449 / 514
itAfd.
7dXvt.3
TtaYLt
1tANCE,
86e,
44t
shall
eat
or drink,
we
ought
to
determine not
merely
by
pleasure and appetite,
nor
feed till
we
are unfit for ser-
vice.
If
we know,
or
have a good guess
before
hand,
that
this cup,
or
this dish,
will
render
us
unfit for the
proper
business
of
the
day,
or incapable
of
the several
duties
we
are called
to;
yet
if,
for
the sake
of
mere
sen-
suality,
we
venture upon
it,
God
will
number
it among
our
sins
against the
light
of
nature.
Those ends
there-
fore for
which
God
bath ordained our various
food,
both
in his creation and
in
his
providence,
'namely,
the
sup-
port of
nature, and
its
refreshment
;
let
these be
our de-
signs in
eating,
and
give
rules for
our determination what
food
we
should
partake
of.
It
must
be
granted
indeed,
that
a sickly
person
may
be
indulged
in more
solicitude
about
food,
and
may
make
it
a matter of
more distinguishing choice than persons
vi-
gorous and
healthy. But then the
great
end must stilt
be
kept
in the
eye,
that
is,
the recovery
of strength
for
future
service,
where they
are
much
cut
off from
present
work
:
For neither
the
sick
nor
the healthy should
live
for
the sake
of
eating,
but both
should
eat
for the sake
of
living
and
working.
Now
if
the
light of
nature
requires
such
purity and tem-
perance,
how
much more
doth
the gospel
of our Lord
Jesus
Christ
oblige
us
to
it
?
I.
It
is
the command
of
our
Redeemer,
"
that
we
take heed
of
surfeiting
and
drunkenness, lest
our hearts
at
any
time be
overcharged with
them,"
Luke
xxi.
3-t.
And
what charge doth the
holy
apostle
give,
Eph.
v. 18.
"
Be
not
drunken
with
wine,
wherein
is
excess,
but
be
ye
filled with
the Spirit, speaking to one
another
in
psalms
and
hymns,
and
spiritual
songs."
Do not
be
so
indulgent
to
your palate
and your glass,
as
to
let
excess
of
wine
overtake
you, Iest
you
Christians
should
do
as
heathens
have
done,
and break
out
into
irregular
songs,
and
licentious
or
profane
mirth; but
seek
rather
the
largest influences
of
the blessed Spirit, and
give
a sacred
loose to
a devout frame:
Break
out into
divine psalms
or
songs; comfort
yourselves,
and
edify
your neigh-
bours
thereby, In
Rom.
xiii.
l
,
14.
St.
Paul
advises us
how
we
should
behave ourselves
irr
this
point
:
"
Let
us
walk
honestly,
as in
the
clay,
not
in
rioting and
drunken
-
Aess;
---but
put
ye
o
-n
the
Lord Jesus
Christ, and
make