A Practical and Polemical Commentary Upon 2 Timothy 3-4, Part 1 · Subpart 3 · Section 6
Preservatives against this sin.
1. Take heed of Intemperance in eating and Drinking,Nunquam edacem putabo castum, ubi satietas, ibi Daemones choreas agunt. Hieronym. when men are fed to the full, then like pampered Stali…ns they neigh after their Neighbours wives. Ier. 5.9. Ezek. 16.49. Take away the fuell and the fire goeth out, take away the provender, and you'l tame the beast. Drunkennesse and Whoring are joyned together. Proverbs 23.31.33. Hos. 4.11.
2. Idlenesse breeds uncleannesse, as standing Pooles doe mudde. Ezek. 16.49. even a David if he be sleeping at home,Quaeritur Aegyptus quare sit factus adulter? In promptu causa est, desidiosus erat. Ovid. Nunquam vacat lascivire districtis. Seneca Epist. 56. when he should be at Warre, may catch a fall 2 Sam. 11.1. Dinah by wandring abroad, exposed her selfe to a Tentation. Gen. 34.2. and the feet that wandred in the streets, became a booty to the Harlot. Prov. 7.5. we should do by our false hearts, as Commanders do by unruly souldiers, they keep them in action, that they may keep them from doing mischief.
3. Take heed of evill company, come not neare the house of the Harlot. Proverbs 5. Verse 8, 9, 10, 11. Hee that would not bee burnt, must not come too neare the fire. Suppose wee had bodies made of Gunne-powder, or Flaxe; oh how fearfull would we be of coming nigh the fire for fear of being consumed▪ This made Ioseph so carefull to shun the company of his wanton Mistris:Vitavit mulieris conspectum, ut libidinis occasiones praecideret. Paraeus. Oculi sunt fores & fenestrae animae. See Bishop Andrewes on the seventh Commandement. cap. 6. and 7. Gen. 39.10.
4. Set a watch over the Eyes. The Devill gets into our hearts by these windowes of the soul. Eve by seeing the forbidden fruits, Gen. 3.6. David by seeing Beethsheba. 2 Sam. 11.2, Sampson by seeing a Harlot. Iudg. 16.1. Potiphars wife by seeing Iosephs beauty, and Herod by seeing Herodias dance, they were all ensnared, and caught. When mens eyes are full of Adultery, they cannot cease to sin. 2 Pet. 2.14. Gen. 6.2. The Eye is the Devills Broker, that gets between the heart and the Object, to make up a sinfull bargain.Plato derives foreign from foreign. Cum oculi concupiscentiae omnis, praecipuè Venereae, fontes, proretae peccati; & duces in amore, itaque firmo proposito eos continui Scul. in Job. Lusting and looking in Greek, differ but in a Vowell. Hence David, a mortified man, prayes the Lord to turn away his eyes from beholding Vanity. Psal. 119.37. and Iob, though a holy man, and in years, yea and married too, yet durst not trust his eys without a Guard. Iob 31, 1.
Quid facies, facies Veneris si veneris ante?
Non sedeas, sed eas; ne pereas per eas.
Sphinxs.
Ite mali versus, animam qui perditis ite. Picus Mirand. Perkins C. C. l. 5. c. 4. V. Ames C. C. l. 5. c. 39. Q. 7. Bolton of true Happinesse. p. 74, 75. Nunquam fieri debent quae Deum ladant. Salvian. Obscoenorum librorum scriptores, nihil aliud faciunt quàm qui fontes publicos veneno inficiunt, tot funerum rei quotquot inde biberint. Drexel. Nihil est tam damnosum honestis moribus quàm in aliquo spectaculo residere, tunc enim per voluptatem faciliùs vitia surrepunt. Seneca. Mr. Brokes his Remedies against Satans Devices. Device 7. p▪ 85. Non committam, ut cum viros vicerim, à mulieribus vincar. Plutarch in Alexand. Pestem & venenum immittunt per oculos in animum, cum tentatio de est, Pictura supplet. Drexel.Take heed of reading evill books, they contain evill words, and evill obscene words corrupt good manners. 1 Cor. 15.33. Ephes. 5.4. Take heed of Stage-playes, where many lewd speeches, and lascivious Gestures are used. They are the very sinks of sin, and Schooles of profanenesse. As you may see in that elaborate Treatise of that industrious Patriot of his countrey, Mr. William Pryn, in his Histrio-mastix, a book that well deserves Reprinting, and to be made more common, in these loose times, when lascivious Balls, and profane Practises are so frequent in the chief city of the land.
