their particular Constitutions and Tempers The most principal Duties and Institutions of Christianity do suppose this Degeneracy and Corruption of Human Nature and in this and many other Scriptures it is manifestly implyed The Subject of this Text is not Pure and Unbiassed equally indifferent unto Good or Evil but 't is supposed that he needs to be purified as well as guided Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way His way cleansed There is hardly any Metaphor whereby the Affections and Conversations of Men are more usually expressed than by this of their Way and Walk But there are some particular ways of Wickedness more appropriate unto Youth than to Elder Persons The Instructions Counsels and Exhortations of the Holy Scriptures besides those of common and universal Concern are therefore all suited to the various Classes under which Men may be severally considered There are some corrupt Inclinations and Practices some ways of Sin to which Young Men are more inclined and tempted than before or after that Age which in Childhood they are not arrived unto and in Riper Years are commonly exchanged for others I say commonly because sometimes Gray Hairs are deformed by the Vices and Follies of Youth and sometimes the Wisdom and Virtue of Old Age may be Eminently the Ornament of Young Men. Old Age may sometimes flourish in Youth and be as often perished in those that are well stricken in Years Covetousness for instance is not so much the Peculiar Vice of the Age but may be the Fault of Young Persons The Rich Young Man in the Gospel is an Instance who told our Lord that he had kept the Commandments But he had Houses and Lands and Bags of Mony which stood in his way to Heaven those he observed and kept as well as the Commandments Particular Countries and Places particular Callings and Relations particular Seasons and Times may have their special Sins and so have the different Ages of Men. The Ignorance of Youth is commonly attended with Pride and Conceitedness For they who know but a few things are always most presumptuous of their own Understanding and so are commonly more Rash and Hasty Giddy and Inconstant fond of Liberty and Impatient of Restraint Affecters of Novelty and Lovers of Pleasure of Company Pastime and sensual Mirth c. There are some youthful Lusts which young Timothy is warned against 2 Tim. 2.22 such as Ambition and Vain-glory Curiosity and Envy to appear Great and considerable before others as the Scope of the Place and three or four following Verses seem to manifest Not Drunkenness and Vncleanness or such carnal Lusts For tho' all Men have the Seeds of these yet the Modesty and Frugality the Weakness of Constitution and often Infirmities of Timothy make it very improbable they should here be principally meant The Corruption of Human Nature 't is true doth usually and with great Violence discover it self in unsanctified Youth by these Lusts of the Flesh These are some of the ways of their Heart according to which they form their Lives Where the Restraint of Bodily Temper special Providence Religious Education and Divine Grace do not make the difference I need not go about to prove that Childhood and Youth are Vanity or Sinful Folly considering the many Examples in Scripture and the multitude of such in every Age and in none more than our own considering the frequent Warnings given us by God against such Lusts considering the bitter Remorses and penitent Confessions of many who are truly Converted or but Awakned by the prospect of Death and Judgment considering the earnest Supplications even of Good Men that God would not Remember the Sins of their Youth Even David thought he had cause for such a Request Psal 25.7 whose Poverty and Piety whose Industry and Afflictive Trials in his Younger Years were a very great Restraint from those Lusts which are more Unbridled in others of another Education and Condition Not to mention how many in Riper Years are made to passess the Sins of their Youth Job 13.26 and their very Bones are full of them Job 20.11 For a Young Sinner hath himself for his Heir and Successor when he is Old and that which he receives for his Inheritance is only the sorrowful remembrance and bitter Fruits of his Youthful Follies It is sad to consider how many Young Men of hopeful Parts and promising Capacities are taken in the Devils Snares in the pursuit of Sensual Pleasures and lay up Matter for future Diseases and bodily Pains how they poison their Blood and weaken their Constitutions how they hasten or antedate the Infirmities of Old Age and do what they can to dig their own Graves But it is a more Melancholly Reflection to consider how they provoke God and incense his Almighty Vengeance how they wound and wrong their own Souls and treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath how they provide Fuel for everlasting Fire and consign their Bodies and Souls to Hell for ever To see them run headlong to their own destruction by walking in the way of their Hearts and in the sight of their own Eyes To