A SERMON Preached before the King & Queen, AT WHITEHALL, The 23d Day of October, 1692.  
By NICHOLAS BRADY, Minister of St. Catherine Cree-Church, And Chaplain to His Grace the Duke of Ormond.  
Published by their Majesty's Special Command.  
LONDON: Printed for S. Crouch, at the corner of Pope's-head-Ally, over-against the Royal Exchange, in Cornhill. 1693.   

A SERMON Preached before the King and Queen, The 23d Day of October, 1692.   
St. Mat. 16, former part of the 26 Verse. 
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  
ALL the Errors and Immoralities of Humane Actions, proceed from the wrong Estimate which we make of Things; from our placing a greater Value upon some than they truly deserve, and a less upon others than they justly require: This makes us eager and solicitous on the one hand in the pursuit of such things as have no real worth to recommend them, but borrow all their Lustre from Fancy and Opinion; careless and unconcerned on the other, for the attainment of such, whose worth is natural and intrinsic, and need nothing to set them off, but their own inherent goodness. However odd and absurd this management may appear, yet there is scarce any one amongst us, but is in some measure liable to the foregoing imputation, and the generality of Mankind drive on a Traffic as ridiculous as that of the foolish Indians, exchanging daily for Glass and Baubles, such Treasures as are solid and substantial. Our blessed Saviour, therefore, whose great Design it was to rectify our Mistakes, and enlighten our Understandings, endeavours to convince us (in the words of my Text) of the folly and unreasonableness of this sort of proceeding; advising the imprudent Worldling to weigh wisely, and consider duly those things which stand in competition with one another, that so his Choice may be guided by Prudence and right Reason; assuring him withal, that it is his ignorance of the true worth of his Soul, that makes him prefer the Vanities of this World before it; that all the Advantages which he can propose to himself, bear no proportion to the real Value of that which he endangers; that he is hazarding a precious Jewel, in order to the purchase of an empty Trifle; that when the Soul is lost on one side, and the whole World is gained upon the other, he will find himself a loser in the balancing of his Accounts: For (says he) what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? By losing the Soul, is here meant, not such a loss as implies a total deprivation, a leaving us without it; for in such a sense no Man can lose his own Soul; that will be still present with us, and is the only part of ourselves which we can never be separated from; but what our Saviour here intends by losing the Soul, is the plunging it into a State of Horror and Misery, without any possibility of retrieving it again, and thereby losing it to all the intents of Happiness and Satisfaction: and this sort of loss is that, for which the gaining of the whole World, that is the possession and enjoyment of all its Advantages and Delights, can never make us any tolerable amends. From these words thus briefly explained, I shall draw this single Practical Conclusion.  
That whatever this World has in it of most considerable, whether in relation to Pleasure or to Interest, can make no compensation for the loss of our Souls; and that he who sells his Soul at such a rate, shall be a loser by the bargain.  
Nothing is more truly valuable than the Soul of Man, and yet few things are less valued by the Owners; one looks upon it as so mean, and so contemptible, that he barters it for the foolish pleasure of a lascivious Minute; another exchanges it for a few Bags of Yellow Earth, or a small parcel of glittering Pebbles; a third sells it for the empty Air of Popular Applause; a fourth for a splendid Slavery, or a slippery Preferment: thus do they undervalue that inestimable Treasure, for which our Saviour has positively assured us, that the whole World is no sufficient Price. That therefore we may the better understand the unaccountable imprudence of this sort of dealing, let us,  
I. Impartially consider and compare together the true value of the reasonable Soul, and the things of this World, that we may be able to find which outweighs the other  
II. Let us reflect upon the dismal Consequences of having lost our Souls; and how little able the things of this World are, to make any tolerable amends for so deplorable a misfortune.  
1. Then, let us impartially consider and compare together, the true value of the reasonable Soul, and the things of this World, that we may be able to find which outweighs the other.  
In order to which I shall lay down some few things, for which the Soul is eminently valuable, and show how far short of such Advantages the things of this World are.  
1. The reasonable Soul is most highly valuable, upon the account of its participating of the Divine Perfections, and being so nearly allied to God himself.  
