their particular Constitutions and Tempers The most principal Duties and Institutions of Christianity do suppose this Degeneracy and Corruption of Human Nature and in this and many other Scriptures it is manifestly implyed The Subject of this Text is not Pure and Unbiassed equally indifferent unto Good or Evil but 't is supposed that he needs to be purified as well as guided Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way His way cleansed There is hardly any Metaphor whereby the Affections and Conversations of Men are more usually expressed than by this of their Way and Walk But there are some particular ways of Wickedness more appropriate unto Youth than to Elder Persons The Instructions Counsels and Exhortations of the Holy Scriptures besides those of common and universal Concern are therefore all suited to the various Classes under which Men may be severally considered There are some corrupt Inclinations and Practices some ways of Sin to which Young Men are more inclined and tempted than before or after that Age which in Childhood they are not arrived unto and in Riper Years are commonly exchanged for others I say commonly because sometimes Gray Hairs are deformed by the Vices and Follies of Youth and sometimes the Wisdom and Virtue of Old Age may be Eminently the Ornament of Young Men. Old Age may sometimes flourish in Youth and be as often perished in those that are well stricken in Years Covetousness for instance is not so much the Peculiar Vice of the Age but may be the Fault of Young Persons The Rich Young Man in the Gospel is an Instance who told our Lord that he had kept the Commandments But he had Houses and Lands and Bags of Mony which stood in his way to Heaven those he observed and kept as well as the Commandments Particular Countries and Places particular Callings and Relations particular Seasons and Times may have their special Sins and so have the different Ages of Men. The Ignorance of Youth is commonly attended with Pride and Conceitedness For they who know but a few things are always most presumptuous of their own Understanding and so are commonly more Rash and Hasty Giddy and Inconstant fond of Liberty and Impatient of Restraint Affecters of Novelty and Lovers of Pleasure of Company Pastime and sensual Mirth c. There are some youthful Lusts which young Timothy is warned against 2 Tim. 2.22 such as Ambition and Vain-glory Curiosity and Envy to appear Great and considerable before others as the Scope of the Place and three or four following Verses seem to manifest Not Drunkenness and Vncleanness or such carnal Lusts For tho' all Men have the Seeds of these yet the Modesty and Frugality the Weakness of Constitution and often Infirmities of Timothy make it very improbable they should here be principally meant The Corruption of Human Nature 't is true doth usually and with great Violence discover it self in unsanctified Youth by these Lusts of the Flesh These are some of the ways of their Heart according to which they form their Lives Where the Restraint of Bodily Temper special Providence Religious Education and Divine Grace do not make the difference I need not go about to prove that Childhood and Youth are Vanity or Sinful Folly considering the many Examples in Scripture and the multitude of such in every Age and in none more than our own considering the frequent Warnings given us by God against such Lusts considering the bitter Remorses and penitent Confessions of many who are truly Converted or but Awakned by the prospect of Death and Judgment considering the earnest Supplications even of Good Men that God would not Remember the Sins of their Youth Even David thought he had cause for such a Request Psal 25.7 whose Poverty and Piety whose Industry and Afflictive Trials in his Younger Years were a very great Restraint from those Lusts which are more Unbridled in others of another Education and Condition Not to mention how many in Riper Years are made to passess the Sins of their Youth Job 13.26 and their very Bones are full of them Job 20.11 For a Young Sinner hath himself for his Heir and Successor when he is Old and that which he receives for his Inheritance is only the sorrowful remembrance and bitter Fruits of his Youthful Follies It is sad to consider how many Young Men of hopeful Parts and promising Capacities are taken in the Devils Snares in the pursuit of Sensual Pleasures and lay up Matter for future Diseases and bodily Pains how they poison their Blood and weaken their Constitutions how they hasten or antedate the Infirmities of Old Age and do what they can to dig their own Graves But it is a more Melancholly Reflection to consider how they provoke God and incense his Almighty Vengeance how they wound and wrong their own Souls and treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath how they provide Fuel for everlasting Fire and consign their Bodies and Souls to Hell for ever To see them run headlong to their own destruction by walking in the way of their Hearts and in the sight of their own Eyes To consider