The body clothing for the soul.
2. The body is called the clothing and the soul that which is clothed therewith. Now, everybody knows that "the body is more than raiment," even carnal sense will teach us this. But read that pregnant place: "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened (that is, with mortal flesh); not for that we should be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (2 Cor 5:4). Thus the greatness of the soul appears in the preference that it hath to the body--the body is its raiment.
We see that, above all creatures, man, because he is the most n.o.ble among all visible ones, has, for the adorning of his body, that more abundant comeliness. "Tis the body of man, not of beast, that is clothed with the richest ornaments. But now what a thing is the soul, that the body itself must be its clothing! No suit of apparel is by G.o.d thought good enough for the soul, but that which is made by G.o.d himself, and that is that curious thing, the body. But oh!
how little is this considered--namely, the greatness of the soul.
"Tis the body, the clothes, the suit of apparel, that our foolish fancies are taken with, not at all considering the richness and excellency of that great and more n.o.ble part, the soul, for which the body is made a mantle to wrap it up in, a garment to clothe it withal. If a man gets a rent in his clothes, it is little in comparison of a rent in his flesh; yea, he comforts himself when he looks on that rent, saying, Thanks be to G.o.d, it is not a rent in my flesh. But ah! on the contrary, how many are there in the world that are more troubled for that they have a rent, a wound, or a disease in the body, than for that they have for the souls that will be lost and cast away. A little rent in the body dejecteth and casteth such down, but they are not at all concerned, though their soul is now, and will yet further be, torn in pieces, "Now consider this, ye that forget G.o.d, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver" (Psa 50:22). But this is the second thing whereby, or by which, the greatness of the soul appears--to wit, in that the body, that excellent piece of G.o.d"s workmanship, is but a garment, or clothing for the soul.
The body a vessel for the soul.
3. The body is called a vessel, or a case, for the soul to be put and kept in. "That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctifcation and honour" (1 Thess 4:4). The apostle here doth exhort the people to abstain from fornication, which, in another place, he saith, "...is a sin against the body" (1 Cor 6:18). And here again he saith, "This is the will of G.o.d, that ye should abstain from fornication:" that the body be not defiled, "that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour." His vessel, his earthen vessel, as he calls it in another place--for "we have this treasure in earthen vessels." Thus, then, the body is called a vessel; yea, every man"s body is his vessel. But what has G.o.d prepared this vessel for, and what has He put into it? Why, many things this body is to be a vessel for, but at present G.o.d has put into it that curious thing, the soul. Cabinets, that are very rich and costly things of themselves, are not made nor designed to be vessels to be stuffed or filled with trumpery, and things of no value; no, these are prepared for rings and jewels, for pearls, for rubies, and things that are choice. And if so, what shall we then think of the soul for which is prepared, and that of G.o.d, the most rich and excellent vessel in the world?
Surely it must be a thing of worth, yea, of more worth than is the whole world besides. But alas! who believes this talk? Do not even the most of men so set their minds upon, and so admire, the glory of this case or vessel, that they forget once with seriousness to think, and, therefore, must of necessity be a great way off, of those suitable esteems that becomes them to have of their souls.
But oh, since this vessel, this cabinet, this body, is so curiously made, and that to receive and contain, what thing is that for which G.o.d has made this vessel, and what is that soul that He hath put into it? Wherefore thus, in the third place, is the greatness of the soul made manifest, even by the excellency of the vessel, the body, that G.o.d has made to put it in.
The body a tabernacle of the soul.
4. The body is called a tabernacle for the soul. "Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle" (2 Pet 1:14), that is, my body, "by death" (John 21:18,19). "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of G.o.d," etc.
(2 Cor 5:1). In both these places, by "tabernacle," can be meant nothing but the body; wherefore both the apostles, in these sentences do personate their souls, and speak as if the soul was THE ALL of a man; yea, they plainly tell us, that the body is but the house, clothes, vessel, and tabernacle for the soul. But what a famous thing therefore is the soul!
