and Drunkenness and the cares of this life and that day come upon you unawares Luk. 21. 34. Know that this is spoken unto thee and that thou in thy youth must not at any time give way to these things no not when friends meet nor when thou art urged and haled to it When Solomon saith My Son when sinners entice thee consent thou not Prov. 1. 10. Think that he speaketh to thee Whom doth the Compellation My Son better befit than the young Man when St. Paul saith God hath not called us unto uncle anness but unto holiness that every one of us should possess his vessel in sanctification and in honour not in the lust of Concupisence c. 1. These 4. 4 5. Believe 〈◊〉 that he speaketh unto thee who art in thy youth wherein he speaketh most plainly 2 Tim. 2. 22. Fly also youthful Lusts. CHAP. IV. Use 2. THis also sheweth another not able Errour of young Men who think they may freely take that liberty which otherâ— may not and walk more at large than thosâ— of elder years Ye see the holy Ghost crosse this conceit and calleth upon young Meâ— more especially to Remember their Creatouâ— Know therefore That when our Saviour saith Enter in at the strait Gate He speakeâ— unto you that are young and requireth thâ— of you in your youth as well as any otheâ— He directeth both old and young to comâ— this way to Heaven for broad is the way anâ— wide is the Gate that leadeth to Destruction and many there be which go in thereat becauâ—â— strait is the Gate and narrow is the waâ— which leadeth unto Life and few there be thâ— find it Mat. 7. 13 Our Saviour chargeâ— all to leave the broad way that will not 〈◊〉 into Destruction and therefore for younâ— Men to think that they may walk at large anâ— follow their Lusts is to imagine that theâ— have liberty to run into Damnation Therâ— is but one way and that is a narrow one but one Gate and that is a strait one thaâ— leadeth unto Life and they that would livâ— for ever must enter into Life by this straiâ— Gate and narrow way whether young or old If ye would know what allowance ye have in this kind it is no more than that which Solomon giveth in Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the daies of thy youth Take thy pleasure but so that thou make sure account for all these vanities and sicentiousness of youth to give a most strict account at the day of Judgment If thou wiâ—t tipple if thou wilt swear if thou wâ—lt â—â—le away thy time c. know for a certain that God will bring thee to Judgment for all these things Was it not to a young Mâ—n that our Saviour spake when he said Go and sell all that thou hast give to the poor and follow me Mar. 19. 21 22. Here was a narrow way and yet this was required of a young Man if he would be saved And though hâ— were young yet could he get no release of our Saviour but he goeth away with a sad and sorrowful heart The like in effect saith our Saviour to every young Man sell all that thou hast do away thy Lusts put away thy Drunkenness cast off Lying Swearing Idleness Pride Vanities and follow me The way of Christ is the strictest 〈◊〉 the narrowest path that ever Man went Now Christ will have young Men follow him and keep their feet in the narrow way which he hath gone before and tread in his steps I hope none will be so Blasphemous as to say that Christ did take this licentious course which young Men think they may take Well then if thou wilt enter into life thou must follow him and go in that narrow path wherein he walked It is to be observed that Christ was young and dyed young therefore if ye that are young look for Salvation by him ye must follow him in those waies of his youth All those good works all that holâ—ness whereby he fulfilled all righteousness these were the practises of his youth if then ye will have him for your Saviour who walked thus in his youth ye must follow him in your youth Christ went about doing good and thinkest thou that thou maist go about doing evil that thou maist run about hunting after idle meetings and ill company because thou art young and in the flower of thy youth No Christ was young when he went about doing good Act. 10. 38. And therefore if thou takest liberty to go about doing evil because thou art young thou art no Disciple of Christ. CHAP. V. Use 3. LEt me exhort you that are young That ye would effectually lay to heart these words of the holy-Ghost Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth Oh that you would now enter into a Covenant with the Lord and bind your selves resolvedly to seek your Creatour To you that are young the Spirit of God here speaketh Oh take heed of despising him that speaketh from heaven because of your youth but hear him so much the rather because he speaks to young Men and for this end let me urge you with some Motives 1. Consider what wrong it is to God to give Satan the best of thy time Under the Law the first-Fruits were to be given to God Levit. 23. 10. 14. And they might eat no bread until the Lord had the First-Fruits offered unto him So that he who should presume to eat any of his Corn before the Lord had his portion even a sheaf of the first-fruits he was no better than a Sacrilegious intruder upon the Lord's Possession So the Lord requireth of thee O young Man the first-Fruits of thy Life even thy youth and strength and if thou dost not offer and consecrate thy young years to the Lord thou dealest Sacrilegiously thou dost â—lienate the Lord's Portion thou deliverest Possessiâ—n unto Satan of that which God hath committed to thy trust to reserve wholly for him sike some unfaithful Tennant yielding up the possession to him that hath but apâ—â—tended Tirle to the prejudiâ—â— of the right owner Oh do not give thâ— first-Fruits unto the Devâ—l and think that God will be pleased with the Gleanings the refuse and scattered ears the dreggs of old age Offer it now to thy Prince see if he will accepâ— thee Malac. 1. 8. As if he had said Serve thy Princes Enemy in thy youth and strength and then come to the Courtâ— in thine old age limping with thy stilts aâ—â— crutches and say Mine old Master hath cast me off and now I will serve thee see then if he will entertain thee So it is in this case 2. Consider that God loveth cheerfulness in his services so many places of Scripture shew Rejoyce in the Lord c. I will run the wayes of thy Commandments saith David Quicken me O Lord c. Now youth is the most cheerful part of a mans Life then
the heart is in the liveliest temper then the spirits are freshest and quickest and natural cheerfulness being Sanctified is a furtherance of spiritual joy The quickness of the natural temper which is in youth most vigorous is a good servant to quickning grace Think not that God is best pleased with the lumpish old age which many times is little more than a dead piece of Earth with a little portion a small remainder of life abiding in it God is the living God and he requireth living Sacrifices Rom. 12. 1. Now thy youth hath more life in it than thine old age There is as it were a close union between the Soul and Body in youth The Soul imparteth a more plentiful â—nfluence of Life unto the Body in youâ—h than â—n old age by the quickness and plenty of the Spirits which in youth are more abundent than in age Give up therefore this most living part of thy life thy young daies unto God and not only that part of life which partaketh more of Death than of life thâ—ne old decrepit and disabled age The hoary head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in a way of Righteousness Prov. 16. 31. Found He doth not say if it enter into the way of Righteousness but if it be Found there If a Man hath turned to God in his youth and persevered in upright walking before him until gray haires come upon him that Man needeth no Crown of Gold to adorn his head his hoary head is a Crown of Glory to him If under the Law a Man did burn the prime of his Beast in Sacrifice it was accepted yea when it was almost consumed even the remainders that were half burnt did yield a sweet savour to the Lord because the best was burnt also upon the Altar of the Lord. So let a Man consecrate the prime of his daies his youth to the Lord offer up this as a living Sacrifice and then even his worn old age which is like a Sacrifice half burnt and spent shall be exceeding sweet and pleasing to the Lord because the best was given up unto him whereas on the other side should any of the Priests have burned a Sacrifice upon the Altar of Baal and then when it was half burnt should have brought the gleanings and laid them upon the Altar of the Lord this would have been a grievous abomination in the sight of the Lord. So in this case c. Oh then Remember thy Creatour in thy youth lest he forget or despise thee in thine age Remember him in thy youth that thy hoar head may be found in the way of Righteousness and so may be a Crown of Glory and not a Spectacle of Reproach and Contempt unto thee 3. Consider especially the unspeakable danger of Sin confirmed and rooted with time wrought and wreathed into the heart and clasped in the affections by long custom in sin Oh when sin hath been thirty or forty years in growing and taking root it cleaveth like the skin to the bones like the Leprosy that was rooted in a wall which could not be taken away untill the wall were pulled down That sin which is in growing the whole time of a Mans youth during the best of his strength it is even a Wonder if it doth not accompany that Man to his Death-bed yea to the Judgment-seat of God I know the mercy of God is infinite and he calleth at the Eleventh hour but I am perswaded those are very few which are so called and especially very few if any of those who have had the means of Grace in their youth and regarded them not Oh this willful hardning of the heart is dreadful This continuing in sin against knowledge this with-holding the truth in unrighteousness moveth the Lord to give men over to a Reprobate sence Rom. 1. 