England's bane, or, The deadly danger of drunkenness described in a letter to a friend wherein are many convincing arguments against it and many aggravations of it in professors of religion, and many other things tending to a reformation of that beastly sin / by Edward Bury. Bury, Edward, 1616-1700. 1677 Approx. 133 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 46 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2008-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A30674 Wing B6205 ESTC R23888 07918475 ocm 07918475 40444 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A30674) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 40444) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1199:26) England's bane, or, The deadly danger of drunkenness described in a letter to a friend wherein are many convincing arguments against it and many aggravations of it in professors of religion, and many other things tending to a reformation of that beastly sin / by Edward Bury. Bury, Edward, 1616-1700. [5], 80 p. Printed for Tho. Parkhurst, London : 1677. Running title: A disswasive from drunkenness. Reproduction of original in the British Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Alcoholism. 2006-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-06 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-03 Robyn Anspach Sampled and proofread 2007-03 Robyn Anspach Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion ENGLAND'S BANE , OR The Deadly Danger OF Drunkennels Described in a Letter to a FRIEND : WHEREIN Are many convincing Arguments against it , and many aggravations of it , in Professors of Religion ; and many other things tending to a Reformation of that Beastly Sin. BY EDWARD BVRY , late Minister of Great-Bolas in Shropshire . Isa . XXVIII . 1. Wo to the Crown of pride to the Drunkards of Ephraaim , &c. Hab. II. 15. Wo to him that gives his neighbour Drink , that puttest thy Bottle to him , and makest him Drunk also , &c. LONDON , Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Growns in Cheapside near Mercers-Chappel . 1677. Licenced and Entred according to Order . TO THE READER . Courteous Reader , THough these following lines were at first designed for a private Person , and so adapted to his condition , yet seeing there are many , Oh too many sick of the same disease ! and Drunkenness is become a publick distemper in poor and rich ; I thought it not amiss to make my Receipt publick also . This disease is become epidemical , and all the Physicians in England know not how to set a stop to it , 't is like a mighty torrent that bears down all before it , so that Drunkenness and Adultery seem to strive for the Preheminence . Now though I cannot imagine that my little Dam can set a stop to this fierce Flood , which doubtless will soon mount over it , and bear it down , yet being made in some small Stream it may possibly do some good , or however , when I have done my duty , and witnessed for my God against this debauchery , My reward will be with my God , and though Israel be not gathered my labour will not be in vain , Isa . 49. 4 &c. and I shall stand up at last in my lot to witness against those that now shut their eyes against the light : If these Lines meet with any that are not guilty , let them bless God that hath made them to differ , and let them be preventing Physick against future temptations , and let him that standeth take heed least he fall . But Reader , If thou art guilty , consider well the strength of Reason , and the sorce of Scripture arguments here brought , for thy Conviction , and shut not thine eyes against either , for the time will come God will open them , and if thou canst not speak as much Reason and Scripture for Drunkenness , as bere thou findest against it , take heed of resisting God , and the Message he hath sent thee , for I am sure thou canst not resist his judgments , which he hath threatned against such wilful offenders , and 't is hard to kick against the pricks . I know this discourse runs cross to the humours of the Time , and the sinful inclination of corrupt nature , yet though the Physick seem sharp 't is safe , old Diseases are not usually cured with Cordial Syrups , nor old feastered Sores with lenitive Plasters , a gentle reproof will not work upon an incorrigible Person , or gray Headed Sinner ; some happly may quarrel the Language , as well as the matter , because the Pills are not Sugared , but when there is Fire in the Town , men stand not to make an eloquent Oration , but cry Fire , Fire , I write to those that many times can neither speak Sence nor understand Reason , to those who had rather be accounted Good-fellows , than either good livers or good Christians ; and my design is to make them better Livers , rather than better Rhetoricians , and seeing they sin in English why should they be reproved in Latine , they had need have one speak loud enough , lest they are asleep , or amidst the crowd of their Drunken Companions ; for then 't is hard to make them hear or regard . All the Plagues of Egypt could not awaken Pharaoh till the red Sea convinced him ; neither could all the Miracles of Christ convince the Jews till Titus Vespatian swept them away : the Sodomites when struck with Blindness , yet were not cured of their madness , till Fire , and Brimstone convinc'd them of their folly , and 't is to be feared , that nothing but Fire and Brimstone will awake many of our drowsy Drunkards ; this will make them see God spake in earnest what they took in jeast . If any pretend they make no profession of Religion , and therefore are not concerned with part of the Book , it being adapted only to such , this will prove but a bad excuse , they never pretended to serve God , and therefore may the more freely break his Laws , but I conceive all those that own that there is a God , make some profession to serve him , but let their profession be what it will , without Holiness they shall never enjoy Happiness , and truly till a man break off from wicked Company there is little hopes of a Resormation . When Peter was in Caiphas's Hall , he soon learnt to deny his Master , when Joseph was in Egypt he learnt to swear by the life of Pharaoh ; If Solomon will have Pharaoh's Daughter to Wife , he shall have her Idols also . The Fuller in the Fable , would not dwell with the Collier for fear of a Smut , and whoever would avoid Drunkenness must avoid Drunken companions : he that would avoid Infection must beware of Infected Persons , and Infected Places ; a man that would be Chast must not live in a Brothel-house , and he that would be sober must not haunt Alehouses and Taverns . I shall add no more at present , but wish that what I have written may be beneficial to that end for which it is written . I now rest , Thy unfeigned Welwisher Edward Bury . Eaton , Jan. 1. 1676. A DISSWASIVE FROM Drunkenness . Dear Friend , THE Love I bear to you , and your Relations , puts me on this unpleasing , and perhaps ungrateful work of Reprehension , your Extravagancies of late years are too manifest to be concealed , and the course you take in spending your Time , wasting your Estate , imparing your Credit , and indangering your Soul in frequenting Alchouses and Taverns is so bad , that it calls for a speedy Remedy or you are like to be undone : and after so many Admonitions , so many Reproofs , so many Promises and Protestations , and Resolutions of Reformation , yet nothing is done ; this hath been no small grief to me . In this distemper therefore give me leave also among other Physicians to prescribe you some Pills , which though they may seem untoothsom , may prove wholsom , and may be the better swallowed being Sugared with Love ; a feastered Sore is seldom cured with gentle Lenitives , a desperat Disease must have a desperate Cure , what the event of it may be as to you I know not , or what effect it will work upon you , however my reward will be with God , and my judgment with the Most High : you may read my Commission , Lev. 16. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine heart , thou shalt in any wise rebuke him , and not suffer sin to lie upon him . He is no friend to your Soul that is a friend to your Sin ; 't is true Solomon adviseth , not to reprove a Scorner lest he hate thee , but rebuke a Wise man and he will love thee , Prov. 9. 8. and by your reception of this , you will discover your Wisdom or Folly , David bid , Let the righteous smite me , it shall be a kindness , let him reprove me , it shall be an excellent Oyle , which shall not break my head , for my prayer also shall be in their calamities , Psal . 141. 5. and we find he loved Nathan never the worse for a sharp reproof ; 't is a Christians duty , much more a Ministers , which we owe to all that offend , much more to our Relations , Rebuke them sharply ( saith the Apostle ) that they may be sound in the Faith , Tit. 1. 13. and though it should not be scalding hot , yet it should have some heat , though railing and reviling should be laid aside , yet Zeal and Fervency are necessary ingredients ; 't is true Christ bids us , not give holy things to Dogs , neither to cast Pearls before Swine , lest they turn again and rent us , Matth. 7. 6. yet Like I not their judgment , who to save themselves a labour of reproving make all Offenders to be Dogs and Swine , and never make a trial of them : should you prove thus , I should hereafter take Christs advice , 't is a sign of a gall'd Back that cannot endure rubbing , and of a gall'd Conscience to kick against reproofs : 't is a good observation of one , that Admonition and Reprehension whether it be true or false , whether it come from a Friend , or a Foe , never doth a Wise man harm , if true , he knows what to amend , if false , of what to beware . To judge the Wound incurable , be-before it be searched , or before we have made an experiment , is but uncharitable dealing , I choose rather with the compassionate Samaritan to pour in Oyl and Wine . The usual mode of flattery to skin over the sore , is not safest , 't is better if we search it to the bottom , though it make it smart , but to leave apologizing I shall address my self to you in these Ten following Considerations , and desire in the Words of a Minister , of a Friend , and of a Relation , and as you will answer the contrary before the Great God , the scearcher of all Hearts , at your peril lay them to heart examin their weight , and the evidence of Truth , that comes along with them , and if you cannot give a satisfactory Answer to them , leave off those Courses you follow , shake off the Company you keep , apply your self to the duty of Religion , and remember from whence you are fallen , and do your first works . Consid . 1. Consider Drunkenness is such a Sin , as takes away the use of reason and turns a Man into a Beast , yea makes him worse than a Beast , he that in the Creation was made little lower than the Angels , is now become lower than the Beast , and the time is coming if repentance prevent not , that the Drunkard will wish he had been made a Beast ; what is it that differenceth a Man from a Beast but the use of Reason , but if Reason be drowned , as it is in the Drunkard where lies the difference , thus Whoredom , Wine , and new Wine take away the heart , Hos . 4. 11. By Circes Charms Vlisses's men were turned into Beasts , Strong Drink is as powerful , for this turns them into Swine , Nebuchadnezzar had his understanding taken from him , and a Beasts Heart given him , and so have these , 't is true they retain the shape of Men , and that is all , for they much resemble Swine in this also , in their nasty behaviour , wallowing in their Vomit , and moiling themselves in their Dung , and dirt , but they are very brutes in their understanding , but many sorts of Beasts are more capacious of Instruction than they are in their Drunken fits ; you may better instruct a Horse , and Mule , and a Spaniel Dog , than you can them , if you speak reason they understand it not , neither can they speak sence : Oh the horrible nature of fin , that so transforms so glorious a Creature : the Wicked in Scriptures are oft-times compared to , yea called by the names of Beasts for their beastlike qualities , as the Lion , the Bear , the Leopard , the Bull , the Serpent , the Fox , the Cocatrice , the Asp , and many other , but the Drunkard is fitly compared to a Swine for nastiness , for I know not any other Creature that will drink till he Burst ; and doth delight so much in Swill , and wallowing in the mire : the very sight of a Drunkard is enough to overset a mans stomack , his nasty belches , vomits and other more filthy demeanours . He may also very fitly be compared to an Aerffe , a Beast bred in the North of Suetia , who when he hath caught his prey , glutteth himself as long as his skin will hold , and when he can eat no more , straineth himself between two trees , till he hath vented backwards what he hath taken , and then filleth again , and spends his time in filling and emptying , and is not this the very practice of a Drunkard ? doth he not continue from morning till night , filling and emptying his Belly , by Vomiting or otherwise , as the Daughters of Danaus are feigned to do their bottomless Tubs , which run out as fast as they pour in ? do not many of them drink all the Wit out of their Heads , and all the Money out of their Purses , and yet with the Horse-leech still Cry give , give , are not many as covetous of Drink as others are of Gold , and and can never say 't is enough , they have a dry Dropsy , the more they Drink the more they may , and thus they spend the time from morning till night , yea some from one weeks end to another , filling and emptying as a Brewer doth his Barrels , and live the very lives of Swine , drinking in their swill , and wallowing in the mire , sleep and snort , and up again and at it ; nay they are worse than Beasts who do but their kind , and answer the end of their Creation , they retain what God gave them in the Creation , but these do not , they lose not only Gods Image , but the use of Reason also , nay sence it self , and their locomotive faculty , which Beasts keep : some of them go upon all four , some are Dead-Drunk and cannot stand , the Beast is serviceable in his kind , the Drunkard good for nothing but to spend and consume : Oh that such a noble Creature should unman himself , and yeild to so poor a temptation as a cup of Drink , and sell his Reason at so low a Rate , if therefore you would not thus Beastify your self and make your condition worse than the Beast that perisheth , if you would not make your self an unprofitable burthen to the Commonwealth , and the object of Gods infinit hatred , take heed of this detestable vice . Consid . 