God he is none of his But to add yet more force to these Considerations consider III. Lastly That this Sin in particular is absolutely inconsistent with those Qualifications which the Gospel requires from us as the indispensable Condition of Salvation To this purpose we all know very well that when Christ came into the World to redeem Mankind from Eternal Death he at the same time intended to destroy the Power of Sin in us and call us back from the Perpetration of those Iniquities which had been the Original Occasion of our Misery For this reason together with his Promises of Grace Mercy and Peace he has added several Holy Precepts and Commands and strict Injunctions and Rules of living well which every one who comes into this Covenant and desires to be a Partaker of this Hope is bound to observe And that we might have a due and deep Sense of the Necessity of this Obedience he has inserted it into our Covenant and made it the Indispensable Condition of his Promises without which we have no Hope no Title to any of the Blessings Benefits or Comforts of the Gospel Now among the several Qualifications which the Gospel on this Account requires from us there are those two eminently recommended and strictly exacted that we should be Pure and that we should be Holy So that a sincere Christian needs no better Argument no stronger Proof of the Greatness of this Sin and the danger that attends it than to consider with himself how contrary it is to and how utterly inconsistent with both these Qualifications 1. We are commanded to be Pure Mat. v. 8. Blessed are the Pure in Heart for they shall see God And it was St. Paul's Advice to Timothy 1 Tim. v. 22. Keep thy self pure And Phil. iv 8. there are recommended to us whatever things are pure and St. John declares both the Nature and the Necessity of this Purity He that hath this Hope in him must purifie himself as God is pure 1 Joh. iii. 3. Now this word Pure in its natural and proper Signification denotes the being without any Mixture that may make a thing worse than it is in it self The Vessel is said to be pure that is without Soil or Taint and the Wine is said to be pure that is neither mudded by its own Lees nor by any Adulteration From hence it is used in a Moral and Religious Sense for being without those Pollutions and Desilements which make us hateful and unacceptable to our God And tho' under the Law and among the Superstitious Heathens there were many External Defilements yet in the true proper Gospel Sense nothing pollutes nothing makes us unclean and unacceptable to God but what is a Sin contrary to his pure Nature and makes us unfit for his Divine Conversation in Heaven All Sin whatever does thus corrupt and defile and pollute us yet it it remarkable that this sensual Vice is particularly singled out as one of those that has an extraordinary Malignity in this Respect And the repeated Mention of Uncleanness that so frequently occurs in the New Testament is directly levell'd at Adultery Fornication and all unlawful Lusts. Thus St. Paul speaking particularly of the abominable Lewdness of the Romans says of them Rom. i. 24. that God gave them up to Vncleanness through the Lusts of their Hearts And 2 Cor. xii 21. he speaks of those who had not repented of their Uncleanness Fornication and Lasciviousness which they had committed For this reason they are joyn'd together Gal. v. 19. The Works of the Flesh are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness And Col. iii. 5. Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate Affection and evil Concupiscence These are the Defilements and Pollutions which destroy that Purity that Christ has made the Indispensable Condition of our seeing God And in the Language of the New-Testament to be Pure is to be Chaste and Chastity is the Virtue very often particularly intended when the Gospel speaks of Purity 2. We are commanded also to be Holy and Holiness is expresly declared to be that qualification without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. xii 14. Now in whatever it is that this Holiness consists it is observable that to avoid and abstain from Fornication makes up one necessary part of it This is undeniably evident from St. Paul 1 Thes. iv 3 c. This is the Will of God or that which he requires from you as the great evidence of your Sanctification That you should abstain from Fornication that every one of you shou'd know how to possess his vessel or body in Sanctification and Honour If therefore the true notion of Holiness shall be found to consist in a Discrimination and Separation from the rest of the World by a nearer relation to God and a more particular Devotion to his Worship and Service it will follow that Gods certain Purpose and Design when he made our Sanctification to oblige us to abstinence from that Vice was thereby to declare that we shou'd Discriminate and Distinguish our selves from the rest of Mankind throughout all the Earth by stricter Rules of Chastity and a more