The tabernacle of old was a place erected for worship, but the worshippers were more excellent than the place; so our body is a tabernacle for the soul to worship G.o.d in, but must needs be accounted much inferior to the soul, forasmuch as the worshippers are always of more honour than the place they worship in; as he that dwelleth in the tabernacle hath more honour than the tabernacle.8 "I serve," says Paul, G.o.d and Christ Jesus "with my spirit (or soul) in the gospel" (Rom 1:9), but not with his spirit out of, but in, this tabernacle. The tabernacle had instruments of worship for the worshippers; so has the body for the soul, and we are bid to "yield our members as instruments of righteousness to G.o.d" (Rom 6:13). The hands, feet, ears, eyes, and tongue, which last is our glory when used right, are all of them instruments of this tabernacle, and to be made use of by the soul, the inhabiter of this tabernacle, for the soul"s performance of the service of G.o.d. I thus discourse, to show you the greatness of the soul. And, in mine opinion, there is something, if not very much, in what I say. For all men admire the body, both for its manner of building, and the curious way of its being compacted together. Yes, the further men, wise men, do pry into the wonderful work of G.o.d that is put forth in framing the body, the more still they are made to admire; and yet, as I said, this body is but a house, a mantle, a vessel, a tabernacle for the soul. What, then, is the soul itself?9 But thus much for the first particular.
[Other things that show the greatness of the soul.]
Second, We will now come to other things that show us the greatness of the soul. And,
The soul is called G.o.d"s breath.
1. It is called G.o.d"s breath of life. "And the Lord G.o.d formed man," that is, the body, "of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7). Do but compare these two together, the body and the soul; the body is made of dust, the soul is the breath of G.o.d.
Now, if G.o.d hath made this body so famous, as indeed He has, and yet it is made but of the dust of the ground, and we all do know what inferior matter it is, what is the soul, since the body is not only its house and garment, but since itself is made of the breath of G.o.d? But, further, it is not only said that the soul is of the breath of the Lord, but that the Lord breathed into him the breath of life--to wit, a living spirit, for so the next words infer--and "man became a living soul." Man, that is, the more excellent part of him, which, for that which is princ.i.p.al, is called man, that bearing the denomination of the whole; or man, the spirit and natural power, by which, as a reasonable creature, the whole of him is acted, "became a living soul." But I stand not here upon definition, but upon demonstration. The body, that n.o.ble part of man, had its original from the dust; for so says the Word, "Dust thou art (as to thy body), and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen 3:19). But as to thy more n.o.ble part, thou art from the breath of G.o.d, G.o.d putting forth in that a mighty work of creating power, and man "was made a living soul" (1 Cor 15:45). Mark my reason. There is as great a disparity betwixt the body and the soul, as is between the dust of the ground and that, here called, the breath of life of the Lord. And note further, that, as the dust of the ground did not lose, but gained glory by being formed into the body of a man, so this breath of the Lord lost nothing neither by being made a living soul. O man! dost thou know what thou art?
The soul G.o.d"s image.
2. As the soul is said to be of the breath of G.o.d, so it is said to be made after G.o.d"s own image, even after the similitude of G.o.d.
"And G.o.d said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.--So G.o.d created man in His own image, in the image of G.o.d created He him" (Gen 1:26,27). Mark, in His own image, in the image of G.o.d created He him; or, as James hath it, it is "made after the similitude of G.o.d," (James 3:9); like Him, having in it that which beareth semblance with Him. I do not read of anything in heaven, or earth, or under the earth, that is said to be made after this manner, or that is at all so termed, save only the Son of G.o.d Himself.
The angels are n.o.ble creatures, and for present employ are made a little higher than man himself, (Heb 2); but that any of them are said to be made "after G.o.d"s image," after His own image, even after the similitude of G.o.d, that I find not. This character the Holy Ghost, in the Scriptures of truth, giveth only of man, of the soul of man; for it must not be thought that the body is here intended in whole or in part. For though it be said that Christ was made after the similitude of sinful flesh (Phil 2), yet it is not said that sinful flesh is made after the similitude of G.o.d; but I will not dispute; I only bring these things to show how great a thing, how n.o.ble a thing the soul is; in that, at its creation, G.o.d thought it worthy to be made, not like the earth, or the heavens, or the angels, seraphims, or archangels, but like Himself, His own self, saying, "Let Us make man in Our own likeness. So He made man in His own image." This, I say, is a character above all angels; for, as the apostle said, "To which of the angels said He at anytime, "Thou art my Son?" So, of which of them hath He at any time said, This is, or shall be, made in or after Mine image, Mine own image?
