But it may be all this is but a fuppofition; and there is no man so forfaken of his reason, and of common prudence, as to make fuch a bargain. Surely no man that is reasonable, no man that confiders the difference between time and eternity, between a few years, and everlasting ages, can be perfuaded to forego the happiness of heaven, and to fall into the hands of the living God, no not if the whole world were offered to him for confideration. Indeed these large terms of gaining the whole world, are but a fuppofition, which our Saviour makes to fhew the unreasonableness of most mens choice; but in truth, and in effect, the cafe of finners is much worse. Among all thofe numerous troops of finners that go to hell in fuch throngs, there is not one of them that ever made himself fo wife a bargain, and though the whole world be but a pitiful price to be paid for a man's foul, yet fo ftupid are the greatest part of those creatures, whom we call reafonable, as to ftrike up a bargain for little fcraps and portions of this world. There are but a few who ftand upon fuch terms as this world thinks confiderable. They are a fort of more generous finners that damn themselves for a crown and a kingdom, that will not do an act of injuftice upon lower terms than a manor or a lordfhip. Alas! moft men barter away their fouls for a trife; and fet their eternal happiness to fale for a thing of nought. How many are there, who, to gratify their covetoufnefs, or luft, or revenge, or any other inordinate paffion, are content to hazard the lofs of their fouls? who will go to hell, rather than be out of the fafhion: and damn themselves out of mere compliment to the company, and cannot be perfuaded to leave off that foolish custom of fwearing, which hath neither pleafure nor profit in it, no not to fave their fouls?

Thus it is in truth, and the fuppofition which our Saviour here makes of gaining the whole world, is but a feigned cafe; the market was never yet fo high, no finner had ever yet fo great a value for his immortal foul, as to ftand upon fuch terms; alas! infinitely lefs than the whole world, a little fordid gain,

VOL. X.

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the gratifying of a vile luft, or an unmanly paffion, the fmile or the frown of a great man, the fear of fingularity, and of difpleafing the company; these and fuch like mean and pitiful confiderations tempt thousands every day to make away themfelves, and to be undone for ever.

I have done with the first thing, the folly of this adventure, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lofe his own foul? I proceed to the

Second, the fevere reflexion men will make upon themselves for this their folly. What would they not give to undo this foolish bargain? What will a man give in exchange for his foul? to redeem and recover fo great a lofs? And fooner or later every man will be fenfible of this folly; probably in this world, but moft certainly in the other; and then, What would a man give in exchange for his foul?

Whenever the finner comes to reflect upon himfelf, and to confider feriously what he hath done, with what indignation will he look upon himself, and cenfure his own folly? Like a man who in a drunken fit hath paft away his eftate for a trifling confideration; the next morning when he is fober, and come to himself, and finds himself a beggar, how does he rate himself for being fuch a beast and a fool, as to do that in a blind and rafh heat, which he will have cause to repent as long as he hath a day to live?

Or if the finner be able to keep off thefe thoughts, while he is well and in health, yet when he is feized upon by fickness, and comes to ly upon a death-bed, he will then in all probability be fadly fenfible what a fool he hath been. When he shall stand upon the confines of eternity, and look back upon this world; which, how confiderable foever it once appeared to him, can fignify nothing now that he is to leave it when he confiders how much he hath parted with, and is now like to lofe for ever, for the falfe and treacherous advantages of a vain world, he will then need no body to convince him of his error, to aggravate his folly to him; he now repents heartily

that

that he was not wifer, and wifheth for nothing fo much, as that God would grant him time to revoke and undo this foolish bargain; and how glad would he be to give the world back again to fecure his foul, and to throw up all his unjuft gain, and the advantages he hath indirectly made by fraud, or violence? This, I doubt not, is the fenfe of molt men, when they come to leave the world and if it be true then, it is fo now. Let us then, while the opportunities of life are before us, fuffer thefe confiderations to take place and prevail, which otherwife would wound us to the heart, and fill our fouls with anguish and defpair in a dying, hour.

