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<DATE>2013-03-20</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">53298958</BIBNO>
<VID>179741</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>THE Great Soul OF MAN, OR, The Soul in its likene&s;s to God, its Nature, Opera|tions, and everla&s;ting State DISCOURSED. By <HI>Tho. Beverley.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>William Grantham,</HI> at the <HI>Black Bear</HI> in S. <HI>Pauls</HI> Church|yard, 1675.</P>
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>THE Di&s;cour&s;e of a Soul may be cen|&s;ured a Nicety by &s;ome, who think all expence of Time and Pains, for the refining Mens Intel|lectuals in Religious Mat|ters, a wa&s;te and prodigality; either from &s;loth and &s;tupidi|ty, which having &s;ei&s;ed upon them, they lay them&s;elves
<PB REF="3"> down upon <HI>the fir&s;t Rudi|ments of the Doctrine of Chri&s;t,</HI> and re&s;olving them|&s;elves to &s;tick there, are an|gry with all that endeavour <HI>to go on to Perfection,</HI> as making too much ado, and a|&s;piring to be <HI>over-wi&s;e,</HI> not remembring the &s;evere re|proof upon tho&s;e, who, not|with&s;tanding their &s;tanding in the Profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tia|nity, are &s;till &s;uch <HI>as have need of Milk, and not of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 5. 12, 13, 14.</NOTE> <HI>&s;trong Meat, through the not exerci&s;ing their &s;en&s;es to di&s;cern betwixt Good and Evil.</HI></P>
<P>Or el&s;e in others it ari&s;es
<PB REF="3"> from the little love and regard they bear to Religion, and a &s;e|cret favour for Athei&s;m, upon which they de&s;ign to keep all Divine Things under as gro&s;s and cour&s;e Repre&s;enta|tions as may be, that &s;o they may take advantage again&s;t them, as if they were of the &s;ame Leaven <HI>with Mahome|tane or Popi&s;h</HI> Fictions.</P>
<P>To this purpo&s;e they are carried with great vehemency again&s;t the whole nature of Spirit, and particularly a|gainst the Soul of man, as a di&s;tinct Being from the Body; well knowing the Doctrine of a Future State, is both a&s;cer|tained
<PB REF="4"> and ennobled from a clear under&s;tanding, and a&s;|&s;urance of &s;uch a Spirit; whereas on the other &s;ide, by wrapping up all in Body, that Future State becomes Bodily, and Material al&s;o, and &s;o the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of it may be blown off, as plea&s;ant Tales or frightful Stories; for the Body &s;o plainly mouldring into Du&s;t and Rottenne&s;s, it ea&s;ily becomes a matter of greate&s;t incertainty, whether ever it &s;hall ri&s;e again, or not.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, how doth it dero|gate from the Glory and Cer|tainty of the Divine Being, when for the denying the &s;pi|rituality
<PB REF="4"> of Mans Soul, all things are plunged down into the thick Matter, and the Nature of Spirit deemed an aiery and phanta&s;tick, or downright, an incompo&s;&s;ible Notion; &s;o that hereby <HI>all foundations are de&s;troyed:</HI></P>
<P>But now if the Soul of Man be, as particularly as may be, under&s;tood, and rea|&s;oned into, in its Faculties and Operations; if its im|mortality, and continuing life and motion, after it leaves the Body be clearly a&s;&s;erted, and upon as great moments of Argument, as can be de&s;ired, be demon&s;trated; if its &s;enti|ments
<PB REF="5"> of <HI>Good and Evil,</HI> its apprehen&s;ions of a Supreme Ju&s;tice be &s;o illu&s;trated, that they may be even felt and per|ceived within us, &s;o that they can be no more denyed, than the &s;everal impre&s;&s;ions made upon the Body; if what the Scripture in great conde&s;cen|tion ve&s;ts under &s;uch Symbols, as that it may &s;trike common Imagination, and alarm the mo&s;t vulgar apprehen&s;ion, be by a Compare of Scripture with it &s;elf, and the u&s;e of manly Rea&s;on, &s;ublimated to its true &s;piritual intention, there will ari&s;e from all this a daily im|provement of Divine Know|ledge
<PB REF="5"> and &V;nder&s;tanding; a &s;ub&s;tantial &s;en&s;e and a&s;&s;urance of the Supreme Spirit and his Being; livelie&s;t fore-thoughts, &s;tronge&s;t a&s;&s;urances of a Fu|ture State, and con&s;equently, the mo&s;t powerful engage|ments to <HI>lay hold upon Eter|nal life, and to fly from the wrath that is to come,</HI> which are tho&s;e two immen&s;e Globes of the Future State, or the World to come. To which ends this following Di&s;cour&s;e is en|deavoured; and that it may be ble&s;&s;ed by God with &s;ucce&s;s is the Prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>T. BEVERLEY.</SIGNED>
<PB REF="6"></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="6">
<HEAD>The omi&s;&s;ion of di&s;tributing this Treati&s;e into &s;everal Chapters, is &s;upplyed by the following Table.</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<HEAD>The HEADS of this TREATISE.</HEAD>
<ROW>
<CELL>THE Introduction.</CELL>
<CELL><HI>pag.</HI> 1</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of Invi&s;ible Beings, and the proof of them.</CELL>
<CELL>11</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Soul, a Spirit di&s;tinct from the Body.</CELL>
<CELL>41</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Nature of a Spirit preci&s;ely con|&s;idered.</CELL>
<CELL>76</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Souls Activity and Self-Mo|tion.</CELL>
<CELL>81</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Souls Immortality.</CELL>
<CELL>84</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Souls Self-communication, and &s;o being an &V;nder&s;tanding.</CELL>
<CELL>96</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Souls likene&s;s to God in its Pui&s;&s;ance.</CELL>
<CELL>115</CELL>
</ROW>
<PB REF="7">
<ROW>
<CELL>Of Eternity, and the Souls participa|tion of it.</CELL>
<CELL>156</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Soul con&s;idered di&s;tinctly in its Intellectual Powers.</CELL>
<CELL>184</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Soul con&s;idered in the Activity of its Powers.</CELL>
<CELL>219</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Of the Soul of Man, the true &s;eat of Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery, pre&s;ent and everla&s;ting.</CELL>
<CELL>235</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Practical Conclu&s;ions ari&s;ing from the whole Di&s;cour&s;e.</CELL>
<CELL>296</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>A Brief Inference concerning the Re|&s;urrection.</CELL>
<CELL>308</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 13. line 26. read <HI>Rind of Matter.</HI> p. 57. l. 10. after <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> read in <HI>regard of their Souls.</HI> l. 12. for <HI>thus</HI> read <HI>that.</HI> l. 16. for <HI>returning</HI> read <HI>returns.</HI> p. 229. l. 6. for <HI>contracting</HI> read <HI>contrasting.</HI> p. 250. l. 7. blot <HI>yet.</HI> p. 225. l. 26. read <HI>Cariere.</HI> p. 275. l. 9. for <HI>another</HI> read <HI>others.</HI></P>
<PB REF="8">
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="tract">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>THE Great Soul OF MAN.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>Job 32. 8.</BIBL>
<Q><HI>There is a</HI> Spirit <HI>in Man, and the</HI> In&s;piration <HI>or</HI> Breathing <HI>of the</HI> Almighty <HI>giveth them</HI> Under|&s;tanding.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>IT is a great Subject; <HI>The Soul of Man,</HI> and the whole e&s;tate of it, <HI>Now</HI> and <HI>for Ever;</HI> of which we have &s;o dark and confu&s;ed apprehen&s;ions, that we can ex|pre&s;s very little clearly: Darkne&s;s of Conception i&s;&s;ues it &s;elf into Dark|ne&s;s of Expre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>For the forming of the apprehen&s;i|ons of the Mind, the Dictates and Re&s;ults of our Rea&s;on, into clear and eloquent expre&s;&s;ion, fit to in&s;truct and
<PB N="2" REF="9"> per&s;wade, is a gift of the Divine Wi&s;|dom and Goodne&s;s, in appendage to our Rea&s;on, and it much follows the &s;tate and degree of our Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t the <HI>wi&s;dom of God</HI> &s;pake <HI>as never man &s;pake.</HI> The <HI>Tongue of An|gels</HI> excels even as the <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding of Angels.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Adam</HI> under&s;tanding the natures of the Creatures, and fully comprehend|ing them, gave them fit names, and &s;uch as carried the Images and very pre&s;ences of things imprinted upon them, as &s;ome &s;ounds now create the words that &s;ignifie them.</P>
<P>Since &s;o great a ruine of our natures in him, as our Rea&s;on is much declin|ed and degraded, &s;o is al&s;o our Elo|quence. For though words, becau&s;e they are known &amp; agreed upon to &s;ig|nifie &s;uch and &s;uch things, call the mind to the con&s;ideration of tho&s;e things; and the more advantagiou&s;ly they are put together, the more they prevail; yet tho&s;e words, and our contexture of them are as much beneath the primi|tive Eloquence, as the Under&s;tand|ings of men now fall below the wi&s;|dom of Innocency.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s, &s;till according to the
<PB N="3" REF="9"> Readvancement of the Under&s;tanding, &s;o the Faculty of Di&s;cour&s;e ri&s;es al&s;o.</P>
<P><HI>Solomon</HI> in his Wi&s;dom and clear Under&s;tanding, &s;poke with Grandeur of whole Nature, <HI>from the Cedar in Lebanon</HI> down to the <HI>Hy&s;&s;ope that grows upon the Wall;</HI> and of all Pi|ety and Morality, in words of greate&s;t acceptance and recommendation.</P>
<P>And proportionable have been the Di&s;cour&s;es and Writings of the Men of Great Name for Learning and Know|ledge in every Age.</P>
<P>But in nothing is the Faculty of Di|&s;cour&s;e more maim'd and imperfect, than in Things of a Nature &s;piritual and retired from Body; and more e&s;pecially as they are Divine, and re|late to God: Becau&s;e the knowledge of the Things them&s;elves is mo&s;t lo&s;t, and the Under&s;tanding &s;o cramp'd concerning them.</P>
<P>To be able therefore in &s;uch Trea|ties to &s;peak &s;o, as to <HI>compare Spiri|tual things with Spiritual,</HI> that is, to ob&s;erve the <HI>Decorum</HI> Spiritual Things require to be &s;poken with, there is ne|ce&s;&s;ary the Divine Revelation of Scri|pture, and the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Holy Spirit: For &s;o to &s;peak is that <HI>Divine</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="10"> <HI>&V;tterance, or Elocution,</HI> which the Apo&s;tle joins with Knowledge, and magnifies as an <HI>Act of Grace</HI> to Fallen man in order to his Recovery, deri|ved from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the re&s;torer of Humane Nature, and is in various degrees di&s;tributed to the profe&s;&s;ors of Chri&s;tianity, and conveyed to them in the diligent Exerci&s;e of them&s;elves in Sacred Writings.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Dulne&s;s and Inattentivene&s;s of Hearers makes things hard to be in|terpreted, e&s;pecially things of great Retreat from ordinary Apprehen&s;ion. We cannot &s;peak them plainly enough to make people conceive of them &s;o as to be affected with them.</P>
<P>Yet notwith&s;tanding we having &s;o often occa&s;ion to conver&s;e with the&s;e great Sounds, <HI>A Soul, An Immortal Spirit,</HI> and its <HI>Eternal State,</HI> there is as great an obligation to &s;earch the Things, as far as we can, le&s;t they ap|pear to us no more, than great &s;ounds without as great a Sub&s;tance, whereas indeed their Sub&s;tance and Reality exceeds their Sound how great &s;oe|ver.</P>
<P>And to encourage us in this mo&s;t indu&s;trious &s;earch we are fir&s;t to op|po&s;e
<PB N="5" REF="10"> to the Difficulty this Con&s;iderati|on, That it is not &s;o much the Unin|telligiblene&s;s of the things them&s;elves, as the want of a due Intention of Mind in our inquiries, as al&s;o an humble ap|plication of our &s;elves to the Divine A&s;&s;i&s;tance that makes it &s;o hard to &s;peak and hear of the&s;e Spiritual Sub|jects as Wi&s;e men and Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>For Di&s;cour&s;es of them made up of &s;uch words, <HI>as the &s;pirit of God teach|es,</HI> jointed and put together by the &s;ame Wi&s;dom, and then aright receiv|ed, how &s;ignificant and potent would they be, how clearly repre&s;entative to the Under&s;tanding, how per&s;wa&s;ive upon the whole Soul?</P>
<P>And &s;eeing in the&s;e things we have a kind of natural Knowledge and Ex|perience, like <HI>Natural Arithmetique, and Mathematiques,</HI> (which yet being adorn'd and cultivated by Art are much improved) but e&s;pecially be|cau&s;e we have the Word of God, &s;o great a light to our feet, and lamp to our paths in our Di&s;cour&s;e concerning them, and the promi&s;e of the Ble&s;&s;ed Spirit to a&s;&s;i&s;t our Inquiries into Truth, There is great rea&s;on of Confidence, the clo&s;er our Re&s;earches, and the
<PB N="6" REF="11"> more indu&s;trious our Explanations of the things are, the brighter our ap|prehen&s;ions, and the more prevailing our Knowledge of them will grow, &s;o as to enlighten and per&s;wade others al&s;o.</P>
<P>Committing then this Undertaking to Divine A&s;&s;i&s;tance, I have cho&s;en this <HI>great a&s;&s;umption</HI> of <HI>Elihu</HI> concern|ing <HI>Man,</HI> to re&s;t this Di&s;cour&s;e upon: <HI>There is a Spirit in Man, and the In|&s;piration of the Almighty giveth him &V;nder&s;tanding.</HI></P>
<P>Not that the Soul of Man and its ex|cellent Nature deriving it &s;elf in Cre|ation from God in&s;piring it, is pre|ci&s;ely, and in the fir&s;t place here in|tended, or the <HI>original</HI> proceeding of the <HI>Finite &V;nder&s;tanding</HI> from the <HI>In|finite:</HI></P>
<P>But the mighty Vigor and Force of this Spirit &s;tirred up by God, and the Under&s;tanding acted to the Height by a more gracious in&s;piration, enliven|ing, a&s;&s;i&s;ting, and &s;etting it on work in &s;ome peculiar per&s;ons, and to &s;ome peculiar ends and employment, is that, which this <HI>Eloquent Rea&s;oner</HI> immedi|ately means, and hath a particular re|&s;pect to him&s;elf in it, as notably a&s;&s;i&s;t|ed
<PB N="7" REF="11"> by God in his following Di&s;cour&s;|es. Yet it plainly appears, he alludes to that <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of the <HI>Fir&s;t Creation,</HI> the <HI>Tradition</HI> of which, all Wi&s;e and Good men had conveyed, and a&s;&s;ur|ed to them by undoubted Monuments, for it very much agrees with, and re|&s;embles that relation. <HI>There is a Spi|rit in man,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Elihu, a mighty</HI> and <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 1. 26.</NOTE> <HI>excellent Spirit; In the Image and Likene&s;s of God,</HI> as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> de&s;cribes it. <HI>And the Breath of the Almighty giveth him under&s;tanding,</HI> as <HI>Elihu</HI> &s;peaks. Which in the words of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is thus expre&s;&s;ed, <HI>God breath'd into his Face</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 2. 7.</NOTE> <HI>the Breath of Life, and Man became a living Soul.</HI> That In&s;piration gave that Soul of Life, who&s;e Nature is <HI>&V;n|der&s;tanding</HI> or <HI>Intellect,</HI> and its <HI>Life Rational</HI> and <HI>Intellectual.</HI></P>
<P>And herein re&s;t fundamentally tho&s;e extraordinary Vigors of which <HI>Elihu</HI> here &s;peaks, when God by a <HI>&s;econdary Donation</HI> and <HI>Grace</HI> enables this <HI>Spi|rit</HI> and <HI>&V;nderstanding</HI> to act like it &s;elf, and to appear as it is.</P>
<P>For all excellent motions of Soul in&s;pired by God into eminent per&s;ona|ges, are but <HI>Fairer Exemplifications</HI> of <HI>Creation,</HI> and the <HI>&V;niver&s;al Nature</HI> of
<PB N="8" REF="12"> mans Soul; So that while <HI>Elihu</HI> in|tends &s;omething further, he a&s;&s;ures the main po&s;ition, That Man in general hath a <HI>Great Spirit</HI> or <HI>Soul</HI> in him, and an <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding</HI> or <HI>Intellect</HI> given him by <HI>immediate in&s;piration</HI> from God <HI>in Creation.</HI></P>
<P>To give then a de&s;cription of this <HI>Great Soul of man,</HI> as a foundation of the whole Treaty concerning it, I &s;hall do it under the&s;e three following Heads.</P>
<P N="1">1. As it is con&s;idered in its &s;ub&s;tan|tial and E&s;&s;ential Nature, and &s;o I de|&s;cribe it: An <HI>Invi&s;ible Spirit</HI> and <HI>Im|mortal,</HI> made in the <HI>Image</HI> and <HI>Like|ne&s;s of God,</HI> and nearly allyed to <HI>An|gels,</HI> the very Noblene&s;s and Excel|lency of mans Being above Brutes and Common matter.</P>
<P N="2">2. As it is to be under&s;tood in its immediate Emanations, and Motions of it &s;elf, and &s;o it is <HI>An Intellectual Light,</HI> indued with all the powers of <HI>Rational</HI> and <HI>Moral Action.</HI> It is that by which a man breaths in the free and open Air of <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> and <HI>Intelli|gence:</HI> It is the principle of &s;uch Acti|on, as is far above &s;en&s;e, for if right|ly ordered, it bears the lofty Cha|racters
<PB N="9" REF="12"> of <HI>Good, Holy, Virtuous;</HI> and becau&s;e it cannot &s;ink upon a Common level, if di&s;orderly and irregular, it carries the black indeed, but <HI>Tremen|dous names</HI> of <HI>Sin, Wickedne&s;s, Vice.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. As it is to be known in its <HI>Re|&s;entments,</HI> and &s;o, It is that which ta&s;tes, and enjoys all Good, or feels and endures, di&s;cerns and perceives Evil, and Mi&s;ery. If that be well, the whole is well; If that be wounded, and in Torment, there can be no Ea&s;e, or Remedy; And it is prepared to be a Great, and Ample <HI>Receipt</HI> of, and a mo&s;t vehement Agent in its own <HI>Ever|la&s;ting Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery.</HI> This Soul is that, which is <HI>Eternally Happy or Mi&s;erable.</HI></P>
<P>And though this Spirit be hid in the Body, and the Body &s;eems to be <HI>All;</HI> yet it can indeed do nothing, nor feel any thing, but as the Soul does by it; and this Body, becau&s;e as it is now, it is an In&s;trument unfit, is laid a&s;ide in Death, without any prejudice to the Souls <HI>Action,</HI> or <HI>Re&s;entment;</HI> but to the un&s;peakable Exaltation of it: and at la&s;t a Body more fit for its u&s;e is giv|en to it, and which is every way pro|portion'd to its &s;tate, whether of <HI>Hap|pine&s;s or Mi&s;ery.</HI></P>
<PB N="10" REF="13">
<P>Now who&s;oever &s;hall well weigh, and con&s;ider this Soul, will &s;tand amazed at the little value of it among men, (who profe&s;s to believe &s;uch, or like repre&s;entations of it) and will oblige him&s;elf to a far higher E&s;tima|tion of it, and care for it, there being no other rea&s;on to be rendred, why &s;o great and worthy a <HI>Part,</HI> or to &s;peak more properly <HI>a Mans True &s;elf</HI> &s;hould be neglected, but what is to be imput|ed to extreme madne&s;s, &s;uch as a mans Throwing him&s;elf into Seas, or Flames, or Starving him&s;elf, contrary to all Laws of <HI>Self-pre&s;ervation</HI> would be; except that this Soul flies &s;o much from it &s;elf, as it judges by &s;en&s;e, and is &s;o hidden in the body, by acting &s;o much, not only by it, but for it, that it appears <HI>wholly Body.</HI></P>
<P>And men being unwilling to put them&s;elves upon &s;evere Rea&s;on to be a&s;&s;ured of it, and very incredulous of Divine Revelation, that el&s;e gives a more ea&s;ie and &s;udden Certainty con|cerning it; they will not believe it is any thing but <HI>Body,</HI> and &s;o with <HI>Soul</HI> deny <HI>Soul,</HI> preferring Body only, be|cau&s;e the Soul is mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible, and vi|&s;ible, as it acts, and in&s;pires that, and
<PB N="11" REF="13"> loves, and is plea&s;ed with it &s;elf mo&s;t, as &s;o active, and therefore wilfully con&s;ents to its own Eclip&s;e by Body.</P>
<P>To remove therefore this prejudice, I begin with the fir&s;t part of the De|&s;cription, That the Soul is <HI>Invi&s;ible,</HI> and &s;o to di&s;cour&s;e it, that it may appear, that <HI>Invi&s;ible</HI> put into the Souls Cha|racter is &s;o far from a derogation to the Soul, that it is a great Advance|ment to its Nature. For the mo&s;t Ex|cellent order, and &s;tate of Beings, is of Beings Invi&s;ible; Beings not &s;een with the Eye, nor felt with the Hand, nor approached to by Sen&s;e; Beings who&s;e operations give a&s;&s;urance to Rea&s;on and Faith they are, and of what degree of Efficacy they are, an Effica|cy far &s;urpa&s;&s;ing all vi&s;ible Agents, even to <HI>Infinite,</HI> of which even Sen&s;e may and mu&s;t be witne&s;s in multitude of Effects, though the Cau&s;es them&s;elves, and the manner of their working be indi&s;cernible by Sight or Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>And now I am &s;peaking of <HI>Things Invi&s;ible</HI> in contra-di&s;tinction to things <HI>of Sight and Sen&s;e,</HI> I would u&s;e this occa&s;ion to make the way fairer to all that may be after &s;aid, by taking an account of the way, by which Sen&s;e
<PB N="12" REF="14"> comes to its cognizance of Things, and where it &s;tops, and can go no fur|ther, and how Rea&s;on and Faith pro|ceed &s;till, and go infinitely beyond.</P>
<P>By Sen&s;e I under&s;tand that Power of Soul, that moves towards, and takes in the perception of Things by the due motion of Bodily Organs fitted thereto; the objects of which are Bo|dily and Material al&s;o: and though it be the Soul that acts by the&s;e Organs, and &s;o is the true original, and la&s;t re|&s;ort of Sen&s;e; which appears in that though Body, or any part of it be no|toriou&s;ly impre&s;&s;ed by Matter; yet if the Soul be bu&s;ie, and much taken up el&s;ewhere, no Sen&s;e follows, at lea&s;t till the Soul is more at lei&s;ure, and can give attendance to Body, or that part of it &s;o imprinted: Notwith|&s;tanding this, yet becau&s;e the Action &s;poken of, is immediately performed by matter upon matter, and Bodily Nature meets in both, the knock of the one again&s;t the other is &s;o forcible, and with &s;uch remark to the Soul, that dwells within, and cannot but take notice, as gives us greate&s;t con|fidence, and a&s;&s;urance in the re&s;ult; and nothing &s;eems more Certain and
<PB N="13" REF="14"> Undenyable, than things &s;o atte&s;ted to us, who are &s;o far &s;unk down into Bodily Nature, the Soul (as I have already intimated) being mo&s;t &s;atisfied in its own Acts by, and upon Body.</P>
<P>Now Sight is comprehen&s;ive of all Sen&s;e, becau&s;e Sen&s;e turns it &s;elf, as much as it can, to every object by Sight, being the mo&s;t Excellent of Sen&s;es; and the other Sen&s;es quicken, and engage Sight, as much as may be: &s;o that Invi&s;ible Beings, and Beings unaccountable to Sen&s;e are much of the &s;ame avail in &s;ignification, as to what concerns this Ca&s;e. In &s;umm then, Things of a Bodily Gro&s;&s;ne&s;s are tho&s;e only, that fall within the line of Sen&s;es Communication, and are termed Vi&s;ible.</P>
<P>But Rea&s;on is a Power, and opera|tion beyond Sen&s;e, it &s;elf being the &s;tream of a Pure and Immaterial Foun|tain, it winds it &s;elf in, where matter, that Sen&s;e acts by, cannot enter, and through the outward Rind or Matter, it pa&s;&s;es into what lies within, &amp; where Matter hath neither made, nor receiv|ed any Impre&s;&s;ion, yet there it divines by its own proper Sentiments, making
<PB N="14" REF="15"> u&s;e and advantage, and receiving Service from Sen&s;e, &s;o far as it is able to go, it leaves it, where it can go no farther, and when it hath &s;earched be|yond it, it can again compare the fruits of that &s;earch with &s;en&s;ible and experimental Evidences, and &s;o work by Sen&s;e, and with it, and al&s;o above it, and beyond it; yea and even with|out it. Faith yet far exeeds Rea&s;on alone, by receiving Oracles from the Highe&s;t Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding, God him&s;elf; who&s;e infinity of Know|ledge leaving our Span of Knowledge at unmea&s;urable di&s;tances behind it, gives true&s;t and fulle&s;t accounts of all Things, and by believing what he re|veals, we receive the Benefit of his All Comprehending Knowledge.</P>
<P>This general Premi&s;al being given, I come to argue the thing it &s;elf, That Invi&s;ible Beings are not the le&s;s be|cau&s;e they are Invi&s;ible, but they are upon true Inquiry found to be the Greate&s;t of Beings, and therefore the Greater, becau&s;e they are Invi&s;ible.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Argum."> There are many and Great Effects, that the Sen&s;es every day conver&s;e with, and becau&s;e they &s;o ea&s;ily per|ceive them, and are &s;o well acquainted
<PB N="15" REF="15"> with them, we call them Sen&s;es, or powers of Perception; and yet by the utmo&s;t Search and Inquiry Rea&s;on can put them upon, it cannot find out by them Cau&s;es potent enough for the&s;e Effects.</P>
<P>When we &s;urvey the whole World, and all the Creatures in it, and their &s;o Lively and Vigorous, and yet &s;o excel|lently govern'd Motions, we are Judges of the Things them&s;elves by Sen&s;e, and they cannot be denied: but Sen&s;e can offer no Cau&s;e high enough for the&s;e effects, we mu&s;t needs therefore con|clude by the Suffrage of Rea&s;on, There is &s;ome Cau&s;e un&s;een, that is the &s;pring of All. For the Determinations of Rea&s;on are, that till we come to the fir&s;t Cau&s;e, every Thing mu&s;t have a Cau&s;e, and that the Cau&s;e mu&s;t be &s;uperior to the Effect in that thing, wherein it is the Cau&s;e of it; when therefore there is an Effect, to which no &s;een Cau&s;e is able and &s;ufficient, there mu&s;t be &s;ome un&s;een Cau&s;e that does produce it.</P>
<P>If a man &s;hould hear from a Tree, or Bea&s;t, the voice of Words, and Humane Di&s;cour&s;e, how readily would he Conceive &s;ome higher original of
<PB N="16" REF="16"> that Speech, and tho&s;e Words, than that Bea&s;t, or Tree?</P>
<P>If then we ob&s;erve &s;uch a World, and Government of it, as mu&s;t needs proceed from a Coun&s;el, and Rea&s;on, a Prudence, and Under&s;tanding, arm'd with a power, and unbounded pui&s;|&s;ance, and we &s;ee none high enough thereunto, we cannot but conclude, There mu&s;t be &s;till &s;ome Cau&s;e as high as the&s;e Effects, however it be Invi&s;ible to us.</P>
<P>For when we take account of all the Beings here, we ea&s;ily grant, the mo&s;t Con&s;iderable for &s;uch Effects is Man, his Rea&s;on and Providence were mo&s;t likely to &s;ummon things &s;o toge|ther, and to keep them in their order; but we pre&s;ently find he neither hath a Might, nor a Knowledge &s;ufficient. Not a Might, for the Heavens above him are far out of his Reach, or any appli|cation he can make to them. The Earth under him is too big for any of his Engines to di&s;po&s;e. The Waters about him are altogether out of his Gra&s;p, and all that he can po&s;&s;ibly do in the &s;umm of the&s;e, is plainly ju&s;t nothing at all. His utmo&s;t attempt is to obtain what advantages he can to
<PB N="17" REF="16"> him&s;elf from them, according to the nature wherein they are already fix'd and &s;ettled; And as for his knowledge of them, it is but as a &s;pan to the Uni|ver&s;e, he &s;earches and pries, and re|ceives but a very little, and his great|e&s;t Knowledge is to know his own Ignorance, &s;o impo&s;&s;ible it is he &s;hould be either the Author or Con&s;ervator of them.</P>
<P>But oh how prodigious is it to think, Things &s;hould by &s;ome lucky Hit ca&s;t them&s;elves as by a Throw in|to this Order and Harmony!</P>
<P>For Chance provides not for every circum&s;tance of any thing, or if it &s;hould hit &s;o well throughout in one Thing, in how many would it mi&s;s? But we &s;ee things great and &s;mall, and without number, ordered with &s;o ex|act a Care and Contrivance, and among them very many little Things, upon which yet great con&s;equences and conveniencies depend, that none but a mo&s;t excellent Mind could fore|ca&s;t or provide for &s;ome very great and de&s;igning Architect; and it ought to be no prejudice again&s;t him, that we do not &s;ee him.</P>
<P>When any one &s;tands on a Tower,
<PB N="18" REF="17"> and &s;ees upon the Sea a Ship gallantly Equipped, with its Sails, Ma&s;ts, and all the various Tackling of it, and when by &s;ettled ob&s;ervation he finds it moves with De&s;ign and In&s;truction, and if he &s;hould further know, it at|tends certain and &s;table Rules, though the Pilot and Sailors are not &s;een, nor the Artificer that built it, nor the Owner that de&s;igns with it; yet could he think that there neither are, nor were &s;uch, but that all this is the con|trivance of Accident, becau&s;e he &s;ees nothing but the Ship?</P>
<P>While then Naturali&s;ts ob&s;erve &s;uch an Earth floating in the Air, and a World &s;wimming in the boundle&s;ne&s;s of Imaginary Space, and keeping yet tho&s;e ju&s;t Rules by which all things move; &s;hould it be any rea&s;on to con|clude becau&s;e he &s;ees none able to guide this Frame, There is none?</P>
<P>Is it not rather to be concluded, There is an Invi&s;ible &s;upreme Cau&s;e?</P>
<P>If a man were fir&s;t ca&s;t upon a De|&s;ert, and after &s;hould come to a City adorned with Temples, Palaces, Mag|nificent Structures, all of great Beau|ty, Proportion and Order, and &s;hould yet find no Inhabitants, but what are
<PB N="19" REF="17"> beneath the wi&s;dom of &s;uch a magnifi|cence; would he &s;o much as &s;u&s;pect, this was a fortuitous convention of the Materials into &s;uch an Union, and not pre&s;ently re&s;olve? There are or have been per&s;onages equal to the work they &s;ee, although they &s;ee not them.</P>
<P>When a man is in an empty Room, &s;ees no man, but hears the voice of ex|cellent Rea&s;on and Di&s;cour&s;e, he will conclude; A Man however placed out of &s;ight, or a Greater than a Man is there.</P>
<P>And why then &s;hould we &s;o much as &s;urmize, Effects far greater than the&s;e &s;hould have been wander'd into by an incertain up and down Rolle, or Frisk of Things?</P>
<P>And if we allow there is &s;o great, though an un&s;een Cau&s;e of all tho&s;e Things, we may allow al&s;o, it is great|er than any of tho&s;e things that are &s;een, not only becau&s;e it is their Cau&s;e, but becau&s;e it hath reached tho&s;e Ef|fects that none of them can extend them&s;elves unto, and have great rea|&s;on to be a&s;&s;ured, the Cau&s;e is the greater for being &s;een only in its Ef|fects, and not in it &s;elf; &s;eeing tho&s;e things that are &s;een, have &s;ome &s;uch
<PB N="20" REF="18"> di&s;advantages upon them, whatever they are, that they cannot work, as this un&s;een Cau&s;e hath done; and therefore further we have rea&s;on to believe, that their very being &s;een is one of tho&s;e di&s;advantages, and that which runs through all the re&s;t; &s;ee|ing we cannot find in a whole world of vi&s;ible Beings any one, that can work like this invi&s;ible Cau&s;e; and therefore that it appertains to it to be invi&s;ible, that it may be a Cau&s;e &s;o uni|ver&s;al; of both which it is no hard thing to conceive the account.</P>
<P>For that things may fall under &s;en&s;e they mu&s;t be gro&s;s, and &s;o are cum|ber&s;om, &s;hut out of things by their own unfitne&s;s for penetration, capa|ble of oppo&s;ition, &s;ubject to di&s;&s;olu|tion. They mu&s;t al&s;o be of a &s;low, confined, re&s;trained nature: But things purer, and not conde&s;cending to &s;en&s;e may be free from the&s;e; and whatever is the &s;overaign Cau&s;e of all, mu&s;t be &s;o, for he mu&s;t be of an excellency of power, perfectly free, and di&s;-incum|bred, of an infinitely quick motion, too high for oppo&s;ition, more intimate to things than them&s;elves, for <HI>he is over all, in all, through all,</HI> and there|fore
<PB N="21" REF="18"> mu&s;t be al&s;o &s;o tran&s;cendently pure, as not to fall under <HI>dull</HI> and <HI>&s;low-&s;ighted &s;en&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>And if there be one un&s;een Being, there may be more, and they that are, not be the le&s;s, becau&s;e they are not to be &s;een, but the greater, re&s;em|bling in &s;ome degree the excellency of that &s;uper-invi&s;ible Being, <HI>whom no man hath &s;een nor can &s;ee,</HI> and &s;uch a one we affirm the Soul of man to be.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Argum."> When we come to man him&s;elf, we perceive evidently, and undeniably by our &s;en&s;es, and tho&s;e conclu&s;ions we make from them, as certain, as them&s;elves, how high, and great the effects of Humane Rea&s;on and Under|&s;tanding are; what huge and orderly contrivances of all &s;orts have been ac|compli&s;hed by men, what Laws, Go|vernments, Collections of knowledge have been, and are continually extant among them; what a&s;piring of reli|gious and devout thoughts, as &s;o ma|ny &s;earches and attempts beyond this world, and that all the&s;e are without parallel among all the re&s;t of the Crea|tures under heaven.</P>
<P>Now what is there in man, that is &s;een, to the function of which we
<PB N="22" REF="19"> would intru&s;t the&s;e offices and admi|ni&s;trations? Who can believe the Eye, or Tongue, or Hand could of them|&s;elves contribute to any of the&s;e things in the fir&s;t plot or device of them? or if we look into all the inward parts of humane body, that Anatomy pryes in|to, which of them can be fit for &s;o great an employment? or how can the whole frame amounting from no higher particulars con&s;pire one part with another into &s;o high atchieve|ments? How notoriou&s;ly are all the pretences made for any of them baffled by true Philo&s;ophy? &s;o that there mu&s;t be &s;ome other Architect of them, though out of &s;ight.</P>
<P>What an excellency is there in man above bea&s;ts? Their highe&s;t motions, and &s;uch as we admire for their ap|proach to Humane Rea&s;on (except &s;uch wherein the wi&s;dom of the God of Nature is immediately &s;een) &s;toop as much below tho&s;e of men, as the faint light of the Moon falls below the lu&s;tre of the Sun, or as the untuned, unmodelled &s;ound of a mu&s;ical In&s;tru|ment made by a vulgar Hand, or wild Notes, come &s;hort of the Mu&s;ick and Harmony of &s;ome excellent Arti&s;t, or
<PB N="23" REF="19"> as the game&s;om leaps and rebounds of wild Creatures differ from the mea&s;u|red and becoming moves of a mo&s;t orderly Dance. And yet the Bodies of men, and the Organs of &s;en&s;e in them differ &s;o little from tho&s;e of Bea&s;ts in relation to the main of the&s;e great ef|fects, that when we con&s;ider man in the maje&s;tickne&s;s of true Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding, and &s;ee &s;o little upon his body, more than in theirs, we cannot but acknowledge &s;omething divine within him, that, as we may &s;ay with reverence to the highe&s;t Maje&s;ty, &s;its as a God there. The Body is a Palace, or Temple indeed compared with the bodies of Bea&s;ts, but this &s;hews it only to be the Re&s;idency of &s;o great an Inhabitant, and in &s;ome pe|culiarities it may be &s;o framed, as to be prepared thereby to be the In&s;tru|ment of &s;o great an Arti&s;t, but both &s;ignifie as little to the immediate &s;ource of Rea&s;on, as a &s;tately Hou&s;e, or more curious In&s;trument do to the Offices or Di&s;charges of the Ma&s;ter of the Hou&s;e or Art, the magnificence and prudence of the one, the exactne&s;s and curio&s;ity of the other. To this we mu&s;t &s;till recour&s;e, <HI>There is a &s;pirit</HI>
<PB N="24" REF="20"> <HI>in man, and the breath of the Almigh|ty gives him under&s;tanding, and teacheth him more than the bea&s;ts of the field, and maketh him wi&s;er than the fowls of heaven.</HI></P>
<P>And yet it is hard to per&s;wade any &s;erious con&s;iderer, that the utmo&s;t at|tempts and endeavours of matter can ari&s;e to the performance of the duties of very Sen&s;e in the&s;e brute Creatures, how much le&s;s can it to tho&s;e of Rea|&s;on in man? In man then we &s;ee effects, that witne&s;s enough &s;ome great Cau&s;e, and Original we &s;ee not; yet &s;till &s;ee|ing the Effects are plainly greater, than we can attribute to any thing, that may be &s;een in man, this Cau&s;e, becau&s;e not to be &s;een, is not le&s;&s;er than other things in man, that are to be &s;een, but greater, (and therefore greater for not being to be &s;een) becau&s;e it is not &s;ub|ject to the inabilities of tho&s;e parts of man, we can &s;ee, and yet cannot a&s;cribe the Effects to, becau&s;e they are &s;o much above them.</P>
<P>And yet too we might well expect the&s;e great Effects from the vi&s;ible parts of an Humane Body, if any where, &s;eeing man is the mo&s;t excel|lent of the vi&s;ible Creatures, we know;
<PB N="25" REF="20"> but as we rea&s;oned before, in &s;peaking of the fir&s;t Cau&s;e, All things that are &s;een are too impure, and unweildy to conduct things to &s;o great ends, as tho&s;e of Rea&s;on and Intelligence: and &s;o not enough to act in the likene&s;s of the fir&s;t Cau&s;e, which likene&s;s we mu&s;t all along ob&s;erve, as the true Key of the knowledge of mans Soul. </P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Argum."> To make the entertainment of <HI>in|vi&s;ible Beings,</HI> and their greatne&s;s, ea|&s;ier to us, let us &s;urvey the whole &s;tate of Beings vi&s;ible, and we &s;hall find, It is not any of their outward li|neaments, &s;hape, colour, habit, figure, or apparent motion, that makes them what they are, but their retir'd E&s;&s;ences.</P>
<P>A Drug hath not its nature from its &s;hape, colour, or common circum|&s;tances, wherein it may agree, or be exceeded by other things of le&s;s vir|tue, or by tho&s;e of its own kind, that have lo&s;t their virtue, though they may &s;till have the outward &s;em|blances; but there is &s;omething with|in, that is not to be pored upon by Sen&s;e, but is pierced to by Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding. The appearance of Gold counterfeited deceives the Eye, but is detected by the <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI>
<PB N="26" REF="21"> that tryes things them&s;elves. If any thing be painted &s;o to the life, that it cheats the &s;ight, and &s;eems to be the very thing that it di&s;&s;embles, yet it is never the more the thing. It is there|fore an un&s;een nature, from which every thing hath its virtue. Hence it appears, there is a great retirement of that which is the Kernel of the&s;e Be|ings, from outward garbs, lineaments, appearances, and it fairly leads us to the belief of Beings invi&s;ible, who&s;e whole nature and beings are hidden from Sen&s;e, but only in their operati|ons, wherein they exceed &s;o much, as to recompen&s;e, with that evidence of them&s;elves, the retreat of their Be|ings from fight.</P>
<P>For if tho&s;e poorer things, who&s;e pretence is &s;mall, and their effects low, and their e&s;&s;ence but a <HI>duly prepared matter,</HI> and &s;o mu&s;t for the mo&s;t part lye open to Sen&s;e, have yet a &s;ecret of their e&s;&s;ence in re&s;erve, and made &s;olemn by a vail of &s;ecrecy drawn over them; how rea&s;onable is it to think, the highe&s;t operations &s;hould have their &s;eat in Beings wholly immateri|al and invi&s;ible, of which the &s;u|preme, God, is known to Sen&s;e only
<PB N="27" REF="21"> by effects, and the Souls of men the lowe&s;t of them, by acting in and by vi&s;ible and material Bodies indeed, yet in their operations and true&s;t nature wholly independent upon them?</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Argum."> The appearances like to men in Bo|dies, <HI>Invi&s;ible Beings</HI> have &s;ometimes put on, and the great effects they have wrought in &s;uch, or any other appea|rances to Sen&s;e, as demon&s;trations of them&s;elves to it, per&s;wade the reality of their Beings, and the greatne&s;s of them.</P>
<P>For by &s;uch addre&s;&s;es, and &s;uch kind of effects, as are the mo&s;t a&s;&s;uring cre|dentials to men, as they are now in Bodies, they have given to &s;en&s;e and &s;ight great &s;atisfaction, and notices of them&s;elves, and at the &s;ame time awa|kened Rea&s;on to ob&s;erve, they were &s;ome unu&s;ual and &s;tranger Beings, and not familiar and ordinary ones, and that they took up a &s;hort lodging on|ly in the&s;e appearances, to put Sen&s;e out of doubt concerning them&s;elves.</P>
<P>For in the mean time, to make it plain to Rea&s;on, that they exceeded the force of all vi&s;ible things, and were not tyed to act by their propor|tion, or &s;o much as by the rule the
<PB N="28" REF="22"> Soul of man in the body acts by, they have always contrived into &s;ome part, or circum&s;tance of their appearances, or the effects they wrought, tokens of their &s;pirituality and grandeur; they did &s;omething <HI>wonderful,</HI> &s;o that while they have de&s;cended to &s;en&s;e, they have al&s;o amazed it, and one way or other unriddled their di&s;|gui&s;e. From whence ari&s;e the&s;e plain characters of <HI>Invi&s;ible Beings.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. The reality of their Beings, not|with&s;tanding their invi&s;ibility, &s;eeing they can, as they plea&s;e, demon&s;trate them&s;elves by the way of Sen&s;e, and a&s;&s;ume vi&s;ibility not to make them|&s;elves more real, but more known to men, that otherwi&s;e being in body judge at di&s;advantage of tho&s;e out of it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Their independency upon <HI>vi&s;ibi|lity,</HI> &s;eeing they could do all out of that vi&s;ible appearance they do in it, and do indeed much more out of it, than they do in it.</P>
<P N="3">3. Their preference of <HI>invi&s;ibility</HI> to <HI>vi&s;ibility,</HI> &s;eeing they appear only a &s;hort time. Body to highe&s;t and true&s;t Beings is incon&s;iderable, though it &s;eem great to us; e&s;pecially tho&s;e
<PB N="29" REF="22"> gro&s;s and dull ones we conver&s;e in, or are to conver&s;e with, and it is in greate&s;t indulgence to us, that they &s;toop down into them, as wi&s;e men &s;ometimes comply a little while with the fan&s;ies and humours of children.</P>
<P N="4">4. Their &s;uperiority to <HI>vi&s;ible Be|ings,</HI> in that they form their appea|rances with &s;ome extraordinaries, or do things &s;o great in them, as con|vince them to be of a higher order.</P>
<P>Now for the a&s;&s;urance of the&s;e ap|pearances, I e&s;pecially re&s;t upon the Hi&s;tories hereof in the Scripture, tho&s;e &s;en&s;ible evidences of the Divine Pre|&s;ence, the appearances of the good Angels recorded in it, which are &s;o many, and &s;o plain, as to make up a full proof of <HI>invi&s;ible Beings,</HI> and not &s;o much as, with any likelihood of truth, to be eluded by tho&s;e, who profe&s;s to believe tho&s;e &s;acred Re|cords.</P>
<P>The &s;allies of evil Angels upon the world, and the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions they took of the bodies of men, doing things in them beyond the general Laws of Bo|dy, related al&s;o to us in Scripture, may be reduced hereunto.</P>
<P>As additional proof hereof, we may
<PB N="30" REF="23"> entertain tho&s;e memories of &s;uch ap|pearances in common &s;tory, that are writ with greate&s;t judgment, &s;obrie|ty and arguments of veracity.</P>
<P>Now all this is applicable to the Souls of men thus far, fir&s;t as it gives a common proof there are <HI>Invi&s;ible Beings,</HI> of which order we affirm the Soul to be; and &s;econdly, &s;eeing the Soul was made in the Image of God, and in an allyance with Angels, it hath a &s;ub&s;tantial greatne&s;s like them; la&s;tly, it mu&s;t, as they, be independent it &s;elf upon matter, and have a force much above it, though it be for a time &s;ubjugated to the laws of a Body, and &s;o cannot &s;hew it &s;elf in its own na|ture, till it be in a &s;eparated &s;tate, or joined to a Body more &s;uited to its operations.</P>
<P>If any &s;hould &s;ay, why are not the&s;e appearances more frequent and u&s;ual? The an&s;wer is, That were altogether un&s;uitable to the &s;tate and maje&s;ty of the&s;e <HI>invi&s;ible Beings;</HI> which like that of the Ea&s;tern Princes, &s;tands much in retirement, and as they were rarely &s;een, and not but upon great occa&s;i|ons, when they had weighty de&s;igns to manage, or when it had been called
<PB N="31" REF="23"> into que&s;tion, whether they were alive or not, becau&s;e not &s;een for &s;ome &s;pace of time. Thus invi&s;ible Beings, good and holy, have in vi&s;ible &s;hapes, though rarely, vi&s;ited the &s;ublunary world, and for great ends of &s;ervice to God, and al&s;o that they might thereby refute athei&s;tick and unbe|lieving conceipts, and give a&s;&s;urance of them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Unholy &s;pirits chained up by Di|vine Power appear but at command, &s;o often and no oftner than God plea|&s;es; for it may be &s;uppo&s;ed the De|vil would not thus appear but upon nece&s;&s;ity and con&s;traint laid upon him by Divine Providence, becau&s;e his Kingdom &s;uffers &s;o much by the knowledge of Beings removed from &s;en&s;e, yet when he mu&s;t appear, it is mo&s;t agreeable to &s;o in&s;olent a Spirit, to do it to exce&s;s, and with greate&s;t trouble&s;omne&s;s, if not re&s;trained by God.</P>
<P>But God for the general in this ri|per Age of the world, and under the &s;ettled light of the Go&s;pel, teaches mankind by rational and intellectual evidences, that are &s;o ea&s;ily to be drawn into ob&s;ervation by us, and by
<PB N="32" REF="24"> tho&s;e clear and &s;piritual documents given us in his Word; e&s;pecially &s;ince &s;uch a te&s;timony, as hath been granted to men, of heavenly and invi&s;ible powers in a humane body, acting with a virtue &s;o divine, and miraculous, and &s;o apparent to &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P>For what could be greater, than the whole Hi&s;tory of the Life and Death, the Re&s;urrection and A&s;cen&s;ion of <HI>Je|&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> our Lord, to all that are indeed Chri&s;tians, an invi&s;ible power tran&s;acting &s;o lively before &s;en&s;e, all tho&s;e &s;o high demon&s;trations of it &s;elf, and then framing and propagating a Doctrine every way agreeable to it &s;elf, and &s;preading it through the whole world?</P>
<P>If notwith&s;tanding all this the man of Sen&s;e will not apprehend, nor ac|cept any proof of &s;uch Beings, except our Sen&s;es were daily Spectators of them; he very ridiculou&s;ly exacts the tryal of tho&s;e things by Sen&s;e, which are plainly affirmed to be out of the compa&s;s of Sen&s;e, and all its reach; he demands to &s;ee and touch, that which cannot be &s;een or felt.</P>
<P>Now it is certain, that which is out of the &s;phere of any faculty what&s;o|ever,
<PB N="33" REF="24"> cannot be tryed and judged by that faculty, any more than the eye can judge of &s;ounds, or the ear of co|lours, or light be heard, or an excel|lent noi&s;e of mu&s;ick be &s;een. Sen&s;e ought not to be called to &s;it in judg|ment upon things that are above it, as finite knowledge cannot mea&s;ure the po&s;&s;ibilities of omnipotency. Ants may as well be con&s;ulted with, whe|ther a Palace may be built over their heap, or Bea&s;ts decide, whether there be any reflexes of Rea&s;on, as Sen&s;e be put to judge tho&s;e things, that are only to be di&s;cerned by Rea&s;on, or to mea&s;ure by an unequal Rea&s;on, what Faith, which is Rea&s;on advan|ced by Revelation, can alone give us an account of.</P>
<P>How liberal an allowance is it to Sen&s;e, that there is in &s;o many parti|culars, as we have already taken no|tice of, a foundation laid in it for Rea&s;on and Faith to ground their fur|ther &s;earch, and a&s;&s;urances upon?</P>
<P>And as for the great perver&s;ene&s;s of &s;uch men, that would make Sen&s;e u&s;urp higher, and their pre&s;umptions a|gain&s;t invi&s;ible Beings in the confi|dence of that, the &s;ager con&s;ents of
<PB N="34" REF="25"> wi&s;e, learned, and pious men, and the general inclination the univer&s;ality of mankind have di&s;covered to a belief of &s;uch Beings, make tho&s;e pre&s;umptions appear no other, than a diffidence or di&s;tru&s;t in every thing but Sen&s;e, and is no more con&s;iderable, than a Scep|ticks &s;u&s;picion of other things, mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured to other men by &s;en&s;e it &s;elf, or an ignorant mans difficulty to believe the Sun and Stars any bigger than they &s;eem to be.</P>
