2. When this uncertain breath is once expired, the last hope of every unregenerate person is gone for ever : It is as impossible to recover hope as it is to recover your departed breath, or recal the day that is past. When the breath is gone, the comjjosihim is dis- solved ; we cease to be what we now are, and our life is as water spilt on the ground which shall not be gathered up till the resur- rection. Our life is carried like a precious liquor in a brittle glass, which death breaks to pieces. The spirit is immediately presented to God, and fixed in its unalterable state, Heb. ix. 27. All means of salvation now cease for ever ; no ambassadors of peace are sent to the dead ; no more calls or strivings of the spirit : no more space for repentance. O ! what an inconceivable weight hath God hanged on a puff of breath I
3. And since matters stand thus, it is to be admired what shift men make to quiet themselves in so dangerous a state as most souls live in ; quiet and unconcerned, and yet but one puff of breath be- twixt them and hell ! O the stupifying and besotting nature of sin ! O the efficacy and power of spiritual delusions ! Are our lives such a throng and hurry of business that we have no time to go alone and think where we are, and where we shortly must be ? What shall I say ? If bodily concerns be so weighty, and the matters of eternity such trifles ; if meat and drink, and trade and children be such great things, and Christ, and the soul, and heaven, hell, and the world to come such little things in your eyes, you will not be long in that opinion I dare assure you.
Inf. S. Is the tie so weak betwixt our souls and bodies ? How close and near then do all our souls confine and border upon eternity ?
There is no more than a puff of breath, a blast of wind betwixt this world and that to come. A very short step betwixt time and eternity : There is a breath which will be our last breath : respira- tion must, and will terminate in expiration : The dead are the inha-
A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN. 517
bitanU; and the living are borderers upon the invisible world. This consideration deserves a dwelling place in the hearts of all men whether,
I. Regenerate souls should ponder this with pleasure. O it is transporting to think how small a matter is betwixt them and their complete salvation. No sooner is your breath gone, but the full desire of your hearts is come ; every breath you draw, draws you a degree nearer to your perfect happiness; Rom. xiii. 11. "Now " is your salvation nearer than when ye believed ;" therefore, both your cheerfulness and diligence should be greater than when you were * in the infancy of your faith. You have run through a con- siderable part of your Christian course and race, and are now come nearer the goal and prize of eternal life. O despond not, loiter not now at last, who were so fervent and zealous in the begin- ning.
It is transporting to think how near you approach the region of light and joy. O that you would distinctly consider,
1. Where you lately were.
2. Where now you are.
3. Where shortly you shall be.
1. You that are now so near salvation, were lately very near unto damnation, there was but a puff of breath betwixt you and hell. How many nights did you sleep securely in the state of nature and unregeneracy ? How quietly did you rest upon the brink of hell, not once imagining the danger you were in ? Had any of those sick- nesses you then suffered, been suffered by God, like a candle, to burn asunder this slender thread of life which was so near them, you had been as miserable, and as hopeless as those that now are roaring in the lowest hell. I have heard of one that rid over a dangerous bridge in the night, who, upon the review of that place, fell into a swoon, when he was sensible of that danger which the darkness of the night hid from him. O reader, shall not an escape from hell affect thee as much as such an escape would do ?
2. It is no less marvellous to consider where you now are ; you that were afar off are now made nigh, Eph. ii. 13. You that were not beloved, are now beloved, Rom. ix. 25. You were in the state of death and condemnation. You are now passed from death to life by your free justification, 1 John hi. 14. Your union with Christ hath set you free from condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. Die
* He says this, because the faithful had been, when they first believed, more diligent and cheerful in good works, but afterwards grew cold, or turned lukewarm. Estius on the place.
518 A TREATISE OF THE SOL'L Oh MAN",
you must though Christ be in you, but there is no hazard or hurt in your death. The stopping of your breath can put no stop to your happiness, it will hasten not hinder it : If the pale horse come for vou, heaven, not hell, will now follow him ; your sins are par- doned, the covenant of your salvation sealed. Death is disarmed of its fatal sting ; and what then should hinder you from a like triumph, even upon your death-bed with that, 1 Cor. xv. 55. " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?
3. And yet you have more room for joy, whilst you consider where vou must, and shall shortly be. You are now in Christ, but in a few days you shall be with Christ as well as in him ; it is well now, but it will be better ere long. Your sin is now fully pardoned, but not fully purged out of your souls. Your persons are freed from guilt, but your hearts are not either freed from filth or grief: But in a little time you shall be absolutely and eternally freed from both. Your present condition is in heaven, compared with your former, and your future state will be in heaven indeed, compared with your present. " The path of the just is as the shining light, <; which shineth more and more unto the perfect day," Prov. iv. 18.
II. But on the other side, what meditation can be more start- ling and amazing to all the unregenerate and christless world ? Ponder it, thou poor christless and unsanctified soul. Get thee out of the noise and clamour of this world, which make such a continual din in thine ears, and consider how thou hangest over the mouth of hell itself, by the feeble thread which is spun every mo- ment out of thy nostrils ; as soon as that gives way, thou art gone for ever. What shift do you make to quiet your fears, and eat, drink, and labour with any pleasure ? It is storied of Dionysius the tyrant, that when Damocles would have flattered him into a conceit of the perfection of his happiness, as he was an absolute so- vereign prince, and could do what he pleased with others, as his vassals ; Dionysius, to confute his fancy, caused him to be placed at a table richly furnished, and attended with the most curious music, but just over his head hanged a sharp and heavy sword by- one single hair ; which when Damocles saw, no meat would go down with him, but he earnestly begged for a discharge from that place. This is the lively emblem of thy condition, thou unrege- nerate man.