Vicious Courses Procuring Poverty Described and Condemned, Title page – Order
Vicious Courſes, Procuring POVERTY Deſcrib'd and Condemn'd. A Lecture SERMON, Preach'd at Boſton, Feb. 19. 1718, 19.
By Benjamin Wadſworth, A. M. Paſtor of a Church of Chriſt in Boſton, N. E.
Prov. 23.20, 21. Be not among wine-bibbers, amongſt riotous eaters of fleſh. For the Drunkard and the Glutton ſhall come to poverty; & drowzineſs ſhall cloath a man with rags.
Prov. 24.30, 31. I went by the field of the ſlothful and by the vineyard of the man void of underſtanding; and lo it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the ſtone wall thereof was broken down.
Boſton, Printed by John Allen, for Nicholas Boone, at the Sign of the Bible in Cornhill. 1719.
… Order of …, the GOVERNOUR.
Vicious COURSES Procuring Poverty.
Prov. 6.11. So ſhall thy Poverty come, as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
SIN is the worſt of all Evils, it provokes God, and hurts men. Whoſoever Sins againſt. GOD, wrongs his own Sout. Sin deſerves Endleſs Judgments in the future World, and often procures many miſeries in the preſent Life. And among the miſeries of the preſent life, pinching Poverty, mention'd in our Text, is one; and it's mention'd as a fruit of Sloth and Lazineſs. v. 6. Go to the Ant thou Sluggard; conſider her ways and be wiſe. The Ants uſe diligence, and obſerve the proper time and ſeaſon to provide their food; herein their example is worthy to be imitated by men. v. 9. How long wilt thou ſleep, O Sluggard? This is a ſharp reproof to the Lazy and Slothful, who indulge Sleeping, when they ſhould be Working. Such lazy perſons are ſuppos'd to ſay, as v. 10. Yet a little ſleep, a little ſlumber, a little folding of the hands to ſleep. No, thinks the Lazy Drone, I won't riſe yet, I'll lie till the Clock ſtrikes once more; I'll lie a while and take t'other Nap. Thus he indulges himſelf in ſloth, in needleſs ſleep and 'drowzineſs; when he ſhould be working for a Livelihood. And what's the fruit and iſſue of ſuch a lazy Courſe? Why, Pinching Poverty, as our Text declares: So ſhall thy poverty come, as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man. Such a lazy courſe tends as directly to bring pinching poverty, as a ſteady pace tends to bring a Traveller to his Journeys end. Yea, to the lazy and ſlothful, pinching diſtreſſing want will come as an armed man; there's no avoiding, withſtanding, or reſiſting it. The ſame words in our Text, and the preceeding verſe, viz. a little ſleep, a little ſtumber, &c. are repeated, Prov. 24.33, 34. So that the Holy Ghoſt by the Pen of Solomon, even twice over in the ſame words, inculcates this conſideration, viz. That ſluggiſhneſs brings Poverty.
The words may fairly afford us this general Obſervation, viz.