21 24 25 28. Into such a state that he becometh uncapable unteachable that neither blessings nor crosses neither the Rod nor the Word neither sickness nor health neither gray haris nor the approach of Death can work him to to sound Conversion Ah poor forsaken Soul such a one may come to say with Saul God hath forsaken me A speech that might rend a render heart to hear it I speak not this to bring you to despair but to stirr you up to speedy Repentance that ye may prevent this desperate and woful condition CHAP. I. IN the last place let me speak a few words to Parents and old People 1. To Parents Ye that are Parents labour ye to season the very Child-hood of your Sons and Daughters with the true knowledg and fear of God pray over them daily instruct exhort rebuke and use all good means that the prime of their daies may be given up to God Teach them to Remember their Creatour in their Childhood that they may neither forget him in their youth nor forsake him in their old age I fear that most Parents among us by neglecting their Duty herein are guilty of their Childrens Destruction 2. To the Aged Ye that are grown old and have not remembred your Creatour in your younger daies whose bones are full of the sins of your youth Oh know that your case is exceeding dangerous therefore bewaile your lives whereby ye have so much dishonoured your Maker humble and judge your selves in the bitterness of your Souls cry continually and importunately in the ears of the Lord that if it be possible the sins of your youth and the long continued wickedness of your Lives may be forgiven you that the often resistance which ye have made against the spirit of God may be pardoned if it be possible that the frequent casting of the Word of God behind thy back may be forgiven Oh how odious and contemptible is the hoary head found in the way of wickedness in a state of impenitency What is an old Drunkard or Adulterer a gray-headed Swearer an old Covetous Worldling an hoary headed impenitent person but even a monster among Men What dost thou not yet remember thy Creatour not in old age not at fifty at sixty or seventy years Oh wreched security Awake awake unto Righteousness unto Repentance ye old ones that sleep in sin lest ye sleep the sleep of everlasting Death and never behold the face of God in Righteousness SERMON III. Eccles. 12. 1. Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy Youth c. CHAP. I. BEsides what hath been already observed something yet may be further noted Viz. Observ. That Grace and Holiness are exceeding fit and no way unseemly for the younger sort Man's Life hath in some regards been compared to a Comedy or Enterlude Acted upon the Theatre or Sage of this World and the truth is many a Mans life is but a Play and many in their courses do but act other mens parts not in sincerity express their own inward dispositions And therefore that decorum which they suppose may grace them in the eyes of Men is the thing they most of all affect and aim
unseemly for those of the younger sort it layeth open the shame of their folly and when they think highly of their own witts and perhaps scorn the advice of their Auncients they make it known to the World that through the greatness of their folly they know not themselves nor their places aright nor what becometh them Idleness and Vanity are most unseemly for them the loss of these precious daies of youth to sleep away these best daies or to triffle them away whiles the Sun shineth upon them it is most unseemly Finally to live in impenitency and security not to seek the love and favour of God in Christ to put off Repentance till old Age is most unseemly and uncomely To sleep all the day and put off a man's main business until night is most foolish and uncomely Conversion to God it is thy main work and the beginning of all the work and service which thou doest for him that made thee and gave thee thy life and continueth it to thee every hour Thou dost never truly put thy self into his Service until thou art truly converted and turned unto him All that thou dost in the Worship of God before is no true Service no work of a faithful Servant acceptable unto God therefore to give him that gave thee all thy daies no part of these best daies of youth to give him that gave thee all thy strength no part of thy strength to give him that gave thee all thy witt and understanding nothing but the ruines and decays of witt memory and understanding in old age or sickness is most unseemly and such as cannot any way become any one that would be called a Christian especially if thou considerest that when thou deniest thy best time to God he may justly deny thee the rest of thy time which thou hopest to enjoy and cut thee off in thy sins CHAP. IV. Vse 2. THis should teach Parents and Masters that have any of the younger sort under their charge to be very careful and diligent to teach them what doth most of all become them even the fear of God and Faith unfeigned Instead of teaching them vain fashions which they are too apt to learn of them to teach them that it will best become them not to fashion themselves according to this evil world but to be transformed in the renewing of their mind to teach them that the words of heavenly wisdome the word of God laid up in the heart and shewed forth in the life will be their richest ornament Let them know how well Humility Modesty Temperance Chastity Sobriety Holiness and the knowledge of God will become them Let them not only be taught how good these things are but how seasonable how fit they are how seemly for them at those years how necessary Let them understand how ill it becometh them at this age to want these Jewels and what deformity the contrary sins do put upon them As it becometh them of younger years to be thus qualified so it becometh you that are elder by all means both in word and conversation to shew them what becometh them CHAP. IV. Use 3. IF Grace and Holiness are comely ornaments of Youth then how unseemly is it for those that have passed the daies of Youth to continue yet without it hast thou out-lived thy Youth and hast thou not yet done that which thou shouldest have done in thy Youth Not yet so remembred thy Creator as to turn unto him and to seek him with thy whole heart Oh blame thy self for this before the Lord and if thou hast lost the first season take heed thou doest not foreslow the latter Art thou now past the Spring of Youth It is more than time thou hadst sown in Tears The Harvest draweth on and then as a man hath sowen so shall he reap He that hath sowen to the Flesh following his lusts and his will shall of the flesh reap corruption but He that soweth to the Spirit being led by the Spirit in the wayes of holy obedience shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Think then with thy self if it be a shame for young men to be without Grace it is a double shame for me that am past the daies of Youth Iâ— God hath shewed thee patience in not cutting thee off in the sins of Youth oh take heeâ— of abusing that patience any longer Wilt thou sin because thou hast escaped hithertoâ— God forbid The longer thou hast sinned the more hast thou provoked the eyes of Gods glory the more dangerous is it to continue any longer in sin The longer the Fig-tree had cumbred the ground the neareâ—â— it was to the cutting down the more it was in danger of the Axe Therefore repent heartily and speedily of the sins of Youth and yet whiles thou maist do somewhat for the Lord hast some strength and abilities for his service let him have thy heart and hand thy body thy soul sacrifice thy self to him consecrate thy whole man to his worship and service even in thy middle-age CHAP. V. Use 4. IF Grace be the ornament of Youth then doubtless Sin must be the shame of Old Age. What an old man an old woman and yet a graceless sinner A gray-head found in the ways of unrighteousness the ways of folly What is this but to be a