Voluptuous living is a great sin, it chokes the seed of piety so soon as planted in the heart, so that they can bring nothing to perfection; it brings a brawn and a deadness upon the conscience and affections; there is nothing that hardens the heart so much as the softness of carnal pleasure: Jude 19, ‘Sensual, having not the Spirit.’ Sensuality quenches our natural bravery and the briskness of spirit that becomes a man; much more doth it hinder the sublime operations of the Spirit of God. Well then, remember, Christians, you are not only travellers by the way, but runners in a race.
-Thomas Manton, from his Farewell Sermon
The Puritan's Woodshop 