Friends what shall we say what Apology shall we make when this Judge shall plead for himself in that Day Thou disobedient Wretch I made thee of Clay with mine own hands and breathed the Breath of Life into thee I made thee after my Image I gave thee Reason and Understanding and Power and Dominion over the Beasts of the Field a Mercy which iâ— I had not vouchsafed unto thee those Creatures which are stronger than thou would have master'd and destroy'd thee I placed thee among the Pleasures of Paradise made thee a happy Inhabitant of Eden and when thou wouldest needs hearken to the false and treacherous Suggestions of thy sworn Enemy behold in pity and commiseration to thee I resolved to be born of a Virgin and accordingly took Flesh and became Man for thy sake was born in a Stable lay unregarded in a Manager swadled in Rags and Clouts endured all the Reproaches and Injuries that Childhood is subject to bore thy griefs and assumed thy infirmities and was made like thy self that thou mightest be like me in Felicity at the end of thy Race I suffered men to trample on me to buffet me to spit in my Face to give me Gall and Vinegar to drink to scourge me to crown me with Thorns to wound and nail me to the Cross and all this that I might deliver thee from Eternal Contempt and Torments Behold the Mark of the Nails which were struck into my Flesh. Behold my wounded side I suffered that thou mightest triumph I died that thou mightest live was buried that thou mightest rise and made my self a scorn of the People that thou mightest reign in Heaven and why wouldest thou throw away this Mercy Why wouldest thou refuse this Treasure What evil Spirit did possess thee to make light of these kindnesses Why wouldest thou pollute that Soul which I redeemed with mine own Blood Why wouldest thou make thy Heart a habitation of Devils which I intended for my Throne Why wouldest thou lose that which I purchased at so dear a rate What pleasure couldest thou take in doing that which cost me so many Sighs and Tears and a bloody Sweat Why wouldest thou make a mock of so great a Mercy How couldest thou undervalue a Favour of that importance and consequence Can any Hell be thought too much for such Stubbornness Either thou didst believe that thy God did all this for thee or thou didst not If thou didst not believe it why didst thou make confession of it with thy Mouth If thou didst how couldest thou be so ungrateful How couldest thou abuse a Friendship of that worth and value Thou lovest a Friend a Neighbour a Man a Woman for Kindnesses which are meer Shadows and Bubbles to my Love and hadst not thou reason to love me beyond all earthly Comforts Hadst not thou reason to prefer my Favour before the Smiles of a transitory World How did I deserve such preposterous usages at thy hands Couldest thou have dealt worse with a Slave or with an Enemy than thou hast done with me Did this condescension deserve dost thou think such Affronts and Injuries such Contempt and Disobedience as thou hast returned to me Therefore as for those mine Enemies which would not have this Man to reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me All this appears in the Prospect of a future Judgment and therefore there must be Vertue in it to check that Mirth and Jollity which infatuates Souls and leads them into ruine 4. In the Prospect of this future Judgment there appears the unspeakable anguish and misery of those who have been most jolly and merry in this Life Dives who cloath'd himself in Purple and fine Linnen and fared sumptuously every day appears there quaking and trembling and crying Father Abraham Have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my Tongue his Tables which were overlaid with Silver his richer Beds his Tapestry his Ornaments his Ointments his Balsams his Cordials his delicate Wines his various Dishes his Cooks his Flatterers his Parasites his Retinue his Servants and all the Noise and Pomp that attended him are not only extinct and turned into Ashes and Dust and Dirt but his naked Soul is dragg'd and carried before a tremendous Majesty to endure intolerable torments and before this terrible God â—e appears with his Eyes cast down blushing and ashamed trembling and fearful and all his former Comforts seem to have been but dreams to him See how the Scene is changed he to whom the poor man formerly supplicated for relief now is forced to supplicate to the poor Man to be relieved of him would be glad of Lazarus's Table who once scorned to let Lazarus gather the Crumbs that fell from his when Lazarus was near him he slighted him now he is afar off he adores him and himself now is the poor man while Lazarus swims in Riches such a discovery doth that last Day make who are the Rich and who are the Poor who the Wise and who the Fools In this Judgment Nimrod Senacharib Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar Tiberius Nero Domitian men who would be thought Gods and denied themselves in no pleasure their Fancies