12. SERM. XII. The Third Sermon on the Excellency of the Soul.
SERM. XII. The Third Sermon on the Excellency of the Soul.
F or what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own Soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul? –
Matth. 16:26.
I shall speak something unto a Use that was mentioned the last day, and that was this, If God hath given unto us such precious souls, Oh then let not us dishonor our souls: Dishonor them, Why, how may a man dishonor his soul?
1. Why first when he lives idly, and makes no use at all of it, any more than if he had but the soul of a Brute. Psal. 24:5, speaking of him that had not lift up his soul unto vanity, I remember the old Latin Arius Montanus turns it, He that hath received his soul in vain. And indeed most people do receive their souls from God in vain, or to no purpose, they make no more use of them than the Philosopher said of the Swine that had his soul only as salt to keep the flesh from stinking; there is all the use many men make of their souls, only to keep their bodies from smelling, and from corruption.
Secondly, We dishonor our souls when we employ them about low and mean things unworthy of them, and make them to be the chief things that we employ them about; It is the misery of man so to do, that I spake of before, and it is the sin of man so to do: How many men that have such precious immortal souls as these are, know no higher good to employ them about, than to be it may be all day or night in shuffling a pair of Cards, or casting of Dice, or at Tables? There is the highest good that they know how to employ their souls about. What a poor mean low thing is this, what a dishonor to such a soul as this? If so be any of you have servants that are of good breeding, good parentage, that are of excellent parts, that have lived long with you, that have skill in your Trade, if you should set them to do nothing but pick straws, they would account it a great dishonor put upon them. Truly what do you with these precious immortal souls of yours that are so much worth, even more than the world, but employ them in such poor things, even to pick straws as it were? If a man should have pearls, that every one of them were worth a Kingdom, and he should know no other use to make of them than to stop holes in Mud walls, one would think it, as to be great folly in him, so a great dishonor put upon those pearls that are of so much worth; why your souls are more worth every one of them than all the Pearls and Kingdoms in the world, and for you to do nothing else but spend the strength of your souls about gathering of a little dirt together here in this world, it is a great dishonor to your souls.
We have a story of Domitian that was a great Emperor, and yet he had such a low and mean spirit, as that he would spend the greatest part of his time in catching of Flies. This is recorded of him as an argument of the lowness and meanness of his spirit, unworthy a man of so great a dignity:
Oh so our souls that God hath made so high and put such glory upon, what
are they busied about in most people? I remember Gregory Nyssen, he tells of some, and among others of Origen, to be of that opinion, that the souls of men were made altogether at the first Creation, and lived glorious spirits till they sinned against God, and all those that sinned against God were thrust into the bodies of men, as into a prison, and those that did not sin, they live still with God in glory. And Jerome, as I remember in his 32nd Epist. speaks of that opinion that did prevail; and we find Plato, though a heathen, he speaks of the souls of men, and thought that they were made altogether before their bodies, if not from eternity. These men they thought the souls of men so precious, as that they could not come into the bodies of men but for their faults, as a punishment to them, because they saw how meanly men's souls lived while they were in their bodies, and therefore thought it impossible for such a precious soul as a man had, to come to live so meanly, were it not for God's anger punishing the soul for some sin or other: Oh do not dishonor them by employing of them about unworthy and low things.
Thirdly, Do not dishonor them by defiling of them by casting filth, and dirt upon them. Would not a Prince account himself dishonored, to have the filth and dirt of the street to be cast into his face? Certainly, when thou doest defile thy soul by sin, when thou doest sin, thou doest as vile an act as casting dirt in the face of a Prince. There is no Princes body upon earth so excellent as the soul of the poorest and meanest man, no filth in the world so vile as the filth of sin, and by thy sin thou doest cast this filth upon thy soul, and so doest all besmear it, and defile it. You love to have clean and handsome bodies, and are loath to come into company all besmeared and besooted: Oh but how often do you go into the presence of God most abominable and loathsome! Oh do not put that dishonor upon your souls!
