THE Text is an Exhortation to abstinence from the Lusts of the Flesh : Which Duty the Apostle endeavours to fix upon the Spirits of his Auditors by a twofold means or artifice . First , by insinuating into their Affections by a kind and friendly compellation and humbleness of Address [ Dearly beloved , I beseech you : ] And then by convincing their Reason by solid Argumentation : Which is fetch'd from a twofold Topick , from the enmity and active hostility of these fleshly lusts against our Souls , and from the Dignity and Sanctity of our Souls themselves ; intimating that the state of this present World , with the enjoyments of it , is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a thing too much estranged from , unsuitable to , or unworthy of a Being of so high a nature and Divine extraction , as the Soul of Man to be engaged in , or any thing taken with . This is the summe of the Text.

WE will begin with the Duty we are exhorted to , the abstinence from Fleshly Lusts , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . It is too trivial to take notice that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does as well signifie Desire at large , or natural appetite , in which there is no hurt , as Inordinate desire , which we ordinarily understand by Lust ; though that English word also was of an indifferent meaning in the ancient use thereof . But this honest and allowable sense of the word we may be sure is not meant in the Text ; both because the Precept were impossible to be performed without manifest violence and injury done to Nature ; ( for we cannot live without Eating , and Drinking , and Sleeping , ) and also because of that Epithet added to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; Which yet denotes the pravity of these Desires , rather than their Original : For Flesh , in a natural sense , is of as harmless a signification as Desire ; as where the Apostle sayes , No man ever yet hated his own flesh , but nourisheth and cherisheth it . Wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Fleshly Lust is taken in such a sense as it is , where it is opposed to the Spirit , Gal. 5. 17. For the flesh lasteth against the Spirit , and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other ; as appears more manifestly from their fruits or works . The works of the flesh are manifest ; saith the Apostle in the same place , which are these , Adultery , fornication , uncleanness , lasciviousness , idolatry , witchcraft , hatred , variance , emulations , wrath , strife , seditions , heresies , envyings , murders , drunkenness , revellings , and such like : But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy , peace , long-suffering , gentleness , goodness , faith , meekness , temperance .

Flesh therefore and Fleshly Lusts ( in the Text ) is to be understood in such a sense as they are opposed to the nature and fruits of the Spirit . And in Rom. 13. Let us walk honestly as in the day , not in rioting and drunkenness , not in chambering and wantonness , not in strife and envying : But put ye on the Lord Iesus Christ , and make no provision for the flesh , to fulfil the lusts thereof . Here the Life or Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ , is opposed to those works of the Flesh , and to the caressing and providing for the satisfactions thereof .

And indeed , if we examine either our own lives or others , it is manifest that our care and forecast is pitch'd upon some one thing that is the leading Object to all our Affections . In this sense therefore , so to indulge to the desires of the Flesh as to make the Satisfactions of the Carnal Life the Joy and Contentment of our Souls , to make it the thing we long after , and would be at , either alwayes , or as repeatedly as we can find our selves reap the pleasures of such repetitions ; this is truly and properly to follow , not to abstain from Fleshly Lusts. But to keep at a due distance from all Animal pleasures , not to resent them nor rellish them with too high a gusto , or penetrating delight ; not to let these poysonous waters enter even into our Souls ( as the Psalmist complains of the Waters of Affliction ) nor yet our Souls to cleave to the dust ; but for our Perceptive part to tamper with these things with a more suspensive or collective guard upon it self , not loosening it self , nor letting it self flow or melt into that which allures so strongly , and would captivate her will and affections into a base servitude to things beneath her ; but to admit only so much of them , as either tend to , or are consistent with the health and sanity of both Soul and Body ; Thus to order our Appetite , were properly to abstain from Fleshly Lusts , and to content our selves only with the fulfilling our harmless and natural desires , with which the Apostle has no quarrel .

