eyes look right before thee intimating that to look aside upon a beautiful woman is a sign of a lascivious eye but to look on her straight is a token of an innocent eye And it is most certain that of all the five senses the Eye doth more then any other encrease the Kingdom of darkness because they are the windows whereby all unclean thoughts enter into the soul from which do proceed all the actual and intellectual Fornications and Adulteries and that is the reason why our blessed Saviour doth charge us to pluck out our right eye if it doth offend Math. 5 29. meaning we should mortifie the lust of our eye rather then be cast into Hell for as S. John saith 1 Joh 2.16 17 18. The lust of the eyes is not of the Father but of the world and the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Thirdly All suspected places where men may be allured to lust are to be eschewed 1. The Schools of love as the Italians call them 2. Publick meetings 3. Enterludes 4. Court-Revels For in all these men do finde alluring Objects to commit sin and when opportunity time and place meet together men or women must have a great measure of Grace to refrain them from sin As for the 1. Solomon discribes elegantly in these words the alluring charms of the Mistresses of the Schools of love Prov. 7.10 13 14 15 16 17 18. 27. Behold there met him a woman in the habit of a Harlot and subtile of heart so she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said unto him I have peace-offerings with me this day have I payd my vows Therefore came I forth to meet thee diligently to seek thy face and I have found thee I have deckt my bed with coverings of Tapestry with carved work with fine linnen of Egypt I have perfumed my bed with Myrrhe Aloes and Cinamon Come let us take our fill of love until the morning let us solace our selves in loves c. But the conclusion of it is Her house is the way to Hell going down to the chambers of death For the 2. Dinah by rambling abroad to see the publike Sports was Ravished by Shechem the Prince of the Land For the 3. Enterludes Playes and Comoedies are the very Seminaries of all uncleanness and the Aretin postures that are there seen with the lascivious Dances and Discourses do inflame and intice men and women to Lust For the 4. Court-Revels and Masks have been the overthrow or loss of many womens chastity See the History of England and France Edward the Third and Edward the Fourth Kings of England and Henry the Third and Henry the Fourth Kings of France were all of them allured to lust by the beautiful Objects they saw in their Court-Masks Fourthly All evil Company is to be eschewed for in them lyeth an insensible venom the Effects of which do not appear suddenly but in continuance of time it will shew it self visibly in the life and conversation of men and women for young men that fall into evil company will at the first be ashamed of it but after they have frequented them they wil delight in it then they will palliate and excuse them and lastly they will patronize and maintain them And become as vitious profane and debaucht as the worst of them and therefore as he that toucheth Pitch shall be defiled with it Eccles 13.1 even so such as haunt evil company will at last be infected with their vices Besides it is a dishonour to converse with evil company for if men were as righteous as Lot Who was saith Peter 1 Pet. 2.7 8. vexed from day to day with the unlawful and ahhorred sins of the Sodomites yet will he be reputed as vitious as they by this common Proverb That birds of a feather do ever flock together Now I come to the four Vertues or Graces which are to be obtained to mortifie and subdue this sinful passion of Volupty First men are to endeavor by fervent prayers to obtain from God the Grace of Continency which is distinguished by corporeal and intellectual the first is common to natural men as well as to the children of God but the second is onely peculiar to the true Elect because it is an immediate gift of the sanctifying Spirit of Grace to such as are regenerated by a justifying Faith for by Faith men are justified and afterwards sanctified for all things which are done without Faith cannot Rom. 14.23 saith S. Paul be acceptable unto God contrarily they are an abomination unto him The Heathens have excelled in the corporeal continency most of the Christians of these days as it may appear by the carriage of Alexander the Great towards the two Daughters of King Darius See Plutarch and Livy in their lives and of Publius Scipio towards a Spanish Lady that was his Captive but none of them could ever attain to the intellectual continency because they were out of the Covenant of Grace and by consequence incapable of a justifying Faith And among those who were under the Convenant of Grace the number was small that were truly continent or had the gift of the corporeal and intellectual continency except it were Isaac Joseph and S. Paul for all the other Patriarks were