2. But then after the death of the soul in this world, there is another degree of spiritual death ; which is, ichen the soul leaves the body. Then the soul dies. For then it goes to hell. It is severed for ever from the com- fortable and gracious presence of God, and likewise it wants the comforts it had in this world.
3. And the third degree of it is, when body and soul shall be joined together ; then there is an eternal separation of both from the presence of God, and an adjudging of them to eternal torments in hell. This is the state of all men that are not in Christ. They are dead in soul while they live ; dead after the separation of the soul and body, and after to be adjudged to eternal damnation, world without end. Life is a sweet thing, and we know death it is terrible. When we would set out our hatefulness to anything,
* In margin here, ' In this world.' — G.
THE SPIRITUAL JUBILKE. 235
•we use to say, ' I hate it as death.' Do we love Hfe, and do we hate death? We should lahour then to be out of that condition that we are all in by nature, wherein we are under sin and death, in regard of spiritual life, I mean ; for, for civil life, and government, and policy, men may have life and vigour enough, that are hypocrites. But I speak of a better life, an eternal life, that is not subject to death.
Now, mark the joining of both these together. We are under sin and death by nature. Where a man is under sin he is under death ; for as the apostle saith, Rom. v. 12, ' Sin entered into the world, and by sin death.' They were neither of both God's creatures, neither sin nor death. But sin entered into the world by Satan, and death by sin. ' Oh, ye shall not die,' saith Satan. He was a liar alway from the beginning. So now he saith to men, you shall not die ; you may do this and do well enough. But he is a liar and a murderer. When he solicits to sin he is a murderer. Let us take heed of solicitations to sin, from our own nature or from Satan. Mark how God hath linked sin and death, ' The wages of sin is death,' Rom. vi. 23. When we are tempted to sin, we think, I shall have this credit, or profit, or contentment, or preferment, and advancement in the world. Ay, but that that you get by sin, it is not so great as you look for, when you have it, if you get it at all. But afterwards comes death, the beginnings of eternal death, terrors of conscience, universally follow, if a man be himself, if he be not besotted. The more a man is a man, and enjoys the liberty of his judgment to judge of things, the more he sees the misery that is due after sin, with a fearful expectation of worse things to come. Sin and death are an adamantine chain and link that none can Bever. Who shall separate that which God in his justice hath put together? If sin go before, death will follow. It the conception go before, the birth will follow after ; if the smoke go before, the fire will follow. There is not a more constant order in nature than this in God's appointment : first sin, and then death and damnation after.
Use. Therefore when we are tempted to sin let us reason w'ith ourselves, ' There is death in the pot,' 2 Kings iv. 40. Let us discern death in it. It will follow. And if a man after repent of it, it will be more sharp repentance and grievous than the sin was pleasant; that a man shall have little joy of his sin, if he do repent. If he do not repent, what a fearful estate is a man in, after he hath sinned ! Sin and death go together. No human power can sever them ; for take the gi'eatest monarch in the world, when he hath sinned, conscience is above him as great as he is, for con- science is next under God. It awes and terrifies him, and keeps his sleep from him ; as we see of late in our bloody neighbour country, after that great massacre, he could not sleep without music and the hke.* All that they have and enjoy in the world, all their greatness, it will not satisfy and stop the mouth of conscience ; but when they sin, they feel the wrath of God arresting, and they are as it were shut up in prison, under the terrors of an accusing conscience, till they come to eternal imprisonment in the chains of hell and damnation. This is the estate of the greatest man in the world that is not in Christ. They are not so happy as we think they are. They are imprisoned in their own hearts, though they walk at never 60 much liberty abroad, and do what they list ; for sin and death goes together, and before eternal death comes, the expectation and terrors of it seize on them for the present. So that whatsoever our first birth be, though it be noble and great, yet by it we are bond- slaves under sin and * Cf. Vol. I. p. 149. -G.