A Diſcourſe of Uncleanneſs.
THIS Chapter begins with an Exhortation to heavenlymindedneſs, that the generous ſpirit of a Chriſtian may be elevated beyond thoſe terrene and ſublunary enjoyments and objects of ſenſe, to the inviſible things of Faith: v. 1. Seek thoſe things which are above; proſecute them with might and main, uſe all diligence by the moſt earneſt and ſerious endeavours for the attainment of thoſe2 things, as St. Paul hath it, Phil. 3. 12. following after, if that I may apprehend, &c. or lay hold on eternal Life, and preſſing forward for the prize of our Calling in Chriſt Jeſus,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, our calling from above, or our heavenly calling of God in Chriſt Jeſus, v. 13. In the 2d. v. poſitively, Set your Affections on the things above, the things of the other World, thoſe better things that you look for hereafter, according to the exceeding great and precious Promiſes that God hath made you in his Son. Negatively, and not on the things on Earth, the baſe and mean Objects, the poor pittiful things here below, as not worthy of your affections, of your cares, and your thoughts, according to the original,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which ſignifies primarily the application of our minds, our reaſon and underſtanding, ſurſum ſapere, (as in the Latine) to be wiſe for the things above, and not the things on earth.
The Reaſons enforcing this Exhortation, are drawn, Firſt, From their ſpiritual Reſurrection in conformity with Chriſt; If ye be riſen with Chriſt, v. 1. or have felt the power of his Reſurrection, as Phil. 3. 10. or as Eph. 1. 19, 20. the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Chriſt when he raiſed him from the dead; if this power hath quickned you, raiſed you from3 ſin, if this heavenly life and diſpoſition be in you, then let the ſame appear by your heavenly-mindedneſs.
2d. Argument, From Chriſt's reſidence in Heaven in his ſtate of Exaltation, where Chriſt alſo ſitteth on the right hand of God, v. 1. in the lat. part. Is Chriſt our Head in Heaven, and ſhall we the Members be groveling here on earth? ſhould we not rather by our heavenly minds and affections aſcend up thither, whither Chriſt is gone before to prepare a place, and ſitteth to keep poſſeſſion for us?
3d. Arg. Becauſe〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ye are dead from theſe things below, in the 3d. v. by a death unto ſin, as in our Baptiſm, renouncing and diſowning the World, the Fleſh,•nd the Devil, to live no longer according to the courſe of this World, the Luſts of•he Fleſh, or the Works of the Devil, in•onfiſtent with the Chriſtian Profeſſion and Practice.
4th. Arg. From their expectation of a glorious life hereafter, at Chriſt's ſecond•oming, v. 4. For when Chriſt, who is our•ife, ſhall appear, then ſhall ye alſo appear•ith him in glory; that therefore we ſhould•ave our Converſation in Heaven, from whence we look for that bleſſed Hope, and he glorious appearing of the great God,4 and our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, Tit. 2. 13.
The Apoſtle having enforced the poſitiv•part, or his Exhortation to heavenly-mindedneſs with theſe Arguments, falls upo•a farther proſecution of the Negative; S•not your Affections on things on earth; gi•ing the Coloſſians, and us with them, a d•rection how to carry our ſelves toward•them, even in a Mortification of our Members which are upon earth, Fornication, &•that is, of our earthly and ſenſual Affection
Mortificare, or to Mortifie in Engliſh, as much as mortuum facere, to make dea•cauſe to dye, or put to death; when applied to ſin, it is a figurative Speech take•from things which have life, and (probabl•enough) from the Sacrifices under the Law which were kill'd and ſlain by the Prieſt, b•fore they were offered upon the Altar; a•ſwerably to which we muſt kill the old ma•of ſin, before we can become a Sacrifice a•ceptable to God by Jeſus Chriſt.
Killing the Old man, or the firſt Ada•as 1 Cor. 15. 45. Not in reſpect of t•Subſtance, but the Quality, the evil Diſp•ſitions, the corrupt Nature deſcended a•conveighed to us from Adams ſin and•from God, and the Holineſs of his fir•eſtate.
Crucifying the fleſh we read of, and Cr•cified5 to the World; an Alluſion to Chriſts death upon the Croſs, a painfull and tormenting death, and ſo is Death commonly attended with pain, the pains of Death at the laſt hour, and the preceding hours, and ſometimes days, which makes Nature look upon Death with a great deal of horrour and reluctancy. And thus corrupt Nature looks upon mortifying the fleſhly luſts as a ſore evil; it puts the fleſh to a great deal of pain and miſery; it afflicts the Body in denying it ſatisfaction, croſſing it in its ſinful deſires, its evil luſtings, and therefore it is compared in Scripture to the plucking out a right Eye, to the cutting off a right Hand, or a right Foot, and caſting it from one; ſo difficult is it for a man to deny himſelf herein, in the Mortification of his darling Luſt.
This, to mortifie your members, &c. (ſaith one of the Fathers,) is the hardeſt Text in the whole Bible, and the hardeſt Duty in Chriſtianity that we can go about. Mortification of ſin is the giving a deadly wound to ſin, to the reigning and commanding power of ſin, which is the Life of ſin; ſubduing the Corruption and wickedneſs of our Natures, the evil Inclinations and diſpoſitions of man in his ſaln ſinful ſtate, ſo6 that the heart is cleanſed and purged from the love of ſin; ſin diſabled from lording it, and having the dominion over us; every unruly Luſt overmaſtered and brought under. This is Mortification, or the giving a deadly wound to ſin, even as a man is ſaid to be a dead man when he is mortally wounded, or when he is inwardly decayed as to his vital parts, or the breaking ſome principal Vein in the Body, albeit in ſome ſuch caſes they have ſome remainder of life, and that may continue ſometimes years after; or as when the main Body of an Army is routed and beaten out of field, or dead upon the place, though there may be ſome ſtriving and ſtrugling, or faint reſiſtance from the remainder, yet it doth not hinder them from the Victory: Even ſo it is here, when the main Body of ſin is ſubdued and beaten out of the Heart of a Chriſtian, though there be ſome Reliquiae or remainders of corruption, yet ſin is mortified; for this mortifying work i•not perfect here, it doth not root out ſin and diſpoſſeſs it wholly, that we ſhould have no ſin at all left in us, or ſin no more and be pure from ſin after Mortification ▪ For the moſt righteous man upon the•ac•of the Earth hath the ſeed of ſin, the roo•of evil in him, Fleſh as well as Spirit, a•7Heart deceitfull and deſperately wicked, conſidered naturally in and of it ſelf, as well as a new heart and a new ſpirit formed in Chriſt Jeſus: And therefore the unregenerate part hath need to be ſtill mortified, leſt otherwiſe it break out into thoſe evils and abominations which we read of, in Lot's Drunkenneſs and Inceſt; Jacob's deceitful dealing with Laban, Davia's Murther and Adultery, Solomon's Idolatry and Carnality, Jonah's great Impatience and Murmuring againſt God, and ſelf-juſtifying in his ſo doing; Peter's denyal of his Maſter with Curſing and Swearing too, St. Mark 14. 71. Which are ſad evidences of the frailty of our Nature, and the abiding of ſin alter ſanctification, as Rom. 7. largely proves our indwelling ſin to be ſoliciting, and tempting, and ſtirring to evil; and we have need of continued Influences of the Spirit to carry on this work of Mortification continually; it is not to be only for a time, by fits and ſtarts, but when we have maſter•d ſin, and conquered its temptation at preſent, it will renew its ſtrength, and return upon you again; like that Monſter, Hydra's•ead, it will repullulate, and find you work or repeating your aſſaults, and reiterating•our mortifying blows; like a conquered Nation, which will be labouring ſtill to recover8 its former power and ſoveraignty, and muſt be continually kept under with ſtanding Garriſons; ſo ſin will be reſtleſs, and ſtriving ſtill for the maſtery, taking all occaſions to ſoil us if we do not hold up a conſtant work, killing ſin when it is reviving, nipping it when in the bud, leaſt it ſprou•and grow up again, and bring forth its corrupt fruit: But more of this in the Uſe for Trial of our Mortification.
Having ſhown what Mortification is, we come next to ſhew what is meant by Members, Piſcator ſays of the Apoſtle, Cupidi tates vocat membra; and Mr. Leigh in hi•Annotations much the ſame, Luſts, ſome o•which he nameth afterwards. Dr. Hammond underſtands it of our inordinate Affections. Dr. Preſton ſays by Members i•meant Sin, or any foul Affection, or deſir•of the Heart, when our Affections fix o•ſettle upon an unlawful Object, as anothe•Man's Poſſeſſions, another Man's Wife, o•any acts of Uncleanneſs, as thoſe out of married eſtate are all unclean; any Heatheniſh or Popiſh Antichriſtian Honour and Preferments.
Or when the Heart is ſet upon lawf•things in an undue meaſure, an immoderat•diſtruſtful care of his worldly concern•which otherwiſe were lawful, and muſt b•9cared for with Faith and Sobriety: A Man may take ſome kind of Pleaſure, and uſe ſome ſports, Hunting, Fiſhing, Hawking, Bowling, for his Recreation, while he hath the command over his Affections, but if he be captivated, and his heart brought under the power of any, as 1 Cor. 6. 12. to love the World, to love his lawful Comforts or his Child exceſſively; if his love to any Creature eclipſe his Love to God, and draw away his Heart from Religion, and deaden his joys and delights in God and Duty, or be ſo predominant, that a man cannot reſign up that Creature, that Comfort to God, to bear the loſs of it, it becomes ſin, and defiles the Man.
Our Luſts and corrupt Affections are called Members, becauſe, 1. The whole Corruption of Man's Nature is compared to a Mans Body, and called the body of Sin, Rom. 6. 6. and the body of Death; the latter not only becauſe it was ſo grievous to the Apoſtle, (as that lamentable Exclamation noteth, O wretched Man that I am, who ſhall deliver me from the body of this death, Rom. 7. 24. ) that it was as death is to a natural Man, or worſe than death to him; but a body of death in that ſenſe, as we are dead in treſpaſſes and ſins, being the curſed fruit and effect of ſpiritual death, the remainder10 of that death, and called a body becauſe of its quantity, there being a maſs, an heap of Corruption even in the Saints, though it be overpowred by God's Grace, and hindered from breaking forth in their Lives in that meaſure as it doth in the Unregenerate. Now every ſoul Affection is as a Member of this Body, every unmortified Luſt a limb in this old man of ſin.
