vain Answ. Childhood and Youth continue vain for want of a due use of means appointed for their healing O young People here are three things in this that are very fit to move you 1. First here 's Comfort that the Vanity of Youth is healable thy case is sad but 't is not desperate there 's hope in Israel concerning the Recovery of Sinners in their Youth The Devils became wicked and never can be recovered they may grow viler but they can never grow better but blessed be God this is not thy case the Wound though sad is yet curable There have been many young Folk made pious and serious Isaac was good betimes Timothy and Iohn were Old Disciples before they could call Man Iosiah's tender years were impress'd with Grace I have known undoubted Evidence of Grace before ten year old Oh then you need not resolve to be vile because 't is in vain to attempt to be good no no No young Persons in this Assembly need to say so or need think so God has not resolved against Young Persons that they shall never be recovered nay he has determined that out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings he will ordain praise Psal. 8. 2. Children Our Lord Jesus has never said he will have nothing to do with such as you I 'll neither wash you nor heal you nor teach you Nay he has said quite otherwise Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not c. Mat. 19. 14. The Spirit of God never resolv'd I will convince no wicked Children I will sanctifie no prophane Youth nay instead of that to you he speaks in Psal. 34. 11. Come ye Children hearken to me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The Spirit has a Mind to be the Teacher of Children and the Instructer of Youth he has a mind to train up the Young Generation for Heaven as well as the Old ones So that Young ones may say to Day Why though I am wicked yet there 's hope and though I have a vile Nature yet there 's hope I may be recovered even though my whole frame seems thus set for Villany and appears thus desperately dispos'd There 's the first point and that 's a great matter and under the power of that I preach to Young Ones and under the hopes of that you Young Ones should regard what I say and urge for the case of Youth is healable 2. Secondly Here 's a loud Call to you that God uses means to heal Young Ones of their Vanity This confirms the former Is God at pains with Youth to make them better then there 's hope of Youth for God would not be at this labour if it were wholly useless O my Friends God has sent his Son to dye for young Children as well as old Men even Young ones receive forgiveness by his Blood My little Children to whom I write for your sins are forgiven 1 Ioh. 2. 12. The Spirit of God strives with many Young ones as soon as they can understand any thing he bids early for your compliance I do believe there 's not a Child of six years old under the Gospel Means but the Spirit of God has been striving with This holy One can truly say I have been dealing with this Child to make it happy Pray let 's a little consider Thou Child or Youth hast thou had no sence of Hells misery ever upon thy Heart hast thou never been convinc'd that 't was ill to Lye or Swear Hast thou never found pressing motions to be good and to resolve against evil have no good desires stirr'd in thy Soul Why all these were the workings of the Spirit of God on thy poor Soul God has been labouring with every young Body in this Congregation He has been labouring with thee by the advice of thy Parents when they taught thee to read or taught thee thy Catechism or instructed thee to pray it was God by them taking pains with thee We Preachers preach to you Young Ones as well as to the Old nay we preach to you with more hopes expecting that you are not hardned as old Persons are Young People have not the Mercies of God have not the preservations of God towards you been so many Teachers What has been the Language of every Mercy to thee Child to you young ones but this Oh Children don 't you provoke this God don't make me your Enemy for you see I would fain do you good I would fain be merciful and not a Destroyer of you Nay have not Afflictions been the pains of God with you Is there ever a Young one here that has not been sick at one time or other Why the Lord sent that Sickness to thee and spake in this manner thereby I will warn this Young one to be Religious lest he should dye before he be converted all the Corrections of thy Parents and Master for thy Sin they have all been the Calls of God and his Language in them all has been I would fain imbitter Sin to this poor Young one by something short of Hell I would gladly restrain the Wickedness of this Youth before I must damn him You see you had need look to it for God has used means towards your recovery think not God doth not mean me in his Word don't say God did not intend my cure in the helps I enjoy alas he intendeth thee as well as any other It 's thy enlightening Oh Young Man he intends by all his teachings 'T is thy Conversion O Young Woman that he designs by all his Calls all these have been directed upon this very design and least you should doubt it the Spirit of God does particularly name you O Young Men and Maids praise you the Lord Psal. 148. Young Men be sober Tit. 2. 6. Nay Christ himself tells us in Prov. 1. 4. that his great design there is to give discretion to the simple young ones Therefore I beg that not one young body in this place may forget what I say now that they frustrate God's hopes if they be not Good and disappoint him of all his labour if they be not gracious all the pains that have been taken with them are lost upon them and will God bear this will he always bear this what will become of you if you proceed this way 3. Thirdly Here 's an awful Charge That you young Men continue vain because you don 't rightly use the means for your healing Ah sad Charge the case of young ones is curable but why is it not altered before now Why O Conscience speak Children you have Consciences Young Ones you have Consciences Can you say 't is long of God I am vile still 't is long of the want of means that I am vile still Ah Friend Father Son and Spirit can all say 't is not my Fault that this Child is bad still 't is not my Fault this young Man and Woman is wicked so long 't is not long of me May not
I as young as I am have to do all this hard work in which is the point I am on Young Man if Death overtake thee thou canst not put it off till thou set about the work thou hast neglected all the cryes in the Word will avail nothing Bethink thee then if Ahijah had not been good betimes he must have been eternally undone so it may be thy Case O Child of ten years old if thou dost not get Grace before thou art a Year older or it may be a Month or Week older thou must dye graceless Doth not the Word tell thee of some who dye in youth and their life is among the unclean Job 6. 14. Shall that be thy Case canst thou bear it be perswaded now to fix thy thoughts on such things as these Shall I Lye or Swear now who may be dead within a Month Dare I prophane this Sabbath who may be dead within a Week yea my next sin may be the last act of my Life How can I live without Christ a day longer when I may dye to Night shall I delay to know and love and fear my God who must do it soon or never I am sure if I do not fear God before I dye Hell will be my place and I am not sure of a Week to attain this Fear of God Did the youngest of you know your frailty you would tremble at delays you would not dare to sin you would blush at your slothfulness in any good Work Oh then hear this Sermon as one that may never hear another Pray the next time as one that may never Pray again When thou art next tempted ask thy self Would I yield to this if I were to dye to morrow Will you believe this and walk as them that believe it even Youth is too uncertain for any wise one to venture to sin or neglect his Salvation as if sure of time to repent and repair his neglects 2. Vanity is taken in a moral sense viz. as it regards the minds and manners thus Eph. 4. 17. the Spirit of God warns us against walking in the Vanity of the Mind Vanity is oft put for all sins 2 Kings 17. 15. several sins are expresly called Vanity and this Name is applyed partly with respect to the Nature of some sins but chiefly from the tendency and consequence of every sinful course Every way of sin is vain and sin deserves the Name of Vanity from this consideration that it is committed to no valuable purpose yea it ends in what is destructive and far worse than meerly unprofitable In this sense I shall improve the Text and it includes these things 1. Young people are prone to many sins that are notoriously vain 2. Young People are apt to live to very low and unprofitable purposes which is Vanity 3. Young People are apt to live to evil and destructive purposes which is the heighth of Vanity Before I enter on these things let me ask you young Folk Is not this a true Charge and is it not as awful a description of your State as true Obj. But how comes this to be laid so universally that all young People are thus vain Ans. 1. Because the generality of young People are vain For one that is sober how many are wild for one that is pious there be many prophane A religious Child is become a wonder Godliness in youthful years is very rare The body of your ordinary young People is sottish the generality of witty Youths are atheistical and irreligious When the Disease is so common the charge is proper as against the whole Ans. 2. All young Persons are inclin'd to be vain Vanity is the Temptation of that Age your Constitution and want of Experience do especially expose you to this mischief though Grace may deliver some of you from the power of Vanity yet it hath not cleansed you from all disposition to Vanity it hangs about you and liveth though restrained Your stumbles will be at this stone and your Faults will be under this head of youthful Vanity Young People you see why the Charge is so common Will you then apply what I shall say to your selves When I describe the Disease say This is my Disease When I propose the Remedy speak to thy Soul This is proper for my Case this is necessary to my Condition Thou Child say I am a Child and therefore apt to be vain Thou young Man say I am a young Man and therefore I am apt to be vain I must deny my Age or own this Charge Nay further reason awfully with your selves Most young People are under the power of Vanity The wicked Youths are a hundred to one that 's pious Oh my Soul what is my Condition is not there more danger that I am one of those hundred wicked ones than that I am that One pious young one I shall now return to consider the three particulars under which I included the Moral Vanity of young People 1. Young People are prone to many sins that are notoriously Vain There be some particular sins that in their Nature argue more Vanity than other sins they inferr a very vain mind in the Persons committing them Young ones have many of these sins and Lusts strongly prompting thereto I shall reduce your sins to eight particulars and give you some Directions under each to help you against that particular sin But remember each of these are sins every sin defileth thy Soul and bindeth thee to undergo the Punishment threatned if it be not repented of and mortified Nor canst thou hope that these sins will be put away unless thou follow the Methods which God hath directed for that end He will not Convert thee as a Bruit that regards nothing thô he must consider thy weakness as a Sinner and therefore exert his Power by the Means thou attendest 1. Young People are subject to Folly The Spirit brands our tender years with this Crime Prov. 22. 15. Folly is bound up in the Heart of a Child Is this limited to Children No A young Man void of understanding is too often seen Prov. 7. 7. This fault is not a want of that Wisdom which is unexpected from your Age But it is such Folly as in your Years might have been healed and it 's made up of blindness and mistakes against that light which God hath afforded you God hath given you reason to govern your selves by you are under the Means of Wisdom whereby you may know your true end and the proper means to that end Nevertheless most young Persons are Fools Dost not thou place thy Interest in things which are vain and destructive Dost not thou think Jollity thy only Heaven and the pleasing thy Lusts the only real Paradice What is enjoying God or glorifying God to thee these are things thou art unacquainted with and unconcerned for Obj. Perhaps thou wilt say I desire to be saved and I do something towards it how then do I mistake my end or means Ans. 1.