addicted to Polygamy The corporeal continency may proceed from natural causes as from a defect of Nature as the Eunuchs or it may be obtained by the precepts of Morality and a good education But the intellectual cannot be acquired because it is a supernatural Grace of the sanctifying Spirit except it be by frequent and fervent prayers to God who is the only giver of it And certainly by the want of this Grace of intellectual continency many of the most precious Christians of these days commit Adultery in the cohabitation with their own Wives of which they seldom repent Which doth induce me to enlarge my self upon this point Christ our blessed Saviour who was the best Interpreter of the Law that ever was upon Earth doth tell us plainly Math. 5.18 That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart Now this lust proceeds from the eyes 1 Joh. 2.17 and the lust of the eyes saith S. John is not of the Father but of the world and the eyes convey the same into the heart and from the heart saith our Saviour proceed evil thoughts Math. 15.19 murthers adulteries fornications c. So many looking upon a woman with lascivious eyes make such an impression in their imagination of her beauty or comeliness which is suggested to their phansie by their senses and the temptations of Satan to excel the beauty or comeliness of their Wives that in the very cohabitation with them their mind is wholly bent upon this forraign object and not upon the same they embrace and this is a plain
their brethren and hate sin I hate every false way m Psal 119.104 I hate vain thoughts but I love thy Law saith the Prophet David And again I hate and abhor n Psalm 119.163 lying but thy Law do I love Do I not hate them O Lord o Psal 139.21 22. that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise against thee I hate them with a perfect hatred I account them my enemies The fear of the Lord p Pro. 8.13 saith Salomon is to hate evil Pride and arrogancy and the freward mouth do I hate Hate the evil and love the good q Amos 5.15 saith the Prophet Amos. To conclude with the Apostle St. Peter r 1 Pet. 2.1 2. Let us lay aside all malice hatred env e and hypopocrisies and all evil speaking as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby c. CHAP. VIII Of the vanity of the passion of desire AS the billows of the Sea rowl one after another till they break themselves into fome against the clifts or rocks of the adjacent shores even so the desires of men drive away one another till they vanish away into the smok because the objects of their desires are for the greater part but vanity for not one man of a thousand doth fix his desires upon the right object that can satisfie his desires and fill his heart with joy and content and although mens desires be as free as their thoughts for the greatest Tyrants have no power over them yet there is an Eagle eye above who searcheth the reins that knows their desires as well as their thoughts Men should therefore be very cautious in their desires sith they proceed from the concupiscible appetite and are properly called Cupidity and in plain English Coveteousness and how dangerous it is to desire or covet any thing prohibited in the Law of God I leave it to the judgment of the Reader sith in the Interpretation of our blessed Saviour who was the best Interpretor of the Law that ever was upon earth He that coveteth a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her If evil desires then be so criminal men should be very wary how they fix their desires for they have a hand in all their passions Senault in his use of passions pag. 273. either to furnish them with weapons or with strength to afflict them And among all the rest of the passions there is not any which hath more branches proceeding from one and the same root then this passion of Desire for if all the desires of men were limited by their objects the number of passions proceeding from the general passion of Desire would be as numerous as a Swarm of Bees I have already spoken of three of its branches viz. first Of the desire of worldly honors secondly of the desire of worldly riches thirdly Of the desire of worldly pleasures the first being the passion of Ambition the second the passion of Avâ—rice the third the passion of Volupty And now I shall speak of the fourth branch called Cupidity which is of greater concernment then any and therefore give me leave for the better description of it to speak of these particulars in order 1. Of the definition of mens desires 2. Of the two essential causes of them 3. Of their effects and proprieties 4. Of the comfort that proceeds from the spiritual desires First All the desires of men may be reduced to these two heads or comprised under Necessary and Superfluous The Necessary are limited but the Superfluous have no bounds because they cannot be numbred And this is the most approved definition of mens desires Desire is nothing else but a passion that men have to