THE Best Gift OR GOD'S CALL UPON YOUNG MEN for their HEARTS Delivered in a Sermon to YOUNG MEN. By THOMAS VINCENT Minister sometime of Maudlins Milkstreet London LONDON Printed for George Calvert and Samuel Sprint and are to be sold at the Golden Ball in Duck Lane 1672. THE BEST GIFT c. Prov. 23. part of the 26th verse My Son Give me thine Heart SOlomon was not only a King but a Prophet not only a Prince but a Preacher and in the name of God he calleth upon all the children of men especially young men by the name of his Son for their Heart that they would present the Lord with the gift of the Heart As in the later clause of the verse he directeth the eye of their mind unto the observation of Gods way which he calleth his way Let thine eyes observe my Wayes so in this first clause he directeth their hearts unto God in himself whom he doth represent My Son give me thine heart Hence observe Doct. That all men especially young men ought to give their Heart unto God In handling of this point I shall shew 1. What is meant by the Heart 2. What it is to give God the Heart 3. Why all men especially young men ought to give God their Hearts 4 Make some application 1. What is meant by the Heart The Heart in Scripture is frequently taken for the whole Soul as including all its powers and faculties thus Mat 15.8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoureth me with their lips there was the worship of their outward man but their heart is far from me the worship of the Soul and inward man was wanting So Rom. 2.28 29. He is not a Iew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit c. And we shall find in the Scripture that every faculty is sometimes called by the name of the Heart The Understanding Eph. 4.18 Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts The Conscience 1 Iob. 3.20 For if our heart condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things The Memory Luk. 2.19 Mary kept al these things in her heart But chiefly and most properly the Heart is taken in Scripture for the Will and Affections which are seated in the Heart as the Understanding Memory Fancy and Imagination are seated in the Head and thus we may understand the acceptation of the word Heart in this place namely for the Will and Affections yet not excluding the other faculties 2. What is it to give God the Heart Persons give God their Hearts when their Wills make choice of him as their chief Good and they place their liking affections chiefly upon him when their love is chiefly towards him their desires chiefly after him their hopes and delights chiefly in him Persons give God their Hearts when theâ— open the door of these secret chambers and let God in and lodge him the dearest embracements of their affections when they give him full possession of their hearts and set him up in the highest room when they give God the chief rule and command in their hearts placing him upon the the throne when they engage their hearts to the Lord in a solemn covenant to be his and only his 3. Why all men especially young men ought to give their hearts unto God R. 1. Because God hath right to their hearts The Devil and Sin have got the possession but they have no right to the heart they are usurpers and therefore should be turned out God only hath right to the heart and that to the heart of young ones as well as others young ones have not right to possess their inheritance left to them by their Fathers whilst they are under age until they arrive at one and twenty years but God hath right to possess the hearts of young ones in the years of their minority He hath a right to their hearts so soon as they are born so soon as they have them themselves and that because he hath made them and he hath bought them they belong to him by right of Creation and by right of Purchase The Body was form'd by God but the Soul is infus'd and cometh more immediately out of his hand and it is but equal to return that to God which he hath made to present God with the gift of that which is his own the work of his own hands especially when besides his natural right to the heart he hath made a purchase of it he hath laid â—own a great price for it even the price of his Sons bloud as the bloud of Christ hath purchased an everlasting inheritance for men so it hath purchased the hearts of men for God to be his everlasting habitation See this Argument urged by the Apostle upon the Corinthians 1 Cor. 6.19 20 Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods God hath a double right both to to the body and to the Spirit too and as the heart is his by way of right so all ought to make it his by way of tender and gift R. 2. All especially young men ought to give God their hearts because God doth require them some tacitly give away their right by their not demanding of it and some things which are the right of such a man yet are not his without a lawful demand but God hath not only right to the heart but he requireth it he maketh a demand of it he commandeth us to give it See Matth. 22.37 38. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind this is the first and great commandment It is not the eye or the ear or the tongue or the knee that God careth for but the heart the sincere and supreme love of the heart is the chiefest and most comprehensive commandment Some debts are forfeited by Law if though they be demanded they be not timely demanded but God doth timely demand this debt of the Heart He doth not stay till men are grown into elder years but he demandeth their hearts when they are young He calleth upon young men to give him their hearts as in the Text My son give me thine heart R. 3. All especially young men ought to give God their Hearts because God will accept of their Hearts If a man will not accept of his right he loseth his right and there is no obligation upon a man to tender a gift that is despised but God will accept of the Heart and nothing is more acceptable than the Heart nothing is acceptable like the Heart and nothing is acceptable without the Heart all the good language of the lips the devotion of the knees and all bodily