craved stand all ashamed and confounded flames of a guilty Conscience burning in their Breasts and forcing their voices into bitter lamentations there Sardanapalus Croesus Cambyses Herod and all the Mighty men that spared no Woman in their Lust and no Man in their Anger appear all like guilty Malefactors their Hearts failing them for fear and they chaâ—tering like a Crane and mourning like a Dove and bewailing their aiery short and transitory satisfactions and cursing the Hour and the Minute when the first Temptations courted them to those dangerous Embraces there Cleopatra that sailed in a Vessel glistering with Gold a Vessel fitted for Pride and Luxury and Magnificence and tried how far Sensuality might be improved and to what height brutish Pleasure might be advanced there the wretched Woman is seen not so much with Serpents clasping about her Breast as with a Worm within that dies not tormenting her awakened Conscience with shapes of Death and Images of Ruine and all the Beasts that here could not be satisfied with Pleasure there cannot be eased of gnawing Vultures and Agonies for these the just God must at last inflict to make them sensible that his Threatnings were no Fables and to let them see that the Advices of wise Men and Philosophers who exhorted them to the study of Virtue were grounded on rational Foundations These Tortures and Vexations must not expire till the Ancient of Days who was affronted by their sins doth die and that 's never he being the same yesterday to day and for ever Thus their sweet Meat must have sour Sauce and if they will have their Pleasures they must feel the Sting too that 's inseparably affix'd to them The Bait cannot be swallowed without the Hook and as pleasant as the Honey is
from you and be unmoved at the want of it Can you see how other Men by thinking arrive to Perfection and will you lye groveling in the Dust O! think while thinking may do you good In Hell you 'll think but it will be too late there you 'll think but your Thoughts will be your Torment there your Thoughts will be the undoing of you there you 'll think what happy Persons you might have been if you had imitated Abraham's Faith and Moses's Resolution David's Candour and Josiah's Piety St. Paul's Courage and St. Peter's Tears St. John's Love and Lydia's Attentiveness the Berrhoeans Zeal and the Macedonian Churches Charity Zachoeus his Restitution and the Publican's Repentance but these Thoughts will then be your Vexation since the working time is past and the day of Vengeance come There you 'll think that Christ was your Friend indeed when he made himself of no Reputation but took upon him the form of a Servant became obedient to the Cross and dyed for you but to think that he is your Enemy now because you refused Obedience to him because you made light of his Offers and would not accept of him for your Governour must needs fill you with endless Grief and bitterness of Spirit Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver Psal. 50. 22. 3. And is not the greatest part of the World to be pityed that can delight in nothing but what they can grasp and feel The Covetous can delight in nothing but in Gold If he want Money all his Joy is gone If his Coffers be full and his Barns stock'd with Corn and Plenty doth surround him his Heart rejoyces his Soul triumphs and Cheerfulness plumps his Cheeks but without this his Mind is disturbed his Faculties languish his Countenance is dejected and he looks like a dying Man Who would imagine that this Man hath a rational Soul Who would think he were created after the Image of God Who would conclude him to have lived in a Land where the Gospel is preach'd Who can inferr from his Actions or Behaviour that this Man believes a Word of Scripture Who would take the Wretch for a Disciple of the poor and afflicted Jesus Who that looks upon him would not be apt to cry with him Sit anima mea cum Philosophis Let me die the Death of some brave self-denying Heathen Philosopher For these certainly are in a likelier way of Salvation at least of escaping the Wrath to come than the covetous Christian. Diogenes being desired of Alexander the Great to beg either Gold or Silver of him received this Answer Do but stand out of the Sun and do not hinder that glorious Light from shining upon me and I have enough The brave Crates having sold what he had and turned it into Money generously threw it all into the Sea saying It is far better I should drown thee than that thou should'st drown me in Perdition Alexander having sent to the great Phocion two Talents of Gold the wise Man ask'd the Messengers Seeing there were so many good Men at Athens why the King should of all Men make choice of him to present him The Ambassadour answer'd because of all Men he look'd upon him as the honestest Say you so replyed the Philosopher Then let Alexander give me leave to be still an honest Man which I can be without all these Presents and glistering Treasures Cimon had two large Cups sent