dearest friends or nearest Relations we have in all the World should entice us to that which is evil we must by no means consent unto them Deut. 13.6 8. If thy brother the son of thy mother or thy son or thy daughter or the wife of thy bosom or thy friend which is as thine own soul entice thee secretly saying let us go and serve other Gods Thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him 3. It will not excuse us in the sight of God to say we were enticed to this or that sin for it is an heinous offence to be drunk or commit idolatry or any other such like sin though we were enticed to these sins Job 31.26.27 28. If I beheld the Sun when it shined or the Moon walking in brightness and my heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand This also were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge for I should have denyed the God that is above § The plea of being urged and importuned to drink more than is meet is no excuse for drunkenness Plea 7. If I drink too much it is at such times as I am urged and importuned thereto by the company among whom I am and I can't tell how to withstand the importunity of my friends when they are very urgent with me to drink beyond measure I hope the urgency and importunity of friends will be my excuse if I now and then drink too much A. 1. The great God is more urgent and importunate with you to abstain from excessive drinking and all other sins then any men can be He calls to you he chargeth you to take heed that you be not at any time overcharged with drunkenness Luk. 21.34 Take heed to your selves least at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfitting and drunkenness He commands you to abstain from drunkenness Eph. 5.18 Be not drunk with wine He beseecheth you to abstain from fleshly lusts 1 Pet. 2.11 Dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul And drunkenness is a lust and work of the flesh as you may see Gal. 5.19 20 21. He pleads with you to turn from those evil courses that will be your ruine Ezek. 33.11 Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye O house of Israel And shall not the importunity of the great God prevail with you above the importunity of all the men in the World Though they be great men though near friends though such as will be angry with you if you yield not to them yet their importunity should not prevail with you to break the command of the great God 2. Brute beasts cannot be drawn by any urging and importunity to drink more than satisfieth their natures unless there be force used with them and the drink be powred down their throats they will not take more than quencheth their thirst And therefore it is below a man to say I could not avoid drinking to excess for I was importuned and urged thereunto Yea they are sunk a degree below beasts that will be prevailed with by importunity to drink more than is for their good 3. If a man should urge you to cast your selves into a fiery furnace would you consent thereto or if a man should importune you to part with a fair Estate for a trifle would you consent to it Should importunity prevail with you to do these things When by importunity of any man you yield to drink unto drunkenness you yield to that which is more prejudicial to you than casting your selves into a fiery Furnace or parting with a great estate for a trifle For by drunkenness you provoke God to shut you out of the Kingdom of Heaven and to cast you body and soul into that Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone there to remain for ever And that is infinitely worse than to be cast into any fiery Furnace on earth 4. They are none of your friends that urge and importune you to drink more than is for your good They may be pretended friends but are real enemies For they urge you to that which will be your ruine to that which will undo you Body and Soul for ever And is he a friend or an enemy that urgeth you to that which will be your ruine § The plea of such as say they are drawn to this sin by their Relations and Friends on whom they have their dependance Plea 8. My Friends and Relations on whom I have my dependence are addicted to this sin of drunkenness and if I should not do as they do they would cast me off they would disinherit me they would leave me out of their Wills and give me nothing at their death and therefore I am forced to comply with their way and humour and drink more than is meet to please my Relations from whom I hope to be much advantaged at their death A. 1. You have a greater dependance on God than on any man upon the face of the Earth You depend upon God for your beings your life your motion yea for all things Act. 17.28 In him we live and move and have our beings And therefore you had need be more carefull to please and more fearfull to offend God than to please or offend any man on the face of the earth 2. Suppose your Parents or Relations should cast you off for retaining your integrity and because you will not defile your self with their evil ways the Lord will be a friend to you and will take the care of you Psal 27.10 When my Father and Mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up But if we sin against God to please our Relations and forsake his wayes the Lord will cast us off 1 Chron. 