2. Luſts are called Members, becauſe they do work in our Members, Iam. 4. 1. Whence come wars 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 the11 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 Ʋnrighteouſneſs, (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••e12 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•13into 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; and14 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••15the 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 guilt,•is deadly or damning ſin, as Fornicati•n is named in our Letany; and I am per•waded God doth not give men up to this•n, until they have provoked him very16 much by long neglect of holy duties, (and then no wonder if evil prevail, and corrupt ſo many, when there is little or no good to withſtand it; if they have little ▪ or no grace to overcome the temptation where the means of Grace are neglected or uſed very little, and but in a very careleſs negligent manner;) or by much inward filthineſs of long continuance, or great wantonneſs, for nemo repente fuit turpiſſimus. And if thou beeſt one who haſt long indulged thy ſelf in theſe, thou art prepared for further Guilt, there is but a ſtep between thee and this ſin; and therefore tremble in a ſenſe of thy Guilt, and danger of more; but yet better theſe than the ſin it ſelf, or the actual uncleanneſs ▪ vaſtantia conſcientiam, that lay waſte and make havock of a good Conſcience, o•great gaſhes and wounds in the Conſcience and ſink men into deſtruction, and commonly, ordinarily hold them faſt in it, a Prov. 2. 18, 19. ſpoken of a naught Woman: For her Houſe inclineth unto death and her paths unto the dead: None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold o•the paths of Life; which is true in a proverbial ſenſe, (Proverbs being ſayings o•common obſervation, and ſo true by common experience, as it is here,) That the•17who go on thus far never return to God again, and uſually periſh, though not ever without exception. Conſider of this,•or prevention of ſin now in time, leaſt•hou be forced to conſider of it afterwards, to deſpair for ſin. A word ſpo•en in due ſeaſon, and received, how•ood is it! The next word is Ʋncleaneſs,〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which doth comprehend•l ſorts of actual ſins of this kind, thoſe•gainſt the 7th. Commandment, and the•ternal Luſts againſt the 10th. Command•ent, Thou ſhalt not covet thy Neighbours•ife, where in the Septuagint it is〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, thou ſhalt not have any luſtful•eſire after her. What ever is impure•d unchaſt, inward or outward, natural•unnatural Luſts, this word being of a•rge ſignification reacheth them all,•ough here it chiefly and more eſpecially•ſpects the outward acts, there being•njoyned in the ſame verſe, other words•at ſignifie Luſt within us, as inordinate•fection, and evil concupiſcence do. I•oke already ſomewhat to the natural•s of Luſt, under the conſideration of•e former word, I ſhall ſpeak now to o•er unnatural acts of Luſt, that of peo•es corrupting themſelves, and ſinning a•inſt their own bodies. Ah how far hath18 this abominotion ſpread it ſelf! how many have committed folly in this ſort! Ah this ſingle Fornication (as ſome call it,) how ſoon have ſome began to practiſe it! out of a wantonneſs and laſciviouſneſs to taſte of pleaſure before its time! other ſome from their Parents fault and negligence, ſtaying their Children for a good Match ſo long, until their patience is ti•red out. And thus they (who might and like enough would have been ſatisfie•with the true and proper remedy againſ•Luſt, and with the lawful means) fall t•unlawful, when they ſee their Parent•provide no Portion for them, and tak•no care to diſpoſe of them. Luſt will no•ever be ſhut up in the heart, it will brea•out; this fire will have a vent ſome wa•or other. If you find your Childrens inclinations ſtrong to Marriage, the tempe•and conſtitution of their Bodies requirin•it, their corruption ſtirring, and temptations powerful, and their age competent•deny them not Marriage. And if th•Match be not altogether ſo deſireable•to this world, and ſo well as you cou•wiſh, yet all things conſidered it may•beſt, leaſt they ſhould do worſe, and tak•ſuch a liberty in this kind before Marriag•as ſhould either make them unfit for Ma•riage,19 or at leaſt both Soul and Body rue it afterwards, and find the ſad and miſchievous effects of it on themſelves and their Children. But becauſe this ſin may be involuntary, not only after one for ſome time hath given himſelf to it, to be given up thereto by God, as Rev. 22. 11. Him that is filthy, let him be filthy ſtill; but poſſibly (though very rarely,) it may be involuntary in the firſt riſe and occaſion of it, coming upon a more innocently minded perſon, in a manner ſecret and undiſcernable by him, but then it is ſent as a puniſhment (perhaps) for ſome guilt upon the Family, a juſt God viſiting the ſins of the Parents, (eſpecially if they have been addicted to this vice) upon their Children; or for ſome other more known and wilful ſin, which they overlook and ſay nothing unto, though it be highly diſpleaſing unto God, and provoke him to make them vile in this manner. But from what cauſe ſoever it proceed, Parents muſt be very careful to prevent it, or check it betimes: And becauſe the Devil is moſt buſie with ſuch when they are ſolitary, moſt violent in his aſſaults to excite their Corruptions, and ſet them a-work on this wickedneſs, it is not ſo ſafe to ſuffer them in private, or truſt them to be much alone,20 eſpecially theſe that know how to d•evil.
There are other ſorts of actual Uncleanneſs, as by Inceſtuous mixtures an•Marriages, forbidden, as coming withi•the degrees of Conſanguinity and nearneſ•of Relation by the Fathers or the Mother ſide, as Lots two Daughters. Gen. 19. 32. who ſaid, there was not a Man in the Earth to come in unto them after the manner of all th•Earth, and ſo they made their Fathe•drink Wine, and lay with him when th•Wine had overcome him. Judah and Tha•mar his daughter by Marriage, or Sons Wife. Amnons inceit with Tamar his own Siſter by Father. I could mention that whole Nation among the Heathens ſtood guilty, th•Perſians of lying with their own Mothers the Macedonians and Aegyptians Marrying their own Siſters; and this done even a•Athens it ſelf, the Queen or Miſtreſs of al Greece for Civility and Learning: their Hiſtories were full of them, their Plays and Tragedies which they frequented every day, and reſpected with great applauſe repreſented them as lawful and commendable. Some that are more curious tha•ſober in Religion, are very inquiſitiv•who was Cains Wife. Suppoſe we that Adam had Daughters, (though thei•21Names be not mentioned in Scripture,) as well as Sons, God could diſpenſe with the Marriage of his own Siſter, at that time when there were no other Virgins in the world, even as under the Jewiſh Law, he did diſpenſe with the Brothers going in unto his Brothers wife, to raiſe up ſeed unto his Brother; but that would be no example for others to follow when the world was peopled.
Beſides theſe, we read of other unnatural Luſts, for Luſt is ſo wild a paſſion, that it flies out into all manner of Extravagancies; you read in Gen. 19. That two Angels came to Sodom at Even in the likeneſs of men, and Lot entertained them for his Gueſts, but before they lay down, the men of the City compaſſed the Houſe round, both old and young, all the people from every Quarter, and demanded of Lot to bring the men out to them, that they might know them: even as you read in Rom. 1. 26, 27. God gave them up, even the Heathens, unto vile affections, for even the Women did change the natural uſe into that which is againſt nature; and likewiſe alſo the men leaving the natural uſe of the Woman, burned in their Luſt one towards another, men with men working that which is unſeemly: and you find, 1 Kings 15. 12. Aſa took away the Sodomites22 out of the Land: in 2 Kings, you read of the Houſes of the Sodomites, (ſo great an abomination) by the Houſe of the Lord ▪ where the Women wove hangings for th•Grove: Which Houſes good King Joſiah in his general Reformation, brak•down.
Socrates (as Tertullian, Apol. c. 46. p. 36.) th•great Glory of the Heathen world, (fo•the improvement of his natural Reaſo•in Religion,) was condemned at Athens, amongſt other things for Sodomy and th•corrupting of Youth. The Hiſtory of th•Reformation tells us, upon inquiry int•the corruptions of Religious Houſes, Monaſteries, Abbies, &c. many were foun•guilty of this ſort of wickedneſs: and w•are told, in Sicily, where the burning Mountain is, that at ſome times, of latte•years eſpecially, it hath overrun Towns an•Cities, with a torrent of fiery ſulphureous matter, that their Sin as well as their Puniſhment is that of Sodom, and tha•common among them, as Mr. Vincent o•the three Burnings. Grotius de Relig. Chr. 1. 2. tells us, Apud Sinenſes & Gentes alia•pro licito eſt. In the 18. of Leviticus, 22 ▪ 23. you read, Thou ſhalt not lye with Mankind as with Womankind, neither ſhalt tho•lye with any Beaſt to defile thy ſelf therewith ▪23 it is abomination. Which ſhows how deſperately wicked the heart is in this kind, that it hath all uncleanneſs in it, as it is ſaid to work all, or all manner of uncleanneſs with greedineſs, Eph. 4. 19. and ſo you find our bleſſed Saviour aſſuring us, Mark 7. 21. that not only evil thoughts, but Fornications, in the plural number, as if it were all kinds of Luſts, or at leaſt ſeveral kinds of actual uncleanneſſes come from within, out of the hearts of men, proceeding thence: And indeed when men are ſo prodigiouſly luſtful, they will loſe all command over their affections, and not ſtick at any Luſts, that they are urged to with violence of temptation; neither at Raviſhments of Virgins, nor Beſtiality it ſelf, which Hiſtory affords ſome inſtances of; and they may be perhaps forſaken in ſuch manner, for ſetting their affections too much upon ſuch Creatures, as the cauſe of ſome: other ſome for their vileneſs in their vile Luſts, or abominable wickedneſſes, or ſinful curioſity to try and experiment all ſorts of Luſt. I have read as if this ſin among the Moors in Africa was oftner committed, and of one or two Relations (which carry ſome Credibility in them,) of thoſe who in the acting of this ſtrange kind of Luſt,24 or this wild-fire, have been puniſhed with extraordinary Judgments.
