Captives bound in chains made free

1. It is spiritual bondage, and the captivity of the soul: If a man be a slave to men, they have power only over his body and outward man, his soul may be free: the more noble the subject is, the more grievous is the bondage. Things that concern the soul, if good, they be the best, as promises of blessings to the soul are the best promises, and mercies for the soul are the best mercies; so if things that concern the soul be bad, they are the worst: threatenings against the soul are the sorest threatenings, and punishments upon the soul are the sorest and the heaviest punishments; and the loss of the soul is the greatest loss, Mat. 16. 26; What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? It were better to have the body fettered with as many chains as it could ⟨p. 142⟩carry, if the soul be free, than to have the body be at liberty to go up and down where you will, if the body be in bondage to Satan and to Sin: Sinner, it is thy soul, thy only, precious, and immortal soul that is in chains; and canst thou be at rest, eat, drink, and sleep, with so much peace, while thy soul is carried captive? Canst thou be so merry and so jovial with fetters on thy soul? Canst thou buy, and sell, and trade with so much earnestness after worldly gain, while Satan hath possession of thy soul? If thy Lands were mortgaged, wouldst thou not be careful to redeem them? If thy Jewels were in pawn, wouldst thou not be mindful to have them to be restored to thee? What! dost thou prize and value a few acres of Land, the very Earth thou treadest upon, above thy soul? Are a thousand Jewels better than this one only Jewel of thy Soul? Wouldst thou not be moved with pity to see Malefactors (whose time of execution is approaching) card and dice, carouse and drink, and sing with chains rattling at their heels? And hast thou no pity for thy self, and no compassion for thy self, whose time of death and execution draweth nigh, and will quickly come, and yet canst be so light-hearted, when the Devil hath thy soul in worse than Iron-fetters? Doth not this lightness of thy heart plainly prove the hardness of thy heart?

1. It is spiritual bondage, and the captivity of the soul: If a man be a slave to men, they have power only over his body and outward man, his soul may be free: the more noble the subject is, the more grievous is the bondage. Things that concern the soul, if good, they be the best, as promises of blessings to the soul are the best promises, and mercies for the soul are the best mercies; so if things that concern the soul be bad, they are the worst: threatnings against the soul are the sorest threatnings, and punishments upon the soul are the sorest and the heaviest punishments; and the loss of the soul is the greatest loss,