is beyond all and God can do beyond what we can ask in spiritual riches the riches of glory are exceedingly abundantly beyond the riches of grace we may conceive and think more than we can have confidence or find words to ask but God can do for us beyond our either desires or thoughts yea there is more in himself than we can imagine God is a fountain of goodness which is alwayes running overflowing and ever-flowing He is a treasury of all good things which can never be exhausted and emptied Surely then God is the most sutable good for the Heart and most deserveth the Heart 3. If Love do deserve the Heart and call for return of Love surely God hath infinitely more of this than any else none can match him in loveliness and none can match him in Love See Iob. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son c. God so loved the world How did he love the world There is no comparison to set it forth by nothing great enough to express it it is too big to be put into the scales with any creature-love except you would weigh vast mountains in one balance and a light feather in the other yea I may safely say that the smallest dust on the ground or the least more that flyeth in the air may better be compared with the whole globe of the Earth for weight than the love of any creature can be compared with the love of God to Mankind and therefore if you ask how God loved Mankind the answer must not be by a comparison for it passeth comparison and it passeth comprehension but it is set forth by the expression of it in giving his onely begotten Son for men that believing in him they might not perish but have everlasting life here is love not in word so much as in deed love in a love-token in a gift and such a gift as is unvaluable a gift so necessary as without which eternal ruine could not be avoided so beneficial that by it and with it eternal life and happiness is obtained Gods love is so great in giving his Son that when the Apostle Iohn doth speak of it he telleth us not onely that God hath Love but that God is Love 1 Ioh. 4.8 9 10. God is love In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins Creatures have love it is a quality in them and hath degrees the highest capacity which we have for love is but as it is a quality and even in that which we are capable of we are deficient whilst in this world but Love in God is not a quality for a quality is an accident and there are no accidénts in God and therefore it is his essence He is Love there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a depth in the expression which we cannot fathom If the Apostle cryeth out Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his wayes past finding out We may also cry out in an extasie of admiration O the depth of the riches of the goodness and love of God! how unsearchable are his mercies and the wayes of his grace past finding out Apprehend we may something of Gods love but comprehend it we cannot Who ever did or could look into the depth of Gods heart The heart of man is deep but the heart of God is far deeper and indeed in comparison with God the streams of our Love are but small brooks and shallow rivulets unto the dep current and bottomless ocean of Love in the heart of God to sinners through Jesus Christ. Gods Love is First Free Tender Unchangeable from everlasting to everlasting But I must not lanch too deep into this subject of Gods Love which in many discourses of those that have the most raised apprehensions and sweetest tasts of it cannot be set forth with any sutableness unto its greatness Now such love of God surely doth deserve the Heart and the return of the choicest and chiefest affections which the children of men can possibly present him withall Love doth usually draw forth particular and endeared Love more than Loveliness but when such infinite Loveliness Sutableness and withall such infinite incomparable Love do meet in one God surely we must say that he is the most deserving object for the Love R. 5. Lastly All especially young men ought to give God their Hearts because he will best use their Hearts their Hearts will be abused by any thing they give them unto except it be God alone If they give their Hearts to the world it will debase and degrade them but if they give their Hearts unto God He will advance and ennoble them if the creatures have their hearts they will impoverish them but if God have their Hearts He will enrich them if Sin get their Hearts it will deform them but if God get their Hearts He will beautifie them if Lust be received into their Hearts it will defile them but if God be received into their Hearts He will cleanse them If God have not the Heart the Devil and the World and Lust will possess it and be sure they will abuse it Better it is a thousand fold to entertain God into the Heart than any other inhabitant He having promised to dwell where he is entertained 2 Cor. 6.16 For ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in you and walk in you and be sure He will use the Hearts well where he dwells The Devil and Lust make the Heart a Dungeon but Gods presence maketh the Heart a Palace God hath two Palaces the one is the highest Heavens the other is the lowest Hearts and where God dwelleth he will bring his own Furniture He will throw out of doors the rotten furniture of Sin which he findeth and bring in the furniture of Grace he will as it were hang the Heart with the rich Tapistry and curious Embroidery of the Spirit that He may take delight in his Habitation adorned with his own Ornaments And He will bring in his own Provisions too and feast them with his Love and the most kind expressions thereof which shall yield such peace and satisfaction such comfort and sweetness and sometimes such ravishing joyes as have not entred into the hearts of the carnal and worldly to conceive Moreover He will watch over the Heart and defend it from many mischiefs and dangers from many snares and temptations from many sins and those ruines which sin doth lead the ungodly unto To conclude By the Grace which He giveth the Heart here He will qualifie and prepare it for glory hereafter and at length when the Soul now given to him shall be separated from the