R. B. in his Wonderful Prodigies of Gods Judgments, citing it out of the Adventures of Mr. T. S. an Engliſh Merchant, taken Priſoner by the Turkiſh Pirates, and carried into the Inland Cuntreys of Africa, we find this wonderful Relation. That near Tezrim, this Gentleman ſaw the perfect Stature of a Man, b-g-g his Aſs, which was ſo lively, that at a little diſtance he thought it to be real, but when he came near, he ſaw that they were of perfect Stone: Upon enquiry, he was informed that this was never made by man, but that ſome perſon formerly had been turned into that Image with the Aſs, in the very moment of the Act, by the mighty power of God, the fleſhly ſubſtance of the man being changed into firm Stone, as an eternal reproach to Mankind. Upon farther ſearch, he found the Stone to repreſent, not only the perfect ſhape, but alſo the colour of every part of the man and the Beaſt, with the Sinews, Veins, Eyes, Mouths, in ſuch a lively manner, that he was convinced of the truth of it, and was told, that ſome who had laboured to carry from thence that Monument of mans ſhameful Luſt, either their perſons25 or their Cattel were ſtruck dead upon the place in the attempt, it being neceſſary the Moors ſhould have ſuch ſignal teſtimonies of Gods diſpleaſure before their Eyes, becauſe of their proneneſs to ſuch filthy actions. He mentions another in p. 179. Printed under the name of Sir Ken. Digby.
Next come inordinate Affection, and evil Concupiſcence to be conſidered, which reſpect the luſts of men as they are internal, though they never break forth into acts of naughtineſs. Some conceive〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉to be a general unlimited word, that reacheth unto all particular ſinful affections, deſires and inclinations of the heart, all ſuch as are diſorderly, againſt the dictates of right Reaſon, or the Word of God.
The word indeed may comprehend any violent ſtrong paſſion; but ſo it is beſides my diſcourſe: I ſhall take it in the other ſence, for the paſſion of Love or Luſt; for it is ſpoken of here in an ill ſenſe, as that which is to be mortified, as Amnons paſſion, the fury of which paſſion preyed upon his vital Spirits, ſo that he waxed lean from day to day. When a mans paſſion is ſo mighty ſtrong towards any Creature, and ungovernable, it argues that our love to God is weak. For when our affection is carried out after him, it will be predominant,26 and take off our inordinate exceſſive affection to the Creature, ſo that it ſhall not continue long uncontroulable. Elſe the word may ſignifie ſuch an habit of corrupt affection, as is in thoſe who are given over to laſciviouſneſs; ſuch a luſtful diſpoſition as is affected upon almoſt every occaſion or temptation; and hence Pathici vocantur molles & effeminati, (ſays Pareus upon the place) quales fure Sardanapalus & Heliogabalus: Such as are weak this way, as King Charles the Second in reſpect of Women: Of which Prince, ſaith an eminent Writer, our greateſt kindneſs to him will be to forget him, unleſs God cauſe us to remember him, and his ſins of this ſort by ſome remarkable Judgment; as the ſins of Manaſſah were remembred afterwards in the days of good King Joſiah. Our way to mortiſie this affection, will be to beg the Holy Spirit to cleanſe our hearts, and to expell the evil habit, and to poſſeſs and dwell in our hearts, that ſo corrupt affections may not ſtir; and to ſet our affections upon the right Object, even Almighty God, and then they will be fixed, and like the Houſe that was founded upon a Rock, ſtand firm, and not be moved or ſhaken with temptations, which argues great lightneſs and27 unconſtancy, to be taken with every fair Object, and ſet on fire with every ſpark of temptation.
Next comes〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, evil Concupiſcence to be conſidered, taken ſometimes for Original ſin and the corruption of our natures, our inherent Luſts, as Rom. 7. and the 7th. 〈…〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; I had not known Luſt, unleſs the Law had ſaid, Thou ſhalt not covet; coveting there in the 10th. Commandment, comprehending all thoſe irregular Appetites and evil Deſires which proceed from that Luſt within, which is ſet as the Fountain of Iniquity, eſpecially of uncleanneſs; and ſo in St. James, ch. 1. 14. the word is tranſlated Luſt there, and Concupiſcence, according to the original of the word; being a Latin word, ſignifies more eſpecially Conjunctionis appetitus, a deſire to be together, or a deſire after carnal copulation; and in this latter ſence, ſhall I uſe the word for the Luſt of uncleanneſs, the internal corruption of this ſort. The Original Impurity of our hearts, or naughtineſs that is in them naturally, that gives birth and being to evil motions, and is as the Mother-ſin to them, the Luſt which conceiveth them, when tempting objects preſent themſelves,28 or upon the reading or hearing of any laſcivious ſpeeches, or in the heat of Summer, or upon ſundry other occaſions, and ſometimes they are ſuggeſtions of Satan. Theſe are of two ſorts, either filthy Thoughts and Imaginations concerning uncleanneſs, in the Acts of it, or the Circumſtances; or thoſe things which have any concern therein, or relation to them, whatever may ſtir up Luſt in us: theſe muſt be mortified, we muſt reject them at the firſt motion, caſt them out as ſoon as Satan caſts them in, turn away from thoſe objects which preſent theſe corrupting fancies to us; take off our thoughts, and fix them upon ſomewhat elſe, fall into diſcourſe when you have company with you, and divert your ſelf ſome way or other to chaſe away theſe Imps of the unclean Spirit; or if you are alone, with ſome place of Scripture, or with a Prayer in this time of Temptation, if they be very urgent and powerful, and preſſing upon you, for then Satan, he is in them, working and ſetting them home.
Next come actual Deſires or Luſts, not only after Whoredom or Adultery, but all laſcivious touches, or the company of ſuch perſons, or after their wanton Wit, or any of thoſe things which afford entertainment29 to the Luſts of men. I diſtinguiſh theſe latter, evil Deſires (as ariſing from the will,) from evil thoughts belonging to the mind, a thinking faculty. To mortifie theſe deſires, Firſt, By a contrary deſire and endeavour to ſerve God with a pure heart here, and with the pure in heart to ſee God and enjoy him for ever hereafter: if this deſire were but ſtrong and vehement, if this deſire were but rooted and ſettled in the heart, and that betimes, or indeed if the heart were but ſeaſoned with grace, it would work out unchaſt deſires, or bring them under in ſubjection of the fleſh to the Spirit.
Next, when the heart is purged, to deſire Spiritual things above the pleaſures of ſin; refer it to God, deſire of God to chooſe for thee a ſingle or a Married life, as ſhall be foreſeen in his Wiſdom, to be moſt for his Glory and thine Eternal Salvation: this ſhould be every ones deſire that hath the gift of Continency; if you have not that gift, and cannot attain it, you muſt deſire after Marriage, to quench the burning and flaming of Luſt inwardly, though it never come to action; and thou muſt beg of God that bleſſing, pleading before him, that thou doſt not deſire Marriage for any falſe ends, of Riches, Honours, or30 to Indulge thy Luſt and Brutiſh Senſuality, but as 1 Cor. 7. 2. a Remedy againſt Fornication, to ſubdue thy Luſts, and keep thee from any ſinful effects of them, that thou mayſt ſerve God with a more pure Heart, and that 'tis for the Salvation of thy Soul (which thou feareſt is endangered by thy Luſts) that thou deſireſt it, or for the begetting of Children to be brought up in the fear of the Lord; and ſeriouſly promiſe or reſolve with Gods Aſſiſtance, upon the Religious Education of thy Children, which God ſhall give thee in a married Eſtate; and then thou haſt reaſon to hope God will give thee thy Requeſt; and pray for ſuch an one as may be an help to thee Heavenwards, begging of God in the mean time Repentance for thy paſt Sins, and Grace to preſerve thee for the time to come. As for thoſe that are Married, their deſires muſt be towards their Husband, as Gen. 3. 16. and the Husbands towards his Wife, and be confined within the Bonds of Matrimony.
But if theſe evil Motions and Suggeſtions of the Mind, and of the will, be not rejected and mortifyed, they will be entertained with Complacency and Delight, they will be hugg'd and cheriſhed as the darlings and the dearly beloved, the ſweet and delicious31 danties of the Soul, and ſo corrupt the Heart and Affections: there will be a pleaſing our ſelves too in the Fancy of luſt, a good liking, and a friendlineſs unto it; and as he whoſe delight is in the Law of the Lord, in his Law is ſaid to Meditate Day and Night, Pſal. 1. 2. ſo on the ſame account of our delight in theſe things, they will be our Meditation Day and Night: When Sleep departeth from us in the Night, and our reſt faileth us, this will inſinuate it ſelf into our Minds, and fill up our thoughts, and perhaps our former Sins return upon us with a contemplative uncleanneſs, and we fetch over our old Sins, with all the pleaſure that was enjoyed in them, chewing upon the ſweetneſs of thoſe Sins (as Aholibah, Ezek. 23. 19, calling to remembrance the days of her Youth, and v. 21. the lewdneſs of thy Youth, is ſaid to have multiplyed her Whoredoms by ſo doing,) inſtead of a Serious and Penitent reflection on them, with great regret and grief of mind, and loathing our ſelves for all our Abominations. Thus to repeat our Sins, muſt needs be an hainous Provocation, bring a double guilt upon us, and put us farther from Repentance than before, if not bind up the puniſhment of thoſe Sins upon us, and Seal them under Impenitency,32 unto the Judgment of the grea•Day.
