God for it's Author and of all the visible Creation seems to be Gods Masterpiece if we take it in pieces and consider it in its parts you will find it an excellent piece of work every piece being so useful and exact nothing wanting nothing redundant the Heart the Liver the Brain the Brain the Muscles Sinews Nerves Arteries Veins and Ligaments and the several Members of the Body yea the whole is a beautiful piece dropt out of the hands of a choice Workman but this filthy vice doth so deform deface and defile it that it looks not like that which God Created it to be how doth it deform the Face the Nose the Eyes the Cheeks are red and pimpled the Face swoln like a Bladder the Countenance disturbed writhen and deformed How many beautiful comly Faces both of Men and Women are thus spoiled set on fire and bedecked with Pearls and Rubies Pimples Pushes and rough and rugged Skin To whom saith Solomon is redness of eyes c. to them that tarry long at the Wine to them that seek mixt Wine What meazil Faces what swoln Bellies Legs and Thighs and other parts usually have they and commonly their diseases and distempers within are not fewer than their deformities without for this filthy vice quenches the natural heat and drowns the vital spirits impairs the health weakens the Body and is the seminary of many diseases Gouts Dropsies Feavers and what not and disposes it for a dissolution and in a few years even in young men we may evidently see a wonderful change a strange Metamorphosis in those addicted to Drunkenness they become lothsom to others and burthensom to themselves that their Legs are not able to do their office to carry them as they would do nothing so now they can do nothing that is good they are unfit to live being good for nothing and most unfit to dye and as they are like Hogs always desiring their Swill so they are fit for no other society they are Swine and like Vlisses's men desire no other happiness they think there is no Heaven but in their filthy Swinish pleasure no good-fellowship but amidst their Pots no such delight on earth as to make each other Drunk and no love like to this and thus they live undesired and die unlamented except by those of their own fraternity who if their means be spent matter not to see each other hanged out of the way when they once come to be troublsome if therefore you would not be troubled with those deformities of Body and not only race out the Image of God but also the Image of a Man if you would not be pointed out in the Street for a Drunkard and known by the Buttry door Buttons upon your Nose and Face if you would not be filled with diseases and infirmities incident to this Vice such as you are never like to be freed from while you live if you would not make your self loathsom to God and Man and unfit your self for any calling occupation or business whatsoever if you would not disable your self to do any duty to God or Man take heed of this filthy Vice for this by the just Judgment of God oft-times follows upon these lewd courses t is not in vain the Holy Ghost pronounceth Wo to him that riseth early in the morning that he may follow Strong Drink and continue till night till wine enflame him Some part of their Wo is in this life but the greatest part is reserved for hereafter yet most men are insensible of it we may say of the Sword and Drunkenness as the Women did of Saul and David The Sword hath slain Thousands but Intemperance Ten thousands Consid 3. This filthy Swinish Sin of Drunkenness for I know not how to give it a fitter epithet doth not only take away the beauty of the Body and fill it full with diseases as before I proved but 't is also the Grave to bury the good name where it will for ever rot and stink in the Nostrils of God and good men and makes it go out in a stinking snuff A good name saith Solomon is rather to be chosen than great riches Prov. 22. 1. and indeed cannot be purchased with Gold many men that have purchased great Estates could not purchase a good Name Now the Drunkard a right Prodigal sells his name as cheap as Esau did his Birth-right for a little Drink as Lycimacus did his Kingdom for a draught of Water yea and that when he hath enough before and brings an Odium upon himself which he can never blot out for as a good Name may continue when Riches are gone so this blot lies upon him when his Drink is gone A good name is better than precious Ointment Eccl. 7. 