Fourthly, Do not dishonor your souls by making them drudges to your bodies, by making them to be Caters to provide for the body, and to satisfy the lusts of the flesh; I have seen (saith Solomon) servants upon horses, and Princes walking as servants upon the earth. This was an evil Solomon thought, but to see our base vile bodies to be set up, and our souls to be brought under, and servants and slaves to this body, Oh how vile is it! If you should see a great Prince to be made a slave to some Scullion-boy, you would account it a great leaving of his condition, and dishonor put upon him, but while thou makest thy soul to be a slave to thy body, it is worse a great deal. Seneca, though he were but a Heathen, yet hath this notable speech, I am greater, and born to greater things, than that I should be a drudge to my body, and the slave of my body: A Heathen thought himself too great, and born to greater things than that ever he should bring that soul of his to be a drudge and slave to his body. And indeed did we know our souls, we should think so, and we should never make them drudges to our bodies, merely to satisfy the lusts of the flesh; and yet how many men and women are loath to die, only upon this ground, because that then they shall have no more satisfaction to the lusts of the flesh? Oh what dishonor is there put upon this precious and excellent soul in this? But much more dishonor when thou makest it a drudge and slave to the Devil? It is an evil to have our souls to be slaves to our bodies, but a greater evil to be a slave and drudge to the Devil, that the Devil should have command of them, and carry them up and down as he pleases. I remember, it is reported of Theodosius, and another Emperor that did use to call themselves the vassals of Christ; but as for those precious souls now to be vassals to the Devil, Oh this is too great a dishonor that is put upon them.
Fifthly, Again, you dishonor your souls by grudging the time and cost that is spent upon them; how many men and women think the time is lost that is spent upon their souls more immediately! They must indeed sometime pray, and sometime hear the word, but the time, and all the charge they are at for their souls, they look upon it even almost as lost, and so grudge it, and so would fain be about something for their bodies; speak to them about praying in their families, they have business, and what is all their business for, but only for their bodies? Indeed we should rather turn our plea the other way, and be loath to spare time for our outward estate, rather than for our souls, those immortal souls of ours; it is a wonder, how any one that knows the worth of his soul, can find in his heart, but upon mere necessity, and out of duty, to spare time for his outward condition. The soul is dishonored when the time and cost that is bestowed about it is grudged, as if it were merely lost, and cast away.
Sixthly, Again we dishonor our souls when as we lay not up provision for them against an evil day, this is a dishonor put upon them.
Seventhly, And lastly, you dishonor your souls, when as you think to satisfy them with anything but God himself; if you should have any of your friends that are of quality come to your house, if you should set a bowl of swill before them, and think to satisfy their hunger that way, they would think it a great dishonor to them. Now if you do think to satisfy your souls with anything here but God himself, you do as it were bring bones to set before a Prince. It was a speech unworthy of a man which we read of in the Gospel concerning rich Dives, Soul, Soul, take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up for many years. Soul, Soul, eat, drink, and take thine ease; Why, what had that to do with eating and drinking? How unworthy was this, I
say, of one that had an immortal soul thus to speak: Oh this is a great dishonor that is put upon the soul.
Now then learn we in a right way to put honor upon our souls, and to love them, and make them our Darlings; and manifest your love to your souls,
First, By having your thoughts often upon them; we manifest our love to a friend by having our thoughts run upon him: Oh let your thoughts run much upon your souls, I am thus and thus in regard of my outward estate; in regard of my body, through God's mercy I have all my limbs and senses, and comfortable provision for it: Oh but my soul, how is it with thee? Be often conferring with your souls, as you know one friend loves to confer with another: Can you say you love such a friend that is your next neighbor, and never spend any time in conference together, scarce ever speak one with another? Certainly so it is with the souls of men, they think but little of the terms that their souls are in with God, of what conditions their souls are in, whether good or bad, and the day is yet to come wherein many a man hath spent one half hour in conference with his soul, to know how terms do stand between his soul and the Almighty God: Oh love your souls by thinking on them, and thinking often what should become of them.
2. And further, love them by making them Empresses of your bodies, by keeping your bodies under them: Those that the Scripture sets out unto us which have had the most precious souls, they have ever more beat down their bodies, and kept them low: You know Paul that was one of the most precious spirited men that ever lived upon the face of the earth, yet saith he,
I beat down my body, I beat it black and blue, lest after I have preached to others, I myself become a Reprobate; he did not think his happiness to consist in pampering his body, no, but he beat it down, and therein he
shown his love to his soul, in that he made his soul to be Emperess as it were.
It is the speech of a learned man upon those words, Subdue the earth, that is thy body, and all earthly things, to that spiritual part of thine, thy soul. If one should tell you what the ancient Martyrs, and worthy Instruments of God that were precious men in their time, how hardly they used their bodies, it would hardly be believed by you; but this is certain, there was never any that knew the true worth of their souls, but they made them the Empresses of their bodies. Ambrose said of Valentinian, No man was ever such a servant to his Master, as Valentinians body was to his soul; Bring your bodies down, and therein you will show the greatest love unto your souls.
