brought to shore so expoâ—â—d to poverty and miseries that conâ—â—dering the matter well we may â—nclude and say that through Self-â—â—ve many chast Wedlocks are disturbâ—d many Poysons mingled producâ—â—g wicked effects that many Halâ—ers are put about the Necks of Self-â—â—vers many Swords drawn and â—any sad Tragedies begun in the night â—hat are ended at high-noon-day upon a Scaffold Oh how happy are thoâ— Souls which through the grace oâ— God are exempt and free from thâ— Vice of Self-lave which produceth sucâ— mischiefs and disasters in the world Let us therefore follow and use aâ— our endeavour to put in practice thâ— Wise Counsel of Solomon in thâ— Book of Ecclesiasticus Chap. 21. â— 2. As from the Face of a Serpent â—â— from sin fly from Self-love becausâ— as a Serpent comes slily upon us anâ— stingeth the Body so all sin anâ— consequently Self-love steals upon anâ— hurts the Soul SECT 4. The beginning and continuance of this pernicious Disease Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Romans giveth a true account of thiâ— old inveterate malady of our Souls saying Rom. 5. v. 12. Sicut per â—num hominem peccatum in hunc mundum intravit et per peccatum mors â—ta in omnes homines mors pertranâ—it in quo omnes peccaverunt As â—â— the Doctor of the Gentiles would â—ave said That sin which proceeds â—â—om Self-love as we have before â—emonstrated entred into this world â—rom the beginning and from the â—reation of the same by that sin of â—elf-love death passed unto all men â—n which they have all sinned for eâ—en in the Law of Nature sin was in â—he World from old and death did â—eign until Moses even on them that â—ad not actually sinn ed which is â—s much as to say that from Adam â—n the time of the Law of Nature â—here was sin in the world and â—hough in a manner they knew it not â—et this Spiritual Disease we speak of â—eigned even then as likewise in the â—ime of Moses when the Commandâ—ents or Law of God taught the conâ—rary to wit that God was displeasâ—d therewith and therefore men â—ught to avoid the same But by reason that all mankind were maculate with original sin they had no strengâ—â— of themselves-nor grace to be frâ—â— from Self-love So that thereupon sin did reign â—ver men and also death and damnaâ—tion by reason of Self-love Infant that did never actually offend beinâ— conceived and born in original sin were nevertheless lyable to death anâ— subject to all Spiritual Diseases anâ— to all the Maladies and Corruptions oâ— the Soul having their Nature defileâ— and destitute of Original Justice being averted from God by means of Adams transgression Christ only excepted who was conceived by thâ— Holy Ghost without the Seed of Man and his blessed Mother the Virgiâ— Mary who was preserved from contracting the guilt of original sin by special grace and the extraordinary perfection of God as many godly men judge but as for all the rest â—â— mankind they were born in a weak and sickly condition of Soul by reason of that sin ever since men were â—â—eated having been holden and torâ—ented by all sorts of Spiritual Diâ—â—empers even the most dangerous â—ost pestilent most violent and â—â—ntinual insomuch that by the â—â—me they were all subject to Satan â—â—d lyable to eternal sorrows they â—ere all made the Children of wrath â—e slaves of sin and every way most â—â—serable Yea these infectious â—â—seases came to such a height upon â—â—e whole race of mankind that â—â—e few only excepted they were â— swept away and perished in the â—â—neral Floud as is to be seen in â—enesis Chap. 7. v. 1 2. c. These most violent fits of sin and â—â—traordinary punishments for the â—â—me were not so soon passed over â—t many great pains and labours folâ—â—wed upon men and that for the â—ace of four hundred years together â—â—der the slavery of King Pharaoh â— the Land of Egypt after which â—â—ing delivered and freed from that cruel bondage they were soon afteâ— visited and afflicted with other grievous calamities and miseries for the space of more than Threescore Yeaâ— together to wit in the Babyloniâ— Captivity where the Royal Propheâ—â— David by the Spirit of Prophecy describes them lamenting and be moaning themselves Psalm 136. â— 1. Super flumina Babylonis illiâ— sedimus flevimus c. Vpoâ— the Rivers of Babylon there it wâ— that we sale and bewailed the aâ—flicted estate of Sion They could noâ— refrain to mourn remembring thâ— great calamities which for their siâ— God had brought even upon his owâ— Sanctuary How many other Feaverâ— sometimes continual sometimes intermitting how many heats of burning torments and pain how manâ— cold fits of desolation and want have men at several times been subject unto and made to undergo upoâ— this account Have we not heard â—â— those surprizes of sudden destructioâ— which came upon the people of Sodom â—nd Gomorrah and all the adjacent â—ountries when they were wholly â—onsumed by Fire as it is described â—en 19 v. 24. Do we not read also â—ow in the time of Elias the Prophet â—â—d at his Prayers Fire came down â—om Heaven and consumed those unâ—â—dly wretches that were sent to apâ—â—ehend him 4 Reg. 1. v. 10. How â—any cold and comfortless long fits of â—mine Pestilence and Mortality â—ere others exercised and plagued â—ith for their sinnes the Heavens â—ing so shut that it rained not for â—any years together and the earth â— parched with drought that it yieldâ—â— no water and people forced thereâ—â— in a languishing and perishing â—â—ndition to wander up and down â—â—king water to drink and finding â—e as we read Hierem. 