dresses, that, should I direct thee to them while thou art a stranger to Christ, thou wilt count them deceivers, devourers, and wolves in sheeps' clothing, rather than the shepherds that belong to the great and chief Shepherd, who is, also, the Bishop of the soul.
Yet this I will say unto thee, take heed of that shepherd that careth not for his own soul, that walketh in ways, and doth such things, as have a direct tendency to damn his own soul; I say, take heed of such an one, come not near him, let him have nothing to do with thy soul; for if he be not faithful to that which be his own soul, be sure he will not be faithful to that which is another man's. He that feeds his own soul with ashes, will scarce feed thine with the bread of life; wherefore, take heed of such an one; and many such there are in the world (Isa 44:20). 'By their fruits you shall know them;' they are for flattering of the worst, and frowning upon the best; they are for promising of life to the profane, and for slaying the souls that God would have live; they are also men that hunt souls that fear God, but for sewing pillows under those arm holes which God would have to lean upon that which would afflict them. These be them 'that, with lies, do make the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad;' saith God; and that have 'strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he shall not return from his wicked way, by promising of him life' (Eze 13:18–22).
And as thou shouldest, for thy soul's sake, choose for thyself good soul shepherds, so also, for the same reason, you should choose for yourself a good wife, a good husband, a good master, a good servant; for in all these things the soul is concerned. Abraham would not suffer Isaac to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, (Gen 24:3); nor would David suffer a wicked servant to come into his house, or to tarry in his sight (Psa 101:7). Bad company is, also, very destructive to the soul, and so is evil communication; wherefore, be diligent to shun all these things, that thou mayest persevere in that way, the end of which will be the saving of thy soul (Prov 13:20; 1 Cor 15:33).
And since, under this head, I am fallen upon cautions, let me add these to those which I have presented to thee already:
Caution 1. Take heed, take heed of learning to do evil of any that are good. 'Tis possible for a good man to do things that are bad; but let not his bad action embolden thee to run upon sin. Seest thou a good man that stumbleth at a stone, or that slippeth into the dirt—let that warn thee to take heed; let his stumble make thee wary, let his fall make thee look well to thy goings; 'ever follow that which is good' (1 Thess 5:15). Thy soul is at stake.
Caution 2. Take heed of the good things of bad men, for in them there lies a snare also; their 'good words and fair speeches' tend to deceive (Rom 16:17, 18). Learn to be good, by the Word of God and by the holy lives of them that be good; envy not the wicked, 'nor desire to be with them;' 'choose none of his ways' (Prov 3:31; 24:1). Thy soul lies at stake.
Caution 3. Take heed of playing the hypocrite in religion. What of God and His Word thou knowest, profess it honestly, conform to it heartily, serve Him faithfully; for what is the hypocrite bettered by all his profession, 'when God taketh away his soul?' (Job 27:8).
Caution 4. Take heed of delays to turn to God, and of choosing His ways for the delight of thy heart, 'for the Lord's eye is upon them that fear Him, to deliver their souls' (Psa 33:18,19).
Caution 5. Boast not thyself of thy flocks and thy herds, of thy gold and thy silver, of thy sons and of thy daughters. What is a house full of treasures, and all the delights of this world, if thou be empty of grace, 'if thy soul be not filled with good?' (Eccl 6:3). But,
USE FOURTH.—Is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing, and is the loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then, I pray thee, let me inquire a little of thee, what provision thou hast made for thy soul? There be many that, through their eagerness after the things of this life, do bereave their soul of good, even of that good the which if they had it would be a good to them for ever (Eccl 4:8). But I ask not concerning this; it is not what provision thou hast made for this life, but what for the life, and the world to come. 'Lord, gather not my soul with sinners,' saith David, (Psa 26:9); not with men of this world: Lord, not with them that have their portion in this life, whose belly Thou fillest with Thy hid treasures. Thus you see how Solomon laments some, and how his father prays to be delivered from their lot who have their portion in this life, and that have not made provision for their soul. Well, then, let me inquire of thee about this matter. What provision hast thou made for thy soul? And,
1. What hast thou thought of thy soul? What ponderous thoughts hast thou had of the greatness and of the immortality of thy soul? This must be the first inquiry: for he that hath not had his thoughts truly exercised, ponderously exercised, about the greatness and the immortality of his soul, will not be careful, after an effectual manner, to make provision for his soul, for the life and world to come. The soul is a man's all, whether he knows it or no, as I have already showed you. Now a man will be concerned about what he thinks is his all. We read of the poor servant that 'setteth his heart upon' his wages (Deu 24:14,15). But it is because it is his all, his treasure, and that wherein his worldly worth lieth. Why, thy soul is thy all; it is strange if thou dost not think so! and more strange if thou dost think so, and yet hast light, seldom, and trivial thoughts about it. These two seem to be inconsistent, therefore let thy conscience speak; either thou hast very great and weighty thoughts about the excellent greatness of thy soul, or else thou dost not count that thy soul is so great a thing as it is, else thou dost not count it thy all.
2. What judgment hast thou made of the present state of thy soul? I speak now to the unconverted. Thy soul is under sin, under the curse, and an object of wrath; this is that sentence that by the Word is passed upon it—'Woe unto their soul,' saith God, 'for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.' (Isa 3:9). This is the sentence of God. Well, but what judgment hast thou passed upon it while thou livest in thy debaucheries? Is it not that which thy fellows have passed on theirs before thee, saying, 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst' (Deu 29:19). If so, know thy judgment is gross, thy soul is miserable, and turn, or in little time thine eyes will behold all this.
3. What care hast thou had of securing of thy soul, and that it might be delivered from the danger that by sin it is brought into? if a man has a horse, a cow, or a swine that is sick, or in danger by reason of this or that casualty, he will take care for his beast, that it may not perish; he will pull it out of the ditch on the Sabbath day. But, oh! that is the day on which many men do put their soul into the ditch of sin; that is the day that they set apart to pursue wickedness in. 32 But, I say, what care hast thou taken to get thy soul out of this ditch?—a ditch out of which thou canst never get it without the aid of an omnipotent arm. In things pertaining to this life, when a man feels his own strength fail, he will implore the help and aid of another; and no man can, by any means, deliver by his own arm his soul from the power of hell, which thou also wilt confess, if thou beest not a very brute; but what hast thou done with God for help? hast thou cried? hast thou cried out? yea, dost thou still cry out, and that day and night before him—'Deliver my soul' (Psa 17:13) 'Save my soul, preserve my soul' (Psa 25:20) 'Heal my soul,' (Psa 42:4), and, 'I pour out my soul unto thee?' (Psa 62:5). Yea, canst thou say, My soul, my soul waiteth upon God, my soul thirsteth for Him, my soul followeth hard after him? (Psa 63:1,8). I say, dost thou this, or dost thou hunt thine own soul to destroy it? The soul, with some, is the game, their lusts are the dogs, and they themselves are the huntsmen, and never do they more halloo, and lure, and laugh, and sing, than when they have delivered up their soul, their darling, to these dogs—a thing that David trembled to think of, when he cried, 'Dogs have compassed me. Deliver my darling,' my soul, 'from the power of the dog' (Psa 22:16,20). Thus, I say, he cried, and yet these dogs were but wicked men. But, oh! how much is a sin, a lust, worst than a man to do us hurt; yea, worse than is a dog, (or) a lion, to hurt a lamb!
4. What are the signs and tokens that thou bearest about thee, concerning how it will go with thy soul at last? There are signs and tokens of a good, and signs and tokens of a bad end that the souls of sinners will have; there are signs of the salvation of the soul, (Heb 6:9); evident tokens of salvation;
