your time the offers of Grace your precious souls and eternity c. surely you cannot surely you dare not if you do but in good earnest ponder upon the shortness of mans life It is recorded of Philip King of Macedon that he gave a pension to one to come to him every day at dinner and to cry to him memento te esse mortalem Remember thou art but mortal Ah! Young men and old had need bee often put in mind of their mortality they are too apt to forget that day yea to put farre from them the thoughts of that day I have read of three that could not endure to hear that bitter word death mentioned in their ears and surely this age is full of such monsters And as the life of man is very short so it is very uncertain now well now sick alive this hour and dead the next Death doth not always give warning before hand sometimes hee gives the mortal blow suddenly hee comes behind with his dart and strikes a man at the heart before hee saith have I found thee O my enemy Eutichus fell down dead suddenly Act. 20.19 Death suddenly arested Davids Sons and Jobs Sons Petrach telleth of one who being invited to dinner the next day enswered Ego a multis annis crastinum non habui I have not had a morrow for this many years Augustus dyed in a complement Galba with a sentence Vespasian with a jest Zeuxes dyed laughing at the picture of an old woman which hee drew with his own hand Sophocles was choaked with the stone in a Grape Dâ—odorus the Logician dyed for shame that hee could not answer a joculary question propounded at the Table by Stilpo Joannes Measius preaching upon the raising of the woman of Naims sonne from the dead within three houres after dyed himself Ah! Young men and women have you not cause great cause to bee good betimes for death is sudden in his approaches nothing more sure than death and nothing more uncertain than life therefore know the Lord betimes turn from your sinnes betimes lay hold on the Lord and make peace with him betimes that you may never say as Caesar Borgias said when hee was sick to death when I lived said hee I provided for every thing but death now I must dye and am unprovided to dye c. The Eleventh Reason Why young persons should bee really good betimes and that is because t is ten to one nay a hundred to ten if ever they are converted if they are not converted when they are young God usually begins with such betimes Hos 11.1 When Israel was a child then I loved him c. that hee hath had thoughts of love and mercy towards from everlasting the instances cited to prove the Doctrin confirms this argument and if you look abroad in the world you shall hardly finde one Saint among a thousand but dates his conversion from the time of his youth 'T was the young ones that got through the wilderness into Canaan If the Tree do not bud and blossome and bring forth fruit in the Spring Numb 26.64 it is commonly dead all the year after An Hebrew Doctor observes that of those six hundred thousand that went out of Egypt there were but two persons that entered Canaan if in the spring and morning of your daies you do not bring forth fruit to God it is a hundred to one that ever you bring forth fruit to him when the evil dayes of old age shall overtake you wherein you shall say you have no pleasure For as the Son of Syrach observes if thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth Eccles 25.5 what canst thou finde in thy age t is rare very rare that God sows and reaps in old age usually God sows the seed of grace in youth it yeelds the harvest of joy in age Though true repentance be never too late yet late repentance is seldome true Millions are now in Hell who have pleased themselves with the thoughts of after repentance The Lord hath made a promise to late repentance but where hath he made a promise of late repentance yea what can bee more just and equal Pro. 1.24 32. that such should seek and not finde who might have found but would not seek and that hee should shut his ears against their late prayers who have stopt their ears against his early calls The Ancient warriours would not accept an old man into their army as being unfit for service and dost thou think that God will accept of thy dry bones when Satan hath suckt out all the marrow What Lord what Master will take such into their service who have all their dayes served their enemies and will God will God The Circassians a kinde of Mongrel Christians are said to divide their life betwixt sin and devotion Breerw Enqui dedicating their youth to rapine and their old age to repentance if this bee thy case I would not bee in thy case for ten thousand worlds I have read of a certain great man Beda hath this story that was admonished in his sickness to repent who answered that hee would not repent yet for if hee should recover his companions would laugh at him but growing sicker and sicker his friends pressed him again to repent but then hee told them that it were too late Quia jam judicatus sum condemnatus for now said hee I am judged and condemned The twelfth and last Reason why young men should bee really good betimes and that is because else they will never attain to the honour of being old disciples It is a very great honour to bee an old Disciple Now this honour none reach to but such as are converted betimes but such as turn to the Lord in the spring and morning of their youth It is no honour for an old man to bee in coats What more ridiculous than puer contum annorum a child of an hundred years old nor for an old man to bee a babe in grace An A. B. C. old man is a sad and shameful sight O but it is a mighty honour to a man when hee is old that hee can date his conversion from the morning of his youth Now that it is an honour to bee an old Disciple I shall prove by an induction of particulars As It is an honour to bee an old Disciple First All men will honour an old Disciple A Crown is a very glorious thing but there are but few of them Prov. 16.31 The hoary head is a Crown of glory if it bee found in the way of Righteousness God requires that the aged should bee honoured Levit. 19.32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honour the face of the old man the old man here is by some expounded the wise man and fear thy God I am the Lord. Hoariness is only honourable when found in a way of Righteousness a white head accompanied with a holy heart makes a man
Christ the offices of Christ the merits of Christ the righteousness of Christ the graces of Christ and the influence of Christ O the stories that an old Disciple can tell you of the indwellings of the spirit of the operations of the spirit of the teachings of the spirit of the leadings of the spirit of the sealings of the spirit of the witnessings of the spirit and of the comforts and joyes of the spirit O the stories that an old Christian can tell you of the evil of Sinne the bitterness of Sinne the deceitfulness of Sinne the prevalency of Sin and the happiness of conquest over Sinne. O the stories that hee can tell you of the snares of Satan the devices of Satan the temptations of Satan the rage of Satan the malice of Satan the watchfulness of Satan and the wayes of triumphing over Satan As an old Souldier can tell you of many battels many scarres many wounds many losses and many victories even to admiration So an old Saint is able to tell you many divine stories even to admiration Pliny writes of the Crocodile that shee grows to her last day So aged Saints Hos 14.5 6 7 they grow rich in spirituall experiences to the last An old Christian being once asked if he grew in goodness Answered yea doubtless I do for God hath said Psal 92.12 13 14. The Righteous shall flourish like the Palm-tree now the Palm-tree never looseth his leaf or fruit saith Pliny hee shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God They shall still bring forth fruit in old age they shall bee fat and flourishing Isa 46.3 4 A fellow to this promise Isaiah mentions Hearken unto me O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel which are born by mee from the belly which are carried from the womb and even to your old age I am hee and even to hoary hairs will I carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you There is nothing more commendable in fulness of age Dan. 7.9 13 22 than fulness of knowledge and experience nor nothing more honourable than to see ancient Christians very much acquainted with the Ancient of dayes It is a brave sight to see ancient Christians like the Almond-Tree Now the Almond-tree doth flourish and is full of blossomes in the winter of old age for as Pliny tells us the Almond-Tree doth blossome in the month of January experiments in religion are beyond notions and impressions a sanctified heart is better than a silver tongue no man so rich so honourable so happy as the old Disciple that is rich in spirituall experiences and yet there is no Christian so rich in his experiences but hee would be richer The Lawyer As Julianius said that when hee had one foot in the grave hee would have the other in the School So though an old Disciple hath one foot in the grave yet hee will have the other in Christs School that he may still bee treasuring up more and more divine experiments and by this also you see what an honour it is to bee an old Disciple c. Fifthly An old Disciple is very stout couragious firm and fixt in his resolutions Psa 44.9 ult an old Christian is like a pillar a rock nothing can move him nothing can shake him what is suckt in in youth will abide in old age old souldiers are stout and couragious nothing can daunt nor