14. 1 2 3. â— and in many other places of holy â—ipture In the sacred Gospel of Saint John â—hap 5. v. 5. we read of a man that had been diseased in body thâ— space of Thirty Eight Years in Hierusalem and had for a long time waâ—â—ed the stirring of the water there bâ— which an Angel from Heaven curâ— those which first came into the watâ—â— after the stirring of whatsoever â—â—sease they had This poor man hâ—â— lain there expecting his cure eigâ—â— and thirty years together being â—â— reason of his great weakness continâ—ally prevented by some other boâ—â— that stepped into the water befoâ—â— him and therefore deserved at lengâ—â— to be pittied by our Lord Jesus Chriâ—â— and cured by his Almighty Word aâ— Command But alass How muâ—â— more was the whole universal woâ—â— all mankind to be mourned for aâ— compassionated which had lain lâ—guishing not only the space of Thiâ— Eight Years but ever since the Crâ—â—tion of Adam that is by the accoâ—â—â— of some more than Five Thousâ—â—â— Six Hundred and Twenty Years â—â—ing all that time infected and contiâ—â—â—ly vexed with the feavor of original â—â— which lay upon all and every one â—â—d with a Thousand other actual diâ—â—empers maladies and diseases of the â—â—ul which held and afflicted parâ—â—cular persons some in one kind â—â—me
all our loves And in the third and last place it must be founded in the knowledge and due consideration of the benefits we have receiv'd in this world and do daily still receive from God as also of the reward of eternal joy and felicity prepared for the faithful in the next Sect. 2. The first means to overcome Self-love is by the knowledge of our selves of our own nothing unprofitableness vileness miseries and affliction The Royal Prophet David one of the greatest Monarchs of the World in his time had so deep and serious a reflexion of this matter with himself to wit of his spiritual nihileity or being nothing in comparison of God of his unprofitableness vileness miseries that he could not but sadly lament his condition and freely acknowledge that he was but a worm and not a man vermis non homo Psalm 21. 7. the reproach or scorn of men and the out-cast of the people And again Psalm 72. v. 22. Ad nihilum redactus sum c. I am brought to nothing saith he and knew it not If this great King had such humble and mean conceits of himself when he thought upon the Greatness and Majesty of God how much more should we be moved to make the same and if it were possible how much more lowly reflexions of mind when we have the like occasion how should we humble and abase our selves in the presence of God when we consider our natural vileness baseness sad condition and continual miseries The better to induce us to this let us think upon the life of all our Predecessors and Progenitors what were they all but dust what was the first man Adam made of but of the clay of the Earth that was our first and common extraction Look upon your particular Generations and Conceptions Behold you were conceived in iniquity saith David Psalm 50. v. 7. you were born in Original Sin the links whereof concupiscence and weakness do still remain in you and should give you cause to lament Job having such a reflexion in his mind did no less for while he lay upon the Dunghill perplexed inwardly and afflicted outwardly he addressed himself to God and made his prayer to be cleansed from all the filthiness of his Conception saying Job 14. v. 4. Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine nonne tu qui solus es Who can make clean him that is conceiv'd of unclean seed who but thou alone O Lord Homer lib. 17. hath a saying That amongst all the living Creatures which are upon the face of the Earth there are none so unhappy as man the truth whereof may be seen daily by experience in the birth of all Children When man is first born and cometh forth into the world there is nothing can be imagined a more rueful and despicable object than he nothing more imperfect nothing more weak nothing more indigent of all things naked uncomely not to say deformed and attended with filth and nastiness than man is Alas he is one that Nature it self would not allow to have a cleanly and neat coming into the world but on the contrary sent him in all covered with blood and more resembling a lump of impure flesh than a Creature indued with a reasonable Soul Insomuch that none will readily touch him or take him up from the ground on which he falls in similiter factam decidi terram c. Sap. 7. 