him from a Persian King the one full of Gold the other of Silver He looks upon them smilingly and asks the Man who brought them Whether his Master intended that Cimon should be his Friend or his Servant The man replied It was out of Ambition to have him for his Friend that he sent it Oh! then saith he take them back again for being his Friend when I have need of them I can send for them at any time Epaminondas when some came to corrupt him with gifts invites the Ambassadours to Dinner and there entertains them with Roots and Herbs and with small sour Wine Dinner being done Go home saith he and tell your Prince that Epaminondas being content with such a Dinner is not easily to be drawn by Bribes into a base and trayterous Action Fabritius the Roman General having concluded a Peace with the Samnites the Magistrates of the Samnites by way of Gratitude send six Ambassadours to him with vast Sums of Money begging of him to accept of it but he stroaking his Head and Face and Breast and Knees Gentlemen saith he while I can command these Limbs I have no need of Money and so dismissed them Curius gave the same Answer to them adding that he had rather rule over Persons that had Money than be possess'd of Money himself These Men were Heathens whose Delight in Virtue drown'd their Delight in these outward Comforts They saw what an Impediment to Goodness these Heaps of Silver were and therefore scorn'd to delight in a thing so base and trivial they were sensible that the Soul had her Riches as well as the Body as the former by the Confession of the wiser sort of Mankind went beyond the other in value so it was reasonable they should delight in the one more than in the other These Men were better Christians by the Light of Nature than thousands among us are with all the helps that Revelation and Grace affords not that the Fault lies in the means which are larger and richer than Pagans and Infidels have but that men stupifie their Souls more under these Advantages than Heathens did under the lesser Irradiations of the Divine Light and Splendour So then the very Heathens saw that the more spiritual the Delight was the nobler it was and the more it was refin'd and purified from the Dross of the World the more rational it was and therefore more amiable and fitter to be embraced and sure God must have provided but very ill for Mankind when he embued and impregnated their Souls with a Sense of Religion if he had not put something into Religion that 's charming and lovely whereby their Souls might be attracted to delight in it Religion being derived from him who is the Fountain of Delight and Satisfaction must necessarily have that in it which may make humane Souls rejoyce and exalt their Delight into a victorious Supremacy above all worldly Pleasures What did the Lord Jesus delight in who lived upon Alms What did the Apostles delight in who were in much Patience in Afflictions in Necessities and Distresses in Stripes in Imprisonments in tossings to and fro in Labours in Watchings in Fastings What did all the Primitive Believers delight in that were poor and naked driven into Exile banish'd forced to work in Mines chased away from the Comforts of Wife Children and Relations Something certainly they delighted in for humane Nature cannot well subsist without delight in something It could not be the Riches of this World for
they had them not nor indeed did they care for them when they were offered them it was Religion that engrossed their Delight This made them joyful in all Conditions this raised their drooping Spirits under the Rage of their Persecutors and certainly it would be hard if a glorious God with all his Attributes and the wonderful things he hath revealed to our Comfort were improper Objects of Delight and since these are the genuine Delights of a Christian O besotted Soul why dost thou delight in broken Cisterns when thou hast the Fountain of living Waters to delight in Why dost thou delight in Apes and Peacocks when thou hast the Creator of all these to rejoyce in Why dost thou delight in a morsel of Meat when thou hast the Birth-right of eternal Glory to delight in Why dost thou delight in the shade of the Bramble when thou hast the shadow of God's Wings to delight in Why dost thou delight in the nether Springs when thou hast the upper Springs of Mercy to delight in Why dost thou delight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when thou hast a House made without Hands to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Rivers of Damascus when thou hast the River of God's Pleasure to delight in Why dost thou delight in a fading Beauty when thou hast him that 's altogether lovely to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Voice of a deceitful Siren when thou hast him whose Voice comforts the Mourners of Sion to delight in Why dost thou delight in the Slavery of thy Lusts when thou hast him whose Service is perfect Freedom to delight in Why dost thou delight in a little Gain