attain to some good which they possess not which they conceive to be convenient for them The Bishop of Marsulles pag. 206. And not withstanding mens desires are commonly fixed upon objects that seem good but are really evil because the Senses delude their Imagination and often-times their Reasion and Judgment Now the passion of Dâ—sire differs not onely from the passion of Love but also from the passion of Delight because Love is the first motion or passion that intice 〈◊〉 to prosecute the good The definition fâ—nens desires whether it be present or absent but the dâ—sire is a passion that enduceth men to prosecute the good that is absent and the passion of Delight is onely a sweet content of the possession of the good See Senault pag. 27. after men have obtained the same Senault saith That the passion of Desire is nothing else but the motion of the soul towards a good which she already loveth but doth not as yet possess whereby it appears that mens desires are ordinarily fixed upon uncertainties and that is the reason why I said formerly they often vanish into smoke Secondly The two most essential causes of mens Desires The impotency of men is a cause of their desires is their Impotency and Discontentedness for God who is Omnipotent hath no Desires and in the fruition of his blessed and glorious presence is the end of mens desires And suppose he had desires yet the end of them would be his own incomprehensible Beauty and Goodness If God doth but Will he hath the injoyment of his Desire as it is apparent in a Gen. 1.3 Genesis And God said or God willed Let there be light and there was light But it is not so with the greatest Monarchs in the world for through their impotency they are inforced to desire and their wishes and desires all are oftentimes rejected by him who is alsufficient to grant them the injoyment of their desires See Plutarch in Aâ—â—randers lite Alexander the Great was the greatest Monarch upon earth and yet his wishes and desires nay the prayers he made to his Idols or imaginary gods for the recovery of his dear and beloved Ephestion were rejected and these desires did manifest his impotency See Suetonius in Augustus life Augustus Cesar was the greatest Monarch in the world he wished and desired that the overthrow given to his Legions in Germany might be vindicated and out of impatiency of the performance of his desire he often like a mad man stamped with his feet upon the ground Crying out Varro Varro give me my Legions again and yet in his life time he did never obtain his desire It appears then that the impotency of men in the most eminent is a cause of their desires The discontentedness of men is a cause of their desires secondly the discontentedness of men in their Station and Calling is the cause of many fond desires for there is not one of a hundred that is contented with his condition because there are but few Diogenes in these days that are contented with a Tub to keep them free from the injuries of the air See Plutarch in his Morals or with a wooden-bowl
fear and tempt them 1 Cor. 6.15 To make of the members of Christ the members of a Harlot It is also one of the most prevailing snares of Satan by which he draweth more millions of souls into the Pit of destruction then by any other sin whatsoever And therefore give me leave to enlarge my self upon these particulars 1. Upon the definition of this passion 2. Upon the nature of it 3. Upon the causes why some are more addicted to it then others 4. Upon the evil proprieties of it 5. Upon the pernitious effects of the same 6. Upon the judgements that God doth inflict upon voluptuous men 7. Upon the means or remedies which are to be used to avoid the venome of it 8. And lastly Upon the express prohibition of the same by the Word of God First Volupty is a composed passion of love and desire The definition of Volupty arising from a tickling delight of the senses when men enjoy really or by imagination such objects as seem pleasant to their phansie It is so general that all such as are under the state of Nature are more or less addicted to it Nay the regenerate are sometimes ensnared by it by the temptations of Satan and their original corruptions the difference between them is that the unregenerate by their impenitency die in their sins and the regenerate by the free grace of the sanctifying Spirit of God are awaked out of this spiritual lethargy and by an unfained repentance are converted and reconciled to God Secondly It is of a feminine nature for all such as are overmuch addicted to this passion loose their masculine generosity and become effeminate Hercules did cast off his Club and Lyons skin to vest himself and spin like a woman before Omphale his Mistress And it is daily seen that voluptuous men imitate in their gestures carriage and fashions the Courtizans of these days for they powder their hair wear black patches and paint their Faces as they do It was not then without cause that the ancient