3. And further, Adorn your souls, labor to put comeliness and beauty upon them as much as you can, and therein you will show love and respect to them: Adorn them with those graces that may make them amiable and lovely in the eyes of God himself, in 1 Pet. 5:5. Be clothed with humility.
Those that understand the Greek language, know it to be a word that signifies a dress that Gentlewomen use to have upon their heads with ribands, such as they did use to wear in those days, and so they thought themselves very comely, and the Apostle alludes to those kind of dresses.
Oh humility is the finest dress for a woman in the world, and so for men too. The finest clothes that you can put upon you is the clothes of humility; and so any grace of God's Spirit it is the clothing of the soul: Oh therefore show your love unto your souls by laboring to deck and adorn them with such clothing as this is.
4. And show your love to your souls by providing for them, while God affords means, labor to understand the want of your souls, and be willing to
be at any charge and cost for the good of them: If your head ache, or you have any little pain in any of your members, how do you seek out, and are willing to be at a great deal of charge that you may have ease for your bodies? Now seek out for your souls, the one is a sign that you love your bodies well, and the other will be a sign that you love your souls as well.
5. And then show love to your souls in the excellency of them, in things that are suitable to them, in conversing with God and Jesus Christ, with the mysteries of the Gospel, and with heavenly things.
6. Shew your love to them in laboring to bring them to the attaining of that end that they were made for, the uttermost happiness that they are capable of; then indeed you show true love to your souls, when as your care is to bring them to the attainment of that end that God made them for:
Certainly when God made a creature of so much excellency, he did intend a glorious end for it: And let this now be your great care, and manifest your love to your souls, I say, in this, by laboring to attain the end that God made them for. But this shall suffice for the first point, of the preciousness and excellency of our souls.
We come now to the second, and that is the main Point indeed in the Text, that is, That the loss of this soul is a most dreadful loss.
Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life; Even the Devil himself could say so. The loss of bodily life we account a great evil, and therefore the Scripture calls Death by the name of the King of Terrors; and is it so great an evil to lose a bodily life, to have the soul and body but separated? Is the face of a bodily death so ghastly? Oh how great an evil, and how ghastly is the face of the eternal death, and the loss of the immortal
soul? This Point my brethren, is a Point of exceeding great concernment to understand; we shall therefore, First, Inquire what we mean by the loss of the soul, or when may the soul be said to be lost?
The second thing, Wherein doth the dreadfulness of the loss of the soul consist?
And then thirdly, I shall discover to you some aggravations of the evil of the loss of the soul.
Fourthly, And then we shall come to apply all together.
For the first then, What doth Christ mean when he saith, What profiteth it a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his soul?
First, You are to know this, That we are not said to lose our souls, because they shall be annihilated, and cease to be, the ceasing of the soul to be, that is not the loss of the soul, the ceasing indeed of our bodily lives is the loss of our lives, but it is not so with the soul, for the soul of no man or woman shall be lost so.
Yea, and this would not be the greatest loss for the soul to cease to be.
There are two degrees of evil that are beyond the evil of ceasing to be; to be miserable, to be in pain and torture, is worse than not to be, and to be sinful, is worse than to be in pain; and therefore the ceasing to be, is not the greatest evil: What is the loss of the soul then?
First, The loss of the soul it is first in the privation of it of all the good and excellency that the soul is capable of, the privation of the true good that the soul was made for.
Secondly, It consists in its departing and wandering from God: As a sheep is said to be a lost sheep that wanders up and down in the wilderness; so that is a lost soul that wanders away from God the fountain of all good.
Thirdly, It consists in the subjecting of it to that misery and evil that is contrary to what good it is capable of.
And then fourthly, and lastly, in the succorless and helpless condition that it is brought into; we use the phrase of Lost to all these things; when a man hath lost his estate, we account such a man as a lost man; and when a man is brought into a great deal of misery, that heretofore was in a great deal of happiness, we account such a man to be a lost man; but especially when a man is succorless and helpless, when he hath no way to help and relieve himself, then he is a lost man indeed: And according to the degrees of these four things then a soul may be said to be lost. And here for the present every man and woman's soul in the world by nature is a lost soul.
First, Every man and woman, as they come into the world are deprived of the glory and excellency that God did endow the souls of men withal in their first creation, we are all deprived of the glory of God, saith the Scripture.