Crimes whiles he was young Learn wisdom by such now whiles thou hast opportunity and warnings I now proceed to the second head of the Vanity of Childhood and Youth viz. 2. Children and young People are apt to live to no valuable purpose which is Vanity Thou wilt easily allow that to spend ones strength and time for nothing or for what is as good as nothing is vain Is not he a vain body that thinks much talks much and doth much to no purpose Common opinion will grant this we brand Caius Caligula as vain for bringing a great Army to the Sea-shore and gathering Cockle-shells when he pretended a great attempt The Spirit of God justly accuseth those Persons Isa 41. 29. Behold they are all vanity their works are nothing Solomon doth frequently mean this in his Book of Ecclesiastes when he saith This is also Vanity that is it 's to no valuable purpose it is not worth the labour and concern a man is at One had as good let it alone and be unemployed as reap no other fruit Young People this is your very Case Most of you live and busie your selves for nought 1. You are apt to design nothing at all in your living It 's long before thou askest thy self What do I live for What end shall I pursue are not most of thy actions performed thou knowest not why Most of you are hurried by a foolish Temper allowing no deliberate design to govern you A vain mind or Devilish suggestions determine the actings of most Young People Is not this a reproach to thee if thou happen to do any good it 's more by chance than by thy choice If thou receivest any real advantage it 's by a merciful Providence and not by thy Intention If God should ask thee at the Church Door wherefore comest thou hither May not some of you say I do not know or it was from a fancy I had to hear or from custom But how few can say I had a design to get some help to grapple with my youthful lusts I proposed to meet with God in his Word for my Souls improvement When you intend so little in an Ordinance what purposes must govern you in the ordinary affairs of Life 2. Your Youth is spent to no considerable purpose May not I tell most here thy time past is lost and the time to come is like to be lost For 1. Thou hast lived in vain as to thy self What hast thou gotten by the ten years thou hast lived Oh Child of ten years old What hast thou improved by the fifteen years thou hast lived Oh Youth of fifteen years old yea may not I as justly ask the Young Man of twenty What hast thou done what use hast thou made of thy twenty years Must not Conscience answer Oh! I had as good been just now born for any good I have gotten That I may fasten this Conviction I call every Soul to answer me what art thou nearer God to this day how much is Sin mortified what Grace hast thou attained to this very time Oh youth hast thon yet got an Interest in Christ what Treasure hast thou laid up in Heaven If thou must own I am further from God and not nearer Sin is stronger and not weakned then sure thou wilt own thou hast lived in vain to thy self 2. But yet farther how many others may lay to thee the charge of unprofitableness Thou livest in vain as to God He may say This young Body never served nor praised me I had as good there had not been such a Youth in the World Thou livest in vain to thy Friends thy Parent may say It is an unprofitable Child to me I have yet had no comfort by him Thy Relations may cry He never gave us good Counsel or Example Thou livest in vain to thy Master he hath got little advantage by thy care or labour Thy Minister may cry This young body brings me little joy as yet I have striven to little purpose with him he seems as if I had laboured wholly in vain 1 Thes. 3. 5. Thou hast lived in vain to the Church what increase or Glory hath it reaped by thee Thou hast lived in vain to the Nation thou hast not helped to make it more innocent by thy Life more flourishing by thy industry or more safe by thy Prayers So that now Young man is it not a true Charge which I lay to thee mayest thou not cry out Oh useless I I have lived for nought I have been an useless shadow I have cumbered the ground and God may justly cut me off as an unfruitfull one Luk. 13. 7. Obj. I foresee some Young one will be ready to evade this Charge and say I do live to some purpose that is valuable I gratifie my senses I live pleasantly I begin to look after the world c. Answ. Alas poor Creature is living to the Flesh valuable Is living barely to this World valuable Is living to the Devil valuable Methinks thy Reason should tell thee It 's better not to live at all than live to these An intelligent Spirit to live to the Flesh is base an immortal Soul to live barely to this World is madness A Creature of God redeemed by the Lord Jesus to live to the Devil is self-destructive and foolish What! live to him who hath undone thee in the Fall and is so studious to prevent thy recovery by Christ Live to him who hath blinded blemished and debased thee as he hath done Live to him who tho he hates thy God cannot escape his own misery Live to him who envieth thy good desires thy woe opposeth all that is the benefit of Mankind and contributes to all the miseries and disorders which the World is distressed by Oh young man canst thou justifie this course of living But this will more appear if upon a due reflection on thy Life thou wilt answer me these Questions 1. Doth thy Life answer Gods End and Purpose in giving thee a Being The wisdom of God may assure thee he had an end becoming himself in thy creation he tells thee all things were created by him and for him Col. 1. 10. The blessed God had an Eye to himself and a regard to Christ the Redeemer in giving thee an Existence He exerted his Power in thy Being that thou mightest serve and honour him dost thou answer this End by living as thou dost hast thou ever aimed at this doth thy behaviour contribute to this at all Thy way of Life would be a Reproach to thy Maker to have proposed to himself in thy Creation 2. Are there not greater Purposes to which thy Nature and Abilities are suited He lives to an unvaluable purpose that neglects to live to the highest Purposes he is capable of Little things are a reproach to him that is adapted to great things Have not you Faculties to know and love your God and do your childish or wicked employments answer them You are capable to serve and glorifie
that hangs over it because of the last thirty years too successful Contrivances to debauch the Nation in order to Slavery and Popery might be diverted or at least confined to such as are too far engaged or obstinate to admit a Reformation That every Child and Youth who shall read this Book may as many of you already do thus contribute to my Hopes and Share in the Benefit thereof shall be the Prayer of Your Compassionate Friend Daniel Williams THE CONTENTS THE Context explained to Page 5. Vanity considered as its natural Frailty p. 7 8 9. Vanity in a moral sence in General 10 11 12. Particularly as to eight Sins to which Youth is prone 1. The folly of Youth in the Concerns of Eternity explained and demonstrated from p. 13. to 17. Directions against Folly from p. 18 to 21. 2. The Inconsiderateness of Youth with Directions against it from p. 21. to 24. 3. The Obstinacy of Youth described disswaded from with Directions against it from p. 25 to 33. 4. Anger and violent Passions of youth described disswaded from with Directions from p. 33 to 37. 5. Youths idleness and mispence of time described disswaded from with Directions from p. 37 to 43. 6. The Levity and inordinate Mirth of young people described disswaded from with directions to get Sobriety from pag. 43 to 51. 7. The sin of Lying described disswaded from with Directions against it from p. 51 to 55. 8. Fleshly Lusts viz. Drunkenness Gluttony and Vncleanness described and disswaded from from p. 55 to 57. Directions against Gluttony and Drunkenness from p. 58 to 61. Directions against Vncleanness from p. 61 to 67. The Vanity of Youth as it consists in their living to no valuable purposes demonstrated from p. 68 to 74. The Vanity of Youth as it lives to destructive purposes from p. 74 to 77. An Account how Childhood and Youth became vain where Original Sin is treated of from p. 77 to 82. An Enquiry why Youth continues vain where also the possibility of their healing is spoken to from p. 82 to 90. The Reasons why many young people do grow more vain daily from p. 90 to 92. Inferences from the whole Doctrine 1. The dismal Aspect of the World p. 92 93. 2. Parents and Masters care and pains in the Education of youth urged and directed suitably to the Disease of youth from p. 94 to 97. 3. The reasonableness of youths subjection to the Rebukes and Restraints of Superiours p. 97 98. 4. Attentiveness to Advice needful and fit p. 98 99. Exhortations 1. A serious Examination of the present state of youth whether they are still vain or no urged p. 99 100 2. They are called to admit Directions answerable to their present Condition 1. A Call to young people still vain with Directions and Arguments for their present casting off their Vanity from p. 100 to 110. 