what use the gain of the one and of the other is: you shall see that he gains nothing that gaineth the world with the loss of his soul: when a man hath gained the whole world, what doth it serve for? only for the back to cloathe it gorgeously, and the belly to feed it delicately: If there were many worlds for a man to gain, yet he hath but one back and belly to cloath, and feed for a while; and further, he that gaineth all, can use them no more then to see them with his eyes, and keep them in his hands tiil he dies: this is the utmost gain of the greatest gainer in the world: But now the gain of the soul is for higher and more noble and everlasting use: the soul is to enjoy God and heaven, and God and heaven are to enjoy the soul: the soul will make use of God for unspeakable and eternal happiness, and God will make use of the soul that is gained to him to praise and serve him eternally.
8. Consider these two particulars.
1. That man is no gainer at last, that shall repent of his gain that he hath gotten: ye that are greedy of this worlds gain, labour tooth and nail for it; spend your time, strength and life for the gaining it: let it be unto thee according to the desire of thy covetous and worldly heart; yet know that a little before thy death, or within a few hours after thy death, thou shalt repent of all thy labour and gains: thou shalt cry out in the language of the damned souls; O that I had never been rich! Oh that I had been the most wretched beggar in the world! Oh that I had been godly! cursed be the day of my birth! O that I had never been born! Oh cursed be all my labour and industry for the World! Oh ungainful gain! But now, if thou gainest thy soul, thou shalt take everlasting joy in the gain of thy soul, and wilt never repent of thy religious diligence in holy duties and works of salvation: were i… possible for heavenly souls to grieve, they would repent that they did not do more service for God, and give more diligence in working out their eternal salvation: the rich fool repenteth in hell torments, and poor Lazarus rejoyceth in heaven.
2. Consider, How all the gain of th… world will serve only to aggravate you punishment and torment in hell; the mor… your gain, the more will your tormen… be; God will deal unto thy soul doub… according to thy gain. Jam. 5.1, 2, 3 Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl fo… your miseries that shall come upon you: Y… are merry and frollick now, and drea… of nothing but of golden dayes, witho… the thought of any misery to come upo… you; but ye shall shortly weep and ho… with damned Devils. Your riches are co… rupted, your garments are moth eaten, yo… gold and silver is cankered: as wh… should say, What is now become of … your gains? Tis all come to nothing, yo… gold and silver is cankered▪ the rust … them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh with fire: ye have heaped up treasures for the last day, all your gain will witness against you: all your unjust gains, and deceitful bargains will rise up in judgment against you; they will gnaw you like fire, and torment you like fire: you do but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath: so much mony as you hoard up, so much wrath you hoard up for your souls: consider all these things, and then judge whether he be a gainer that wins the world with the loss of his soul.
CHAP. VIII.
BUt here it may be said; Quest. May not a Christian labour for gain? cannot a man gain the world, and gain his soul?
Resp. 1 There is no need to quicken men to labour for gain: We have all experience, how men have insatiable desires of worldly gain; there is more need to limit men in their desires and labours for the things of the world. I shall therefore lay down these particulars.
1. We must labour, and may employ our heads and hands to procure the things of this life: diligence in our particular Callings, is serving of God: idlenesse is a sin, and a root of more sins: God would have Adam labour in the state of Innocency: Paradise was not only a Garden of delight for Adam to take his pleasure in, but of labour also to employ himself therein.
2. We may receive the gain of the world, as the blessing of diligence in our Callings, and as precious fruit dropping from the promises of the things of this life: Abraham's riches did not hinder the salvation of his soul.
3. Though we may receive the gain of the world, and have an eye to it, yet it is not the thing we must chiefly respect; the gain that must be in our eye, thoughts, indeavours, desires, must be the salvation of our souls. This is the undoing of many souls, that men have an eye more to the gain of the world, than to the saving of their souls; and look wholly after outward gain, and never look after the salvation of their souls.
4. In labouring for worldly gain, let your moderation be known to all men; immoderate desires and labours after outward gain are the ruine of precious souls; when men have so much businesse in the world, that they will spare no time to save their souls, and think that time lost that is spent in soul-work: when men drown themselves in the cares of the world, and in worldly labours, they drown their souls in perdition and destruction.
5. You may labour for worldly gain, but yet in subordination to the gain of the soul; first, seek the salvation of your souls, then gain: but men put off the great work of salvation to the last, and so lose their souls; as the foolish Virgins put off seeking Oyl to the last, and so lost their souls.
6. Look that what you gain be justly gotten: un just gain doth not only bring a curse upon a mans estate, but also destruction on his soul: What shall it profit a man, if he gain much by iniquity, and damn his soul? Men are not damned for gaining, but for gaining profits unjustly; their M…mmon is the Mammon of in…quity.
7. If gain flow in upon you, beware of setting your hearts on it: Love not the world, nor the things of the world, 1 John 2.15. Men may have them, but must not love them: it is foreign, the giving up of our affections to the world, is enmity against God. James 4.4. no men more averse from Religion than worldly men: where the love of the world prevails, all love to Gods and mens own souls abates in them.
