Lusts do exceedingly augment that estrangedness to and distance from God So here there is a natural rebellion in the Will against God but these youthful Lusts when fulfilled do much more add to that resistance and opposition and further that wretched and vile aversion in the Will to God And they will introduce such a vile setled habitual enmity in the Will to the blessed God as that you will wish there were no God with David's Fool in the 14. Psal 1. For you cannot but know that your Lusts are detestable to the holy and pure Nature of God who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity as the Prophet speaks in the 1. Hab. 13. You have Items of this in your own Breasts you cannot plead ignorance herein that when you obey your Lusts you do that abominable thing which his Soul hateth and abhorreth which being done most certainly influenceth the Will to a dislike of and regret at the holy Nature of God that you like not to retain him in your thoughts but will account thine own impure lusts more desirable and better than God and if so you may easily make an estimate how these youthful lusts indispose the Soul to Conversion it may as well stand with the life of a man to be cast into the depth of the Sea with a Milstone about his neck as it can stand with thy Conversion whilst thou yieldest obedience to thy youthful Lusts for these more and more alienate thy Will from God and Christ and swell thee with pride and enmity against the holy Will and Word of God that it will become a pleasing thing to thee to shove God out of thy thoughts 10. Psal 4. and to say to the Almighty Depart from me I desire not the knowledge of thy ways And can this stand with Conversion O see the malignity of the influence that thy youthful Lusts have upon thy Will to hinder thy Conversion with what astonishment should you bethink your selves and say What a wretch am I to yield to my youthful lusts which set my Will against my bountiful and blessed Maker the Author of my Life and Being O the compleat and comprehensive Wickedness of this enough to make me tremble what to hate God and love my lusts that will damn me O horrid temper how canst thou hold up thy Head before him whose Eyes are as a Flame of Fire if there be found in thee an obstinate downright aversation in thy Will surely O my Soul if thou werâ— to live here a thousand years and hadst no other business than to bewail this it would not be sufficient O young ones think of this O that God would set it home upon your Hearts methinks it should cast yoâ— down with amazement and compel you tâ— say when tempted to yield to your youthful Lusts with that excellent young man in the 39. Gen. 1. How can I do so great Wickedness and sin against God 4thly These youthful lusts indispose the Soul to Conversion as they exceedingly harden the heart hence have you that admonition in the 3. Heb. 13. Take heed lest you be hardened through the deceitfulness of Sin There is a threefold hardness incident to the heart of man 1. Natural 2. Habitual or contracted 3. Judicial or penal 1. the Natural is found in all men as they come into the world in their several Ages and Generations it is derived to us from Adam and it's part of that wretched corrupt nature that we receive from him by our immediate Parents 2. the Contracted or acquired hardness is that which we bring upon our hearts by a course of Sin we read of it in Prov. 29. 1. Ezek. 3. 7. and Rom. 20. 5 6. 3. the Judicial hardness is a tradition or being given up to our own hearts lusts by a justly provoked God not that God infuseth any evil disposition into the heart but withdraweth his gracious Spirit Deut. 29. 9. and moreover he leaves the stubborn Sinner to his own natural and contracted hardness whereby he becometh more blind dead refractory and obstinate than ever of this we read in the 9 of Exodus and the 12. in the instance of the Lord 's hardening Pharaoh's Heart Isa 6. 9 10. Go and tell this People hear you indeed but understand not and see you indeed but perceive not make the Heart of this People fat lest they be converted It is a tremendous Text and is quoted six times in the New Testament Math. 13. 14. Mark 4. 12. Luk. 8. 10. John 12. 40. Acts 28. 26. Rom. 11. 