28.9 If thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever And if the Lord cast us off it is not all the men in the World can do us good 3. What is the loss of an earthly inheritance to the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven Suppose you should lose a great inheritance on earth for want of complying with your Parents or Relations in sinfull courses yet that is nothing in comparison of the loss of Heaven which you will bring upon your selves by excessive drinking although it be to please your Relations for drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.10 If you sustain loss for Righteousness sake all such losses shall be made up with an hundred sold advantage both here and hereafter Math. 19.29 But if you lose the Kingdom of Heaven you are a lost undone man for ever Nothing is able to make up that loss 4. If you resolve to please God rather than to please your Friends it may be the Lord will turn the hearts of your Friends towards you For the hearts of all men are in his hands And it is said Prov. 16.7 When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be
hearts be overcharged with surfetting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares § It will exclude a man out of Heaven VIII Drunkenness is such an odious sin that the Lord hath told us expresly that he will not admit any drunkards into the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know y not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived Neither Fornicators nor Drunkards shall inherit the Kingdom of God If a man be a drunkard and think to go to Heaven when he dyeth he deceiveth his own Soul Drunkenness is a manifest work of the flesh and the Scripture tells us plainly that they that live in drunkenness and such like sins shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Drunkenness Revellings and such like of which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Drunkards may know their doom before they come to the judgment seat of Christ I tell you before that is before the day of judgment come before the sentence be past upon you that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God The Apostle knew drunkards were dull of hearing and slow of heart to believe and therefore he tells them over and over that they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and what folly and madness is this to part with a Kingdom an Everlasting Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven for a pot of drink or a cup of wine It was a foolish act in Esau and argued him to be a prophane man to sell his Birth-right for a morsel of meat Heb. 12.16 Least there be any fornicator or prophane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right Drunkards are guilty of worse prophaneness than Esau for they part with a better blessing than a Birth-right namely with the Kingdom of Heaven for a pot of drink or a cup of wine which doth them no good but much hurt It is not drinking wine or strong drink but excess of drinking excludes us from the Kingdom of Heaven and excess of wine doth a man no good but much hurt § It is a damnable sin IX Drunkenness is a damnable sin a sin for which men shall be condemned to the torments of Hell for ever The drunkard shall be cut asunder and have his portion appointed with unbelievers Luk. 12.45 46. If that servant shall begin to eat and drink and be drunken the Lord of that servant will cut him asunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers But what is it to have our portion appointed with the unbelievers It is to be damned and to be cast into the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone Mark 16.16 He that believeth not shall be damned Rev. 21.8 The unbelieving shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone Hell is full of drunkards Isa 5.11 14. Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink that continue untill night till wine enflame them Therefore Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it There is scarce any sin fills Hell like drunkenness following of wine and strong drink sends great multitudes to Hell The glory and pomp and jollity of drunkards shall be no security to drunkards to keep them from the bottomless pit The drunken Gentleman and drunken Prince notwithstanding all his bravery shall descend into Hell as well as the drunken beggar They that enflame themselves with wine and strong drink shall be tormented in flames of fire for ever And then they that drunk wine in bowls and filled themselves with strong drink shall not with all their entreaties get so much as one drop of water to cool their tongues § It is a bewitching sin very hardly left by those that are addicted to it X. Drunkenness is an enticing bewitching sin which is very hardly left by those that are addicted to it Neither the word nor rod of God prevaileth with men to leave this sin but they go on sinning against light sinning against the counsels and reproofs and tears of friends against the checks of their own Consciences though the Lord afflict them in their bodies estates good names yet still they persevere in this sin Though when upon sick beds they are under terrors of Conscience and feel as it were some flashes of Hell Fire and make great vows and solemn protestations that if God will spare their lives and raise them up again they will leave off their drunkenness yet when they are restored to health