Fifthly. Another conclusion that followeth from these words is this, That a man, when he is a sufferer, is not able to secure his own soul from the hand of hell by any other means, but by the committing of the keeping thereof to God. Do you suffer? are you in affliction for your profession? Then keep not your soul in your own hand, for fear of losing that with the rest. For no man can keep alive his own soul, (Psal. 22.29.) No, not in the greatest calm; no, not when the Lyon is a sleep: how then should he do it at such a time, when the horrible blast of the terrible ones shall bea• against his wall. The consideration of this was that that made holy Paul, who was a man upon whom persecution continually attended, commit his soul to God (Acts 20.23. 2 Tim. 1.12.) God as I shall show you by and by, is he, and he alone that is able to keep the soul, and deliver it from danger. Man is naturally a self deceiver, and therefore is not to be trusted, any farther than as the watchful eye of God is over him. But as to hi• ⟨p. 15⟩soul he is not be trusted with that at all, that must be wholly committed to God, left altogether with him; laid at his feet, and he also must take the charge thereof, or else 'tis gone, will be lost, and will perish for ever and ever. Wherefore 'tis a dangerous thing for a man that is a sufferer, to be a senseless man, as to the danger that his soul is in, and a prayerless man, as to the committing of the keeping of it to God. For he that is such, has yet his soul, and the keeping thereof, in his own deceitful hand. And so has he also that stays himself upon his friends, upon his knowledge, the promise of men, or the mercy of his enemies, or that has set in his mind a bound to himself, how far he will venture for Religion, and where he will stop. This is the man, that makes not God his trust, and that therefore will surely fall in the day of his temptation. Satan, who now hunteth for the precious soul to destroy it, has Power, as well as Policy, beyond what man can think. He has power to blind, harden, and to make insensible, the heart. He also can make truth in the eyes of the suffering man, ⟨p. 16⟩a poor, little, and insignificant thing. Judas had not committed the keeping of his soul to God, but abode in himself, and was left in his Tabernacle: And you by and by see, what a worthy price he set upon himself, his Christ, and Heaven, and all.
Fifthly. Another conclusion that followeth from these words is this, That a man, when he is a sufferer, is not able to secure his own soul from the hand of hell by any other means, but by the committing of the keeping thereof to God. Do you suffer? are you in affliction for your profession? Then keep not your soul in your own hand, for fear of losing that with the rest. For no man can keep alive his own soul, (Psal. 22.29.) No, not in the greatest calm; no, not when the Lyon is a sleep: how then should he do it at such a time, when the horrible blast of the terrible ones shall bea• against his wall. The consideration of this was that that made holy Paul, who was a man upon whom persecution continually attended, commit his soul to God (Acts 20.23. 2 Tim. 1.12.) God as I shall shew you by and by, is he, and he alone that is able to keep the soul, and deliver it from danger. Man is naturally a self deceiver, and therefore is not to be trusted, any farther than as the watchful eye of God is over him. But as to hi• ⟨p. 15⟩soul he is not be trusted with that at all, that must be wholly committed to God, left altogether with him; laid at his feet, and he also must take the charge thereof, or else 'tis gone, will be lost, and will perish for ever and ever. Wherefore 'tis a dangerous thing for a man that is a sufferer, to be a senseless man, as to the danger that his soul is in, and a prayerless man, as to the committing of the keeping of it to God. For he that is such, has yet his soul, and the keeping thereof, in his own deceitful hand. And so has he also that stays himself upon his friends, upon his knowledge, the promise of men, or the mercy of his enemies, or that has set in his mind a bound to himself, how far he will venture for Religion, and where he will stop. This is the man, that makes not God his trust, and that therefore will surely fall in the day of his temptation. Satan, who now hunteth for the precious soul to destroy it, has Power, as well as Policy, beyond what man can think. He has power to blind, harden, and to make insensible, the heart. He also can make truth in the eyes of the suffering man, ⟨p. 16⟩a poor, little, and insignificant thing. Judas had not committed the keeping of his soul to God, but abode in himself, and was left in his Tabernacle: And you by and by see, what a worthy price he set upon himself, his Christ, and Heaven, and all.
