to lye that as soon as the one learns them to go on Earth the other learns them to go to Hell hence these two are joyn'd together in that 58. Psal 3. Speaking of young ones they go astray from the Womb telling lies This is a sin that all but especially young ones are exceedingly prone to whereby Satan leads them captive at his will to make them his Vassals Look there young people there are several sins that are as I may say the very off-spring and Progeny of Satan and in acting of them a sinner resembles the Devil as a Child the Father For instance Pride it 's called their condemnation of the Devil 1 Tim. 3. 6. an angry passionate spirit it 's stiled giving place to the Devil 4. Eph. 26 27. the like one may say of this sin of Lying in the 8. John and the close of the 44. v. the Devil is called a lyer and the Father of Lies and in the 5. of the Acts 3. Satan is there said to fill Ananias his heart to lie against God which sheweth that where there is a lie in the Tongue there is the Devil filling of the Heart ruling in Children of disobedience hence James saith 4. chap. and the 6. v. that it sets all on fire of Hell O how great is the power that Satan acquireth in young people by this sin it gives him that which he so earnestly desires namely a spiritual possession of Souls as a man possesseth and dwells in his House and there it is he learneth young ones that master-piece in the Black Art to call Evil Good and Good Evil and to deny the fact when they have committed sin as 2 Kings 5. 25. thy Servant said lying Gehazi went no whether thus Jacobs Sons after they had wickedly sold their Brother come with a plausible Tale tho a palpable lye to their Father we found this bloody Garment in the Field but whose it is we know not 37. Gen. 32. 12. Another Sin young ones are given to is neglect of Relative duties as honouring and obeying their Parents and Masters c. this is a sin peculiar to young people and there are but few that escape the guilt of it Hence have Ministers Ecclesiastical Fathers almost every Lords-day Bills of complaint like Ezekiels Roll filled with lamentation put into our hands begging our earnest Prayers for rebellious and disobedient Children and Servants Though the justice of God is ordinarily manifest in the execution of his threatned Judgments upon Children of Belial even in this Life yet alas how seldom do young people take and improve such awful awakening warnings to hear and fear and do no more so wickedly How common is it for Children yea when grown up and their Parents grown old to set light by them and to speak Sawcily and Contemptuously of them and to them behaving themselves proudly and rudely before them as if they were their equals a practice most vile against the light of Nature and always according to the Scripture entaileth a Curse upon such unnatural Children 27. Deut. 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his Father or his Mother and all the people shall say Amen The punishment that the Heathens inflicted on such was to few them in a Sack with a Dog Cat Viper and Ape an Emblem of unnaturalness and so drown them together and the punishment that the Law of God in the time of Moses did assign to a rebellious Son was to be stoned to Death 21. Deut. 18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious Son which will not obey the voice of his Father or the voice of his Mother then shall they lay hold on him and bring him out unto the Elders of the City and all the men of the City shall stone him with stones till he dye And it is observable now under the Gospel how the holy and wise Povidence of God ordinarily sets a mark upon disobedient Children either in imbittering their lives with a succession of miseries and vexations here or suffering them to fall by an untimely Death 13. Another Sin Youth is prone to is Sabbath breaking a day which usually young people meet together upon to walk abroad in the Fields and take their pleasure and run into all excess of Riot Chambering acting their filthy lusts drinking Healths playing at Cards Dancing Swearing and sometimes Quarrelling Fighting Thieving Robbing of Orchards and Gardens and thus inverting that Day which God hath sanctified and appropriated to his own Honour and Service and the saving of souls to the service of the Devil and damning their own souls sure I am the whole Christian world at this day groans under the tragical and bitter effects of this sin and he is nothing worthy of Eyes that weeps not to see whole droves running headlong to Hell through this breach viz. the Breach of the Sabbath Verily the Devil hath more service done on this day than on all the six besides and how deplorable is the serious consideration hereof that the day which should be Christ's is the Devil 's great harvest of Souls and that day which should make joy in Heaven by an addition to the Church of such as shall be saved should ever prove Satans triumph and Hells