awake out of Sleep for now all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light Rom. 13. 11-14 with Eph. 5. 13-18 They that sleep sleep in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let us who are of the day be sober For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him 1 Thes 5. 4-8-10 The grace of God which bringeth Salvation to all men hath appeared Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly c. Tit. 2. 10-12 The true light now shineth love not the world neither the things that are in the world not the lust of the flesh c. 1 Joh. 2. 8 15 16. At the times of mens ignorance God winketh at them Act. 17. 30. But now mens sins will be greatly aggravated if they count it a pleasure to riot in the day time 2 Pet. 2. 13. Surely it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrha than for such as now walk on in preferring darkness before light 2. In the Gospel of Christ the holy Spirit is discovering to us infinitely better things prepared for us in Christ than any of those things in the abuse whereof we are vainly seeking comfort and contentment to our Souls Therein is discovered to us that by means of the precious blood of Christ all things are now actually prepared and made ready for us The holy Spirit is lifting up Christ as an object in whom there are all spiritual blessings in heavenly things provided for mankind A feast of fat things for all people of Wines on the Lees c. That we might look unto him and be saved from our sins and from the vanity of our conversations Luk. 14. 17. Gen. 22. 18. Eph. 1. 3. Isa 25. 6. and 45. 22. 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. And that we might labour for and seek after not that meat which perisheth but this which indureth unto everlasting life which the son of man will give unto us Joh. 6. 27-35 And in hearkening diligently unto and coming to him we may eat that which is good and our souls may delight themselves in fatness Isa 55 1-3 we may rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory in the worst of days and times 1 Pet. 1. 6-8 Alas men do propose a great deal of satisfaction and contentment to themselves in the abuse of God's mercies they think that is the way for them to lead merry and comfortable lives and to spend their days in gladness and jollity that this is the way to be delivered from all melancholly and evil and afflictive sadness And especially in evil times in days of affliction and mourning they suppose the only way then to drive away sorrow from their hearts is to pour in Wine and strong Drink till Wine inflame them when as in such a time the Lord is then calling to weeping and to mourning And therefore sorrow is better then laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth Eccles 7. 1-5-14 And besides men do but deceive themselves in promising to themselves any solid or durable joy and comfort from their excessive partaking of Wine and strong Drink or eating any dainty and delicious food to excess for this is but deceitful meat Prov. 23. 1-3 Many times hereby men make themselves sick and so increase and heap up sadness to themselves and add grief to their former sorrow Hos 7. 5 they distemper and bring diseases upon their bodies waste their substance lose their good names amongst sober people wound their consciences such shall not find quietness in their belly or spirit for there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Job 20. 20. Isa 57. 21. And therefore such persons do but deceive themselves and are deceived by Wine for Wine is a mocker strong Drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise Prov. 20. 1. The holy Ghost saith not who hath a merry heart and cheerful spirit who hath solid and substantial joy and gladness But who hath wo who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath wounds without a cause c They that tarry long at the Wine they that go to seek mixt Wine And though while they are drinking and in their Cups they may outwardly laugh and be merry yet such laughter is but the laughter of fools which is like the crackling of thorns under a Pot which though they make a great blaze and noise for the present yet they are out in a moment And the end of such mirth is sorrow yea an heap of grief For at last this Wine wherewith they so abuse and distemper themselves will bite like a Serpent and sting like an Adder this they shall receive from God's hand they shall lye down in sorrow Prov. 23. 29-32 Isa 50. 10 11. For God giveth to the Sinner to him that wanders out of the way of understanding travel and grief Eccles 2. 26. But now in Jesus Christ God hath prepared for us and in the Gospel the holy Spirit is discovering to us that which is proper to comfort and rejoyce the hearts of all that mourn here is a Cup of consolation which being Drunk in by us will comfort us in all our tribulations and sadnesses and make the heart truly and lastingly yea everlastingly merry And though all the days of the afflicted are evil yet he that hath a merry heart hath a continual feast Prov. 15. 14 15 such an one is filled with joy and peace in believing and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy Rom. 15. 13. Prov. 14. 10. And though in evil days outward occasions of sorrow are presented and administred to him and his belly trembles his lips quiver and rottenness enters into his bones And all seen comforts and delight are removed and taken away Although the figtree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines and so the Drunkards weep and Drinkers of Wine and strong Drink howl Joel 1. 5. yet they may and shall rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of their salvation Habbak 3. 16-18 Cant. 1. 2-4 When God's judgments are so in the earth as that the new Wine mourneth the vine languisheth all the merry-hearted do sigh the mirth of tabrets ceaseth the noise of them that rejoyce endeth the joy of the harp ceaseth they shall not drink Wine with a song strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people even then the righteous who are seeking the Lord and seeking his face and his strength such as have their dwelling in Heaven they shall lift up their voice they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord c.