they return to their old courses again Prov. 23.35 They have stricken me shalt thou say and I was not sick they have beaten me and I felt it not VVhen shall I awake I will seek it yet again Solomon speaks here of drunkards who are not disheartned by all the difficulties and troubles and blows that they meet with in following after strong drink but resolve to seek yet again and to persist in their dissolute courses Drunkards are wont to encourage themselves and one another to persist in their drunken courses under all discouragements Isa 56.12 Come ye say they I will fetch wine and we will fill our selves with strong drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more aboundant In stead of desisting they grow more resolved in their way And the reason why this sin is hardly left and so few recovered from it may be partly from the strength this sinfull habit gets in the soul by the many repeated acts of this sin and also from the pleasingness of this sin to corrupt nature for the more pleasing any sin is the more hardly it is left and chiefly from the just and righteous judgment of God who giveth up men who go on sinning against light unto their own hearts lusts saying to them he that is filthy let him be filthy still Drunkenness is called by some vitium maximae adhaerentiae a sin that sticks closer and faster to a man than any other sin Sect. 5. Several aggravations of the sin of drunkenness We have seen the greatness of this sin of drunkenness now let us consider the aggravations of this sin It is worse in some men than others and worse at sometimes than others § It is worse in Magistrates than in other persons I. It is a great sin for any man to be overcome with drink but 't is worse for Magistrates than for other persons The greater and more eminent the person is that commits the offence the more heinous is the offence Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se Crimen habet quanto major qui peccat habetur The Scripture
and others to repent of and forsake this sin of drunkenness If some drunkards be cut of in the act of sin while you are spared you must not think that they were greater sinners than you are but by their example God calls you to Repentance Luk. 13.4 5. Those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell and slew them think ye that they were sinners above all that dwell in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish 5. Your prospering in a sinfull course and being free from trouble of Conscience and also your being free from the judgments of God is a sure token that God intends to destroy you for ever Psal 94.7 When the wicked spring as the grass and all the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they may be destroyed for ever Some mens sins go before to judgment and some men they follow after 1 Tim. 5.24 The less you meet with here for your sins the more you have to come in the other World 6. If you be free from God's judgments on your outward man yet it may be he sends his plagues upon your heart Exod. 9.14 I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart If the Lord give a man up to his own hearts lusts or to an hard and impenitent heart this is a worse judgment than afflictions on the Body or Estate § The plea of such as fear reproaches if they should not drink to excess as others do answered Plea 13. I would leave off this sin of drunkenness were it not that I feared reproach and scorn my companions with whom I have used to frequent Taverns and Ale-houses will call me a precise fool and say I am turned Puritan if I should not do as they do and besides my occasions do oft times lead me into the company of Gentlemen that are great drinkers and if I should scruple drinking in their company they would reproach and scorn me now I stand much upon my honour and to avoid reproaches I am drawn to that which I am convinced is a great evil but I can't avoid it unless I should make my self a derision and scorn among my acquaintance A. 1. If you stand upon your honour then whatever scoffs are put upon you hold fast your Sobriety be not by any means drawn to excessive drinking for drunkenness is a great reproach to any man be he a great or a mean man Prov. 14.34 Sin is a reproach to any people To be reproached for our temperance or any other branch of Righteousness is a real honour 1 Pet 4.14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you Then we are reproached for the name of Christ when we are reproached for our obedience to any of the Commandments of Christ of which this is one Take heed to your own selves least at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfitting and drunkenness Luk. 21.34 And therefore if any man reproach you because you will not overcharge your selves with drunkenness this is your happiness this is your glory for the Spirit of glory rests upon those that are reproached for the name of Christ 2. None but fools will mock at you for refusing to drink to excess Prov. 14.9 Fools make a mock at sin And who will regard what fools say As for all good men if you live in the fear of God they will honour you It is mentioned as a Character of a good man He honoureth them that fear the Lord. Psal 15.4 Yea if you abstain from drunkenness out of Conscience to the command of Christ the Lord himself will honour you Joh. 12.26 If any man serve