4. Then is Sobriety to interpose, when our Pleasure doth cheat us of opportunity of Retirement, and religious Privacy with God and our selves. Certainly it is a Duty to maintain a constant Converse with God; Job 22.21. Acquaint thy self with him, and be at Peace. He delights to speak with his Creatures, and be familiar with them. This is that which is called Communion with God, a constant Correspondency that is kept up between God and the Soul. Now will a Man rob God? this is strange and monstrous. Well then, when Ease and Pleasure will not give way for Communion with God, and stops the Voice of Conscience when it pleads for God, then it is naught. And so for privacy with our selves; it is a duty to commune ⟨p. 69⟩with our own Hearts; Psal. 4.4. Commune with your own Heart upon your Bed, and be still. We and our Hearts should be often together. Now carnal Men give themselves up to Pleasure, because they cannot endure Solitariness and Self-conversing; they are loth to look into themselves: like a Mill, when it wants Corn, it will grind upon it self; they shall be forced to speak to themselves, which they cannot endure. Now Pleasures are unlawful, when they use them against holy Soliloquies, and as a Remedy against Conscience: as Saul would drive away his evil Spirit by David's Music. This is a great Sin: Amos 6.3. They put far from them the evil Day. And ver. 6. They drink Wine in Bowls, but remember not the Afflictions of Joseph. Men beguile their Consciences by turning from Pleasure to Pleasure, and so put off suing out a Pardon, the sense of their Sins, and humbling themselves before God, and making their Peace with God. This is the Work of your Lives. Therefore when Business, Entertainments, Sports and Pleasures, take up your Time, and will not allow you to be solitary, and you and your Hearts be together, you sin against God. Job 21.13. They spend their Days in Wealth, and in a moment go down to the Grave. It is dangerous to employ your whole Time in Mirth, and in Visits, and in Company, that should be spent in examining your Hearts, humbling your Souls, and seeking the Face of God; so that your Hearts grow dead and barren.
4. Then is Sobriety to interpose, when our Pleasure doth cheat us of opportunity of Retirement, and religious Privacy with God and our selves. Certainly it is a Duty to maintain a constant Converse with God; Iob 22.21. Acquaint thy self with him, and be at Peace. He delights to speak with his Creatures, and be familiar with them. This is that which is called Communion with God, a constant Correspondency that is kept up between God and the Soul. Now will a Man rob God? this is strange and monstrous. Well then, when Ease and Pleasure will not give way for Communion with God, and stops the Voice of Conscience when it pleads for God, then it is naught. And so for privacy with our selves; it is a duty to commune ⟨p. 69⟩with our own Hearts; Psal. 4.4. Commune with your own Heart upon your Bed, and be still. We and our Hearts should be often together. Now carnal Men give themselves up to Pleasure, because they cannot endure Solitariness and Self-conversing; they are loth to look into themselves: like a Mill, when it wants Corn, it will grind upon it self; they shall be forced to speak to themselves, which they cannot endure. Now Pleasures are unlawful, when they use them against holy Soliloquies, and as a Remedy against Conscience: as Saul would drive away his evil Spirit by David's Musick. This is a great Sin: Amos 6.3. They put far from them the evil Day. And ver. 6. They drink Wine in Bowls, but remember not the Afflictions of Joseph. Men beguile their Consciences by turning from Pleasure to Pleasure, and so put off suing out a Pardon, the sense of their Sins, and humbling themselves before God, and making their Peace with God. This is the Work of your Lives. Therefore when Business, Entertainments, Sports and Pleasures, take up your Time, and will not allow you to be solitary, and you and your Hearts be together, you sin against God. Job 21.13. They spend their Days in Wealth, and in a moment go down to the Grave. It is dangerous to employ your whole Time in Mirth, and in Visits, and in Company, that should be spent in examining your Hearts, humbling your Souls, and seeking the Face of God; so that your Hearts grow dead and barren.
