Obs. 3. Though delicate living be a sin incident to wealthy men, yet their abundance doth not excuse it. It is charged upon the rich man in tlie Gospel that he fared deliciously every day, Luke xvi. God gave wealth for another purpose than to spend it in pleasures. It is pro- digious in poor men to guzzle and drink away their days which should be spent in honest labour , but it is not excusable in the rich ; though God alloweth them to live more liberally according to their condition and estate, yet not inordinately. Intemperance is odious to God, be it in any whatsoever they be. God threatened them for their deli- cacy that had beds of ivory, Amos vi. 4 ; so also the fat cows and kine of Bashan, Amos iv.
Obs. 4. Luxury is living in pleasure, iTpvcfiija-are. God alloweth us to use pleasures, but not to live in them ; to take delights, but not they should take us ; to live always at the full is but a wanton luxury.
On earth ; that is, say some, like beasts, which do prona specfare ierram, in the posture of their bodies look earthward ; it is indeed their happiness to live in pleasure, to enjoy pleasures without remorse. But in any congruity of language you cannot thus interpret the apostle's speech. His meaning is, that in this earthly life they placed all their ha])piness, and their spirits did altogether run after earthly comforts and ciuthjy contentments, as having no higher abode. Note : —
Obs. That all the pleasure that wicked men have is upon earth ; here, and nowhere else : Luke xvi. 25, ' Kemem])er tliat in thy life- time thou receivedst thy good things.' Oli ! it is sad to outlive onr happiness ; when we come to live indeed, then to want our comforts and joys : Mat. vi. 2, ' They have their reward.' Your heaven is past.
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It is the folly of worldly men to be meny only in the place of their banishment and pilo^rimage ; they live in pleasure here, where they are absent from God: Job xxi. 13, ' They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave,' Alas ! then their best days are past ; here they laugh, and there they howl. Ah, fondness ! to sell the birthright for a mess of pottage, and let go heaven for a little earthly contentment! How should this sour your carnal joys, when you remember all this is only upon earth, it cannot be for ever ! There will be a time when we shall go down to the grave, and then we may with Adrian sadly warble it out to our own souls, Oh ! poor soul, whither dost thou now go ? thou shalt never jest it more, sport it more ! ^ These things were upon earth, but into what a gulf am I now falling ! The earth is a place of labour and exercise ; we were not put into it, as leviathan into the sea, to take our fill of pleasure.
And are wanton, eaTraToXTjaare. — The same word is used of the carnal widow, 97 8e a-Trardkoiaa ^cocra reOvrjKe, 1 Tim. v. 6. We translate, ' she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.' The word signifieth such a delicacy as bringeth a brawn softness and dead- ness upon the spirit, and therefore we translate it well by luanton. So that this part of the charge implieth : —
06.9. 1. That luxury is always accompanied with carnal security and contempt of God : Deut. xxxii. 15, Israel waxed fat, and kicked with the heel : Hosea xiii. 6, ' According to their pasture, so were they filled ; they were filled, and their heart is exalted ; they have forgotten me.' Through too much fatness and plenty the soul becometh wanton and untamed.
Ohs. 2. That a fulness of pleasures bringeth us to a wantonness, and contempt of ordinary provisions. Lustful Israel desired quails. First we contemn God, and then his creatures. It is a great sign sensuality hath prevailed upon you when the soul desireth dainty food. Nature itself is not wanton and delicate till it be made so by constant use. It is strange to see how nature degenerateth by degrees, and desires increase with use. At first we are pleased with what is plain and wholesome, but afterwards we must have curious mixtures. Sea and land will scarce yield bits dainty enough for a gluttonous appetite. Cleopatra must have a draught of dissolved pearls, &c.
Ye have nourished your hearts. — ^What is that ? Tndidgere genio, to rear up lust, rather than to satisfy nature. It is the same which the apostle Paul expresseth by iroiovvre^ irpovoiav, ' making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof,' Rom. xiii. 14. The heart is the seat of lusts and desires ; so it chiefly signifieth in theology. Now to nourish the heart is to offer fuel to our lusts, to take in by excess that we may unlade and put it out again in lust. Observe hence :—
Ohs. Pleasures nourish the heart, and fatten it into a senseless stupidity : nothing bringeth a dulness upon it more than they. Plu- tarch observeth of the ass, which is of all creatures the dullest, that it hath the fattest heart. Thence that expression in scripture, ' Go make their hearts fat ;' that is, gross and dull. There is a fish which they