And secondly, All our souls do now naturally wander away from God, continually depart, and wander from the infinite glorious first-being of all things; Thou that art an old man or woman that hast lived many years, and God hath not revealed himself in working the true work of conversion in thee, to change thy estate, know, that thy soul hath been departing and wandering from the Lord all the days of thy life, to this very present, thou art like a lost sheep, wandering up and down in the wilderness, and in danger to be destroyed every minute of an hour by some wild beast or other; though it is true, thy soul is not made a prey to the Devil so as to destroy thee utterly, yet thou hast been in danger all the while thou hast been wandering from the Lord to be made a prey upon by the Devil, and utterly to have been cast away.
Yea, and thirdly, There is a great deal of misery upon thy soul, if thou knewest it; as, contrary to that light that he hath set up in thy understanding, there is blindness in thee, there is error in thee; contrary to that holiness that was at first in thy heart and soul, there is nothing but sin and wickedness, all the spawns and seeds of all kind of sin is in thy heart; there is a great deal of that evil that is contrary to what thy soul was made withal at first, there is enmity in thy soul against God himself.
Yea, and fourthly, Thy soul is in a succorless, helpless, shiftless condition in respect of what thou art able to do, or what all the creatures in heaven or earth are able to do for thee; let all the Angels in heaven, and men in the world, join together to seek to do good to thy soul, they are not able to deliver thy soul from that evil that now it is in, and that it is in further danger of. And this is the reason of that phrase that you have in Luk. 19:10.
The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. We are all lost sheep going astray, and Jesus Christ came to seek and to save lost souls;
Souls deprived of the glory of God, Souls wandering away from God, Souls filled with evil, Souls succorless, and helpless in regard of any power in any creature in heaven and earth to save them: Christ beholding how such precious souls were every one of them lost, if he had not come to save them, he was pleased to come from heaven to seek and to save souls thus lost.
Now though souls be for the present in a lost condition, yet there is a further loss of the soul than this; for if the soul be neglected here, it will be lost forever; there are many that are lost now for the present, and yet afterwards Christ finds them, and there is joy in heaven at the finding of them; but there is a loss that shall be eternal, and that loss is more dreadful than the former, yet the former hath the degree of it, but that the perfection
of the former: Now the loss of the soul in hell consists in these three particulars.
First, The full and perfect eternal rejection of the soul from God, and from all good in him together, with the fullness of all kind of evil that the soul is capable of; this is the condition of a lost soul that perishes.
Secondly, And then in the next place it consists in the making of this soul to be perfectly sensible of the loss of that good, and of all the evil it is possessed withal, making of it perfectly sensible of it: Here men and women are in lost conditions, but they know it not, they are not sensible of it: But God will bring the soul into such a condition, as it shall be made perfectly sensible of the loss of all the good that it might have had, and of all the evil that is upon it.
Thirdly, And then lastly, It shall be in such a condition, so succorless, so helpless, as is not only beyond the power of Angels, and all men to help it; but I say, so succorless, so lost, as that God's mercy, and all the good there is in Christ shall never save it, and as God hath set and ordered things, can never save it.
Now then these things being opened to you, you will understand what this Text means: When you read this Text you think there may be truth in it, and in general you will assent unto it, but if you come to understand but these things, then indeed you cannot but all subscribe to it and acknowledge: Oh it is indeed a dreadful thing the loss of the soul. But now because it is a point of so great moment, I will not satisfy myself merely in telling you these things, but endeavor to open them unto you, what the evil of this loss is, that if it might be, by presenting this before the souls of men, they may see more the danger that they are in, and how the Devil hath gulled and deceived them all this while: It may make many souls to be at a stand, if
they come to know what this loss indeed doth mean. Now I shall endeavor the opening of this in the three last particulars that I named.
First, For the rejection of the soul from God so as to be deprived of all the good there is in God, and that it is capable of; Now for the understanding of the evil of this, we must inquire what is that good that the souls of men are capable of, or else we cannot come to understand what an evil thing it is to lose it.
Now for the good that the soul is capable of, I will but only name some heads unto you, for in a Treatise that some of you have in your hands, of Moses looking to the recompense of reward, there are the principal heads of the good and excellency that the soul is capable of, and shall be blessed in heaven eternally with: And the apprehending the loss of these things, will discover much, The first part of the evil of the loss of the soul. I will but in a very brief way present them unto you.
