a worthy man how to live that knows not how to digest and put up such trials as these Contend who will let me serve the Lord in the Converting of any lost soul from the errour of its evil waies to the Kingdom of our God Fulfil ye I pray you my joy both mine and yours So shall this present Letter in future times become a comfortable Memorial to me a comfortable Memorial to you CHAP. IX Caveats against several more obvious dangers whereat so many Young Persons stumble and fall for ever I Have still some serious Caveats of great concernment unto you which I must needs desire you to take careful notice of without which my writing and your reading would both be in vain My Pen I perceive hastily out-runs the measure of a Letter but I will say as sometimes the Apostle did To me thus to write is not grievous but for you it may be profitable As ever therefore you desire to be your own true Friends First Take Heed of yielding to the least known sin By lesser sins at first doth the Devil draw to the greatest wickedness at last Is thy Servant a dog saies he and it may be he spake as he then thought that I should do this thing But in process of time we find for all that he did it Evil hath too much of a cursed fruitfulness going along with it This Serpent if sustered will soon encrease to a great brood The Poet could even challenge the World upon this score Tell me the man if you can any where find such a one that was ever content with one single sin Our promises may be as usually they are in such cases it shall be but once but these promises will soon lie broken at our feet and the sin iterated it may be an hundred times over So hard is it to recover out of Satans snares or to make any retreat when once engaged in evil He that hateth sin as sin hath Iosephs ingenuous answer in readiness against every temptation How shall I commit this great wickedness and sin against God Conscience once embased the heart once prostituted to vicious courses is not easily recovered to the true fear of the Lord. Afflâ—ctions may seem as Gall for bitterness but sin is alwaies as Poison for real danger and deadliness Oh! pledge not the Devil in this Cup oh take not the least drop of it at his hands There is no sin so small but it is able to weigh down the soul for ever into Hell Secondly Take heed likewise oh take great heed of falling into bad Company Better by far â—aies the Proverb of the Ancients to be altogether alone than troubled with what is much worse bad Company With such you expose your tender natures your most hopeful dispositions to be easily corrupted with such the filth of your company how odious soever secretly cleaveth unto you and will insensibly become yours He that goeth in and sitteth with them seems as it were offering to take and desirous to get acquaintance with Hell before his time Say you as Jacob Oh my soul come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united These are seeming Friends but real Foes To whom we might too justly say as he Is this your kindness to your Friend to become my sâ—ares and enticements unto evil Or with the Philosopher Oh Friends amongst hundreds of such companions scarce one real vertuous Friend to be found Thousands have died and perished for ever of the infection they have catcht from sinful company Leaving this sad Epitaph upon their Grave stone for the warning of others after them Bad Company in life is too ready a way to worse Company in death The honest Traveller will scarce willingly ride much in the Thieves Company if he can avoid it And we may all say of the profane Companion he steals at least our good name and time if not all vertuous inclinations also from us Men that see not your hearts inwardly will not stick to esteem and judge both of you and them according to the company you keep outwardly It became even proverbial with the Jews If you can first tell me what kind of Company he keeps I can then safely tell you such he also is himself Despise none you may anâ— should shew your selves meek and truly courteous toward all but still choose the ingenuous only the vertuous and the harmless for your companions The Dove flocks not with Ravens Be you as David Companions of alâ— them that fear the Lord. Or as Solomoâ— after him Walking in the way of good men keeping the paths of the righteous And it shall turn to you for a testimony and blessing It shall become as the Oratour well observed A sweâ—â— specimen of a good nature inclining 〈◊〉 self very apparently toward Wisdom and Vertue Do you indeed love your heavenly Father You cannot then consoâ—â— with those who tear and blaspheme that worthy name of his by profane oaths Is Iesus Christ truly precious to you You cannot then possibly delight your selves in them who â—reaâ— under foot the Son of God and account the bloud of the Covenant an unholy thing Oh I deliver your own souls Pray them to leave their sâ—iâ—ing or tell them plainly you must for the future leave their Company Thirdly Take heed in the next place of the sins of youth Satan fishes with one bait for the Old man with another for the Young but death is still in both Present vanities will soon grow stale and unpleasing Satan will be forced to change these for