Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.44

 

The soul immortal.

6. The soul is immortal, it will have a sensible being forever, and none can kill the soul (Luke 12:4; Matt 10:28). If all the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth lay all their strength together, they could not kill or annihilate one soul. No, I will speak without fear, if it may be said, God cannot do what He will not do; then He cannot annihilate the soul: but, notwithstanding all His wrath, and the vengeance that He will inflict on sinful souls, they yet shall abide with sensible beings, yet to endure, yet to bear punishment. If anything could kill the soul, it would be death; but death cannot do it, neither first nor second; the first cannot, for when Dives was slain, as to his body by death, his soul was found alive in hell—He lifts up his eyes in hell, being in torment' (Luke 16:23). The second death cannot do it, because it is said their worm never dies, but is always torturing them with his gnawing (Mark 9:44). But that could not be, if time, or lying in hellfire forever, could annihilate the soul. Now, this also shows the greatness of the soul, that it is that which has an endless life, and that will, therefore, have a being endlessly. O what a thing is the soul!

The soul, then, is immortal, though not eternal. That is eternal; it has neither beginning nor end, and, therefore, eternal is properly applicable to none but God; hence, He is called the 'eternal God' (Deu 33:27). Immortal is that which, though it has a beginning, yet has no end, cannot die, or cease to be; and this is the state of the soul. It cannot cease to have a being when it is once created; I mean, a living, sensible being. I mean by living, only such a being as distinguishes it from annihilation or incapableness of sense and feeling. Hence, as the rich man is after death said to 'lift up his eyes in hell,' so the beggar is said, when he died, to be 'carried by the angels, into Abraham's bosom' (Luke 16:22,23). And both of these sayings must have respect for the souls of these men; for, as for their bodies, we know at present it is otherwise with them. The grave is their house, and so must it be till the trumpet shall sound, and the heavens pass away like a scroll. Now, I say, the immortality of the soul shows the greatness of it, as the eternity of God shows the greatness of God. It cannot be said of any angel but that he is immortal, and so it is, and ought to be said of the soul. This, therefore, shows the greatness of the soul, in that it is as if it were abiding so like him.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.43

 

The soul a vessel for grace.

4. The soul of men is such as God counts worthy to be the vessels to hold His grace, the graces of the Spirit, in. The graces of the Spirit—what are they like, or where are they to be found, save in the souls of men only? 'Of His fulness have we received, and grace for grace' (John 1:16). Received, into what? into 'the hidden part,' as David calls it (Psa 51:6). Hence the king's daughter is said to be 'all glorious within,' (Psa 45:15); because adorned and beautified with the graces of the Spirit. For that which David calls the hidden part is the inmost part of the soul; and it is, therefore, called the hidden part, because the soul is invisible, nor can anyone living infallibly know what is in the soul but God Himself. But, I say, the soul is the vessel into which this golden oil is poured, and that which holds, and is accounted worthy to exercise and improve the same.

 Therefore, the soul is it which is said to love God—Say ye him whom my soul loveth?' (Song 3:3); and, therefore, the soul is that which exercises the spirit of prayer—With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early' (Isa 26:9). With the soul, men are also said to believe, and into the soul, God is said to put His fear. This is the vessel into which the virgins got oil, and out of which their lamps were supplied. But what a thing, what a great thing, therefore, is the soul, that that above all things that God hath created should be the chosen vessel to put His grace in. The body is the vessel for the soul, and the soul is the vessel for the grace of God. But,

5. The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the price that Christ paid for it, to make it an heir of glory; and that was His precious blood (1 Cor 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18, 19). We esteem things according to the price that is given for them, especially when we are convinced that the purchase has not been made by the estimation of a fool. Now the soul is purchased by a price that the Son, the wisdom of God, thought fit to pay for the redemption thereof—what a thing, then, is the soul? Judge of the soul by the price that is paid for it, and you just need to confess unless you count the blood that has bought it an unholy thing, that it cannot but be of great worth and value. Suppose a prince, or some great man, should, on a sudden, descend from his throne, or chair of state, to take up, that he might put in his bosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the feet of those that stand by; would you think that he would do this for an old horseshoe, or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point?  

