XX. It is out of all question, that there are some states of body fitter for virtue than others.
This is as certain as that gluttony and drunkenness dispose men to all sorts of sins, and give them a disrelish for all sorts of holiness. For as these vices have the utmost contrariety to religion, so every approach towards them is, in a certain degree, partaking of them.
A man that lives so as not to be called either a glutton or a drunkard, may yet be so near them, as to partake of those tempers which are the effects of gluttony and drunkenness.
*As a man may be vain and uncharitable, yet not so as to be remarkable for his vanity and uncharitableness, so he may be under the guilt and evil effects of eating and drinking, though not so as to be esteemed either a glutton or intemperate.
*So that a wise Christian will constantly practise such abstinence, as may not only secure him from sensuality in the sight of the world, but as best suits with a body which is the holy habitation of a soul devoted to God.
XXI. St. Paul saith, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Cor. ix.
Let it be observed, that the apostle practised this self-denial, not only as a good and advisable thing, but as of the last necessity. It was not, as he was an apostle, and that he might be fitter for the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost: but it was, to secure his salvation, and lest when he had preached to others, he should himself be a castaway.
*Let it be considered, that this apostle, who lived in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, who was also full of signs and wonders, and mighty deeds, and who had been caught up into the third heavens; yet reckons all his virtues as insecure, and his salvation in danger, without this constantly continued course of universal self-denial. Nay he thought all his advancements in piety, without this, to be as vain a labour as beating the air.
So run I, says he, not as uncertainly; by which he plainly teacheth us, that he who does not thus run, who does not thus continually keep the body under, does run uncertainly, and fighteth to as little purpose as he that beateth the air.
An apostle preaching the gospel with signs and wonders, in the midst of distress and persecution, thought his own salvation in danger, without this subjection of his body. And shall we think it safe to feed to the full, and indulge our bodies in ease and plenty?