eminent degree of Purity in all our Conversation And all Pretensions to the True Christian Evangelical Holiness are vain and frivolous and trifling in any Man who lives still in Fornication That Uncleanness is for the Gentile World who live in Darkness and are given up to the Lusts of their own Hearts But we have not so learned Christ We are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a Peculiar People beloved and favoured and elected of God that we should show forth the Praises of him who hath call'd us cut of Darkness into his marvellous Light It is therefore no excuse for us to look back upon the corrupt Conversation of former times and the effects of more inferior and imperfect Dispensations For the matter is come to this last issue whether Jesus Christ into whose Name we have been baptiz'd be indeed our Saviour in whom is all our hope of Mercy and Everlasting Peace or whether we look for Salvation in any other If not it concerns us to receive his Gospel as the rule both of Faith and Manners to suffer its Doctrines to determine our Consciences and Judgments and its Precepts and Commands to guide and direct our Lives Whatever other Men do we must cleanse our selves from all Impurity both of Flesh and Spirit we must abstain from fleshly Lusts and flee Fornication or we shall not inherit the Kingdom of God While any Man continues in this wicked Practice he is void of Grace and of the Holy Spirit of God and of that Evangelical Purity and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. I proceed therefore III. Lastly To speak a little of the natural Turpitude of this Sin and the mischievous Evils and Consequences that attend it And were Men but sincere and impartial in their Enquiries into Truth it were easie to shew that this Law
We must become subject to our Bodies Appetites and Sensual Delights we are then Carnal and sold under Sin and led by the Instigation of our Lusts which first wound our Consciences and afterwards destroy them We by these Degrees fall under the Power and Dominion of Sin and by means of our own vile Affections are led captive by the Devil at his Will This is what the Gospel in several Places teaches and declare to us and however it may seem Strange and Wonderful in the manner of it to those who have a weak Faith and faint Perceptions of things that fall not within the Ken of their Senses it is a Divine and Certain Truth and visibly apparent in its Effects upon the Tempers and Actions of Men. Let it then but once more be consider'd that Fornication Dishonoureth the Body and Defileth those Holy Temples which the Spirit of God has consecrated and set apart for his own Habitation That when we by defiling our Bodies Grieve the Holy Spirit he will abandon and forsake us That for our Resisting and Abusing the Divine Grace of God it will be taken from us Let us but possess our selves with Just Notions of these mischievous and pernicious Consequences and from hence it will be easie to find out what must necessarily be the Thoughts and Dispositions and Inclinations of such Men towards God and Religion The Prophet Hosea iv 11. has plainly taught us what Effects this Sensuality will produce Whoredom and Wine steal away the Heart and it must needs fare with these Men as it did with the Romans for these Disorders viz. that they must be abandoned of God and given up to Vncleanness and the Lusts of their own Hearts to vile Affections and a reprobate Mind to do those things that are not convenient These Men must be entirely under the Conduct of their Corrupt Appetites and Carnal Inclinations They must needs be enslaved to their Lusts and hardned in their Sins and not without great difficulty to be reclaimed because they have at present lost not only their Spiritual Strength but even the principle of good Affections and Desires Nay It is morally impossible that these Men should contain themselves within the bounds of any one single Vice but Iniquity will encrease and the Works of the Flesh and the Lusts of the Body will cloud their Understandings byass their Judgments infect their Minds and debauch their Spirits So that they can hardly refrain but that from the dire Effects of this deadly Sin they must fall into Atheism Profaneness Blasphemy and an Universal Scorn and Contempt of God and Religion This our own Reason from the Doctrines of the Gospel will teach us to conclude must needs happen and every Days Experience will confirm it Atheism and Profaneness are grown to a very great height among us and are become not only scandalous but formidable We are fallen into such an Age as the Roman Historian speaks of in which our vices are intolerable and yet become incurable But consider how long this has been Since Adultery and Fornication have been conniv'd at and exempted from the Censures of the Church and the Punishment of the Civil Magistrates And who are the Men among whom this Tremendous Mystery of Great Iniquity does chiefly work It is among the Sensual and Unclean that live