8. Now it is principally the second and third viz. Contracted and Judicial hardness that youthful lusts yielded to do miserably bring upon the Heart These make the Heart like the Leviathan's scales as Job speaks these do as it were bury their Heart in the Grave and roll a great Stone over it and so they indispose the Soul to Conversion for what fruit can ever be expected from a Rock oâ— a Stone let the Rain come down from Heaven upon it let the Sun shine with its Beamâ— upon it let the Seed's-man cast his Seeds on it yet the Rock is a Rock still So it is with a stony rocky Heart let there be line upon line and precept upon precept alas there is no impression made neither can there be until there be a removal of its hardness and that can never be till the cause of that hardness be removed which is a going on in the practice of these vile Lusts O the malignity of their influence they stop the Ears thaâ— the Heart becomes like the deaf Adder they shut the Eyes they fold up the Arms theâ— make the Heart like an Adamant regardleâ—â— under threatnings and all other administrations used by God to awaken convince and convert Sinners let one Minister come after another and cry aloud lift up their Voices like Trumpets in the shrillest manner as Boanerges yet as Zephaniah telleth us in 3. Chap. 5. They know no shame let God speak to them in their Prosperity they will not hearken 22. Jer. 21. let him multiply upon them the Fruits and Expressions of his Goodness in daily Preservations Deliverances c. yet they despise the Riches of his Goodness 2. Rom. 4. and 32. Deut. 15. But Jesurun waxed fat and kicked then he forsook God which made him O the malignity of Sin 's influence Solomon saith in 9. Eccles 3. It fills the Heart with madness while they live O young man thou art besides thy self bereaved of the right use of thy Reason by following of thy lusts hadst thou ever any fear or tenderness any sense of Sin any compunction of Heart O if thou yieldest to thy Lusts how quickly will all be extinguished and not only so but those Lusts will bring thee to such obduration as will lay thee naked and open to the unexpressible Misery of having that Scripture fulfilled upon thee 6. Isaiah and the 9. and 29 Chap. 10. The Lord hath poured upon you the Spirit of a
have rebelled c. O what Paleness would gather upon your Faces were you cited to appear before the Bar of God and your Consciences should give testimony against you herein The next Consideration I shall offer for your help against this youthful Sin of Delays shall be as followeth 3. Consider the egregious folly and madness of Delaying thy Repentance and return to God wherein as in the former Consideration thou abusest the Grace of God so here thou abusest the very Reason of a Man and most foolishly cheatest thy self as is evident in these following particulars Thou wilt turn to God hereafter whic◠is as hath been largely proved utterly uncertain and at present thou wilt embrace thy sinful Pleasures now is not this notorious folly to put all to the desperate adventure of an hereafter when thousand have perished and found no place for Repentance in all their after Times and Seasons Suppose at last you should come to g◠Christ and pardon and God would pleas◠to wait upon you though this is rare th◠is a miracle of Grace yet what a wounding will it be to you to remember how you have spent your youth and strength in Sin O the bitter Out-cries and Accusations o◠such Now how foolish a thing is it to Delay at present upon hopes of hereafter Repentance that is in plain English in hopes of hereafter-Grief next door to Despair in hopes of being wounded a thousand times deeper and being more confounded and ashamed and drinking larger draughts of the Wormwood and the Gall than early Converts do Is not this Folly Again how unreasonable and mad a thing is it to expect that God should presently open to me when I call for Mercy in my last extremity after I have most wickedly put him off and sacrificed the Male of my Flock my best Years to the Devil and my Lusts Can it seem reasonable that an holy and jealous God should regard such presumption Again what Folly is it to defer a work till hereafter that may be done now at present with ease since should I live a thousand years each day yea hour's delay would add something more to the hardness of my Heart and difficulty to my Conversion qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit All acts of Sin strengthen the habits within they engage the heart more to the love of sin and the more resistance always the more impenitence and hardness O foolish Youth hast thou not enough already to sink thee what folly is it to add more weight of guilt if a man had received one stab it were dangerous but suppose he had a hundred how hard would be his cure Oh young man wo to thee if thou makest thy Conversion thus hazardous by Delays As in bodily affairs in case of Sickness is it not folly to defer sending for the Physitian or in case of Poyson received into the Body is it not folly to defer the Remedy till to morrow or in case of a Wound received never to regard the means of healing till it fester and turn to a Gangreen pray what would you say or think of a man that when Sickness or Distempers come should say I am not at leasure to be sick go and come at a more convenient time would you not conclude that the Disease had already seiz'd the man's Intellectuals Alas the madness and folly in saying so to Repentance is much more and much greater unless a man could command the Grace of Repentance at his pleasure I remember