Nay, would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing for which the prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop, must need to be a thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case of Christ and the soul. Christ is the prince, His throne was in heaven, and, as He sat there, He espied the souls of sinners trampled under the foot of the law and death for sin. Now, what doth He, but comes down from His throne, stoops down to the earth, and there, since He could not have the trodden-down souls without price, He lays down His life and blood for them (2 Cor 8:9). But would He have done this for inconsiderable things? No, nor for the souls of sinners neither, had He not valued them higher than he valued heaven and earth besides. This, therefore, is another thing by which the greatness of the soul is known.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.42

 

The soul God's desire.

3. Another thing by which the greatness of the soul is made manifest is this, it is that—and that only, and to say this is more than to say, it is that above all the creatures—that the great God desires communion with. He 'hath set apart him that is godly for himself,' (Psa 4:3); that is, for communion with his soul; therefore, the spouse saith concerning him, 'His desire is toward me,' (Song 7:10); and, therefore, he saith again, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them' (2 Cor 6:16). To 'dwell in,' and 'walk in,' are terms that intimate communion and fellowship; as John saith, 'Our fellowship, truly our fellowship, is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ' (1 John 1:3).

 That is, our soul-fellowship; for it must not be understood of the body, though I believe that the body is much influenced when the soul has communion with God; but it is the soul, and that only, that at present is capable of having and maintaining this blessed communion. But, I say, what a thing is this, that God, the great God, should choose to have fellowship and communion with the soul above all. We read, indeed, of the greatness of the angels, and how near they are also to God; but yet there are not such terms that bespeak such familiar acts between God and angels, as to demonstrate that they have such communion with God as He has, or as the souls of His people may have. Where has He called them His love, His dove, His fair one? And where, when He speaks of them, does He express a communion that they have with Him by the similitude of conjugal love?

I speak of what is revealed; the secret things belong to the Lord, our God. Now by all this is manifests the greatness of the soul. Men of greatness and honor, if they have respect for their own glory, will not choose for their familiars the base and rascally crew of this world; but will single out for their fellows, fellowship, and communion, those that are most like themselves. True, the King has not an equal, yet He is familiar only with the nobles of the land: so God, with Him none can compare; yet since the soul is by Him singled out for His walking mate and companion, it is a sign it is the highest born, and that upon which the blessed Majesty looks, as upon that which is most meet to be singled out for communion with Himself.

Should we see a man familiar with the King, we would, even of ourselves, conclude he is one of the nobles of the land; but this is not the lot of every soul—some have fellowship with devils, yet not because they have a more base original than those that lie in God's bosom, but because they, through sin, are degenerate and have chosen to be great with His enemy—but all these things show the greatness of the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.41

 

The soul is called God's breath.

1. It is called God's breath of life. 'And the Lord God formed man,' that is, the body, 'of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul' (Gen 2:7). Do but compare these two together, the body and the soul; the body is made of dust, and the soul is the breath of God. Now, if God hath made this body so famous, as indeed He has, and yet it is made but of the dust of the ground, and we all do know what inferior matter it is, what is the soul since the body is not only its house and garment but since itself is made of the breath of God? But, further, it is not only said that the soul is of the breath of the Lord, but that the Lord breathed into him the breath of life—to wit, a living spirit, for so the next words infer—and 'man became a living soul.' Man, that is, the more excellent part of him, which, for that which is principal, is called man, that bearing the denomination of the whole; or man, the spirit and natural power, by which, as a reasonable creature, the whole of him is acted, 'became a living soul.' But I stand not here upon definition, but upon demonstration. 

The body, that noble part of man, had its origin in the dust; for so says the Word, 'Dust thou art (as to thy body), and unto dust shalt thou return' (Gen 3:19). But as to thy more noble part, thou art from the breath of God, God put forth in that a mighty work of creating power, and man 'was made a living soul' (1 Cor 15:45). Mark my reason. There is as great a disparity between the body and the soul, as there is between the dust of the ground and that, here called, the breath of life of the Lord. And note further, that, as the dust of the ground did not lose, but gained glory by being formed into the body of a man, so this breath of the Lord lost nothing by being made a living soul. O man! dost thou know what thou art?