Our love then, which we naturally bea•our luſts, muſt be turned into hatred, an•Sin muſt be bitter for ſweet, with as muc•or more bitterneſs than ever we delighte•in it; ſuch a remorſe for this ſweet Morſe•as eſtrangeth our Affections from our ow•Iniquity, argueth indeed that we have gained the point in Mortification. But, becauſe there is a further ſtep in this evi•Concupiſcence, as the Original, ſending out its evil Motions, and then the Complacency or Delight when it once becomes habitual, and evil thoughts, and unchaſt deſires, to ſettle and lodge in the Soul, and make their Abode in it, as they will, if they find ſuch a welcom and Entertainment in the Soul, and if the Affections be carryed out after them; then the will is not like to hold out long againſt the outward Arts of Sin, when it ſhall have let in ſuch a Multitude of Enemies, and ſuch an Army of luſts have got poſſeſſion, laying cloſe Siege to the Will, and almoſt continually Aſſaulting and Importuning it to Surrender, and give up its conſent; naturally to be ſure it will yield, and the Filthineſs within abounding, grieves the Holy Spirit, and provokes him to withdraw his33 Supernatural Strength, and leave it deſtitute; and when Sin and Satan have beaten a Chriſtian out of this Poſt, and overcome the Will, which is as the walls to a City, the Strength and Fortification of it, and its Defence, then the day is its own; when the walls are won, the City is taken, ſo when the Conſent of the Will is come over to Sin, but a ſtep from the Will to the Deed, a quick and an eaſie paſſage then for to work out Uncleanneſs, and to fulfill the Luſts of the Fleſh. For though the Spirit Luſteth againſt the Fleſh, and ſo may diſappoint it for once or twice in the ſudden motions of the Will for conſent, as by ſtirring in the Conſcience, and awaking it at the Inſtant when it would have Sinn'd, or by denying it opportunity, or by preſenting ſome unexpected Let or Remora in the way of Sin, yet if the Will remain deliberately in its choice, evil Inclination and Diſpoſition to Sin, if it can have a fit opportunity; opportunity will not ever be wanting, nor a Will to Sin, when Temptation and Opportunity ſerve; and when once Mens Luſts break forth, they are Fruitful, and Multiply to the working all Uncleanneſs with greedineſs, ſo that unleſs we mortify our inward Corruption, and keep the Heart right, or bent34 of the Will againſt Sin, we loſe all: Hi•labor hoc opus, here is the difficulty in th•work of Mortification.
The next thing to be conſidered is Covetouſneſs, an Evil coveting after Riches, for meaſure more than God gives us, a greater portion than his Providence deals out to us in our Place and Calling; and i•they be deſired or ſought after in an undue manner, any way that is in conſiſtent with our Duty to God or Man, this Covetouſneſs is tearmed Idolatry, Spiritual Idolatry, as you read, Ezek. 14. 3. Of thoſe that ſet up their Idols in their Hearts, the giving that inward Worſhip to a Creature which is due to God, by loving our Wealth more than God and Godlineſs; fearing the loſs of them, more than the loſs of Gods favour, of Chriſt and of Heaven; taking Riches for their chief good and comfort; Setting up Wealth for their ſtrong Mountain and Defence againſt evil, and putting their Confidence therein, or truſting in the multitude of their Riches; ſeeking them more earneſtly, or ſerving not God, but the World, with all your ſtrength. But this is ſomewhat beſides my intended diſcourſe, and hath been excellently handled as to the matter, by Mr. Richard Allen in his World Conquered, or Faiths Victory35 over the World, to which I referr you againſt the World. ¶ I come now to the general Duty contained in the words, that all Uncleanneſs is to be mortifyed: God will have the Body of this Sin deſtroyed, and every particular Limb or Member, Fornication, Inordinate Affection, evil Concupiſcence; Root and Branch, none of it muſt remain unſubdued, be ſtubbed up by the Roots, as well as the Boughs lopped off: 2 Theſ. 4. 7. God hath called us not to Ʋncleanneſs, but to Holineſs; and he will have us to be clean, that ſo we may be holy; that our Bodies be not abuſed to Fornication, becauſe that, 1 Cor. 6. 13. The Body is not for Fornication, not deſigned by him that made it, for ſuch an uſe; and that our Souls do not reſemble the unclean Spirits, that they do not enter in and dwell there, but that our Souls and Bodies be preſerved pure and chaſt, (Jud. 28.) our inward and outward Man cleanſed from all Filthineſs, Gal. 5. 24. and that we hate even the Garments ſpotted with the Fleſh, or Crucifie the Fleſh with the Affections and the Luſts thereof.
The firſt Argument for Mortification of our Luſts, is for to anſwer the Purity and Holineſs of the Chriſtian Religion. Our Religion is pure and undefiled, in reſpect〈1 page missing〉44cuſe us of them. Minutius Foelix, p. 24. Such infamous filthineſs which we do not care to hear, and may much leſs defend.
As to the Jews, their practice did not reach the purity of the Chriſtian Religion: Abraham had his Hagar, and Iſſue by her as well as by Sarah his Wife. Jacob had his two Wives, Leah and Rachel, and their handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah, Gen. 30. David and Solomon had their many Wives and Concubines, and no doubt but they did offend therein, though it was not ſo plainly and undoubtedly evil as it is now in the clear light of the Goſpel.
As to the Turks, thoſe whom they call Imailer, or Religious Brothers of Love, are worſe than Beaſts in their Luſts, ſparing neither Women nor Boys; they take many Wives according to their Wealth and Quality, and the Grand Seigniour his Seraglio full of Virgins for his own uſe: When Malachi, ch. 2. 14. 15. The Lord hath been witneſs between thee and the Wife of thy Youth, againſt whom thou haſt dealt treacherouſly; yet is ſhe thy Companion and the Wife of thy Covenant; and did he not make one? One Woman for one Man, only Eve for Adam; and wherefore one? that he might ſeek a Godly ſeed; an Holy ſeed or poſterity in Gods way, and according to Gods Ordinance45 in its firſt Inſtitution in Paradiſe, and not according to the depravation and corruption of it afterwards by Poligamy. I ſhall conclude this head with an excellent Relation out of Euſebius his Eccleſ. Hiſtory, lib. 8. c. 14. p. 312. When Maximinus the Emperour governed in the Eaſtern parts, among other effects of his wild and brutiſh fury and extravagance, he filled all places where he came with Adulteries and Raviſhments, abuſing Women, and deflowring Virgins, which ſucceeded well enough (ſays the Hiſtorian,) with all others except only Chriſtians, who generouſly deſpiſing death, made light of the rage and fury of the Tyrant: The men underwent all ſorts of Puniſhments which Cruelty could invent; the Women bore up with a Courage no leſs manly and unconquerable, and when any were drawn out to be abuſed, they rather ſubmitted their Lives to Death: which ſhowes that the Lives of thoſe Primitive Chriſtians, was anſwerable to the preceptive part of their Religion, and their practice above all others.
Second Reaſon for Mortification of all Uncleanneſs, Becauſe that while our Luſts remain unmortified, all our Services will be rejected, Iſa. 1. 13, 14. Their46〈…〉ings were vain, Incenſe an Abominati••; their Religious days, their New-Moons,••eir Sabbaths, and their appointed Feaſts my Soul hateth, ſaith the Lord; their religious Aſſemblies too I cannot away with, it is Iniquity even your ſolemn meeting; In the 16 verſ. Waſh you, make you clean, inwardly clean, or as verſ. 10 implies, cleanſe your ſelves from the ſins of Sodom, according to thoſe words, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Ye people of Gomorrha; and verſe 21, How is the faithful City become an Harlot! may be compared with that before, be literally underſtood, and argue their guilt even in this kind. Further, the 2 Tim. •. 22. Flee alſo youthful Luſts, but follow Righteouſneſs, Faith, Charity, Peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart; the words import, as if none did follow after Righteouſneſs, but ſuch as call on the Lord out of a pure heart, others are not mentioned in the number, nor their Services of any account, not accepted as the works of Righteouſneſs. If I regard Iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayers, ſaith David: David was an Holy man, God himſelf gave him that Teſtimony, yet while his Luſts remained unmortified, after his Adultery with Bathſheba, and like enough ſome time before47 it, his Prayers were not heard; it is plain enough by that inſtance of his Murther of Ʋriah, adding Sin unto Sin. If his Prayers had been heard, (as no doubt but he did pray in the Interim between the Adultery committed, and the Prophet Nathans reproof of him by the Parable,) God would never have left him to fall further, not into ſo crying a Sin as the Murther of the Husband. This ſeems too to have been the caſe of Solomon, while his luſts remained unmortified, as during his many Wives; all his religious performances availed little or nothing, as 1 Kings, 11. where you find him drawn away by his Women to Idolatry; in the 4th. verſe it is ſaid, his Wives turned away his heart after other Gods, building high places for their Idols. Even thus it is with Good men, while their luſts remain unmortified, their Services remain unaccepted. In Malachi, 2. 13. ye read of thoſe that covered the Altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, but the Lord regarded not their offering, nor received it with good will at their hands; yet they ſaid, Wherefore? Anſwered, becauſe they dealt treacherouſly with the Wife of your youth; verſ. 1•explaineth it, the Lord ſaith that he hateth ▪ putting away. This I urge in no wiſe as an•48argument againſt prayer and other duties, as if people ſhould ceaſe to pray and leave ſerving God, becauſe of the naughtineſs of their hearts; for that were running farther and farther from God, and that grace which ſhould reform and better them: But only for this end, that people ſhould pray more, and even turn the chief force of their prayers againſt their Luſts, and labour more to bring their Luſts in ſubjection, that ſo nothing remain to hinder their prayers from being heard, or to defile and pollute their Services.