Nothing on this side Heaven has so near a resemblance to the Divine Nature as the Soul of Man; its Essence is pure and spiritual, unmixed with any gross Alloy of Matter; it's Operations are wonderful and amazing; its Comprehensiveness and Activity are next to infinite; it runs over and surveys all the Works of the Creation, it measures the Extent of this World in a moment, and not contented with so narrow a Scene of Action, it launches forth into another, and takes a Space to range in, that has no Bounds. It is that Breath of God which himself inspired, which animates and acts this Clay of ours, and makes that which would be otherwise a dull Clod of Earth, to move and live, to reason, and deliberate, to judge, and to distinguish; it is that Image of God by which we are conformed and made like to him, in whom all worth and excellency is absolutely comprised: It is a Spark of the Celestial Fire, a Ray and Emanation of the Divine Nature; by which we are made capable of the knowledge of God on this side Heaven, and of an Eternal Union with him hereafter: In this he has been pleased to communicate to us a large share of his own Happiness, and his own Perfection, and has thereby put us into a Condition, of making yet nearer Approaches both to the one, and to the other: Now God, we know, is a being most eminently valuable; and consequently the Soul of Man, which so nearly resembles Him, deserves a due proportion of value and esteem. But as this Consideration does highly enhance the value of the Soul, so does it as much beat down the Price of the Things of this World: they are so far from having any conformity with the Divine Nature, that they stand directly in opposition to it; there is as little agreement between God and them, as there is between Light and Darkness; and from hence it comes, that by how much the more our Souls are clogged and encumbered with them, by so much is this Image of God within us impaired and defaced; and therefore the Friendship of this World is said to be Enmity with God, because every approach which we make to that, sets us at a greater distance from him, and makes us more unlike him than we were before. A resemblance therefore of God, being the truest Standard of worth and excellency, the Soul of Man which has so large a share of it, must be infinitely preferable to the Things of this World, which have no manner of affinity with him. But,  
2dly, The Soul of Man is most highly valuable, upon the account of its durableness and continuance.  
Every thing that is truly desirable and estimable in itsself, receives a great addition of value and esteem from the consideration of its being permanent and lasting; but the Soul of Man enjoys this advantage in a most eminent degree; Eternity alone can be the measure of its continuance, and Time which shall destroy all other things, can make no Conquest over this: the Body must die, and return unto its Earth; but over the Soul Death has no dominion: that has a being Immortal and Eternal, and shall rise like a Phoenix out of the Funeral Pile, more lively and vigorous than it was before. Then as Time can never put an end to its being, so neither can it impair its Powers and Abilities; that which can never die, can never grow old; since every least degree of fading and decaying is a Sign and Symptom of a Final Dissolution: The Soul of Man therefore shall not only enjoy a perpetual duration, but its Faculties and Operations shall remain in their full vigour, and be active and lively to all Eternity. But if the reasonable Soul enjoys this advantage in its most absolute Perfection, the Things of this World are wholly destitute of so considerable a Recommendation: all the Pleasures and Advantages which it can propose, are momentary and transient, fickle and uncertain, feeble and languishing: Honour is but a Blast, which depends upon the giddy Humours of other People; Pleasure is but a Dream, which soon passes away; Riches make themselves wings, that they may be gone from us; or if any of these continue some time with us, they palls upon our hands, grow flatter and more insipid; supposing they accompany us to the end of our Lives, yet there at least we must take our leave of them, and there will be no more remembrance of them, within the Land wherein all things are forgotten; they are the Companions of this earthly Tabernacle, and have their sole dependence upon it, and therefore must drop off when that falls away. The time of their continuance is seldom a span long, but it is most certain that it can be no longer; and there is therefore as much difference between the true value of the Soul of Man, and the Things of this World, as there is between the Days of a Man's Life, and the Years of Eternity. But,  
3dly, The reasonable Soul is highly valuable, upon the account of its self-sufficiency.  