<P>From this Di&s;cour&s;e of Invi&s;ible Be|ings <NOTE PLACE="marg">Inference.</NOTE> very ju&s;tly ari&s;es an expo&s;tulati|on with our &s;elves, for our irreligious bruti&s;hne&s;s and &s;en&s;uality, that we do not more mind the&s;e invi&s;ible natures, and con&s;ider God, our Souls, the eter|nal &s;tate, our neglect chiefly ari&s;ing, becau&s;e they are not &s;een, although we have other great a&s;&s;urances of them. As Bea&s;ts, we are only affected with what &s;trikes our Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>But let us ob&s;erve every thing, the more invi&s;ible it is, that indeed of the greater force and efficacy it is. The Spirits of things lye hid, and conceal|ed from the eye, till they i&s;&s;ue out in|to operation.</P>
<P>There are &s;ome very few things
<PB N="35" REF="25"> quick upon the Sen&s;e, that are al&s;o full of power, as light, fire, a fla&s;h of lightning; and we u&s;e by the&s;e to ex|pre&s;s &s;piritual Beings, becau&s;e they are of greate&s;t &s;eparation from dull Body, and ordinary gro&s;s matter, and too mighty for Sen&s;e to be too free with.</P>
<P>But let us con&s;ider, how worthy the&s;e Invi&s;ible things are of our thoughts, by this plain in&s;tance:</P>
<P>If any of tho&s;e Beings &s;hould make an appearance to us, as to &s;ome of old, that we read of in the Scripture, and in a retirement, what affrightment would it be to us? how unable were any &s;ort of men to bear &s;uch an ap|proach? and yet the force of their Beings is not in their appearance, but in the E&s;&s;ence it &s;elf; for the appea|rance they take upon them, and throw off again at plea&s;ure, and they only conde&s;cend to Sen&s;e by the&s;e appea|rances, that are therefore no part of their &s;trength; that lies trea&s;ured up wholly in their E&s;&s;ences, &s;o that their being &s;een adds nothing to them, but as we dwell in Body, they are repre|&s;ented more plainly to us, and &s;o &s;eem more potent, and dreadful al&s;o to us.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="26">
<P>Now when we are to dye, we are to enter into the <HI>whole world of the&s;e in|vi&s;ible Beings,</HI> and how &s;hall we be able to bear &s;o great a pre&s;ence, if we do not prepare our &s;elves for the encoun|ter?</P>
<P>It is true we &s;hall be fitted the more to endure &s;uch a &s;tate thus far, that we &s;hall be uncloathed of fle&s;h and blood, in which we are &s;o amazed with any thing of the other world; but then it is further to be con&s;idered, if we are not reconciled to that Supreme Being, whom though (as the Apo&s;tle hath a&s;&s;ured us) <HI>No man hath &s;een, or can &s;ee;</HI> yet becau&s;e of that, his di&s;|plea&s;ure is &s;o much the &s;wifter, and the more penetrating, and we but the more fitted to &s;uffer under it, by our being di&s;-incumbred from pre&s;ent gro&s;s matter; and the horrible dread of that whole world will ri&s;e up again&s;t us with more immediate impre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>But to him that is reconciled to God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, all things in Heaven are reconciled al&s;o, and he pa&s;&s;es through tho&s;e Ho&s;ts, as a man that pa&s;&s;es through the mo&s;t terrible Ar|mies, under the protection of the Ge|neral, or as a &s;tranger through foreign
<PB N="37" REF="26"> Countries, with the e&s;pecial gracious Convoy of the Prince, nay higher than thus, as a particular Favourite, and Friend of the Prince.</P>
<P>Now there is an Order of the&s;e In|vi&s;ible Beings mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed: <HI>God the happy, and only Potentate, Je&s;us Chri&s;t, God over all ble&s;&s;ed for ever, the Angels of Glory, the ble&s;&s;ed Saints.</HI> There is highe&s;t and true&s;t ble&s;&s;edne&s;s mo&s;t certainly to be found among them, nor are they the le&s;s, but the more happy, for being invi&s;ible, nor is their happine&s;s therefore fanta&s;tick, aiery, or not &s;olid, becau&s;e not &s;een.</P>
<P>For &s;o fine, and pure, as not to be &s;een, and yet to be, gives the great|e&s;t pre&s;umption of the vividne&s;s and power of any thing, that can be gi|ven of it: the quicke&s;t motions are too quick for &s;ight, and the life of di&s;cour&s;e is not that which the ear hears, differing nothing from common &s;ound, but that which the mind per|ceives.</P>
<P><HI>Beings invi&s;ible</HI> do not know one another le&s;s than men in Bodies, but the mo&s;t quick communications pa&s;s between them. Invi&s;ibility is but a ju&s;t di&s;tance from Sen&s;e, as greatne&s;s
<PB N="38" REF="27"> retires and re&s;erves it &s;elf from vulgar eyes, and every days &s;ight, that it may be more adored at &s;olemn times of appearance; Chri&s;t a&s;cending up into his glory, a Cloud received him out of their &s;ight, but as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of him, &s;o we may &s;ay of the whole &s;tate of <HI>Invi&s;ible Things; That</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 6. 16.</NOTE> <HI>in his time he will &s;hew him and them who is the only ble&s;&s;ed Potentate,</HI> he will <HI>&s;hew</HI> them in &s;uch repre&s;entations as are proper to them, &s;ome fully po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ing the mind, &s;ome filling the very Sen&s;e, as it &s;hall be heightened and ex|alted by the Re&s;urrection, of which the glorious Body of Chri&s;t &s;hall be the &s;upreme Object.</P>
<P>How earne&s;t then &s;hould we be in &s;eeking a communion in this ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s? in <HI>laying hold upon this eter|nal life? in &s;eeking honour, glory, im|mortality,</HI> while we are in the world? not in the lea&s;t di&s;&s;waded, that they are not &s;een, but looking the more earne&s;tly upon them by faith, becau&s;e they are not like the things that pro|phane Sen&s;e every day blows upon; and are therefore continually peri&s;h|ing: for being &s;o dull and gro&s;s as to be &s;een, they are al&s;o of a compo&s;iti|on
<PB N="39" REF="27"> di&s;&s;olvable, and apt to flye in pie|ces; whereas <HI>eternal things,</HI> who&s;e nature is purer, are not expo&s;ed to common eyes. This is indeed <HI>Chri|&s;tianity, while we look not upon the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 4. 18.</NOTE> <HI>things that are &s;een, but upon the things that are not &s;een; for the things which are &s;een, are but for a moment, but the things which are not &s;een, are eternal.</HI></P>
<P>But as there is a ble&s;&s;ed and happy order of <HI>invi&s;ible Beings,</HI> &s;o there is an Order of <HI>Beings invi&s;ible,</HI> mo&s;t wretched and mi&s;erable; the <HI>Devil,</HI> and his <HI>Angels,</HI> and wicked men damned to their <HI>fellow&s;hip.</HI> How black is this &s;tate? How dreadful is the wrath and mi&s;ery of their puni&s;h|ment? It is like the &s;troke of light|ning, &s;ooner felt than &s;een, and the de&s;truction that is the effect of it, greater, deeper, more &s;udden and uni|ver&s;al, and leaving more dread behind it, than tho&s;e things that work by the light and lei&s;ure of &s;en&s;es cogni|&s;ance and ob&s;ervation.</P>
<P>If any &s;hould think there wants evi|dence of the&s;e things, let him think al&s;o, it may not be the want of evi|dence, but the want of our &s;uitedne&s;s
<PB N="40" REF="28"> to them: It is becau&s;e the Soul is &s;wal|lowed up of Sen&s;e, that any man wants evidence; and we are angry, that we cannot by Sen&s;e comprehend things, that are not related to it, but are nearly allyed to under&s;tanding, to Faith.</P>
<P>Many things give full &s;atisfaction of them&s;elves to learned men, yet can offer none to men unlearned; &s;o do the&s;e objects di&s;play them&s;elves with great clearne&s;s to men of purified minds, that cannot make them&s;elves known to Souls plunged down into Sen&s;e, and the thick matter. The be&s;t expedient for the cure of &s;uch men, is fir&s;t to believe the a&s;&s;ertions of men of refined minds, inviting o|thers to what them&s;elves have found, and then to receive the a&s;&s;urance, that will ari&s;e from their own compliance with, and experience of divine things.</P>
<P>But further, we want mo&s;t the pre|valency of what we believe, rather than meerly belief: we may be more &s;trongly per&s;waded of this invi&s;ible world, than we know our &s;elves to be; yet by rea&s;on of the great unapt|ne&s;s of the fle&s;hly &s;tate, in regard of mind adhering &s;o to it, the con&s;ide|ration
<PB N="41" REF="28"> hath not the force an&s;werable to the belief, becau&s;e it is &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, and the want of force in the belief le&s;&s;ens our feeling of the belief, which we indeed have, and mu&s;t have, the principle of it being united with our very Souls.</P>
<P>Having now a&s;&s;erted that there is an order of invi&s;ible Beings, and that the Soul is &s;uch a one, I come in the next place to call them <HI>Spirits,</HI> and &s;o to treat of the Soul as a <HI>Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>There need be no contention about the word, <HI>Spirit,</HI> it being but a word or name cho&s;en to expre&s;s the notion men have in all times had of the&s;e in|&s;en&s;ible and immaterial Beings, which they have made ea&s;ie to them&s;elves, and others, by whatever among &s;en&s;i|ble natures is mo&s;t &s;ubtile and fine, and had lea&s;t of the cour&s;ne&s;s and thick|ne&s;s of matter, as Breath, Wind, Air. This way of expre&s;&s;ing the&s;e Beings hath been common to Language in ge|neral, and particularly to Scripture, which attributes to God, that he is a Spirit, and to Angels and the Souls of men under him.</P>
<P>And yet it may without injury to the cau&s;e be granted, that this name may
<PB N="42" REF="29"> not have been original to the&s;e na|tures, but derived from tho&s;e things that have been more removed from Sen&s;e, than others, and from thence transferred to the mo&s;t excellent part of the Temperament, or whatever is mo&s;t vigorous in any Being, and yet lea&s;t under the cogni&s;ance of Sen&s;e, and &s;o at la&s;t a&s;cribed to Beings, &s;up|po&s;ed to be wholly removed from Sen&s;e; and all this doth but &s;till en|lighten the main notion of a Spirit; for hereby it was intended to repre&s;ent them in their native purity, and &s;epa|ration from Body, by tho&s;e things that had lea&s;t of the dreggine&s;s of matter, and yet were well known; &s;o comprehending at once both their &s;pirituality and reality; their &s;piritu|ality, expre&s;&s;ing them by things mo&s;t refined; their reality, in that tho&s;e things, how fine &s;oever, were yet &s;uf|ficiently known to be, and to be of greate&s;t reality and effect.</P>
<P>Hereunto may be reduced the men|tion Scripture makes of the <HI>Spirit of a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 3. 21.</NOTE> <HI>Bea&s;t:</HI> Touching which, leaving to Philo&s;ophical Di&s;putes the ab&s;tru&s;ity of its nature, (whether it be the high|e&s;t of material, or lowe&s;t of &s;piritual
<PB N="43" REF="29"> natures) I only ob&s;erve, It de&s;erves not the name of a Spirit, in compare with the Soul of man; in that it is mo&s;t evident the Scripture &s;peaks no|thing of its likene&s;s to God, power of Rea&s;on, moral action, or immortality; but degrades it from the&s;e, when it &s;ays, <HI>while the Spirit of a man goes upward, the Spirit of a Bea&s;t goes downward,</HI> (that is) as it is prepared for lowe&s;t u&s;es; &s;o its &s;tate, motion, and la&s;t re&s;t, are altogether here below; and therefore it cannot corre&s;pond, in what is now to be &s;poken of a Spirit: yet becau&s;e it extends it &s;elf to actions beyond the mea&s;ure of other materi|al Beings, unaccountably to Sen&s;e, it is called a <HI>Spirit,</HI> and yields light al&s;o to the general notion of a Spirit, and &s;hews the infinite Wi&s;dom, and Architecture of the Author of all created Beings, who formed the&s;e Spi|rits &s;o as to excel the po&s;&s;ibilities of matter, (&s;uppo&s;ing they do excel them) &s;o little, as to be di&s;puted with &s;ome appearance of Rea&s;on, whether they are any more than matter mecha|nized with highe&s;t and mo&s;t curious skill, (that is to &s;ay) the handy-work of God in matter?</P>
<PB N="44" REF="30">
<P>But to return, Whatever can be &s;poken in relation only to the word, Spirit, is of &s;maller moment; the great|e&s;t concern is, what is intended by it? Whether it be no more, than a meer mode, notion, or manner of &s;peaking u&s;ed to expre&s;s the lively Tempera|ment, vigour, or force of a Body on|ly? Or whether it mean a &s;ub&s;tance of an excellent nature, di&s;tinct, and &s;e|parate from a Body?</P>
<P>In an&s;wer to which, That the gene|rality of tho&s;e that have or do u&s;e this word, <HI>Spirit,</HI> concerning the Soul of man, have, and do under&s;tand it in this latter Sen&s;e, is of very little di|&s;pute; and that the Scriptures do, as much as words or expre&s;&s;ions can do, to a&s;&s;ure us they mean &s;o al&s;o, I &s;hall endeavour to make good by ob&s;erving what the Scriptures &s;ay concerning</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The original of mans Soul, and its fir&s;t entrance into the Body.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. What expre&s;&s;ions it makes u&s;e of, to &s;hew the di&s;tinction of the Soul from the Body, while in it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. How it expre&s;&s;es its di&s;tinction from Body, and &s;eparation from it in death.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>For the fir&s;t, <HI>The original of mans</HI>
<PB N="45" REF="30"> <HI>Soul,</HI> we mu&s;t have recour&s;e to the Hi&s;tory of mans Creation, and we &s;hall <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1. 24, 26. Gen. 2. 7.</NOTE> find, that the wi&s;dom of Scripture puts a great difference between the <HI>Creation of man,</HI> and the other <HI>Crea|tures of life:</HI> in that God con&s;ults, and re&s;olves to make him <HI>in his own Image and likene&s;s,</HI> and by an immediate hand fir&s;t builds a Body, as a recepta|cle for the life he intended him, and when his Body was framed, rai&s;ed, and contrived with all its organs, offi|ces, and mini&s;teries, &s;o that there want|ed nothing that &s;hould complete and &s;um up the perfection of a Body, he breathed into his no&s;trils <HI>the Breath of Life,</HI> and from that breathing of God he became <HI>a living Soul.</HI> A Soul li|ving that life that proceeded from him&s;elf, a life that proceeded from God, and entered into that prepared Body, and quickened it; whereas God only commanded the Earth, and it brought forth every other <HI>living Thing, That, and its life together.</HI> The Command of God impregnated the Earth, and then, as at once, it brought forth the living Creature, and its life; &s;o that in the creation of this lower life, and the &s;ubjects of it, there ap|pears
<PB N="46" REF="31"> nothing of that method, and &s;o|lemn order, ob&s;erved in mans creati|on, nor did the <HI>Breath of God</HI> pa&s;s into them, as it did into man, when it filled all the &s;everal organs and in&s;tru|ments of the Humane Body, with the motions proper to a Body, and &s;uch a Body; and which is far beyond all this, The &s;ame <HI>Breath of God</HI> gives man Rea&s;on and under&s;tanding, as we have already expounded this Breath out of <HI>Elihu</HI>'s words, and as he &s;peaks in another place; <HI>The Spirit of God made him, and the Breath of the Al|mighty gave him life.</HI> This in&s;pira|tion of the Almighty comprehends this lower life in man, that &s;en&s;itive Beings live, and that yet higher life of Religion, and obedience to the Creator, with which Body hath lea&s;t to do.</P>
<P>For in the very Creation God put <HI>Wi&s;dom into the inward parts, and gave under&s;tanding to the heart;</HI> and by the word of Creation he &s;aid to man, <HI>The fear of the Lord that is wi&s;|dom, and to depart from evil that is under&s;tanding.</HI> That is, As God crea|ted all things by &s;aying <HI>Let it Be,</HI> and pronouncing it <HI>good,</HI> in confirmation
<PB N="47" REF="31"> of his Creation; &s;o he &s;aid to man, by implanting it in his heart, and appro|ving it for <HI>very good, The fear of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 28. 28</NOTE> <HI>Lord that is wi&s;dom, and to depart from evil that is under&s;tanding.</HI></P>
<P>As in the univer&s;al Creation, <HI>he &s;aw and declared, he prepared and &s;earch|ed out wi&s;dom;</HI> that is, he found out <NOTE PLACE="marg">v. 27.</NOTE> within his own under&s;tanding, fit na|tures for all things. This was his <HI>pre|paring and &s;earching out wi&s;dom,</HI> and then he gave the proper natures he had de&s;igned, that was his <HI>declaring wi&s;dom;</HI> thus at the &s;ame time he both made up the beauty of the Univer&s;e, and proclaimed his own infinite un|der&s;tanding.</P>
<P>And &s;o particularly in the frame of man, he was infinitely wi&s;e, forming man into the propriety of &s;uch a na|ture, as man &s;hould be, that is a Soul, who&s;e perfection it &s;hould be <HI>to fear God, and to depart from evil,</HI> that was made with a power to do &s;o upon Rea&s;on, and Coun&s;el, in which at once the wi&s;dom of God the original wi&s;|dom, and the wi&s;dom of man the de|rivative wi&s;dom to be always con|formed to that exemplar &s;hine forth together, the created in &s;ubordina|tion
<PB N="48" REF="32"> to the increated. Of all which Body is altogether in&s;en&s;ible and ut|terly incapable. In the original there|fore of man, there is according to Scripture a clear di&s;tinction betwixt Spirit and Body.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Scripture doth plainly own the di&s;tinction of the Soul from the Body, in a &s;tate of conjunction with it, I argue e&s;pecially from the powers of mind, and the actions of tho&s;e powers, wherein are laid, and to which are directed continually all the Di&s;cour&s;es, and tho&s;e pre&s;&s;ing Rea&s;onings, Exhortations, Admoni|tions, and Reproofs, we find in &s;acred Writings. The&s;e powers according to the univer&s;al &s;peech of mankind, it calls <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding, Faculty of Rea|&s;on, Con&s;cience, Judgment;</HI> and the actions proceeding from the&s;e it names Thought, Apprehen&s;ion, or Percei|ving, Con&s;ideration, Rea&s;oning, Ac|cu&s;ation, and <HI>Apologie</HI> or <HI>Defence of Con&s;cience. Judging of Things,</HI> and all the&s;e powers working out into the&s;e acts, it comprehends in this word, <HI>the Spirit of man,</HI> and unites the&s;e acts with it, &s;peaking of the&s;e powers, as the E&s;&s;ence of a man, and of the acts,
<PB N="49" REF="32"> as mo&s;t connatural to that E&s;&s;ence, to which al&s;o every mans knowledge and feeling within him&s;elf give as clear te&s;timony, and as full as the parts of Body give of them&s;elves to Sen&s;e, <HI>For the Spirit of a man knows the things of a man within him.</HI></P>
<P>Now it is plain; All the&s;e things are mo&s;t improper to Body, or &s;o much as a brutal Spirit, e&s;pecially, when they lift up them&s;elves to the &s;en&s;e of a God, and extend them&s;elves to religious concernments, when they receive tho&s;e high propo&s;als of the Go&s;pel, and My&s;teries, that lye out of the whole region of Sen&s;e; &s;o that though the organs and in&s;truments of the body are &s;ometimes &s;poken of, and to, in the&s;e ca&s;es, yet it is only upon this account, becau&s;e they are &s;uch, as by which the mind acts, or are &s;ymbols and repre&s;entations of this rational &s;en&s;e and motion.</P>
<P>The&s;e things being then &s;o well known, and every where met with in in&s;pired Writings, they are as great a demon&s;tration of their <HI>con&s;ciou&s;ne&s;s</HI> to another greater and more excellent Being in man than Body, as can be required, &s;eeing Body hath no fitne&s;s
<PB N="50" REF="33"> nor po&s;&s;ible &s;ublimation to the&s;e things, that Scripture &s;o wholly in|&s;i&s;ts upon in relation to man.</P>
<P>There mu&s;t be therefore another man, a more excellent man within, or el&s;e all thus &s;poken mu&s;t have been in vain; &s;uch powers and actions cannot be a&s;cribed originally to the mo&s;t ex|cellent temper of Body, or Tune of motions, but mu&s;t have a proper and peculiar &s;ub&s;tance to re&s;ide in, and that, whatever any one el&s;e will call it, is that, Scripture and common &s;peak|ing calls <HI>Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>And this being &s;o plain and clear, and of &s;o general con&s;ent, the Scrip|ture without any indu&s;try, as in a ca&s;e pre&s;umed, &s;peaks of Spirit as one thing, and Body as another, di&s;tri|butes <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;&s;. 5. 23.</NOTE> man into <HI>Body, Soul,</HI> and <HI>Spirit. Body</HI> is well enough known, <HI>Soul</HI> is either <HI>Spirit,</HI> as it contains within it &s;elf the faculties of &s;en&s;itive nature, and takes the Government of them upon it &s;elf, and the care and feeling of things that concern Body, and the life of it; or as it moves in the mo&s;t excellent parts of Body, that mediate betwixt body and mind, and are fitte&s;t for the more immediate motions of
<PB N="51" REF="33"> Spirit in Body, and &s;o called <HI>Spirits. Spirit</HI> is pure mind, exalted to its own objects, and the highe&s;t of tho&s;e ob|jects, Divine Things.</P>
<P><HI>This Spirit</HI> is that <HI>Inward Man,</HI> ho|ly <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 4. 16.</NOTE> Writing &s;peaks of, <HI>renewed and re|paired every day,</HI> not in its &s;ub&s;tantial nature, but in gracious and heaven|ly qualities, of which it is the only re&s;idence and receipt, and which are its true health and &s;trength.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, In this di&s;tinction of <HI>Soul</HI> and <HI>Body,</HI> is founded that excellent di&s;cour&s;e of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. of <HI>Being in the fle&s;h,</HI> and <HI>in the Spirit,</HI> of being <HI>carnally minded,</HI> or of <HI>the carnal mind,</HI> and of being <HI>&s;piritually minded,</HI> or of the <HI>&s;piritual mind.</HI></P>
<P>By which on one &s;ide he de&s;cribes this mind allured, and drawn down to Body and Fle&s;h, which comes to pa&s;s fir&s;t through nearne&s;s to Body, and clo&s;e&s;t &s;ympathy with all tho&s;e natural and &s;en&s;itive motions, which it &s;elf in&s;pires Body with, but chief|ly by degeneracy, the Soul comes to feel it &s;elf, and places its enjoyments wholly in fle&s;h, and makes that the Center of its reigning pa&s;&s;ions and
<PB N="52" REF="34"> affections, and &s;o it &s;elf becomes carnal and &s;en&s;ual, and <HI>cannot plea&s;e God.</HI></P>
<P>On the other &s;ide is de&s;cribed Mind lifted up above Body, and out of Fle&s;h by Grace and the Divine Spirit, to an in&s;eparable adherence to God and Chri&s;t, and eternal things; to which it advances its own motions in Body al&s;o, <HI>pre&s;enting them a living and ac|ceptable Sacrifice;</HI> which is the <HI>ratio|nal &s;ervice</HI> of a man, con&s;i&s;ting of Soul and Body: Thus the Fle&s;h and the Heart together cry out for the living God; In the mean time this Spirit of the mind &s;ubdues and re&s;trains its own motions, ari&s;ing from unholy Bodily inclination and affection.</P>
<P>Now to be <HI>carnally minded is death,</HI> The mind unpurged and glued to Bo|dy, dyes in that &s;en&s;e a Spirit can dye, that is, a death of &s;eparation from God, and deprivation of Divine Beau|ty and Happine&s;s; and the Body, who&s;e mini&s;tery it u&s;es, and makes it the &s;eat of its carnal plea&s;ures and &s;en|&s;ualities, peri&s;hes al&s;o, leaving no po&s;|&s;ible &s;atisfaction any longer from them; and yet that Body, becau&s;e it was the Body of that <HI>unpurged Soul,</HI> and re|tains
<PB N="53" REF="34"> its order to it, remains guilty and foul du&s;t, and ri&s;es again &s;o, that the Soul may &s;uffer, and its mi&s;ery may be &s;een in a Body, even as it &s;in|ned in Body, which is the &s;econd death.</P>
<P>But to be <HI>&s;piritually minded is life and peace:</HI> For Mind renewed, and made the habitation of the Holy Spi|rit, and its righteou&s;ne&s;s, cannot it &s;elf dye, no not as Spirits dye, be|cau&s;e of that ble&s;&s;ed and immortal al|lyance, for it lives in the enjoyment of God, likene&s;s to him, lively moti|ons of it &s;elf in all goodne&s;s and ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s.</P>
<P>And though the Body is dead, that is, is under the &s;entence of death, to be unavoidably fulfilled in the &s;epara|tion of the Soul from the Body, upon which the Body becomes a dead lump; and further it mu&s;t dye, that the Soul may obtain a perfect purification from &s;in, which it cannot have while ce|mented with Body, &s;in being &s;o lodg|ed in that Cement, that there can be no perfect purification, till that Ce|ment be di&s;&s;olved; Then when that Cement is di&s;&s;olved, the &s;eparated Soul becomes <HI>perfect Spirit</HI> and <HI>Di|vine,</HI>
<PB N="54" REF="35"> through the almighty efficacy of the Divine Spirit re&s;iant in it, and bearing it up to the perfection of the <HI>Divine life for ever.</HI> Thus the Spirit is <HI>life, becau&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;s. And if the Spirit of him that rai&s;ed up Je|&s;us from the dead dwell in you, he that rai&s;ed up Je&s;us from the dead &s;hall al&s;o quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.</HI> That is, The Body, that was the habi|tation of the <HI>Spirit, or Soul renewed,</HI> and purged from &s;in, (that Spirit or Soul being it &s;elf the habitation of the Divine Spirit) this Body, becau&s;e it hath &s;till a relation to &s;uch a Soul lo&s;es its &s;inful taint, while it moulders into du&s;t, and is rai&s;ed a <HI>Body incor|ruptible</HI> and <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> that is, <HI>a habi|tation fit for the Spirit now made perfect,</HI> and is filled thereby with the glory of life and immortality, which is <HI>eternal life,</HI> and all by virtue of that <HI>Divine Spirit,</HI> that dwelt <HI>in that Soul,</HI> while it was lodged and dwelt <HI>in that Body.</HI></P>
<P>And herein lying the true &s;ub&s;tan|tial &s;en&s;e of this mo&s;t weighty Para|graph of the Apo&s;tle, how plainly doth it expre&s;s the di&s;tinction of the
<PB N="55" REF="35"> Soul from the Body, and that the Soul is a &s;ub&s;tance of it &s;elf, independent upon Body, and Body altogether de|pendent upon it, even while it is mo&s;t immers'd into Body?</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, The Soul it &s;elf gives all the life to its own impure plea&s;ures, and &s;inful repo&s;es in bodily delights, to which el&s;e Body is able to contri|bute no more, than Oyl to the Flame, which of it &s;elf we know always lyes &s;till and dark.</P>
<P N="2">2. Spirit it &s;elf a&s;&s;i&s;ted by Grace, retires into &s;piritual enjoyments, and quenches and dryes up its own &s;en&s;u|al affections to Body, and bla&s;ts the &s;atisfactions received from thence, even before that Oyl be wa&s;ted by the de|cays of Body, or dryed up by death.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, It &s;elf carries its own fate, (if I may &s;o call it) and the fate of the Body along with it into eternity; for according to what the Soul it &s;elf is, &s;o is its own happine&s;s or mi&s;ery, and the Body of nece&s;&s;ity follows its con|dition; &s;o that it &s;elf is plainly <HI>All,</HI> and the Body only a Cypher attend|ing the &s;tate of this principal Figure.</P>
<P N="3">3. The di&s;tinction of <HI>Spirit</HI> and <HI>Body</HI> in death is conveyed to us in
<PB N="56" REF="36"> very plain and ea&s;ie terms, and &s;uch as carry their meaning very open, if not di&s;turbed and prevented by ill in|terpretation: Let us take a view of the clearne&s;s of Scripture herein.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Solomon in his Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</HI> ha|ving con&s;idered with &s;ome pa&s;&s;ion and vehemency, the little or no apparent preheminence of men above Bea&s;ts in their death, that as one dies &s;o dies the other, they &s;end out one common vital breath, and go all to one place, he then ca&s;ts the account of this into the <HI>common heap of vanity,</HI> and comes to a very warm enquiry, <HI>Who knoweth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 3. 21.</NOTE> <HI>the Spirit of a man that goes upward, and the Spirit of a Bea&s;t that goes downward?</HI> Yet thereby re&s;olving the main ca&s;e enough, <HI>viz.</HI> that the&s;e out|ward appearances laid &s;o much to di&s;|advantage, are but only in the Body and out&s;ide, the difference between the Spirit of a man and the Spirit of a Bea&s;t is &s;till very great, as great as be|tween Heaven and Earth, and the mo|tion as contrary, when they dye, as up|ward and downward; but &s;till he complains, that this is not po&s;&s;ible to be &s;een by Sen&s;e, and there are very few that reach it to any purpo&s;e by
<PB N="57" REF="36"> Rea&s;on and Religion; and this (&s;aith he) is one of the great points of the vanity of all worldly condition, that both &s;o great a principle of Truth, and &s;o great a dignity of Humane Nature, &s;hould lye &s;o far off, be &s;o indi&s;cerna|ble: Here is then an equality in the out&s;ide or Bodies of men a dying and Bea&s;ts, but a great inequality or ex|cellency of men above Bea&s;ts, which comes home to what we are a&s;&s;erting.</P>
<P>And thus <HI>Solomon</HI> under&s;tood of the Spirit of a man, as is now explained, he makes us more certain, when after his travel over all things, he comes to de&s;cribe man in his end, and does it thus, <HI>The Dust returning to the Earth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 12. 7.</NOTE> <HI>as it was, and the Spirit returns to God that gave it,</HI> he allots to the &s;e|veral parts, into which he di&s;tributes man, a &s;everal motion, and a &s;everal re&s;t, according to the &s;everal origi|nals of each; <HI>The Du&s;t or Body returns to the Earth from whence it was taken, the Spirit &s;urvives and ha&s;tens back to God that gave it.</HI></P>
<P>Agreeably the care of holy men at death, or in any great apprehen&s;ions of danger, that pre&s;ented death to them, was to <HI>commend their Spirit to</HI>
<PB N="58" REF="37"> <HI>God.</HI> as <HI>David, Into thy hand I com|mend</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 31. 5.</NOTE> <HI>my Spirit;</HI> which words were prophetick of the dying words of our <HI>Saviour, Father, into thy hand I com|mend</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 23. 46.</NOTE> <HI>my Spirit:</HI> and thus <HI>Stephen breathed out his Soul, Lord Je&s;us re|ceive</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 7. 59.</NOTE> <HI>my Spirit.</HI> Now in that <HI>Solomon</HI> affirms of the Spirit of man in general, that <HI>it returns to God the Judge of all,</HI> whether it be the &s;pirit of a good man or a bad man, or whether it be for happine&s;s or mi&s;ery, and that thereupon holy per&s;ons recommend|ed their Souls into the hands of God, as <HI>a faithful Creator,</HI> I know not how any thing can be more determi|native of the di&s;tinction of <HI>Body and Soul</HI> in death.</P>
<P>For &s;uch words are not words of meer re&s;ignation of life back again to the <HI>Fountain of Life,</HI> but an entru&s;t|ment and dependent recommendati|on, and not of a life to be &s;ecured only for the Re&s;urrection, but of a Spirit immediately going to God; for el&s;e they might, with as much care, have committed Body to him, <HI>who weighs the du&s;t of the Earth in a Bal|lance,</HI> much more that of the Bodies of men, whom he will rai&s;e again,
<PB N="59" REF="37"> mo&s;t of all that of his Saints, which he will rai&s;e to glory.</P>
<P>If there were not &s;uch an immedi|ate return of good mens Spirits to God, why doth <HI>the Apo&s;tle chu&s;e to be</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1. 23.</NOTE> <HI>di&s;&s;olved, or &s;et at liberty, that he might be with Chri&s;t?</HI> Or why doth he profe&s;s in the name of Chri&s;tians in general; <HI>we de&s;ire rather to be ab&s;ent</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5. 6.</NOTE> <HI>from, than at home in the body, that we might be pre&s;ent with the Lord?</HI> What tolerable account can be given of &s;uch &s;peeches; for what compo&s;i|tion is it, that &s;uffers di&s;&s;olution, that &s;ome part (and what part is that?) might have immediate being with Chri&s;t? Or, who is it that would be &s;et at liberty? Or that is ab&s;ent from the body, or at home in it, if not this &s;upreme man the Soul? Or, why &s;hould death be preferred for the &s;ake of a nearer and more immediate pre|&s;ence with Chri&s;t, if all the man dye with the body? Or, what man is it that the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks of, <HI>caught up into the third Heaven,</HI> and makes a doubt, <HI>whe|ther in the body or out of it?</HI> Or, how could there be &s;uch a being in the body, or out of the Body, if the body were all, if there were nothing but body?
<PB N="60" REF="38"> Or la&s;tly, why doth our <HI>Saviour</HI> am|plifie the dread of the vengeance of God upon man, above theirs <HI>that kill the body, and have no more that they can do, whereas the hand of God de|&s;troys</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 12. 4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>both body and &s;oul in Hell.</HI></P>
<P>For let it be expounded to the greate&s;t advantage of the opinion, that encounters the Souls immortality, <HI>viz.</HI> That <HI>our Saviour</HI> intends no more, than that mans <HI>killing the bo|dy</HI> is infinitely le&s;s, than Gods <HI>de|&s;troying that Body and its whole life in Hell,</HI> though after many Ages: Yet it is ob&s;ervable in the fir&s;t place, <HI>our Saviour</HI> to imprint the fear of Divine Revenges, places them not only upon the Body, but upon the Soul, as a di&s;tinct and greater part of man than body.</P>
<P N="2">2. And beyond this <HI>our Saviour</HI> plainly aims at the great odds there is, betwixt a hand that can execute no further than dying once, and in the body only, and that almighty hand that &s;ends down the Soul to Hell im|mediately, and the Body at the Day of Judgment. For he implies, a man ea&s;ily &s;lips from mans &s;everity by death, for he may yet live and be happy in
<PB N="61" REF="38"> his Soul pre&s;ently, and in his Body at the Re&s;urrection; but death can give no e&s;cape from the &s;troke of God, either to the Soul, which incontinent|ly falls under it, nor to the Body awa|kened hereafter to endure it.</P>
<P>Now I know it is po&s;&s;ible for <HI>Serpen|tine wits to glide off</HI> from the&s;e, and many the like proofs of Scripture, that might be produced, for their way of elu&s;ion is very wonderful, like that of <HI>Solomons Serpent upon a Rock,</HI> that winding every way, yet leaves no track of &s;olid Rea&s;on behind it; but yet I affirm, that &s;uch concurrent Te&s;timonies of Scripture are &s;o con|clu&s;ive, that no &s;ober con&s;ideration can e&s;cape from them; unto which <HI>revealed Truth</HI> is al&s;o to be annexed <HI>Rea&s;on it &s;elf,</HI> teaching us, as I have already urged, the effects of a Soul are too great to be a&s;cribed to any power of Body, and therefore, &s;eeing every Effect mu&s;t have an equal Cau&s;e, it is a high ju&s;tification of the a&s;&s;er|tion of a Spirit, to which tho&s;e effects may be duly and worthily a&s;cribed.</P>
<P>And therefore I &s;hall further adven|ture to avouch from Scripture, that <HI>the Soul</HI> is &s;o much the <HI>Man,</HI> that it
<PB N="62" REF="39"> hath the compleat &s;ub&s;tantial e&s;&s;ence of a man &s;o far in it &s;elf, that in com|pari&s;on of it, the body is but prepa|red for <HI>a &s;en&s;ible mode</HI> or <HI>repre&s;entati|on,</HI> in which the Soul is to act, and &s;hew, and illu&s;trate it &s;elf, vi&s;ibly and &s;en&s;ibly, and that man might thereby become of the order of the <HI>&s;en&s;ible and vi&s;ible world,</HI> beholding and judging by the mini&s;tery of &s;en&s;itive organs, of the beauty, excellent ar|ray and variety of bodies in this Crea|tion, and him&s;elf appear the princi|pal of them; but retaining &s;till a higher and nearer relation to the <HI>In|vi&s;ible world,</HI> to God, to the &s;tate and life of Angels, &s;o that without any prejudice to his main being, he may be removed out of the body thi|ther, and yet &s;till be him&s;elf, as to all the chief intents and purpo&s;es of his Creation, and continue &s;o, till in the re&s;titution of all things, and the manife&s;tation either of the goodne&s;s or &s;everity of God, after the manner of the &s;en&s;ible and vi&s;ible Creation, that is, in &s;uch a plain way, as &s;eeing and knowing things by &s;en&s;e, men be again &s;et out by God in a bodily &s;cheme or fa&s;hion at the Re&s;urrection,
<PB N="63" REF="39"> &s;o that the Body it &s;hall then have, &s;hall more compliably wait upon all the &s;tate and motions of the Souls happine&s;s or mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>The Soul then only vi&s;ibly &s;hews it &s;elf now in a body, and is &s;ubmitted to be in it; but when it goes out of the body, it wants nothing through the whole time of its &s;eparation, that it had here, but only the apparence of its motions in a body, nor hath any thing added to it, when it is cloathed with a body at the Re&s;urre|ction, but an opportunity for its glo|ry or mi&s;ery to be &s;een &s;en&s;ibly.</P>
<P>Even as God was excellent and per|fect in him&s;elf from eternity, when there was no Creation, or any be&s;ide him&s;elf, nor received he any thing, or found any addition to him&s;elf by the Creation, for all things that he made, received <HI>their All</HI> from him; but only he hath illu&s;trated and manife&s;t|ed him&s;elf in the Creation, and the Creatures do no more than &s;hew the power, wi&s;dom, and goodne&s;s of God in creating, pre&s;erving, and govern|ing them.</P>
<P>After the &s;ame manner, (&s;o far as we may with reverence compare any
<PB N="64" REF="40"> of the Creatures with the infinitely excelling Creator) the Soul receives nothing from the Body, or any of the parts of it, but only &s;uch organs and in&s;truments which it is to in&s;pire, go|vern, and rule, and thereby to &s;hew its efficacy, vigour, and great endow|ments of under&s;tanding and virtue, for all motions from the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t derive from the Soul.</P>
<P>But as to the pre&s;ent ca&s;e, That the Soul falls in love with its &s;elf, as dwel|ling in body, and with its lower mo|tions in it, and forgets its own proper and higher motions of immediate con|ver&s;es with holine&s;s and true wi&s;dom, and that rule of body committed to it, according to the&s;e Laws; this is only its &s;in, weakne&s;s, degeneracy, and fall, as of a created and mutable Being placed in a body.</P>
<P>All motions and appetites, that we call in ordinary &s;peaking, motions of body, and fle&s;hly appetites, are not any thing that body can fir&s;t proffer to the Soul, but tho&s;e that the Soul communicates fir&s;t, by that univer&s;al life and motion it gives to body; and then derives from its own communi|cations, the plea&s;ure that it &s;elf finds from it &s;elf in body.</P>
<PB N="65" REF="40">
<P>Yet is not the Souls good or ill ma|nagement of Body all its holine&s;s or &s;in; there are many acts &s;o retired, that body &s;hares not in their prai&s;e or guilt: The Soul in &s;uch acts of goodne&s;s is like God and good An|gels, as if it had no body, and as un|concerned in this world, as God in his own immanent perfections and actions. On the other &s;ide, wicked men are in &s;ome wicked actions alone, as it were from the body, like Devils and damned Spirits, tho&s;e <HI>&s;piritual wickedne&s;&s;es</HI> the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of, exerci&s;ed in <HI>&s;piritual Impurities.</HI></P>
<P>But to return, The Souls acting and taking care of the body is but an inferiour and under-part of its admini|&s;tration, and is for that higher end, that there might be an image and like|ne&s;s of God imprinted upon a body, and &s;en&s;ibly &s;een in it, by virtue of the Souls acting holily in and upon it. This is the highe&s;t and mo&s;t excellent part of its Government, &amp; the plea&s;ure it takes in the lower, &s;hould be but an imitation of the Lord taking plea&s;ure in his lower works, who is never the le&s;s &s;piritual, heavenly, and divine, for running through and governing the
<PB N="66" REF="41"> whole world of matter, and rejoicing in his doings therein; but is always in the perfect purity of his own Attri|butes, and guides all things according to them. But contrary-wi&s;e, if the Soul makes its lower and le&s;s noble functions its principal and &s;upreme, and in&s;tead of moving the body ratio|nally and religiou&s;ly, by it &s;elf conti|nuing &s;piritual and intellectual, it chiefly attends to, and intere&s;ts it &s;elf in its lower &s;en&s;itive motions, and &s;o becomes carnal and &s;en&s;ual; this is its great fall into &s;in and mi&s;ery: yet &s;till it retains its prerogative of nature, it is &s;till the &s;ource and life of all moti|on, though &s;inful; for body alone can|not &s;in, nor any way can it be guilty, but as the Souls body.</P>
<P><HI>The Soul</HI> then is <HI>All,</HI> Thus it is now, in the Re&s;urrection it will be much more &s;o, when the body is &s;o drawn up into the &s;tate of the mind, that the mind hath no opportunity to be carnal in it and with it, becau&s;e it hath no longer &s;uch a low body as this; for even the bodies of mi&s;erable Spirits are in this part &s;o refined, that the Soul can have none of its carnal delights in them, which it had in the&s;e.</P>
<PB N="67" REF="41">
<P>In that &s;pace of time then between death and the Re&s;urrection, the Soul mu&s;t needs be no le&s;s compleat in it &s;elf; for though it hath a fitne&s;s in it to animate a body, yet that is as un|nece&s;&s;ary to its ab&s;olute perfection, as Gods actual Creation and Govern|ment of the world was to his power and wi&s;dom, whereby he created and governs; and although at the Re&s;ur|rection it appears in a body again, yet this is from the ordination of God to &s;et a beauty upon the <HI>vi&s;ible Creation,</HI> in which he will then fully di&s;play that part of his glory, in the glorious body of his Son, and Saints conform|ed to him, and &s;et out his ju&s;tice and wrath vi&s;ibly al&s;o, in the dusky bo|dies of tho&s;e that ri&s;e to everla&s;ting &s;hame and contempt.</P>
<P>That the Soul thus &s;eparated from the body is thus perfect, I argue from that expre&s;&s;ion of <HI>our Saviour,</HI> that <HI>they which are accounted worthy to ob|tain</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 20. 35.</NOTE> <HI>that world, and the re&s;urrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like and equal to the Angels;</HI> &s;o that though the Soul hath a power to act, order, and guide the motions of &s;uch a body
<PB N="68" REF="42"> as it is joined to now, yet they are no way nece&s;&s;ary to its true perfection; for its highe&s;t &s;tate of perfection even in body is without the exerci&s;e of &s;uch acts, <HI>viz.</HI> in the Re&s;urrection. And further, they that are equal to the Angels, have no more need of a body, than the Angels have; that is, not as to them&s;elves, or their own perfection; but only to &s;erve the order of Divine Wi&s;dom, in the various di&s;po&s;ition of the Creation, a body, and a body &s;uited to this free and exalted &s;tate of the Soul, is given to them.</P>
<P>Further, The perfection of the &s;e|parated Soul may be argued from the Apo&s;tles di&s;cour&s;e <HI>of the &s;tate of im|mortality,</HI> immediately entred into, as &s;oon as ever the weak and cumber|&s;ome Tabernacle of Earth is di&s;&s;olved. Through the gracious provi&s;ion of God, the Soul is inve&s;ted with life and immortality, and all the ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s and entertainment of Heaven, as the mo&s;t natural receptacle and be|coming robes of good Spirits, with|out which they would be naked; and Souls not &s;o received, but left naked of that ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, are immediately &s;hrowded in blackne&s;s and darkne&s;s,
<PB N="69" REF="42"> helli&s;h blackne&s;s and darkne&s;s. For though Souls are indeed determined by the righteous judiciary appoint|ment of God, each &s;ort to their own place; yet the natures of the&s;e things them&s;elves are &s;o wi&s;ely contrived, as fairly to comply therewith: &s;o that holy Souls uncloathed become Spirits Divine, heavenly, and ble&s;&s;ed, but Souls unpurged as &s;oon become dark, helli&s;h and mi&s;erable.</P>
<P>Now that happy Souls, immedi|ately upon leaving the body, enter into &s;uch a &s;tate, is very plain, in that they de&s;ire earne&s;tly this &s;tate; but if for want of bodies they lay a&s;leep, or if being nothing but body, the whole man &s;hould lye &s;o long in the earth, as till the Re&s;urrection, it were a much wor&s;e &s;tate than the pre&s;ent, for the time might be much better improved in the World, than in the Grave, and there would be no rea&s;on to <HI>groan</HI> for &s;o long and dark an interval, in&s;tead of a life of Grace, conver&s;e with God, and doing good in the world, which is the life of holy men.</P>
<P>It may indeed be &s;aid, It is &s;afer eve|ry way to be laid up in the Grave, and more quiet; and this interval is not
<PB N="70" REF="43"> felt, nor perceived in the du&s;t, but a thou&s;and years &s;eem as &s;hort as an hour; now this is &s;o far from an an&s;wer, that it tends to &s;ubvert the great principle of a future life, for ten thou&s;and Ages, and an everla&s;ting duration beyond could as little be perceived: There can be no complaint, that &s;o many Ages of duration were run out, before men, which lay out of life, came in|to it, nor can there be any &s;en&s;e of the want of life, where it was never had; and in like manner, there can be none by them that are quite gone out of life. But if this way of rea&s;on|ing were good, it might be as well for good men, if there were no Re&s;ur|rection at all, for they that are thus muffled up cannot make any appeals to God for, nor &s;o much as know there is rea&s;on to de&s;ire, a Re&s;urrection, nor re&s;ent the want of it, and &s;o would have no lo&s;s. But if good men &s;uffer lo&s;s in this total &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of life, they mu&s;t &s;uffer proportionably in tho&s;e huge &s;paces of death, the Saints of God dying in the beginning of the world have already, and are &s;till to lye under till the end of the world.</P>
<P>Further, This &s;ilence and interval
<PB N="71" REF="43"> of life is equal, (as to the ca&s;e we are now &s;peaking of) to <HI>Not Being,</HI> and &s;eems &s;o to obliterate all the former &s;tate, and the good or evil done in it, as to acquit and di&s;charge it, as if it had never been, to tho&s;e who&s;e acti|ons are &s;o quite broken off, and &s;o perfectly forgotten by them&s;elves; It is therefore certainly mo&s;t agreeable to Rea&s;on, as well as Scripture, there &s;hould be at lea&s;t a continuation of that &s;en&s;e and under&s;tanding we had of our actions in this world, when we are pa&s;&s;ed out of it, whether in rela|tion to happine&s;s or mi&s;ery, that all &s;hould not begin anew in our acknow|ledgment of them, and evil men that have been &s;ome thou&s;ands of years out of Being, as men, &s;hould yet be forced to own tho&s;e things they did &s;o long ago, having al&s;o been &s;o many other things &s;ince, in the various &s;hapes the matter of their Bodies may ea&s;ily have been &s;uppo&s;ed to pa&s;s into, and in which they may have de&s;erved better, or at lea&s;t been more innocent and harmle&s;s; and if there be nothing higher than that matter tuned to ra|tional motion, (as men of this opini|on &s;uppo&s;e) we may ea&s;ily allow an
<PB N="72" REF="44"> expiation may have been made by that &s;ame matter for the offences com|mitted, while it made up &s;uch a man, in the innocency or better demeanour of it &s;elf in &s;ome other &s;tate into which it removed afterward; and &s;o on the other &s;ide the matter that hath been virtuous, while it was &s;uch a man, may afterwards come to be debauch|ed in its future di&s;gui&s;es, and &s;o a de|merit of its former worthy perfor|mances en&s;ue; and thus body not be found by either &s;ort of men &s;uch as they left it. So unrea&s;onable are the&s;e <HI>Hypothe&s;es,</HI> that are &s;et up again&s;t the Souls immortality. Nor would it ea&s;ily be believed, that there &s;hould be a &s;egregating care of God, to keep every mans body di&s;tinct, &s;o as never to &s;erve any other purpo&s;e in the ma|terial Creation, it being again&s;t evi|dent experience; though we do not at all doubt of his calling home &s;o much of that matter to unite with the Soul at la&s;t, wherever it may have wandred, as is nece&s;&s;ary to the verity of the Doctrine of the Re&s;urrection, it being united to a Soul always di|&s;tinct, and able to give a di&s;tinctne&s;s to the matter to which it is reunited.