O what a thing is the soul of man, that above all the creatures in heaven or earth, being made in the image and similitude of G.o.d.10
The soul G.o.d"s desire.
3. Another thing by which the greatness of the soul is made manifest is this, it is that--and that only, and to say this is more than to say, it is that above all the creatures--that the great G.o.d desires communion with. He "hath set apart him that is G.o.dly for himself," (Psa 4:3); that is, for communion with his soul; therefore the spouse saith concerning him, "His desire is toward me," (Song 7:10); and, therefore, he saith again, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them" (2 Cor 6:16). To "dwell in," and "walk in," are terms that intimate communion and fellowship; as John saith, "Our fellowship, truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). That is, our soul-fellowship; for it must not be understood of the body, though I believe that the body is much influenced when the soul has communion with G.o.d; but it is the soul, and that only, that at present is capable of having and maintaining of this blessed communion. But, I say, what a thing is this, that G.o.d, the great G.o.d, should choose to have fellowship and communion with the soul above all. We read, indeed, of the greatness of the angels, and how near also they are unto G.o.d; but yet there are not such terms that bespeak such familiar acts between G.o.d and angels, as to demonstrate that they have such communion with G.o.d as has, or as the souls of His people may have. Where has He called them His love, His dove, His fair one? and where, when He speaketh of them, doth He express a communion that they have with Him by the similitude of conjugal love? I speak of what is revealed; the secret things belong to the Lord our G.o.d. Now by all this is manifest the greatness of the soul. Men of greatness and honour, if they have respect to their own glory, will not choose for their familiars the base and rascally crew of this world; but will single out for their fellows, fellowship, and communion, those that are most like themselves. True, the King has not an equal, yet He is for being familiar only with the n.o.bles of the land: so G.o.d, with Him none can compare; yet since the soul is by Him singled out for His walking mate and companion, it is a sign it is the highest born, and that upon which the blessed Majesty looks, as upon that which is most meet to be singled out for communion with Himself.
Should we see a man familiar with the King, we would, even of ourselves, conclude he is one of the n.o.bles of the land; but this is not the lot of every soul--some have fellowship with devils, yet not because they have a more base original than those that lie in G.o.d"s bosom, but they, through sin, are degenerate, and have chosen to be great with His enemy--but all these things show the greatness of the soul.
The soul a vessel for grace.
4. The soul of men are such as G.o.d counts worthy to be the vessels to hold His grace, the graces of the Spirit, in. The graces of the Spirit--what like them, or where here are they to be found, save in the souls of men only? "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). Received, into what? into "the hidden part," as David calls it (Psa 51:6). Hence the king"s daughter is said to be "all glorious within," (Psa 45:15); because adorned and beautified with the graces of the Spirit. For that which David calls the hidden part is the inmost part of the soul; and it is, therefore, called the hidden part, because the soul is invisible, nor can any one living infallibly know what is in the soul but G.o.d Himself. But, I say, the soul is the vessel into which this golden oil is poured, and that which holds, and is accounted worthy to exercise and improve the same. Therefore the soul is it which is said to love G.o.d--"Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" (Song 3:3); and, therefore, the soul is that which exerciseth the spirit of prayer--"With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early" (Isa 26:9). With the soul also men are said to believe and into the soul G.o.d is said to put His fear. This is the vessel into which the virgins got oil, and out of which their lamps were supplied by the same. But what a thing, what a great thing therefore is the soul, that that above all things that G.o.d hath created should be the chosen vessel to put His grace in. The body is the vessel for the soul, and the soul is the vessel for the grace of G.o.d. But,
5. The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the price that Christ paid for it, to make it an heir of glory; and that was His precious blood (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18,19). We do use to esteem of things according to the price that is given for them, especially when we are convinced that the purchase has not been made by the estimation of a fool. Now the soul is purchased by a price that the Son, the wisdom of G.o.d, thought fit to pay for the redemption thereof--what a thing, then, is the soul? Judge of the soul by the price that is paid for it, and you must needs confess, unless you count the blood that hath bought it an unholy thing, that it cannot but be of great worth and value. Suppose a prince, or some great man, should, on a sudden, descend from his throne, or chair of state, to take up, that he might put in his bosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the feet of those that stand by; would you think that he would do this for an old horse shoe,11 or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point?