Poets did represent volupty under the shape of the old Witch Circe for as she transformed the Passengers who sailed through the Straits of Sicilia into Swine if they listned to her Charms Even so Volupty doth transform into brute beasts rational men if they converse long and let themselves be ensnared by the alluring Charms of Harlots for as Zerubbalel proved it before King Darius the Charms of a beautiful woman are more powerful then strong Wine Esdras 3. from the 14. ver to the 32. or a mighty King Thirdly The Causes why some men are more addicted to this passion then others may be natural accidental or artificial such as are naturally more addicted to it are commonly of a hotter and moister constitution then others and these are of a sanguine complexion for the Bilious are hot and dry the Flegmatick moist and cold and the Melancholike cold and dry which are not so apt to the Venereal delight as the Sanguine The Accidental Causes are The hot Climate where men live for Heat dilates the spirits outwardly and Cold restrains them inwardly And Experience doth shew that the Africans Spaniards and Italians whose Climate is hotter then the Germans Dutch English are the most addicted to Venery And yet they are not so apt to generation as the last because the desire of the reiteration of the Act doth weaken their bodies and doth waste their spirits Idleness Pride and Fulness of bread is also an Accidental Cause why one Nation may be more addicted to Venery then another For this was the Cause why the Sodomites as the Prophet Ezekiel saith were so vitious Ezek. 16.49 and transported with Lust The Artificial Causes are Sophistical meats Delitious Wines and enticing Simples Drugs and Amber-gris over-much used in these days to provoke Men and Women to Lust See Guicciardine in the Emperor Charls the Fifth his Life Guicciardine records that a King of Tunis being at Naples spent five hundred Ducats in enticing Drugs and Amber-gris to dress a Peacock to incite himself and the company that supped with him that night to Lust But these Means are destructive to the Soul and Lives of Men. For Instance the Queen of Arragon gave Ferdinand her Husband an inticing Love-Drink to make him more apt to the Venereal sport See the History of Spain in Ferdinands Life but it cast him into an incurable Consumption which brought him to his grave And Van-Dick an excellent Dutch Painter lost lately his life by these inticing Drugs provoking to Lechery Alass Men are too prone of themselves to sin without Artificial Means to provoke them to it Fourthly The evil Proprieties of this vitious Passion are so numerous that I should be over-tedious to speak of them all and therefore will speak but of some of them First It is insatiable and may be compared to the horsleech to the barren womb and to the Grave for the Desires of Voluptuous men are never satisfied with their carnal Delights their bodies being sooner tyred with the reiteration of the Act then their Lust can be exstinguished For many have been found dead in their Mistresses Armes by endeavoring to satisfy their Lust beyond their Natural Abilities The Reason of it was because overmuch evacuation of the spirits exstinguisheth life Secondly it is as inconstant as the wind for they delight in nothing more then in changes because their judgement is so depraved by the Spirit of uncleanness which besots them that they cannot discern the beauty of one Object from another and do often forsake the most lovely to dote upon the most unworthy and deformed conceiving erroneously that stollen waters are the sweetest Thirdly It hath a Destructive quality for it provoketh men to commit the most abhorred sins that can be named Gen. 12.15 By it the Sodomites were inticed to commit with the very Angels the sin against Nature Gen. 19.5 It moved Pharoah and Abimelech to take away by violence Sarah Abrahams wife Reuben to defile his Fathers bed Gen. 35.22 Gen 34.2 Judg 19 25. Sechem to deflour Dinah The Gibeahnites to abuse brutishly the Levites concubine David to commit Adultery with Bathshebah and to vail his sin to murther Vriah her husband Amnon to ravish his own sister Tamar Sueton. in his Life Augustus to take away by force Livia from her husband Tacitus in his life Caligula to commit Incest with his two Sisters Nero to defile himself with his mother French History Faragonde to murther King Clotair her Husband that she might the more freely enjoy her Paramour English History King Edgar to murther his Favourite to marry his Wife And King Roderick to ravish Duke Godfreys Daughter Spanish History which was the cause of the Conquest of Spain by the Moors And a thousand like abhorred sins which should move Christians to abhor and flee from this most accursed and sinful passion as from a Serpent Fifthly The Effects of