2. Consider also how much this Beastly sin of Drunkenness doth debauch , defile , deform the Body of man which should be the Temple of the Holy Ghost , Holy and Honourable : yea how it weakens it , fills it with diseases , distempers , and disorders , which often prove mortal , and set a Period to Life it self : the Body of man is in it self a famous Fabrick , a beautiful Pile , a sumptuous Structure , and bespeaks God for it's Author , and of all the visible Creation seems to be Gods Masterpiece ; if we take it in pieces and consider it in its parts , you will find it an excellent piece of work , every piece being so useful and exact , nothing wanting , nothing redundant ; the Heart , the Liver , the Brain , the Brain , the Muscles , Sinews , Nerves , Arteries , Veins , and Ligaments , and the several Members of the Body , yea the whole is a beautiful piece dropt out of the hands of a choice Workman , but this filthy vice doth so deform , deface , and defile it , that it looks not like that which God Created it to be , how doth it deform the Face ? the Nose , the Eyes , the Cheeks are red and pimpled , the Face swoln like a Bladder , the Countenance disturbed , writhen , and deformed . How many beautiful comly Faces , both of Men and Women are thus spoiled ? set on fire , and bedecked with Pearls and Rubies , Pimples , Pushes , and rough and rugged Skin ? To whom ( saith Solomon ) is redness of eyes ? &c. to them that tarry long at the Wine , to them that seek mixt Wine . What meazil Faces , what swoln Bellies , Legs and Thighs , and other parts usually have they , and commonly their diseases and distempers within are not fewer than their deformities without : for this filthy vice quenches the natural heat , and drowns the vital spirits , impairs the health , weakens the Body , and is the seminary of many diseases , Gouts , Dropsies , Feavers , and what not , and disposes it for a dissolution , and in a few years , even in young men , we may evidently see a wonderful change , a strange Metamorphosis in those addicted to Drunkenness , they become lothsom to others , and burthensom to themselves , that their Legs are not able to do their office to carry them , as they would do nothing , so now they can do nothing that is good , they are unfit to live being good for nothing , and most unfit to dye ; and as they are like Hogs , always desiring their Swill , so they are fit for no other society ; they are Swine , and like Vlisses's men desire no other happiness , they think there is no Heaven but in their filthy Swinish pleasure , no good-fellowship but amidst their Pots , no such delight on earth as to make each other Drunk , and no love like to this ; and thus they live undesired , and die unlamented , except by those of their own fraternity , who if their means be spent , matter not to see each other hanged out of the way when they once come to be troublsome ; if therefore you would not be troubled with those deformities of Body , and not only race out the Image of God , but also the Image of a Man , if you would not be pointed out in the Street for a Drunkard , and known by the Buttry door , Buttons upon your Nose and Face , if you would not be filled with diseases , and infirmities incident to this Vice , such as you are never like to be freed from while you live , if you would not make your self loathsom to God and Man , and unfit your self for any calling , occupation , or business whatsoever , if you would not disable your self to do any duty to God or Man , take heed of this filthy Vice ; for this by the just Judgment of God , oft-times follows upon these lewd courses : t is not in vain the Holy Ghost pronounceth Wo to him that riseth early in the morning that he may follow Strong Drink and continue till night , till wine enflame him . Some part of their Wo is in this life , but the greatest part is reserved for hereafter , yet most men are insensible of it , we may say of the Sword and Drunkenness , as the Women did of Saul and David , The Sword hath slain Thousands , but Intemperance Ten thousands . Consid . 3. This filthy Swinish Sin of Drunkenness , for I know not how to give it a fitter epithet , doth not only take away the beauty of the Body , and fill it full with diseases as before I proved ; but 't is also the Grave to bury the good name , where it will for ever rot , and stink in the Nostrils of God and good men , and makes it go out in a stinking snuff : A good name ( saith Solomon ) is rather to be chosen than great riches , Prov. 22. 1. and indeed cannot be purchased with Gold , many men that have purchased great Estates could not purchase a good Name . Now the Drunkard , a right Prodigal , sells his name as cheap as Esau did his Birth-right , for a little Drink , as Lycimacus did his Kingdom for a draught of Water , yea , and that when he hath enough before , and brings an Odium upon himself which he can never blot out ; for as a good Name may continue when Riches are gone , so this blot lies upon him when his Drink is gone , A good name is better than precious Ointment , Eccl. 7. 1. It comforts the Heart , with the Smell it holds up the Head , and chears the Heart , and leaves a good savour behind it ; 't is durable and preserves from putrifaction , when the name of the wicked shall rot , it smells sweet when the other goes out in a snuff ; the Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance , but the other are either buried in Oblivion or remembred to their shame , this filthy Vice rots the Name that 't is never remembred but with obloquie ; when mention is made of Heliogabalus , Sardanapalus , and such beastly Belly-gods , with what contempt do we speak of them ? Tiberius was in scorn called Biberius for his excessive Drinking ; this one bad one drowns all other good parts in a Man ; is it not the constant language of Men when they see a Drunkard , yonder goes a Toss-pot , a Swill-bowl , a Drunken Swine , a Belly-god , do you see how he reels ? how he vomits ? it would turn a mans Stomach to see him , here lies the Cloak , there the Hat , there the Swine lies sleeping , snorting , wallowing in his Vomit more fit for the Dunghil than the House , for the Company of Swine than Men ; and when he is dead this may be his Epitaph , Here lies one that made his Gut his God , and Drinking Healths was his greatest Devotion , he was his own Executor , he lived undesired , and died unlamented : and indeed , no wise man will willingly be seen in his Company , for as 't is a blemish to keep company with a Whore , so 't is with a Drunkard ; He that keepeth company with a riotous person shameth his Father , Prov. 28. 7. Yea , they shame themselves , and many get a Blot not easily removed ; these men are like the Locusts , all belly from head to tail , and make little use of the rest of their Body . In the Fable where the Hands and the Feet and other parts that complained of the Belly for devouring all , and doing nothing , denyed it food , whereupon the whole Body faints , &c. This shews their ignorance , for there the Belly contributes to each part for their sustentation , but if ever there be reason , it is certainly the other parts has reason , has here cause to complain of the Belly ; for it robs the Back and other parts , and devours all , and fills the Body with loathsom diseases : 'T is Fabled the Giant Briareus had an hundred Hands , and fifty Bellies , but some men have one Belly would devour as much as an hundred Hands can get , and commonly the greatest Bouzers are the greatest Buzzards and are fit for nothing but to Drink : These not only shame , but undo their Families , Friends , Children , and Relations , and are a shame to the place they are bred , to the Church and Nation where they live ; they are ( as one saith ) the Devils eldest Sons , and therefore when they come to their Inheritance in Hell , they will be sure of a double Portion : they bring much Grist to his Mill , and have done their Father much Service , and may expect good Wages ; some of them have been well educated , received many Talents , have Learning , Parts , Gifts , and Endowments , which they have not only lost , but obliterated Reason it self , and God hath deprived them of those Talents , and bestowed them on others , and will condemn them to utter darkness , Mat. 25. 28 , &c. And whenever they die , they shall leave a stink behind them , for did you ever find a sweet savour proceed from a putrified member . If therefore you would preserve a good name , and merit a good report among the wisest , soberest , most serious persons , take heed of this odious sin which certainly will brand you with Infamy , and load you with obloquy and disgrace . Consid . 4. As this Sin doth deform the Body , and blemish the Name , so it also debauches the Soul , and inclines it to all manner of wickedness , for what Sin is so odious , that a Drunkard in his cups will refuse to do , when the Drink is in , the Wit is out , and when he is heated in his Drink , he is Pot-valiant , and will prove the Devils Champion , and undertake any enterprize : we have known , or heard it at at least , when in Drink some have killed their Fathers and Mothers , ravished their Sisters , murdered their best Friends , and nearest Relations , and do we not daily see , though not Perhaps every individual Drunkard , they are commonly great Swearers , Blasphemers , flying out in their Cups at the very Face of God , are they not usually great Liars , ribald filthy obscene speakers , quarrellers fighters reproachers , and what not ? what service soever the Devil hath for them to do , they are prest to do it , though he sets them about the most dangerous unreasonable work in the World , and the basest drudgery ; the Taverns and Alehouses are the Devils Schools , where his Language of Hell is taught , and his Shop , where men are trained up in his work , and commonly out of Hell you shall scarce hear any speak his Language more naturally , then there : for here commonly are some old artists provided to instruct the rest in this Devilish art of Hellish Rhetorick , and to discourse here of Religion , Holiness , and the Power of Godliness , seems as unsutable and unsafe as to discourse of the Protestant Principles before the Spanish Inquisitors , or the Conclave of Cardinals , yea some are ready to quarrel that man that names God except in an Oath , or vain speech , as one that comes to torment them before the time , and comes on purpose to spoil their sport . Now what pleasure can a man take in such Company ? Solomon adviseth , Prov. 22. 24 , 25. Make no friendship with an angry man , and with a furious man thou shalt not go , lest thou learn his ways , and get a snare to thy Soul : And the like reason holds here among debauched sinners , where never good can be learned , many temes evil , he that toucheth Pitch shall be defiled , and he that meddles with a wicked man gets himself a blot , he that danceth among the Devils Lime-twigs is commonly snared in them . The Drunkards are Leperous persons , no clean person should associate himself with them , they have a Plague-Sore upon them , and we may well fear the Infection . Man is an imitable Creature , and like the Camelion apt to change with the Company , and like Drink apt to smell of the Cask , and this Sin is as Infectious as the Plague it self , and more dangerous ; that only kils the the Body , this Soul and Body , their acts usually increase the habits , and at last bring it to a Custom , and Custom is a second Nature , and after a while that Sin which at first men stumble at , at last 't is as easy as Water to run down the Chanel , 't is a sure signe of an ungracious Heart to delight in wicked Company , Noscitur ex comite qui non dignoscitur ex se . What Solomon speaks by way of caution concerning the Whorish Woman , may be applied here , Prov. 5. 8. Remove thy way far from her , come not nigh to the door of her House ; this would be safe in this case , he that would not be burnt must dread the Fire , he that would not hear the Bell must not meddle with the Roap , to venture upon the Temptation , and then to Pray lead us not into Temptation , is like him that puts his Fnger into the fire and Prayes that it may not be burnt , or leaps into the Sea wilfully , and prays against drowning ; custom in Sin boldens a man , hardens his Heart , and sears his Conscience : at first a man deals by Sin , as the Fox in the Fable with the Lion , at first he is terrified , the next time a little bolder , afterward approaches nearer and discourses him , the application is easy , He that walks in the council of the Vngodly , will e're long stand in the way of Sinners , yea and sit in the seat of the Scornful , Psal . 1. 1. In those societies you can hardly choose but hear some mock , or scorn blurted against the Power of Godliness , which methinks should savour ill-with a Gracious Heart , yea with an ingracious man , and spoil all his mirth ; strict Holiness must needs be censured , at least for needless scrupulosity ; or how can persons satisfy themselves in their debauched practices ; at first it may be , such discourse may trouble them , having drunk in other Principles , but in time this will wear off , and down well enough , and at last become natural , and the throat of your Conscience wide enough to swallow these Gudgeons without straining , and in process of time a Camel will not choak you , I have read of some and heard of one in our times that by little and little inured themselves to eat poison , and at last Spiders , Toads , and such like would serve them for food : some men at first feared an Oath , but by little and little learnt to swear little Oaths , or something like Oaths at first , and afterwards the greatest would down without chewing , till they come to this , they scarce knew when they swore , it was so usual as in some distempers the Excrements pass from them without their knowledg . Joseph in Pharaoh's Court learnt to Swear By the life of Pharaoh : probably he would have scrupled it when under his Fathers tuition . And is it any wonder if men learn worse words in a worse School ? many men amongst us have taken such a cursed habit of Swearing and Cursing , that if the Law were duly executed , all their Estates would not pay their Mulcts ; they deal with Christ as a Kennel of Hounds do with an Hare , pluck him to pieces , wound and tear him , what in them lies , limb meal , neither his Blood , nor his Wounds , nor his Head , nor his Heart , nor any other part shall escape , and they even dare Vengeance it self , to punish them ; like Mad-Dogs they bite and snatch at all , and would make all as mad as themselves , and is this company to be desired by a civil man , and in their quarrelling also and contentions , which is not unusual upon the Ale-bench , they are like Fire-brands ready to kindle one another , not only Swearing and Railing but also fighting , Quarreling and Murder it self is the effect of Drunkenness , but perhaps you will say you are not guilty of Swearing , Cursing , Quarrelling , and such like , but 't is almost impossible you should be otherwise ; how can you discourse them but in their own Language , and I fear I have some grounds for my fear that you have lost some degrees of Innocency , and cannot wash your hands from these transgressions : but suppose you are not actually guilty , are you not accessary to the Oaths and Curses which you do not reprove ? and that you do not reprove them is evident , by their delight in your Company . Can you hear the name of God Blaspemed , his Children abused , strict Holiness which is Gods Image derided , and hold your Peace ? and testify not your dislike , doubtless you make their Sins your own by connivance ; were there true Love to God , to his Word , his ways , his Image , his People , you would have something to say in their behalf , or break off society with Gods deadly Enemies , their Sin will be laid at your door : Can you hear your Pot-valiant Companions Blaspheme God , and have nothing to say in his Cause ? Can an ingenious Child here his Father abused and hold his Peace ? many in their Cups are like the Thracians when it Thunders and Lightens , they shoot up their Arrows towards Heaven , that by this means they may bring God to a more reasonable Composition ; many when they cannot speak sense can speak Bsasphemy , and when they cannot speak Reason can speak Treason , and can you wipe your Mouth and say you have not offended ? and all this is nothing to you when it is daily done in your company , and are not you guilty of the many Acts of Drunkenness ? if not of your self , of others , when you Drink and Pledg their Healths which is the Devils Shooinghorn , to draw on Drunkards , yea perhaps force others to take a greater proportion of Drink than they can bear , do you really think God gave his Creatures to be thus abused ? Read Hab. 2. 