spectacle of reproach among men How many years hast thou lived an enemy to God Couldest thou find no time for reconciliation in thy Youth nor in thy middle age nor yet now thou art thus far gone in years What is an impenitent old man but a kind of monster among men What a shame is it to see a gray-head quaffing by the fire-side in an Ale-house a man of fifty or sixty years haunting the Ase-house and wanton dallyance A profane Oath in an old mans mouth how odious and shamefull is it Is it not a double shame for old men to be more and more covetous the elder they are to cleave more and more close to the world As one that is to be executed if he hath his hands at liberty when he is turned off the Ladder will catch hold again and cling fast unto it being loth to let go his hold so such a one being summoned by death to leave the world catcheth hold again fastening his very heart unto it and cleaving more strongly and more closely thereunto How much better were it to have loosened the heart from the world by unfeigned repentance that the world and it may part with ease For part ye must though thy heart should be pulled in pieces in parting How ill doth it become an old man that all this while he hath not learned to see into the vanity of the world which a wise man in a little time of experience may easily discern O thou old sinner learn greatly then to bewail the sins of thy Youth that length of time wherein thou hast gone on in sin wherein thou hast hardened thy heart and resisted the spirit of God
which threatnings took effect accordingly The Philistines and Arabians brake into his Kingdom entred his Place took away his Goods his Wives his Sons all save 〈◊〉 youngest Ver. 16 17. Then also the Lord smote him with an incurable Disease in his Bowels and after two years torment as it seemeth his Body rotted and his Bowels fell out so that he died of sore Diseases and had not that honour at his Funeral which was usually done unto Kings See how his life out-lasted the comforts of his life and yet his life was short he died when he was about forty years old and reigned eight years Now ye may see by these examples that there are two wayes in general by which it cometh to pass that the comforts of this life are shorter than life it self and that this life out-lasteth them all and that is 1. By reason of old age 2. By reason of crosses afflictions 1. In respect of old age so it was with David and Barzillai So it is expressed at large in this last Chapter of Ecclesiastes where he sheweth how the daies of old age are such many times that a man hath no pleasure in them and sheweth at large how the several parts of the body decay and the powers of nature fail The Grashopper shall be a burthen that is every little thing shall trouble them And desire shal fail They shall have no mind to any thing Therefore also it must needs be that delights should fail they should joy in nothing all the pleasures of Youth and the delights of Life are gone Moses saith Psal. 90. 10. The daies of our years are threescore years and ten and if by reason of strength they be fourscore yet is their strength but labour and sorrow Yea and some ere they be threescore do feel the burthen of Old Age as much as others do at fourscore 2. In respect of sufferings and afflictions some do out-live the comforts and pleasures of this life So did Job but that afterwards the Lord restored his prosperity to him in an extraordinary manner So Saul it seemeth in respect of age might have enjoyed many a fair year but all was blasted and his Kingdom did him little good The Lord declared himself against him So ye see in the example of Jehoram the Lord may take away those comforts from a man that the loss of them may drown all the pleasures of this life embitter all those sweets that this world can afford to us CHAP. II. THe Reason in general is the sin of man that hath shortned life made it mortal which had it not been for sin should have been imortal That hath made the comforts of life shorter than life it self which should have been everlasting as life it self should have been immortal had not sin given a deadly wound both to the life of man and to the comforts of this life Man should have had no thorns nor thistles to have vexed him in Paradise if he had not let Sin into the Garden but Sin being let in cast him out into a thorny world ful of miseries whereby his short life was made bitter to him and the pleasures of life not so long-lived as life it self Many times the special sins of men are the cause of this and that both of God's Children and of the wicked The special sins of the Godly as in David his sins into which he fell made the latter part of his life full of bitterness and had not he been able to comfort himself in God and to have refreshed his heart with his saving love and mercy how could he have been able to bear up his Spirit under such grievous burthens So the Lord doth many times change the outward condition of his Children and causeth them in stead of many outward comforts formerly enjoyed to eat the bread and drink the water of afflictions and causeth sad times to pass over them insomuch that all the comforts of this life do no way yield them so much content as their outward afflictions do bring bitterness upon them On the other side the special sins of the wicked do sometimes move the Lord to turn their laughter into mourning and to bring a a dark Cloud on all the Sun-shine of their outward comforts so that all things in the world shall look sad upon them and this he seemeth to do for two causes 1. To bring them home to himself that being taken off from carnal contentment in outward delights and brought to deal seriously with their own hearts and to consider their wayes and finding nothing in the world for their hearts to rest upon they may be made to turn to the Lord and to seek peace with him and comfort in his love Thus it was with Manasseh whiles he flourished in his Kingly dignity and had what his heart could wish how did he exceed in wickedness But when the Lord gave him that blow by the hand of the King of Babylon which struck him down from his Throne and â—aid him in fetters then in his affliction he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his Fathers and prayed unto him and he was entreated of him c. 2 Chron. 33 11 12 13. 2. The Lord seemeth to do this many times to manifest his Justice and to let the wicked know what they are to look for in another world Thus he seemeth to have dealt with Pharaoh Saul and many others This I am perswaded the Lord doth often aim at even in those changes which are brought with Old Age. Many which have been flourishing in their daies and abused their prosperity their bodies decay with old age and their outward means wither together with them and they are set before the world for spectacles wherein men may read the vanity of all things under the Sun together with the fading and uncertain condition of all the comforts of this life I mean of such who after Youth and riper years spent in sin and impenitency do afterwards go creeping under the burden of Old Age and have no heart to seek the Lord in sincerity but their hearts die within them and become like Nabals having lost the content which they took before in the pleasures of sin and wanting grace to raise their hearts to the Lord that they might delight their Souls in him Many such examples may be observed in the world 3. Sometimes the Lord doth this to exercise the graces of his Children and to make them examples unto others of patience and stedfastness in his ways as it was with Job who continued in his integrity after that those great changes were brought upon him CHAP. III. Use. I. HEnce we may be brought to a consideration of the shortness and uncertainty of all the contentments of this present life How short is life it self And yet the pleasures of life are shorter than life Psal. 39. 5. Behold thou hast made my daies as an hand-breadth saith David There is the life of