In brief therefore our Natural Desires then become Fleshly Lusts , when their rellish is so high , that they either extinguish or obscure our Capacities of those Holy and Divine Joys , or exceed the end and scope of God and Nature in planting them in us ; which was not for any mischief to either Soul or Body , but for the good of both , if Men were but either skilful , or docible to learn the right uses and ends of them . Edo ut vivam , non ut edam vivo , was the Saying of an old Philosopher somewhere ( Socrates I think ) Whereby he intimated the true end of Eating and Drinking , and perstringed the ignorance and enormity of Gluttons and Drunkards . The Animal functions and delights of them are of so low an allay , that when Men live to enjoy the exercise of these , it is an extreme inordinacy of Life , and all the Natural Desires and Pleasures become ipso facto , Fleshly Lusts. For surely they must be very highly taken with those things that they take to be the very Ends of our living , and without which , Life would not be vital : Which is such an unhinging of true Reason and Nature , that that saying of Antisthenes will appear from hence to bear with it a more sober and remarkable sense then we may be at first aware of , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , I had rather be mad than struck with pleasure ; that is , in such a sense as has been declared . For to be transported with the pleasure of Natural Fruitions to that inordinacy , is both a madness and a piece of Immorality besides ; and haply such as does more deeply wound the Soul , than Natural Madness it self , and lay more certain trains of her future Misery .

To abstain therefore from Fleshly Lusts , is to resist or deny the inordinate cravings of our Natural Propensions or Desires , and to held our Soul in suspence from being carried into too great a transport in but the measurable use of them ; that they should not pierce into the inward life of the Soul , but let that Plant , our Body , rejoyce by it self , if it can , in its grateful refreshments . Trees and Flowers flourish well enough , supply'd with Rain and Sunshine , without any such high transports : And the chearfulness of a pure Mind and upright Conscience will be Sunshine enough to be added to the moderate irrigations of convenient nourishment , due to this Plant-Animal we carry about with us : That no Man may think it his duty to exult in the enjoyment of corporeal pleasures for the health of his Bodies sake , when every such perception so heartily and feelingly taken in , is either poyson , or a stab to the life of the Soul . But that will be more seasonably considered anon . In the mean time , I hope I have made it clear enough , what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or Fleshly Lusts ; as also what it is to abstain from them .

WE come now to consider the Second part of our Discourse , the means or artifice the Apostle uses to fasten this Duty I have described , upon the Hearts and Consciences of his Auditors , His humble Address [ I beseech you ] and that kind and friendly compellation [ Dearly beloved . ] And indeed the one implies the other . Non bene conveniunt , nec in unâ sede mor antur Majest as & Amor — While , he calls them , Dearly beloved , it is more comely and suitable to beseech them than command them : But the Prudence and Discretion of the Apostle is very conspicuous in both , thus to insinuate himself into the Affections of his Auditors , by such sweet and wining Rhetorick ; he being to convey something to them which is over bitter and distastful to Flesh and Blood ; and therefore he does well to besmear the brim of this cup of Wormwood with the sweetness of Honey , that his Patients may the better take this wholesome Potion , as Lucretius uses this Similitude , though in a subiect of less moment . Sea veluti pueris absynthia tetra medentes Cum dare conantur , priùs oras pocula circùm Contingunt meltis dulci flavuque liquore . Hard commands given with an harsh imperiousness , befits not the Spirit of the Gospel . And it is not so much external force , at the assurance of the kindness , integrity , and fidelity of the Instructer , that can engage the Affections and Conscience of the Auditor to the observance of such Spiritual Precepts as these . Indeed the falsly-pretended Successor of Peter may by law and force keep Men from eating Flesh in Lent , and engage them to observe such Commandments of Men , whereby they more easily make the Commandments of God of no effect : But to win upon Mens Consciences indeed , to set upon the true and real mortification of our Fleshly Lusts , in such a sense as I have described ; this is more likely to proceed from the perswasion they have of him that gives this wholesome Counsel , that it is out of sincere kindness and faithfulness to them for the safety of their Souls , than if they discern it proceeds out of an affectation of dominion over their Consciences ; and of exposing them to unnecessary faults and mulcts .