Third Argument for Mortification, Unmortified luſts argue a man to be dead in Grace, ſuch as remain unſubdued, when conſtant and permanent, and not only temporary, as in good men, Titus, 3. 3. For we our ſelves alſo were ſometime fooliſh, diſobedient, ſerving divers Luſts and pleaſures; ſometime, that is, in their unregenerate Eſtate, 1 Tim. 5. 6. She that liveth in pleaſure is dead while ſhe liveth, even as thoſe, 2 Tim. 3. 4. Who were lovers of pleaſures more than lovers of•od. And thoſe, Eph. 2. 1, 2, 3. before they were quickned or received the ſpirit of Life from God, were•ead in treſpaſſes and ſins; dead as to the•piritual Life, the life of Gaace, which••the moſt ſad and deplorable kind of49 death: they are ſaid to have had the•Converſation in the luſts of their Fleſh, fulfilling the deſires of the Fleſh and of the mind, and were by nature, (or their corruption of nature ſince ſin and the fall,) children of wrath even as others; all others are while they walk in the luſts of the fleſh, (Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the fleſh ye ſhall dye,) ſtand Condemned by the word of God, and adjudged to eternal death: But if ye through the ſpirit do mortiſie the deeds of the body, ye ſhall live. When any of Pythagoras his Scholars had degenerated in their Morals, from the ſober, modeſt and vertuous precepts of their Maſter, and let themſelves looſe to all kind of Vice, and brutiſh ſenſuality, there was ſet a Bier as for dead mens Corps in his Room, to ſignifie that the man was dead, though the Beaſt was alive. Among thoſe that were invited to the Goſpel Feaſt, Luke 14. 20. you find one made his excuſe, he had Married a Wife and could not come; not come and ſerve God in his Ordinances, or at leaſt not heartily, his heart was after his Luſts: Not to be ſo taken, as if a Married State were inconſiſtent with Religion, or that they did ill in Marrying, which is an Ordinance of God, but the laying Religion aſide then ▪ as if it were not a time for Religion, and50 indulging their Luſts, and giving themſelves up to their Marriage pleaſure, without any regard to God, for to ſerve him, which muſt be our main buſineſs in every eſtate of Life.
Fourth Argument for Mortification of our Luſts, Becauſe we vowed to God and Covenanted in our Baptiſm, to renounce the ſinful luſts of the Fleſh: The Devil, the World, and the Fleſh, are the enemies of our Salvation, mentioned in our Church Catechiſm, and in holy Scripture, as Eph. 2. 2, 3. St. James, ch. 1. 4. Luſts are ſaid to War in our Members; and in 1 Epiſt. of Peter, c. 2. 11. Abſtain from fleſhly Luſts which War againſt the Soul; and the Soul muſt War againſt them for ever, renouncing all the ſinful luſts of the Fleſh, that is, diſowning, rejecting them, their motions and temptations, with an hatred and abhorrence of them in our hearts, or at leaſt ſuch a diſlike of them as may prevail againſt them.
Now if Covenants made in worldly matters, as Bonds and Leaſes, bind their Heirs and Succeſſours, even the Children yet unborn; ſo in Spirituals, when Parents Covenant for their Children in Baptiſm, deſiring it for their Children, and procuring others as Sureties to be bound51 with them for the greater aſſurance of the Childrens Religious Education, and performance of the Covenant Duties and Conditions, no doubt but it binds them as much in Spirituals, to ſtand to, and perform the Religious, as well as the Civil Contracts and Covenants. And he is Perjur'd who breaks this ſolemn Vow and Covenant, that lives at peace and at friendſhip with the World or the Fleſh, loving his Luſts, without that hatred and enmity which he is bound to by Baptiſm, to ſtrive and ſtruggle with them for the Maſtery, to Watch and Pray, and uſe all good and holy means for their Mortification; and ſo long as ye hold out this good fight of Faith, reſiſting this Spiritual Enemy, and praying againſt your Luſts, ſo long you keep your ground and quit your ſelves like men, and are Conquerours if you are not Conquered, though you may not have that full Victory, that triumphant ſatisfaction in your Spirit, and that inward peace which ſome others have. But if once they work you off from Prayer, and you cannot pray againſt them, or no otherwiſe than St. Auſtin before his Converſion, Domine da caſtitatem, da Continentiam, ſed non modo, Lord give me Chaſtity, give me Continence, but not now. 52If people are loth that God ſhould hear their prayers; but if they pray really, and the heart truly deſire what they pray for, ſo long it looks well, and no longer; or if a man means to make a Truce or Ceſſation of Arms and Hoſtility for any time, during the heat of Summer, or the preſence and Company of this or that beloved Body, he throws away his Weapons, he yields, and is overcome; and if he live in a continual Peace and League with them, and do not recover himſelf, and renew his Spiritual Warfare, he is utterly loſt and undone for ever.
Fifth Argument: We muſt Mortify our Luſts, or if you will, luſtful Members, according to the literal ſence of the words, becauſe our Bodies are Members of Chriſt, and this Argument the Holy Ghoſt urgeth, 1 Cor. 6. 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the Members of Chriſt: Shall I then take the Members of Chriſt, and make them Members of an Harlot? God forbid. I muſt ſnew in what ſence our Bodies are the Members of Chriſt; and then how that argues for Mortification of our Luſts. Chriſt and Chriſti•ns are one Body, one Spiritually, as 1 Cor. 6. 17. and Eph. 1. 22, 23. Chriſt is ſaid to be head over all things to his Church, which is his Body, &c. 53Chriſt the Head and Fountain of Spiritual Life, Senſe, and Motion; and Chriſtians Members of that Body, influenced, acted, and enlivened by one and the ſelfſame Spirit, which Chriſt received without meaſure, or infinitely in perfection, that ſo he might abundantly communicate it to his Members, enabling them to mortiſie the evil Concupiſcence in their hearts, and the Luſts of the Fleſh, that Fleſh and Blood, or Bodies of Sin which they carry about them. Now ſince there is ſuch a Spiritual Union between Chriſt and us, and we are taken into ſuch a near Relation unto Chriſt, as Members in that Myſtical body, whereof he is the Head of Influence; ſhould not the Members bear a Conformity to their Head? If he was pure even to perfection, ought not we to reſemble him in that Purity, by a Mortification of Uncleanneſs? And as it is in the Marriage Office, Keep your ſelves undefiled Members of Chriſt's body.
Again, Our Bodies are Members of Chriſt, as they are Members of the ſame Fleſh and Blood, or bodies of the ſame kind with that which Chriſt•ook upon him in the days of his Fleſh, as it is expreſſed, Hebr. 5. 7. Chap. 2. 14. For as much then as the Children are partakers54 of Fleſh and Blood, he alſo took part o•the ſame, and ſo exalted our Nature above the nature of Angels, by aſſuming it, and uniting it to his Divine Nature. He was God-man, or God manifeſt in the Fleſh, 1 Tim. 3. 16. And thus he honoured it in the higheſt Nature, and made it adorable in that Hypoſtatical Union with the Divine Nature.
Again, He honoured it by the Purity of his immaculate Conception, through the power of the Holy Ghoſt, (and not after the ordinary manner of men, in their fallen and corrupt State, by a ſinful Generation,) and by the pure manner of his Birth, of a Virgin undefiled, and free and pure from men: The force of this Argument conſiſts herein, If Chriſt ſo highly exalted our Nature, above that of Angels, ſhall we abaſe it to the Beaſts that periſh, by living to ſenſe, and the ſinful cravings of the Fleſh? Shall we make that Fleſh vile by our Luſts (and ſo contemtptible,) which the Son of God made Venerable by his Incarnation, and which is glorified in Chriſt as in Capite, and which we expect hereafter to be made like unto Chriſt's glorious Body? Can we expect this corruptible (ſubject to corruption, in the worſt ſence of the words,) ſhould35 put on incorruption, unleſs it put off all its corrupt Luſts before it dyes, on this ſide the grave, that ſo it might be ſit for that Inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, &c.
Sixth Argument for Mortification of our Members or Luſts, Becauſe our Bodies are Temples of the Holy Ghoſt, which is in you, which ye have of God. Our Souls and Bodies were Dedicated to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, in our Baptiſm, and thereby Conſecrated and become Holy, even Temples of the Holy Ghoſt, through his gracious preſence and Inhabitation.
But by Luſt, theſe Temples are polluted and profaned, and become the Habitation of Devils, and the hold of every foul Spirit, and a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird, as it is propheſied of ſpiritual Babylon, Rev. 18. 2. Conceive we of Mens Luſts flying up and down in their Minds and Imaginations, as Birds do in the Air, or ſhut up in their Hearts, as Birds are cooped up in a Cage, ready to fly out upon opportunity, and break looſe, as the Luſts of Mens hearts are almoſt upon every Occaſion and Temptation.
You have heard in time of our Domeſtical56 Wars, of turning Churches into Stables, and polluting them; but it is to tur•theſe Temples of the Holy Ghoſt into worſe than Stables, if we proſtitute them to our vile luſts. You read in Eph. 4. 29, 30. a Caution, Let no Corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouth; and it follows in the next verſe, And Grieve not the holy Spirit; noting to us, that the pure and holy Spirit of God is grieved, afflicted, and as it were made ſad by naughtineſs of our diſcourſe, thoughts or actions, and ſo provoked to withdraw from us, and to leave us. The moſt naſty Kennels or Gutters, and Sinks, that receive the filth and off ▪ ſcouring of things; the very Excrements themſelves, and the worſt dunghils, are not ſuch an Annoyance and Offence unto us, as our vile Luſts and corrupt Affections are to the Holy Spirit of God; theſe are more loathſom, and a greater Abomination unto him, than the moſt ſtinking unſavoury ſmells are unto us.
