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A80577 An antidote against lust: or, A discourse of uncleanness, shewing its various kinds, great evil, the temptations to it, and most effectual cure. By Robert Carr, minister of the Church of England Carr, Robert, fl. 1686-1696. 1690 (1690) Wing C629A; ESTC R231166 82,048 192

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and fightings among you come they not hence even of your lusts which war in your members and Rom. 7. 23. I see a law sin likened to a Law as claiming Obedience to be due to it all Mankind being fallen under the Dominion of sin in my members this Law this Imperium acting and stirring in my Members and warring against the Law of my mind or the Law of God in my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of sin which is in my Members Sin doth as it were reside and dwell in our Members according to the import of these words sin which is in my members as inhabiting there as well in the Body as in the Soul And though the Body doth not always sin actually yet it is ne 〈…〉 pure from sin but hath an habit of sin in wicked men the corruption of the Soul having overspread the whole Man but the principal sense that I insist on is that wherein the Members serve for the acting of sin and so they are called weapons of Vnrighteousness or as the common Translation hath it Instruments fit Tools for to work and do the deed when once sin is inwardly conceived in the Soul and hath made its motion for the consent of the Will and gained the point Voluntas domina Membrorum the Will is the Commandress of the Members which are as Servants ready to do their Mistresses pleasure in the execution of sin you know Lust works in the eye gazing upon Beauty in the ear hearkning to lascivious Discourse in the hand by a wanton Dalliance and in the Palate delighted in the tasting of dainty Meats and Drinks so that in a secondary sense it may be understood of these to be mortified keeping the Body under by Fasting and Abstinence 3. Our Lusts are called Members because they are as dear unto a carnally-minded man and as well b●loved a● his Members and therefore in Scripture our Lusts are called a right-hand and a right-eye that is they s●ick as close to the Heart and Affections and it is as hard to deny these to part with a beloved Lust as to part with ●●e of our dearest Members I have read o● one who having sore Eyes it might have been better for Temperance if he had had a sore throat and being told he must leave off his Drunkenness else he must loose hi● eye-sight said Farewell then sweet Eyes so dear was that Lust to him that he would keep it with the loss not of one but ever of both his Eyes And I have heard of ● greater Person who having had a fit of th● Apoplexy and being much addicted t● Women was told if he did not leave of that ill-course it would shorten his Life yet his Peccatum in deliciis his sweet Morsel or as the Psalmist calls it Psal 18. 23 his own iniquity would not be denied an● proved eventually true of his untimely end Though Life is sweet yet you see a Lus● is sweeter so that Life and Honour an● Conscience and Heaven even all must g● for a beloved Lust They are not only called Members bu● Members which are upon Earth First Because they are exercised upon earthly things as Riches and Treasures which are as ● were fetched out of the Earth as our Golden Silver Mines c. afford us our Money and other choice Jewels must not b● referred to Air Fire Water but Earth as the Element to which they belong an● into which they will be dissolved into a more pure and refined Dust or the delicious Fruits of the Earth which serve for Meat and Drink and are abused to Gluttony and Drunkenness even the Bodies of Men and Beasts are Earth in their Original and in the Funeral Service we say elegantly Earth to Earth Dust to Dust so that the pleasure which the Glutton hath from his Meat and the Unclean Person from his Lusts are but earthly pleasures Secondly Our Lusts and evil Affections are called Members upon Earth because they continue with us during our natural abode upon Earth We here are in a corruptible State and so we gather soil and defilement by conversing with an evil World and the flesh will be lusting in us and en●icing us to sin until we come to Heaven and that blessed State there more spiritual and refined from the Dreggs of Earth and the impurities of the Flesh Having handled in general the Doctrine of Mortification of Lusts I now come to particulars Fornication comes in the first place to be considered sometimes it is used more large●y for actual Uncleanness as 1 Cor. 5. 1. The Incestuous Corinthians act in marrying his Fathers Wife called Fornication and this sense seemeth to be the more commo● sense of the Word in Scriptures as in Ma● 15. 19. 1 Cor. 10. 8. yet in 1 Cor. 6. 9 Neither fornicators nor adulterers nor eff●minate nor abusers of themselves with mankind where the other sorts of Uncleanness natural or unnatural are reckoned up a● but Bestiality which makes for the othe● sense of the word Fornication that of Whoredom which is committed between two single unmarried Persons and in that it differ● from Adultery because it is not against an● Marriage-Covenant and so hath no Perjur● of that kind and because the Married hav● the Remedy against Uncleanness and consequently the better may and ought to be satisfied therewith yet the place before mentioned 1 Cor. 6. 9. assures us no Fornicato● shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven not excluding Repentance here as in othe● sins there remaining some place for Repentance and because we do not find in th● Law of God the Punishment of Whoredom to be absolutely Death as in case o● Adultery This Fornication must be Mortified i● those that have done thus wickedly tha● they do so no more and sin not for th● time to come as heretofore but work ou● of their Hearts the love of the sin and cea●● the practice of it until they have got the victory to relapse no more into it and loath themselves for their former Abominations bewailing that ever they were so foully spotted with the Flesh But the best way is to mortifie or subdue the temptations to it so as never to sin the sin None that carry Flesh and Blood about them should think it strange to be tempted to it that of the Apostle being true herein that no temptation hath happened to them ●ut what is common to men incident to ●umane nature to good as well as bad ●en the best have found themselves temp●ed and probable enough very strong●y tempted by their youthful Lusts ●hey are a sore temptation if not the ●reatest in our whole Lives and there is ●s much difficulty in conquering these un●ly Lusts as in breaking young head●rong Horses and taming of wild Beasts ●r the like and a great part of peoples ●eligion must be placed in it and they ●ust be very careful however they fall by ●sser guilt and the corruption of their ●earts to keep off from this greater