in Adultery and Fornication These are the Men that dispute the Being of a God doubt his Providence over the World and deny the Immorality of the Soul These are they who trample under foot the Son of God and count the Blood of the Covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing and do despite to the Spirit of Grace These chiefly are they that disdain the Thoughts of Divine Revelation and set up the Profane Oracles of false delusive Reason against the Infallible and Holy Oracles of God These are they that blaspheme the name of the Blessed Jesus and profane the Sacred Scriptures that speak of a Saviour with Derision and of Redemption with Scorn that despise Heaven and harden themselves against the Terrors of Hell These are they in whom the God of this World has blinded their Eyes and cast a Vail before their Understandings whereby Sacred and Spiritual Things are become to them imperceptible they know them not neither indeed can they know them for they are Spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. 14. In a word these are they that being swallow'd up in the Desires of the Flesh and Sensual Delights have Stisted all the Gracious Motions of the Spirit have no Taste nor Relish of Divine and Holy Things have therefore denied the Lord that bought them turn'd Apostates from the Faith and labour to make the Doctrines of it ridiculous and its Promises and Threatnings contemptible Nor is it strange that it should be so Religion is against them and therefore in Policy and their own Defence they must set themselves against Religion Christianity threatens Everlasting Burnings and unquenchable Flames as the future Recompence of their present for did Pleasures And they have no way to harden themselves against these Terrors and enjoy tolerable Peace within but by a seared Conscience and an evil Heart of Vnbelief by rejecting the Authority of these Threatnings by calling these Flames Folly and the Gospel that preaches them a Delusion It is now since they will not be reclaim'd become the Interest of such Men and their only Hope of Comfort to perswade themselves that all it says is false And tho the Truth of Religion is attested by very rational and strong and serious Arguments yet when Men have once resolv'd that they will not obey it it then becomes their Wisdom too to resolve that they will not believe it And tho the Infidelity of such Men seems at first Sight much to be wonder'd at Yet not at all when we seriously reflect upon their Actions The greatest Wonder of all would be that Men could live such Lives and yet believe such Doctrines While therefore these Vices are tolerated or conniv'd at that repel Grace destroy the Conscience and make Men implacable Enemies to Religion I doubt it will be in vain to hope for a sufficient Restraint of Blasphemy and Profaneness and wicked Opinions Censures and Punishments may stop Men's Mouths or make them more secret and retired in their Blasphemy But the Gospel of our Salvation will hardly gain much better Veneration and Esteem in the Minds of Men till Adultery Fornication and all those abominable Lusts are restrain'd that debauch Men's Spirits and create this great Aversion and Abhorence of Christianity The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to another And therefore it is to be feared that those Men who indulge themselves in the Works of the Flesh will be always inclin'd always endeavouring to ridicule and to deride the Laws of God and the Revelations of his Holy Spirit Erroneous Opinions may do a great deal to encourage
were Vile and Flagitious Persons that did prostitute themselves to others yet that 't was not a Sin to use such And as Grotius observes tho' the Apostles found it easy to convince the Gentiles in Matters of Divine Worship and Common Honesty yet the Prejudices of their former corrupt Conversation stuck so fast upon them that they were not easily brought up to this Noble Degree of Christian Purity To oppose which Prejudice they expresly prohibit Fornication by this unanimous Command Another Opinion of theirs was that seeing all Creatures of God are in themselves good and were created for the Benefit of Men therefore they though it was lawful for them to eat all Meat whatsoever and wheresoever they found it And in their full Persuasion of the Innocence of this Liberty they made no Scruple to be present at the Heathen Idolatrous Feasts and under that Pretence communicated with them in Idolatry This therefore the Apostles absolutely forbid And though this which they alledged might possibly be a good Argument for their not abstaining from things strangled and from blood yet the Jews having a certain Tradition that these things were forbidden before the Law of Moses and had been held unlawful ever since the days of Noah they could not be satisfied that they were innocent And therefore in compliance to their Perswasion and Opinion the Apostles restrain the Gentiles in the use of that liberty in those two cases to give no