consider how easily they are led into destructive Paths and made a cheap and hasty Prey by the Tempter till they are hardned past Recovery or cut off in the midst of their days by a sudden Arrest of Judgment And so for the short and vain Pleasures of Youth they perish to Eternity unless some few of them by an extraordinary Grace are recovered at the last Hour and renewed unto Saving Repentance But it is much to be feared that very few Death-Bed Penitents are so Secondly It is supposed to be a matter of no small Difficulty for a Young Man to Reform and Cleanse his Ways This in part appears from what hath been said already of the Corruption of Human Nature and the Vicious Inclinations of Youth Their Ignorance and Rashness and want of Experience their Aversion to serious Thoughts for fear of Melancholy with the apprehended unsuitableness of Restraint and Retirement unto Persons of their Age do all increase the Difficulty They usually reckon that they have the World before them they have Time enough hereafter and are now in the Age of Liberty and Pleasure and that both God and Man will indulge a great deal to them because of their Youth Presuming at the same time that a great while hence they shall have Opportunity and Heart and Help to work out their Salvation when ever they please For when they Calculate their own Nativities they reckon to the longest Term of Human Life that any are wont to reach to Their Sun is climbing higher they have a great while to Night and so are far removed from the Thoughts of Death Accordingly when ever they are advised by those who are Elder to look forward to the Grave and beyond it to bethink themselves of their Everlasting State and provide for an Endless Life their inward Thought is agreeable to the High-Priests Answer unto
Holy Scriptures While the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading in the Prophet Isaiah Acts 8.26 though he understood it not God did so far reward and bless him that he sent Philip to instruct him farther and his Conversion to the Faith was the Issue of it When ever you hear the Word Preached remember in whose Name and upon what Arrand the Message comes Therefore lay aside every Prejudice Jam. 1.21 Luk. 8.18 Act. 10.33 and place your selves as under the Eye of your All-seeing Judge We that speak to you in the name of the Lord have very much to blame our selves for God knows that we are not Serious enough and Compassionate enough to the Souls of Men not adapting our selves to the Capacities and Necessities of the Younger and more Ignorant sort Alas we see and know but little and feel less of the great important things we speak of And though we hope we find Mercy to be Faithful yet how short do we come of that Affection and Vigor and serious Importunity which the case of Sinful Perishing Souls doth need How unlike those that know the Terrors of the Lord the value of an Immortal Soul and the nearness of Eternity How unbecoming those who speak every Lord's Day unto Men and Women unto whom we may never speak more And it may be such and such of you shall never hear a Sermon more take heed therefore how you hear Fourthly Be most Importunate with God for the Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification He alone can restore Life to thy Dead Soul and conquer the Enmity of thy Heart against Holiness For we are Saved by the Washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost 3 Tit. 5. Beg the Holy Spirit with an Earnestness answerable to your Necessity of what you ask that he may be a Living Principle to cause you to walk in his Statutes and keep his Commandments Ezek. 36.26 27. Forgiveness of Sin is not all that you need you are Diseased and Defiled and need to be Cured and Cleansed If you ask the Holy Spirit with an apprehension and feeling of your need of his powerful Influence you may supplicate and plead the Promise in Hope that God will more readily grant you than any Father upon Earth gives Bread to his Children Mat. 5.6 Chap. 7.11 They that seek him early and earnestly shall find him Our Lord is exalted to give Repentance and Saving Faith his Powerful Grace can subdue the most Impetuous Lusts of Youth You may be earnest and importunate with God for these things he does not require or expect you should be contented to perish in your Filthiness and Unbelief despairing of Helo as if the case of Man were like that of Devils He requires you to Hope and is pleased with it See Mr. How 's Redeemer's Tears p. 118. And if you find any Motions and Strivings of this Blessed Spirit in answer to Prayer cherish every Beginning of it as an Earnest of more Be thankful for every Beam of Heavenly Light from the God of all Grace it may prove the dawning of a more perfect Day Beg that this mighty Spirit would open your Eyes and Hearts that being convinced of the certainty and reality of the Gospel Revelation by the view of its suitableness to your case and the many glorious advantages that are offered by it you may be brought to love it as Amiable and yield up your selves