Sixthly, Adultery blots and eclipseth the name, Prov. vi. 32, 33., " Whoso commit- teth adultery with a woman, a wound and dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away." Some while they get wounds, get honour. The soldier's wounds are full of honour; the martyr's wounds for Clu'ist are full of honour; these get honour while they get wounds : but the adulterer gets wounds in his name, but no honour : " His reproach shall not be wiped away." The wounds of the name no phy- sician can heal. The adulterer, when he is dead, his shame lives. When his body rots under ground, his name rots above ground. His base-born children will be the living monuments of his shame.
Seventhly, This sin doth much eclipse the light of reason, — it steals away the un- derstanding,— it stupifies the heart, Hos. iv. 11., " Whoredom takes away the heart." It eats out all heart for good. Solomon be- sotted himself with women, and they en- ticed him to idolatry.
Eighthly, This sin of adultery ushers in temporal judgments. The Mosaical law made adultery death. Lev. xx. 10., " The adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death ;" and the usual death was ston- ing. Dent. xxii. 24. Tlie Saxons command- ed the persons taken in this sin to be burnt. The Romans caused their heads to be stricken off. This sin like a scorpion car- ries a sting in the tail of it. Tlie adultery of Paris and Helena, a beautiful strumpet, ended in the ruin of Troy, and was the death both of Paris and Helena. " Jealousv is the
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rage of a man ;" and the adulterer is oft killed in the act of his sin. Adultery cost Otho the emperor, and pope Sixtus IV. their lives. ' Latus venire Venus tristis ahire solet.' I have read of two citizens in London, 1583, who defiling themselves with adultery on the Lord's day, were immedi- ately struck dcid with a fire from lieavcn. If all that were now guilty of this sin should be punished in this manner, it would rain fire again, as on Sodom.
Ninthly, Adultery (without repentance) damns the soul, 1 Cor. vi. 9., " Neither for- nicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate," shall enter into tlie kingdom of God. The fire of lust brings to tlic fire of hell, Heb. xiii. 4., " Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Though men may ne- glect to judge them, yet God will judge them. But will not God judge all other sinners ? Yes. Why then doth the apostle saVj ' Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge?' The meaning is, 1. He will judge them assuredly ; they shall not es- cape the hand of justice. 2. He will punish them severely, 2 Pet. ii. 9., " The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished, but chiefly them that walk in the lust of uncleanness." The harlot's breast keeps from Abraham's bosom, Momentaneiim est quod delectat, ceter- num quod crucial. Who would, for a cup of pleasure, drink a sea of wrath ? Prov. ix. 18., " Her guests are in the depths of hell." A wise traveller, when he comes to his inn, though many pleasant dishes are set before him, yet he forbears to taste, because of the reckoning which will bo brought in : we are here all travellers to Jerusalem above, and though many baits of temptation are set before us, yet we should forbear, and think of the reckoning which will be l)rought in at death. With what stomach could Dionysius eat his dainties, when he imagin- ed there was a naked sword hung over Jiis head as he sat at meat ? Wliile the adul- terer feeds on strange flesh, the sword of God's justice hangs over his head. Causi- nus speaks of a tree that grows in Spain, that is of a sweet smell, and plciusant to the taste, but the juice of it is poisonous : the emblem of an harlot, — she is perfumed with powders, and fair to look on, but poison-
ous and damnable to the soul, Prov. vii. 26., " She hath cast down many wounded, yea, many strong men have been slain by her."
Tenthly, The adulterer doth not only wrong his own soul, but doth what in him lies to destroy the soul of another, and so kill two at once. And thus the adulterer is worse than the thief; for, suppose a thief rob a man, yea, take away liis life, yet that man's soul may be happy, he mav go to heaven as well as if he liad died in his bed. But he who commits adultery endangers the soul of another, and deprives her of sal- vation so far as in him lies. Now, what a fearful thing is it to be an instrument to draw another to hell !
Eleventhly, The adulterer is abhorred of God, Prov. xxii. 14., " The mouth of strange women is a deep pit : he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein." What can be worse than to be abhorred of God? God may be angi'y with his own children; but for God to abhor a man, is the highest degree of hatred.
Quest. But lioiv doth the Lord show his abhorrence of the adulterer ?