14 , &c. Wo to him that giveth his Neighbour Drink , and putteth the Bottle to him , and maketh him Drunk that he may look upon his nakedness , &c. If you do the Work you are like to have the Wages , many an Health drunk on Earth that will be pledged in Hell , if you would not debauch your Soul , and be guilty of these and other Sins which are the usual Fruits of this filthy Vice , beware of it betimes . Consid . 5. This Sin of Drunkenness among other flagitious crimes is a great promoter of that filthy Sin of Adultery , which lays a man open to the righteous Judgments of the great God , Whoremongers ond Adulterers God will judg , Heb. 13. 3. It was the judgment of some of the Ancient Fathers , and that not without reason , that a Drunkard could not be Chast , for he that breaks the hedg of Gods Law , what can hold him ? If a Divine Precept cannot restrain him , but for the love of a Cup of Drink he will be a transgressor ; who can think but if the Devil mend his Wages , he will mend his Work ; or when a Man or Woman hath no more reason than a Beast , why should they not act as Beasts ? Without distinctions of persons , here commonly are neither temptations , provocations , opportunities , nor importunities wanting , and if the fear of God be absent , and how can that he present where the wilful breach of his Laws are daily acted , what can restrain them ? Venter non habet Aures . He that will break one Command knowingly , what should restrain him from the breach of another , which Nature doth every way as much incline men to ? That Man or Woman that is not Abstinent , I cannot see any great grounds to believe they are Continent ; Lot in Sodom though he doubtless had many provocations , and temptations to Lust , and many examples of this nature , yet could withstand them , And his righteous Soul was vexed with the unclean conversations of the wicked Sodomites , 2 Pet. 2. 7 , 8. but too much Wine lost the reins of Reason , and he became a brute , and committed Incest with both his own Daughters : had not David believed that Wine was a provoker of Lust , he never had tempted Vriah with it to provoke him to go home to his Wife to cover his Adultery , Rioting and Drunkenness precedes Chambering and Wantonness , Rom. 13. 13. The first evil ( saith Ambrose ) of Drunkenness is the hazzard of Chastity , and truly those that will be perswaded to be Drunk , I think 't is no great business to perswade them to Adultery also , for as a filthy Lake is full of Froggs though no Fish can live in it , so the Drunkards Heart is full of Lust though no Grace can thrive there . Bacchus is the Pander to Venus , and Wine is the Fuel to heat the Oven ; when the Belly is full of Wine the Heart is full of Lust : They are ( saith the Prophet ) hot as an Oven , Hos . 7. 7. Sine Cerere & Baccho friget Venus . When the Fuel is withdrawn the Fire ceaseth . 'T is Solomon's Council , Prov. 23. 31 , &c. Look not upon the Wine when it is red , when it giveth its colour in the Cup , when it moveth it self aright . ( and why so ? ) At the last it biteth like a Serpent , and stingeth like an Adder . ( why what is the event ? ) Thine eyes shall behold strange women , and thy lips shall utter perverse things : This is the Danger , this is the Sting , Venter aestuans ( saith Jerome ) spumat in libidinem . Drunkenness is the Gallery that leads to Letchery , Vina parant animos Venere , saith another . When men are heated with Strong Drink they are like to hot Iron , the Devil which is the Smith with his Hammer of Temptation , may forge them into any shape ; they are then like Wax softened , they will take any impression , they are then like Paper , you may write what you will upon it , or make what blot you please , and the Devil is apt to write his own name upon them , and to draw a Conveyance to pass over their Souls to him , Jer. 5. 7 , 8 , 9. When I had fed them to the full they then committed adultery , and assembled themselves by heaps into Harlots houses . They were as fed horses in the morning , every one neighing after his neighbours Wife . Shall not I visit for these things , saith the Lord , and shall not my Soul be avenged on such a nation as this . That heat which is got in the Tavern is oft cool'd in the Brothel-house ; the Blood heated by Bacchus is cool'd by Venus : Chastity seldom sleeps in a Drunkards bed , neither doth Virtue lodg with so foul a Swine . Venus as 't is Fabled was ingendred of the Froth of the Sea , and Venery is produced by the fumes of Strong drink . The Devils office is not to quench Fire but kindle it , he kindles the Fire of Lust by the Fire of Drunkenness , and the Fire of Hell with both ; experience proves this point , for since Drunkenness came so much in fashion , Adultery is not ashamed to shew its head ; when the one was driven into corners , the other was ashamed to be seen , but now men hang out rotten fruit in the sight of the Sun , and declare their Sin as Sodom and hide it not ; men are not ashamed to be seen reeling in the Street , vomiting in the Market-place , or place of Judicature , and with Zimri to bring their Whores to the Tent door before the People , or with Absolom spread a Tent on the top of the House that all may take notice of it , But what will they do in the end thereof ? Now they assemble themselves by troops in the Harlots houses , but it will be bitter in the latter end . Wicked men and seducers wax worse and worse , deceiving and being deceived : Those that heretofore were ashamed to be seen in an Alehouse , much more in a Whore-house , now make it their Glory ; They glory in their shame , and are ashamed of their Glory ; that River of wickedness which at at first was fordable now overfloweth the banks , and knows no bottom . Jer. 6. 15. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination , nay they were not at all ashamed , neither could they blush , therefore they shall fall among them that fall , &c. When sin creeps into corners there is some hopes it will not be charged upon the Nation , but when it becomes brazen-faced , and braves Authority it self , and sends chalenges to Heaven 't is ripe for judgment : a beautiful Harlot is one of the Devils Lime-twigs to catch Fools , which he layes with great success , which brings much Grist to his Mill , and much advantage to his Trade ; she like the Cackatrice kills with her looks , but those that are deluded by her , shall one day wish they had been blind before they had seen her ; I cannot accuse all Drunkards of Whoredom , but of all Men and Women I should the most suspect them , for those that have thrown off the reins of Reason , I know not what should rule them , those that break the Cords of Gods Law I know not with what they should be tied , those that are false to God I know not what should make them true to a yoakfellow , those that fear not to Blaspheme his Name , abuse his Creatures , undo their Families , their Wives and Children , venture upon the wrath of God , the loss of the Soul , the loss of Heaven , and the pains of Hell , and all for a little Swinish Pleasure in Drink what should hinder them from Adultery ? if they imagin it will bring them as much or more Pleasure than it , what should keep them in awe ? not the Law of God , not Conscience of Sin , not fear of Hell , or hopes of Heaven , for all these could not hold them before . Solomon tells us , Wine is a mocker , strong Drink is raging , and he that is overtaken with it is not wise . Prov. 20. 1. Whordom , Wine , and new Wine take away the heart , Hos . 4. 11. For a Whore is a deep ditch , and a strange woman is a narrow pit : She also lieth in wait as for a prey , and increaseth the transgressors among men , Prov. 23. 27 , 28. But there are some that affect the name of Roaring Boys , which without Gods mercy will retain the name for ever . If God hath preserved you from this filthy Vice , this Soul-damning Sin of Adultery , bless God For it leads to the Chambers of Death , Prov. 7. 27. The Harlots house is the way to Hell , going down to the Chambers of Death , 1 Cor. 6. 9 , 10. and if you would be preserved from this Sin , which will lead you as an Ox to the slaughter , and as a Fool to the correction of the Stocks , Prov , 7. 22 , take heed of this Sin of Drunkenness , which is the readiest road to it , fly from it as from the face of a Serpent . Consid . 6. This filthy nasty Sin of Drunkenness destroys the Estate , ruins the Family , beggars the Posterity , and exposes them to want and poverty , and should you invent a way to ruin your self , and family , you can scarcely pitch upon any surer and more certain way than this is : Scripture Reason and daily experience prove this so evidently and fully , that it cannot be denied , He that loveth pleasure shail be a poor man , and he that loveth Wine and Oyl shall not be rich , Prov. 23. 20 , 21. Be not amongst Wine-bibbers , amongst riotous eaters of flesh , for the Drunkard and the Glutton shall come to poverty , and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags , and the experience of all ages , of all Nations , of all Cities , Towns , Countries , and Villages , are undeniable arguments to prove this , and save me a labour to speak much of it , few but can evidence this truth by experience : How many ancient Families in our times and in our Neighbourhood , have by Drunkenness been everted and overthrown ? nay , where do you see one that is much addicted to this vice , but there is a sensible decay in his Estate ? perhaps there may be some that have large Revenues coming in , left them by their Predecessors , whose Estates are not quickly perceived to moulder away , but doubtless there is a Worm eating at the root of this Goard , that in time will make it wither ; God will blow upon it , and a secret curse of God will dry up this their Euphrates ; many have turned Houses , Livings , Lordships , down their throats , and many of the great ones that have Thousands per annum , cannot keep both ends together , and no wonder when Gods Laws are violated , that nothing they do prospers : there are many men ( as one saith ) drink God out of their Hearts , Health out of their Bodies , Wit out of their Heads , and Money out of their Purses , the Ale out of the Barrels , Wives and Children out of doors , the Land out of quiet , and Plenty out of the Nation , and when all is done they have nothing to shew for it but some Buttery door Buttons , a red firey measled pimpled Nose and Face , a diseased , dropsical , gouty , deformed Body , and a Leprous Soul , and do procure such an insatiable thirst that can never be satisfied , the more they drink the more they may , as Solomon saith , He that loves Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver ; so he that loves Strong Drink will never think he hath enough , they drink not only the poors part , for which they shall be called e're long to a strict account , they being Gods stewards , to give them their meat in due season , Mat. 24. 45 , &c. but these gormundizing wretches devour also their Childrens Portion , even that which was left them by their Predecessors , expose them to want and beggery , how many poor Children had been better if they had never seen such Parents ? How many Wives and Children lie weeping and wailing , and wringing their hands at home , not having Bread to eat , or Cloathing to put on , when their Prodigal Husbands , or Fathers are merry enough amidst their Cups , and Queans , devouring that which should sustain them , but these will prove bitterness in the latter end , and God will make them vomit up those sweet morsels they so greedily swallowed ; see the Doom of such Offenders , Matth. 24. 49 , &c. Many a poor Labourer that hath but from hand to mouth , and with his work can scarcely maintain his Children with Bread , yet is so addicted to this bewitching Vice , or so won upon by cursed company , that oft-times he spends in a day what should maintain his Family a week , and so expose them either to Begging , Stealing , or Starving , and many spend that in youth , should maintain them when they are old , sell their Estates , ruin themselves , and if the Parish make not provision , either Beg or Steal , and oft end their dayes in Prison or on the Gallows . There are many that fear poverty more than Hell , and think that the greatest argument against Drunkenness , which yet is to be feared , are like to have the one in earnest of the other , for neither Poverty , nor Hell can make them leave this Beastly Sin ; God will give such something in hand , and the Devil will pay them the rest of their wages , and those that keep such men company get a blot to their own Souls , Prov. 21. 17. Noah got nothing amongst the luxurious old World , nor Lot , in intemperat Sodom . The Prodigal spent his Substance with riotous living , Luk. 15. 13. and there are many Prodigals in our age , there are many that like Livius are their own Executors , and may boast as they did that left their Heirs nothing Praeter Coelum & Coenum , the Air to breath in , and the Ground to tread upon . Some drink the Cloth off their Backs , the Money out of their Purses , the Beds whereon they lie , and the Houses wherein they live . Oh the bottomless Gulf of a devouring Throat ! which like the Horseleech cries give , give , and can never be satisfied , or like Hell that never saith it is enough ; these men fall oft-times from Luxury to Beggery , from Beggery to Thievery , and from thence to the Halter ; from the Tavern to Tyburn , from the Alehouse to the Gallows : I need not give you examples of this kind , every place is full , yea too full , you cannot open your eyes but you must see them , and in them foresee what is like to be your condition , if you follow such courses ; like Sins will bring like Judgments . Now therefore if you would avoid this certain mischief which unavoidably will follow this wicked Vice , the ruin of your estate , the undoing of your Wife and little Children , exposing them to those Miseries that Want and Beggery are attended with , if you would not undo your self , and your Posterity , and bury your Family in the ashes of ignominy : If you would keep your your self out of Debt and Danger , out of Prisons and Fetters ; if you would not procure the Wrath of God , and force him to cut you off by some untimely death , or the Curses of a ruined Family ; if you would not procure the grief of your Friends , and the scorn of your Enemies , leave off these courses betime , and break off your sinful society , which are the Cords of Vanity with which the Devil draws you on in his service , and by Custom they will be Cart-ropes to ty you faster to him , and lead you after him to Hell it self . Consid . 7. Drunkenness unfits a man for any Calling , Place , or Office in Church or Commonwealth , for any imployment , vocation , or business whatsoever , for any duty either to God or man , either to our general or particular calling , and consequently it renders a man an useless , unserviceable , unprofitable burthen of the Earth , and like Salt that hath lost its savour , thenceforth good for nothing but to be trodden under foot , or to be cast off ; or like a rotten member to be cut off and not cherished , lest it infect the other also . The ancient Romans commanded such should be banished , lest by their ill example they should infect those that were sound : such as these have a Plague-sore running upon them , and are not fit for human society ; they are Leperous persons and ought not to come into the Camp amongst the clean . Whatever Calling , whatever Place , whatever Office they are in ; they are still bringing dishonour to God , and grist to the Devils Mill , when they are put into the Magistracy they do abundance of mischief . Prov. 29. 