an old man If sin grow to an habit and custom custom being another nature makes it as ordinary to men as to eat and drink But if any of us have spent the flower of our youth in vice and vanity Let the fruit of our age only savour of vertue Indeed an old man of youthful behaviour is more ridiculous than a wanton toying young man Let every man then especially old men put their houses in order and prepare for Death when Death is between their teeth it is too late to provide remedies for the Terrours thereof A MEMENTO To Young and Old Sermon I. Ecclesiastes 12. verse 1. Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth while the evil daies come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them CHAP. I. THe wise man having first run through the vanities of Life by his own bitter experience now also hath taken a review of them as it seemeth with a penitent heart and an amazed spirit and drawing towards a Conclusion of this work as a principle Master of the assemblies desireth to leave on naile driven to the head and well fixed in the hard heart of the younger sort who are so possessed with those vanities of mind which he had all this while laboured to purge that they think themselves priviledged in youthful wantonness and conceive that all restraints of their unbridled Lust are but the froward or envious cavills of discontented old Age or sullen Melancholy Therefore it was expedient that this 〈◊〉 prejudice whereby they hurt none so 〈◊〉 as themselves should be removed by a coâ—trary Exhortation strongly enforced 〈◊〉 Pen-man beyond exception a man of grâ—â—test sufficiency every way among the Son of Adam excepting that only Immanuel But let them not think that the force of this exhortation is dead with the writer or worn out of date with age but let them know for a certainty that a greater than Solomon is here that the Spirit of Truth who liveth for ever breatheth most Manifestly in this holy Text who must be heard and obeyed by all that would not be found to fight against God Let every one then whose ears God hath opened hear what the Spirit speaketh unto the Church in this place and especially to the younger sort within the Church Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth c. In which words we have first an Exhortation and then an enforcement of it pressed and amplified at large in many verses following In the Exhortation there is 1. The Duty what 2. The Object whom 3. The Time when all laid down in words of special weight 1. The word Remember 1. implyeth much danger of and inclination to forgetfulness 2. It includeth Heart as well as Head Affection as well as Memory 2. The second thing The Object Thy Creatour a Word that addeth much force to the Exhortation Taken either absolutely as implying the Creatour of all things whom all Creatures at all times must glorify in their kinds or with special relation to those to who the Exhortation is more particularly directed Thy Creatour Remember him whom Created Thee and hath right to thy whole Self thy whole Life and especially to the best of thy Life and Strength 3. The Third thus In the daies of thy youth In the daies rather than years for they are but a few May-daies soon gone and vanished of thy youth The word in the Original is derived from a word which signifies to chuse and thence issueth a word signifying a young man and thence again this in the Text signifying Youth both shewing that younger men are the choycest of men or should be so and that youth is the principal and choicest part of our Life So some render these words In the daies of thy youth in the daies of thy choyce The sence therefore ye may take in these few words O ye young men who are of all others exceeding apt to forget him of whom you ought to be most mindful Let me perswade you to know to love to delight in to fear to remember to cleaue unto and obey even in the best of your time and strength your young vigourous and flourishing daies Him who is the great Creatour of all things Him who gave you in particular that breath which is in your nostrills Him who gave you this heat this strength these Spirits this lively temper of youth Him in whom you live move and have your being CHAP. II. THese things being briefly and plainly opened the observations which I shall make I shall refer to two heads Observ. 1. That young men are especially apt to forget their Creatour 2. That young men ought especially to remember their Creatour The first of these is certainly implyed the second plainly expressed in the words of the Text. Of the first the wise man seemeth of purpose to have deferred this Memento until the latter end of his discourse as knowing how apt the younger sort are to fail in this art of memory concerning the best things and hoping that of all others a speech of farewell would make some notable impression In this point I will shew 1. Wherein this forgetfulnes consisteth 2. I will prove it to be especially incident to youth 3. I will shew the reasons or causes of it I. Now for the first that I may shew wherein forgetfulness consisteth both reason and our own experience in the working of the powers of our Souls shew us That memory is properly seated in the brain and therefore that forgetfulness is a kind of emptiness in the same place But we must attend to those Idiomes of the Holy Ghost who by reason of that near knitting of all the faculties of the Soul in one single root of a Spiritual and Intellectual Being doth promiscuously translate the name of the one to the other and oftentimes include all in one Thou shalt love the Lord thy God saith our Saviour with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul c. Math. 22. 37. Why All the powers of the Soul are not love There is knowledge memory imagination will fear joy sorrow hatred courage c. which are all distinguished both in their Beings and Effects from Love But He in whom all the Treasures of Wisdom were hid knew well that when the heart by love did truly close with God and cleave unto him it could not leave any of its effections behind it but all must be given up unto him The Lord complaineth Isa. 1. 3. Israel doth not know my people do not consider Ignorance was not the only sin whereof the Lord held them guilty but in this was included as well want of love of fear of delight in God as of knowledge of him Not to go too far about This forgetfulness which now we have in hand you shall find to have the same force in the Scripture Psal. 137. If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right-hand forget her cunning ver 6. If I do not
others with them in the same wayes of Destruction and being joyned together in a wretched society by lewd and lustful songs scurril jests abusive speeches loud laughter ruffian-like out-faceing better and wiser men than themselves they encourage each others they harden their hearts they drown the voice of Conscience they contemn the Word of God they fight against Heaven with prophane and horrible Oathes and as it were seal alâ— their leagues of pretended good-fellow-ship even with a resolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a decreed forgetfulness of God and so of godliness oâ— Death and of Judgment to come wherewith St. Paul made even his Heathen Judge to shake as he sate upon the Bench. 2. Secondly and especially a company oâ— grounded Drunkards that are up and down iâ— the Countrey old Sotts that are setled upon their lees who know almost every corner in every common or blind Ale-house as well as the rooms in their own houses and never think themselves so well at home as in a Tap-house Oh how do these work about to poyson the youth of our age and to make them like themselves the children of hell who by the assistance of the Devil abuse their old crafty pates to ensnare young heedless Souls and to bring in Captives to the Prince of Darkness Doth not the same doom belong unto these which was due to Elymas the Sorcerer for seeking to turn away the deputy from the truth to whom St. Paul himself used this language Thou Child of the Devil and enemy of all goodness wilt thou not cease to pervenâ—â— the streight wayes of the Lord Do not these by the enchantment of their fawning tongues bewitch green years and cast them into a dead sleep of security and forgetfulness of God Oh that miserable experience did not prove my words too mild which yet some that in their own causes can be merciles perhaps will accuse me of too much roughness But who can forbear when he seeth them to be the very Emissaries of Hell and as I may so speak Ipsius ebrietatis leannes the very Panders or Bawds for Drunkenness an inferiour sort of Tempters or Devils Satan's under-Officers and Factors for the Land of Darkness who are not content to go to Hell without a Troop at their heels as if it were not sufficient for them to be guilty of destroying their own Souls unless they have many more Murthers of the same kind to be put into the same Indictment I tell you who soever ye are your society is more to be shunned than his that hath a Plague-sore upon his body ye are to be poynted at and accounted by all that know you as the very Mothes that fret the newest and the strongest Cloth Juventutis pestes The very bane of youth and the corrupters of the next age which shall then arise when your bodies are rotten under ground yea the sins you now set in a course may stream down unto the end oâ— the World whilst they that are infected bâ— you shall infect others and so again successively so that by this means ye may bâ— guilty of those sins which shall be committed many hundred years hence if the World so long continue 3. Those Ale-house-keepers who givâ— way to all manner of excess in their houses whose Motto may be Lucri bonus odor c. In whose ears Swearing is good Musick in whose eyes beastly vomits are a pleasing spectacle and the Lords day a fit time for tipling