A CAVEAT Against Drunkenness Especially in EVIL TIMES BEING A Consideration of Eph. 5. 18. By C. P. The Crown of Pride the Drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet And the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley shall be a fading flower and as the hasty fruit before the Summer which when he that looketh upon it seeth it while it is yet in his hand he eats it up In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of Glory and for a Diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people Isa 28. 3-5 They that be drunken are drunken in the night But let us who are of the day be sober 1 Thes 5. 7 8. LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside near Mercers Chappel 1676. To my Brethren and Companions in the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory Grace and Peace be multiplied Beloved THe Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all men hath appeared Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ that we may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things Tit. 2 10-13 How this Doctrine according to Godliness is blasphemed and evil-spoken of by many persons we cannot be ignorant As if it were a Doctrine of Loosness and Licentiousness a Doctrine of Libertinism and Profaness as if it opened a Gap to all wickedness and impiety whatsoever And though men herein be-ly it yet certainly we shall give occasion to them that are of no judgment concerning the Faith thus to speak reproachfully of it if while we seek to be justified by Christ we our selves are found sinners and walk not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel Gal. 2. 14-18 And Wo to the world because of offences But wo especially to that man by whom the offence cometh Wherefore saith our Saviour If thy hand or thy foot offend thee or cause thee to offend cut them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire Matth. 18. 7 8. You know in your hearts and in your souls that he that died for all therefore died for them that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves or the luses of men but unto the will of God even to him that died for them and rose again 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. with 1 Pet. 4. 1-3 You know that the good creatures men abuse in their intemperance are the Lord's And that by Grace we are made partakers of them and have a comfortable enjoyment of them through the Sufferings Sacrifice and Mediation of Christ And that these things are not given us to consume upon our Lusts or prepare for Baal Shall ye then continue in sin because grace hath abounded or that it may abound God forbid He that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes Luk. 12. 47 48. You know there is an eternal judgment in which we shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ That every one of us may receive according to the things done in his body whether good or bad For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Oh therefore knowing the terrour of the Lord abstain and flee from all intemperance whatsoever While Paul in declaring the faith in Christ reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgment to come Foelix trembled perceiving it would go hardly with intemperate and incontinent ones hereafter Act. 24. 24 25. And can we hear and think thereof and not tremble so as to depart from iniquity Surely then Felix hereafter shall rise up in the judgment with us and condemn us when Drunkards shall be excluded and shut out of the Kingdom of Christ and of God Nay by your own personal sinning you not only expose your selves to the Wrath of God both present and eternal But you cause many to stumble at the Law and Doctrine of Christ and teach and strengthen the wicked ones in their evil wayes and are guilty of the Blood of the Souls of others And what will you do in the end thereof How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation If you were entertainers of such ungodly Doctrines as are too generally received amongst zealous ones now in our dayes That the greatest part of men were reprobated before they were born and must necessarily perish for ever hereafter then your evil would not be so great concerning them for you would but help to destroy them that God would not have saved But for you to be instruments of evil and perdition to others who profess to believe that Christ died for all and rose again and that God would have all men to be saved How unsutably and contrary to your principles do you act while you lay stumbling-blocks in their way to cause them to fall and perish for whom you know Christ died Oh! As your hearts are purified in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto the unfeigned love of the Brethren and of all men see to it that ye love them with such a love as you are taught and principled unto of God Object 1. If any one should say we have such a trade employment or way of livelyhood to walk in and follow as that thereby we are necessitated sometimes to keep company and to drink more than otherwise we would do or else we had as good wholly leave off all and then we shall presently fail into poverty To such an one I would say 1. There is nothing said or however intended in any expression made use of to take men off from any lawful or laudable employment or way of living or from having fellowship with the men of the world in and about the affairs of this life in a lawful way For then as the Apostle saith ye must needs go out of the world 1 Cor. 5. 9 10. 2. But though we must have company with evil persons while we are here in this world at some times and may trade with evil workers yet by no means should we have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them Eph. 5. 11. And if we cannot trade or converse with them unless we put forth our hand to iniquity it 's better to lose their custom than to grieve the good Spirit of God dishonour the Gospel and get a snare and wound to our Souls And be we confident that in first seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness all other things shall be added to us Oh Were we so filled with the Spirit as to live the life we live in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God who
