8.11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God And Positively as in the Words of the Text Remember now thy Creator But why doth God put a Memento upon this Duty here Why there is a Fivefold Reason for it First To Intimate to us the Opposition of our corrupt Hearts to this great Duty naturally Man cannot endure the Yoak of Obedience to God He is without God in the World God is not in all his Thoughts therefore he calls us to Remember him Secondly The Sum of all Religion lies in the Observation of this one Command there can be no such thing as Religion where God is forgotten Jacob gave a severe Charge to his Sons concerning Benjamin because he lay nearest his Heart the Honor of God lies nearest his Heart of any thing and no Man can Honor him that doth not Remember him therefore he gives such a strict Charge about it It is this that frames our Spirits for all other Duties and makes them fit for every good Work Sin never prevails more upon our Hearts than when God is shut out of our Thoughts the Children of Israel did Evil and forgat the Lord therefore Remember thy Creator Thirdly It implies that no Age is so prone to forget God as that of Youth Youthful Pleasures and youthful Lusts and Vanities do frequently turn the Heart away from God therefore Solomon says Childhood and Youth are Vanity in the Words before the Text. It is Vanity both In a Natural and In a Moral Respect It is Vanity in a Natural Respect as being Frail and Mortal Though by the Course of Nature Young Ones may think to Live long yet by reason of the Frailty of Nature they may Die before the Eldest many Younger than you lye yonder Rotting in their Graves Now thou hast the Seeds of Death in thee and thou hast Sin the Cause of Death cleaving to thee and the Sentence lies against thee and therefore tho' thou mayest please thy self with the Thoughts of Living many Years like the Fool in the Gospel yet thou mayest Dye before to Morrow as he did Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee And as Youth is Vanity in a Natural Sense so it is in a Moral Sense for it is Tainted and Defiled with Lust and Corruption all over Thou art a Child of Wrath from the Womb under a Damning Guilt before ever thou didst commit one actual Sin For by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation Rom. 5.18 But alas How much Guilt hast thou Contracted by thy Actual Sin thy Lying thy Swearing thy Drunkenness thy Gluttonny thy Pride and Envy thy Lewdness and Uncleanness thy sinful Mirth and Levity thy Slothfulness and Vanity thy Stubbornness and Obstinacy These are the common Sins of Youth And no wonder that that Soul is prone to forget God where these Lusts reign therefore Remember thy Creator Fourthly It is a Duty of the Greatest Equity not only from the Will of him that Commands it but from the Reason of the Command it self which Consults Man's Good as well as God's Glory and is it not Equal that we should Remember that God that never forgets us and that we should mind his Glory who is mindful of our Good Besides how Equal is it that God who is the First Cause the Chief Good and Last End should be first owned best loved and most served And is it not Equal that Time being so rare a Jewel so great a Betrustment so Rich a Talent should be employed for him who gave it and who can either continue it or cut it short as we either lay it out upon God or profusely lavish it upon our Lusts Therefore Remember thy Creator Fifthly God gives us this Memento to mind us of that strict Account we must e're long give to him for all our Time Youth is to Account to God for a few Years as well as Old Age is for many more and therefore the Wise Man warns Young Ones of a Judgment Day for them as well as for those of more Years Eccles 11.9 Rejoice O Young Man in thy Youth But know that for all those things God will bring thee to Judgment If we do not Remember to keep this Precept God will Remember to punish the breach of it If we forget our Obedience to God he will not forget to punish our Disobedience and therefore God puts a Memento upon this Command that so we may be Awakened to our Duty from the Sense of an Approaching Judgment Remember thy Creator But it is not barely an Act of the Mind that is here called for it is not enough meerly for you to Remember or Think of God for that is done in Hell they all Remember God there the Memory of the Damned shall then be more quick and strong than ever and shall bring all your Sins into an Eternal view Now the Sins of Youth are committed and forgotten by us and we are apt to think God forgets them too and that they shall never be remembred more they say Tush the Lord seeth us not Ezek. 8.12 But mark what God says Psalm 50. ver 21. These things hast thou done speaking of their Sins before These things hast thou done and I kept Silence But I will Reprove thee and set them in Order before thine Eyes Every Sin shall be set in Order and come into Remembrance in that Day Son says Abraham to the Rich Man Son Remember Luke 16.25 pointing him back to his Lusts If Sinners could but forget in Hell it would