Offence unto the Jews So that they had a two-sold end in this their Sanction And though some of these things were forbidden upon Prudential Considerations and to prevent Offences Fornication was one of the Real Evils and prohibited for its great and certain Immorality And to evidence the Truth of this do but consider after what an earnest and affectionate manner St. Paul disswades from this notorious Vice 1 Cor. vi 9 10. he addresses himself with a great deal of Zeal as to Men that were yet unwilling to believe that there was any great evil or danger in this Practice and he warns them to have a care of this Delusion 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 And again 13 14 c. Now the body is not for Fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body Know you not that your bodies are the Members of Christ Shall I then take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot God forbid What know you not that he that is join'd to an Harlot is one body For two saith he is one flesh but he that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit Therefore flee Fornication every other Sin that a Man doth is without the body but he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own body Again Gal. v. 19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft and such like of which I tell you before as I have told you also in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And Eph. v. 3 5 6 7. But Fornication and all Vncleanness or Covetousness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints For this you know that no Whoremonger nor unclean Person nor covetous Man who is an Idolater hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God And then he alludes to the delusive Notions whereby they did excuse and extenuate this Vice Let no Man deceive you with vain Words for because of these things cometh the Wrath of God upon the Children of Disobedience Be ye not therefore Partakers with them And Col. iii. 5 6. Mortify therefore your Members which are on the Earth Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry For which things sake the Wrath of God cometh upon the Children of Disobedience Where the Apostle declares that whatever Pleas Men may allege these are all hateful Sins and such which provoked the Indignation of God even against the Heathens themselves and therefore Christians are under greater Obligations to abstain from them 1 Thes. iv 3 4 5 7. This is the Will of God even your Sanctification that you shou'd obstain from Fornication That every one of you shou'd know how to possess his Vessel in Sanctification and Honour not in the Lusts of Concupiscence as the Gentiles which know not God for God hath not call'd us to Vncleanness but to Holiness and Heb. xiii 4. Marriage is honourable and and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Iudge 'T is the Charge against the Church of Pergamos that it was Corrupt and had them there that hold the Doctrin of Baalam who taught Balac to cast a Stumbling Block before the Children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto Idols and to commit Fornication Rev. 2. 14. And against the Church of Thyatria that it suffer'd the Woman Jezabel which calleth her self a Prophetess to teach and seduce my Servants to commit Fornication And I gave her Space to repent of her Fornication and she repented not upon which follow several severe Threatnings of God's heavy Judgments in case they were not seasonably prevented And Rev. xxi 8. The Fearful and Vnbelievers and Abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters shall have their Part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death Now after such numerous Declarations and so great a Cloud of Witnesses with what Countenance and on what Grounds can Men conceit their roving Pleasures innocent or free from the extremest Danger of everlasting Condemnation These Texts are so positive so plain so intelligible and so express that I cannot but wonder how those who retain any Reverence for the Gospel of Christ can pretend to any Hope of Salvation by it while they continue in this Sin II. The Reasons which St. Paul here alleges do farther shew that this Practice must be both Offensive and Dangerous 1. He answers the most plausible Suggestion that was pleaded by the Corinthians for the Vindication of it They pleaded that their Bodies were their own and that every Man was so far Lord of himself that it was in his Power and Right to use it as he pleas'd To which St. Paul replies No their Bodies were not so absolutely their own nor had they any such incontrolable Authority or Dominion over them God that made them and with Divine Wisdom contriv'd their Frame had a better and more Natural Right than they And by Virtue of that might lay upon them what Restraints he shou'd think convenient Their Bodies too when by Sin become Mortal and subject to Corruption are Redeemed by the Blood of Christ and entitled to Immortality again And Christ by Virtue of the Price which he paid for them on the Cross