The soul is God's image.2. As the soul is said to be of the breath of God, it is said to be made after God's own image, even after the similitude of God. 'And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.—So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him' (Gen 1:26, 27). Mark, in His own image, in the image of God, created He him; or, as James hath it, it is 'made after the similitude of God,' (James 3:9); like Him, having in it that which bears semblance with Him. I do not read of anything in heaven, earth, or under the earth, that is said to be made in this manner, or that is at all so termed, save only the Son of God Himself. The angels are noble creatures, and for present employ are made a little higher than man himself, (Heb 2); but that any of them are said to be made 'after God's image,' after His own image, even after the similitude of God, that I find not. This character the Holy Ghost, in the Scriptures of truth, gives only to man, to the soul of man; for it must not be thought that the body is here intended in whole or in part. 

For though it be said that Christ was made after the similitude of sinful flesh (Phil 2), yet it is not said that sinful flesh is made after the similitude of God, but I will not dispute; I only bring these things to show how great a thing, how noble a thing the soul is; in that, at its creation, God thought it worthy to be made, not like the earth, or the heavens, or the angels, seraphim, or archangels, but like Himself, saying, 'Let Us make man in Our own likeness. So He made man in His own image.' This, I say, is a character above all angels; for, as the apostle said, 'To which of the angels said He at any time, 'Thou art my Son?' So, of which of them has He at any time said, This is or shall be, made in or after my image, my own image? What a thing is the soul of man, above all the creatures in heaven or earth, being made in the image and similitude of God.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.40

 

The body a tabernacle of the soul.

4. The body is called a tabernacle for the soul. 'Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle' (2 Pet 1:14), that is, my body, 'by death' (John 21:18,19). 'For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God,' etc. (2 Cor 5:1). In both these places, by 'tabernacle,' can be meant nothing but the body; wherefore both the apostles, in these sentences, personate their souls and speak as if the soul was THE ALL of a man; yea, they plainly tell us, that the body is but the house, clothes, vessel, and tabernacle for the soul. But what a famous thing, therefore, is the soul!

The tabernacle of old was a place erected for worship, but the worshippers were more excellent than the place; so our body is a tabernacle for the soul to worship God in, but must need to be accounted much inferior to the soul, forasmuch as the worshippers are always of more honor than the place they worship in; as he that dwelleth in the tabernacle hath more honor than the tabernacle.8 'I serve,' says Paul, God, and Christ Jesus 'with my spirit (or soul) in the gospel' (Rom 1:9), but not with his spirit out of, but in, this tabernacle. The Tabernacle had instruments of worship for the worshippers; so has the body for the soul, and we are bid to 'yield our members as instruments of righteousness to God' (Rom 6:13). 

The hands, feet, ears, eyes, and tongue, which last is our glory when used right, are all of their instruments of this tabernacle, and to be made use of by the soul, the inhabiter of this tabernacle, for the soul's performance of the service of God. I thus discourse, to show you the greatness of the soul. And, in my opinion, there is something, if not very much, in what I say. For all men admire the body, both for its manner of building and the curious way of its being compacted together. Yes, the further men, wise men, do pry into the wonderful work of God that is put forth in framing the body, the more still they are made to admire; and yet, as I said, this body is but a house, a mantle, a vessel, a tabernacle for the soul. What, then, is the soul itself?9 But thus much for the first particular.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.39

The body clothing for the soul.

2. The body is called the clothing, and the soul is clothed therewith. Now, everybody knows that 'the body is more than raiment,' even carnal sense will teach us this. But read that pregnant place: 'For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened (that is, with mortal flesh); not for that we should be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life' (2 Cor 5:4). Thus the greatness of the soul appears in the preference that it has for the body—the body is its armor. We see that, above all creatures, man, because he is the noblest among all visible ones, has, for the adorning of his body, that more abundant comeliness. 'It is the body of man, not of beast, that is clothed with the richest ornaments. But now what a thing is the soul, that the body itself must be its clothing! No suit of apparel is by God thought good enough for the soul, but that which is made by God himself, and that is that curious thing, the body. 