other that the mind may be carried on and delayed with foolish hopes of better contentment in them The delightful pleasures of Youth will give way to the anxious cares of riper years Thus Sin runs its round but still retains its interest suiting it self with much variety to our several Ages and tempers as we pass through them But in the mean time we may truly enough observe as Youth hath its peculiar diseases its violent burning Feavers to which it is naturally subject So hath it its peculiar corruptions levity wantonness and hâ—adiness whereto it is spiritually a much exposed These are the Young mans dangers which need as the Father well observed the streightâ— rein and bridle Oh keep your selves as Daviâ— from your iniquity and lye not dowâ— in the dust with your bones full of thâ— sins of your Youth There are many sins it is no thankâ— to us we commit them not we are scarce so much as tempted to them To refuse a dear a pleasing sin whâ—â— it is fairly offered this oh thâ— shews the uprightness and nobleneâ— of the heart He that can find in his heart tâ— deny his own longing nature he thâ— in the fear of the Lord restrains hiâ— own disposition that he might noâ— offend he that in a spirit of Christian resolution
wherein every creature so justly oweth it self to glorifie that God which gave you your life and breaâ—h You came hither as the sick man unâ—o change of air for recovery and cure You came hither to imploy an immortal soul in the study of Eternity and in a spirit of enlargement and nobleness to look after those future things which shortly shall come to pass In plainest terms You came hither to settle the great case of your Souls heaven-ward on such solid terms that neither the troubles of life nor the very stroke of death should ever hereafter be able to amaze you You came hither to seek the Lord and his face reconciliation and communion with him whom you must enjoy or dye and fall for ever Oh dear Youths these are the great ends of life if you can apply your tender minds too tender I fear to close far with such ponderous matters yet these and no less than these are the sacred ends of life and your just duty if you can receive it And who indeed can have the heart to refuse or wave the righteous pleasure of the Lord herein Is it worth the time to design so earnestly as most do such inferiour things as Honours Estates and Friends here And shall it not much more become us to rouze up our minds to nobler things things worth the thoughts worthy of the cares of an immortal Soul How we may most silially and fully serve the glory of our great Creator How we may most surely escape the snares of death And in the end inherit the long long'd for crown of life If others can find no better imployment than with Claudius Souldiers to gather Cockles or with the poysonous Spider to make sorry traps to catch silly worthless Flies in If they will needs as too too many daily do with the Serpent go upon their belly and lick the dust unworthily chaining down an heaven-born spirit to poor unsutable and earthly things Yet let them be no Presidents unto you Call you upon your souls as that holy man did to remember their Country and Kindred above God hath given you the wings of nobler desires heavenward oh clip not those golden wings but make your flight as thâ— Dove unto the Arke Walk you in Gods name in the way that is most excellent and covet you the best things Thirdly You have now understood both where you are and what you have to do It â—ests still thirdly that you carefully consider by what true means these great ends are to be at length attained and enjoyed The glory of God the glory of God it is most mens language few mens care The persecutor in Isaiah could say Let God be glorified when he for his part went about whatever he could by his bitterness against Gods people to dishonour him Heaven and happiness are easily pretended to but not so easily enjoyed Neglect and slightiness in the means of our salvation is the Epidemical disease here we commonly stumble and fall Most men could soon be perswaded to like of the end but they can fearce away with the means Well the câ—se is however stated unalterably to our hands whether we like or like it not Our way of coming to the blessed favour of God and oh that our hearts may be solemn indeed in these solemn things our way I say again is that new and living way by Christ and the Covenant of free grace He is the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by him Our way unto any sweet communion with the Lord or consequently glory in the end for our own dear souls is by the real renewing of our inner man and sound conversion toward God For what communion thinks any man is light likely to have with darkness Or what fellowship if we will needs remain in our sins can Christ have with Belial We are now come to the great knot that sore difficulty wherein your present thoughts should be so justly taken up whereupon the Crisis and decision of your future state so certainly will depend Oh! that the Lord may please to bring you under the bond of his Covenant and make you partakers of this great this blessed and honourable change from nature to grace from the power of Satan