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§. 2. Chrift charges his disciples to have a care of the guilt of it: a fupplication to the inhabitants of England. §. 3. Temperance preffed upon the churches by the apostles. §. 4. An Exhortation to England to measure berfelf by that rule. 5. What Chriftian recreations are. §. 6. Who need other Sports to pass away their time, are unfit for heaven and eternity. §. 7. Man has but a few days: they may be better bestowed: this doctrine is ungrateful to none that would be truly blessed. §. 8. Not only good is omitted by this luxurious life, but evil committed, as breach of marriage and love, lofs of health and estate, &c. Playhoufes and stages most inftrumental to this mifchief. §. 9. How youth is by them inflamed to vanity: what mischief comes of revels, gamings, &c. Below the life of noble Hea thens. §. 10. The true difciples of Jefus are mortified in these things: the pleasure and reward of a good employment of time.

§. I. BUT fuch excefs in apparel and pleafure, was not only forbid in fcripture, but it was the ground of that lamentable meffage by the prophet Ifaiah to the people of *Ifrael: Moreover, the Lord faith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with ftretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet; therefore the Lord

The very practice and garb, and vanity of this age, being as liable to the wrath of God, which hangs over England and Europe, and is ready to be executed on their rebellious inhabitants.

will fmite with a fcab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will difcover their fecret parts; in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and their caul (or net-works in the Hebrew) and their round tires like the moon; the chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers; the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and earrings, the rings and nofe-jewels; the changeable fuits of apparel and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crifping-pins; the glaffes, and the fine linen, and the hoods and the veils; and it fhall come to pafs, that instead of sweet fmell, there fhall be a flink; and instead of a girdle, a reat; and instead of well-fet hair, baldness; and instead of a ftomacher, a girding of fackcloth, and burning instead of beauty :: thy men fhall fall by the fword, and thy mighty in the war; and her gates fhall lament and mourn, and fhe being defolate, fhall fit upon the ground. Behold, O vain and foolifh inhabitants of England and Europe, your folly. and your doom! Yet read the prophet Ezekiel's vifion of miferable Tyre, what punishment. her pride and pleafure brought upon her; and amongst many other circumftances thefe are fome: Thefe were thy merchants in all forts of things; in blue clothes and broidered work, and in chefts of rich apparel, emeralds, purple, fine linen, coral and agate, fpices, with all precious ftones, and gold, horfes, chariots, &c. for which hear part of her doom, Thy riches

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and thy fairs, thy merchandize and all thy company, which is in the midst of thee, fhall fall into the midst of the fea in the day of thy ruin; and the inhabitant of the ifles fhall be aftonished at thee; and their merchants hifs at thee; thou fhalt be a terror, and fhalt be no more. Thus hath God declared his difpleasure against the luxury of this wanton world. Yet farther the prophet Zephaniah goes, for thus he speaks: And it fhall come to pafs in the day of the Lord's facrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all fuch as are clothed with strange apparel. Of how evil confequence was it in thofe times, for the greateft men to give themselves the liberty of following the vain cuftoms of other nation's; or of changing the ufual end of clothes, or apparel, to gratify, foolish curiofity?

f. 11. This did the Lord Jefus Chrift expressly charge his difciples not to be careful about; infinuating that fuch as were, could not be his difciples: for, fays he, Take no thought, faying, What fhall we eat; or what fhall we drink? Or wherewithal fhall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles feek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things; but feek ye firft the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things fhall be added unto you." Under which of eating, and drinking, and apparel, he comprehends all external things whatsoever; and fo much appears, as well because they are oppofed to the kingdom of

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God and his righteoufnefs, which are invisible and heavenly things, as that thofe very matters he enjoins them not to be careful about, are the most neceffary, and the most innocent in themfelves. If then, in fuch cafes, the minds. of his difciples were not to be folicitous; much lefs in foolish, fuperftitious, idle inventions, to gratify the carnal appetites and minds of men fo certain it is, that thofe who live therein, are none of his followers, but the Gentiles; and, as he elsewhere fays, The na tions of the world, who know not God. If now then the diftinguishing mark between the difciples of Jefus and thofe of the world is, that one minds the things of heaven, and God's kingdom, that ftands in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghoft;' being not careful of external matters, even the most innocent and neceffary; and that the other minds: eating, drinking, apparel, and the affairs of this world, with the lufts, pleafures, profits, and honours that belong to it; be you intreated: for your fouls fake, O inhabitants of England, to be ferious, to reflect a while upon yourfelves what care and coft you are at, of time and money, about foolish, nay vicious things: fo far are you degenerated from the primitive Chriftian life. What buying and felling, what dealing and chaffering, what writing and poft ing, what toil and labour, what noise, hurry, buftle and confufion, what ftudy, what little contrivances and over-reachings, what eating, drinking, vanity of apparel, most ridiculous

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recreations; in fhort, what rifing early, going to bed late, expence of precious time, is there about things that perifh? View the streets, fhops, exchanges, plays, parks, coffee-houses, &c. and is not the world, this fading world, writ upon every face? Say not within yourfelves, How otherwife fhould men live, and the world fubfift? The common, though frivolous objection. There is enough for all. Let fome content themselves with lefs: a few things plain and decent, serve a Christian life. It is luft, pride, avarice, that thrufts men upon fuch folly : were God's kingdom more the exercise of their minds, thefe perifhing entertainments. would have but little of their time or thoughts.

III. This felf-denying doctrine was confirmed and enforced by the apostles in their example, as we have already fhewn; and in their precepts too, as we fhall yet evince in thofe two most remarkable paffages of Paul and Peter; where they do not only tell us, what fhould be done, but also what should be denied and avoided: In like manner I will, that women adorn themselves in modeft apparel: what is that? With fhamefacedness and fo briety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or coftly array (then it feems thefe are immodeft) but which becometh women profeffing godlinefs, with good works." Abfolutely implying, that thofe who attire themselves with gold, filver, broidered hair, pearls, coftly array, cannot in fo doing, be women profeffing godlinefs; making those very things to be contrary

1 Tim. ii. 9, 10.

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