A DISCOURSE ON FORNICATION SHEWING THE Greatness of that SIN AND Examining the Excuses pleaded for it from the Examples of Antient Times To which is added an Appendix concerning Concubinage As also A Remark on Mr. Butler's Explication of Hebr. xiii 4. in his Late Book on that Subject By J. Turner M. A. Lecturer of Christ-Church London Printed at the Request of some Gentlemen of that Parish O Proceres Censore opus est an Aruspice nobis Juv. Sat. 2 LONDON Printed for John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCVIII THE CONTENTS THE Introduction page 1. I. Fornication contrary to God's Original Institution of Marriage p. 3. In what Sense that Institution is a Positive Law p. 4. Several such Laws given to Man from the beginning p. 5. The Original Institution of Marriage explain'd p. 8. How Fornication a Violation of it p. 11. Objections considered p. 13. David's Adultery with Bathsheba impertinently alleged p. 14. Abraham's Concubines were Married to him p. 15. The Laws of former Times no good objection against this Law p. 16. The Heathens corrupt in their Manners p. 17. The Jewish-Law imperfect p. 18. Divorce then allow'd but not approv'd p. 19. Polygamy was always unlawful p. 20. Abraham's Example not Universally to be imitated p. 22. Things tolerated not always approv'd the difference between Licita and Honesta p. 23. The Heathens did detest this Vice p. 24. The Jews absolutely forbid it p. 25. The Patriarchs before the Law abhor'd it p. 26. Whatever prevail'd in former Times we are now brought to the Original Institution p. 27. II. Fornication expresly forbidden by the Gospel p. 29. Reasons urged by St. Paul to disswade Men from it p. 34. 'T is inconsistent with Christian Purity and Holiness p. 38. III. Fornication a Brutish Vice and dishonourable to Humane Nature p. 41. Mischievous to the Children born of such Parents p. 42. To the Offenders themselves both in Credit Fortune and Health p. 45. It debauches Men's Spirits and makes them Enemies to Religion p. 47. The Commonness of this Sin one great occasion of Infidelity Blasphemy and Profaneness p. 49. Appendix concerning Concubinage p. 55. A Remark on Heb. xiii 4. against Mr. Butler p. 56. All Concubinage of unmarried Persons is Fornication p. 57. ERRATA PAge 1. line 7. r. has p. 2. l. 3. r. that p. 3. l 5. r. up to p. 4. l. 2. dele had p. 11. l. 5. r. this Law p. 13. l. 21. r. Title p. 16. l. 31. r. then p. 17. l. 17. r. Precedent p. 21. l. 20. r. alone l. 32. r. they p. 22. l. 15. r. him p. 37. l. 17. r. and destroy p. 40. l. 31. r. defects p. 45. l. 33. dele the p. 48. l. 15. r. Bodily p. 52. l. 1. r. their p. 53. l. 18. r. Men p. 56. l. 28. r. Contract or Marriage State p. 59. l. 22. r. their p. 60. l. 14. r. the l. 33. r. what is Scandalous and Offensive A DISCOURSE ON FORNICATION Shewing the Greatness of that Sin and examining the Excuses pleaded for it from the Examples of Ancient Times WHile all good Men lament the Wickedness and Debauchery of this Age and Nation and justly dread the heavy Judgments of God for the notorious Iniquities every Day committed among other Circumstances that increase their Grief and enhanse their Fears They have this Discomfort that the Looseness of Mens Manners had corrupted their Judgments and defaced their Sense of Good and Evil. So that instead of Humiliation before God some Men justifie themselves and are so far from abandoning their Vices that they plead Innocence and upon the Perpetration of the vilest Crimes cry out with Solomon's Harlot that they have done nothing amiss This is in no Sin more practised than in those of Adultery and Fornication Adultery may possibly be allowed to have somewhat of Ill in it especially on the Womans Side where there is a manifest Injury to a whole Family and yet it is an Argument that this makes no great Impression on some Peoples Consciences because it is so openly and publicly practised But Fornication by the leud Persons of this Age is avowed to be innocent and harmless And yet there must be a great share both of Confidence and Impiety in that Christian who disputes the Unlawfulness of a Vice which in the whole New Testament is frequently and expresly declared to shut Men out of the Kingdom of God If the Authority of the Gospel was but submitted to by these Men and suffered to guide their Consciences as it ought no more would be needful to convince and restrain them than any one of these Texts wherein it is said that no Whoremonger or unclean Person has any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God But this alone will not now prevail They appeal from the Gospel to the Law and tell you how as they imagin was the Practice of ancient Times They expostulate with you how it comes to pass that what was anciently tolerated and allowed comes now to be reckoned such a dreadful and enormous Crime so that they make it a matter of Debate and Controversy and must have their Objections and Scruples answered before the