III. Teach me, O Lord, to walk before thee in righteousness, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Give me an obedient will, a loving spirit, an humble understanding, watchfulness over my thoughts, deliberation in all my words and actions, well-tempered passions, and a great prudence, and a great zeal, and a great charity, that I may do my duty wisely, diligently, holily; O let me be humbled in my infirmities, but let me be also safe from my enemies; let me never fall by their violence, nor by my own weakness; let me never be overcome by them, nor yet give myself up to folly and weak principles, to idleness, and secure, careless walking; but give me the strengths of thy Spirit, that I may grow strong upon the ruins of the flesh, growing from grace to grace, till I become a perfect man in Christ Jesus. O let my strength be seen in my weakness; and let thy mercy triumph over my infirmities; pitying the condition of my nature, the infancy of grace, the imperfection of my knowledge, the transportation of my passion. Let me never consent to sin, but for ever strive against it, and every day prevail, till it be quite dead in me; that thy servant, living the life of grace, may at last be admitted to that state of glory, where all my infirmities shall be done away, and all tears be dried up, and sin and death shall be no more. Grant this, O most gracious God and Father, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Our Father, &c. CHAP. IV. OF ACTUAL, SINGLE SINS, AND WHAT REPENTANCE SECTION I. I. THE first part of conversion or repentance, is a quitting of all sinful habits, and abstaining from all criminal actions what soever. Virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima Stultitiâ caruisset. t Hor. Ep. 1. 1. 41. For unless the Spirit of God rule in our hearts, we are none of Christ's: but he rules not where the works of the flesh are frequently, or maliciously, or voluntarily entertained. All the works of the flesh, and whatsoever leads to them, all that is contrary to the Spirit, and does either grieve or extinguish him, must be rescinded, and utterly taken away. Concerning which, it is necessary that I set down the " cata logues, which by Christ and his apostles are left us as lights and watch-towers, to point out the rocks and quicksands where our danger is: and this I shall the rather do, not only because they comprehend many evils which are not observed or feared some which are commended, and many that are excused: but also because, although they are all marked with the same black character of death, yet there is some difference in the execution of the sentence, and in the de grees of their condemnation, and of the consequent repent ance. Evil Thoughts; or Discoursings. oi Διαλογισμοί 2. Διαλογισμοὶ οἱ κακοὶ, 4 evil reasonings. adoλeoxía, says Hesychius, that is, 'prating;' importune prattling and looseness of tongue, such as is usual with bold boys and young men; prating much and to no purpose. But our Bibles read it evil thoughts,' or surmisings; for in Scripture it is συνεχής μελέτη; so Suidas observes concerning άδολεσχία, and αδολεσχήσω, that is, διηνεκῶς μελετήσω, ' to think long and carefully, to dwell in meditation upon a thing: to which when our blessed Saviour adds xaxoi, evil,' he notes and reproves such kind of morose thinkings and fancying of evil things: and it is not unlikely that he means thoughts of uncleanness, or lustful fancies. For διαλέγεσθαι, τὸ συνου σιάζειν, saith Suidas: ἐπὶ τὸ συνουσιάζειν, says Hesychius ; it signifies such words as are prologues to wantonness: so diaλéγοιντο γυναιξιν in Aristophanes. Τὴν μέν γε πρώτην διαλέγουσαν τὴν ἐπὴν So that here are forbidden all wanton words, and all morosę delighting in venereous thoughts, all rollings and tossing such things in our mind. For even these defile the soul, a Matt. xv. 19. Mark, vii. 21. Gal. v. 16. 19--21. Eph. iv. 31, &c. v. 3—5. 2 Tim. iii. 2-5. Rom. i. 29-32. 1 Cor. vi. 9. Rev. xxi. 8. 1 Pet. iv. 3. 15. * Lysistrat. 720. Brunck. "Verborum obscoenitas, si turpitudo rerum adhibeatur, ludus ne libero quidem homine dignus est," said Cicero : "Obscene words are a mockery not worthy of an ingenuous person.”This is that μωρολογία, οι εὐτραπελία, that "foolish talking and jesting," which St. Paul' joins to aioXporns, that filthiness of communication,' which men make a jest of, but is indeed the basest in the world; the sign of a vile dishonest man and it particularly noted the talk of mimics and parasites, buffoons and players, whose trade was to make sport, yɛλwrozii, and they did use to do it with nastiness and filthy talkings; as is to be seen in Aristophanes, and is rarely described and severely reproved in St. Chrysostom in his sixth homily upon St. Matthew. For per verba dediscitur rerum pudor;" which St. Paul also affirms in the words of Menander, Φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρήσθ' όμι xía xaxai, "Evil words corrupt good manners;" and evil thoughts, being the fountain of evil words, lie under the same prohibition. Under this head is the ὁ προπετῆς, ὁ πρόγλωσσος, a' talkative rash person,' "ready to speak, slow to hear;" against St. James's rule. 66 Inventors of Evil Things. 