entirely in compliance with it Fifthly Take heed of Declining after good and hopeful Beginnings How many Young Persons have begun in the Spirit and ended in the Flesh Light hath shone in upon their Minds they have been under awakning Convictions by the Word strong Affections have been excited by it they delighted to hear and read it they kept up a course of secret Prayer for some time c. and yet have afterwards fallen away to a Vicious Life It may be they had not considered and counted the cost of being Resolved Christians what they must abandon and forsake what pleasing Temptations they must avoid and resist what instances of Self-denial they must consent to c. And therefore by the Sollicitation or Sophistry or Jears of their Old Companions through the Subtilty of Satan and the Power of Youthful Lusts they have been intangled again with the Pollutions of the World and the Strong Man hath re-enter'd the House with Seven Evil-Spirits worse than himself How Miserable is the case of such after they have been enlightned and in part delivered 2 Tim. 2.26 who return to their former Bondage and are led Captive by the Devil at his Will They were not far from the Kingdom of God they seemed to consent to be the Lord's they were almost perswaded to take the Yoke of Christ upon them as his resolved Followers but now have taken leave of him and are at the Command of Satan his Will is theirs If he bid them think as little of God as they can despise the Holy Scripture make light of Sabbaths and Sermons and all good Counsel they do it If he bid them gratifie their Carnal Appetites indulge their Sensual Inclinations and frequent such and such ensnaring Company they do it They are led Captive by him at his Will With what Hearty Compassion should we think and speak of the case of such and many such there be But if you are not harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin past all feeling I would feign ask you whether you are not yet willing to return If Mercy may be had and you may yet be recovered out of the Snare of the Devil Dare you solemnly and expresly in so many Words take leave of Christ and bid him farewel for ever Are you content to forfeit his Favour and throw up all hopes of it and venture his Eternal Displeasure Would you not yet return if God would receive you If there be Balm in Gilead and a Physician there that you may be healed May I not tell you in the Name of Christ that there is and that if you return with your whole Heart you especially who are the Children of Holy Parents he will yet receive you He will meet you half-way and bid you welcom Hos 14.1 2 3. Isa 55.6 7 8. He will heal your Backslidings and blot out your Transgressions and remember your Iniquities no more He pawns the Authority of his own great Name for this Three several times in one Verse to assure you of it Zach. 1.3 Prov. 1.23 Turn ye at my Reproof and I will pour out my Spirit upon you is the Voice of Wisdom I might likewise direct you in your Addresses to God for his Purifying Grace to Eye the Blood of * Christ as the procuring cause of your Sanctification and the Holy Spirit the Purchase of that Blood as the great Sanctifier of Souls I might urge you farther * that with an hearty abhorrence of every Sin you would penitently and thankfully renew the Covenant you made with God in
Judas What is that to us look thou to that Such is the Strength and Power of Sense and Fancy in the Days of our Youth such is the Weakness of our Reason as not having attained to any great Consistency of Judgment which must be ripened by Consideration and Experience such is the violence of our Passions and the Inconstancy of our Resolutions so variable and uncertain the Objects of our Affections and Choice such the venomous Influence of Self-Flattery and that of others about us such the force of Examples and so great the number of ill ones so deep the Impressions we receive by the Company we converse with especially if Atheistical or Licentious Youths are the Instruments of the Devil to entice us so little command have we of our selves to bridle those Impetuous Lusts that are easily Fired by every Spark of Temptation and so intolerable is the Reproach imagined of being singular of not complying with the Customs of those of the same Age with our selves that on these and the like Accounts the Devil hath a mighty Advantage against us in that Portion of our Time For the most part Young Men are Changeable and Unsteady Heedless and Unwary are but little Fortified against the Wiles of the Devil are little used to consider things with any Strength and Intensness of Thought and prone to flatter themselves with foolish hopes and projects of the wonderful things which they shall be able to compass to do and be and enjoy and reach before they leave the World c. That 't is no wonder that the Principal because most hopeful Attempts of the Devil are directed against such to deceive and destroy them by Youthful Lusts Children are not capable of doing him such Service or themselves such Prejudice or of