12 Nay, would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing for which the prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop, must needs be a thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case of Christ and the soul. Christ is the prince, His throne was in heaven, and, as He sat there, He espied the souls of sinners trampled under the foot of the law and death for sin. Now, what doth He, but comes down from His throne, stoops down to the earth, and there, since He could not have the trodden-down souls without price, He lays down His life and blood for them (2 Cor 8:9). But would He have done this for inconsiderable things? No, nor for the souls of sinners neither, had He not valued them higher than he valued heaven and earth besides. 13 This, therefore, is another thing by which the greatness of the soul is known.
The soul immortal.
6. The soul is immortal, it will have a sensible being for ever, none can kill the soul (Luke 12:4; Matt 10:28). If all the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, should lay all their strength together, they cannot kill or annihilate one soul. No, I will speak without fear, if it may be said, G.o.d cannot do what He will not do; then He cannot annihilate the soul: but, notwithstanding all His wrath, and the vengeance that He will inflict on sinful souls, they yet shall abide with sensible beings, yet to endure, yet to bear punishment. If anything could kill the soul, it would be death; but death cannot do it, neither first nor second; the first cannot, for when Dives was slain, as to his body by death, his soul was found alive in h.e.l.l--"He lift up his eyes in h.e.l.l, being in torment" (Luke 16:23). The second death cannot do it, because it is said their worm never dies, but is always torturing them with his gnawing (Mark 9:44). But that could not be, if time, or lying in h.e.l.l fire for ever, could annihilate the soul. Now, this also shows the greatness of the soul, that it is that which has an endless life, and that will, therefore, have a being endlessly. O what a thing is the soul!
The soul, then, is immortal, though not eternal. That is eternal that has neither beginning nor end, and, therefore, eternal is properly applicable to none but G.o.d; hence He is called the "eternal G.o.d"
(Deu 33:27). Immortal is that which, though it hath a beginning, yet hath no end, it cannot die, nor cease to be; and this is the state of the soul. It cannot cease to have a being when it is once created; I mean, a living, sensible being. For I mean by living, only such a being as distinguishes it from annihilation or incapableness of sense and feeling. Hence, as the rich man is after death said to "lift up his eyes in h.e.l.l," so the beggar is said, when he died, to be "carried by the angels, into Abraham"s bosom" (Luke 16:22,23).
And both these sayings must have respect to the souls of these men; for, as for their bodies, we know at present it is otherwise with them. The grave is their house, and so must be till the trumpet shall sound, and the heavens pa.s.s away like a scroll. Now, I say, the immortality of the soul shows the greatness of it, as the eternity of G.o.d shows the greatness of G.o.d. It cannot be said of any angel but that he is immortal, and so it is, and ought to be said of the soul. This, therefore, shows the greatness of the soul, in that it is as to abiding so like unto him.
"Tis the soul that acts the body.
7. But a word or two more, and so to conclude this head. The soul!--why, it is the soul that acteth the body in all these things, good or bad, that seem good and reasonable, or amazingly wicked.
True, the acts and motions of the soul are only seen and heard in, and by the members and motions of the body, but the body is but a poor instrument, soul is the great agitator and actor. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). All those famous arts, and works, and inventions of works, that are done by men under heaven, they are all the intentions of the soul, and the body, as acting and labouring therein, doth it but as a tool that the soul maketh use of to bring his invention into maturity (Eccl 7:29).