how easily they are led into destructive Paths and made a cheap and hasty Prey by the Tempter till they are hardned past Recovery or cut off in the midst of their days by a sudden Arrest of Judgment And so for the short and vain Pleasures of Youth they perish to Eternity unless some few of them by an extraordinary Grace are recovered at the last Hour and renewed unto Saving Repentance But it is much to be feared that very few Death-Bed Penitents are so Secondly It is supposed to be a matter of no small Difficulty for a Young Man to Reform and Cleanse his Ways This in part appears from what hath been said already of the Corruption of Human Nature and the Vicious Inclinations of Youth Their Ignorance and Rashness and want of Experience their Aversion to serious Thoughts for fear of Melancholy with the apprehended unsuitableness of Restraint and Retirement unto Persons of their Age do all increase the Difficulty They usually reckon that they have the World before them they have Time enough hereafter and are now in the Age of Liberty and Pleasure and that both God and Man will indulge a great deal to them because of their Youth Presuming at the same time that a great while hence they shall have Opportunity and Heart and Help to work out their Salvation when ever they please For when they Calculate their own Nativities they reckon to the longest Term of Human Life that any are wont to reach to Their Sun is climbing higher they have a great while to Night and so are far removed from the Thoughts of Death Accordingly when ever they are advised by those who are Elder to look forward to the Grave and beyond it to bethink themselves of their Everlasting State and provide for an Endless Life their inward Thought is agreeable to the High-Priests Answer unto
Judas What is that to us look thou to that Such is the Strength and Power of Sense and Fancy in the Days of our Youth such is the Weakness of our Reason as not having attained to any great Consistency of Judgment which must be ripened by Consideration and Experience such is the violence of our Passions and the Inconstancy of our Resolutions so variable and uncertain the Objects of our Affections and Choice such the venomous Influence of Self-Flattery and that of others about us such the force of Examples and so great the number of ill ones so deep the Impressions we receive by the Company we converse with especially if Atheistical or Licentious Youths are the Instruments of the Devil to entice us so little command have we of our selves to bridle those Impetuous Lusts that are easily Fired by every Spark of Temptation and so intolerable is the Reproach imagined of being singular of not complying with the Customs of those of the same Age with our selves that on these and the like Accounts the Devil hath a mighty Advantage against us in that Portion of our Time For the most part Young Men are Changeable and Unsteady Heedless and Unwary are but little Fortified against the Wiles of the Devil are little used to consider things with any Strength and Intensness of Thought and prone to flatter themselves with foolish hopes and projects of the wonderful things which they shall be able to compass to do and be and enjoy and reach before they leave the World c. That 't is no wonder that the Principal because most hopeful Attempts of the Devil are directed against such to deceive and destroy them by Youthful Lusts Children are not capable of doing him such Service or themselves such Prejudice or of being employed to so many ill-purposes And commonly Old Men are already fix'd in their way The Minds of Youth are more flexible and withal sharper for any Undertaking their Bodies stronger and more active for most kinds of Wickedness their Blood more warm their Spirits more Vigorous as their Sinful Desires are more Raging and all their Passions more vehement On which account the Wisdom of the Ancients would not admit Persons very Young to the Lectures of Moral Arist Ethic Lib. 1. Chap. 1. or Civil Philosophy as supposing them to be so very much under the Government of their Passions that good Counsel would be lost upon them and all such Discourses prove in vain But though the Philosophers despaired of being able to reclaim and reduce Young Men by their weak and naked Rules of Morality we need not do so who are under the dispensation of a Gospel of Grace and are acquainted with the power of the Divine Word The Precepts of Philosophy may assist our Recovery from the grosser Immoralities in practice such as violate the plain Sentiments of natural Conscience or are Scandalous in the view of Men. But the Divine Word accompanied with the power of the Spirit can work an effectual Cure in Heart and Life by healing our Corrupt Nature and making us partakers of the Divine This is one special Priviledge of the Gospel State and is much for the honour of Divine Grace recommending at the same time the Excellency of the Word of God as the holy means of it Which leads us to consider Thirdly That the Word of God is the sufficient and only