be a Comparative Happiness A Loss though never so great yet when it is forgotten the trouble of it ceases It would be an ease to Sinners in Hell if they could never think of God more and if they could raze out the Remembrance of Christ and the Gospel out of their Minds and forget that ever they heard of a Redeemer to Remember what a God what a Creator what a Redeemer what a Heaven what a Happiness they had tendered to them and therefore might have secured but would not to Remember what Calls they were once under to Convert and Turn to God and Close with Christ and Live O how will this wound and afflict in that Day I had once the Means of Grace I heard the Preacher often Calling and Wooing me to leave my Lusts and come to Christ I have many times felt the Convictions and Strivings of the Spirit in me under the Word to bring it about and had I had Wisdom to Consider and a Heart to Comply O how Happy had I been I might have been one amongst the Blessed Saints in Heaven who are here Tormented amongst Damned Spirits O how often have I had Life and Death set before me and therefore this Misery is the Fruit of my own Choice To Remember Lost and Past Opportunities O how will this Torment Fool that I was to have such a Price put into my Hands to get Wisdom as once I had and yet to have
no Heart to it Wretch that I was that I could find Time for every thing else but no Time for Eternity I had Time to Eat and Drink and Sleep and to mind the Work of my Calling but no Time to Work out my Salvation I had Time for my Mirth and my Games and my Sports and Pleasures and Youthful Vanities but I could find no Time for God and my own Soul To Remember upon what easie Terms they might have Escaped Wrath and Misery and have been Happy for ever will not this wound and torment I was not put upon what was Impossible Christ told me his Yoke was Easie and his Burden Light that his Commands were not grievous it was but forsaking my Lusts and Cordially accepting of Christ for my Saviour and Lord and I had been Happy for ever and how reasonable was this If he had bid me do some great Matter should I not have done it How much more then when he laid upon me no other Conditions but these Believe and be Saved Seek my Face and Live Remember thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth O how bereft of Judgment was I when I thought my self too Young for this Work when I called God a Hard Master and his Service Bonds and Bondage when I Censured the Holy Ways of God as needless Preciseness and cast off his Holy Laws as too Severe and Strict O Cursed Wretch that I was and am not to be Perswaded to Own and Imbrace them To Remember what it was that they Chose in lieu of Blessedness and what they parted with Heaven and Glory for this will Amaze and Confound a few Short-lived Pleasures and Carnal Delights a little Sensual Satisfaction of the Flesh a few Pleasant Cups or Sweet Morsels a Heap of Gold or a Puff of Honour this is all I had for my Immortal Soul and Eternal Salvation and for a God who is the Chief Good and in whose Favour is Life so that you see God is Remembred in Hell Nay let me say it he is in some Sence Remembred more there than he is here for here the Ruin is so Distracted with divers Lusts and Sensual Vanities that they divert the Thoughts from their Proper Object but in Hell there is nothing to flatter the Sences no Objects to divert them God is perpetually Remembred there not as a Duty but as a Punishment not as a Comfort but as a Torment And let me tell you it will be one of the greatest Torments of Sinners in Hell to Remember what a God they have lost what a Heaven they have missed what precious Souls they have undone But this Momento here in the Text is a very Comprehensive Duty in this Place it takes in the Whole of Religion it comprehends the Whole Duty of Man It is usual with the Spirit of God in Scripture to include all the Operations of the Soul in the mention of one single Act and to denominate the Whole of Religion by some one Chief Part of it which is a Principle Productive of all the rest sometimes we are Commanded to love God sometimes to fear God sometimes to seek God and here in the Text to remember God and in any one of these all the rest are included so that this Injunction to Remember thy Creator points us to a five-fold Duty without which it is not done as a Duty First This Remembring implies and supposes Knowledge you can never Remember your Creator unless you Know who he is the Memory is the Store-House of the Soul where known Truths are Treasured up Christ says of the Scribe instructed for the Kingdom of Heaven that he brings out of his Treasury Things New and Old Knowledge is the first Step to Salvation he will have all Men to be Saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth 1 Tim. 2.4 and therefore the great Design of the Devil is to blot out the Knowledge of God from the Mind his Kingdom is a Kingdom of Darkness and he rules in the Darkness of this World for he can lead the Blind which Way he will and therefore he that doth not know God cannot remember him