TIJe %/ e.unejs of tbe fin of Flejh.pleafing. for the plcaling of 'c..ur tl.lbly appt:tirts and fancies, its evident that fldh~pleafing is the c.)n,n 1 on cauft of thuu <11! ; anJ is to all orher liu as the fpring is to tile watch, or the pqi[c ro rhc dock ; the wtight which gtVdh ~ thtm all their mmi..:m. Cure th1s lin and you have takm off· rhe poik, and cund all rhe pvjitille hns of rhe foul: Though the priv.Jtive fins would be Hill uncured, if rhcre wue no mon: dom.; B cJufe ;ha[ owhich makes the clock Hand fiill, i's ·nor enough to rnake it go righr: • But indeed nothing, bur the Lwe of Pl~afing God, can truly cure the Love r,f fltfh·pleafing; and fuch a cure is the cure of tve;ry fin, burh polmve and privative, aCtive and dckd-ive. §. 7· z. Flcjh-plr•furg is the Graud Jd,latry of the world: 3nd the Flejh the greatt{l Idol that ever wc.s kt"up againfi God. Thcrtfore Paul fa1th of fenfual worldlings, that tbeir Bt4'y i1 tbeir GoJ, and thence it is that thly mind eartbly thing1, and glory in tbeir jhame, and ate enemie.r to the err{! of Cbri{f, that is ro JUfferingr tor Chrijl, and the doctrine and dutits which would c.mfe their fuffn~ ing~. That is J n.af15 God which he taketh !or his chidGood, and Loveth bdl, and tn1lh:th in moH and is moft ddirous tO p1t,1fc : And this is the fiejh to every fenfualit\: He lovcth pleafure more tb.J; God, 2 Tim. 3• 2, 4• ' He [Jvouretb or mindeth the tbipgs of the jlcjh, aud liveth to ir and walk$th aftu it: Rom. 8. 1 1 5, 6 7 8. Ij. H~ mal:.fth provifion for it .to faiJfie itJ appetite or IH{f1, Rotn. 13. 14• H< fon ttb '" tbcfi•Jh ; Gll. 6. 8. and fullfillcth his lull, when it lulleth •gainit the fpiric, Gal. 5· 16 , 7 • And rl.us whi!e cor;cupif~er.ce or 'Lnfuality harh dominion, tin is faid to have dominion ovtr rht:m) ahd they arc ft rvams tO H, Ram. 6. If, 20. for t(J whom mm yield tbe,Jljr/vcs fervantJ to obey, hidfer~ vants thty are wh{m tlHy [tn-eorobey: Rt. m. 6. 16. le is not bowing the knee and praying to anorher; that is rhe chi{f JduLt1y : A;, L11vi.,rg, and Phafing, ar.d Obrying, and 1rujling, and Setkin7,, and Dc– ligf.>ting in him, are the chidttl parts of the ftrvicc of God, which he prd'crrc:th befOre a thoufond fo– crifias or complemcntJ : So Lovin~ the fL!b, and PlttJfing it, and Obeying it, and Trlfjling in it, and Scckjng, and Delighting in its pleafurts, are the chief fuvice of th~ Fhjh ; and ma.c than if you of– fered bcriticc to it , and thcrdore is the Grand id,datr)l: And fo che flt.fh is the great e, 1 emy of God, which hath the chil.fcH LL~~and Service which is due ro him, and robs him of tht: Hearts or all man~ kind thJt a1C (a~~ ... anJ unf~ihLd. A!l the Ba:~IJ, and Jupitcrs, and ApoUou and other Idols of the world, fr.:t !Qglfflcr h~vc not fo much ot the Love and Service due to God, as the Flcjh a/,~,u hath. If other thing; be Jilolized hy tht fenflulill, it is bur as they fubfirve hi< firjh, •nd therefore thLy ate made bllt iJ,JCrirJr ld~·IJ : He n1Jy Idolize his wc.;lth, and Idolize men in power and worldly greatnefs; bur it is bur as thty can hdp or hurr his Flcfh : Th:s hath his Htan : By the imerdi of the flc.:ll1, he judgeth of his condition ; by this ht judgeth of his friends: By rhis he choolerh his aCtions or refu .. 1Cth them; and by this he meafureth rhe words and ad ions of all others. H.: takts all for Good which plcafcth his Flcjh, and all for bad thac is :~gaintl his plcafure. • §. 8. 