Counsel to the afflicted, or, Instruction and consolation for such as have suffered loss by fire with advice to such as have escaped that sore judgement contained in the resolution of three questions occasioned by the dreadful fire in the city of London in the year 1666 ... : in the discussing of which questions are handled several profitable cases of conscience concerning self-murder, preparing for afflictions, taking up our rest in God &c. which are inserted in the contents / by O.S.

SECT. 9.

9. Render your selves to God by way of gratitude for his sparing of you from this sore judgment which hath fallen so heavily upon others. Your Houses and Estates are too little to give unto God for this mercy; and therefore you shall do well to give your selves, both body and soul, all that you have and are, unto the Lord. When David was debating the case with himself, what he should render to the Lord for his benefits, he resolves to give himself to God, to

be his servant, and that not only in profession, but indeed and in truth, Psal. 116.12,16. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? Oh Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant,—2 Chron. 30.8. Be ye not stiff-necked,—but yield your selves unto the Lord,—2 Cor. 8.5. But first gave their own selves to the Lord. What the Apostle said to the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 12.14. I seek not yours, but you: The like may be said of God, He doth not seek ours, but us; he is more pleased when we give him our selves, than with any other gift that we have to give him. As a Christian looketh upon it as the greatest favour that God can bestow upon him, for God to give himself to him; he prizeth none of Gods gifts so much as the gift of himself: so it is with God, he esteemeth a mans giving up himself to God, above all the gifts that he can give to God. Let there∣fore the mercies which God hath given you, prevail with you to give your selves, your whole selves, both body and soul unto God. 1. Let Gods mercies pre∣vail with you to give God your bodies, Rom. 12.1. I beseech you therefore, Brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac∣ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It may be some will say, What? Doth God care for our bodies? Will that be an acceptable gift to God? The Apostle assureth us it will be an acceptable pre∣sent, when they are preserved holy, present your bo∣dies, holy, acceptable unto God. And he telleth us elsewhere, that the Lord is desirous of our bodies as well as of our souls, 1 Cor. 6.13. The body is—for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Now then we give God our bodies, when we keep our bodies in subje∣ction to the will of God, when we rule and govern all the members of our bodies by the Word of God,

when we are content to do or suffer any thing in our bodies for the sake of God, that God and Christ may be magnified in our bodies, Phil. 1.20. when we do not suffer sin to reign in our bodies, neither do yield the members of our bodies as instruments of un∣righteousness to sin, but do readily yield up all the members of our bodies as instruments of righteous∣ness to do the will of God; this is to give God our bodies. And this is that which the Apostle calls for, Rom. 6.12,13. Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield your selves unto God, as those that are above from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 2. Give God your souls as well as your bodies, otherwise you do not present your bodies to God a living sacrifice, according to the forementioned exhortation, Rom. 12.1. for, The body without the spirit is dead, Jam. 2.26. And if the body be a dead carcase without the spirit, then we cannot present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God, unless we give him our souls together with our bodies. The soul is that which God desires a∣bove all things, Prov. 23.26. My son, give me thine heart.—Matth. 22.37,38. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great Commandement. And why should any of us stick at this, the giving our selves both body and soul unto God, seeing it is our reasonable service? Let me shew you the equi∣ty of what I am exhorting you unto, that so such of you as have received great mercies from God, may be perswaded by way of gratitude, to give your selves the more cheerfully both body and soul unto the Lord.

1. Our bodies and souls are not our own, but the Lords; and shall we refuse to give God his own? Shall we be backward to glorifie God with that which is his own? 1 Cor. 6.19,20.—Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; therefore glo∣rifie God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods. God did not make either our bodies or our souls for the service of sin or Satan, but for himself, 1 Cor. 6.13.—Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord,—Prov. 16.4. The Lord hath made all things for himself. Rev. 4.11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, and power; for thou hast cre∣ated all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Now seeing our bodies and souls were created for Gods pleasure; Is it not meet they should be yielded up unto God?

2. The Lord Jesus gave himself both body and soul for us. He yielded his body to be crucified for us, which was both a shameful and a painful death, 1 Cor. 11.24. This is my body which was broken for you,—1 Pet. 2.24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree, that we being dead unto sin, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed. Isa. 50.6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked of the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Why should we refuse to give our bodies to be burned, imprison∣ed, banished, tortured, or to suffer any affliction for the sake of Christ, seeing he gave his body to suf∣fer such a shameful and painful death for us? The Lord Jesus did not only give his body, but his soul also an offering for our sins, Isa. 53.10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,—Shall we stick at giving our souls to

Christ, when he did not stick at making his soul an of∣fering for our sins?

3. It will be much for the advantage both of our bodies and souls to give them unto God; for he will sanctifie them, and make them his Temple, and come and dwell in them, 1 Cor. 3.16. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwel∣leth in you? 2 Cor. 6.16. Ye are the Temple of the li∣ving God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them.—Now, who are they to whom the Apo∣stle speaks, when he saith, Ye are the Temple of the li∣ving God, &c. They were such as had given them∣selves to God, as you may see, Chap. 8.5. But first gave their own selves to the Lord,—What greater honour or happiness are our souls and bodies capa∣ble of, whilst they are in this world, than to be∣come Temples of the living God? But besides this, if we give our bodies and souls unto God, he will glorifie both our bodies and souls in an unexpressi∣ble manner in the Kingdom of Heaven to all eter∣nity. The Sun is a glorious creature, it dazleth our eyes to behold it; God will give his Saints in Heaven a glory equal to the brightness of the Sun, Matth. 13.43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun, in the Kingdom of their Father: yea, they shall excel the Sun in glory, for they shall be equal to the Angels, and the Angels are far more glorious ceatures than the Sun, Luk. 20.36. Neither can they dye any more; for they are equal unto the Angels, and are the Children of God, being the Children of the Resurrection: yea, they shall be made like to Christ, their bodies shall be made like to his glorious body, Phil. 3.21. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,—and their souls shall be made like to his glorious soul, 1 Joh. 3.2.

—We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We,—that is, not our bodies only, or our souls only; but our persons, both body and soul shall be like him.