in Drops of Happiness in Crumbs of Bliss in shining Dust when thou hast a Sea of Glory to delight in How deep must thy Soul lye immerst in Body if such illustrious Objects cannot delight it How far must thou be yet from the Kingdom of Heaven if things of this nature cannot content thee How earthly must thy Heart be how debauch'd how perverted from the end of its Creation if these spiritual Delights are insipid to it There are some among us I believe who have tasted of both Delights the sinful ones of the Flesh and those which are proper for holy Souls tell me I beseech you whether you think a Fit of Laughter or a drunken Bout or a merry Meeting you once delighted in so sweet so comfortable so refreshing as the gentle and soft and kinder Influences of God's Spirit when you have been engaged in Prayer and Praises and Contemplations of a future State When you have been wrestling with God and after that work of Love have felt a holy assurance of God's Favour upon your Spirits can any thing be more pleasing or charming than those divine Communications When you have entred into Meditation of God's goodness and the Love of God hath shined bright upon your Souls have not you felt that which hath been as much beyond all sensual Delights as an oriental Pearl is beyond Brass or Copper or such baser Minerals Have not you found a Joy stealing upon your Souls after such refreshing Considerations as hath transported you even into love of Martyrdom How contented have you been after such Exercises or after some signal Self-denial How harmonious have your Spirits and Affections been after such Enjoyments of God's loving Kindness and how like soft and curious Musick have these Gales of the Divine Goodness composed your troubled Thoughts and hush'd them into a lasting Peace And is not this infinitely better than the Pleasures of Sardanapalus of Dives and other luxurious men Will not this turn to better account at last than fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul Look upon Heliogabalus who tryed how great a Monster a man could make himself in his Cloaths you should see nothing but Gold and Purple his Beds were embroidered and the Feathers that were in them must be the softer Feathers of Partridges taken from under their Wings mix'd with the finest Rabbets hair He would ride in a Chariot shining with Rubies and Diamonds and not only in the out-side of his Shooes but even within he would have precious Stones he would not ride abroad under six hundred Coaches with him his Beds and Rooms were strow'd with all sorts of curious Flowers and an everlasting Perfume filled his Halls and Parlors sometimes in a Frolick he would be drawn in a Chariot by four Mastiff Dogs sometimes by four Stags sometimes by four Tygers as Bacchus sometimes by four Lions as Cybele sometimes by four beautiful Women Now and then he would cause Ships to be richly laden with all costly Commodities and then sink them in the Sea At some of his Meals he would have six hundred Estriches Heads at the Table And when the Humour took him all his Courses should be nothing but Pheasants heaped and piled together in Dishes sometimes they should all be Pullets sometimes nothing would serve him but to have all sorts of deformed men at his Table eight lame Men eight blind eight Blacks eight gouty eight fat eight bald eight deaf In such Fooleries he delighted and because the Syrian Priests had told him that he would die an unnatural Death he would keep Poison in golden Vessels to kill himself before any Person should be able to lay hold on him to this purpose he would have silken Halters about him and Penknifes set with Diamonds to dispatch himself when he should see occasion And he built also a Tower which he over-laid with Gold that in Case of any sudden Attack he might throw himself from the top of it These were the sottish Delights of this man and yet after all he died in a Jakes I have mention'd this Brute and his Actions because there are in his short Life all the extravagant Actions that a distemper'd Brain can invent and all the Delights that a mad man could think of yet who would not prefer a Delight in a good Conscience and delight in God's Worship and delight in Acts of Charity and delight in heavenly Thoughts before it Sensual Delights must at last expire but spiritual Delights do not die but as you have seen those vast Balls of burnish'd Brass on Church-Steeples cast a glorious lustre assoon as the Sun shines upon them so at a serious man's Death his delight in Holiness upon God's favourable Acceptance of it instead of expiring and decaying immediately grows bigger in its Glory the Rays of it spread and enlarge their Borders and stretch themselves into Eternity And therefore 4. Who can harbour any hard Thoughts of Religion because it debars us of disorderly sensual Delights In doing so it does us a kindness is our Friend prevents our Danger saves us from the Pit delivers us from Hell makes us live like Men. It doth not debar us of that which will make us happy nor hinder us from solid Joy nor deprive us of such sensual Delights as are necessary for our Preservation The Delights it keeps us from
