erit ut hodie amplius to morrow shall be as to day and much more abundant This saith he I do and then he cometh to this exhortation fratres 〈◊〉 quam lenissime sed tamen instantissime vos rogo brethren though but gently yet most instantly I beseech you do you the like 2. As gluttony or excesse of meat is here forbidden of which we have spoken so also drunkennesse or excesse of drink The Apostle dehorting from drunkennesse saith there is in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 luxury or lust be not drunken with wine wherein is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it inclines to unclean lusts And the same saith Solomon Look not upon the Wine when it is red and sheweth his colour in the cup or goeth down pleasantly and why Thine eyes shall look upon strange women And therefore S. Peter doth not onely forbid drunkennesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 drunkennesse which the Fathers call voluntarium Daemonem a voluntary Devil when a man willingly bereaves himself of reason but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 drinkings or compotations whether they be such as enflame us and though they take not away our reason yet kindle our blood and spirits or whether by using them we get such a custome and habit that we are strong to do it and being free from drunkennesse can behold the infirmity of others with pleasure for there is a woe pronounced against this strength And in any of these cases the excesse of drinking is forbidden not onely because it deceives a man and the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty but also because it disposes a man to this sin as we see in Lot who by too much wine committed incest even without knowledge and unwittingly but most commonly a man doth it knowingly and wittingly and so maketh him self a fit mold for the Devils impression The Wise man saith that they are like to a man sleeping in the midst of the sea when they are awaked they return to it again For it is such a vice that a man having gotten a habit of it can hardly leave it off Yet are we not altogether prohibited the drinking of wine but in some cases it is allowed as these and the like 1. For bodily infirmities according to the Apostles counsel to Timothie In this case the use of wine is lawful Timothie was so far from excesse that having an infirmity upon him he would not adventure upon wine without Pauls direction 2. In heavinesse of minde whether natural or accidental Give wine to those that are of heavy heart 3. Upon some publick benefit of the Church or Common-wealth there may be a publick gratulation and therein a more free use of the Creatures and whatsoever doth not hinder or oppose Temperance may be lawfully used to solemnize a day of publick joy When the people were ready to mourn Nehemiah forbids it and instead of mourning bids them eat the fat and drink the sweet and testifie their joy by the lawsul use of the Creatures for the benefit which God had vouchsafed to his Church This is the third But ont of these or the like cases it must not be used as they did of whom the Prophet speaketh When God called to mourning and weeping they fell to joy and gladnesse to slaying of Oxen and killing of sheep to eating flesh and drinking wine And there be still some men that can take hold of the Apostles counsel to drink wine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but of that part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little they take no notice at all The sum of all is there must not be Redundantia excesse It was accounted an especial fault of the Princes of Israel They drank wine in bowls c. The five rules above mentioned you may apply to prevent this sin and to govern your self in the use of wine or strong drink Both these vices are salved by one vertue called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 temperance a vertue here commanded S. Paul makes it a special fruit of the spirit and exhorts Titus to preach it and exhort young men especially to it and such as bend their mindes to knowledge and studie of learning and therefore S. Peter exhorts as to adde to vertue knowledge so to joyn to knowledge temperance for scientia est cum abstinentia temperance is the way to knowledge CHAP. IIII. Of idlenesse the second thing which fits the soyl for this sin Diverse reasons against it It consists in two things 1. too much sleep 2. want of exercise when we are 〈◊〉 Against sleepinesse Rules for 1. the quantity 2. the manner Of idlenesse in our callings The remedy against sleep and idlenesse THe second thing which makes solum subactum fits the soyl for this sin of lust is idlenesse For as fulnesse of bread so abundance of idlenesse was one of the causes of Sodoms sin One answered by the light of nature to him that asked what Luxury was that it was nothing els but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the passion of an idle minde And this is a sin highly displeasing to God in many respects 1. Evertit consilium Dei finem hominis it doth what may be to overthrow Gods purpose and the end whereto man was created For God in the very beginning created man to labour He put man into the garden of Eden to dresse it not onely ut coleret eum to serve him but ut coleret terram to till the earth neither without the other Afterwards when he had transgressed Gods command this labour was enjoyned him as a perpetual penance for his offence In sorrow shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread Nor doth the Gospel shew it self more favourable in dispensing with this law Why stand ye idle saith our Saviour And it was the Apostles complaint that he heard that there were some that wrought not at all Nor shall it ever be abrogated Man saith David goeth forth to his work and to his labour till the evening Therefore is it that Solomon sends the idle person to the Ant and that the son of Syrach compares a slothful man to the filth of a dunghill In this respect therefore is this sin to be condemned 2. In regard of the losse of time a thing 〈◊〉 precious that the Apostle exhorts us by all means to redeem it if we have mispent it And the Psalmist sets it down as a curse upon the people that God consumed their dayes in vanity 3. In regard of the breach of the next Commandment which forbids stealing For he that consumes his dayes in idlenesse maketh use of the creatures to which he hath no right The Apostle saith He that doth not work should not eat The Heathen call such men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an unnecessary burden The Scriptures compare them to