2. Advice proper for such young Ones as are serious from p. 110 to 121. A plain youths Catechism from p. 110 to the end Ecclesiast ch 11. v. 10. last clause Childhood and Youth are Vanity THis present Meeting is for the spiritual advantage of you Children and young People Your good we Ministers must intend and it s your Interest and Duty to regard and improve these helps as well as elder Persons for your Souls are are as Immortal as the Aged God hath a right to govern you being you are his Creatures He hath given you a Rule of Life he observeth your Hearts and Carriage with concern Young Ones shall be arraigned at Gods Tribunal and judged by the Rule contained in his Word according to what they have been and done Heaven and Hell are before you one of them will be the eternal dwelling of the youngest in this Assembly and considering that most of Mankind dye when young Heaven and Hell are fuller of Young People than of such as arrived to a greater Age. Do such Considerations affect you ought they not to make me serious and importunate with your Souls And with yours especially because Youth is under great indispositions to all that is serious and saving Oh let us look earnestly for a blessing to him who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh Numb 16. 23. and therefore is able to impress and manage your Spirits tho' unruly and vain The Author of this Book is Solomon will you regard what a Great Man saith He was King of Israel in its most prosperous State Are a wise Mans dictates to be heeded He was the wisest of meer Men. But above that this Book was the result of great Experience he speaks his feeling as well as his Judgment yea he records these things as a Penitent after great offences and therefore must represent things according to their truth and importance especially since he was inspired by the Infallible Spirit in what he here delivers I shall not look further than the 11th verse to lead you to my Text. 1. There he doth by a sharp Sarcasm reprove the sensual delights of Young People rejoyce O Young Man c. it s such a saying as Christs to his Disciples Sleep on and take your rest Mar. 14. 41. It 's not said by way of approbation but he exposeth the Sensualist by disdain which may affect some People more than a direct Reproof and God for our good condescends to try all ways Surely you that think sensual pleasure the greatest happiness you are capable of will suspect that it is not what it appears to your foolish minds whon God by the Wisest Man doth thus Ironically brand it he loads you with scorn while you fondly please your selves with these poor delights as your only Paradice God keep me from that as my Portion which God accounts my reproach Obj. But may not a Young Man rejoyce Answ. Yes no doubt thou oughtest to delight thy self in the Lord Psal. 37. 4. yea thou mayst delight moderately and holily in Objects of sence but that 's not the rejoycing here exposed The following words explain the nature of this forbidden joy it 's that evil pleasure which thou takest in walking in the wayes of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes q. d. Oh vile Creature how base art thou become that confinest thy pleasures to and resolvedly wallowest in the delights that come by following the vain imaginations of thy carnal heart and meer gratifying thy sences What a bruit art thou that sportest thy self in a disregard of God and unseen things and valuest the time of Youth only as it fits thee to execute what is sinful and relish what is sensual Is this rejoycing becoming thee as a reasonable Creature made for and suited to things of so far a higher nature Is thy correspondence to the Objects of Faith quite gone art thou so sunk and buried in flesh Is there no spiritual light or love to govern thy desires and pleasures If this be the merry Young Man what an object of contempt is he in all his mirth even in
Therefore press thy Soul with the sence of it's want and with the loveliness and necessity of Wisdom This will help thee to strong desires which are fervent Prayers Oh Child wilt thou be a Fool for want of praying Shall God say Here 's a Youth void of Wisdom because he would not ask it 2. Study and believe the Scriptures If thy Judgment bedirected by the Word it will be sound that gives understanding unto the simple Psal. 119. 130. Be sure you learn to read and when you can read read the Scriptures most there you must learn to think aright of God they will teach thee what the Will of God is the way of Salvation is there discovered from them thou hast the truest account of Sin and Holiness In the written Promises thou wilt know what to hope for in the Threatnings what thou shouldst fear in the Commandments what thou must do in the revealed Doctrines what thou shouldst believe Come Children you are allowed to learn the Scriptures Timothy is commended for knowing the Scriptures from a Child 2 Tim. 2. 15. Study you these there is nothing needfull for a Christian which is not contained therein Every thing as to Salvation is doubtful which is not deduced from these 3. Suspect thy first thoughts and never be governed by thy Fancy If thy sudden imaginations be right they will bear enquiry if they be wrong they need amendment Ordinarily the first dictates proceed from Vanity and shall that prescribe when Life and Death depend on thy Resolves nay how knowest thou but that they be Satans whispers which thou executest when Fancy is thy Guide for he speaks to the Soul by impressing the Imagination 4. Converse with the Godly Wise and strictly observe and lay up their Sayings and Examples The Word tells us He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but the Companion of fools shall be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. Their Speeches will instruct their practice will allure imitation whereas ill Company will debauch thy Mind and nourish thy Lusts. Prudent Persons will judge thy temper by thy associates well knowing thou art already or wilt certainly be what thy chosen Companions are 5. Design all knowledge in order to practice and live up to the light thou receivest He that in Sacred things takes up with Notions for notions sake is as truly a Fool as if he knew nothing It 's a practical Judgment that makes us spiritually wise when other knowledge will aggravate our sin and woe Oh Young Man wilt thou say unto Wisdom Thou art my Sister Prov. 7. 4. wilt thou cast off Folly with Indignation as thy great Disease should you be fond of that which sin introduced and will obstruct your healing whiles it prevails Folly is the bane of intellectual Beings and that 's of the worst sort which guides our practice Folly is the root of all your other Sins Wer 't thou spiritually wise thy work were more than half done and methinks thou shouldst not be hardly perswaded to get Wisdom Child wouldst thou be willing to be an Ideot Surely no every one pitieth such a one and is too apt to laugh at him But I tell thee to be a Fool as to Eternal things is much worse than to be an Ideot The Ideot hath few if any actual Sins to answer for but thou hast many There may be hopes of an Ideots Salvation especially if he be the Child of a Believer but if thou remain spiritually a Fool there 's no hope of thee tho' both thy Parents were the best of People All Folly is the blemish of Humane Nature but Spiritual Folly most of any 2. Young People are subject to Inconsiderateness and rashness How hard is it to make you think or lay the greatest things to heart neither Danger nor Duty do Young Ones apply to themselves Would not the Consciences of most of you agree with my accusation if I tell thee Child and thee Young Man or Woman Thou art under God's Wrath but wilt not consider it Thou dost not meditate on the way of recovery tho it be at great expence provided Christ dyed for thee but thou hast not spent one hour in the Contemplation of him Thou art loth to think what thy wayes are whether good or bad nor thy State whether safe or dangerous How few Young Ones here have seriously asked themselves Am I born again or no what will my sins bring me to what evil is there in my Sins when I must stand at Gods Tribunal to be judged what shall I answer what is like to be the issue how shall I dwell with everlasting burnings It 's too commonly with others as it was with that Young Man He goeth after her straightway or suddenly as an Oxe goeth to the slaughter till a dart strike through his Liver As a Bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Prov. 7. 22 23. He took not time to think what would be the issue of Sin unavoibable Torment gives the first prospect of his danger when consideration would have represented this Misery as a guard against Sin even whiles Temptation solicited Quest. What shall I a Young one do to deliliver me from this inconsiderateness Answ. In general strive to consider and bind thy mind to suitable and fixed Thoughts To this end 1. Do not at any time allow thy Thoughts to wander unaccountably It 's hard to confine them at any time when they usually rove It 's a great help for this World and for another to have our thoughts manageable and our Souls capable of being easily fixed in their Contemplations When ever thou thinkest be able to say What I think of it is worth a thought 2. Awe thy Soul with the importance of the things thou oughtest to consider If they be Soul-matters they be of the highest nature and they be of greatest concern to thee Tell thy self Life and Death depends on these If Sin have dominion over me I shall dye If I am not born again I cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Joh. 3. 5. And shall I lightly think of these what 's all the World to me if I perish for ever Things Divine things on which Eternity depends must be considered Oh my Soul wilt yea darest thou refuse to dwell on these which thou wert made for which thou must shortly converse with as the only realities whether thou wilt or no. 3. Get so much Knowledge of what thou shouldst consider as that thou mayst be able to represent it to thy Mind in some evidence It 's hard to consider long of what we little know if it be of God be not unacquainted with his Nature if it be of Sin be not ignorant of arguments to disswade from it and a sence of what aggravates it c. 4. Learn to discourse with thy self and to urge things upon thy Heart This will fix thy thoughts and bring things with some due impression on the Heart If thou canst not debate the matters