<PB N="73" REF="44"> But indeed upon the whole matter, I conclude it of greate&s;t probability, that the Scripture doth mo&s;t often in its di&s;cour&s;es of immortality and the Re&s;urrection, intend the whole &s;tate of eternity or future life, from the Souls fir&s;t leaving the body, and en|trance into an everla&s;ting condition, throughout the endle&s;s Ages of eter|nity, without preci&s;e di&s;tinctions of the periods before and after the Re|&s;urrection of the body, there being only a circum&s;tantial difference be|tween the Soul in a body or out of it. Yet this &s;tate is generally expre&s;&s;ed by the Re&s;urrection, both becau&s;e that gives greate&s;t a&s;&s;urance to Spirits in bodies, and &s;eems to them the mo&s;t bulky, &s;olid, and intelligible &s;ub&s;i|&s;tence; and al&s;o becau&s;e the Re&s;urre|ction is the con&s;ummation of all things in relation to Gods righteous Govern|ment of the world, and judgment up|on it, and the illu&s;tration or manife|&s;tation thereof, in that way his wi&s;|dom hath thought mo&s;t meet, that is, in a vi&s;ible, &s;en&s;ible way with re&s;pect to mankind.</P>
<P>Including then, and confe&s;&s;ing this Article of the Re&s;urrection of the
<PB N="74" REF="45"> Body, as mo&s;t true and certain; I &s;ay the Scripture doth by the Re&s;urrection expre&s;s the whole &s;tate of an everla&s;t|ing condition, whether out of the bo|dy before the Re&s;urrection, or in the body after the Re&s;urrection, yet al|ways fixed primarily in the Soul. For except the Re&s;urrection be thus under|&s;tood, there could be no rea&s;on to them, that acknowledge a Soul, why the very foundations of Religion &s;hould be re&s;ted &s;o much upon this principle of the Re&s;urrection; for they might be well &s;ecured by the firm be|lief and full acknowledgment of a fu|ture &s;tate, of happine&s;s or mi&s;ery, re|ward or puni&s;hment in the Soul, a compleat Being without the body, as in the Soul made apparent by a body. But if we thus expound the Re&s;urre|ction, of the whole future &s;tate, and that this future &s;tate for the former rea&s;ons is expre&s;&s;ed mo&s;t of all by the notion of Ri&s;ing again with the body, there is both a rea&s;on why all Religi|on is re&s;ted upon it, becau&s;e the whole life to come is intended by it, and al&s;o why ri&s;ing again in the body is the fitte&s;t expre&s;&s;ion of that &s;tate, becau&s;e by us as in bodies the future &s;tate is be&s;t under&s;tood &s;o.</P>
<PB N="75" REF="45">
<P>For this &s;eparated &s;tate of the Soul is <HI>that Hades, that &s;tate of invi&s;ibi|lity,</HI> in which according to the Rules we go by, and the apprehen&s;ions of things we have in this world, men &s;eem to be lo&s;t, and we account them &s;o in the &s;tate of the dead, as to be wholly removed from the notions we as men of this world have of life, though even then <HI>they live to God,</HI> to who&s;e eye the vi&s;ibility and invi&s;ibili|ty of his Creatures is all alike, and he calleth tho&s;e that are invi&s;ible to us as vi&s;ible, and is their God, even as he is of tho&s;e mo&s;t vi&s;ible to us; his ac|count of them is as &s;trict, his care and provi&s;ion equal, or rather &s;uperior; <HI>He is not a&s;hamed to be called their</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 11. 16.</NOTE> <HI>God, for he hath provided them a Ci|ty;</HI> and that they are invi&s;ible to us, le&s;&s;ens them not at all to him, they &s;tand as fair in his <HI>Regi&s;ter of Beings, in his Book of life.</HI></P>
<P>Out of this <HI>Hades</HI> therefore Chri&s;t a|ro&s;e, the <HI>fir&s;t begotten from the dead,</HI> and a&s;cended indeed into a glory out of &s;ight, but yet he left thereby &s;uch an argument of a future &s;tate, as we are mo&s;t able to accept. And this very &s;ame <HI>Hades</HI> or <HI>&s;tate of invi&s;ibility</HI> &s;hall
<PB N="76" REF="46"> give up all that are now in it, into the mo&s;t <HI>vi&s;ible repre&s;entations</HI> of hap|pine&s;s or mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>Having now &s;ettled the di&s;tinction betwixt <HI>Body</HI> and <HI>Spirit,</HI> I come to give &s;uch de&s;criptions of <HI>Spirit</HI> and <HI>&s;piritual nature,</HI> as may make further di&s;covery of mans Soul, and for a ge|neral de&s;cription of Spirit, I would chu&s;e to expre&s;s it in this manner:</P>
<P>Spirit is the mo&s;t perfect kind of Be|ing, that hath none of the di&s;advan|tages and incumbrances of body, but hath all the force and advantage that can po&s;&s;ibly be &s;uppo&s;ed in body, or a&s;cribed to it, much tran&s;cended in it &s;elf; the reality and &s;ub&s;tance body &s;eems to us to have, Spirit hath much more; the motion or force body hath impre&s;&s;ed upon it, is much higher and more excellent in Spirit, as much more excellent as &s;elf motion exceeds mo|tion meerly imprinted; the Sen&s;e Bo|dy &s;eems to challenge is a thou&s;and times quicker in Spirit, and of a na|ture unexpre&s;&s;ibly higher, more re|fined, and &s;urpa&s;&s;ing; and &s;o through|out; all priviledge of Being is much more, and more exalted in Spi|rit.</P>
<PB N="77" REF="46">
<P>But more particularly, we may deem of Spirit by the&s;e Characters of it.</P>
<P N="1">1. Spirit is purely and perfectly what it is without any mixture or al|lay, without any incumbrance of le&s;s noble parts; it is wholly and perfect|ly it &s;elf; That expre&s;&s;ion of God concerning him&s;elf, <HI>I am what I am,</HI> may in a degree be accommodated to every Spirit, <HI>It is what it is.</HI> Thus the Soul of man, an inferiour Spirit, is in the <HI>Image of God</HI> the <HI>Supreme Spi|rit.</HI> The Body is &s;everal things, &s;eve|ral humours, and parts ama&s;&s;ed, and di&s;tributed into &s;ome order, di&s;tant in &s;ituation, different in their allay, &s;ome more excellent, &s;ome ba&s;er. But Spi|rit is <HI>All one, one All, All of an excel|lency, All one Thing;</HI> this may be tru|ly &s;aid of the Soul, though not in that high &s;en&s;e, as of God.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is a Being that cannot be di|vided or &s;eparated. It is like a beam of the Sun; who can cut off a beam in the mid&s;t? It flyes back and recoils into it &s;elf; &s;o does the Soul, the Spi|rit of a man: You can take nothing off from it, for what can you take but it &s;elf, &s;eeing it is <HI>All &s;elf?</HI> It is like virtue, like light, nothing can be
<PB N="78" REF="47"> pared off from virtue or light. All is one and the &s;ame, the very nature of the&s;e things forbids preci&s;ion; the Soul goes all together, and never lo&s;es or leaves any thing of it &s;elf be|hind it.</P>
<P N="3">3. It is a Being of perfect commu|nion and communication with it &s;elf, like a Diamond cut to greate&s;t advan|tage, you &s;ee it at one glance, at one eye, the whole runs as it were into every point; thus the Spirit of a man &s;hines every way into it &s;elf, and re|bounds upon it &s;elf: The more fine, pure, and active any thing, though in bodily nature, is, the more it recipro|cates with it &s;elf, and runs, as it were, every part into every part of it &s;elf, as Light, Fire, Air, which therefore re|&s;emble Spirits, who&s;e property it is more perfectly to do this.</P>
<P>Now that the&s;e are true Characters of a Spirit, be&s;ides that we have &s;ome kind of intuitive knowledge, or down-right look into the&s;e things, by the very virtue of a Spirits knowledge of it &s;elf, and that general &s;en&s;e and experience we have of our own Be|ings, and the motions and activities of them, it may yet farther be a&s;&s;ured by
<PB N="79" REF="47"> what we find and perceive daily to be the di&s;advantages of bodies, for we find by effects (as hath already been in&s;i&s;ted upon) that there mu&s;t be a higher order of Beings, than body, which we call <HI>Spirits,</HI> and that of this order the Supreme Being is the fir&s;t, and that inferiour natures are &s;o, be|cau&s;e they are made in his <HI>Image and likene&s;s;</HI> we mu&s;t then a&s;cribe to the Supreme Spirit &s;uch e&s;&s;ential Attri|butes and Characters, wherein he is infinite, as may an&s;wer tho&s;e effects, for which we &s;eek &s;o great a Cau&s;e; and &s;o in created Spirits, &s;eeing there are depre&s;&s;ions and inconveniences, that peculiarly belong to body, by rea&s;on of which we cannot allow to them &s;uch and &s;uch effects, that are plainly above them, we mu&s;t there|fore fix &s;uch Characters upon the&s;e &s;piritual Natures, which we &s;ay are created in <HI>Divine likene&s;s,</HI> as may en|noble them above tho&s;e inconvenien|ces, which befall mean matter.</P>
<P>As when fir&s;t we a&s;cribe to Spirit &s;implicity, It is ea&s;ie to argue, that the more any thing is &s;imple, &s;incere, and one with it &s;elf, with the more certainty it doth hold its own &s;ub&s;i|&s;tence,
<PB N="80" REF="48"> in that it can run no hazard, but of its entire &s;ingle e&s;&s;ence, where|as compounded Beings are in perpe|tual danger of a di&s;&s;olution; and the more one and &s;ingle any thing is, with the more force and power it proceeds to its effects, &s;eeing it moves at once with its whole &s;elf, and a perfect uni|on of its &s;trength: whereas al&s;o com|pounded Beings mu&s;t be accountable for their parts, which mu&s;t be made good, that there may be a full force for the effect; but parts being but loo&s;ly &s;et together, if any be lo&s;t, the whole is impaired, and weakened according to the noblene&s;s and value of the part it hath lo&s;t: La&s;tly, that &s;elf-communion and communication, whereby any Being hath its center eve|ry where in it &s;elf, and hath in every point of it &s;elf, the center of its own Intelligence of it &s;elf, is va&s;tly nece&s;&s;a|ry, that any efficient may work with coun&s;el and de&s;ign, and the full im|provement of it &s;elf to every thing it would bring to pa&s;s; &s;o that the&s;e things are hereby manife&s;ted, to be true Characters of &s;uch a Being, as we call Spirit, infinite in the infinite Spirit; in created Spirits &s;utable and
<PB N="81" REF="48"> proportionable to the rank of their Creation, and &s;o in the Soul of man, (though under the re&s;traint and di&s;|advantages of a Body joined with it) in which we are particularly to take notice of the great force and con&s;e|quences of the&s;e Characters.</P>
<P N="1">1. From hence it follows, The Soul is a mo&s;t active Being, of greate&s;t life, vigour, and motion, in a perpetual intellectual &s;elf-motion, like the Sun that is always playing its beams and light; God hath prepared the Soul for &s;uch a motion; in its very creati|on he de&s;igned it for motion, and &s;et it into motion, a rational motion of under&s;tanding, will, affection, imagi|nation, and remembrance, &s;elf-reflexi|on, and con&s;cience. In the&s;e it hath a mo&s;t lively agitation of it &s;elf, as &s;oon as ever it was in being, from the very fir&s;t moments of its being, and in the very nature of its being, it be|came a perpetual motion, a &s;elf-mo|tion, or mover of it &s;elf; we may perceive it in the quick and free mo|tion of Thought, the continual moti|on of Thought, that never re&s;ts. The purity, finene&s;s, and &s;implicity of it, a&s;&s;ures it cannot but be natural to it,
<PB N="82" REF="49"> to move, and move it &s;elf. God im|pre&s;&s;ed it with life and action in the very make of it; &s;eeing it is all &s;elf, and all of it received motion alike from the fir&s;t mover, it can have no heavy and &s;luggi&s;h parts to heave from their re&s;t, and carry along with it, by which its motion, being con|trolled, &s;hould grow dull. The mo&s;t vivacious parts of Body, and which are mo&s;t active, having &s;o much load, &s;o much dull matter, to in&s;pire and move on, are ea&s;ily damped, but it is not &s;o with Spirit.</P>
<P>And then from without, Bodies continually have their motion arre&s;t|ed, by encountring other Bodies of a contrary intention, imprinted with the ju&s;t oppo&s;ite motion; but Spirit finds nothing abroad to cool, but eve|ry thing provokes, every thing &s;tirs up their motion: For it is moved to move &s;elf, by every thing that pre&s;ents it &s;elf to it, and the more object the more motion; like a violent recoil from a hard body, the motion back is made fiercer. Every thing the Soul meets, in&s;tead of abating its motion, reflects it with a new force, and re|turns it upon more vehement exami|nation
<PB N="83" REF="49"> and enquiry; that is, more earne&s;t motion, if it be in things per|taining to its knowledge; but if in things related to its affection, the acti|on is more forcible upon it &s;elf with plea&s;ure or vexation, according to the nature of what is encountred.</P>
<P>Whatever is to be abated from this account of the Souls motion, mu&s;t be imputed to the inconvenience of its working by Body, who&s;e chanels are &s;o tender and brittle, and cannot en|dure too great vehemency; in com|pa&s;&s;ion to which the motion is mode|rated, the conduits are &s;o &s;trait, and ob&s;tructed through the Sen&s;es unexer|ci&s;ed to the u&s;es and ends of the Soul, that its action cannot &s;tream out like it &s;elf: La&s;tly, the in&s;truments and or|gans grow weary and heavy, by the di&s;advantages and rencounters, the parts of matter have between them|&s;elves; upon which the Souls motion &s;eems &s;lower, and tired al&s;o.</P>
<P>Yet there is no time wherein Thought &s;tands &s;till, though in the narrowe&s;t Soul, and how meanly &s;oe|ver it be employed, as it is in igno|rant and &s;ordid minds. But further, there are at all times great Examples
<PB N="84" REF="50"> of the lively motions of the Soul of man, in wi&s;e and excellent per&s;ons, and of the greatne&s;s and vehemency thereof; which is yet a thou&s;and fold greater, and will be perfect in the everla&s;ting &s;tate: Its motion will be then wound up to the highe&s;t, and there will be no allay from a heavy Body; then all the thoughts, affecti|ons, powers, will &s;ally out with an unimaginable life. Oh how nece&s;&s;ary is it, that we prepare by holy motion, and action now, to that motion, that it may be ble&s;&s;ed, &s;eeing there is no re&s;t from it, there is no quieting it, nor &s;o much as &s;lackning the &s;wiftne&s;s of it. If it be not a motion that makes happy and ble&s;&s;ed, it is yet as high a motion, but in mi&s;ery, and to the per|fection of mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="2">2. Hence it follows, the Soul is im|mortal, becau&s;e it is perfectly it &s;elf, and &s;o &s;eparated from all things el&s;e; for the alteration of things in matter is from their compo&s;ition, one thing having many meeting to make it up, and the&s;e either &s;truggling and con|te&s;ting among them&s;elves, the &s;tronger &s;ubduing the weaker, or by the for|ciblene&s;s of outward impre&s;&s;ion upon
<PB N="85" REF="50"> one, or more of the ingredients, a di&s;&s;olution of that compo&s;ure is brought to pa&s;s. The Heavens, and heavenly Bodies being purer, and more uncompounded have &s;tood &s;o many Ages with &s;o little alteration.</P>
<P>A Spirit being &s;imply and entirely it &s;elf can neither be forced a&s;under by feuds within it &s;elf, nor by violence from without; there being nothing in its &s;ub&s;tance to make any inte&s;tine War, nor any thing weaker or &s;trong|er to &s;ubdue, or be &s;ubdued; and therefore it receives all &s;trokes upon its whole &s;elf, as an Anvile that is beaten clo&s;er and more united by all the Hammers that fall upon it. All the griefs and troubles, and di&s;quiets that ri&s;e up in it, are only the cro&s;&s;es and counter motions, and actions of its &s;entiments and apprehen&s;ions; yea the very di&s;mal falls of Divine Di&s;plea|&s;ure upon it, do but awaken and &s;tir up &s;ad and grievous apprehen&s;ions in it, but do not in the lea&s;t touch the e&s;&s;ence or &s;ub&s;tance of the Soul to weaken it.</P>
<P>This is that death, the only death of the Soul, that it is capable of a darkne&s;s in the lo&s;s of that Beauty,
<PB N="86" REF="51"> and excellency of holy motion, and in the deprivation of happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, the favour of God, a lo&s;s of its perfection without any diminu|tion of Being. And though it be now in the Body, and &s;eems to be lo&s;t in the ruines of that, yet it is indeed &s;o perfectly it &s;elf, &s;o &s;eparable in its na|ture from the Body, (as I have already di&s;cours'd at large) &s;o di&s;tinct and com|plete in it &s;elf, that it is only acquitted from that in death, not at all altered or changed in its &s;ub&s;tantial &s;elf.</P>
<P>So then this &s;implicity of the Soul witne&s;&s;es the Immortality of its na|ture, and that it cannot be di&s;&s;olved like the things of this world, that con|&s;i&s;t in the union of &s;everal things, that con&s;pire and meet together, and after|wards flye a&s;under; but the Soul hath nothing to lo&s;e, or part from, but its whole &s;elf, being one &s;imple thing; <HI>One All,</HI> and <HI>All One,</HI> there can be no di&s;&s;olution.</P>
<P>Nay the things of this world, al|though they are &s;everal things, united and made up &s;o into one, as &s;everal things can be, and when tho&s;e &s;everal things flye a&s;under, that one thing is di&s;&s;olved; yet becau&s;e the parts &s;till
<PB N="87" REF="51"> continue to be, they become &s;ome|thing el&s;e; for there can be no anni|hilation, or bringing things back to nothing but by the omnipotency that created them; &s;o that all the death and di&s;&s;olution, that is in whole na|ture, is but only a continual flux and reflux; a perpetual pa&s;&s;ing out of one &s;hape, figure, nature, into another, which, becau&s;e things love to be as they are, look for the pre&s;ent like death, peri&s;hing, and the decay of the world it &s;elf; although the com|po&s;ition, for that time being, is only brought to ruine; and although the parts, it may be, are meliorated, made more beautiful and advanced; as when a Ve&s;&s;el of Silver de&s;igned for ba&s;er u&s;e is broken to pieces, purged in the Refiners fire, and then made a Ve&s;&s;el of honour, and the materials of a meaner and decayed Building taken down, and laid into a nobler Stru|cture; yet while this is doing, it hath the appearance of &s;poil and de&s;tru|ction, whereas indeed all, even to the very Fragments, is gathered up that nothing may be lo&s;t, not &s;o much as the filth of the Ve&s;&s;el, or the du&s;t of the Building.</P>
<PB N="88" REF="52">
<P>We may then thus far derive from lower Nature, what may make the Immortality of the Soul an ea&s;ier No|tion to us: For we &s;ee, It is the twi&s;t|ing things together, with &s;uch une|qual &s;trengths of the Parts in motion one again&s;t another, and the liable|ne&s;s of tho&s;e Parts to the impre&s;&s;ion of Forreign Motion, that let in the Mortality and Frailty that is in world|ly Things; that &s;o by the prevalency &s;ometimes of one thing, &s;ometimes of another, there might be tho&s;e conti|nual Changes and Vici&s;&s;itudes, that God hath appointed for Purpo&s;es mo&s;t agreeable to the greatne&s;s and my&s;teriou&s;ne&s;s of his mo&s;t wi&s;e Go|vernment and Providence.</P>
<P>But the &s;impler, and more &s;elf any thing is, the more hardly it is altered, till we come to that which is call'd <HI>Fir&s;t Matter</HI> and <HI>Motion,</HI> which in the ab&s;tract Notion of them, and as they are by them&s;elves, cannot be chang'd or lo&s;t, but by annihilation.</P>
<P>For that we call <HI>Fir&s;t Matter,</HI> or <HI>Matter,</HI> as we under&s;tand it <HI>unim|pre&s;s'd by Form,</HI> or <HI>Particular Na|ture;</HI> though as it is in <HI>Particular Na|ture</HI> it by always dying out of one
<PB N="89" REF="52"> Shape, Figure, Nature, into another; is yet &s;o immortal in it &s;elf, that it cannot it &s;elf peri&s;h but by annihila|tion: And that Motion which is us'd by God for the twirling this Matter into &s;o many &s;everal Forms, and is perpetually flitting from one part of it to another, and is even driven and expuls'd by the Contra&s;ts it hath with it &s;elf, as it is in tho&s;e &s;everal parts of Matter, from one to another; cannot yet be &s;pent in the Sum, or any De|gree of it be abated in the Total.</P>
<P>The&s;e two, becau&s;e thus ab&s;tracted, they are perfectly and intirely them|&s;elves, have thus much of Immortali|ty, that they never take End, till an End is put to them by Almighty Effi|ciency: But <HI>Matter</HI> is laid by God, and &s;o lies as a <HI>Foundation</HI> of his Works, that cannot be removed; and <HI>Motion</HI> is the <HI>In&s;trument</HI> he hath pre|pared for the management of tho&s;e his Works; and the&s;e in their &s;imple &s;elves have no Jars within, nor cannot be touched by any extern Hand; but as they are in compo&s;ition, undergo tho&s;e &s;everal Changes, and ha&s;ten out of the po&s;ture into another, as it plea|&s;ed God; being &s;till the &s;ame in them|&s;elves:
<PB N="90" REF="53"> For all that Matter can be &s;queez'd into, is Matter; and all that Motion can be overcome into, is Mo|tion; and &s;o they will be, till they are di&s;annull'd by God.</P>
<P>And thus the Soul, its own Sub|&s;tance, its own Motion, receiving both from God in its very Being, and &s;o being all Self, as an un&s;haken Rock, or <HI>Fir&s;t Matter,</HI> bears and lies under all the di&s;po&s;es of God, and as highe&s;t Life turns every way with, &amp; &s;ub&s;erves his admirable Admini&s;trations upon it &s;elf, which are all in Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, Holine&s;s, Ju&s;tice, and Mercy. This Spirit, I &s;ay, lies under all po&s;|&s;ible Impre&s;&s;ions that can be made on a Soul; and yet it is a Soul &s;till, it is always the &s;ame; It is always the &s;ame as to its E&s;&s;ence, and cannot be &s;o altered or changed, as to become another Thing: It mu&s;t be it &s;elf, or it mu&s;t be nothing; and all Action upon it, can but provoke it to Intel|lectual Action: So it is found, and &s;o it is left by every thing that comes near it, except God &s;hould come to make a final Determination upon its Being. There is no change upon the Sub&s;tance of a Spirit, but Annihilati|on:
<PB N="91" REF="53"> The State, and Condition, and Quality of it may be chang'd from Good to Evil, from Evil to Good, from Happine&s;s to Mi&s;ery, from Mi&s;e|ry to Happine&s;s; the very Being re|mains unalterable, while it is.</P>
<P>The onely way then of the Souls coming to an end, mu&s;t be by Anni|hilation, or being cru&s;h'd to Nothing by Infinite Power: Concerning which, let us further con&s;ider,</P>
<P>It is true, the <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> and <HI>Exi&s;tence</HI> of the Soul are &s;everal things: that is, There is the Nature of the Soul in general, and this is one thing, and is call'd its <HI>E&s;&s;ence;</HI> and this con&s;idered in a po&s;&s;ibility of Actual Being, or not Being, as it may be, or may not be: When it is, we call it <HI>Exi&s;tence,</HI> or <HI>Actual Being;</HI> and this is another thing from its <HI>E&s;&s;ence.</HI> Therefore it might either not have come into Being at all; or after it is come into Being, it may be turn'd out of Being by the immediate Power of God, who gave it Being, who onely can annihilate or bring to nothing that which is.</P>
<P>In all the&s;e things the Soul is be|yond all expre&s;&s;ion excell'd by God, <HI>who onely,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks, <HI>hath</HI>
<PB N="92" REF="54"> <HI>immortality:</HI> For he it is alone that in the true&s;t &s;en&s;e is what he is; &s;o inconceivably and perfectly <HI>Him&s;elf,</HI> that he is onely of, and from him&s;elf; and <HI>Him&s;elf</HI> &s;o infinitely, that he com|prehends and embraces in him&s;elf the <HI>whole Divine Nature,</HI> and there is not <HI>a &s;econd God. He is alone, and be|&s;ides him there is no God; he knows not any other; with him there is no variation nor &s;hadow of turning,</HI> nei|ther in his Being, nor in any of the Attributes of his Being: <HI>Mo&s;t Great and Good, Mo&s;t Happy and for ever Be&s;t.</HI> For he hath all within him&s;elf, and there is nothing without him of any compare with him, not any thing, but what receives Being from him; &s;o that neither from within, nor from without, can there be any occa&s;ion of change in him: He it is, who&s;e <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> and <HI>Exi&s;tence</HI> are one and the &s;ame Thing. His <HI>E&s;&s;ence,</HI> in the very true Notion of it, ri&s;es up into imme|diate and ab&s;olute <HI>Exi&s;tence:</HI> For there is no other Notion of his <HI>E&s;|&s;ence,</HI> but in his <HI>Exi&s;tence.</HI> It is his very <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> or <HI>Nature</HI> to <HI>Be.</HI> He is never &s;o little, as in a po&s;&s;ibility to Be; but always &s;o great, that it is
<PB N="93" REF="54"> impo&s;&s;ible he &s;hould not Be. He is without the allay of a po&s;&s;ibility to Be, which al&s;o includes a po&s;&s;ibility not to Be. He is the highe&s;t and mo&s;t perpetual <HI>Act of Being; Eternal in the very Life of Being.</HI> To grant the Na|ture of God no incompo&s;&s;ible Noti|on, is to wrap up a Mans &s;elf in the conclu&s;ion he is, and that unchange|ably: For he is a nece&s;&s;ary Being, a Being that cannot but Be.</P>
<P>And it is of much con&s;ideration concerning his Being, that there &s;hould be &s;uch a Lock upon the Mind of Man, that it can no &s;ooner grant, There may be a God; but it is &s;urpriz'd with this, There mu&s;t be a God: for the very Nature of <HI>Deity</HI> concludes a ne|ce&s;&s;ity of Being, <HI>Ab&s;olute Being.</HI></P>
<P>God is Paramount in the&s;e Prero|gatives of Being; and the Soul can|not be likened to him, from whom it hath its <HI>All.</HI> But yet a much truer and nobler Immortality have the Spi|rits and Souls of Men, than Matter and Motion before &s;poken of; &s;eeing Spirit is de&s;ign'd, prepar'd for, and in its own Nature, and immediately in it &s;elf, of much higher Excellency, Purity, Self-motion, fit for Intelli|gency,
<PB N="94" REF="55"> and all Rational Enjoyment; as much above any Notion of Mat|ter, or appearance of it in any Form, or acted by any Motion, or into any Nature whatever, as Heaven is above Earth.</P>
<P>And beyond this, It is the Nature of Spirits, having their Sub&s;tance, Na|ture, Motion, all within them&s;elves, to be always di&s;tinct, and to have Sub|&s;i&s;tence in them&s;elves, proper and pe|culiar to them&s;elves, and divided from all others: whereas the others, as they are made up in &s;uch and &s;uch Natures, and out of which they are not found, are continually altering and changing, and pa&s;&s;ing out of one Form into another, and have no other actu|al Sub&s;i&s;tence in them&s;elves, but what they have in the&s;e &s;o continually vari|ated Appearances.</P>
<P>For the whole Stock of Matter and Motion, that is in the World, is made u&s;e of by God in common; and the&s;e two are always running every way, in|to all the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Compo&s;itions the Creator hath de&s;ign'd them for, and as they are govern'd by him: But all the whole Nature of Spirit, that hath ever been in the Creation, from the
<PB N="95" REF="55"> very Beginning, hath without any confu&s;ion, or running one Spirit into another, been pre&s;erv'd in &s;tricte&s;t di&s;tinction and &s;eparation one from another, &s;o many <HI>proper Sub&s;i&s;tences,</HI> always known to God, under&s;tood, and taken notice of by him, in this their di&s;tinctne&s;s; and &s;o are, and &s;hall be known to them&s;elves for ever; and as &s;uch, they &s;hall be manife&s;ted and expo&s;ed to the <HI>univer&s;al A&s;&s;embly</HI> of them&s;elves, Angels, and Men, and judg'd according to their Works; be|cau&s;e they have been their own, and not anothers with them.</P>
<P>So then, though the Spirits and Souls of Men, even as Matter and Motion, are dependent upon the Plea|&s;ure of the Creator, whether they &s;hall continue in Being, or not, if we &s;peak of the thing ab&s;olutely; yet it is very evident, from the con&s;iderati|on of the whole &s;tate of the matter, that Spirits are the mo&s;t proper and natural Inhabitants of Immortality; and how&s;oever it may plea&s;e the Creator to determine upon the other Parts of the Creation, yet there is as great a&s;&s;urance as Rea&s;on can ri&s;e un|to, and higher yet from Divine Reve|lation,
<PB N="96" REF="56"> that he intends that our Souls &s;hould be for ever; &s;eeing he hath made them with Faculties, and Pow|ers of Action, Intellectual, Moral, and immediately re&s;pecting him&s;elf; which are &s;o connatural to the true &s;tate of Immortality, and &s;o plain an approach to, and re&s;emblance of him, who on|ly hath Immortality, that it is almo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible to a &s;erious Con&s;iderer to think, that there could be any other de&s;ignation of them by God, but for an immortal duration; &s;eeing he hath &s;o prepared them for &s;uch a Conditi|on, who does nothing in vain, nor does &s;o deba&s;e his own Image, as to draw the Lineaments of it in Du&s;t. It remains then, That the Soul in the Nature given it by Creation, and in the de&s;ignation of the Almighty, who gave it that Nature, is an <HI>Immortal Spirit.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. From the Character of a <HI>Spirits &s;elf-communication,</HI> it follows; The Soul is an <HI>&V;nder&s;tanding:</HI> For the highe&s;t degree of Self-communication is Under&s;tanding. Even in things ar|tificial, when any thing &s;eems to com|municate with another, and to receive Intelligence from another, and im|parts
<PB N="97" REF="56"> it again to it, there is a &s;em|blance of under&s;tanding; as in the <HI>Sympathetique</HI> an&s;wer of one Lute to another: <HI>When the Heaven hears the Earth,</HI> in the <HI>Prophets</HI> phra&s;e, it &s;eems to under&s;tand it. The mutual Returns of one Creature to another, are a kind of Under&s;tanding in them; or rather that Great Under&s;tanding of God runs through them all, and is an Under|&s;tanding in their behalf. Life, within the compa&s;s and &s;phere of that Being that hath it, is &s;elf-communicated Mo|tion: for all the Parts are in a confe|deracy one with another, and at an agreement among them&s;elves, for the motion of the whole Frame, as if they had treated, and &s;till held intelligence one with another: But in Di&s;ea&s;es they grow &s;trange to one another; their <HI>Language,</HI> like that of <HI>Babel,</HI> is <HI>confounded,</HI> and in death utterly &s;i|lenc'd. But the higher the Life, &s;till the more appearance of Under&s;tand|ing, becau&s;e there is a higher <HI>Self-communication,</HI> till we come indeed to the Life of Under&s;tanding, and &s;o up to the highe&s;t Life and highe&s;t Under&s;tanding, which is al&s;o the high|e&s;t, mo&s;t true, and perfect <HI>Self-com|munication,</HI>
<PB N="98" REF="57"> that is, the <HI>Life and &V;n|der&s;tanding of God,</HI> who hath not onely a Life and Under&s;tanding with|in him&s;elf, but al&s;o of, and from him|&s;elf; <HI>An Eternal Self-communication,</HI> or Reflection of him&s;elf, to, and with|in him&s;elf, upon him&s;elf: And this <HI>In|finite Spring of Being,</HI> and <HI>Self-commu|nication,</HI> never cea&s;es, nor can cea&s;e to communicate him&s;elf to him&s;elf, ever knowing, under&s;tanding him&s;elf, enjoying, conver&s;ing with him&s;elf, which is <HI>Eternity of Life;</HI> for he that does thus, can never have been out of Being, nor can ever die: A perpe|tual Circle of deriving him&s;elf from him&s;elf, to him&s;elf: A pure&s;t Intellect and Mind, ever beholding, and mo&s;t divinely re&s;enting it &s;elf in uninter|mitted Knowledge, and under&s;tanding of it &s;elf, and <HI>&s;o living for ever:</HI> For, what under&s;tands, lives; and what un|der&s;tands highe&s;t, lives highe&s;t; and what <HI>under&s;tands for ever, lives for ever.</HI></P>
<P>All Creatures of Life, even of high|e&s;t Life, the Life of Under&s;tanding, have in an abated &s;en&s;e onely <HI>Life within them&s;elves,</HI> or a <HI>Self-communi|cation,</HI> having receiv'd it at fir&s;t, and
<PB N="99" REF="57"> receiving it &s;till every moment from God. <HI>In Chri&s;t was Life as in the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Johan. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Fountain,</HI> that is, that <HI>high Life</HI> of <HI>&V;n|der&s;tanding;</HI> and this Life was the <HI>Light of Men,</HI> that is, the Spring and Original of their Under&s;tanding.</P>
<P>And this Under&s;tanding, in re&s;em|blance of God's Life, is the proper Life of the Soul: For the Soul lives by feeling it &s;elf in the&s;e <HI>Self-commu|nications,</HI> by perceiving its own Co|gitations, Conceptions, Comprehen&s;i|ons, Affections, and whatever el&s;e are the natural Re&s;ults and Activities of a Rational and Intellectual Life; even as we feel and perceive Natural Life, by the &s;everal Motions and Self-com|munications of that Life: And this Life, if we &s;peak &s;trictly of it, as it is a Life of Rea&s;on and Under&s;tand|ing, hath no Contrary, it hath no Ad|ver&s;ary to encounter, nor is there any Privation of it conceivable, except by the de&s;truction of the Soul it &s;elf into nothing.</P>
<P>For this Life is as near to the Soul, as Lu&s;tre and Splendor is to Light; if you take it away, the very Nature it &s;elf is lo&s;t; all the Wickedne&s;s and Mi&s;ery in Hell cannot quench it: For
<PB N="100" REF="58"> who more knowing, &s;agacious, re&s;t|le&s;s, in all Motions natural to Spirits, than the Devils? That which comes neare&s;t to the &s;tupefying this Life, is being &s;unk down into Body; in the lower &s;tate of which yet this Life re|mains, though greatly cover'd and conceal'd; and it cannot be long &s;o conceal'd. This Life is therefore, in this regard, plainly a Life immortal; except God him&s;elf by an immediate hand extingui&s;h it; and this cannot be believ'd, &s;eeing it is &s;o near a re|&s;emblance of his own Life: For, that he &s;hould make an Intellectual Life, &s;o high in its Nature, to &s;o low a pur|po&s;e, is not agreeable with the Wi&s;|dom of all the Works of God.</P>
<P>Now this Under&s;tanding, as we have &s;aid, is <HI>Self-communication:</HI> For as Rea&s;oning or Ratiocination is the communicating of Things one with another in a way of compare, a col|lating of them one with another, and ballancing them together, and then giving the account; and the quicker and more &s;udden this motion is made, the more lively is the Ratiocination, and the more excellent is the Under|&s;tanding: So the Principle of this
<PB N="101" REF="58"> Ratiocination every moment confers with it &s;elf, what it hath attain'd by this cour&s;e of Rea&s;on, and recipro|cates with it &s;elf all it hath ob&s;erv'd. God in an infinite manner knows him|&s;elf within him&s;elf, and all that is, in a moment, by an Omnipre&s;ent Under|&s;tanding: but according to the advan|tage the Soul hath to work with, as it is in the Body, or in the &s;tate of &s;eparation from it; &s;o the Under|&s;tanding of Man goes a greater or le&s;|&s;er Circle, for the communicating with Things; but every moment it com|municates with it &s;elf, what it gathers by its communication with other things. This <HI>&s;elf-communication</HI> both of the <HI>Divine</HI> and <HI>Humane Spirit,</HI> the Apo&s;tle thus expre&s;&s;es to us; <HI>The Spi|rit</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2. 10, 11.</NOTE> <HI>&s;earches the deep</HI> or mo&s;t retired <HI>things of God.</HI> There is nothing in God re&s;erv'd, or afar off from him|&s;elf; he eternally communicates his whole &s;elf with him&s;elf: &s;o he hath given to Man to under&s;tand him&s;elf; <HI>The things of a man knows no man, but the &s;pirit of a man that is within him;</HI> and that knows them. So then a Man hath a power of <HI>&s;elf-communi|cation,</HI> or <HI>under&s;tanding the things</HI>
<PB N="102" REF="59"> <HI>within him&s;elf:</HI> Yet God communi|cates with Mans Soul nearer than he can with him&s;elf; that is, he under|&s;tands more of Man, than Man him|&s;elf does; <HI>he is greater than our</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3. 20. P&s;al. 139. 2.</NOTE> <HI>hearts, and knows all things; he un|der&s;tands our thoughts afar off.</HI> The Rea&s;on is, He is the Fountain of this Life of Under&s;tanding; <HI>In him we intellectually live, and move, and have our being;</HI> and he knows <HI>in him&s;elf</HI> what is done in us, <HI>by the vertue that goes out of him</HI> for the doing of it: for he communicates with him&s;elf, all that he enables his Creatures to do.</P>
<P>From all this then it appears, That to under&s;tand any thing, is to com|municate with it. The Mind commu|nicates with all it under&s;tands; and the Nature of Under&s;tanding, is commu|nicating with Things, and <HI>&s;elf-com|munication.</HI> The Mind communicates with it &s;elf all it receives by commu|nication with other Things: The Un|der&s;tanding goes out, to under&s;tand things at a di&s;tance from it; It com|municates with them; It enters into their Natures, as far as it can: Yet it is not in this chiefly an Under&s;tanding, but that it reflects within it &s;elf its
<PB N="103" REF="59"> own Ob&s;ervations, in that it commu|nicates with it &s;elf all the while, it communicates with other things, and feels within it &s;elf its own Percepti|ons, as the Eye perceives its own Re|ceptions. In this it is chiefly an Un|der&s;tanding; not like a dead In&s;tru|ment or Trepan, that enters within things, and knows not that it does &s;o; that takes hold, without any appre|hen&s;ion: or like the Eye of a Bea&s;t, that looks upon things without Know|ledge, and comes no nearer them, than Sen&s;e can do. Things that cannot communicate them&s;elves within them|&s;elves, cannot under&s;tand. Under|&s;tanding encrea&s;es it &s;elf by more plen|tiful and continual <HI>Self-communicati|on:</HI> Under&s;tandings encrea&s;e one ano|ther by mutual communication, and grow greater Under&s;tandings, and as it were into one common Under&s;tand|ing. This is the proper Nature, and the Specification of an Under&s;tand|ing; and the Soul in its very E&s;&s;ence is an Under&s;tanding.</P>
<P N="4">4. The fourth Con&s;equence from the Nature of a Spirit, is, That the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of it mu&s;t needs be exceeding great: For &s;ince &s;uch a
<PB N="104" REF="60"> Being cannot but have great Capaci|ties for one of the&s;e States, which&s;oe|ver of them it is, it mu&s;t needs be ex|ceeding great, both becau&s;e it feels it &s;elf throughout in either of them, and mu&s;t needs do &s;o, in regard of the Reciprocation, <HI>Self-communicati|on</HI> of all its Powers and Motions; and in regard of the Finene&s;s and Purity of its Being, not abated by Gro&s;ne&s;s, Di&s;tance, and Di&s;tinction of Parts, but the Whole running into it &s;elf: as al&s;o in regard of the Forcible mo|tion of a Spirit, which carries there|fore its Griefs or Plea&s;ures with the rapidne&s;s of its own motion, and ei|ther ble&s;&s;es or torments it &s;elf, accord|ing to the vehemency of its Nature.</P>
<P>The Spirit or Soul of Man in the Body di&s;covers &s;omewhat hereof, but in lower degrees, by rea&s;on of the di|&s;tribution of it &s;elf to the &s;everal Parts, Plea&s;ures, Pains, and various Con|cernments of Bodily Nature; which while the Soul conde&s;cends to, and complies with, it &s;eems to imitate; &s;o that it ta&s;tes generally intermixed Plea&s;ures onely, and &s;uffers but alle|viated Griefs, becau&s;e this agrees mo&s;t with the Condition of Body, that
<PB N="105" REF="60"> hath nothing pure: And further, while it is thus intere&s;ted, its own proper Motions and Activities are both damp'd and confin'd: For Body is dull and &s;trait; and if the Soul dwells in it, and acts by it, it mu&s;t proportion it &s;elf to it, or el&s;e it can|not be its In&s;trument.</P>
<P>Yet the&s;e Properties of the Soul are not altogether imperceptible, even in Bodily &s;tate; for as the Soul is conform'd very far to the Body in tho&s;e Regards, &s;o hath the Body its Conformities to the Soul, and tho&s;e much more nece&s;&s;ary, &s;eeing it is act|ed and moved by it: For even Bodily Sen&s;e pays this re&s;emblance to Spiri|tual, that in every Part it bears Sym|pathy with what is felt in any one Part: Yet this is, becau&s;e the Soul en|livening the whole Body, and under|taking for every Part, feels in it &s;elf, as in the Center, the &s;tate of every Part; though it feels according to the manner, nature, and &s;ituation of the &s;everal parts of the Body.</P>
<P>In &s;ome degree of Likene&s;s al&s;o the vigour of the Souls Re&s;entments are &s;een, in the mo&s;t &s;pirituous Plea&s;ures or acute Pains of Body, that are able
<PB N="106" REF="61"> to move Nature high, which fall out onely in a lively Con&s;titution, and not taken off, &s;o as to chill the Plea|&s;ure, or dull the Pain; becau&s;e the Soul hath more Active Bodily Powers to &s;hew it &s;elf by, and wherein it can give greater Te&s;timony of its own vivid Motion, though but in concern|edne&s;s for the Body. Thus the Pains of Stone and Gout are much &s;harper, becau&s;e they abate &s;o little from the Con&s;titution: and the vigours of Health are nece&s;&s;ary for the receipt of Plea&s;ure.</P>
<P>But the Soul is much more in things proper to it &s;elf <HI>All Center,</HI> where every one of its proper Plea&s;ures and Pains meet; that is, Spiritual Joys and Sorrows: and then the liveline&s;s, per&s;i&s;tency of its Nature, carries up to a height all its Enjoyments, or Sufferings. But this is never &s;o clear, as in its &s;eparated and free e&s;tate; for then e&s;pecially, as it is &s;aid of Eter|nity, It is all drawn as it were into every Moment: So whatever can be &s;uppos'd in any Point of the Intelle|ctual Nature, if we could &s;o di&s;tin|gui&s;h, in the &s;ame in&s;tant runs through all; which is the fir&s;t Height of the
<PB N="107" REF="61"> Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of a Spirit.</P>
<P>In the next place, the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of a Spirit can be no other than a Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of a Spiri|tual nature, and &s;o cannot but be great; for that is the Nature of eve|ry thing Spiritual: It is all what it is, and nothing el&s;e. Every thing but Spirit hath a great deal of cumber, a great deal of Clothes and Habiliments upon it: But Spirit is purely it &s;elf; Spiritual Happine&s;s hath no clog up|on it; Spiritual Mi&s;ery hath no Sheath upon it, it is all Edge: And when we are entred into the Region of Spirits, there will be no heavine&s;s of Body, nor diver&s;ions of that in the way. The Bodies of the Re&s;urrection, when we receive them, will be fitted to the ve|locity and &s;wiftne&s;s of our Minds, and prepar'd &s;o wholly for them, as mo&s;t perfectly to attend their condition.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But becau&s;e we &s;ee the Bo|dy now &s;uch an Ob&s;truction to all Mo|tions of Soul, it may be doubted, whether there may not be a &s;tate of Souls, as in&s;en&s;ible or more in&s;en&s;ible than now.</P>
<P>To re&s;olve this, the Scripture tells us, God makes the Happine&s;s of his
<PB N="108" REF="62"> Saints like <HI>a River of highe&s;t Plea&s;ure,</HI> and the puni&s;hment of Evil <HI>like a &s;ea of flaming Brim&s;tone,</HI> both to the height; therefore it withal appears, the Faculties are rais'd to the height al&s;o: El&s;e there could be no &s;uch Happine&s;s, nor any &s;uch Puni&s;hment. In&s;en&s;ible things enjoy nothing, en|dure nothing; and the lower the Sen&s;e, the lower of nece&s;&s;ity is al&s;o the Enjoyment, and the Pain: There mu&s;t be therefore an exaltation of the Faculties to the highe&s;t Life, that in the meeting of the Object, and the Faculties, there may be greate&s;t Sati&s;|faction or Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>Yet it may be under&s;tood upon this very account, there may be Glories and Puni&s;hments of higher and lower degrees, according to the advance|ment or low e&s;tate of the Faculties; and that the &s;tate of the other World may be proportion'd to this, that he, who by a Soul more enlarg'd in this World, he who <HI>by five Talents gain'd</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 19. 17, 19. Luc. 12. 47, 48.</NOTE> <HI>ten,</HI> or <HI>that knew his Ma&s;ters will,</HI> and yet did it not; the&s;e being agree|ably of higher apprehen&s;ions, and quicker motions in this World, are in the World to come, by the continu|ing
<PB N="109" REF="62"> elevation of tho&s;e Powers, made <HI>Rulers over more Cities,</HI> or <HI>beaten with more &s;tripes:</HI> but tho&s;e of <HI>fewer Talents,</HI> and meaner Sentiments, keep &s;till their Ranks, being <HI>Rulers over fewer Cities,</HI> or <HI>beaten with fewer &s;tripes:</HI> Yet in each of the&s;e, the &s;tate of their Souls here, and in Eternity, differs as much in regard of their ap|prehen&s;ions, and the clearne&s;s of their Faculties, as Twilight and Noon-day. From this &s;tate of things that hath been given, it may be briefly inferr'd in the&s;e Particulars following.</P>
<P N="1">1. If the Souls of Men, that are an Inferiour Spirit, are &s;o active and high in their motion; then how exalted, and infinitely adorable are all the Per|fections of that Supreme Spirit, lifted up out of all Height! That Eternal-Fountain-Author-Spirit, how infinite|ly pure is his Being, without any va|riation or &s;hadow of turning; dwel|ling in &s;uch a Light and Lu&s;tre of his own Divinity, that nothing can &s;o much as approach or come within any di&s;tance of? Although his Spirit runs through All, yet there is an infinite &s;eparation of Excellency between God and all things. How clear and bright
<PB N="110" REF="63"> is his Under&s;tanding, before whom <HI>Hell is naked, and De&s;truction hath no co|vering! Darkne&s;s and Light are all one to him,</HI> becau&s;e Light and Glory are always round about him, and Hell is but the di&s;plea&s;ure of his Holine&s;s again&s;t Sin, like a Flame that dazles, and &s;corches together: <HI>A Fire devours before him, and burns up his Enemies on every &s;ide.</HI></P>
<P>How potent are his Efficacies, which way &s;oever he turns them, for Crea|tion, Con&s;ervation, or the Change of Things, as he plea&s;es! What is his Favour, or Di&s;plea&s;ure, but the high|e&s;t Efficacies of Kindne&s;s, or Severity; of <HI>Joy un&s;peakable and full of Glory,</HI> or <HI>of weeping and wailing,</HI> without all ea&s;e or remedy! How do all Spirits Good and Holy, <HI>ca&s;t their Crowns before him,</HI> and laud him with eter|nal Acknowledgments of both their Being and Happine&s;s, to his Grace and Goodne&s;s, and Acclamations to his Prai&s;e! And that Stream from him|&s;elf, that feeds with Being and Spiri|tuality tho&s;e &s;o unhappy and wretch|ed Spirits, depo&s;ed from their Glory and Perfection, nece&s;&s;itates them to &s;urvive the In&s;tances of his Ju&s;tice and
<PB N="111" REF="63"> Holine&s;s, to the admiration and ever|la&s;ting wonderment of the Ble&s;&s;ed, (yet with profounde&s;t Reverence of un&s;tain'd Holine&s;s) and their own a&s;toni&s;hment and horror without end.</P>
<P N="2">2. If the Soul is a Being &s;o excel|lent, how foul is Sin, that defiles it; like a Poy&s;on, that pre&s;ently darkens a Diamond, or infects the very Beams of the Sun, or &s;oils the Light? We &s;hould ever re&s;i&s;t Temptations to &s;in, with the &s;ad con&s;ideration of defiling &s;o excellent and immortal a Spirit.</P>
<P N="3">3. It &s;hews how excellent the Price mu&s;t be that redeems &s;uch a Spirit. Great is the Redemption of the Soul by Chri&s;t, the Renovation of the Soul by the Holy Spirit.</P>
<P N="4">4. We &s;hould con&s;ider this Spirit, that though now it is enclos'd in the Body, yet &s;eeing it is prepar'd to much higher and more excellent mo|tion, it mu&s;t bur&s;t out; it cannot be always held; it mu&s;t have a freedom, that it may expatiate it &s;elf: El&s;e &s;o great Powers, having &s;o little Action now, mu&s;t have been prepar'd in vain.</P>
<P N="5">5. We &s;hould meditate much upon this great Character of a Spirit: It cannot die; It is &s;o it-&s;elf, that it can|not
<PB N="112" REF="64"> die: Its very Being is Intellect, Life, and Motion; &s;o that it cannot cea&s;e to live, except it cea&s;e to be: God, who alone hath power over it, hath de&s;ign'd it to be for ever, and fram'd it for perpetuity, and &s;o, that it can have no Adver&s;ary of its Life or Being: It is &s;o &s;eparate from all things el&s;e, that nothing of Body can come near its E&s;&s;ence or Life. What Sword or Fire can cut off or con&s;ume Thought, much le&s;s the Soul, the Original or Spring of it? What mo&s;t &s;ubtle thing in Nature can de&s;troy the Affection of Love or Fear, much le&s;s &s;o attaque the Judgment or Rea|&s;on, as forcibly to &s;uppre&s;s them? They can kill the Body; but they have no more that they can do.</P>
<P>No created Spirit, how principal &s;o|ever, can come near the Being of the lowe&s;t orbed Soul, thus to touch it: Sathan the great Enemy of Spirits knows this &s;o hopele&s;s an attempt, as never once to plot it: All his intend|ments again&s;t Humane Spirits, are one|ly to &s;way them to Evil, and &s;o pre|cipitate them into Mi&s;ery; but yet they cannot be ma&s;ter'd by the high|e&s;t Archangel, &s;o much as in the Go|vernment
<PB N="113" REF="64"> of them&s;elves, except they &s;urrender and betray their own Ab&s;o|lutene&s;s.</P>
<P>One Spirit may imprint Thought upon another, offer Argument, endea|vour to induce Affection; but the Soul is at its own choice for accepta|tion; and whether it accept, or not, its Being is &s;till the &s;ame, its Power of Self-re&s;ervation the &s;ame; &s;o dou|ble-guarded is the Soul in this great Privilege of being <HI>It &s;elf:</HI> Guarded in its E&s;&s;ence or Life, guarded in its Liberty and Freedom; which argues it a Being of greate&s;t account. Now in that it mu&s;t always live, Holine&s;s and Happine&s;s, the enjoyment, plea|&s;ure, and perfection of its Life, are with greate&s;t earne&s;tne&s;s, and upon greate&s;t nece&s;&s;ity to be &s;ought; Sin and Mi&s;ery, &s;uch a degradation of its Life, that the Scripture calls them Death, are by all means to be avoid|ed and e&s;caped from: And &s;eeing it hath a Secret of its own Freedom, that no Spiritual Principality or Power can enter into or invade, it can onely charge its Ruine upon it &s;elf: But in the Supreme Spirit, God him&s;elf is all its &s;trength, who perpetuates his fir&s;t
<PB N="114" REF="65"> In&s;piration, maintains its Immunities, guides its Motions aright when it had lo&s;t it &s;elf, redeems it from that great Enemy-Spirit by his Son, <HI>the Lover and great Friend of Souls;</HI> governs it by his own Holy and Good Spirit, and is the Happine&s;s and Glory of it for ever. Oh the care that is due to &s;uch a Soul as this! A care due from it &s;elf to it &s;elf, yet mi&s;erably negle|cted by it &s;elf, in its true &s;elf, for it &s;elf, as engag'd in a Body, out of which it is yet always ha&s;ting, and leaves it in death; it &s;elf being in greate&s;t danger of a death exceeding|ly wor&s;e, though of another nature; in the bringing about of which, the malice of Hell is always bu&s;ie and em|ploy'd, chu&s;ing that as a much higher effect of its &s;pite and cruelty, than Annihilation, if it had been within the Power of Devils to turn a Soul into nothing.</P>
<P N="6">6. La&s;tly, What un&s;peakable Sen|timents of Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery doth a &s;elf-moving, a &s;elf-communicating Spirit enter into, when it enters into its own place! For there it meets tho&s;e immen&s;e Objects, God, his Fa|vour or Di&s;plea&s;ure, the true appear|ances
<PB N="115" REF="65"> of Sin and Holine&s;s, the Gene|ral A&s;&s;embly of Spirits, happy and mi&s;erable, with their univer&s;al and endle&s;s Condition: It &s;elf appearing to it &s;elf in its full extent of Nature, Duration, and Relation to all the&s;e. Now its &s;elf-motion and &s;elf-commu|nication (which are its very Being, and therefore perfect in its own na|tive Element) are active to the high|e&s;t. Self-motion turns it every way, with unutterable &s;wiftne&s;s, upon the&s;e Objects; and Self-communica|tion makes all its own, converts unin|termittingly all its Ob&s;ervations upon them, into mo&s;t beatifying or affli|ctive Re&s;entments, according to the Order it &s;tands in to tho&s;e Objects of Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>Two principal Accounts of the Soul of Man are now di&s;patch'd; the fir&s;t, of Invi&s;ible Beings; the &s;econd, of the Nature of a Spirit; in which I laid down for a Ground, That the Right apprehen&s;ion of the Divine Nature and Being, is the Key of the Know|ledge of Mans Soul. As therefore I endeavour'd to explain tho&s;e two Points by it, &s;o I come now more ful|ly to pur&s;ue the Re&s;emblance the Soul
<PB N="116" REF="66"> of Man hath with God, and in this next place to &s;peak of it in the Po|tency, Force, and Excellency of its Being and Faculties; fir&s;t taking oc|ca&s;ion to make this indu&s;trious Refle|xion upon the Souls likene&s;s to God.</P>
<P>It is an u&s;ual Ob&s;ervation, That every Creature re&s;embles God in that very regard that it hath a Being, however ob&s;cure it be; and the more any Creature advances in Being, the clearer the Repre&s;entation of God, till the Scale of Creatures leads us up to tho&s;e that God hath exalted into the neare&s;t likene&s;s to him&s;elf that Created Natures are capable of; and the&s;e are <HI>Rational Spirits, Angels, and Souls of Men;</HI> of which, Angels are a higher Order, and at greater Free|dom, being out of Bodies; and the Souls of Men a lower Order, being under the di&s;advantage of Bodies; yet in them&s;elves like to God, and like to Angels.</P>
<P>Now it is the Privilege of Spirits to behold in the whole Creation, e&s;pe|cially in their own Natures, the great Perfections of God &s;urmounting them|&s;elves (and much more the re&s;t of the Creatures) as Infinite doth Finite;
<PB N="117" REF="66"> that &s;o God may be under&s;tood, and accordingly ador'd by them; &s;eeing Spirits in his own Image of Under|&s;tanding and Likene&s;s can alone &s;o far know him, as in a true and proper &s;en&s;e to adore him: and the Glory of God in &s;uch an Adoration being the end of Creation, it argues the nece&s;|&s;ity of &s;uch Creatures, and &s;o accom|pli&s;h'd, thus to give him his Glory.</P>
<P>As therefore, by reviews of the Creatures in general, and particularly of our own Minds, and by Ob&s;erva|tions of what excells among&s;t all, it is po&s;&s;ible without Scripture, though more darkly, to find out the Perfecti|ons that are to be a&s;crib'd infinitely to God; and when we come to Scri|pture, and find that agreeing with (though exceeding) Natural Know|ledge, in its Attributions to God, we have by this combination of Scripture and Rea&s;on, Revealed and Natural Knowledge, (the praeeminence being ea&s;ily yielded to Revealed) the mo&s;t &s;atisfying A&s;&s;urances of God we can have.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, by con&s;idering the Excellencies and Perfections attri|buted to God in his Word, and find|ing
<PB N="118" REF="67"> the &s;ame Lines drawn upon our own Minds, ob&s;ervable both in the Di&s;cour&s;es of Scripture concerning them, and in our own experience (though but according to the degree and model of Creatures) we under|&s;tand our own Souls more fully; &s;o that, as the con&s;ideration of our &s;elves &amp; the Creatures, leads us without Re|velation to under&s;tand God, though not &s;o clearly; &s;o the&s;e Oracles re|vealing God, and all his Attributes more certainly and evidently to us, reveal al&s;o our &s;elves more plainly, becau&s;e they tell us, we are made in <HI>his Image and Likene&s;s;</HI> and &s;o by knowing God with greate&s;t clearne&s;s, we know our &s;elves al&s;o mo&s;t clearly: for the Knowledge of our &s;elves (as to what concerns the clearne&s;s of it) de|pends upon our Knowledge of God by the Scriptures, more than our Knowledge of God depends upon the Knowledge of our &s;elves by Natural Knowledge, without Scripture: Yet &s;till the Knowledge of our own Souls, where Men have no Revelation, leads them be&s;t to the Knowledge of God; as the Knowledge of God by Reve|lation, leads us be&s;t to the Knowledge
<PB N="119" REF="67"> of our own Souls; becau&s;e God and the Soul do mutually repre&s;ent one another: God, the Original Proto|type, and Infinite Exemplar; Man's Soul, the humble Repre&s;entation and Copy: Upon which Rea&s;on the Apo|&s;tle having &s;aid, <HI>We are his off-&s;pring,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17. 28, 29.</NOTE> immediately argues, <HI>Fora&s;much as we are the off-&s;pring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead like to &s;ilver and gold.</HI> Our own Nature deriving from God, in&s;tructs us better concern|ing him: for &s;eeing we our &s;elves far excel all tho&s;e things, however height|ned by Art, he that gave us tho&s;e Ex|cellencies, mu&s;t needs have them in him&s;elf, and in a tran&s;cendency; As <HI>he that built the hou&s;e, hath more ho|nour than the hou&s;e,</HI> and the Life ex|cels the Picture: So, on the other &s;ide, the Excellencies and Perfections of the Divine Being are every where given us in Scripture as the Rule of Compo&s;ure for Man's Soul; which could not be rea&s;onable, were not the being of it fir&s;t given in <HI>the Image and Likene&s;s of God,</HI> and &s;u&s;ceptive of the <HI>Divine Nature,</HI> that is, of the Virtues of it.</P>
<P>Touching the Souls Likene&s;s to
<PB N="120" REF="68"> Angels, we need not labour much, but rather in comparing them with God the Original of both, and occa|&s;ionally onely illu&s;trate the Doctrine of the Soul, by ob&s;ervation of what we are taught in in&s;pir'd Leaves con|cerning them, though Philo&s;ophy hath not been altogether ignorant herein. In general, they are of a middle &s;tate between God and us; nearer to God, in that they are a higher Rank of Spirits, di&s;engag'd from Body; much nearer to us, in that they are Finite Spirits, and God infi|nitely above them.</P>
<P>In &s;peaking then of the Likene&s;s of Man's Soul to God, we mu&s;t again have recour&s;e to his Creation, and when God had &s;aid, <HI>Let us make Man in our own Likene&s;s and Image,</HI> and form'd the Body, as a curious Statua|ry doth a mo&s;t exact Statue, he then <HI>breath'd into it the Breath of Life.</HI> Now this <HI>Breathing of God</HI> argues, he gave a great &s;emblance of him&s;elf, and that God deriv'd &s;omething from him&s;elf to Man's Soul, that &s;hould more immediately expre&s;s him&s;elf, and was taken from him&s;elf as the Life. Thus our Saviour <HI>breath'd upon his</HI>
<PB N="121" REF="68"> <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> and made them Partakers of a Spirit that had a great Likene&s;s to his own, in the Infallibility and Hea|venline&s;s of his Doctrine, the Power of working Miracles, the Holine&s;s of their Mini&s;try, and whole Apo&s;tolick Function. God <HI>breathing</HI> Mans Soul, it became &s;o like him, that &s;ome have call'd it, A Particle of the Divinity, a Ki&s;s of God, an Imprint of him&s;elf.</P>
<P>Now this Likene&s;s of Man's Soul to God, I believe not to be fir&s;t in tho&s;e moral Re&s;emblances of the Truth, Holine&s;s, and Goodne&s;s of God, which &s;peak God the be&s;t, and in which to be like God, is Mans Re|ctitude and Integrity, and the Foun|dation of his Happine&s;s as a Rational Agent, nor onely in the Intellectual Faculties; but al&s;o in tho&s;e Attributes which &s;peak God the Greate&s;t, though the&s;e be in this pre&s;ent &s;tate of Man much ob&s;cured, even as the other.</P>
<P>Of the Soul of Man, an Invi&s;ible Spirit, hath been already di&s;cours'd: Of other the Greatne&s;&s;es of God gi|ving a glance, an eye of them&s;elves upon Mans Soul, we may al&s;o appre|hend;</P>
<P>There is a Re&s;emblance of his Infi|nitene&s;s
<PB N="122" REF="69"> and Ubiquity of Pre&s;ence, in that &s;wift and &s;udden Motion of Mans Soul from Ea&s;t to We&s;t, &s;ummoning things of farthe&s;t di&s;tance into its pre|&s;ence by Thought and Intellectual Con&s;ideration; the Intelligence he endeavours to hold with all the Acti|on and Bu&s;ine&s;s of the World, both Natural, Civil, and Moral; the Cor|re&s;pondency he hath with Things Di|vine and Heavenly. The Freedom and Liberty of the Increated Will is reflected in &s;ome degree in the Liber|ty of Mans Will, that can be no way forc'd or compell'd; in the va&s;tne&s;s of his Appetite and De&s;ire, which though now irregular, yet &s;peaks the Original Greatne&s;s of his Soul, and that Joy un&s;peakable he was intended for: The Dominion of God, in Mans Dominion over the Creatures, and the va&s;t and re&s;tle&s;s Ambition and De&s;ire of Power and Empire &s;o natural to him: The Eternity of God, in the Immortality, and at la&s;t Unchangea|blene&s;s given to Mans Soul: The Di|vine Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, in the Lu&s;tre and Glory Man affects, the Well-being he &s;o in&s;eparably from his Nature de&s;ires, the Happine&s;s he is capable of, to
<PB N="123" REF="69"> which he was de&s;ign'd, and to which he is exalted by the <HI>Salvation of Chri&s;t.</HI> From hence there is &s;ome|thing like Creation, in the great Works that have been done by Men; and &s;omething in Humane Contrivan|ces and Admini&s;trations, like Provi|dence.</P>
<P>And that there is a Force and Po|tency of Mans Spirit, in a propor|tion re&s;embling that Power of God that brings Things to pa&s;s in Matter, or like the force of Angels, that have wrought upon Matter beyond all the Activity that Matter can be &s;et into by any Material Agency, is not with|out probability, from the more than ordinary vigorous Action and great Strength of &s;ome Men, as <HI>Sam&s;on,</HI> and &s;ome others of <HI>unu&s;ual Force:</HI> For I am much inclin'd, under the Divine Efficacy concurring, to a&s;cribe &s;uch Might to the Soul, either acting it &s;elf by extraordinary Organs and In&s;truments of Body prepar'd and fit|ted for that Might, as in Gyants, and &s;uch like; or that God may have made u&s;e of &s;ome Good Men, in a degree like the Angels, letting out the Pow|ers of their Souls through their Bo|dies
<PB N="124" REF="70"> into Actions, above the genera|lity of Mankind; to which I am very &s;ubject to attribute tho&s;e <HI>Famous Acts</HI> recorded by the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Hebr.</HI> 11. 33, 34. <HI>They &s;ubdued Kingdoms, &s;topped the mouths of Lions, quenched the violence of Fire, e&s;caped the edge of the &s;word, out of weakne&s;s were made &s;trong, waxed valiant in Fight, put to flight the Armies of the Aliens:</HI> For, though the&s;e are miraculous, compar'd with the ordinary State of Mankind, yet they may be natural to the unconfined State of the Soul, in its Efficacies upon Matter; even as <HI>working Righteou&s;ne&s;s, obtaining Pro|mi&s;es, not accepting deliverance, that they might be partakers of a better Re&s;urrection,</HI> require as &s;upernatural an a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Mind, in this degene|racy of Mankind, and do as much exceed the Po&s;&s;ibilities of the Soul, &s;o &s;unk and degraded, as the other do the Powers of a Spirit &s;hut up in Fle&s;h, and in this State of Humiliati|on: And yet certainly all Acts of Goodne&s;s and Obedience to God, are connatural to the true and unfallen Condition of Mankind.</P>
<P>Now what the Skill and Force of
<PB N="125" REF="70"> a Spirit not re&s;train'd and confin'd to work by ju&s;t &s;uch In&s;truments of Body, is in moving Matter with great|e&s;t advantage, and mo&s;t &s;ucce&s;sful operation, is to us hard to be de|fin'd; for the Motion and Activity of it is Intellectual, and (as we ordi|narily conceive) that alone is a feeble thing; yet when we come to ob&s;erve what is attributed to Divine Under|&s;tanding, <HI>That by Wi&s;dom the Lord</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 3. 19.</NOTE> <HI>founded the Earth, and by &V;nder|&s;tanding he e&s;tabli&s;hed and garni&s;hed the Heavens;</HI> and that he onely <HI>de|clared by his Word</HI> the Plea&s;ure and Determination of his Under&s;tanding, in the creating every thing, we may be very ready to conceive Infinite Under&s;tanding is Infinite Power; and when <HI>Wi&s;dom</HI> &s;ays, <HI>I am &V;nder&s;tand|ing,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 8. 14.</NOTE> <HI>I have Strength,</HI> it gives us the Notion of Infinite Under&s;tanding, as Infinite Strength: and if we con&s;ider, Wi&s;dom and Power are one in God, it &s;till heightens the apprehen&s;ion: and further, if we under&s;tand, with many Divines, the <HI>Son of God</HI> to be this <HI>Wi&s;dom,</HI> the Notion is yet rais'd higher, and we under&s;tand the more by it the Omnipotency of Wi&s;dom.