inlarging it self beyond Measure at the accession of so vast a multitude of Sabbath-breakers into it 14. Another sin that Youth is exceedingly prone to is nourishing of vain hope and flattering themselves with the thought of long life putting far away from them the memorial of the evil Day Young people account it a kind of death to think of Death the meditations or tydings of it are like those of the Judges coming to the Bench to Malefactors entertained with great reluctancy and when they cannot wholly banish the items of it out of their Consciences they will be sure to set it a great way off as those bold sinners did the Prophets Vision in the 12. of Ezek. 27. the Vision that he sees is for many days to come and hence as that evil Servant in the 24. Mat. 48. when he saith in his heart my Lord deâ—ayeth his coming he began to smite his fellow Servant and to eat and drink with the drunken so young people when they once drive off the thoughts of death as far as they can from day to day then they run a whoring from God lay aside Religious duties let loose the reins of their Lusts laugh at the tremendous threatnings of the Almighty It is one of the greatest strengthners of temptations to Luxury Pride and almost every sin in the World when sinners are bold to promise themselves many years to come as you may see in that 12. Luke 17 18 19. where our Saviour brings in that foolish rich man speaking to his soul after this manner Soul take thine ease eat drink be merry thou hast goods laid up for many years O young men as you would escape the rebukes an angry God and an exasperated guilty Conscience promise not your selves long
it to see young ones restrained and kept bâ—ck by any by all of them You have an instance in Ely's Sons 1 Sam. 2. and for this cause in the 12 verse they are called children of Belial because no Yoke would hold them Also you read of two of Jacobs Sons Simeon and Levi of whose miscarriages of this kind the good old man thus expresseth himself in the 49 Gen. 5. 6 7. Simeon and Levi are Brethren instruments of Cruelty are in their Habitations O my Soul come not thou into their Secret unto their Assembly mine Honour be not thou united for in their anger they Slew a man and in their self will they digged down a Wall Cursed be their Anger for it was fierce and their Wrath for it was Cruel It is to be observed that the greater number of those Malefactors that end their miserable lives at Tiburn are the younger sort of people their boisterous lusts consume them that they scares live out half their days C. Careless incogitancy and want of serious consideration and laying to heart the most awful important matters of their Souls There are three things saith a great Writer that are chief ruiners and destroyers of Souls Namely 1. want of consideration and self reflexion 2. Infidelity 3. Earthly mindedness but especially want of consideration The first of these which Youth are exceeding guilty of How seldom do young people retire and soberly inquire what their State and Condition God wards is whether it be a state of Nature or Grace whether God be reconciled and sin pardoned c. Alas young people are generally led by sense extending their thoughts no further than just what is before them though they live and move and have their Being in God are always under his all-seeing Eye yet he is not all their thoughts tho he will bring them to Judgment for all they do yet they think not of it This evidently appears in the advice the Holy Ghost giveth young ones in the 11. of Eccles 9. it s true all men naturally are inconsiderate about these things but young ones are averse to the thoughts of God their Soul Death and Judgment because the remembrance of these things would damp their youthful sensual Delights and Pleasures and administer trouble to their minds against which that age of life hath an irreconcileable enmity and hence it is that the vanities and fooleries of this world out way Christ Heaven and eternal Life O did young ones but seriously consider and bend their thoughts close to those rouzing Doctrines and truth as they are represented in the word of God Their undone state by Nature and the peril of Hell and Damnation they are in each moment whilst they delay Conversion and flying for refuge to a crucified Jesus surely it would render the temptations of fleshly pleasures jejune and vain and prove an excellent means to awaken them to Repentance ere the day of Gods Patience be ended which brings me to the fourth next sin young people are prone to 4. Delaying of Religion saying They are yet young and its time enough though young People are often told how much more dubious and difficult their Repentance and turning to God will be hereafter then now supposing their Lives should be continued to them Yet without the breach of Charity one may say scarce one of many Hundreds but delay and neglect a present complyance with those repeated Calls