Thy Parents if they be pious will reduce thy love to the same instances Thus thy Mother bespeaks thee What my Son and the Son of my Womb and what the Son of my vows Give not thy strength to Women Prov. 31 2 3. and so she v. 4 5. forbids Drunkenness Thy Father charges thee My Child hear the instruction of a Father Let thy heart retain my words keep my Commandments and live get wisdom c. Prov. 4. 1 4. They will both intreat thee Child if thou hast any love for us keep from sin save thy self from Hell we are most concerned to see thee a real Saint and eternally glorious we 'll bear any thing rather than sin we are afraid for nothing as much as thy Soul if thou destroy that thou shewest the greatest hatred and art as cruel as thou canst be unto us Canst thou think thou lovest them and be thus perverse Nay if thou think they love thee that must cause some relentings How can I run so cross to my God and to my Parents who so dearly love my Soul and are so solicitous for its weal my hardned Heart begins to yield and I cannot continue obstinate my Love to them and my sense of their Love to me doe overpower my stubborn spirit 3. Be perswaded of thy own ignorance and unfitness to direct thy self A proud conceit that you know better than any what is for your good or harm is included in an obstinate frame Dost not thou think that if thou wert convinced that God bids thee do nothing but what were for thy good nor forbids thee any thing but what is for thy harm thou would'st do what he commanded and cease from what he forbids and would it not be the same as to thy Parents and others Let me then reason with thee Young Man Dost thou think thy God would deceive thee or thy Parents and Ministers would lye to thee when they disswade thee from sin and perswade thee to serious Piety and are so earnest in it thou must conclude they think as they say If they be not mistaken they would encourage me to do as I do but if I be mistaken I ought and would do as they advise Then young People the Matter is brought to this thou art obstinate against Counsel because thou art in the right and they that give thee Counsel are in the wrong They as thou thinkest advise thee to thy loss and all things set together thou consultest thy own true Interest better than they do But is not this a very vain Conceit and capital Error Oh Child sure thou art not wiser than thy holy Parents they know more than thou they have experienced what thou hast not they and thy Masters are forced to teach thee the little things of this Life thou would'st soon spoil and kill thy self if they left thee to thy own management Oh young Men and Women are not you sordidly foolish can you imagine you know what God will do with you better than he knows it do you know what you must lose by sin and suffer for sin better than God knows you judge by a short moment but he sees what Eternity is You conclude from what your Body now feels but he knows what thy Soul is and what himself is to the Soul whether in Wrath or Love He knows what the Glory of Heaven and Terrors of Hell amount to Thou concludest by thy Fancy but he passeth a just Judgment which every one will soon submit to therefore I do begg thee to distrust thy self as ever thou wouldst save thy self Consider all the good Men in the World were Conceited as thou art now but they have repented and owned their Folly when they came to their right minds then they came to be of God's mind Yea all the Wicked will be convinced of their Mistake why else will they wail and mourn for ever if it be best to be in Hell why should they always Complain there The Prodigal thought he was wise when he rioted Luk. 15. 17 18. but Repentance assured him that he had been mad Young Folk have you never seen resolved Sinners even in Sickness and Poverty roar out and mourn at the last saying How have I hated Instruction Prov. 5. 12. Consider how unlikely is it that thy Opinion is truer than thy holy Master or Minister thy Lusts darken thy mind they have all the wise part of the World on their side Thou canst remember thou wert as confident of other things which now thou seest to be false as they told thee then Thou sometimes now condemnest thy self for thy course when thy sinful Inclinations are calmed When thou wert sick thou didst own that thy loose way thy irreligious way was thy Folly And after all these wilt thou bear it out must that be thy Character The Fool rageth and is confident whiles thou knowest not at what thou stumblest Prov. 14. 16. Must this be written on thy Grave-stone He shall dye without Instruction and in the greatness of his folly he went astray Prov. 5. 23. 4. Acknowledge thou art one under Dominion and not at thy own disposal People refuse to be subject from a Conceit that they have a right to govern themselves Is not this your Case Our lips are our own who is Lord over us Psal. 12. 4. therefore I will Lye Swear talk frothily let who will contradict But Child thou canst tell who made thee it was God and should not he that made thee govern thee ought not the Creature to observe the Laws which his Creator gives him Nothing thou hast is so much thine as thou art his Christ bought thee with his Blood and additionally founded his Dominion in his Purchase He therefore dyed that he might be Lord both of the dead and living Rom. 14. 9. Thou art therefore the most unjust of Rebels if thou art an obstinate Sinner Thy Parents thy Masters thy Ministers have an Authority over thee and disobeying their just Commands and Calls is a renouncing an Authority thou shouldst own and usurping a power to which thou hast no claim A Masterless Child a masterless Youth is a Slave under pretence of Liberty and doubleth his yoak while he seeks to break it Therefore know young Folk you 'll find God a terrible Judge whom you rejected as a Law-giver Hee 'll vindicate his own Authority and the deputed Authority of your Parents by the sorest Vengeance Eternal Chains shall hold that Youth which would break God's easie bands If any of you say I do own God to be my Ruler and Master consider God's challenge If I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord God of Hosts Mal. 1. 8. To finish this how many sturdy resolute Young People are here will none of your knees tremble will love melt no Heart will a sence of Gods skill to direct and authority to Command bend no stubborn will this day Dare any Child or Young Person go hence and say I have been stiff-necked
not to be recalled Will it be comfortable in this World to reflect on wasted Time Grown years will be full of these reflections I might have been a Scholar my Knowledge had been improved I had now been fit to serve my Countrey and benefit my self and Family had I been studious in my Youth I might have understood my Trade been encourag'd in my Calling by others and laid up for my subsistance had I been diligent and industrious in my Youth But those years are spent in Folly and now I am unteachable my Credit is gone ignorance contempt and poverty are my companions Oh foolish I But Oh thou Child Oh thou Youth how much more uncomfortable on a Death-bed and in Eternity will thy idleness and mispent seasons be as they referr to thy Soul I had a teachable time but I dye in ignorance of God and Christ woe is me The seasons of Grace I enjoyed are my torment now because I improved them not I hardened my Heart by neglects in my tender years How have I trifled when I heard Sermons How have I mocked God by my sleepy Prayers How have I undone my own Soul by a foolish remissness in all my seeming labours for it What can I shew for all the years I have lived To what a case have my Sports my Idleness and Vanity reduced me Oh that I could recall my precious Time but that 's impossible Oh that I had profitably employed those mispent seasons that 's as vain a wish Oh then that I had never lived those days which I did not live but sinned away as a sleep or dead in pleasures 1 Tim. 5. 6. Darest thou O young Body for a little present indulgence to thy fleshly sloath entertain thy self hereafter with such Heart-piercing thoughts as these Quest. How shall a Young Person be healed of Idleness and waste of time Answ. 1. In general abhorr sloath and redeem time Prov. 19. 