and swilling with greediness so that they may take mony feed higher go braver and look bigger than men of more worth and better employment These have their trains to draw on the younger sort who know not that their houses go down to the chamber of Death 4 Those Magistrates and Officers cannot by any means be excused under whom these youthful sins growsâ— fast whiles they hold the Sword that is put in to their hands rusting in the sheath where is the Spirit and courage that should be in these that are the very Triarii in the armies of the Lord of Hosts the stoutest and choicest Soldiers Are ye afraid of those who are but Lixae calones Scullions and Tapsters under Satans Banner should such Men as ye fly or fear and not dare to face those who at the most are but Milites levis armaturae Souldiers lightly armed as I may so speak What can they do against a Justice of the Peace a Constable or an Head-borough more than let flye their Arrows even bitter words I know not what policy is in this connivance unless it be to leave the envy and burthen upon us of the Ministry whiles we alone fight against these things with the Sword of the Spirit But if ye refuse utterly to joyne with us in bearing your part of the burthen you must not look to share in the reward I desire above all that you would let the honour of God prevail with you your Charge your Oathes but if these things move not take heed lest the Lord repay you in your own Coyn and whiles you tender not the Glory of God nor the good of the younger sort in general by restraining their licentious meetings by informing against or punishing those that entertain them he may justly leave your own Children to be thus corrupted or at least your Childrens Children of the third or fourth Generation The Lord give you zeal and courage that you may not have your portion without among the fearful CHAP. VII Vse LEt me speak a few words to you that are of the younger sort When soever you see a young Man or Maid carried to their graves that spectacle of Mortality forbids you to be forgetful of your Creatour in any Age or part of your Life Look upon that Coffin that holdeth a body young and very lately strong in constitution and let it be unto thee O young Man an use of instructioâ— nâ—t to trust to long life in the heat of thy youth or the best of thy strength not to please thy self in a self-content arising out of thine own form youthful lively temper not to magnify thine happiness in regard of a seeming advantage which thou thinkest thou hast of old age in being more capable of carnal delights than it that thou art able to take in more of the Devils baits which he never casteth forth without an hook Let it teach thee not to hearken to the enticements of Sinners old or young nor to think that house of all others the best adorned that hath a Sign-post Let it reprove thy great forgetfulness of thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth Let it strike a deep apprehension into thine heart of the necessity of present repentance without all delay and let this so work upon thee and stick by thee that no potts mâ—y wash it off nor no loud Ale-house clamours may drown the voice of thy Conscience when it shall bring this to thy remembrance Oh let not Satan bewitch thee Weart thou as certain of a long
Are they full of courage and valiant as well as strong They can never with so much honour follow any other Captain as they may fight under the Banner of Jesus Christ the Prince and Captain of their Salvation No Victory so honourable for a young Man as to kill pride and lust in himself and to get the old red Dragon under his feet To shed an enemies blood is no way so honourable as to Triumph over Satans malice One Mastiff can tear out another's Throat one Bull can goar another's side one desperate person can shed another's Blood but where is that glorious valour in a young Man that like Josuah's followers setteth his feet on the necks of five Kings of Canaan at once that subdueth his five Senses and overcometh all Temptations that enter in at these He that can strongly guard these Cinque-ports and stands out against all approaches in his youth he is an honourable Souldier of Jesus Christ. And if he go on and overcome He shall sit down with him in his Throne as he overcame and sate down with his Father in his Throne Rev. 3. 21. They that fight this good Fight may assure themselves that 〈◊〉 Crown of Glory is laid up for them which they shall wear when many renowned Captains of the World who have been Triumphant over their Enemies Shall lye down in sorrow and confusion But as the Apostle saith concerning Marriage If any man thinketh that he behaveth himself uncomely towardâ— his Virgin if she passe the flower of her age and need so require let him do what he will he sinneth not let them Marry 1 Cor. 7. 36. So if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward the courage strength and valour of his Body and Mind if he wear out his youth in Peace and do not shew himself in the Field let him know that Religion doth not disarme him if the Cause be good and the Warr necessary otherwise to fight in Publick Warrs is no more honourable than it is to assault men on the high-wayes side And when a Christian hath a just Call to fight the Lords Battles Religion doth not daunt but double his courage True it is Religion takes from him the Sword of Revenge and commandeth him to put it up into its place it alloweth him not to answer every desperate Ruffians Challenge which is as uncomely for a wise young man as it is to fight with every Dog that barketh at him VII Is youth accompanied many times with health what is more seemly for him that is well than to do well and to serve him faithfully who giveth him every hour of health which he enjoyeth The sickness and craziness of old age is many times a great distraction and discouragement to the Service of God therefore they are much deceived who make Repentance the work of the Sick-bed and think that the fittest time for that work VIII Is youth enclined to love Christ commandeth nothing but love and that which love supposeth and inferreth only it requireth a more noble divine and excellent kind of love and turneth it upon a more excellent object upon which it is better bestowed than upon the common objects of natural love Viz. upon God the chiefest good and upon such things as are subordinate to him IX Is youth disposed to Mirth Grace is so farr from depriving it of this that he which never felt true Grace never came where sound joy was The heart is filled with peace and joy in Believing and the peace of God passeth understanding Yea the Word of God calleth for joy Rejoyce in the Lord again I say rejoyce It bettereth and encreaseth our mirth it doth not take it from us X. Consider the young man in Relation to others and you shall find nothing so seemly for him as grace and holiness and a conformity to the Word of God Nothing more comely for a young man than so to carry himself toward his Superiours as the word of God directeth him What more seemly for the younger sort than to give that honour reverence respect to Parents Masters Aged People which the word enjoyneth them A proud undutiful contemptuous carriage in the younger sort towards their betters doth worse become them than any deformity or blemish in the body A young man is never more out of fashion than when he is careless of his duty in this behalf and again never more comely than when he adorneth his life with that modesty and dutiful respect to which true grace directeth younger years It is a singular ornament to a young man to be one of those few which find out and constantly walk in the narrow way in their youthful daies CHAP. III. Vse 1. THis may shew that nothing doth worse become the younger sort than sin A licentious ungodly a loose unbridled conversation is a young man's greatest blemish weakness of natural parts shallowness of capacity blemishes of the body are not so unseemly in a young Man as prophaness and want of true holiness Nothing can worse become such an one than to forget or disobey him that made him No blemish in the face is so unseemly as an unruly tongue full of vain and idle oathes full of prophane swearing full of cursing and bitterness full of wanton rotten communication full of raiâ—ing of scoffs against godliness against old Age or as a loose lustful eye which is roveing and wandring after vanity or an ear listening after idle tales and greedily taking in false reports such as tend to the undeserved disgrace of others A violent hand a stragling foot they are the blemishes and reproaches of the younger sort And what is Drunkenness but the shame and stain of that green and flourishing age when the witt in its prime and best time shall be besotted and brought to a brutish dotage by the abuse of Gods good Creatures and excess of drink what is more unnatural and unseemly The stupifying of the senses the faultring of the feet are they not the symptoms of old age yes What then is more unseemly for youth than to over-burthen it self so with drink as to lose for the time its witts and leggs Oh do not count this a matter of credit thus to keep company this is your shame The sin of Whoredom which is the young Man's Zoar he counts it a little one and hither he would fly for contentment when the Word threatneth Fire and Brimstone against this sin from Heaven It is his Dalilah in the lap of which sinful pleasure he thinketh he may sleep securely by the priviledge of youth But the Scripture saith It is a deep ditch Prov. 23. 27. And therefore most dangerous And as it is dangerous so most shameful and unseemly It is the defilement the blasting of the flower of youth it is the very snare of the Devil whereby many young ones are held Captive by him at his will The sin of stubbornness and contemptuous carriage towards Superiours in years or otherwise it is most