O the folly and ftupidity of men to be fo tranfported with prefent and fenfible things, as to have no confideration of our future ftate, no pity for our fouls, no fenfe of our everlafting abode in another world; to be fo blinded by fenfe, fo bribed by the pleafures of fin, which are but for a moment, as to forfeit the happiness of all eternity! when the pleafure is paft and gone, and the dear price comes to be paid down, and our fouls are leaving this world, and going to take poffeffion of that everlafting inheritance of fhame and forrow, of tribulation and anguiin, which we have purchased to ourselves by our own folly, how fhall we then repent ourselves of that bargain which we have fo rafhly made, but can never be released from !

It is our lot, who have the fouls of men commit. ted to our charge, to fee many of thefe fad fights. O my God! what confufion have I fometimes feen in the face of a dying man! What terrors on every fide, what reflefs working, and violent throws of a guilty confcience! And how are we tempted, (who commonly are fent for too late to minifter comfort to fuch perfons) I fay, how are we tempted to fow pillows under their uneafy heads; and out of very pity and compaffion, are afraid to fay the worst, and are grieved at our very hearts to fpeak thofe fad truths which yet are fit for them to hear! It is very grievous to fee a man in the paroxyfms of a fever, or in the extreme torment of the ftone, or in the ve

T

ry agony of death: But the faddeft fight in the world is the anguifh of a dying finner nothing looks fo ghaftly, as the final defpair of a wicked man, when God is taking away his foul.

But whatever fenfe men have of these things, when they come to ly upon a fick-bed; every finner will most certainly be convinced, when he comes into another world. We fhall then have nothing to divert us from these thoughts; we fhall feel that which will be a fenfible demonftration to us of our own folly. Then men will curfe thofe falfe and flattering pleasures which have cheated them into fo much mifery; but their own folly most of all, for being fo eafily abufed. Then would they give ten thoufand worlds, if they had them, to recover the opportunity of a new choice; but it cannot be they parted with their fouls once at a cheap rate; but no price will then be accepted for the redemption of them.

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O that men would confider these things in time, for they are plain and evident to thofe that will confider them. Our Saviour tells us, we have fo much evidence, that he that will not be convinced by it, would not be perfuaded, though one rofe from the dead to testify unto him. We have Mofes and the Prophets; nay, we have the Son of God himself, who hath revealed these things to us; and if we would but attend to them, and suffer them to fink into our hearts, nothing in this world could be a temptation to any of us to do any thing, or to neglect any thing, to the prejudice of our immortal fouls.

with

Therefore, to conclude this difcourfe, whenever by any prefent pleasure or advantage, we are tempted to provoke God, and to deftroy our own fouls let us confider what an unequal bargain we make, how little we purchase, and how much we part al. Whenever we are follicited to any fin, let us take time to answer the question here in the text, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own foul? &c.

SER

185

SERMON CCL.

The reasonableness of fearing God more than man.

LUKE Xii. 4, 5.

And I jay unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to caft into hell; yea, I fay unto you, Fear him.

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The first fermon on this text.

HE occafion of these words will more clearly appear, if we compare this difcourfe of

our Saviour's, as it is here recorded by St. Luke, with that fuller account of it given by St. Mat thew, chap. x. where our Saviour having called his difciples together, and given them their commiflion, and the rules and inftructions they were to observe in the execution of it, he warns them likewife of the oppofition they would meet with, and the perfecution that would attend them in the faithful discharge of their duty; nevertheless he bids them take courage, and boldly to proclaim the gofpel, notwithftanding all the danger and hazard it would expose them to but because this is very unwelcome and terrible to flesh and blood, to encounter the rage and fury of men; therefore to ftrengthen their refoluti. on, and to fortify their fpirits against these fears, he tells them of fomething much more terrible than the wrath or rage of men, viz. the anger and dif pleasure of God, that fo he might chafe away this

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