3. none will cherish him none imbrace him but those that undertake the office for hire or the Mother who by force of natural inclination cannot but love her own Child Shall we speak of his nourishment in the Womb or what happens to him presently after whiles unborn it is known that he has no other nutriment than the impure Flowers and Menstrual of the Mother being close covered with a garment of the same which so soon as the poor Infant is unvested of is burnt or buried and not suffered to be seen Wherefore it is no wonder that as soon as man is born he naturally begins to cry thereby presaging and proclaiming so much as he can his future miseries and sad condition Ah that man would but consider this well how little reason would he then see to be so high-minded so proud and to love himself so much he would see more cause to have an aversion or loathing of himself than otherwise As to your condition after birth you were no sooner come to the use of reason but you understood that you were to labour hard for your living it being the Sentence or Judgment of God pronounced upon 〈…〉 first transgression which our 〈…〉 Adam and Eve committed 〈…〉 In the sweat of thy 〈…〉 shalt eat bread saith God to 〈…〉 Genes 3. v. 19. till thou 〈…〉 the ground from whence thou 〈…〉 taken for dust thou art and 〈…〉 dust thou shalt return Add unto this that so long as he lives he is subject unto and very frequently visited with calamities afflictions miseries and the like So that recalling to mind what is abovesaid and well considering the troubles both of body and mind which he endures with the uncertainty and shortness of his life I am confident it will more or less humble his thoughts and in consequence through the grace of God abate the vehemency of Self-love and better dispose him to the loving of God alone and above all other things In brief if you would take a true Model of your self think upon the dead Let your mind seriously reflect upon some Friend Neighbour or other Acquaintance deceased think what he is now become nothing but dust nothing but earth ashes rottenness and corruption so must you be how rich soever how powerful soever how elevated and high soever you be either in your own conceits or in the honours and dignities of this present world The time is coming when all these things will signifie nothing to you though to your self you seem to be in good health strong lusty and in the flower of your Age and think to live a long time alas these are deceitful thoughts vain immaginations a sudden Feaver or some other unexpected sickness disease or mischance easily changes the face of your affairs and puts an end to your ungrounded hopes though you look well and find your self every way well disposed for the present yet take my Counsel do not rely upon a staff so apt to break fix your mind and meditations rather upon death have a Skeleton always before your eyes which will teach you more truly what you are and what you must come to than all the painted images of the worlds good There you will see the Origin of your Nobility and the end of your Glory The dead was what you are at present and your lot will be what they are now Verily if you would but look seriously upon your self you would find but little matter or reason to cherish and love your self so much What is Man according to his Body Job will tell
All which when Saint Anselm reflected upon he could not refrain from saying O my Soul when I consider and ponder well how much you are indebted to the Eternal God I blush at my former negligence in not performing my duty and great Obligation Tell me O Lord which way I am to turn my self and what I can do that will be acceptable to your Divine Majesty You have made and created me by your love therefore I owe you all and all that I am You have redeemed me in Love by your Sacred Death and Passion out of the perpetual slavery of Satan therefore I owe you all and all that I am You have promised me such eternal comforts and reward after my decease therefore I owe you all and all that I am In one word you did give your self wholly to me and for me therefore I owe you all and all that I am O Lord what satisfaction can Man give what recompence can he make for so many benefits already received and still to be received from your Hands and of your Bounty Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi said the Prophet David on the like occasion Psalm 115. 