1. It comforts the Heart with the Smell it holds up the Head and chears the Heart and leaves a good savour behind it 't is durable and preserves from putrifaction when the name of the wicked shall rot it smells sweet when the other goes out in a snuff the Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance but the other are either buried in Oblivion or remembred to their shame this filthy Vice rots the Name that 't is never remembred but with obloquie when mention is made of Heliogabalus Sardanapalus and such beastly Belly-gods with what contempt do we speak of them Tiberius was in scorn called Biberius for his excessive Drinking this one bad one drowns all other good parts in a Man is it not the constant language of Men when they see a Drunkard yonder goes a Toss-pot a Swill-bowl a Drunken Swine a Belly-god do you see how he reels how he vomits it would turn a mans Stomach to see him here lies the Cloak there the Hat there the Swine lies sleeping snorting wallowing in his Vomit more fit for the Dunghil than the House for the Company of Swine than Men and when he is dead this may be his Epitaph Here lies one that made his Gut his God and Drinking Healths was his greatest Devotion he was his own Executor he lived undesired and died unlamented and indeed no wise man will willingly be seen in his Company for as 't is a blemish to keep company with a Whore so 't is with a Drunkard He that keepeth company with a riotous person shameth his Father Prov. 28. 7. Yea they shame themselves and many get a Blot not easily removed these men are like the Locusts all belly from head to tail and make little use of the rest of their Body In the Fable where the Hands and the Feet and other parts that complained of the Belly for devouring all and doing nothing denyed it food whereupon the whole Body faints c. This shews their ignorance for there the Belly contributes to each part for their sustentation but if ever there be reason it is certainly the other parts has reason has here cause to complain of the Belly for it robs the Back and other parts and devours all and
their Swords in each others Bowels as we read Alexander in his Drink killed his dear friend Clit us only for disallowing his profuse Healths and had he been suffered would afterwards have killed himself and it was not long before he and thirty five more of his consorts killed themselves by immoderate Drinking at one time and forty of his Companions at another But we need not look far for Examples our own Age our own Nation our own Neighbourhood yields us too many how many of our Gallants and youthful Gentlemen within a few years and a few miles have caught their death by their excessive Drinking and died of Surfeits almost every Parish Town and Hamlet may afford examples of some that have come to an untimely end this way either in their Drink killing one another and so come to the Gallows or breaking their necks drowning burning scalding and some such accident or by Surfets Feavors Gouts Dropsies or some dangerous uncurable Disease gotten this way which puts a period to their Lives and Drinking or that by this means run into Misery Danger Debt Poverty and dye on a Dunghil in a Barn c. for want of sustenance or end their days in Prison these and such like are the fruits and effects of this filthy Sin this Sin is as one calls it A flattering Devil a sweet Poison the bane of virtue the Mother of vice voluntary madness the Author of quarrels contentions strife and debate The Drunkard's heart is a fit receptacle for all Vice for as Frogs live and thrive in a filthy lake a stinking ditch where no Fish can abide so Vices are nourished here but no Virtue can live but is poisoned When the old World could not overcome Noah this filthy Sin did this sets it self against the Law of God of Grace of Nature and of Nations 't is the grief of Friends the scorn of Enemies the ruin of Families it opens Hell and shuts Heaven Gates against us The Soul where this filthy Pestiferous weed grows is like that which was sowed with Salt it became baren to every thing that was good The Graces of the Spirit of God cannot abide to dwell in such a nasty House or to lodg with such a filthy Bedfellow for as Smoke drives away Bees so Drunkenness drives away the Spirit of God all holy desires and good resolutions and quencheth all holy motions and is as water to the Fire extinguishing all hopeful beginnings 't is like the Mare mortuum wherein no good Fish can live and therefore if you would not be accessary to your own death both of Body and Soul if you will not run the hazard of a sudden or violent or untimely death or fil your bodies with Surfets Feavors Gouts Dropsies c. by intemperance take heed in time of this filthy Sin for these are the natural Products of it and God doth usually witness against it by such judgments as these Consid 9. Consider the horrible Judgments which God the righteous Judg hath brought upon offenders in this kind In the time of the Law as we may see Deut. 21. 