the Advice one gave to young men in imitation of Solomon in the 11. Eccles 9. Rejoyce O young man c. q. d. Walk after the sight of your own Eyes now and look after the Duty of Repentance when you are blind and can't see Work not while it's Day but when the Night comes mind matters of less moment while you can do any thing and your main interest when you are fit for nothing Defer your Repentance till hereafter though you know not but you may dye to Night put it off to a sick Bed though you cannot tell but sudden Death may prevent your lying sick at all Run as far as you can out of the way to Life even till out of breath and then return First let your time be spent and then improve it Increase your Debts to purpose and be sure that you have a good long Score and then pay Provoke God as much as you can and then appease him Be sure you treasure up as much Wrath as you can and then confidently expect Heaven O the folly of delaying our Repentance Sin is so fortified and strengthned by delays that every hour drives the Nail in farther till it 's very difficult removing it Sin takes the deeper rooting by delays and requires much more strength and violence to pluck it up and the heart is in danger of growing to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that you read of Rom. 2. 5. an irrepentable heart and altho' God is able to give Repentance yet there 's an infinite peradventure whether he will or no for as Augustine saith * Qui enim poenitenti promisit indulgentiam dilatori diem crastinum non promisit Aug. in Psal 145. 8. That God who promiseth Pardon to the Penitent hath not promised to morrow to the Sinner that puts off his Repentance O the folly of delays when every moment the Devil will be nearer and God farther off when the next closure with Lust may ensnare and enslave thee for ever O Young Man is this thy Prudence to promise to thy self a more convenient Season hereafter when thou wilt have less time less strength less aid and assistance less tenderness of Conscience less influence of the Spirit and when thou wilt have more love to thy Lust more blindness in thy Mind more hardness of Heart more aversness in thy Will to turn to God more unsensibleness and searedness in thy Conscience or else more in danger of downright and absolute despair O miserable folly of delays Besides if you consider the suspition of an hereafter-Repentance true Repentance is never too late but late Repentance is seldom true which might be abundantly argued from the usual experience of Sinners when they are sick O what Protestations do they then make of their Repentance and Amendment but commonly return to Sin as the Dog to the Vomit when restored to health again So that there is usually great unsoundness in Mens Sick-bed Repentances by no means is it to be depended on Surely it would be compar'd with this a pardonable folly for a Man to adventure upon Poyson because he hath heard there is a certain Antidote in the World to expel it tho' he cannot tell whether he can get that Remedy or no To what this is in the present Case It would be a piece of madness that would be deservedly unpardonable to run the risque and adventure of a death-bed Repentance when you are told of the multitudes that perish to a
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
Lot Haste escape for thy Life cito citius citissime Presently in some â—â—ch plausible manner as this they reply If I never do worse I hope I shall do well enough â—ave not others done the same or as bad I have the Examples of Thousands a multitude on my side both of Superiors Equals and Inferiours O the unspeakable deal of Poyson that is thus conveyed in the hearts of young Persons and the innumerable Souls that go to Hell by Pattern How many Children have learned to Lye Swear break the Sabbath and deride the Godly from their Graceless Fathers and Mothers who have herein been special Factors for the Devil and Hell 8. Hating Instruction and Admonition and Reproof This is another Sin that Youth are guilty of 5 Proverbs 11 12. There you have the Rebellious Youth brought in under strong Impressions of the Terrors of the Lord for this very Sin And thou Mourn at the last and say How have I hated Instruction and would not obey the Voice of my Teachers O how many sad Witnesses have we had of this at Tyburne Hence it is that we find Godly Parents oft times abounding in Tears wringing their Hands smiting their Breasts and crying out O nothing will work upon my Chilâ— Thousands of times have I prayed wept warned and after all as stubborn and disobedient a before Alas there is a secret loathing of gooâ— Councel in Youth Monitoribus Asper Younâ— Men love to consult with Flesh and Blood and to walk after the Imaginations of theiâ— own Hearts but they hate to comply witâ— the Sage and Serious Instructions of Religion 9. Intemperance in Meats and Drinks which stands in a voluntary eating