The laſt Argument ſhall be taken from the tremendous Judgments that the Lord hath Denounced and Inflicted on Sinners in this ſort. Heb. 13. 4. Whoremongers and Adulterers, God will Judge; and that ſeverely too, puniſhing them commonly in this World, and in the World to come. Gen.57 6. 2, 3. ſhows you that it had an hand in drowning the World: When the Sons of God (that is, the holy Seed of Seths Race) ſaw the Daughters of Men (wicked Men, and the Children like the Parents wicked too, according to the ſence of the words) that they were fair, they took them to Wives; their Luſts within, was ſmitten with the others Beauty, and betrayed them to that graceleſs Match; then it ſoon follows, even in the next verſe, My Spirit ſhall not always ſtrive with Man; and after it: The wickedneſs of Man was great in the Earth, and it repented the Lord that he had made Man: And the Lord ſaid, I will deſtroy Man, whom I have Created, from the Face of the Earth, both Man and Beaſt. And you know, the filthy Converſation and unlawful Deeds in this kind of the Men of Sodom, as they vexed Righteous Lot at the Heart, ſo they brought down the greateſt ſort of Judgment that ever was inflicted on any Sinners, Fire and Brimſtone from Heaven to conſume Sodom and Gomorrah, with the Cities of the Plain. And Numb. 25. 12. when Iſrael began to commit Whoredom with the Daughters of Moab, and that led them unto the Spiritual Whoredom of Idolatry, the Lord ſent a Plague among them; which in the 9th ver. ſwept away four and twenty58 thouſand; with Zimri and Cozbi ſlain. Deut. 22. 22. both the Adulterer and the Adultereſs were to be put to death by the Lords own Commandment; and if the tokens of Virginity were not found for the Damſel after Marriage, Deut. 22. 21. Then ſhe was to be ſtoned with ſtones at the Door of her Fathers Houſe: And ſo Numb. 5. 14. you find the Tryal of Jealouſie; If the Spirit of Jealouſie come upon a Man, and he be Jealous of his Wife that ſhe is Defiled, the Prieſt ſhall take Holy Water, and of the duſt that is in the Floor of the Tabernacle, and put it into the Water, and charge the Woman with an Oath of Curſing, ſaying, The Lord make thee a Curſe, and an Oath among thy People, if thou be Defil'd; and this Water that cauſeth the Curſe, ſhall go into thy Bowels to make thy belly to ſwell, and thy thigh to rot; And the Woman ſhall ſay, Amen, Amen: And in the 27th ver. it ſhould be fulfilled accordingly, and the Woman be a Curſe among her people, by that extraordinary Judgment. And in Jer. 5. 7, 8. When they committed Adultery, and Aſſembled themſelves by Troops in the Harlots Houſes. Shall I not viſit for theſe things, ſaith the Lord, &c. Go ye up upon her Walls, and destroy. Ezek. 16. 49. ſaid of Judah, That the Iniquity of her Siſter Sodom was in her, and in her Daughters; called59 Siſter to Sodom, becauſe ſhe was like her in Lewdneſs; in the 58 ver. Thou haſt born thy Lewdneſs, and thine Abominations, ſaith the Lord, and that was in her Captivity, as the 58 ver. ſhows: So that it doth appear this wickedneſs had a great hand in the ruine of that Kingdom; and of Samaria likewiſe, put for Iſrael in this Chapter. How ſtrangely hath this Sin encreaſed, at the ruine of Empires and Kingdoms! as of the Aſſyrian in Sardanapalus his time, ſo effeminate and degenerated, that he lived altogether among his Women and Concubines, not ſuffering Men to come to the ſight of him. The Ruine of the Famous Troy, was through an Adultereſs Paris taking away, and keeping Helen Wife to King Menelaus. The Roman Empire declined, and the Emperours came to ill ends, when they became ſo prodigiouſly Luſtful; Nero's vile abuſe of his Body with perſons of the neareſt Conſanguinity. Commodus that kept 300 Concubines, and as many Boys for deteſtable uſes: Baſſianus his Inceſtuous Marriage of his own Mother in Law Julia; next to him, Macrinus given over to Luſt and Senſuality; after him, Heliogabalus, who appointed in Rome a Senate of Women: The matters there treated of, were Inventions and means60 how to practiſe their Filthineſs and Abomination; at his removing from Rome, often followed him ſix hundred Chariots laden only with Bawds and common Harlots: He ordained Day-buſineſſes to be done by Night, and Night-buſineſſes to be done by Day. Maximinian, of whom before. Maxentius, ſo Villanous in his Behaviour, that he abſtained not from abuſing the Wives of Noble Senatours, taking them violently from their Husbands. Not one of theſe dyed a•natural Death: Beſides that the Kingly Government at Rome was ejected, upon Tarquinius Superbus his forcing of that Noble Matron Lucretia. Herod (not Herod mentioned Acts 12. 23. eaten with Worms,) and Herodias, that Inceſtuous Harlot, are ſaid to have died in great Penury and Miſery at Lyons in France.
And alas! How many Evils doth this Sin bring upon the Body! How doth it weaken and enfeeble the ſtrength of Men and Women that are much addicted to it! eſpecially thoſe that are given to ſelf-pollutions: Inſomuch, that they bring that Curſe upon themſelves, denounced in the Holy Scriptures, that the wicked ſhould not live out half their days: Which ſad experience ſhows to be true, that many of theſe Sinners (againſt their own Souls or61 Bodies, ſhall I ſay, or indeed againſt both) dye in the midſt of their Age, or young in compariſon with what they might have reached to in the courſe of Nature, had they no ways ſhortned their days, and brought themſelves to an untimely end, by their undue or exceſſive Luſt. And why ſhould not Men be afraid of ſome ill Diſtemper, ſo incident and common to thoſe that make a common trade and practice of this Sin, ſuch a foul and loathſome Diſtemper, that they are an Offence and Annoyance to others whither ſoever they come, and can ſcarce be endured above ground; ſo infectious it is, that all ſhun ſuch Creatures. And ah! How many have dyed Martyrs to this Sin! Oh, England, that boaſteſt of thoſe that have been Martyrs for thy God, be aſhamed and confounded, that the number doth ſo much exceed of thoſe that have dyed in this ſort of Martyrdom! And O what more lingring deaths have theſe been put to, rotting even alive, and dying by piece-meal, and that with Pain and Torment too, burning with a conſuming Fire, which their Luſts have kindled here, until they come to dwell with that devouring Fire, or fierceneſs of Gods wrath, and everlaſting Burnings hereafter. And ſurely the ſence and conſideration of ▪62 everlaſting burnings, would have enough in it to quench the flames of Luſt, and make the unclean perſon tremble, and flee from his impure and adulterous embraces, ſo ſhort for pleaſure, but in the pain and puniſhment following them everlaſting.
Beſides what hath been ſaid, this Sin is no leſs miſchievous to the Souls, than to the Bodies of Men, by corrupting the Judgments of lewd perſons with dangerous (if not damnable) errours, and their Converſations with filthy and abominable practices, ſcandalous to the pure Religion of Chriſtian: Many Inſtances may be given of this; as in the firſt Century, Cerinthus againſt whom, and Ebion, denying the Divinity of Chriſt, ſome have thought the Goſpel of St. John to have been more directly intended, for Confutation of their Errours. Cerinthus pretended to Revelations from Angels (and for ought I know, he might be in the right, if he had Father'd it on the evil Angels, not on the good:) That after the Reſurrection from the dead, Chriſt ſhould have an Earthly Kingdom in this World, and that the Subjects of Chriſts Kingdom ſhould eat and drink, and Marry, and keep Holy-days; for he himſelf was a Man given to fleſhly Luſts, and he imagined that the pleaſures63 of Chriſts Kingdom ſhould conſiſt in fulfilling the Concupiſcence of the Fleſh. Euſeb. lib. 3. cap. 18.
The Nicolaitans alſo, mentioned Rev: 2. 6. of the Church of Epheſus, that ſhe hated the Deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I alſo hate, ſaith the Lord. Acts 6. and 5 verſ. Nicolas, one of the Deacons choſen by the Apoſtles (as Clemens Alexandrinus writes, Strom. 3.) had a Beautiful Wife, and was accuſed of overmuch jealouſie: To purge himſelf, he brought forth his Wife into the midſt of his Brethren, and ſaid, he was content any Man ſhould Marry her. Of which words, many took occaſion to live promiſcuouſly like Beaſts, no Man having his own proper Wife, but making them all common, as our Family of Love did in Queen Elizabeths days. The Gnoſticks alſo in the beginning of the ſecond Century, they were juſtly called Borbo i•ae or coenoſi, becauſe they were filthily polluted in the mire of Uncleanneſs: By their unhoneſt and filthy Converſation it came to paſs, that the true Profeſſors of the Goſpel were vilely Slandered by perſecuting Pagans, objecting to Chriſtians the Banquets of Thyeſtes, and the Chambering of Oedipus. The Encratitae condemned Marriage in this Century. In the third64 Century we read of the Adamiani, who had their Aſſemblies in ſubterraneal places, called Hypocauſta, becauſe that under the place of their meetings, a furnace of Fire was kindled to warm the ſame, where they uncloathed themſelves, when they entred into it, and ſtood naked, both Men and Women, according to the Similitude of Adam and Eve before their fall. Apoſtolici alſo, who among other things, rejected Marriage, giving out a Sentence againſt themſelves, that they were unclean, becauſe they were procreated by Marriage, and conſequently they were for promiſcuous Luſt.
Origeniani and Turpes (as they were called) were vile and filthy Beaſts, not abhorring from Whoredom, but from procreation of Children, to the end, that they might ſeem chaſte, not unlike to Onan the Son of Judah, whom the Lord deſtroyed. Theſe are mentioned by Epiphanius, as alſo the Hieracitae, who condemned Marriage, and Manichees, as Epiphanius contra Haereſes, and Hiſt. Magdeb. In the 4th Century, we read of the Priſcillianiſts in Spain, that renewed the Hereſie of the Groſticks, who diſallowed Marriage, and commended Fornication: Some Biſhops of Spain were entangled with this Hereſie, ſuch as ▪65 Juſtantius, Salvianus, and Helpidius, whom Adygimus Biſhop of Corduba Condemned in a Councel; but when Appeals would not relieve them, with Bribes they ſolicited the Emperours Cubiculars, and were ſent back again to enjoy their own places. In the 5th. Century, we read of the firſt Councel of Toledo in Spain, aſſembled under the Reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, where we find Canons concerning the prohibition of Marriage to ſome perſons, and the admitting of a Man to the Communion who wanteth a Wife, and contenteth himſelf with one Concubine only. In the 6th Century, the Councel of Tours in France, ordained that a Biſhop ſhould count his Wife as his Siſter, and that he ſhould no manner of way company with her; and the firſt Councel of Maetiſcon, that neither Biſhop nor Presbyter ſhould intangle themſelves with carnal Luſts: And not to company with their Wives, was honeſt and chaſt behaviour, Satan bringing in Fornication and all Uncleanneſs into the Church by this means, until at length Marriage of Prieſts was called the Hereſie of the Nicolaitans by Gregory the 7th. In Century the 14th. in Alberts time, the Emperour, in Lombardy, a ſect of Hereticks which under colour of Religion and Charity66 made all things common, and they moved one another to Carnal Conjunction, alledging it to be a deed of Charity.