discourage them When Joshua was an hundred and ten years old Josh 24.15.29 O how couragious and resolute was hee And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serve whether the Gods that your Fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land yee dwell but as for mee and my house wee will serve the Lord. And it came to passe after these things that Joshua the Son of Nun the servant of the Lord dyed being an hundred and ten years old Confidius a Senator of Rome told Caesar boldly that the Senators durst not come to council for fear of his souldiers hee replyed why then dost thou go to the Senate hee answered because my age takes away my fear Ah! none so couragious none so divinely fearlesse none so carelesse in evil dayes as ancient Christians An old Christian knows that that good will do him no good which is not made good by perseverance his resolution is like that of Gonsalvo who protested to his souldiers shewing them Naples that hee had rather die one foot forwards than to have his life secured for long by one foot of retreat Shall such a man as I am flee said undaunted Nehemia Neh. 6.11 he will couragiously venture life and limb rather than by one foot of retreat credit profession with the reproach of fearfulness Aristotle though a heathen could say that in some cases a man had better lose his life than bee cowardly Arist Ethie 3. cap. 1. It was a brave magnanimous speech of Luther when dangers from opposers did threaten him and his associates come saith hee let us sing the forty sixth Psalm and then let them do their worst When Polycarpus was fourscore and six years old hee suffered Martyrdome couragiously resolutely and undauntedly When one of the ancient Martyrs was very much threatned by his persecutors hee replyed there is nothing of things visible nothing of things invisible that I fear I will stand to my profession of the name of Christ and contend earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints come on it what will Old Disciples old Souldiers of Christ 2 Sam. 23.11 12. they have the heart and courage of Shammah one of Davids worthies who stood and defended the field when all the rest fled The Hebrews call a young man Nagnar which springs from a root that signifies to shake off Mat. 19.20.21 22. or to bee tossed to and fro to note how fickle and how constant in inconstancy young men are they usually are persons either of no resolution for good or of weak resolution they are too often wonn with a Nut and lost with an Apple but now aged Christians in all Earthquakes they stand fast like Mount-Zion that cannot bee removed And by this also you may see what an honour it is to bee an old Disciple an old Christian Sixthly An old Disciple an old Christian is prepared for death hee hath been long a dying to sin Rom. 6 6. Gal. 5.24 ch 6.14 to the world to friends to self to relations all and no man so prepared to dye as he that thus daily dyes An old Disciple hath lived sincerely to Christ hee hath lived eminently to Christ hee hath lived in all conditions Rom. 14.7 8. Phil. 1.21 22 23. and under all changes to Christ he hath lived
exemplarily to Christ hee hath lived long to Christ and therefore the more prepared to dye and bee with Christ An old Disciple hath a crown in his eye a pardon in his bosome and a Christ in his arms and therefore may sweetly sing it out with old Simeon Lord now let thy servant depart in peace As Hillary said to his soul soul thou hast served Christ this seventy years Zeno a wise heathen said I have no fear but of old age and art thou afraid of death go out soul go out Many a day said old Cowper have I sought death with tears not out of impatience distrust or perturbation but because I am weary of sin and fearful to fall into it Nazianzen calls upon the King of terrors devour mee devoure mee And Austin when old could say shall I dye ever Cyprian could receive the cruellest sentence of death with a Deo gratias God I thank thee yes or shall I die at all yes why then Lord if ever why not now why not now so when Modestus the Emperors Lieutenant threatned to kill Bazil he answered if that be all I fear not yea your Master cannot more pleasure mee than in sending mee unto my heavenly Father to whom I now live and to whom I desire to hasten I cannot say as hee said old Mr. Stephen Martial a little before his death I have not so lived that I should now bee afraid to dye but this I can say I have so learned Christ that I am not afraid to dy Old Christians have made no more to dye than to dine Isa 57.1 2 It is nothing to dye when the Comforter stands by Old Disciples know that to dye is but to lye down in their beds they know that their dying day is better than their birth day Eccl. 7.1 and this made Solomon to prefer his Coffin before his Crown the day of his dissolution before the day of his coronation The Ancients were wont to call the dayes of their death Natalia not dying days but birth days The Jews to this day stick-not to call their Golgotha's Batte Caiim the houses or places of the Living old Christians know that death is but an entrance into life t is but a passeover a jubile t is but the Lords Gentleman-usher to conduct them to heaven and this prepares them to dye and makes death more desirable than life and by this you may see that it is an honour to bee an old Disciple Seventhly An Old Disciple an old Christian 1 Cor. 15 ult 2 Cor. 9.6 Mat. 5.10 11 12 God will reward his Servants Secundum laborem according to their labour though not Secundum proventum according to the successe of their labour shall have a great reward in heaven Old Christians have done much and suffered much for Christ and the more any man doth or suffers for Christ here the more glory hee shall have hereafter T was the saying of an old Disciple upon his dying bed hee is come hee is come meaning the Lord with a great reward for a little work Agrippa having suffered imprisonment for wishing Cajus Emperor the first thing Cajus did when hee came to the Empire was to prefer Agrippa to a Kingdome hee gave him also a chain of Gold as heavy as the chain of Iron that was upon him in prison And will not Christ richly reward all his suffering Saints Surely hee will Christ will at last pay a Christian for every prayer hee hath made for every Sermon hee hath heard for every tear hee hath shed for every morsell hee hath given for every burden hee hath born for every battel hee hath fought for every enemy hee hath flain and for every temptation that he hath overcome Cyrus in a great expedition against his enemies the better to incourage his souldiers to fight in an oration that he made at the head of his Army promised upon the victory to make every foot souldier an horsman and every horseman a Commander and that no Officer that did valiantly should be unrewarded Mat. 19.28 Luke 22.30 Mat. 5.12 but what are Cyrus his rewards to the rewards that Christ our General promises to his Rev. 3.21 To him that overcommeth will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne As the King in Plutarch said of a groat it is no kingly gift and of a Talent it is no base bribe As there is no Lord to Christ so there is no rewards to Christs his rewards are the greatest rewards hee gives Kingdomes Crowns Thrones hee gives grace and glory Psal 84.11 It is said of Araunah that noble Jebusite renowned for his bounty that he had but a subjects purse but a Kings heart but Jesus Christ hath a Kings purse as well as a Kings heart and accordingly hee gives And as Christs rewards are the greatest rewards so his rewards are the surest rewards he is faithfull that hath promised 1 Thes 5.24 Antiochus promised often but seldome gave upon which hee was called in way of derision a great promiser but Jesus Christ never made any promise but hee hath or will perform it 2 Cor. 1.20 nay he is often better than his word 1 Cor. 2.9 hee gives many times more than wee ask The sick man of the Palsy asked but health Mat. 9.2 and Christ gave him health and a pardon to boot Solomon desired but wisdome 2 Chron. 1.10.11 12 13 14 15. and the Lord gave him wisdome and honour and riches and the favour of creatures as paper and pack-thred into the bargain Jacob asked him but cloaths to wear Gen. 28.20 Compared with Gen. 32.10 and bread to eat and the Lord gave him these things and riches and other mercies into the bargain Christ doth not measure his gifts by our Petitions but by his own riches and mercies Gracious souls many times receive many gifts and favours from God that they never dreamt off nor durst presume to begge which others exstreamly strive after and go without Archelaus being much importuned by a covetous courtier for a cup of gold wherein hee drank gave it unto Euripides that stood by saying thou art worthy to ask and be denyed but Euripides is worthy of gifts although hee ask not Luk. 15.19 â—â—,25 The Prodigall craves no more but the place of an hyred Servant but hee is entertained as a Sonne he is clad with the best robe and fed with the fatted calf he hath a ring for his hand and shooes for his feet rich supplies more than hee desired Gen. 42. Jacobs sons in a time of famine desired only corn and they return with corn and money in their sacks and with good news too Joseph is alive and governour of all Egypt And as his Rewards are greater and surer than others rewards Heb. 12.28 Mat. 6.19 20 1 Pet. 1.4 so they are more durable and lasting than others rewards the Kingdome that hee