3. What shall I render to our Lord for all the good things that he hath rendered to me As if he had said I am full of confusion I am asham'd and troubled in mind what to do considering that he hath not only given and bestowed many great benefits upon me and mankind but hath also rendred good for evil mercy for ingratitude forgiveness for our sins and transgressions And we most unthankful have rendred to him evil for good for which cause reflecting upon what the truly penitent Sinner King David said in this case I resolve with all my heart and Soul to say the same with him Calicem Salutaris accipiam nomen Domini invocabo said he ubi supra v. 4. I will take the Chalice of Salvation say I and will invocate the name of our Lord that is to say Seeing that I am not able to render any thing worthy of Gods Favours to me I will do what I can I will gratefully acknowledge and accept his great benefits especially the sacred Cup of Christ which he was pleased to bless for the Salvation of Mankind and to drink of himself I will praise him and call upon his Holy Name SECTION VI. How to cure the pernicious Disease of Self-love Sect. 1. By with-drawing our love from all Corporal Objects 2. By humbling and undervaluing our selves 3. By overcoming our selves and sensual appetites Sect. 1. By with-drawing our love from all Corporal Objects To cure and totally to extirpate the pernicious disease of Self-love I must confess is no easie task it requires hard labour to overcome that inordinate Passion being a Vice so inveterate that nothing is more rooted in our hearts and so connatural that nothing is more pleasing to corrupt and unmortified nature so that to compass this end we must strive to our utmost and level all our actions intentions and wills so purely at Gods Honour and Pleasure as that we make him the only end we aim at and the sole object of our love for which purpose we cannot do better than to follow the example and counsel of the Seraphical Father Saint Francis saying daily in imitation of him Deus meus omnia Deus meus omnia O my sweet Jesus O my sweet Lord Thou art my God and all In the first place therefore great care is to be taken and exact diligence used for to with-draw our affections from all eternal objects whatsoever and to place and fix the same totally upon God for otherwise we run great hazard to fall short of our aim and that of the Evangelist will be found true in our selves Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est ne dignus Matth. 10. v. 37. He that loveth Father and Mother more than God is not worthy of God that is deserves not to be accounted nor shall ever be accounted Gods true lover What love is more lawful or more recommended by God unto us than the love of Children to their Parents Wherefore seeing that even this kind of love to wit the love of Children to Parents and vice versa the love of Parents to Children c. can be no just excuse why we should not love God as we ought seeing that even this love when it is opposite to the love of God is forbidden us and we are commanded to cast it off there can be no reason to doubt but that all other loves of less nearness and concernment of less piety and vertue of less obligation in like occasion are likewise forbidden us and that we are commanded to with-draw our hearts from them and to give our selves wholly to the love of God above all things not to love any creature so much as we love God nor to be hindred by it from doing service The Evangelist Saint Luke seems to be yet more strict that we say not rigorous in the matter not only exacting to the full the accomplishment of what the Evangelist Saint Matthew mentions to wit that we should not love our Parents more than God or above and before God but requiring also that we should even hate our Parents if need requires it for Gods sake and renounce all affection love and Duty to them rather than to offend God or to forsake the least part of the love and Duty we owe to him for so we read Luc. 14. v. 26. Si quis venit ad me non odit patrem matrem c. adhuc autem animam suam non potest meus esse discipulus If any man cometh to me and hates not his Father Mother c. yea and his own life besides he cannot be my disciple It may seem an hard sentence but the meaning is easie This we are to do rather than hate God we must hate our Parents rather than do any thing which he will judge and esteem an hating of him we must renounce and cast off all love and duty to our Parents rather than to renounce or cast off our love and duty to God This expression therefore of the Evangelist obliges us to leap over all stumbling blocks that are laid in our way to hinder us in our going about Gods service We must renounce and reject whatsoever is most dear unto us yea our own selves and all the desires affections and inclinations of our Hearts how specious how morally good pious and honest soever they seem to be if they stand in our way and stop us from the supream love of God Fie upon all friendships must we say fie upon all affections that are attended with such mischiefs and do lead us into such dangers and fie upon all distracting and disquieting designs of the world which bend our imaginations wholly to the things unprofitable and impertinent thereby disturbing and separating us from the love of God