Why the Glory of God upon the soul, the Image of God, the Life of God, the Divine nature that the soul is capable of: Now for the soul never to live the Life of God, nor to have his Image, nor any of the Glory of Gold upon it, this is a fearful evil to those that know the excellency of these things; of the blessed vision of God in heaven, to see him that is the infinite firstbeing of all things, to see him as he is, to see him that hath all excellency in him, and to see all the good there is in God, as the good of the soul. The soul is capable of the understanding of the mind of God, to have all the glorious Counsels of God about his works and ways that he hath had from all eternity to be revealed unto, so far as concerns it, and as any way may make it happy: To live to see what the ways of God have been from all eternity, and what they shall be to all eternity, and that for the good of this soul, that it may be forever in his presence, and to stand and look upon his
face, and see him as the portion of it, Oh this must needs be a glorious thing: Certainly if the presence of God put such a glory upon the heavens, it must needs put abundance of glory upon the soul that shall stand immediately always in his presence: To have eternal communion with God, that is, to have the embracement's of God, embracing the soul, and delighting himself in it above all other his works, but only the Angels and his Son; delighting, I say, himself in the soul, and embracing it, communicating and letting out himself in all his luster and glory when he shall have enlarged the soul to be able to the uttermost to receive in that glory that he hath to communicate: And for him to converse with the souls of men to all eternity in a familiar way, as one friend with another; and for the soul to be letting out its self again to God, for that is in communion, there is God's letting out himself to it, and its letting out its self again to God; now, I say, it is the greatest delight to what God hath in himself, his
Son, and Spirit, and Angels, the letting out of himself to the souls of men (those that shall be saved:) And on the other side, it must needs be an infinite delight to the soul always to be letting out itself upon God, as now, what delight do men take in eating and drinking? Now if there be such delight from the humor in the palate meeting with a piece of meat in the mouth, because of the suitableness between one object and another? Oh what delight must there needs be when this immortal precious soul being enlarged to the uttermost with all excellency shall then meet with an infinite
God, the infinite first-being of all things as the most suitable object to it, and so be letting of its self forth to God, and God letting of himself forth to it again.
Again, the good that the soul is capable of with God, it is to have a union with God, for the soul to be made one with God, to be united so as to be
made one with him: He that is joined to the Lord, is one Spirit, saith the Apostle; and saith Christ, in Joh. 17. Father, I will that those that thou hast given me, may be one with me, as thou and I are one. Spiritual things do most unite one to another; there may be a thousand beams of the Sun united, and almost into one point, because it is of a more spiritual nature: so when the soul shall be made one Spirit with God, it being a Spirit, and God likewise a Spirit, there will be an exact union one with another: And so the more spiritual things are, the more they communicate one to another; as in nature, the more corporeal a thing is, the less it communicates its self; the earth doth not communicate its self with any creature; the water communicates itself more than that, and the air more than that, and the fire more than that; the Sun, that is less corporeal than any of these elements that we have here, and therefore that communicates itself more than the element doth: Now God being a Spirit, and the souls of men spiritual, Oh what a communion will there be of each to other!
And then further, the soul is capable of fruition of God; union, and communion, and fruition, what is that you will say? That is to have God not only to be united to it, but to have a kind of possession of him, to have the use of all that there is in God that can make me happy, to have the full use of it when I will; then a man doth enjoy a thing, when he can have the use of such a thing when he will: Now the souls of the Saints shall enjoy God, that is, shall have the use of all that glory and good there is in God that can make them happy, when they will, and shall have as much use of God as they will; surely they must needs be happy that shall thus enjoy God: If a man had the fruition of the world, that he could have the use of all the good things in the world, when he would, you would think him happy; but this is the happiness of the souls of the Saints, that they shall have such a fruition
of God, that they shall have all the use of God that they will, and when they will.
And further, Fruition hath this in it, it hath a reflect act; A man, though he hath a great deal of riches given him, yet if he doth not know this, or if so be that he doth know it, and yet have not the comfort of it, he doth not enjoy it; such a man, though he be born to a great deal, yet if he have not the reflect act to know that he hath it, he doth not enjoy it: So we enjoy but little of God now, because God, though he be the portion of a gracious heart, yet the heart doth not know this fully: But knowledge, when it shall be perfect, then the soul shall perfectly know what good there is in God, and how far my soul may and is happy in the enjoyment of this God; I shall know how to make use of God to the full, and shall have continually the comfort of all that good there is in God.