of God to Conversion when in the mean time their Youthful Lusts their Games and Sports call them and find a quick and ready Attendance and Closure David's great Care was to set about the Work of Religion while he was under the first and early calls thereunto 119 Psal 60 I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commandments But how rare is it to see young Persons whom the Devil lays Siege to endeavouring to perswade them that it is time enough when they are older to sleep their thoughts in such a melancholly Subject as Religion is to follow his example 5. Eager pursuits after Pleasures Loving them more than God Pleasure is that which strangely carries it with the younger sort of People Modo Pâ—tiar saith the youngster let me have Pleasure now whatever â—â—me on'â— as Esau parts with his Birthâ—â—ght for a mess of red Potage so young ones are ready to part with Heaven for the pleasures of Sin that are but for a season they are joyned to pleasure as Ephraim was to Idols and O how difficult a taske is it to force a divorce between them Shall I be cloistred up and manacled in the days of my Youth by the severities of Repentance and Selfdenial this is to bid me be no more Naomi but Marah Thus the young man pleads like the Figtree and Olivetree you read of in the 9. of Judges and the 9. Should I leave my fatness and my sweetness c. so should I leave my youthful Pleasures to match with Sighs Groans Tears and a strict course of mortification No no I le rather rejoyce in the days of my Youth ere the days come wherein I can have no Pleasure Thus Youth are prone like the Bee that hovers about the Pot of Honey untill at length it is drowned in it to hanker after yea madly to ruâ— full breast upon Pleasure uâ—till like a daâ—â— it strikes into their very Liver Their mind are perpetually drunk with the love of Pleasure till they fall down Dead F. Flexibility to Temptation as dry Tindeâ— to the least spark hence you read in the Prâ—verbs frequently of the young Mans beiâ—â— easily enticed and drawn away Chap. 7. from the 7 Verse to the 23. And I beheld among â—â— simple Ones I discerned among the Youths young Man void of Vnderstanding and he wâ—â— the way to the Harlots House c. Verse 21. With her fair Speech she caused him to yield and he goeth after her straightway as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter c. hence in the 1st Chap. 10. you Read My Son if Sinners entice thee consent thou not c. intimating that impetous or vigorous Inclination Byass that is in Youth to consent to Temptations young ones are easily drawn by the smallest Temptations they are ready to meet it half way yea to out go it Isa 5. 18. We read of some that will Transgress for a piece of Bread 28. Prov. 21. Ahab sold himself to work Wickedness Judas offered himself to sell Christ and Ephraim willingly walked after the Commandment of False Worship 5. Hosea 11. Thus young People are presently perswaded the least Motion is bait and hire enough like soft Wax they readily receive the stamp of a Temptation G. Going down the Stream and following â— Multitude to do Evil excusing all with this Namely That there are Thousands and Millions that steer the Course and tread the Paths that I do ducimur exemptis If Ministers give warning from God to avoid and flee such and such youthful Sins and cry out as the Angel to
to commit Iniquity Jer. 9. â— and compared to fed Horses every one neigâ—ed after his Neighbours Wife Jer. 5. 8. anâ— carried on with a bruitish rage against aâ— reason without any counsel or consideration this is that which the Apostle callet◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eagerness of Lust noteth a raging eagerness 1 Thes 4. 5. â— that where it is consented to it carrieth aâ— before it breaks all sorts of Bonds the Laâ— of God the Law of Nature all are but as thâ— new Cords wherewith Sampson was bounâ— as soon as he awoke from Sleep he braâ—â— all like so many twine Threads An iâ—stance hereof holy Providence while I aâ— writing affords me of a young man thâ— through yielding to the Lust of Concupâ—scence hath plunged himself into such dreaâ—ful Temptations and consuming Miserie that he moves like a Shadow and pinâ— away under the malignity of his Lusts iâ—fluence to the grief of them that beholâ— him The holy Apostle telleth us Thâ—â— when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sâ—â— that is the outward act of Sin and when Sâ— is finished it bringeth forth Death The Metaphor there used is taken from a teeming Mother now a Mother conceiveth first inwardly and after the revolution of so many Months bringeth forth the Fruit of her Womb visibly to others thus here according to that noted place Matth. 15. 19. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemies So in 2 Peter 1. 4. all the actual Corruptions and Abominations that are in the world are through Lust Oh there is a vast difference between our Lord Jesus his being tempted and ours when Satan came to tempt him he found nothing in him John 14. 