Solomon saith By the means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread I will prove the point by Instances 1. All the Treasures of Asia did not suffice to defray the excessive volupties of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra 2. All the Revenews of the Roman Empire did not serve to discharge the lascivious riots of the Emperors Caligula Nero Vitellius Domitianus and Heliogabalus 3. All the comings in of the Kingdom of France did not suffice to defray the lascivious volupties of Henry the third King of France for he left the Crown indebted fourscore millions of Crowns although he raised the Subsidies and Imposts of his Realm as much more as they were in his Fathers Reign whereby it may be collected that voluptuous Princes are the greatest Oppressors of their Subjects 4. Daily experience doth shew that many Noble-men Gentlemen and rich Merchants spend and consume their Portion or Patrimony as the Prodigal Son did with Harlots and riotous living 5. Luk. 15.13 It shortneth mens days and makes their lives miserable for none can deny but continency temperance and sobriety doth preserve men in health and doth prolong their lives And without health the greatest Monarch upon the Earth can neither have joy nor content And to that end God was pleased to add health and length of days to those extraordinary gifts he gave unto King Solomon 1 King 3.14 otherwise his Wisdom incomparable Magnificence and incredible riches had not afforded him any true joy or content Besides carnal volupties do not only consume mens Estates and impair their health but it makes also their life miserable and loathsome to themselves for what anguish grief and dolours perplexity and vexation of minde is it to a miserable Patient that is sick of the Venereal disease to see his members rot away by piece-meals and to smell the stinking vapours that proceed from the inward corruption of his body And what vexation is it unto him to see Wife nearest Parents and intimate friends to eschew the very sight of him and forsake him in these anxieties Oh what inward torments doth he feel by the gnawing worm of an awakned conscience which doth rack him day and night by the horrid representations of his former pollutions Oh what unspeakable terror do possess him when he sees and feels the arrows of the Almighty Job 6.4 as Job saith to be in him the venom whereof doth drink up his spirits and the terrours of God fight against him for his former transgressions Christians should then endeavor to mortifie this sinful passion if it were but to preserve their means and lengthen their days But 6. it endangers also their souls for if they continue in their impenitency till the end of their days they run a hazard without the special mercy of God to be deprived for ever of his gracious presence For S. Paul saith in the affirmative sense Heb. 13.4 Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge And by the Levitical Law Levit. 19.10 The Adulterer and Adulteress were both to be put to death yet Christ our Saviour goeth further for he saith Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her Matth. 5.28 hath already committed Adultery with her in his heart Now if the intellectual adulteries and pollutions of the imagination deserve eternal damnation the actual fornications of voluptuous men who take no other delight but in the commission of such scandalous sins must of necessity deserve a greater punishment if any did exceed the torments of Hell The consideration then of the evil nature pernitious proprieties and destructive Effects of this sinful passion should induce Christians to endeavor by all means to crush this Cockatrice in the shell before it getteth the mastery over their reason Otherwise if this evill spirit of uncleanness doth possess the noble faculties of their souls it will require an extraordinary measure of Grace to cast him out and will cost them many sighs groans and floods of penitent tears for this unclean spirit is of the same kinde as our Saviour speaks of which cannot be expelled but by fasting and prayer Math. 17.21 Now if they cannot be induced to this so necessary duty by the reasons moral precepts and strong Arguments before cited let the ensuing judgements of God inflicted upon voluptuous men awake and force them to it Sixthly The judgments of God inflicted upon particular Voluptuous men and whole Nations are so numerous that it would be an endless piece of work to speak of them all I will then make choyce but of some of them Gen. 19.5.24 1. All the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with Fire and Brimstone righteous Lot and his two Daughters onely excepted for their abhorred Lust and sins against Nature Num. 25.9 2. Twenty four Thousand of the People of Israel were consumed by the Plague for their fornications with the Moabitish women 3. Judg. 20.47 48. All the Tribe of Benjamin Six hundred only excepted were destroyed by the Sword for Patronizing the abhorred Lust of some of the Gibeahnites committed upon the Levites Concubine See Herodotus See the French Hist 4. All the Inhabitants of Ionia were