general and special CHAP. II. page 433 The dependance of this Commandement upon the former The ends for which it was given The object of this Commandement concupiscence or lust of the flesh The several branches and degrees of the sin here forbidden Diverse reasons against the sin of uncleannesse CHAP. III. page 438 Of the degrees of this sin 1. The first motions or cogitationes ascendentes 2. Suppuratio the festering of it inwardly 3. subactum solum the fitting of the soyl which is 1. By excesse 2. By Idlenesse Excesse is 1. By gluttony the effects of it Opposite to which is the vertue of temperance which consists in modo in measure Which respects 1. The necessity of life 2. Of our calling 3. Of pleasure and delight Wherein are 5. Rules 1. For the substance of our meat 2. For the quantity 3. For the quality 4. Not to eat too greedily 5. Not to often 2. Of excesse in drinking in what cases wine is allowed CHAP. IV. page 442 Of idlenesse the second thing which fits the soyl for this sin Diverse reasons against it It consists in two things 1. To much sleep 2. Want of exercise when we are awake Against sleepinesse 1. Rules for 1. the quantity 2. the manner Of idlenesse in our callings The remedy against sleep and idlenesse CHAP. V. page 444 The fourth degree Irrigatio soli the watering of the soul by incentives and allurements to this sin which are either 1. In or about our selves or 2. In others Of the first sort are 1. Painting 2. Strange wanton apparel 3. 〈◊〉 gestures Of the second sort are 1. Lewd company and obscene books 2. Obscene pictures and wanton dancings Of modesty the vertue opposite CHAP. VI. page 446 The fifth degree the breaking out of this sin 1. By the eye Secondly in the speech Thirdly by the symptomes foregoing the act The vertue opposite is shamefastnesse Of the outward acts of uncleannesse 1. Self pollution or nocturna pollutio whether alwayes a sin 2. Bestiality 3. Sodomie 4. Whoredome scortatio 5. Poligamy whether lawful How this sinne of uncleannesse may be committed in matrimony some rules about mariage How out of matrimony 1. With one allied which is incest 2. With a stranger to us but married to another which is adultory Many aggravations of this sin 3. With such as are not married as 1. By keeping a Concubine 2. By deflouring 3. By fornication and wandring lust 4. By prostitution The highest pitch of this sin is to defend it CHAP. VII page 453 The remedies of this sinne 1. Chastity of a single life 2. Matrimonial chastity The meanes to preserve us from this sinne Of drawing others to keep this Commandement The Exposition of the eighth Commandement  The coherence and dependance of this commandment upon the former The object of it the desire of riches The scope of the lawgiver in respect of 1. Himself 2. The church 3. The common-wealth 4. Private persons Of right and propriety How meum tuum came in Of right by first occupancy and prescription Reasons for propriety Of propriety jure belli four things included in propriety CHAP. II. page 462 Of alienation and the several sorts of it Of free alienation Illiberal by contracts which are of three sorts 1. Do ut des 2. Do ut facias 3. Facio ut des Of contracts by stipulation promise writings Reall contracts by caution pledge c. Personal by suerties hostages c. CHAP. III. page 463 Of the desire of 〈◊〉 For regulating whereof we must consider 1. The order in respect of 1. The end 2. The meanes 2. The measure of our appetite which must be guided by four rules Of the suppuration of this sinne by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 love of money the branches of it Of subactum solum the soyle fitted 〈◊〉 the jaundice if it 1. In the eye The foaming at the mouth The 〈◊〉 of theft here forbidden committed 1. In getting 2. In the use of riches CHAP. IV. page 463 Of unjust getting in general The kindes of unjust getting 1. By rapine and violence 2. By fraud The first is either under pretence of authority or without any pretence The former is 1. For a mans own benefit In times of war or in times of peace and this is either by power or authoritie or by pretence of Law 2. For his Neighbours detriment Vnjust getting without any pretence of authoritie or Law is either Piracie by sea or Robberie by land The affirmative part 1 That every one have a lawful calling 2. That he labour in it CHAP. V. page 224 The second way of unjust getting viz. y fraud or close theft The lawful wayes of acquiring 1. By gift 2. By inheritance 3. By industry wherein are to be valewed 1. Labour 2. Hazzard 3. Charges Of right by damage Of money the measure of Contracts Close theft is 1. In Contracts 2. Out of Contracts In Contracts is 1. By selling that which cannot be sold as the gifts of the Spirit things annexed to spiritual offices things consecrated to God benefits as loane of money c. 2. When there is not a proportion between laborem and