8. We must so enjoy the gain of the world, that if Christ and his Gospel call us to deny, to forsake it, we must be willing to cast all away, and to cleave to Christ: if we gain, and keep the whole world, and reject Christ, his Gospel, and a good conscience, we shall be no gainers at last: sometimes Christ and the world, the Gospel and the world, a good conscience and the world cometh in competition; to gain the world in such a juncture of time, may prove the loss of your immortal souls: of such, this in my Text is principally spoken; What shall it profit a man, &c.
CHAP. IX. Propos. 3.
THe third Proposition is, That the loss of the soul is the loss of losses.
1. There is no undoing loss but this loss: a man is not undone that loseth his preferments, riches, liberty, life, but he that loseth his soul: when death sends the body to the grave, and the soul to Hell, then a man is undone, and never till then, though like Job he lose all, and be driven from a Palace to lye on a dunghill.
2. Because 'tis an universal loss, a loss of all that is good; other losses are but particular losses: if a man lose his soul, his body is lost with his soul; he loseth God, Christ, Glory, Heaven, and Blessedness: the loss of the soul is nothing else but a separation of the soul from God, from Christ, from Heaven: poena damni, this punishment of loss is the worst part of damnation: the loss of God and of Christ, is more than the loss of our souls: in losing God, we lose an infinite good: our soul is more worth than a world; but God is worth more than thousands of millions of worlds. What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose God? What shall a man give in exchange for God, for Christ, for Heaven? were it only the loss of our souls, it were grievous; but it is the loss of our God also which makes it an inexpressible loss.
3. It is an irrecoverable loss: other losses may be made up again: A man may lose his goods, children, health, and make them up again, as Job did, who recovered all his losses: he was richer in goods, had a numerous issue: he had all what he lost by Caldeans, Sabeans, wind, fire and Devils, made up again: but a lost soul can never be recovered again, nec prece nec pretio; once cast into Hell, and for ever cast into Hell. What the Psalmist saith of life, is as true of the soul. Psal. 49.7. None of them can by any means redeem his Brother, nor give God a ransome for him: the redemption of the soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever. The very Heathen could say, ab inferis nulla redemptio, from Hell there is no redemption. Some have lost their lives, and Christ hath restored them again; but never did he, never will he restore a lost soul: he dyed once, and he will dye no more to save souls; he must be crucified again to save a damned soul. Bellarmine speaks truth in saying, That desperation is part of the torments of the damned, to be in Hell torments without the least hopes of redemption.
4. There is no gain equivalent to repair the loss of the soul: we may lose other things, yet gain something that my be equivalent to what we have lost: Gods providence makes up the loss of goods with the gain of grace, which is equivalent; yea, of far more value than the goods of the world: we may lose our lives; God makes up the loss of life it self, with life eternal; yea, God hath promised to repair our losses an hundred-fold. Mark 10.29, 30. Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left Houses, or Brethren, or Sisters, or Father, or Mother, or Children, or Lands, for my sake and the Gospel, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this life, and in the world to come life eternal. Grace, comfort, assurance of Gods favour, is an hundred-fold better than all this worlds goods, and eternal life is a thousand-fold better than the whole world; but if we lose our souls, there is no gain to be had equivalent to our souls: What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? that is, What thing is there that is equivalent to a soul? What are all the treasures in the world to our souls? yea millions of worlds are a most disproportionable recompence to a lost soul.
5. Because the loss of our souls is not a bare privation, and loss of it which is no other than annihilation, turning the soul into nothing: it were happy for men, if their souls might cease to be when they are lost: no Being is better than a miserable Beeing: it were an happiness if Rocks and Mountains could crush the wicked, that they should never be again: it were well for Atheists that it were according to their thoughts, that there were no God, no Heaven, no Hell; but the loss of their souls is the damnation of their souls to Hell; it is Gods adjudging our souls to burn in flames of fire; every lost soul findeth Hell; men gain the place of torment by the loss of their souls: the soul of the rich glutton is in Hell torments; the Devils lost Heaven, and gained Hell; when men lose their souls, they lose God, and enjoy Devils; they lose Heaven, and gain Hell: they lose joy and happiness, and gain inexpressible and unsupportable torments.
6. 'Tis an eternal loss: eternity makes it to be the loss of losses; were it but for a time, were it but for a thousand years, as Origen fondly and impiously held; this length of time would make the loss of souls great and considerable. Could a man be assured, that he should for some scores of years endure the terrible pains of the Stone and Gout, with any tormenting disease, it would make his stout spirit shrink and quake; but now eternity makes an evil infinite: the loss of a soul being eternal, makes the loss infinite: eternal duration of torments, is the Hell of Hells. Were it possible to us to hear what yellings and howlings a damned loft soul makes, you might hear these sad complaints: Oh when shall I be delivered? what never! Must I be tormented as I am for ever? Oh that I had never been born! Oh that God would make my soul cease to be! Oh that I might not be at all! I would give all the world, had I it, not that I might be happy, but that I might not be at all: but wretched creature that I am, I must for ever burn in Hell: this word for ever, and for ever, tormenteth the soul as much as the fire doth; it gnaweth the conscience as cruelly as the worm doth. Nulla major ac pejor nors, quum ibi non moritur mors: no death is more terrible than an ever-living death, saith St. Augustine.