15. Eph. 5. 16. Sloath is a wicked unaptness for action and very unsuitable to an active Soul Time not redeemed is mispent and when it is not applyed to it's proper work it passeth away to no advantage 2. Enquire what is thy present work and be assured that what thou art about is what God would have thee do Col. 3. 23. Every hour hath it's business if what thou art about be not that business meddle not with it but find out what it is thou oughtest to be employed in at that time Conviction of duty is a spur to diligence 3. Still remember that God who is thy Owner hath given thee thy Abilities and that time to do thy present work God calls thee as by Name Use my Talents to this which I have made thy present work in this thou improvest the stock I lent thee in this I will bless thee and protect thee as one pleasing to me for this thou shalt not fail of a Reward Eph. 6. 5 6 7. 4. Excite thy self to do what thou art about with vigour Engage thy strength call up the powers of thy Soul to activity for the sloathful is brother to the waster Prov. 18. 9. Idleness is a degree of omission in the affairs both of Soul and Body for there is much undone that might have been done 5. To this end consider God will call thee to a strict account how thy work hath been performed in that time which God affords thee Tell thy self there 's a time of reckoning for this that I am now a doing or a neglecting The sloathful Servant is in Gods esteem a wicked Servant Mat. 25. 26 and he that hid his Talent must perish as well as he that mispends it The more good that might have been done in such a day will be observed as well as what little hath been done in that day Oh never forget that vacant hours and loytred moments are recorded with him who will not inspect dreamingly what thy slothful Spirit makes no account of 6. Remember that all thy works preparatory for Heaven need an intense Spirit and are confined to a short season It 's proper Advice What thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no working in the Grave whither thou art going Time is posting and we had need redeem it because our business is difficult and the consequences great There are great things to be acquired and done before we are meet for Glory There be great oppositions in our Nature and from our Tempers to every degree of that meetness A vile Heart is not easily renewed darling sins are not soon nor easily mortified the necessary Faith Knowledge Love Strength and Joy are hardly come by and the expected services in our generation are slowly proceeded in Haste and eagerness are absolutely needful to such things He that idleth can hope for little and trifling in such matters is little better than downright neglects especially when giving diligence 2 Pet. 1. 10. is as much a Duty as doing any thing He is not upright in the matters of Religion whose deep concern doth not make him industrious because his Judgment never determined for these things as the greatest nor hath his Will resolved the pursuit of them above all others whose idleness declareth his indifferency Therefore oft tell thy remiss Soul This day is past that week is over and shortly time will be at an end and shall I idle as I do How little work is done in past years Dare I loyter still and be surprized whiles my works are so imperfect or can I reckon on greater improvements in the same number of dayes if I be no more intent and industrious than I have been in those To thee is that directed Not slothfull in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12. 11. resolve to obey it 7. Be able to give a good account to thy Conscience of the time that 's laid out in sleep and Recreations These are the common wasters of Time by a disregard to their just bounds Many do almost divide their hours between Sleep and recreating Sports Visits and Talk which three fall under this Head of Recreteion It 's an awful Consideration that what are appointed only to fit Men for business should become with many their only business as if they had little else to employ themselves about But know thou Young Man that he who sleeps longer than Health requireth is a Sluggard Prov. 6. 9. And he that lays out more hours in diversions than prepares him for the better discharge of Duty is a mispender of Time Thy Reason should tell thee God would never have given me a Soul endowed with such Abilities for service he had never placed me in a World full of opportunities and calls to Employment He had never so strictly charged me to be diligent and useful if I am able with Comfort to plead my Sleep and Pleasures as the greatest part of my Exercise whiles I lived Attend to these Rules with Care and from this moment Gird up the loins of thy
and refusing to be with her Gen. 39. 10. Whereas the Young man that admitted the Speeches of the immodest Woman was soon ensnared Prov. 7. 21. Venture not on thy own strength too far God may justly leave thee when thou temptest him and stronger than thee have sadly rued the power of Occasions Play-houses mixt Dancings c. have been the ruine of many a Youth 3. Guard thy Senses These are inlets of evil by them Objects insnare and kindle those Lusts which lay asleep David's Eye betray'd him into Adultery Iob is to thee a good Example Iob. 31. 1. I have made a Covenant with my Eyes Listen not to immodest Songs or lewd Discourse which insensibly stir up those Inclinations which tend to the vilest Acts. 4. Stifle the first workings of Lust. First motions are weakest and so more easily conquer'd the longer they are entertained the more violent they grow and the Soul less apt to oppose them Filthy Contemplations allowed darken the Mind and abate that dread and abhorrence which are a great part of thy security against sin Oh then crush the first appearance If thou ask me how I 'll tell thee Banish these evil thoughts out of thy Mind plead God's Command and seek his help represent to thy self the Threats and Punishments of God against this Sin consider that these Motions unrestrained may end in the grossest Action and resolve not to speak a word glance one look or use one gesture in compliance with that sinful motion 5. Avoid Idleness as that which tempts the Devil to tempt thee Young Man it's a great Mercy to the World that we have business to follow and he that hath no Employment will wish hereafter he had never had an Estate to prevent a Calling therefore be sure thou hast work and attend it Sin easily intangleth the Idlers who will be doing wickedly for want of Business But the Diligent is not at leisure for vain thoughts he needs not ensnaring Company to divert him yea labour substracts matter from Lusts and renders the Body less disturbing to the Soul Leisure hours are the young Mans danger be not desirous of too many such and double thy Watch in thy spending of them for Satan observes thee then and will suggest vain thoughts to thy Mind excite fleshly motions and prepare ensnaring opportunities 6. Attentively regard and yield up thy self to the motions of the holy Spirit The Spirit will warn thee against these Defilements and direct thee to that purity of Heart and Life as will prevent the advantages the unclean Spirit finds in thy youthfull Age. A reverential regard to the presence of the Spirit will call the mind from base Employs and excite thee to what is approved by him The more his Fruits abound and express themselves in thy temper and carriage the more effectually wilt thou be cleansed from all thy fleshly pollutions To this we are directed Gal. 5. 16. Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the Lusts of the Flesh. Yea the aids and influence of this holy one are necessary to a saving abstinence from and dominion over Lusts as you see in Rom. 8. 13. But if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live 7. Keep thy thoughts well employed This will prevent those vain Imaginations which are the incendiaries of Lust and by which the Judgment is blinded or bribed to perswade the Will Let the Word dwell richly in thee by filling thy Mind Contemplate God in his Perfections behold him present with thee when in greatest secrecy he makes a third when thou and thy Paramour are most retired In this case he testifies Ier. 29. 23. Even I know and I am witness saith the Lord. Represent to thy Soul the Torments following these Lusts if gratified Hell-fire is enough to quench these lustful Flames and who dare wish the pleasure so dearly bought Attend to such Scriptures as Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge c. Heb. 13. 4. Oh Young Man canst thou think of this believingly and cast off restraints or give a Carnal Mind it's scope 9. Resolve before thou compliest with the most urgent Temptation to put up a serious Prayer to God in Christ. Lay thy self under this Law I will not consent before I look to God it must be a dreadful evil that will not admit an Address to Christ if it be a sin I have need of strength from him who came on this errand to put away sin to cleanse me from Iniqtity and destroy the works of the Devil Heb. 9. 26. Eph. 5. 26. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Prayer may deaden the Temptation when strongest it may recover thy baffled power for Christ is able to inspire thee with that light and vigour as may support thee when almost gone St. Paul thrice prayed when grieved with a thorn in the flesh and the Grace of Christ proved sufficient for him 1 Cor. 12 8 9. The Devil the Flesh and an enticing Object are too hard for any Man that calls not in the help of Christ by Prayer Satan desires no more than to engage thee single and without frequent supplications thou art like to be so On the other hand Prayer will drive Satan to some more subtile Assault than so gross a wickedness as Uncleanness must appear to every one that beholdeth Christ when calling on him Therefore I do again intreat thee even when thy Lusts seem to have most advantage that thou wilt not forget to present thy case to him who is concerned for thy good and able to foyl the Enemies of thy Soul when in greatest prospect of success Thus I have represented to young People some of the sins to which your Age is most subject All are not named alas there 's Swearing which is a prophane Villany that hath neither pleasure nor profit to allure there 's Theft which is a violation of Justice and a discontent with what God hath thought fit to give you there 's Pride one instance whereof I shall hereafter speak to which among you Children and Youth is generally on very fordid accounts you are proud of a little Beauty which the Small Pox may spoil and no Body is truly the better for you are proud of your fine Cloaths and from Pride desire them but what trifles are these none but Fools esteem them or value thee the more for them Though I cannot insist on these yet if God is pleased to deliver thee from such sins as I have mentioned all others will be reformed Oh then set thy self against them let the youngest be warned against these as what they will feel temptations to And be all resolved faithfully to observe the Directions given that if possible you may arrive to middle Age free from the corruptions of Youth and Childhood and not be forced to cry out with bitter reflections Thou makest me to possess the Iniquities of my Youth Job 13. 16. What would an aged Saint give that he had been innocent of all these
the Spirit of God say I have taken more pains with this Child and spoken oftner to this young person than I have done with thousands in the World Alas so it is concerning every one of you Children of Pagans in all their days never had thy helps Consider a little with your selves God may this day say I begin early with this young one I have still pleaded after many a repulse I have followed him and her from day to day and from sin to sin Oh how earnest have I been with this young Stripling that I could propose very little good by yet have I taken pains and labour with him Come young People is it now to begin that God has cry'd to you Turn unto me why will you die Ezek. 33. 11. Is now the first time that he has said unto you When will you be made clean when shall it once be Jer. 13. 27. Has Christ never said unto thee O look to me and be saved Look to me for help for there 's help no where else Thy distress makes me needful and pity makes me willing Lay these things to Heart and I will defie any young body in this place to go away and say I have lived up to what I know I have improved all that God has afforded me but he denied to give me more I am miserable and wicked still because God has refused to help me when I have sought it of him Is there any that can talk at this rate No not one Not one Why then whence is it that we have so many young People bad still Why still so fatal to thy self why a Slave to base Lusts O Friends God knows the cause and thou knowest the cause thou didst not use that knowledge thou hadst thou didst not improve thy opportunity doth not Conscience witness thy Ear has not been opened thy Heart has not been attentive thou didst not frame to turn unto the Lord. Hos. 5. 4. God can say this day this poor Creature might have been in a good case he would have been serious before now if he would but have yielded to my pleadings if he had turned at my Reproofs This young body would have been an eminent Christian before now had all my Impressions been retained and all my Calls complied with he had known me better had he been but teachable in my ways as he was in other things Prov. 2. 15. Oh then young People Consider with your selves what has been your case you have told God plainly I will not come to thee that I might have Life Where 's the young body that has not practically given God a denyal And every time thou wert under Conviction of sin and didst not leave it thou didst tell God Lord I would be thine but I love my sin better I would be happy for ever but I will not unless I may be wicked in this World The youngest here hath the great hand in his own ruine he that is but of ten Years old if he perish he is his own Destroyer I think it 's true of many younger Children you were born vain and you have wilfully chosen to remain so You may be ready to accuse Adam by whom you became wicked but it is your own fault that you continue wicked since God hath provided a Remedy it s your sin that you are no better for Mercies no better for Affliction no better for Means wicked before and wicked still O therefore what will you be able to answer how sad is it that any young body here should be forc'd to say Lord 't is my fault that I am no better for a Christ and no better for the Gospel my Misery is of my own choosing God has taken pains with me but 't is all lost through the obstinacy of my Will These three things are plain under that second Head wherein you see why Young people remain vile and vain 3. Thirdly Youth becomes yet more vain by evil Customs and indulging carnal self vanity unhealed is of an improving nature and there 's no bad Child but grows worse Sin is not a Stream that grows empty or a Root that dies by meer time God knows we have had experience of that Alas how does Villany grow with Years the Child that began with few sins grows up to many sins insomuch that we have some young men before eigthteeen have committed as great sins as the man of eighty Youth enters with lesser sins and proceeds to grosser sins We have many young People that seem to abound in wickedness as they improve in age as if they grew older only that they may grow viler Oh what a mercy would it have been for those to have died in the Womb or any one year before another Now Sirs whence is it how can it be that young people should grow vainer and vainer instead of better and better I tell you one sin brings on another by the lesser thou art fitted for a greater Sinful Habits are strengthned by sinful Acts and fear and shame for sin wear off yea are even extinguished by a course of sin O poor Soul Satan has got the faster hold The Spirit has been provoked and given over striving and it may be thy Parents through Despair have almost given over praying Conscience that warn'd thee is sear'd and silenc'd and so the wicked Creature has his whole Scope 2 Tim. 4. 2. God sayes of him Let this poor Creature alone I 'le strive with him no more Gen. 6. 3. O young Folks you may be harden'd before you grow old Lust may be strongly rooted before old Age and I fear 't is so with abundance of Youth Is it not so with some of you Did not some of you blush at a little sin and now thou canst mock at great ones Are there not some amongst you that once dared not to tell a small Lye and now you can lye all sorts Are there none here that trembled when they swore a little Oath and now can swear at the bloodiest rate and add Blasphemy and Cursing to their Oaths Sirs did not some of you feel a check for a light act and now you can commit Fornication and Uncleanness without any inward Rebuke It was hard to bring thee to pilfer a Peny and now thou canst steal Shillings and Pounds It was much ado that thou couldst endure to be drunk in the Night but now thou canst do it openly and glory in it Thou durst not formerly have neglected a Sermon and thou must pray by thy self but now alas poor Creature thou canst play away a whole Sabbath and spend Weeks without Prayer without one serious Prayer My Friends what 's the matter is sin grown a less evil by no means Is God and Heaven and Hell less certain No no Sirs you will feel it to your Cost Is thy poor Soul less precious and less valuable No this is not it neither but the reason of it is this Wickedness is grown by Wickedness committing sin has