But oh! how little is this considered—namely, the greatness of the soul. 'Tis the body, the clothes, the suit of apparel, that our foolish fancies are taken with, not at all considering the richness and excellency of that great and more noble part, the soul, for which the body is made a mantle to wrap it up in, a garment to clothe it withal. If a man gets a rent in his clothes, it is little in comparison to a rent in his flesh; yea, he comforts himself when he looks at that rent, saying, Thanks be to God, it is not a rent in my flesh. But ah! On the contrary, how many are there in the world that are more troubled because they have a rent, a wound, or a disease in the body than because they have souls that will be lost and cast away? A little rent in the body dejected and cast such down, but they are not at all concerned, though their soul is now, and will yet further be, torn in pieces, 'Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver' (Psa 50:22). But this is the second thing whereby, or by which, the greatness of the soul appears—to wit, in that the body, that excellent piece of God's workmanship, is but a garment, or clothing, for the soul.

The body, a vessel for the soul.

3. The body is called a vessel, or a case, for the soul to be put and kept in. 'That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor (1 Thess 4:4). The apostle here exhorts the people to abstain from fornication, which, in another place, he says, '…is a sin against the body' (1 Cor 6:18). And here again he saith, 'This is the will of God, that ye should abstain from fornication:' that the body be not defiled, 'that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.' His vessel, his earthen vessel, as he calls it in another place—for 'we have this treasure in earthen vessels.' Thus, then, the body is called a vessel; yea, every man's body is his vessel. But what has God prepared this vessel for, and what has He put into it? Why, there are many things this body is to be a vessel for, but at present God has put into it that curious thing, the soul. Cabinets, which are very rich and costly things of themselves, are not made nor designed to be vessels to be stuffed or filled with trumpery, and things of no value; no, these are prepared for rings and jewels, for pearls, for rubies, and things that are choice. 

And if so, what shall we then think of the soul for which it is prepared, and that of God, the most rich and excellent vessel in the world? Surely it must be a thing of worth, yea, of more worth than the whole world besides. But alas! who believes this talk? Do not even most men so set their minds upon, and so admire, the glory of this case or vessel, that they forget once with seriousness to think, and, therefore, must of necessity be a great way off, of those suitable esteems that become theirs to have of their souls. But oh, since this vessel, this cabinet, this body, is so curiously made to receive and contain, what is that for which God has made this vessel, and what is that soul that He has put into it? Thus, in the third place, is the greatness of the soul made manifest, even by the excellency of the vessel, the body, that God has made to put it in.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.38

 

THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL

SECOND, Having thus given you a description of the soul, what it is, I shall, in the next place, show you its greatness.

[Of the greatness of the soul, when compared with the body.]

First, And the first thing that I shall take occasion to make this manifest by, will be by showing you the disproportion that is betwixt that and the body; and I shall do it in these following particulars:

The body, a house for the soul.

1. The body is called the house of the soul, a house for the soul to dwell in. Now everybody knows that the house is much inferior to him who, by God's ordinance, is appointed to dwell therein; that it is called the house of the soul, as you find in Paul's letter to the Corinthians: 'For we know,' saith he, 'that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we would have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens' (2 Cor 5:1). We have, then, a house for our soul in this world, and this house is the body, for the apostle can mean nothing else; therefore, he calls it an earthly house. 'If our earthly house"—our house. But who does he personate if he says, This is a house for the soul; for the body is part of him that says, Our house?