9. Should Earth and Ashes be proud Consult your last end and that will tell you you are no better than Earth and Ashes Dust you are and to Dust you must return Consider therefore I say seriously as well what you have been as what you are and shall be and you will confess as to the first that your original is from the Ground from a Lump of Clay or Dirt of which the Almighty Creator fram'd and made our first Parents that you are for the present a mass of suitable sordid Flesh living indeed but every hour and every moment subject to death and to all the accidents diseases and corruptions by which death usually is usher'd in and for the future you shall be as to your Body nothing else but Putrefaction and Filth In the Grave you shall be nothing else but a stinking Carcass and meat for Worms for so in the Prophet it is said when a Man dies he shall inherit Serpents or creeping things Beasts and Worms Tell me now have you any reason to be Proud and so high minded Have you any reason to carry your selves so high that are of an extraction so low God could have Created your Bodies of nothing as he did your Souls but in his Wisdom he would not but made them of the Earth that is not only of a substance Corporal Gross Visible Palpable to be seen with our Eyes and touched with our Hands but of the vilest sort of Earth of the Clay the Dirt and Slime of the Earth Do you ask me why To teach us Humility and to repress the Swellings of Pride in us that Man seeing daily with his Corporal Eyes the Dirt upon which he treads might continually be put in mind and remember his first Creation his first Original and Beginning and how that he was made and formed of the same and this for two reasons The first as I said before that hereby he might give to man a just occasion of humbling himself with the most profound submission and abnegation that mans heart can possibly bend it self unto even so far as to confess and acknowledge that of himself he deserveth nothing but to be concullated trodden and trampled upon under the feet of all men as the Dirt of the Earth as Mire and Clay and that for this reason he hath nothing of himself to be proud and high-minded for since his original foundation and extraction is but Dirt and the Slime of the earth The second reason why God made Man of the Dirt of the Earth is That by reflecting upon that his first Creation he might be mov'd so much the more to love his Gracious Maker and more faithfully to serve his Mighty Creator who of his infinite Goodness and Mercy from such a vile and mean beginning as Earth and Dirt was pleased to raise him to that height of Excellency as to consummate his Creation and finally to make him according to his own image and likeness So that whensoever you feel the motions of Pride and High-mindedness infecting your Hearts or troubling your Spirits imagine you hear King Solomon reprehending you and reprepressing your Vanity in these words Of what are you Proud Dust and Ashes why are you puffed up Vessels of Clay Humble your selves and be warned by forgetful Adam who not minding that he was made Dirt fell into the presumption of affecting to be like unto God his Creator by occasion whereof transgressing his Creators Commandment he was for his sin expelleds and for ever driven out of the Terrestrial Paradice Therefore be warned by his fall Humble your selves that you may be exalted humble your selves upon Earth that you may be exalted for ever in Heaven SECTION III. Contempt of others a general Disease of Christianity SECT 1. Many troubled with this Disease 2. Contempt between Man and Wife 3. Contempts between Children and Parents 4. Contempts between Servants and Masters 5. Contempts between Poor and Rich. 6. Contempts of Persons for their Infirmities only and of many for the â—aults of some few justly blameable 7. Contempts between Nations and Nations Sect. 1. Many trouhled with this Disease IN the whole multitude and variety of those Maladies and Diseases of Mind under which and by reason whereof the Life and Vigour of Christianity doth so much languish at this day there is scarce any more frequent and Epidemical than that of over-valuing our selves and contemning others Hard it is especially for Persons that seem conscious to themselves of any merit to have I say not mean but modest thoughts of themselves and not to be tickled ever and anon with extravagant imaginations of their proper Excellency and where the humor is indulg'd and yielded unto the other to wit the contemning and under-valving of our Neighbour follows naturally He that tempts us to think too well of our selves will easily find a way to make us think too meanly of others and to prefer our selves before them This therefore is a general Malady amongst all sorts of Men Jews and Pagans Turks Infidels and Christians all are obnoxious to it and for the most part perish by it for not applying the Unguent of Humility and Sobriety of Spirit in due time But you are to know there are two sorts of Contempt the one tending to Good the other tending to Evil. By the first we condemn the World and all the Evil that belongs to it or is found therein by this we contemn Sin and disdain to