and drinking to excess for the pleasing the Appetite this is not so much the Temptation of old and sickly People as of our youth to pamper and glut their vile Bodies as if God had made them a kind of upright Bruits that need not stoop down to a Trough or in resemblance of a Spring or a Hogshead that are of little use save to contain Liquor Alexandrinus calleth this Sin the Throat-Devil and the Belly-Devil And too true is it that the Devil destroyeth Multitudes of Youth by this Sin who for the pleasing of their Throats will sell him their Souls as Esau his Birth-right for his Belly O this Canine Eager and Insatiable Appetite where it Rules it Ruins all Physicians say That of those who out-live their Childhood scarce one of many that dye in their Prime but by Intemperance for generally in the younger sort â—eligion and Reason are weakest and but underlings to their unruly Appetites and â—hen once this outragious Lust has got the Ascendant and Regal Power a blazing Sâ—â—r burning in the Heavens is not so fatally â—â—â—inous of Ruine as this Seneca saith Eâ—â—lo est Parochianus Diabolo An Epicure is Parishioner to the Devil who then can â—â—â—ciently lament that Innundation of Epicuâ—â—m Gluttony and Drunkenness that hath â—â—er-run the Youth of this Nation Ah who can refrain Tears To see how many born of pious Progenitors and bred up in Religious Families again How many born of Gruth Blood descended from Honourable Ancestors and bred up at the Feet of Gamaliel at the Schools and of pregnant Capacities and who might have been peculiar Blessings to the Land I say to see these as well as others that are brought forth in a lower Station and brought up in a viler and a more irreligious way to Sacrifice their Youthful days to Bacchus the God of Wine and emasculate their Spirits in Taverns and Drunken Societies We read in 1 Pet. 4. 3. of those who walked in Lasciviousness Lusts excess of Wine Revellings Banquetings wherein they think strange that you run noâ— with them to the same excess of Riot speakinâ— evil of you I need not search into the Riotous Practice of other Nations nor lay mâ— Scene abroad to make Application of thiâ— Text Alas it holds too true of us in thâ—â— Nation who reckon that they have noâ— made their Guests welcom if they have noâ— made them Drunk and deem it as a piece incivility and rudeness that deserves a statâ— if you will not go on to pledge them in theiâ— Hellish Health to their Wits end Gooâ— Lord that ever any that breaths within thâ— English Air and that names the name â—â— Christ should commence such Wickednesâ— Oh that our Head were Waters c. 10. Another Sin that youth is prone to is keeping ill Company that Soul ruining snare of Satan's which hath slain its thousands as being the foundation and inlet to all manner of wickedness O how many hopeful young ones have been spoiled in the very bud by the infectious influences of vile Company whence is that advice of the Wise-man's in the 1st of Prov. 10. 11 12 13 14 15 16. My Son if sinners entice thee consent thou not walk not thou in the way with them refrain thy feet from their Path. What Solomon saith elsewhere of the steps of the strange Woman we may say of the steps of wicked company they take hold of Hell it is a new link in the Chain that fasteneth damnation to you it is like tying a Milstone about your necks that will pull you both Soul and Body into the bottom of the Sea of Gods Wrath from whence there is no recovery O young ones you will find it one of the hardest things that is when once you are engag'd in evil Company to disenthral your selves again little do you know where it will lead you it will insensibly harden you and bring you to a reprobate mind it will vastare conscientiam lay wast your Consciences and so seat you in the Chair of the Scorners and then the next step is Hell Ah! how many young ones when first they have engaged in evil company and set out with them have been a little startled and affrighted at their interlocutory Oathes for nemo repente fit turpissimus as Juven speaks yet after a while frequenting such company they find themselves almost irrecoverably ingulfed into those prodigious sins that themselves could not have believed they should ever adventured on such an Emblem of Hell is ill company that without the breach of Charity one may say that none continue in the one while they live but inevitably fall into the other when they dye and so their steps take hold of Hell where the worm dyeth not and fire is not quenched where their fellowshp in sin will be turned into a miserable fellowship of flames where an holy and just God will do that viz. damn them which they in their merry meeting have so often called upon him to do and the Devil will take that viz. their Souls which they have so freely and frequently given him 11. Another sin whereunto youth are much addicted is Lying a sin that seemeth to be contemporary with speech in young Children that as soon as their earthly Parents teach them to speak their hellish father the Devil learns them