praemium 3. About buying and selling in respect of 1. The measure 2. The commodity 3. The price CHAP. VI page 471 Of theft out of contracts This is 1. In the family by 1. by Purloyning 2. Mis-spending 3. Idlenesse 4. Withdrawing ones self from service 2. Without the family is 1. Of things consecrated by 〈◊〉 2 Of things common and those either publick or private Of theft personal and real The aggravation of theft in regard of the poor c. Against enclosing of Commons The conclusion about unlawful getting CHAP. VII page 473 Of the vertues opposite 1. Just getting 2. Restitution commanded both in the Law and Gospel That we must make restitution not onely of what is unlawfully got but of some things Lawfully got As 1. Of what belongs to another by gift 2. Of things deposited 3. Of things found 4. Of things lent 5. Of what will prejudice the publick if it be detained for our private benefit CHAP. VIII page 477 Of the second general viz. unjust keeping The right use of riches is 1. in respect of a mans self the sins opposite 1. Parsimony 2. prodigality two degrees of it 1. to spend unreasonably 2. Above ones means 2. In respect of others viz. the poor where we are to know two things 1. How we held our riches or by what tenure 2. What we are to conceive of the poor A threefold necessity 1. of nature 2. of our person 3. of our estate and condition Several motives to communicate to the poor CHAP. IX page 485 That this Commandment is spiritual Of Covetousnesse diverse reasons against it The means to keep this Commandment 1. 〈◊〉 2. To walk in our wayes which that we may do 1. We must have a lawful calling 2. We must be perswaded that riches are Gods gift 3. We must live according to our
brings us back to the first answer That honour is but the shadow of vertue and therefore not happinesse it self 5. Honour is good if it were sine sera clave without lock or key without dependance which it is not for honour dependeth upon other mens mouths and hath no stability Now that felicity which is as mutable as a Camelion cannot be true happinesse We see it to be true in our Saviour for by the same people that he was honoured in a triumph to Jerusalem within few dayes after he was led in a disgraceful manner to be crucified Therefore in Honour consists no true happinesse 3. In Pleasure there can be no true felicity 1. The very frame of the body speaks against it for there are but two parts of it as the Epicures hold capable of it 1. For the one they wisht to be like Cranes And for the other like Sparrows 2 Seeing man is spiritual and intellectual and pleasure sensible in following delight he descends to a thing inferior to himself but felicity must be in summo above him Seneca wished rather to have been unborn then to have been born to this end Super lectum jacere vinum potare c. As the Prophet hath it To lie in bed and drink wine c. 3 Man should be more miserable then the beast if pleasure should be his end For they vse pleasures openly and freely while man is ashamed to vse some pleasures in publike view Again thy do it without remorse of conscience and man after the act of pleasure is 〈◊〉 in conscience yet no man will say that beasts have true felicity 4 Again the Philosophers hold that pleasure without moderation is not good and if pleasure be true felicity then the vertues of Temperance Abstinence Continency c. were lost Temperantia est abstinentia a voluptatibus Temperance defined is abstinence from pleasures so that if pleasure be true felicity and that without moderation it is not good then it follows that abstinence from felicity is 〈◊〉 and that he is continent who abstaineth from felicity 5. Plutarch is confident that if an Epicure knew that he had but one hour to live and were put to his choice whether he would spend that hour in sport and pleasure or do some notable act to eternize his name that he would make election of the latter and thereby condemn his own opinion of felicity in pleasure himself No true felicity then in pleasure 4. Nor yet in Vertue 1. The vertues in which the Stoicks place felicity are meerly morall and they are onely to pacifie the disordered passions of the minde our affections and the pacifying of them is to bring ease to our actions and every action 〈◊〉 propter finem for some end there being therefore other ends besides these there is no felicity in them 2. Every vertue hath its severall use as Justice to preserve peace fortitude to procure peace and the like therefore these have further ends then for themselves and so are not true felicity 3. Prudence accompted by them the prime vertue is nothing but to direct us to the end and is not the end it self therefore not felicity it self In Vertue then no true felicity 5. Neither in contemplation 1. For it is an absurd thing in nature that any thing should be long in getting and short in fruition or enjoying but contemplation is ever in getting so that it cannot be long in fruition therefore no felicity in it 2 Our contemplation is onely in posse in what may be and to be happy is 〈◊〉 in actum to be drawn into action but to say that this posse may be brought to a perfect act were absurd for there is no man can say there is nothing but I know it 3. By their own confession we know not the essential form of any no not of the most vile Creature and we are ignorant in most familiar things to us and how much more dim and unperfect is our knowledge in more divine natures and in God himself of whom we know nothing but by privation as that he is not finite and comprehensible and the like 4. They testifie of themselves that they know nothing Hoc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 me nihil scire said Socrates this one thing onely I know that I know nothing