We are taught by right Reason, to place our highest esteem upon such Objects, as contain within themselves the most considerable Advantages independently from others, and without being forced to seek for them abroad. But such as this is the Soul of Man; it has all within itself that is necessary or expedient to advance its true Interest and Satisfaction. It is but directing its Contemplations to a right Object, but fixing the Thoughts upon a worthy Entertainment, and it is at all times secure of such an Employment, as is at once both profitable and delightful. If any thing from without does ruffle or discompose it, it is but retiring within itself, and it is beyond the reach of all outward Inconveniences. Nothing can deprive it of a true Satisfaction, if it takes care to preserve an unspotted Innocence; and it needs not be beholding to any thing but itsself for the most refined Pleasures, and the most precious Advantages. But how precarious on the other side, and how absolutely dependent upon something else to set them off, are all the seeming Conveniences of the Things of this World! They have nothing real and substantial to recommend them, and are therefore forced to court the Senses, and debauch them first, that by them they may afterwards corrupt the Soul; they must flatter the Body, and slily insinuate themselves into the favour of that before they expose themselves to the Scrutiny of the Understanding, or undergo the Test of a due Examination: their value is founded upon Fancy and Opinion; and they are obliged for their Welcome and Entertainment, rather to the mistaken Conceptions of others, than to any real Worth within themselves; they cannot at all administer Satisfaction, but as Jugglers play their Tricks, by the confederacy of others; if the Senses be out of Humour, the World cannot delight us; if the Body be indisposed, the World cannot divert us; nay, if the Soul be but otherwise addicted, and does not play Booty against itself, the Things of this World can contribute nothing to our Delight, but it's sweetest Entertainments will be Gall and Bitterness; How vastly more considerable than must the Soul of Man be, which is always possessed of an independent Satisfaction; than the Things of this World, which have nothing solid in them, and which cannot in the least advance our Enjoyments, but by the connivance of those whom they design to impose upon? And thus much may suffice to prove, that the Soul of Man is much more valuable than the Things of this World, as it has a near resemblance of the Divine Nature, to which they are directly contrary; as its continuance will be to all Eternity, whereas they are transitory, and soon decaying; and as that has a Stock of Happiness within itsself, to which they cannot contribute, but by the assistance of others. I proceed now to the Consideration of my Second General; namely,  
2dly, To reflect upon the dismal Consequences of having lost our Souls, and how little able the Things of this World are, to make any tolerable Amends for so deplorable a Misfortune.  
You have been already told, That by losing our Souls, the annihilation of our Being's cannot possibly be meant, since in that sense they can never be lost by us; but it is the precipitating of them into a State of Misery, from whence it is impossible ever to redeem them, and the utter losing them to all the intents of Happiness and Satisfaction. This therefore is the Condition which falls under our present Consideration, and for which all the Things of this World are not able to make any tolerable compensation. For our better understanding this deplorable Condition, I shall consider it, 

1st, In relation to the Advantages of which we are deprived.  
2dly, In respect of the Miseries to which we are exposed.    
1. Then, I shall consider the deplorable Condition of him who has lost his Soul, in relation to the Advantages of which he is deprived.  
Man was designed for everlasting Happiness, to supply the room of the rebellious Angels, for the Conversation of the blessed Spirits, and for an intimate Fruition of God himself; but he who is so unhappy as to lose his Soul, has with it lost all other Advantages; he has lost the Favour and Protection of his God, the Quiet of his Mind, and the Peace of his Conscience; the Hopes of Happiness, and the joyful Assurance of a blessed Immortality; he has lost the Presence of God, in which is fullness of joy; and a Place on his Right hand, where pleasures are for evermore; the Fellowship of Angels, and the comfortable Society of Just Men made perfect; he has lost ineffable Delights, and unutterable Ravishments of the Soul; such Joys as Sense cannot relish, nor Imagination figure: in a word, he has lost God who is all in all, and having lost Him, has lost all Things with Him: And what now can the flattering World pretend to give him, that shall bear any proportion to the Advantages he is deprived of? How dearly does the Drunkard pay for his intemperate Draughts, that must forgo for them the Waters of the River of Life! How dearly does the Miser buy his perishing Wealth, who must thereby forfeit a Treasure in heaven, where neither rust nor moth doth corrupt, and where thiefs do not break through nor steal! How dearly does the ambitious Man purchase an earthly Preferment, who must thereby lose a Place upon upon the Right hand of the Almighty! How dearly does the licentious Wanton pay for his carnal Pleasures, who must thereby be excluded from the Society of those Virgins which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes! How dearly will his Oaths and Blasphemies cost the profane Person, who is thereby made incapable of bearing any part in heavenly Hymns and Hallelujahs! In a word, How hardly shall they far for their wretched Carelessness, who had no fear of God before their eyes, when they shall thereby be shut out from the Divine Presence, and be utterly included from the Beatific Vision! All the Things of this World are but transient and deceitful; and the Advantages which they deprive us of are substantial and immortal; and therefore these light satisfactions which are but for a moment, can make no tolerable compensation, for the loss of an eternal weight of glory.  