sacrifice should dye and suffer for our sins in the flower of his age Consider Christ loved poor Sinners and gave himself for them when hee was in the prime of his age being supposed to bee about thirty and three and will you put him off with the worst of your time Ah! Young men young men Christ gave himself up to death hee made himself an offering for your sins for your sakes when he was in the prime and flower of his age and why then should you put off Christ to old age Did he dye for Sin in the prime of his age and will not you dye to sinne in the prime of your age Did he offer himself for you in the spring and morning of his years and will not you offer up your selves to him in the spring and morning of your years Rom. 12.1 2 O give not Christ cause to say I dyed for you betimes but you have not lived to mee betimes I was early in my suffering for you but you have not been early in your returning to mee I made haste to compleat your redemption but you have made no haste to make sure your vocation and election I stayed not 2 Pet. 1.10 I lingered not but soon suffered what I was to suffer and quickly did what was to be done for your eternal welfare but you have stayed and lingered like Lot in Sodom and have not done what you might have done in order to your everlasting good Gen. 19.16 in the Prime-rose of my days I sweat for you I wept for you I bled for you I hung on the cross for you I bore the wrath of my father for you but you have not in the Primrose of your days sweat under the sense of divine displeasure nor wept over your sins nor mourned over mee whom you have so often grieved and pierced Zach. 12.10 I could not be quiet nor satisfied till I had put you into a capacity into a possibility of Salvation and yet you are well enough quieted and satisfied though you do not know whether ever you shall bee saved Ah Sirs how sad would it be with you if Jesus Christ should secretly thus expostulate with your consciences in this your day Oh! how terrible would it bee with you if Christ should thus visibly plead against you in his great day Ah! Young men young men and women who but souls much left of God blinded by Satan 2 Cor. 4.3 4 and hardned in sin can hear Jesus Christ speaking thus to them I suffered for Sinners betimes I laid down a ransome for souls betimes I pacified my fathers wrath betimes I satisfied my fathers justice betimes I merited grace and mercy for Sinners betimes I brought in an everlasting righteousness upon the world betimes c. I say who can hear Jesus Christ speaking thus and his heart not fall in love and league with Christ and his soul not unite to Christ and resign to Christ and cleave to Christ and for ever be one with Christ except it be such that are for ever left by Christ Well remember this Quanto pro nobis vilior tanto nobis charior the more vild Christ made himself for us the more dear he ought to be unto us Ah! Young men remember this when Christ was young hee was tempted and tryed when he was in the morning of his dayes his wounds were deep his burden weighty Nolo vivere sine vulnere cum te video vulneratum Bonaventur Oh my Gâ—â— as long as I see thy wounds I will never live without wound his cup bitter his sweat painful his agony and torment above conception beyond expression when he was young that blessed head of his was crowned with thornes and those eyes of his that were purer than the Sunne were put out by the darkness of death and those ears of his which now hears nothing but Hallelujahs of Saints and Angels were filled with the blasphemies of the multitude and that blessed beautiful face of his which was fairer than the sons of men was spit on by beastly filthy wretches Aut Deus naturae pa titur aut mundi machina dissolvitur said Dionysius Alexandrinus Either the God of nature suffered or the frame of the world will be dissolved and that gracious mouth and tongue that spake as never man spake was slandered and accused of blasphemy and those hands of his which healed the sick which gave out pardons which swayed a Scepter in heaven and another on earth were nailed to the Cross and those feet that were beautiful upon the mountains that brought the glad tidings of peace and salvation into the World and that were like unto fine brass were also nailed to the cross All these great and sad things did Jesus Christ suffer for you in the prime and flower of his days and Oh! what an unspeakable provocation should this be to all young ones to give up themselves betimes to Christ to serve love honour and obey him betimes even in the spring and morning of their youth Let the thoughts of a crucified Christ saith one be never out of your mind let them be meat and drink unto you let them be your sweetness and consolation your honey and your desire your reading and your meditation your life death and resurrection The third motive or consideration to provoke you to begin to be good betimes is this viz. The Philosopher once said solus sapiens dives onely the wise man is the rich man that it is the best and choicest way in the world to be rich in gracious experiences betimes which are the best riches in all the world as hee that sets up for himself betimes is in the most hopeful way to bee rich betimes so he that is good in good earnest betimes hee is in the ready way the high-way of being rich in grace and rich in goodness they usually prove men of great observation and great experience God loves to shew these his beauty Psal 63.1 2. Exod. 3.3.19.22 c. Psal 65.11 12 and his glory in his sanctuary He delights to cause his glory and his goodness to pass before such these shall finde all his paths drop marrow and fatness for these the Lord of hosts will make a feast of fat things Ifa 25.6 a feast of wines on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wines on the lees well refined these shall have all manner of pleasant fruits laid up at their gates for their well beloved Can. 7.13 none have so many choice pledges of Christs love nor so many sweet kisses of Christs mouth nor so many imbraces in Christs arms as those souls that are good betimes O the grace the goodness the sweetness the fatnesse that Christ is still a droping into their hearts Christ will make their hearts his largest treasury hee 'l lay up most of his heavenly treasure in their souls Earthly Riches are full of Poverty Divitiae corporales paupertatis
all worldly delights and contents c. Secondly In pardon of Sin Blessed is hee whose transgression is forgiven whose Sinne is covered Psal 32.1 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile It is not blessed is the honourable man but blessed is the pardoned man it is not blessed is the rich man but blessed is the pardoned man it is not blessed is the learned man but blessed is the pardoned man it is not blessed is the politick man but blessed is the pardoned man it is not blessed is the victorious man but blessed is the pardoned man Do with me what thou wilt since thou hast pardoned my sins saith Luther Thirdly In a compleat fruition and enjoyment of God when wee shall be here no more Blessed are the pure in heart Mat. 5.8 for they shall see God Now they see him but darkly 1 Cor. 13.12 but in heaven they shall see him face to face they shall know as they are known but of these things I have spoken largely elsewhere and therefore shall satisfy my self with these hints Lastly If you would be good betimes then you must break your covenant with sin betimes you must fall out with your lusts betimes you must arme and fence your selves against Sin betimes Isa 28 15.18 a man never beginnes to fall in with Christ till hee beginnes to fall out with his Sins till sin and the soul bee two Christ and the soul cannot be one Now to work your hearts to this you should alwayes look upon sin under these notions First If you would have the league dissolved betwixt sin and your souls betimes then look upon sin under the notion of an enemy betimes Dearly beloved 1 Pet. 2.11 Sins especially against knowledge are peccata vulner antia et divastantia wounding and wasting I befeech you as strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the soul As the Viper is killed by the young ones in her belly so are poor Sinners betraied and killed by their own lusts that are nourished in their bosomes Pittacus a Philosopher challenging Phlyon the Athenian Captain in their warres against them to single combate carried a net privily and so caught him and overcame him So doth Sin with poor Sinners the dangerous pernicious malignant nature of Sinne you may see in the story of the Italian who first made his Enemy deny God and then stabbed him to the heart and so at once murdered both body and soul Sin betrayes us into the hand of the Devil as Dalilah did Sampson into the hands of the Philistims Sugred poysons go down pleasantly Oh! But when they are down they gall and gnaw and gripe the very heart-strings asunder it is so with sin Ah! Souls have not you often found it so When Phocas the Murderer thought to secure himself by building high-walls he heard a voice from heaven telling him that though he built his bulwarks ever so high yet Sinne within would soon undermine all Ambrose reports of one Theotimus that having a disease upon his body the Physitian told him that except hee did abstain from intemperance Drunkenness Uncleanness he would loose his eyes his heart was so desperately set upon his Sins that he crys out then vale lumen amicum farewel sweet light Ah! how did his lusts warre both against body and soul The Old man is like a treacherous friend and a friendly Traitour though it be a harder thing to fight with a mans lusts than it is to fight