<PB N="126" REF="71"> Creation then is the very Effect of Infinite Under&s;tanding; and as all Conceptions, Arguments, Rea&s;ons of Di&s;cour&s;e, are the unque&s;tionable Creatures of our Under&s;tanding; &s;o all things that are in the World are the Effects of Infinite Under&s;tanding: the World is the Creature of Divine Under&s;tanding. His very conceiving things, with a plea&s;ure they &s;hould be, gave them Being; <HI>He &s;pake the word,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 33. 9.</NOTE> <HI>and it was done; he commanded, and it &s;tood fa&s;t: He called to the Heavens, and they &s;tood up together:</HI> There was no other Power us'd by God, that we read of. Thus Men of great Au|thority &s;it &s;till, and &s;peak things into their Execution. As for the mighty Acts of Angels recorded in Scripture, they are veiled as to the manner of their being brought to pa&s;s, and the Efficiency that did produce them; onely we read in that Emblem of the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> wherein all World|ly things are pre&s;ented as governed by God, and admini&s;tred by Angels, that the various Rotations and Chan|ges in this World, &s;hadowed by <HI>Wheels, are full of Eyes,</HI> that is, of the Wi&s;dom of God, the Supreme Mo|derator
<PB N="127" REF="71"> of them, and that they are mov'd on by the Motion of Angels: <HI>For the Spirit of the Living Creatures</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 1. 18, 20.</NOTE> (by which Angels are expre&s;s'd) <HI>was in the Wheels; and when the&s;e went, the Wheels went; and when the&s;e &s;tood &s;till, the Wheels &s;tood &s;till; This Spirit of the Living Creatures</HI> managed all: So that it looks to us, as if the Angels did all by their Spi|rit or E&s;&s;ence, and that we know is Intellectual: <HI>Eyes in the Wheels,</HI> and <HI>the Spirit in the Wheels,</HI> turn'd all about. The Angels are Under&s;tand|ings inferiour to God onely, and their Efficacy is repre&s;ented to us by <HI>Light|ning,</HI> or the mo&s;t vehement <HI>Flame of Fire.</HI> When we come down to Man, we find the Creatures in great &s;ubje|ction to <HI>Adam;</HI> and there is rea&s;on <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;. 2. 20.</NOTE> to think, it was to his Under&s;tanding they paid their Homage: For as an Introduction to his Rule over them, they were brought to him by God, to receive their Names from him; and according to his in&s;ight into their Natures, <HI>he called them all by their Names,</HI> and &s;o entred into his Domi|nion over them, by under&s;tanding them, and declaring his under&s;tand|ing
<PB N="128" REF="72"> of them. This was the &s;olemn Act of his Inauguration into his In|tellectual Government. Even as God, who governeth the Stars by his Infi|nite Under&s;tanding, <HI>telleth the number</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 147. 4.</NOTE> <HI>of the Stars, and calleth them all by their names;</HI> thus the known Wi&s;dom of Men of great Under&s;tanding com|mands the Regard and Obedience of tho&s;e whom they have impos'd Names of Office and Service upon.</P>
<P>In the generality of Mankind, let us con&s;ider how immediately any, or all the Members of the Body move, upon the mo&s;t &s;ilent intimations of the Under&s;tanding, and follow its guidance, twining every way, even into the greate&s;t Curio&s;ities of Art; &s;tretching them&s;elves to the mo&s;t in|du&s;trious and laborious Employments, adventuring them&s;elves upon the greate&s;t Hazards. We &s;ee, that in|deed all things that are done by Men in the World, begin at the Coun&s;el, De&s;ign, and Intendments of Under|&s;tanding; and that the Contrivance of one Mans Under&s;tanding, dictating to the Under&s;tandings of tho&s;e that are under, hath been the Spring, and given production to the mightie&s;t Ef|fects,
<PB N="129" REF="72"> the wi&s;e&s;t Polities, the mo&s;t ex|cellent Laws, huge Volumes, the greate&s;t Atchievements of Armies, the mo&s;t magnificent Buildings, E&s;tabli&s;h|ments of Empire, the mo&s;t memora|ble Projects and Works of Art, the Force of &s;trange Engines, or what|ever is accounted of Grandeur in the World: The Force of Under&s;tand|ing hath been given and conveyed from Hand to Hand, in&s;inuated into Matter, and &s;o pa&s;s'd from one Piece and Part of it to another, till it hath reach'd unto, and re&s;ted in the Effect. All this put together, may be an E&s;&s;ay concerning the Power of Under&s;tand|ing.</P>
<P>Now what ways Under&s;tanding hath to move Matter, immediately by it &s;elf, we are no competent Judges, that have indeed Under&s;tandings, but generally &s;o re&s;train'd and impri|&s;on'd, that they can find the way of doing little, in compari&s;on of what may be done by that uncontrovertible way of accompli&s;hing Effects by the mediatory Services of Matter: One|ly this we know, When there was neither Matter to work upon, nor work with, Infinite Under&s;tanding
<PB N="130" REF="73"> brought forth Matter, and &s;tirr'd it as he pleas'd. And though there is no compari&s;on between Under&s;tanding Finite, and Infinite; yet by this it ap|pears, there is no contradiction for Under&s;tanding to produce Matter, when there was none; nor to move it, when it is. We know too, there mu&s;t be &s;ome way, by which our Souls, though acknowledged to be Spirits, move our Bodies, known enough to be gro&s;s and material, and that meerly by Thought and Con&s;ide|ration what is to be done; and that they obey them &s;peedily, and with ea&s;e: although we are not able to ex|pedite all the Que&s;tions that may be mov'd in relation hereunto.</P>
<P>In the &s;um, I think it not to be doubted, but that many of the extra|ordinary and wonderful Atchieve|ments of Men, the even prodigious Valours and mighty Prevalencies of &s;ome Warriours, that have in heat of Fight mov'd like Lightning, have been the true and proper Effects and Sallies out of a Soul, through the Freedoms given by God to &s;uch Per|&s;ons, for the bringing about tho&s;e Changes he hath re&s;olv'd upon, by
<PB N="131" REF="73"> their Victoriou&s;ne&s;s and Conque&s;ts. And, to conclude, in all tho&s;e things that have been done by Men, not plainly miraculous, nor exceeding the Power of Created Spirits, I know no rea&s;on why the Wonder &s;hould be plac'd any where el&s;e, but upon that admirable Freedom &s;uch Souls, by e&s;pecial Grant from God, have had to work like them&s;elves, and &s;o to ex|ceed the ordinary Operations of Men. And though this doth not equal their pre&s;ent State to, nor bring up their Services to the Services of Angels, that Order of Creatures God in his Wi&s;dom hath appointed for the greater and more remarkable Expe|ditions and Actions in the World, as being always ready, and, as we &s;ay, <HI>in procinctu, excelling</HI> in prepared and unincumbred <HI>&s;trength,</HI> always upon the guard, and <HI>hearkning to the voice of his word:</HI> yet in that <HI>&s;uch great and mighty Works do &s;hew forth them|&s;elves</HI> in the Soul, and there have been &s;o great and wonderful Per&s;ons in all Ages, of Famous Memory in their &s;e|veral kinds and vertues, in whom the Greatne&s;s of this Soul hath broken forth; it is a marvellous In&s;tance, that
<PB N="132" REF="74"> the Soul of Man is a Great, Potent, and Excellent Spirit, of va&s;t Activi|ties in its own Nature; and that it hath a near re&s;emblance of God, and Alliance to Angels: that however <HI>it be for a little time made lower than Angels,</HI> yet it &s;hall be brought into a Condition wherein it &s;hall be <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, equal to Angels.</P>
<P>For though I make no doubt &s;ome Men have greater Souls than others, as one Star differs from another in Magnitude, and as Bodies differ in Strength, Beauty, and Proportion; yet there is the main Excellency of a Humane Body, wherein all agree: So it is in the Souls of Men; the Soul of one Man is a Mea&s;ure, and carries the Pourtraicture of the Souls of Men in their Univer&s;al Nature; <HI>even as Face an&s;wers Face in the water,</HI> &s;o the Soul of one Man returns the Soul of another Man.</P>
<P>Again&s;t all this it lies as a great Objection, That the greate&s;t Effects of a Soul we can ob&s;erve, are not great and high enough for &s;uch a Be|ing as I have de&s;crib'd Mans Soul to be; and the great Effects we do &s;ee, are found onely in &s;ome le&s;&s;er num|bers
<PB N="133" REF="74"> of Men. Let us then inquire in|to the&s;e two things; Why the Effects are not greater, wherein Souls di&s;play them&s;elves? and, Why we &s;ee them not more generally and univer&s;ally among Men?</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, it is to be con&s;idered, The Soul in the Body is like an Arti|ficer, that works by a very dull and unapt In&s;trument, though him&s;elf of excellent Skill; like a valiant War|riour with a Sword of Lead, or as <HI>Sam&s;on,</HI> if confin'd to the general Laws of Humane Nature, he had fought with the <HI>Jaw-bone of an A&s;s</HI> onely; or like the Eye, though ne|ver &s;o quick, looking through a dull Gla&s;s, or in a Dark Room; or like a &s;trong and valorous Man in a Cage, or clo&s;e Dungeon; or like a Light in a Dark Lantern; or like a &s;trong Man a&s;leep: All this is the State of the Soul in the Body; or like a Prince of Ju&s;t Authority, in Captivity; or like a Jewel clos'd up in Clay; or a Beau|ty &s;hrouded under a cour&s;e Cover|ing.</P>
<P>To judge of the Soul now, and according to &s;uch Rules as it acts by in the Body, that it &s;hall never be
<PB N="134" REF="75"> greater and more active than it ap|pears, is to conclude the Soul of a Child &s;hall never &s;hew it &s;elf greater and more active than it appears while the Child is in Swadling Clothes: Or, as if the Infant in the Cloy&s;ter of the Womb, could make a Judgment of it &s;elf, and think it &s;elf in as good a condition, or better, than it &s;hould be in the open Air; and that what it is there, it mu&s;t be always. The Soul &s;ees now <HI>through a gla&s;s darkly,</HI> and is in the condition of a Child, and of a Child &s;hut up in the Womb.</P>
<P>That the Body is now a great hin|derance to the Soul, is apparent by the nece&s;&s;ity that the Soul mu&s;t be &s;e|parated from it, and that it mu&s;t be di&s;&s;olv'd into <HI>Du&s;t,</HI> or <HI>changed;</HI> and that in the Re&s;urrection, our Bodies mu&s;t be <HI>Spiritual Bodies,</HI> fit to ca&s;t the Glories and di&s;play the Excellen|cies of a Soul, to di&s;charge the Acti|vities of the highe&s;t Elevation of a Spirit. But to return to the pre&s;ent State of the Soul in the Body, why it is order'd thus? that the Body &s;hould be &s;uch an In&s;trument out of Tune, to the Soul, &s;uch an excellent Harmoni&s;t; &s;uch a Dungeon to the Mind, Prince|ly
<PB N="135" REF="75"> in its Creation. We may give it thus.</P>
<P>In the very fir&s;t and mo&s;t innocent &s;tate, the Soul was &s;o framed by God, that though the Powers of it were much larger than Body, and indepen|dent upon it, yet that they &s;hould for a certain &s;ea&s;on be re&s;train'd to the Body, to govern, take care of, and act it according to its Nature and Mea&s;ures, according to its Preparati|ons to run along under the Powers of the Soul, in their Motion, and not be de&s;troy'd by the over-vehemency.</P>
<P>This Body the Soul was able and fit to act to the utmo&s;t of its Capaci|ties, and far beyond them; and yet it was &s;o moderated, as not to over|act them: but it could not rai&s;e this Body, or the Matter of it, above its Natural Excellency: That was re|&s;erv'd in the Creators Power alone, as a Reward of the Souls Obedience in that Body for the pre&s;ent time al|lotted to it.</P>
<P>The Soul could not make the Bo|dy what it would have it be, or fit it to all it would have it do, when it found it &s;hort: It could not enable body to all things a Soul had Power
<PB N="136" REF="76"> for, or a de&s;ire to: For it was but a <HI>Living Soul,</HI> and not a <HI>Quickning</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15. 45.</NOTE> <HI>Spirit;</HI> that is, It had a Life given it by God, and &s;uch a Life, that it &s;hould be always a <HI>Living Soul,</HI> that it &s;hould never decay, and fall down in|to a Dead Thing; and &s;o it could retain its own Life, again&s;t any one but the Author of it, and lo&s;e none of that; <HI>for this power it had recei|ved from God;</HI> and what it found fit|ted by God to its Activity, and con|venienc'd to its Life, it could act, quicken, and manage: But it was not <HI>a Quickning Spirit;</HI> that is, It had not power to make or give a new Life, to continue a Body in Life, or to rai&s;e a Dead Body, or make it more Excellent or Lively than it found it prepared by God: It had not a Power <HI>like the Fir&s;t-begotten from the Dead,</HI> who can make <HI>cor|ruptible put on Incorruption,</HI> and <HI>mor|tal put on Immortality, and be even &s;wallowed up of Life; who can change our vile Bodies, that they may be made like his glorious Body, by a Power that &s;ubdues all things to it &s;elf.</HI> So then, though the Soul could work to the utmo&s;t extent of Matter and Bo|dy,
<PB N="137" REF="76"> and fill all Bodily Capacities, yet it could not exceed them, nor act according to it &s;elf, becau&s;e it was confin'd in Body; but mu&s;t work and act onely as the Soul of &s;uch a Body: nor could it quicken and advance Body, as it would it &s;elf, nor better it above its Rank and Order &s;et by the Creator; and there|fore the Soul could di&s;play it &s;elf, and its own Spirituality, onely &s;o far as Body, made by God, the Body of this Soul, could receive and convey into Action.</P>
<P>And though this was enough, not onely to prefer Man to the top of this Lower Creation, and to make him under the Creator <HI>Lord of All;</HI> but to a&s;&s;ure enough, <HI>a greater than Body, even a Spirit was there:</HI> yet it could not di&s;cover, how great and potent this Spirit was.</P>
<P>Thus the Soul was &s;ubmitted by the wi&s;e Ordination of God, to re|tire, keep home, and dwell in a Bo|dy, being at the very fir&s;t &s;et in an Orb lower than it &s;elf, and to manage <HI>fewer</HI> and <HI>le&s;&s;er Talents,</HI> according to the State of the Lower Creation; and &s;o by its Obedience, Fidelity, and
<PB N="138" REF="77"> Improvement, to be advanc'd <HI>to rich|er and more Talents, and to a Rule over greate&s;t Cities;</HI> that is, to be exalted to the Heights and full Glory of a perfecte&s;t Immortality.</P>
<P>Thus was the State of Innocency, wherein Body was much more fitted to the Excellency of the Soul, though not to all its Excellency; fitted to it onely according to the Lower State of Man in this World, not according to that Supreme State of Immortality; but differing as much from that, as Po&s;&s;ibility not to die, doth from an Impo&s;&s;ibility to die; or as <HI>a Body Na|tural,</HI> ju&s;t fit to entertain a Soul in a temporary condition, and to yield it &s;elf to its di&s;plays in a degree conve|nient to that, differs from a <HI>Body Spi|ritual,</HI> fram'd to bear and di&s;charge all the highe&s;t Spiritualities of a Soul, in its unchangeable E&s;tate.</P>
<P>Yet this was much above the pre|&s;ent Condition of Body under Sin; even as Innocency, and the Order, Beauty, and Goodne&s;s wherein Man was fir&s;t en&s;tated by God, excell the Guilt, unnatural Deformity, and Con|fu&s;ion he labours under now: Since Sin and Di&s;obedience, the Souls man|ner
<PB N="139" REF="77"> of Habitation in Body, is fallen much lower; and it is carefully to be con&s;ider'd, how it fell lower: for it cannot be conceived, that any thing &s;hould be abated from the Life, Vi|gour, and Force of the Soul it &s;elf: The Soul lo&s;es onely in the Holy and Happy State of it, without any dimi|nution in its E&s;ence, or E&s;&s;ential Life; for it cannot lo&s;e in the de|grees of tho&s;e: It mu&s;t lo&s;e in the whole, or not at all; being one, whole, intire, indivi&s;ible Self, as hath been before a&s;&s;erted: And thus it is onely a competent Subject for the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of Eternity, of which Fallen Angels are a plain In|&s;tance, who, notwith&s;tanding their Fall, continue <HI>Principalities, and Powers, and Dominions;</HI> and though <HI>Wickedne&s;&s;es,</HI> yet <HI>Spiritual Wicked|ne&s;&s;es, and in High Places.</HI> The Soul then lo&s;ing nothing thus, the Life, Vigour, and Vertue of its Na|ture mu&s;t lie clo&s;e, accumulated and folded up, where there is not room for an Explanation and free Expatiation; as Light, that could reach much further, when &s;topp'd by any Dark Body, is reverberated into it &s;elf.</P>
<PB N="140" REF="78">
<P>We mu&s;t therefore conceive, that, as a Puni&s;hment upon the Sin of Man, there is a great withdrawing of Di|vine Ble&s;&s;ing from the Lower Creati|on; upon which en&s;ues an interrupti|on of the benign Order of Things one towards another, &s;o that they are continually at feud, and in conte&s;t one with another, hindering, di&s;turb|ing, and mutually abating the Force, and working to the de&s;truction one of another: to all which Inconveniences the Humane Body becomes &s;ubject, and both in regard of its Temper and Compo&s;ition, more &s;ubject than ma|ny other parts of Matter; <HI>for its Strength is not the Strength of Stones, nor its Fle&s;h of Bra&s;s,</HI> nor clear and pure like the Heavens, <HI>that abide of old.</HI> Further, It being the Body of that Soul, that is the great Offender, it is mo&s;t liable to the Cur&s;e: The Soul then, who&s;e Body was at fir&s;t too narrow for all its Efficacies, is now limited to one, unequal to any one of them, and very di&s;turbing of their Execution.</P>
<P>For &s;ometimes, by the oppre&s;&s;ion of other Parts of Matter upon this Body, all the livelier and brisker Par|ticles
<PB N="141" REF="78"> of it are &s;queez'd out and ex|haled, whereby it becomes dull and in&s;tagnated; &s;ometimes it is overheat|ed into furious and inordinate motion, and &s;o weakned and di&s;ordered in its great end of &s;erving the Soul.</P>
<P>The Soul on the other &s;ide lo&s;ing nothing of it &s;elf, yet being &s;unk down from the Intellectual Spiritual Life, and from the Happine&s;s therein to be found, which is its true Sphere, becomes al&s;o negligent of act|ing and invigorating the Body, and guiding the Service of it to &s;uch wor|thy Ends; and with a wilful &s;upine|ne&s;s falls down into the Animal Life, and pre&s;ently finding what State and Temper that Body with which it is joyn'd is of, carries it &s;elf, with all its Powers, almo&s;t wholly thither.</P>
<P>If it be a duller Matter or Body, it &s;tays its own Effluxes, the Stream of its Motion, and ta&s;tes its Life and Enjoyment in that &s;loathfulne&s;s and &s;luggi&s;hne&s;s of Fle&s;h, as it were for|getting it hath any greater Virtue, Force, or other Office, than what &s;erves to the maintenance of &s;o low a Life; that the Soul wilfully ener|vates, and deadens its own Activity,
<PB N="142" REF="79"> by &s;lumbring it in the drow&s;ine&s;s of a lazie Body; &s;o that this Sloath be|comes the greate&s;t of all Sloath, be|cau&s;e of the Plea&s;ure this mighty Spi|rit hath in that Sloath, having found it to be the Temper of that Matter wherein it hath &s;heath'd it &s;elf; there being in this very Sloath, as Philo&s;o|phers teach of Re&s;t of Bodies, as forcible and great a Cau&s;e, as there is of Motion. Thus the great Force of a Soul is defeated this way, the Body being like damp'd Powder, that will not take the Fire, and &s;o the Fire lies &s;till and does nothing: to &s;uch <HI>Solomon</HI> cries out, <HI>Yet a little &s;leep, a little &s;lumber, a little folding of the hands to &s;leep;</HI> the de&s;cription of an endle&s;s and incurable Sloath, <HI>Prov.</HI> 24. 33. If the Body be a Compo&s;ure more lively and &s;pirituous, and apt to overheat, the Soul pre&s;ently finds this, and committing it &s;elf to the In|clinations of Body, &s;uch Propen&s;ions are promoted and inraged, according to the mighty Force of a Soul, into the Exce&s;&s;es of Lu&s;t, Rage, and all Intemperance, beyond the very Brui|ti&s;h Nature, that hath no &s;uch Spirit to act it: and thus al&s;o the Might of
<PB N="143" REF="79"> the Soul is lo&s;t, as the Force of the Fire with the Powder in a crack'd or foul Gun, that is &s;catter'd, and recoils with mi&s;chief; or as an over-mea&s;ure of Powder, taking fire without dire|ction; the Effect of which is the &s;laughter and de&s;truction of all about it. So that every way nothing is at|chieved worthy the Greatne&s;s of this Spirit.</P>
<P>Thus the Soul is doubly di&s;abled by Matter, wherein it is &s;et; both becau&s;e that Matter is &s;ubject to &s;o ma|ny di&s;orders, that can no way be perfe|ctly cured, and &s;o it is unfit for the Souls u&s;e; and al&s;o, becau&s;e the Soul crowds up its own Activities into a contentment with what it finds mo&s;t natural and ready in that Matter with which it is joyned, complies with it, and troubles it &s;elf no further to amend it: and the longer things con|tinue &s;o, the more &s;tiff and unreform|able the Evil grows. All which put together, is a plain Rea&s;on, why there are no greater Effects of a Soul in the World, and how it comes to pa&s;s, that the multitude of People in it give no other evidence of a Soul, but in a provi&s;ion of Natural Life, and
<PB N="144" REF="80"> the Sen&s;ualities of Life, &s;omewhat above the Rank of Bea&s;ts.</P>
<P>Now upon the utmo&s;t &s;tretch of this Rea&s;on, there would be no Ex|amples of greater Vertue or Heroick|ne&s;s among Men: But becau&s;e this State both of the Body and the Soul is below the Graciou&s;ne&s;s of the fir&s;t Creation, and that there are mo&s;t merciful Relaxations of the Puni&s;h|ment due to the Sin of Man, and ma|ny Advantages for the betterment of both Soul and Body, vouch&s;afed by God through <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> the Mediator, who&s;e Benefits extend to them that do not know him; hence it is, that the State of Mankind excells it &s;elf in many great In&s;tances.</P>
<P>For the Soul retaining its primitive Vigour and Life, which are its very Nature and Being; and Body being capable of Refinement to better u&s;e, by the care of the Soul in the Subli|mation of it; even as Art poli&s;hes the Rude Matter, directs it into the u&s;e|fulne&s;s of any In&s;trument; as Chymi|&s;try purifies and exalts it; as the Skill of the Apothecary corrects, and makes it medicinable: &s;o the Soul de&s;igning to mend the Body, &s;ets the
<PB N="145" REF="80"> Characters of Wi&s;dom, Virtue, and good Ingeny upon it, formes it to a graceful Mine and Deportment, turns and twi&s;ts the Motions of it to the Curio&s;ities of Artifice, cha&s;ti&s;es and reforms it to the Precepts of Virtue, and &s;ubdues it to the Indu&s;try of Stu|dy and Contemplation, hardens it to the fearle&s;s and re&s;olv'd Actions of War, quickens it to Service in greate&s;t Works and Undertakings, with what|ever el&s;e we &s;ee in the World worthy of con&s;ideration to this purpo&s;e, be|ing the In&s;piration of Mind, and the Performance of Body commanded by it.</P>
<P>Now that which under &s;uch Pre&s;|&s;ures excites the Souls of Men to the&s;e A&s;pirings, mu&s;t chiefly be acknow|ledged to Divine Impre&s;&s;ions, awa|kening &s;ome Mens Spirits to the ex|erci&s;e of their richer and worthier Faculties; of which Scripture gives abundant Te&s;timony in all kinds: And under this, they may be a&s;crib'd to the different Magnitudes of Souls, or the more advantageous Bodies Providence hath contriv'd for &s;ome, rather than for others; and then to the In&s;truction and Examples that fall
<PB N="146" REF="81"> from &s;uch Per&s;ons, as Influences from the Heavenly Bodies, and have their Effects upon many, not onely of one Age or Country, but of far di&s;tant Places, and &s;ucceeding Times; &s;o that there have been &s;till &s;pringing up great and incomparable Per&s;ons, Mirrours of the Greatne&s;s and Potency of a Humane Spirit, and their Actions as Monuments of it; and under them, multitudes of others, though not of &s;o high a degree, yet endeavouring to rai&s;e them&s;elves &s;omewhat towards the Excellencies of Humane Nature.</P>
<P>But why upon the&s;e &s;o fair Advan|tages the Excellency of Mans Soul is not more generally retrived, may re|ceive this farther Re&s;olution.</P>
<P>As the Soul working by Body, mu&s;t have a well fitted and prepared Body to work immediately by; &s;o it's fur|ther nece&s;&s;ary to its Operations by Body, that there be a conveniency and an accommodation of &s;everal In|&s;truments and Materials, be&s;ides and beyond Body, for it to employ the Mini&s;teries of Body upon, and to work at a di&s;tance by, that the Acti|on may be memorable and great. He that will build, <HI>mu&s;t fir&s;t &s;it down</HI>
<PB N="147" REF="81"> <HI>and count the Charge: The King that goes to War, mu&s;t con&s;ider the &s;trength of his Armies,</HI> the number of his Men, the Conduct and Re&s;olution of his Captains, the &s;ufficiency of his Trea&s;ure: <HI>He that &s;eparates him&s;elf to intermeddle with all Knowledge,</HI> mu&s;t be furni&s;h'd with the external, as well as the internal Means of Science; el&s;e his Succe&s;s can never amount to Eminency.</P>
<P>Now the pre&s;ent State of the World is &s;o impoveri&s;h'd by the Sin of Man, that it can &s;upply but Few, in compa|ri&s;on of the Many; &s;o that the &s;trait and low Condition, the unattempting Education and manner of Life, that very many, the mo&s;t of Mankind are confin'd to, by rea&s;on of Want, fore-prizes the nobler Darings of their Mind, and plunges them &s;o low, that they cannot ea&s;ily ri&s;e. The Experi|ments of this Ca&s;e have been very no|table in &s;undry Per&s;ons, who&s;e Souls have been kept low, and &s;uppre&s;s'd by the lowne&s;s and narrowne&s;s of (as they are call'd) their Fortunes; but have &s;pread and &s;oar'd aloft, when their Sphere of Action hath been made more ample and high, by acce&s;|&s;ion
<PB N="148" REF="82"> of tho&s;e Fortunes: and we need not make any doubt, but that if the Train had been laid in their Youth to Generous Employment, they would have much more excell'd; &s;eeing their Souls have, as it were, &s;tarted out in their riper years to worthy Menages, being encourag'd by plenty of Means, when their Education had been &s;or|did. And the &s;ame thing is propor|tionably to be believ'd of very many, who yet live and die ob&s;cure and con|ceal'd, and <HI>their name in darkne&s;s,</HI> through Prejudices of a poor Condi|tion, while their Souls are in them|&s;elves as great as any.</P>
<P>And indeed, it is not intended by God, the degenerate State of this World &s;hould be &s;o noble or free, as to bear up the true and native Great|ne&s;s of Souls in a Multitude, and at their full extent of Action; any more than he hath prepar'd the Firmament for many Suns. A World of Per&s;o|nages, Great for their Prowe&s;s, Ver|tue, Learning, and Wi&s;dom, would exalt this State too high: It is there|fore &s;o ordered, that the Spirits of the mo&s;t lie &s;till and contracted by the very clo&s;ene&s;s of their Condition, be|&s;ides
<PB N="149" REF="82"> other Mi&s;adventures; and are &s;o diverted upon the little things they have to do with, and &s;o &s;traitned by them, that they think of nothing fur|ther; and if they do, yet finding no &s;cope or opportunity, they repent the Attempt, and retreat back again.</P>
<P>For alas, the Nece&s;&s;ities of Man|kind in the&s;e Bodies are &s;o con&s;uming and expen&s;ive, and the Riches of the Creation hidden deep, and removed far from u&s;e, or el&s;e &s;canty, and daily wa&s;ted, that but &s;ome of Mankind can be &s;et out for Glory, and their Under|takings equipp'd for Grandeur: for, what one Man hath, and u&s;es, another wants; the Abundance of that one Man, is the Poverty of many about him: How few then can make proof of the De&s;igns and Action of a Soul?</P>
<P>Further, there are continual Sup|plantations and Underminings of Hu|mane Nature, and the Virtue of it, by it &s;elf; the Endeavours of &s;ome to ri&s;e are &s;urpriz'd and counter-wrought by the Jealou&s;ies of others, who thereupon &s;u&s;pect their own diminu|tion or Ruine. The World is full of Su&s;picion, Surmi&s;e, Envy, and ill Ap|prehen&s;ion, becau&s;e there is not e|nough
<PB N="150" REF="83"> for this Soul of Man, whereby to &s;hew it &s;elf as great as it is, and would fain appear to be.</P>
<P>This Region is &s;o &s;tinted, that eve|ry Greater Intelligence in it thinks it could it &s;elf enlighten and move the whole, and is offended with a Joynt-Light, as eclip&s;ing and drowning &s;ome of its own. Heaven onely en|tertains an innumerable Company of Glorious Spirits, in their full Lu&s;tre: Their number is Ten thou&s;and times ten thou&s;and, and thou&s;ands of thou|&s;ands, without the jealou&s;ie or envy of any one.</P>
<P>Yet in this very low condition of Souls, the Soul it &s;elf is not the le&s;s, but conceal'd, as many excellent and mo&s;t potent Things in Nature. A Diamond may be ea&s;ily cover'd, that none of the Beams of it can be &s;een; the &s;harp Steel lies quiet in the Sheath; the Fire, that could inflame <HI>the whole Cour&s;e of Nature,</HI> is hid in the Flint: How often is the Glory of the Sun muffled up in a Cloud? And, to a&s;|cend higher, not onely the Angelical, but the Divine Glory is much re|&s;erv'd, while it is much &s;een: <HI>Verily,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 45. 15.</NOTE> <HI>thou art a God that hide&s;t thy &s;elf,</HI>
<PB N="151" REF="83"> <HI>O God of I&s;rael, the Saviour of thy People.</HI></P>
<P>Now this thing ought not to be to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Practical Inference.</NOTE> us a Matter of meer Notion or Spe|culation, but of mo&s;t &s;erious con&s;i|deration: for this Greatne&s;s and Po|tency of our Souls determines it &s;elf &s;upremely and finally into an Ability and Power to bear Eternal Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery; and all el&s;e is but acciden|tal, and by the By to it. It was not made great for any <HI>Name</HI> of things, <HI>that is named in this World,</HI> or call'd Great here, how great &s;oever. All things that are Arguments of Potency now, do but fall in; the true inten|tion of the Souls being made &s;o pui&s;|&s;ant a Being, is, that it might &s;u&s;tain <HI>tho&s;e weights of Glory,</HI> Likene&s;s to God, Everla&s;ting Enjoyment of him, without being fainted or overwhelm|ed: But if it mi&s;carry from this Hap|pine&s;s, or fall &s;hort of this Glory, all this its Might and Pui&s;&s;ance enable it &s;till to &s;urvive, and bear the ma&s;&s;ie di&s;plea&s;ure of God, angry for Sin; and the mo&s;t forcible and terrible Re|coils of its own guilty and enraged &s;elf, upon it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Now a Being thus Potent and Great,
<PB N="152" REF="84"> as to &s;ub&s;i&s;t in that Everla&s;ting Ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s or Mi&s;ery, can together, and comprehen&s;ively do tho&s;e &s;maller Great things that are e&s;teem'd &s;o in this World: and yet if it &s;hould ne|ver do any &s;uch, nor have the occa|&s;ion of doing them; to be created to the Intents and Purpo&s;es of an Eter|nal Condition, makes it compleatly nece&s;&s;ary it &s;hould be made &s;o Great as we have a&s;&s;erted: And if it were not &s;o, we could make but a very imperfect account, to what ends the Souls of &s;ome Princely and incompa|rable Young Men are prepared; who&s;e ri&s;ing and growing Vertue appears onely &s;o long, as to &s;pring Heroickly, and to give proof of a Divinene&s;s in the Bud, and then by Death to fade in this World, as early as it blo&s;&s;oms, and have no opportunity left to ri|pen. In the&s;e at once we &s;ee both the Greatne&s;s of a Soul, and that this World is not its proper Sphere, or &s;o much as near it; for if it were, &s;uch Souls had been made in vain &s;o Great: But the State of Eternity ju|&s;tifies the Wi&s;dom of God, in breath|ing &s;o rich a Principle of Life, not|with&s;tanding &s;o little Action here;
<PB N="153" REF="84"> becau&s;e what is &s;o &s;uperabundant now, is then all of u&s;e, and nothing to &s;pare.</P>
<P>And to pre&s;s this Con&s;ideration fur|ther, and more generally, the State of Eternity reduces the Souls of Men univer&s;ally to thus much of Equality, that they are all alike &s;tripp'd out of the Cumber and Incommodiou&s;ne&s;s of a Body, and brought to the naked|ne&s;s and &s;implicity of Spirit, which is the greate&s;t Advancement of Be|ing, in an ab&s;tract Notion of Being, that a Creature is or can be receptive of. Nor is Spiritual Motion fetter'd or tied up any longer by indigency of &s;ub&s;ervient Mini&s;teries: All have that which is full enough to their State.</P>
<P>Souls are then at the height of Im|mortality and Unchangeablene&s;s, un|der a Full-&s;ail Activity, every way equal to &s;o great a Nature, whether it be employ'd in Fruitions or Indu|rances.</P>
<P>Let us then expatiate thus into Meditation: We that are but of &s;o many Foot of Body, and mu&s;t be lodg'd in &s;o many Foot of Earth, the mea&s;ure of the Grave, have Souls who&s;e Capacities and Action are va&s;ter
<PB N="154" REF="85"> than the whole Creation of Matter: <HI>We that dwell in hou&s;es of clay, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 4. 19.</NOTE> <HI>have our foundation in the du&s;t,</HI> have yet great and potent Souls. If we could per&s;wade our &s;elves we are more than <HI>this Hand-breadth</HI> of Bo|dily Condition, and pre&s;ent Life, we &s;hould prepare our &s;elves for &s;o great a State of Being, the State that is pro|per to Souls. All we toil and &s;weat for, that we de&s;ign and care for in the World, is Self-pre&s;ervation, Self-enjoyment, and Well-being: Why then &s;hould we not mind the&s;e in our large&s;t and mo&s;t excellent Quality? We value our &s;elves in that which is lea&s;t, and throw our &s;elves away in the main and whole Sum.</P>
<P>Let us then continually rea&s;on with our &s;elves: Our Souls are great; when we go out of the Body, we become <HI>Great Spirits.</HI> However the Soul keep up clo&s;e in the Body, yet it may be dilated beyond all po&s;&s;ible Ima|gination; as they &s;ay, An Angel of Gold may be beaten out to cover a whole Acre of Ground. We &s;ee to what a va&s;tne&s;s Education, Study, Ad|vancement in the World, extends the Souls of &s;ome Men, that made little
<PB N="155" REF="85"> appearance at fir&s;t: To how much a more immen&s;e Amplitude will the State of Eternity &s;tretch out the Re|ceipt of a Soul? and what an abun|dance of Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery will it then take in!</P>
<P>How little then, or how great &s;oever we &s;eem now, all will then be re&s;olv'd into this final Condition of our Immortal Souls; and the Happi|ne&s;s of the&s;e re&s;ts in the Favour of God, a Likene&s;s to him in Holine&s;s, &s;pringing out into an Eternal Enjoy|ment of him.</P>
<P>And while we are here in the World, in this State of our Souls lies our true Greatne&s;s and Worth: Some that &s;eem &s;o incon&s;iderable, that no Man looks after them, yet being great|ly Holy, greatly favoured of God, Great Spirits, all Heavenly, <HI>the world</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hebr. 11. 37, 38.</NOTE> <HI>is not worthy of them, though they wander up and down on montains, in &s;heep-skins, and goat-skins, and be hid in dens and caves of the earth.</HI> Others Great in the World, and being al&s;o truly Good, <HI>the Back-parts</HI> of their Greatne&s;s are onely <HI>&s;een.</HI></P>