made it easie the Current of sin running has made the Channel wider and the opposition less O therefore for the Lords sake begin this day to consider the Devil is grown more impetuous by thy Consent And I can tell thee to day and let the youngest of you observe it That if thou continuest wicked thou wilt be yet more and more so And thou wouldst now blush to think what Wickedness thou wilt hereafter come to As Hazael when it was foretold him by the Prophet what Cruelties he should commit cries out Is thy Servant a Dog 2 King 8. 13. c. Thus I have finished what I intended in the Explication I now come to the Use. First by way of Inference the Lord set it home Some own'd great good on this day twelve-month may more receive good to day The Inferences then are these Inf. 1. How dismal a sight doth this Truth afford us of this World Childhood and Youth is Vanity Ah Lord how true then is it that even the whole World lies in Wickedness 1 Joh. 5. 19. the greater part doth so for Young People are many more than old ones The chief part of Age is Vanity the best part of Time is Vanity Childhood is the time fittest to learn in Youth is the time fittest to act in and yet both these are Vanity Oh how little are heavenly Designs carried on by Young Ones Oh how little is God worshipp'd and serv'd by Young ones How few of them are engag'd in their own true Concerns Dreadful that in Youth we will do nothing and in Age we can do nothing Oh who loves God and is not grieved who loves Souls and is not melted All men come sick into the World and most men grow more diseased by their stay there All come miserable and most help on each others Ruine and encrease their own Oh how many go off the Stage and have reason to wish would to God I had perish'd before I saw the light So like Hell is this present State that i'ts a wonder we are able to take any Delight therein God is serious with pleople in their younger Years and they heed it not Ministers are earnest with young People and they regard it not Ah poor Wretches they think we have nothing to do with them Oh Young Ones help us to mourn to day for I am calling on Men to mourn for you who in your Youth yield your selves up to your Lusts and thereby are injurious to Christ and cruel to your own Souls and will you be unmoved Inf. 2. What Care is incumbent on Parents and Masters in the managing of Young Persons Youth is vain and that bespeaks a suitable carriage O Parents you don't beget Angels but sinful Children you breed up corrupt ones and not perfect ones Few are sanctified in the Womb and therefore you should deal with Children as with deprav'd and corrupt Persons as with them whose Childhood and Youth is Vanity The very Distemper directs Parents and Masters in their duty and carriage towards their Children I shall especially name Parents in my Directions 1. Children are Ignorant Oh therefore take you occasion to instruct them Alas canst thou let thy Children be unacquainted with God and insensible of their own Misery or the way of their escape What must thy Child be inspir'd or it must perish for want of knowledge If it must know pray who is fittest to teach it Upon whom does it lye in point of Duty as it does upon you And who has the Advantage of doing it as thou hast Who is so like to prevail with thy Child as thy self None faithfully dedicates his Child to God in Infancy that will not carefully instruct him when of age to learn 2. Youth have unruly Appetites and therefore don't indulge them Oh that every Parent here had but his Heart open to what I say and I speak it out of pity to the Souls of Young ones 'T is an ill practice in Parents to feed their Child by the cravings of i'ts Lust and not by their own Judgment I will tell you the Mischief of it besides the laying a foundation of distemper in Age it gives the Appetite an ungovernable force Children being alwayes indulg'd in what they crave they cannot deny themselves any thing they desire and by the same rule that they must now eat what and when and drink what and when they will while they are under thy care they will be drunk and Whore c. when they grow in years their Reason cannot bridle it then as thine which ought to guide them neglects to do it now Oh dreadful thing that any Childrens Appetites should come from under their Parents tuition unbridled I look on nothing a greater Reproach to Parents And what 's the ground of all Wickedness in the World more than an Inordinate Appetite yet how few Parents do help to cure it while cureable whereas an Appetite curbed in Childhood would endure a denial in Age. 3. Youth have violent Humours and Selfishness and therefore don 't foolishly gratifie them A Child left to himself brings his Mother to shame Pr. 29. 15. Oh what a Devilish Sight how pleasing to Satan to see Children cocquer'd and Youth indulg'd It 's peevish then all must be done to please it it 's obstinate and it must have it's will it 's revengeful and it must not be check'd this is the way of most Parents And 't is just with God that Child should break your Hearts whose Will you never broke How many poor Creatures will have cause in Hell to curse their Parents Dreadful that they prove the worst Enemies to their Children under a pretence of fondness 4. Youth have many Lusts and are prone to sin therefore be afraid for them and prevent all Occasions Iob knew this Iob 1. 5. He went and offer'd Sacrifice lest his Children should have sin'd and cursed God in their hearts Oh that Parents would consider what brittle Vessels Children be what dry'd tinder Youth is Occasions though small over-rule Young Persons What then Oh then be perswaded to choose the Company of your Children for them see that it be of their own Sex and Virtuous Put them to Trades and such Trades as have the least Snares set them in Families where most Good is to be got and least evil to be catch'd Find them business and fulness of Employ and cut out their time for them Parents learn this Wisdom that your Children have no time for Idleness Marry them as soon as convenient if so be you are not very certain of their Sobriety 5. The Vanity of Youth is deeply rooted therefore be importunate pleaders and sharp Correctors If advice prevail not 't is not an easie thing to cure a Child of it's Vanity or Youth of it's Folly Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a Child the Rod of Correction will drive it far from him Prov. 22. 15. And withhold not correction from thy Child and he shall not dye Prov. 23.
Soul would say Amen how would Satan be disappointed how would Heaven rejoyce it would be thy best day and the entrance of eternal Life Obj. But I believe some here are ready to say Sir must I now change must I now stop my Vanity surely 't is too soon Sure I might be vain a little longer there 's no danger in it I hope Answ. My Address to you is for this Instant even to day harden not your Hearts Heb. 4. 7. Oh Child just now cease to be vain 't is late enough with the youngest of you it 's not too soon to stop a wicked Course now now thou shouldst yield to Christ If you ask Why now I tell you 1. Because young Peoples Souls shall be saved or damned by the same Rules as the old ones if they be past Infancy Oh if you die to night God will judge you by the Gospel Rom. 2. 16. and that 's the lowest Rule God can judge you by Youth must be judged as well as Men Eccl. 11. 10. Young ones that obey not the Gospel shall not escape the Vengeance 2 Thess. 1. 8 9. 2. God is concerned at and provok'd by the Vanity of Children Pray consider you think it may be that God takes no more notice of what you say or do than you do your selves Alas you are deceived don't you think God was angry with the Children whom he slew by the Bears for deriding the Prophet 2 King 2. 24. God notes what you do Young Ones God doth not rule old Men and leave Children to their own Wills his Laws are prescribed to young Men under the same Threats as to the old and it 's not indifferent to him what you do God observes what you do as much as any other person for you are his Subjects you were made for his Glory you serve him or his Enemy the Devil and what you do is good or evil 3. The youngest of you are under Vows to God against Vanity I suppose you were entred into Gods Covenant by your Parents as Deut. 29. 11 12. Was not a holy Heart and a serious godly Life engaged in that Covenant in opposition to Sin and Satan You are dedicated to God in your Infancy you are his and not your own Young Children what will you lie to God now will you be perjur'd now O God forbid Dare any young Person here say I was given to God in my Infancy but I now retract it I was sworn to be the Lords but I will not keep to him Baptism will sink those Children of Believers who perform not their Vows and practically renounce their God 4. Let me tell you if you remain vile all your Youth a thousand to one but you will be ever so You may die before you are old and then you are undone but if you live and are not converted when young it 's improbable that ever you should O it 's ill dealing with old Sinners they are conceited full of Prejudices immersed in worldly Cares the Calls and Threatnings of God are grown familiar to them and their Souls stupid and void of Affections God makes now and then an Instance of Grace in them but 't is rare the last Hour Converts are next to Miracles most feel that he that hardens his heart being often reproved shall die without Remedy Prov. 29. 1. 