Page images
PDF
EPUB

perhaps at last he knows not: for fuch brutality are fome come to, they will fip themselves out of their own knowledge. This is the luft of the flesh, that is not of the Father, but of the world: for upon this comes in the mufic and dance, and mirth, and the laughter which is madness, that the noise of one pleasure may drown the iniquity of another, left his own heart fhould deal too plainly with him. Thus the luxurious live; they forget God, they regard not the afflicted.' O that the fons and daughters of men would confider their wantonnefs and their iniquity in these things! How ill do they requite the goodness of God in the ufe and abuse of the plenty he yields them: how cruel are they to his creatures, how lavish of their lives and virtue, how thankless for them; forgetting the giver, and abusing the gift by their lufts; and defpifing counsel, and cafting inftruction behind them. They lofe tenderness, and forget duty, being fwallowed up of voluptuoufnefs; adding one excefs to another. God rebuked this fin in the Jews by the prophet Amos: Ye that put 'far away the evil day, and cause the feat of violence to come near; and lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the stall; and chant to the found of the viol, and invent to them⚫ felves instruments of mufick, like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ' ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Jofeph.-Thefe, it feems, were the vices of the degenerate Jews, under all their pretence to religion; and are they not of Chriftians at this day? Yea, they are; and these are the great parts of luxury ftruck at in this discourse. Remember Dives, with all his fumptuous fare, went to hell: and the apoftle pronounces heavy woes upon thofe whofe God is their belly;' for fuch glory in their fhame "."

[ocr errors]

Chrift places these things to the courts of worldly kings, not his kingdom; making them unseemly in his

b Eccl. ii. 2.

• Amos vi. 3, 4, 5,
L 3

6.

Phil. iii. 19.

followers:

[ocr errors]

followers his feast therefore (which was his miracle) to the multitude, was plain and fimple; enough, but without curiofity, or the art of cookery: and it went down well, for they were hungry; the beft and fittest time to eat. And the apostle, in his directions to his much beloved Timothy, debases the lovers of worldly fulness; advising him to godlinefs and content, as the chiefeft gain:' adding, and having food and raiment, let us therewith be content.' Behold the abstemious, and most contented life of thofe royal pilgrims, the fons of heaven, and immortal offspring of the great power of God; they were in fafts and perils often, and eat what was fet before them; and in all conditions learnt to be contented. O bleffed men! O bleffed fpirits! let my foul dwell with yours for ever!

§. III. But the diseases which luxury begets and nourishes, make it an enemy to mankind: for befides the mischief it brings to the fouls of people, it undermines health, and fhortens the life of man, in that it gives but ill nourishment, and fo leaves and feeds corrupt humours, whereby the body becomes rank and foul, lazy and fcorbutick; unfit for exercise, and more for honeft labour. The fpirits being thus loaded with ill flesh, and the mind effeminated, a man is made unactive, and fo unufeful in civil fociety; for idleness follows luxury, as well as diseases. These are the burdens of the world, devourers of good things, felflovers, and fo forgetters of God; but (which is fad, and yet juft) the end of those that forget God, is to be turned into hell '.'

§. IV. But there is another part of luxury, which has great place with vain man and woman, and that is the gorgeoufnefs of apparel; one of the foolisheft, because moft coftly, empty and unprofitable exceffes people can well be guilty of. We are taught by the fcriptures of truth to believe that fin brought the first coat; and if confent of writers be of force, it was as well without

C

1 Tim. vi. 6, 7, 81⁄2 91⁄2 10, 11,

f

• Pfal. ix. 17.

