shall bend under us And the Grinders cease because they are few Dentes molares Teeth cease And those that look out of the Windowes be darkened The Eyes darkened and dimm'd with Blindness And the Doors shall be shut in the streets Their Maladies so noysome that none can come to visit them And he shall rise up at the voyce of the Bird That is take little rest the chirping of a Bird or any little thing shall awake and disturb him And all the daughters of Musick shall be brought low This may be interpreted by comparing it with 2 Sam. 19. 35. Man goeth to his long home Comp. Iob 30. 23. and Isa. 26. 4. Or ever the silver Cord be loosed Some interpret it of the Marrow others of the Sinews Or the golden Bowl be broken or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain The Liver is the Fountain of Blood the Heart of Spirits these lose their drawing and distributing Power These things considered viz. the Inconveniencies of Old Age and the Fitness of Youth for the Service of his Creator should methinks prevail with young men to live henceforth not unto themselves but unto their Creator and Redeemer The time of Youth is Seed-time The Proverb is Youth layes in and Age lives upon it The one sowes the other reaps Now is your Market-time in which if ye be wise ye may make a happy Exchange of Earth for Heaven of a Valley of Tears for a Paradise of Delights Young Men consider you are now Flowers in the bloom your Friends Delight your Countreys Hope It lyeth very much in your Sphere to be either a Crown of Rejoyceing to them or to bring down their Gray hairs with sorrow to the Grave But I dare not enlarge Fourthly Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth because if thou thinkest of deferring till Old Age it is a question whether thou mayst live so long besides the Inconveniences of Old Age which I have told you as above written The Best of us cannot promise our selves a day The present Time is onely ours the Morrow we are not sure of Take Time therefore by the Forelock and cry not Cras Cras to Morrow to Morrow Manna must be gathered in the Morning the Orient Pearl is generated by the Morning Dew Egregious folly it is to procrastinate and put off to the last At tu dum primi floret tibi temporis aetas Vtere Tib. Improve your Time while you are Young Fifthly Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth because the Day of Grace may have its Sun-set on a sudden Thou mayst live perhaps to an Old Age but the Day of Grace may not last so long Now the Gospel is preached Christ crucified set forth the assistance of the Spirit offered and the Gates of Heaven opened to entertain you O therefore Now To day if ye will hear his voyce Heb. 3. 7. If to day thou sayst thou wilt not pray to morrow thou mayst say thou canst not pray Now therefore now as you would tender the good of your own Souls work apace you have the Sun-shine of the Gospel but a Cloud will come While the Sun therefore doth shine cock your Hay shock your Corn wanton not away your Summer lest you begge in Winter The Night indeed is for sleeping but the Day especially a Sun-shine Day a clear Day is for working One being in a fit of Anger a person said unto him Domine Sol ad Occasum The Sun is going down If the Sun must not go down upon our Wrath let it not go down upon our Loytering Sixthly If you have your Life prolonged and the Means of Grace continued yet if no more gales of the Spirit be afforded what art thou the nearer When Gods Spirit blows upon us we shall go full Sail to Heaven It is good striking therefore while the Iron is hot and lanching out while Wind and Tide serve open all thy Sails to every breath and gale of Gods Spirit Welcome every Suggestion reverence every Dictate cherish every Illapse of this blessed Monitor Let every Inspiration find thee as the Seal doth the Wax or the Spark the Tinder Seventhly and lastly Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth because the Promise is made unto Early Seekers Prov. 8. 17. They that seek me Early shall find me Application Is there good Reason why we should Remember our Creator in the dayes of our Youth Then let my Message to you O Young Men this day be accepted The Reasonableness of my Message I have shewed in several Respects Did I press you to things that might tend to your hurt it were something but I am onely intreating you this day to be kind unto your Souls and make your peace with God While the dayes come not nor the years draw nigh when ye shall say I have no pleasure in them The Result of all therefore is Young men Remember your Creator by whom it is that you live move and have your Being Forget him not lest he forget you but seek him Early and ye shall find him Motives hereunto I think very convenient As First If Honour will sway you know that it is the Honourablest thing in the world to Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth Is it commendable for a Child to obey his Earthly Father how much more commendable is it then for us to Obey our Heavenly Father Shun O Young Men the Worlds Ambition and make this your Ambition with good Iosiah to set out betimes with spiritual Isaac to give your selves to Meditation while ye are young with heavenly Iacob to prize and seek the Blessing while others in the use of their vain Sports lose it with King Solomon to know the God of your Fathers with righteous Obadiah to fear the Lord from your Youth and with Ingenious Timothy to know the Scriptures from a Child And what a Cloud of young