In this manner of language, he personates his soul with the souls of the rest that are saved; and thus to do, is common with the apostles, as will be easily discerned by them that give attendance to reading. Our earthly houses; or, as Job saith, 'houses of clay,' for our bodies are bodies of clay:

'Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay' (Job 4:19; 13:12). Indeed, he after maketh mention of a house in heaven, but that is not it about which he now speaks; now he speaks of this earthly house which we have (we, our souls) to dwell in, while on this side glory, where the other house stands, as ready prepared for us when we shall flit from this to that; or in case this should sooner or later be dissolved. But that is the first; the body is compared to the house, but the soul to him that inhabits the house; therefore, as the man is more noble than the house he dwells in, so is the soul more noble than the body. And yet, alas! with grief be it spoken, how common is it for men to spend all their care, all their time, all their strength, all their wit and parts for the body and its honor and preferment, even as if the soul were some poor, pitiful, sorry, inconsiderable, and under the thing, not worth ththinking of, or not worth caring for. But,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.37

 

Of grief.

5. Another passion of the soul is grief, and it, as that afore-named, acteth even as it is governed. When holiness is lovely and beautiful to the soul, and when the name of Christ is more precious than life, then will the soul sit down and be afflicted, because men keep not God's law. 'I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not Thy word' (Psa 119:158). So Christ; looked around with anger, 'being grieved for the hardness of their hearts' (Mark 3:5). But it is rarely seen that this passion of the soul is thus exercised. Almost everybody has other things to spend the heat of this passion on. Men are grieved that they thrive no more in the world; grieved that they have no more carnal, sensual, and worldly honor; grieved that they suffered no more to range in the lusts and vanities of this life; but all this is because the soul is unacquainted with God, sees no beauty in holiness, but is sensual, and wrapt up in clouds and thick darkness.

Of anger.

6. And lastly, There is anger, which is another passion of the soul; and that, as the rest, is extended by the soul, according to the nature of the principle by which it is acted, and from whence it flows. And, in a word, to speak nothing of the fierceness and power of this passion, it is then cursed when it breaks out beyond the bounds that God hath set it, which, to be sure, it does when it shall, by its fierceness or irregular motion, run the soul into sin. 'Be ye angry, and sin not' (Eph 4:26), is the limitation wherewith God hath bounded this passion; and whatever is more than this, is a giving place to the devil. And one reason, among others, why the Lord doth so strictly set this bound, and these limits to anger, is, because it is so furious a passion, and for that, it will so quickly swell up the soul with sin, as they say, a toad swells with its poison. Yea, it will in a moment so transport the spirit of a man, that he shall quickly forget himself, his God, his friend, and all good rules. But my business is not now to make a comment upon the passions of the soul, only to show you that there are such, and also which they are.

And now, from this description of the soul, what follows but to put you in mind what a noble, powerful, lively, sensible thing the soul is, that by the text is supposed may be lost, through the heedlessness, carelessness, or slavish fear of him whose soul it is; and also to stir you up to that care of, and labor after, the salvation of your soul, as becomes the weight of the matter. If the soul were a trivial thing, or if a man, though he lost it, might yet himself be happy, it were another matter; but the loss of the soul is no small loss, nor can that man that has lost his soul, had he all the world, yea, the whole kingdom of heaven, in his own power, be but in a most fearful and miserable condition. But of these things, more is in their place.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.36

 

Of the passions of the soul.

Third, I come, in the next place, to describe the soul by the passions of the soul. The passions of the soul, I reckon, are these, and such like—to wit, love, hatred, joy, fear, grief, anger, etc. And these passions of the soul are neither good, nor evil, because they are the passions of the soul, but are made so by two things—to wit, principle, and object. The principle is that from whence they flow, and the object is that upon which they are pitched. To explain myself.

Of love.

1. For that of love. This is a strong passion; the Holy Ghost saith, It is strong as death, and cruel as the grave (Song 8:6, 7). And it is then good when it flows from faith, pitches itself upon God in Christ as the object, and extends itself to all that is good, whether it be the good Word, the good work of grace, or the good men that have it, and also to their good lives. But all soul-love flows not from this principle, nor has it these as its objects. How many are there that make the object of their love the most vile of men, the most base of things, because it flows from vile affections, and from the lusts of the flesh? God and Christ, good laws and good men, and their holy lives, they cannot abide, because their love wants a principle that should sanctify it in its first motion, and that should steer it to a goodly object. But that is the first.