submit or yield to the occasions and temptations unto Sin that are laid in our way or that lead Men into Sin With this kind of Contempt as Saint Hierome well observes the Faithful Servant of God may lawfully and with much right despise whatsoever is hurtful to his Soul by whomsoever suggested and those will not fail to do so who have their Novissima their last things to wit Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell in due manner before their Eyes By the second we contemn our Neighbour that is other Persons whom by the Commandment of God we are bound to Honour and by the Spirit of Charity and Humily if it were in us we would Honour and Love according to their several and respective States Conditions Dignities Merit c. By this we are apt to have in scorn and to flight whatsoeveris doneby others or not done by our selves as mean and illaudable although perhaps never so well done and very profitable for Soul or Body This is a wicked sort of Contempt and absolutely forbidden This proceedeth from Evil and tends to Evil and is wholly Evil. This is that Epidemical Vice under which the World hath ever laboured and doth labour at this day all sorts of Persons from the highest to the lowest from the poorest to the richest more or less being seized therewith This all Nations finds to be true but to our shame it must be spoken none hath more felt no Nation hath greater reason to confess and acknowledge this Truth than this of England where none can be
Life strengthens that which is weak in the order of Good and very much disposes the Soul to receive and entertain the motions of the Holy Spirit This great and excellent Vertue extinguishes the heats of Concupiscences quenches the flames of Lust supports and upholds the Mind in all the Tempests and Storms of Temptations which Satan raises against her According to Saint Augustin the chief Parts and Powers of the Soul viz. The Understanding Will Memory yea even in the Senses throughout all the Parts and Members of the Body are sustained by it and kept in their due State and inabled the better to exercise their proper Functions It is saith he the safeguard of the Body the strong Fortress of Chastity the defence of Modesty and good Behaviour it preserves Love with every one and procures respect from all that are Vertuously Minded inseparably united with Honesty the continuance and establishment of Peace making all Vice and Wickedness to retire and hide their Heads for Shame What can be said of this so necessary Vertue Saint Ambrose adds that Sobriety and Abstinence conduce much to Capacity of Learning making Men fit to Study Meditate and Conceive aright of Things it is the Rule of Discipline which brings all to Perfection and the best Teacher of all Arts. He will have the same to be the Stability and Constancy of all Right Wits or Sound Judgments the unseparable Wisdom of the Memory a Remembrance of all Spiritual Good the Keeper of Secrets In a Word this great Saint will have Sobriety and Abstinence to be of that Nature as never to stand still in Idleness but to be always going forward in the Progress of Vertues coveting Fame and good Reputation not for Vanity but for Vertues sake disposing all Things with Truth and Reason and always finding Place and a good Rank with those that are most pleasing to God What can be thought more fit or more prevalent to overthrow the Vices of Gluttony and Drunkenness than the Vertues of Abstinence and Sobriety Therefore let us resolve and say with Saint Bernard If Gluttony sins alone let Abstinence alone be her Pennance if there go no other Sins along with Gluttony Abstinence alone shall suffice to Cure it For the Transgressour that is Sober and Abstinent will soon reflect upon the Transgression he hath committed he will soon repent of his Folly and be ready to detest the same with Tears and sorrows of True Contrition Sect. 6. Reflection upon the foregoing Matter The Spiritual Balsam of Sobriety and Abstinence being of such a Soveraign Vertue and Operation for the Cure of this Brutish and Beastly Disease of Gluttony and Drunkenness it behoves us and all that make profession of Christianity to have a perfect Knowledge how to apply the same in the right way and manner to our ulcerated Wounds that is how to use Abstinence and Sobriety so as they may effectually Cure our Spiritual Maladies for to be Sober and Abstemious only in point of Meat and Drink and to refrain only from Excesses in that kind will availus nothing if we refrain not also from Sin and abstain so much as in us lies from all other Vices and vicious Imperfections whatsoever For though Abstinence alone may perhaps profit the Health of our Bodies yet it will never aâ—one do good to the Languishing â—tate of our Soul Therefore if you will have perfect Cure of both that â—s of your Spiritual as well as Corâ—oral Distempers and receive the â—ull Benefit of this Holy Ointment of Sobriety and Abstinence you must follow the Counsel of David which he gives Psal 36. v. 