Worthies are here and are they not Honoured Renowned and made Famous and that for their soon beginning The like will be with you Young men Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth and he will Honour you But alas how few are the number of these young Branches How few are there of the Sons of Wisdom that being enticed by Men consent not But how Honourable is it I say for young Men like Samuel to minister and serve before the Lord while he was but a Child and how comely was the Carriage of those Children that sang Hosanna's unto Christ Contemplate often Young men these Looking-glasses imitate and copy out these patterns and Presidents Besides King Edward the Sixth that Phoenix of his time that truely Noble Prince Henry and the young Lord Harrington with many others who blossomed as the Almond-tree betimes Secondly The longer you neglect the more difficult will the setting upon your Duty be Much Sloath and Procrastination will at last take away the very Heart and
THE Beauty Vigour Strength OF YOUTH Bespoke for GOD IN A SERMON Lately Preached to YOUNG MEN. By THOMAS POWELL Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Ben. Harris at the Stationers Arms in Sweetings Rents near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1676. TO THE READER Christian Reader THE greatest and highest Honour of the Reasonable Creature is to serve Him who is the best Good and the last End which is the design of this little Treatise The Excellency and Necessity of what is here treated justly merits a larger Volumn But I studied Brevity and that upon a two-fold account First Because I was desired that there might be little or no Variation from the Sermon as it was Preached either in Altering or Enlarging though something of each I have done yet so I hope as to please both thee the Reader and they who had the Opportunity of Hearing the same Secondly Because I was willing that more might have a share in it which possibly could not have been if I had not endeavoured to crowd my Meditations in a little room Birds when they come to a full heap of Corn chirp and call for their fellowes Goodness and Light are of a diffusive Nature And now since this is Midwifed into the World which was not intended by me such as it is I offer it to thee as the product of my sincere and cordial Love to the Souls of young Men. Let not the Plainness of the Matter and the Homeliness of the Style offend thee I designed it not for a curious Pallate being preached unto a plain Countrey-people I aymed at their Edification and not at any Popular Applause The Treatise is usefull for all that are enquiring after true Felicity especially the younger sort of People being such for the most part that were present when this Sermon was Preached What thou Reader apprehendest not Sound carry it to the Touch-stone of the Word and if but a Mite of saving Knowledge may be through Gods Blessing added to thy Understanding let God have the Glory and the Author hath his End who is Southwark Decemb. READER Thy Friend and Souls servant Thomas Powell ECCLES XII 1. Remember Now thy Creatour in the Dayes of thy Youth while the Evil Dayes come not nor the Years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them GOD set up two great Lights in Solomons Heart one shewing the Excellency of Christ in the Canticles the other the Vanity of the Creature as in Ecclesiastes which is the second Book of Solomon and it is called Ecclesiastes because Solomon was so called And that either because he speaks unto a Multitude at once or else because of his Wisdom with which he was indeed after a copious manner endowed The whole Book is a declaration of Solomons repentance written in his old age as may be gather'd both out of the title of it and the closure of it in the six last verses and also out of the whole body of it being written upon a serious view of the passages and practices of his life past and the great and manifold experience he made and found therein He treats chiefly of the worlds vanity true felicity the maladies of old age the Advantage of being good betimes Hence it is that young men in the conclusion of all are call'd upon to mind their Creator and that whatsoever they are employed in besides is vanity of vanities and no wise yielding true satisfaction but anxiety and torment unto their souls Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the evil dayes come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them The words in general do press unto a duty of the greatest moment in the world wherein you may take notice of these several things 1. The Act Remember 2. The Object Creator 3. The adjunct of Time Now in the dayes of thy youth exegetically repeated while the evil dayes come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them The words will afford us many points of Doctrine I shall only observe two and so insist upon them Doct. 1. That above all things whatsoever we should not forget but Remember our Creator Doct. 2. That there is great reason why we should remember our Creatour in the dayes of our youth even while we are young and before old age over-takes us These in order and with the first I begin viz. That above all things whatsoever we should not forget but Remember our Creator The prosecution of this Point I purpose through Gods assistance in this wise 1. I shall set my self to amplifie it 2. To Apply it The amplification will consist of Explication and confirmation 1. Explication and so I shall shew you 1. What this Creator is 2. What it is to remember our Creator 3. What it is to remember our Creator above all things whatsoever First I am to shew you What this Creator is whom we are call'd upon in the text to mind Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth In the Hebrews it is Thy Creatours alluding to the Trinity so that by Creatour we are to understand God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost for though the Creation of the world is peculiarly ascribed to God the Father and look't upon as his proper work in respect of order and relation as he is the first person of the Trinity yet not so as to exclude the rest for all the persons of the Trinity to speak after the manner of men had a hand in the Creation of the world Gen. 1. 