with the Cross yet you must fight or dye if you are not the death of your Sins they will prove the death of your souls The Oracle told the Cirrheans diesque belli gerendum they could not be happy unless they waged warre night and day As one of the Dukes of Venice dyed fighting against the Nauratines with his weapons in his hand no more can wee except wee live and dye fighting against our lusts Ah Young men Can you look upon Sin under the notion of an enemy and not break with it and not arm against it Well remember this the pleasure and sweetness that follows victory over sin is a thousand times beyond that seeming sweetnesse that is in sin and as victory over sin is the sweetest victory so it is the greatest victory there is no conquest to that which is gotten over a mans own corruptions Hee that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and hee that ruleth his spirit than hee that taketh a City It is noble to overcome an enemy without but it is more noble to overcome an enemy within it is honourable to overcome fiery flames but it is far more honourable to overcome fiery lusts When Valentinian the Emperour was upon his dying-bed among all his victories only one comforted him Rom. 7.22 23 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5 6. Gal. 5.17 and that was victory over his worst enemy viz. his own naughty heart Ah young men young men your worst enemies are within you and all their plots designs and assaults are upon your souls your most noble part they know if that fort Royal bee won all is their own and you are undone and shall bee their slaves for ever and therefore it stands you upon to arm your selves against these inbred enemies and if you ingage Christ in the quarrel you will carry the day and when you shall lye upon your dying-beds you will then finde that there is no comfort to that which ariseth from the conquests of your own hearts your own lusts Secondly If you would break covenant with sin if you would arme and fence your selves against sin betimes 2 Pet. 3.6 Gal. 3.10 Joh. 8.34 then look upon sin as the souls bonds for as bonds tie things together so doth sin tie the sinner and the curse together it bindes the sinner and wrath together it links the sinner and hell together I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity iniquity is a chain a bond now bonds and chains gall the body and so do sin the soul and as poor captives are held fast in their chains so are sinners in their sins they cannot redeem themselves by price 2 Tim. 2. uit nor by power Ah young men young men no bondage to soul-bondage no slavery to soul-slavery the Israelites bondage under Pharaoh and the Christians bondage under the Turks Augustine saith of Rome that shee was the great Mistriss of the world and the great drudge of sin is but the bondage of the body of the baser and ignoble part of man but yours is soul-bondage soul-slavery which is the saddest and greatest of all Ah friends You should never look upon your sins but you should look upon them as your bonds yea as the worst bonds that ever were all other chains are golden chains chains of Pearl compared to those chains of Iron and Brasse those chains of lusts with
which you are bound Ah! who can thus look upon his chains his sins and not loathe them and not labour for freedome from them Justinus the Emperours Motto was Libert as res inestimabilis liberty is unvaluable if civil liberty bee surely spiritual liberty is much more if you ask souls that were once in a state of bondage but are now Christs free-men they will tell you so It was a good observation of Chrysostome Chrysost Hom. 19. in prior Epist ad Corinth that Joseph was the free-man and his Mistrisse was the servant when shee was at the beck of her own lusts when shee tempted and hee refused Such as live most above sin and temptation are the greatest freemen others that live under the power of their lusts are but slaves and in bonds though they dream and talk of freedome Tit. 3.3 Thirdly If you would break league with sin and arm and fence your selves against it then look alwayes upon sin under the notion of fire Jude 23. Arpazontes signifies a violent snatching as the tender-hearted Mother to save the life of her child pulls it hastily and with violence out of the fire And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire Oh! snatch them out of their sins as you would snatch a child a friend out of the fire or as the Angel snatch't Lot out of Sodom hastily and with a holy violence natural fire may burn the house the goods the treasure the servant the child the wife the body but this fire burns the soul it destroies and consumes that noble part which is more worth than all the treasures of a thousand worlds every man hath a hand and a heart to quench the fire which burns his neighbours house but few men have either hands or hearts to quench the fire that burns their neighbors souls this is and this shall bee for a lamentation D. Denisons theeefold resolution part 2. Sect. 2. I have read of one who upon the violence of any temptation to sin would lay his hand on burning coals and being not able to abide it would say to himself Oh how unable shall I be to indure the pains of hell and this restrained him from evil but what is the fire of hell to the fire of sin now to provoke you to look upon sin under the notion of fire consider with mee the sundry resemblances between material immaterial fire between corporal common fire and between this spiritual fire Sin As First Fire is terrible and dreadful a ship on fire a house on fire Oh how dreadful is it so sin set home upon the conscience is exceeding terrible and dreadful Mine iniquity so the Hebrew is greater than I can bear sin or iniquity is often put for the punishment of sin by a Metonymie of the efficient for the effect Gen. 4.13 Mentiris Cain thou lyest Cain saith one on the Text. for sin is the natural Parent of punishment Mine iniquity saith Cain is so great and lies so heavy so terrible and dreadful upon my conscience that it cannot bee forgiven and thus by his diffidence hee stabs two at once the mercy of God and his own soul So Judas Mat. 27.3 4 5. I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood and hee went and hanged himself As there is no fighting with a mighty fire so there is no bearing up when God sets home sin upon the conscience a man will then chuse strangling or hanging rather than living under such wounds and lashes of conscience Histories abounds with instances of this nature but I must hasten to a close Secondly Fire is most dangerous and pernicious when it breaks forth of the chimny or of the house so it is with sin Sin is bad in the eye 2 Sam. 12.9 10 11 12 13 14 15. worse in the tongue worser in the heart but worst of all in the life Fire when out of its proper place may do much hurt in the house but when it flames abroad then it doth most mischief to others Sin in the heart may undo a man but sin in the life may undo others as well as a mans self Set a guard upon thy eye Job 31.1 Prov. 4.23 Ephes 5.15 a greater upon thy heart but the greatest of all upon thy life Salvian relates how the Heathen did reproach some Christians Salvianus de G. D. l. 4. who by their lewd lives made the Gospel of Christ to be a reproach where said they is that good Law which they do beleeve where are those rules of godlinesse which they do learn they read the holy Gospel and yet are unclean they hear the Apostles writings and yet are drunk they follow Christ and yet disobey Christ they professe a holy Law and yet do lead impure lives But the lives of other Christians have been so holy that the very Heathens observing them have said surely this is a good God whose servants are so good It is brave when the life of a Christian is a commentary upon Christs life One speaking of the Scripture Augustin saith verba vivenda non legenda they are words to bee lived and practised not read only Plutarch A Heathen adviseth us to demean our selves so circumspectly as if our enemies did alwaies behold us And saith another for shame Epictetus either live as Stoicks or leave off the name of stoicks Sirs live as Christians or lye down the name of Christians Thirdly Fire hardens it makes the weak and limber clay to become stiff and strong for the Potters use So sin hardens it hardens the heart against the commands of God the calls of Christ Jer. 5.3 ch 19. ult Isa 9.13 and the wrestlings of the Spirit As you see in Pharaoh the Jews and most that are under the sound of the Gospel Ah! how many hath this fire sin hardened in these daies by working them to slight soul-softening means Jer. 2.25 ch 18.12 and by drawing them to entertain hardening-thoughts of God and to fall in with soul-hardening company and soul-hardening Principles and soul-hardening examples of hardened and unsensible sinners one long since thus complained that they did patientius ferre Christi jacturam quam suam more calmly passe by the injuries done to Christ than those which are done unto themselves this age is full of such hardened unsensible souls Fourthly Fire is a lively active element so is sin Gen. 22. Psal 51. Job 3. Mat. 26. Rom. 1.15 c. Ah how lively and active was this fire in Abraham David Job Peter Paul and other Saints though Christ by his death hath given it its mortal wound yet it lives and is and will be active in the dearest Saints Though sin and grace were not born together neither shall they dye together yet while beleevers live in this world they must live together There is a History that speaks of a Fig-tree that grew in a stone wall and all means was used to kill it they cut
