their lives for Christ that cannot deny their sensual Appetite Was it ever known that a Debaucht Drunkard ever suffered for him As Drink increaseth their Thirst and the more they drink the more they may so Drunkenness increaseth Hell-fire like Oyl which will never be quenched The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life Rom. 6. 23. Nay God tells us as plain as he can speak that a Drunkard shall not go to Heaven 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 10. 19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulation Wrath Strife Sedition Heresie Envying Murther Drunkenness Revilings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And I fear that most Drunkards are guilty of many of these What now can you say for your selves why this is not your portion Do you think God is not just will he speak one thing and do another or is he not able to do as he saith and that you shall go to Heaven notwithstanding See what God saith to such Deut. 29. 19 c. He that heareth the words of this Curse and blesseth himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the stubborness of my heart adding Drunkenness to Thirst the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoak against that man and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall lite upon him and God shall blot out his name from under heaven However great Offenders in this life may escape temporal judgments yet spiritual judgments which are far more dangerous seize upon them blindness of mind hardness of heart searedness of conscience a reprobate sense strong delusions c. and eternal judgments dog them at the heels the Devil that now sets them on work takes notice of their work that he may not be behind with them with their wages but what this wages is the tongue of men nor angels cannot fully describe for though the torments themselves are exquisite yet the duration is an aggravation though the pain of loss be inexpressible and the pain of sense be insupportable yet Eternity is unimaginable and though the pain of sense be ten thousand times beyond our conceiving yet the perpetuity of it will be the greatest torment and the word Never will be a Hell in the midst of Hell If the Drunkard were to suffer but a thousand years in Hell for every Cup of Drink he hath drunk above measure and this would be dear-bought pleasure yet were there hopes an end would come Ah! but what is this to Eternity Oh Eternity Eternity how shall we conceive of thee how shall we number thee If this be the Drunkards portion we may well say as the Holy Ghost doth Woe to them Job 10. 50. If I be wicked woe to me If the aking of the head saith one came before the Drinking of the Wine which usually follows it there would be few Drunkards But I think we may well say If but one hour the pains of Hell were felt by them it would make them sober all their life If now you would not lose the use of Reason and be transformed into a Beast if you would not bring upon your Body Deformities without and Infirmities within if you would not bring reproaches upon your self and bury your good name in obloquy if you would not debauch your soul and incline it to all manner of wickedness if you would be preserved from that filthy sin of Adultery to which this inclines you if you would not waste your Estate ruin your Family undo your Wife and Children and bring them to beggery if you would not unfit your self for any calling and Employment or any Duty to God or Man if you would not by intemperance hasten your own death and set a period to your life if you would not bring the horrible judgments of God upon you and force him to cut you off in the midst of your days and if you would not lose your Soul and suffer the vengeance of Eternal Fire take heed of this filthy beastly sin of Drunkenness which carries all those evils and many more in the belly of it Thus you see what Charge I have drawn up against this sin of Drunkenness and much more may be said for 't is a fearful Mother and most sins are bred in the Womb of it or fed or fostered by it for in sin almost nothing can be named but Drunkenness doth patronize it and excites men to the practice of it I do not hereby intend or mean that all that are addicted to it are guilty of all other villany some perhaps never blasphemed or murthered yet this in others is the cause of blasphemy and murther neither do I mean that all that ever were overtaken with Drink that they are thus to be tearmed A Godly Man may have his slips though this is rare but there is a difference between a Sheep and a Swine as I said the one falls into the Mire unwillingly the other wallows in it so here some are surprized unawares as 't is conceived Noah was These by repentance wash away their spot and others seek occasions and are not well till they find them And now though I have done with Drunkenness in the general yet have I not done with you in particular for I conceive your sin admits of many aggravations which some other mens sins do not and that is worse in you then in them some of those I shall draw up