<P>Yea, even in Bad Men, how &s;mall or great &s;oever they are in the World,
<PB N="156" REF="86"> yet that they pertain to an Everla&s;t|ing Condition, that they have Im|mortal Souls, this makes them of greate&s;t con&s;ideration. <HI>To convert them to God,</HI> is therefore a great and excellent Work: <HI>To &s;ave a Soul from death,</HI> how great is the Service! and how great is the Reward! They that do it, <HI>&s;hall &s;hine as the Stars in the Firmament.</HI> How great a Regard to the meane&s;t or wor&s;t of Men &s;hould it draw, that they pertain to an <HI>Eternal Judgment!</HI></P>
<P>The Con&s;ideration of the Soul, as a Being Invi&s;ible, and a Spirit, ha|ving invited an often mention of its Eternal or Unchangeable Condition, to which this pre&s;ent State is &s;ubordi|nate, and di&s;embogues it &s;elf into it, as the Rivers do into the Ocean; I come in the next place to make a mode&s;t Re&s;earch into the Nature of <HI>Eternity,</HI> and the Souls Relation to it.</P>
<P>But in &s;peaking of <HI>Eternity,</HI> I know he alone is able to declare it, <HI>who in|habits</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 57. 15.</NOTE> <HI>it;</HI> God him&s;elf, or the An|gels, tho&s;e Ble&s;&s;ed Spirits, who were early a&s;&s;um'd into larger Participati|ons
<PB N="157" REF="86"> of it: Yet &s;eeing we al&s;o are de|&s;ign'd to the &s;ame Participations, it concerns us, as far as we can, to un|der&s;tand the Wonder of it.</P>
<P><HI>Eternity</HI> then, in its fir&s;t and high|e&s;t Sen&s;e, is not any thing di&s;tinct from God, but his &s;table unchangeable Be|ing <HI>from everla&s;ting to everla&s;ting:</HI> There is no other <HI>Eternity</HI> than this, properly and &s;trictly taken, from which is ca&s;t upon the Mind that contemplates a Being &s;o &s;ur|rounded with it &s;elf, and its own in|variable Perfection, a Notion of Ever|la&s;ting Duration, and that which is comprehended by it; becau&s;e, by rea&s;on of the narrowne&s;s of our Un|der&s;tanding, it is conceiv'd in a di|&s;tinction from the Divine Being it &s;elf, we in a &s;econdary Sen&s;e call <HI>Eter|nity.</HI></P>
<P>But even, as what we term <HI>&V;bi|quity,</HI> is that which re&s;ults to us from the Notion or Apprehen&s;ion of God the Immen&s;e Being filling all, &s;o much as even Imaginary Space, while he him&s;elf is the onely <HI>true &V;biquity;</HI> even &s;o <HI>Eternity</HI> is the Infinitene&s;s of God's Being filling all Imaginary Du|ration, and &s;o filling it, that the Di|vine
<PB N="158" REF="87"> Being it &s;elf is <HI>that very Eternity,</HI> of which Everla&s;ting Duration is but the Shadow that falls from it, as Un|bounded Space does from his Omni|pre&s;ence.</P>
<P>God then, <HI>the Supreme Eternal,</HI> or rather <HI>Eternity,</HI> is a Being that mu&s;t always have been, and ever mu&s;t be: It is mo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible to conceive he &s;hould ever not have been, or ever not be: And he is a Being that ne|ver could, and can never be other|wi&s;e than he is: So that there are no Marks of Di&s;tinction that could ever be taken from his Being, or from the State and Condition of his Being. <HI>He is, He was, He is to come,</HI> are all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1. 8.</NOTE> united into one Eternal Point or Pe|riod in him, and thus expre&s;s'd, <HI>I</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 3. 14.</NOTE> <HI>A M: A Being without any variation,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1. 17.</NOTE> <HI>or &s;hadow of turning.</HI></P>
<P><HI>A thou&s;and years to him, are but</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3. 8.</NOTE> <HI>as ye&s;terday, when it is pa&s;t; and one day, as a thou&s;and years.</HI> And if it had been &s;aid, Ten thou&s;and millions of Years are but as a Minute when it is pa&s;t, it had been all one in this Ca&s;e; for there is no New Thing to him, or in him, but all is a Ju&s;t now.</P>
<P>For his Being is the mo&s;t &s;olid &s;ub|&s;tantial
<PB N="159" REF="87"> Being, that cannot po&s;&s;ibly &s;ubmit to any Alteration: What is Infinitely Perfect, can admit no Change. <HI>This is the One, Ju&s;t, Even, Smooth Eternity.</HI></P>
<P>And under&s;tanding God thus, we under&s;tand Eternity: And though it be no where but in him&s;elf, and where he communicates the Likene&s;s of it; yet Eternity in a &s;econdary Sen&s;e, be|comes a di&s;tinct Notion or Sen&s;e of a Mode of Being in our Minds,; and it is a changele&s;s Duration of any Being in the &s;elf-&s;ame State; for if there be not Duration, there mu&s;t be Change; and if there be Change, it is not a Duration on all &s;ides; for then there could be no Change.</P>
<P>Now this Notion of Eternity could never have come into our Minds, if it had not been planted there by his Hand, who dwells in it, on purpo&s;e that we might know him&s;elf by it; nor had there been a &s;ub&s;tantial Re&s;t for &s;uch a Conception, if his Being had not given it: All el&s;e is but Ima|ginary Duration.</P>
<P>Eternity then, in this our appre|hen&s;ion of it, is one great &s;mooth Sea, without any Curl of Change; or as
<PB N="160" REF="88"> a va&s;t unmea&s;urable Plain, wherein the Eye hath no Bound, nor &s;o much as Note of Di&s;tinction, no Ri&s;e, no Fall; like a great Mountain, that all Generations have pa&s;s'd and repa&s;s'd, one hath gone, another come, and that hath &s;lidden away too, but the Mountain hath &s;tood firm. It is like a Rock, that hath &s;tood innumerable Ages, without &s;o much as &s;caling; about which the huge Waters have continually wav'd and roll'd them|&s;elves, and da&s;h'd a&s;under; by which &s;maller Ve&s;&s;els have pa&s;s'd to and again; gallant Ships, and Potent Ar|madaes have &s;ail'd by, and &s;unk, or moulder'd away: this in the mean time without any variation.</P>
<P>It is like an Hour &s;pent in highe&s;t Plea&s;ure, no Moment, no Minute of which is &s;o much as felt. It is like a deep Contemplation, in which the Mind is &s;o lo&s;t, &s;o retir'd from Body, that it reckons not any Motion, it keeps no account of Time for it, nor ob&s;erves whether any Time pa&s;s'd. It is like an undefinable Point of Ju&s;t now.</P>
<P>In the next place, to give the great|er Light to Eternity, let us &s;tate the
<PB N="161" REF="88"> Nature of Time. And Time, to &s;peak &s;ub&s;tantially of it, is nothing but the Coming of a Thing, or a World of Things into Being, that were not in Being before. For this makes a new Note in what we conceive, as Durati|on: And therefore when the World was made, the Scripture &s;ays, <HI>In the Beginning.</HI> There was then a new Date, becau&s;e there was &s;omething then, that had not been before. In Whole Eternity there was nothing New; All was alike One.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e things coming in by the way of Change, <HI>viz.</HI> the exchange of the State of Nothing, for the State of Exi&s;tency, are al&s;o every Moment &s;ubject to change, and in a continual hover up and down; and while all the&s;e things are performing their Mo|tion in their Changes and Vici&s;&s;itudes, the Mind of Man con&s;idering them under &s;uch a Mode or Circum&s;tance of their Being, there ari&s;es a Notion or Repre&s;entation of that whole Space, which putting all together, we call Time in the large&s;t &s;en&s;e; of which, that in the <HI>Revelation of St. John</HI> may fitly be under&s;tood, <HI>Time</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 10. 6.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be no more;</HI> all Change being
<PB N="162" REF="89"> con&s;ummate in the unmoveable State of Eternity. And while it con&s;iders their particular Flutters hither and thither, it takes Mea&s;ures of the more contingent and un&s;etled Motion of &s;ome, by the more &s;etled and &s;tated Motion of others: of which the Heavenly Bodies, in their con&s;tant Revolutions of Day and Night, Months and Years, are the &s;upreme Standard, and faithful Witne&s;&s;es; which the &s;ame <HI>Divine</HI> expre&s;&s;es, by <HI>Time,</HI> and <HI>Times,</HI> and <HI>Half a Time,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12. 14.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> as it is generally under&s;tood, a Year, two Years, and Half a Year; or, as it is otherwi&s;e &s;poken, <HI>Forty two</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">cap. 11. 2, 3.</NOTE> <HI>Months,</HI> and <HI>A thou&s;and two hun|dred and three&s;core days.</HI></P>
<P>Below the&s;e, the Founding and Ruine of Monarchies, the Birth and Death of Princes, make the Publick <HI>Epochs,</HI> and give new Characters to Time, which the Prophet <HI>Daniel</HI> calls the <HI>changing of Times and Sea&s;ons:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 2. 21.</NOTE> Even as the&s;e Changes in the Condi|tion of Private Per&s;ons, make private and particular Di&s;tinctions of it, in tho&s;e Places and Families where they are known and taken notice of: Of which <HI>David</HI> &s;peaks, not onely as a
<PB N="163" REF="89"> King, but in a general Capacity, <HI>My</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> <HI>Times are in thy hand.</HI></P>
<P>If we could &s;uppo&s;e all things then above us, round about us, within us, even to a thought &s;tanding &s;till, and no alteration, &s;o much as in a thought; where would be the Mea&s;ure of Time? or what would be the ac|count of it? or where would it be at all?</P>
<P>The Being therefore of the Things of Time, or rather that project, and ca&s;t Time, as a faint Shade from them|&s;elves, are made and fitted to move, and &s;hift, and alter; el&s;e there could be no Time: even as the Being of God, always the &s;ame, gives us Eter|nity: el&s;e there could be none, but an Imaginary Duration, as hath been al|ready a&s;&s;erted.</P>
<P>If any thing therefore in this World &s;tands fa&s;ter and longer than other, and &s;uffers no Change, it becomes a near|er Re&s;emblance of Eternity, as the Hills are call'd <HI>Everla&s;ting Hills,</HI> and the Eternity of God conde&s;cends it &s;elf to our Thoughts by compare with them: <HI>Before the Hills were</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90. 2.</NOTE> <HI>brought forth, even from Everla&s;ting to Everla&s;ting, thou art God.</HI> Un|mov'd
<PB N="164" REF="90"> Rocks are <HI>Rocks of Eternity:</HI> God him&s;elf is &s;til'd the <HI>Rock of Ages,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26. 4.</NOTE> <HI>or Eternity.</HI></P>
<P>Now Time, however full of Flu|ctuations it is in it &s;elf, can yet make no di&s;turbance upon Eternity, or at all affect it; all its various Shapes can imprint no Change there: For whe|ther we con&s;ider Eternity as One with God; As our Saviour &s;peaks of <HI>Abra|ham, Before Abraham was, I am;</HI> &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 58.</NOTE> it may be &s;aid of all the Particulars of Time, Before them, <HI>from ever|la&s;ting God is.</HI> His Being did not wait their coming into Being, nor does it lay down it &s;elf, when they go out of their pre&s;ent Being: <HI>Thou</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90. 3.</NOTE> (O God) <HI>turne&s;t Man to de&s;truction, and &s;ay&s;t, Return ye Children of Men: The Heavens wax old as a Garment,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 102. 26, 27.</NOTE> <HI>as a Ve&s;ture &s;halt thou change them, and they &s;hall be changed: But thou art the &s;ame for ever, and of thy years there is no end.</HI> Or whether we con|&s;ider Eternity in a &s;econdary Notion, and as we conceive it in Everla&s;ting Duration; it is always quiet and un|interrupted in the Divine Being: There is Duration, without any <HI>&s;ha|dow of change,</HI> which is the ab&s;olute
<PB N="165" REF="90"> Eternity, and gives the mo&s;t perfect Notion of it, and is no where to be found, but in God.</P>
<P>But Time, whether we under&s;tand it as that &s;pace of Duration in which the&s;e Changeables are running their &s;everal Ri&s;ques, it is incircled and comprehended by Eternity, as a Drop by the Ocean, above it, within it, round about it: and indeed it is but the &s;ame Duration, di&s;tingui&s;h'd one|ly by tho&s;e Chequers and Spots of Change upon it: Or if we under&s;tand by it the Creatures of Time, in tho&s;e their &s;everal Changes, they are crea|ted and upheld by the Eternal Power: He <HI>that changes Times and Sea&s;ons,</HI> without any Variety in him&s;elf, rules and governs them all, till at his com|mand they &s;urrender them&s;elves back into that Fixed State his Wi&s;dom and Righteou&s;ne&s;s di&s;po&s;es them into for For Ever, to which their Motion in this incertain State prepares them.</P>
<P>Thus, as all things that move mu&s;t have &s;ome certain and un&s;haken Bot|tom to move upon; and things not &s;elf-&s;ub&s;i&s;tent, but dependent, mu&s;t have &s;ome independent Strength to re&s;t upon: &s;o fluid, and never-re&s;ting,
<PB N="166" REF="91"> weak Time, or rather tho&s;e moveable Beings that give it its Name, mu&s;t be upheld by un&s;haken and all-potent Eternity, to which they pay them|&s;elves, as their Great End: For he by <HI>whom are all things,</HI> is the &s;ame with <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> 17.</NOTE> him <HI>who was before all things,</HI> and <HI>for whom all things are: Ye&s;terday,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">. 13. 8.</NOTE> <HI>and to day, the &s;ame for ever.</HI></P>
<P>Now to collect the Sum of this Explication of Eternity, and Time; it is this: Eternity is &s;table and in|variable, as the Divine Being that inhabits it, or indeed is Eternity it &s;elf. Time, as it includes what we call Duration, is not properly Time; for &s;o it falls in with Eternity, as Created Being doth with the Ocean of Being Increated: but as it is in perpetual Change, &s;o it is Time, and &s;o it falls in with the mutable Crea|tures, that re&s;ide upon it, and are in|deed in tho&s;e Motions of Change al|lowed to them, the true &s;ub&s;tantial Time it &s;elf.</P>
<P>And all this &s;peaks the &s;ub&s;tantial|ne&s;s of the Being of God, and the Nothingne&s;s of all the Things of Time: For if Things had &s;uch a Be|ing as they could like and be content|ed
<PB N="167" REF="91"> with, and could continue in it, when they like it, as long as they would, they would be always what they are: but becau&s;e they are nei|ther &s;trong enough to chu&s;e their Condition, nor to retain it, they con|tinue in every Condition, whether Good or Evil, ju&s;t &s;o long as is ap|pointed by his Plea&s;ure who keeps <HI>Times and Sea&s;ons all in his own</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 1. 7.</NOTE> <HI>hand.</HI></P>
<P>But, on the other &s;ide, the Eter|nity of God mu&s;t needs be Ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s and Happine&s;s: For Eternity ex|pre&s;&s;ing Ab&s;olute Being, Perfection of Being, Being with all advantage; Being and Well-being con&s;pire and meet in one in him, even of nece&s;&s;ity. The Apo&s;tle, in contemplation of this, adores God, <HI>the onely Ble&s;&s;ed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 6. 15, 16.</NOTE> <HI>and Happy Potentate;</HI> and &s;ubjoyns, <HI>who onely hath Immortality, and dwells in that Light to which no Man can approach.</HI></P>
<P>It is true, Created Beings may be Immortal, and yet mi&s;erable: that is, becau&s;e Created Being doth not, as Increated, re&s;ult from it &s;elf, nor is Ab&s;olute Being; but is given, and upheld, and continued at the plea&s;ure
<PB N="168" REF="92"> of the Creator, and &s;o receives vari|ety of Condition, according to the Laws he hath &s;et to it, while it is yet maintain'd in its Duration and Continuance; the Favour or Di&s;plea|&s;ure of God, the Righteous or Un|righteous State of it, making va&s;t dif|ferences herein.</P>
<P>This then is the Eternity of God, his always alike Being, infinitely Hap|py, infinitely Ble&s;&s;ed. This is the Eternity of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Son</HI> of God, the Son of God eternally be|gotten, that though he <HI>proceeded</HI> and <HI>came forth from God</HI> the Father, yet he made no new Date, <HI>no Be|ginning:</HI> Eternally begotten, without the <HI>lea&s;t &s;hadow of turning,</HI> to denomi|nate Time, as the Creatures do by Be|ginning; but as a Beam from the Sun, as &s;oon as it is, making no new thing in the Sun; or as Apprehen&s;ion from the Mind, as &s;oon as the Mind is; or as the immediate Image and Likene&s;s of the Face, as early as the Face is: thus, and infinitely more, even incom|prehen&s;ibly, is <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> the Son of the Father, coeternal with him. This is the <HI>Eternity</HI> of the <HI>Son of God;</HI> but what is the <HI>Fathers Name,</HI> or <HI>what</HI>
<PB N="169" REF="92"> <HI>is his Sons Name in Eternity,</HI> none <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 30. 4.</NOTE> can tell; <HI>for who can declare his ge|neration?</HI> but, <HI>Before all things that were made,</HI> and by being made, made a Beginning; before all things that beginning to be, ca&s;t the &s;hadow of Time; even <HI>before all things,</HI> is the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 1. 17.</NOTE> Saviour of the World; that is, he is <HI>Eternal.</HI></P>
<P>Indeed, as <HI>he is the Son of Man,</HI> he gave great, and the greate&s;t Chara|cters to Time it hath, the riche&s;t <HI>Aera</HI> and <HI>Epochs</HI> it hath; His Incarnation, in dating it &s;elf from which, Latter Time glories and triumphs; His Death and Pa&s;&s;ion, his Re&s;urrection and A&s;|cen&s;ion, His Appearance <HI>the &s;econd time from Heaven,</HI> to give a Period to Time. Thus, as the <HI>Son of Man,</HI> he hath enrich'd and ennobled Time: But, <HI>as the Son of God,</HI> he onely go|verns Time, that is, the Things of Time, <HI>and changes Times and Sea|&s;ons, by &s;etting up, and pulling down</HI> what he plea&s;es; whence Time is va|riou&s;ly imbo&s;s'd: but by any Change in him&s;elf, he doth not give the lea&s;t Shade of Time.</P>
<P>The Eternity of Angels is much below this perfect, this ab&s;olute Eter|nity;
<PB N="170" REF="93"> for they had a Beginning, they came out of the State of Not Being, into Being: but this of Eternity they have, that their Being given them, continues for ever, la&s;ts for ever. In|deed even this Duration is not by any nece&s;&s;ity of Nature, as in <HI>the Son of God, the onely begotten of the Father;</HI> for he can neither have begun to be begotten, nor cea&s;e to be begotten, but it mu&s;t make a Change in God, a &s;ub&s;tantial Change. Thus al&s;o incom|prehen&s;ibly &s;tands the Eternity of the <HI>Divine Spirit, proceeding Eternally from the Father and the Son:</HI> But the Everla&s;tingne&s;s of Angels hath its certainty from the Purpo&s;e of God unchangeable concerning it.</P>
<P>Further, Their Eternity is not like to the Eternity <HI>of the Divine Being, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spi|rit,</HI> in that as they receiv'd a Begin|ning, &s;o there was a Space wherein their Condition was alterable, as ap|pears by the Fall of &s;ome, and the ge|nerally receiv'd Confirmation of o|thers: And that it is alterable in De|grees, may be argued by their daily increa&s;e in Knowledge, Additions to which Good Angels receive from the
<PB N="171" REF="93"> Church, <HI>while they &s;toop down to look into the things of the Go&s;pel;</HI> daily Experience in both &s;orts; Increa&s;es of Glory to the <HI>Holy mini&s;tring Spi|rits,</HI> as a Reward of their Mini&s;try; Aggravations of Puni&s;hment to the Fallen Angels, for their many and great Ho&s;tilities to God, his Son, and Servants: The Complement therefore of either State, is not till the Day of Judgment be pa&s;t.</P>
<P>The&s;e things already &s;poken, lead to the De&s;cription of the Eternity of the Souls of Men, con&s;i&s;ting in three things.</P>
<P N="1">1. That they &s;hall continue for ever in Being, the unchangeable De|cree of God upholding them in a never-ending Exi&s;tence.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Sub&s;tance of their Condition &s;hall never be alter'd; upon which account the Scripture often &s;peaks of a For Ever, as a Hap|pine&s;s <HI>incorruptible,</HI> and <HI>that fadeth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1. 4.</NOTE> <HI>not away;</HI> on the other &s;ide, of <HI>Eter|nal Puni&s;hment, of a Worm that never</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 25. 46. Marc. 9. 44.</NOTE> <HI>dies, a Fire that is never quenched:</HI> All which &s;peak, as much as Words can convey to us, &s;uch an unchange|able State.</P>
<PB N="172" REF="94">
<P N="3"> 3. There is no Interruption or Al|teration in the Degrees of their State; there are no Marks of Di&s;tinction, that the&s;e Souls &s;hould &s;ay, Now more happy, now le&s;s happy; Now more mi&s;erable, now le&s;s mi&s;erable: But as highe&s;t Delight takes away all &s;en&s;e of the Motion of Time in this Life, &amp; as &s;en&s;e of extreme Pain makes an Hour like an Age; how much more in Eternity does the Perfection of Happine&s;s, and the Extremity of Mi&s;ery, the &s;ub&s;tantialne&s;s and ab&s;o|lutene&s;s of either State, &s;wallow up all Notes of Di&s;tinction? God is no more Happy by any addition of Mo|ments we &s;uppo&s;e in the Duration of his Happine&s;s; (I &s;ay, we &s;uppo&s;e) for indeed he is his own Happine&s;s, and his own Duration. So in propor|tion, this State is its own Duration, Heaven one intire united Moment of endle&s;s Delight, Hell of Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="1">1. Now this State of the Souls of Men in Eternity ari&s;es, fir&s;t, from the fitne&s;s &s;uch a Nature as Mans Soul is of, that is, a Spiritual Nature, (as I have already di&s;cours'd) to be Ever|la&s;ting: A Nature which God hath with Infinite Wi&s;dom and Power con|triv'd
<PB N="173" REF="94"> to be a re&s;emblance of him&s;elf. Thus the Heavens, as they are more durable, are al&s;o of choicer Matter, and le&s;s corruptible, than other Parts of the Creation: And tho&s;e things that by God are de&s;ign'd for For Ever, are made &s;o perfectly agreeable to their State, that they need not be altered; as if a Ve&s;&s;el of pure&s;t Me|tal were made &s;o &s;ub&s;tantial, that it could &s;uffer no change in the Quanti|ty, Weight, Figure, Oriency of it, either by Fire, Hammer, or the &s;eve|ral Accidents that fall out in length of Time; nor that there could be &s;o much as a po&s;&s;ible Rea&s;on to de&s;ire the change of it.</P>
<P N="2">2. From the Will of God, and his unchangeable Decree, that it &s;hould be &s;o; which he makes good and ef|fectual by continually feeding the&s;e Beings with Eternity; that is, from him&s;elf he &s;ends them all the Powers of Life and Motion: So that to ask, When &s;hall the&s;e Souls, and the &s;eve|ral States of them, in Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery, have end? is to ask, When will a Stream be dry, that is fed by a Fountain that can never be exhau&s;ted, nor the Supply of it be po&s;&s;ibly cut
<PB N="174" REF="95"> off from that Stream? His Favour is an Eternal Principle of Life and Ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s; His Pre&s;ence of Wrath, and <HI>the Glory of his Power</HI> &s;et again&s;t us, is as great a Source of Mi&s;ery and Torment. While therefore he will uphold our Beings and Faculties, and keep up their Motion, &s;o long they mu&s;t be; and while he plea&s;es either to &s;hine out graciou&s;ly upon us, or to dart again&s;t us the Lightning of his Di&s;plea|&s;ure, &s;o long we mu&s;t be either happy, or mi&s;erable: And when either of the&s;e is done, to the height and perfecti|on of either, as they are in the World to come, then according to the Re|velation of his Will, guided with that Wi&s;dom by which he hath weigh'd out all things, they are to be For Ever. For the mo&s;t Perfect of all Things now, and that are ab&s;olutely the highe&s;t of his Creation, that is, Spirits; and that which is the Top of their Condition, as that to which the La&s;t Judgment affixes them is, are de&s;ign'd by God for For Ever.</P>
<P N="3">3. The proper Exerci&s;es of Man's Soul, which are in Under&s;tanding, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Holine&s;s, declare the de&s;ignment of it for Eternity. For
<PB N="175" REF="95"> the&s;e things being &s;uch evident Beams from the Divine Glory and Being, cannot die; and tho&s;e Natures that have their Action plac'd in them, are thence argued Immortal. For &s;eeing the&s;e things in them&s;elves, in their pure and ab&s;tract Notions, are un|changeable; the Soul being a Seat &s;o peculiarly dedicated to them, and im|mediately fitted for them, and a very Principle of them, as made by God; it is a very great pre&s;umption of its Eternal State.</P>
<P>There remains nothing I intend fur|ther touching this Va&s;tne&s;s of Eterni|ty, (concerning which, all Di&s;cour&s;e is <HI>but as the drop of the Bucket, or the &s;mall du&s;t of the Balance; nothing, and le&s;s than nothing)</HI> but more clear|ly to exalt the Eternity of God, above that of his Everla&s;ting Crea|tures; and to fall into Practical Me|ditations upon Everla&s;ting Duration.</P>
<P N="1">1. It is in the fir&s;t place certain, No Created Being hath an Eternity before Time: Of God onely, and of no Created Being, can it be &s;aid, It never began, Thus it always was, It never made any new Date: <HI>From Everla&s;ting to Everla&s;ting</HI> onely <HI>God</HI>
<PB N="176" REF="96"> <HI>is;</HI> Of him onely it can be &s;aid, <HI>He was Ever, as he is, and is to come.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Of no Creature can it be &s;aid, ab&s;olutely, or in regard of it &s;elf, (though it be in its Everla&s;ting State) It mu&s;t be, or It mu&s;t be thus, It can be no otherwi&s;e: It can be onely &s;aid &s;o, upon account of the unchangea|ble Decree of God. There is a high agreeablene&s;s in the Nature of Spi|rits to Be; but this, It mu&s;t be, is onely proper to God. Of him onely to acknowledge, He may be, is (as hath been &s;aid) to infold our &s;elves in a po&s;itive A&s;&s;urance, He is, and mu&s;t be. He is no precarious Being; not a Being at the Free-will of any; no Chance Being; not a convenient Being onely; A Being, of which it may be &s;aid, It is better, and be&s;t he &s;hould be; though this be true, and that infinitely. But he is an Infinite|ly nece&s;&s;ary Being; His Being is the Fir&s;t, the Eternal, the Fundamental Verity.</P>
<P N="3">3. He onely is his own Eternity: <HI>He alone lifts up his Hand to the Hea|ven,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32. 40.</NOTE> <HI>and &s;ays, I live for ever;</HI> He lifts it up in the Triumph and Power of Being: All Creatures depend upon
<PB N="177" REF="96"> his Eternity; Him&s;elf, and his <HI>Eter|nity are One; Him&s;elf is Eternity, and Eternity is him&s;elf.</HI> To &s;peak other|wi&s;e of Eternity, is onely to <HI>&s;peak as children,</HI> to &s;peak out of weak appre|hen&s;ion to weak apprehen&s;ion: In the <HI>Perfect State,</HI> we &s;hall <HI>put away the&s;e childi&s;h things from us.</HI> A Crea|ture cannot be &s;aid with propriety to be Eternal; but in a low Sen&s;e, in a Sen&s;e expre&s;&s;ing Gods Communicati|on of him&s;elf. The Creature's <HI>Ever|la&s;ting</HI> is mea&s;ured by God's <HI>Eterni|ty:</HI> His own Being is the onely un|mea&s;urable Mea&s;ure, the unaccounta|ble Account of his Eternity; even as his Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Truth, Omnipo|tency, are all Him&s;elf; and there are no other of the&s;e, but him&s;elf, and his Communications: Even &s;o is his Eternity.</P>
<P>Into what lowe&s;t and mo&s;t pro|found <NOTE PLACE="marg">Meditati|on 1.</NOTE> Adorations of the Divine Be|ing &s;hould the Thought of Eternity ca&s;t us? Oh infinitely rich and ama|zing Perfection of Being, Life, and Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s! What can be worthy of our Thoughts, but thy &s;elf onely! What are all the Creatures of this World, compar'd with thee, but de|&s;picable,
<PB N="178" REF="97"> and even to be abhorr'd No|things! Why do we not always gaze with humble&s;t and mo&s;t a&s;toni&s;hing, yet mo&s;t delightful and ravi&s;hing ad|miration upon thee! If we could &s;tand near, and behold Angelical Glo|ries and Heights, not as thy Servants here have done in Bodily unfitne&s;s, but in the Freedom of Spirits; and then compare with thy infinitely &s;urmount|ing Glory, we &s;hould even di&s;dain (while yet we honour and value them as thy Creatures of the highe&s;t Order, as <HI>Thrones and Dominions</HI> under thee) to interrupt our Adorati|ons of thee, to wor&s;hip them; and &s;ee what rea&s;on they have <HI>to cover their Faces</HI> before thee, and that thou maye&s;t <HI>charge the loftie&s;t Seraph with Folly:</HI> Their Longeve State would &s;hrink into a Moment old, comparing it with thy never-beginning Eterni|ty; and that Being of theirs, which compar'd with Mortality &s;eems &s;o &s;ub&s;tantial, would appear, if brought near to thee, but a Shadow, which thy Being ca&s;ts upon them; at the highe&s;t, but a Beam from thy Splen|dour. Let our Souls never cea&s;e be|holding and contemplating thee, till
<PB N="179" REF="97"> we lo&s;e our &s;elves, and All things; till we find all again in thy mo&s;t Ble&s;&s;ed and Eternal &s;elf; in <HI>thy Son, the &s;ub|&s;tantial Image of thy Eternity; in thy Spirit, eternally breathing from and resting in thy &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>Yet let us put that Value upon our &s;elves, that thou ha&s;t put upon us, in communicating with us &s;uch a Beam of thy Eternity, in making us Spirits, in re&s;olving us for an unchangeable, and unalterable State.</P>
<P N="2">2. This teaches us the Vanity, Fol|ly, and even Ridiculou&s;ne&s;s of Athe|i&s;tical Scoffers, that dream thus, Why did not God create the World &s;oon|er? Why did his Wi&s;dom, Power, Goodne&s;s, &s;leep &s;o many Ages, ere it began to manife&s;t it &s;elf, and make the World? As if Eternity had Soon|er, and Later; as if that infinitely ex|tended, unbounded, changele&s;s State, both backward and forward, ari&s;ing to us immediately and nece&s;&s;arily from the con&s;ideration of God, could be call'd to account by the Mea&s;ures of Time. If the World had been Millions of Years older than it is, there had &s;till been an Eternity before it: A Being, with whom a <HI>thou&s;and years</HI>
<PB N="180" REF="98"> <HI>are but as yesterday, when it is pa&s;t.</HI> Nor is there any thing more requi&s;ite in Time, but that the Creatures of it &s;hould run the Race &s;et them by the Infinite Creator, and &s;o fix in their unchangeable Condition.</P>
<P N="3">3. We &s;hould often rea&s;on with our &s;elves, We are made for this un|changeable, endle&s;s State; and if it be not Happine&s;s, how then can we endure it? this &s;table, never-altering State! We find now all Confinement, though not to Pain, but onely to one Po&s;ture, to one Place, to one Com|pany, to one Action, tedious; this is, becau&s;e we find not a perfect enjoy|ment of Good in them: We are even weary of Plea&s;ures, becau&s;e they are but thin and &s;hallow: Even of tho&s;e things that at the fir&s;t we wi&s;h our &s;elves a Perpetuity in, we afterwards grow weary, and they are tire&s;om to us, becau&s;e we come &s;uddenly to all that is in them.</P>
<P>Divine Things are burden&s;om to us, becau&s;e, though they have end|le&s;s Delights, yet our Faculties are not &s;uited nor rai&s;ed enough to them: Nay, tho&s;e things that are grateful to the Sen&s;ual Appetite, yet if they &s;ur|charge
<PB N="181" REF="98"> it, are not its Plea&s;ure, but its great Di&s;ea&s;e. O therefore how little &s;hall we be able to endure one Po&s;ture of Mi&s;ery for ever! mo&s;t adver&s;e to all our Faculties, and yet they &s;o rais'd and held up, as perfectly to take in and endure that Mi&s;ery; and that Mi|&s;ery &s;o extracted and &s;pirituous, as to penetrate them throughout; and not coming in by Drops, and le&s;&s;er Rivu|lets; but Eternity, being all alike, crowds in upon every Moment: whereas now either the Torment is dull'd and rebated, or in&s;till'd and proportion'd by &s;uch a Succe&s;&s;ion, as carries hope of Change; or, if it be extreme, it pre&s;ently does all it can do; for it con&s;umes what it hath to work upon.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, How great is the Happine&s;s of Eternity! One &s;mooth, plain, undi&s;turbed Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, with|out any diver&s;ity, For Ever! The highe&s;t Faculties, in their perfecte&s;t State, gratified with highe&s;t Enjoy|ment! Faculties &s;o &s;trong, that they cannot flag; the Enjoyment &s;o unfa|thomable, that we can never feel Bot|tom in it! One Moment of endle&s;s Plea&s;ure! A Moment; for it hath no
<PB N="182" REF="99"> Tediou&s;ne&s;s: A Moment; for it hath no Change, but is all one, and yet it is endle&s;s and eternal: An Eternity, the Duration of which we cannot &s;o much as take notice of, being in one Ec&s;ta&s;ie of Enjoyment.</P>
<P>When we &s;ee mi&s;erable Men and Women, going up and down the World, living and dying without any Ob&s;ervation, it damps the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e things; and who would think, that &s;uch are prepared for &s;uch an unchangeable State? But how &s;trange is it, that Men hearing &s;o of|ten of Immortality out of the Go|&s;pel, and that there is &s;o much in their own Souls re&s;ounding to it, that they are not Men concern'd to <HI>lay hold upon Eternal Life, and to fly from the Wrath that is to come!</HI> Let us look upon this great Level Ocean, that hath not &s;o much as one Wave of Change ri&s;ing up in it; this huge and va&s;t Champaign, &s;welling with no Hills, &s;inking with no Dales.</P>
<P>And this know, <HI>Men may go down to Hell in a moment,</HI> thinking they die, and end together: They may peri&s;h without feeling it before-hand, or &s;o much as a Conceit about it:
<PB N="183" REF="99"> But whoever are &s;av'd by <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> they perceive them&s;elves Immortal; <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 1. 10.</NOTE> <HI>brings Life and Immortality to light in their Souls,</HI> and kindles the &s;en&s;e of it within them; tho&s;e to whom he gives Eternal Life, they find this Life begin in the apprehen&s;ions they have now of Eternity.</P>
<P N="4">4. O how vain are tho&s;e trouble|&s;om turmoiling Thoughts and Cares we have about Time, and the Things of it! Trundling, rolling, wheeling Time, that hath no continuance, that is &s;o made on purpo&s;e; the Things that ca&s;t it are &s;o weak, that they are re&s;tle&s;s in their &s;udden Changes. <HI>O Wheel!</HI> as it was cried out in <HI>Ezekiel:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 10. 13.</NOTE> O changing Time, every Moment &s;omething differing! Let us onely mind it, as it hath reference to Eter|nity; for therein it is onely of mo|ment: Eternity, that bears it up, it &s;elf unconcern'd in its changeablene&s;s, yet receives it into it &s;elf, and &s;wal|lows it up in it &s;elf.</P>
<P N="5">5. How nece&s;&s;ary is it to change, while we may, from Sin to God? to take the advantage of Time, in the true Conver&s;ion of our &s;elves to God, &s;eeing Eternity endures no Change?