multitudes of young people Satan hath corrupted the minds of many and diffused his venemous influence not only through the Pagan and Papal but also through the Protestant and Reformed world too O! what a world of infidelity and Atheism is to be found in our Cities and Countries and would to God our Churches were free but if we compare the lives of abundance of Professors with their pretended Creed really their profession will scarce cover their Hypocrisie and Atheism though you should exercise the largest Charity God and Christ the immortality of the Soul Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell are in their Creed and they would condemn you for a rank Heretick if you should deny any of these Doctrines But a little observation of their sensual lives will soon acquaint you with their vile and odious Hypocrisie and Atheism while you behold in their lives the great God disobeyed Christ vilified Heaven condemned and the Worlds vanities preferred before it Hell ventured upon for the sake of a pleasing sin And among us there are a generation of young Wits sprang up that that albeit they have had baptismal Water on their face yet arrived to that highth of sin as to tell the world not only in their works but also in words that Religion is a meer fancy nothing but the melancholly imagination of some poor spirited men that foolishly and fondly conceit of such a thing as God lives and of a Heaven prepared for those that have it and Hell for those that want it and then they scare and affright themselves with those buggbears that their own fancies represent And thus as the judicious Gurnal sadly observes p. 298. Some among us have dared to make it their boast and glorying that they have at last got from under the burthen of that Tyrant Conscience they can Swear and Drink Whore and what not without any check or remorse Time was when they were under the wing of their Parents that they trembled at the hearing of such guilt But now entring into those Atheistical Clubs and imbibing their principles their Consciences are become silent after they have been duck't so often for scolding that they are Sermon poof and laugh at the Notion of Damnation and at Ministers who in the name of God threaten impenitent sinners with it and look upon them as the veriest fools and mad Men in the World but know that these will prove the worst fools at last yea worse by far than David's Fool Psal 14. 1. The food hath said in his heart there is no God That fool durst only whisper it but these speak it boldly and openly These declare their Sin as Sodom and hide it not To go about to confute these Sons of Belial would be a vain thing we have Moses and the Prophets every Leaf therein is sufficient But these Sinners deride the Scriptures and so tho' one should arise from the Dead and come from Hell with the Flames of that burning Lake about his Ears and tell them the Torments they endure neither would they believe Surely that such a Generation not only of practical but professed Atheists should be found in a Land that hath enjoyed so much Gospel-light is a lamentation and ought to be for a lamentation I may say as Jeremiah 2. chap. 12. v. Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord. Methinks it should make our very Hearts to tremble when we see such cursed Weeds spring up in such a Garden that God hath taken such pains withal he is more than blind that doth not see and so say Stultorum plena sunt omnia Master Greenham feared rather Atheism than Popery would be England's Ruin The Lord affect your Heart and mine with this Abomination of the Day we live in namely the ridiculing and deriding the power of Godliness stiling it nothing but Fancy or Faction Pride or Singularity 18. Another Sin the Youth of this Age are much given to is Swearing Cursing and taking the Holy and Reverend Name of God in vain A Sin for which the Land mourns There are two Kinds of it both which young people are prone to 1. Using the Name of God unreverently in common talk at every turn to say O Lord O God or God bless me or take me this is taking God's Name in vain and how many thousands of little Children as well as others are guilty in this kind almost at every word tossing that awful and holy Name about in their graceless mouths which a world of Glorious Angels and glorified Spirits are magnifying continually 2. Horrid prodigious Oaths not to be named without abhorrency Rom. 3. 