against you that if possible I may shame you out of it for though this sin by some is compared to Hell few fall into it that recover and by some to the Gout incurable yet I having known some have recovered I am not out of hope The aggravations are these Aggra 1. Consider your Education which was Civil nay not only Civil but Religious you are extracted from those that were Ancicient professors trained up in Family Duties Prayer and Praise the Word of God was read in the Family and many a prayer put up with you and for you you were dedicated to God in your Baptismal Vow which since you owned and were listed into his company and shall all this be lost upon you it had been better then for you that you had had Turks or Pagans for your Parents Many an Exhortation and loving Admonition you have had the danger of sinful courses you have been told you have had examples and presidents of a Holy Life before you and some of the contrary and you have seen the
three more in Germany for the like offence were all found dead the next morning In Almain in the year 1580 one drinking a Health to God stretching his hand towards Heaven with a cup of Wine was dead in that posture neither by strength could be removed the other by the people was hanged on Gibbets before the door I have heard also of some struck suddenly dead in the very act some drowned some scalded to death some choaked with the Drink some broke their necks some lying in the way were slain by Carts some in their Drink murthered their Parents many that have caught surfets and died upon them he that would read more examples of this nature may find them in Beard 's Theatre of Gods Judgments and in Mr. Clearks Treatise upon the same subject but the experience of our own times may spare us that labour for who is so great a stranger in the neighbourhood he lives in but may add examples of this nature how oft do we hear and see men struck dead in the very act or suddenly after with Surfeits or otherwise were it but convenient the time the place the persons names might be produced and no man of discretion that takes any notice of Gods dealings in the world but may add some experience which shews Gods hatred of this detestable Vice for I think he hath not more eminently appeared against any Sin except it be against Atheism Blasphemy Adultery or Persecution of the power of Godliness than against this If therefore you would not be guilty of your own death and become the object of Gods infinite hatred and dreadful Judgments If you would not run violently upon your own destruction and force God to cut you off as an unprofitable unuseful member beware of this Sin for doubtless 't is the ready way to temporal and eternal death and if death arrest you by such a Sergeant as this your case is lamentable Consid 10. But the greatest danger is yet behind and that is the loss of the Soul which is ten thousand times greater than the loss of life Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life yet the Soul is in more danger than it and where this Sin is predominant 't is a sad sign of an ungracious heart and that the wrath of God hangs over their heads God pronounceth wo to such and who then can speak peace Wo to the Crown of Pride the Drunkards of Ephraim Wo to those that rise early to drink strong drink and continue till night till Wine enflame them Wo to those that are mighty to drink Wine and men of strength to mingle strong Drink Wo to him that giveth his neighbour drink and putteth the Bottle to him and maketh him drunk Doth God speak in earnest or in jest or can he or will he make good his threatnings If so what a woful condition are Drunkards in 't is for this Sin that Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure Isa 5. 14. These are the men Whose end is destruction whose God is their Belly whose glory is their shame who mind earthly things Phil. 3. 19. They Sacrifice to nothing else but the Creature Thus saith the Lord to such drink and be drunken and spew and fall and never rise again this is spoken to those that make it their business to drink and make others drunk also Jer. 25. 27. These are plying the Devils work and he is preparing them their wages which he will pay them at the day Those that now so profusely spend and wast Gods good Creatures given by him for an higher end the time is coming and will not be long if Repentance prevent not they will not be able to purchase one drop of water to cool their tongues Remember this all ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there is none to deliver Without Repentance Hell will be your portion and the place of your habitation and endless easeless and remediless Torments are the wages which the Devil pays to his miserable Servants for their most faithful service see the doom of your elder Brother Matth. 24. 49. c. that neglecting the duty God required at his hands to give his fellow-servants meat in due season and doing the work the Devil enjoyned him in beating them and eating and drinking with the Drunkards He was cut in sunder and his portion appointed him with Hypocrites and that unfaithful unprofitable Servant that hid his Talent in the earth was cast out into utter darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Matth. 