to the Kingdom of God Knowledge and education may make an external Professor But it is only Regeneration that makes a true Christian. Conversion we may all with blushing confess with many it is plainly despised with most it is secreâ—ly disregarded as a matter of great and deep thoughts of heart and so we set up the exteriour profâ—ssion of the name of God without any serious travel in it But this will serve no mans turn it is a truth shall live when we are dead No Regeneration no Salvation Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God This is that ingrafting of the wild branch into the good Olive that it may bring forth better fruit This is as the first Resurrection unto life which must forerun any ascension unto glory This is that fresh and lively drawing of the glorious Image of God upon those dark hearts which lay before as the Earth in its first Chaos void and without form or beauty Oh! that men would forbear their hard thoughts and censures of God and the sweet workings of his grace There may be many weaknesses even in gracious hearts according to the frailty of humane nature while they are under the hand of God in the transacting of this great and unusual work There may and will be sore throwes and pangs accompanying of it whereever it is truly wrought But still these things need not be matter of reviling matter of distaste or discouragement unto any What God himself sowes is here sown in weakness And as for the thing it self this new birth this new life this renewing of the inward man must indispensably and certainly be if we desire any part or place in that new Ierusalem which is above This is the very posture of things before you these are those ancient Land-marks which none may remove What oh what manner of persons then ought you to be What continual and serious care are you obliged henceforth to take lest you should do the work of the Lord and your own souls slightly CHAP. III. Counsel and Advice propounded for the right Guidance and Improvement of the Young Mans present Condition to his Own and Others Solid Comfort YOu cannot now account as too many do gracious Counsel in the Lord either needless or burdensom No no it is as an excellent Oyle that needs break no mans head The needful and happy Clue to carry us through all our present Labyrinths The true Index of a sweet and hopeful disposicion So saies the Historian shall any man become surely eminent and prosperous if he be deliberate and willing to steer his course by the compass of Good Counsel It is the neglect of this that
things the sober Young Man accounts matters of weight too great to be hâ—zarded Vitellius-like for the humouring of an irrational appetite and therefore resolves to be justly tender of them The ancient care and carriage of the Primitive Christians is highly honourable in this respect and he is willing to take it for his Golden Rule He eates what may temperately allay his hunger he drinks what may equally quench his thirst Such a proportion in both as may become the modest and chaste to allow themselves His whole deportment shews while his Religion is the Theory his Conversation is the Praxis He so eats and so drinks as one that receives Instruction as well as food as one that is ever mindful of the righteous Laws of Christian Discipline and doth all that he doth to the glory of God It is to him a maxime not altogether contemptible To rise up from Table as well as sit down with some stomack The Italian Proverb frequently whispers him in the eare as he sits at meals If you would eat much eat little Oppress not nature quench not the fire by casting too much fewel upon it His health it is to him as the salt and sauce which give the relish to every dish upon the Table It is his best bed-maker that makes his bed so easie to rest on and his sleep so refreshful to him It is his taster to all the comforts of life without which nothing savours nothing pleases And therefore he bids farewell to those surfetting dishes which would otherwaies banish and force away so sweet so pleasant a Companion from him The endowments of his mind and their exercise are to him still far dearer It is by them that the Soul looks forth out of her Mansion of the body appears at the Casement of the Senses and shews her self fair as the Morning clear as the Sun a Princess indeed the Daughter of the great King He would not for a world that the least indignity should be offered to so Noble a Guest or any obstruction put upon those honourable operations it is so divinely imployed in That the motion of those Golden Wheels should be clogged by any Kitchin dust or filth getting within them He allows his body very much respect as remembring it shall be one day Copartner with him in glory But desires it still to rest satisfied with what is fit for it in its place that as a Servant it may be alwaies ready â—t the Souls beck a weapon of righteousness to serve the glory of the Lord. In his habit his cloaths are to him the sad memorial of his sin the covering of his shame taken up at the second hand having been either the Lodging of Worms or the every-day Coats of Beasts before ever they were his He remembers and thinks on these things and sits down