N01322:42
Woe to drunkards. Two sermons testifying against the sin of drunkennessWo to drunkards. Two sermons testifying against the sin of drunkenness
Woe to drunkards. Two sermons testifying against the sin of drunkenness: wherein the woefulness of that evil, and the misery of all that are addicted to it, is discovered from the word of God. / By Increase Mather, D.D.Wo to drunkards. Two sermons testifying against the sin of drunkenness: wherein the wofulness of that evil, and the misery of all that are addicted to it, is discovered from the word of God. / By Increase Mather, D.D.
Boston: printed by Timothy Green, 1712
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
So it is ⟨p. 30⟩Godly Sobriety that doth render Christians fit to Encounter with Spiritual Adversaries. And (not to Enlarge further here) by means of this Sobriety I am speaking of, Christians are fitted to attend the Duties of their Callings, not only Particular and Civil, but General & Heavenly. Hence is that, 1 Pet. 4.7. Be ye Sober, and watch unto Prayer. Insobriety, Drunkenness unfits for Prayer, & for every other Good Work (as was showed in the Demonstration of the Truth before us) even so where the Grace of Sobriety is always Exercised, a Soul is fit to have to do with God in any Duty, being always Prepared to have Blessed Communion with Him; than which, what can there be more Beneficial or Desirable?
So it is ⟨p. 30⟩Godly Sobriety that doth render Christians fit to Encounter with Spiritual Adversaries. And (not to Enlarge further here) by means of this Sobriety I am speaking of, Christians are fitted to attend the Duties of their Callings, not only Particular and Civil, but General & Heavenly. Hence is that, 1 Pet. 4.7. Be ye Sober, and watch unto Prayer. Insobriety, Drunkenness unfits for Prayer, & for every other Good Work (as was shewed in the Demonstration of the Truth before us) even so where the Grace of Sobriety is always Exercised, a Soul is fit to have to do with God in any Duty, being always Prepared to have Blessed Communion with Him; than which, what can there be more Beneficial or Desirable?
USE, II: If Drunkenness be such a Woeful Evil, as hath been Proved; then they that have been kept from Falling into this Sin, and much more they in whom it is Mortified, have abundant cause of Thankfulness unto God, because of His Preventing and Sanctifying Grace in this respect Vouchsafed. If we ought to Pray (as Christ in that Platform of Prayer given to His Disciples hath Taught us) that God would not lead us into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil, then when the Lord doth so, we ought to Praise Him: And if Deliverance from Outward Temptations be matter of Praise & Thanksgiving to the Lord, how much more is this true concerning Deliverance from