And yet further, the presence and communion with Jesus Christ that the soul shall have, besides that of God the Father, it shall be with him, where he is: It is a blessed thing here to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes, but to be always with him, to have always fruition of him, and to have communion likewise with all the Saints and Angels, and all the blessed spirits, that is a blessed thing indeed. I remember I have read of Cato, when he was about to die, Oh blessed day, saith he, for now I shall go to the souls of wise men, and Philosophers; and so upon that ground he did account the day of his death a blessed day, because he should go to have communion with the souls of Philosophers and wise men: But how blessed is it then for our souls to have communion eternally with Angels and blessed spirits? You are come to an innumerable company of Angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. When a soul is converted, it comes to have some kind of communion with innumerable company of Angels, and with the spirits of
just men made perfect: It hath the assurance of it here, and shall have the enjoyment fully and perfectly hereafter.
And then the continual exercise that the soul shall be busied in, to be forever blessing, and magnifying, and praising and worshipping of God, and receiving in from God, and letting out its self to God: The eternal
Sabbath that it shall keep, and then the eternal rest that the soul shall have, when it comes to God, it comes there to its Center, there it hath perfect peace and rest, and can never have trouble further.
Yea, and it shall live in God; not only God live in it, but it shall, I say, live in God, as (though the similitude comes short of it) the fish swimming in the Sea; so the soul shall be swimming in the infinite Ocean of the excellency of the great God. It is said of John, that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day; so the soul shall live in God: Our life is hid with Christ in God: But our life shall be plain and apparent, not hidden, but apparent before Angels, and all the rest of the blessed, and so our lives shall be after another manner than now they are. Now to open every one of these things would be very large, so that it suffices now only to present them to you, to show in a short view the good of the soul in the full enjoyment of God, and what it shall have from him, that so you may see what the loss of the soul means. Now if these things be true and real, Oh what a dreadful thing is it for a man to lose his soul, for a man to come to lose all this good, that others that have souls like unto him shall come to enjoy, and that he might have enjoyed as well as others! If there were no more in the loss of the soul but this, to be cast away from the good that it is capable of, it might show unto us this loss to be very dreadful. It was a speech of Austin long since speaking of that place where Dives did desire Lazarus to come with one drop of water to cool his tormented tongue, saith he, If there should be but
one drop of heavenly felicity let into Hell, it would quench all the fire of Hell presently: And Chrysostom hath such an expression, that he would rather suffer thousands of years in pain and torment in Hell, than he would lose that good that he might have in the enjoyment of God; he accounted paena damni, the loss of God to be the greater, and it were a good sign of a soul that did understand its own excellency, and what good it were capable of, to fear as well the loss of God, and what good it might have in God, and to account that as great an evil to it, as pain, and horror, and torment: Why, when we come to express the wrath of God to you, and the evil that sin deserves, we speak of Hell fire, and so the Scripture doth; If we would set out the great evil of punishment (when we speak to men and women that are led by sense) we would tell them of their bodies being thousands of years in scalding Lead, and kept alive there, and this would startle and amaze them; but certainly the evil of the souls rejection from God, and being cast off from the good that there is in God, it is as great, if not a greater evil; and a good sign, I say it were, that God is going to show what our souls are to us and the true excellency of them; If we begin to be affected with the loss of God himself, and the good we might have in God, not only afraid of Hell, because of fire and torment there, but afraid of having our souls lost, because of being deprived of such infinite good, as otherwise we might come to enjoy with God: A gracious heart hath more thought about losing the good that there is in God, than of the pain that he should feel in Hell.
To set it out a little but in this resemblance, of the eye being deprived of light: An eye that hath beheld the glory of the Heavens, and of the Creatures, though it should never have any pain, but only there should be such an ill humor, so as to take away all light from it; why what hurt is here
to the eye? It is but only the absence of a good thing, the eye feels no pain; but what man in the world but would rather be willing to have his eyes to see, and not to be blind all his life time, than to have the enjoyment of thousands of gold and silver? Now if the bare absence of the sight of a man's eyes be so great an evil, and he would rather almost endure any pain, than to have his eyes deprived of the light, then certainly the absence of God must needs be a most dreadful evil to the soul: when the Sun shines in its luster, how beautiful is it? And how pleasant to that it is at midnight, when it is dismal dark? Why what is done? It is only the absence of one
Creature, one Creature is here now, and shines gloriously upon us, and at midnight the Creature is gone: so what a mighty change and alteration would there be in the soul, if it should be deprived of the presence of the Lord? If the Lord who is infinite in glory be present with the soul, and shine upon it to all eternity, Oh how glorious will it be but God's withdrawing himself, fully and everlastingly from the soul, Oh what a dismal night of darkness will there be! And therefore it is a most dreadful thing for the soul of a man to be lost in regard of this first particular, in regard of the privation of that good that it is capable of.