3. Contrivers of all such artifices as minister to vice. Curious inventions for cruelty, for gluttony, for lust; witty methods of drinking, wanton pictures, and the like; which for the likeness of the matter I have subjoined next to the xanoi Siahoyiouoi, the evil thinkings' or 'surmises' reproved by our blessed Saviour, as these are expressly by St. Paul. ПλEOVEžia, Covetousness; or, 6 4. Inordinate, unreasonable desires. For the word does not only signify the designing and contrivances of unjust ways of purchasing, which is not often separated from covetous desires: but the very studium habendi,' the thirst, or greediness, secret and impatient desires of having abundance : πλεονεξία, ἡ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας του πλείονος βλάβη, ' the hurt of immoderate lusting or desire;' and is sometimes applied to the matter of uncleanness; but in this catalogue I wholly separate it from this, because this is comprised under other 2 y Off. 1. 29. 12. Heusinger. Ευτραπελία, καταχρηστικῶς, pro μωρολογία. Eph. v. 4. a Cleric. p. 78. 6 words. Neither will it be hard to discern and to reprove this sin of desires in them that are guilty of it, though they will not think or confess what is, and what is not abundance. For there is not easily to be found a greater testimony of covetousness, than the error concerning the measure of our possessions. He that is not easy to call that abundance, which by good and severe men is thought so, desires more than he should. To weproeven Ti Ty Swn, when any thing is over and above the needs of our life,' that is too much; and to desire that, is covetousness, saith St. Luke. Opäte nai quλάσσετε ἀπὸ τῆς πλεονεξίας, « Take heed and keep yourselves from covetousness; for our life consisteth not in abundance;" intimating, that to desire more than our life needs, is to desire abundance, and that is covetousness; and that is the root of all evil: that is, all sins and all mischiefs can come from hence. Divitis hoc vitium est auri, nec bella fuerunt, There were no wars in those days when men did drink in a treen cup. Пovnpia, Wickedness. 5. This is the same that the Latins call 'malitia;' a scurvy, base disposition; aptness to do shrewd turns, to delight in mischiefs and tragedies; a loving to trouble our neighbour, and to do him ill offices; crossness, perverseness and peevishness of action in our intercourse. Πονηρία, ὁ ἐκ παρασκευῆς εἰς τινὰ παρὰ τοῦ πόνος γινόμενος, saith Suidas. • Facessere negotium alicui;' to do a man an evil office, or to put him to trouble.' And to this is reducible that which St. Paul calls xaxonbav, malignity;' a baseness of nature by which we κακοήθειαν, 6 take things by the wrong handle, and expounding things always in the worst sense. • Vitiositas' is the Latin word for it, and it seems to be worse than the former, by being a more general principle of mischief. "Malitia certi cujusdam vitii est vitiositas, omnium," said Cicero: "This is, in a man's nature, a universal depravation of his spirit; that is in manners, and is sooner cured than this." Kaxia, Craftiness. 6. That is, a willingness and aptness to deceive; a studying b Tibull. 1. 10. 7. Heyn. Wunderlich. p. 119. c Tuscul. 4. 15. Davis, by some underhand trick to overreach our brother: like that of Corax's scholar, he cozened his master with a trick of his own art; Κακοῦ κόρακος κακὸν ὡον, 6 A crafty crow laid a crafty egg." By which is not signified that natural or acquired sagacity, by which men can contrive wittily, or be too hard for their brother, if they should endeavour it; but a studying how to circumvent him, and an habitual design of getting advantage upon his weakness; a watching him where he is most easy and apt for impression, and then striking him upon the unarmed part. But this is brought to effect, by Deceit. 7:"Cum aliud simulatur, aliud agitur alterius decipiendi causâ," said Ulpian and Aquilius; that is, all dissembling to the prejudice of thy neighbour, ἡ ἐπὶ λυμῇ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιβουλή τε καὶ μηχανή; any thing designed to thy neighbour's disadvantage by simulation or dissimulation. 6 n Uncleanness. Ασέλγεια. 8. Stinking:' so the Syriac interpreter renders it; and it means 'obscene actions.' But it signifies all manner of excess or immoderation; and so may signify woλUTÉλv, prodigal or lavish expenses,' and immoderate use of permitted pleasures, even the excess of liberty in the use of the marriage-bed. For the ancients use the word not only for unchaste,' but for 'great,' and 'excessive.' Пíovés eioiv doeλyws, They are exceeding fat:'-and a goat with great horns is called doɛλyonéρws. It is luxuria' or the excess of desire in the matter of pleasures. Every excess is doλyea, it is ἀσέλγεια, "intemperance: anadapoía signifies a special kind of crime under this. It means all voluntary pollutions of the body, or Wantonness. 9. That is, all tempting foolish gestures; such which Juvenal reproves, Chironomon Ledam molli saltante Bathyllo, which being presented in the theatre would make the vestal wanton. Every thing by which a man or woman is xanòs tà d vi. 93. Rupert. |