the satisfaction of your sensual appetite is concern'd but grant you get that sensual satisfaction you wish for by these sins will it countervail the loss of God's Grace the loss of the light of his Countenance the loss of spiritual comforts the loss of inward joy the loss of Communion with your Maker all which you do certainly lose by your affection to these sins Where is your Christian Perfection if you watch not against the least sin How do you put on the whole Armour of God if you arm not your selves against these common Souldiers of the Devils Army It is not the Officers the Captains of his Hellish Host I mean the greater sins alone that endanger you These Gibeonites that seem inconsiderable that come with Clouts upon their feet and look as if they would do no great harm these lesser sins are as big with mischief as the other for their design is the same viz. to engage you in a League with Hell in a Covenant with Death and to lay you open to the fiercest assaults of the Devil In a word if you would be rid of the least sin learn to live by Rule think by Rule and speak by Rule and work by Rule even by the Rule of the Word of the Living God And as many as walk according to this Rule peace be on them and on the whole Israel of God VII Exercise Every day to keep a strict Guard over our Eyes an Exercise recommended to us Job 31. 1. Psalm 119. 37. Matth. 5. 28 29. Matth. 18. 9. By the Eye here I do not mean the Eye of Contemplation whereby Men see what is above them nor the Eye of Reason whereby they see what is within them but the Eye of the Body which discovers to them the things that are without them and what necessity there is for guarding the Eye the unhappy examples of persons who have been lost for want of it do sufficiently shew When our Grandmother Eve suffer'd her Eyes to wander on the Forbidden Tree and pleas'd her sight with the lovely but dangerous Fruit we know and feel to this day what was the effect of it even the undoing of all her Posterity Had Dinah the Daughter of Jacob kept within the limits of her Fathers House and not gadded abroad to see fashions and the wanton behaviour of the Daughters of the Land she had not lost her Virginity nor been the occasion of so much Blood-shed Had the Jews forbore looking on the Daughters of Midian they had prevented the plague which broke in upon them and consumed the chosen Men of Israel Had David turned away his Eyes from Bathsheba when he walk'd on the Plat-form of his House neither Uriah had been kill'd nor himself fallen into that distress and anguish which afterwards came upon him Achan loses his life by his Eyes and Amnon commits incest Haman's Eyes taking notice of Mordecai's irreverence occasion his death And had the Elders in the Story when they admired the Beauty of Susanna look'd another way they had prevented their shameful and ignominious execution At these Windows Covetousness and Lasciviousness and admiration of sensual Objects and Envy enters at these Avenues they come in and from these Gates the poison is convey'd to the Heart and Entrails At these Doors grief come in which racks the mind and tears the bowels for who knows not that it is more tolerable to hear than to see a loss or misfortune Did not the Covetous feed his eyes with the sight of Gold he would not forsake Paradice for Sodom Heaven for Earth and God for Mammon Did the lustful person deny himself in seeing the tempting object he would not become a slave to his passion nor stoop to such a fatal servitude as we see he doth it 's gazing on the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the gaudes and glories of this World makes the sensual man admire nothing but what savours of satisfaction of the Flesh. Did not the envious cast his eyes on his neighbours welfare it would not grieve him to see his equal or inferior thrive and prosper The Mother that looks upon her dying Babe by that look increases her grief and he that sees himself despis'd and wrong'd makes that spectacle an argument of his immoderate sorrow and vexation so that guarding the eyes is an Exercise which Duty Interest and Desire of our own quiet doth command This Exercise consists First In admiring nothing in the Creature but the Creators Glory Secondly In turning away our Eyes from any Object which we have reason to suspect as dangerous Thirdly In checking the disorder which our seeing may cause in our minds and passions Fourthly In making greater use of the Eyes of our Minds than of our Bodies 1. In admiring nothing in the Creature but the Creators Glory what Beauty what Harmony what Evenness what Exactness what Perfection we see in any object that must immediately lead us to admire the Supreme Cause that gave it Being His Finger must be taken notice of His Wisdom magnified His Bounty adored His Power praised His Munificence exalted and the Creature only look'd upon as the work of his hands the effect of his Providence and