Gospel shall be heard or they can become sensible of their Wickedness and give any Hope of their being reclaimed The Preachers may say what they will in their Pulpits about the Justice and Severity of God and the Vengeance which he threatens against Sinners This is never like to move Men while they conceit their Actions justifiable and perswade themselves that they do not come within the Verge of those Menaces At a time therefore when the Piety and Wisdom of our Governors seem resolved to check and restrain the intolerable Growth of Impiety It may not be unseasonable to treat with these Men and lay open the Heinousness and certain Immorality of one of the most predominant Sins of this Age and if I mistake not one of the great Occasions and Promoters of a Spirit of Atheism Profaneness and Irreligion I hope what I shall say on this Subject may be serviceable to those whose Consciences are not feared and who are not wholly given unto vile Affections and a reprobate Mind But they who resolve to do any thing that gratifies their Lusts though never so expresly forbidden may believe any thing that favours those Pleasures tho' never so evidently false and absurd If I do not say all that might be said to the Advantage of so considerable a Subject I hope at least that it may either invite or provoke better Judges to take so good a Cause in hand The certain Immorality of this Practice and the Greatness of this Sin I shall endeavour to make appear by these Arguments I. That Fornication is a Violation of God's positive Law in the original Institution of Marriage II. That it is expresly forbidden in the Gospel and absolutely inconsistent with that pure and holy Life which the Christian Religion requires from us III. Lastly
of that Darkness into his Marvellous Light It is therefore Preposterous and vain for us to shelter our selves under the Examples and Customs of any Ages or Persons that have been before us We are under a Better and Nobler Dispensation of Grace and therefore we are tied up to Stricter Rules and Nobler Degrees of Virtue Our Religion teaches a more Compleat and Perfect Scheme of Universal Righteousness and therefore it admits none of these Exemptions Defects and Imperfections which are found in other Laws Ours gives us a better Hope and promises us a more exceeding great and glorious Reward than any other Religion ever did And therefore it gives no Toleration of any wilful Offence but requires us to perfect Holiness and conform to the whole Will of God in every thing that is Commendable and Good Did not God when he vouchsaf'd to Abraham those extraordinary Manifestations of his Will by the Ministry of Angels instruct him in the full Sense of this Law also It was because he reserved this with the other more perfect Manifestation of our Duty till the Revelation of his whole Will by Jesus Christ thro' whom also he intended a fuller Discovery of that future Recompence which might Encourage and Invite us to aspire towards that exalted Degree of Purity and Goodness And hence also it was that in the Law of Moses there were found so many Tolerations of things not at all Pleasing to or Approved by Almighty God It was Agreeable to the Hardness of their Stubborn Hearts and the present Felicity of this Transient Life which their Law promised and at which they chiefly aimed but not to those Diviner Spirits that live by Faith and in a Prospect of Eternal Bliss have their Conversation now in Heaven Did that God then indulge them who has now restrained us Their Indulgence was after the Law of a Carnal Commandment And our Restraint is after the Power of an Endless Life Let not then the corrupt Practices and loose Conversation of former Times become a Snare and a Temptation to you and allure you to the Imitation of bad Examples and an Authority that will not justifie you I shall conclude this Head with St. Paul's Words Eph. iv 17 18 19 20. This I say then and testifie in the Lord that ye walk not henceforth as other Gentiles walk in the Vanity of their Mind having their Vnderstanding darkned being Alienated from the Life of God thro' the Ignorance that is in them because of the Blindness of their Heart Who being past Feeling have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with Greediness But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the Truth is in Jesus That Holy Profession requires from you a quite different Conversation And this brings me to what I proposed II. Secondly Which was to prove the Greatness of this Sin from Christian Principles by shewing how contrary this Practice is to the Precepts and Commands of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how absolutely inconsistent with all sound Hope of Mercy and Salvation thro' him And here I shou'd have a very easie Task if Men had but a due Veneration and Esteem for that Faith into which they have been baptized But the Misery is that there is so much Coolness Lukewarmness and Indifference in Religion that neither the Laws nor