finding but cold encouragement to be proud of his Cloaths The utmost that he henceforth aims at is a clean and decent plainness Concluding as Lycurgus amongst his Lacedâ—monians that it is he the endowments of his mind the comlines of his body which must rather be an ornament to his cloaths than they to him He is willing with that Ambassadour to wear his Doublet of Cloath of Gold with a plainer baize Coat over it without Any Garments satisfie him outwardly so he may but have his Cloath of Gold underneath an enlarged heart toward God and goodness inwardly It is enough to him if he hath with Iacob any convenient rayment to put on He troubles not himself with a restless affectation and niceness about trifles what trimming or what Lace he knows Wisdom and Vertue are far the best The Peacock may be the gayer but the Eagle is still the far nobler bird And indeed cloaths with any are but like the Sign over the door which tell all men what kind of shop and mind there is within 8. He is one of great modesty and chastity in all his carriage This he reckons his Shibboleth his nearest trial wherein nature must and soon will discover it self whether filthiness or holiness the righteous commands of God or the wretched lusts of the flesh be dearest to it This is indeed the dangerous season of his life The Archers begin now to shoot sore temptations and enticing thoughts rush in thick upon him But he goes to Gods Armory he takes up his Bible and often reads the Fathers conversion-Scripture praying the Lord that it may prove his also and a preservative to him from the power of evil Not in chambering and wantonness but in putting on the Lord Christ. We may I see in a few words understand all of us what our life and great care should be These last daies of the World are greatly sunk from a generous nobleness and man-like delight in heroical aâ—chievements to a Spirit of effeminacy and soâ—tness It is not desirable nor indeed altogether convenient to lay before the chaste Reader much description of it Let it be thrown amongst the works of darkness to be brought to light no more let it so die the sooner the better Only we cannot be ignorant we are born to far higher things toward God toward our native Country and toward ouâ— own Souls than wanton Complements and dalliances of the Flesh. And oh that all would know a Sardâ—napalus life seldom but meets with a Sardanapalus's death Babylon shall one day receive for all her luxury wherein she hath been so profuse measure for measure from the avenging â—and of God How much she hath lived deliciously so much sorrow and torment give her Such is the sad Exit of a loose and vicious life he dieth and is numbred for ever amongst the unclean These things are the Young Mans warning pieces and for their sakes he is resolved to stand upon his guard and to abstain from all appearance of evil Wantonness in Gestures obscaeness in Speeches lasciviousness in Actions however too much favoured by others are to him as the sulphurous sparks of Aetna as so many flames breaking forth from the bottomless pit the shame of the Actor the danger of the Spectator an immodest abusing of nature an open defiance to all Vertue and which is yet far more an high contempt poured forth in the faâ—e of Religion it self His Soul as the righteous soul of Lot is grieved and he turneth away from them Chastness is still exceeding dear and honourable in his eyes As the cleanness of the vessel where the heavenly Treasures should be put the clearness of the Paper whereon the words of life should be written the Souls fidelity to God under all allurements to the contrary its victorious triumph and conquest over the snares of Satan He willingly cuts off all occasions which might in the least endanger or stain the purity of his mind and watchethâ—to the utmost that he may keep himself unspotted of these pollutions of the flesh He â—irst maketh a Covenant with his
you Factious they are it may be loâ—h you should be Superstitious but still they would have you Pious See then Sweet Youths I how little of real discouragement lies before you Your nearest Friends are ready to say unto you as once Cyrus to the trembling and willing Iews Go up and the Lord your God be with you Be ye then I pray you toward God Children of great willingness toward your Parents blameless and without rebuke drawing the love of all unto you in the Families wherin you dwell CHAP. XI The Conclusion of the whole by way of Exhortation ANd now what hinders but that all this might be willingly imbraced faithfully practised the life of grace cordially espoused and your Souls for ever saved Your Friends they desire it Your own everlasting welfare is bound up in it And God himself from Heaven calls unto you for it What answer can you now tender but as Christ in the Psalms Loe I come to do thy will oh God! Concluding with the Father He were justly worthy to be cut off by death that should refuse on such sweet terms to close with a gracious life Oh! require not the Lord and your own Souls so unkindly Give not your years to vanity nor your precious time to that which will not comfort in the end Sins in Youth will most certainly become sorrows in Age. It is usually said