How many things have men found out to the amazing of one another, to the wonderment of one another, to the begetting of endless commendations of one another in the world, while, in the meantime, the soul, which indeed is the true inventor of all, is overlooked, not regarded, but dragged up and down by every l.u.s.t, and prostrate, and made a slave to every silly and beastly thing. O the amazing darkness that hath covered the face of the hearts of the children of men, that they cannot deliver their soul, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isa 44:20), though they are so cunning in all other matters. Take man in matters that are abroad, and far from home, and he is the mirror of all the world; but take him at home, and put him upon things that are near him, I mean, that have respect to the things that concern his soul, and then you will find him the greatest fool that ever G.o.d made. But this must not be applied to the soul simply as it is G.o.d"s creature, but to the soul sinful, as it has willingly apostatized from G.o.d, and so suffered itself to be darkened, and that with such thick and stupifying darkness, that it is bound up and cannot--it hath a napkin of sin bound so close before its eyes that it is not able--of itself--to look to, and after those things which should be its chiefest concern, and without which it will be most miserable for ever.
The soul capable of having to do with invisibles.
8. Further, as the soul is thus curious about arts and sciences, and about every excellent thing of this life, so it is capable of having to do with invisibles, with angels, good or bad, yea, with the highest and Supreme Being, even with the holy G.o.d of heaven. I told you before that G.o.d sought the soul of man to have it for His companion; and now I tell you that the soul is capable of communion with Him, when the darkness that sin hath spread over its face is removed. The soul is an intelligent power, it can be made to know and understand depths, and heights, and lengths, and breadths, in those high, sublime, and spiritual mysteries that only G.o.d can reveal and teach; yea, it is capable of diving unutterably into them.
And herein is G.o.d, the G.o.d of glory, much delighted and pleased--to wit, that He hath made Himself a creature that is capable of hearing, of knowing, and of understanding of His mind, when opened and revealed to it. I think I may say, without offence to G.o.d or man, that one reason why G.o.d made the world was, that He might manifest Himself, not only by, but to the works which He made; but, I speak with reverence, how could that be, if He did not also make some of His creatures capable of apprehending of Him in those most high mysteries and methods in which He purposed to reveal Himself?
But then, what are those creatures which He hath made (unto whom when these things are shown) that are able to take them in and understand them, and so to improve them to G.o.d"s glory, as He hath ordained and purposed they should, but souls? for none else in the visible world are capable of doing this but they. And hence it is that to them, and them only, He beginneth to reveal Himself in this world. And hence it is that they, and they only, are gathered up to Him where He is, for they are they that are called "the spirits of just men made perfect," (Heb 12:23); the spirit of a beast goeth downward to the earth, it is the spirit of a man that goes upwards to G.o.d that gave it (Eccl 3:21;12:7). For that, and that only, is capable of beholding and understanding the glorious visions of heaven; as Christ said, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which thou hast given Me; for thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). And thus the greatness of the soul is manifest. True, the body is also gathered up into glory, but not simply for its own sake, or because that is capable of itself to know and understand the glories of its Maker; but that has been a companion with the soul in this world, has also been its house, its mantle, its cabinet and tabernacle here; it has also been it by which the soul hath acted, in which it hath wrought, and by which its excellent appearances have been manifested; and it shall also there be its co-partner and sharer in its glory. Wherefore, as the body here did partake of soul excellencies, and was also conformed to its spiritual and regenerate principles; so it shall be hereafter a partaker of that glory with which the soul shall be filled, and also be made suitable by that glory to become a partaker and co-partner with it of the eternal excellencies which heaven will put upon it. In this world it is a gracious soul (I speak now of the regenerate), and in that world it shall be a glorious one. In this world the body was conformable to the soul as it was gracious, and in that world it shall be conformable to it as it is glorious; conformable, I say, by partaking of that glory that then the soul shall partake of; yea, it shall also have an additional glory to adorn, and make it yet the more capable of being serviceable to it, and with it in its great acts before G.o.d in eternal glory. Oh, what great things are the souls of the sons of men!