the Threatnings nor the Promises of the Gospel make a due Impression on Mens Minds So that they can hear the Vengeance of God denounced against their Sins and yet not tremble and Death and Hell and Eternal Burnings threatned and yet not be afraid They read God's Solemn Declarations of punishing all impenitent Sinners with Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and yet by I know not what Mysterious Arts flatter themselves that they shall escape and find Uncovenanted Unpromised Grace and Mercy at the last And what shall we do when the Terrors of the Lord with which St. Paul used to perswade Men have lost their Force and the severest Threatnings of Divine Vengeance come to be despised Among Primitive Christians Faith was strong their Love sincere and cordial and their Zeal affectionate and warm Then Men did so believe the Gospel as to receive it as the Guide of their Consciences and the Rule of their Lives and the only Foundation of their Hope and Expectations of Salvation Then they so desir'd that Celestial Recompence which God has promised as to be willing to come up to the most exalted Degrees of Goodness that they might attain to it and so dreaded and trembled at the least Apprehensions of his Displeasure as with a Scrupulous and Conscientious Care to avoid and abhor every thing that is by him forbidden and discountenanced Were such an Heart and such a Spirit in us it wou'd be easy from a very Texts of the New Testament to baffle all the vain Apologies and Excuses for this Hateful Sin For 1. It is expresly forbidden and the Apostles do in a very earnest and affectionate manner dehort and dissuade all Christians from it Christ in his Discourses with the Jews declared what was God's Original Purpose and Intention at the first Creation and the Apostles in the very first of all their Constitutions and Decrees when assembled together in Council at Jerusalem peremptorily prohibit this Vice Act. xv 28 29. It seemed Good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater Burden than these necessary things That ye abstain from Meats offer'd unto Idols and from Blood and from things strangled and from Fornication Where by the way we have a clear Argument to prove that Fornication was esteem'd contrary to the Jewish Law For the Question in debate was how far the Gentile Converts shou'd comply with the Customs and Manners of the Jews And this is the Result of the Debate that they shou'd abstain from the Pollutions of Idols and from Fornication and from things strangled and from Blood Which is as much as tho' it had been said we require from you no greater Compliance to the Law of Moses than in these particular things But some Scruples may possibly arise concerning the Pertinency of this Sanction to our present Purpose in that it 's here joined with some things that were not in themselves evil and sinful but only prohibited to prevent Offence and Scandal to the Jews Such is their Abstinence from things strangled and from Blood the eating of which is not in it self a Sin tho' it were forbidden by the Jewish Law To remove this seeming Difficulty it will be necessary to look a little closer into the true purpose and Design of this Apostolical Decree To the right understanding of which we must observe that when the Apostles thought fit not to impose the Jewish Ordinances upon the Gentile Converts they had yet some evil and corrupt Opinions to provide against The Gentiles had been taught that tho' they
has a Title in and a just Authority over them So that the Foundation of this Pretence is delusive and vain As Creatures of God we must be subject to his Dominion and as the Redeemed of Christ we must receive from him what Laws Injunctions and Commands he pleases 1 Cor. vi 19 20. Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a Price therefore glorifie God both in your Body and in your Spirit which are God's Right and Property And this is the very same thing that he urged v. 13 14. Now the Body is not for Fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the Body i. e. Christ was raised from the Dead that he might raise us also to Immortality and therefore we are bound not to live unto our selves by giving up our Bodies to Pleasure in the Lusts of the Flesh but to devote our selves to the Service of that Great God who made us and to the Obedience of Christ who died to expiate our Guilt 2. He argues in the next place from the great Uncomeliness and Indecency of this Practice in Consideration of our close and near Relation to Christ v. 15 16. Know you not that your Bodies are Members of Christ shall I then take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot God forbid c. In which Words he declares what our Liturgy has truly and properly express'd that we Christians are one with Christ and Christ with us And that Union is not only in the way of Polity Ecclesiastical as we are Members of his Church and intitled to the Spiritual Privileges and Offices thereof but in a much Nobler and