means of Cleansing and Reforming the sinful ways of Youth This Enlightens the Eyes Psal 19.6 7 8. Psal 17.4 Psal 37.31 Prov. 6.23 Converts the Soul makes Wise the Simple shews us the way of Life and keeps us from the Paths of the Destroyer It was for this end that our Blessed Lord gave himself that we might be Sanctified and Cleansed with the Washing of Water by the Word Eph. 5.26 He declared that his Disciples were Clean by the Word he had spoken to them John 15.3 He prays that they might be Sanctified by the Truth which Truth is his Word and makes the same Request for all those who should afterwards believe John 17.20 And here we might distinctly consider that hereby we are made acquainted with the Nature and Necessity of this Sanctification and Cleansing And that by Divine Appointment this is the ordinary Means of effecting it And farther that herein the Wisdom of God is honoured by its exceeding Fitness to that end 1. Without the knowledge of this Word we could not fully have understood the loathsom Depravity and Corruption of our Hearts or the manifold Transgressions of our Lives How wretchedly we are Polluted and how often we Offend how Defective are our best Duties how short we come of our Rule and Pattern and what need there is of seeking to recover the Divine Image and Life This Blessed Word instructs us how the Ground of our Sanctification is laid in the Satisfaction of Christ how it is procured Acts 3.26 and how we may partake of it What we owe to the Blood of the Cross and what to the influence of the Divine Spirit The Treasury of Heaven was opened by the Sacrifice of Christ that the Holy Spirit might be given to Convince and Convert the World His Departure or going away John 15. which comprehend his Death and Ascension was necessary and expedient unto this We are also here instructed how this Sanctification is carried on by our perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God For this Water of the Spirit hath a continual Cleansing Virtue upon all true Christians until their Purified Souls ascend to Heaven He that pitied them when they were in their Pollution will not leave them after they are Cleansed till he hath finished his Work It is from this Word that we are acquainted with the Necessity and Extent of this Sanctification as reaching to Soul Body and Spirit It tells us the very Mind and Conscience are defiled and that there needs not only the Cleansing of our Hands but the Purifying of our Hearts Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. For the Doctrin of the Grace of God teacheth us to deny all Vngodliness and Wordly Lusts James 4.8 to kill the Lusts of the Eyes to mortifie the Pride of Life to crucifie the Desires of the Flesh and bring the Understanding and Conscience and every Thought into Subjection to the Laws of Christ 2 Cor. 7.1 This tells us what the Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit is from which we must be Cleansed and how indispensably necessary this is to our Acceptance with God and our Communion with him This represents the Divine Purity which we are to imitate and resemble as every way Amiable and Excellent As that the Blessed God essentially hates every Sin earnestly forbids it and terribly threatens it and patiently dissuades us from it and severely punishes it and hath mercifully sent his Son to destroy this Work of the Devil Therefore that he cannot tempt any man to evil or necessitate and cause the Sins of Men which he warns them against on pain
of Damnation Never was inward Purity so pressed by any Law before or the universal Sanctification of our Nature advanced to such a pitch No other Law pretends to reach to the inward Thoughts of the Heart as those in the Word which forbids us to Covet to Lust or hate our Brother in our Heart This ransacks every filthy Corner and pierceth into the Secrets and Recesses of every Man's Breast speaking with absolute Authority to the very Grounds Principles and Ends of every Action dissecting the whole Body of Sin uncovering the inward Ulcers of the Soul manifesting that a Lustful Desire impure Mouth or an unclean Hand will make a Man polluted before God and stand guilty of the Breach of his Commandment This Law is exceeding Broad it forbids not only the sinful Acts but the Instruments of 'em what would begin or promote 'em or is chosen for the Sin 's sake with relation or in order to it This shews us whence our Infection did first arise tracing it unto its Spring-head the first Apostacy from God manifesting the spotless Holiness of the Divine Majesty and his perfect abhorrence of every Sin so as to judge and condemn the invisible risings of Disobedience and Contrariety to it in our very Thoughts Yea by the measures of the Gospel we are unclean unless we have active Purities If we are not crucified to the World we are covetous we are malicious and hate our Brother if we do him not all the Good we can tho he have treated us injuriously we dishonour the Name of Christ if we do not to our utmost advance his Glory Eph. 5.13 This is that