rivers of tears That men should pretend to own the Gospel and yet live directly contrary to the Laws of it argues either Malice or Distraction or stupid Ignorance yet with such men for the most part we have to deal which makes S. Paul's Exhortation highly reasonable Finally Brethren pray for us that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not Faith 2 Thes. 3. 1 2. 3. This embittering our carnal and sensual Delights is that which men for certain shall wish they had done when they come to stand before the great Tribunal In that Day mens Eyes will be opened and things will appear to them in other Colours than now they do Their Understandings will not be clogg'd with this World or Divertisements They will have other Apprehensions of the Nature of Vertue and Holiness and the Truth of what Christ hath delivered in the Gospel The Reasonableness of his Precepts the Equity of his Commands the Excellency of his Doctrine the Divinity of his Miracles the infallible Certainty of his Promises and Threatnings will all shine bright in their Eyes of all these they will be throughly convinced and no doubt no scruple no ambiguity will remain as to any of these Points the vileness of their Pleasures the brutishness of their Satisfactions the rashness of their Delights the baseness of their Enjoyments the brightness of those Vertues they have despised the glory of that Grace which they might have had and would not and the trivialness of the things they preferr'd before these will then appear so plain so legible that there will be no room left for Ignorance It 's true these things might be known here and would men take the right way they might come to be convinced and perswaded of them on this side Eternity for some we find are fully satisfied as to these Particulars and walk sutably to them and therefore it cannot be impossible for others to attain to it but their insensibleness is rather an Argument of stupid negligence and wilful laziness and so it must be where People are not or pretend not to be satisfied in things of this Nature It is therefore necessary there should a time come when they shall be able to make no excuse nor to evade the force of these Truths and when they shall behold how wise a choice the self-denying Soul hath made and what her mortifications and severities do end in what applauses they receive in Heaven what kind looks from the Everlasting Father what Honour what Dignity what preferment is designed and appointed for her how such a Soul Triumphs at this time over Hell and Devils dares all the Furies of the Burning-lake scorns those foes which led the sensual sinner captive makes her Nest among the Stars of Heaven is placed in the Quire of Angels meets with all the Caresses of a gracious God is encirled with Laurels and Crowns of Joy and all her Misery and Sorrows and Fears are at an end Reason tells us that the sensual Sinner when he shall behold all this will wish he had follow'd her example for that 's the necessary and eternal consequence of all imprudent Actions especially those that are grosly so for afterward men do as naturally wish that they had acted the part of wise men as Balaam that he might die the Death of the Righteous Thus men become wise after the Fact and when they find what fools they have been would be content that they had foreseen the evil and hid themselves Who would not wish in that day he had embittered his sensual delights that finds he is undone by eating of those luscious Apples And I need not tell you that it is every Man's Interest not to do that which he will wish he had not done when it is too late But of this I have said enough before The next Point follows and is a Case of Conscience how far sensual Delights must be embittered with this Prospect 5. Whether a Christian that would be saved is upon this account obliged to forbear and abandon all sensual and worldly delights and recreations whatsoever So not a few have thought in the Primitive times which made them retire from the World and deny themselves in all the Comforts of this Life and put themselves to very great hardships and self-denials being of opinion that they who laughed here would mourn hereafter and such as enjoyed the good things of this Life would be miserably poor hereafter They looked upon the two Worlds as opposites and consequently believed that the Means to arrive to the happiness of the future were directly contrary to all present satisfactions they concluded that they who would be happy hereafter must be unhappy here and that they who would be happy here could not be so hereafter from hence rose their selling all they had and giving it to the poor and the strange severities they used upon their Bodies whereof I have discoursed elsewhere and indeed the Gospel gives very little encouragement to any thing that savours