the product of his Goodness he that looks no farther then the creature runs himself into snares and God justly suffers him to fall that would not look higher and from Earth cast up his Eyes to Heaven Such a man looks no farther than a Beast and forgets that God gave him a faculty to see more than irrational Animals such a man hath nothing to keep him in awe and therefore is tempted to lay hold on the forbidden Tree which was only presented to his eyes by way of Tryal He that upon seeing the Loveliness and Beauty of a sublunary Object presently reflects on the God that made it at the same time furnishes himself with Arguments to keep within the bounds of Seeing and within the borders of Virtue for sure he cannot at the same time admire the Creator and sin against him That reflexion will put a stop to his sensual desires and as the Angel did Balaam suffer him not to go on to the King of Moab I mean to fulfil the suggestions of a brutish Appetite 2. In turning away our Eyes from any Object which we have reason to suspect as dangerous There is no man that observes himself and knows what sins and errors he is most prone and inclined to but must needs or at least may know what objects are most likely to raise disorders in his soul Experience hath taught him and his frequent falls have been his School-masters Such objects must be shunn'd as the pestilence and if they come within sight the Eyes must be cast down on the ground or shut and as ridiculous as this may seem in the eyes of the world a man in this case had better be laught at by all his acquaintance than loose the Glory of his Self-denial
its fatal Rivulets God knew it was the quickest sense and therefore wisely ordered us to make a hedge about it that Thieves might not break in He that stands Centry here keeps his Castle safe preserves the Purity of his Soul keeps up his Virgin innocence and truly enjoys himself from the guarding of this sense the Soul comes to taste what inward pleasure means and can silently rejoyce in her Watchfulness and Victory This lifts her up above her self and makes her triumph in her Conquest and watching thus she advances her Glory into a Kingdom Reigns within her self and makes her Lusts come crouching to her Throne or overaw'd with her Majesty creep away into Dens and Darkness This hath been the care of Saints in all ages and this hath made their memory famous This Exercise the antient Fathers pressed and upon such Sermons the wanton world began to be reform'd This made the Virgins cover their Faces with Vails that they might neither tempt others with their Beauty nor be tempted with the comely Looks of their Spectators This made the World take notice of the Holy Looks of Christians and observe how with their Lives and Conversations the motions of their eyes and all their gestures changed The man whose eyes did rove before on every Female he met withal upon his turning to God fix'd them on the ground or on Hell which he thought he had deserved The quickness of their Eyes was lost with their Sins and the wantonness of their Looks expired with their Viciousness and Debaucheries They considered that their reason was given them to govern their Senses and they justly thought that in vain they pretendto a life of Reason and Religion without they subdued their Senses and fenced all those passages where Sin and Folly used to enter This gave Religion credit and made Men come from the East and West to gaze upon it This made the World wonder to see Humane Nature rise so high and come to that pitch of Sanctity which even the Heathen Gods had been strangers to He that thus guards his Eyes is the man that sees whereas the other that walks in the sight of his Eyes is blind and let him remember that even for his Looks God shall one day call him to judgment Eccles. 11. 9. They were excellent Arguments Seneca gave to him that had lost his Eyes Thou complainest saith he I have lost mine eyes even this darkness hath its pleasure Lost thine eyes what great matter hast thou lost How many base and filthy Lusts croud the way thou walkest in Thou art happy for thou wilt want abundance of things which were worth pulling out thine eyes that thou mightst not see them Thou considerest not that Blindess is a spice of Innocence Alas What are the eyes such a man they prompt to adultery another they entice to unnatural copulation another they tempt to covet his neighbours House another they put upon laying Siege to a City another they seduce into all manner of misery so that in loosing thine eyes thou hast lost nothing else but incentives to Vice and ringleaders of iniquity Indeed without a man learns to guard this sence it had been better for him that he had never seen the Sun or that he had lost his eyes as soon as he came into the world for that misfortune would yet have quickened the eyes of his understanding and help'd him with Moses to look upon him that is invisible by the