Body it shall not want an habitation for He will receive it into the dearest closets and eternal embracements of his Love Surely then God will best use the Heart and therefore all should give their Hearts unto Him The Application Vse 1. BY way of Information HEnce learn that none have the dispose of their own Hearts none have liberty to â—ive their Hearts as they please to choose or â—ove or desire or delight in what and in whom â—hey please It is the speech of the ungodly Psal. â— 2.4 Our lips are our own who is Lord over us â—nd it is a more ungodly speech to say Our Hearts are our own who is Lord over us There is noâ—hing which any can call their own properly and â—trictly except it be sin whatever any are or â—ave they owe it unto God from whom they â—ave received it but above all God claims his â—â—ght to the Heart and He is most jealous of the Heart and none may give away their Hearts from him 2. Learn here God hath disposed of our Hearts better than we could or would dispose of them our selves if God had not directed our Hearts to himself and commanded us to give them to him we should foolishly dispose of them unto inferiour things which are wholly unworthy of them and which would wofully abuse them as all such do dispose their Hearts who give no heed unto this command 3. Learn here that God hath made that to be our duty to give our Hearts to him which is our great privilege that we may give our hearts to him this commandment surely is not grievous but most reasonable and sweet God is not beholding to us for our Hearts but we are beholding unto him that he will accept of them 4. Learn here the difference between the wicked and the righteous the difference doth not lye in their riches for when many of the righteous be poor in this world multitudes of wicked men do abound in wealth it doth not lye in worldly grandeur and dignity usually the wicked are advanced to the highest seat of honour and are esteemed when the righteous are low and under disgrace It doth not lye in their food and apparel Divâ—â— is arrayed in purple and fine linnen and fareth deliciously every day when Lazarus lyeth at his gate hungry and in rags It doth not lye in any beauty and strength of body in any natural parts or acquired abilities of mind some that have very foul insides are outwardly fair and beautiful and many are ignorant of the mysteries of salvation who are great Scholars in other things and of high esteem for worldly wisdom and prudence when the righteous many of them have a contemptible outside and are of very mean natural and acquired abilities But the difference between the wicked and the righteous and that wherein the righteous do excell all the wicked in the world is in the disposing of their hearts the wicked give their hearts to the creature some to the dung of earthly pelf others to the filth of sensual delight others to the wind of worldly esteem some give their hearts to their Friends others to their Lands others to their Hawks and Hounds and all the wicked are of such a low and inferiour spirit that they let their Hearts sink beneath themselves unto something that debases them but the righteous they lift up their hearts to him that is above them whereby they are advanced they dispose their hearts unto God who is the chief good when the stream of the wicked mans affections runneth downwards theirs runneth upward and surely of all others they have the greatest wisdome and true heigth and nobleness of spirit whose hearts are raised so high as to be joyned unto the Lord. Vse 2. For reproof of such as give away their Hearts from God And are there not too many such in this place God hath your ears sometimes and your lips and your knees sometimes and your bodies it may be are often presented before him in the outside of Religious duties but hath God your hearts Have you presented God with this gift with this sacrifice without which all other sacrifices of your lips and outward devotion are but a vain oblation yea despised and an abomination unto him Young men you are dispos'd of by your Friends some to this Calling and some to that but Friends have not the dispose of your Hearts you have dispos'd of them your selves and have not too many of you dispos'd away your hearts from God unto the creature Hath not vanity and the world and some foolish filthy and deceitful Lust the chief room and possession of your hearts God hath called for your Hearts but you have not hearkened God hath knocked at the door but you have not opened He hath in his Word and by his Spirit woed for your chiefest affections but you have hitherto given him a denial and repulse when you have listned to the Devil and readily opened your Hearts to the world and given forth of your dearest loves and delights to the creatures you have been deaf unto God and your Hearts shup up against him and foolishly with-held your affections from him Consider your great sin herein 1. You that give away your hearts from God are guilty of Heart-Idolatry that which you chiefly love and desire and delight your selves in is your God If it be meats and drinks for your belly your belly is your God Philip. 3.19 Whose God is their belly If it be Gold and Silver and the riches of the World Riches are your God And therefore Covetousness is called Idolatry Col. 3.5 Covetousness which is Idolatry Whatever it be that you supremely love that is your God and the Idol of your hearts if it be any thing beneath and beside the true God And can any of these Gods hear your Prayers Can they save you in your troubles if you call upon them Can they deliver you from wrath to come Can they abide with you to be your eternal portion 2. You that give away your Hearts from God are guilty of Spiritual Adultery your Maker is or should be your Husband and you go a whoring from him when you give your Hearts chiefly to any person or thing besides him you commit Spiritual Adultery with any creature which you receive into the embracements of your dearest affections and therefore such whose hearts are chiefly addicted to the world and to its friendship are called Adulterers and Adulteresses Iam. 4.4 Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God 3. You that give away your hearts from God are guilty of great injustice your Hearts do of right belong to God as hath been proved He hath made them and he hath bought them and you may as justly give away money which belongeth to another or goods which belong to another or house and lands which belong ao another as give away your Hearts to any other which do of right belong