me him will my Father honour 3. If you are ashamed to keep your sobrietp because of the scoffs and jears of sottish men the Lord Jesus Christ will disown you and be ashamed of you before the Holy Angels and before his Heavenly Father Mark 8.33 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this sinfull and adulterous Generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the Holy Angels 4. If you will not turn from your sottish courses at the call and command of God the Lord himself will laugh at you and mock you in the day of your calamity Prov. 1.23 24 26. Turn ye at my reproof Because I have called and ye refused I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh And that is very dreadfull to have God instead of helping us in our distress mock and laugh at us in our calamity Yea the Devils also who tempted you to sin will laugh at you in Hell for your folly in parting with Heaven for such a poor matter as a pot of drink 5. You have slighty thoughts of sin and low thoughts of your immortal souls and of the joys of Heaven and the torments of Hell if you will commit such an horrible sin as drunkenness and cast away your immortal souls and deprive your selves of the joys of Heaven rather than bear the scoffs and jears of foolish and sottish men § The plea of rich men whereby they would excuse their drunkenness answered Plea 14. If I were a poor labouring man and should lye at the Ale-house and spend what I earned and my Family be in want I should be greatly to be blamed but I am a rich man and have a great Estate I can spend freely at Taverns and Ale-houses and not feel any want of what I spend there and therefore I hope I may be excused A. 1. It is indeed a very great crime for labouring men or any others to wast their Estates at Ale-houses whereby their Families are brought to want for such are worse than infidels 1 Tim. 5.8 If any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house he hath denyed the Faith and is worse than an Infidel 2. The rich drunkard shall find no more favour with God than the poor man yea than the begger For the Lord is no respecter of persons but will render to every man according to his works Riches avail nothing to keep off the wrath of God Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath Job 36.19 Will he esteem thy riches No not Gold nor all the forces of strength Yea it will go worse with rich drunkards at the day of judgment than with poor men that have been addicted to this sin For they sin against greater mercy and abuse greater Talents than poor men What is said of the rust and canker which is on the Gold and Silver of rich men that are covetous and hoard up their Riches and do no good with them Jam. 5.3 Your Gold and your Silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together
under the hatred of God 3. If you be hated of your Neighbours and have ill Offices done you because you will not break the Commandments of God as other men do this is matter of joy rather than of sorrow such hatred makes you happy rather than miserable Luk. 6.22 23. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Mans sake Rejoyce ye in that day and leap for joy for behold great is your reward in Heaven 4. It is far better being troubled and hated and envyed of men raised in your rates and to have all the ill Offices done that you can think of than to have troubles in your own Consciences and be shut out of Heaven and be tormented in Hell for ever which will be the certain effect and consequence of drunkenness What petty inconsiderable things are being envied of neighbours raised in your rates and the like to the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven and the suffering of the torments of Hell 5. If you cannot withstand the temptation of drunkenness by reason of your living among sottish neighbours remove your habitation and choose a dwelling among more sober and pious persons whose Godly example may excite and encourage you to lead a Godly Life § The plea of such as will not believe that God will shut them out of Heaven for such a small sin as drunkenness answered Plea 20. If I thought God would shut me out of Heaven for excessive drinking I would forthwith leave off my going to Ale-houses and Taverns and would never be drunk any more for I am not such a fool as to cast away my immortal Soul and deprive my self of the glory and joys of Heaven for ever for so small a matter as wine or strong drink but it can't enter into my heart to believe that God will shut men out of Heaven and cast them into Hell for such a small sin as drunkenness for such a small matter as drinking a little too much wine or strong drink and therefore I will take my liberty to eat and drink and be merry and hope to go to Heaven as well as the most precise and abstemious persons in the World A. 1. Dost thou call drunkenness a small sin It is a great abominable a monstrous most loathsome and beastly sin It is a sin against the light of nature and a sin against the light of Scripture It makes a man like a beast yea worse than a beast for there are many beasts will not drink more than satisfieth nature It makes a man like a devil some men when they are in their cups will rage and swear and curse at that dreadfull rate that they seem rather to be incarnate devils than men Yea some drunka ds are worse than