2dly, Let us consider the deplorable Condition of him who has lost his Soul, in respect of the Miseries to which he is exposed.  
It were happy for those miserable Wretches who have reduced themselves to this sad Condition, if they were only to be deprived of the foregoing Advantages, and that their Sufferings were to be barely negative, the not enjoying of Bliss and Happiness; but (alas!) the Soul is an eternal Being, and if it is not qualified for a blessed Immortality, it is unavoidably liable to a miserable Eternity: And who is able to express or conceive the Anguish and Horror which shall then possess and environ it? Utter darkness, the neverdying worm, and fire unquenchable, do but faintly shadow forth the unexpressible Torments of that dismal State: to have the wicked Spirits continually torturing and insulting; the Conscience and Fellow-Sinners perpetually upbraiding; the Rivers of Brimstone eternally surrounding, and the Breath of an incensed God still fanning of the Flames; to be always racked with Envy and with Anger, with Malice and Dispair; to hate their own selves with a perfect hatred, and not to have the meanest satisfaction which self-love inspires; to be their own cruel Torments, and to have a Sting within them more sharp and pungent than all outward Inflictions, however insupportable; to be the Objects of Divine Vengeance without any interposition of Mercy and Compassion, and to bear all that infinite Power and Justice can inflict; to find a Destroyer and Confounder instead of a Creator and Preserver; a Judge and an Avenger, instead of a Saviour and Redeemer; an Impeacher and Accuser, instead of a Comforter and a Sanctifier; to be always dying, and yet never dead; to be constantly in the Pangs and Agonies of Death, and yet never to come to a total dissolution; in a word, to be destitute of Hope, that only Secure of the Miserable; and to have no prospect of an end either of themselves, or of their Miseries: O consider this all ye that forget God, lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you. And what now can the World be able to produce, that may any way countervail such intolerable Extremities? Will the bare remembrance of those lose Pleasures which they formerly took in their carnal Enjoyments, mitigate those Pains which are sensible and present? Will it not rather give fresh Fuel to their Flames, and add a Lash of Consciscience to their other Torments? Will all the Wealth which they have left behind them, purchase one drop of water to cool their Tongues, or bribe the Divine Vengeance to suspend its Inflictions? Would they not then give Ten thousand Worlds (if they had them) to redeem that Soul, which before they squandered away for a small portion of one? How will they then curse their Carelessness and Incogitancy, which for the sake of such Pleasures as were trivial and momentary, has betrayed them into Torments endless and insupportable! Can the World deliver them out of those Miseries into which it has cast them, or snatch them out of the hand of an offended God? Can it extinguish these everlasting Burn, or break the Bars of their eternal Prison? If it cannot, it is the greatest folly and madness imaginable, to expose ourselves to such miserable Circumstances, for the sake of that which can neither release us from them, nor give us any support and comfort under them. Since therefore the Advantages are so great of which they are deprived, and the Miseries so intolerable to which they are exposed; and since nothing in this World can in the least measure equal those Advantages, or countervail those Miseries; we may justly join with our Saviour in this his passionate expostulation, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Thus have I endeavoured to convince you, how truly valuable your immortal Souls are, and how little the Pomps and Vanities of this World are able to stand in competition with them; give me leave now by way of application, to lay down some such Rules and Methods, as may hinder us from losing our souls for the gaining of this world, and so I shall conclude.  