I come now to conſider of the Temptations or the prevailing Motives or Inducements of this Sin, which are either, Firſt the ſtrong and ſtrange delight and pleaſure of the Sin; our natures by Sin and the fall being as it were ſunk into Fleſh, and brutiſh Senſuality; thoſe things that carry with them the greateſt Gratifications of the Senſe, are the moſt acceptable to our corrupt depraved natures, as this Sin is upon the very ſame account, being a fleſhpleaſing ſenſual Sin. What do thoſe that commit this Sin promiſe themſelves but pleaſure? To be ſure, the pleaſure of the Sin is always ti•ing them, ſo that of all the Temptations to this Sin, this bids the faireſt with the Sinner to gain the point. The Remedy againſt this Temptation:
Firſt, Conſider, that Man as to the Soul (the more extellent part, that animates and acts the Body in its Life and Motion) is a ſpiritual being, and muſt have a ſpiritual good and happineſs, called an Inheritance incorruptible, und•filed, or pure and uncorrupt, refined from Senſe; when the pleaſures of the fleſh cannot anſwer that noble End for which man is deſigned, nor67 ſuit with ſuch a being as Man is, being mer•ly accommodated to the Animal, and not the Intellectual Angelical Life.
Secondly, Though ſome have ſaid, that the pleaſures of Luſt, might vye with the pleaſures of Paradiſe; have you not heard too of a Paradiſe of Fools? For indeed, this is ſuch a Paradiſe, as only Fools and the worſt of Men would take for their Portion and Happineſs: Good and Chaſt, Vertuous and wiſe Men value it but at a a low rate, being convinced of the poorneſs and meanneſs of a ſenſible good, the emptineſs and inſufficiency of ſuch good: After long enjoyment, ſuch pleaſures grow flat and dry, perhaps ad nauſeam uſque, and Mens appetite to them ceaſeth, as Amnons to Thamar, or leaveth ſuch a longing and hankering after them, that they are ſtill uneaſie and in pain in the long intervals.
Thirdly, Look and aim at higer pleaſures, the pleaſures that are to be found in the ways of God; for all his Ways are ways of pleaſantneſs, and his paths are peace. You read of thoſe that call the Sabbath a delight, and, delighting thy ſelf in the Lord, taking delight in approaching unto God, and thoſe fearing the Lord, and delighting greatly in his Commandments.
68Next the pleaſures that follow and flow from a conſcientious diſcharge of our Duty to God and Man, ſuch as the loving kindneſſes of the Lord, in whoſe favour is Life, or vita verè vitalis, the peace of Conſcience, the comforts of the Spirit, and the Hope of Glory, and thoſe better pleaſures which are at Gods right Hand for evermore, pleaſures in perfection, ever fatisfactory, never cloyed therewith.
Fourthly, Conſider though this pleaſure be ſweet in the Mouth, and the taſt, yet it is bitter in the end, and the preſent pleaſure bought with future pain, this Moment with Eternity. Ah! Nocet empta dolore voluptas; ſuch pleaſure coſts too dear, if there be no pain and remorſe in the conſcience, when the Sinner reflects on his way and his doings: If the Body eſcape too that Painful and Tormenting Diſeaſe, yet Soul and Body muſt both rue it in the other World, and that not according to the time they enjoyed theſe pleaſures, which would then be ſhort indeed, if their Miſery could end ſo ſoon as their ſhort-lived pleaſure, but momentum quod delectat, &c. the act of Sin is tranſient, the guilt, and conſequently the puniſhment diuturnum, and beyond that, aeternum, not only long, but Eternity long.
69Thirdly, Conſider how unlike this is to the Purity of the Primitive Christians; inſtead of finding pleaſure, and being drawn to Sin under that Notion, they looked upon it as one of the ſevereſt puniſhments to be proſtituted and expoſed to the Luſts of Men, by Rudeneſs and Violence. This Tertullian urgeth in the cloſe of his Apology, c. ult. p. 40. While you chooſe to Condemn a Woman that is a Chriſtian to the Stews, then to the Lyons, ad Lenonem ▪ quam ad Leonem, you plainly confeſs that the Violation of Chaſtity, is accounted by us an heavier penalty, than any puniſhment or kind of death which you can inflict upon us. St. Hierom relates an eminent inſtance hereof, Vita Paul. Eremit. Tom. 1. p. 237. In the Decian Perſecution, a young Man, a Chriſtian, in the Flower and Beauty of his Age, was carried into a Garden that had••things conſpiring to make it a place for Pleaſure and Delight, being laid upon a Bed of Down, and faſtned to it with ſilken Cords, the Company withdrawing, a Beautiful Strumpet was ſent in to him, who careſſing him, and treating him with all the Arts of wantonneſs, not conſiſting with modesty to name, the young Man finding the Temptation beginning to prevail, preſently bit off his Tongue, and ſpit it in her face as ſhe attempted to kiſs him. 70Origen at Athens, when put to this unhappy choice, either to Sacrifice to Idols, or ſuffer his chaſt Body to be defiled with a filthy Aethiopian, choſe rather to commit Idolatry, than Fortification, though that too was rather his enemies Act than his own, they thruſting the Frankincenſe into his Hand, and haling him up to the Altar. For which Fact, or the ſcandal of the report, he was Excommunicated and Diſowned by the Chriſtians: However, this ſhowed his Abhorrence of Uncleanneſs, &c.
Oh! Then flee from, and fear the killing ſmiles, and flattering Luſt, dally not, parly not with them, leaſt the deceitful and tempting pleaſure of this Sin beguile and corrupt thee. Give not place to the Devil, while he is feeding thine imagination with the pleaſures of the Fleſh, and perſwading thee to taſt of his ſweet Diſh: Reſiſt the Devil, and then he will flee from you. Principiis obſta, is a good Rule in this caſe, ſtop Sin in its firſt onſet, then it is weakeſt, but gets ground and gathers ſtrength as you give way to it, and entertain it in its motions. The pleaſure of this Sin to a conſidering Man, muſt needs be inconſiderable, ſuch as commonly all things conſidered even in this Life, brings more grief and diſquietment than Satisfaction: Such71 pleaſure as we ſhall be more Spiritual and better without it, than with it; and ſuch pleaſure, as to be ſure will be bitterneſs in the latter end. Alas! wee look upon Sin only in its ſpecious poſture coming towards us, Fair and Beautiful to behold, in a goodly dreſs, recommending it ſelf to us with Profit, Pleaſure, Honour, or the like Allurements; but could we ſee the hinder parts of Sin, it would appear like the Father of it, the Devil, when he is taking his leave and Vaniſhing, ugly and Deformed: When Sin is going from us after the Commiſſion of it, it is black and Melancholly, hanging down its head with Sorrow, or hiding its Face for Shame or Fear, or like thoſe that gnawed their Tongues for pain, or with gnaſhing of Teeth for very madneſs and Vexation of Spirit, with Scorpion ſtings at the tail of it, to Torment the Sinner, and the Fire burning towards him, to come at him, and catch him within its flames: This ſight indeed, would cool the Sinners Courage, and make Men flee from Sin as from a Serpent. Again, ſome there are, to whom this Sin holds forth its two fair Breaſts, of Profit as well as Pleaſure, to allure them within its Embraces: Theſe are chiefly of the other Sex. Thoſe who keep publick Houſes, and ſo the keeping of a naughty72 Woman, brings cuſtom to the Houſe, and they ſay encreaſeth their Trade; and thoſe who are kept as Miſſes to great perſons, and I ſuppoſe look upon themſelves to have attained great Preferment, beſides thoſe that proſtitute themſelves to the Luſts of any comers in a common promiſcuous manner, perhaps making a Trade of this Sin, and getting their Maintenance this way. Other ſome perhaps by promiſcuous Luſts to hinder Conception, and ſo for prevention of more Children, and to ſave the charge and coſt that is required in the feeding and cloathing and portioning of them.
To which I anſwer, Firſt, how vile a thing is it to let out themſelves to hire, to fell as it were their Souls for the poſſeſſion of the Devil that unclean Spirit, and their Bodies to the filthy Luſts of Men. O ſhame upon thoſe that renounced the World (Worldly gain ſo far as Sinful) the Fleſh and the Devil, thus ſhamefully to Apoſtatize! How near doth their Sin approach to that wicked Ahab, who ſold himſelf to work wickedneſs, and hath it ſet as a Brand or Mark of Infamy upon him, and whoſe Sin was ſo notoriouſly great, that it could not be cleanſed without the Deſtruction of his Family.
73Secondly, Others there are that find this a very Chargeable Sin, putting them to the charge firſt of a Treat or Entettainment, then for the Act of Naughtineſs, and a third charge many times for the Cure after it. The keeping of lewd Women, and providing portions for their baſe Brood, Adulterous iſſue, hath waſted great Eſtates, and been the ruine of many Families, or at leaſt what vaſt expences hath it put many to, ſo that what the one party gets, the other loſeth, and more beſides. Even ſome among the other ▪ Sex have been loſers in this World, ſometimes by Marrying ſuch as were too well known by them before, in the days of their firſt Husband, and who hath ſpent all, and brought them to Poverty; or if of meaner Rank, by getting ſuch a noiſome Diſtemper, as hath made them abhorred by all, that none would imploy them for a livelyhood, none Receive or Entertain them; or which made them unfit for work, or ſo weakned and impaired their ſtrength, that they could do but little when their old Age came upon them, or their Trade failed.
Thirdly, All ſuch Gain as is gotten in this manner, is accurſed, it will defile the reſt of your Subſtance, even contrary to what is ſaid of Alms; Give Alms of ſuch74 things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you; that is, cleanſed from Sin, Sanctifyed, Bleſſed, ſo as not only to have them with Gods leave, but with his Love. But ſuch filthy lucre (in the literal downright Senſe of the words) will make all polluted and unclean, all under the curſe, if ſuch gain at the laſt will not be ſeparated from the reſt, even the clean from the unclean. When did you ever know any enrich a Family by this means, with an abiding Wealth? Is it not likely that ſome at leaſt of the Poſterity, ſhould ſpend and conſume it upon their Luſts, in the ſame way that the other got it?