devils for the devils are afraid of being tormented and pray that they may not be tormented before their time Mat. 8.29 Art thou come hither to torment us before the time Luk. 8.28 What have I to do with thee Jesus thou Son of God most high I beseech thee torment me not But many drunkards do frequently in their cups call out to God to damn them as if they longed to be in Hell and dared the most high God to damn them And shall any man then be so far deluded as to think or say that drunkenness is but a small sin 2. The Lord foresaw that many drunkards would flatter themselves with vain hopes of Salvation and therefore he hath given a caution to drunkards that they would not deceive themselves with vain and groundless hopes of enjoying the Kingdom of Heaven For he hath plainly declared that no drunkards shall enter into his Kingdom 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived Nor drunkards shall inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God By these and such like Scriptures it is plain and evident that drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and that drunkenness is a sin that will certainly shut a man out of Heaven And therefore whether you believe it or believe it not it is most sure that if you do not repent of and forsake this sin of drunkenness you shall not you cannot be saved 3. The Lord is a very merciful and gracious God and his tender mercies are over all his works but yet he will not shew mercy to any contrary to his Word He is faithfull and true as well as merciful Psal 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are Mercy and Truth Psal 85.10 Mercy and Truth are met together It was never known that the Lord did shew mercy to any in a way contrary to his truth or that mercy and truth crossed each other If the Lord should save drunkards he should not be true to his word for he hath said in his Holy Word that drunkards shall not inherit his Kingdom And therefore it is vanity and folly to hope for Salvation contrary to the word of God which is in effect to hope that God will break his word that he may save our souls 4. Such drunkards as will not believe that God will shut men out of Heaven for the sin of drunkenness do add unbelief to their drunkenness and do thereby go about to make God a lyar 1 Joh. 5.10 He that believeth not hath made God a lyar 5. It is an horrible provocation for drunkards or other sinners when they hear or read of God's judgments that he will shut them out of Heaven and cast them into Hell c. To bless themselves and think that they shall have peace and that God will be merciful to them and spare them though they go on in their sins Hear how dreadfully God threatens such persons Deut. 29.18 19 20 21. Least there should be among you man or woman or family or tribe And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse he bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this book shall lye upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven and the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the Covenant that are written in this book of the Law Here are several judgments denounced against all such persons whether men or women of what Family or Nation soever they be that bless themselves in
Thou that saiest there is no God see whither thou dost speak against thine own conscience It is most likely that thou rather wishest there were than really thinkest in thy heart that there is no God For this truth is so deeply graven upon man's heart that there is a God that it is hardly possible to root it totally and constantly out of our minds but Conscience will some time or other discover that there are some Notions of a Diety remaining in the worst of men What mean those accusations of Conscience which even such as profess themselves Atheists feel for secret sins which none know but themselves especially in times of distress and when they are in danger of death They are intimations that there are apprehension there is a God to whom men must be accountable even for their secret sins Why do Atheistical persons fear and tremble when it Thunders and Lightens in a dreadful manner Why did Caligula the Emperour who feared no man on Earth shew so much timerousness when it Thundred and Lightned that he got under his Bed Their fears of God's judgments shew that there are some impressions of the Being of God remaining in the Minds and Consciences of the most professed Atheists 4. If you will not be convinced of your folly in being of this singular and wicked Opinion that there is no God enjoy your Opinion to your self and please your self in your own delusion and take your fill of sin but know whither you will believe it or will not that there is a righteous God who will call thee to judgment for all these things and will without repentance cast you into Hell-fire for your sins and when you feel his vengeance in the other world you shall never doubt any more whither there be a God to Eternity For whatever Atheistical Opinions men hold on Earth they shall cease to be Atheists when they come in Hell § The despairing Drunkard's Plea who thinks there is no hope of mercy for him and therefore resolves still to go on in his sins Plea 27. I have been such a vile and wretched sinner and have lived so â—â—…ng in this sin of drunkenness that I am afâ—â—â—… there is no