and he cannot be rightly known but in Jesus Christ If one had a Knowledge of God as clear as that of the Angels who never sinned yet he cannot be rightly known by us but in Jesus Christ without the Knowledge of Christ we shall be miserable with all our Knowledge Though the Knowledge of Christ be not simply necessary to the Angels that never sinned and therefore needed not a Mediator yet it was necessary for us who are by Sin Obnoxious to God's Wrath and so need a Reconciler because of our Enmity and a Redeemer because of our Slavery a Refiner because of our Filthiness and a Mediator because of our Distance that he may bring us to God and therefore the Knowledge of Christ is as necessary to Happiness as the Knowledge of God both are joined together as a needful Means of Salvation This is Life Eternal to know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Joh. 17.3 If we do not know God we cannot know what is our Duty to him and if we do not know Christ we cannot know the way of Performing that Duty the more we come to understand the Nature of God and the Offices of Christ the more we shall know of our Duty and how to do it There can be no Right Knowledge of God but in and by Christ He is the True Light that lightens every Man that comes into the World John 1.9 Every One that partakes of this Light hath it from Christ Natural Light is from Christ and Spiritual Light much more No Man hath seen God at any time the only Begotten Son who is in the Bosom of the Father he hath Declared him John 1.18 And therefore this Remembring thy Creator includes in it the Saving Knowledge of God in Christ Secondly This Remembring includes Faith he cannot be said to Remember God who doth not Depend upon God and Trust in him therefore David Expresseth his Faith in God by Remembring of him Psalm 20.7 Some trust in Chariots and some in Horses but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God that is we will trust in his Name others trust in Creatures but we will trust in the Creator others rely on an Arm of Flesh but we will rely upon the Name of the Lord then God is Remembred aright when the Remembrance of him is accompanied with Faith and Trusting Faith in God is the best the truest way of Remembring of God It is said of Israel Psalm 78.32 They believed not for his Wondrous Works but when he slew them then they sought him and they remembred that God was their Rock and the High God their Redeemer that is then they believed So Isaiah 26.8 The Desire of our Souls is to thy Name and to the Rememberance of thee that is to keep up the Glory of thy Name by Acting Faith
Day there is the Door of Gospel Grace Rev. 3.18 I have set before you an open Door and no Man can shut it but when Death comes that will shut it There is a Door of Faith Acts 14.27 He opened a Door of Faith unto the Gentiles that is he brought them to Believe in Christ but when Death comes the Door of Faith shall be shut There is a Door of Hope Hos 2.15 I will give them the Valley of Achor for a Door of Hope but when Death comes this Door shall be shut for them that never enter'd into the Good Land the Heavenly Canaan in this Life Whose Hope shall be cut off and whose Trust shall be a Spider's Web Job 8.14 There is the Door of the Heart where God stands and knocks Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the Door and knock And my Brethren God is this Day knocking at the Door of the Hearts of you Young Ones He is now knocking by his Word and what does he say Remember now thy Creator If any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and Sup with him and he with me that is I will give him the Saving Influences of my Spirit he shall have Communion with me in Grace here and Glory hereafter O how should you Young Ones beg now that God would Put in his Hand by the hole of the Door that you may open to him Open ye Gates stand open ye everlasting Doors that the King of Glory may come in Psal 24.7 Rowl away the Stone those Sins and Lusts that keep Christ out of the Heart and do it now lest God give you up to the Hardness of your Heart and then when Death comes you Perish in your Sins Again there is a Personal Door in Scripture that is the Lord Christ I am the Door by me if any Man enter in he shall be saved John 10.9 Now never did God set open such a Door of Hope such a Door of Grace such a Door of Salvation as this is In whom we have Boldness and Access with Confidence to God by the Faith of him Ephes 3.15 We have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus Heb. 10.9 Now this Door stands open ready to let you in Christ calls you this Day to come and he hath promised he will not shut you out John 6.32 Is there never a Young Sinner here that hath a Heart to enter in at this Door to Day Do it whilst it may be done before it is too late for when Death comes this Door will be shut to If we stand out now there can be no entring in then you must be shut out for ever The Door of the Gospel will be shut the Door of Faith the Door of Hope the Door of the Heart the Door of Christ's Blood and Righteousness will be shut and