Take heed of gazing on lascivious Pictures. Beware of Painting, Poud…ing, Patching, Naked-necks, and other inticements to sin. He that will not be taken with a sin, must shun the occasions. Alexander did very wisely, in refusing to see the beautifull daughters of Darius, that were his Captives, lest he should be ensnared by them, and he that conquered the world, should be conquered by women. Lewd pictures are worse then evill words; for those abide and infect others, when words vanish, and are gone,
5. Stop your eares against profane Songs and Ballads. Suffer not your children once to hear or read them.
Nil dictu foedum, visuque haec limina tangat.
Intra quae puer est.
Juven. Sat. 14.
Lascivi Sermones molliunt animos n…stros, nervos omnes virtutis elidunt. Cic. Tusc. Q. l. 2.Little do people consider how sorely and suddenly the heart is infected with rotten unsavory speeches. Ephes. 4.29. Colos. 3.8. they soon corrupt mens manners.
9. Take heed of mixt Dancing, which is a great incentive to uncleanness, and therefore is oft condemned in Scripture. Iob 21.11, 12. Isay 3.16. 1 Kings 18.26. Exod. 32.6.19. Matth. 14.6. Mark 6.22. Iob made a Covenant with his eye not once to look, and darest thou wantonly dance with a maide? neither are the dancers only themselves, but the spectators also, endangered by beholding those light and immodest embracings, kissings, motions and wanton gestures of the body. The flame of lust is hereby enkindled, and oil is added to that flame: and our hearts which are bad enough by Nature, by beholding such practises, are made farre worse. The ancients have condemned it. We read (saith Chrysostome) of Iacobs marriage, but we read of no dancing that was there, and where wanton dancing is, there is the Devill saith he.Chorea est Circulus cujus centrum est Diabolus, circumferentia omnes Angeli ejus. Nemo saltat sobrius, sed is qui insanus ant eb…ius Cicero. Orat. pro Muraea. None but Mad-men or Drunkards dance, saith a Second, none but Adulterers saith a Third. Saltatio ad Adulteras, non ad pudicas, pertinet.
Promiscuas saltationes Virorum & Mulierum in divinis literis non legimus Pet. Martyr. Loc. Com. Clas. 2. cap. 2. p. 339. De Choreis, Aretius Problem. 1. Locus 14. Ames. C. C. l. 5. c. 39. Q. Taffin on Amendment. p. 228. Piscat. in Matth. 11, 17. in Observat. Pryn's Histrio-mastix, Index. Dancing.
Lastly, take heed of barrenness under the meanes of Grace, and of being dead under lively Oracles. God oft makes this sin a punishment of other sins.Mulier est Viscus toxicatum, quo Diabolus aucupatur. Aug. Rom. 1.21.24. the man that is good, and sincere before God, shall be preserved from the harlot; but the sinner, the careless, secure, formall, hypocritical sinner, shall be taken and ensnared by her. Eccles. 7.26. Oh then let us walk watchfully and humbly with our God, shunning the occasions and provocations to this sin, then will God preserve us from the sinne it self; but if you will not fly the occasions of sin, God will not preserve you from the sin; and if he keep you not, you are undone.
Otia, mensa, libri, vaga lumina, verba, sodales:
Haec tolle, hanc minus, hos muta, haec cluade, naec fuge, vita hos.
The warre is not done,Castimonia fine bello nulla est. so long as the enemy lives. He that will keep the Jewell of Chastity, must fight for it. Let us therefore keep a strict Guard over our hearts. Proverbs 4.23. Resist the first motions to sin. Parle not with a Temptation. Gen. 39.9. Taste not of the Devills Broath, lest you eat of his Beef. Isay 65.4. Kill the Cockatrice in the shell, quench the fire when 'tis a spark, mortify sinne in the Affection. Colos. 3.5. Pray for supernaturall strength. 2 Cor. 12.9. It's a good sign we hate a sinne, when we can heartily pray against it. Walk allwayes as in Gods eye, that's a speciall preservative against this sinne. Iob. 31.4. Prov. 5.20, 21. Ioseph might have sinned secret enough, but the remembrance of Gods All-seeing eye, awed him. Gen. 39.9. He's a Martyr indeed who can thus conquer his lusts,Ah! quanti perierunt ab hac unâ peste, vel fortissimi, sanctissimi, sapientissimi. and stronger then Sampson who was entangled with them. Chastity in youth, Temperance in plenty, Bounty in Poverty, one calls them Martyrdome, without Blood-shed.
[See more in Mr. Iohn Downams Treatise against Whoredome. Mr. Hildersham on Iohn 4. Lect. 15. p. 66. D. Ier. Taylor's Holy Living. p. 83. Ward on Matth. 5.27. p. 216. Taffin on Amendment. l. 2. c. 17. Capel on Tent. p. 2. c. 11, 12. Sibelius. Tom. 1. conc. 7. in Eccles. 12.2. p. 669▪ &c. Pryn's Histrio-Mastix. Actus 6. Scena 4. p. 376. Mr. Clerks Mirrour. cap. 2. and cap. 20. and 61, 62. Edit. 3..]