destroyed by Cyrus for their lascivious Volupties 5. All the French that were in Sicilia were murthered in one night by the Sicilians for their uncleanness and fornications committed with the women of that Kingdom See the Hist of Naples 6. A great Borough near unto Putzola in the Kingdom of Naples was in one night overwhelmed by a just judgement of God with fire brimstone and the ashes of a hill near to it for the abhorred Lusts against Nature of the Inhabitants of the same 7. Gen. 34.26 Reuben was deprived of his Birth-right for defiling of his Fathers bed 8. Shechem lost his life for the rape of Dinah 9. Numb 25.8 Zimri was run through the body with a Javelin by Phinehas for his impudent Fornication with a Midianite Lady 10. Eli the High Priest 1 Sam. 4.17 18. and Hophni and Phinehas lost their lives the two last for their pollutions committed with the Israelitish women that came to Shiloh and the first for not reprehending his Sons so severely as he should have done for their lascivious courses 11. 2 Sam. 11.4 King David was severely punished for the Adultery committed with Bathsheba 12. Amnon his Son was killed by the servants of Absolom his Brother for the Rape of his sister Tamar 2 Sam. 13.14.29 And Absolom was slain by the commandment of Joab for having defiled his Fathers Concubines in the sight of the Sun and of all Israel See the Ecclesiastical History See the Millan and Florentine History Pope John the Twelfth was murthered in his bed for his Adultery committed with a Roman Lady 14. One of the Sforza's Duke of Millan was murthered in the Church of S. Steven by a Gentleman for his Adultery committed with his Wife 15. Alexander de Medecis Duke of
intellectual Adultery of the heart committed in the Matrimonial Bed which is as odious to God although it be not censurable by men because it is invisible as the actual Adultery with a strange woman This should move all true Christians who through a filial fear are timerous to offend God to be cautious of their ways that they be not ensnared by their deceitful hearts and the temptations of Satan in this kinde of Adultery or if they be that they may unfainedly repent of it before death part their soul from their body otherwise without the special mercies of God their souls may run as much hazard by this sort of Adultery as by the actual Secondly men are to endevor to attain to an habit in Temperance and Sobriety vertues or graces opposite to the vices of gluttony drunkenness two of the greatest provokers to Lust These are also distinguished by corporeal and Intellectual The corporal Temperance may be acquired by Moral Precepts but the Intellectual is an immediate gift of the Sanctifying Spirit of grace and cannot be obtained but by Prayer for God is the only giver of it And it is properly called Meekness of spirit and the inseparable companion of the grace of sanctification The proprieties and effects of which are apparently seen in the carriage and replies of Job Moses Ely David and Hezekiah 1. When the Messengers came suddenly after one another to acquaint Job of the loss of all he had and of the death of his Children he replyed with an admirable meekness of spirit Job 1.21 The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. 2. Moses with the like meekness did patiently endure the false and offensive reproaches of his own brother and sister Numb 12.3 for the which he is called by the Holy Ghost the meekest man upon earth 3. Eli with the same meekness of spirit answered the Prophet Samuel when hd had acquainted him of the will of the Lord 1 Sam. 3.18 concerning the death of his two sons and the casting off of his Posterity from the High-Priests office it is the Lord let him do what seemeth good unto him 4. When King David heard the bitter Curses of Shimei for the which Abishai would have slain him he answered with the like meckness of spirit 2 Sam. 16.9 10. Let him curse because the Lord hath sayd unto him curse David who shal then say Wherefore hast thou done so 5. When the Prophet Isaiah was sent to King Hezekiah to denounce the heavy judgement of God against Jerusalem and his posterity he answered with the like meekness of spirit Isal 39.8 The word of the Lord is good which thou hast spoken Whereby it appears that the temperance of the minde is a great curb to bridle the violence of the Passions of men for the Answer that Joseph gave to his lewd Mistress when she tempted him to lie with her did proceed from the same root and from the filial fear he had of God Gen. 39.8 9. Begold my Master knoweth not what he hath in the house but hath committed all he hath into my hands there is none greater in the house then I neither hath he kept any thing from mee but only thee because thou art his wife How then can I do this great wickedness and so sin against God But such is the depravation of this age that I have heard some Voluptuous men call continent Joseph a very Sot for having rejected the lascivious Summons of his