therefore the Door of God's Bowels and Mercy will be shut All these Doors will be shut against thee in that Day therefore then there can be no Entring for Death will put an end to all thy Opportunities therefore Remember now thy Creator that is now in the time of this Life for Now is the Accepted Time now is the Day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 And thus much for the Extended Sence of this NOW in the Text. Secondly Sometimes this NOW is used in a more Restrained Sence not only for the present Life but for the present Time of this present Life So it is used in the Text therefore Mark it is not said only Remember now thy Creator that is only now in this Life but now in the Days of thy Youth in the early part of thy Life and so now is opposed to hereafter and this makes the Work of Closing with God in Christ to be a present Duty a Duty to be done without delay Remember him now in the Days of thy Youth The Life of Man from the Womb to the Grave consists of Three Stages Infancy Youth and Old Age and the Duty here is not affixed to the first for Infancy is too soon to know God when we cannot know our Selves Nor is it affixed to the latter for Old Age is too late to serve God when we cannot serve our Selves But it is affixed to Youth this is the only time to know both our Selves and God and our Lost Condition without him and our Happiness by an Interest in him therefore Remember now thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth Indeed Youth is the only time of Life for this In Infancy we are too Young to live being but in our Imperfect Beginnings in Age we are too Old to Live being in our Droopings and Declinings The Life of Man is a Life of Reason now Children are too Young to understand and Old Men are twice Children and therefore the Days of thy Youth are the only Days of thy Life to Remember thy Creator in Remember now thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth And so I should come now to the Conclusion I thought to speak to but I pass that by for the present and come from Explication to the Application but in two Uses The first shall be of Reproof to all such as forget God now in their Youth O what a Common Sin is this especially amongst Young Ones A Sin I think that never was so common as now it is a Complaint every where that the Youth of the Nation is generally Corrupted and Debauched and it may appear by the Bills you put up full of Complaints of their States Pray for an Undutiful Child that despises his Parents Counsel says one Pray for a Sabbath-breaking Child says another Pray for a Child that Dishonours God by Cursing and Swearing and Lying says a third and so many more And truly Parents may very much thank themselves for this It very much proceeds from want of Good Government by timely Instruction and Correction and the want of this at home together with Evil Examples abroad hath so leavened the Youth of this Day and stained them with such vicious Tinctures that God is not in all their Thoughts Nay they cannot endure the Name of God unless it be to Curse or Swear by it And is not this for a Lamentation It is such a Sin as would you be perswaded seriously to consider of it you would be ashamed of for it is the most unreasonable thing in the World to forget God It is such a Sin as if God would help you to lay it to Heart you would be ashamed of it See how God Disputed the Case with Israel Jer. 2.2 What Iniquity have your Fathers found in me that they have gone far from me and walked after Vanities and becomr Vain neither say they where is the Lord As if God should say tell me what have you against me What Evil have I done As Christ says Many Good Works have I done for which of them do you Stone me What have you to lay to my Charge Have I been a Barren
but as better than all other good whatever We shall never chuse God before all till we come to Esteem him above all Thirdly This chusing of God implies a voluntary Inclination and Desire a Man is said to chuse those things which he Likes and Loves and which his Soul Inclines to So that he is carried after them not by the Force of any External Principle but by his own Propension and Inclination and this supposes Love for Desires are the Natural Issues of Love The Soul can never mount upward if the Affections tend downward and therefore when the Holy Ghost would give an advance to the Life of God in the Soul he begins first with the Affections Set your Affections on things above and then as Desires always spring from Love so they are drawn forth by a Sence of Want for what we Love and have not that becomes a Want and Sence of Want will quicken Appetite and set Desires on Work now these Desires must be fed and satisfied and that none can do but God therefore it is God that he chuses Fourthly This chusing implies a firm Purpose and a fixed Resolution of adhering to our choice We never chuse till we bring our Minds and Wills to a firm Purpose there may be many good Thoughts and Wishes in the Soul but still till we are resolved for God we do not chuse him When the Heart is Peremptory and