While the Apostle therefore layes aside all imperiousness of Command , he seems to insinuate his sensibleness of the hardness of the task , and to suggest that it is not out of an affectation of dominion over their Christian Liberty that he offers this Advice , but out of the mere indispensableness of the Duty , in order to their Salvation . For as he calls them [ Dearly beloved ] so he treats them as in that endearing respect ; and seems to profess , that it is merely out of his Brotherly Love and Tenderness towards them , and faithful care of their highest and most important concerns , that constrains him to offer this severer Counsel unto them . Those whom we dearly love , we cannot endure to hurt or grieve any way : And therefore professing this tender affection to them in the midst of severer Counsel , it is a plain manifestation that nothing but the indispensableness thereof could extort from him the Advice ; as when a tender Mother perswades her Child to endure the Searing Iron , or Incision-Knife , and to be content to quit some festred or gangren'd part of the securing of the whole Body . This is the genuine sense of this wise and discreet insinuation of the Apostle into the affections of his Auditors , that his Exhortation to Abstinence from Fleshly Lusts may take the more certain effect with them .

WE proceed now to the last part of our Discourse , which is to consider the Apostles Argumentation , whereby he would engage them to this Duty . Which Argumentation ( as I said ) was fetched from a two-fold Topick , First , From the dignity of an Humane Soul , especially Christian. Secondly , From that enmity or hostility of the Fleshly Lusts against her .

1. The dignity and excellency of Humane Souls is intimated in those words [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : ] The former whereof signifies such Qui sedem habent extra Patriam ; the latter , qui extra Patriam peregrinantur ; as Grotius notes upon the Text. So that according to the sense of either of these expressions , it is manifest that we carry something about us that is of a far higher dignity than to be accounted a Citizen or Indigena of this Terrestrial Globe . If this round Hillock of Earth can lay claim to any thing of us born therein , or therefrom , it is only this Earthly Body . At verò animis aeterna Coeli sedes quaerenda , eaque propriae illorum Patria ; as Cicero speaks . And something like this is intimated by the Author to the Hebrews , who ( according as Philo Judaeus also somewhere insinuates , touching the Souls of the Patriarchs here upon Earth ) does declare them Pilgrims and Strangers in this present World upon their own confession , which he will also have further to imply that , in thus saying , they are Pilgrims and Strangers ; that they seek a Country which belongs more peculiarly to them ; that they desired a better Country , that is an Heavenly ; and adds , Wherefore God is not ashawed to be called their God , for he hath prepared for them a City , namely in Heaven . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . We come into his World to sojourn , uot to dwell here ; for the soul of every wise man has Heaven for its Country , but this Earth for its land of Pilgrimage ; as Philo speaks . Like that of Cato in Tully , Commorandi enim Natura diversorium nobis , non habitandi locum dedit . And Plato in his Axiochus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . And Philo de Somniis , does expresly make the History of the Pilgrimages of Abraham and the Patriarchs , a Type or Shadow of the Peregrination of Humane Souls here upon Earth , but that they have their proper Country in Heaven , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : which methinks with more elegancy the Holy Apostle calls his Tabernacle ; which alludes to the pilgrimage of the Israelites through the Wilderness into the Promised Land , that illustrious Type of Heaven , in which journey they liv'd in Tabernacles , or Booths . Yea , I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle , to stir you up by putting you in remembrance , knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle . Which Tabernacle being dissolved , we have a building of God , ( saith S. Paul ) an house not made with hands , eternal in the Heavens . That was only commorandi diversorium , This an everlasting habitation to dwell in . Wherefore the littleness of the concerns of this Life being proportioned to our short stay here , and the Soul of Man being capable of so high and lasting enjoyments , it is very unworthy and unbecoming so noble a Being as the Soul , not to abstain from Fleshly Lusts , not to be so much master of the Natural Desires of the Flesh , as not to be enslaved to them , or transported by them ; either to seek them , or sue after them with over-much eagerness , whether Riches , Honours , the Pleasures of the Flesh , or whatever gratifications of the Animal Life ; or to embrace them with over much transportedness when they are offer'd unto us . Epictetus expresses how we ought to be minded toward these things , excellently well , by a Similitude taken from a Feast or Banquet . If a Dish come to thee that thou likest , take part thereof with Modesty and Temperance : Is it to be removed from thee , detain it not : Is it not yet come at thee , stretch not thine Appetite out to it , before its approach . If thou shalt be thus affected toward all the things of this World , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But if when they are offered thee , thou yet refuse them , thou shalt not only be a worthy Guest , but even a Fellow-Prince amongst the Gods .