3· The j/cjh is n~t only the commott Idol, but the mo~ devouring Idol in a11 the world. It hath not, as [ubtervierft A.urertd Idols have, only a knee and compltm<.nt, or now and then a facri~ f.ce or c~rcmonic; but it harh rhe heart, the- tongue, rhe body to ferve it; the rrhole cjlate, the fnvice of friends, the ufe of wit and uunoll diligence; in a word, it hath All. It is loved and ferved by rhc fenfualiH, as God fhould be loved and fcrved by his own, <.ven n·ith aU the He<zrt, and Soul and Mitrht: They honrur it rritb thei•· fobjfance and the firjf fruiu of thtir i11creafe. It is as faithfully fcr~ed as Chrifi rcquirerh to be of his difciplcs : Men will pur with F,;tbcr and Mother and Brother 1~tttl. Sifttr and mare/f fr.:wdJ, and all that is againH it, for the pleaftng of their ftefh: Nay CbriH re– quired men to part w1th no great~r matter for him tha~ tranfirory ~.:arthly things, which they rnuH thortly part with whether they will or no : but they du tor the fleth rcn thoufand thoufand fold more thon ever they·wer< required to do for Chrill : They f orfak..e God for it . They fodake Chriji a,d J-liavcn and their Salvation for it ; They forfake all the {olid cum,ol cs of this life, and ail the Joys of dH.: life to 'Come for it. They fell all .that they have and ily down the price at its felt; Yea more than all tbey have, even all cbdr Hopu of what they might b<Jvt to all ercrnity: They {l!ifer a mar~ tyrdom in the flames of Hell for c.ver, for ihtir fkfll: All the pains tLt) take is for it: All the wrong they do to others; and all the llirs anci ruincs that they make in the world,is for it: And all rhe time they fpcnd is for ir; and had th~y a thoufand ytars more to live thty would fpmd it all accord– ingly: lf any thing feem exc(.'ptcd for God, iris but the bones, or crums, or lcavings of the fldh: Or rathLr its nothill\j : For God hath not indeed the hours whicl"' he ftcmc; to have: Hr.: hath but a ftw fair words and comt-ltmtnts, whtn the A.fh hath their hearts in the rnidJl of their hypocritical worlll1p, and on his l\oly day: And they ferve him but as the Indians fe1ve the Dtvil, that he m.ry (~,;rve their turns, ond do thun no hur. · j5. 9· 4· How b-Ji aJt Jd,l is the Fl.jh l If all the derifion ufcd by Elij•b and the Prophets again!\ the Hc.:~thenifh Idolatry, bL du(·, is not as much due againtl the Idolatry of all the fmfua.l? ls 1t fo great a madll(.fs to fetvt: an Idol of fi!vcr, or gold, or !lone, or wood? What better is it rofuveau Idol of fldh and blood? A paunch of gurcs? Thats full of tilch and excn ..ments-wirhin, and the skin it fdf, thedu.ndl part, rs afham~,;d robe uncovered ? "vVe may fay to the Carnal world ling as E!ijab to the B.:a. 1ijli ;u;d more : Call upon your God in the hour of your difircfs: Gty aloud: Perhaps he is a11cep, o b,owing his nuk, or vomiting or purging; Certainly he will be fl~orrly rotting in tbr grav , c loathfom than thL· dirt or dung upon the earth: A11d is this a God to facritice all that W( can _, o >And to g1VL' ·all our time and care and labour, and our"fuuls and all co? 0 judge of this !dui«·) asGod will make you judge ar !all! ~· 10· 5· And here next confider, how impiozu and horrid an abaflmem it is of the eternal God, to pefer fo 1,;i/e., thing belorc him? And whether every ungodly fenfual man, be not ·· conff.rnt pradi~ &li Blafpheamer? What dot! tbou but fay continually by thy practice, [This dun!lhil, natly fi•Jh is to be
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