their Paradise that eat the fat and drink the sweet that cloth themselves richly and crown their heads with rose-buds that they would seriously consider of eternity so as to hear as for eternity and pray as for eternity and live as for eternity and provide as for eternity That they may say with that famous Painter Zeuxes Aeternitati pingo I paint for eternity we do all for eternity we beleeve for eternity wee repent for eternity wee obey for eternity c. O that you would not make those things eternal for punishment Cur ea quae ad usum diuturna esse non possunt ad supplicium diuturna deposces Ambrose in Lu. 4. T. 5. that cannot bee eternal for use Ah! young men and women God calls and the bloud of Jesus Christ calls and the spirit of Christ in the Gospel calls and the rage of Satan calls and your sad state and condition calls and the happiness and blessedness of glorified Saints calls these all call aloud upon you to make sure a glorious eternity before you sail out into that dreadfull Ocean All your eternall good depends upon the short and uncertain moments of your lives and if the threed of your lives should bee cut before a happy eternity is made sure woe to you that ever you were born Do not say O young man that thou art young and hereafter will bee time enough to provide for eternity for eternity may bee at the door ready to carry thee away for ever Every days experience speaks out eternity to bee as neer the young mans back as t is before the old mans faâ—â— O graspe to day the diadem of a blessed eternity least thou art cut off before the morning comes though there is but one way to come into this world yet there is a thousand thousand ways to bee sent out of this world well young men and women remember this as the motions of the soul are quick so are the motions of divine justice quick also and if you will not hear the voice of God to day if you will not provide for eternity to day God may swear to morrow that you shall never enter into his rest it is a very sad and dangerous thing to trifle and dally with God his word his offers our own souls and eternity therefore let all young People labour to bee good betimes and not to let him that is goodness it self alone till hee hath made them good till hee hath given them those hopes of eternity that will both make them good and keep them good that will make them happy and keep them happy and that for ever if all this will not do then know that ere long those fears of eternity of misery that begets that monster Despair which like Medusa's head astonisheth with its very aspect and strangles hope which is the breath of the soul will certainly overtake you as it is said Dum Spiro Spero so it may bee inverted Dum Spero Spiro other miseries may wound the spirit but despair kills it dead my prayer shall bee that none of you may ever experience this sad truth but that you may all bee good in good earnest betimes which will yeeld you two heavens a heaven on earth and a heaven after death The seventh Reason Why young persons should be really good betimes and that is because they do not beginne to live till they beginne to bee really good till they beginne to bee good they are dead God-wards and Christ-wards and heaven-wards and holiness-wards till a man beginnes to bee really good hee is really dead Phil. 2.1 and that first in respect of working Respectu operis his works are called dead works Heb. 9.14 the most glistering services of unregenerate persons are but dead works because they proceed not from a principle of life and they lead to death Rom. 6.21 and leave a sentence of death upon the soul till it bee wash't off by the bloud of the Lamb. Secondly Respectu honoris Hee is dead in respect of honour hee is dead to all priviledges hee is not fit to inherit mercy who will set the crown of life upon a dead man The crown of life is only for living Christians Rev. 2.10 The young Prodigal was dead till hee begunne to bee good till hee begunne to remember his fathers house and to resolve to return home My Son was dead but is alive Luk. 15.24 and the Widow that liveth in pleasure is dead while shee liveth 1 Tim. 5 6 As t is a reproach to an old man to be in Coats so t is a disgrace to be an old babe i e. to be but a babe in grace when old in years Heb. 5.12 13 14. When Josaphat asked Barlaam how old hee was hee answered five and forty years old to whom Josaphat replyed thou seemest to bee seventy true saith hee if you reckon ever since I was born but I count not those years which were spent in vanity Ah! Sirs you never begin to live till you beginne to be good in good earnest There is the life of vegetation and that is the life of plants secondly there is the life of sense and that is the life of beasts Thirdly there is the life of reason and that is the life of man Fourthly there is the life of grace and that is the life of Saints and this life you do not beginne to live till you beginne to bee good if a living Dogg is better than a dead Lyon as the wise man speaks Eccl. 9.4 and if a Fly is more excellent than the heavens because the Fly hath life which the heavens hath not as the Philosopher saith what a sad dead poor nothing is that person that is a stranger to the life of grace and goodness that is dead even whilst he is alive Most men will bleed sweat vomit Meconas in Seneca had rather live in many diseases than dye And Homer reporteth of his Aâ—hilles that he had rather be a servant to a poor Countrey Clown here than to be a King to all the Souls departed purge part with an estate yea with a limb I limbs yea and many a better thing viz. the honour of God and a good conscience to preserve their natural lives as hee crys out Give mee any deformity any torment any misery so you spare my life and yet how few how very few are to bee found who make it their work their business to attain to a life of goodness or to beginne to bee good betimes or to bee dead to the world and alive to God rather than to bee dead to God and alive to the world this is for a lamentation and shal be for a lamentation that natural life is so highly prized spiritual life so little regarded c The eighth Reason Why young persons should bee really good betimes and that is because the promise of finding God of enjoying God is made over to an early seeking of God Prov. 8.17 I
it Non amo quenquam nisi offendam said a Heathen as wee do by persons or things wee know not or would take no notice of Now is it the glory of a man to passe over a transgression and will it not much more bee the glory of Christ silently to passe over the transgressions of his people in that great day The greater the treasons and rebellions are that a Prince passes over and takes no notice of the more is it his honour and glory and so doubtlesse it will be Christs in that great day To pass over all the treasons and rebellions of his people to take no notice of them to forget them as well as forgive them The Heathens have long since observed that in nothing man came nearer to the glory and perfection of God himself than in goodness and clemency Surely if it bee such an honour to man to passe over a transgression it cannot bee a dishonour to Christ to pass over the transgressions of his people hee having already buried them in the Sea of his blood Again saith Solomon It is the glory of God to conceal a thing Pro. 25.2 And why it should not make for the glory of divine love to conceal the sins of the Saints in that great day I know not and whether the concealing the sins of the Saints in that great day will not make most for their joy and wicked mens sorrow for their comfort and wicked mens terrour and torment I will leave you to judge and time and experience to decide And thus much for the resolution of that great question Having done with the Motives that may incourage and provoke young men to bee good betimes to know love seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of their dayes I shall now come to those directions and helps that must by assistance from Heaven bee put in practice if ever you would bee good betimes and serve the Lord in the Prim-rose of your dayes Now all that I shall say will fall under these two heads First Some things you must carefully and warily decline and arm your selves against and secondly there are other things that you must prosecute and follow First there are some things that you must warily decline and they are these First If ever you would bee good betimes if you would bee gracious in the spring and morning of your youth Oh then take heed of putting the day of death far from you Amos 6.3 Young men are very prone to look upon death afar off to put it at a great distance from them they are apt to say to death Exod. 10.28 as Pharaoh said to Moses Get thee from mee and let mee see thy face no more if old men discourse to them of death they are ready to answer as the High-Priest did Judas in a different case what is that to us Mat. 27.4 look you unto it wee know sicknesse will come and death is a debt that wee must all pay but surely these guests are a great way from us for doth not David say Psal 90.10 The daies of a man are threescore years and ten wee have calculated our nativities and wee cannot abate a day a minute a moment of threescore and ten and therefore it is even a death to us to think of death there being so great a distance between our birth-day and our dying-day as wee have cast up the account Ah young men it is sad it is very say when you are so wittily wicked as