Fixed for God that will come to something when the Soul says I see I am an undone Creature I am convinced of my State and the Necessity of my Case I must have God I must secure an Interest in Christ I must be Born again I must mind the saving of an Immortal Soul this will come to somewhat and a Profession of Religion let me tell you signifies very little till it comes to this Who is this that hath engaged his Heart to Approach to me says God Jer. 30.21 It is Resolution that ingages the Heart for God and makes our choice of him firm and unalterable especially if it be deliberate and intire First It must be deliberate from a Sence and Conscience of our Duty and Interest Resolves taken up upon Sudden Surprizes or Present Heats rarely produce any good Effect This is often the Case of you Young Professors that are like an Early Spring all Blossoms but no Fruit or like a Vapour Exhaled by the Warmth of the Sun that rises no higher than the middle Region where it is Condensed and drops down again This is that very thing that makes so many Apostates from God and his Ways they take up a Profession of Religion too soon before the Word of God has taken Root in the Heart Indeed a Soul that chuses God aright can never Profess him too soon the sooner the better but he that makes a Profession of God before he makes a choice of God before the Word is rooted in the Heart or any thing of the Power of Religion is felt within such a one takes up a Profession too soon It is said of the Seed Sown in stony Places Mat. 43. Forthwith it sprung up Above ground too soon it grows upward but not downward all Blade but no Root So says Christ Verse 21. Yet hath he not Root in himself And what follows He dureth but for a while A Mushroom Christian the Birth of a Night and the Abode of a Day Such begin too soon to hold out with God long This has caused many Scoffers at Religion to take up that Envious Proverb A young Saint and an old Devil whereas if they had said A young Hypocrite and an old Apostate it had been a Truth too too often Experienced Flashy Affections that have no Principles to maintain them within come to nothing they are like Fire in Green Wood that burns no longer than it is blown or like Water hanged over a Quick Flame that is soon Hot but when it is taken off again is as soon Cold nay Colder than it was before because the Natural Spirits are evaporated How nimbly does the Windmill Work when it blows a Brisk gale but the Wind no sooner ceases but the Mill stands So sudden and immature Resolutions come to nothing they must be managed with Judgment and Deliberation David's Practice is an excellent Pattern Psalm 119.59 I considered my ways and turned my Feet to thy Testimonies David speaks like a Man under a Dilemma as having two ways before him there is the Way of Sin and Lust and Carnal Delight this the Flesh presents and it seems an easie and a pleasant Way Ay but it leads to Destruction Then there is the Way of God's Commandments This the Word presents it is Narrow it is Troublesome but it leads to Life and that makes amends for all Now when we stand still and debate upon the Choice which of these is the better Way and consider the Loss and the Gain of either Side and the final Issue of the one Way and the other and thereupon resolve to take in with the Ways of God as promoting our truest Interest and Felicity this is a deliberate Resolution And this was the Course of that Prodigal Son when he came to himself Luke 15. v. 17. he first bethinks himself falls into a serious Debate of his Case How many Hired Servants of my Father's have Bread enough and I perish with hunger What shall I do I will arise and go to my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me as one of thy hired Servants Thus he debates the case with himself and thereupon takes up this resolve well I will arise and go to my Father there is his deliberate Resolution Secondly Our Resolution must be entire that is without boggling at any of God's Commands and without the reserve of any one Sin or Lust for no Man can serve two Masters the Commands of Christ and Satan are absolutely inconsistent Obedience to the one is downright Rebellion against the other we must not capitulate with Christ and think that strictness in some Duties will excuse our Indulgence to any Lust the great standing Law of Heaven is Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart and with all thy mind and with all thy strength and him only shalt thou serve The Work of the Christian Calling is such as that it cannot be done without this we have many Enemies to oppose many Sins to conquer many Lusts to mortifie many Duties to perform therefore our Resolution must be entire and that is a Fourth Thing Fifthly This Chusing in the Text implies a complacency and delight in the Object of our choice though Election be an Act of the Will yet it is quickened by the Motions of the Affections As where the Will is bent against Sin there is always a hatred of it included so where-ever it fixes upon God it is attended with pleasure and delight When David had chosen God