18 19 20. God commanded If a Father had a Son that was a Glutton or a Drunkard and upon reproof and correction would not amend the Father of that Son should bring him out to the Elders of the City and they should stone him Now if Magistrates are negligent of their Duty and will not punish this Sin according to its demerits and if the Ecclesiastical Courts take little notice of it then God is forced to take the Sword in his own hand and cut off the putrified member and though he be slow yet many times he strikes home nay he doth not spare his own people yet he lets them blood as a Physician not as an Executioner As for the other though he reserves many till the general Assizes to have their doom yet some he hangs up in Chains that others may hear and fear and do no more so wickedly Noah though a good man and escaping the pollutions of the old World was after tainted with this Sin God suffered him to uncover his nakedness and to be a laughingstock to his own Son who by this means entailed the curse to him and his Posterity and the generation then to come had cause to bewail the act Righteous Lot whose righteous Soul was vexed with the unclean conversation of the wicked Sodomites fell through this Sin to that of Incest for this seldom goes alone and became the Father of the Moabites and Ammonites two cursed generations haters of God and his People which had he lived to see would have been a further trouble to him My intention is not in reciting these examples to rank them amongst Drunkards or confer that odious name upon them for 't is not our bare simple act deserves or can fasten such an imputation upon them A godly man by the subtilty of Satan's temptations and the prevalency of corruptions or inadvertency not knowing the nature of Wine as it may be imagined of Noah if not of the other may fall in the Sin but there is difference between a Sheep falling in a foul way which riseth again shakes himself and takes better heed and a Swine that wittingly willingly and delightfully wallows in the mire A Godly man through imprudence or want of heed may have a fall and lose some degrees of innocency which is great cause of shame and Sorrow but those that make it their Trade and daily practice best deserve the name But Gods dealing with others is more severe Elah the King of Israel drinking himself Drunk in his Steward's House was killed by Zimri his own Servant a sad death especially at such a time when he was most unfit to dye the like had befallen Nabal in his Drunkenness had not wise Abigail prevented it and when he heard the danger he was in his heart became as a stone within him and he died 1 Sam. 25. 36 c. Amnon one of holy Davids ungracious Sons who before had ravished his Sister Tamar and when his heart was merry with Wine was slain by the Command of his Brother Absalon 2 Sam. 13. 28. Benhadad and the thirty two Kings that were with him being all Drunk a sad example to their Servants had his mighty Army defeated by a handful of Ahabs men and hardly escaped with his life Belshazzer carousing Wine with his Wives and Concubines in the Vessels of the Temple had the Hand-writing sent by God upon the Wall which foretold his ruin and destruction which suddenly fell out accordingly Holofernes in his Drink was killed by Judeth and should we examine the Records of all ages you may find God's terrible hand stretched out against men of this profession some have grown so audacious as to drink Healths to the Devil himself such a beast or rather Monster was Pope John the twelfth or as some reckon the thirteenth A Lincolnshire man drinking a Health to the Devil fell down dead in the place
more than ordinary sanctity is an aggravation to your crime the higher men clime the greater will be their fall How doth this make sad the hearts of those that the Lord would not make sad and strengthen the hands of the wicked If Israel play the harlot saith God yet let not Judah offend you did run well who hindred you you began well and you end ill you began in the spirit and will you end in the flesh What a blow will this be to Religion when the chief prop in such a family shall not only break but like an Egyptian Reed run into our hands What a discouragement is it to an Army when a chief champion not only turns his back but revolts to the enemy What a dishonour is this to God to leave his service and serve his greatest enemy How will the enemy in sult Lo saith they you see what a master they serve for all their brags they are soon weary of his service Davids sin caused Gods enemies to blaspheme and for that cause God told him The Sword should never depart from his house How doth this sadden the hearts of the godly and fill their faces with shame How is Religion loaded with aspersions as if there were no real difference between the godly and the wicked These say they are your professors they 'll take their cups as well as others Poor doubting Christians are discouraged and think they shall never hold out when such Cedars are shaken and such Champions foiled Others are incouraged in their sin and are apt to say let them have their fling they will come bank again to us ere long What account will you give of this to God