And truly if we would but duly consider the Original of our Souls , from what Fountain and Archetypon they are derived , and of what an excellent nature they are , and how little they are intended for this Terrestrial condition ; methinks it should be no hard task to fulfil this Precept of the Stoick ; or rather that of S. Iohn , in his General Epistle , Love not the world , neither the things of the world ; If any man love the world , the love of the Father is not in him . For all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the Father but of the world . Wherefore our Original being so peculiarly Divine , we are bound , if we bear a due respect to that , to gather up our Affections from sinking towards the vain and transitory things of this World , and look upon our selves as very little concerned in them : Christian Souls especially , who by reason of their new birth , are of a noble and divine extraction indeed ; and therefore upon a double account , ought not so to undervalue themselves as to adhere to the fading pleasures and gratifications of this mortal Life . If in vertue of this new birth , ye be risen with Christ , into the sense of the Divine Life . and into a true and lively Faith , seek those things which are above where Christ fitteth on the right hand of God . Set your affections on things above , not on things on the earth . For what is there that this Earthly Life affords , which we do not enjoy but as Tenants in common with the very Brutes ? Eating , Drinking , Sleeping , hunting after a prey , or pursuing a project for the satisfaction of our Carnal Desires , begetting or bringing up our young ; applauses , caresses , the pleasure of dominion or revenge , and the like ; These set up but on one level with the Beasts of the field , and do not at all reach the excellency of our proper Nature . But yet this is the guise of this Land of our Pilgrimage , thus to be clad in the manners and habits of our fellow-Animals of the Earth , as well as Strangers put on Turbants in the Turkish Empire . But who would put on an odd habit in a strange Country , but merely out of necessity ? Could he strut and please himself in it , and be curious and sollicitous about a thing that he has no conceit or opinion of ? For us to make provision for the Flesh , to fulfil the lusts thereof ( as the Apostle speaks ) is as fond , as if some Slave should be very curious to provide himself of Chains and Fetters , or other badges of his Slavery ; or a Fool should be very careful that his Coat have all the peculiar laces or tassels of a Fools-Coat : And all this Worldly Pomp and Enjoyments are no better , nor bear no more agreeable proportion to the Nobleness of the Soul , than a Fools-Coat to the Body of a Grave and Wise Man . Nay , I think , that Grave and Wise Philosopher Plotinus took his own Body to be such a Coat , and therefore was loath to be painted in it , and so leave a durable disgrace of himself behind him .

But suppose these Worldly things were not altogether so vile and contemptible , yet our stay is here so short , that to us they cannot be valuable . For as both S. Peter and Plato have told us , this Life is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a kind of Pilgrimage here upon Earth , and we are but passing through it into our own Country . How fond a thing therefore would it be to love any thing of the World ; or to addict our Affections to it , when we must so suddenly leave it ? As fond as if one should be inveigled with the love of his Inn , or any thing there , when as he must leave it the next morning .

Wherefore being thus in a strange Land , which we are to pass through , not to make any abode in , let not our minds be fixt or glued to any thing from which our Persons are so suddenly to remove . And because we are Strangers in the Land , let us take heed how we tamper with any bewitching Objects , lest that which looks fair may prove no safe food , but either a present or more lingring poyson , and we may find the mischief of it at our return into the other State . It is S. Iudes Character of some in the antient Christian Feasts of Charity , that they fed themselves without Fear ; as if they had made that perverse sense of our Saviours Saying , That which enters into the man , cannot defile him , by either quantity or quality . But we are environed with so much ignorance and inexperience in this strange Land , that we ought carefully to stand upon our guard , and take heed how over-greedily or over-heartily we close with any tempting delight , remembring that there may lye hid the most dangerous poyson in the greatest sweetness . Let us therefore trust no strange Objects in this strange Land , but keep close to what is nearest akin to us ; that is , to our true Manhood , which is the sense of true Honour and Vertue , the Fear and Love of God , and whatever Graces descend from that Fountain of Light , and Giver of every good and perfect gift . But the gifts of this World are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which few can receive without parting with that which is infinitely better , a pure Mind and a peaceable Conscience , and the assured hopes of Eternal Happiness hereafter .