to say with those in Ezekiel Behold they of the house of Israel say Ezek. 12.27 the vision that hee seeth is for many dayes to come and hee prophecyeth of the times that are afar off Ah young men young men by putting far away this day you gratifie Satan you strengthen sin you provoke the Lord you make the work of faith and repentance more hard and difficult you lay a sad foundation for the greatest fears and doubts Ah! how soon may that sad word bee fulfilled upon you The Lord of that servant that saith Mat. 24.48 49 50 51. his Lord delayeth his coming shall come in a day when hee looketh not for him and in an hour that hee is not aware of and shall cut him asunder or cut him off and appoint him his portion with Hypocrites there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth When Sodom when Pharaoh when Agag when Amalek when Haman when Herod when Nebuchadnezzar when Belshazzar when Dives when the fool in the Gospel were all in their prime their pride when they were all in a flourishing state and upon the very top of their glory how strangely how suddenly how sadly how fearfully how wonderfully were they brought down to the grave to Hell Good Couns to Young men Ah young man who art thou and what is thy name or fame what is thy power or place what is thy dignity or glory that thou darest promise thy self an exemption from sharing in as sad a portion as ever Justice gave to those who were once very high who were seated among the stars but are now brought down to the sides of the pit â—sa 13.10 11 â—2 13 14 15 16 17. I have read a story of one that gave a young Prodigal a Ring with a deaths head on this condition that hee should one hour daily for seven daies together look and think upon it which bred a great change in his life Ah young men the serious thoughts of death may do that for you that neither friends counsel examples prayers Sermons tears hath not done to this very day Well remember this to labour not to die is labour in vain and to put this day far from you Senibus mors in januis adolescentibus in insidiis Bernard De convers ad Cler. c. 14. and to live without fear of death is to die living Death seizeth on old men and laies wait for the youngest Death is oftentimes as near the young mans back as it is to the old mans face It is storied of Charles the fourth King of France that being one time affected with the sense of his many and great sins hee fetcht a deep sigh and said to his wife by the help of God I will now so carry my self all my life long that I will never offend him more which words hee had no sooner uttered but hee fell down dead and died Do not young men put this day far from you least you are suddenly surprized and then you cry out when too late a Kingdome for a Christ a Kingdome for a Christ as once Crookt-back Richard the third in his distresse a Kingdome for a horse a Kingdome for a horse Ah young men did you never hear of a young man that cryed out Oh! I am so sick that I cannot live and yet woful wretch that I am so sinful that I dare not die Oh that I might live Oh that I might die Oh that I might do neither Well young
men remember this the frequent the serious thoughts of death will prevent many a sin 2 Pet. 1. 13 14. Eccles 9.10 it will arm you against many temptations it will secure you from many afflictions it will keep you from doting on the World it will make you do much in a little time it will make death easy when it comes and it will make you look out betimes for a Kingdome that shakes not for riches that corrupt not and for glory that fadeth not away Therefore do not O do not put the day of death farre from you Take heed of crying Cras Cras to morrow to morrow saith Luther for a man lives forty years before hee knows himself to bee a fool and by that time hee sees his folly his life is finished so men dye before they begin to live Secondly If you would bee good betimes then take heed of leaning to your own understanding This Counsell wise Solomon gives to his son or the young men in his time My sonne forget not my Law Prov. 3.1.5 Lean not is a Metaphor from an old or sick man leaning on his staff c. but let thy heart keep my Commandements Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thy own understanding Youth is the age of folly of vain-hopes and over-grown confidence Ah! how wise might many have been had they not been too early wise in their own opinion Rehoboams young Counsellors proved the overthrow of his Kingdome T is brave for youth in all things to bee discreet and sober minded Three vertues they say are prime ornaments of youth modesty silence and obedience Ah! Young men keep close in every action to this one principle viz. in every action resolve to bee discreet and wise rather than affectionate and singular I Remember that a young Gentleman of Athens being to answer for his life hired an Orator to make his defence and it pleased him well at his first reading but when the young man by often reading it that hee might recite it publikely by heart begunne to grow weary and displeased with it the Orator bid him consider that the Jâ—dges and the People were to hâ—ar it but once and then it was lâ—kely that they at the first instant might bee as well pleased as he Ah! Young men your leaning upon your selves or upon others will in the end bee bitternesse and vexation of spirit Young men are very apt to lean on their own Wit Wisdome Arts parts as old men are to lean on a staffe to support them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Hebrew word signifies that is rendered lean Shagnan in that of Prov. 3.5 this hath been the bane of many a choice Wit the loss of many a brave head the ruine of many a subtile pate Ajax thought it was for cowards and weaklings to lean upon the Lord for succour not for him whence hee was foiled lean not to great parts lean not to natural or acquired accomplishments least you loose them and your selves too Leaning to natural or moral excellencies is the ready way to bee stript oâ— all Babylon that bore her selâ— bold upon her high Towers thick walls and twenty yearâ— provision laid in for a siege waâ— surprized by Cyrus T was said of Caesar that hee received not his wounds from the swords of enemies but from the hands of friends that is from trusting in them Ah! How many young men have been wounded yea slain by trusting to their own understanding their own abilities T was an excellent saying of Austin in te stas et non stas he that stands upon his own strength shall never stand A Creature if like a single drop left to it self it spends and wastes it self presently but if like a drop in the fountain and Ocean of being it hath abundance of security Ah! Young men Young men 2 Pet. 1.4 Psal 27.1 if you will needs be leaning then lean upon precious Promises lean upon the rock that is higher than your selves lean upon the Lord Jesus Christ as John did who was the youngest of all the Disciples and the most beloved of all the Disciples John 21.20 ch 13.23 John leaned much and Christ loved him much O lean upon Christs wisdome for direction lean upon his power for protection Can. 8.5 lean upon his Purse his fulness for Provision lean upon his eye for approbation lean upon his righteousness for justification lean upon his blood for remission lean upon his merits for salvation As the young Vine without her wall to support her will fall and sink So will you young men without Christ puts under his everlasting armes to support you and uphold you therefore above all leanings lean upon him by leaning on him you will engage him by leaning on him you will gain more honor than you can give by leaning on him you may even command him and make him eternally yours c. Thirdly If you would bee good betimes if you would seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of your dayes then take heed of flatterers and flatterie Ah! how many Young men might have been very good who are now exceeding bad by hearkning to flatterers and affecting flattery Flattery undid young Rehoboam 1 Kin. 12. and ch 22. Act. 12.22.23 24. Ahab Herod Nero Alexander c. Flatterers are soul-murderers they are soul-undoers they are like evil Chyrurgions that skin over the wound but never heal it Anastatius the Emperours motto was mellitum venenum blanda oratio smooth talk proves often sweet Poyson Flattery is the very spring and mother of all impiety it blows the Trumpet and draws poor souls into rebellion against God as Sheba drew Israel to rebel against David it put our first Parents upon tasting the forbidden fruit it put Absolou upon dethroning of his father it put Haman upon plotting the ruine of the Jews it put Corah Dathan and Abiram upon rebelling against Moses it makes men call evil good and good evil darknesse light and light darkness c. it puts persons upon neglecting the means of Grace upon undervaluing the means of Grace and upon contemning the means of Grace it puts men upon abasing God slighting Christ and vexing the spirit it unmans a man it makes him call black white and white black it makes a man change Pearls for Pebles and Gold for Counters The Flatterers told Dionysius that his spittle was as sweet as honey Rev. 3.17 18 it makes a man judge himself wise when hee is foolish knowing when hee is ignorant holy when hee is Prophane free when hee is a Prisoner rich when hee is Poor high when hee is low full when hee is empty happy when he is miserable Ah! Young men young men take heed of Flatterers they are the very worst of sinners they are left of God blinded by Satan hardned in sin and ripened for hel God declares sadly against them and that in his word and in his works in