The soul capable of diving into the depths and mysteries of h.e.l.l.
9. But again, as the soul is thus capable of enjoying G.o.d in glory, and of prying into these mysteries that are in him, so it is capable, with great profundity, to dive into the mysterious depths of h.e.l.l.
h.e.l.l is a place and state utterly unknown to any in this visible world, excepting the souls of men; nor shall any for ever be capable of understanding the miseries thereof, save souls and fallen angels.
Now, I think, as the joys of heaven stand not only in speculation, or in beholding of glory, but in a sensible enjoyment and unspeakable pleasure which those glories will yield to the soul (Psa 16:11), so the torments of h.e.l.l will not stand in the present lashes and strokes which by the flames of eternal fire G.o.d will scourge the unG.o.dly with; but the torments of h.e.l.l stand much, if not in the greatest part of them, in those deep thoughts and apprehensions, which souls in the next world will have of the nature and occasions of sin; of G.o.d, and of separation from Him; of the eternity of those miseries, and of the utter impossibility of their help, ease, or deliverance for ever. O! d.a.m.ned souls will have thoughts that will clash with glory, clash with justice, clash with law, clash with itself, clash with h.e.l.l, and with the everlastingness of misery; but the point, the edge, and the poison of all these thoughts will still be galling, and dropping, and spewing out their stings into the sore, grieved, wounded, and fretted place, which is the conscience, though not the conscience only; for I may say of the souls in h.e.l.l, that they all over are but one wound, one sore! Miseries as well as mercies sharpen and make quick the apprehensions of the soul.
Behold Spira in his book, 14 Cain in his guilt, and Saul with the witch of Endor, and you shall see men ripened, men enlarged and greatened in their fancies, imaginations, and apprehensions though not about G.o.d, and heaven, and glory, yet about their loss, their misery, and their woe, and their h.e.l.ls (Isa 33:14; Psa 1:4; Rev 14:10; Mark 9:44,46).
The ability of the soul to bear.
10. Nor doth their ability to bear, if it be proper to say they bear those dolors which there for ever they shall endure, a little demonstrate their greatness. Everlasting burning, devouring fire, perpetual pains, gnawing worms, utter darkness, and the ireful souls, face, and strokes of Divine and infinite justice will not, cannot, make this soul extinct, as I said before. I think it is not so proper to say the soul that is d.a.m.ned for sin doth bear these things, as to say it doth ever sink under them: and, therefore, their place of torment is called the bottomless pit, because they are ever sinking, and shall never come there where they will find any stay. Yet they live under wrath, but yet only so as to be sensible of it, as to smart and be in perpetual anguish, by reason of the intolerableness of their burden. But doth not their thus living, abiding, and retaining a being(or what you will call it), demonstrate the greatness and might of the soul? Alas! heaven and earth are short of this greatness, for these, though under less judgment by far, do fade and wax old like a moth-eaten garment, and, in their time, will vanish away to nothing (Heb 1).
Also, we see how quickly the body, when the soul is under a fear of the rebukes of justice, how soon, I say, it wastes, moulders away, and crumbleth into the grave; but the soul is yet strong, and abides sensible to be dealt withal for sin by everlasting burnings.
The might of the soul further shown.
11. The soul, by G.o.d"s ordinance, while this world lasts, has a time appointed it to forsake and leave the body to be turned again to the dust as it was, and this separation is made by death, (Heb 9:27); therefore the body must cease for a time to have sense, or life, or motion; and a little thing brings it now into this state; but in the next world, the wicked shall partake of none of this; for the body and the soul being at the resurrection rejoined, this death, that once did rend them asunder, is for ever overcome and extinct; so that these two which lived in sin must for ever be yoked together in h.e.l.l. Now, there the soul being joined to the body, and death, which before did separate them, being utterly taken away, the soul retains not only its own being, but also continueth the body to be, and to suffer sensibly the pains of h.e.l.l, without those decays that it used to sustain.