Youth laies in and Age lives upon it The one sows the other reaps Oh! sow that now which may be worth the reaping afterwards How loth would you be to have your own life now become your death hereafter To have the foolish sins of your Youth to stand between you and your everlasting real happiness Your present vain pleasures made your arraignment your condemnation your utter undoing in the day of Judgement This would prove like the Roman Souldiers Grapes short pleasures sorry pleasures joyless pleasures dearly bought and dearly paid for Thus might you feather the Arrow that wounds you from your own wing and in the end sit down with that sad number who all the year long sigh over this doleful note For a few short pleasures have we purchased to our selves innumerable and everlasting torments Well however I pray know you cannot be so slighty so careless now but you shall be as solemn and perplexed then Sin cannot please so much in the commission but it will torment far more when it comes to be suffered for and the Sinner to be brought forth to execution Go Christless before the Lord and there shall be no Parent there able or willing to countenance you no excuse there to be made for you no hope no comfort left in your own consciences to relieve you Oh! treasure not up to your selves wrath against that day that dreadful day of wrath How tremendous and heart-piercing are the Examples which God hath set as so many flaming swords before you that you might take timely warning and not rush upon your own destruction Ishmael scoffs at Religion and is cast out of his Fathers house and the house of God for ever Absalom proves rebellious against his Parents and shortens his own life untimely by it The Children mock the Prophet and die under the fierce anger of the Lord while they are doing of it I tell you Sirs God will be avenged of Children as well as Elder people of poor of rich of any if they shall dare to sin against him Let not the Devil deceive you oh slatter not your selves These things hath God written for the particular admonition of young people and will expect that you should bear them in mind Oh! lay such memorials upon your hearts and receive instruction from them But if after all any of you should be secretly unwilling and all this counsel from the Lord should be a burden and weariness unto you you must then once more go with me to the door of the Tabernacle that I may there reason further with you before the Lord. And truly I must now even heartily chide with you Oh Sirs do but consider what you do How unreareasonable how unrighteous it is How unanswerable how unsafe it is like to prove Will you have Bibles and will you not believe them Will you be called Christians and will you live like Heathens Have you immortal souls shining with such bright raies of the sacred Image of God upon them and will you needs wilfully damn them Hath God given you religious Parents tender of you as of the apple of their own eye and will you not be counselled by them Are you resolved to be a shame to your Friends in Life and a terrour to your selves in Death Can it possibly enter into your minds to think that ever any good will come of sinful courses Or that ever you should have cause to repent your selves of any thing heartily done in obedience to the Commands of God for the good of your Souls Hath God solemnly sworn The soul that sinneth be he who he will that soul shall die and can you suppose he will break his word for you Can you so much as imagine that the most holy God who is a God of pure eyes and hateth iniquity can you any way encourage your selves to hope that he will open Heaven Gates at the last day to the impenitent to the ungodly who scorn their duty who slight their mercy Do you expect a new day of Grace when this is gone that you make such waste of your present time Do you think everlasting burnings are so easily undergone that you make such slow haste to flee from the wrath that is to come Is it not enough that you were born in iniquity but you will stubbournly die in your sins also Nay then Ichabod Ichabod your glory and our hopes are both departed Sons of Belial against all the sweet counsels of God to the contrary will you needs wretchedly make your selves Children as the word too sadly imports that have broken the yoke becoming henceforth altogether unprofitable both to your selves and others never likely to emerge or rise more to any glory Then may Satan justly enough take up his taunt and triumph as the Father represents it He a Servant of thine No Lord It is my work that he all the day does it is my sinful motions he chiefly delights in There can be no plea made for him He is whatever he may vainly think of himself not thine but mine Yea then your Parents though loth such words should ever come from them will be enforced to cry out How have we brought forth to the grave and our breasts given suck to the Destroyer Then may Davids mourning be heard again in their Tents Oh Absalom my Son my Son how art thou fallen and dying as the sinful dieth in the crimson guilt the bloudy gore of all thy sins At these sad rates are the righteous counsels of the Lord rejected and set at nought But ere we thus part I