of worldly pleasure nor do the Apostles allow much liberty in this particular whether it were that they thought that all sensual delights were improper for a state of persecution in which the Church then lived or whether it was that they were afraid such delights would damp their spiritual Fervour this is certain that there is little to be gathered from their Writings in favour of Sports and Recreations Yet as strict as the Gospel is it grants that we have Bodies as well as Souls and that if the Bow be not unbent sometimes the String will crack and become useless and though its possible for our Minds to soar so far above the World as to know and care for no other delights but what savour of God and the glories of another Life yet those spiritual delights will not be of any long continuance without the Body be allowed sutable refreshment and hath its intervals of ease and relaxation Were not some Divertisements lawful Christ would scarce have vouchsafed his Presence at the Wedding-Feast in Cana much less provided them Wine to encourage temperate chearfulness and hither may be referred St. John the Evangelist's playing sometimes with a Bird and going into a common Bath whereof Ecclesiastical Histories give us an Account yet since there is nothing more common with men than to confound their sinful Delights with lawful Recreations it will be necessary here to explain the Point in these following Porticulars 1. This must be laid down as a grand Principle of our Religion That a Spiritual delight in God in a Crucified Saviour and in the Blessed Effects and Influences of the Holy Ghost in the Graces and Fruits of the Spirit in feeling the Operations of the Divine Power and Glory upon our Souls in the precious Promises of of the Gospel in the Revelations God hath vouchsafed to Mankind in the Good
being put into a passion 2. Because vanity which is proper to the Stage is altogether foreign to Christianity 3. Because we are not to consent to peoples sins 4. Because men are abused in these places and neither Princes nor People spared and this being unlawful elsewhere must be unlawful too upon the Stage 5. Because all immodesty and scurrility is forbid by the Law of the Gospel not only acting of it but seeing and hearing it Acted 6. Because all Players are hypocrites seem to be what they are not and all hypocrisie is condemn'd by the Gospel 7. Because the Actors very often belie their Sex and put on womens apparel which is forbid by the law of God 8. Because these plays dull and damp devotion and seriousness which is and ought to be the indeleble character of Christians 9. Because it is a disparagement to God to lift up those hands to applaud a Player which we use to lift up to the Throne of Grace 10. Because experience shews how the Devil hath sometimes possess'd Christians in a Play-house and being afterwards cast out confest that he had reason to enter into them because he found them in his own place 11. Because no man can serve two Masters God and the World as those Christians pretend to do that frequent both the Church and the Stage 12. Because though some speeches in a Play are witty and ingenious yet there is poison at the bottom and vice is only coloured and gilded with fine language and curious emblems that it may go down more glib and ruin the soul more artificially These are some of Tertullians Arguments and he that shall attentively consider them will easily find that they are not only applicable to such Comedies where idolatry is acted but to those of this age where scurrility vanity and immodesty and other vices are incouraged and whereas some pretended that if they saw no Plays they should want sport and be without necessary recreation the learned Presbyter doth very handsomly reply Why art thou so abominably ungrateful to complain of want of recreation when God hath given thee such great variety of pleasures for what can be more pleasant than to be reconciled to God the Father and the knowledge of the truth our deliverance from darkness and error and a free pardon of all our sins what greater pleasure can there be than the loathing of carnal pleasure contempt of the World true Christian liberty a conscience void of offence a spotless life freedom from the fear of death trampling on the Heathen Gods expulsion of Devils the gift of healing prayer for illumination and living to Gods glory These are the pleasures these are the Plays of Christians holy free and perpetual in such things as these fancy thou seest a Play here see the course of the World behold the gliding Time view the distance betwixt this life and eternity expect the consummation of all things defend the Church rouze thy self at Gods signal listen to the Arch angels trumpet glory in the Martyrs laurels If learning and knowledge do delight thee behold in the Scripture there are verses enough witty sentences enough songs enough and voices enough no fables of Poets but solid truths no sophistry but majestick simplicity wouldst