2. When the righteous are in authority the People rejoyce , but when the wicked bear rule the People mourn , these men make sad the hearts of those whom the Lord would not have made sad , and strengthen the hands of the wicked : for how can they execute Judgment and Justice when they themselves are void of Reason , or how can they punish Offenders , when they themselves are chief in the transgression ? or , how can they take Gods part when they themselves are his sworn Enemies ? or hinder the Devils work which they design to promote ? Prov. 31. 4. It is not for Kings O Lemuel to drink Wine , nor Princes Strong Drink , lest they drink and forget the Law , and pervert the Judgment of the Afflicted . Many crack their Brains with drinking , as Swine do their Bellies , and are thenceforth good for nothing . But men are but so much the worse , by how much the better they should be : It was said of Bonosus the Emperour , that he was born , non ut Vivat sed ut Bibat , Not to Live but to Drink , and when he was overcome in Drinking by Probus , he hanged himself , and it was said of him , There hangs a Tankard , not a man. Eph. 5. 18 , Be not drunk with Wine wherein is excess , but be ye filled with the Spirit , intimating all excessive Drinking is downright Drunkenness ; those that rule according to Law , should live according to Law , otherwise they throw down with the one hand what they build with the other , and do more hurt by their Example than they do good by their Office : Did you ever see a Swearer , Drunkard , or Debaucht Fellow , Stockt , Whipt , or punished by a Drunken Magistrate ? If the Devil can get such into Office , he need not fear but his Work will be done : and as he is unfit for the Magistracy , so for the Ministry , and much more unfit ; If he be not a fit guide for the Body , much less for the Soul , they stray themselves and therefore are unfit to be others guides . Isa . 28. 7. They have erred through Wine , and through Strong Drink are gone out of the way , the Priests and the Prophets have erred through Strong Drink , they are swallowed up of Wine . Hos . 4. 11. Whoredom , Wine , and new Wine take away the Heart . One Lust calls upon another , as one Souldier doth upon another in Fighting , or as those did , 2 King. 3. 23. Now therefore Moab to the spoil . Solomon joineth giving the Heart to Wine , and giving it to folly both together , Eccles . 2. 3. and commonly those that serve one of these Masters , serve the other also ; and this is thought by some to be the beginning of Solomons Apostacy . Drunkenness in a Minister , is no less unseemly than in a Magistrate , and 't is severely forbidden in both ; God absolutely forbids any Priest to drink Wine , or Strong Drink in their approaches , and addresses unto him , Lev. 10. 9. Ezek. 44. 21. There are none more affected than such as those that will be Drunk with them for company , If they will , saith God , Prophesy of Wine and Strong Drink these shall be the Prophets for them , Mic. 2. 11. yea God complains of such , Isa . 56. 12. Come say they , we will fetch Wine , and we will fill our selves with strong Drink , and to morrow shall be as this day , and much more abundant . Esa . 56. 12. But a Wo is pronounced against such , Isa . 28. 1. Wo unto the Crown of Pride , to the Drunkards of Ephraim , and Christ gives his Disciples a Caution , and doubtless not without need , and if they needed who doth not ? Luke 21. 34. Take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeting and Drunkenness , and the cares of this World , and that day come upon you at unawares . The best of us have Corruptions within , which if watered with Temptations without , will produce this as well as other Sins . Tit. 1. 7. A Bishop must be blameless , the Steward of God , not selfwilled , not soon angry , not given to Wine , &c. And indeed how is that man fit to rule the Church that cannot rule his own Family , nay his own appetite ? or can he be a guide , that goes himself so far out of the way ? or how can any man void of Reason rule his Children , Servants , or any under his charge , when he is made a Beast and Drink rules him ? Nay , what calling is that man fit for in this condition ? for in every calling there is some labour or some care , or some thing or other requisit , which a Drunken man is unfit for . Now if the Devil can get such as these in Office , especially in the Magistracy or Ministry , ( and he will do it if his own wit , or his Instruments Interest can do it ) what a deal of service do they do him ? Court fashions spread themselves over the Countrey ; what an influence had the Kings of Israel and Judah over the People , as they were wicked , or as they were good , so reformation , or deformation was promoted : when Rulers themselves are wicked they are a shelter to impiety , and terror to good works : yea , what Duty either to God or Man , is a Drunkard fit for ? what can he do ? can he Pray ? Alas he cannot speak ! or at least speak sence or Reason , and suppose he could , How loathsom do you think such a Prayer would be to God , that is performed , that is accompanied with belching and vomiting ? What will he Pray for ? for the Pardon of that Sin he never intends to leave , and for those Graces he never intends to act or exercise , or can he hear , or read , or meditate ? Alas his condition suffers it not ! His Heart is made sick with Bottles of Wine , Hos . 7. 5. The like we may say of any Duty , or Office to God or Man , or any Imployment for his own good , and the good of others ; therefore I may well say of him , he is an unuseful and unprofitable Creature , good for nothing but to do just like Pharaohs lean Kine , that eat up the fat ones ; they devour what should keep others ; If therefore now you would not be disabled , for any business , for your self or others , for any Calling or Business , for any imployment in the Commonwealth ; nay , for any Duty to God or Man , in your general or particular Calling , if you would not be rendered useless , worthless , and unprofitable , if you would not live meerly like a Drone , good for nothing but to devour , to fill and empty , if you would not live undesired , and die unlamented , take heed of this Swinish Sin which will certainly thus render you useless . Consid . 8. As Drunkenness unfits a man to live , so it unfits a man to die , and Wo to that man that is neither fit to live nor to die , and yet oft-times it hastens his Death , and puts a Period to his Life ; and unhappy is that man whom the World is weary of ; and Heaven disclames . What is said of the Bloody and deceitful men , may well be said of the Drunkard , He doth not live out half his days . Many of our Gallants , or Roaring-Boys , ( as they stile themselves ) are cut off in the flower of their age , in the prime of their youth , while their bones are full of marrow , and when they end their Roaring on Earth , it is to be feared they sing the second part in Hell : many by Drinking other mens Healths lose their own , yea oft-times Life and all ; a Hellish custom hatched there , invented by the Devil as a Shooinghorn to Drunkenness , and Excess , and as some of the Fathers write , A Custom derived from the Pagans and Infidels to us , and was in use amongst them , and was a Drink-Offering Sacrificed on their Knees to their Dunghil-Deities , to the Devil himself , as part of that Service , Homage , Worship , Devotion , Fealty they paid to him : and the Devils seem unwilling that this Ceremony should be left off , or any circumstance thereunto belonging , it must be upon their Knees , and sometimes attended with the breaking of the Glasses , burning of their Hats , Coats , or other Garments , &c. What prodigious madness , Hellish folly is this ? and to make the Sacrifice compleat , it must be powdered or salted with horrid Blasphemies , Damnings , and Rammings , as if they had been in Hell to learn the the exact language of the Devil and the damned ; and t is to be feared , that many drink Healths of Damnation here , that they shall be pledging in Hell to all eternity : for God is more dishonoured , the Creatures more abused , and devoured , the Devil more obeyed , served , and adored by this , than almost any other Sin. Their Healths are oft-times made to great men , whom they adore , making Gods of them , and Beasts of themselves ; and hence many times grow quarrels , strifes , debates , fightings , stabbings , and death it self : yea , I suppose there are more Drunken quarrels occasioned by their Healths than by any other thing whatsoever , ( Whores excepted : ) sometimes they chalenge the Field , sometimes they give each other the lye , and the stab , and oft-times comes to bloodshed ; for when the Drink is in the Wit is out , and the greatest friends in a moment prove the greatest enemies , and those that even now professed the greatest amity , suddenly shew the greatest enmity , and sheath their Swords in each others Bowels , as we read , Alexander in his Drink killed his dear friend Clit us , only for disallowing his profuse Healths , and had he been suffered would afterwards have killed himself ; and it was not long before he and thirty five more of his consorts killed themselves by immoderate Drinking at one time , and forty of his Companions at another . But we need not look far for Examples , our own Age , our own Nation , our own Neighbourhood yields us too many : how many of our Gallants , and youthful Gentlemen , within a few years , and a few miles have caught their death by their excessive Drinking , and died of Surfeits : almost every Parish , Town , and Hamlet , may afford examples of some that have come to an untimely end this way , either in their Drink killing one another , and so come to the Gallows , or breaking their necks , drowning , burning , scalding , and some such accident , or by Surfets , Feavors , Gouts , Dropsies , or some dangerous uncurable Disease gotten this way , which puts a period to their Lives , and Drinking : or that by this means run into Misery , Danger , Debt , Poverty , and dye on a Dunghil , in a Barn , &c. for want of sustenance ; or end their days in Prison : these and such like are the fruits and effects of this filthy Sin ; this Sin is as one calls it , A flattering Devil , a sweet Poison , the bane of virtue , the Mother of vice , voluntary madness , the Author of quarrels , contentions , strife , and debate . The Drunkard's heart is a fit receptacle for all Vice , for as Frogs live and thrive in a filthy lake , a stinking ditch where no Fish can abide , so Vices are nourished here , but no Virtue can live but is poisoned . When the old World could not overcome Noah , this filthy Sin did ; this sets it self against the Law of God , of Grace , of Nature , and of Nations , 't is the grief of Friends , the scorn of Enemies , the ruin of Families ; it opens Hell , and shuts Heaven Gates against us . The Soul where this filthy Pestiferous weed grows , is like that which was sowed with Salt , it became baren to every thing that was good . The Graces of the Spirit of God cannot abide to dwell in such a nasty House , or to lodg with such a filthy Bedfellow , for as Smoke drives away Bees , so Drunkenness drives away the Spirit of God , all holy desires , and good resolutions , and quencheth all holy motions , and is as water to the Fire , extinguishing all hopeful beginnings , 't is like the Mare mortuum wherein no good Fish can live ; and therefore if you would not be accessary to your own death , both of Body and Soul , if you will not run the hazard of a sudden or violent , or untimely death , or fil your bodies with Surfets , Feavors , Gouts , Dropsies , &c. by intemperance ; take heed in time of this filthy Sin for these are the natural Products of it , and God doth usually witness against it by such judgments as these . Consid . 9. Consider the horrible Judgments which God the righteous Judg hath brought upon offenders in this kind . In the time of the Law as we may see , Deut. 21. 18 , 19 , 20. God commanded , If a Father had a Son that was a Glutton or a Drunkard , and upon reproof and correction would not amend , the Father of that Son should bring him out to the Elders of the City , and they should stone him : Now if Magistrates are negligent of their Duty , and will not punish this Sin according to its , demerits and if the Ecclesiastical Courts take little notice of it , then God is forced to take the Sword in his own hand , and cut off the putrified member , and though he be slow , yet many times he strikes home , nay he doth not spare his own people , yet he lets them blood as a Physician , not as an Executioner . As for the other , though he reserves many till the general Assizes , to have their doom , yet some he hangs up in Chains , that others may hear , and fear , and do no more so wickedly . Noah though a good man , and escaping the pollutions of the old World , was after tainted with this Sin ; God suffered him to uncover his nakedness , and to be a laughingstock to his own Son , who by this means entailed the curse to him and his Posterity , and the generation then to come had cause to bewail the act . Righteous Lot , whose righteous Soul was vexed with the unclean conversation of the wicked Sodomites , fell through this Sin to that of Incest , for this seldom goes alone , and became the Father of the Moabites and Ammonites , two cursed generations , haters of God and his People , which had he lived to see would have been a further trouble to him . My intention is not in reciting these examples , to rank them amongst Drunkards , or confer that odious name upon them ; for 't is not our bare simple act deserves , or can fasten such an imputation upon them ; A godly man by the subtilty of Satan's temptations , and the prevalency of corruptions , or inadvertency , not knowing the nature of Wine ( as it may be imagined of Noah , if not of the other ) may fall in the Sin , but there is difference between a Sheep falling in a foul way , which riseth again , shakes himself , and takes better heed , and a Swine that wittingly , willingly and delightfully wallows in the mire : A Godly man through imprudence , or want of heed may have a fall , and lose some degrees of innocency which is great cause of shame and Sorrow , but those that make it their Trade and daily practice , best deserve the name . But Gods dealing with others is more severe , Elah the King of Israel drinking himself Drunk in his Steward's House , was killed by Zimri his own Servant , a sad death , especially at such a time when he was most unfit to dye ; the like had befallen Nabal in his Drunkenness , had not wise Abigail prevented it , and when he heard the danger he was in , his heart became as a stone within him , and he died , 1 Sam. 25. 36 , &c. Amnon one of holy Davids ungracious Sons , who before had ravished his Sister Tamar , and when his heart was merry with Wine , was slain by the Command of his Brother Absalon , 2 Sam. 13. 