A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the dutiesA guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties

§. Sect. 3 A serious admonition that none abuse their liberty in recreations of this nature.

And these are the reasons that induce me to think that playing for money, if the former cautions be observed, is not unlawful. Now if any abuse this liberty unto licentiousness, and under colour that it is in some cases lawful, will use, or rather abuse it unlawfully, without any care to observe these cautions; his sin be upon his own soul; seeing it is far from mine intention to encourage any in their sinful courses, or that my writings should be any cause or occasion of heartening any in those shameful abuses of gaming for money, which are too too common in these days, whereby mis-spending their precious time, they also consume their substance, and utterly spoil one another with much more pernicious robbery then can be committed by common thieves by the high-way side. For they seldom take any one mans purse; but these often, and with it even their houses and lands, and all that they possess, which are free enough from the others violence; besides innumerable other mischiefs which accompany these losses, and many outrageous sins committed against God, their neighbours and themselves. Yea seeing the end of lawful liberty, is to preserve men from lawless licentiousness, I was willing to extend it as far as the Word of God would permit, that it might move all men more willingly to contain themselves within the compass of their duties, when as they may have sufficient means of comfort and refreshing allowed them, within those lawful bounds which God hath limited. Now if any be rich, and yet will steal, he is twice worthy to be hanged; if any be such unruly beasts, that having pleasant pastures, watered with the delightful streams of Christian comforts, which like living waters are constant in their flowing, without the stops and checks of conscience, out of Gods rich bounty allotted unto them, and yet will not ⟨p. 279⟩be contented, nor quietly graze under the conduct of our heavenly Shepherd, but will leap over hedge and ditch, and break through all fences, that they may come into forbidden pastures, because they have ranker grass, not so sweet in it self as their own feed, but more pleasing to their carnal appetite, because they can devour it with full mouths; and out of a desire to drink of stolen waters, because they are sweeter to a fleshly palate;