The carifes of Gluttony. honcllfidelity. You'll fay, what will men think of us if we o,ould not perfwade them to ear rnucl more if we lhould dd!re thtm to eac no more? I anfwcr, r. Regard your dmy more than wh;t me 1 think of you: Prefer virtrte lKfore the thoughts.or breath of men. 2. But ytr if you do it wife!); the wife and good will think much the better of you. You may cafily let them ffc that you do i~ nor in {Ordid fpuing, but in love of Temperance and of them ; if you fpNk but when there is: need either for eating mort or lefl; and if your difcourfe be t:irH in gcncr:~t for 1'emperaJtcc, and apply it not till you fee that they need help in the application. 3· lt is undenyable that hcalth(ul ptrfons are much more prone to cxccfs_, than to the dcjW in eating, and that nature is very much bent to Luxury.and Glut~ony,_ I think ?s ~nuch as ro any one fin ; and its as fure that it is a beajily bruding odioUI {m : And 1f thts be [o, ts Jt not clear that we fhould do a great deal more to help one another againfi fitch Luxury than to provoke them to it? Had we not a greater regard to mens favour and fanfics and reports than to God and the good of their fouls, tbec.1fe were fOon decided. H_i~tfl mos u~- 9· 1 z. 7• Another caufe of Gluttony is, that hich mm are lilOt acquainted with the troe Ufe of =~~~';_/:;:cq~:- Ric_hes, _uor think of the account which they mufi make to God of all they have : They think that tib"rral~sf:wr:mt thc1r Rt~he! are t~t!.ir ow;t,an~ that they may ufe them as they pleafc ; or that they a~c given them mccbJIJic.c as plentiful prov1hons for theJr flcfh, and they may ufe rhem for thcmfclvcs to fattsfie their own ro~fm: ipfiq;. defires, as long as they drop Come crums or fcraps, or fmall matters to the poor : They think they zu'b~Po;~mmay be (aved juH in the fame way that the Rich man in Lu~. 16. was damned; and he that would 1,;~:'fr~~ts !uve wa_rned his five Brethren that the~ come not to that place of torment, is yet himfclf no warn. urbiu•11, ~c pa_- mg to h1s followers: They are cloathed tn purple and fine !men or filk, and fQre fumptuoHjly or de.. trespJtn.eej]e licioufly every day; and have their good 'thing!in tbU life and perhaps think they merit by giving the fo!.-ltJL~~~~tarts fcraps to Lazarzu (which its like that. Rich man alfo ~id ). But God will one day make thc:m ;:tAj:,;:·slltq; k?ow' that the Rich:fi were but his su:wards, and fhould have made a be~ter diHributi?n 0~ his pro· i~telligas mtll,<m VJfions, and a bener unprovt:mcnt of hts Talems; and that they had nothmg of all the1r R1ches given tJP~~"tl'quJ:n them for any hurtful, or unprofitable pleafing of their Appetites, nor had no more allowance for !Jmn_f!lM_u, : Luxury than the poor. If they knew the Right ufeof Riches, it would reform them. t':;~;~r;:;d t:q- · 9·12: 8. ~nor her ~ufe of Gl~ttony is th.eir unacquaintednefs with thofe Rati~al and .. ~piritHal.ExGNI.r, a 11 t f'YIJ· ercifu m whtch the delightful fruttS ot Ahftmence do moll appear. A man that IS but a pamful fenous cul~ubio va-ti- Student, in any noble fiudy whatfoever, doth find a great deal of ferenity and aptimde come by Ttm– ta:u:Pctrarch. ptrance, and a great deal of cloudy mifiinefs on his mind, anddulnefs on his invention, come by [HI· ntP and excefs : And a man that is ufed to holy contemplations, meditation, reading, prayer, felf·cx– amination or any fpiritual converle above, or with his heart, doth eafily find a very great difference; how abjlhtmcc helpeth, and Luxury and fullnefs hinder him. Now thefe Epicurer have no acquain– tance with any fuch Holy or Manly works; nor any mind Of them,. and are therefore unacquaimed with the fweernefs and benefit of abftinence; and having no tafie or tryal of its benefits, they cannot valueir. They have nothing to do.when they rife from eating but a little talk about their worldly bufinefs, or complement and talk with company which expect them, or go to their fporrs to empty their paunches for another medc, and quicken their appetites lefi Luxury 010uld decay: as the lfraeI C<r. to. 7· litesworfl1ippcd the Golden Calf, (alfd as the Heathens their God Bacchm)Exod. 32. 5· Thry fate &mm to eat anddrink,_. and rofe ttp to pl:zy: Their dyet is fitted to their worJt! Their idle or worldly lives agiec with glrtttony: But were they accnfiomed to better work, they would find a nectJ!ity of a bet– Of this fee mOle in my Book offelf· , denyal. S~e PMar~+_s Precept> or health. mdyet. §· I 3. 9· AnOther great eau]<of Gluttony is mens beaftly ignorance of what is hurtful or helpful i:othdr very htalth: They make their Appetites their Rule for the qu.antity and quality of their food. And they think that natttreteacheth them 10 to do, becaufe it giveth them fuch an Appetitt, and be~ caufe it is the mcafure eo a beafi. And to prove themfclves Beajif, they therefore take it for their meafttre : As if their natttru were not Rational but only fenfitive ; or nature had not given them Reafun to be the fuperiour and Governour of fin]< l As if they knew not that God giveth the Bruits an appetite m ,re bounded bccau{e they have not Reafon to bound it ; and giveth them not the tem– ptation of your delicate varietiu; or giveth them a concoction anfwerable to their appetites ; and yet giveth m.m robe the Rational Govemour of thofe of them that are for his fpe:dal fervice and apt to exceed : And if his Swine, his Horfes, and his Cattle were all left to their Appetites, they would liv·e but a linle while. If promifcuom generating be not lawful in mankind, which is lawful in brujlf; why fliDuld they not confefs the lame of the Appetite. Men have fo much love of life and fear of death, that if they did but k11ow how much their Gluttony cloth hal\en rheir death, it would do more to rellrai11 it with the moll, than the fear of death eternal doth. But they judge of their digofiion by their prejil!t feeling : If thEy ficl >tot their fiomachs fick, or difpofed to vomit, or if no prefent pain correCl: them 1 they think their Gluttony doth not hurt them, and think they ha'Ve·c:aten no more than doth them good. But of this more anon in the Dire{ii()~JJ· 01 9. 1 4· 1 o. Another great cau[e of Gluttony is that it is grown the common cuftome, and being no,t known) is in no difgracc, unlefs men c:at till they fpew,. or to fomc extraordinary rneafare. And fo the meafure which every man ft:eth another ufe, he thinketh is moderationand is fit for him: whereas the ignorance of Phy_fick a11d matters of their own health, hath made Gluttony almoft a$ common 3$ eating, with thok tha_t :1rc not refirained by want or ficJtnefs: And fo ·every man is an example of evil to another, and encourage one another in the fin: 1f Gluttony were but in as ~eh di!gracc 3$ whoJ"rdJme, yea or as dru;zkwmji is, acd as eafily known, and as commonly ~aken nouce qf, 1t wpuld contribute much to a 'ommon reformation. · ll I. '1/u
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