<PB N="184" REF="100"> To be wicked in our Eternal State, is Wickedne&s;s unalterable; there are no Reviews or Amendments there. To turn, is the Advantage offer'd to Sin|ners within Time: In Eternity <HI>Re|pentance finds no place.</HI> On the other &s;ide, Eternal Life is Love of God, Delight in Holine&s;s, without end. The Motions of Spirits in E|ternity are &s;o &s;wift and perpetual one way, that there is not the lea&s;t Mo|ment to de&s;ign a Change in: A Mo|tion that is always one and the &s;ame, and is a Re&s;t, while a Motion: Even as the mo&s;t rapid Motion of a Globe round, that is &s;o &s;wift and rapid, that it is not di&s;cern'd; and &s;o even and ju&s;t, that it looks like &s;tanding &s;till. So is the State of Eternity, Action to the height, and mo&s;t unal|terable.</P>
<P>What I have hitherto di&s;cours'd of the Soul, hath tended chiefly to illu&s;trate it in tho&s;e things that do immediately concern its Natural Per|fections, or its very Being, and the Pri|vileges it therein hath, as it was made in the Image of the Divine Being, and its Perfections. For, that it is an
<PB N="185" REF="100"> Invi&s;ible Spirit, Immaterial, Immor|tal, of &s;uch mighty Operations, and vehement Motions, is of immediate Relation to its Being, &s;imply con&s;i|dered. Now the&s;e Excellencies of the Soul I have endeavoured &s;o to ab&s;tract, in the Di&s;cour&s;e of them, that they might appear (&s;o far as is po&s;&s;i|ble) in their &s;o ab&s;tract and di&s;tinct Con&s;ideration: and yet, as the very Thred and Nature of the Thing led me, I have taken care to follow their clo&s;e and in&s;eparable Connexion, or, (to &s;peak more truly) their perfect Union or Samene&s;s with Intellect; and to ob&s;erve the Operations to be the &s;ame with Intellectual and Moral Operations, that flow from an Un|der&s;tanding: To which purpo&s;e I have laboured in this A&s;&s;ertion, That &s;uch a Being as the Soul of Man is, mu&s;t be an Under&s;tanding; and &s;uch Operations as tho&s;e proper to Mans Soul, mu&s;t be Intellectual Operations, however clouded and ob&s;cur'd, while in the Body.</P>
<P>But I &s;hall now addre&s;s my &s;elf more fully to treat of the Soul, as it is this Intellectual Spirit, in its Intellectuali|ty or Intelligency it &s;elf; and of its
<PB N="186" REF="101"> Intellectual and Moral Operations, wherein it is univer&s;ally acknow|ledg'd to be made in the Image of God: So that the former Parts of the Di&s;cour&s;e de&s;crib'd, what a kind of Being, and of what exalted Motion this Intellect or Under&s;tanding is; and that an Intellect can be no le&s;s than &s;uch a Being; or, no le&s;s a Being than &s;uch a one, and of &s;uch a Moti|on, can be an Under&s;tanding; and that &s;uch a Being, &s;o moving, mu&s;t be, can be no le&s;s, can be no other than an Under&s;tanding. What now fol|lows, &s;hall be de&s;ign'd more clo&s;ely to di&s;cover what the Intellectuality of this Great Being, and its Self-moti|on are; or what Under&s;tanding it &s;elf, and the Motions of Under&s;tand|ing are. In which pur&s;uit, I will fir&s;t make &s;ome di&s;play upon this great Matter, in that frequent Re&s;emblance of it by Light, the Scripture &s;o much delights to u&s;e concerning it.</P>
<P><HI>The Spirit of a Man is the Candle</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 20. 27.</NOTE> <HI>of the Lord, &s;hining into and &s;earch|ing the innermo&s;t parts of the Belly.</HI> The Soul of Man, as it is an Under|&s;tanding, is a great Light reflected upon it &s;elf.</P>
<PB N="187" REF="101">
<P>This is the Soul, a Beam from the Sun, a Candle lighted from the Light of Heaven; and the Light of this Candle is ever &s;treaming out, and re|flowing upon it &s;elf; like a Diamond always playing with, and in its own Light: It may be cover'd over, and hid; it may be ma&s;qued with the thickne&s;s and gro&s;ne&s;s of Earthly Va|pours from Body: but it is in&s;epara|ble from its Nature, to be Light: It cannot but in &s;ome degree &s;hine, and &s;end out it &s;elf, though its Beams be but pale and wan; but when it hath any greater freedom, or when it in|du&s;triou&s;ly and re&s;olvedly moves it &s;elf, there is a Circle of Rays about it, that have broken out from it &s;elf. In its Creation, in its Native Splen|dour, to allude to that of the Pro|phet, <HI>It was an anointed Cherub up|on</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 28. 13, 14.</NOTE> <HI>the Holy Mountain of God; it walk'd up and down in the mid&s;t of the Stones of Fire, and every Preci|ous Stone was its Ornament:</HI> It was of an Angelical Brightne&s;s, near to God; and Divine Glories, and all the Excellencies of Under&s;tanding, were its proper Lu&s;tre: and in Eter|nity it will again rend all its Clouds,
<PB N="188" REF="102"> and &s;hine without interruption, and For Ever.</P>
<P>The Soul of Man is a Light begot|ten of the <HI>Father of Lights,</HI> and the <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1. 17. Heb. 12. 9.</NOTE> <HI>Father of Spirits.</HI> Lights and Spirits explain one another; for Rational and Intellectual Spirits, and their In|tellectual Accompli&s;hments, are all Lights.</P>
<P>The Increated and All-creating Spi|rit is the Father of them, with who&s;e perfect Light <HI>there is no variation, nor &s;hadow of turning. He is Light,</HI> as well in that as he is All-under|&s;tanding, as All-pure; and <HI>in him is</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 1. 5.</NOTE> <HI>no Darkne&s;s at all,</HI> either of Igno|rance, or Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s.</P>
<P>The Son of God is <HI>The Light.</HI> To the All-knowing Spirit the <HI>Light &s;hi|neth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1. 7, 8. P&s;al. 139. 12.</NOTE> <HI>as the Day: The Darkne&s;s and the Light are both alike to him,</HI> be|cau&s;e Him&s;elf is All Light.</P>
<P>The Angels are <HI>Seraphims, &s;hining and burning Lights; He maketh his Angels Spirits, his Mini&s;ters a Flame of Fire.</HI></P>
<P>The Life of the Souls of Men, that is, their Life of Rea&s;on, is Light lighted from the Son of God; for his Life communicating it &s;elf, is the
<PB N="189" REF="102"> <HI>Light of Men;</HI> He is <HI>that True Light,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John. 1. 9.</NOTE> <HI>that inlightneth every Man that com|eth into the World.</HI></P>
<P>Light then being cho&s;en by the Di|vine Wi&s;dom, as the mo&s;t ea&s;ie and fa|miliar Conveyance of the Nature and Excellency of Spirits in general, as they are Intellects; and particularly, of Mans Soul, as it is an Under&s;tand|ing: Let us con&s;ider the principal Sen&s;e and Intention, avoiding the Notices of lower and collateral Simi|litude, between Light, and the Soul of Man.</P>
<P>That which will be&s;t conduct us to our main purpo&s;e, is the De&s;cription the Apo&s;tle gives us of Light, <HI>That it makes manife&s;t; For whatever</HI> (&s;ays <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 5. 13.</NOTE> he) <HI>makes manife&s;t, is Light:</HI> To which our own Experience fully agrees; for we can make no Di&s;co|very nor Judgment of Things, but by Light, that expounds all things to us, and is the fir&s;t and plaine&s;t Com|mentary upon Nature. When we therefore &s;ay, Man's Soul is a great Light reflected upon it &s;elf, we &s;peak this Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>The Under&s;tanding of Man mani|fe&s;ts, and lays open, and makes known
<PB N="190" REF="103"> within the Soul, and within it &s;elf (for it &s;elf is the Soul) what&s;oever is known to the Soul; or the under&s;tand|ing of man is that, which di&s;covers and di&s;clo&s;es to it &s;elf all that is known to it; for thus our Saviour &s;ays, <HI>The light of the body is the Eye,</HI> becau&s;e it receives the light, and &s;ees by it; &s;o the Under&s;tanding is the Eye of the Soul; and further it is its own light, &s;o that it is its own Eye and its own Light; but the manner and way how this is to be under&s;tood, and by which the Under&s;tanding di&s;charges this great Function, is of further enquiry.</P>
<P>There can be no doubt of the thing it &s;elf, for be&s;ides the great proofs the Soul of man hath given hereof in tho&s;e many &s;ucce&s;sful Experiments it hath made in all kinds of knowledge, even tho&s;e that have denyed a Soul di&s;tinct from Body and Matter, in its E&s;&s;ence, yet cannot but acknowledge, There is &s;ome excellent motion in man, by which he under&s;tands and perceives more than <HI>the Bea&s;ts of the Field.</HI> There is in &s;ome &s;en&s;e or other <HI>A Spi|rit in man, and the breath of the Al|mighty gives them under&s;tanding.</HI></P>
<P>This then being out of doubt, let
<PB N="191" REF="103"> us con&s;ider the infinity of Divine Knowledge, and &s;o attain the mea|&s;ures of Humane Under&s;tanding in the re&s;emblances of him, in who&s;e like|ne&s;s it was made. We read of the Son of God <HI>the true Light,</HI> that <HI>he per|ceived</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 2. 8.</NOTE> <HI>in his own Spirit</HI> the thoughts of men. The Son of God, an omni&s;ci|ent Spirit knows all things in the light of his own Spirit, in that infinite un|der&s;tanding e&s;&s;ential to him; created Spirits, the Souls of men, having a mea&s;ure of this perfection, a commu|nication of it, though not as Chri&s;t, may al&s;o in a degree perceive in and by their own Spirit.</P>
<P>God then under&s;tands all things within him&s;elf, he being all Eye, all Light, able perfectly to &s;ee into, and comprehend all things, that either are, or are po&s;&s;ible to be, or that can po&s;&s;ibly &s;tand in the place of Object, and all this within him&s;elf. For him|&s;elf being fully known to him&s;elf, as an infinitely &s;eeing and &s;elf-reflected eye; other things that are or may be, are al&s;o within him&s;elf, as the origi|nal of all Being and Motion: And as his own Under&s;tanding and Contri|vance what they &s;hould be, and his
<PB N="192" REF="104"> plea&s;ure they &s;hould be what he con|trived them, gave them being and motion; and there is no other way of being and motion; thus and on this account, and infinitely beyond what we can conceive and expre&s;s, God knows what is, what is done by the virtue that is in him&s;elf, and continu|ally goes out of him&s;elf; &s;o that by virtue of him&s;elf perfectly known to him&s;elf, all other things are perfectly known to him&s;elf al&s;o, <HI>Thus known to God are all his Works from the foun|dation</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 15. 18.</NOTE> <HI>of the World:</HI> Even to him who is all Eye, all Light, all Object, and before who&s;e infinite eye all things &s;tand pre&s;ent at once, as one &s;ingle point, &s;o naked and open that they are all perfect &s;urface and out&s;ide, while it &s;elf re&s;ts on them.</P>
<P>The Soul made in this Image, is in its degree Eye and Light, an intelle|ctual Eye, an intellectual Light. The motions of the rea&s;oning contempla|ting Soul are like the motions of the Sun, an illuminating motion, light and &s;parkles flye out: the openings of its faculties are like the openings of the Eye-lids of the morning, like &s;ome Eyes that &s;ee in the dark, by their
<PB N="193" REF="104"> own fire; for what can the motions of an Under&s;tanding, Con&s;cience, Rea|&s;on, intellectual Memory be, but mo|ral and intellectual Light? Its very &s;elf is its Eye, and its motion its in|lightened air. Thus it bears the Image of the Divine Under&s;tanding in its vi&s;ive power. And that it may in &s;ome lower degrees perceive <HI>in its own Spi|rit,</HI> we may very rationally &s;uppo&s;e; there are &s;ome fundamental Ideas, &s;ome Images, &s;ome Notions or Veri|ties pourtrayed upon, and given to the Soul, that are as &s;o many rays from <HI>the Father of Lights and Truth,</HI> and make it like the Eye full of Light; and it being natural to the Soul to move it &s;elf, (at lea&s;t a&s;&s;oon as ever it is excited by Object from without) it fir&s;t makes a &s;urvey upon things abroad, with the ob&s;ervation of which it immediately retires into it &s;elf, to find what is within, and when ever the Soul thus moves through the intimacy of the&s;e to it, they move al&s;o, and re&s;ult to the Soul; upon this their ap|pearance to the Soul, the Soul rea|&s;ons about them, judges of them, and finding their clo&s;e connexion with it &s;elf, e&s;tabli&s;hes, and &s;ettles them, as
<PB N="194" REF="105"> a&s;&s;ured principles, of which it cannot doubt, having an immediate native power to di&s;cern, and approve them upon their appearance to it &s;elf, and its own actuation of it &s;elf upon them; and &s;o they become to it in &s;pecula|tion and enquiry foundations to build all further knowledge and a&s;&s;urance upon. By the&s;e the Soul takes its mea&s;ures, and finds out the propor|tion of things at further di&s;tances from it, and reduces them under its own cogni&s;ance and juri&s;diction; it makes its &s;earches into tho&s;e Objects that &s;trike it from without, accord|ing to tho&s;e Te&s;ts of Truth it hath within; and the&s;e are the <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF"> &s;o much &s;poken of in &s;peculation or &s;cience, and in things that pertain to practice, and that <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, <HI>that Law written in the Heart, the Law of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2. 14, 15.</NOTE> <HI>Nature,</HI> the Soul hereby becoming a <HI>Law to it &s;elf.</HI></P>
<P>The Soul then encompa&s;&s;ed with the&s;e Beams trys all things in the <HI>Light of its own Countenance,</HI> and judges of them there, in &s;ome lower propor|tions of likene&s;s to God; I &s;ay in &s;ome lower proportions, for whereas the Divine Under&s;tanding comprehends
<PB N="195" REF="105"> all things within it &s;elf, in the Souls of men we do not &s;uppo&s;e the&s;e Noti|ons to extend further, than to tho&s;e things that do intimately concern the perfection and happine&s;s of mans Be|ing, being either &s;uch as do immedi|ately fit it for the enjoyment of God, the true e&s;timation of, and care for it &s;elf, the Duties of intrin&s;ick goodne&s;s towards men; or are the nece&s;&s;ary foundations of all Knowledge, and &s;o prepare it for intellectual advances. So that as to the perfection of Divini|ty pertains Omni&s;ciency, re&s;ulting from his Nature or Univer&s;al Being; &s;o to the perfection of mans Being is required a Science, though of a much narrower &s;phere than Gods; even as the Being of Man is infinitely narrower than the Being of God.</P>
<P>And although it be allowed to Hu|mane Under&s;tanding to examine and &s;earch into all other things, that are beyond the Confines of it &s;elf, yet ex|po&s;ed to it by God, either in his Word or Works, and to a&s;pire to &s;ome imi|tation of the Knowledge of God, it can notwith&s;tanding do it only by pur|&s;uits of Rea&s;on, knitting one princi|ple to another, and deriving one thing
<PB N="196" REF="106"> from another, and all this in a way of treaty with the things, and reflecting them within that great mirror of it &s;elf, to it &s;elf, and &s;o under&s;tanding them as far as it can; not as God, who &s;ees all things as in one view, and within him&s;elf, yet to the perfection of Knowledge, even to the utmo&s;t that things can be known.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, Although I cannot &s;ee, how the Soul can judge of things without &s;uch a &s;tandard, &s;uch a principle, connatural to it, by which it may examine all things, if there be not &s;omething within, that an&s;wers to the offertures from without; and what can that be &s;o well, as certain hidden Characters of Truth, created with the Soul, that immediately leap up at the fir&s;t &s;alutation of Things from abroad, and do more plainly di&s;cover them&s;elves upon farther Trea|ties? Yet if any will allow no more, than a power of di&s;cerning and judg|ing of things, of which I have already &s;poken, and will have it, that all the Soul hath to work by is this only, and all it hath to work upon are the Objects offered from without to it by &s;en&s;e; from which it receives in all
<PB N="197" REF="106"> appearances, and by its motions upon them &s;earches and finds out their Na|tures, and &s;tays the Images of them in it &s;elf, as Sen&s;e hath taken them, till it can under&s;tand them; we will not di&s;pute, but &s;uppo&s;e, that as God brought be|fore <HI>Adam</HI> the &s;everal Creatures to &s;ee what he would call them, there|in recommending them to that Soul he had &s;o newly breathed from him|&s;elf, that, in that yet un&s;tained and un&s;ullied Light, they might be di|&s;cerned and pronounced of; &s;o are the &s;everal things in the world fir&s;t ex|po&s;ed to the Sen&s;es, and by them re|commended from hand to hand, till they are brought into the very pre|&s;ence of the Soul, and there, though not with that &s;peed, ea&s;e, clearne&s;s, and certainty, as at fir&s;t, yet are per|ceived, comprehended, and judged of by it; and from this con&s;idering and under&s;tanding things ari&s;e &s;pee|dily &s;ome &s;tandard principles of Truth, which being &s;ettled, advance it in its a&s;pirings to further knowledge and notices of Things.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Soul is a great Receptacle of all that Light, that is offered to it from without, it is prepared in its na|ture
<PB N="198" REF="107"> to be kindled and illu&s;trated by all Rational Propo&s;es, either from God the highe&s;t Under&s;tanding, from Angels by Divine Appointment, from repre&s;entations of Rea&s;on, propo&s;ed by one man to another, either by &s;peaking or writing; &s;o that all the Knowledge former Ages have derived upon the&s;e that come after, and all the Monuments of Learning that have been &s;et in any time or part of the World, and the mutual Conver|&s;ation that Learned men have one with another, increa&s;e this Light: Thus the Under&s;tandings of men are as &s;o many Torches enlightening and enflaming one another.</P>
<P>This way of exciting Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding to its proper motion, and action, and &s;o heightening it to its native &s;plendour, &s;eems the mo&s;t plain, general, and experimental: and though all &s;uch addre&s;&s;es &s;uppo&s;e that inward power and virtue of the mind, and by their &s;ucce&s;s prove there is &s;uch a one; yet it mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed, the Under&s;tanding of Man does common|ly lye dead, till it be in this manner rai&s;ed: And therefore it may be ac|knowledged, that the great Learning
<PB N="199" REF="107"> and Knowledge that is in the World, hath been at fir&s;t by in&s;tructi|on, or inward repre&s;entation from God to Mans Soul, and from Men &s;o in&s;tructed to tho&s;e that have received from them by the &s;ame way of di&s;ci|pline and in&s;truction.</P>
<P>Yet this derogates no farther from the inward and native power of Mans Soul, than to acknowledge that the motions of it are &s;uppre&s;&s;ed by Bodi|ly ob&s;truction, and &s;lumbred by that ignorance which is fallen as an unna|tural dimne&s;s upon it, degrading it becau&s;e of &s;in, from which it is yet vindicated by earne&s;t and vehement &s;tirring it &s;elf; but this dimne&s;s is al|&s;o accompanied with a lothne&s;s to &s;tir at all, or at lea&s;t not with &s;uch an ear|ne&s;tne&s;s as is nece&s;&s;ary, except it be &s;ome way incited, awakened, and in|couraged; and the mo&s;t u&s;ual and fit way is that of In&s;truction; which doth at the &s;ame time lay together the hid|den, and almo&s;t buried &s;parks, and al&s;o blow them up into a light flame; for which rea&s;on we commit the minds of Children early to Ma&s;ters and Tu|tors, who may draw out and &s;harpen this Under&s;tanding. And yet to &s;hew
<PB N="200" REF="108"> Under&s;tanding hath its force from it &s;elf, and not from In&s;truction, Teach|ers are often exceeded by tho&s;e whom they have taught. Sometimes In&s;tru|ction is but a &s;hort hint or intimation to the Soul, quick of apprehen&s;ion, that pre&s;ently enlarges much further upon it; and many In&s;tances there are of tho&s;e, who have cut their own way to Knowledge, and &s;uch a one as hath been altogether untrodden be|fore them. Notwith&s;tanding this, the advantage of In&s;truction is evi|dent, and mo&s;t evident in that part of Knowledge, which concerns us to|wards God, the Knowledge of his gra|cious Intentions towards us, and our Duty to him; wherein Divine Reve|lation hath been always the fir&s;t, and is ever the mo&s;t &s;ure and undoubted Guide.</P>
<P>Yet even in this <HI>the Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord:</HI> For God doth not, that he may make known him&s;elf, create any new Under&s;tand|ing; but applies him&s;elf in Grace to his fir&s;t Creation, the Soul of Man, of which there is no abolition by Divine Illumination; but, as the Scripture &s;peaks of the Sun, <HI>the Light of it</HI>
<PB N="201" REF="108"> <HI>grows &s;even-fold:</HI> The Candle that burnt dim, and was even choak'd up, is trimm'd, and becomes Light on all &s;ides, and &s;ends out its Beams from every part.</P>
<P>The Sum then is this: The Soul of Man is the &s;ame Candle of the Lord, who&s;e Natural Power of Under&s;tand|ing is rais'd and made more clear by the Irradiation of In&s;truction, whe|ther the Power be an innate Force of Trying and Judging of Things by it &s;elf, as it is a Faculty able to try and judge by the Nature of its Being, or by &s;ome implanted Sentiments given to it with its Being, or by Maxims to be collected by it &s;elf through the mini&s;tery and mediation of Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>However the&s;e things be, it is al|ways of the Nature of Under&s;tanding, that there be a Re&s;entment and Feel|ing of the agreeablene&s;s of Truth to it &s;elf: There mu&s;t be a Knowing in its own Spirit, by every Intelligence, the Rea&s;onablene&s;s and Verity of the Things propos'd, or there can be no Under&s;tanding.</P>
<P>Even Faith it &s;elf is an Intellectual, that is, an Explicite, not an Implicite Act; el&s;e it would be but a meer
<PB N="202" REF="109"> childi&s;h Memory of what hath been receiv'd, as Catechi&s;m: But all true Acts of Under&s;tanding have a Ta&s;te and Reli&s;h; and what is propos'd to Mind, mu&s;t have a Gu&s;tfulne&s;s to it: Knowledge and Faith not at all dif|fering in this, but onely that in things of Knowledge, the Under&s;tanding ar|rives at that Knowledge, or at lea&s;t acquie&s;ces in it, upon Grounds more its own; in things of Faith, by A&s;&s;u|rances more out of it &s;elf, yet having In&s;truments of its own for the accepta|tion of &s;uch, when &s;o offer'd; Chara|cters and Te&s;ts within it &s;elf, of what is offer'd, whether it be worthy to be believ'd; Re&s;entments within it &s;elf of Plea&s;ure or Trouble, according to the Quality of what it hath receiv'd, when &s;o offer'd.</P>
<P>To draw all this that hath been &s;poken, to what is mainly to be in|tended, that is, That the Under&s;tand|ing is the Candle of the Lord, e&s;pe|cially lighting us to him&s;elf: Let us therefore inquire after &s;ome Princi|ples that are Standards in the great Concernments we have with God; which whether they are &s;ettled in the Soul by the Hand that created it, or
<PB N="203" REF="109"> do immediately re&s;ult from the Ob|&s;ervation of Things without, impro|ved by the Mind, running through its own Circuits and Trains of Rea&s;on concerning them; or whether it is led into them by the In&s;tructions God is &s;till giving into the World; or whe|ther all the&s;e concur to their e&s;tabli&s;h|ment in the heart of Man; yet they are &s;uch, as are univer&s;ally con&s;ented in, and are the Foundation of Religi|ous Practice, and al&s;o &s;uch a Recepta|cle for &s;upernatural Revelation, that there it may be ta&s;ted, acknowledged, and &s;avoured as Divine; with the&s;e, as with a <HI>Helm, the great Governour of Spirits turns them whither &s;oever he li&s;teth,</HI> either for Conviction or Con|ver&s;ion, Repentance and Reformati|on; or (as he plea&s;es) to Self-con|demnation: And all the boi&s;terou&s;|ne&s;s of their contrary affections are overrul'd and controll'd hereby. Such Principles I e&s;teem the&s;e Four.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Princip."> That there is a God: The Soul can|not move, but it acknowledges God; a Soul cannot look up, but it &s;ees God; and this Principle in the Soul is a great Light: God hath &s;o carved him&s;elf into Under&s;tanding, that there cannot
<PB N="204" REF="110"> be an Under&s;tanding in Motion and Activity, but there mu&s;t be a &s;ight, a conception, an apprehen&s;ion of &s;uch a Being as God; as the Eye cannot open, but it &s;ees the Light; or if it &s;eems to lye hid, yet upon the lea&s;t colli&s;ion, as between the Flint and Steel, upon any conflict of Thought with it &s;elf, or with the Propo&s;e of this Truth from without, this Light breaks forth: <HI>It is manife&s;t in men, becau&s;e God hath &s;hewed it to them;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 19.</NOTE> that is, In the very making them Souls he hath &s;et it in them: In the fir&s;t &s;o|lemn action of the Under&s;tanding, the acknowledgment of a Supreme Being rebounds and leaps up to them; the Soul no &s;ooner &s;ees any thing by in|ward &s;en&s;e, but it &s;ees God the Au|thor, as a Man that &s;ees the impre&s;&s;i|on in the Wax pre&s;ently thinks of the Seal: Many Men endeavour to reject and di&s;annul this Principle, but they cannot deface it, much le&s;s wear out the apprehen&s;ion. And when the Soul hath con&s;idered further, and more ve|hemently, the more it rea&s;ons, the more it confirms, and &s;ettles it &s;elf in the a&s;&s;urance of the Divine Being; even when it endeavours to Rea&s;on
<PB N="205" REF="110"> out this Belief of it, it prevails the more: And be&s;ides what it hath with|in concerning God, <HI>The invi&s;ible Things</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 20.</NOTE> <HI>of him from the Creation of the World are clearly &s;een, being under&s;tood by the Things that are made and done; even his eternal Power and Godhead.</HI> So that the Soul can neither con&s;ider without nor within but it &s;ees God.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2:" UNIT="Princip."> That we have a Soul: Many have violently oppre&s;&s;ed this Sen&s;e, thus far, as to deny a Soul, a Spirit, di&s;tinct in its E&s;&s;ence; yet they cannot but acknowledge a vehemency of Motion, an Activity <HI>that teaches us more than the Bea&s;ts of the Field:</HI> Every man mu&s;t &s;ay, <HI>There is a Spirit in Man above any other Creature,</HI> a force and excellency of Motion, the Motion of Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding: No Man can &s;tir, but he finds, <HI>There is a Breath of the Almighty that gives him &V;n|der&s;tanding.</HI></P>
<P>Now the&s;e two Principles, as they do mutually enlighten one another, &s;o they give great and illu&s;trious light to all holy Practice; they enlighten them&s;elves; for he that apprehends a God, who&s;e very Being is ab&s;olute Perfection, retires out of all things
<PB N="206" REF="111"> bodily and weak, to conceive aright of him, and find him out; and when he is thus under&s;tood, the Notion of an inferiour and &s;ubordinate Spirit that yet hath a likene&s;s to him, is ea|&s;ie: And whoever finds out in him|&s;elf a diviner part than Body, hath an ea&s;ie a&s;cent to God, in whom all the le&s;&s;er Perfections of his own Being are tran&s;cended, and at the height. And how do they both &s;hine upon holy Practice, &s;eeing God is the great both Exemplar and Argument of all Good|ne&s;s! And no Man can &s;uppo&s;e him|&s;elf to have received &s;uch great pow|ers of Under&s;tanding for mean, much le&s;s unworthy ends, but that he &s;hould be holy, and like God by them.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Princip."> The excellency of Holine&s;s and true Goodne&s;s, and the Evil of Sin and Vice are immediately felt by the Soul: A di&s;tinction between Good and Evil is the next thing to an Under&s;tanding; and hereupon excu&s;ing Apologies and Accu&s;ations are tran&s;acted within the Soul, concerning all our actions.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Princip."> An after &s;tate of Reward or Pu|ni&s;hment: All the&s;e the Soul hath ve|ry near it, and though it may be di|&s;turbed by contrary pretences, yet
<PB N="207" REF="111"> the Images of the&s;e can never be wi|ped out, but even when it &s;eems to be per&s;waded otherwi&s;e, yet it is &s;till encountred with the&s;e appearances: The Soul is &s;o imprinted with the&s;e Notions, that it can never look into it &s;elf, but it finds them, <HI>and they are the very light of its Countenance,</HI> which it cannot but &s;ee, and &s;ee by, when|ever it acts it &s;elf.</P>
<P>And by the&s;e Principles, either created with Man, or further commu|nicated to him, he tryes and &s;earches, and is able to di&s;cern the things offer|ed to him by God; for I am fully per|&s;waded, there is no greater tryal, nor a&s;&s;urance of Revelation, than the Principles of Natural Religion, clear|ed and confirmed by that Revelation, giving a la&s;ting and &s;etled a&s;&s;urance to the mind in its coole&s;t and mo&s;t quiet debates, after it hath been alarmed, and approached by Miracles.</P>
<P>By the&s;e a Man is able to move yet further, into the concatenations and connexions of Truth with Truth, and judges by them, as a Touch-&s;tone within it &s;elf; and being aided and a&s;&s;i&s;ted by the Spirit of God, the Spi|rit of Man becomes a much higher
<PB N="208" REF="112"> Light: For by that higher illumina|tion of the Supreme Light, the Spirit of God, <HI>It judges</HI> (as the Apo&s;tle <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2. 15.</NOTE> &s;ays) <HI>all things;</HI> &s;earches into all points of Knowledge, tryes and exa|mines, determines and pronounces of every Thing propo&s;ed to it either by God or Men; <HI>Yet it &s;elf is judged by no Man;</HI> that is, No Man is able to give a clear and perfect account of it in this life, either in its Nature as a Spirit, or its gracious &s;tate, as renew|ed by the Spirit of God. But in Eternity, this Lamp, thus enlightened by Grace, &s;hall perfectly &s;hine out and break forth; It &s;hall be as the Stars of the Firmament, full of great|e&s;t Glory and mo&s;t comfortable Influ|ence: <HI>They that be wi&s;e, &s;hall &s;hine</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12. 3.</NOTE> <HI>as the Firmament and Stars, and as the Sun;</HI> that is, This Lamp &s;hall &s;hine out with all the addition of Light and Lu&s;tre, Oriency and Beau|ty, both of Knowledge and Purity, Glory and Happine&s;s. If it be not thus; it will be as a Fire-brand, as a Furnace of enraged Fire, as a flaming Torch tormented with its own Light, and tortured without end in its own Flame.</P>
<PB N="209" REF="112">
<P>For this Light of the Soul is the ve|ry Light of Heaven; it is a Light that is Divine, and can never be put out; It is a Beam of that Light, and cannot be quenched. The Soul in its own E&s;&s;ence is a Spark from Heaven, like the Light of a Diamond, a &s;ub&s;tance &s;o &s;olid, that it cannot corrupt nor moulder. The Light of Truth &s;hining in the&s;e Principles is Divine, and of Eternal Truth: The&s;e with their Con|&s;equences are always true; even as tho&s;e acknowledged Principles of Sci|ence, which all Under&s;tandings do, and mu&s;t acknowledge.</P>
<P>The Soul then being a Light &s;o un|quenchable, (more la&s;ting than tho&s;e Lamps of ancient Times, that have been found burning many Ages after) and the Principles of Truth inlaid in|to its very E&s;&s;ence, being as la&s;ting as it; there mu&s;t be ever a lu&s;tre of Glory and Happine&s;s about it, or a Blaze of Torment, according to the &s;en&s;e the Soul hath of its friend&s;hip with God, and the Light he hath en|lightened it with, or the enmity and re&s;i&s;tance it hath made thereunto; for accordingly this Light is again friend|ly, and the God of it gracious to the
<PB N="210" REF="113"> Soul; and, in the ju&s;t indignation of that God, the Light al&s;o, &s;eeing it can neither be friendly nor extingui&s;hed, mu&s;t needs vex and amaze, like an angry Light that &s;corches and dazles together.</P>
<P>Thus I have di&s;covered the fir&s;t part, That the Soul is a Light. The &s;econd part is, That this Light is re|flected; <HI>It is the Candle of the Lord, &s;earching the innermo&s;t parts of the Belly;</HI> that is, Turning it &s;elf inward upon all the &s;ecrets and retirements of a Man.</P>
<P>This Light is a Light not only &s;hi|ning forward, and looking into things without, but &s;hining backward, and looking upon it &s;elf: So far as the Soul goes back, &s;o far this Light goes back upon, and into it &s;elf.</P>
<P>The Soul may be re&s;embled to <HI>that Brea&s;t-plate of &V;rim and Thummim,</HI> upon <HI>Aarons Heart;</HI> the <HI>&V;rim,</HI> as Lights, di&s;cerning Things abroad; and the <HI>Thummim,</HI> as perfection or &s;in|cerity, judging the goodne&s;s and in|tegrity of it &s;elf.</P>
<P>This Light is not only reciprocated with it &s;elf, after the manner of an Un|der&s;tanding, but after the manner of a Con&s;cience.</P>
<PB N="211" REF="113">
<P>Both ways it differs from the Sun and Stars; they &s;hine, but they do not know upon what they &s;hine, they bring home no light or ob&s;ervation, concerning all tho&s;e things upon which they &s;hine: Herein the Soul differs as an Under&s;tanding; for it confers with it &s;elf concerning all things, upon which its Light &s;hines.</P>
<P>Again, The Sun and Stars they &s;hine, but do not know they &s;hine, nor can reflect upon them&s;elves, as &s;uch Bodies of Light and Glory; nor can they at all judge of them&s;elves, or what they do, how glorious they are, or what &s;pots are upon them, when they are &s;hadowed or eclip&s;ed, or when they &s;hine in their full Lu&s;tre: Herein they differ from the Soul, as a Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>The Soul knows it knows, as well as what it knows, it cannot but know and feel it knows, and is e&s;pecially knowing of it &s;elf, and its own Mo|tions: Thus it excels Natural Light, yet Light gives &s;ome re&s;emblance hereof; Light comes into a Room, it comes in at one end of the Room and leaps to the other, it leaps back again, and &s;hines in its own face: The Soul
<PB N="212" REF="114"> is this through-light, which meets it &s;elf, and reciprocates with it &s;elf, in|circles it &s;elf within it &s;elf. This is the Soul which &s;hines upon, and back, into and within, and round about it &s;elf.</P>
<P>As to in&s;tance fir&s;t in the Light of Direction it gives: It knows that it knows what is to be done. When the Soul hath &s;hined to it &s;elf concerning doing good, and avoiding &s;in, it knows it hath done &s;o; and God will challenge men upon their own Knowledge, and they will never be able to deny their Knowledge: No man can deny his Knowledge to God, or to him&s;elf, even as a man cannot deny his Knowledge to another man, that knows his Know|ledge together with him; much le&s;s to God, or to him&s;elf, who are &s;o per|fectly acquainted with him, and all his ways: For the Soul in all ca&s;es is made to &s;hine in its own Face, and the &s;ecrets of it are in <HI>the greater Light of Gods Countenance.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. For Conviction of what a man is and hath done: Every man mu&s;t confe&s;s, and cannot deny his own Actions; a man mu&s;t confe&s;s, and can|not deny his own Actions to him&s;elf, nor a general Character of him&s;elf to
<PB N="213" REF="114"> him&s;elf; every man is accu&s;ed or de|fended by his own Knowledge: Eve|ry man knows his own &s;incerity, good intention, good action, and is con&s;ci|ous of the contrary: Hence the con|demnation and the horrour a man re|ceives within him&s;elf, and &s;o the com|fort and joy of a man, is clear and cer|tain; <HI>The heart knows its own &s;ick|ne&s;s</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 14. 10.</NOTE> <HI>and its own joy, and a &s;tranger cannot intermeddle with either,</HI> he cannot interpo&s;e again&s;t the judgment of the Soul upon it &s;elf; <HI>This is our</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1. 12.</NOTE> <HI>rejoycing, the te&s;timony of our Con|&s;cience. A man proves him&s;elf, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Galat. 6. 4.</NOTE> <HI>his own work, and hath rejoycing in his own good &s;en&s;e of him&s;elf,</HI> or trou|ble in his own Cen&s;ure, and not in that of another.</P>
<P>As a man knows, and finds him&s;elf in him&s;elf, in a natural &s;en&s;e; &s;o in a moral, <HI>The Spirit of a Man knows the things that are within him.</HI> We may &s;ay in this ca&s;e, as in things of &s;ecrecy, I know what I know; and as in things of certainty, what I know I know.</P>
<P>The &s;um is this: In things that are under direction, no man can refu&s;e, deny, or re&s;i&s;t the pre&s;ence of his own Knowledge, in what he does know,
<PB N="214" REF="115"> any more than he can re&s;i&s;t the day, <HI>To him therefore that knows it is &s;in,</HI> and commits it, or good, and omits it, to him <HI>it is &s;in</HI> of a deep dye.</P>
<P>In things of &s;entence and judgment upon a mans &s;elf, if a mans heart con|demns him, <HI>God is greater than his Heart.</HI> His Knowledge and purity are greater, and therefore condemns him more; but yet God knows a man together with his heart, and condemns him together with it, and mo&s;t of all within it: <HI>If a mans heart condemn</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3. 20, 21.</NOTE> <HI>him not, he hath confidence,</HI> and ju&s;t ground of it, <HI>towards God;</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>very witne&s;s</HI> of a mans heart con|cerning him is <HI>true and is no lye.</HI></P>
<P>There may be &s;ome very particular ca&s;es, in which a man may be &s;o clowded, as to deem more &s;everely of him&s;elf, than his &s;tate de&s;erves; and there may be &s;ome dreams, in which a man fancies him&s;elf better, than he is; but not &s;uch as de&s;erve to abate from this general account of mans Soul; for the&s;e mi&s;takes are but tem|porary, and by clo&s;e attention it may vindicate it &s;elf from them.</P>
<P>But the great objection again&s;t the Soul being &s;uch a Light, is this:</P>
<PB N="215" REF="115">
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> If the Soul of man be &s;uch <HI>a Candle of the Lord,</HI> how comes it to pa&s;s, that men are &s;o ignorant of things, and of them&s;elves?</P>
<P N="1"><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> 1. The&s;e things are to be di&s;cour&s;ed according to their own Truth, their fir&s;t Nature and Con&s;titution: Now the Soul of Man was created &s;o; and it is &s;till &s;o in its own Nature; though there are many accidental Coverings and Ob&s;curings of it in Men; as &s;ome|times the Light of the Sun hath grown pale and wan, and the &s;hinings of it withdrawn.</P>
<P N="2">2. There fell indeed a great dim|ne&s;s upon this Light by the &s;in of Man, and there need Lights from without, and much Exerci&s;e from within, to re|cover it; &s;o in great Judgments, <HI>the Sun hath been turned into Sackcloth, and the Moon into Blood.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. There is much to be attributed to its pre&s;ent &s;tate, as thru&s;t down in|to a gro&s;s Body, where it is covered, like a Diamond inclo&s;ed in Clay, or like tho&s;e Lamps that burnt in Vaults, and under ground.</P>
<P N="4">4. How much is to be imputed to tho&s;e Steams and Vapours of Lu&s;t, and Fogs of Sen&s;ual Appetite, that ri&s;e
<PB N="216" REF="116"> up and ob&s;cure the Soul, like the Sun in a Cloud or Mi&s;t?</P>
<P N="5">5. There is a freedom of the Soul and Under&s;tanding, like that of the Eye, though &s;ome things dart in up|on it, that it mu&s;t &s;ee; and though turning it &s;elf every way, it mu&s;t al|&s;o &s;ee what it would not &s;ee; yet it can endeavour, and in part effect the turning it &s;elf, from the ob&s;ervation of things mo&s;t proper to it, and con|&s;ider tho&s;e that pertain only to the pre&s;ent life, whither with all its vehe|mency it carries its Light.</P>
<P>But la&s;tly, and e&s;pecially: There is much more a Man knows of him&s;elf, and Things, than he &s;eems to know. How many things that are not found, nor can be drawn into the di&s;cour&s;e of &s;ome ignorant men, much le&s;s into their practice, that yet, when you tell them of, they receive not as things they never knew, but only as &s;uch they have not dealt with, or u&s;ually conver&s;ed with; and upon more no|table occa&s;ions, they break out from them, in whom they were not &s;u&s;pect|ed to have a place.</P>
<P>And concerning men them&s;elves, though in their carele&s;s demeanour
<PB N="217" REF="116"> towards them&s;elves, they flatter their own hearts, and do not bring their full Eye and Light upon them&s;elves; yet they have a &s;ecret notice of them|&s;elves, a private mark of their own condition; which, they know, is much more true, than that forced or fal&s;e Opinion they endeavour to breed and nur&s;e up of them&s;elves.</P>
<P>In &s;um therefore; I think the mo&s;t ignorant man hath this Light in his Soul, however covered; he hath it, though it doth not outwardly &s;hew it &s;elf, but lyes &s;till now, as it doth in Children, without the notable di&s;co|veries of what it notwith&s;tanding tru|ly is, and will one day appear to be.</P>
<P>We &s;hould all therefore &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider what we are, what Souls we have: There is &s;uch a Lamp in us, though it be but as under a Bed or Bu&s;hel. As it is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to con&s;ider, what Du&s;t we are in our Bodies, &s;o to apprehend what Spirit we are in our Souls; it is a great de|gree of wi&s;dom to know the frail con|dition of our Mortality, but it is a far greater to know the Immortality of our Souls. As Princes in their Glo|ry, and in whom Mortality was ad|vanced
<PB N="218" REF="117"> to the highe&s;t, were admo|ni&s;hed by Remembrancers cho&s;en on purpo&s;e, that they were of the &s;ame Clay with other men, capable of the &s;ame Corruption, Di&s;ea&s;e, Death; &s;o they that carry their Souls lowe&s;t, &s;hould be put in mind by Men of greate&s;t Under&s;tanding, Piety, &s;ere|nity of Con&s;cience, and others of quicke&s;t Angui&s;h, and trouble of mind, what Souls they have. Every man may &s;ee in them what them&s;elves are, and that tho&s;e Spirits within them will be at la&s;t either &s;hining Suns, or flaming Torches For ever: For in Eternity God will certainly call out all Souls to their Office and Function in Light; whether it be to Life and Happine&s;s, or to Condemnation and Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>How great is the Mercy then, when God calls out and uncovers this Light now, and puts it into Motion, and en|lightens it far higher, with the Know|ledge of him&s;elf in Chri&s;t; &s;o making it directive, con&s;olatory, healing light, <HI>from the healing wings of the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> &s;o making us <HI>Lights Burning, Burning and Shining Lights</HI> in his Light, which always makes happy.</P>
<PB N="219" REF="117">
<P>Let us continually a&s;cend to the Fa|ther of Lights in <HI>Chri&s;t, That Light,</HI> that we may be <HI>Seraphims</HI> dwelling in that Everla&s;ting Light, and Love, wherein God and Chri&s;t inhabit.</P>
<P>Let us fear, though this Light &s;hall indeed always burn, yet le&s;t it burn black, le&s;t it ca&s;t the Darkne&s;s of Mi|&s;ery in the mid&s;t of Knowledge, and the Blackne&s;s of utter Di&s;con&s;olate|ne&s;s, while it blazes with conviction; that we become not <HI>wandring bla|zing Stars,</HI> full of the Light of convi|ction, but which turns us out as Fugi|tives from God, and our &s;elves, <HI>like Cain</HI> having no peace, no re&s;t in our Knowledge; <HI>Wandring Stars, for whom is re&s;erved the blackne&s;s of darkne&s;s, For Ever.</HI> For &s;o as this Candle of the Lord &s;hall burn, &s;uch as this Light is, holy and comfortable, or condemning and tormenting; &s;o &s;hall our &s;tate be, and that to Ever|la&s;ting.</P>
<P>I am now come down as low in the De&s;cription I fir&s;t gave of the Soul, as to &s;peak of it as it is the Source and Fountain of all the Actions of a man; for &s;o it is, whether they are na|tural or moral.</P>
<PB N="220" REF="118">
<P>And as for natural, It is the mo&s;t ea&s;ie de&s;cription of the Soul to &s;ay, it is the Author of them; even as when we would de&s;cribe God with greate&s;t ea&s;ine&s;s to be under&s;tood, we call him the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Pre&s;erver of all things; <HI>that gives to all their Being, Breath, and Motion;</HI> &s;o we under&s;tand the Soul with lea&s;t difficulty, when we &s;peak of it, as that which guides, and conducts, and gives &s;pirit to all the motions of Body, all the powers of that; That which a lower Soul doth in Bea&s;ts, that the higher doth in Man, but in a more no|ble way.</P>
<P>For when God made <HI>Adam,</HI> and formed him of Earth, and prepared all the In&s;truments of Motion and Action in the Body; when this excellent and curious Machine lay dead before him, he <HI>breathed</HI> into it the Soul, to &s;tir and move it, and to carry all the Acti|on of it.</P>
<P>Or as a Mu&s;icians In&s;trument, exact|ly made and &s;trung, the Mu&s;icians Art comes as a Soul upon it; &s;tirs it, and tunes the &s;ound of it, and then &s;trikes it into Harmony and Melody: The fir&s;t Body given to Man, was
<PB N="221" REF="118"> <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, a Body &s;ub&s;i&s;ting, acted by a Soul; as the Body given in the Re&s;urrection is called <GAP LANG="grc" DESC="foreign" RESP="OXF">, a Body that &s;hall &s;ub&s;i&s;t and be acted by a Spirit, that is, A Soul at the highe&s;t exaltation.</P>
<P>What is that then, that &s;ees in the Eyes? That hears in the Ears? That touches in the Hand, and feels in the whole Body? This is no other than the Soul, and it does all this with the &s;uperiority of a Rational Agent, much otherwi&s;e than the Soul of a Bea&s;t can do: for there is a vein of Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding, that is, Rational Re|flections, directions to Rational ends, running along in the Souls acting the Body.</P>
<P>When this Soul leaves this Body, though all the In&s;truments remain, yet the power cea&s;es.</P>
<P>But of this I will no further enquire, becau&s;e it is not to the main pur|po&s;e.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, As we ri&s;e higher concerning God, we expre&s;s him an Infinite Wi&s;dom and Under|&s;tanding; an Infinite Ju&s;tice and Mer|cy; a Holine&s;s and Purity un&s;potted, governing the World in Righteou&s;ne&s;s
<PB N="222" REF="119"> and Truth, and exerci&s;ing compa&s;&s;i|ons in it, which are nearer approaches to the Being of God; &s;o hath the Soul Powers of its own, Sen&s;es, and Affections, that clo&s;ely de&s;cribe it.</P>
<P>What is it that Under&s;tands? That Rea&s;ons? That de&s;igns and contrives? Whence are the Notions of Right and Wrong, Good and Evil, and the &s;e|veral Tendencies and Operations ei|ther way? Whence are rational and moral Joys? De&s;ires and Delights? Whence are intellectual Sorrows and Complaints? All the&s;e are evidently and apparently from &s;uch a Spring, as the Soul, and to the&s;e it is we mu&s;t now attend; and that we may do it with better advantage, let us ob&s;erve that Oracle of <HI>Solomon,</HI> given us in the way of Coun&s;el: <HI>Keep thy heart with all Diligence, for out of it are</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 4. 23.</NOTE> <HI>the I&s;&s;ues of Life: viz.</HI> Tho&s;e lively Motions and Actions, wherein the pe|culiar life of a Man is di&s;covered, and which tend if &s;teered, and directed aright, to endle&s;s life.</P>
<P>To di&s;cour&s;e hereof, I mu&s;t again reflect upon the Spirit of a Man, the Candle of the Lord, in regard of who&s;e Light it is &s;aid to Man, <HI>Keep</HI>
<PB N="223" REF="119"> <HI>thy Heart;</HI> for it is more than if the Heart of Man were only bidden to keep it &s;elf: But to this higher act of the Spirit of Man are all the directions of the Word of God addre&s;&s;ed, that it would bear up it &s;elf, and control all the lower Motions of the Soul. This therefore I conclude upon, That from the Spirit of a man, as it is the Candle of the Lord, &s;hines a Ray, that is by God pre&s;erved according to its Nature, di&s;tinct from all the Intere&s;t and Intrigues of the Soul, as it is cor|rupted, that it may always bear wit|ne&s;s to him&s;elf, and be a <HI>Law within a Man;</HI> being not only a Witne&s;s and a Judge, but a Receiver of the Di|vine Di&s;plea&s;ure in the notices of it, and an Executioner of it upon the Soul; and &s;o in Men finally rebelli|ous and di&s;obedient, it becomes an In|&s;trument of puni&s;hment.</P>
<P>And this Light it is a certain nece&s;|&s;ary, and immediate act of an Under|&s;tanding, that cannot but be always the &s;ame, that can never be altered, it being always for God and Goodne&s;s again&s;t Sin, and the very Sinner in whom it dwells, and mu&s;t and will be the &s;ame, even in Hell it &s;elf,
<PB N="224" REF="120"> where <HI>the Devils believe and tremble,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 2. 19.</NOTE> and know they are ju&s;tly puni&s;hed.</P>
<P>For as the Sun looking upon things mo&s;t impure, always declares and di&s;covers them, as they are, and can do no otherwi&s;e; thus <HI>the Candle of the Lord</HI> cannot but lay open all the foulne&s;s that is in a Man; all the love a Man hath to him&s;elf, and the com|pa&s;&s;ion of his own Being, cannot bribe it: All the rage again&s;t God and Ho|line&s;s that is in Hell, can never alter this; el&s;e the &s;ting of guilt, and hor|rour of con&s;cience, &s;o great a part of Hell, would be taken away.</P>
<P>The Light of the Soul, as we have before di&s;cour&s;ed, is the highe&s;t Di|rector of a Man to all that is good, and is ever ready to be con&s;ulted with; if the Good it propo&s;es be embraced, it rejoyces in it, applauds, prai&s;es, and congratulates the Soul, and derives joy, plea&s;ure, and happine&s;s upon it: But if that Good be not embraced, or the contrary Evil entertained, which is di&s;&s;waded; it then chides, upbraids, and afflicts a man; and if there be no Repentance, it extremely afflicts, and afflicts for ever, enforcing &s;elf-abhor|rence, and condemnation upon the Soul.</P>
<PB N="225" REF="120">
<P>And this untainted part, which is no other, but the pure re&s;ult of Rea|&s;on and true Under&s;tanding, is always in Glory, applauding the Ju&s;tice of God again&s;t the &s;inful Soul, in which it lives, and is the very in&s;trument of Mi&s;ery upon it, as depraved; for this Light being but a &s;ingle Act of the Un|der&s;tanding, and not obeyed, but a &s;olitary Verdict of the Mind, from which the re&s;t di&s;&s;ent, it can derive no happine&s;s upon the Soul, but on the contrary angui&s;h and affliction.</P>
<P>This being then precon&s;idered, let us now more pre&s;&s;ingly &s;earch the na|ture of Mans Soul, as it is in Scrip|ture &s;tiled, <HI>The Heart;</HI> and <HI>the Heart out of which are the I&s;&s;ues of Life;</HI> fir&s;t drawing the powers of Rea&s;on them&s;elves, and their motions, and then &s;hewing them, as they are de|rived, (for &s;o they are always) into one of tho&s;e two Channels, Good or Evil.</P>
<P>In the Heart then are all the powers of Motion.</P>
<P N="1">1. Here is the immediate directive Under&s;tanding or Judgment, which determines to Action; and this is a different thing from the Light of <HI>the</HI>
<PB N="226" REF="121"> <HI>Candle of the Lord,</HI> which is always the &s;ame; for this may be deba&s;ed and corrupted; it may mix it &s;elf with lower Con&s;iderations; and in the ge|nerality of Men it does &s;o, even to the eclip&s;ing and darkening the high|er Light, not in it &s;elf, but in its ori|ency and brightne&s;s upon the Soul; as the Sun is the &s;ame, although its Light may be &s;hadowed from us.</P>
<P>But this practical Under&s;tanding, however it may be corrupted, yet hath the more immediate conduct of all the actions, and contains in it &s;elf the Gu&s;t, Ta&s;te, and Motion of the whole Soul, and immediately fore|runs Action; for it determines things with their Circum&s;tances, it ballan|ces diviner Rea&s;ons and Temptations on the contrary part together; the Love and Fear of God on one &s;ide, In|ticements from Fle&s;h, and Blood, and the World on the other.</P>
<P>Now there is a great difference be|tween the&s;e two; It is be&s;t to be holy and virtuous in it &s;elf, and in general; and, It is be&s;t for me in particular, and in this particular Action to be holy: Between the&s;e two; An Act of Judg|ment, as it re&s;ides in the Under&s;tand|ing;
<PB N="227" REF="121"> and an Act of Judgment, as it in|clines the whole Soul, Motion and Action unto it.</P>
<P>This very practical Under&s;tanding is in Scripture called <HI>The Heart, Let</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 23. 15.</NOTE> <HI>thy Heart be wi&s;e:</HI> It is this Wi&s;dom of the Heart that denotes a man Good; not that mo&s;t clear Light that &s;hines from above, and down upon the Heart, not within it, but &s;o without it, that it doth not re&s;ide in it, and change it into it &s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. Here are the Will and Affections, which are the re&s;olution, vehemency, and keenne&s;s of the Judgment, and carry the notion of the neare&s;t and next Powers of Action.</P>
<P N="3">3. Here is the Memory pre&s;enting anew the Images of Things pa&s;t, and offering what hath been ob&s;erved of them heretofore, either as to their chu&s;eablene&s;s or unde&s;ervingne&s;s: Here is the Imagination di&s;playing things new and old; and &s;o di&s;play|ing them, that in things of le&s;&s;er im|portance, their appearance is greater than them&s;elves; in Things of true&s;t, and greate&s;t Importance, by the help of Imagination well imprinted, they come nearer to their own greatne&s;s,
<PB N="228" REF="122"> and appear much greater than they would do el&s;e; which is the great benefit of &s;anctified Imagination: in regard of which <HI>David</HI> prays, <HI>That God would keep it always in the ima|ginations</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 29. 18.</NOTE> <HI>of the people, to fear the Lord, and keep his Laws.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Here is the re&s;ort of all outward Objects, with their &s;everal Chara|cters of Commendation or Di&s;prai&s;e; as Emba&s;&s;ies in the Court of a Prince, &s;o are the &s;everal Propo&s;es made, and addre&s;&s;ed here, from tho&s;e &s;everal Re|gions; the Region above, which makes Offertures of greate&s;t Happine&s;s; and the Region below, which &s;ends al&s;o the glozed Tenders of Good.</P>