I. Then, in order to this Great End, let us endeavour to have a true Notion of this World; which he that has, will never care how little he converses with it, or how small an Interest he gets in it. We foolishly mistake it for our familiar Friend, and think ourselves to be a piece of it; but this is a wrong Notion, and must be rooted out; the World is one of those great and formidable Enemies, with which we are to wrestle in our Christian Warfare; and so much the more dangerous, because it endeavours to disguise its Enmity under a false pretence of Friendship: it offers us indeed Riches and Honours, Pleasure and Profit, but all these guilded Baits have a fatal Hook beneath them; Timeo Danaos & dona ferentes; The Gifts of an Enemy ought to be suspicious to us: And if we know him to be such, his Presents ought to be rejected, though truly valuable in themselves: But if we consider farther, that they are but Bells and Baubles, Trifles fit only to please Fools and Children, with which it would bribe us to our own Destruction; it should raise a just Anger and Indignation in us, against one that hopes so meanly to impose upon us; yet such at best they will appear to any serious Considerer, especially if compared to these inestimable Advantages, which they are designed to deprive us of. Let us consider also in relation to this World, that we made a solemn Vow and Protestation in our Baptism, to enter into a State of Hostility against it; and therefore every degree of intimacy and familiarity with it, is a downright Perjury and Breach of Covenant: our Baptismal Vow, was that Military Sacrament, by which we listed ourselves under Christ's Banner; and it is the meanest Baseness and Treachery imaginable, to profess ourselves his Followers and Soldiers, and contract at the same time a League of Friendship with his avowed and professed Enemy. This Consideration therefore, of the meanness of those Things which the World can offer to seduce us, of the evil Intentions wherewith they are presented, and the strong Obligation which lies upon us to entertain no sort of Commerce with it, is a forcible means to secure us from being misled by it, and from losing our own Souls for the gaining of this World. But,  
2dly, Let us endeavour to understand truly the considerable Value of our own Souls, which he that does, will never barter them for all that the World can proffer in exchange. Nor can we better imprint in our Minds the vast worth of them, than by considering how great a Price the Son of God was contented to pay, in order to rescue them from Ruin and Perdition. God, who made them, best knew their value; and when they were forfeited to his offended Justice, he would accept no less a Compensation, than the Blood of his only, his beloved Son, each drop of which would out-buy Ten thousand Worlds: And shall that seem trivial or contemptible in our eyes, which was so very precious in the sight of God? Shall that be looked upon as a thing of little moment, which cost the Son of God so very dear? Would not any Man blush to call himself a Christian, and yet sell his Saviour's Blood, for to gain the whole World? And why do we then so lightly part with that, which he looked upon as equivalent to it? But farther, can any thing be base, than to rob our Benefactor, and drive Bargains with that which is not properly our own? Our Souls are not so much ours, as Christ's; he has bought them with a Price, and we rob him of his Due, when we pretend to the Right of disposing of them. If we have a mind to traffic with them elsewhere, let us first repay what Christ has lent upon them; which since it is impossible for us ever to do, it is as well a piece of injustice as imprudence, to endeavour to alienate them from his possession. But if we reflect upon our own proper Interest, it will loudly dissuade us from such a proceeding; our Souls are they, by, and in which we must to all Eternity be happy or miserable; they are capable of the greatest height of Joy and Blessedness, or the lowest depth of Grief and Misery; nor is there any Condition whereof they partake, but what will be common to us with them; it therefore highly stands us upon, to consult the Everlasting Advantage of so Noble a Being, and with which we are so intimately united. The Things of this World may perhaps minister some short-lived Satisfaction, but we must consult an Interest that is Eternal; and since this World is finite, and all the Enjoyments of it, we can never provide sufficiently for an Immortal Soul, by the purchase of such Joys as are transitory and fading. This reflection therefore, of the valuableness of our Souls, both upon the account of the mighty Price paid for them, and their Capacity of tasting everlasting Entertainments, should teach us to esteem them according to their deserts, and should hinder us from losing them, to gain the whole World. But,  