And the reason why this death shall then be taken away is, because justice in its bestowing its rewards for transgressions may not be interrupted, but that body and soul, as they lived and acted in sin together, might be destroyed for sin in h.e.l.l together (Matt 10:28 Luke 12:5). Destroyed, I say, but with such a destruction, which, though it is everlasting, will not put a period to their sensible suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (2 Thess 1:8,9).
This death, therefore, though that also be the wages of sin, would now, were it suffered to continue, be a hinderance to the making known of the wrath of G.o.d, and also of the created power and might of the soul. (1.) It would hinder the making known of the wrath of G.o.d, for it would take the body out of the way, and make it incapable of sensible suffering for sin, and so removing one of the objects of vengeance the power of G.o.d"s wrath would be so far undiscovered. (2.) It would also hinder the manifestation of the power and might of the soul, which is discovered much by its abiding to retain its own being while the wrath of G.o.d is grappling with it, and more by its continuing to the body a sensible being with itself.
Death, therefore, must now be removed, that the soul may be made the object of wrath without molestation or interruption. That the soul, did I say? yea, that soul and body both might be so. Death would now be a favour, though once the fruit of sin, and also the wages thereof, might it now be suffered to continue, because it would ease the soul of some of its burden: for a tormented body cannot but be a burden to a spirit, and so the wise man insinuates when he says, "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity;" that is, bear up under it, but yet so as that it feels it a burden. We see that, because of the sympathy that is between body and soul, how one is burdened if the other be grieved. A sick body is a burden to the soul, and a wounded spirit is a burden to the body; "a wounded spirit who can bear?" (Prov 18:14). But death must not remove this burden, but the soul must have the body for a burden, and the body must have the soul for a burden, and both must have the wrath of G.o.d for a burden. Oh, therefore, here will be burden upon burden, and all upon the soul, for the soul will be the chief seat of this burden! But thus much to show you the greatness of the soul.
[OF THE LOSS OF THE SOUL.]
THIRD, I shall now come to the third thing which was propounded to be spoken to; and that is, to show you what we are to understand by losing of the soul, or what the loss of the soul is--"What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
[He that loseth his soul loseth himself.]
First, The loss of the soul is a loss, in the nature of it, peculiar to itself. There is no such loss, as to the nature of loss, as is the loss of the soul; for that he that hath lost his soul has lost himself. In all other losses, it is possible for a man to save himself, but he that loseth his soul, loseth himself--"For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself?"
(Luke 9:25). Wherefore, the loss of the soul is a loss that cannot be paralleled. He that loseth himself, loseth his all, his lasting all; for himself is his all--his all in the most comprehensive sense. What mattereth it what a man gets, if by the getting thereof he loseth himself? Suppose a man goeth to the Indies for gold, and he loadeth his ship therewith; but at his return, that sea that carried him thither swallows him up--now, what has he got? But this is but a lean similitude with reference to the matter in hand--to wit, to set forth the loss of the soul. Suppose a man that has been at the Indies for gold should, at his return, himself be taken by them of Algiers, and there made a slave of, and there be hunger-bit, and beaten till his bones are broken, 15 what has he got? what is he advantaged by his rich adventure? Perhaps, you will say, he has got gold enough to obtain his ransom. Indeed this may be; and therefore no similitude can be found that can fully amplify the matter, "for what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" "Tis a loss that standeth by itself, there is not another like it, or unto which it may be compared. "Tis only like itself--"tis singular, "tis the chief of all losses--the highest, the greatest loss. "For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" A man may lose his wife, his children, his estate, his liberty, and his life, and have all made up again, and have all restored with advantage, and may, therefore, notwithstanding all these losses, be far enough off from losing of himself. (Luke 14:26; Mark 8:35). For he may lose his life, and save it; yea, sometimes the only way to save that, is to lose it; but when a man has lost himself, his soul, then all is gone to all intents and purposes. There is no word says, "he that loses his soul shall save it;" but contrariwise, the text supposeth that a man has lost his soul, and then demands if any can answer it--"What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" All, then, that he gains that loseth his soul is only this, he has gained a loss, he has purchased the loss of losses, he has nothing left him now but his loss, but the loss of himself, of his whole self.