at last what iniquity have you found in him that you are departed from him Is there any thing in religion that causeth you to forsake it or hath God ever given you any cause Testifie against him hath he been a barren wilderness to you Is there more real worth in your pot companions which have wrought your ruine if God prevent not both of Body and Soul than is in the communion of Saints and had you rather be hearing swearing cursing and blaspheming than prayers or praises unto God Consider the Blood of your own Soul and the Soul of your Children and Servants that are like to be undone by your example and of many others that are either hardned in their sins or discouraged in their duties will be laid at your door Consider the price of this Blood before you are too lavish of it one Soul is worth a world and do not sell it for pots of Ale Aggra 5. The many Covenants Promises Vows and Ingagements which you have made to God for better Obedience and the many Promises and Ingagements which you have made to Ministers and other Christians and which you have so often broke are no small Aggravation to your sin so that you cannot commit this sin at so cheap a rate as some others may 'T is better not to vow then to vow and not preform In your Baptismal Vow which you have since owned and ratified you were dedicated up to God and devoted to his service and 't is sacriledge to divert things dedicated up to God to profane uses You then received Press-money and listed your self into Christs Company and promised to fight under his Banner and that his Enemies should be your Enemies and you would maintain War while you lived against sin the World and the Devil and he promised you so doing you should have what ever was necessary here and Heaven it self for a reward and to this Covenant you have often set your other Seal in the Sacrament and will you after all these Vows and Covenants to God and Promises to Men treacherously and perfidiously revolt change sides and joyn with the Devil Gods sworn enemy and that to fight against him his cause and people and the power of godliness which you did profess What cause hath God given you to do thus Testifie against him was he ever worse than his word to you nay he was before-ahand with his promise he gave you a better portition in the world than thousands of your brethren you may eat the fat and drink the sweet when others must moil and toil and cark and care and all little enough to prevent poverty All that you have is from him he gave you limbs when others are lame sight when others are blind health when others are sick liberty when others are imprisoned you have the use of reason when others run raging in the streets yea you have your life and breath and all from him and how dare you then provoke him you have not only mercies for this life but for the life to come offered also the means of Grace the tenders of Mercy Christ and Heaven and Glory and for which of all these good things do you hate God and leave his service Can the Devil or your Pot-companions better reward you Can they defend you from the dreadful judgments of a sin revenging God can they secure you under the shadow of their wings If not how dare you provoke this God Are you stronger than he if not why do you take up weapons of defence against him Was there ever any hardened himself against God and prospered God will avenge the quarrel of his Covenant and where are you then Do you know what it is to be an enemy unto God or to have God to be an enemy unto you if you did it might send you trembling to your Grave if you are his enemy and his enemy you are while you serve the Devil for his servants you are to whom you obey you may expect he should deal with you as with an enemy and then what evr judgments you have heard or read of either threatned against or executed upon any graceless wretch you are not sure but nay you may expect that it may be your portion and how ever he may suffer you here to fill up the measure of your iniquity yet he will pay you home full measure and running over 'T is better for you to have all the Men on Earth and all the Devils in Hell against you than God you are but a worm and if he tread upon you he leaves you dead behind him if he with-hold your breath you return to the dust and all your thoughts perish there is no strugling out of his hand Wo to him that striveth with his master let the potsheard strive with the potsheard of the earth Isaiah 45. 9. You can get nothing by this contention Aggra 6. This Carriage and Demeaning of yours how ever it may for a time seem pleasing to your self is yet offensive to God Father Son and Holy Ghost and 't is the grief of all good men that know it to your friends and relations and all that fear God that God takes it to heart you may find by his often complaint of and expostalations with the Children of Israel in their revolts