28. Benhadad and the thirty two Kings that were with him being all Drunk , a sad example to their Servants , had his mighty Army defeated by a handful of Ahabs men , and hardly escaped with his life . Belshazzer carousing Wine with his Wives and Concubines in the Vessels of the Temple , had the Hand-writing sent by God upon the Wall , which foretold his ruin and destruction , which suddenly fell out accordingly . Holofernes in his Drink was killed by Judeth , and should we examine the Records of all ages , you may find God's terrible hand stretched out against men of this profession ; some have grown so audacious as to drink Healths to the Devil himself , such a beast , or rather Monster was Pope John the twelfth , or as some reckon the thirteenth . A Lincolnshire man drinking a Health to the Devil fell down dead in the place ; three more in Germany for the like offence were all found dead the next morning . In Almain in the year 1580 , one drinking a Health to God , stretching his hand towards Heaven , with a cup of Wine , was dead in that posture , neither by strength could be removed , the other by the people was hanged on Gibbets before the door . I have heard also of some struck suddenly dead in the very act , some drowned , some scalded to death , some choaked with the Drink , some broke their necks , some lying in the way were slain by Carts , some in their Drink murthered their Parents , many that have caught surfets and died upon them , he that would read more examples of this nature , may find them in Beard 's Theatre of Gods Judgments , and in Mr. Clearks Treatise upon the same subject , but the experience of our own times may spare us that labour ; for who is so great a stranger in the neighbourhood he lives in , but may add examples of this nature ? how oft do we hear and see men struck dead in the very act , or suddenly after with Surfeits , or otherwise were it but convenient , the time , the place , the persons names might be produced ; and no man of discretion that takes any notice of Gods dealings in the world , but may add some experience which shews Gods hatred of this detestable Vice , for I think he hath not more eminently appeared against any Sin except it be against Atheism , Blasphemy , Adultery , or Persecution of the power of Godliness , than against this ; If therefore you would not be guilty of your own death , and become the object of Gods infinite hatred , and dreadful Judgments : If you would not run violently upon your own destruction , and force God to cut you off as an unprofitable unuseful member , beware of this Sin , for doubtless 't is the ready way to temporal and eternal death ; and if death arrest you by such a Sergeant as this , your case is lamentable . Consid . 10. But the greatest danger is yet behind , and that is the loss of the Soul , which is ten thousand times greater than the loss of life , Skin for skin , and all that a man hath will he give for his life ; yet the Soul is in more danger than it , and where this Sin is predominant , 't is a sad sign of an ungracious heart , and that the wrath of God hangs over their heads , God pronounceth wo to such , and who then can speak peace , Wo to the Crown of Pride the Drunkards of Ephraim : Wo to those that rise early to drink strong drink , and continue till night , till Wine enflame them . Wo to those that are mighty to drink Wine , and men of strength to mingle strong Drink . Wo to him that giveth his neighbour drink , and putteth the Bottle to him , and maketh him drunk . Doth God speak in earnest or in jest ? or can he , or will he make good his threatnings ? If so , what a woful condition are Drunkards in ? 't is for this Sin that Hell hath enlarged her self , and opened her mouth without measure , Isa . 5. 14. These are the men Whose end is destruction , whose God is their Belly , whose glory is their shame , who mind earthly things , Phil. 3. 19. They Sacrifice to nothing else but the Creature , Thus saith the Lord to such , drink and be drunken , and spew , and fall and never rise again , this is spoken to those that make it their business to drink , and make others drunk also , Jer. 25. 27. These are plying the Devils work , and he is preparing them their wages , which he will pay them at the day . Those that now so profusely spend and wast Gods good Creatures given by him for an higher end , the time is coming , and will not be long , if Repentance prevent not , they will not be able to purchase one drop of water to cool their tongues : Remember this all ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there is none to deliver . Without Repentance Hell will be your portion , and the place of your habitation , and endless , easeless , and remediless Torments are the wages which the Devil pays to his miserable Servants , for their most faithful service : see the doom of your elder Brother , Matth. 24. 49. &c. that neglecting the duty God required at his hands , to give his fellow-servants meat in due season , and doing the work the Devil enjoyned him , in beating them , and eating and drinking with the Drunkards , He was cut in sunder , and his portion appointed him with Hypocrites ; and that unfaithful unprofitable Servant , that hid his Talent in the earth was cast out into utter darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , Matth. 25. 30. and if only those shall have the sentence of absolution at the last day , that have fed the hungry , clothed the naked , relieved the stranger , &c. Mat. 25. 34 , &c. What will become of you that spend the poor's part , yea and pluck the very meat from the mouths of your Wives and Children , and make many others want meat by your extravagancies : you know not but some may this day be in Hell , tormented in those flames , for those very Sins which you occasioned them to commit and no doubt many more will be , which may be a sad reflexion upon your own heart . If God should give you repentance , this may be a Corasive to you , you help to destroy men , but cannot give repentance ; but if you repent not , the blood of their souls will be required at your hand ; and did you know the price of this blood you would beware . The time is coming a separation will be made between the precious and the vile ; and though the Wheat and the Tares grow together , ere long they shall be separated ; the wheat shall be gathered into barns , but the tares shall be bundled up ; Swearers with Swearers and Drunkards with Drunkards , and burnt with unquenchable fire . Drunkenness is compared by some to Chain-shot , it sends men to Hell by clusters ; some other sins to single Bullets , that kills but one at once . There are many that have knowledge enough in other things , and yet know not the way to Heaven ; they can search Natures Garden from end to end , but cannot search their own hearts : they are well skill'd abroad , strangers at home . They are like the Lamiae , a sort of Witches that were blind at home , quick-sighted abroad . They are skilled in all Courts but the Court of Conscience , but let them have never so much knowledge , they are really fools , to sell their souls to Satan for so low a value as a belly-full of Ale. They are worse than Esau , that sold his birth-right for a Mess of Pottage ; or a King I have read of , that lost his Kingdom for a Draught of Water . Can we imagine those are Christians , that cannot deny themselves in a Cup of Drink , when they have enough before . The first Lesson in Christs School is Self-denial , and if we deny not , forsake not Father , Mother , Wife , and Children , yea hate all and our own lives , we cannot be his Disciple . Can those men lay down their lives for Christ , that cannot deny their sensual Appetite ? Was it ever known that a Debaucht Drunkard ever suffered for him ? As Drink increaseth their Thirst , and the more they drink the more they may ; so Drunkenness increaseth Hell-fire like Oyl , which will never be quenched . The wages of sin is death , but the gift of God is eternal life ; Rom. 6. 23. Nay God tells us as plain as he can speak , that a Drunkard shall not go to Heaven , 1 Cor. 6. 9 , 10. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ; be not deceived , neither Fornicators , nor Idolaters , nor Adulterers , nor Effeminate , nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind , nor Thieves , nor Covetous , nor Drunkards ; nor Revilers , nor Extortioners , shall inherit the Kingdom of God. Gal. 10. 19 , 20 , 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest , which are these , Adultery , Fornication , Vncleanness , Lasciviousness , Idolatry , Witchcraft , Hatred , Variance , Emulation , Wrath , Strife , Sedition , Heresie , Envying , Murther , Drunkenness , Revilings , and such like ; of the which I tell you before , as I have also told you in times past , that they which do such things , shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. And I fear that most Drunkards are guilty of many of these : What now can you say for your selves , why this is not your portion ? Do you think God is not just , will he speak one thing and do another ; or is he not able to do as he saith ; and that you shall go to Heaven notwithstanding ? See what God saith to such , Deut. 29. 19 , &c. He that heareth the words of this Curse , and blesseth himself in his heart , saying , I shall have peace though I walk in the stubborness of my heart , adding Drunkenness to Thirst , the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoak against that man ; and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall lite upon him ; and God shall blot out his name from under heaven . However great Offenders in this life may escape temporal judgments , yet spiritual judgments , which are far more dangerous , seize upon them ; blindness of mind , hardness of heart , searedness of conscience , a reprobate sense , strong delusions , &c. and eternal judgments dog them at the heels ; the Devil that now sets them on work , takes notice of their work , that he may not be behind with them with their wages : but what this wages is , the tongue of men nor angels cannot fully describe ; for though the torments themselves are exquisite , yet the duration is an aggravation : though the pain of loss be inexpressible , and the pain of sense be insupportable , yet Eternity is unimaginable ; and though the pain of sense be ten thousand times beyond our conceiving , yet the perpetuity of it will be the greatest torment ; and the word Never will be a Hell in the midst of Hell. If the Drunkard were to suffer but a thousand years in Hell , for every Cup of Drink he hath drunk above measure ( and this would be dear-bought pleasure ) yet were there hopes an end would come : Ah! but what is this to Eternity ? Oh Eternity , Eternity , how shall we conceive of thee , how shall we number thee ? If this be the Drunkards portion , we may well say as the Holy Ghost doth , Woe to them . Job . 10. 50. If I be wicked woe to me . If the aking of the head , saith one , came before the Drinking of the Wine , which usually follows it , there would be few Drunkards . But I think we may well say , If but one hour the pains of Hell were felt by them , it would make them sober all their life . If now you would not lose the use of Reason , and be transformed into a Beast , if you would not bring upon your Body Deformities without , and Infirmities within , if you would not bring reproaches upon your self , and bury your good name in obloquy , if you would not debauch your soul and incline it to all manner of wickedness ; if you would be preserved from that filthy sin of Adultery , to which this inclines you ; if you would not waste your Estate , ruin your Family , undo your Wife and Children , and bring them to beggery ; if you would not unfit your self for any calling and Employment , or any Duty to God or Man ; if you would not by intemperance hasten your own death , and set a period to your life ; if you would not bring the horrible judgments of God upon you , and force him to cut you off in the midst of your days ; and if you would not lose your Soul , and suffer the vengeance of Eternal Fire ; take heed of this filthy , beastly sin of Drunkenness , which carries all those evils and many more in the belly of it . Thus you see what Charge I have drawn up against this sin of Drunkenness , and much more may be said ; for 't is a fearful Mother , and most sins are bred in the Womb of it , or fed or fostered by it ; for in sin almost nothing can be named but Drunkenness doth patronize it , and excites men to the practice of it : I do not hereby intend or mean that all that are addicted to it , are guilty of all other villany ; some perhaps never blasphemed or murthered , yet this in others is the cause of blasphemy and murther ; neither do I mean that all that ever were overtaken with Drink , that they are thus to be tearmed : A Godly Man may have his slips , though this is rare ; but there is a difference between a Sheep and a Swine , as I said ; the one falls into the Mire unwillingly , the other wallows in it ; so here some are surprized unawares as 't is conceived Noah was . These by repentance wash away their spot , and others seek occasions , and are not well till they find them . And now though I have done with Drunkenness in the general , yet have I not done with you in particular , for I conceive your sin admits of many aggravations , which some other mens sins do not ; and that is worse in you then in them : some of those I shall draw up against you , that if possible I may shame you out of it ; for though this sin by some is compared to Hell ; few fall into it that recover ; and by some to the Gout incurable ; yet I having known some have recovered , I am not out of hope . The aggravations are these : Aggra . 1. Consider your Education , which was Civil , nay , not only Civil but Religious , you are extracted from those that were Ancicient professors , trained up in Family Duties , Prayer and Praise ; the Word of God was read in the Family , and many a prayer put up with you and for you , you were dedicated to God in your Baptismal Vow , which since you owned and were listed into his company ; and shall all this be lost upon you : it had been better then for you that you had had Turks or Pagans for your Parents . Many an Exhortation and loving Admonition you have had ; the danger of sinful courses you have been told ; you have had examples and presidents of a Holy Life before you , and some of the contrary , and you have seen the difference : The Family you live in , hath been a House of Prayer ; and will you now make it a Cage of unclean Birds ? You have been warn'd of the Devils Temptations , and the Worlds Allurements ; you have seen the difference between those that have resisted them , and those that yielded to them . Consider in whether of their cases you would rather be when death calls you ; and whether a day spen in Prayer , or a day spent in an Ale-house , wil then bring most comfort ; you have lived under the powerful means of Grace all your days , and heard thousands of Sermons , besides other Ordinances , and are all those lost : Remember what Christ saith of Chorazin and Bethsaida , and Capernaum ; It shall be more tollerable for Tire and Sidon , or Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of Judgment , than for them . A fruitless Tree in the Vineyard , is more in danger than if it grew in the Desert : Others may say I never knew the danger of such a course , my Parents rather incouraged me then otherwise ; but what can you say , or what excuse can you make . Aggra . 