being employed to so many ill-purposes And commonly Old Men are already fix'd in their way The Minds of Youth are more flexible and withal sharper for any Undertaking their Bodies stronger and more active for most kinds of Wickedness their Blood more warm their Spirits more Vigorous as their Sinful Desires are more Raging and all their Passions more vehement On which account the Wisdom of the Ancients would not admit Persons very Young to the Lectures of Moral Arist Ethic Lib. 1. Chap. 1. or Civil Philosophy as supposing them to be so very much under the Government of their Passions that good Counsel would be lost upon them and all such Discourses prove in vain But though the Philosophers despaired of being able to reclaim and reduce Young Men by their weak and naked Rules of Morality we need not do so who are under the dispensation of a Gospel of Grace and are acquainted with the power of the Divine Word The Precepts of Philosophy may assist our Recovery from the grosser Immoralities in practice such as violate the plain Sentiments of natural Conscience or are Scandalous in the view of Men. But the Divine Word accompanied with the power of the Spirit can work an effectual Cure in Heart and Life by healing our Corrupt Nature and making us partakers of the Divine This is one special Priviledge of the Gospel State and is much for the honour of Divine Grace recommending at the same time the Excellency of the Word of God as the holy means of it Which leads us to consider Thirdly That the Word of God is the sufficient and only means of Cleansing and Reforming the sinful ways of Youth This Enlightens the Eyes Psal 19.6 7 8. Psal 17.4 Psal 37.31 Prov. 6.23 Converts the Soul makes Wise the Simple shews us the way of Life and keeps us from the Paths of the Destroyer It was for this end that our Blessed Lord gave himself that we might be Sanctified and Cleansed with the Washing of Water by the Word Eph. 5.26 He declared that his Disciples were Clean by the Word he had spoken to them John 15.3 He prays that they might be Sanctified by the Truth which Truth is his Word and makes the same Request for all those who should afterwards believe John 17.20 And here we might distinctly consider that hereby we are made acquainted with the Nature and Necessity of this Sanctification and Cleansing And that by Divine Appointment this is the ordinary Means of effecting it And farther that herein the Wisdom of God is honoured by its exceeding Fitness to that end 1. Without the knowledge of this Word we could not fully have understood the loathsom Depravity and Corruption of our Hearts or the manifold Transgressions of our Lives How wretchedly we are Polluted and how often we Offend how Defective are our best Duties how short we come of our Rule and Pattern and what need there is of seeking to recover the Divine Image and Life This Blessed Word instructs us how the Ground of our Sanctification is laid in the Satisfaction of Christ how it is procured Acts 3.26 and how we may partake of it What we owe to the Blood of the Cross and what to the influence of the Divine Spirit The Treasury of Heaven was opened by the Sacrifice of Christ that the Holy Spirit might be given to Convince and Convert the World His Departure or going away John 15. which comprehend his Death and Ascension was necessary and expedient unto this We are also here instructed how this Sanctification is carried on by our perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God For this Water of the Spirit hath a continual Cleansing Virtue upon all true Christians until their Purified Souls ascend to Heaven He that pitied them when they were in their Pollution will not leave them after they are Cleansed till he hath finished his Work It is from this Word that we are acquainted with the Necessity and Extent of this Sanctification as reaching to Soul Body and Spirit It tells us the very Mind and Conscience are defiled and that there needs not only the Cleansing of our Hands but the Purifying of our Hearts Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. For the Doctrin of the Grace of God teacheth us to deny all Vngodliness and Wordly Lusts James 4.8 to kill the Lusts of the Eyes to mortifie the Pride of Life to crucifie the Desires of the Flesh and bring the Understanding and Conscience and every Thought into Subjection to the Laws of Christ 2 Cor. 7.1 This tells us what the Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit is from which we must be Cleansed and how indispensably necessary this is to our Acceptance with God and our Communion with him This represents the Divine Purity which we are to imitate and resemble as every way Amiable and Excellent As that the Blessed God essentially hates every Sin earnestly forbids it and terribly threatens it and patiently dissuades us from it and severely punishes it and hath mercifully sent his Son to destroy this Work of the Devil Therefore that he cannot tempt any man to evil or necessitate and cause the Sins of Men which he warns them against on pain