as

as within: to thofe that fo believe, I direct my discourse,. because they, I am fure, are the generality. I fay, if fin brought the first coat, poor Adam's offspring have little reason to be proud or curious in their clothes; for it seems their original was bafe, and the finery of them will neither make them noble, nor man innocent again. But doubtlefs bleffed was that time, when innocence, not ignorance, freed our first parents from fuch fhifts: they were then naked, and knew no shame; but fin made them ashamed to be longer naked. Since therefore guilt brought shame, and fhame an apron and a coat, how very low are they fallen, that glory in their fhame, that are proud of their fall? for fo they are, that use care and coft to trim and fet off the very badge and livery of that lamentable lapfe. It is all one, as for a man that had loft his nose by a fcandalous diftemper, to take pains to set out a falfe one, in fuch shape and, fplendor, as fhould give but the greater occafion for all to gaze upon him; as if he would tell them, he had loft his nose, for fear they should think he had not. But would a wife man be in love with a false nose, though ever fo rich, and however finely made? Surely no: and fhall people that call themselves Chriftians, fhew so much love for clothes, as to neglect innocence, their first cloathing? Doth it not fhew what cost of time, pains, and money, people are at to fet off their fhame, with the greatest fhew and folemnity of folly? is it not to delight in the effect of that caufe, which they rather should lament? If a thief were to wear chains all his life, would their being gold, and well made, abate his infamy? to be fure his being choice of them would increase it. Why, this is the very cafe of the vain fashion-mongers of this fhameless age; yet will they be Chriftians, judges in religion, faints, what * not? O miferable state indeed! to be fo blinded by the luft of the eye, the luft of the flesh, and the pride of life, as to call fhame decency, and to be curious and expensive about that which fhould be their humiliation.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

And not only are they grown in love with thefe vanities, and thereby exprefs how wide they are from primitive innocence; but it is notorious how many fashions have been and are invented on purpose to excite luft: which still puts them at a greater distance from a fimple and harmless state, and enflaves their minds to bafe concupifcence.

[ocr errors]

§. V. Nor is it otherwife with recreations, as they call them; for these are nearly related. Man was made a noble, rational, grave creature: his pleasure ftood in his duty, and his duty in obeying God; which was to love, fear, adore, and ferve him; and in ufing the creation with true temperance and godly moderation as knowing well that the Lord, his judge, was at hand, the infpector and rewarder of his works. In fhort, his happiness was in his communion with God; his error was to leave that converfation, and let his eyes wander abroad, to gaze on tranfitory things., If the recreations of the age were as pleasant and neceffary as they are faid and made to be, unhappy then would Adam and Eve have been, that never knew them. But had they never fallen, and the world not been tainted by their folly and ill example; perhaps man had never known the neceffity or ufe of many of these things. Sin gave them birth, as it did the other; they were afraid of the prefence of the Lord, which was the joy of their innocency, when they had finned; and then their minds wandered, fought other pleasures, and began to forget God; as he complained afterwards by the prophet Amos: They put far away the evil day: they eat the fat of the flock: they drink wine in bowls: they an⚫oint themselves with the chief perfumes: they stretch themselves upon beds of ivory: they chant to the found of the viol, and invent unto themselves in-. ftruments of mufick, like David, not heeding or remembering the afflictions and captivity of poor Jofeph;' him they wickedly fold, innocency was quite banished, and fhame foon began to grow a custom,

[ocr errors]

Amos vi. 3, 4, 5, 61

[ocr errors]

till they were grown fhameless in the imitation. And truly, it is now no lefs a fhame to approach primitive innocence by modeft plainnefs, than it was matter of fhame to Adam that he loft it, and became forced to tack fig-leaves for a covering. Wherefore in vain do men and women deck themselves with fpecious pretences to religion, and flatter their miferable fouls with the fair titles of Chriftian, innocent, good, virtuous, and the like, whilft fuch vanities and follies reign. Wherefore to you all, from the eternal God, I am bound to declare, 'you mock him that will not be mocked, and

deceive yourselves;' fuch intemperance muft be denied, and you must know yourselves changed, and more nearly approach to primitive purity, before you can be entitled to what you do but now ufurp; for none but those who are led by the Spirit of God, are ⚫ the children of God,' which guides into all temperance and meeknefs.

[ocr errors]

§. VI. But the Christian world (as it would be called) is justly reproveable, because the very end of the first inftitution of apparel is grofsly perverted. The utmoit fervice that clothes originally were defigned for, when fin had ftripped them of their native innocence, was, as hath been faid, to cover their fhame, therefore plain and modeft: next, to fence out cold, therefore subftantial laftly, to declare fexes, therefore diftinguishing. So that then neceffity provoked to clothing, now pride and vain curiofity: in former times fome benefit obliged,, but now wantonnefs and pleafure: then they minded them for covering, but now that is the leaft part; their greedy eyes must be provided with gaudy fuperfluities; as if they made their clothes for trimming, to be seen rather than worn; only for the fake of other curiofities that muft be tacked upon them, although they neither cover fhame, fence from cold, nor diftinguish sexes; but fignally display their wanton, fantastick, full-fed minds, that have them.

i Gal, vi. 7,

* Rom. viii. 14. Gal. v. 24.

§. VII. Then

« PreviousContinue »