5. Again Oh what service mayst thou do for God when thou ceasest to be vain betimes Come my Friends what a heap will every days little come to in time if Young persons would but now begin to be holy tho they act but a little for God every day it will at length amount to much As we say he that begins with the Sun will make a long days Journey Oh how much do Young People do for the Devil in a state of sin when they live long how large is the Roll of their Transgressions and how much might they do for God in a state of Grace how many may bless God for thee what a publick blessing mayst thou prove thou mayst well be an eminent Saint much improved for Heaven and abundant in the fruits of Righteousness 6. Our Youth will be the Plague or Hope of this Land in this great Crysis Great things are before us the rapid motion of Providence hints no common matters There have of late been many ways taken to debauch Young People in their Manners to prejudice them against Holiness and Sobriety Nevertheless the holy God has seasoned some Young Ones there are many looking Heaven-ward and God seems designed to reform the rest Well whether of these two prevail doth determine England's lot Oh if our Youth grow yet more profligate God's about to leave us if he recover our Youth we may hope he 'll yet continue amongst us Young Ones I would be earnest with you for God indicates his mind to England by you Oh be you all ready to say Can I help to save a Nation by the Grace of God I will be one of these that will do it let Satan and the World and the Flesh struggle with me as they can 7. This youthful Vanity continued in will be the grief and wounding of Age tho thou shouldst be converted then Little do you now know what youthful sins may cost you in old Age Thou makest me to possess the sins of my youth sayes Iob ch 13. 16. Oh how bitter will the remembrance of past Villanies be oh how wilt thou tremble to think thou hast help'd any one in the way to Hell when thou thy self art got out of that road How will it grieve thee to think thou hast been a means to damn any Soul can it be a little thing to thee the Joy of late Converts is abated by the thoughts of youthful Sins Paul carry'd it to the Grave with him that he was a Persecutor in his Youth Believe me Sirs the Evidence of our Conversion when late is more than made up by the Innocency of our Lives when converted young And they are to blame who seem to complain that gross Villanies have not made their Change more remarkable Thus I have done with the first Vse God grant it be to such purpose that none may go out of this place unwearied and unresolved unwearied with his Vanity and unresolved to put an end to it Exhort 2. To such as through Grace are delivered from this Vanity Before I enter on this I must declare you are our Joy and our Crown I would I could speak it of every one here to day Oh that every Young One in this place were of this Number You are our Comfort that God has some to propagate Religion when we are dead and gone How lovely is Gods Image in your tender Years Your Grace is less questionable now than it would be if you were aged I say your Conversion's more evident now for you are now in your Health and Heat you are now under the force of Temptation you are not decripid and aged and under the
13. I look on 't as a sad sign of growing Villany in the next Age that correction is become unfashonable The Lord pity us Let me tell you once for all Sirs Youth is governed chiefly by fear and they that lose the benefit of that passion lose the greatest advantage which Youth have to be manag'd or improv'd by People may talk of love but God's injoining the Rod so oft discovers that it will prevail but with very few Wisdom must be exercised in this matter as the end may be best attained But be assured the Blood of that Child lyes at the Parents door who might have been reform'd by Corrections and was not Can Parents forget God's severe Judgment against Eli for his indulgence to his Sons or do you think that Children are now so harmless that they need not to be corrected I should have call'd you to give them good Examples as being powerful to encline them who strictly observe and are prone to imitate you they are apter to evil than good deny them no help to their holy improvements and create them no hinderances But time prevents me Inf. 3. How should Young Ones bear the Rebukes and Restraints of Superiours in sence of their own Vanity Here I call to Young Ones again Parents and Masters know what will harm you better than you do your selves they know how weak you are to resist Temptations they know what 's sinful and destructive better than you Oh therefore thank God and thank them that are over you who endeavour your healing and don 't suffer sin to lye upon you Lev. 19. 17. If you be good your selves you 'l do the same for your Children when you have them therefore don't take that ill which is your necessary cure but reckon Am I vain Oh then though I have not the Liberty I would and have not the Allowance I desire matters are better order'd for me for I can't bear those other things Inf. 4. How Attentive ought you to be to all Advices and Pleadings of your Relations being design'd to heal you O! for thy Souls sake Young One never let the Advice of thy Parents be lost never let thy Friends Counsel and Reproof be lost because 't is all design'd to remove this Disease Thou dost not see the Hell thou art just running into thou dost not see the Heaven thou art flying from thou dost not see the God thou hast provok't thou dost not know the Misery thou art under thou art ignorant what Grace what Wisdom thou wantest how much must thou learn and attain before thou art wise or good thou art ignorant of many snares and sins thy folly hides thy folly from thee O therefore be heartily intent to all their Advices and say to thy self Lord is this for my cure and shall I neglect it Is this Reproof for my good and shall I make light of it Is all this pains to heal my poor diseas'd Soul and shall I cast it behind my back God forbid Inf. 5. How great a Wonder of Grace is a young Convert and how thankfully should such acknowledge it O the power that makes the vain Prodigal come to himself Luk. 15. 17. How near does God come to the Soul to tame it when 't is like a wild Asses Colt How efficacious is Grace that overcomes Lust in it's greatest rage and that deadens Temptations when they strike on Youth so prone to relish the offer and yield to it O Blessed work that inclines us to fear that God whom in our Youth we are so apt to despise Having laid these things before you I offer two General Vses of Exhortation Exh. 1. Reflect on your selves whether you are under this Vanity or deliver'd from it Young Folks I speak mostly to you and therefore I intreat you for the Lords sake to lay to heart what I am saying Your case is dismal you are born vain and prone to be vain are you still so or not 'T is a great work that goes to the healing you is that work pass'd on thee 'T is a great deal of God goes to the making a Youth good and serious have I felt that Pray ask your selves Am I vain or am I not Is my Heart a Spring of Divine Motions or Beastly Inclinations Young People how is it with you Try your mayes are they under the Government of Grace or of Lust are they under the Conduct of Wisdom or Folly Ask your selves Do my wayes profit or hurt People Is it not time to ask What Sirs are the years you have spent unfit to be enquired after or is thy Sin not worth being concerned about Oh ask your selves often What am I doing whither am I going Does my walk please God or provoke him Do I walk with him or do I forsake him Try and judge impartially it 's thy greatest concern thou mayest deceive thy self thou canst not delude thy God who will judge as the matter truly stands with thee How is it with you O Young ones There 's none here but ought to be concern'd how 't is with them You will be concern'd nay within a while you must be concern'd therefore enquire this to day and never rest till it be determined Exh. 2. Receive Directions suitable to your case And here I must divide this whole Assembly into two parts First Such as are under the power of Vanity Secondly Such as are by Grace delivered from it One of these two is every one in this Assembly Young and Old you are still under the power of Vanity or you are delivered from it There is a great difference in your Case I 'll speak to each 1. Those of you that are yet under the power of this Vanity Poor Souls would you be delivered or have you a mind to continue what you are Come Children dare you be still blind and still obstinate shall thy Soul that was made for God be a Cage of unclean Birds Shall thy Tongue which is his Glory be employed to his Dshonour O Young body shall not Christ heal thee of that Nature which the Devil introduced Wilt thou live a Bruit and a Devil still shall Satan serve himself of thy parts and of thy strength and of thy opportunities shall the Devil say of thee Here 's a Child I hope will do me a great deal of Drudgery Here 's a young Person will do my Work while he lives and be damned with me when he dies Young Folks Satan stands by and seems to speak thus of you And must Christ all this while weep over thee and say Here 's a young thing that 's my Creature but he will rebell against me as long as I spare him here 's a Youth fit to serve me but he will bring on me all the Dishonour that he can and obstruct my Interests as far as he is able Here 's a Stripling that I bought with my Blood a young Girl or Boy but he serves Satan before me and will not be saved unless against his Will For