27. in â—hese words Declina a malo â—ac bonum c. Decline in the first place from all Evil and after that do good that is you must refrain and abstain from all sin whatsoever from all Vice whatsoever from all Excesses whatsoeever that are sinful and blameable as well as from the excesses of Meat and Drink otherwise the good effects of Sobriety and Abstinence will not appear or be found in you Now to the end that they may appear take for your Director in the business Jesus Christ and let his Sobriety and Abstinence be your Example and Pattern to imitate who of his infinite goodness was pleased to take Humane Nature upon him for the Salvation of all Mankind and to make satisfaction for our Sins and particularly for our Sins of Gluttony and Drunkenness by which most commonly all other Sins find Admittanre amongst Christians and for which he satisfied by enduring Hunger and Thirst and by exercising Sobriety and Abstinence all his Life long at his Birth and in his Death In his Birth his Abstinence was such that he appear'd destitute even of all manner of necessary Provision being rejected from the Company of all Humane Creatures and reduced to the necessity of being Born in a Stable among Bruit Beasts In his Life through the whole course of it he was most Abstemious though the Pharisees falsly and wickedly slaundered him for a Glutton and Wine-bibber recommending unto us the Vertue of Abstinence by a miraculous Fast of Forty days and Forty Nights after which he suffered Hunger and in his Death Thirst in the highest degree and could find no Ease or Refreshment for it but the cruel spiteful kindness of a Spoonful of Vinegar and Gall. Calling therefore to mind the Sobriety and Abstinence of this our Chief Leader and Captain Jesus Christ let us follow his Example according to Davids Counsel Declinemus a malo Let us abhor and detest this filthy sin of Gluttony and Drunkenness and with the help of his Grace endeavour to overcome all other wicked Desires and disorderly Appetites proceeding from or leading to those Sins which of necessity we must conquer and subdue by the Vertue of Sobriety for otherwise if we yield to Gluttony and give way to Drunkenness we shall our selves be overthrown and easily made Slaves to innumerable other Vices and Sins Wherefore Declina a malo fac bonum c. Eschew Evil and do Good refrain from Vice and be Sober remembring the Gall and Vinegar which Christ was contented to taste in your behalf and for your sakes before his Death that he might redeem you from all Evil and make reparation for the Sin of Gluttony and all other Sensualities of Mankind The Third Treatise OF THE LANGUISHING DISEASES Among CHRISTIANS Proceeding from Carnal Concupiscence LONDON Printed 1677. SECTION I. Carnal Concupiscence a great Disease to Christianity SECT 1. It causeth several Corporal Diseases to Mankind 2. It infecteth all the whole World 3. Is detestable to God therefore to be avoided 4. It includeth several other Sins Sect. 1. Carnal Concupisence causeth several Corporal Diseases to Mankind THere are several sorts of Carnal or Sensual Concupiscences Since â—a large and general sense all Conâ—upiscenses or inordinate Desires whatsoever may be stiled Carnal or Sensual as being the Motions and Inclinations of Corrupt Nature and deprived Sense according
when they are in Bed or at the Table in consulting their Looking-glasses combing and plating their false Hair or some other way trimming and making themselves fine The Devils second Daughter was called Vsury and her he bestowed upon Citizens Burghers of Great Towns and some Rich Chubs in the Country that look't after her His Third call'd Felony and Robbery he bestowed upon Highway-men casheer'd Souldiers and Cadets Men commonly of high Spirits but low Fortune His fourth Daughter call'd Simony he commended to certain Church-men whom he knew much more willing to hold the place than to discharge the Office of a Bishop Cure c. The fifth called Hypocrisie he bestowed upon Bigots and Professors a sort of People successors to the Old Pharisies in outward behaviour and Shew very Demure and Seeming-Good but inwardly in Heart and private Practice far otherwise His sixth a Meager Girl call'd Envy he could not tell what to do withal she was so ill favour'd that he thought none would receive her unless she could change her Countenance so he sent her to the Universities to be bred up â—mongst Young Students whose Emulations pass for Vertues and are not counted Vice till they be come â—o full Age. His seventh was named Luxury or Carnal Lust and her he bestowed upon all sorts of People knowing that she would be welcome to all of what condition soever and to Women as well as to Men. You will easily moralize the Fable and learn by it how general and over-spreading this sin is and that whereas other Vices are as it were peculiar and proper to some persons and more frequently observed in some sort of People than in others the Vice of Lust and Carnal Concupiscence possesses