2. The many Convictions which you had upon your Spirit , will witness against you that yours is not a sin of ignorance , but against knowledge and conscience , and those sins as they make the greatest gashes in the Soul , so they will make the greatest noise in the Conscience ; those that sin ignorantly are to be pittied , but those that sin wilfully deserve to be punished : He that know not his Masters will , and doth things worthy of stripes , shall be beaten with few stripes ; but he that knows his Masters will and doth it not , shall be beaten with many . Some ignorant Souls may perswade themselves that Drinking and Swilling is the chiefest happiness , but I dare appeal to your Consciences in cool blood , whether you do not know to the contrary ; you have been better instructed , and and doubtless have felt a better rellish in something else ; God hath sent you into his Vineyard to work , and will you leave your work before the evening , when the time of receiving your wages comes ; you have been planted in the Vineyard , hedg'd about with Gods providence , watered with the Dew of Heaven , and he hath expected fruit year by year , and will you still be barren , or worse than barren ; will you bring forth wild Grapes , Grapes of Sodom , whose clusters are bitter ; what could he have done for his Vineyard that he hath not done for us ? Well ere long he will pluck up his hedg , and take away his fence ; he will lay by his Basket and take up his Axe ; he will bid cut him down , why cumbreth he the ground . Lucifers punishment shall be greater , because he was an Angel ; and Julians , because he was a Christian ; and Judas , because he was a Disciple ; and Capernaum , Corazin , and Bethsaida , because they enjoyed the means which others wanted . If you have knowledge in the head and not grace in the heart , you will carry your own Mittimus to prison with you ; or like Vriah , Letters to cut your own Throat : you sin with a Candle in your hand , when others ignorance may excuse them , a tanto , though not a toto : your knowledge will encrease your guilt and heighten your torments . Aggra . 3. Nay , you your self have made a profession of Religion and owned your Baptismal Vow ; you have held out a Lamp in your hand , but 't is to be feared have no Oyl in your Vessel , the want of which now makes your Lamp shine so dim , and you to walk in darkness ; you performed many duties , and put up many prayers , and made many promises to God and Man of your Reformation . Oh let it not be to tell the World how far a Hipocrite may go and fall short of Heaven ; and let them know , whatever you said you meant nothing less : With what face can you ever call God Father , or ever beg for mercy at his hands , thus to use him ; or beg power against sin , when you mind nothing less than a Reformation . Are you inded willing to lose all the pains that ere you have taken in Heavens way , now you have born the burthen and heat of the day , and for ought you know , the time of your receiving reward is at hand . Many a day and many an hour you have spent in Prayer , Humiliation , Hearing , Reading , Christian Conference , Meditation and such like Duties ; and will you now out-run and lose them all : Shall all your Petitions be lost , as foolish Boys lose their Arrows , shoot them , and then mind them no more : If a Righteous Man turn from his Righteousness , he shall die in his sin ; Ezek. 3. 20. all his Righteousness , shall not be remembred . Is the way of Holiness too severe , or will heaven be had upon easier terms ; or were the Godly from the beginning of the world all deceived , which took Holiness to be the only way to Happiness ; and is there a nearer way found out than they dreamed of ; and was Christ himself deceived that told us the way was narrow , and the gate strait that led to Life , and few there be that find it ; or was the Holy Ghost mistaken when he said , Drunkards , Whoremasters , Swearers , &c. should never enter Heaven : Or can you imagine you may dance with the Devil all day , and sup with Christ at night ; or do the Devils work and receive Christs wages ; or are you willing to take up with the Hypocrites a portion ; or do you love your company so well , that you will go to Hell for company : you carry your own condemnation with you . If Religion be not good , why did you profess it ; if it be , why do you not practice it ? Or doth Religion teach you such courses ? I know some will be apt to charge Religion with it from your practice ; and say , see what your professors are , they will be drunk as well as others ; but the Apostle tells us , Titus 2. 12. That the grace of God , that bringeth Salvation , teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts , and to live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world . Have you found out a better master , better work , and better wages , 't is well ; but praise in the parting . The world hates you because of your profession , and will you make God hate you for your Hypocrisie ? Would you reconcile God and the World , it will never be ; or would you have your good things both here and hereafter ? You will find the mistake , you must renounce the one or the other ; Heaven will not be had in a Vicious Course of Life . Aggra . 4. This course of life in you , that have been a professor of Religion , is exceeding injurious both to God and man ; if you never had pretended better , none would have expected better at your hands : but to be wounded in the house of our friend , to have one with whom we took sweet counsel together , and walked to the house of God in company ; he lift up the heel against us : this would trouble a David himself . The former hopes you gave us , the noise you made in the world of more than ordinary sanctity , is an aggravation to your crime : the higher men clime , the greater will be their fall . How doth this make sad the hearts of those that the Lord would not make sad , and strengthen the hands of the wicked . If Israel play the harlot , saith God , yet let not Judah offend ; you did run well , who hindred you , you began well and you end ill ; you began in the spirit , and will you end in the flesh : What a blow will this be to Religion , when the chief prop in such a family shall not only break , but like an Egyptian Reed , run into our hands . What a discouragement is it to an Army , when a chief champion not only turns his back , but revolts to the enemy ? What a dishonour is this to God , to leave his service and serve his greatest enemy . How will the enemy in sult , Lo ( saith they ) you see what a master they serve , for all their brags , they are soon weary of his service . Davids sin caused Gods enemies to blaspheme , and for that cause God told him The Sword should never depart from his house . How doth this sadden the hearts of the godly , and fill their faces with shame ? How is Religion loaded with aspersions , as if there were no real difference between the godly and the wicked ? These , say they are your professors , they 'll take their cups as well as others . Poor doubting Christians are discouraged , and think they shall never hold out , when such Cedars are shaken , and such Champions foiled . Others are incouraged in their sin , and are apt to say , let them have their fling , they will come bank again to us ere long . What account will you give of this to God at last , what iniquity have you found in him , that you are departed from him ? Is there any thing in religion that causeth you to forsake it , or hath God ever given you any cause ? Testifie against him , hath he been a barren wilderness to you ? Is there more real worth in your pot companions , which have wrought your ruine if God prevent not , both of Body and Soul ; than is in the communion of Saints ? and had you rather be hearing swearing , cursing , and blaspheming than prayers , or praises unto God ? Consider the Blood of your own Soul , and the Soul of your Children and Servants , that are like to be undone by your example ; and of many others that are either hardned in their sins , or discouraged in their duties , will be laid at your door : Consider the price of this Blood , before you are too lavish of it ; one Soul is worth a world , and do not sell it for pots of Ale. Aggra . 5. The many Covenants , Promises , Vows , and Ingagements , which you have made to God for better Obedience , and the many Promises and Ingagements which you have made to Ministers and other Christians , and which you have so often broke , are no small Aggravation to your sin ; so that you cannot commit this sin at so cheap a rate as some others may : 'T is better not to vow , then to vow and not preform . In your Baptismal Vow , which you have since owned and ratified , you were dedicated up to God , and devoted to his service ; and 't is sacriledge to divert things dedicated up to God to profane uses : You then received Press-money , and listed your self into Christs Company , and promised to fight under his Banner ; and that his Enemies should be your Enemies , and you would maintain War while you lived against sin , the World , and the Devil ; and he promised , you so doing , you should have what ever was necessary here , and Heaven it self for a reward ; and to this Covenant you have often set your other Seal in the Sacrament , and will you after all these Vows and Covenants to God , and Promises to Men , treacherously and perfidiously revolt , change sides , and joyn with the Devil , Gods sworn enemy ; and that to fight against him , his cause and people , and the power of godliness , which you did profess . What cause hath God given you to do thus ? Testifie against him , was he ever worse than his word to you , nay , he was before-ahand with his promise ; he gave you a better portition in the world than thousands of your brethren ; you may eat the fat , and drink the sweet , when others must moil and toil and cark and care , and all little enough to prevent poverty : All that you have is from him ; he gave you limbs , when others are lame ; sight , when others are blind ; health , when others are sick ; liberty , when others are imprisoned ; you have the use of reason . , when others run raging in the streets ; yea , you have your life and breath and all from him , and how dare you then provoke him ; you have not only mercies for this life , but for the life to come offered also ; the means of Grace , the tenders of Mercy , Christ and Heaven , and Glory ; and for which of all these good things do you hate God , and leave his service ? Can the Devil or your Pot-companions better reward you ? Can they defend you from the dreadful judgments of a sin revenging God ; can they secure you under the shadow of their wings ? If not , how dare you provoke this God ? Are you stronger than he , if not , why do you take up weapons of defence against him ? Was there ever any hardened himself against God and prospered ? God will avenge the quarrel of his Covenant ; and where are you then ? Do you know what it is to be an enemy unto God , or to have God to be an enemy unto you ; if you did , it might send you trembling to your Grave ; if you are his enemy , and his enemy you are while you serve the Devil , for his servants you are to whom you obey ; you may expect he should deal with you as with an enemy , and then what evr judgments you have heard , or read of , either threatned against , or executed upon any graceless wretch ; you are not sure but , nay , you may expect that it may be your portion : and how ever , he may suffer you here to fill up the measure of your iniquity , yet he will pay you home , full measure and running over . 'T is better for you to have all the Men on Earth , and all the Devils in Hell against you than God ; you are but a worm , and if he tread upon you , he leaves you dead behind him ; if he with-hold your breath , you return to the dust , and all your thoughts perish ; there is no strugling out of his hand : Wo to him that striveth with his master , let the potsheard strive with the potsheard of the earth , Isaiah 45. 9. You can get nothing by this contention . Aggra . 6. This Carriage and Demeaning of yours , how ever it may for a time seem pleasing to your self , is yet offensive to God , Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , and 't is the grief of all good men that know it ; to your friends and relations , and all that fear God : that God takes it to heart , you may find by his often complaint of and expostalations with the Children of Israel in their revolts ; you may find in three parables in Luke 15. of the lost Sheep , the lost groat , and the prodigal Son. It was he that lost the Sheep , and seeks till he finds it , and then receiveth ; he is the Father of the prodigal Son , and his prodigality was his trouble ; as may easily appear by his rejoycing at his return : yea , Christ tells us there is joy in the presence of the Angels , when a sinner returneth ; and if there could be sorrow in Heaven , sure it would be at their revolting back : the resisting the motions of Gods Spirit , is called a grieving of , or a quenching of it ; and if each Saint have his Guardian Angel , as some imagine , and it may seem probable ; for they are guarded by the Angels : we may imagine they rejoyce when we do well , and as far as they are capable , are troubled at our falls and slips : and what sorrow and sadness , also must this be to your relations , put your self into their condition ; how sad would it be to you , to have a Child , the only hope of the Family , to ruin himself and his posterity ; to have a young fellow take such extravagant courses , to have a Brother or a Sister thus debaucht ; what grief is it to a Godly Minister , that travelled in Birth till he thought Christ had been formed in you , and then suddenly see all his hopes dasht , all his exhortations , admonitions , reproofs , prayers , &c. lost upon you ; how may it trouble and shame him that ever you were of his society : your Christian Friends , and those of your society , how may it trouble them , that you are gone from them , and with Demas have chosen the World before Christ ; to think what will become of you , and of your Family , and of your poor Soul , when death shall seperate it from your Body , and where you will stop that are running down the hill so fast , and whether of a professor you may not as others have done , turn persecutor ; for those that forsake God , no wonder if they forsake their Friends also , and those that hate God will hate his Image also . I wish this be no more than my own surmise and fears : In a word , There are none that carry the face of honest men , but will be troubled at this your Apostacy ; and there are none but the Devil and his Instruments , your Pot-Companions and Brethren in Iniquity , that will rejoyce that you are brought back again into the Devils slavery : These are the Dalilah's that hugg you in their bosome while they betray you ; these are the Syrens , that by their Song intend to wrack and ruin you : and if you think this is your only way to happiness , ere long you will find your mistake and your judgment will alter . Aggra . 