First, the tendency is to call off the attention from the actual needs of the being, so that the proper demands are neglected, and thereby lustful desires become intensified by the influx of an unnatural degree of energy in that false direction. And second, by overtaxing the capacity of those organs which are used for lustful gratification. Thus the inebriate and glutton who make use of their appetites as a means of gratification, often weaken and disease the organs of digestion and assimilation, and thereby disqualify them for performing their proper functions. Man can not engage in lustful exercises without subjecting himself to these twofold evils. And their manifestation will be according to the plane of the lust and the means adopted for its gratification. But while lusts differ thus in their modes of expression, as well as in their primary and secondary effects upon the individual, they are all alike in their inception, and in the end sought to be attained. They all have their beginning in the neglect of some need, which creates a sense of lack, and they all seek self-gratification irrespective of such need; so that all lust, in whatever plane found, is alike in its origin and end. All are fatal to true happiness. The general sameness of character of all lusts accounts for the singular compounds and apparent incongruities of character found in certain individuals. That is, it is not unfrequent to find individuals remarkable for their zeal in politics, morals, and religion, carried away at times by the grossest lusts. Men, eminent for their piety, sometimes have been notorious for their intemperance and lewdness; and the world have been astonished at it. But a careful attention to the distinction to be made between the true impulse and lust soon solves the mystery. Such men are pre-eminently under the influence of lust in every department of their being—in the moral and religious as well as in the physical. The piety of such men may be ever so deep and earnest, yet its basis is in use. They see nothing in the Divine character or perfections which excites in them love or admiration any further than it is to bear upon their own well-being and happiness. Their love of God is a love of the instrument or means by which they are to become supremely blessed. And their love, after all, is a love of their own happiness, and of God as essential to their happiness. If they should discover that God stood in the way of their future enjoyment, they would like him no better than any other enemy. Such minds mistake lust for love, and in seeking their own happiness call it seeking God; and in rejoicing in their anticipations, call it rejoicing in God. The man that seeks religion for the sake of securing to himself salvation and endless delight, is just as lustful and selfish as he who seeks gratification in any other way. Man may go a whoring after strange gods as well as after strange women.