Firsts That fatal mistake in the practical understanding and judg- ment of men deserves a compassionate lamentation, as the cause and reason of their eternal miscarriage and ruin. They looked upon trifles as things of greatest necessity, and the most necessary things as mere trifles ; putting the greatest weight and value upon that which little concerned them, and none at all upon their great- est concernment in the whole world, Luke xii. 21.
Secondly, The perpetual diversions that the trifles of this world gave them from the main use and end of their time. O what a hurry and thick succession of earthly business and encumbrances filled up their days ! So that they could find no time to go alone, and think of the awful and weighty concernments of the world to come, James v. 5.
Thirdly, The total waste and expence of the only season of sal- vation, about these vanishing, impertinent trifles, which is never more to be recovered, Eccles. ix. 10.
Fourthly, That these deluding shadows, the pleasures of a mo- ment are all they had in exchange for their souls, a goodly price it was valued at. Mat. xvi. 26.
Fifthly, That by such a life they have not only ruined their own souls, but put their posterity, by their education of them in the same course of life, into the same path of destruction, in which they went to hell before them. Psal. xlix. 13. " Their posterity approve their saying.'"*
Inf. 10. How rational and commendable is the courage and reso- lution of those Christians wlio chuse to bear all the sufferings in this world from the hands of men, rather than to defile and wound their consciences with sin, and thereby expose their souls to the wrath of God for ever !
That which men now call pride, humour, fancy, and stubborn- ness, will, one day, appear to be their great wisdom, and the excel- lency of their spirits. It is the tenderness of their consciences, not the pride and stoutness of their stomachs, which makes them in- flexible to sin ; they know the terrors of a wounded conscience, and had rather endure any other trouble from the hands of men, than fall by known sin into the hands of an angry God. Try them in other matters wherein the glory of God, and the peace or purity of their consciences are not concenied, and see if you can charge them with stubbornness and singularity, it was the excel- lency of the spirits of the primitive Christians, that they durst tell the emperor to his face, when he threatened them with torments ; ** Pardon us, O emperor, thou threatenest-us with a prison, but
150 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAX.
" God with hell *.'' Do we call that ingenuity and good nature which makes the mind soft and tractable to temptations, and will rather venture upon guilt than be esteemed singular ?
-|- Salvian tells us of some in his time, who were compelled to " be evil, lest they should be accounted vile."" And was that their excellency ? May I not fitly apply the words of Salvian here : " O in what honour and repute is Christ among Christians, when reli- gion shall make them base and ignoble !" He that vmderstands what the punishment of sin will be in hell, should endure all things ra- ther than yield to sin on earth. Indeed, if you that threaten and tempt others to violate their consciences, could bear the wrath of God for them in hell, it were somewhat ; but we know there is no suffering by a proxy there ; they tremble at the word of God, and have felt the burden of guilt, and dare not yield to sin, though they yield their estates and bodies to prevent it.
Inf. 11. How patiently should we endure the afft'ictions of this life, by which sin is prevented and purged P
The discipline of our spirits belongs to God the Father of spirits ; he corrects us here that we may not be punished hereafter, 1 Cor. xi. 32. " We are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be con- " demned with the world.""* It is better for us to groan under af- flictions on earth, than to roar under revenging WTath in hell. Pa- rents who are wise, as well as tender, had rather hear their chil- dren sob and cry under the rod, than stand with halters upon their necks on the ladder, bewailing the destructive indulgence of their parents.
Your chastisements, when sanctified, are preventive of all the misery opened before. It is therefore as unreasonable to murmur against God, because you smart under his rod, as it would be to accuse your dearest friend of cruelty, because he strained your arm to snatch you from the fall of a house or wall, which he saw ready to crush and overwhelm you in its ruins.
If we had less affliction, we should have more guilt. We see how apt we are to break over the hedge, and to go astray from God, with all the clogs of affliction designed for our restraint ; what should we do if we had no clog at all ? It is better for you to be whipped to heaven with all the rods of affliction, than coached to hell with all the pleasures of the world.
Christian, thy God sees, if thou do not, that all these troubles are few enough to save thee from sin and hell. Thy corruptions require all these, and all little enough. " If need be, ye are in " heaviness,"' 1 Pet. i. 6. If there be need for it, thy dearest
* Ignosce imperator, tu carcerem miriaris, Deus gehennam, •f Mali esse coguntur, ne viles habeantw.
A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN. 151
comforts on earth shall die, that thy soul may live ; but if thy mortification to them render thy removal needless, thou and they shall live together. It is better to be preserved in brine, than to rot in honey. Sanctified afflictions working under the efficacy of tlie blood of Christ, are the safest way to our souls.
Inf. \% How doleful a change doth the death of wlched men make upon them ! from jjalaces on earth to the prison of hell.
No sooner has the soul of a wicked man stepped out of his own door at death, but the Serjeants of hell are immediately upon it, serving the dreadful summons on the law-condemned wretch. This arrest terrifies it more than the hand-writing upon the plas- ter of the wall did him, Dan. v. 5. How are all a man's apprehen- sions changed in a moment ! Out of what a deep sleep are most, and out of what a pleasant dream of heaven are some awaked and startled at death, by the dreadful arrest and summons of God to condemnation.
How quickly would all a sinner's mirth be damped, and turned into bowlings in this world, if conscience were but thoroughly awakened ! It is but for God to change our apprehensions now, and it would be done in a moment : but the eyes of most men's souls are not opened till death hath shut their bodily eyes ; and then how sudden, and how sad a change is made in one day !