Mistress and neglected through a Puerile Fear the Time Place and Opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of her embracements As for the Corporeal Temperance and Sobriety the Heathens have also excelled most of the Christians of these days in that noble vertue as it shall appear by these Instances 1. King Cyrus being demanded by his Steward Where and What he pleased to have for his Supper Answered I will sup by the River-side and have only for my Diet Bread and Salt for Drink we shall have enough out of the River 2. The Queen of Caria having sent to Alexander the rarest Cooks that were in Asia he sent them back unto her with this Message that he had no need of Cooks as long as he did observe the Precepts of his Tutor Leonides who had charged him to exercise his body in the Morning in running of Races on foot or in the mannaging of his War horse to give him a stomack to his Dinner and to walk two or three miles in the Evening to have an Appetite to his Supper 3. Phocion one of the Governors of the Athenian Commonwealth was found at Dinner by the Embassador that Alexander sent to him with a Present of ten Talents with one single dish of meat See Plutarch in his Life and having demanded of the Embassador the reason why Alexander did send him such a Present he answered Only for your integrity vertue Let him leave me so said Phocion for this Gold will make me unjust and vitious and so with thanks sent the present back to Alexander 4. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus See Livy in his 1. Decade Dictator of the Roman Commonwealth was found at Dinner with a small piece of meat and a dish of Turnips by the Embassadors of the Samnites that were sent unto him with a great sum of Gold to induce him to shew them favor in the obtaining of a Peace which they required of the Roman Senate Whereupon Cincinnatus shewing them the frugality of his Diet said unto them Tell the Samnites that he that can be contented with such Fare needs no Gold and therefore carry it back for if their request be just they shall have my favor without it There are evidences of the Temperance of the ancient Persians Greeks and Romans concerning the passions of Avarice and Volupty But as soon as the Persians by Cambises and the Greeks by Alcibiades and the Romans by Lucullus were allured to desire riches and pleasures See Herodotus in Cambises Life they became the most covetous and voluptuous Nations of the World and all their former Vertues were turned into Vices Therefore I conclude that Temperance and Sobriety are the inseparable companions of Continency and sanctification And that Riches Gluttony and Drunkness are the greatest Provokers to lust and carnal Volupties And this Passage of S. Paul doth confirm the same They that sleep saith he 1 Thes 5 7 6. sleep in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let us which are of the day be sober Therefore let us not sleep but let us watch and be sober Intimating that none are more fit to attain to holyness then those who are temperate and sober And none more adverse then drunkards and voluptuous men Thirdly men are to endevor to attain to an habit in Fortitude called by some a vertue but when it is accompanied with Faith it is a grace of the sanctifying Spirit 1. By it
Shadrach Dan. 3.20 Meshach and Abednego did endure with admirable Constancy the burning flames of the fiery furnace heated seven times hotter then it was wont to be rather then to worship the golden Image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up 2. By the same Fortitude Daniel did make choyce to be cast alive into the Lyons Den Dan. 6.10 16. rather then to restrain himself from making his Addresses by fervent prayers three times a day to God 3. By it all those Worthies nominated in the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews did suffer with incredible Patience all the torments there specified Heb. 11. 4. See the book of Martyrs By the like Fortitude all the Martyrs in Queen Maries days did suffer with a sweet temper of spirit the fiery Tryal that was inflicted upon them And as it is the propriety of the Christian Fortitude to endure without murmuring all the torments that are inflicted upon them so it is another of its proprieties to endevor to subdue the lascivious Volupties of the flesh believing that he who can overcome his own Passions is a greater Conqueror then Alexander The Heathen do much extoll and boast of the fortitude of Cato See Plutarch in his Life who ripped up his bowels with his own hands rather then he would be beholding to the clemency of Caesar But these murthering resolutions are rather evidences of Pusillanimity then of true Fortitude For a sudden Death is a lesser torment then to continue a long time in anguish and daily tortures Besides the magnanimity of Decius Curius and others did rather proceed from vain glory then from any true fortitude But the Christian fortitude hath no other end then the glory