Of hatred.

2. There is hatred, which I count another passion of the soul; and this, as the other, is good or evil, as the principle from whence it flows and the object of it is. 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil' (Psa 97:10). Then, therefore, is this passion good, when it singles out from the many thousands of things that are in the world that one filthy thing called sin; and when it setteth itself, the soul, and the whole man, against it, and engages all the powers of the soul to seek and invent its ruin. But, alas, where will this hatred be found? What man is there whose soul is filled with this passion, thus sanctified by the love of God, and that makes sin, which is God's enemy, the only object of its indignation? How many are there, I say, whose hatred is turned another way, because of the malignity of their minds.

They hate knowledge (Prov. 1:22). They hate God (Deut 7:10; Job 21:14). They hate the righteous (2 Chron 29:2; Psa 34:21; Prov 29:10). They hate God's ways (Mal 3:14; Prov 8:12). And all is because the grace of filial fear is not the root and principle from which their hatred flows. 'For the fear of the Lord is to hate evil:' wherefore, where this grace is wanting for a root in the soul, there it must of necessity swerve in the letting out of this passion; because the soul, where grace is wanting, is not at liberty to act simply, but is biased by the power of sin; that, while grace is absent, is present in the soul. And hence it is that this passion, which, when acted well, is a virtue, is so abused, and made to exercise its force against that for which God never ordained it, nor gave it license to act.

Of joy.

3. Another passion of the soul is joy; and when the soul rejoices virtuously, it rejoices not in iniquity, 'but rejoice in the truth' (1 Cor 13:6). This joy is a very strong passion, and will carry a man through a world of difficulties; it is a passion that bears up, that supports and strengthens a man, Let the object of his joy be what it will. It is this that makes the soul fat in goodness if it has its object accordingly, and it is that which makes the soul bold in wickedness if it indeed rejoices in iniquity.

Of fear.

4. Another passion of the soul is fear, natural fear; for so you must understand me of all the passions of the soul, as they are considered simply and in their own nature. And, as it is with the other passions, so it is with this; it is made good or evil in its acts, as its principle and objects are; when this passion of the soul is good, then it springs from a sense of the greatness, goodness, and majesty of God; also, God himself is the object of this fear—I will forewarn you,' says Christ, 'whom ye shall fear. Fear him that can destroy both body and soul in hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him' (Matt 5:28; Luke 7:5). But in all men, this passion is not regulated and governed by these principles and objects, but is abused and turned, through the policy of Satan, quite into another channel. It is made to fear men (Num 14:9), to fear idols (2 Kings 17:7, 38), to fear devils and witches, yea, it is made to fear all the foolish, ridiculous, and apish fables that every old woman or atheistical fortune teller has the face to drop before the soul. But fear is another passion of the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f theLoss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.35

 

Of the senses of the soul.

Second, I come, in the next place, to describe the soul by its senses, its spiritual senses, for so I call them; for as the body hath senses about it, and as it can see, hear, smell, feel, and taste, so can the soul; I call, therefore, these the senses of the soul, in opposition to the senses of the body, and because the soul is the seat of all spiritual sense, where supernatural things are known and enjoyed; not that the soul of a natural man is spiritual in the apostle's sense, for so none are, but those that are born from above (1 Cor 3:1-3) nor they so always neither. But to go forward.

Of sight.

1. Can the body see? hath it eyes? so hath the soul. 'The eyes of your understanding being enlightened' (Eph 1:18). As, then, the body can see beasts, trees, men, and all visible things, so the soul can see God, Christ, angels, heaven, devils, hell, and other invisible things; nor is this property only peculiar to the souls that are illuminated by the Holy Ghost, for the most carnal soul in the world shall have time to see these things, but not to its comfort, but not to its joy, but to its endless woe and misery, it dying in that condition. Wherefore, sinner, say not thou, 'I shall not see Him; for judgment is before Him,' and He will make thee see Him (Job 35:14).