13 14 you read there that their Throat is an open Sepulchre the poyson of Asps is under their Lips whose Mouth is full of Cursing and Bitterness And certainly if ever the Youth of a Kingdom were in danger of that dreadful Curse of the Almighty flaming out from the Mount Ebal of those Scriptures the Swearing Youth of this Kingdom is Zech. 5 2 3 4. And he said unto me What seest thou And I answered I see a flying Roll the lengâ— thereof is twenty Cubits and the breadth there of two Cubits Then said he unto me This iâ— the Curse that goeth forth over the whoâ—â— Earth for every one that sweareth shall bâ— cut off according to it I will bring it forth saith the Lord of Hosts and it shall enter into the House of him that sweareth falsly by my Name and it shall remain in the middle of his House and it shall consume it with the Timber and Stones thereof Whence you may note that so long as this Sin remains unrepented of this Curse remains and abideth on them till it bring utter ruin upon them and their whole Estate Mal. 3. chap. 5. And I will come near to you in Judgment and I will be a swift Witness against the Swearer saith the Lord of Hosts Exodus 20. 7. The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Not guiltless there is a Meiosis in those words that is the Lord will be severely avenged on such O the fearful estate of not a few but multitudes and whole troops of Children and young ones in this Land in this City in our Armies in our Fleets by reason of this Sin who can number the Persons much less able are we to number the Oaths the horrid Imprecations they use that almost at every word call to God to Damn them their Souls their Blood Wo to us the moral Heathen would be ashamed of us Is it not time to lament to see a young Generation run with open Mouth upon Ruin with their Mouth set against Heaven in Blasphemies and such prodigious Vices as hasten their own Damnation and threaten England's Destruction may not we justly fear that the bloody Oaths of the Land of our Nativity may turn it into an Aceldama i. e. a Field of Blood In this Sin are wrapped both Parents and
Children Masters and Servants Officers and common Soldiers Rich and Poor and too frequently Ministers with the People the Buyer the Seller Verily if the Lord who threatneth to be a swift Witness against the Swearer should now come among us with his deserved as well as threatned Curse what scudding and crying to the Hills and Mountains to cover us would there be A Tree loaded with Boughs is fit for lopping a Sinner loaded with Oaths is fit to be hew'n down cast into Hell Fire A Chimney furr'd with Soot will take fire at last a Sinner's mouth furr'd with Oaths will at last without Repentance burn him with unquenchable Fire O how little is this considered by our common Swearers O young ones take heed of this Sin young Joseph when he was in a Swearing Court he learn'd to swear the Court-Oath viz. by the Life of Pharaoh that was his Sin But alas in our Age it 's become fashionable and a piece of Gentility to Swear by the Death Wounds Blood of Christ Petty Oaths of Mass Faith and Troth which in former times were most severely condemned by the good old Puritans Now wo to us we run to the highest form in the Devil's School and commence Masters of that Black Art of damme's and full-mouth'd Blasphemies Yea and the Lord be merciful to us our little Children have learn't it as soon as they can speak or waddle about Streets the sound whereof hath often pierced my Heart with my Ears the good Lord of Heaven and Earth banish it out of our Island or it will I fear sink us We are encompassed about with two Oceans saith one an Ocean of Waters and an Ocean of Mercies And let me add a third namely an Ocean of Oaths which if not reformed will bring a fourth viz. an Ocean of Miseries Some say Words are but Wind it 's true but it is such a Wind as will blow a Soul to Hell if Grace prevent it not 19. Another Sin that young people are notoriously given to and guilty of is Idle and Sinful squandring away their precious time young People think that they have such a profound and full stock of time to come that they have enough to spare and spend profusely and while away as the Countrey Phrase is at present and therefore they make little or nothing of lavishing out Hours and Days You know persons will spend prodigally out of a full Purse who would be very sparing if they knew they had but a little or were like to come to Poverty Thus Youth foolishly fancy that because some have lived to see and fulfil 70 or 80 Years therefore they must do so too and when they have been thus kind to themselves in making such a computation of many Years to come then they turn Prodigals of their time and cast it away as a thing of nought and with it cast away all care of their Souls and loiter out their Morning-Season at that profuse rate as if they were never to be called to account for that or that God only design'd and assign'd the Evening of their Life that last and worst part of time to be redeem'd and carefully improved for their better part their precious Souls But how miserably cheated are young People herein as appeareth by those many awakening instances of our Lord 's coming to young Ones in the Morning of