Mercy for me And therefore I had as good enjoy what delight and pleasure I can whilst I live seeing I must perish when I die If I did apprehend there was any hope of Mercy for me I would speedily break off my evil courses and reform my life A. 1. Despair doth harden mens hearts to go on still in their trespasses Jer. 18.12 And they said There is no hope but we will walk after our own devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his own evil heart And therefore we should be careful that we do not give way to despairing thoughts concerning the mercy of God 2. Though your case should be hopeless yet you had better break of your evil courses than go on to add sin to sin for that will lessen your torments in the other world 3. There is hope upon your Repentance that you may obtain mercy from God though you have been as vile a Drunkard as any that lives upon the face of the Earth For 1. The blood of Christ is of sufficient vertue to wash away the greatest sins of the greatest sinners in the world Joh. 1.23 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world All sins though never so many for number and never so heinous for nature are cleansed away by the blood of Christ from such as repent and believe in him Joh. 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin 2. The Lord for Christ his sake hath promised remission of sins upon their repentance to the chiefest of sinners and such as have continued so long in their sins that they have even wearied the patience of God to bear with them Isa 1.16 17 18. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well Come now let us reason together though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red as Crimson they shall be as wool The most heinous sins such as are like scarlet and crimson of a deep die shall be forgiven to such as cease to do evil Isa 43.24 25. Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine Iniquities I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins Though a man hath been a very wicked man and led an evil Life and committed abundance of sin yet upon his Repentance God will pardon all his sins Isa 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon 3. Abominable Drunkards and other vile sinners have obtained pardon of sin through the blood of Christ and Sanctification by the Spirit of Christ 1 Cor. 6.11 And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Such were some of you that is such as are mentioned in the foregoing verses Drunkards Idolaters Adulterers abusers of themselves with Mankind Theives Revilers Extortioners And yet though some of them had been such abominable sinners they were pardoned by the blood and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ And therefore let no man though a great sinner though the chiefest of sinners say his case is desperate for there is mercy for him upon his Repentance Prov. 28.13 Who so confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy Sect. 7 And Exhortation to such as are addicted to this sin of drunkenness to break off their sin If drunkenness be such a wofull sin then let me exhort all persons that are addicted to this sin of drunkenness whether they be rich or poor young or old speedily to break of their sin and to leave of their drunken courses and companions I entreat and beseech you for God's sake whose name is dishonoured by this beastly sin and for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake who shed his most precious blood to redeem you from this and your other sins and for the Holy Ghost's sake who is greived and vexed by your sensual courses and for the Gospel's sake which is scandalized by your lose Conversations and for your own sake that you would not ruine your selves Body and Soul for ever and for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake that you would not deprive your selves of the unspeakable glory and joys of Heaven rather than to leave off this swinish sin and for your Families that you would not ruine and corrupt your Families and entail God's Judgments on your Posterity and for the Nation 's sake that you would not pull down God's wrath upon the Land of your Nativity leave off your
drunkenness and company-keeping If you have any regard to the honour of God if you have any love to Jesus Christ if you have any respect to the Blessed Spirit of God if you have any respect to your own welfare either in this or the World to come if you have any love to your Families or to the Nation in which you live break off this beastly this sottish this bewitching this abominable this damnable sin of drunkenness To press on this Exhortation the more effectually consider 1. If you will turn from this loathsome sin of drunkenness there will be exceeding great joy both in Heaven and Earth at your Conversion Your Parents and Godly Relations that have prayed for you and wept for your disorderly courses they will rejoyce at your Conversion Prov. 10.1 A wise Son maketh a glad Father The Ministers of God will rejoyce exceedingly at your Conversion for they have no greater joy in this World than to see the fruit of their labours in the Conversion Holy Conversation and Salvation of those to whom they preach Joh. 3d. Epist 3.4 I rejoyced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee even as thou walkest in the truth I haveno greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth The Apostle Paul had such joy in the Conversion of the Thessalonians that he was not able to express his joy and his thankfulness to God for their Conversion 1 Thes 3.9 What thanks can we render to God again for you for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God And the Saints and Servants of God will joy to hear of your Conversion Act. 15.3 Declaring the Conversion of the Gentiles they caused great joy unto all the brethren Yea more if you repent of your sins and turn from drunkenness you will cause joy among all the Angels of Heaven Luk. 15.7 10. 