And thus much for the Apostles first Argumentation , to perswade us to abstain from Fleshly Lusts , fetch'd from the Dignity of the Soul .

2. We come to the Second , which is , The Enmity and Hostility of these Lusts against the Soul ; the law of the members warring against the law of the mind , and endeavouring to lead us captive into the bondage of sin .

This Hostility is exercised , 1. In treacherous Circumventions . 2. In violent Assaults : And 3. in the spoil and pillage of the Soul upon Victory .

1. The treachery and stratagems of the Lusts against the Soul , are usually these .

First , A pretence of enlarging our Knowledge and Experience in things , that it is fit to know the World , and by real Proof to judge of the estimate of things , and not to be cooped up within such narrow bounds , and thereby remain simple and ignorant . This was a Stratagem of the Old Serpent , whereby he deceived Eve ; Ye shall not surely dye ; but God knows that in the day ye eat thereof , your eyes shall be opened , and ye shall be as Gods , and know good and evil . ( Gen. 3. ) But the Soul must take heed of such false and mischievous insinuations as these , and remember , that experimentally to know evil , is to become evil and miserable ; and that the adequate object of our Wills or Desires , is that which is Good , and that therefore Knowledge it self is not desireable but upon this account , so far forth as it makes us good and happy . Who would have the experimental knowledge of the Rack , or of the Stone and Gout , or of a draught of Poyson , though he may have his Antidote ? None but condemned Persons , and the Slaves of Mountebanks ; nor they neither , but that they are forced to it . To undergo therefore such base Experiments , in which there is so much loathsomness and danger , is to submit our selves to be Slaves , and is unworthy the Nobleness of an Humane Soul . But if we will be experimenting , let us not experiment downwards , by plunging our selves into several sorts and degrees of Lusts of the Fleshly or Animal Life , but rather try how much we can emerge upwards into the various pleasures and perfections of the Divine . Let us taste and see how good the Lord is , and what variety of joys and delights there is in him . All things come to an end , but thy Commandments are exceeding large , saith the Prophet David : Here 's a field therefore wide enough to exercise our selves in , and to try variety of experiments in the progress of Holiness ; adding to our faith vertue , to our vertue knowledge , to our knowledge temperance , to our temperance patience , to our patience godliness , to our godliness brotherly kindness , and to our brotherly kindness charity : Whereby we become of one Spirit with the very Godhead it self , in whose presence is fulness of joy , and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore , and so great that we cannot desire to experiment any thing greater .

Secondly , Well , but if this Stratagem will not take , the next is a fair insinuation of kindred and friendship betwixt the Fleshly Lusts and the Soul of man . Homo es , humani nihil à te alienum puta ; or that Proverbial Phrase amongst the Greeks , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But the Soul here is to remember that the True man is the Intellectual man , made in the Image of God , according to Righteousness and true Holiness ; not the Sensual part , common to us with the Brutes ; and that though she may admit of natural ordinate desires , yet Fleshly Lusts have no pretence to lay any claim to her , they belonging either to the worst of Brutes , or not being to be owned at all , as any part of the Creation . Wherefore it is a pittiful Sophisme men put upon themselves , while they plead an indulgence to their sinful Lusts upon the priviledge of their Nature ; as if they were Beasts and not Men , or as if it were a priviledge to be a Beast , or Man were not to rule the Beast in this case , and admit of no desires but such as are ordinate and allowable .