all sorts pursues and molests all sorts and finally masters and prevails upon all sorts insomuch that as I have already intimated above it is the Opinion of some Considerative and Good Men exercised in the Care and Conduct of Souls that by means thereof our Ghostly Enemy intraps and gains more Souls than he does by any other or even by all other kind of sin notwithstanding it is so expresly forbidded by God and so much spoken against by all that ever spake to the World in Gods Name that is to say by Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Evangelists Ancient Fathers Bishops and all Good Pastours of the Church Avoid it therefore repent of your sin break off your abominable custom of sinning as many as are concern'd in what I speak least ye perish with the rest Sect. 2. By Carnal Concupiscence the Temple of God is defiled Domum tuam decet sanctitudo Domine in longitudinem dierum Psalm 92. 5. Of the Temple of God the Psalmist saith Holiness becometh thy House O Lord for ever And the Apostle adds 1 Cor. 3. 16. Siquis templum Dei violave rit c. If a Man defile the Temple of the Lord him shall God destroy That which is Holy must not be profan'd and when it happens to be so God threatens to vindicate the Profanation Now we have been taught above that our Bodies no less than our Souls are the Temple of God even of the Holy Spirit The Apostle tells us so 1 Cor. 6. 19. Know ye not that your Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you Doubtless therefore to defile this Body of ours by Lust and Uncleanness must needs be a great and grievous sin Why Because it is a great and grievous Violation of Gods Temple which is a thing so Holy and whereof he is so tender and chary that it be kept Holy Upon this Ground the Holy Doctor Saint Augustin observing to his great grief and sorrow so many of his People addicted to Carnal Concupiscence and plunging themselves daily in the deep mire of Lust he could not refrain crying out in his Admonition to them and saying What do you mean ye unhappy ones what do you intend to do with the Temple of God which you do so pollute and profane by your lustful Concupiscence It would trouble you much you would be offended if a Church Chappel or any other Place dedicated to Gods Worship and Service should be taken and made a Brothel-house or Stews a place for the publickly-known and free committing of Adultery Fornication and other like Carnal Lasciviousness You would think it hugely strange to see the Actions of wicked unlawful voluptuousness openly perpetrated and done in any part of the Sanctuary You would be ready to say What can be compared to such Wickedness to such abominable Practices And truly you judge not amiss for nothing can be more detestable in the sight of God than to see his Holy Temple so hrribly polluted and profaned But why then will you not remember why will you not lay to heart what the Apostle tells you 1 Cor. 3. 16. Templum Deo es tu You your selves are the Temple of God Your Bodies and Souls are the Temples of Holy Ghost wherein he delighteth to dwell Why will you defile these Temples of the Living God and make them Temples of Satan by your sins and uncleanness How much ought you to fear and dread least the Holy Ghost displeased with your abominations and turpitude should forsake you for ever Saint Isidorus for this only reason concludes Luxury to be one of the chief or the chiefest Capital sin because that by all such Transgressions the holiness of Gods Temple is so greatly violated And indeed what can be more injurious and contumelious to Christ than to take his members to wit your own Bodies and make them the members of a lewd Woman a Harlot For he that is joyn'd to such a creature becomes one Body with her as if it were in lawful and holy marriage Qui adhaeret meretrici unum corpus efficitur saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 16. Shall we dare to commit such a vileness God forbid Or can we do it and not expect the plague and vengeance of God to fall upon us Flie therefore Fornication Flie Adultery Flie all sins of Carnal Concupiscence as you would flie from a Serpent that bites and stings to death Abominate hate abhorre that foul Spirit of Belial that haunts you Bless your selves from him resist him by the grace of God and he will flie from you It is the absolute will and command of God that you do so and if you will not hear and obey wrath from God attends you and will find you out first or last to your shame and confusion according to what he hath in all ages from time to time comanded the holy Prophets and Apostles with all their lawful Successors to proclaime and publish to denounce and threaten in his name to all offenders to wit that under pain of his displeasure and of judgments Temporal and Eternal we forbear all Carnal Uncleanness whatsoever whether in Expressions Words whether in Imaginations Thoughts and whether in Actions or Works that we abstain from all Carnal Sensualities Wantonness of Behaviour