the highest honour and esteem of men Honor est in honorante Honour is not in him that is honoured but in him that honoureth and is that so amiable which is not in your selves but in anothers breast or if you do desire honour is worldly honour the most desirable which is of all things the most uncertain and most inconstant Is any honour so sure and so great as the honour which the Great Jehovah hath for all that truly love and fear him And what sweetness can you really find in others good esteem of you when you have so much reason to dis-esteem your selves Must not their esteem of you be for low and inferiour things which are not praise-worthy or else must not their esteem be built upon a mistake and can you take any great comfort in others mistake Can this be a happiness and chief good for a rational Soul Suppose that your ambition were gratified and you advanced not only in esteem but also in a high place of dignity are not all high places very slippery And by how much your place is the higher would not your fall be the lower If you were Kings or Emperours Death would quickly turn off your Crowns and pluck your robes off your backs and your Scepters out of your right hands And what honour do the worms give to the bodies of Great ones when they are brought down to the dust What honour will God give to the Souls of wicked Great ones when they are out of the body What honour will the Lord Jesus give to such at the last day when he appeareth with his glorious train of Angels to Judge the world in righteousness Will not all the honour of wicked men be then turned into shame disgrace everlasting contempt and confusion of face And is it good then to set your heart upon Honour instead of God Or it may be young ones your hearts are not upon the wing to carry you either to the mountains of pleasures or the mountains of honour but they are groveling upon the earth you are got under it and are digging for Mines and Treasures there I mean that possibly your Hearts are most addicted to the gain of earthly riches and are they more worthy of your Hearts than God Can they yield more satisfaction unto you or abide more surely by you than those pleasures or honours of the world which I have been endeavouring to disgrace If you had Gold like the dust and Silver like the sand and Jewels like the stones of the field if you had as much wealth as your hearts could wish could you find the contentment your hearts do desire in any of these things Besides if riches in great abundance could give contentment which they cannot are you certain to get such abundance Hath the world Treasures enough to enrich all that so dearly love and desire it Are not the times hard Is not trading low Is it not with great difficulty that any do get an estate Do not such as will be rich run themselves into temptations and snares which entangle them and enslave themselves to many foolish and hurtful Lusts which at length undo them and drown them in perdition and destruction 1 Tim. 6.9 Read and consider what the Wise man speaketh Prov. 23.5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches cerainly make themselves wings they flee away like an Eagle towards Heaven Will you set your hearts upon that which is not that is which is not what it seemeth to be or which is of so short continuance as if it had no being Riches certainly make themselves wings like Eagles and are flying away from you and will you make your selves wings like Eagles and fly after them Are you like to overtake them when they are upon the wing to be gone and when they are gone upon the wing will they return again or if they should abide so long as you abide will not death make wings for you e're long upon which willing or unwilling you must flee away and leave all your riches behind you Think how death will strip you of all your wealth and bereave you of all your riches Naked you came into the world and naked you must return and think how grievous it will be for you to part with those things unto which you have given your heart Will it not be a tearing to your hearts to be disjoyned from that unto which they are now so glewed And when withall you think that you must not only leave all that you so much love but also that you must go to a place of most exquisite and eternal torments in Hell which you so much fear Let me then perswade all of you especially you that are young men to call off your hearts from all these things which the Devil makes use of as baits to catch hearts withall as snares to entangle and captivate affections look to the hook through the bait look to the prison whither the Devil in such chains which he hath laid upon your affections is leading you withdraw your hearts from the world and every thing therein and now present it unto the Lord The Lord hath sent me this day to woe your Hearts O that I could win your Hearts for him You are young men and most of you if not all single men Suppose that the most lovely young woman that ever your eyes beheld of such stature feature and exact mixture of colours as you never before saw one so beautiful Suppose her birth and dowry to be far above you Suppose her humble like the ground and of the sweetest disposition that she had none like her and this person should make tender of particular and most ardent Love unto any of you and be willing to give her self and all that she hath unto you only did expect a return of Love on your part I suppose there is not any of you who would refuse and with-hold your Love But what is any creature in comparison with God not so much as the dust upon the ballance his excellencies are infinitely beyond compare and comprehension too I have set forth the Loveliness of the Lord as infinitely exceeding all creature loveliness I have set forth his Sutableness unto your Souls and withall his infinite Love and by me he maketh tender of himself and his Love unto you unto the meanest and most unworthy amongst you but he looketh for a return of Love on your part By me he calleth for your Heart think what an indignity it will be to the Lord what a folly and injury to your selves should you refuse and withhold your hearts from him God doth by me call for your hearts they are his due if any else can claim such right to them let them have them if any else do so much desire or deserve them let them have them if any else will so well use them let them have them if any else can so advance beautifie enrich satisfie and fill them with