been ensnared and captivated and ruined Soul and Body for ever This hath been the undoing of thousands and hath made them a grief to their Father and a shame to her that bore them Christians are out of Gods way and consequently out of Gods Protection while they are in such bad Company fall they may and that foully too And many a Young Maiden or Young Woman more innocently minded by the temptations and continued solicitations of lewd Persons whose Company they delighted in have been robbed of Modesty and Chastity at once And when once they have transgress'd they have thought there was no other way of saving their Credit but by multiplying their Whoredoms in a promiscuous Concubitus whereby they think to hide their shame from the World as if they had not sinned after the way of an Adulterous Woman that wipeth her mouth and saith I have done none ill And thus it comes to pass that those who at first had some modesty in sinning and sense of shame in so doing and were fain as it were to offer Violence to their bashfulness yet in time come to grow bold in sin and from being tempted fall to tempting and soliciting others and make a trade of sin sinning their souls into desparation or an utter hardness and impenitency of Heart Improve all the Ordinances of God to this end to the Mortification of your Lusts I shall begin with Baptism You know we are all born in sin polluted and unclean as Job 25 4. How can he be clean that is born of a Woman Ch. 14. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean But Baptism is an Ordinance for washing and cleansing us Souls and Bodies from this natural pollution and defilement by sin Christ is said Eph. 5. 26. to cleanse his Church by the washing of Water c. that is by Baptism and the Blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth from all sin St. John 1 Ep. 7 vers latter part of the Verse As Water applyed to the Body is of a clean●sing nature to wash away Spots and Stains so the Blood of Christ signified by the Water in Baptism this Blood of Christ in its spiritual and gracious Effects is of great power and efficacy for cleansing the Soul ●rom Sin And if Naamans washing in Jor●dan because it was Gods own Command was blessed to the curing and cleansing him from his Leprosie how much more ●hall the Blood of Christ the eternal Son of God and as Zech. 13. 1. the Fountain open●d for sin and uncleanness who through the ●ternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God I say this Blood of Christ through the Power of God working with it in his Ordinance purge our Hearts and Consciences from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. and that Service out of a pure Heart Then there is as hath been shewed a power in Baptism towards the washing away of sin and cleansing the Soul from sin 1. To washing away the Guilt or Stain that Sin leaves behind it upon the Soul even for a long time after the Commission of it Acts 2. 38. Repent and be Baptize● every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of sins Now whensoever any true Penitent labours under the sens● of his sins past and finds the guilt ly● heavy upon his Conscience or his pa● sins returning upon him though he be dil●gent in the use of the means of Grace an● walk with God rather better than before let him know it is a sign that his past si● of this kind remain unpardoned an● that there yet lacks that particular R●pentance and humiliation for those sin● though they were committed a lon●time ago and sueing out Pardon throug● the Blood of Christ and the Improvement of our Baptism to that ●ffect whic● is Gods Ordinance for washing away of si● as Acts 22. 16. said to Paul Arise a● be baptized and wash away thy sins Baptism signifying and sealing the Pardon of their sins to those that truly repent Every Ordinance of God hath a greater blessing working along with it than every thing that is not an Ordinance Mr. Calvin excellently improves this Notion in his Institutions in the Part de Baptismo S. 3. Quocunque Baptizemur tempore nos semel in omnem vitam ablui purgari Itaque quoties lapsi fuerimus repetenda erit Baptismi memoria Puritas enim Christi meo oblata est jis tantam qui sub peccatis suis fatigati desolati gemunt ne in desperationem ruant To remember the washing away our sins Now the efficacy of Baptism is not to be tied only to Baptism to keep us from despair for sin in troubles of Conscience in the very instant of Baptism but may be of force afterwards At what time soever a Sinner repenteth of his sins in general and after of any sin in particular that he should find his sins done away through the Blood of Christ and the comfortable sense of Gods Mercy pardoning him sealed unto him in Baptism conditionally upon his Repentance Pardon being conjoyned with Repentance as Acts 3. 19. Repent that your sins may be bloted out with Luke 24. 47. So that the Blood of Christ with Peac● and Pardon by it is never applyed to an● in their sin but upon their Repentanc● and Purification from Sin And so as to the power in Baptism t● cleanse from the filth of Sin This may b● of some force and use afterwards no● only monitory to us that as we were washed in Baptism which we know is an Ordinance for cleansing from sin so w● should keep our selves Souls and Bodies pure and clean and not return again wit● the Dog to his Vomit or the Sow that i● washed to the wallowing in the mire but tha● also afterwards when we come to year● of Discretion by Faith to lay hold o● the inward and spiritual Grace of Baptism that we may then find our Soul● sanctified and cleansed by the washing o● Water or the mystical washing away o● Sin of unclean to be made clean and pur● from the spots and filth of the Flesh This Improvement of Baptism is to be made especially in the Interim between Baptism and that Age that is fit for admission to the Lords Supper Those tha● are troubled with youthful lusts tha● they may find some Power from this Ordinance for certainly there is a power in every Ordinance and help against this sin a great Power and effectual that cleanseth from natural pollution and this is done in those lusts that shall die after Baptism in a state of Salvation and so clean and holy who are born unclean Because that our natural inclinations are so strong to this Sin therefore it is that our lives are so much stained with it And if Baptism doth cleanse our Natures as when the inward Grace accompanies the outward Sign it certainly doth the efficacy of Baptism must needs be great and the benefit of it being great we must in