Aristotle confest that he had spent his time and had onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Owls eyes in contemplating heavenly essences Simonides that the more he contemplated on Gods essence the farther off he confest himself to be Heraclitus cryed out In 〈◊〉 est it is so deep I cannot sound it And maxima pars 〈◊〉 quae scimus est minima 〈◊〉 quae ignoramus the greatest part of that we know is the least part of that we know not No felicity then in contemplation Thus much for particular exceptions against these opinions of felicity now generally against them all demonstrative That there is no true happinesse in any thing besides God The Philosophers propound two things in their 〈◊〉 1. Terminus appetitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contentednesse or satisfaction of the appetite 2. Perpetuity or continuance of that satisfaction 1. To come to any thing but to God non facit terminum appetitui it satisfieth not our appetite for ut ponatur terminus appetitui to set a bound to our appetite there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contentednesse And this cannot be without satisfaction Nor can any thing satisfie the appetite but God alone because it was ordained to receive God all the world is too little to fill it Saint Augustine saith Domine tu fecisti me propter te nec quiescat anima mea donec veniat ad te Lord thou hast made me for thee and my soul will not be satisfied till it come to thee For without God there is 〈◊〉 universal good therefore some want and consequently a desire to have that which is wanting and the appetite being unsatisfied unquietnesse followeth and so no felicity 2 This is apparant in the example of riches and the desire of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Desire and appetite hath its name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word expressing an earnest motion ardere flagrare cupiditate to burn or flame with 〈◊〉 in which re spect it is called ardens appetitus an ardent desire Now if a man heap never so much wood upon a fire though at the first it seeme to put it out yet by little and little the fire waxeth bigger by reason of it and is as apt to receive more wood as it was in the beginning And so it fares in the desire of riches the more matter is ministred the lesse the desire is quenched but still encreaseth till it come to be infinite Quomodo ejus sitim extingues cujus sitis expatu crescit How then will you quench his thirst who the more he drinks the more he may Therefore there is no worldly thing that can satisfie mans appetite Riches were not made to
his recreation shut them up and went abroad to supper where he uttered many blasphemies against God and at his return meeting his dogs mad died miserably being torn in pieces by them Apion against whom Josephus wrote scoffing at the Old Testament and especially against circumcision was at the same time stricken by God and in the same place with an ulcer and was made a spectacle for all such as in after times should follow his example And lastly to omit others Machiavel rotted in the prison at Florence as the Italian histories testifie These and many other Atheists though they denyed God in their life time yet at their death were forced to acknowledge and confesse him And therefore as it was written upon Zenacheribs tomb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that beholds me let him be religious and acknowledge Gods hand So may we say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 look upon these men and their end and learn to stand in aw of God CHAP. VII The fourth step That God hath a providence over man Reasons against divine providence answerd why God permitts evil general reasons for a providence particular reasons from all sorts of creatures That second causes work not nor produce their effects of themselves without God That Gods providence 〈◊〉 to particulars That God is to be sought and that he rewards them that seek him Gods care of mankinde The next station is That God hath a care of men to reward the good For it is not sufficient to know God in his Essence onely but in his Providence also For as to deny that God is is Atheisme so the doubting of his Providence and care over the Creatures is Semi-Atheisme Nay if we look at the moral effect which the perswasion of a Deity works among men it is all one to deny his Providence and to deny that he is And this was the Epicures error who though they were forced by reason to know that there was a God yet they held That God had no care of man Now of Gods providence there are four opinions 1. That God hath no entercourse with man but hath drawn the Heauens as a Curtain between him and us that we should not know or see what he doth nor he what we doe 2. That there is a providence but that it extendeth onely to general things and so is a general providence setting in order second causes but reacheth not to every perticular individual thing 3. Another opinion granteth a providence as well of particulars as generals but that it is idle as a spectator only that beholds men act upon a stage and neither rewardeth nor punisheth 4. The last 〈◊〉 that as he hath providence over both sorts as well particular as 〈◊〉 neral so he doth not onely behold but reward the good and punish the evill And this is the truth which Christans hold The chief reasons which they use to alledg in maintaining that there is no providence at all are cheifly three 1 The adversity of the good and the prosperity of the wicked For say they 〈◊〉 vlla esset providentia bonis bene esset malis male if there were any providence it would goe well with the good and ill with the bad 2. That although many abuse the gifts of God yet he giveth them