off the branches and it grew again they cut down the body and it grew again Isedore the Monk was very much out who vaunted that hee had felt in himself no motion to sin forty years together they cut it up by the root and still it lived and grew untill they pulled down the stone-wall till death shall pull down our stone-walls Sin will live this fire will burn Wee may say of sin as some say of Cats that they have many lives kill them and they will live again kill them again and they will live again so kill sin once and it will live again kill it again and it will live again c. Sin oftentimes is like that Monster Hydra cut off one head and many will rise up in its room Fifthly Fire is of a penetrating nature Isa 1.5 6. Rom. 7.13.17 Sin is malum Catholicum A Catholick evil Quodcunque in peccato peccatum est whatsoever is in sin is sin it peirceth and windeth it self into every corner and chinck and so doth sin winde it self into our thoughts words and works it will winde it self into our understandings to darken them and into our judgements to pervert them and into our wills to poison them and into our affections to disorder them and into our consciences to corrupt them and into our carriages to debase them Sin will winde it self into every duty and every mercy it will winde it self into every one of our enjoyments and concernments Hannibal having overcome the Romans put on their armour on his shoulders and so by that policy they being taken for Romans won a City but what are Hannibals wiles to sins wiles or Satans wiles if you have a minde to bee acquainted with their wiles look over my Treatise called Precious Remedies against Satans Devices Sixthly and lastly Fire is a devouring a consuming Element Psal 21.9 it turns all fuel into ashes It is a Woolf that eats up all 2 Pet. 2.5 6. Pro. 6.32 Eccles 9.18 Prov. 13.13 ch 20.29.1 Pro. 11.3 ch 15.25 ch 21.7 so Sin is a fire that devours and consumes all it turned Sodom and Gomorah into ashes it hath destroyed the Caldaean Persian and Graecian Kingdomes and will at last destroy the Roman Kingdome also this Woolf ate up Sampsons strength Absoloms beauty Achitophels policy and Herods glory c. It hath drowned one world already and will at last burn another even this Oh the hopes the hearts the happinesse the joyes the comforts the souls that this fire Sin hath consumed and destroyed c. Peter Camois Bishop of Betty in France in his draught of Eternity Num. 75. tells us that some devout personages caused those words of the Prophet Isaiah to bee written in letters of gold upon their chimny peeces Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire Isa 33.14 who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Ah young men young men I desire that you may alwaies look upon sin under the notion of fire yea as such fire as laies the foundation for everlasting fire for everlasting burnings and this may work when other things will not I have read of a grave and chaste Matron who being moved to commit folly with a lew'd Russian after some discourse shee call'd for a pan of burning coals requesting him for her sake to hold his finger in them but one hour hee answered it is an unkind request to whom she replyed that seeing hee would not do so much as to put one finger upon the coals for one hour she could not yeild to do that for which shee should bee tormented both body and soul in hell fire for ever The application is easy c. Fourthly If you would break with Sin betimes if you would arm against Sin in the spring and morning of your dayes then you should look upon Sin under the notion of a Thief and indeed Sin is the greatest Theif the greatest Robber in the World it robbed the Angels of all their glory 2 Pet. 2 4 Gen. 3 it robbed Adam of his Paradise and felicity and it hath robbed all the Sons of Adam of five precious Jewels the least of which was more worth than heaven and earth 1 It hath robbed them of the holy and glorious Image of God which would have been fairly engraven upon them had Adam stood c. 2 It hath robbed them of their son-ship and of sons have made them slaves 3 It hath robbed them of their friendship Well did one of the fathers call Pride and Vain-glory the sweet spoiler of spiritual excellencies and a pleasant theif and made them enemies 4 It hath robbed them of their communion and fellowship with Father Son and Spirit and made them Strangers and Aliens 5 It hath robbed them of their glory and made them vile and miserable It hath robbed many a nation of the Gospel and many a parish of many a happy guide and many a Christian of the favour of God the joyes of the spirit and the Peace of Conscience Oh the health the wealth the honor the friends the relations that Sin hath robbed thousands of Nay It hath robbed many of their gifts their arts their parts their memory their judgement yea their very reason as you may see in Pharoah Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar Achitophel Haman Herod and those Babylonish Princes that accused Daniel And so in Menipus of Phenicia who having lost his goods strangled himself And so Dinarcus Phidon at a certain losse cut his own throat to save the charge of a cord And so Augustus Caesar in whose time Christ was born was so troubled and astonished at the relation of an overthrow from Varrus Suetonius that for certain months together he let the hair of his beard and head grow still and wore it long yea and other whiles would run his head against the doors crying out Quintilius Varrus deliver up my Legions again by all which it is most apparent that Sin is the greatest thief in all the World Oh then who would not break league and covenant with it and be still in pressing of God to do justice upon it c. Fifthly Nah. 1.1 Hab. 1.1 Mal. 11 If you would break with Sin and arm and fence your selves against Sin betimes then you must look upon sinne under the notion of a burden betimes and indeed sin of all burdens is the heaviest burden in all the world Innumerable evils have compassed me about Psal 40.12 mine iniquities have taken hold upon mee so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth me and again Mine iniquities are gone over my head saith the same person as an heavy burden Psal 38.4 they are too heavy for mee to bear Sin is a weight that easily besets poor souls Heb. 12.1 it is a burden that so troubles them and puzzles them that so curbs them and girds them Rom. 7.13 ult that so presses and oppresses
them as that it wrings many bitter tears from their eyes and many sad and grievous sighs and groans from their hearts Again As Sin is a burden to Christians so it is a burden to heaven Judâ— 6 it made heaven weary to bear the Angels that fell no sooner had they sinned but heaven groans to be eased of them and it never left groaning till justice had turned them a groaning to hell Again Numb 16.26.35 as Sin is a burden to Heaven so it is a burden to the earth witness her swallowing up Korah Dathan and Abiram their Wives children Goods servants c. Ah! Sinners your sins makes the very earth to groan they make the earth weary of bearing you Oh! How doth the earth groan and long to swallow up those earthly wretches whose hopes whose hearts are buried in the earth these shall have little of heaven but enough of earth when they come to dye Cornelius Alapide tells a story that he heard of a famous Preacher Rom. 8.19 20 21 22 23 who shewing the bondage of the Creature brings in the Creature complaining thus Oh! that wee could serve such as are Godly Oh! that our substance and our flesh might bee incorporated into godly people that so wee might rise into glory with them Oh! that our flesh might not bee incorporated into the flesh of sinners for if it bee we shall go to hell and would any creatures go to hell Oh! we are weary of bearing sinners wee are weary of serving of sinners thus the creatures groan thus the creatures complain the Sinners sins forcing them to it c. Again Sin is a burden to God Behold I am pressed under you Amos. 2.13 as a cart is pressed that is full of shcaves by this plain pithy countrey comparison God shews how sadly hee is pressed and oppressed how sorely hee is wearied and tired with those peoples Sins Divine patience is even worn out Justice hath lift up her hand and will bear with them no longer God seems to groan under the pressure of their Sinnes as a Cart seems to do under a heavy load of this God complains by the Prophet Isaiah Isa 43.24 Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied mee with thine iniquities I am as weary of your Sins as a Travelling woman is weary of her pains saith God Sin was such a burden to God that he sweeps it off with a sweeping Floud Gen. 7. c. Again Luk. 22.44 A strange watering of a garden Bern. 1 Pet. 2.24 Sin is a burden to Christ it made him sweat as never man sweat it made him sweat great drops of clotted or congealed bloud Sin put Christs whole body into a bloudy sweat it made him groan pittiously when he bare our Sins in his body on the Tree Sin made his soul heavy even to the death and had he not been one that was mighty Isa 6.6 yea that was all-mighty he had fainted and failed under his burthen And thus you see what a burthen Sin is to man to the Creatures to heaven to earth to God to Christ and therefore as you would break with Sin betimes look alwayes upon it as a burden yea as the greatest and heaviest burden in all the world c. Sixthly and Lastly If you would break Covenant with Sin and arm and fence your selves against