Light which maketh manifest discovering that Deformity in Sin which we never saw before and so much of it in the Heart as we never before believed with the aggravating Spots of many plausible Duties and the provoking circumstances of our particular Faults For when we thought our selves very Absolons for Beauty by looking into this Glass we appear as vile and loathsom as Lepers and all our Secret Sins which are always in the Light of God's Countenance are by the Word set in order before us What is said of the Sun in the Heavens is true of this Word its Circuit is to the Ends of the Earth and there is nothing hid from the Light and Heat thereof Psal 19.6 2. This may be also consider'd as the ordinary Means which God hath appointed for the cleansing of our Hearts and Ways And therefore the Sanctification of the Spirit 1 Pet 1.22 2 Thess 2.13 Acts 15.9 and believing of the Truth are joyned together The Sense of some particular more notorious Sin is commonly the first means to humble the Soul When the Charge is brought home by the Word to this or that Person Thou art the Man or Thou art the Woman who hast scorned and slighted the Authority of thy Maker in this or the other Instance Thou art the Fool-hardy Rebellious Creature who hast affronted thy Sovereign who hast despised that Goodness which should have led thee to Repentance abused that Patience which hath a tendency to thy Salvation rejected that Grace that would have helped thee and contemned that Redeemer who shed his Blood for thee This Voice of the Lord is powerful to shake the stoutest Cedars and make a Felix on the Bench to tremble when preached but by a Prisoner at the Bar. They that Crucified the Redeemer and scorned his Doctrin were pierced to the Heart and cry out Men and Brethren 1 Cor. 14.26 2 Acts. what shall we do be saved By this the Chains of the Devil are knock'd off and his Captives recovered into the Liberty of God's Service You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free John 8.32 In this Jordan the most polluted Creatures have been washed and Hearts full of loathsom Filth have been changed into Vessels of Purity Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are justified but ye are sanctified 1 Cor. 6.9 3. This therefore is the most likely fit and proper Means For besides the Encouragement of these Examples to seek for cleansing we have others propounded as our Patterns to imitate Sometimes the Blessed God himself and our Lord Jesus Christ that we may not rest in low Attainments and sometimes the Examples of the Saints that we might not despair of being healed For the same powerful Grace that hath sanctified others is able to do the like for us Therefore while our Impotency and Impurity is declared in this Word we are directed by it to a Fountain open for sin and for uncleanness We have Promises and Precepts most graciously connected What God commands us in one Place as our Duty he promiseth to do for us by his Spirit or enable us to do in another or at least gives us ground to hope he will Let us then consider the exceeding great and precious Promises which are the Motives and Means of our being cleansed from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 2. Cor. 7.1 For by them we are made Partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 It 's by this means Divine Impressions are made upon the Soul Mr. Howe 's Blessedness of the Righteous p. 268. the obdurate Heart of a Sinner melted and overcome and transform'd into the Image of God Compare this Means God works by with the Subject to be wrought upon and the Effect to be wrought and none can be conceived fitter It is the Office of the Word by Precepts Promises and Rewards to inform the Judgment and awaken Conscience and persuade the Will It is some Encouragement to expect the Influence of the Spirit in the use of this means because it is so excellently fitted to this End to heal our Impotency which is not Natural but Moral And God would not appoint us Means which should be altogether in vain Dr. O. of the Dominion of Sin and Grace p. 14. Grace is tender'd unto Men in the preaching of the Gospel to enable them to perform and comply with that which God requires For altho we know not the Way and Means of the effectual Communications of Grace unto the Souls of Men This is certain That Grace is so tender'd in the Preaching of the Gospel that none go without it none are destitute of its Aids and Assistance but those alone who by a Free Act of their own Wills See to the like purpose Mr. Howe 's Blessedness of the Righteous ch 17. do refuse and reject it Ye will not come unto me that you may have Life And all Unbelievers have or may have Experience of this in themselves that they do voluntarily refuse the Assistance of Grace which is offer'd for their Deliverance Therefore is their Destruction of themselves The common Grace * Redeemers Tears p. 53. Append p. 192. which is generally afforded to them who live under the Gospel extends so far as that they have thereby a Day allow'd them to provide for their