3dly, In order to this end, Let us mortify our members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, and suchlike: for there is so firm a League, and such a friendly Commerce and Correspondence between the World and the Flesh, that it will be impossible to secure ourselves from the Attempts of the one, unless we subdue and keep under the other; and these fleshly Allurements are so much the more dangerous, because they endeavour to betray us within, as fast as the World assaults us from without; but if these are once conquered, and made obedient to the Spirit, we are then secure not only against them, but against the World too: For by what means can that pretend to assault or to allure us, when all the Senses, by which only it is able to attempt upon the Soul, are entered into the Service, or bound under the Dominion, of that which it would offer to seduce by them? How shall it be able to bribe the Soul, or tempt it to give up itself in exchange for Trifles, when those Eyes which were used to behold its Vanities, and to convey the flattering Image of them to the Mind, are now drowned in Penitential Tears? When those Ears, that were used to listen to the Syren's Voice, are as deaf to his Call, as the Adder to the Charms of the Charmer? When all its Friends, Auxiliaries, and Abetters, are rendered uncapable to give it any assistance? If the Flesh be not able to join Forces with it, the World can have but little power over us; and by completing a Conquest over that, we put ourselves out of all manner of danger, of losing our own souls, to gain the whole world. But,  
4thly, Let us have our Conversation above, and fix our Thoughts upon Heavenly Things; let our Souls mount thither upon the Wings of Prayer and Contemplation, and the Things of this World will then appear to us so little and inconsiderable, will shrink so duly to their narrow Dimensions, that we shall easily keep ourselves from driving such bad Bargains: we shall then look down with Scorn and Contempt, upon all that this little Speck of Earth can offer to seduce us; we shall there discover such precious Advantages, to which the Devil's Offer to our Saviour, vast as it appears, All these things will I give unto thee, will seem infinitely mean and disproportionable: we shall then look upon our selves, as already naturalised into the heavenly Canaan, and made free Denizens of the New Jerusalem; and shall consequently endeavour to conform all our Actions to the Customs and Constitutions of that our Country: all the Wiles of Satan will then be lost upon us, all the Temptations of the World will be insignificant, and all the Allurements of Flesh as little powerful, as if we were already got out of the Body: If we thus endeavour to seek those things which are above, we shall most assuredly find them; and having once found them, we shall never consent to part with them: we shall then live in this World, as if we were not of it; and thus utterly estranging ourselves from any Commerce with it, we shall run no hazard of losing our own souls, to gain the whole world. But,  
5thly, and Lastly, Let us always reflect, and continually be meditating upon the miserable Consequences of having lost our Souls, whatsoever Exchange we may be offered for them. Let us ask ourselves, Whether we can endure to dwell with everlasting burn? Whether we are able to support such Torments, as are infinite in degree, as well as in continuance? Whether Eternal Damnation be a thing to be trifled with? Or, Whether Threescore Years of Luxury and Intemperance, are not too dearly paid for by an Eternity of Misery? How sad will the Condition of that Man be, whose worldly Jollity is passed away as a Dream or a Shadow, and has left nothing behind it, but its dismal Consequences, and those to remain to all Eternity? How soon will the Sense of everlasting Misery extinguish the remembrance of those momentary Enjoyments? And how little inviting would their Allurements be, even now, if we would propose to our Consideration, the Afflictions that attend them! Let us then in the Name of God, consider seriously the great Value of our Souls, the just Interest that Christ has in them, who has bought them with a Price, and such a one as shows how very precious they are in his eyes; let us give them up entirely into his possession, and resign them into his hands, as into those of a faithful Creator; then will they be out of the reach of the World, and no longer liable to the danger of such pernicious Exchanges; let us look upon the World with an Eye of Contempt, as knowing that the Lot is fallen to us in a fairer ground, and that we have a more goodly heritage; thus shall we come to prise it at no more than it is, and that is but Vanity and vexation of spirit; and having possessed our souls in patience, without exchanging them for Dross and Corruption, we shall give them up pure and undefiled into the Arms of our Redeemer, and commit the keeping of our Souls to him.  
To whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be ascribed all Honour, Power, and Dominion, henceforth, and forevermore. Amen.  
LAUS DEO.