Thirdly and lastly , These Fleshly Lusts will plead for themselves from custom and the guize of the World ; and tell the Soul it is but a piece of Humanity , and Discretion , and due Civility to the rest of Mankind to do as they do ; that it is more creditable and plausible , and how a Man had better be out of the World than out of the Fashion . But to stop this vain plea of the Flesh , the Soul may oppose that of the Blessed Apostle S. Peter ; Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind , be sober and hope to the end , for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Iesus Christ ; as obedient children , not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance ; but as he which hath called you is holy , so be ye holy in all manner of conversation ; because it is written , Be ye holy , for I am holy . And to be holy , is not to be mingled with the World , or conformable thereto , but separate and distinct from it . What therefore have we to do to conform our selves to the rest of the World that lies in wickedness ( as S. Iohn saith ) when as we are a chosen generation , a royal priesthood , an holy nation , a peculiar people , who are to shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light . ( 1 Pet. 2. 9. ) Why then should we fashion our selves according to the sinful guize of the World , when as Christ hath redeemed us from the earth , and from all our vain conversation . And therefore we being the peculiar people of God , we are Strangers and Pilgrims as to the World , and the guizes thereof ; and it would be as ill beseeming for us to conform our selves to the fashions of the World , as it would be for a Civil European to put on the Shells and Feathers of a Barbarous American .

2. But the Lusts of the Flesh being thus worsted and defeated in Parley , they will attempt to do that by violence which they could not do by treachery and circumvention : By the force and vigour of their impress they will endeavour to carry us away captive . But against this the Soul is to listen to that Advice of our Saviour , Watch and pray , that ye be not led into temptation ; and that of the Apostle S. Peter , Be sober , be vigilant , because your adversary the devil , as a roaring lyon , walketh about seeking whom he may devour . And he entred into Iudas you know upon the eating of the Sop ; which seems to intimate , that Fasting and Temperance is a good safeguard against him . We must with S. Paul , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; keep the Body under , lest this domestick Thief ( as Trismegist calls it ) be so strong and stubborn , that he fly in our faces , and over-master us . We must put on the whole Armour of God , ( as the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians ) that we may be able to withstand in the evil day , and having done all to stand , to keep the field against our fiercest and stoutest Enemies . We must have our loins girt with Truth ; that is , with saving Truth , with the knowledge of the best and most useful things : For this Truth lies in a little room , and therefore will keep in , and gird up our Affections more close , and not suffer any diffluency of our minds into folly and vanity . And we must put on the Breast-plate of Righteousness ; that is , of resolved Uprightness and Sincerity of Heart . Above all we must take the Shield of Faith , in the power of God , whereby we are enabled to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked . And we must take the Helmet of Hope , and sure expectation of Everlasting Life , which will keep us from being easily knock'd down to the Earth by the fiercest Assaults of our Adversaries . And lastly we must take to us the Sword of the Spirit , which is the Word of God , whereby we may divide betwixt Good and Evil , and admit the one , and reject the other . And being thus appointed , we must pray alwaies with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit , watching thereunto with all perseverance : And especially to watch in such a sense as this , as to be extremely shy and careful how we admit any thing under the colour , or upon the rellish of Animal pleasure , but rather eo nomine to decline it : Which is an impregnable Bulwark against the assaults of the Flesh , and such as will ever defeat them . If we do these things we shall never fall , let the assaults of the Fleshly Lusts be as violent as they will .

3. But if we be overcome , let us now see what a lamentable spoil they will make of us , and how cruelly and tyrannically they will use us .

For First , They will rob us of whatever is precious , that we have : They will take down , and carry away with them , that chearful and delightful furniture of the Soul , Peace and Tranquillity of mind . For the mind of man is not of so base an Original , as to enjoy it self in things so much below it self , as are the Fleshly Lusts ; Whence it must needs be , that she will be ever and anon disturbed with loathings and regrets of Conscience , amidst her so base condition and practices ; and instead of that steady peace and chearfulness of Spirit , ( which are enjoyed in our adherence to Holiness and Vertue ) be exposed to many horrours and distractions , and confusions of thoughts , and an ungrateful sense of inward shame and reproach which accompanies such unworthy actions .

Secondly , They will disarm the Soul of that honest activity and diligence which we ought to have in our Affairs , and make us more uncareful and more unable to pursue and manage our Business with that discretion and faithfulness we ought to do , to the scandal of the World , as well as to our own detriment . This Lucretius notes of that notorious kind of Fleshly Lusts , the being addicted to Women , Languent officia atque aegrotat fama vacillans , But takes place also in Gluttony , in Drunkenness , and whatever other pleasure has once overcome the Soul , and subdued her to it self .