eye of Faith and at last he might have obtained the end of his Faith even the salvation of his Soul whereas by his unhappy seeing he besots himself falls in love with the World hugs the pleasures of Sin for a season fancies no satisfaction like that which gratifies his sense and so remains a stranger to peace of Conscience and joy with the Holy Ghost till with Dives he lifts up his eyes in Hell and sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom and finds by sad experience what he has lost and slighted It was worthily said of Pericles when Sophocles his companion shew'd him an extraordinary Beauty and seem'd to be taken with it It is not enough to keep clean Hands Oh Sophocles but you must keep your Eyes clean too Though he was a Heathen yet in this he spoke like a Christian and conformably to our Religion which bids us keep both the outside and the inside clean and indeed there can be no purity of heart without purity of the senses and to this purpose there is an excellent Discourse in St. Jerome or whoever be the Author of the Comment upon the Lamentations to be found in St. Jerome's Works Let 's not look upon that which we are forbid to lust after That the Mind may be preserved pure the Eyes must be press'd down as Slaves that ravish Men to sin If the Mother of the Living by her Eyes procured her own death we ought to consider how necessary it is to take our Eyes into custody Mine Eye hath robb'd my Heart saith the Prophet for coveting after things visible it lost its invisible Virtues He that loses his sense of God within suffers the Eye of his Body to commit Robbery in his Heart Therefore if we would be Masters of our Hearts let 's be Masters of our Senses too for though the Mind be never so grave yet the Childish Senses of the Body make so fearful a noise sometimes that if they be not overpowered by the weight of Reason and with a juvenile kind of heat restrain'd they 'le render the Mind effeminate and feeble VIII Exercise Every day as there shall be occasion to make good use of the Virtues and Vices of our Neighbours or those that have lived before us and whose actions we have either read or heard of an Exercise commanded Luc. 13. 2 3. 1 Cor. 10. 6 7 8 9 10 11. Rom. 15. 4. The Caldew Paraphrast upon the 34 th Chapter of Deuteronomy tells us God taught us to cloath the Naked when he made Adam and Eve Coats of Skin and cloathed them And taught us to Marry in the Lord and in the fear of God when he join'd them two together And taught us to visit the Sick when he revealed himself to Abraham being sore with the Circumcision of his Flesh And taught us to comfort those that mourn when he manifested himself to Jacob coming back from Padan in the place where his Mother died And taught us to feed the Poor when he sent Bread to the Children of Israel from Heaven And taught us to bury the Dead when himself was pleased to bury Moses the Man of God and charge his holy Angels to attend his Corps to the place of his Interrment over against Beth-Peor to the Confusion of that Idol So far the Interpreter though a Jew is in the right But this is not all not only God's actions but the actions of our Neighbours must be improved to our spiritual profit and advantage And this Exercise
your more frequent Exercise and to this purpose it will be conveient to speak something of the time and occasion when this Exercise is most proper 2. how it must be managed and 3. what it is that makes it necessary 1. Of the time and occasion when this Exercise may be most proper and here the best Rule to go by is the Scripture and the Examples of Saints and these will inform us that it is proper at any time and the oftner the better but particularly I. When we lie under some Temporal Afflictions whether that Affliction consist in losses or in the malice hatred or ill-will of Men or in some other crosses and disappointments that may befal us in this World In such cases David ever had recourse to this Exercise as we see Ps. 69. 10. 11. and acknowledged the justice of God confessed God did him no wrong in suffering such troubles to seize upon him pray'd for mitigation of his misery or for deliverance and he fasted on purpose that his Prayers might be more piercing The same thing he did when his Child lay sick 2 Sam. 12. 16. He besought God for the Child and fasted and lay all night upon the Earth Fasting is an acknowledgement of our vileness and he that abstains from Meat and Drink upon a Religious account confesses that he hath deserved to be starved to death and it is natural for Mankind to believe that such humiliations and abasements are prevalent with the Deity II. When any of our Friends or Relations or Neighbours fall into more than ordinary trouble our compassion and tenderness to their disconsolate estate is best expressed by fasting and supplications and in this also David's example is remarkable who went so far in his charity as to fast even for seeming friends but real enemies Psal. 35. 