13. nothing to comply with him there was no internal temper no indwelling lust no corrupt matter to fasten on but it is otherwise with us A man's Enemies saith Christ are they of his own House O remember it young man the principal Cause of all thy misery is the Lust of thy own Heart if all outward obstacles were removed thou mayst yet be an Adulterer a Thief c. in the sight and account of God as one hath it Omnia si claudas intus adulter erit Moreover consider the malignity of these Lusts as they have a sly subtile enticing property you will see a necessity of fleeing them O young man thy Lusts are as deceitful to betray you with Smiles and Kisses as they are violent and desperate to stab you with temptations to bold and bloody perpetrations of sin Your Lusts not only tempt by haling and hurrying you oâ— to sin in an imperuous manner but they also tempt you by flattery and putting Tricks and Cheats upon you insomuch that it is next to impossible that you should ever flee and avoid the Cheats except you flee your Lusts that are the cheaters Ah how many thousand of young ones hath Lust slain this way fitly may that be applied here that is spoken of the Harlot in Prov. 7. 26. She hath cast down many wounded Solomon was a wise man yet Lust made a fool of him Lust hath much of the subtilty of the old Serpent in its blinding Sinners minds iâ— draweth young men to sin by drawing a vail over their Consciences thus enticing them on with fair flattering Promises one while pleading the sweetness and pleasure of yielding and giving way to its desires and solicitations at other times arguing ab utili the profit and gain the honour and preferment Hence the voluptuous and unwary Youth are ensnared as you read frequently in the Proverbs 1. Chap. and the 7. Chap. promising themselves abundance of satisfaction in yielding to their Lusts 18. ver of that 7. of the Prov. Come let â—â— take our fill and solace our selves with Loves Stolen Waters are sweet and Bread eaten in secret is pleasant Prov. 9. 17. Doth Ahab sell himself to his Lusts to work wickedness what gratis Oh no his lusts promise him a brave Vineyard So Gehazi what will he frame and utter a Lye for nothing Oh no he should have Sheep and Oxen and change of Rayment c. So Achan what will he sin for nothing Oh no there 's a Wedge of Gold So Judas what will he betray innocent Blood for nothing Oh no he shall have thirty Pieces of Silver Thus doth Lust tempt by flattery fraud and all is a meer Cheat for pray what got Ahab by his Vineyard was it not the ruin of him and his oh it brought forth Grapes of Gall. And what got Gehazi by his Lye but a Leprosie entailed upon him and his Heirs for ever And what got Achan by his Wedge It is the notion of one upon it That it was a wedge to cleave asunder his Soul from God And I may add to cleave asunder his Soul from his Body too So Judas his thirty pieces purchased him an Halter Thus for a lusts pleasure multitudes of Youth are tempted into it by meer flattery as you may see in the 20. Job 12. 14. Though Wickedness be sweet in the Mouth yet the Meat thereof will turn to the Gall of Asps within And in Prov. 9. 17. Stolen Waters are sweet c. but they consider not that the Dead are there and that her Guests are in the Depths of Hell I have read a Story â— a Roman Soldier who was by a Couâ—â— Marshal condemned to dye for breaking hiâ— rank to steal a Bunch of Grapes and â—â— he was going to execution some of thâ— Soldiers envied him that he had Grapes and they had none saith he Do ye emâ— me my Grapes I must pay dear for them Sâ— may we say of all the pleasure of your Lustâ— its last act is always Tragical it serveth thâ— young man as Absolom did Amnon wheâ— his Heart was merry with Wine then hâ— killed him 2 Sum. 13. 28. Or as Jael â—â— enticed him into her Tent and gave hiâ— Milk and layeth him to sleep and then Sâ—â— put her Hand to the Nail and with the Hamme she smote Sisera she smote off his Head whâ—â— she had pierced and stricken through hâ— Temples Judg. 5. 26. O young men fleâ— your Lusts yield not to their enticement when they would draw and tempt yoâ— with the bait of pleasure remember theâ— is no truth in all its promises Oh practisâ— that 3 Heb. 13. O venture not upon the forbidden Cup when it sparkleth with pleasure Your Lusts will promise you a Paradise and pay you with a bryary and thoâ—ny Wilderness where if you have a minâ— to be torn with Bushes fed with Asheâ— stung with Serpents scorch'd with Burning and that everlasting you may credit theiâ— youthful Lusts And this brings me to thâ— third and last Particular expressive of the malignity of youthful Lusts influence viz. That they hasten your Destruction 3. Flee youthful Lusts because of the malignity of their influence in that they not only hinder your Conversion hurry you into Temptation but in the