their Life a time when they least of all looked for him and then how have they cried out O precious time more worth than a World when it cometh to the last Sand at the bottom of the Glass O then what a mercy would they esteem it if God would trust them once again with Time O young People think of this the next Temptation to Idleness or carnal Ease oâ— Pleasures that returneth and frown upon it give it the same entertainment as you would a Thief that comes to kill or rob you remember your Souls and Eternity are imbarqued in your youthful Seasons and surely the consideration of the worth of your Souls and the astonishing nature of Eternity carrieth force enough to make the extravagant lavishers of time to become the most thrifty Husbands of it as one of the most precious things in the World O young Man thou hast now a rich Price put into thy hands dost thou want a Heart to improve it Know thou that ere long thou mayest have a Heart but no price of precious Time in thine Hand We are fallen into a loose and licentious Age. 20. Uncleanness is another Sin that Youth is prone to this is the breach of the Seventh Commandment In which Commandment there is a two fold Uncleanness forbidden first mental or the uncleanness of the Mind secondly corporal or that of the Body Now Youth is commonly addicted to both these and to watch and wait for opportunities to fulfil their impure Lusts hence in the 7th of the Prov. 6 7 8 9. you read At the Window of my House I looked through the Casement and behold among the Simple Ones I discerned among the Youths a Young Man void of understanding passing by the way to her House and he went near her Corner in the twilight in the Evening and behold there met him a Woman with the attire of an Harlot his Eye waited for the twilight and in the twilight he was taken by her as you may see in the 23 verse Peter speaketh 2 Epist 2 chap 4. vers of Eyes that are full of Adultery It 's true indeed that this Sin hath the same common principle as other Sins viz. a corrupt Nature it is seated in the Heart there is the Fountain of it 15. Matth. 19. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murthers Adulteries c. But yet the Eye is the Heart 's chief agent to espy out objects and to find out and fetch in Fuel for this Sin And as the Heart sometimes sets the Eye on work to prole and range about for a beautiful Bait so the Eye sometimes meeting with Objects sets the Heart on work yea all a fire or in a flame of adulterouâ— Lustings Youth is a hot Age and exceedingly propense to be carried away with these lascivious and filthy Lustings as hot anâ— fat Grounds are most fertiâ—â—â—nd abounding with filthy Weeds hence we find upoâ— Record 15. Luke 13 14. the Younger Brother called the Prodigal Son who spent a upon Harlots his vicious and corrupt Afections were restless and raging till hâ— had yielded his Members as Instrument and Servants to this Sin of Uncleanness â— the Apostle phraseth it in the 6. Rom. 13. 1â— Not that I speak this as if other Ages weâ—â— free from such inordinate Lusts for Naturâ— Corruption is not idle in any Age but of a Ages Youth is most incessantly and viâ—lently bent hereunto So that it is to â—â— accounted a singular Mercy and Grace fâ—â— a young Person to pass that season of Life chastly as not to contract some such notabâ—â— blot to cleave to him like a
that Youthful Sin of Pride THat Youth is apt to admire themselves for their supposed Excellences as Beauty Parts Wit Strength c. I have shewed before Man is a proud piece of Dust and a little thing will puff him up a Râ—bbon a Feather a Wire a black spot a bag full of Dirt a Shop full of Goods or the Excrements of Beasts this is that old Leaven of Corruption that hath leavened the whole humane nature hence young Absalon swells O that I might be Judge of Israel Wherefore I shall lay down some directions in order to your fleeing this Sin 1. Represent to thy self how odious and abominable this Sin is to God as will evidently appear if thou study these Scriptures 1 Peter 5. God resisteth the Pruod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word signifieth Sets himself in battle array against such a person Proverbs 6. 16 17. it is there placed in the front of those six things the Lord hates A proud look c. Proverbs 16. 5. Every one that is Proud in Heart is abomination to the Lord and though Hand joyn in Hand yet shall he not go unpunished Isaiah 23. 8. Surely the Lord of Hosts hath purposed to stain the Pride of all Glory And in Isaiah 2. 