13. But as for me when they were sick my cloathing was Sackcloth I humbled my Soul with fasting and my Prayer returned into my own Bosom i. e. was answered and heard and they were deliver'd Selfishness hath so prevailed in the age we live in that we think it scarce worth the trouble of a Fast to procure God's mercy for our selves much less for others Good Lord What an unbelieving World is this Men believe not that God will work any mighty work upon their fasting and therefore slight it Heretofore men believ'd it and saw wonders and God blessed them and was entreated not only for them but for their Neighbours and Relations too III. When we would be rid of any inordinate Lust or Affection Fasting in these cases weakning the Body weakens such Lusts and Affections too which have too great dependence upon the body and are more vigorous as the Body is pamper'd and gratified and what Christ says of that evil spirit Matt. 17. 21. may be most truly applied to such Lusts This kind goes not out but by Fasting and Prayer These Lusts are certainly enemies to our Souls for they war against them in S t Peter's Phrase 1 Pet. 2. 11. and as a General that means to take a strong Town cuts off their Provision and will not suffer any Corn or other Commodities to be carried thither whence it comes to pass that the enemy must necessarily at last yield himself so inordinate Lusts must be starved out and if you bring a famine upon them you take away their strength and deprive them of their courage and briskness said Moses in Ruffinus for what is stronger than a Lion yet let him want his Food and he becomes as weak as the feeblest Animal IV. When we stand in need of Grace or of some Virtuous Habit or of Conquest of some particular temptation In this case Abstinence is exceeding profitable not that our empty stomacks do in their own nature contribute towards it but the Abstinence fits us for seriousness that seriousness for earnestness that earnestness for Gods favour And therefore it was that the Angel told Daniel Dan. 10. 12. From the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand and to chasten thy self before thy God thy words were heard to shew that fasting fits the Soul for fervent Prayer and God denies nothing to such intercessions Jam. 5. 16. and indeed where men can so esteem the Grace of God as to take pains for it Gods arms are ever open to them for what the Heathens observed long ago holds true still To the industrious God denies nothing Nothing discovers our esteem of a thing so much as our contentedness to undergo some hardship for it and while we deny our Bodies often the satisfaction they crave they learn by degrees to be more obedient to Faith and Reason and consequently are less impediments to those Graces which require a Soul that can live above sence and sublunary objects Hence David to learn contentedness in adversity though exceeding dry yet would not drink the water that his Grandees fetcht for him from the Well of Bethlehem 2 Sam. 23. 16. and in imitation of him some in the Primitive Church to learn chearfulness in want when they have almost longed for a certain sort of Food and have got it yet have been unwilling to taste of it though their appetite was eager after it and for this very reason I think it was that the Pythagoreans used to sit down at a Table full of the greatest dainties and varieties and with coming stomacks too and in the mid'st of their hunger and greediness after Meat rise from Table and forbear eating or cause all to be taken away and continue fasting and all to learn self-conquest and to get their Souls more raised above the World V. When we undertake any great Work or Office it 's very fit to consecrate it with a Fast. So Christ entered upon his Office of Prophet with Fasting Mat. 4. 1 2. and S t Paul and Barnabas when ordain'd to be Preachers of the Word began that tremendous Work with Fasting and prayer Act. 13. 3. a thing so decent that the very Heathens have seen the necessity of it which was the reason why those that were going to consult the Oracle were obliged to fast and those that were to be admitted to Sacrifice or Minister to the Aegyptian Isis were commanded to fast ten days and those that were to be Priests of Jupiter were ordered to abstain from all Flesh and things that were heated by fire and they among the Indian Philosophers that were initiated into the Service or Worship of the Sun durst drink neither Wine nor eat any Flesh and Amphiaraus laid it down as a Rule that those that came to receive and give the true and clear meaning of the Oracles must debar themselves of all Food one whole day and three days besides of Wine VI. When the Church of God is groaning under persecution or some other grievous oppression This obliged the man of desires the Prophet Daniel to retire frequently seeing the Temple and City of Jerusalem lie desolate and in