Of hearing.

2. Can the body hear? hath its ears? so hath the soul (Job 4:12,13). It is the soul, not the body, that hears the language of things invisible. It is the soul that hears God when He speaks in and by His Word and Spirit; and it is the soul that hears the devil when he speaks by his illusions and temptations. True, there is such a union between the soul and the body, that oftentimes, if not always, that which is heard by the ears of the body doth influence the soul, and that which is heard by the soul doth also influence the body. Still, yet as to the organ of hearing, the body hath one of its own, distinct from that of the soul, and the soul can hear and regard even then when the body doth not nor cannot; as in the time of sleep, deep sleep and trances, when the body lieth by as a thing that is useless. 'For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man, (as to his body) perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,' etc. (Job 33:14-16). This must be meant of the ears of the soul, not of the body; for that at this time is said to be in deep sleep; moreover, this hearing, is a hearing of dreams and the visions of the night. Jeremiah also tells us that he had the rare and blessed visions of God in his sleep (Jer 21:26). And so doth Daniel too, by the which they were greatly comforted and refreshed; but that could not be, was not the soul also capable of hearing. 'I heard the voice of His words,' said Daniel, 'and when I heard the voice of His words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground' (Dan 10:8,9).

Of tasting.

3. As the soul can see and hear, so it can taste and relish, even as really as doth the palate belonging to the body.6 But then the things so tasted must be that which is suited to the temper and palate of the soul. The soul's taste lieth not in, nor is exercised about meats, the meats that are for the belly. Yet the soul of a saint can taste and relish God's Word (Heb 6:5), and doth ofttimes find it sweeter than honey (Psa 19:10) nourishing as milk (1 Peter 2:2), and strengthening like too strong meat (Heb 5:12-14). The soul also of sinners, and of those that are unsanctified, can taste and relish, though not the things now mentioned, yet things that agree with their fleshly minds, and with their polluted, and defiled, and vile affections. They can relish and taste that which delighteth them; yea, they can find soul delight in an alehouse, a whorehouse, a playhouse. Ay, they find pleasure in the vilest things, in the things most offensive to God, and that are most destructive to themselves. This is evident to sense and is proved by the daily practice of sinners. Nor is the Word barren as to this: They 'feed on ashes' (Isa 44:20). They 'spend their money for that which is not bread' (Isa 55:2). Yea, they eat and suck sweetness out of sin. 'They eat up the sin of My people' as they eat bread (Hosea 4:8).

Of smelling.

4. As the soul can see, hear, and taste, it can smell, and refresh itself that way. Hence the church saith, 'My fingers dropped with sweet-smelling myrrh;' and again, she saith of her beloved, that 'his lips dropped sweet-smelling-myrrh' (Song 5:5,13). But how came the church to understand this, but because her soul did smell that in it that was to be smelled in it, even in his word and gracious visits? The poor world, indeed, cannot smell, or savor anything of the good and fragrant scent and sweet that is in Christ; but to them that believe, 'Thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee' (Song 1:3).

Of feeling.

5. As the soul can see, taste, hear, and smell, so it hath the sense of feeling, as quick and as sensible as the body. He knows nothing that knows not this; he whose soul is 'past feeling,' has his 'conscience seared with a hot iron' (Eph 4:18, 19; 1 Tim 4:2). Nothing so sensible as the soul, nor feeleth so quickly the love and mercy, or the anger and wrath of God. Ask the awakened man, or the man under the convictions of the law, if he doth not feel? and he will quickly tell you that he faints and dies away because of God's hand, and His wrath that lieth upon him. Read the first eight verses of the 38th Psalm; if thou knowest nothing of what I have told thee by experience; and there thou shalt hear the complaints of one whose soul lay at present under the burden of guilt, and that cried out that without help from heaven, he could by no means bear the same. They also know what the peace of God means, and what an eternal weight there is in glory know well that the soul has the sense of feeling, as well as the senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling. But thus much for the senses of the soul.