Fourthly, If you get never ſo much Gain this way, yet when you come to caſt up your accounts at the General Reckoning and great Day of Accounts, you will come off a loſer, an eternal loſer, when all your gain will ſignifie nothing, none of it abide with you for your comfort. But what would it profit you, if you gained never ſo much in this World? For what ſhall one give in exchange for the Soul? That is, the Soul is of ſo much worth, that nothing in the World can equalize it, nothing can vye with, or countervail the loſs of an immortal Soul, which is an infinite loſs, being loſt to all Eternity, and ſo irrecoverably.
75Fifthly; As to thoſe Married perſons, who proſtitute their Bodies to the Luſts of Men, leaſt they ſhould conceive and bear Children, and bring a charge upon themſelves, by living honeſtly with their own Husbands:
I Anſwer, Firſt, That doth not always take effect. All that do or would keep company in this manner, cannot have their end in this. For all are not ſo bad and abominably wicked, as to ruſh headlong into ſuch a damning guilt as Adultery is: Nay, I hope, very few in our Country Pariſhes remote from the City, but what would ſtartle and boggle at ſuch a wickedneſs, and what through their neceſſary Employments in their Worldly buſineſs, and the fear of being diſcovered, or ſtrongly ſuſpected, if they ſhould Treſpaſs, and•e often in ſuch perſons Company; and what through their Ignorance of theſe Women, that are ſo evil and Adulterous, few even of theſe that would make no Conſcience of the Sin, do actually concur for the prevention of Children in theſe promiſcuous Luſts.
Again, Parents ought to truſt God to provide for their Children, that God (as the Prove•b is) who ſe•ds Mouths, will ſend Meat. He that feedeth the young Ravens that cry unto him, will not ſuffer little76 Children to periſh for want of Food. Pſal. 147. 9. When was it known? Scarce ever, that any Infant or Child ſhould be ſtarved. You know the Law will allow them neceſſaries.
Again, Thirdly, Thoſe that have many Children, above all perſons are the fitteſt Objects of Charity: For it is ſome ſign that they live honeſtly and chaſtly; and the charge which they are to their Relations, or to a Pariſh, is ſuch as God and Nature offer to them, and ſuch as cannot be avoided well, nor juſtly blamed. There have been priviledges allowed by ſome Nations, (by the Roman eſpecially) to thoſe that had four ▪ Children. And in all doles or charitable gifts, we ſhould have a conſideration of ſuch perſons eſpecially, as having more lets and hinderances from their work, than others, and by the number of the Children, their ſtrength ſomewhat impaired; upon which accounts, one of our moſt uſeful ways of beſtowing our Charity, is upon ſuch as theſe that abound with Children.
Fourthly, Children and the Fruit of the Womb, are a Gift and Heritage that cometh of the Lord: A Bleſſing of the Lord, who as Gen. 9. Bleſſed Noah and his Sons, and ſaid, Be Fruitful and Multiply, and repleniſh77 the Earth. Such a Bleſſing it is to have Children, that many would give hundreds, thouſands of pounds for Iſſue; and how earneſtly did Hannah beg it of God? Abraham and Sarah prize their Iſaac: And Rachel longs for Children: Who would not rather have many Children, than none at all? Such Marriages where they have no Children, are looked upon as Comfort•eſs and Unbleſt. Children are the deareſt pledges of the Parents Love, and the joy and ſtaff of their old Age.
Another prevailing Motive and Temptation to theſe Sins, is Honour; as when they ſhall be Solicited to this Sin by perſons of Quality, or thoſe that are above•hem, they more eaſily yield, who would have though ſcorn to have been naught with thoſe of Inferior Rank. To be a Miſs or Whore to a great perſon, hath been looked upon as a piece of great Preferment, and•or a Servant to be admitted to this Sinful•amiliarity with his Miſtreſs, a choice Fa•our, if not a Credit to him; ſo if a fine•uffling Spark come, he ſhall more eaſily•elude a poor Country Maid, under the•retence of Marriage, aſpiring to be a•reat perſon.
In Anſwer to this, Firſt, Whoredom is Whoredom, and Adultery is Adultery;78 whether the perſon be high or low with whom thou ſinneſt, the ſin is the ſame, and ſtands ſentenced to the ſame Condemnation by the Word of God. Therefore flatter not thy ſelf, that it will be any excuſe to thy ſin, or plea for thee, that thou ſhouldeſt eſcape the Righteous Judgment of God. You will not ſay then it was the King, or ſome great Perſon, and I could not tell how to deny him, or it would have been taken ill, and I ſhould have fell under his diſpleaſure, &c.
Secondly, God is the Original of all Honour, the pattern to take after, and ſo much nearer as we come unto God, by reſemblance and conformity to him, ſo much the more of real worth and excellency is in us, and honour deſervedly due to us; but ſinners in Scripture-ſence, the lewd perſons in particular, (as Rom. 1. 26. vile affections,) are vile and diſhonourable: Pſal. 15. 4. In whoſe eyes, (that is, in the ſight or eſteem of the Righteous,) a vile or wicked perſon is contemned, but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. All good Chriſtians, chaſt and vertuous Heathens, honour thoſe that reſiſt, and withſtand theſe temptations and preſerve their Chaſtity, but look upon others as contemptible.
79Thirdly, This ſin doth really abaſe man•elow the dignity of his Nature, and level him with the Beaſts: For the pleaſures of the Fleſh are but the ſame that the Beaſts have, and thoſe who make theſe•heir choiceſt delights, and place their•ood in the enjoyment thereof, have loſt•hemſelves as men; and indeed this ſin•akes away from men the uſe of their Rea•on; for no ſooner ſhall a temptation of•his ſort be preſented, but Luſt captivates•nd carries the ſinner away, as Prov. 7. 22. He goeth after her ſtraightway, as an Ox go•h to the Slaughter, or as a Fool to the Cor•ction of the Stocks, not conſidering what•e does, nor whither he goes.
Fourthly, Conſider, beſides the falſe•eſs, and unfaithfulneſs to thy Maſter and•iſtreſs, thou art certain to draw their•iſpleaſure upon thee, if ever thy Wick•dneſs come to light, and to break the•eace of a Family, and that conjugal love•nd affection which ought to be between•he Married perſons; and bring baſe blood•to a Family, ſtaining the Honour and•redit of the Family.
Fifthly, Conſider the ſhame that fol•ws this Sin when it is found out, the•uilty perſons being taken notice of by all,•nd upbraided with it, almoſt upon all80 occaſions. I ſay, if this ſhame were conſidered, eſpecially in Virgins, and youn•Widows, it muſt needs awaken them to reſiſt and withſtand the Sin, if they hav•any concern for their good Name. Fo•what greater reproach and blot can ther•be upon them, than for them to miſcarr•and fall ſo foully before Marriage, ſpo•ling their Fortunes, and bringing the Honeſty into ſuſpition ever after. S•that if they have any regard to their ow•Honour and Credit, the Honourablene•of the Soliciter will be of little for•to corrupt them. And they muſt have a Whores-forehead for Impudency, wh•are not touched with the ſhame, like tho•mentioned, Jer. 6. 15. Were they aſham•when they had committed Abomination? Na•they were not at all aſhamed, neither cou•they bluſh.
Laſtly, Conſider of ſome Inſtances, of Joſephs rej•cting his Miſtreſſes imm•deſt and unchaſt deſires, Gen. 39. 7. •lie with her, though ſhe was Wife to a gre•and honourable Perſon, no leſs than Ca•tain of the Guard to Pharaoh, as the wor•ſeem to import. And Euſeb. Hiſt. Eccl•lib. 8. c. 14. p. 312. He tells us of a W•man of Alexandria, the Emperour Max•minus often attempted her by all the Ar•81•f Solicitation, but all in vain, till at•ſt, not being able to prevail, he would•ot put her to Death, but ſpoiled her being of Noble Birth and great For•nes) of her Eſtate, and then ſent her•Baniſhment.
The like he relates of a Noble Wo•an at Rome, Wife to the Prefect or Go•ernour of the City, that Maxentius the•mperour, being paſſionately in love with•er, ſent Officers to fetch her, who break•g into the Houſe, would violently have•ized on her; of whom ſhe begg'd only•much time, as to dreſs and adorn her•lf a little, under which pretence reti•ng, ſhe caught up a Sword, and by a fa•l ſtroke-diſpatch'd her ſelf: They were•ot ſo compliant as the Women of our•ays, with the Luſts of Princes.
Another prevailing motive, and power•l Attractive to this Sin, is the Beautiful•eſs of the Perſon. An handſome man, or a•andſome Woman, ſtrikes the eye as plea•nt to behold, and the eye being enamou•ed with the Object, or the Soul (which•eth thorough the eye as the Organon vi•s,) being delighted therewith, corrupts•e heart to a luſting after it, in an evil•oncupiſcence. Thoſe Women that are•ept under the Name and Notion of Miſs,82 are real or fancied Beauties: and the r•port of a Beauty, (if ſhe be corrupted, an•ſo will comply with luſtful mans deſire fets him on his March; when the app•tite is dull, and another perſon will n•reliſh with him, yet this comely perſo•this Beauty, will have its Charms, an•ſuch ſtrong ones, that he is preſently ca•tivated; which made Democritus put o•his eyes, becauſe not able to defend himſelf againſt the Charms of Beauty.
To which I anſwer, Firſt, Scriptur•and Reaſon tell us, Beauty is vain, Pro•31. 30. Vain it is, as being altogether uſeleſs in point of Religion, a dangero•ſnare and temptation to the perſon tha•hath it, and to others; an hinderanc•commonly rather than help to Religio•Vain again as to emptineſs, as void of a•real good, worth, or excellency, an•conſequently inſufficient for the comfor•and happineſs of mans Life. Vain, becauſe Res••eſt Forma fugax: Beauty is ſubject to decay, and may be impaired or lo•