7. In this course of life you lead , the loss of your precious time which is given you for an higher end , is no small aggravation to your fall ; for though you meet with other considerable losses by this extravagant course of yours , yet no temporal loss is comparable to this : this cannot be redeemed with Silver nor Gold , Jems , nor Jewels ; nay if the World were sold to its worth , it could not call back one day that is past ; and yet alass how prodigal are many of their time , as if they knew not how to waste it fast enough ; they drink and play and rail it away ; nay go purposely to drive away time : that did they but know the value of it , would prize it at a higher rate ; but the time is coming you will know the worth of it by the want of it . God hath placed you in his Vineyard , given you work to do , and sufficient time to do it in ; if you idle away this time , and your work be undone , what wages do you expect : Amongst other Talents he hath given you this Talent of time ; if either you not use it or abuse it , what can you expect but the doom of the unprofitable servant that hid his Talent in the Earth . You have a little time in the World to spend , and 't is but a little ; and one of these days they will say of you , He is dead also ; for you see younger and stronger are gone before you , and your turn may be next ; how as you spend this time , so it will fare with you to eternity . This is the Harvest of the Soul , if you lay not in provision for the Winter with the Bee , you are like to want with the Grasshopper : this is the market day to lay in provision for the following week , and to buy Oyl ; if this season be let slip , the door will be shut against you , and we know not how soon this day may be over , which will never dawn again : you have a great deal of work to do , and work of great concernment ; if it be not finished in the time , you are undone ; you are in a race , and your Soul is the prize you run for ; and will you either stand still or run back : you are in the field fighting with cruel blood-thirsty enemies , who will make no truce with you but upon more unreasonable terms than Nahash the Ammonite offered to the men of Jabesh Gilead , Which was to thrust out all their right eyes , and lay it as a reproach on all Israel , 1 Sam. 11. 2. But the Devil will make no truce , but the everlasting destruction of Soul and Body : And will you cast by your Armour , and yield to his mercy ; and revolt from him that will warrant you the Victory , if you will but keep the field : you are in a journey on life and death , and will you now turn back , or run after Butterflies , when the Sun grows low and you have far to go ; when you must be sure to tread these weary steps back again , or lose your life : Much of your time is already spent , and your work undone , and what you have done you are again plucking down , and making your work every day more and harder . Consider you will repent or not repent , If you do not repent you are undone ; for no unrepenting sinner shall come to Heaven ; if you do repent it will cost you more pains , dolour , trouble and grief , than ever the pleasure of your sin was worth ; you must vomit up all those sweet morsels which you have swallowed with so much delight . Eternity lies before you , and one of these days Death will open the door and let you in . What apprehensions then will you have of these courses , when you see an infinite Ocean of eternity before you , and all your friends and pleasures departing from you and forsaking you : Now what good will your merry company do you , what comfort can they bring , where are now your merry meetings , and your drunken revels ? Will the thoughts of them chear up your hearts , those that were your Councellors and Consorts in your Vanity , now will be your Companions in your Misery . Those for whose sakes you lost your Soul , your God , your Glory , what will they , what can they do for you if you miscarry together : you will curse the time that ever you saw each others faces , and those that now give such big words against God and Godliness , will then call upon the Mountains to fall upon them , and the Hills to cover them : Well such a day will come , and we know not whether you have a day to live , or what may be in the womb of the next morning : Our Saviour Christ adviseth to prepare for it ; Luke 21. 34 , 35. And take heed to your selves , lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfetting and drunkenness , and cares of this life , and so that day come upon you unawares ; for as a snare shall it come on all them than dwell on the face of the whole earth . How dare you spend a day in an Ale-house , that do not know if you have another to live : But as the Poet saith , Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem , rides cum non sit forsitan una dies . Many a man would weep and mourn , if he knew he had but a month to live , that now laughs and rejoyceth and hath but a day to live . This time which now you so lavishly spend , neither in your general nor particular calling , must be accounted for ; and what the price will be God only knows : and at death , whether do you think the time spent in Humilation , Prayer , Hearing , Reading , Meditating , Christian Conference ; Exhorting the Careless , instructing the Ignorant , comforting the Dejected , visiting the Sick , relieving the Poor ; and generally in Acts of Piety and Charity ; will bring most comfort : or the time spent in Drinking and Drabbing , in Hawking , Hunting , Carding , Diceing , Cocking , Playing , or such like Vanities ? I know not what your thoughts be now , but I know what they will be hereafter ; God hath allowed us no time to spend idly , but all should be spent , either in our general or particular Calling ; or that which may enable us thereunto : but there are many that can spare no time from their Recreations , either for the one or the other ; but time will be better valued . Aggra . 8. By your accustoming your self to this filthy sin , you are grown more bold and impudent in it ; it hath almost , if not altogether , taken away the conscience of sin : you are almost come to that pass as those that God complained of , Jer. 6. 15. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination ? Nay , they were not ashamed , neither could they blush ; therefore they shall fall amongst them that fall , &c. Is not this your condition ? Nay , do you not rather boast of it ? And indeed this sin is grown very brazen faced in our dayes ; the time was when , They that slept , slept in the night ; and those that were drunk , were drunk in the night . This sin was a work of darkness , and like the Owl , was ashamed to be seen by day ; but now it fears no colours , men are not ashamed to be seen reeling in the streets , or vomiting in the Market-place , or dead-drunk at noon-day , or swearing in the Magistrates presence ; such a height of Impiety men are arrived at : but there was some hopes when sin was driven into corners , but there is little when it dares Authority and beards the Magistrate himself . By often sinning men come to be past feeling ; like a Workman's hand , by much labor is hardened . Conscience when 't is often check'd and snub'd , at last leaves checking ; and the Devil sears it with his hot iron , that it becomes unsensible ; but at last it will speak , and will not hold its peace : the Devil at last makes a path-way over the heart , and so all the seed is lost that falls upon this High-way ground ; and men become Sermon proof , and Ordinance proof : they can sit still and have Hell-fire flasht in their faces , and not regard it . What God speaks of the Leviathan , Job 4. 24 is true of them , in another sense ; Their heart is as firm as a stone , yea as hard as a piece of the neather millstone . The Acts of sin increase the habit , and at last it becomes as natural to them to sin as to live ; and they draw in iniquity as they draw in their breath : they commit sin as easily as water runs down the Channel . Custom breeds a second nature , of such doth God speak , Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin , or the Leopard his spots ; then may ye also do good , which are accustomed to do evil . Some vainly promise themselves repentance hereafter , but their deceitful heart puts a cheat upon them ; there is not one of many that send repentance thus before them , that ever overtake it . Those that have long accustomed themselves to sin , and those that have long enjoyed the means of grace , and are grown Sermon proof ; and those that have made Profession of Religion , and faln back , 't is a rare thing to see them prove true Converts . How much of this concerns you , let your own Conscience judge ; I do not say God will not receive such when they do come , but I have not observed many such willing to come . Aggra . 9. By this sinful course of yours , you also disable your self for doing that good in the place which God requires at your hands , and otherwise you might do , either to the souls or bodies of others : for the soul you have a great deal of knowledge , and might have been very instrumental of doing good in your place , either by admonition , exhortation , reproof , counsel , comfort , or such like ; but you have made your self incapable almost of doing any good this way , by your bad example : Who will think you are in earnest , when your actions give your tongue the lie ? Who will not think you do not believe your own words ? Do not you throw down with the one hand what you build with the other ? Who can think that you believe there is indeed such a deformity in sin , and such a beauty in holiness , that observes your life and conversation ? How can you say to your Brother , Let me pluck out the mote out of thy eye , when you have a beam in your own ? Will not he quickly say , Physician heal thy self : Qui alterum incusat probri ipsum se intueri oportet . He is an unfit reprover , that is guilty of the objected crime . And for the Body you likewise disable your self for doing that good that God requires , and which otherwise you might do . God hath given you a competent estate , whereby you may be helpful to those that want ; he gave it to this end , to feed the hungry and cloath the naked ; to be ready to do good , willing to distribute , and to be rich in good works . Think not that you are the chief Proprietor , you are but a Steward , and must give an account ; you may not do as you will with what you call your own : but if you dispose of your Estate according to the mind of God , he will give you sufficient wages . But by this your extravagant courses and excessive spending , you waste not onely your own part , but Gods part also ; which he hath reserved for the poor . All men are his servants , and what they have are but talents lent ; to some five , to some two , and to others one ; and where much is given , much will be required . The great Housholder provides meat for all his Family , but he keeps Stewards under him , to see they shall not want ; and to give them their meat in due season : and you are one of these . If now you beat your fellow servants , and eat and drink with the drunken , your Lord will come when you are not aware , and give you your portion with hypocrites ; Mat. 24. 49 , &c. The poor have a right to what you enjoy and can spare , and though they cannot challenge it and take it , yet God will vindicate their cause if it be denied or with-held . How much might you promote Religion and Gods interest in your neighbourhood , were your life and conversation exemplary ? But now you do more harm than good by your example , and it had been better the Countrey had not known you ; and that you had never known your Estate , if you thus proceed . Aggrav . 10. The Excessive wasting of your Estate , is no doubt a great sin in you at any time ; but at this time of scarcity especially , is a very great Aggravation . When there is complaining in our streets , and the Children cry for bread ; when there is none to break it , and many poor Families are ready to perish for want ; and a supply can hardly be found : When Corn hath been at such an excessive rate , 8 and 9 Shillings the measure . Eye the many poor Housholders that before made a handsome shift to live , are now forced to beg with their Wives and Families ; and some 't is believed have perished for want of Bread. Now at this time , when the hand of God is so evidently stretcht out against us , that you and such as you , if you were unconcerned , should thus waste and devour the good creatures wilfully ; which should keep poor Christians ; and one of you swallow down more in one day , than would keep a considerable Family with Bread a week . Will not the Lord visit for these things ; and will not his soul be avenged on such a people as this ? The great Housholder hath provided bread enough for all his Family , but that some of them by Gluttony and Drunkenness devour what the others should eat . Will he not call them to an account at last ? See how he likes of it , Isa . 22. 12 , 13. In that day did the Lord call for weeping and for mourning , and to baldness and girding with sackcloth ; and behold joy and gladness , slaying oxen and killing sheep , &c. and it was revealed in my ear by the Lord of hosts , surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die . God also threatens those , That they shall go captives with the first that go , that drink wine in Bowles and annoint themselves with chief ointment , and forget the afflictions of Joseph , Amos 6. 6 , 7. And the blood of those which have perished for want of those creatures which you have wilfully wasted , God will lay at your door . In a word , consider your pious Education , your former holy Conversation , the Convictions upon your spirit ; knowing and acknowledging your courses bad : The profession of Religion you have made , the incouragements which you gave , the sading of the hearts of the Godly , the strengthening the hands of the wicked , the vows and covenants you have made to God , and promises to men ; the grief you bring your friends and relations , the hardning of your heart by custom , the disabling your self to do good to soul or body ; and the wilful wasteing of the creatures in this time of need ; will all rise up in judgment against you . Obj. 1. But it may be you will object and say , You do not drink to Drunkenness , you can carry it away well enough ; you stagger not over it , neither do you vomit as others do : And though I fear this excuse cannot always be pleaded , yet if it were taken for granted , 't is but a Fig-leaf to cover your nakedness , and will prove too thin and short . A Man may drink to excess that can carry it away as you say . We read of Benhadad , whom God himself tells us was drinking himself drunk with the thirty two Kings that were with him ; and yet could give directions to his Souldiers : yea , escaped away on Horse-back with his Army . The trial of Drunkenness which we have amongst many , is not the same with Gods : many think that Man is not drunk that can crawl out of the Carts way , or rise himself out of the Fire , or hit Fingers with another ; but they are not competent Judges in that case , that are themselves so nearly concerned . 'T is not only Drunkenness that trips up a Mans heels , that he cannot go nor stand , but when a Man over-affects Drink , or spends too much time , or too much money ; or wastes the good creatures needlesly ; that drinks too much for his purse , or too much for his health , or too much for his reason : For a Man hath no more reason to drown his time , to drown his estate , or his credit , than he hath to drown his wit ; for all these are Talents for which he must be accountable . But suppose you are stronger than others , and can drink more ; is this therefore a Warrant so to do ; see whether God seals it or no : Isaiah 5. 22. Wo unto them that are mighty to drink Wine , and Men of strength to mingle Strong Drink . Must God be dishonoured , the Creature abused , because thou hast a stronger brain ; 't is pity mercies should be so abused : but besides this guilt , are you not in the mean time guilty of the Drunkenness of others ; have you not forced them to it , that you may laugh at their folly ? See then what the Lord saith to you ; Hab. 2. 