promiscuously And therefore if there were a providence the use of the gift would have been given with it and no gifts would have been given to them that should abuse them 3. That the manifold 〈◊〉 and evill effects in morral and natural things shew that if there were a Providence God would not suffer so many in either 1. To the first we answer If a man were absolutely good no adversity would betide him and if absolutely evil no prosperity but no man in this life is absolutely good or evil but as the best are not without some evil so the worst not without some good And therefore it stands with the justice of God to punish that evil which is in the good with temporal punishments in this life and to reward the good which is in the wicked with temporal blessings that he may reward the one and punish the other in the other life Hence it is that saint Augustine saith Domine hic secabic vre modo ibi parca Lord cut and burn afflict me here so thou spare me hereafter We know what the Devil said to God in Jobs case Doth Job serve God for nought Therefore God to stop the mouths of the wicked and Sathan punisheth the Godly here And hence it is that if good men live in prosperity the Devil is ready to object that their acts are but hypocritical therefore God to make it appeare that the Godly serve him not in respect of temporal blessings and that vertue in them is not mercenary but free he oft times layes afflictions on his children which they beare willingly 2 The former answer might have served to confut this second reason for as in onely the first if it had been bonis bene well to the good the Devill had well said Doth Job serve God for nought so in this case If God had given the use of the gifts with the giftes themselves to every one the Devil would have said Job can doe no other but serve God He is not left to his own election God hath in a mnaner enforced him to it and so his actions are not praise worthy nor deserve any reward For what extraordinary matter is it for fire to burn since it is its nature and property But when some of the wicked have as excellent gifts bestowed on them as the godly have and yet they abuse them it takes away all cavils and exceptions from 〈◊〉 and maketh much for the commendation of the Godly and for the just reprofe and punishment of the wicked 3. To the third we say that though there be defects and evil effects yet God is not the cause of them he hath no part either in the evil action or with the evil doer Omnis actionis imperfectio non a Deo sed a male se habente instrumento the imperfection of every action is not of God but from the indisposition or perversenesse of the instrument In a Creple the soul is the cause of motion and is in no fault but the distortion of the body which is the instrument of the soul. So every action is from God but if it have any deformity it is of the crookednesse of the instrument Now God 〈◊〉 evil in these respects 1. Per privationem gratiae by justly for sin depriving men of his grace and thereupon followeth a defect of good for if there were no defect his infinite goodnesse could not have been so cleerly seen nor would there have been any variety of good things but one good onely 2. If there were no defect there would have been no order or degrees in things 3. Many vertues would have been superfluous as Justice Temperance c. 4. Because it is necessary that
and consequently far more to be beloved 1. Out of this faith or knowledge apprehending his Justice ariseth feare and out of feare humility 2. Out of knowledge and faith of his Mercy with the other eight attributes arise 2. Duties more 1. Hope 2. Love 1. The fruit of hope is 1. Invocation and prayer for what we want 2. thanksgiving in acknowledging whence we have received it 2. Love hath its fruit or effect in obedience in conforming our selves and our wills to God will both in doing what he requirs and in bearing willingly whatsoever it pleaseth him to lay upon us and this last is called patience Obedientia crucis And in these doth the hauing of God wholly consist We are further to understand that the Holy Ghost in the scripture is pleased by the figure Synechdoche for shortnesse of speech oft times to name one of these and in that one to comprehend the whole worship of God as in Saint John all the worship of God is attributed to knowledge This is life eternal to know thee the onely true God And in a nother place all to fear feare God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man In a nother place to hope Saint Paul saith we are saved by hope And so of the rest under the name of one duty Synechdochically are comprehended all the other and this without injury to the rest of the duties for they all have good dependance one of another Now to these we are to adde the duties of the second proposition That we must have the Lord for our God that is true religion And of the third to have him onely for our God that is pure religion against joyning of it with other worship And besides these out of the word shalt it must be perpetual till non erit swallow up our erit which implieth the vertue perseverance throw all the Commandments And corum facie mea before me includeth sincerity of heart against hypocrisy and these make up the manner of Gods worship In the resolution of this first commandment the first thing is knowledge of God which in regard of the excellency of it Saint John saith as before This is life eternal to know thee the onely true God In the handling of which we must follow this method 1. To shew the excellency of the knowledge of God 2. The necessity of it 3. How it is to be attained 1. The first thing concerning knowledge is the excellency of it for other knowledge without this is but a puff a tumor that