11. The Day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is Proud whose Heart is lifted up O young People when ever you are affecting a Glory and a kind of Supremacy to your selves consider these Scriptures and remember what a God he is that hath thus expressed his hatred of this Sin he is a God of infinite Greatness and Majesty that might in his Soveraignty have left thee in the Womb of Nothing had he pleased or might have crush'd thee into nothing in the Cradle When he did but let out of his Glory a little to Job and Isaiah one crys ouâ— Wo is me I am an undone man I have seen the Lord Isaiah 6. The other breaks forth Behold I am vile I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes for mine Eyes have seen the Lord of Host And in Heaven where he fully shineth forth in his Glory the Elders fall down and cast down their Crowns before him that sitteth on the Throne O proud Dust one glimpse of the high and lofty One would make thee quake and tremble Secondly Get thy Heart well seasoned with deep Convictions of what a poor sinful mortal Creature thou art it is ignorance of your selvâ—s that makes you proud Hence you read Rev. 3. 17. Thou sayest I am rich and increased with Goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked Here you see the different judgment of God and man Whence is it but from man's ignorance of himself O proud Youth were you brought but once to understand what a leprous deformed diseased Soul lodgeth in thy dunghil Body let Conscience answer whether thou couldst be Proud or no a Soul so ignorant of and averse unto the blessed God so unbelieving unholy universally miserable and wretched so like to the Devil and yet be proud a Soul so unreconciled to God so unready for the coming of Christ in such danger of the damnation of Hell one would thiâ—k here should be no more room for Pride than there is reason for it and that 's none at all but the quite contrary namely lying in Tears and abasement before the Lord and begging of Mercy better becometh such a Soul And then for thy Body wherein this miserable Soul lodgeth for a few days one would think thou shouldst have little mind to be proud of that were it only for the sake of so wretched a Tenant that dwells within but as wisely consider it and see whether there be any thing in it or no to be proud of first then O young man dost thou not know it to be a poor vain frail perishing thing the Heathen can tell you this without the Book of Scripture hast thou now a juvenile verdure and freshness of Complexion or briskness of Spirits or quickness of Parts or strength of Body and art thou tempted to Pride by any or all of these Alas let but a Feaver or an Apoplexy seize you as they may within the space of an hour and then where are all these Indeed if thou couldst by thy youthful strength and ability hinder any of these and wert so considerable a Creature as to beat back Sickness and Death when they come thou mightest have some pretence for thy boasting but if thy young Flesh be but as Grass that can no ways defend it self from the Sythe then be ashamed and abased in the Dust Have you noâ— seen or at least have you not heard â—â—w suddenly many of your Age have dâ—â—p'd into the Pâ—â— go to the Church-yard â—nd look among the Graves and see it there be not shorter Graves than would fit you and learn humility Thirdly Sâ—udy an humbled Christ and abhor Pride for ever Mat. 11. 29. Learn of me saith Christ for I am meek anâ— lowly And will you be proud and haughty Psal 22. 6. I am a Worm and no Man it is spoken of Christ O when you are tempted to be high-minded and to over-valuing conceits of your selves to think I am some body and deserve respect and esteem then look an humbled Christ in the face and loath thy self and say O proud heart dost thou stand upon thy Pantofles and Terms and thy Saviour stoop and step down into the form of a Servant Dismount dismount proud Dust and come down and let the same mind be in you as was in Christ 2 Phil. 6. The next Sin Youth is prone unto is quenching the Spirit Remedies against that Youthful Sin of Quenching the Spirit I Have shewed you how prone Youth is to quench the Motions of the Spirit of God stifling those inward Convictions that are wrought in them of their lost and undone estate by Nature of the necessity of Conversion and the New Birth and of their indispensible Duty to use the means both publick and private that God hath appointed in order to their Conversion there are not a few of London's Youth that are guilty in a high degree of this Sin Wherefore to prevent it for time to come attend to these following directions First Understand wherein this Sin of Quenching the Spirit stands and that 's the first step to Reformation in this point Quenching is a metaphorical part of Speech it is borrowed from a Fire or Lamp that useth to give light and heat now this applied to the Spirit it must follow that the Spirit is a Fire heating and Light enlightning the Soul and therefore in reference hereunto the Apostle in the 1. Thes 5. 19. saith Quench not the Spirit how that is done may be gathered from the metaphor thus a Fire or Light is two manner of ways quenched 1. By withdrawing of Fuel from it 2. By casting of Water upon it So it is here with this heavenly Fire 1.