thou see Gladiators and Wrestlers here thou hast them here thou mayst see lasciviousness overcome by chastity perjury by faithfulness cruelty by mercy wantonness by modesty and these are our Olympick games in which he is Crown'd that strives for mastery Dost thou love to see blood drawn in a publick shew Behold thou hast the blood of Jesus and what a noble sight will shortly appear to our eyes even the coming of our glorious Lord the exultation of Angels the Resurrection of his holy ones the stately Kingdom of believing Souls and the sight of the new Jerusalem There is another shew behind even the last day of Judgment a day unlook'd for a day despised by fools a day wherein the old world will be swallowed up of fire How glorious a sight will that be when I shall behold with astonishment and joy so many Kings whom their flatterers placed among the Stars sighing in outward darkness with Jupiter and their parasites So many Persecutors of the Christian name melting in insulting flames So many Philosophers with their Disciples who gave out that God was careless of the affairs of this lower World trembling before Christ's Tribunal At that time I shall know Tragoedians by their loud cry in misery Stage players by their being tormented by fire more than other men the Charioteers in the publick Games by their being red upon a flaming wheel and the Mimick by his being tossed in sheets of fire Thus far that excellent man whom St. Cyprian exactly imitates And certainly he that hath the same sense of Religion that he had cannot but be of the same opinion So that it is for want of searching and diving into the Nature of Christianity and what is more for want of feeling the power of Religion that makes men speak in vindication of Plays and Interludes What a pitiful shift is it to say that great good may be gained by them when it is plain that the evil which ensues upon them doth signally preponderate and out-weigh the pretended Benefit What if a moral Saying or a witty Sentence or an ingenious Apothegm lie scattered here and there among the Rubbish will that grain of goodness counter-ballance a whole talent of ill that 's seen there or got by seeing it Some have been so vain as to give out that they may learn as much by a Play as by a Sermon but not to mention that such persons spiritual Appetite is extreamly vitiated while they continue in this Opinion they 'l never be much edified either by a Play or a Sermon and till they have a nobler Opinion of Gods Ordinance it 's just with God to suffer the Devil to lead them captive at his will And what are the mighty Advantages men get by the Representations of the Stage May be they learn to Court a Mistress well or the vanities they see there serve them to maintain a loose Discourse or it enables them to make the company merry but are these things that tend to reformation of Life and Manners Who ever learned to abandon a Sin he is addicted to by seeing its punishment on the Stage Or who ever thought himself obliged to practise that Virtue which he sees Acted on the Theatre except it be to resent an Affront that 's offer'd him and to know how to maintain the Punctilio's of Honour and Bravery And are these Christian Virtues Are these the Graces that must make us glorious in the sight of God Such Arguments are signs of a desperate Cause and tacit accusations of the illness of the thing since the Aprons that cover it are made of Fig leaves And what if some Plays be more innocent and not so prophane as
the Inhabitants live so All that profess it all that talk of it all that live under Sermons which declare it do not therefore believe it No man believes it that is not thereby restrained from Lusts which war against the Soul All that dare be lewd and repent not and do not amend their ways and their doings whatever opinion they may have of themselves in despight of their Profession are Infidels and so much the greater Infidels because they enjoy means of Grace and Motives and Reasons and Arguments and helps to believe it and yet Act as if there were no such thing Express your Compassion to their Souls by your Tears since they will not weep for themselves Ah! miserable Creatures E'er long they shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn as one that mourns for his only Son and they are not aware of it They are hastening to the Shambles where they will be barbarously butcher'd by hellish Furies and they are not sensible of it Oh mourn for them They deserve your Pity more than Galley-Slaves more than Wretches in Turkish Captivity Oh! call to them and see whether ye can yet perswade them into a livelier Faith of this terrible Day O that you could yet save their Souls from Death and cover a multitude of Sins It 's like they 'll scorn your Tears and laugh at your Admonitions for the God of this World hath blinded them but Oh! pray for them that their Eyes may be open'd that they may see the Precipice they run upon and behold the bottomless Gulph upon the Brink whereof