that Christ is the minister of sin but all may know you are his disciples And it is sufficient for the Disciple to be and fare as his Master and the Servant as his Lord 1 Pet. 2. 9-11 Mat. 10. 24 25. Ephes 5 1 2 3-8 1 Pet. 2. 20 21 22. 4. Yea in this glorious Gospel there is set before us the things which are not seen which are eternal To move us and prevail with us to avoid and abstain from all intemperance whatsoever On the one hand there is propounded to and set before us a blessed hope to be injoyed at the appearing of our Lord Jesus by all those who are diligent that they may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself from the Pollutions of the world even as he is pure 1 Joh. 3. 3 Every man saith the Apostle that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptible Crown but we an incorruptible men here will deny themselves and abstain from an immoderate and unsober use of meat and drink that they may get a fading and corruptible Crown and it 's very uncertain whether they have it though they give all diligence For many run and strive and but one receiveth the prize But we have an incorruptible Crown set before us the prize of the high calling of God in Christ And therefore it highly concerns us to be temperate in all things as the Apostle also was from this consideration I keep under my body saith he and bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I have preached to others I my self should be a reprobate 1 Cor. 9. 24 25-27 And as the living soberly is contained in the posture in which we should wait for that hope so also the looking for that blessed hope is powerful to ingage us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 11-13 For we are saved by hope even from our sins and vanities Rom. 8. 24. The promises these exceeding great and precious promises ministred to us in and with the Gospel do powerfully oblige and engage us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God And to add to our faith virtue and to virtue knowledg and to knowledg temperance c. 2 Cor. 7. 1 2. 2 Pet. 1. 4-6 He hath promised that he will hereafter save them that look for him as his grace instructs from all their sins sorrows griefs enemies and compleatly and everlastingly satisfy them with his goodness and they shall inherit all things Oh then let none of us be so profane as for a morsel of meat or for a little Strong Drink to sell our birth-right and deprive our selves of that Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens for them who are kept by the power of God through faith unto that Salvation ready to be revealed in these last dayes But gird we up the loins of our mind be we sober and hope perfectly for the grace that is to be brought at the Revelation of Jesus Christ As obedient Children not fashioning our selves according to our former lusts in our ignorance But as he that hath called us is holy so let us be boly in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. 4-13 14. Let our loins be alwayes girded about and our lights burnings and we our selves like unto men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding that when he cometh and knocketh we may open to him immediately Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching and not eating and drinking and being drunken Verily I say unto you faith our Saviour that he shall gird himself and make them sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Luk. 12. 35-38-45 Be we then temperate in all things and let us flee from all insobriety that we may enjoy that Crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that wait for and love him Considering also On the other hand That Drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God for without are dogs whereto Drunkards are compared and which name is given to them because their tables are full of vomit and filthiness so that there is no place clean 1 Cor. 6. 10. 2 Pet. 2. 13-22 with Isa 56. 10 11. and 28. 8. with Rev. 22. 14 15. But to this we have spoken somewhat before and therefore shall not further enlarge to it Yea and now also it is the last time and therefore it behoves us to walk honestly as in the day-time not in rioting and drunkenness The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer saith 1 Pet. 4. 7. Little Children young men Fathers love not the world neither the things that are in the world love not the lusts of the flesh c. Pamper not the flesh now especially glut not your selves with the good things here below now the world passeth away and the lusts thereof little children it is the last time or hour 1 Joh. 2. 12-15 16-18 And you may perfectly know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night Therefore sleep not as do others but watch and be sober 1 Thes 5. 2-6 Remember what our Saviour hath foretold and spoken for our admonition upon whom the ends of the World are come As it was in the dayes of Noah so shall it be also in the dayes of the Son of man they did eat they drank c. untill the day that Noah entered into the Ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all Likewise also as it was in the dayes of Lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold c. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained Fire and Brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed Luk. 17. 26-30 Oh! be not then drunk with wine lest that day or the day of death come upon us unawares for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth watch we therefore and pray alwayes that we may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man as our Saviour speaks to his Disciples Luk. 21. 34-36 And what we have spoken shall suffice to the first thing we propounded to consider and speak unto Namely the dehortation and admonition which the Apostle gives unto these Believers and at such a time And now we come to speak unto the second thing propounded to be further considered by us from this verse we are speaking unto Namely 2 We have an Argument or motive laid down by the Apostle to engage the Believers that they should