'He greatnefs of the Jill of Flejh~pleajing. b: preferred before God: to be more loved and o~eyed and fer:red!. It deferveth .more _of .my time than he: It is more worthy of my delight and love. J God w11l be judge, ( and judge m nghtcouf– nefs ere long ) whether this bti not the daily language of thy life? though thy tongu~ be raught fume better manners > And whether this be Blaiphemy judge thy felt. Whether thou judge God or the flefh more worthy to be p~eafld, and ":hi~h rhou thinkefi it better ro plcafe, ac;k thy own heart, wht:n Cards, and Dice,..,and Eatmg, and Drmkmg, and Gallantry, and Idknefs, and Greatnefs, and Abun– dance, do all feem fo fwect unto thee, in compnifon of thy thoughts of God, and his holy word and fervice ! And when morning and night, and whenever thou art alone, rhofe thoughts can run out with unwearicdnefs or pleafure, upon theft provilionS for thy fl.dl1, which rhou canlt hardly torce to look up unto God, a quarter of an hour, rhough w~t~ unwilling_nefs. . §. 11 • 6. Think aHo what a,conumpt of Heaven 1t IS, to prefer the pleafing of the flejh before 1r. There is but two endJ which all men aym at ; the pleajing of the tlrJb on ~arth, or the mjoying of God in Htaven ( unlcfs any be deluded to think that he fhall have a tcnfual life hereafter roo, as well as here): And thefe two lland one againfi the other: And he that fcts up one, doth renounce (or as good as renounce) the other: If yee fow to the firfh,_ of the firfh ye fhaU reap corruption: But if ye JOw to tht Jpiri_t, of the [pirit ye jhaUreap ev~rlajfzng lift. G_al. 6. 8. Your wealth, and honour, and. fports and pleafures, and appetites are put m the fcales ag:nnfi Hcavtn, and all the Joys and Hopes hereafter, (To fay you hope ro h:1v~ them botb! is the cheat of infidelity, t~at believ~s not God) And is not Heaven mofl bafely efleemed of by tnofe, that prefer fo bafe a thrng before" ( §. 12 , 7 , Remember that jlejh-ple:J.jing is _a great cm~tempt and trtac_herie againlt the ~ul. It is a great conttmpt of an immortalfoul, w prefer Its ~orr_upttble fief!' before 1t , and to make Its fervaJtt to become its mallcr; and eo ride on horfeback,whtlc 1t goes,as Jt were,on foot: Is the ficfh worthy offo much rime and coil and care, and fo much ado as is made for it in the world, and is not a never dying foul worth more? Nay it is a br:trayirll of the foul: You fee up ics enemy before it; and pur its fafety inro an cncmiCJ hands: And you cat! away all its Joys and Hopes for the gratifying of 1he fiefh. Might it not complain of your cruelry and fay, Mufl my endlefs bappinefs be fold to purchate fo fhort a pleafure for your firjh? Mufi: Lbe undone fo~ ever, and lie in Hell, that ir may be firisfied for a licrle time:? But why talk I of the foul;- complai·nr? Alas it is itfelf that it muft complain of! For it ls its own doing! It bath its choice: The fiefh can burrcmpt it, and nor con/lr.:lin it: God harh put the chid power and government intO its hands: If it will fell its own eternal hopes, to pamper worms meat, it mull fpeed accordingly. You would not think: very honourably of that mans wit or honefiy, who would fell the patrimony of all his children, and all his friends that trufied him therewith, and after fell their perfons into flaverY, and all this to purchafe him a delicious fc.~att, with .fports and gallantry for a day ! And is he wifcr or better that felleth (in etfed:) the inheritance of his foul, and betrayeth it to Hell and Devils, for ever, and all this to purchafe the jlcjhly plta[ure of fo fhort a life ? §. 12. 8. Remember what a Beaftly lif~ it is, to be a finfualift. It is an unmalmin_gof your felves. Senfual pleafureJare bruiti"jh pleaforer: Beajfs have them as wdl as men. \Ve have rhe higher facul– ty of reatOn, to fubduc and rule the beJH!y part: And Reafon is the Man; and bath a higher kind of felicity to delight in : Do you think that Man is made tor no higher matters than a Beaft ? And that you have not a more noble objeCt for your dcligl~t than your Swine or D Jg hath, who have the plcafure of meat, .and lufi, and play, and cafe, and tancie as well as you? Certainly where finfual pleafuru arc preferred, betor.e the higher p1eafures of the foul, that man becomes a Beafi or worfe fubJeC:ting his Rea(on to his.bruiriil1 parr. ' , §. 1 3· 9· Think whar an inconjidcrable pitif~tl felicity, it i< that ficfhly perfons choofe: How fmaU and fhort as well as fo~did. 0 how quickly w!ll the _game be ended ( And·the delights of boy ling 1ufi be gone? How qutckly wlll the drmk be pafi theu throats, and theJr d:licate difhes be turned into filth? How 010rt is the fport and laughter of the fool >And how quickly will that face be the index of a J:'ained. body, or a grieved [elf-tormenting mind? It is ~ut a tCw days rill all their fiardy · greatnefs wJll be lcvclltd ; and the mofi. adorned pampetcd fl.e(h. wdl have no more to f11ew of all th.e pleafure ~hich was .ro dearly ~ought, th~n _a L::lZ~rJU, or the moll mortified faint. A f:w days w11l turn thcu pleafure mro at1guifh, and theJr JOihty mto groans, and their ofienrarion into lamen– tation) and all their glory into fhame, As every moment purs an end to all the pleafures of their lives thats pail, and it ~s now to ·them as if it had never been ; fo the lafi moment is at hand which will end the little that remains. And then the finner will with groans confers, that he bath ~ade a miferab!e choice, and that he might have had a morl!'durable pleafure if he had been wife. When the skull is cafi up with the fpade, to make room for a fucceffor, you may fee the hole where all the meat and drink went in, and the hidious feat of that face which fometime was the difcovery of wan– tonncfs, pride and fcorn : but you~ll fee no figns of mirth or pleafure. 9· 14· 10. Lallly confider, that there is fcarce a fin in the world moreunexcufab/e than this. The jltjh-plcajir feeth the end of all his G:nGal delights,_in the faces of the fick, and in the corps that are datly earned to the earth ; and m the graves, and bones, and dufi of thofe that fometime had as merry a life as he: His reafon can fay, all this is gone with them, and is as if it had never been· and fo it will !hortly be with me. He knoweth that all the pleafure of his life pafl is now of no vaiue to hirnfelf. His warnings are conflant, clofe and (cnfible : And therefore he h~th the greater fin. ~- zsI v.·
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