174 The deceìtfulnejie of mani heart. ...«... .` .110" += t 9$ CHAP. XIV. Of two other deceitful excufes offinne, and the ufe oft he whole. lle,f ft deceitful) excufe is that ofcuflame:O ray fo me, when they are rebuked for their wearing, idle and vaine formes of fpeech< and fuch like fins:truely tre meant no hurt ,it is onelye enflame we have got,axd cannot now eafily leave. What wretched madneflle is this, that becaufe we are come to the very height of frnne, (for what elfe is cuftomein finne) wee fhould therefore thinke c-ur felves priviledged to frnne; that cuftome in fume, then which nothing increafeth finne more, fhould be ufed as an extenuation thereof ? The Apple Pe ter, when he would diffwade us from the mif -fpen- ding of our time in fin and vanity, though he could de no better argument then this; that heretoforeit hat h beene our cuftome of a long time Co to doe: Hence forward (faith he) live (as much time as remai- neth in the flefb) not after the loft ofsven,but after the will ofGod. Why ? for, it is fuficient for vs that wee have (pent the time pail ofour life,a liter the lofts of the Gentiles,wal4ing inWantonnef e, &c.Loe,how he ag- gravates their former frnnes, and fo perfwades' them to delft, becaufe they had fo long accuftomed rhemfelves thereto. Doft thou then make a but of thy cuftome ? Oh fir, it is but a cufiome. Why,what canft thou fay more againft thy felfe ? Ifthou hadít fworne but once in all thy life,it had bcene a finne heavy 5. Cu Rome, I Pet.4.:3:
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