<P N="5">5. Here are the Habits ri&s;ing up by the degrees of propen&s;ions, inclina|tion, temper, and readine&s;s to Action, till by repeated Action they are &s;o &s;et|tled, that they become <HI>the Trea&s;ure of the Heart,</HI> out of which it freely ex|pends <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 12. 35.</NOTE> every moment, and at a minutes warning, as occa&s;ion calls it out.</P>
<P>And from all the&s;e ari&s;e re&s;tle&s;s mo|tions, moves, and removes of the Soul it &s;elf, and of the Things within it &s;elf, about which it treats; endle&s;s Thoughts, Imaginations, Remembran|ces,
<PB N="229" REF="122"> Willings, Hatings, De&s;irings, Aver|&s;ations, and Abhorrencies; and the&s;e in infinite mazes cutting one another: &s;ome weaving one with another, and mutually &s;trengthening them&s;elves; others contracting cool, and &s;u&s;pend the Soul to either part; &s;ometimes the Prints that have prevailed are defaced, and new ones take; and the&s;e again thru&s;t out, and the former returning in continual vici&s;&s;itudes; &s;ometimes the Under&s;tanding encourages the Af|fections and other Powers, and they it, as &s;everal Artificers in a Building; at other times there is <HI>a Confu&s;ion of Languages</HI> among them, and they bring forth only <HI>a Babel.</HI></P>
<P>But at all times is found here, that great conte&s;t between the higher Soul, and the Rea&s;ons and Dictates of that, and the contrary &s;truggles of the low|er, through its corre&s;pondencies and intelligences with the Body, and its Sen&s;ualities; the encounters between <HI>the Law of the Mind</HI> and the Mem|bers, which cau&s;e great di&s;tractions and rollings of the Soul, this way and that way, according to the liveline&s;s of the one, or the violence of the other.</P>
<PB N="230" REF="123">
<P>La&s;tly, From the Heart ari&s;e both &s;udden, and every way formed and contrived Actions, accompli&s;hed, per|fected, and fledg'd; for all the form|ing and beating out of actions to this or that &s;hape, are upon the Anvil of the Heart, and tho&s;e that break out on the in&s;tant, had yet their fir&s;t mo|tion from thence; even as all the Ar|teries and Veins are from the natural Heart, and it hath its Pul&s;es every where; &s;o this Heart we &s;peak of, hath in this Life Moral and Intelle|ctual.</P>
<P>Now that which makes the Con&s;i|deration of all we have &s;poken in this particular great, is, that according to <HI>the&s;e I&s;&s;ues of life</HI> is the &s;tate of a Man in Holine&s;s or Sin, and &s;o he is in an order for Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery here|by.</P>
<P>For by the&s;e and all the&s;e, and no other thing whatever, is a Man what he is; with the&s;e a Man is holy, with the&s;e he is wicked, nothing el&s;e gives him his Temper, his Character; and when the&s;e are twi&s;ted together, and holily moved by the Grace of God, and incited by heavenly motions, the Soul is <HI>then drawn with the Cords of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 11. 4.</NOTE>
<PB N="231" REF="123"> <HI>a Man,</HI> but when they are united in Evil, <HI>it is drawing Iniquity with a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 5. 19.</NOTE> <HI>Cart-rope, and &s;in with the Cords of Vanity,</HI> that is, of a Vain Heart.</P>
<P>For the&s;e being neither the higher Rea&s;on alone, nece&s;&s;arily re&s;ulting from the motion and excellency of an Under&s;tanding, nor being only the meer &s;en&s;uality or inclination of Bo|dy, but truly the &s;ub&s;tance, bulk, and &s;ub&s;tantial powers and motions of a man; what a man is in the&s;e he truly is. Further, the true genuine and &s;incere motions of the&s;e are they that try him; for which ever Sin or Holi|ne&s;s have the Ballance, and ca&s;t the Scale, that a Man is.</P>
<P>For on one &s;ide, the cunning Heart &s;ends out &s;ome actions out of choice and inclination, only in complyance with the higher Soul; (for which it cannot but have a reverence) and again, &s;ometimes, however it be in its own native &s;tate corrupt, yet it is forced to receive, or rather &s;uffers the &s;trongly agitated impre&s;&s;ions of enlightened Con&s;cience upon it: But this is not accounted of with God, who &s;ees and trys the Heart, and knows the ground and motion of all.</P>
<PB N="232" REF="124">
<P>There is al&s;o that unworthier way of the Heart, when meerly to con|trive its ea&s;ier pa&s;&s;age to &s;en&s;ual En|joyments, it only counterfeits &s;ome agreeable actions to the higher Soul, and <HI>pays its Vows,</HI> to tho&s;e ignoble ends, that it may have &s;ome greater advantages to Voluptuou&s;ne&s;s, Riches, or Honour; which is the gro&s;&s;e&s;t kind of Hypocri&s;ie.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide there are many Infe&s;tations and trouble&s;om Inrodes of &s;en&s;uality upon a man, that are truly preponderated by the Diviner Princi|ple, that yet do not deba&s;e him in ac|count with God; &s;uch as the Apo&s;tles <HI>Thorn in the Fle&s;h,</HI> as it is interpreted <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12. 7.</NOTE> by &s;ome, and <HI>the Law of the Members in conte&s;t again&s;t the Law of the Mind,</HI> that yet doth not prevail into the Character of a Man, who&s;e Heart is upright with God.</P>
<P>The keeping then of the Heart is of greate&s;t moment, and it mu&s;t be our care, that <HI>the Trea&s;ure</HI> and Temper of it be good; our ob&s;ervation mu&s;t be ever awake upon all, that pa&s;&s;es out of it, that we may take its true Cha|racter: Our endeavour mu&s;t be ear|ne&s;t to reform all we find out of order,
<PB N="233" REF="124"> to get it &s;wayed by Holine&s;s, to &s;top the evil Motions of it, till we have &s;o di&s;couraged them, as to alter the very Temper of it; to incline it con|tinually upon all holy and good Acti|ons, till we have endeared them to it; to take heed of all Proffers and Propo&s;es to it, that we may not &s;uffer it to be tempted, to guard it, to offer it to all holy and gracious Conver&s;es, to cha&s;ti&s;e it continually in all it does ill, to encourage it in all it does well; and that we may do all this, we mu&s;t <HI>devocare mentem &s;upremam &egrave; Coelo,</HI> we mu&s;t bring that highe&s;t Mind, en|lightened by Grace, into the Govern|ment and Command of it, and <HI>detru|dere Corpus in imas Terras,</HI> we mu&s;t thru&s;t down Body, the love of which &s;educes and corrupts the Heart, as low, and as much into &s;ubjection, as may be: and above all, we mu&s;t commit it con|tinually unto God; for the &s;afety, and all the power of even this Supreme Mind is the <HI>Free Princely Spirit of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;. 51. 12.</NOTE> <HI>God</HI> e&s;tabli&s;hing it, and always join|ing it &s;elf with it; as wickedne&s;s is kept a-foot, by being acted by the Spirit of wickedne&s;s.</P>
<P>This Heart now let us con&s;ider, It
<PB N="234" REF="125"> is always a beating, the Pul&s;es of it are every minute and every where; the motion of it is vehement, as Fire; to what a boundle&s;s mea&s;ure of &s;in and iniquity will it ri&s;e, if &s;uffered? But to what va&s;t degrees of good might it al&s;o ri&s;e, if its Motions were im|proved to good? And &s;o con&s;equent|ly, to what degrees of Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery may it ri&s;e or fall?</P>
<P>We mu&s;t u&s;e therefore all our care to be always with it, that we may guide its Motion; that in re&s;pect to Evil we may re&s;train and &s;uppre&s;s its Motion, as we do that of Fire; that in relation to Good, we may promote and advance it; that in regard of it &s;elf we may always provide it enough of true good to feed upon, that it may not inflame nor break it &s;elf, by grinding it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Yea we mu&s;t take care of the very Re&s;t of it, for even that is accounted equal to Action. Re&s;t in any &s;inful Action, till we have removed from it by Repentance, is a continuation of that Action; even as <HI>Gods Re&s;t</HI> from Creation, yet upholding and pre&s;er|ving all Things, is expre&s;&s;ed by <HI>Work|ing,</HI> as our Saviour &s;peaks, <HI>My Fa|ther</HI>
<PB N="235" REF="125"> <HI>worketh hitherto, and I work.</HI> So men uphold &s;in by their acquie|&s;cence in it without Repentance, though they do not proceed to new Acts.</P>
<P>The nature of the Soul being now thus far expre&s;&s;ed, It remains as the top and &s;um of all, to &s;hew that it is made with great and large Receipts for Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery: Whether we con&s;ider it immediately in the &s;ub&s;tan|tial Nature, or whether we con&s;ider it in the Faculties and Motions of it.</P>
<P N="1">1. In the immediate &s;ub&s;tantial Na|ture of it, as hath been already made plain; It is immortal, made to con|tinue for ever. Whatever melts away from its mi&s;ery, the mi&s;ery of that is not con&s;iderable. If a Prince would put an A&s;&s;a&s;&s;inate to death with an extreme, but lei&s;urely torment, and he dyes at the very fir&s;t approach of it, he deceives his puni&s;hment: So that Happine&s;s is not de&s;irable, that &s;mothers the Being, that &s;hould en|joy it by the greatne&s;s of it &s;elf; but the Soul made for For Ever, is great in either of the&s;e, the Happine&s;s of it infinitely de&s;irable, the Mi&s;ery of it
<PB N="236" REF="126"> mo&s;t formidable, becau&s;e it can abide and &s;urvive in either.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is Immaterial, and of &s;uch a Finene&s;s and Purity of Sub&s;tance, that it pierces far into all Rea&s;ons of Joy or Trouble, and is penetrated by them: The &s;ympathies of it in Hap|pine&s;s or Mi&s;ery are &s;udden and uni|ver&s;al; as the Light &s;preads it &s;elf through the Air in a moment, it re|ceives in all parts the Light the Sun gives, and in&s;tantly; thus the Soul, the Favour or Indignation, the Smiles or Frowns of God, when they indeed break out upon it; it is mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible, pre&s;ently &s;en&s;ible, all over and mo&s;t intimately &s;en&s;ible.</P>
<P>But of the&s;e things I have already &s;poken: Let us further con&s;ider the Faculties them&s;elves, whereby it is fully fitted to take in Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery, and to execute them in it &s;elf. The Faculties indeed compared with Gods Favour or Di&s;plea&s;ure, are but the In&s;truments and Organs; God gives the Breath and the Power, yet they are <HI>fearfully and wonderfully made</HI> by God to the&s;e great ends, both in their Capacities and Activities.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Under&s;tanding is that great
<PB N="237" REF="126"> Receipt of all Principles of Light and Truths, as may conduce either way; and this is &s;uch a capacity, as mu&s;t receive whatever God offers &s;o plainly to it, as he will have it re|ceived: Thus God manife&s;ted him|&s;elf in the Hearts of the Gentiles; how|ever prejudiced again&s;t the Know|ledge of the true God, they could not re&s;i&s;t it, but that they mu&s;t needs be <HI>without Excu&s;e: For that which might be known of God was &s;till ma|nife&s;t in them, for God had &s;hewed it to them. So the work of the Law was written in their Hearts,</HI> and they &s;hewed it by their thoughts accu&s;ing, or excu&s;ing; and this they could not help: A Table mu&s;t receive what is written upon it; and in the accounts of being Happy or Mi&s;erable upon the&s;e Principles of Truth, through the Apologies or Accu&s;ations of Con|&s;cience, and the Motions of the Favour or Di&s;plea&s;ure of God upon them, the ca&s;e is the very &s;ame.</P>
<P>Now this Under&s;tanding fir&s;t enter|tains, and then lodges Truth; and when that Truth is enlivened and &s;tirred up, &s;utable impre&s;&s;ions of Plea|&s;ure or Grief are made, and from
<PB N="238" REF="127"> thence &s;tream down with all their force into the Re&s;t of the Soul; the Under&s;tanding being indeed &s;o much the Soul, that all the rejoicings and complaints of it are pre&s;ently heard and re&s;ented through the whole; and the Soul &s;o much it &s;elf under &s;everal names, that what is in one Faculty of it, is immediately in all, if the impre&s;|&s;ion be indeed to the life; &s;aving on|ly that &s;ince the degeneracy of Man|kind there remains (as I have alrea|dy &s;hewn) a &s;ingle Light in the higher Under&s;tanding, that may be refu&s;ed in its dictates by the re&s;t of the Soul.</P>
<P>Suppo&s;e then the Under&s;tanding be|yond the po&s;&s;ibility of Re&s;i&s;tance, con|vinced by &s;uch a manner of Demon|&s;tration, that it cannot but receive of tho&s;e things that are the true and per|fect Rea&s;ons of Joy or Sorrow, and in their perfection al&s;o, the Soul mu&s;t needs be in the &s;ame manner affected it is now, when we plainly and un|deniably find our &s;elves within the embraces of any great good, or the gripes of Evil; but with this diffe|rence, that &s;o much as the perceptive|ne&s;s of the Under&s;tanding &s;urmounts
<PB N="239" REF="127"> at any time, or the Good and Evil them&s;elves &s;urpa&s;s, &s;o much mu&s;t the Joy or Grief &s;urmount and &s;urpa&s;s al&s;o.</P>
<P>Although therefore it be true, that the multitude of Men and Women are but half per&s;waded of tho&s;e Things, wherein Heaven &amp; Hell con&s;i&s;t, yet this is only becau&s;e God is not yet plea&s;ed to excite the Under&s;tanding after that powerful manner of Conviction he can u&s;e; but &s;till every man is at the Mercy of Divine Power and Plea&s;ure, when he will do it: He <HI>may</HI> do it now, but in Eternity he <HI>will</HI> do it, and with &s;uch a clear repre&s;entation, as ri&s;es up into immediate Bli&s;s or Woe.</P>
<P N="2">2. The next Faculty to be con&s;i|dered is the Great Will, that is the Spring of all Affections and their Mo|tions: How endle&s;s are the Motions of this Will? <HI>With what a great Co|vetou&s;ne&s;s doth it covet Good? and how long?</HI> What an immen&s;e aver&s;a|tion and abhorrence of Evil hath it? Let then this Will be denyed Good, or pre&s;&s;ed upon with Evil; or let it be gratified with Good, and &s;ecured from Evil; what either joy or pain will follow?</P>
<PB N="240" REF="128">
<P>Yet further, Let us weigh the Active part of both the&s;e Faculties, and then the Enjoyment or Suffering will ri&s;e much higher.</P>
<P N="1">1. Fir&s;t then apprehend but Thought mightily &s;et on work, which is the Under&s;tanding in its natural Motion; and if this be but earne&s;tly moved, though it be without tormenting mat|ter, yet how painful is it? When there is not an Oyl, a plea&s;antne&s;s and &s;weetne&s;s dropping down upon Thought, it is like &s;tretching the Joints and Sinews of the Body by im|moderate motion, which, if moderate, would have been refre&s;hing; or like a great blow that carries the whole force along with it, and falls into the Air only, upon which all the weight of the Body is ready to follow, with a violence mo&s;t ungrateful to Nature: <HI>When a man hath a multitude of Thoughts,</HI> he had need have the com|forts of God to delight his Soul: A Man had need have good bounds for his Thoughts, el&s;e he lo&s;es him&s;elf in the Wild of them; he had need of good matter to feed them with, el&s;e they inflame, like Mill&s;tones, feeding on them&s;elves; make but this good,
<PB N="241" REF="128"> a Man may think For Ever, and it will ea&s;ily appear, he may be happy or mi&s;erable For Ever. For let the&s;e thoughts be &s;uch as intere&s;t a Man in the Rea&s;ons of Torment, Pain, and Horrour, and how grievous may be his &s;tate? What experience may eve|ry one have of the trouble and tur|moil, of the angui&s;h of Thoughts? a Man may lye ea&s;ier upon a Rack, than upon &s;ome di&s;quieting vexatious Thoughts. On the other &s;ide, how &s;weet and plea&s;ant are Thoughts full of the Ravi&s;hment of Divine Con&s;o|lations? How delightful is the enter|tainment they give without tediou&s;|ne&s;s or &s;atiety?</P>
<P N="2">2. Imagination is &s;omething beyond Thought; for Thought runs upon things nearer to what they are in them&s;elves, but Imagination makes them &s;omething beyond them&s;elves, or aggravates according to their true circum&s;tances, with greate&s;t life. In|deed Imagination cannot exceed in Divine or Everla&s;ting Things, yet it is of u&s;e to bring in, and repre&s;ent to, and fill the Thoughts; it reflects things with a multiplicity of Images, like the Parelii of the Sun, and &s;tays
<PB N="242" REF="129"> tho&s;e Images with great Effect; and &s;o it is of great u&s;e in Comfort or Di&s;comfort.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Memory, which doth revive and call things together, and pre&s;ent them anew to the Thoughts and Ima|ginations, &s;ummoning and congrega|ting, and &s;taying Things their due time for con&s;ideration. This is a great In&s;trument too of Happine&s;s, or Mi|&s;ery: <HI>I will remember the Years of the Right Hand of the mo&s;t High,</HI> was the Relief of, and Recovery of <HI>Davids</HI> Spirit: <HI>Remembring my affliction and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 3. 19, 20.</NOTE> <HI>my mi&s;ery, the wormwood and the Gall, my Soul hath them &s;till in remem|brance, and is bowed in me.</HI> Remem|bring this <HI>Vale of Tears,</HI> exalts the light&s;ome &s;tate of <HI>the Holy Hill of God,</HI> and <HI>Remembring the Good things of this Life</HI> an inflammation of mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Con&s;cience is a high and mo&s;t curious Engine, fitted by God to the&s;e ends. <HI>What Joy like the Te&s;ti|mony of Con&s;cience,</HI> good and &s;erene? The very office of which is to applaud the Soul, and give it greate&s;t Joy in its acceptance with God, and like|ne&s;s to him; and on the other &s;ide, to make acclamations to the Ju&s;tice of
<PB N="243" REF="129"> God, and condemn the guilty and im|pure Soul, within it &s;elf, to its greate&s;t horrour and amazement.</P>
<P>Come we now to the Active part of the Will, that is, the Affections, which are but the Will boiling up with great love to its Happine&s;s, or abhor|rence of its Mi&s;ery; and according as the Affections are &s;tirred with de&s;ire of Good and flight from Evil, &s;o are they either unexpre&s;&s;ibly gratified in an union with that Good, and the utmo&s;t di&s;tance of the Evil, or en|raged with the de&s;pair of the Good, that is at an infinite remove from its enjoyment, and dete&s;tation of the Evil &s;o abhorred, yet pre&s;&s;ing and forcing on it &s;elf to be endured; from which different Motion of the Affections &s;pring plainly and &s;en&s;ibly tho&s;e different conditions of Happi|ne&s;s or Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, When the Under&s;tanding hath been both the Theatre and Spe|ctator of all the&s;e Motions, it comes to examine over again, whether there becau&s;e for them; and when upon &s;tricte&s;t enquiry it finds, the cau&s;e de&s;erves the whole that hath pa&s;&s;ed; and being by the Divine Power held
<PB N="244" REF="130"> clo&s;e to this Ob&s;ervation, it then pa&s;|&s;es it &s;elf into that grand Act of the Soul, we call Judgment; upon which all the powers of the Soul either ever|la&s;tingly triumph, and &s;hout in loud prai&s;es to infinite Mercy; or the Veins of Con&s;cience open and bleed afre&s;h, and as by a mo&s;t undoubted authori|ty, the Heart renews and continues its everla&s;ting Plaints.</P>
<P>The fundamental capacities of the Soul for Happine&s;s and Mi&s;ery being now &s;ettled, I come now to di&s;cour&s;e the corre&s;pondent fundamental ac|counts of that Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery, as they are united with the Soul, and its actuations of it &s;elf: And the&s;e fir&s;t in relation to its eternal condition.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t and mo&s;t e&s;&s;ential ac|count of Happine&s;s is the Favour of God in Chri&s;t; his Frown, Wrath, and Rebukes are the mo&s;t fundamental rea&s;on of Mi&s;ery: His Favour and re|conciled Face on one &s;ide, his Wrath for &s;in on the other. We are not able yet to under&s;tand the ab&s;olute depen|dence of the Soul hereupon, becau&s;e the pre&s;ent cour&s;e of Providence al|lows men in their &s;eeming &s;ub&s;i&s;ten|cies upon the Comfort they receive
<PB N="245" REF="130"> from the Creatures of this World; God him&s;elf in the mean time retiring from their Ob&s;ervation: But this is certain, the &s;miles of God unexpre&s;|&s;ibly enliven, encourage, and bear up the Soul; his Rebukes daunt, deject, and amaze it. However the&s;e are now for the mo&s;t part clo&s;ely conveyed un|der the appearances of the Creatures, for us or again&s;t us, yet God is in|deed under them; but it is much more plain and manife&s;t in the more imme|diate angry or gracious touches of God upon the Con&s;cience, and will be far more evident in the &s;tate of the World to come; <HI>His loving kind|ne&s;s is better than life; and when he with rebukes corrects Man for iniqui|ty, he maketh his beauty to con&s;ume away like a moth;</HI> what&s;oever &s;eems mo&s;t flouri&s;hing, being &s;o bla&s;ted, wi|thers immediately: All the horrours we have heard, or read of, have re|ceived their &s;ting from this Wrath; and all Con&s;olations from his Favour; for in his <HI>Favour is life; the Eyes of all Creatures are upon God:</HI> Every created Thing in its proper way turns its Eye upon the Creator, much more the Soul, the Spirit immortal, turns
<PB N="246" REF="131"> upon God, <HI>the Father of Spirits, that it may live.</HI> It is not con&s;i&s;tent with the Glory of God, that he &s;hould al|low any Thing to be Happine&s;s, but Him&s;elf and his Favour: Even all the inward Rectitude of Mind cannot be this Happine&s;s immediately; For as if there were a Goodne&s;s, of which Gods Nature were not the Rule and Mea|&s;ure, and that Will, which always &s;tands ju&s;t with that Nature, that would be above God; and &s;o God would not be the Supreme Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, that is, Not God: So if there were any implanted Happine&s;s in any Creature, and that it needed not God, as to the E&s;&s;ence of its Happine&s;s, God would not be God to it; or if its hap|pine&s;s were in any Thing out of it &s;elf, and not in God, that would be a God to it.</P>
<P>This Con&s;ideration pre&s;&s;es to this, That Happine&s;s is in <HI>the Light of Gods Countenance,</HI> &s;hining out upon the Rational Soul: There is nothing ne|ce&s;&s;ary, as the Fountain of Happine&s;s, but God; nothing can &s;upply his place, <HI>In thy pre&s;ence is fulne&s;s of Joy, at thy right hand are plea&s;ures for evermore; with thee is the Foun|tain</HI>
<PB N="247" REF="131"> <HI>of Life; In thy Light &s;hall we &s;ee Light, but if thou hide&s;t thy Face we are troubled,</HI> if bani&s;hed and driven from thy <HI>everla&s;ting pre&s;ence,</HI> we are for ever mi&s;erable; <HI>for whom can we have in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth be&s;ides thee.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Subordinately to this, there can be no peace, but in the Heart made truly and inwardly Good; be&s;ides all &s;torms from without, there is an e&s;tu|ation, a tide from corruption within, full of trouble and vexation: Every &s;in loved and delighted in, is a &s;ecret hollow where an Earthquake is bred; it is a wound that &s;ecretly di&s;quiets it. All impure Affections, <HI>Pa&s;&s;ions of Di&s;honour</HI> in the Soul, make it <HI>like the troubled Sea, that cannot re&s;t; Peace and Joy in the Holy Gho&s;t make their repo&s;e in Righteou&s;ne&s;s: The effect of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, is quietne&s;s and a&s;&s;u|rance</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 32. 17.</NOTE> <HI>for Ever.</HI></P>
<P>Even as the Favour of God never embraces any, but a holy Soul; &s;o hath he ordained, that the Evil and corrupt Heart &s;hould be in it &s;elf un|peaceful, and full of turmoil within, both in regard of the foulne&s;s and de|formity, very horrible to the Thoughts,
<PB N="248" REF="132"> whenever under&s;tood; as al&s;o in re|gard of the great di&s;traction, and hor|rible convul&s;ion the mind is forced in|to, when it comes to any thing of true Sen&s;e.</P>
<P N="3">3. The actuation or gracious mo|tion of the Favour of God towards the Soul, and the actuation of his Ho|ly Spirit upon the Soul, made inward|ly Holy and Good, are highly nece&s;|&s;ary for the making the Spirit of a Man truly &s;ound and vigorous in en|countring Evil, happy and comforta|ble in it &s;elf; for el&s;e the Soul may be becalmed (if the&s;e Motions of Grace from God lye &s;till) and not able to bear up it &s;elf: And therefore Men &s;incerely good are often in great di&s;|compo&s;ures, when God withdraws him&s;elf from them; In the cloudings of his Face they are troubled, in re|treats of his Grace not exciting them, <HI>they langui&s;h, and cannot &s;tir up them&s;elves to take hold of him;</HI> and then their &s;inful Calm ends in trouble.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide the rea&s;ons of horrour and amazement are not &s;een by &s;en&s;ele&s;s and &s;ecure Men, till Con|&s;cience enlightened di&s;covers them,
<PB N="249" REF="132"> and the flamings of Divine Di&s;plea|&s;ure make them boil up.</P>
<P>The&s;e then are the true, &s;ub&s;tantial, &s;olid, and natural Rea&s;ons of Happi|ne&s;s or Mi&s;ery, rejoycing or tribula|tion to the Soul, and the Soul is plain|ly the Sen&s;e of them: And as for the le&s;&s;er and &s;maller intere&s;ts of this pre|&s;ent World, and the life of it, the ob&s;ervation of the&s;e two following Principles will determine, and &s;tate the ca&s;e of the soul in relation to them, and &s;o, that it will further appear, that all the touches of Good and Evil up|on Man, are originally and principally in his Soul.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t is, That if God is plea|&s;ed to let out his Favour in any of the&s;e outward Things, and to mode|rate the de&s;ires and motions of the Soul, &s;o that there is a proportion between tho&s;e motions and de&s;ires, and the condition in which a Man is, there is nothing further of nece&s;&s;ity to him, he is well enough. But whenever the de&s;ires run out, beyond the mea&s;ures and proportions of his Condition, it is with great di&s;quiet and incredible re&s;tle&s;ne&s;s of Mind, though the thing, beyond what he has,
<PB N="250" REF="133"> be but &s;mall in it &s;elf, and nothing compared with what is enjoyed: When <HI>Haman</HI> had that abundance of <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;th. 5. 13.</NOTE> Glory, yet his de&s;ires running out to a very little thing, beyond what he had, a very nothing to it, the obei|&s;ance of poor <HI>Mordecai,</HI> yet it made a nothing of all he had, <HI>for it all avail|ed him nothing.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. When the goodne&s;s of God is plea&s;ed to re&s;train outward Evils in fit degrees, and to pre&s;erve the mind from ingaging it &s;elf by too clo&s;e re|flexions upon any di&s;advantage; or to bend it &s;o clo&s;e, upon better con|&s;iderations to le&s;&s;en and make tole|rable that di&s;advantage, the Spirit of a Man thus guarded <HI>will bear any in|firmity;</HI> but when the Spirit is let out to a continual pondering, and aggravating to it &s;elf a very &s;mall Counter-accident, and the Rea&s;ons that &s;hould abate it, are hidden, and carryed off from it, a very little thing becomes unappea&s;ably vexatious; and <HI>the Spirit &s;o wounded</HI> is it &s;elf its own in&s;upportable burden. Who can, when God gives a &s;ting to &s;uch a Cro&s;s, bear it? And when the Spirit of a Man runs forcibly upon it, that
<PB N="251" REF="133"> Man may turn back, and recoil with highe&s;t Rage and Cruelty upon him|&s;elf: As we &s;ee <HI>Ahitophel,</HI> though but <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 17. 23.</NOTE> an ordinary thing befell him, yet his Spirit being wounded with it, <HI>he went, and hanged him&s;elf;</HI> whereas <HI>David</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 30. 6.</NOTE> be&s;ieged with outward Di&s;tre&s;s on every hand, and finding the &s;urges of Grief within, yet was upheld by Di|vine Rea&s;ons: He at the &s;ame time both diverted his own Spirit from the Evil, qualified the Evil it &s;elf, and for|tified his mind, encouraging him&s;elf in the Lord his God.</P>
<P>Thus all Contentation and Plea&s;ure, Enjoyment and Happine&s;s, and the contrary Di&s;content, Vexation, Suf|fering, and Mi&s;ery, both here and in Eternity, are laid in the di&s;po&s;es of God upon the Spirits of Men, filling tho&s;e capacities he hath therein con|trived with &s;uch infu&s;ions of his Fa|vour or Di&s;plea&s;ure, as in Wi&s;dom, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Goodne&s;s, he hath and &s;hall determine to them; and al|&s;o putting them&s;elves upon &s;uch Exer|ci&s;e and Motion, and that upon &s;uch principles within them&s;elves, as mu&s;t perfectly own, acknowledge, and agree with tho&s;e his Divine Attri|butes,
<PB N="252" REF="134"> and the determinations he makes upon the Souls of men accord|ing to them.</P>
<P>Yet there is always this difference between this pre&s;ent &s;tate, and the things pertaining properly to it; and that of Eternity, and the things pro|per to that; that the former are alto|gether indifferent, and nothing more needs, but that the Mind be in an equal po&s;ture towards them: But the things of an eternal con&s;ideration are of a perfect nece&s;&s;ity, &s;o that Happine&s;s and Mi&s;ery will be for ever in act according to them.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e Grounds thus laid, we may judge of many ca&s;es of ordinary and evident experience, that concern both Natural and Religious Affairs.</P>
<P N="1">1. We &s;ee &s;ome Men in a low and mean condition, with a little of the World, much more contented than tho&s;e in a higher; the de&s;ires of the one being no larger than their Condi|tion, but the minds of the other run|ning out beyond their greater E&s;tate; from whence it is evident, <HI>that man liveth not by bread alone, but by eve|ry word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, nor by the abundance</HI>
<PB N="253" REF="134"> <HI>of any thing they have,</HI> but by God giving a &s;uitablene&s;s between the De|&s;ire and the Enjoyment; when God lets out the de&s;ire beyond that, all el&s;e is as nothing at all.</P>
<P N="2">2. Again, Some men bear far grea|ter Cro&s;&s;es with much more ea&s;e, than others do far le&s;&s;er; the Spirit of one man centring upon the grief and in|convenience, and the other gliding off from it.</P>
<P N="3">3. The generality of men having their minds level, and but equal at be&s;t with their Bodies, are very &s;en&s;i|ble of all the di&s;advantages and incon|veniences of Body.</P>
<P>Some more heroick and &s;ingular per&s;ons are far above them, and little concerned in them; and &s;ome &s;trange|ly in&s;en&s;ible and unactive in their Souls, bear them without any more than the ju&s;t pre&s;&s;ure upon the Body requires; lumps of Clay, their Souls are &s;o &s;heathed in their Bodies, that they di&s;cover no Soul, give no &s;ign of a Spirit; they live and dye like Bea&s;ts; they bear all with the &s;trength of &s;en|&s;itive Nature, they &s;hew no Spirit at all, till at la&s;t they &s;plit into innume|rable and endle&s;s Complaints and
<PB N="254" REF="135"> Crys; except we &s;uppo&s;e a loath&s;om &s;tupidity, and fearful darkne&s;s of ut|ter want of Con&s;olation and Enjoy|ment to be the &s;econd death of &s;uch per&s;ons</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, Some that have great force of Mind, and yet are deep|ly affected to Body, exa&s;perate and inflame any bodily Di&s;temper, and aggravate it by their terrible impati|ences; and the &s;ame thing falls out to them in Infamy, Di&s;grace, Lo&s;s, or great Di&s;appointment; according to the mea&s;ure, bu&s;ine&s;s, and activity of the Spirit about them, &s;o is the thing great or &s;mall in mens own account and re&s;entment.</P>
<P N="4">4. From an Over-Ballance of Mind it comes to pa&s;s, that upon &s;everal ac|counts Men become wholly inatten|dant to their Bodies.</P>
<P><HI>Some &s;eparating them&s;elves, with de|&s;ire</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 18. 1.</NOTE> <HI>to intermeddle with all Know|ledge,</HI> have been wholly carele&s;s of all things el&s;e: Others ingaged in mo|tions of great Valour and Enterpri&s;e, have &s;o little valued the Fate of a pre|&s;ent life, that in the heat of Valour and Fight, they have not &s;o much as felt the wounds they have received,
<PB N="255" REF="135"> their Minds being as it were &s;eparated from their Bodies.</P>
<P>Some plunged in deep &s;orrow and trouble, have without the lea&s;t relent|ing and compa&s;&s;ion done the greate&s;t cruelty upon them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Some under great di&s;appointment of their De&s;igns have revenged it with greate&s;t rigour and re&s;olution upon their own Fle&s;h, as <HI>Scaevola</HI> with an undaunted con&s;tancy burnt the hand that mi&s;&s;ed in killing <HI>Por&s;enna,</HI> and &s;o deprived him of the Glory, he &s;o ear|ne&s;tly de&s;igned him&s;elf in that Action.</P>
<P>Others touched with the Con&s;ci|ence of a great Offence, through the vehemency of that, have thought all other pains of Nature worthy only of neglect, as <HI>Cranmer</HI> held that hand in the Flame, that had &s;igned his Re|cantation.</P>
<P>Yea very Debauchees, in the Ri&s;que of their Vices, though their name, <HI>even their Fle&s;h and their Body have been con&s;umed, mourn</HI> not, while they are in their Carrier, <HI>but at la&s;t,</HI> they are &s;o re&s;tle&s;s and importunate in wickedne&s;s, plotting and performing it, doing it <HI>with both hands,</HI> that they have no lei&s;ure to think of any
<PB N="256" REF="136"> thing el&s;e, and are afraid indeed to offer any &s;uch lei&s;ure to them&s;elves; and to avoid it are always driving on in wickedne&s;s; <HI>they prolong their days</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 8. 12.</NOTE> <HI>in,</HI> and, as it &s;eems, by it, thus far, that their earne&s;tne&s;s bears them up; &s;o that they do not fall into reflexi|ons upon the &s;ad end of it; their Spirits are carried &s;o whole and toge|ther to it, that they have no inter|ruption. And if their pur&s;uit be cro&s;|&s;ed, and vexed with hindrances, and contrariety of accidents, it becomes very outragious, and is a continual &s;ickne&s;s; for &s;o it is &s;aid, <HI>Amnon was</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 13. 2.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ick for his Si&s;ter Thamar.</HI></P>
<P>All the&s;e, and multitudes of the like, are plain In&s;tances of the Mind governing our Contentment, or Di&s;|content, in the&s;e Affairs; and how|ever it in&s;lave it &s;elf, as it &s;eems, to the Body, and its &s;atisfactions, yet &s;till it is indeed the Vigour, Force, and migh|ty action of this Mind, that is ever &s;uperiour, when it doth mo&s;t de|ba&s;e it &s;elf; and it is not the Body of Fle&s;h, but it &s;elf in that Body, or that Fle&s;h, (or as the Apo&s;tle calls it, <HI>a Fle&s;hly Mind)</HI> that thus de&s;igns and acts, with a high hand, for its own
<PB N="257" REF="136"> &s;atisfactions: And if it be thus in things wherein it &s;eems to be fle&s;hly, how much more in tho&s;e things wherein Body hath no Feeling, no Intere&s;t?</P>
<P>From the&s;e Grounds we may al&s;o di&s;cern the &s;everal &s;tates of Men in Religion.</P>
<P N="1">1. The great In&s;en&s;iblene&s;s of it in the minds of mo&s;t men, makes them without any de&s;ire or motion after it, <HI>they &s;ee no beauty in it, why they &s;hould de&s;ire it.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Hereupon al&s;o, though Men have the greate&s;t rea&s;on of trouble in relation to their &s;tate towards God, yet having no reflections, they are wholly untroubled, even tho&s;e, who, if Religion be true, have no ground of peace, but the greate&s;t of horrour and amazement.</P>
<P>This is indeed from a Patience of God to the world, and a Judgment al&s;o upon it: for &s;o far as it would lead only to the Terrours of De&s;pair, &s;o it is a long-&s;uffering; but as In&s;en&s;ible|ne&s;s con&s;igns men over to Irreligion, and the con&s;equent Damnation, &s;o it is an exceeding great Judgment.</P>
<P>And yet it is an Indulgence too of
<PB N="258" REF="137"> common Providence, that Mankind enjoys a general peace, and quiet of condition, and are not in immediate helli&s;h de&s;pairs.</P>
<P N="3">3. Hence formality in Religion gives many men &s;atisfaction: they cannot be &s;atisfied without it, their Mind being &s;o far awakened concern|ing it; and yet there being <HI>&s;ome part dark,</HI> they take up with a Shadow in the place of true &s;ub&s;tantial Good|ne&s;s.</P>
<P N="4">4. Hence a ju&s;t and &s;ober demea|nour in the World hath that &s;trength to compo&s;e the Mind, we may ordi|narily ob&s;erve. For all degrees of In|nocency and Integrity, all Freedoms from Guilt, and not being privy to things unworthy our &s;elves, are a great defence to the Thoughts; and the&s;e things are &s;o e&s;pou&s;ed to Chri|&s;tianity, that where they are found indeed, and in the due Heights, they are never found divided the one from the other: but there may be &s;emblances or &s;ome degrees of the&s;e; as is very plain in the In&s;tance of the Young Man in the Go&s;pel; he had a truly ingenuous &s;en&s;e of Things, and &s;o well natured, that when Chri&s;t propo&s;ed to him a
<PB N="259" REF="137"> Precept above his Orb, he did not &s;ourly reject it, but was <HI>&s;orrowful,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark. 10. 22.</NOTE> he could not ri&s;e to it, yet &s;till he was at a di&s;tance from true Chri&s;tianity.</P>
<P>But &s;o far as a man attains in the &s;emblances, and degrees of the&s;e, he hath al&s;o an&s;werable &s;emblances and degrees of tranquillity of Mind, of loveline&s;s and worth; our Saviour <HI>loved the Young Man,</HI> for &s;o much as <NOTE PLACE="marg">v. 21.</NOTE> he had. This made tho&s;e great Spirits among the Heathen, who&s;e generous Actions we read of.</P>
<P>To this Head may be referred all high and notable Actions and Under|takings, all worthy Studies and Em|ployments, which derive a virtue from that intrin&s;ick value of Good|ne&s;s, and participations of the Favour and approbation of God, that is upon them, and uphold the Mind, and fur|ther &s;o entertain and employ it, that it doth not fall into di&s;turbances.</P>
<P>Yet &s;o far as the&s;e things however excellent, are not univer&s;al and uni|form in all things, or not indued and ennobled with true Piety, Love of God, adherence to him in the Media|tor, &s;o far they come &s;hort of the &s;in|cere and perfect &s;atisfaction of the Mind.</P>
<PB N="260" REF="138">
<P>Hence mo&s;t men are but in an equal poize between the Comforts and Fears, that ari&s;e from a true &s;en&s;e of Religi|on, between the Heroick temper of Chri&s;tianity, and the danger of an unconverted E&s;tate; God not &s;eeing good to give &s;o high a &s;en&s;e of the Danger, nor &s;o triumphant a &s;en&s;e of the Happine&s;s, as that the one &s;hould in regard of trouble of Mind, the other in regard of &s;urpa&s;&s;ing joy make, all Things in the World, nothing, as either would do.</P>
<P>Yet notwith&s;tanding from the high &s;en&s;e of Religion, there hath been at &s;ome times &s;o high an action, and &s;o triumphing a Comfort, that as the Martyr &s;aid, A Bed of Flames was no other than a Bed of Ro&s;es, many have offered them&s;elves to death, <HI>not accepting Deliverance,</HI> they have al|together abandoned all the Plea&s;ures, Profits, and Advantages of Bodily Sen&s;e and worldly State, that they might obtain a better Re&s;urrection; and on the other &s;ide, &s;ome under the horrours of De&s;pair, have as much ca&s;t away from them, all the comforts and enjoyments of the pre&s;ent life, and have &s;eized upon Hell, as it were
<PB N="261" REF="138"> before they went out of the World, or ha&s;tened to it as <HI>Judas.</HI> Again, &s;ome good men not having the communi|cations of the Favour of God, have fallen into horrid Agonies of Mind, and have been re&s;tored anew to Com|forts, according as God hath &s;hone out, or withdrawn him&s;elf.</P>
<P>And through the non-actuation of Grace into their Hearts have fallen into &s;ome great &s;ins, and under &s;piri|tual de&s;ertions, abating from the ex|cellency of a Holy Life, and con&s;e|quently into di&s;comforts, or want of &s;piritual Con&s;olation.</P>
<P>And contrariwi&s;e, Men not &s;ound in Chri&s;tian Obedience bear up be|twixt &s;ome conformities to religious Action, and the hopes they derive from thence, without &s;inking down into great de&s;pondencies. All which ca&s;es plainly and &s;en&s;ibly may be re|&s;olved into the former Grounds and Principles laid concerning the Govern|ment of God, ordering and di&s;po&s;ing the &s;tate of Mens Souls here in the World.</P>
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> If again&s;t all this it &s;hould be &s;aid, It is the Body, and the various changes upon that, that give the&s;e various Tem|pers to the Mind.</P>
<PB N="262" REF="139">
<P><MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> It mu&s;t be in the fir&s;t place allowed, that the Mind &s;ees much by the Body, and things are accordingly pre&s;ented, as the Body is prepared, ju&s;t as the Eye &s;ees imperfectly through a dim Gla&s;s, and things appear double in a cracked one; yet this only &s;ignifies, that the Actions of the Mind, &s;o far as they de|pend upon the Body, are either di|&s;turbed or a&s;&s;i&s;ted, by the fitne&s;s or unfitne&s;s of the In&s;trument. The Heats of a Fever, by the exce&s;s of &s;pi|rits flying up, di&s;turb the brain, and over-act it. Now the Soul acting in, and by the&s;e Spirits, and in, and by this their exce&s;&s;ive Motion, &s;allies out into a multitude of Thoughts; which are indeed roaving and di&s;orderly, as is the Motion of the Spirits, which are its In&s;trument; thus the Sun &s;eems in ha&s;te, and in a hurry, uneven, and tran&s;ported, appearing through rolling Clouds, and flying Vapours.</P>
<P>Again, Sometimes the Spirits are aiery and &s;oaring, even into Rapture, and then the Soul di&s;ports it &s;elf among them, in that we call Wit, and high|ly exalted Phancy; as the Sun reflects its Beams into that beautiful variety, and plea&s;ant mixture of Colours in
<PB N="263" REF="139"> the Rainbow, when it finds a Clowd prepared.</P>
<P>In the&s;e ca&s;es the Motion is greater than agrees with the order of the Soul in the Body, and &s;o it is violent, and &s;ometimes furious, yet &s;till it argues the greatne&s;s of the Soul, and its acti|vity, &s;hewing it &s;elf to the utmo&s;t ad|vantages it receives from the Bodies Motion, whether it be orderly or di&s;|orderly, wherein the activity is the Souls, and the di&s;order chargeable up|on the Body only; the Soul, even as the Sun, is always the &s;ame in it &s;elf.</P>
<P>But be&s;ides all this, It is mo&s;t evi|dent, that the Mind hath con&s;idera|tions of Peace and Di&s;quiet, &s;ome in which the Body is not concerned at all, further than the Mind concerns it; and &s;ome that fir&s;t come into the Mind, by repre&s;entation from with|out, yet having made no dint at all upon the Body, are con&s;idered and judged of fir&s;t by the Mind, and &s;o by degrees affect the Body, accord|ing to the apprehen&s;ions the Mind en|tertains of them, either with vigour, or langui&s;hment; yea there have been Examples, wherein the Soul being it &s;elf &s;urpri&s;ed, with exce&s;s of Joy or
<PB N="264" REF="140"> Sorrow, hath in a moment &s;urpri&s;ed the whole Animal Power al&s;o, and extingui&s;hed that Life; and how of|ten the Soul gives a Con&s;titution to the Body, we know not; but this is certain, however the ca&s;e be other|wi&s;e, The Comfort or Di&s;comfort of a Man is &s;eated in his Soul; and whence|&s;oever the Cau&s;es of them ari&s;e, or through what&s;oever Conduits they pa&s;s, they plea&s;e or afflict according to the &s;ettled Judgment the Mind makes of them.</P>
<P>But for the further clearing and confirming the&s;e things, let us make this account of them.</P>
<P N="1">1. From the Nature of Mans Soul, it is certainly to be concluded, The Soul is the Man, which way &s;oever the Soul goes, that way certainly the Man goes; and when the Soul is in a high concern any way, it values the Body no more, than the Body does a Garment: For though it is true in the generality of men, and in general Ca&s;es, the Soul doth willingly &s;ubor|dinate it &s;elf to the Body, or rather it &s;elf to it &s;elf, as in the Body, and makes the &s;ervice, the &s;afety, the plea&s;ure of it &s;elf in the Body, to be
<PB N="265" REF="140"> its whole plea&s;ure, &s;afety, and &s;atis|faction; yet there are particular per|&s;ons by whom, particular ca&s;es in which, the Body is &s;lighted, as of &s;malle&s;t con&s;ideration. We &s;ee good men u&s;e the &s;ervice of it in Study and Contemplation to &s;uch a height, that it is macerated, weakened, di&s;cou|raged, and &s;peedily worn out; they <HI>&s;ubdue</HI> it by daily mortification, they <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9. 27.</NOTE> offer it up in Martyrdom, deliver and re&s;ign it to the Flames, &s;ubmit it to the Torturer. Bad Men en&s;lave it to vicious affections, lavi&s;h it out upon their Lu&s;ts; and in their Rage &s;ome|times de&s;troy it by violence upon them&s;elves.</P>
<P>From all which it is plain, how much the Body is at the &s;ervice of the Soul, when the Soul is excited to the exerci&s;e of its own power.</P>
<P N="2">2. The great My&s;tery of the Soul is, That whereas in its own Nature it is thus great and commanding, was made in <HI>the Image and Similitude of God,</HI> hath a re&s;emblance of his Liber|ty and even of his infinite Motion, in the di&s;plays of Under&s;tanding, Will, and Affections; yet notwith&s;tanding it may be as it were &s;ilenced and &s;lum|bered,
<PB N="266" REF="141"> and the Motion of it &s;o &s;up|pre&s;&s;ed, that it &s;eems to have nothing &s;o con&s;iderable, as &s;uch a Being im|ports: In this &s;tate it is <HI>like a &s;trong Man a&s;leep,</HI> but that will awake; <HI>it &s;leeps its &s;leep now,</HI> but when God a|wakens it, it &s;hakes its &s;elf, and throws off all its Manacles, <HI>or like a &s;trong man that &s;ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s by rea&s;on of Wine,</HI> then its &s;trength and vigour appears. It lyes &s;till, <HI>as Sam&s;on, when his Locks were cut off,</HI> it re-enforces it &s;elf here|after, <HI>as Sam&s;on, when his Locks were grown again;</HI> like Water running &s;oftly, and in a very weak, and in|di&s;cernible Current, afterwards like an Inundation of Water; like a Spark under A&s;hes, but afterwards like the whole Element of Fire, in fierce&s;t mo|tion; &s;o that there is no judgment to be made of its influences into the Com|fort or Di&s;comfort of a Man, when it is in its duller and more &s;tupified condition, but in its highe&s;t Flights now, and in its Everla&s;ting State.</P>
<P N="3">3. God hath the great power of moving the Soul, <HI>he that formed the Spirit of a Man within him,</HI> he that made it what it is, that gave it his own likene&s;s, he will &s;hew when he
<PB N="267" REF="141"> plea&s;es that he made it &s;uch as it is in|deed; and it mu&s;t needs be plainly in his power to do it, who is the Su|preme and All-working Spirit; &s;o that all the &s;tate and condition of it from the fir&s;t moments of its Being, throughout Eternal Ages, is a Go|vernment and Ordination of God up|on it: Nothing then is to be conclu|ded, but by and upon his declarati|ons of him&s;elf, and of the manner of his Government he hath pre&s;cribed to him&s;elf; which is in part made known to us in the Nature, Frame, and Con|&s;titution of the Soul it &s;elf, and the daily Experiments of it, but mo&s;t e&s;pe|cially in his Word; which de&s;cribes both the deplumed and low e&s;tate of Souls, and the certain exaltation, the lifting them up whether to Salvation or De&s;truction.</P>
<P N="4">4. The things the force and &s;trength of the Soul move upon, as de&s;criptive and con&s;titutive of its own &s;tate and condition, give temper to its Satisfa|ctions and Di&s;quiets. When it moves upon &s;uch things, as have truly the Springs of Joy and Comfort in them, as its own, it hath an exceeding Joy, that carries it above all things. Again,
<PB N="268" REF="142"> when it moves upon tho&s;e things, that have indeed the rea&s;ons of Sorrow and Affliction, and that it mu&s;t ac|knowledge it hath an unhappy Right to; there is an exce&s;s of Sorrow and Vexation. If there are but apprehen|ded rea&s;ons of either, or lower de|grees of them aggravated by that ap|prehen&s;ion, the force of the Soul may yet make them great, till it be unde|ceived; for when there is nothing worthy either way to work upon, yet its very deceived and deluded Ima|gination are in the room of a great Object to it, and either very plea&s;ing, or afflictive. Thus it is till Reality takes place of Appearance; and Eter|nity finds &s;o much employment for all the Powers, upon things &s;o grand, that they have nothing of lei&s;ure, ei|ther for Appearances, or le&s;&s;er Things, or to &s;pend their &s;trength in vain.</P>
<P>Thus far I have argued the Motions of the Soul unto Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery, immediately from the Nature of the Soul it &s;elf; in the next place, let the account of the&s;e things be drawn from the Ordination and Government of God in relation to him&s;elf, and the eternal condition of the Soul.</P>
<PB N="269" REF="142">
<P N="1"> 1. There is an Ab&s;olute Will, and Determination of God, that it &s;hall appear, that Him&s;elf and Holine&s;s, and the enjoyment of Him&s;elf for ever, are the true Happine&s;s of the Soul, and the only Happine&s;s of it; on the o|ther &s;ide, That Sin, his Wrath, and Disfavour are the greate&s;t Evils; as God &s;ays, <HI>I will fami&s;h all the Gods of the Earth,</HI> &s;o he will all that the Earth calls Good, be&s;ides him&s;elf, which is a wor&s;hipping of the Crea|ture, be&s;ides, or in preference to, the Creator, ble&s;&s;ed For Ever: El&s;e Men, who are in Covenant with &s;eeming Goods, and in Union with them, would think them&s;elves well enough without God, and without any enjoy|ment of him; God therefore hath ap|pointed a time, wherein all the Idols of the World &s;hall be &s;mitten, <HI>as Da|gon before the Ark,</HI> and all little Evils, that are &s;o reputed here, &s;hall &s;hrink into none, compared with his Wrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure. Then &s;hall Men re|flect upon all the Fatigues they have undergone for worldly Plea&s;ure, Pro|fit, and Honour, as &s;o much lo&s;t and mi&s;placed labour; and their &s;o earne&s;t recoil from pre&s;ent Evils, though with
<PB N="270" REF="143"> their eternal hazard, &s;hall be reputed as ba&s;e&s;t Cowardi&s;e; then Religion and Holy Walking, which had &s;o mean an allowance of Deference from them, &s;hall be e&s;teemed of greate&s;t worth and value.</P>
<P N="2">2. God hath determined to draw out Souls to their own Greatne&s;s and Extent, that his Workman&s;hip in them may not be always hid and con|cealed. The &s;imilitude with him&s;elf he at fir&s;t en&s;tamped them with, &s;hall be plainly di&s;covered. It &s;hall then be &s;een, what Under&s;tandings, Wills, Affections, Con&s;ciences he hath given them; and that a Soul is not &s;o &s;mall a Thing, as it &s;eems to be in the Worlds Hi&s;tory of Beings.</P>
<P>And the&s;e two things are very &s;ub|&s;ervient to the di&s;covery of one ano|ther, the Excellency of God, and the Valuablene&s;s of the Soul; for God revealing him&s;elf, and his own Holi|ne&s;s and Happine&s;s, in their full Beau|ty and Greatne&s;s, the Soul that was &s;hrivell'd up in ignorance of true Good, opens and &s;tretches out it &s;elf, as the Eye to the Sun, or as the Ap|petite to the mo&s;t gu&s;tful, or delicious meat; and when the Soul is drawn
<PB N="271" REF="143"> out to its own Largene&s;s, then will it know the vanity of all things be|&s;ides God, and that its great Affecti|ons and De&s;ires cannot be &s;atisfied by any thing Lower, or Le&s;&s;er, than he is; but &s;hall feel the extremities of want, the nece&s;&s;ities of inraged and un&s;atis|fied de&s;ire in the lo&s;s of him; and the great Motions of Mind will make fierce&s;t reflections on the Evil of Sin, and the Righteous Di&s;plea&s;ure of God: But on the other &s;ide, Happi|ne&s;s, in the Favour and Enjoyment of God, &s;hall flow in upon the extended De&s;ires and Affections, and the excel|lency of the Mind &s;hall adore and ad|mire the greatne&s;s of Divine Glory, and the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of enjoying it.</P>
<P N="3">3. God hath re&s;olved upon De|grees of Happine&s;s and Puni&s;hment: Now the more the Soul is enlighten|ed, and its Faculties heightened, the more capable it is of Glory; <HI>Thus one Star differs from another in Glory;</HI> having a greater Orb for the recepti|on of Light, having a purer and quick|er Light: So al&s;o the more the Fa|culties are enlarged, the more capa|ble they are of Woe and Puni&s;hment, and <HI>to be beaten with more &s;tripes.</HI> The
<PB N="272" REF="144"> more therefore any one finds his Fa|culties now quickened and opened, the more he may apprehend, and &s;o be the more excited to fear the dan|ger, and lay hold on the Happine&s;s.</P>
<P N="4">4. Seeing all depends upon the Actua|tion either of the Mercy and Goodne&s;s of God, or his Indignation; from hence appears both the Freene&s;s of his Grace and Mercy in Chri&s;t, in the glorification of his Saints, and the Li|berty of his Indignation and Wrath in the Puni&s;hment of wicked men: For though all things that God does in the&s;e things, are contrived into the greate&s;t Conveniences and Aptne&s;s to their &s;everal Ends, yet if he did not continually move them, <HI>in whom all things live, move, and have their Be|ings,</HI> that do live and move or have any being, all would lye &s;till, and there is no other Power that could ex|cite them; for who can move before him, or be&s;ides him, &s;eeing he moves all him&s;elf? and he who is moved on|ly by him&s;elf, and from him&s;elf, can receive no Motion from any other: The Apo&s;tle therefore thus expre&s;&s;es both &s;ides of the&s;e things; <HI>What if God willing to &s;hew his Wrath, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9. 22.</NOTE>
<PB N="273" REF="144"> <HI>make his power known, and that he might make known the Riches of his Mercy: So then he hath mercy on</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">V. 18.</NOTE> <HI>whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e things being thus fixed, let us further enlarge upon them, by way of Con&s;ectary: And fir&s;t, we are led by them to the&s;e three Petitions.</P>