swells naturally in them that possesse it The Apostle saith asmuch knowledge 〈◊〉 up That therefore our knowledge may be right we must pluck from us our peacockes feathers the gifts of nature as strength wisdom riches birth c. And not be proud or rejoyce in them but as God by the prophet speaketh Let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me 〈◊〉 totae scientia hominis magna est saith S. Augustine 〈◊〉 quia nihil ipse est per se quoniam quicquid est ex Deo est 〈◊〉 Deum 〈◊〉 is the chief knowledge of man to know that of himselfe he is nothing and that whatsoever he is it is of and for God And this is the use we must make of our Knowledge 2. The second is the Necessity of this knowledge It is not the excellency of this knowledge that altogether worketh upon the desires of all men and the hearts of many are so dull and heavy that they desire not to be excellent a meane degree of perfection contents them in it But when we come to perceive that necessitas incumbit there lies a necessity upon us to get it a ferrea ratio that strong forcible persuasion and stricketh to the heart for the Law is Doctrina agendorum and no action can be without moving no motion without the will no will without desire and no desire without knowledge of that we desire So that take away knowledge and take away all and then nothing shall be done It cannot be denied but that evil men are in action they are practicall enough but their knowledge being deprived of the true end and obejct we must also confesse that they must needs erre and fall upon false ends and wayes wandring in by pathes and never attain to the right end butthey walk in darknesse and so they misse of the end for which they came into the world The Apostle saith that without hearing there can be no knowledge for hearing is called the sense of discipline and without knowledge ther 's no beleife without faith there can be no love and without love ther 's no obedience And therefore in as much as faith love and obedience are necessary it follows that it is necessary to have knowledge as the ground of all vertues whatsoever There is in all these vertues inchoation in this life and a consummacion in the life to come The schoolmen call them a first and second perfection or 〈◊〉 partixm graduum and therefore the knowledge we attain to in this life is but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tast of that blessed knowledge we shall have in the other And as the Apostle makes two Resurrections the first and the second and saith that Blessed is he that hath his part in the first for he shall have it also in the last So there are two degrees of knowledge the first is fides faith the second visio dei or vita aeterna the beatificall vision and blessed is he that hath his part in the first for he shall have his part in the second the beatificall vision of God And as in the second Resurrection none shall have part but they which have part in the first so none can have their portion in the second knowledge but they that had in the first A witnesse without exception of this is our Saviour Martha troubled her self about many things and no doubt necessary to the honorable entertaining of 〈◊〉 yet we know that Christ said vnum necessarium there was one thing necessary and Mary had chosen it to sit down at Christs feet and learn his will So that if this be onely necessary and without it ther 's no getting to the end then have we done with the first part wherein we see the use and necessity of this knowledge 3. If the knowledge be so necessary by what means shall we attain to it In knowledge there is a teacher and a learner we must either finde it of our selves or learn it from others For our own abilities the Propher hath told us long since what they are Every man is brutish or a beast in his knowledge if he haue none to direct him but his own natural parts he shal attain no more knowledge then the brute beasts The wise-man saith that we are all vain by nature We are vain in our imaginations saith the Apostle And according to holy Job
to admonish the Israelites to refrain from this sin because it defiled the land and would be a cause that they should be 〈◊〉 out of it Lastly S. 〈◊〉 tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them for giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh were set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire 4. For the particular good of private persons and that two wayes 1. That every one may enjoy that whereof he is Proprietary and chief Lord and that wholly to himself And this is occulta lex 〈◊〉 the secret law of nature Therefore if another partake or share with him or be but suspected so to do it drives him into jealousie which the Wise man calls the rage of a man and he accounts it such an injury as cannot be satisfied with any ransom 2. That his name may be perpetuated by legitimate children of his own We see that God would have no bastard enter into his congregation And by this also a man preserves the chastity of his wife And these four are the ends Now for the affection it self and ground of the Commandment as it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heat in the other Commandment so here it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concupiscence that this dealeth withall not that every concupiscence is evil for the Apostle tells us of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an evil concupiscence to intimate that there is some Concupiscence or desire which is not evil And in another place he willeth us not to have providence and care of the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it implying that there is a lawful care of the flesh to be had so that the lusts of it be not fulfilled