25. 30. and if only those shall have the sentence of absolution at the last day that have fed the hungry clothed the naked relieved the stranger c. Mat. 25. 34 c. What will become of you that spend the poor's part yea and pluck the very meat from the mouths of your Wives and Children and make many others want meat by your extravagancies you know not but some may this day be in Hell tormented in those flames for those very Sins which you occasioned them to commit and no doubt many more will be which may be a sad reflexion upon your own heart If God should give you repentance this may be a Corasive to you you help to destroy men but cannot give repentance but if you repent not the blood of their souls will be required at your hand and did you know the price of this blood you would beware The time is coming a separation will be made between the precious and the vile and though the Wheat and the Tares grow together ere long they shall be separated the wheat shall be gathered into barns but the tares shall be bundled up Swearers with Swearers and Drunkards with Drunkards and burnt with unquenchable fire Drunkenness is compared by some to Chain-shot it sends men to Hell by clusters some other sins to single Bullets that kills but one at once There are many that have knowledge enough in other things and yet know not the way to Heaven they can search Natures Garden from end to end but cannot search their own hearts they are well skill'd abroad strangers at home They are like the Lamiae a sort of Witches that were blind at home quick-sighted abroad They are skilled in all Courts but the Court of Conscience but let them have never so much knowledge they are really fools to sell their souls to Satan for so low a value as a belly-full of Ale They are worse than Esau that sold his birth-right for a Mess of Pottage or a King I have read of that lost his Kingdom for a Draught of Water Can we imagine those are Christians that cannot deny themselves in a Cup of Drink when they have enough before The first Lesson in Christs School is Self-denial and if we deny not forsake not Father Mother Wife and Children yea hate all and our own lives we cannot be his Disciple Can those men lay down
have erred through Strong Drink they are swallowed up of Wine Hos 4. 11. Whoredom Wine and new Wine take away the Heart One Lust calls upon another as one Souldier doth upon another in Fighting or as those did 2 King 3. 23. Now therefore Moab to the spoil Solomon joineth giving the Heart to Wine and giving it to folly both together Eccles 2. 3. and commonly those that serve one of these Masters serve the other also and this is thought by some to be the beginning of Solomons Apostacy Drunkenness in a Minister is no less unseemly than in a Magistrate and 't is severely forbidden in both God absolutely forbids any Priest to drink Wine or Strong Drink in their approaches and addresses unto him Lev. 10. 9. Ezek. 44. 21. There are none more affected than such as those that will be Drunk with them for company If they will saith God Prophesy of Wine and Strong Drink these shall be the Prophets for them Mic. 2. 11. yea God complains of such Isa 56. 12. Come say they we will fetch Wine and we will fill our selves with strong Drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant Esa 56. 12. But a Wo is pronounced against such Isa 28. 1. Wo unto the Crown of Pride to the Drunkards of Ephraim and Christ gives his Disciples a Caution and doubtless not without need and if they needed who doth not Luke 21. 34. Take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeting and Drunkenness and the cares of this World and that day come upon you at unawares The best of us have Corruptions within which if watered with Temptations without will produce this as well as other Sins Tit. 1. 7. A Bishop must be blameless the Steward of God not selfwilled not soon angry not given to Wine c. And indeed how is that man fit to rule the Church that cannot rule his own Family nay his own appetite or can he be a guide that goes himself so far out of the way or how can any man void of Reason rule his Children Servants or any under his charge when he is made a Beast and Drink rules him Nay what calling is that man fit for in this condition for in every calling there is some labour or some care or some thing or other requisit which a Drunken man is unfit for Now if the Devil can get such as these in Office especially in the Magistracy or Ministry and he will do it if his own wit or his Instruments Interest can do it what a deal of service do they do him Court fashions spread themselves over the Countrey what an influence had the Kings of Israel and Judah over the People as they were wicked or as they were good so reformation or deformation was promoted when Rulers themselves are wicked they are a shelter to impiety and terror to good works yea what Duty either to God or Man is a Drunkard fit for what can he do can he Pray Alas he cannot speak or at least speak sence or Reason and suppose he could How loathsom do you think such a Prayer would be to God that is performed that is accompanied with belching and vomiting What will he Pray for for the Pardon of that Sin he never intends to leave and for those Graces he never intends to act or exercise or can he hear or read or meditate Alas his condition suffers it not His Heart is made sick with Bottles of Wine Hos 7. 