<P N="1">1. Let us pray, that God would keep and contain our De&s;ires and Re|flexions within due bounds, that we may not exceed our Condition, by un|ruly Appetite; nor pore too much upon the Di&s;advantages and Vexati|ons of our Condition: For if our Souls are let out above due mea&s;ure, how full of Torment and Agony may we be? <HI>He fa&s;hions the hearts of Men alike,</HI> or to an equality, to their Con|dition; for he <HI>as the Potter</HI> moulds the Clay, and fits it to this or that Figure; <HI>The Father of Spirits forms the Spirit of Man within him;</HI> and he doth it in Mercy, or Judgment, as he plea&s;es, yet with righteou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>and plenty of Ju&s;tice:</HI> Mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary it is therefore, that into his <HI>Hand we at all times commend our Spirits,</HI> not only when we are going out of the
<PB N="274" REF="145"> Body into tho&s;e unknown Regions, but while we are here in the Body, that we may be kept within due Mea&s;ures.</P>
<P>Further, It is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to pray, <HI>That God would feed us with Food</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 30. 8. 1 Chron. 4. 10.</NOTE> <HI>convenient for us, that he would ble&s;s us indeed, and enlarge our Border</HI> to ju&s;t proportions, and that he would keep away Evil from us, in &s;uch a degree, that it may not grieve us, piercing us too deep, <HI>that we may not fall into Temptations,</HI> murmurings and di&s;contents again&s;t God; into Rages and Fury again&s;t our &s;elves: This is <HI>to ble&s;s us indeed,</HI> when our Minds and our Condition are equally poiz'd; when Divine Providence pro|portions our Condition to our Minds, and our Minds to our Condition.</P>
<P>When God does not thus pre&s;erve Mens Souls, how do they fall, <HI>as Saul under an Evil Spirit,</HI> for&s;aken of God? They fall fir&s;t upon the edge, and point, of their own edged, point|ed Thoughts, and then upon their Sword. And thus it would be with all Men, did not God &s;weeten their Spirits with <HI>his Ble&s;&s;ings of Goodne&s;s, as with the joys of Harve&s;t,</HI> and &s;u|&s;tain
<PB N="275" REF="145"> them with his benign Influences, as with the gladne&s;s of Corn, Oyl, and Wine.</P>
<P>God gives us many Documents of the force and vehemency of our Souls, in the examples of &s;ome tran&s;ported with Divine Joy, even to Ravi&s;h|ment; another falling into greate&s;t Agonies of Mind and Thought; in the dark and &s;ad part of who&s;e con|dition, we are not to think, that they had greater &s;ins, or &s;harper thoughts, than others; but they <HI>are our Exam|ples,</HI> and teach us, what we &s;hould be, if God did not qualifie us now; and what we &s;hall be in Eternity, if not reconciled to God, and thereby al&s;o to our &s;elves; we &s;hall fall with great|e&s;t Fury and Rage upon our &s;elves: For it is but a little thing, what a Man executes with his own Hand up|on his Body now, in compari&s;on of tho&s;e Rages, wherewith he will fall upon him&s;elf in Eternity.</P>
<P N="2">2. We have need to pray, That God would draw out our Souls now, that we might &s;ee them, and know them; for we do not enough under|&s;tand our Souls, we con&s;ider them not, becau&s;e we lye &s;till. But why
<PB N="276" REF="146"> &s;hould it be hard to conceive? That as Mens Souls are now awakened by Study, Ob&s;ervation, Action, &s;o much more by entring into another World, the mo&s;t &s;tupid Soul may be awaken|ed, being let loo&s;e out of the Body: It &s;hould be therefore our mo&s;t earne&s;t Prayer, that God would open us to our &s;elves, that we may not make provi&s;ion for our &s;elves only, as &s;o lit|tle, as we &s;eem to be, and le&s;t when we come to dye, we fall into tho&s;e horrible amazes, that will ari&s;e from being mi&s;taken in our &s;elves; but that &s;eeing, and knowing what we are, we may make &s;o great a provi&s;i|on for our &s;elves, as our ca&s;e requires, and &s;o not be for ever mi&s;erable, through our not &s;o much as half mea|&s;ures of our &s;elves, and provi&s;ions ac|cordingly.</P>
<P N="3">3. We have need to pray, That God would draw out our whole Minds upon him&s;elf, and Chri&s;t our Lord, in a way of De&s;ire and Affection, of Joy and &s;atisfaction; and that we may be repleni&s;hed with &s;uch a&s;&s;urances of the love of the Father in his Son, that we may have no occa&s;ion to be cruel to our &s;elves: For as extremity of want
<PB N="277" REF="146"> and hunger turns men, as Tygers, up|on their own Fle&s;h, &s;o the Horrours ari&s;ing from the Wrath of God, and the unappea&s;able want of him, en|rage the Soul again&s;t it &s;elf; but the enjoyment of him infinitely ble&s;&s;es and &s;atiates it with plea&s;ure, &s;wee|tens it into greate&s;t love and kindne&s;s to its own &s;elf. And the Spirit thus &s;upported will <HI>bear any other infirmi|ty;</HI> as <HI>David,</HI> having God <HI>for his Light and Salvation, feared nothing; Habakkuk</HI> deprived of all favourable appearances, neither the <HI>Fig-tree blo&s;|&s;oming, nor any Fruit on the Vines, the labour of the Olive failing, the Flock cut off from the Fold, and no Herd in the Stalls, yet he rejoyced in the Lord, and gloried in the God of his Salvation.</HI></P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, We may upon this Head of Di&s;cour&s;e, make the&s;e doctrinal Recollections.</P>
<P N="1">1. There is a high pitch of Hap|pine&s;s, or a very low degree of Mi&s;e|ry, to which every Man is prepared: For the further de&s;cription of which, let us con&s;ider the two great Orders of Spirits, Happy, and Mi&s;erable, Spi|rits; to one of which we &s;hall ever have a likene&s;s.</P>
<PB N="278" REF="147">
<P>The Head, the Supreme, the Prince of the fir&s;t Order, is <HI>Jehovah</HI> him&s;elf, who in the highe&s;t and mo&s;t perfect Act of his own Infinite Under&s;tanding and Will, and the highe&s;t Satisfaction in Him&s;elf, and enjoyment of Him&s;elf, lives from Eternity to Eternity, <HI>the mo&s;t Happy and only Potentate, with his Eternal Son, and Spirit;</HI> without any Di&s;&s;atisfaction, Di&s;compo&s;ure, Wearine&s;s, or Tediou&s;ne&s;s to Him&s;elf, or the lea&s;t Shadow of impre&s;&s;ion upon him from Without.</P>
<P>This is infinitely clear concerning God; <HI>In his Pre&s;ence is fulne&s;s of Joy, at his Right Hand are Plea&s;ures For Evermore.</HI></P>
<P>If we could imagine, as indeed we cannot, becau&s;e Experience &s;o mighti|ly contradicts it, that any Prince &s;hould live in all tho&s;e Delights and Plea&s;ures the mo&s;t &s;plendid Court affords, with|out any tediou&s;ne&s;s or &s;atiety ten thou&s;and years; what a dark repre|&s;entation were this of God? though he could do and enjoy all he would.</P>
<P>Let us then imagine higher, That a Prince of wi&s;e&s;t, mo&s;t refined, and delightful Speculation, could live in the Height and perfect Re&s;t of a mo&s;t
<PB N="279" REF="147"> plea&s;urable Contemplation, without the lea&s;t di&s;quiet; how lowly an Em|blem would this be of the infinite Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of God? Now God made Man in his own Image and likene&s;s, &s;o that the Soul of Man is capable of a communication of this Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, in the perfection of his Under&s;tanding and Will, enjoying God with unex|pre&s;&s;ible Joy, and Peace, and yet in the highe&s;t Life of Action.</P>
<P>Under God are the Ble&s;&s;ed Angels, of whom the Scripture &s;peaks, both of their Knowledge, Perfection, and Power, joined with Holine&s;s and Obedience to God, who have been Participants of the Glory and Ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s of God, from the fir&s;t Dawn of Creation, and in all this time have not had lea&s;t tiredne&s;s or &s;atiation, but highe&s;t Bli&s;s and Joy. Next to the&s;e are the <HI>Spirits of Just Men made per|fect;</HI> who are by &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, as they go out of the World, taken into this Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>Now in all the&s;e In&s;tances it plain|ly appears, to what a height of Hap|pine&s;s Holy Men are de&s;igned, being made like God, <HI>equal to Angels,</HI> in the a&s;&s;urance of which good Mens
<PB N="280" REF="148"> Souls enjoy the Con&s;olations of that better &s;tate in this, and are daily re|moved into it, when they dye.</P>
<P>For the Order of Spirits Mi&s;erable and Unhappy, Spirits, of which <HI>the Devil is the Prince,</HI> although indeed there cannot be &s;uch a Mi&s;ery, as &s;hould &s;tand a counterpoi&s;e to Gods Happine&s;s; for Mi&s;ery is but a retreat from God and his Happine&s;s, from his Favour and Grace, as Darkne&s;s is from Light, and being under the Exe|cutions of his Wrath; yet all this is within the inclo&s;ure of a Finite Being, and were there not an unchangeable Will of God, and a Decree of his Ju|&s;tice, that he will not rever&s;e, all Mi|&s;ery might be removed off from the mo&s;t Unhappy of Beings, and taken quite away.</P>
<P>But as things are, The Mi&s;ery of Spirits may be thus under&s;tood in the great Exemplar of it, the Mi&s;ery of Fallen Angels, and the Prince of them, the Devil.</P>
<P N="1">1. There is a Height and utmo&s;t &s;tretch of Action. The Devil is re|pre&s;ented as always in Motion, from the fir&s;t beginning of Mi&s;ery he hath no Re&s;t, even while he is in Chains,
<PB N="281" REF="148"> as fierce Ma&s;tives, he moves as far as he can, and rages at the &s;hortne&s;s of his Chain; he hath had no &s;leepy mo|ments of Non-action, &s;ince the day of his fall, no Breathing Time, no Truce: Thus the Soul in Mi&s;ery is extended, as we now &s;peak, day and night, that is perpetually, without intermi&s;&s;ion, with an endle&s;s Action and Motion. Con&s;ider, what is Re&s;t and Sleep to a Man of a tormented Mind, and wea|ried Thoughts; a Sleep wherein he is <HI>not &s;cared with Dreams, and terrified with Vi&s;ions,</HI> how unhappy doth he think him&s;elf in the want of it? how unwilling is he to be awakened out of it? And from thence under&s;tand the Mi&s;ery, of being perpetually awake in Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is an ignoblene&s;s, a ba&s;e|ne&s;s in all his Motions, <HI>he goes upon his Belly, and eats Du&s;t;</HI> he hath no Motion that can give him comfort from any glimmering of worthine&s;s, or genero&s;ity in it; in all the multi|tude of his Motions, he has none that can in the lea&s;t cool the Furnace of his tormented Thoughts: Any Degree of Worthine&s;s in his Action would a|bate his Unhappine&s;s. All is full of
<PB N="282" REF="149"> Cruelty, Envy, Black and Malicious De&s;ign, breathing the Fire and Smoak of Hell: He goes up and down, An|gry, Fierce, Malecontent, Cruel to him&s;elf, and full of Rage again&s;t o|thers; as a <HI>Ravening roaring Lion &s;eeking whom he may devour.</HI> This is the &s;tate of mi&s;erable Souls, There is a continual gnawing and &s;corching of wickedne&s;s, <HI>without any thing to cool the tip of the Tongue,</HI> any the lea&s;t in|tention and motion of Goodne&s;s, that might cool one flaming helli&s;h Thought: There is a Rage again&s;t God, an Envy at the Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of Heaven, returning with unexpre&s;&s;ible Mi&s;ery, upon tho&s;e unhappie&s;t of Be|ings, a Hatred, an Execration of them|&s;elves.</P>
<P N="3">3. There is a Horrour, Amaze|ment, and trembling Sen&s;e of the Su|preme Ju&s;tice, Holine&s;s, and Power of God over him, with the Con&s;ci|ence of his own Guilt; <HI>The Devils be|lieve</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam: 2. 19.</NOTE> <HI>and tremble.</HI> The Fountain of Life, Beauty, and Happine&s;s is Hell from Heaven to them; becau&s;e they find nothing in them&s;elves, but di|&s;tance, and contrariety, horrid enmi|ty and hatred: They are convinc'd of
<PB N="283" REF="149"> that High Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;s in the mid&s;t of &s;o great Wrath and Vengeance upon them; and this with|out lei&s;ure or intermi&s;&s;ion, and there|fore perpetually &s;hake with Fear and Horrour, while they are mo&s;t Daring again&s;t God. Thus al&s;o the Souls of Damned Men lye for ever trembling under the Ju&s;tice of God. Now we know by experience, that &s;ome Di&s;|ea&s;es exerci&s;ing Men with a continual Trepidation, are therefore mo&s;t dreadful and di&s;mal; and &s;ome Mens Con&s;ciences being all in an Agony, put them into a mo&s;t lamentable Trem|bling. What then is the condition of tho&s;e, who fall into the extremity of the&s;e things, and that For Ever? In|to which yet in&s;en&s;ible Men ha&s;ten in great numbers.</P>
<P N="2">2. Hence we may learn the more general &s;tate of Good and Bad Men here in the World, and the Rea&s;ons of both: The &s;tate of Good Men not full of the Con&s;olations of God; of wicked Men not full of the Horrours, and Torments of Hell.</P>
<P>In Good Men, there is a poize be|tween the di&s;comforts of bodily in|convenience, and of the pre&s;ent life,
<PB N="284" REF="150"> the fears and &s;ad apprehen&s;ions that pertain to their &s;tate towards God, and the great danger of Hell, on one part; and the Favours of God to them, in the gracious &s;upports of this life natural, inlaid with the more ble&s;|&s;ed Tokens of his love to them in Chri&s;t, the immediate Divine Com|forts he gives them, the hopes they have e&s;caped that greate&s;t of dangers, on the other part.</P>
<P>In Bad Men, there is a poize between the plea&s;ures and enjoyments of Life pre&s;ent, the great inapprehen&s;ivene&s;s of Eternal Things, yea fooli&s;h Hopes and Dreams of the Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s and Happine&s;s of it, giving greater &s;cope to &s;en&s;uality to play its part; the&s;e in one Scale: The many Troubles, Di&s;|quiets, and Di&s;appointments they meet with in this World, the &s;udden Blows of Con&s;cience, and qualmy forethoughts of another World, lying in the other Scale.</P>
<P>Now all this is a low &s;tate of Souls, and a di&s;pen&s;ation of God for holy and wi&s;e Rea&s;ons, intending &s;uch a kind of &s;tate <HI>for the time being;</HI> like that of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Wor&s;hip, and Pro|mi&s;es, which were only outward, and
<PB N="285" REF="150"> terrene, <HI>till the time of Reformation;</HI> &s;o is the &s;tate of the Souls of Men here in the World, both of good and bad Men.</P>
<P>This &s;tate of Good Men in the World, is both in Mercy and Judg|ment upon the World.</P>
<P>In Mercy, For there being &s;uch a mixture of the Intere&s;ts and Concerns of Good Men, with the general Af|fairs and Intere&s;ts of the World, there is for their &s;akes a great care and heed of Providence over the cour&s;e of this World; and as it is u&s;ually &s;aid, If there were never a Righteous Man in the World, the whole World would be de&s;troyed; &s;o if their Intere&s;ts were taken out of it, there would be a pre&s;ent Ruine upon the Affairs of it; their Per&s;ons and Intere&s;ts are of great advantage to the World, that it might not be managed by Evil Men only.</P>
<P>Now if their Affections were &s;o highly moved after God, Eternal life, and the Things of that Life, and the Con&s;olations received from them were an&s;werable, all the Things of this Life would be of &s;uch an undervalue, that they would not mind the care of
<PB N="286" REF="151"> Things below, nor have any Intere&s;ts here, as the Primitive Chri&s;tians, that were negligent of all Things, but the <HI>Better Re&s;urrection.</HI></P>
<P>Again, It is in &s;everity to the World, for if there were &s;uch an illu|&s;trious pre&s;ence of Religion, and the Life of it, it would certainly draw many more in to it, as many in tho&s;e fir&s;t Times, that had never con|&s;idered Chri&s;tianity before, ran into the embraces of it, though upon the Sword, into Flames, and pre&s;ent Death; but now Religion appearing &s;o de&s;picable, not only in regard of its addre&s;s, carried off from Sen&s;e, but much more in the want of the Power, Life, and Lu&s;tre of it &s;elf, it comes to pa&s;s &s;o very few are invited into it.</P>
<P>It is al&s;o in cha&s;ti&s;ement upon Good Men, and the remaining corruption of degenerate Nature, that they are not more exalted in the Heights and Glories of Chri&s;tianity, and its Con|&s;olation.</P>
<P>In the &s;econd place, That Men un|converted to God are not for the ge|nerality more affrighted, and affected with the Fears of eternal Wrath and
<PB N="287" REF="151"> Puni&s;hment, and only moved with the pre&s;ent Evils, according to the degree of impre&s;&s;ion they make upon them, is in long-&s;uffering, it being much bet|ter for Men them&s;elves, and all they have to do with, that they are not in tho&s;e horrible conditions of <HI>Saul, Ju|das,</HI> and <HI>Cain,</HI> who were not promo|ted to Repentance by tho&s;e Terrours, and became a Terrour to all round a|bout them: For if Men have not that only u&s;e of them, that can counter|vail their pain, it is a Mercy to be out of this Hell, while they are here up|on Earth. Taking then the &s;tate of the World, as it is, it is a great Ar|gument of the Patience of God to|wards Men, and without which the condition of the World could not &s;tand: For Men in tho&s;e Terrours mind not the World, while they are in it, and violently ha&s;ten out of it; &s;o that if the generality of Men unrecon|ciled to God were in &s;uch a ca&s;e, there would be no management of Humane Affairs, no enjoyment of them, but an univer&s;al di&s;traction, and di&s;con&s;o|latene&s;s.</P>
<P>And yet there is a Ju&s;tice in it al&s;o, That Men in a Dream of Peace, and
<PB N="288" REF="152"> deep Ignorance of their Souls, and an Eternal Condition, &s;hould move to the Mi&s;ery of it, and not con&s;ider whi|ther they move; their Souls and the Eternal Condition being &s;o much con|cealed from them. And that great Athei&s;m, Wickedne&s;s, and general &s;en|&s;uality of the World, takes advan|tage and incouragement from hence, and Godline&s;s hereupon becomes not a matter of nece&s;&s;ity, but of the Grace of God, and the holy choice of Good Men.</P>
<P N="3">3. Yet in the third place, God may rai&s;e the Soul to a great Degree of the Con&s;olations of Eternal Happine&s;s, and impo&s;e a great Degree of the Ter|rours of Hell upon it, if he plea&s;es.</P>
<P>Of the fir&s;t, <HI>Davids</HI> expre&s;&s;ions are a Te&s;timony; <HI>They &s;hall be abundant|ly</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 36. 8, 9.</NOTE> <HI>&s;atisfied with the bounties of thy Hou&s;e: Thou &s;halt make them drink of the River of thy plea&s;ures: For with thee is the Fountain of life: In thy Light &s;hall we &s;ee Light: Becau&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 62. 3.</NOTE> <HI>thy loving kindne&s;s is better than life, my lips &s;hall prai&s;e thee.</HI> S. <HI>Pauls</HI> challenge of all things, and defying them, as not able <HI>to &s;eparate from the love of God in Chri&s;t.</HI> The&s;e are, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.</NOTE>
<PB N="289" REF="152"> with innumerable others, high expre&s;|&s;ions of a fully &s;atisfied a&s;&s;urance of the Favour and Grace of God, and the Happine&s;s that is to be found in it.</P>
<P>Of the latter, What dreadful in|&s;tances are <HI>Cain</HI> crying out, <HI>My &s;in is</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 27. 38.</NOTE> <HI>greater than can be forgiven; E&s;au</HI> yel|ling out &s;o dreadfully for the Ble&s;&s;ing; <HI>Saul under an evil Spirit,</HI> going to the <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 28. 7.</NOTE> Witch, becau&s;e God had for&s;aken him, and at la&s;t falling upon the point of his Sword; <HI>Ahitophel hanging him|&s;elf;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 31. 5.</NOTE> and <HI>Judas &s;trangled with his me|lancholy Horrours?</HI></P>
<P>If a Mans Under&s;tanding, Affections, Thoughts, De&s;ires, with all their Re|tinue, were extended, and run high upon God, and Holine&s;s, and the eternal enjoyment of him, and the comforts of God delighting all the&s;e, and the Oyl of Grace gliding along upon them, even down upon the Bo|dy, <HI>like the precious Oyntment on the Head of Aaron, going down to the skirts of his Garments;</HI> how &s;weet would the&s;e interweavings of the Soul and its true&s;t and everla&s;ting Joys be, even <HI>un&s;peakable and full of Glory?</HI></P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, when a Man is
<PB N="290" REF="153"> fir&s;t racked, and &s;tretched into va&s;t and in&s;atiable De&s;ires, without &s;atis|faction, and rolled up and down upon a thou&s;and unea&s;ie Thoughts concern|ing them, and, in&s;tead of mitigation, and cooling allays, hath the guilt of his unworthy Actions, and the fears of a Ju&s;tice to di&s;quiet him; how unea&s;ie mu&s;t &s;uch a Mans Soul of nece&s;&s;ity be to him? and if the&s;e are wreathed clo&s;e about him, and pre&s;|&s;ed home upon him by the Indignati|on of God, let out again&s;t him; as the former is a little Image of Heaven, &s;o is this of Hell.</P>
<P>Now it is certain, <HI>No man hath power over his own Spirit,</HI> either to damp the gracious and merciful mo|vings of his Divine Spirit, or to keep out and forbid the angry entrances of Divine Di&s;plea&s;ures, and Revenges: <HI>God is the God of the Spirits of all Fle&s;h,</HI> and acts them as he plea&s;es. No man can imprint upon him&s;elf the rea|&s;ons of Comfort or Di&s;quiet, or fla&s;h into his own Soul, Joy or Sorrow, but under the guidance and &s;upreme go|vernment of God, who <HI>giveth quiet|ne&s;s, &s;o as none can make trouble, and &s;o hides his face that none can be|hold</HI>
<PB N="291" REF="153"> <HI>him: As he plea&s;es he ca&s;ts down, and rai&s;es up, and none can &s;tay his hand, &s;o much as within them&s;elves, or &s;ay unto him, What do&s;t thou?</HI></P>
<P>So great is his Freedom herein, that he &s;ometimes an&s;wers Men, that are &s;trangers to him, in the joy of their hearts, all their lives; and his word of Ble&s;&s;ing goes along with the ordinary favours he does them, &s;o that the Fears of Wrath to come are hid from them; and on the other &s;ide, tho&s;e whom he hath made his Friends, and will u&s;e &s;o for ever, are covered with a Cloud, nay &s;ometimes he &s;ets them <HI>as a mark for his arrows,</HI> and even <HI>cuts them off with his Terrours.</HI></P>
<P>For he is the great Actuator of Mens Spirits, without whom, as the fir&s;t Mover, the whole Motion of Na|ture would &s;tand &s;till; and he di&s;po|&s;es them &s;o, that a Man doth, nor can to any &s;atisfactory account find out him&s;elf; and he therefore feels his greate&s;t &s;ecurity in re&s;ting upon God, and being guided by him.</P>
<P N="4">4. But Eternity is that va&s;t &s;ea&s;on, in which God brings all to a righteous certainty, and which he hath ap|pointed for Happine&s;s without allay,
<PB N="292" REF="154"> or Mi&s;ery <HI>without mixture,</HI> which may be made out three ways.</P>
<P N="1">1. In that in Eternity the whole power of the Soul runs together one and the &s;ame way: In this life the holie&s;t Men have great allays of their holie&s;t and be&s;t Motions, and counter|motions of Di&s;content, and Unbelief to their greate&s;t Comforts; Evil men have generally at lea&s;t &s;ome plea&s;ures, hopes, motions to their advantage, notwith&s;tanding all the cro&s;&s;es they meet with in the World, or the &s;ecret &s;ounds of horrour they have at certain times in their Con&s;ciences.</P>
<P>In this World the Soul &s;ends out parties of it &s;elf, divers ways, or to &s;everal ends. The Judgment may be plea&s;ed in the main, and yet the Affecti|ons di&s;turbed; or the&s;e more &s;till, and yet the Judgment di&s;&s;atisfied and di|&s;turbed: One Thought goes out in high di&s;content, another flyes after it, recalls, and reconciles it: On the other &s;ide, one Thought leaps out of the Soul with plea&s;ure, another reproves, daunts, and dejects it with a correction of its ha&s;te. But in Eternity the Soul is united in its Motions, which way one Faculty goes, all go; and the
<PB N="293" REF="154"> Thoughts are all concentred as in one whole and entire Thought of Joy or Torment.</P>
<P N="2">2. In Eternity there is but one &s;tate of the Soul, and the pro&s;pect of the Soul is but one. In this World change of place, conver&s;ation, diffe|rence of Events rai&s;e different Affe|ctions and Motions of Mind; varieties of bu&s;ine&s;&s;es, occa&s;ions, and tempers upon them, do &s;o di&s;tract and move all &s;orts of Men up and down, that there is nothing pure and unconfoun|ded: In Eternity there is one &s;tate of Soul, and &s;o one action; there is no|thing to mix with either condition: It is one Happine&s;s, or one Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>Even the mo&s;t &s;ad and di&s;mal pro|&s;pect, the pro&s;pect upon Hell and Eternal Mi&s;ery, gives to the Saints rea|&s;on of admiration, and highe&s;t ado|ration of God, in their deliverance from it: On the other &s;ide, the mo&s;t glorious Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s and Happine&s;s of Heaven, is to Men in Hell, when they look up to it, their highe&s;t Amaze|ment, and inflames their Torment, by rea&s;on of their envy again&s;t God, and tho&s;e that dwell with him in Heaven, their reflections upon their own Mi|&s;ery,
<PB N="294" REF="155"> and Rage again&s;t them&s;elves. Thus one State, one Action, one Hap|pine&s;s, one Mi&s;ery, and all to the height, fill Eternity.</P>
<P N="3">3. Then it is that God proceeds to the highe&s;t actuation of the Soul, drawing out all the powers of it, and &s;etting open all <HI>the Windows of Hea|ven</HI> upon it, pouring into it all the always full, and ever flowing Vials of his Love, Grace, and Mercy; or of his Power, Wrath, and Ju&s;tice; which as they are unintermitted them&s;elves in their &s;treams, &s;o it is impo&s;&s;ible, the Soul that is moved, or driven by them &s;hould re&s;t from an action an&s;we|rable to them.</P>
<P N="4">4. In Eternity there is a Body fit|ted to the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of the Mind. In this World Happine&s;s is dulled by the &s;tupidities, or clogged with the &s;lowne&s;s of the Bodies Moti|on, or grows cloying by its incapaci|ty to receive more. The pains and griefs of it call the Mind from its en|joyments, to take pity on it, &s;o that the inconveniences of the Body allay the happine&s;s of the Mind; on the other &s;ide, this Body &s;ubmits it &s;elf to &s;peedy di&s;&s;olution, if its own pains
<PB N="295" REF="155"> are extreme; and its griefs if lei&s;urely and tolerable are abated by being &s;o, as, if over burden&s;ome, they de&s;troy: The troubles of the Mind are much blunted by the gro&s;&s;ne&s;s of Body, in which the Mind cannot feel perfectly its own &s;entiments; and the plea&s;ures and diverti&s;ements of that Body do often allay the angui&s;h of Con&s;cience; as <HI>Cain</HI> grew to &s;ome quiet with him|&s;elf, <HI>by building a City:</HI> But in Eter|nity <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 4. 17.</NOTE> the Body is al&s;o &s;piritual, that is, wholly prepared to the u&s;e and &s;er|vice of the Spirit, and to receive, and attend, and di&s;play its Motions, and condition, to feel its plea&s;ures and pains, to bear its Glory or Deformi|ty openly; all kinds of the&s;e pre&s;ent bodily Plea&s;ures and Pains, Beauties or Deformities being then wholly re|moved. For either the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of meer Body is neither wor|thy of God, nor of the Soul, but would be on the one &s;ide a &s;otti&s;h Plea&s;ure, on the other &s;ide like the tormenting of a Bea&s;t, and &s;o not agreeable to God, or the di&s;cour&s;e of Scripture, however things may be repre&s;ented to our &s;en&s;e, and how|ever the di&s;play of the&s;e things may
<PB N="296" REF="156"> pa&s;s into the Body, and be all &s;een there; yet we know, the mo&s;t exce&s;|&s;ive plea&s;ures of Body interrupt the proper motions of Soul, in which true Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery lye, for neither is a man drenched in an irrational plea|&s;ure, nor tormented, and he knows not why; but there is an orderly mo|tion, a &s;en&s;e of &s;in and guilt, of the &s;upreme Ju&s;tice of God in his righte|ous Executions of Judgment; in Happine&s;s an adoring of Infinite Grace and Mercy, a Rational Ta&s;te of Holy and Divine Plea&s;ures.</P>
<P>I &s;hall now, as a Conclu&s;ion, draw up all this Di&s;cour&s;e into the&s;e practical Conclu&s;ions flowing from the whole.</P>
<P N="1">1. Hereby I under&s;tand I have an immortal and everla&s;ting Soul, to take care of; we look upon our &s;elves <HI>as Fle&s;h and Blood,</HI> but we do not con&s;ider the&s;e Immortal Spirits, and their great Powers, Under&s;tanding, Imagination, Will, Con&s;cience, Af|fections, and the motion of the&s;e to be Everla&s;ting: We do not examine, whether our Souls have a true Health, Peace, and Safety, and a good Pro|vi&s;ion made for them? Whether our Con&s;ciences are quiet, and upon
<PB N="297" REF="156"> good grounds? Whether our Affecti|ons are purified and holy? For a man to con&s;ider his Soul thus, is indeed to con&s;ider a mans &s;elf; <HI>What &s;hall it</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luc. 9. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>profit a man, if he gain the whole World, and lo&s;e him&s;elf?</HI> The Soul is a true Self, and how dreadful will the mi&s;take appear to men? who have counted the Body, and the Intere&s;ts of that, the only Self; and this other true, the greate&s;t Self &s;tarts out: A Self, that now lyes under as many Co|vers, as a Body under a multitude of Garments, and &s;o is concealed: But then it breaking out, and not being provided for, that great principle of &s;elf pre&s;ervation, finding now its greate&s;t Object, will force a man to cry out with a mo&s;t dreadful Ejula|tion and Complaint, Oh this fal&s;e Self that I have laboured for, how hath it deceived me? My very Self I never thought of, and &s;o have lo&s;t it: What &s;hall I give now in exchange for this my true Self?</P>
<P N="2">2. I hereby under&s;tand, I am made for Holine&s;s, as the true Peace and Greatne&s;s of my Spirit, for a conver&s;e with God, for an attendance upon him, for an ob&s;ervation of his Favour
<PB N="298" REF="157"> and Countenance towards me, and that herein is <HI>the Life of my Spirit;</HI> and on the other &s;ide, I am very apt to be tempted to &s;in, and drawn away from God, to live at a di&s;tance from him, to lo&s;e him, and herein at la&s;t will be found the Torment and Hell of Souls; and therefore I have great|e&s;t rea&s;on to be awakened about the&s;e things, and earne&s;tly to pray to God, that he would put me into a high and vigorous action concerning them, and to be extremely un&s;atisfied, when I find my &s;elf in&s;en&s;ible concerning them, and therefore to labour earne&s;tly to be in a good &s;tate and condition in relation to them.</P>
<P N="3">3. I hereby under&s;tand, I am made and de&s;igned, and &s;hall certainly be unexpre&s;&s;ibly Happy or Mi&s;erable to extremity; and who can &s;ay this to him&s;elf, without highe&s;t concern up|on his own Soul? If any one &s;hould tell us, we were ordained to be one of the&s;e, extraordinarily happy and pro&s;perous, or deplorably unhappy, and were about to read our Fate or Doom to us, and that we had con&s;i|derable Rea&s;ons to believe &s;uch a one, who would not with a mo&s;t trembling
<PB N="299" REF="157"> &s;u&s;pen&s;e of mind wait what it &s;hould be? When any one is to receive the I&s;&s;ue of his Cau&s;e from a Judge or Jury, how high and impatient is his expectation? But how much more &s;hould our Thoughts wait for this I&s;&s;ue of Things? and God hath placed it in the motions of the&s;e our own Thoughts; for when they move, en|lightened with his Countenance, clean&s;ed and annointed with his Grace, ennobled with his Spirit, de|lighted with his Con&s;olations, this is Heaven begun, this is Happine&s;s grow|ing up: When they are ba&s;e for want of his Spirit, impure with Lu&s;t and di&s;honourable Affections, full of ran|cour and bitterne&s;s, and all &s;potted and &s;tained with guilt; this is Hell in the Foundations of it laid.</P>
<P>And however my Soul lye &s;till now, yet when I &s;ee how many things draw out mens Souls, even in this Life, Edu|cation, better Conver&s;e, Solitude, &s;ome great danger or lo&s;s in the world, higher Condition, Sickne&s;s, &s;ome no|table Di&s;cour&s;e, as in <HI>Foelix;</HI> how much more mu&s;t I needs think the change into Eternity will do it? and therefore no &s;ilence of my Soul now
<PB N="300" REF="158"> can encourage me upon &s;erious con&s;i|deration to be carele&s;s of it.</P>
<P N="4">4. I hereby under&s;tand my un&s;peak|able dependence upon the Grace of God, and his Free Favour, and hence learn to humble my &s;elf before him to nothing; &s;eeing my Happine&s;s con|&s;i&s;ts in tho&s;e free Beams of his Favour, <HI>in the light of his Countenance,</HI> in his &s;etting my Soul into a gracious Moti|on by his Spirit, and rai&s;ing the Mo|tions of my Spirit to a high commu|nion with him in Bli&s;s; for &s;eeing I can &s;o little yield my &s;elf the accounts of Happine&s;s, and receive them all from him, and can &s;o little move my &s;elf upon them, when they are offer|ed by him, I am inconceivably bound and beholden to him, both to open <HI>the Fountain of Life</HI> (that is him&s;elf) to me, and to move me by his Spirit, that I may move.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, If he leaves me to my &s;elf, what Evils &s;hall I run in|to? and trea&s;ure up torment, and &s;harpen &s;tings again&s;t my &s;elf by it; and how can he inflame my Soul with his Indignation? and to what degrees he plea&s;es, both now and for ever: For if he hide the face of his Mercy,
<PB N="301" REF="158"> who can behold him? What Rea&s;on have I therefore to reverence him with Godly Fear, and to acknowledge him with greate&s;t dependency! I humbly therefore &s;ay, as the Apo&s;tle, <HI>not on|ly, by the Grace of God, I am what I am;</HI> but by the Grace of God alone, I hope, what I hope to be.</P>
<P N="5">5. I hereby under&s;tand, what a great nece&s;&s;ity I have of Je&s;us Chri&s;t my Lord, the Son of the Wi&s;dom, Glory, Power, and Holine&s;s of God, the Son of his Love; for he is the Attonement, <HI>His Blood offered by the Eternal Spi|rit,</HI> is the mo&s;t excellent Thing in Hea|ven or Earth, and that only which <HI>can purge the Con&s;cience;</HI> the mo&s;t excellent and divine In&s;trument of Pa|cification with God, and within the Con&s;cience it &s;elf: Through him <HI>the Holy Spirit is given,</HI> by him is there an entrance into <HI>that Holy of Holies,</HI> that Heaven <HI>within the Veil;</HI> for as the value of Souls for which our Lord gave him&s;elf exalts his Redemption, the greatne&s;s of the Mi&s;ery from which they are re&s;cued, the greatne&s;s of the Happine&s;s to which they are exalted, all glorifie the Saviour of Souls; &s;o do the&s;e Souls, of a Nature &s;o &s;upreme,
<PB N="302" REF="159"> require &s;o great a Ran&s;om and Media|tor, no lower, no le&s;&s;er a Price can countervail them; and it argues them to be a Nature &s;o &s;upreme, that &s;o great a Mediator undertook &s;o infi|nitely for them.</P>
<P N="6">6. Hereby I under&s;tand, the great and extreme Evil of &s;in; for if the breaches and di&s;orders of the Crea|tion are &s;o great arguments of the Evil of &s;in; how much more the breaches, the wounds, the horrours of Con&s;cience! There had never been &s;uch a Thing <HI>as a wounded Spirit,</HI> had it not been for &s;in: There had been only perfect Peace, Glory, and Ho|nour, Happine&s;s, Plea&s;ure, Joy and Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of Spirit; &s;in introduced Deba&s;ement and Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P N="7">7. I hereby under&s;tand, what a worthle&s;s incon&s;iderable Thing the World is, if truly e&s;timated, becau&s;e it is neither that which can be, or ought to be the Happine&s;s of a Man, becau&s;e not the Happine&s;s of the Soul; and if God be plea&s;ed to rai&s;e any Soul above it, what can it be now? Indeed a Man may be quiet with it for a time, but the Soul &s;et upon God, and Chri&s;t, and Eternal
<PB N="303" REF="159"> things, is &s;et where it may re&s;t for E|ver; and it may be &s;o highly &s;et, and rai&s;ed upward, that it may have no need of the World, nor of any thing in it; for in the greate&s;t want of it, even now in this life, the Spirit, born up by God, and Chri&s;t, by &s;en&s;e of and intere&s;t in him, and Eternal Happine&s;s, will <HI>bear its infirmity;</HI> but becau&s;e this World can do nothing to help in the amazements of Con&s;cience, in the Agonies of Death, in the Ter|rours of Eternity, wherein can it &s;erve us? <HI>But Godline&s;s hath the pro|mi&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4. 8.</NOTE> <HI>of this life, and of that which is to come; Now our meat and drink may be to do Gods will,</HI> much more will it be the perfect enjoyment of Eternity.</P>
<P>This World then, and the life we live in it, is only of u&s;e <HI>to make friends of, that we may be received into ever|la&s;ting Habitations, to &s;ow to the Spi|rit with;</HI> to ca&s;t this life, and all the intere&s;ts of it, <HI>as a Corn of Wheat in|to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 12. 24, 25.</NOTE> <HI>the ground; for except it dye into a higher, and more excellent life,</HI> it abides alone; we know the utmo&s;t can be made of it, it can never ri&s;e higher, than it is, and all that can be
<PB N="304" REF="160"> made of it, the total account is <HI>but dying, unhappy man,</HI> but being thus &s;own, it ri&s;es in a flouri&s;h much more excellent, <HI>and brings forth fruit unto Eternal life.</HI></P>
<P N="8">8. Hereby I under&s;tand the &s;tate of this World, and of all men in it, and their Motion, even as I under&s;tand how the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery of Eter|nity lyes: For when I think of Thoughts, Memory, Affections, Con|&s;cience, always and for ever in act and motion; either upon the Con&s;olati|ons, or Terrours of God; and tho&s;e Powers or Motions inwardly Good and Holy, or Evil and Wicked, &s;o is Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery.</P>
<P>So when I &s;ee in the World &s;uch an even poi&s;e, as there is between the vi|gorous life of Grace and Comfort, and the &s;uppre&s;&s;ions of it, through &s;o great concernedne&s;s either in the plea&s;ures, or afflictions of this pre&s;ent life, in Good Men; I herein &s;ee, and under|&s;tand, God doth not call out the Spi|rit to tho&s;e high and illu&s;trious Mo|tions of Grace, that are proper to &s;o excellent a &s;tate as Grace is; and hence I conclude, the &s;trength and enjoyment of Good Men is not com|parable
<PB N="305" REF="160"> to what it might be upon &s;o excellent Principles.</P>
<P>Again, On the other &s;ide, when I &s;ee a like poi&s;e in the &s;tate of Evil Men, between the Trouble and Di&s;|quiets of this World, and the Plea|&s;ures of it, between &s;ome &s;ecret Fears of a future State, and the in&s;en&s;ible|ne&s;s of it; I plainly apprehend, the Patience of God pre&s;erves Men from tho&s;e Horrours they are &s;o every way capable of.</P>
<P>And when either of the&s;e Condi|tions are brought near to an agree|ment, or full corre&s;pondence with tho&s;e Principles, upon which they are fixed; that is, to tho&s;e Joys un|&s;peakable and full of Glory, or to tho&s;e Woes and Agonies of Mind that cannot be ea&s;ed, they approach nearer to what they &s;hall be For Ever. And from both the&s;e I collect the certain|ty of a Future and Everla&s;ting State.</P>
<P N="9">9. I hereby under&s;tand, what it is to lo&s;e a Soul: It is not to be di&s;|charged and acquitted from a Soul, to be as the Bea&s;ts, as the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> de|&s;ired to be <HI>as the Heathens about them.</HI> How glad would wicked men be at
<PB N="306" REF="161"> la&s;t, if this could be? if their Spirits might go downward, if they could be rolled up into utter &s;en&s;ele&s;ne&s;s, or be|come nothing; if Rocks might fall upon them, <HI>and the Mountains cover them.</HI> But this cannot be, Men can|not be Bea&s;ts, though they de&s;ire it; <HI>God hath known them above all the re&s;idue of this lower Creati|on,</HI> and brings them to a reckoning &s;o exact, that none can be lo&s;t in this &s;en&s;e: The number of Souls cannot be le&s;&s;ened or wanting.</P>
<P>The lo&s;s then of a Soul is to be lo&s;t from true Beauty, Excellency, and Goodne&s;s, to have an abhorred Defor|mity, &s;o that they cannot endure to behold them&s;elves, who have lo&s;t the Image of God. If ever any Man did recoil from him&s;elf, beholding an ug|line&s;s, where naturally &s;hould be a Beauty; or did abhor him&s;elf, being confounded with the &s;en&s;e of his own unworthy Actions; the height here|of is in Hell, both the Deformity, and the Apprehen&s;ion of it: And this is one degree of the lo&s;s of a Soul, its horrible degradation from it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Further, It is to be lo&s;t from Life and Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, into an Eternity of
<PB N="307" REF="161"> Woe and Mi&s;ery; as a Man is lo&s;t that is taken Captive, and made a Slave, that is condemned to the Mines or Gallies; to be for Ever the Captive of Ju&s;tice, the Slave of the Wrath and Ju&s;tice of God. This is the lo&s;s of a Soul; and it is the greate&s;t lo&s;s, like the lo&s;s of the Eyes to the Body, or the lo&s;s of Life it &s;elf; in compari&s;on of which Riches are nothing; a lo&s;s that a Man would redeem with a thou|&s;and Worlds, and the Plea&s;ures of &s;o many Worlds heaped together, and in&s;tead thereof undergo the &s;evere&s;t mortification of many Ages of life, and &s;uffer Martyrdoms repeated with|out number, that he might recover the lo&s;t Jewel, his Soul.</P>
<P>And to conclude, It is the wor&s;t way of lo&s;ing, by which a Soul is lo&s;t, it is a lo&s;ing it by &s;in and wickedne&s;s; not like lo&s;ing life in a Noble Cau&s;e, wherein a Man peri&s;hes with Gran|deur and Maje&s;ty. <HI>Hoc tant&ugrave;m nobile feci, qu&ograve;d perii.</HI> Not &s;o well as lo|&s;ing what we value by meer misfor|tune, but as a Man, that by Gaming and Debauchery lo&s;es his E&s;tate, or by Trea&s;on and abhorred wickedne&s;s, lo|&s;es both Life and Honour together.</P>
<PB N="308" REF="162">
<P>There is no way of lo&s;ing a Soul, but by wickedne&s;s, which makes it always a mo&s;t accur&s;ed lo&s;s: And they that are &s;o lo&s;t are an abhor|ring of God, Good Angels, Holy Souls, and even of them&s;elves; like the <HI>Car|ca&s;es</HI> &s;poken of by <HI>E&s;ay</HI> the Prophet, <HI>Who&s;e Worm, bred out of them&s;elves, dyes not, and the fire prepared to con|&s;ume them is not quenched; and they are for Ever an abhorring of all Fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, From the&s;e ju&s;t Mea&s;ures I have in the former Di&s;cour&s;e given of a Soul, I find very &s;atisfactory &s;o|lutions to tho&s;e Pretences, that are thought &s;o mighty, again&s;t the Do|ctrine of the Re&s;urrection. For when I con&s;ider, that Body and Matter are always flowing, and in a continual va|riation, that they are not &s;table e|nough to be much valuable in making up the per&s;on of a Man, I ea&s;ily ad|judge that Honour due to a more no|ble and excellent Being within; for if we re&s;pect a Body di&s;tinctly, who can give an account of the daily De|cays and Reparations, the Acce&s;&s;ions and Diminutions of it, the alterations of it in its a&s;cendency from Infancy
<PB N="309" REF="162"> to Youth, from Youth to Manhood, the gradual declinations of it into Old Age? Yet we &s;till account it the &s;ame Per&s;on, though it cannot be in a di&s;tinct &s;en&s;e the &s;ame Body; there|fore it mu&s;t be the conjunction with the &s;ame never growing, never decrea|&s;ing Soul, that makes it e&s;teemed the &s;ame. I then collect, whatever of Matter is a&s;&s;umed into a Vital Union with the Soul, and fitted for its ope|rations, is truly called its Body; and do we not find, the Soul hath the &s;ame love for the new parts of Matter, that daily accrue to it, &s;o long as they continue in conjunction with it? and that it lo&s;es its love to tho&s;e parts of Matter, before united with it, a&s;&s;oon as they are loo&s;ed, and flye from it: It imprints rationality upon them by its own u&s;e of them, and they be|come wild, irrational, and in&s;en&s;ible again in their departure from it; they are as guilty, as Matter can be, when the Soul vitiou&s;ly in&s;pires them; and as virtuous, as Bodily parts can be, when it u&s;es them in virtuous Moti|ons; the Soul is puni&s;hed, when they being united with it are in di&s;order, and finds plea&s;ure in their ea&s;e, and
<PB N="310" REF="163"> good condition. It is yet indifferent to Matter it &s;elf, whether the parts of it burn in a Feaver, or are in the mo&s;t equal temper, and &s;o through|out all the varieties of Bodily State; and it is as indifferent to the Soul, whether the&s;e material particles are of its older or newer a&s;&s;umption into the participations of its own life, and re&s;entment; its care for, and concern in them is all one. This then being laid, as a certain ground, (for I think it cannot be denyed) that the &s;ame|ne&s;s of the Soul retains with it &s;elf the whole account of the &s;amene&s;s of the per&s;on, no man need intangle him&s;elf in unnece&s;&s;ary &s;cruples concerning the Re&s;urrection, or think the Wounds of Athei&s;m deep, and incurable, upon this point of Chri&s;tianity.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, Let us take that, which &s;eems the mo&s;t natural &s;en&s;e of the Apo&s;tles Di&s;cour&s;e of this point, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. 36, 37, 38. That the dying Body is as <HI>Seed thrown into the Earth,</HI> which <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 12. 24.</NOTE> <HI>dyes,</HI> that is di&s;&s;olves, and melts as it were into the Earth, and communi|cates its &s;eminal virtue to it, and from thence it ri&s;es in the very &s;ame kind of Body, though with much advan|tage,
<PB N="311" REF="163"> and flouri&s;h of Nature; we may then conceive a great part of the whole lump or univer&s;e of Matter, communicated with the &s;eminal vir|tue of Humane Bodies, full of that <HI>Vis pla&s;tica,</HI> which lyes hid and dead now. But as God doth, according to the &s;everal Sea&s;ons of his own appoint|ment, rai&s;e out of the Earth the ordi|nary Seeds, &s;o doth he, in that great Period, or Harve&s;t of the World, draw out of the whole Plot of Nature, the Bodies of every Man, Woman, and Child, the &s;eminal virtue of which remain all along, though conceal'd; And as the ri&s;ing again of Seeds in common Nature, in the main follows the kind of Seeds dying into the Earth, &s;o it is in this higher and pro|per Re&s;urrection: Yet there are very great variations of circum&s;tances too, between the Seeds &s;own, and their ri|&s;ing again, &s;o there is in this Re&s;ur|rection; in&s;omuch that, though there is certainly &s;o much as to di&s;tingui&s;h and appropriate every mans Body to him&s;elf, and &s;o much, that a vitious, unclean, and un&s;anctified Body &s;own ri|&s;es the &s;ame; and a holy purified Bo|dy, made the <HI>Temple of the Holy</HI>
<PB N="312" REF="164"> <HI>Gho&s;t,</HI> ri&s;es &s;uch; and this latter with advantage, and that &s;o great, that the Apo&s;tle tells us, <HI>We know not what we</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3. 2.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be, only this we know, we &s;hall be like him, for we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is:</HI> And the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> re&s;olves it into this, <HI>God gives a Body as it plea|&s;es him;</HI> a Body &s;piritual, incorrupti|ble, and immortal, <HI>conformed to the glorious Body of the Son of God,</HI> and &s;o united with the Soul for Ever.</P>
<P>And further than this, to approach in a more &s;trict and literal &s;en&s;e to the Article of the Re&s;urrection. In all the revolutions of Matter, out of one &s;hape into another, or the vici&s;&s;i|tudes of it in the Bodies of Men, en|tring fir&s;t into the Body of one Man, then of another, there is yet no lo&s;s of Matter, the Omni&s;ciency of God keeps it all under a &s;trict account, di|&s;tingui&s;hes it all; his Omnipotency pre&s;erves and di&s;po&s;es it, he knows how, and is able, to &s;ummon it from every corner; there can then be no want of any particle of any man, and however &s;ome of the &s;ame Matter may have been common to many Men, yet we may with ea&s;e conceive &s;ome &s;ub|&s;tantial parts of all Humane Bodies
<PB N="313" REF="164"> kept &s;o di&s;tinct by God, as to make up out of them to every Man his own Body, at the Re&s;urrection, in as full a &s;en&s;e, as <HI>Eve</HI> was made of the <HI>Rib of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 2. 22.</NOTE> <HI>Adam,</HI> and <HI>taken out of Man;</HI> for we cannot &s;uppo&s;e that done without a|ny addition, but that God made that the Foundation, and built upon it by his own Omnipotency; and yet the whole was &s;o like <HI>Adam,</HI> that he knew <HI>Eve was Bone of his Bone, Fle&s;h</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">v. 23.</NOTE> <HI>of his Fle&s;h;</HI> even &s;o the Soul &s;hall know its own Body, notwith&s;tanding any alteration or addition: And how little an addition needs in the making up a &s;piritual Body? Re&s;urrection is too great a My&s;tery to &s;earch into; but this is plain, The &s;ame Soul with &s;o much the &s;ame Body, much ea&s;es the Doctrine of the Re&s;urrection to our Thoughts.</P>
<P>Nor do I intend this &s;hould be un|der&s;tood, as the lea&s;t intimation, that there is not further proof from Scrip|ture, reconcileable with the princi|ples of true Rea&s;on, to a&s;certain this Article of Chri&s;tian Faith, in the ut|mo&s;t latitude it is a&s;&s;erted by the Church; but I have only taken ad|vantage from the greatne&s;s of the Soul,
<PB N="314" REF="165"> to &s;hew how far the Doctrine of the Re&s;urrection may be verified again&s;t the bolde&s;t infidelious <HI>Sadducee.</HI></P>
<P>There remains nothing then, but a general review of the &s;tate of the Soul in the&s;e Bodies of the Re&s;urrection; upon which I have made frequent re|marques already, and &s;hall only give now this brief Recapitulation.</P>
<P>The Bodies of that future &s;tate are &s;o proportioned and qualified, that they do not at all damp the lively o|perations of a ble&s;&s;ed, and for ever ap|pea&s;ed, or, the enraged motions of a di&s;turbed and tormented Mind. The Bodies of the <HI>Saints</HI> are fitted to the choice and beatifying Action of their Souls; and tho&s;e of the <HI>Con|demned,</HI> have &s;uch kind of Bodies, as give way to the play of a Con&s;cience, full of the &s;tings of guilt, and re|bukes of Ju&s;tice; of the horrours of &s;in, and re&s;tle&s;s Exagitations of it &s;elf; for could the&s;e motions be dulled by Bodies, there would neither be &s;cope for Divine Mercy, nor Ju&s;tice, in the other World: But then it is, that the Bodies of Men are prepared for the greate&s;t capacities of Plea&s;ure or Pain, Fine to take in every intimation
<PB N="315" REF="165"> of either, of free&s;t reception and &s;trength to endure, and bear, in a &s;tate of immortality and incorruption to la&s;t; which is the difference between the pre&s;ent &s;tate of Bodies, and the future; for even an Exce&s;s of Plea|&s;ure here gluts and overcharges Bodi|ly Nature, and oppre&s;&s;es it; from pain and pre&s;&s;ure it vani&s;hes, or is ground to Powder by it: But this immortal &s;tate of Bodies is filled with Happine&s;s, Plea&s;ure, and Delight, and yet tho&s;e Bodies not &s;urcharged; and full of Unhappine&s;s and Mi&s;ery, yet they abide by it, &s;hrink not from, but rejoin them&s;elves to all they endure, having put on immortality.</P>
<P>Now this Mi&s;ery and Unhappine&s;s of the Body ari&s;es fir&s;t from the guilt, and confu&s;ion of the Soul, that falls upon it; even as we &s;ee the &s;orrow of the Mind here in the World, prints it &s;elf upon the outward Man; and the &s;hame and &s;ecret confu&s;ions of guilt, of which the Mind is full, diffu&s;e them&s;elves upon the whole &s;urface of exterior Nature, and make the a&s;pect mean and confounded: On the other &s;ide, the Peace, Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Heavenly Joy of the Saints break out,
<PB N="316" REF="166"> and illu&s;trate their Bodies; even as we &s;ee now a chearful Heart makes a Countenance full of Light, and a good frame of Soul beautifies the whole Man; <HI>A Mans Wi&s;dom now makes his Face to &s;hine,</HI> and in Eter|nity the clearne&s;s &s;hall not be only doubled, but in endle&s;s degrees grow brighter, even to the brightne&s;s <HI>of the Sun,</HI> for &s;o they <HI>&s;hall &s;hine out in the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 13. 43.</NOTE> <HI>Kingdom of their Father.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. The Bodies of Saints have a di|&s;tinct Happine&s;s and Glory, be&s;ides that which flows from the Soul; and it is that by which Almighty Good|ne&s;s and Wi&s;dom fits them to the &s;tate of the Soul; a <HI>Fa&s;hioning</HI> there is of Bodies like <HI>to the Glorious Body</HI> of Chri&s;t, which returns with greate&s;t delight and &s;atisfaction upon the Soul: On the contrary, the Bodies of wick|ed Men not accompli&s;hed with that Glory, but puni&s;hed with a deformi|ty, increa&s;e the unhappine&s;s and tor|ment of the Soul. We &s;ee the Soul now takes plea&s;ure in the grace and happy order of its Body, and is de|jected by any thing loath&s;om, and to be abhorred in it: This will be much more in the unchangeable &s;tate; God
<PB N="317" REF="166"> &s;o di&s;po&s;ing, that the Soul and Body lye clo&s;er, and nearer one to another; and the pa&s;&s;es and reciprocations of Good and Evil are much freer, and more penetrating; and therefore Hea|ven and Hell are &s;o often de&s;cribed in Scripture by things proper to Bodies, becau&s;e they are mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible to us now; and becau&s;e too the Happine&s;s or Mi&s;ery (though it be for the Souls &s;ake alone, originally and principally, yet) as far as the Nature of Body u|nited to the Soul extends, do fully and on every &s;ide incla&s;p, and encom|pa&s;s Bodies, as well as Souls for Ever.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