More plainly there is in man as in all other creatures a desire first to preserve himself in 〈◊〉 and secondly in specie And therefore in respect that these are most necessary it pleased God to 〈◊〉 a bait for both that men might be allured to them for as there is a pleasure in eating and drinking for the one so is there for the other in the act of generation And there is a rule in maxime 〈◊〉 maxima 〈◊〉 as maxime allicit in things most necessary the greatest pleasure allureth most And another quod maxime allicit maxime corrumpit that which allureth most corrupts most And the reason is quia appetitus tendit ultra modum the appetite exceeds the due measure For we perswade our selves that if the doing of it once be good the doing of it often will be better and so we come at last to do it too much because the appetite knows not what is enough and so it falleth into corrupt custom For the course of our nature is when it avoids any evil it avoideth it so vehemently that sometime if there be any good with it it putteth out the good too and if 〈◊〉 desire any good it desireth the evil too that sticketh to it Therefore moderation and temperance is to be used for vertue stands in medio between two 〈◊〉 yet temperance is magis in 〈◊〉 more in the want then in the excesse as 〈◊〉 is mag is in 〈◊〉 more in the excesse then in the want This Concupiscence of the flesh as it is in us so it is in beasts and therefore it hath the lowest place and is as Plato saith alligata ventri tyed to the belly as a man would 〈◊〉 a horse or an asse to the manger Now being thus in the lowest place yet being of necessary use the rule is In maxime necessariis 〈◊〉 est maxime necessarius in things necessary order is most necessary and this order is that the lower desires should not take up a man wholly when the lower is most vehement the higher is most hindered but the lower faculties are to give place to the superiour and not to take up the whole man Chrysostome saith Dedit Deus corpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illud in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non dedit animam corpori ut illam in terram deprimeret God gave the body to the soul to lift it up to the 〈◊〉 of heaven and heavenly things and not the soul to the body to presse it down to the earth Therefore Gods intent was that as we may have a lawful Concupiscence for the maintenance of our life and for propagation so we should use them no further then this necessity requires And this Concupiscence hath its purity Now that is called purum pure that hath 〈◊〉 alieni admixtum no mixture of any thing with it But because in this life there will be some mixture as the Prophet tells them their wine was mixt with water we must be careful that the mixture be not disproportionable as to have but a drop of wine in a vessel of water The Prophet saith that there was a time when man was in honor but certainly he is now so degenerate from that he was that he hath lost his understanding and is become like to the beasts that perish for he serveth his lust riches and pleasures For this cause it is that another Prophet saith of the people of his time that they were 〈◊〉 addicted to this evil concupiscence of the flesh that they were like 〈◊〉 admissariis to fed horses every one neighed after his neighbours wife Therefore as the Apostle speaks of the Law in general so we may of this Commandment that it is Poedagogus our School-master to instruct us that how sweet 〈◊〉 stoln waters are yet the end of them is bitter and deadly And that we should not use our liberty for an occasion to the flesh like brute beasts but as knowing that we were created for greater things and that we should have our mindes lifted up to overrule our bodies and not use our liberty as if we had no rule to walk by Having spoken of the ground of this commandment we come now to the fountain from whence this sin arises and then we shall speak of the means or occasions that draw us to it 1. For the first the Apostle reckons up the fruits of the flesh Gal. 5. 19. Adultery fornication uncle annesse 〈◊〉 c. which our Saviour saith proceed from the heart where they be considered either as they are ipsum venenum the very poison of our nature which the Apostle calls Concupiscentia carnis the lust of the flesh or 〈◊〉 suppuratio an inward festering of this desire an inward boyling of the pot with the scum in it as the Prophet calls it 2. The means that draw us to this sin 1. The first is subactum solum when we make our selves meet and apt ground to receive this vice The Physitians call it 〈◊〉 when a man is disposed by evil humours tending to diseases as those that are Plethorique have their bodies still fed with some bad humour Now this humour of wicked lust is fed by two means 1 Pergulam By intemperance
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it steales away the understanding We have experience of it in Solomon we see what fottishnes he grew into after this sinne had taken hold of him even to fall down to every block and stock 〈◊〉 by this fell into murder and to cover one sinne with another And it is just it should be so for the light of our Actions coming 〈◊〉 God and our annoynting coming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 faith from Gods annoynting he will not commit this oyntment to such a stinking box They are like swine that trample this pearle of understanding under feet 3. The third is 〈◊〉 Of all sinnes this is most inexcusable because other sins may have some colour or excuse but this hath none because God having ordained a remedy for this which is marriage he that will not use that remedy is without excuse 4. The fourth is that whereas God hath been pleased to make marriage a holy institution