5. The like we may say of any Duty or Office to God or Man or any Imployment for his own good and the good of others therefore I may well say of him he is an unuseful and unprofitable Creature good for nothing but to do just like Pharaohs lean Kine that eat up the fat ones they devour what should keep others If therefore now you would not be disabled for any business for your self or others for any Calling or Business for any imployment in the Commonwealth nay for any Duty to God or Man in your general or particular Calling if you would not be rendered useless worthless and unprofitable if you would not live meerly like a Drone good for nothing but to devour to fill and empty if you would not live undesired and die unlamented take heed of this Swinish Sin which will certainly thus render you useless Consid 8. As Drunkenness unfits a man to live so it unfits a man to die and Wo to that man that is neither fit to live nor to die and yet oft-times it hastens his Death and puts a Period to his Life and unhappy is that man whom the World is weary of and Heaven disclames What is said of the Bloody and deceitful men may well be said of the Drunkard He doth not live out half his days Many of our Gallants or Roaring-Boys as they stile themselves are cut off in the flower of their age in the prime of their youth while their bones are full of marrow and when they end their Roaring on Earth it is to be feared they sing the second part in Hell many by Drinking other mens Healths lose their own yea oft-times Life and all a Hellish custom hatched there invented by the Devil as a Shooinghorn to Drunkenness and Excess and as some of the Fathers write A Custom derived from the Pagans and Infidels to us and was in use amongst them and was a Drink-Offering Sacrificed on their Knees to their Dunghil-Deities to the Devil himself as part of that Service Homage Worship Devotion Fealty they paid to him and the Devils seem unwilling that this Ceremony should be left off or any circumstance thereunto belonging it must be upon their Knees and sometimes attended with the breaking of the Glasses burning of their Hats Coats or other Garments c. What prodigious madness Hellish folly is this and to make the Sacrifice compleat it must be powdered or salted with horrid Blasphemies Damnings and Rammings as if they had been in Hell to learn the the exact language of the Devil and the damned and t is to be feared that many drink Healths of Damnation here that they shall be pledging in Hell to all eternity for God is more dishonoured the Creatures more abused and devoured the Devil more obeyed served and adored by this than almost any other Sin Their Healths are oft-times made to great men whom they adore making Gods of them and Beasts of themselves and hence many times grow quarrels strifes debates fightings stabbings and death it self yea I suppose there are more Drunken quarrels occasioned by their Healths than by any other thing whatsoever Whores excepted sometimes they chalenge the Field sometimes they give each other the lye and the stab and oft-times comes to bloodshed for when the Drink is in the Wit is out and the greatest friends in a moment prove the greatest enemies and those that even now professed the greatest amity suddenly shew the greatest enmity and sheath
you may find in three parables in Luke 15. of the lost Sheep the lost groat and the prodigal Son It was he that lost the Sheep and seeks till he finds it and then receiveth he is the Father of the prodigal Son and his prodigality was his trouble as may easily appear by his rejoycing at his return yea Christ tells us there is joy in the presence of the Angels when a sinner returneth and if there could be sorrow in Heaven sure it would be at their revolting back the resisting the motions of Gods Spirit is called a grieving of or a quenching of it and if each Saint have his Guardian Angel as some imagine and it may seem probable for they are guarded by the Angels we may imagine they rejoyce when we do well and as far as they are capable are troubled at our falls and slips and what sorrow and sadness also must this be to your relations put your self into their condition how sad would it be to you to have a Child the only hope of the Family to ruin himself and his posterity to have a young fellow take such extravagant courses to have a Brother or a Sister thus debaucht what grief is it to a Godly Minister that travelled in Birth till he thought Christ had been formed in you and then suddenly see all his hopes dasht all his exhortations