Diviner Sense He has taken upon him our Flesh and he has communicated to us his Spirit and this Spirit is the Bond and Medium of that Unity betwixt us For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body 1 Cor. xii 13. And as the Soul of Man is the Foundation of Life and of Vital Union in all the Members of the Body so is the Spirit of God the Foundation and common Principle of Spiritual Life and Grace in all true Christians whatsoever And as certainly as Jesus Christ has taken on him our true and real Flesh so certainly has the same Christ communicated to us of that Holy Spirit which abides in him For which reason our Apostle says v. 17. He that is join'd to the Lord is one Spirit with him and Rom. viii 9. If any Man hath not the Spirit of God he is none of his Now having instructed the Corinthians in this Doctrin he recommends it to their own Serious Consideration how Unseemly and Shameful and Unworthy it is for Men in so near a Relation to God and so close an Alliance to the Son of God to have Fellowship and Union with the most Infamously Vile and Detestable of all Human Creatures Shall I take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot God forbid This is an Evil that ought not to be done This is scandalous and abominable He appeals to the common Sentiments of Mankind It must be preposterous and absurd to pretend Union with Christ and to profess that Union the Foundation of our Hope of Mercy and Salvation by him and at the same time to consociate with the most hateful of all Creatures by a Vice forbidden under the Penalty of everlasting Condemnation The very Nature of God who is Holiness and Light and in whom there is mo Darkness at all is a sufficient Proof how disagreeable all such sinful Practices are how offensive how hateful and how dangerous 3. He argues from the great Dishonour which a Man does hereby to his own Body He debases and reproaches himself He becomes one Flesh with such a Person as he is ashamed to own his Relation to and for which all Mankind besides will despise him tho' he does not scorn and loath himself He becomes in every sence polluted and defiled Every other Sin that a Man doth is without the Body but he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own Body The Prophane is injurious to God and the Fraudulent to his Brother and the Mischief of all other Sins falls first at a distance from ones self But the Mischief of Fornication falls more immediately on the Offenders own Head his own Body is debased in the very Trespass he has committed Nay the Apostle has improv'd this Consideration from the former and tells us that by the Residence of that Holy Spirit within us our Bodies are so honour'd by Almighty God as to be esteem'd and valued as his Temples Places of his Residence dedicated to his Use and devoted to his Service v. 19. Know you not that your Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you and which you have of God And again 1 Cor. iii. 16. Know you not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you From whence he takes occasion to warn them of the Danger of dishonouring of themselves by Fornication because v. 17. If any Man desile the Temple of God him will God destroy For the Temple of God is holy which Temple are ye These are the Arguments which St. Paul makes Use of to convince and to dissuade all Christians from this Vice These indeed are Christian Arguments founded upon Christian Doctrines and Spiritual Reflections but of very great Force and not at all to be despis'd For this Union with Christ by the means of his Spirit is one of the great Priviledges of a Christian one of the great Benefits of our Redemption and our only Hope of Mercy and Peace and Comfort and Reconciliation thro' his Blood Does then Fornication break off this close Alliance with Christ destroy this Union that is to the Soul in a Spiritual Sense like loping off an Arm or a Leg from the natural Body 'T is alienating the Man from Christ and cutting off all his Hope of Reconciliation in him 'T is in effect rejecting him from the Covenant of Grace and blotting out his Name from the Book of Life Again does St. Paul say that by Fornication a Man dishonoureth his own Body and desileth those Temples which God has consecrated to himself to be the Habitations of his Holy Spirit God who has punish'd the Pollutions of his Temple at Jerusalem with the Death of the profane Offender will certainly punish the defiling these living Temples with Eternal Death and the most dire Effects of his severest Vengeance and Indignation Besides in desiling the Habitation of God's Holy Spirit we must grieve that Spirit and resist and repel it and drive it away from the intended place of its Residence and Abode And how can a Practice be either innocent or safe that so provokes our God that we become abandon'd of the true Principle and Foundation of all Grace Spiritual Life and Sanctification Especially when St. Paul has so solemnly declar'd That if any Man have not the Spirit of