and a holy resemblance of the union betwixt Christ and his Church it is a manifest contempt of the ordinance of God and not onely that but whereas God hath added this 〈◊〉 to marriage that thereby mankinde should be encreased on the contrary by this meanes they bring the curse of barrennes threatened against whoredome they shall commit whoredome saith the Prophet but not encrease So that they go about as much as in them lieth to destroy the race of mankinde and therefore 〈◊〉 calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in genus 〈◊〉 sacrilegious breakers of wedlock and trespassers against mankinde for not onely the world 〈◊〉 the worse for these courses which would soon bring it 〈◊〉 an end but also it takes away the resemblance between Christ and his Church in holy mariage 5. It is against a mans own body For as Saint Paul argueth every sinne which a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without the body but he that committs fornication 〈◊〉 against his own body and that both by defiling it so that as Saint 〈◊〉 saith the garments are spotted by the flesh as also by weakning and decaying it for as the Physitians say the 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 humor the generative 〈◊〉 is a special cause of preserving the life of a man and there is nothing brings greater debility to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the radical moysture is consumed and the life shortned then this sinne besides that it brings rottennes to the bones and breeds many 〈◊〉 diseases as daily experience shewes like that water of jelousy under the law or cursed water which if 〈◊〉 woman had defiled her husbands bed caused her belly to swell and her thigh to rot 6. And it is not onely against a mans own body but against others also for it hath this peculiar to it that whereas in other sinnes a man may 〈◊〉 solus perish alone in this he must have one to perish with him for company There is duplex 〈◊〉 a double murther committed by this one finne 7. It is injurious to Christ two wayes 1. He hath bought us and paid a price for us Now if we shall alienate that which is not our own we do as if we should pull down another mans house nay 〈◊〉 Regis as 〈◊〉 the Kings Palace to which we have no right 2. And not onely so but being Christians and Christ our head and we the members if we unite our selves to a harlot do we not 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 est as much as we can bring Christ to be the head of a 〈◊〉 8. Lastly if all these will not move us then let us consider the punishment of it Shall I not visit saith God by the prophet for these things yes surely he will 〈◊〉 and punish and that many 〈◊〉 1. It is a punishment it self for as Solomon saith those whom God hates shall fall into this sinne such as he hath ordained for punishment shall be punished with this sinne 2. It is maxime probrosum peccatum a sin that makes a man most infamous it brings a reproach never to be wiped off 3. It brings a man to beggery for by a whorish woman a man is brought to a morsel of bread yea the adulteresse will hunt for the precious life and Job saith it is a fire that will consume to destruction and will root out all a mans increase 4. Beyond all these whereas every punishment should exceed that whereof it is a punishment the Apostle tells us that those uncleane lusts which the heathens where given up to were punishments for their Idolatry 〈◊〉 that this sinn seems to exceed in some case that of Idolatry And therefore the same Apostle saith that if a woman be married to an Idolater or unbeleever and will dwell with him she may but he saith not so for an adulterer Idolatry doth not so neerly dissolve the bond of marriage as adultery And again the children of an Idolater or unbeleever if the one party be a beleever are holy and are received into the covenant as members of the Church but the seed of Adulterers is prophane a bastard must not enter into the congregation not to the tenth generation By these reasons well weighed we may in part conceive what account God makes of this sinne We come now to the particular branches referring to this sin already mentioned CHAP. III. Of the degrees of this sinne 1. The first motions or cogitationes ascendentes 2. Suppuratio the festering of it inwardly 3. subactum solum the fitting of the soyle which is 1. By excesse 2. By Idlenes Exc esse is 1. by gluttony the effects of it Opposite to which is the vertue of temperance which consists in modo in measure which respects 1. The necessity of life 2. Of our calling 3. Of pleasure and delight wherein are 5. Rules 1. For the substance of our meat 2. For the quantity 3. For the quality 4. Not to eate too greedily 5. Not too often 2. Of excesse in drinking in what cases wine is allowed ANd first for the inward cause the malignant vapours arising in the heart which we called the poyson of our nature that inbred concupiscence and those first motions and the 〈◊〉 ascendentes we shall forbeare to speak of them till we come to the tenth commandment and here we will speak in the second place of that which we call suppuratio or the festering of it which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to burne and the Prophet illustrateth by a similitude As an oven heated by a Baker so is an Adulterer though we see no sparks without yet there 's a great heate within Solomon saith of him cor ejus loquitur perversa his heart uttereth perverse things though outwardly he saith nothing Saint Augustine saith Ego domine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cum cogitationes meaenon 〈◊〉 Lord I oftentimes hold my peace when my thoughts within me are not silent And so when the oven waxeth hotter and hotter then cometh consensus