The bright star which leadeth wise men to our Lord Jesus Christ, or, A…

Secondly, this serveth for the instruction of those which have thus offended, that they must repent and crave pardon at Gods hands and entreat him of his mercy to kill this lust and to wash away the filthiness of their heart, that they may not only be freed from the judgement of God due to the sin, but also may hinder the birth of so filthy a monster as will proceed of this so ill a conception; in either conception it is a foul fault after the conception to take any thing that may disable the increase and birth of it; but in this conception it is the greatest virtue and safest way to take such a receipt as shall quite kill it, that it may never come forth to light; and this conceit is only to repent and crave pardon, for else God will bring their secret sin to open shame and their inward filthy desire to outward public disgrace.

Secondly, this serueth for the instruction of those which haue thus offended, that they must repent and craue pardon at Gods hands and intreat him of his mercie to kill this lust and to wash away the filthinesse of their heart, that they may not only be freed from the iudgement of God due to the sinne, but also may hinder the birth of so filthy a monster as will proceede of this so ill a conception; in either conception it is a foule fault after the conception to take any thing that may disable the encrease and birth of it; but in this conception it is the greatest vertue and safest way to take such a receite as shall quite kill it, that it may neuer come forth to light; and this conceite is only to repent and craue pardon, for else God will bring their secret sinne to open shame and their inward filthie desire to outward publique disgrace.

Now the means to purge ones heart and to make it clean and pure from such filthy affections, is first, to pray to God often and earnestly, to punish the heart and to sanctify it by his holy spirit. Then secondly, to be faithful and diligent in some honest and lawful calling that may busy the heart upon some thing lawful and profitable; for idleness is the mother of foul lusts. As a standing pool not having any course of running grows filthy of it self and full of toads and newts and filthy vermin; so the heart that is not taken up in some good and honest calling, is a fit place for the devil to breed and engender all monstrous and filthy lusts, idleness procures lust nothing more; as what was the reason why the Sodomites grew so filthy & unclean, that no people ever were so filthy and beastly, but because having the most fruitful and abundant country in the world (for it was like the garden of God) that yielded them all commodity and profit, grew rich, and then like foolish men, as all natural men use, grew idle and to settle themselves to nothing but there ease and delight, for their nature was no worse then any of others; but their idleness so corrupted their hearts, as the devil had leisure to cast in, and they to pursue all monstrous and unclean desires whatsoever, and that was the cause that they were so outrageous. Also temperance in