to me CHAP. II. WHerefore that this may be made more clear unto us let us consider how and in what respects the daies of Youth are called good daies They are good daies 1. Because they are the first daies of a man's life Childhood is but as it were a preparative to the life of man Children while they are Children have but some imperfect beginnings of the life of reason which is the proper and peculiar life of man therefore we may reckon the daies of Youth as the first daies of man's life when he first beginneth to live as a man and to live the life of reason in some degree of perfection Now ye know that the first in every kind hath the preheminence the first-born of men the firstlings of beasts the first-fruits of the earth the morning of the day the first age of the world the spring of the year So there is a kind of preheminency in the first daies of man's life which are the daies of Youth they are a man's prime and his good daies 2. The daies of Youth are good daies because ordinarily they are the daies of best health and strength daies wherein we are of able bodies for any special service For although it be true that in the worship of God bodily exercise profiteth but little in comparison of the inward power of godliness yet strength and health when they are made serviceable to a sanctified upright heart are of special use both in the immediate worship of God and in the performance of many offices of love which we ought to do towards our Brethren in the Lord. Mens sana in corpore sano as they say a sound mind and an heavenly spirit furthered in the worship and service of God by a strong healthy well-tempered body hath a great advantage in it's work and in that case the daies of health and strength are good daies In Prayer although the strength and force of Prayer doth not lie in the strength of the sides or loudnes of the voice yet it is no smal advantage to the Spirit when in it's fervour and strength of affection it gathereth up and putteth forth all it's powers in earnest supplication before the throne of Grace if then it hath a sound healthy body able to bear the intention of a fervent spirit without fainting or distraction You know that if the arrow be long and drawn to the head it is needfull that the bow and the string should be of sufficient strength to hold drawing And a Christian that will not content himself to shoot those fools bolts mentioned Eccles. 5. 1. but desireth to send forth winged shafts of fervent Prayer that shall pierce the Clouds and enter the Heavens findeth it an help not to be despised when the strength and health of his body is suitable to the vigour of his spirit This holdeth as ye may easily conceive in those exercises of hearing reading meditation c. 3. Daies of Youth are times wherein the powers of the Soul are also quick lively and able by the communion with the body The Soul by reason of it's near conjunction of the body hath it's Childhood Youth and decaying time In younger years it hath those golden daies wherein the understanding is quick in apprehension teachable and apt to receive impression the Memory faithfull the Judgement good and sound the Affections strong and stirring Therefore these are the good daies wherein it is fit to be used in the work and service of God And as in the Spring all these concurring together the Trees in their fresh clothing the face of the Earth renued the beauty of Herbs and Flowers together with the Sun 's shining brightly in his strength and glory make up good daies whereas in the Winter the brightness of the Sun maketh but an imperfect good day whiles the Trees and Fields are stripped dead and withered the ground covered with mire and dirt so the meeting of these together the birth-right of Youth the strength and health of the Body the quickness of the Senses the activeness and abundance of the Spirits the perfections of the Soul c. make the daies of Youth good daies whereas although in the winter of Old Age the Sun may shine the principles of wisdome stored up in Youth may be preserved yet there are those defects naturally clogging that dying age which do ecclipse the brightness and lessen the goodness of those daies CHAP. III. Use â— THis may serve to reprove those who do allow some fleshly liberty to the daies of Youth Many who themselves are aged out of a kind of fatherly experienced gravity as they would have men think and out of a kind of moderation to which their years have brought them as they will have us believe do give liberty to a kind of latitude in the ways of Youth and young men must be born with Who doubteth but that there is a Christian moderation and compassion to be exercised towards such infirmities of the flesh which the Spirit wrestleth and laboureth against either in young or old when the heart being given up to Christ and brought under the soveraign command of his glorious Gospel and blessed Spirit cannot yet wholly free it self from the law of Rebellion nor utterly shake off the body of Death But out of a pretence of levity to flatter the enormities of Youth and to excuse those vitious unbridled courses which stain the glory of those best daies what is it but to say that hard Frosts deep Snows Inundations thick mire and dirt are not to be accounted strange in May nor to be wondered at in the prime and spring of the year Is it to be endured when the best daies of a man's life are wasted away in such courses as are contrary to the end for which a man liveth most contrary to the glory of that great God who hath given them these choice daies of Youth To speak plainly when are you more carefull to fence your Copses Pastures Meadows than in the Spring and will ye say the spring of our life which is the time of Youth may be laid open to the invasion of lusts to the assaults of Satan to the pleasures of Sin Let other men applaud their own gravity and condemn the rashness of others I cannot believe that Solomon wanted either years gravity wisdome or due moderation when he checked the folly of Youth in an holy Irony Eccles. 11. and setteth before all vain young men the Judgement of the great day shewing that for all these things even these excesses of Youth they shall be made to give account nor when he did put down this serious admonition in the words of this Text backed with so many pressing motives Remember now thy Creator in the daies of thy youth while the evil daies come not c. and had there been any defect in the pen-man yet I am sure the Holy Ghost which held his hand would not have suffered him to write one syllable amiss Neither
all shall be turned upside down and he shall become like the beasts that perish As he is sottishly and sensually affected with things present like the beast so he shall return to the earth like it and be turned out of all ver 13. This their way is their folly yet their posterity approve their sayings It is a sad thing that when experience hath taught the world so often the vanity of such thoughts yet that those that come after should be of the same mind too think as they thought do as they did live as they lived The Psalmist addeth Selah and it is well worthy even of a note of wonder and astonishment Children see their Parents sins and see how they are taken away and all their pride and covetousness c. doth them no good the pleasure of all is vanished and gone it is no more yet will they run blindly on in the same way so will others that come after them Neighbours and acquaintance though they see this yet they will follow them and tread in their steps this is their folly Selah it is remarkable folly Ver. 14. Like sheep they are laid in their grave Death shall feed on them c. As sheep dying in the field are devoured and fed upon by Ravens and other birds of prey and beasts of the field so death shall not only slay them but feed upon them it shall consume them and turn them into rottenness and dust Then saith he The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning After this long night wherein death shall feed on them in the grave the morning light of that great day shall arise upon them when all shall rise again and then the Righteousness shall have dominion over them and sit in Judgement upon them Oh how many changes are here which they do not effectually foresee and provide for Friends are taken from them they are taken from their wealth Death killeth them Death feedeth on them and if here were an end it were nothing but then cometh that great day after this long night when they must be awakened by the last Trumpet and see the Righteous whom despised sit as Judges over them But Ver. 15. The Psalmist sheweth how he had taken into consideration aforehand all these things and was prepared for them But God will redeem my Soul from the power of the grave for he shall receive me Selah David did not settle his heart upon any things of the world but he looked for death and prepared for it made account of being Death's prisoner in the grave but then withall he had overcome death and the grave before hand by the power of faith laying hold of the promise of God knowing that he should be ransomed and redeemed from it not as the wicked whose hearts were set upon the things of the world to be carried from the prison of the grave to execution but he knew that the Lord would receive him to glory and upon this he sets a special note again Selah Then he sheweth what little cause any child of God hath to be troubled at the outward prosperity of the wicked and in the end concludeth all with this speech Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish Let him be never so highly advanced and enriched yet if he doth not understandingly consider of changes likely to come upon him but glut himself with the things of this present life he is more like a beast than a man and maketh no use of that reasonable soul which God hath given him above a beast whereby he hath an ability to look beyond these things that lie before his eyes for the present and to make use of his experience in those changes which he hath seen in others applying to himself and reasoning from one thing to another and so to provide for the like to come upon himself You see here the very picture of a caranal secure heart setled upon its lees embracing this present world and doting upon it not foreseeing nor providing for those many changes and turnings of things that are likely to happen and especially that great change that shall certainly come death the grave and resurrection unto Judgement Which were they throughly sensible of they should have a low esteem of these perishing vanities and uncertainties under the Sun and not hazard their dear Souls by too much affecting and too eager seeking after them CHAP. IV. Use 2. WE are all here to be exhorted in a more serious manner to set before our eyes and hearts a more deep consideration of those changes that may befall us and especially of that which must certainly come and to provide against them The Prophet Habakkuk saith I will stand upon my Watch and set me upon the Tower and will watch to see what the Lord will say unto me and what I shall answer when I 〈◊〉 reproved He was before like one standing upon the lower ground looking upon things present things that lay before him viz. The present prosperity of the wicked prevailing over the Church and was troubled at it in his thoughts to see the wicked devour the man that was more righteous than he Chap. 1. 13. Hereupon he is tempted to complain of the Lords wayes of Providence and his manner of governing the world But now being sensible of his errour he would get upon the higher ground upon a watch-tower that he might see into changes that should come afterwards and discern things afar off when the wicked should be most severely punished for all their cruelty in oppressing the people of God So Christians when they stand upon the lower ground and consult with flesh and blood and look upon things with fleshy eyes their thoughts are bent upon things that are at hand even present things but they must get upon the watch-tower raise up their hearts in holy meditations upon the word so that they may see afar off what is coming and what shall be hereafter what changes of things shall happen in time to come When Jehu had the Kingdom of Israel bestowed upon him with a charge to execute Justice on the wicked house of Ahab he rode in his Charet with other Captains Souldiers to Jezreel where Joram the King and his confederate Abaziah King of Judah were together in Vers. 17. it is said There stood a Watch upon the Tower in Jezreel and he espied the Company of Jehu as he came and when a Messenger was sent out and detained he could see this too and give the King knowledge of it yea and a second time he could see who it was too ere the King saw him at all as it seemeth standing upon the lower ground And the driving saith he is like the driving of Jehu the Son of Nimshi for he driveth furiously Then saith Joram make ready when he was even upon his back But then it was too late he was now within the reach of Jehu's Bow So whiles the wicked
time is past and these do him no good he is never the better for them no more than if he had â—ever possessed them Take two natural men living and dying in that estate the one â—ich and the other a stark beggar the rich man's case is not a jot better when the time of this life is worn out than the others it may be worse because of his unthankfulness and the abuse of his wealth So take a natural man that hath enjoyed abundance of pleasures and another that hath scarce seen any good daies all his life long if both of them live and die in their natural estate they are both alike the pleasures that the one hath had do him no more good than if he had never had any more than the other It may be they have encreased his condemnation exceedingly Now St. James saith that life is but for a time or rather it appeareth but for a time so the pleasures of life are but for a time nay it followeth there life appeareth but for a little time and the pleasures of life are shorter than life and therefore their time is less than life and theâ— saith he life vanisheth away and the pleasures of life must needs vanish with it 〈◊〉 they be gone before it as many times 〈◊〉 are for as ye see in the Text a man may lâ—ve such years whereof he may say and think I have no pleasure in them wherein he may say in his heart Alas I breath yet I keep above ground I yet live but I have out-lived all the comforts of my life they are as it were dead and buried I shall never enâ—oy them any more so that he can look back upon his former comforts and prosperity with a sad heart and weeping-eye comparing it with his present sorrows as 〈◊〉 did as ye may read at large in the 29th and 30th Chapters of that Book In the 29th he expresseth his former prosperity in the 30th his present affliction In Chap. 29. 2. 〈◊〉 saith Oh that I were as in moneths past as 〈◊〉 the daies wherein God preserved me 〈◊〉 his candle shined upon mine head and when by his light I walked through darkness So he goeth on Even so man liveth to that day when he can reckon up a great many comforts as so many losâ—es things once enjoyed now gone and can compare them with many crosses now lying upon them for sometimes the Lord taketh away mens wealth so that those who have lived plentifully are brought to a poor and hard condition sometimes their health that men are afflicted with languishing or painful diseases that their wealth doth them little good they cannot enjoy it Sometimes he leaveth them health and wealth but taketh away those friends that are dearer to them than either the loss of whom embitteâ—eth all those things that are left them Sometimes he depriveth them of liberty and these things come alike to all sometimes he prolongeth their lives unto old age and burtheneth their old age with so many infirmities and grievances that their life is but a lingâ—ing death unto them Sometimes he taketh away their sight sometimes their hearing c. and sometimes he leaveth them to the gâ—awings and gripings of a guilty conscience not cleansed and washed by the blood of Christ. Thus many wayes and in many respects ye see that the pleasures and prosperity of life may be made shorter than this short life it self CHAP. IV. II. IN the second place this should serve to wean us from the love of this world and the things of this life whether it be wealth or pleasure or wordly credit or health or strength or friends or children that we set our hearts upon or take content in how soon may all or any of these be taken from us or how soon may some such heavy blow from the hand of the Lord fall upon us as may strike dead all the delight and comfort which we took in these Therefore as the Prophet saith Isai. 2. 22. Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Cease to put your trust or place your content in man whether men of high degree or of low degree for he is a mortal creature soon gone When that fading fleeâ—ing breath that issueth in and out at his nostrils is stopped by death he is gone and wherein is he to be accounted of What reckoning should be made of so frail a creature So in this case I say cease ye from the things of this life for they have their breath in their nostrils as it were they are frail short-lived comforts and wherein are they to be accounted of Here then is Christian wisdom to have the heart crucified to these things when they are at best and when a man hath most of them then to die to the world and to look upon the best things of the world and the greatest outward comforts of this life as upon so many dead things to affect them and make account of them as so many shadows and empty vanities to use them as dying things I am crucified to the world saith the Apostle and the world is crucified to me This is Christian wisdom when a man can so carry his affections towards the greatest comforts of this life as he would to a thing that is crucified to a thing already nailed to the cross and dying It were a vain thing to take a few flowers and blossoms in the Spring and to lock them up safe in a Cabinet like so many precious Stones or Pearls of great value meaning to keep them many years whereas if he look upon them the next week he shall find them dead and withered their beauty is gone And is it not yet a far greater â—olly to lock up the fading comforts of this life in that precious Cabinet of thy Heart and Soul as as if they were everlasting treasures as if they were some enduring substance such a heart is poorly furnished For an immortal Soul that must live for ever to be stuffed and filled with perishing trash it is as if a rich Cabinet of Gold beset with Pearls should be fill'd with dust and dross yea it is far worse such a soul is miserably furnished when the Soul wherein Christ should dwell the Sould which should be a Temple of the Holy Ghost the Soul that should be stored and furnished with heavenly graces shall be stuffed and filled with such rubbish and â—rash as men gather from the dunghill of this world with the things of this life that are shorter than life it self So St. Paul 1 Cor. 7. 29 3â— 31. This I say Brethren the time is short it remaineth that both they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy aâ— though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this
and pass away What most affectionate dehortation is that of Solomon's Mother unto him Prov. 31. 2. Who my Son and what the Son of my womb 〈◊〉 what the Son of my vowes Give not 〈◊〉 strength unto women nor thy wayes to th◠which destroyeth Kings It is not for King O Lemuel to drink wine nor for Princes strong drink lest they drink and forget the Law and pervert the judgement of any of the afflicted ver 3 4 5. Parents should often tell their Children that such and such ungodly courses will be their reproach bring down the gray hairs of their Parents with sorrow to the grave and their own Souls down into the pit of everlasting destruction III. Instruct them in the worship word and way of God and godliness ye Fathers bring up your Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Eph. 6. 4 in the nurture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it signifies it the Childhood Beza renders it in the doctrine of the Lord and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in admonition drawn from the word of God Henoch had his name as one taught from his Youth and consecrate unto God God commanded his people Deut. 6 7. Thou shalt rehearse these words continually unto thy Children The word is Thou shalt whet them continually upon thy Children as when an Arrow or other Instrument is sharpened that it may pierce the deeper It implyeth two duties 1. That the Parent make his Instructions delivered plain and piercing by perspicuity giving it an edge that it may the more easily enter into the dull heads and pierce the hard hearts of his Children 2. That he repeat it again and again going often over the same thing as the Knife goeth often over the whet-stone as the beast in chewing the Cud. Abraham is highly commended of God for instructing his Family I know Abraham will command his Sons and his houshold after him that they keep the way of the Lord Genes 18. 19. He taught them the substance of the Law in commanding them to do Righteousness and Judgement and the substance of the Gospel in declaring unto them the tenour of the Evangelical promises that in him or his seed that is in Christ the promised seed who was to come of his loins all the Nations of the earth should be blessed as also the meaning of Circumcision Genes 17. 23. Joshua professed that he and his house would serve the Lord Jes. 24. 15. Intimating that he would instruct his Family in the true knowledge and right manner of the worship of God without which they could not perform any acceptable service unto him David taught his Son Solomon and laid this Charge upon him And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind 1 Chron. 28 9. So others Psal. 34. 11. Come ye Children hearken to me I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Thus Solomon instructeth his Son Rehoboam in the beginning of the Book of the Proverbs Hezekiah professeth as much of himself The living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day The Father to the Son shall declare thy truth Isai. 38. 19. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel which he commanded our Fathers that they should make them known to their Children that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his Commandements and might not be as their Fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation c. IV. Have a watchful eye over the duties practices and conversations of your Children David would not suffer a worker of deceit to dwell in his house nor a teller of lies to carry in his sight Psal. 101. 7. Oh take heed of countenancing or allowing your Children in any sin Their sins and thy neglect of godly reproof will make thee stink in the Land as Simeon and Levi made Jacob their Father to stink his name to stink among the people of the Land Take heed of cockering and over-much indulging your Children It is observed that usually that Child which the Parent cockereth most regardeth the Parent least and many times proveth the heaviest cross unto it making him to speak in bitterness of Soul Why died it not from the womb Job 3. 11. One saith That the bloody knife of Parents unconscionable and cruel neglect in training up their Children religiously doth stick full deep in their Souls We have read and heard of some Children that have been loosely trained up who have pierced their Parents hearts with sorrow yea and their throats too who have stuck the knife in the bowels of their Parents A certain fond Mother must not have her Child corrected at School when he deserved correction Not long after the Child angred the Mother and the Mother struck the Child he runs to the fire and up with the fire-fork and at the Mother he makes threatning what he would do The Mother would not have her Child struck with a rod to let out his folly and the Child offers to strike the Mother with the fire-fork Then the Mother hastens to the School-master as much displeased with the Child as ever before she was pleased with it Another Parent so doted upon her Child that she could not endure it out of her sight but at last he proved so dissolute that she would have sent this Son to the remorest Islands any where so he were on ship-board that would keep him in compass which a Prison did not or out of her sight That Child which the Parent so cockereth that it must not be out of his sight is the Child that is most like to be an eye-sore and heart-grief to the Parent to whom the Parent is most like to say Stand out of my sight thou art a burden to me S. Augustine gives us a sad relation of one Cyrillus a man mighty both in word and work but a very fond and indulgent Father One Son he had and but one and because but one he must have his will he must not feel the rod he must not be crossed He might have what he would and do what he listed he might go forth and return when he pleased he gave no account either of his purse or time we read in the story that this Child brought his Mother to shame nay more than so This Child came home drunk and in the day time he violently and shamefully abused his Mother great with Child he killed his Father out-right and mortally wounded two Sisters Hereupon a great Assembly was called that all Parents hearing so sad and lamentable a Tragedy might for ever beware of this loose and sottish indulgence which brings woe to the Parent and ruine to the Child V. Pray for your Children that they may glorifie God and so be your glory and crown this was Job's practice Job 1. 5. Job sent and sanctified his Children and rose up early in the morning