of God and to overcome their sinful Passions Fourthly men are to endevor to attain an habit in the grace of Sanctification as the Seal of their Justification and Regeneration and Redemption And the onely way to obtain the same is by frequent prayers and dayly exercises in Religious duties having ever in their mind these Passages of Scripture Heb. 12.14 For without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 2 Thes 2.12 Because God from the beginning hath chosen you to salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit 1 Thes 4.3 4 5 6. and the faith of truth And that you should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor and not in the lust of Concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God For God hath not called us to uncleanness but unto holiness Now because Sanctification is the crown of all other Christian graces I will here set down the ordinary means whereby the Blessed Spirit doth infuse the same in the hearts of the Elect for all natural men are incapable of it which is commonly done by degrees and not suddenly as their Justification Yet in some it is more sudden and in others more flow according to the activity or remisness of Christians in their exercises of Piety The first Means is That the Blessed Spirit doth move them to be diligent Hearers and Readers of the Word of God Rom. 10.17 For Faith saith S. Paul commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God And none can be Sanctifyed without a Justifying Faith 2. It endows them with the spirit of Prayer and with mortifying Graces whereby they overcome their Original and Actual corruptions 3. It moves them to be cautious in all their ways and to be sensible of the smallest sins and to flee from all appearance or provocation to sin 4. It infuseth in their hearts a strong Aversion to sin 5. It engendreth in them a reverent love and a filial fear which keeps them from sin 6. It doth convince them of all their sins and specially of their bosome sin 7. By this conviction it begets in them an implacable hatred against their Darling sin 8. By this hatred it doth enlighten their Judgement and openeth the eyes of the same whereby the miserable condition they are in by the enormity and multiplicity of their sins is made apparent unto them 9. By the consideration of this misery it induceth them to seek earnestly the means whereby they may be delivered out of it 10. It infuseth in them a constant resolution to return to their heavenly Father and to humble themselves in Sackcloth and Ashes before him 11. It mollifies their hearts and makes them grieve mourn and lament for their sins by which Spiritual Sorrow never to be repented of it begets in them an unfained Repentance 12. And Lastly being by this Cordial Repentance reconciled to God by the merits of the Passion of their Blessed Saviour it begets in them an extream thirst after the living waters of that Fountain which was opened to the house of David Zach. 13.1 and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness And so by a constant perseverance in the ways of Righteousness they attain by degrees to that measure of Sanctification as is required to see the Lord with Joy and Consolation For the most Sanctified man upon Earth cannot attain to a perfect degree of Sanctification as long as he liveth in these tabernacles of clay the perfection of this Grace being reserved for the glorified Saints in Heaven Eighthly to Conclude I admonish all those who earnestly desire to attain to some degree of holiness to suppress betimes the venom of this vitious Passion of Volupty before it turn into an Habit in them For as I have said in my Answer to the Objection of some Moralists the Volupty of the mind doth as much encrease with Age as do the vices of Avarice and Drunkenness as it is confirmed by this Saying of the wise Son of Sirach All bread is sweet to a Whoremonger Eccl. 23.17 he will not leave off till he dye Now to terrifie and induce Voluptuous men to abhor this sin of Uncleanness I have collected these ensuing Passages out of Solomons Proverbs and out of Ecclesiasticus to shew them how Destructive this sin is to their Means Bodies and Souls The lips of a strange woman drop as an hony comb and her mouth is smoother then oyl but her end is as bitter as wormwood and sharper then a two-edged sword her feet go down to death her steps take hold of hell Prov. 2.3 4 5. Who so committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding he that doth it destroyeth his own soul Prov. 9.32 Stollen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant but he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depth of hell Prov. 9.17 18. For a whore is a deep ditch and a strange woman a deep pit Prov. 23.27 Give not thy soul to a woman to set her foot upon thy substance Eccles 8.2 Meet not with a harlot lest thou fall into her snares Eccles 8.3 Gaze not on a mayd that thou fall not by those things that are precious in her