15 , 16. Wo unto him that giveth his neighbour Drink , that puttest thy Bottle to him , and makest him drunken also ; that thou mayst look on their nakedness : Thou art filled with shame for glory : drink thou also , and let thy fore-skin be uncovered : the cup of the Lords right hand shall be turned unto thee , and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory . Now if you glory in your strength to drink , and this too common ; consider this Text , and see what will be the issue : The Cup of Gods Indignation will be such as you cannot bear ; thy own sins are great enough , you need not other mens . Obj. 2. Perhaps you will say , We have the Examples of many , yea , many great Men , and many learned Men , and of some good Men also , for our imitations : Yea , this Disease is Epidemical and grown common , both in Court and Country ; and when a fashion is become National , 't is no discredit to wear it ; and 't is true , the more is the pitty : Examples of great ones are very prevalent , and if bad infectious ; these are Stars of the first Magnitude ; and like the primum mobile , carry all before them : and they have oft times a hand in the transgression , and leave an infectious air , that few can escape that comes near them . What a sad Example did Benhadad and thirty two Kings that were with him give to their followers , when they were all drunk : but will this excuse serve our turns before God ; did it excuse poor Men before the Flood , that great ones did thus or thus ; or in Sodom , that the Rulers were in the transgression ? Should they command sin , they are are not to be obeyed ; because 't is forbidden by a greater Authority : how much less when we are left at liberty . Great Men are not always good Men , neither is their example always imitable ; 1 Cor. 1. 16. Not many Wise Men after the Flesh , not many Mighty , not many Noble are called : The greatest number commonly are the worst , and the greatest men not always the best : had Nooh followed the examples of the ●●●…at ones of his age , he might have been ●●●…wned for company : It was better be in the 〈◊〉 alone , than in the Flood with company . I ●●●…nking and drabbing is too much in fashion in these times , but 't is a bad fashion , and that for which the land mourns ; and God hath a controversie with us ; and threatens to pluck the Cup from the Drunkards Mouth ; 4 Hos . 1. 2 , 3. and such customes are better broken then kept . The way to Hell is most trodden , and most mens custom is to walk in it ; but wo to that man that follows that fashion : We must not follow a multitude to do evil . We are the sinful off-spring of Adam , and therefore like him we frame excuses , and seek to lay the fault upon another : I was forc'd , I could not help it ; I must pledg the Health : But had we known there had been Poyson in the Cup , we would have helpt it . Harpaste , a Woman in Seneca , being in the night suddenly struck blind ; she blames the darkness of the House , the Sun for not rising , &c. but would not acknowledge her own Deficiency . Thus 't is with us , any shall be faulted so we be free ; like the man that had a Thorn in his foot , yet imputed his halting to the roughness of the way ; no man can live in such an age , but he must do as others do ; but no man should break Gods Command to please any Mans humour . That the sin is grown National , 't is so much the sadder , and presages a National judgment ; as Sodoms sins and the sins of the Old World did ; and Israels before the Captivity : When it hid it self in corners there was hopes , but when it dares the Magistrate , and sends a Challenge to God himself ; the Ulcer is desperate , and the Member more fit to be cut off than cherished : When rotten Fruits hangs out in the sight of the Sun , and Men declare their sin as Sodom and hide it not ; what can we expect but Sodoms Plagues : But blessed be God there is no force upon us , Men may be sober if they will , and many are ; yea many Noble and Learned : why do you not follow their examples which is worth imitating . I know vicious great Men , are like Load-stones that draw Iron ; that if a Chain of Iron be near , the Loadstone draws the first Link , then the second , till the whole Chain comes ; so the Devil puts such an influence in men , that one draws his neighbour and he a third , till most are corrupted : or rather they are like to Jet that draws Straws , or light refuse ; but no solid thing : They are like to Gun-powder , when one corn is fired it fires the next , and that another , till all be in a flame . The Devil is like a cunning Angler , he holds out the Bait , but hides himself behind the Bush : many are fastened with the Bait before they see the hand that holds it . The Devil doth not thrust a Man into an Ale-house by the Head and Shoulders , this might terrifie him ; but he sets Good-fellows at the Ale House door to call him : And then he apprehends no danger . And for the falls of the godly as they are rare , so they are not recorded for our imitation but caution ; they shew not what we should do , but what we should beware : they are as Sea-marks , set up to warn others ; and what mad Pilot will rush upon such places , where he knows other Ships have there been split . The best men are not always to be imitated ; we must follow Paul as he follows after Christ ; to the Word and to the Testimony : This is a sure guid . Obj. 3. But I must do as others do , or I shall be mockt , scorned , and had in derision ; should I refuse their healths , what would they think of me ? Answ . This is an unsafe Rule to follow : Some break their Necks , hang themselves ; must we needs follow them for fear of a scorn ; some turn Thieves , Hackers ; and come to the Gallows ; and must we follow them also . If you do as others do , you must fare as others fare , and receive your wages together : If you follow the greatest company , it will be in the worst way ; for most miscarry and go to Hell. Christ tells us broad is the way that leads to Destruction , and many men go that way . Who is it that will mock you for keeping the Commands of God ? Not one that loves God , Ior oves your Soul , or that carries the face of an honest Man ; and those that have neither good word for God , or for any good Man , for the Word of God , or the Image of God ; what matter is it if they have none for you : Those that hate God and Godliness , and every thing that looks like God ; that love none but those that will damn their own Souls with them for company ; what is their love worth ? Will you venture for their love to have Gods hatred , and to go to Hell to bear them company ? Were a Malefactor going to Execution ; and laught at you that you would not bear him company ; would this move you so to do ? By this rule indeed Daniel might have escaped the Lions Den ; and the three Children the Fiery Furnace ; but not the wrath of God. Probably God was mockt in the Old World , and Lot in Sodom ; but they could not mock them out of their innocency : 'T is better have the Devil mock them , than God mock them ; Prov. 1. 24. Take heed of being mockt out of Heaven , lest when you come to Hell you be laught at for your labour . The seed of the Serpent will alwayes oppose the seed of the Woman ; and faithful Isaac shall meet with a scoffing Ishmael ; Gods Ark and the Devils Dagon cannot stand together : Christ and Belial cannot accord : the world will love her own , and cannot abide that Christ should pluck one feather from her wing . If you are content to take up with the World , and the World shall pay you your portion , then 't is not best to cross the World ; if not 't is impossible to please it : God willl not allow us to do the Devils drudgery for fear of a scorn from his servants . Christ gave no dispensatition to break his Laws rather than be scorn'd . Obj. 4. But though I do follow these Courses for a while , yet I intend hereafter to repent and to reform . Why may not I do as the Penitent Thief did ? And you may ( saith one ) as rationally conclude that the Sun shall stand still at your command , because it did so at the Command of Josuah ; or that the Sea should divide to let you pass , because it did so for Israel : Or that you may spur your Ass and make him speak , as Balaam did : Or that you may take a journey and leave your money behind , in hope to find a purse of Money in your way , as some others have done . Were not these think you mad conclusions , and truly this is as reasonless . One man in five thousand years was saved by late repentance , therefore I shall be a second , when five thousand men in one year miscarry upon the like account . God doth seldom work such miracles , where the means of grace is afforded ; perhaps it was the first Sermon that ever this Thief heard , but you have heard thousands : There are indeed many , that like you , send repentance and religion before them to sixty ; but such men seldom ever overtake it . Do you really think that God will take up with the blind and the lame , will he give us leave to sacrifice the prime and marrow of our time to the Devil , and give him the dregs and the refuse ? Will he suffer you to do the Devils work all day , and receive his wages at night ? No , no , most men deal by God , as bad Debtors do by their Creditors , beg more time , and put it off from one week to another , and then break and never pay ? So they break their time with God , but never come to make good their promises . More Objections might be answered , but there is none that can stumble a rational unprejudiced man : and I have already far exceeded my intended limits , I shall therefore draw towards a conclusion . Thus have I performed a Christian , though perhaps an unwelcome duty , in putting you in remembrance of what you knew before ; if you would not lose all your pains for Heaven , and all the duties that ever you performed ; and have them all thrown back into your face as dung : If you would not lose Gods Favour , the benefit of Christs Merits , your own Soul , Heaven , and Happiness , Consider from whence you are fallen and return and do your first works : If you have found out any nearer , easier way to Heaven than ever any yet could do ; demonstrate it , and convince us of it ; but before you venture your Soul upon it , be sure it ends there : the attempt of any such experiments will prove vain ; for if there be any but the path of Holiness that ends in Happiness , then call me a false Prophet ; or if there be any other way into Gods Holy Hill , than by a pure Heart and clean Hands , then am I content to be called a deceiver ; but if I be deceived God himself hath deceived me , who tells me , Without Holiness no one shall see God ; without Faith no one can please God ; without repentance we shall all perish ; that no unrighteous person shall enjoy Heaven , and no unregenerate man shall ever enter there ; that those that live after the flesh shall die ; that the ungodly shall go into everlasting punishment , but the righteous into Life eternal : Those that think otherwise will find that God speaks in earnest what they took in jest . The time is comming , that you will find it had been better for you that you had never known the way of life , then having known it to depart from it . If you give up the Reins to corruption , it will mislead you , and prove a treacherous guid ; if you decline the way of self-denial , you will miss of Heaven ; for none ever come there any other way Loose licenciousness and carnal liberty , is diametrically opposite to it ; wicked company if you forsake them not , will be your bane ; and if repentance prevent it not , you will curse the time that ever you saw each others face . What ever Society or Party a man be , what ever Religion or Opinion , though in the most Reformed Church , and in the Society of the strictest Christians ; yet without the power of Godliness , and the practice of Holiness , he shall never go to Heaven ; for no unclean thing shall ever enter there : no dirty Dog shall tread upon that pavement . Or what ever his Profession , or seeming Holiness hath been , yet if he backslide , he shall die in his sins , and his righteousness shall not be remembred : The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways ; Prov. 13. 20. He that puts his hand to the plow and looks back , he is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven ; if any draw back , Gods Soul shall have no pleasure in them . Thus have I made bold , perhaps you may think too bold , to tell you my thoughts of your present condition ; perhaps you may dislike it because 't is not in the Language of your flatterers ; but to skin over a sore is not the way to cure it ; The rebukes of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy . Rebuke a Wiseman , saith Solomon , and he will love you . Let the Righteous smite me , saith David , Psal . 141. 5. it shall be a kindness ; and let him reprove me , it shall be an excellent Oyl which shall not break my head . What event it will have upon you I know not , or what entertainment it will meet with I cannot tell ; though you will not receive it , my reward will be with my God , and my judgment with the most High , whose Errand it is I am come upon ; and he that knows the secrets of all hearts , knows whether it be in love or hatred that I have dealt so plainly with you : Had I hated you , I know no more effectual means to ruin you , than to incourage you in this sinful course ; and if I meet with hatred for my love , 't is no more than I am acquainted with Well if you neglect this warning and miscarry , these lines will be a witness upon record against you ; and I my self shall stand up in my lot to bear witness for God , that he sent you this warning by me : but my end and design is next to Gods Glory , your Reformation and Salvation ; which as it is my desire , so it shall be the prayers of him who is EATON . April 30. 1675. Your faithful Monitor EDWARD BVRY . FINIS . Books to be sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside . SErmons upon the whole Epistle of Saint Paul to the Colossians , by Mr. John Daille : Translated into English by F. S. Thomas Taylor 's Works , the First Volume , fol. These two Treatises next following , are written by Mr. George Swinnock . The Door of Salvation Opened , by the Key of Regeneration . The Incomparableness of God in his Being , Attributes , Works , and Word , opened and applied . An Antidote against Quakerism . By Steven Scanderet . An Exposition on the Five first Chapters of Ezekiel , with useful observations thereupon . By Will. Greenhill 4to . The Gospel-Covenant , or the Covenant of Grace opened : Preached in New-England , by Peter Bulkely , 4to . God's Holy Mind touching Matters Moral , which himself uttered in Ten Words , or Ten Commandments ; also an Exposition on the Lords Prayer . By Edward Elton B. D. 4to . 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The Godly Mans Ark , or City of Refuge in the day of his Distress in 5 Sermons ; with Mrs. Moor's Evidences for Heaven . By Ed. Calamy . The Almost Christian discovered : or the False Professor tryed and cast . Spiritual Wisdom improved against Temptation . Both by M. Mead. The True Bounds of Christian Freedom : or a Discourse shewing the Extents and Restraints of Christian Liberty , wherein the Truth is setled ; many Errours confuted , out of John 8. ver . 36. The Lords day enlivened , or a Treatise of the Sabbath . By Philip Goodwin . The Sinfulness of Sin , and the Fulness of Christ , two Sermons . By Will. Bridge . A Plain and Familiar Method of instructing the younger sort , according to the lesser Catechism of the late Reverend Assembly of Divines . By Tho. Lye. FINIS .