Serm 5. check Sin in eke firflrifings of it ? an w el nin will over night delire his friend not to give ear CO him, though (faith he) I plead earneltly to fleep a little longer, yet do not re- card chat, for I tell youof itbefore on purpofe, and I fhall thankyou when once I Ln up, for not letting me have my will. Thus tell thy felf aforehanc,that though under a drowfinefs,and Humber of fpirir,rhou arc re:dy to plead for the flefh,and to feel fome inclinations to fulfil its lulls, and art very loath to let them go unfatisfied,yet,if thou art but refolute, not tocomply with thy own foolifh and unreafonabledefires,thou wilt heartily thank thy felf.l mean,beentirely glad,when thy eyes are open, that thou haft overcome thy felf, and that Wifdom and Reafon, and Confcience have got the day.Refolve to remember this when tempta- tion comes the next time to affault thee,and play the man. Having laid down thefe direaions,by way of prevention again(' the time of conflidt,to prepare the foul aforehand, that in the affault it may not be vanquifhed, I come now to a Chrifiians behaviour in thepit, and parexyfine it felf, when the lulls of the flelh are flirting, and the great Rule to be obferved here, is this : As foon as ever thou perceivefl thine aeE`tions, and lugs begin togrow in- ordinate, and thy inferiour appetites to rebel, take thy felf t9 taok forthwith, and refs them withall thy might. Do not flay a moment, delay is unut- terably dangerous: who but a mad man that fees the Stable or Barn hard by his dwellinghoule jufl beginning tocatch fire,would (}and flill, and fay let it alone alittle, I would fee what will come of it ; twoor three minutes indulgence to the flame will embolden it withoutex- pedting his leaveor permiffion any longer, to devour,and rage,and con- fume,and carry all before it in defpite of his mightiefl refi(tances;when a little at firfl might have faced that vet damage, which his folly and .loytering bath oceafioned. How contemptible were thofe fires at fir(l, that in few hours have triumpht over finely Palaces, and turn'd fome- times vaft Cities intoheaps of duff and afhes ? How fmall an infirmity and diftemper negledled, bath ufhered in the molt fatal ficknefs ? And how often bath a trifling bruife or ftrain,been preface to a Gangrene,and the prick ofa pin or thorn, not looksafter timeenough, enforced the cuttingoff a leg,or arm,nay, proved mortal, and uncurable ? advantages to good,like Arithmetical progrefions, rife flowly, in fair and even inter- vals, but advantages to ill,like Geometrical,grow up prefently from little to vafl exceffcs. -Facilis defcenffuAverni. Sed revocaregradum fuperafque evaders ad auras Hic labor, &c. Virg:iEn.6. I' Mo ion Ios
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