they stand They are rolling down the Hill Oh! stop them if you can that they fall not into the Lake beneath seeing your Zeal for their Souls your concern for their Welfare your entreaties to save themselves from this Generation your sorrow for their undone Estate your grief for their hardness of Heart they may yet relent and turn before the Lord comes and smites the Earth with a Curse 2. Every day spend some time in reflecting on this Day Is half an Hour or a quarter of an Hour every Day such a business that thou canst find no time for it How many parts of every day dost thou spend idly and foolishly Wouldst not thou find greater Profit in bestowing a few Minutes in Contemplation of that Judgment Say not who doth so What if none did it if it be useful and a Duty a wise Man would think himself obliged to practise it though he had no Company It 's granted the Age is bad and few there be that will deviate from the Customs of their Neighbours but without all peradventure some there are that are seriously concerned about their Salvation who make Conscience of it Had Men when Christ conversed on Earth been discouraged by the small Numbers that followed him from embracing his Doctrin and Discipline how would the World have been Peopled with Christians Good Elijah was not frighted from cleaving to the true God when he thought all the World was become Idolatrous and why shouldst thou be tempted to forget thy Everlasting Interest because every Body in the Parish thou livest in is not devout and wise and serious Suppose thou didst live in a Street where all the Men were Beggars and Vagabonds would that be a Motive to follow their unlawful Calling If a Treasure were to be had in such a place and all about thee should be regardless of it wouldst thou be as lazy as they The Merchant ventures into that Country where he thinks none hath been before him and doth promise himself a richer Return In Trades Men commonly chuse that of which there are but few Masters in hopes they shall thrive the better for it The same may be applied to the Business in Hand reflecting every day upon that dreadful Account which few will venture upon thou wilt be a greater Gainer and purchase a richer Peace and Satisfaction thou wilt rest more sweetly at Night than thy Neighbours and thy Conscience will be more at ease thou wilt go about the Works of thy Calling more cheerfully and thou wilt be able to comfort thy self better if any Affliction or Loss do befall thee than others who converse little with God and their own Souls In the Life of Pachomius we read That every day he used to bespeak the several Parts and Members of his Body and talk to them as if they had been rational Creatures Behold saith he my beloved Parts I will advise you to nothing but what is wholsom and useful for you and therefore shew your selves obedient to my Counsel and let 's serve God cheerfully till we get to a better place As to you my beloved Hands the time will come when you will no more be able to strike your Neighbour or play at Cards and Dice and when you will not be able to reach any more after Goods that do not belong to you As to you my beloved Feet the time will come when the way you have gone will be stopp'd up and when ye will be no longer able to run into vain and loose Company Hearken unto me my Senses and whatever helps to make up this mortal Frame let 's strive lustily before Death overtake us and stand boldly in the evil day and fight bravely till the great God put an end to our Sweat and Labour and call us to his heavenly Kingdom What will it profit you to taste of all the Sweets of this World if any thing can be called sweet in so much Misery Why should ye be loath to labour when to labour ye were born Why should ye refuse to suffer when shortly you must die and mingle with Dust Why should ye seek after a soft and easie Life when e'er long you 'll meet with it in Heaven This is no Time no Place for Pleasure that 's only to be found among the Blessed above This is it that I would have you comprehend above all things that through sensual Delights and Satisfactions Men go into unquenchable Fire but through Bryars and Thorns lies the way to Joys which shall never have an end Why do ye murmur against me when I bid you fast and watch and pray Should I indulge you it would be your Bane it would be Cruelty in me to spare you to give you Ease would be the way to precipitate my self and you into endless Torment Thus spake that holy Man to the respective Parts and Members of this Body and thus Christian do thou preach to thy Soul every day ask it which of those two Sentences that shall be pronounced in the last day art thou most desirous of of that Come ye Blessed or of the other Depart ye Cursed If as no Man is fond of Misery thou dost hunger and thirst after the former come my Soul let 's retire let 's ascend the Hill of God and from thence take a view of what will be hereafter The Posture of Affairs thou seest now will not continue long fancy thou