it betimes then you must look upon it betimes under the notion of a Tyrant Tit. 3.3 and indeed Sin is the worst and greatest Tyrant in the world Other Tyrants can but Tyranize over our bodies but Sin is a Tyrant that tyranizes over both body and soul as you may see in the sixth and seventh of the Romans Sin is a Tyrant that hath a kinde of jurisdiction in most mens hearts it sets up the Law of Pride the Law of Passion the Law of Oppression the Law of Formality the Law of Hypocrisy the Law of Carnality the Law of Self-love the Law of Carnal-Reason the Law of unbeleef and strictly Commands Subjection to them and proclaims fire and sword to all that stand out this Saints and sinners good men and bad do sufficiently experience Sin is a Tyrant of many thousand years standing Thales one of the seven Sages used to say that few Tyrants lived to be old but it is far otherwise with this Tyrant Sin Prov. 4.16 and though it hath had many a wound and many a foil and received much opposition yet still it playes the Tyrant all the World over O! the hearts that this Tyrant makes to ake the souls that this Tyrant makes to bleed Pharoahs Tyranny was nothing to Sins Tyranny this Tyrant will not so much as suffer his slaves to sleep They sleep not except they have done mischief their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt Isa 57.20 21. There is no peace to the wicked saith my God Other Tyrants have been brought down and brought under by a humane power but this cannot but by a divine the power of man hath brought down many of the Tyrants of this World but it is onely the power of Christ that can bring down this Tyrant that can cast down his strong holds 2 Cor. 10.3 4 5 6 c. therefore ingage Christ in the conflict draw him into the battle and in the end the conquest will be yours Vitellius who had been Emperor of all the World yet was driven thorow the streets of Rome stark naked and thrown into the River Tyber c. Andronicus the Emperor for his cruelty towards his People was by them at last shamefully deposed and after many contumelies hanged up by his heels Ptolomy was put on a Cross Bajazet in an iron Cage Phoras broken on the Wheel Lycam cast to the Dogs as well as Jezabel Attales thrust into a Forge King Gath into a Beer-barrel c. But none of these that have tameed these Tyrants that have brought down these mighty Nimrods have been able to tame to bring under the Tyrants the sins the lusts that hath been in their own bosomes many a man hath had a hand in bringing down of worldly Tyrants who notwithstanding have dyed for ever by the hand of a Tyrant within c. And thus much for the directions that young men must follow if they would bee good betimes if they would seek and serve the Lord in the spring and morning of their dayes The Young mans objections Answered I shall now give some brief Answers to the Young mans Objections and the Old mans scruples and so close up this discourse Ob. But some young men may object and say you would have us to bee good betimes and to seek and serve the Lord in the Prime-rose of our dayes but it may be time enough hereafter to follow this Counsel wee are young and it may bee time enough for us to minde these
the eyes of a well drawn picture are fastened upon thee which way soever thou turnest so are the eyes of the Lord. I have read of one who being tempted to Adultery said they could not bee private enough and being carried from room to room answered wee are not yet private enough God is here Jer. 12.27 ch 29.23 Ah friends his eyes which are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun compasseth thy words thy waies thy works thy thoughts thy bed thy board thy bench The Egyptian Hieroglyphick for God was an eye on a Scepter shewing that hee sees and rules all things Ah friends all thoughts words hopes and hearts are naked Heb. 4.13 Tetra helismena opened dissected and quartered before that God with whom you have to do God is very curious and exact in marking and observing what is done by men that he may render to every man according to his works Augustin speaks of an old Comaedian Aug. de civ Deâ— l. 6. c. 10 when having no other spectators went usually into the Theatre and acted before the Statues of the Gods Ah! Young men and women the eye of God should bee more to you than all the World besides O that that Scripture might bee written with the pen of a Diamond upon your hearts Hear yee not mee saith the Lord and will you not tremble at my presence Jer. 5.21 22 There is a great truth in that saying of his Magna nobis ex hac indita est probitatis necessitas Boetius de consol l. 5 quia omnia ante oculos judicis facimus cuncta cernentis A great necessity of goodnesse is from hence put into us because wee do all things before the eyes of a judge that sees all things Fourthly If you would bee good betimes then you must hearken to the voice of Conscience 2 Tim. 1.3 betimes a man will never beginne to bee good till hee beginnes to hearken to what Conscience speaks So long as a man turns a deaf ear to Conscience Psal 58.4 Joh. 3.20 21 he is a safe prisoner to Satan and a sure enemy to good Ah how good might many have been had they but begunne betimes to hearken to Conscience Ah Young men do not daily with Conscience do not play do not trifle with Conscience do not stop your ears against Conscience hee that will not in his Youth give Conscience audience Such shall find Conscience to be index judex vindex shall at last bee forced to hear such lectures from conscience as shall make his life a very hell A sleepy Conscience is like a sleepy Lyon when hee awakes hee roars and tears so will conscience Mar. 9.22 Conscience is mille testes a thousand witnesses for or against a man hee that hath long turned the deaf ear to Conscience shall at last finde his Conscience like Prometheus's vulture that lyes ever a gnawing Judas found it so and Spira found it so and Blaer a great Counsellor of Scotland found it so I have read of one John Hofmeister that fell sick in his Inne Jo. Wolf lect memor To. 2. ad an 1547 as hee was travelling towards Auspurge in Germany and grew to that horror of Conscience that they were fain to bind him in his bed with chains where hee cryed out that hee was for ever cast off by God and that the promises that were set before him would do him no good and all because hee had wounded his Conscience and turned a deaf ear to conscience Well young men if you will not betimes hearken to Conscience you shall at last hear Conscience saying to you as the probationer Disciple said to Christ Mat. 8.19 Master I will follow thee whither soever thou goest so saith Conscience Sinner I have called upon thee many a thousand times and told thee that I must by commission bee thy best friend or thy worst enemy but thou wouldest not hear and therefore now I will follow thee whither ever thou goest fast and I will follow thee and fill thee with horrours and terrors feast and I wil follow thee and shew thee such a hand writing upon the wall as shall cause thy countenance to change thy thoughts to bee troubled Dan. 5.5 6 Tolle conscientiam tolle omnia Take away Conscience and take away all said the Heathen the joints of thy loins to bee loosed and thy knees dashed one against another stay at home and I will follow thee from bed to board go abroad and I will follow thee into all places and companies and thou shalt know that it is an evil and a bitter thing that thou hast so often and so long neglected my calls and disobeyed my voice and walkt contrary to me now thou shalt finde a truth in that saying of Luther una guttula malae conscientiae totum mare c. one drop of an evill Conscience swallows up the whole Sea of worldly joy Well Young men There is a day a comming wherein a good Conscience will bee better than a good purse for then the Judge will not bee put off with a suit of Complements or fair words nor drawn aside with hope of reward and therefore as you would be able to hold up your heads in that day make conscience of hearkning to the voice of Conscience in this your day Fifthly if you would be good betimes then you must know betimes wherein true happinesse lyes for a man will never begin to bee good till hee begins to understand wherein his happiness consists The Philosophers speaking of happiness Quot homines tot sententiae so many men so many minds were divided into two hundred eighty eight opinions every one intending something and yet resolving nothing Therefore the man in Plutarch hearing them wrangle about mans Summum bonum chiefest good one placing it in this and another in that hee went to the market and bought up all that was good hoping among all he should not miss of it but he did many look for happiness in sinne Isa 56.12 Job 28.14 others look for it in the Creatures but they must all say it is not in us Nil dat quod non habet nothing can give what it hath not if the Conduit Pipe hath no water it can give no water if a man hath no money he can give no mony if the Creatures have no happiness they can give no happiness Now this jewel this pearl happiness is not to bee found in the breast in the bosome of creatures in a word because I must hasten to a close mans happiness lys First In his communion with God as experience and Scripture demonstrates Happy is that people Psal 144.15 that is in such a case but give mee that word again yea happy is that people whose God is the Lord. A man whose soul is in communion with God shall finde more pleasure in a desert in a dungeon in a den yea in death than in the Palace of a Prince than in