2. If you neglect or refuse to break off this sin of drunkenness you will be grief to God and Men and bring grief and sorrow to your own Soul You will grieve God that made you and maintains you that God in whom you live and move and have your being Gen. 6.5 6. God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the Earth And it grieved him at his heart And by your hardness of heart and persisting still in your sins you will grieve Jesus Christ who shed his blood to save lost man Mark 3.5 Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts Your going on in this sin in a rebellious manner will grieve the Holy Spirit of God Isa 63.10 They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit You will be a grief to your Parents Prov. 19.13 A foolish son is the calamity of his Father Prov. 17.25 A foolish son is a grief to his Father and bitterness to her that bare him You will be a great grief to God's Ministers and to all Godly People Psal 119.136 158. Rivers of tears run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law I bebeld the Transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy Word And you will bring great sorrows to your own Soul Prov. 23.29 30. Who hath sorrow They that tarry long at the wine See also Prov. 5.11 12 13 14. And will you grieve God and grieve your Parents and grieve God's Ministers and all God's Servants and pierce your own Soul through with many sorrows rather than leave off this grievous sin of drunkenness What shall I say more to perswade you to leave off this vile sin of drunkenness If teares would prevail with you I would say with the Prophet Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a Fountain of tears that I might weep day and night before you till I had prevailed with you to leave this abominable this Soul destroying sin of drunkenness If the mercies of God would make any impression upon your hearts I would beseech you by all the mercies of God that ever you received or hope to receive either in this World or in the World to come to break off this beastly sin If God's promises would do any thing to lead you to Repentance I might tell you what great things God hath promised to do for you if you will leave of this and your other sins He will give you a free full and eternal pardon of all your Transgressions he will give you his Heavenly Kingdom where you shall have unspeakable glory fullness of joy and Rivers of pleasure for evermore he will withhold no good thing from you If you have any fear of God's judgments I might tell you of the VVorm that dyeth not of the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone of blackness of darkness of being sent from Christ's Judgment Seat with a curse into Everlasting Fire to have your abode with the Devil and his Angels all which things and more than the tongue of man can express will be your portion if you break not off this damnable sin of drunkenness If any words or arguments will prevail with you I could wish I had the tongue of Men and Angels to speak to you in the most perswasive manner to leave off this Soul destroying sin § The convinced sinner's case considered that is almost perswaded to leave off this sin It may be some will say my heart begins to relent methinks I am almost perswaded to leave off my drunkenness and to become a new man I am of the mind to bind my self with a vow and to make a solemn promise never to be drunk any more what counsel would you give to one in my condition A. 1. Do not only almost but altogether resolve to leave off this sin else you will be but almost saved If you be double minded sometimes of the mind to leave your sins and sometimes of the mind to keep them still you will be unstable in all your wayes Jam. 1.8 2. Do not only resolve and promise and vow to forsake this sin but perform your vows and promises As that man's Son dealt with his Father whom his Father bid go and work in his Vineyard he said I go Sir but he went not Matth. 21.30 So many men deal with God they make promises to God to leave their sins but they perform them not Now it is better not to make any vows or promises of Reformation than after we have made them not to perform them Eccl. 5.5 Better it is that thou shouldst not vow than that thou shouldst vow and not pay 3. Take heed of leaving this sin for a time and then returning to it again as the dog doth to his vomit and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire for the latter end of such persons is worse than the beginning 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. 4. Turn from all your other sins as well as drunkenness if you would find favour with God and obtain the remission of your sins It is not sufficient to cast away some of our sins but if