admonitions reproofs prayers c. lost upon you how may it trouble and shame him that ever you were of his society your Christian Friends and those of your society how may it trouble them that you are gone from them and with Demas have chosen the World before Christ to think what will become of you and of your Family and of your poor Soul when death shall seperate it from your Body and where you will stop that are running down the hill so fast and whether of a professor you may not as others have done turn persecutor for those that forsake God no wonder if they forsake their Friends also and those that hate God will hate his Image also I wish this be no more than my own surmise and fears In a word There are none that carry the face of honest men but will be troubled at this your Apostacy and there are none but the Devil and his Instruments your Pot-Companions and Brethren in Iniquity that will rejoyce that you are brought back again into the Devils slavery These are the Dalilah's that hugg you in their bosome while they betray you these are the Syrens that by their Song intend to wrack and ruin you and if you think this is your only way to happiness ere long you will find your mistake and your judgment will alter Aggra 7. In this course of life you lead the loss of your precious time which is given you for an higher end is no small aggravation to your fall for though you meet with other considerable losses by this extravagant course of yours yet no temporal loss is comparable to this this cannot be redeemed with Silver nor Gold Jems nor Jewels nay if the World were sold to its worth it could not call back one day that is past and yet alass how prodigal are many of their time as if they knew not how to waste it fast enough they drink and play and rail it away nay go purposely to drive away time that did they but know the value of it would prize it at a higher rate but the time is coming you will know the worth of it by the want of it God hath placed you in his Vineyard given you work to do and sufficient time to do it in if you idle away this time and your work be undone what wages do you expect Amongst other Talents he hath given you this Talent of time if either you not use it or abuse it what can you expect but the doom of the unprofitable servant that hid his Talent in the Earth You have a little time in the World to spend and 't is but a little and one of these days they will say of you He is dead also for you see younger and stronger are gone before you and your turn may be next how as you spend this time so it will fare with you to eternity This is the Harvest of the Soul if you lay not in provision for the Winter with the Bee you are like to want with the Grasshopper this is the market day to lay in provision for the following week and to buy Oyl if this season be let slip the door will be shut against you and we know not how soon this day may be over which will never dawn again you have a great deal of work to do and work of great concernment if it be not finished in the time you are undone you are in a race and your Soul is the prize you run for and will you either stand still or run back you are in the field fighting with cruel blood-thirsty enemies who will make no truce with you but upon more unreasonable terms than Nahash the Ammonite offered to the men of Jabesh Gilead Which was to thrust out all their right eyes and lay it as a reproach on all Israel 1 Sam. 11. 2. But the Devil will make no truce but the everlasting destruction of Soul and Body And will you cast by your Armour and yield to his mercy and revolt from him that will warrant you the Victory if you will but keep the field you are in a journey on life and death and will you now turn back or run after Butterflies when the Sun grows low and you have far to go when you must be sure to tread these weary steps back again or lose your life Much of your time is already spent and your work undone and what you have done you are again plucking down and making your work every day more and harder Consider you will repent or not repent If you do not repent you are undone for no unrepenting sinner shall come to Heaven if you do repent it will cost you more pains dolour trouble and grief than ever the pleasure of your sin was worth you must vomit up all those sweet morsels which you have swallowed with so much delight Eternity lies before you and one of these days Death will open the door and let you in What apprehensions then will you have of these courses when you see an infinite Ocean of eternity before you and all your friends and pleasures departing from you and forsaking you Now what good will your merry company do you what comfort can they bring where are now your merry meetings and your drunken revels Will the thoughts of them chear up your hearts those that were your Councellors and Consorts in your Vanity now will be your Companions in your Misery Those for whose sakes you lost your Soul your God your Glory what will they what can they do for you if you miscarry together you will curse the time that ever