26. And God said Let us make man ni our Image after our likeness who should the Father speak unto here Let us but unto the Son and the Holy Ghost Secondly What it is to Remember our Creator It is not onely a bare thinking on him and that now and then but to remember our Creator implyes these several things First To know him to know that he is and what he is That God is and that he is to be worshipped is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law written in the heart of man and that which the book of the Creatures teacheth as well as the book of the Scriptures But now who This God is and the right mode of worshipping him many are at a loss and the candle-light of Nature without the help of the Holy Spirit in and by the Scriptures cannot direct us neither can our knowledge of God by them be a comprehensive knowledge what God is in his Essence in his Attributes in his persons in his works no man or Angel hath doth or ever shall know Though we must if we would remember our Creator aright know something of each yet he must have the wisdom of God and so be a God that comprehendeth God in his Essence Attributes Persons and works what say you now Sirs do you remember your Creator in this
love and obey him are to be commended and whatsoever Reputation or Fame ye may get among men yet know this is your highest Dignity that you Know God Obey God Love God and Walk with God This Man fears God is an Encomium indeed The Second Doctrine is this There is great Reason why we should Remember our Creator in the dayes of our Youth even while we are young and before Old Age overtakes us And this I shall endeavour to make obvious in these several particulars First Because your Creator requires it Young men God calls upon you saying Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth Young men Ministers call upon you saying Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth Young men Good Company calls upon you saying Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth Angels desire it the Spirit strives Christs Invitation is Come the Gospel cries Now and what will you rather listen unto Satan will nothing prevail with you Shall God call for your Youth and will you deny it How can ye think then to prosper As therefore you would tender your own safety answer like the Eccho Lord doest thou call for my Youth O take it then and thank thee too for what is there in me that should attract God and make him accept of me My Youth is it not full of Levity Wantonness and Vanity Am I not all over corrupt from the Crown of the Head unto the sole of the Foot full of wounds bruises and putrifying Sores Am I not especially considering me in my Youth as an untamed Beast all my Actions being rash and rude and no Good in me can be found at all my Affections being strong are impatient of Reproof and Correction they will not submit their shoulders to the Yoke of God but like wild shee-Asses they snuffe up the wind and despise the Hunter Satan hath Temptations suited to every Age And the Age whereupon he works most busily and prevails most mightily is Youth The Devil he is for the prime of our Dayes and God he is for the prime of our Dayes and who hath the most right God or the Devil surely God thy Conscience will say But yet how many notwithstanding this are there that give their young and lusty years unto the Prince of the Aire the God of this World who allures them so to doe by telling them that their old withered and decrepit Age is good enough to serve God But Iniquity many times is repaired with a proportionable Plague that because they will not give their young Years unto the Lord he will not accept the service of their Old Age but cuts them away yea which is most fearfull in their sins and lets them never come to the Honour of a hoary head Will ye now Young Men hearken unto this and flee Youthfull Lusts God requires the Cream of your dayes In the Law he required unto himself the First-fruits Lev. 2. 14. Wheat beaten out of the green Ears to signifie that he will be serv'd with the First-fruits of our green and flourishing Age. Secondly Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth because too soon you cannot Remember him Nunquam sera est ad bonos more 's via The way to be Good is never too late I am sure the way to be Good is never too soon and though Divines do say a True Repentance is never too late yet a late Repentance is seldom true True Repentance without doubt cannot be too late but then late Repentance is very suspicious being seldom true Could we have served God in our Mothers Womb yet we could not serve him too soon And those who shall serve him to Eternity cannot serve him too much Hark young men hark but let it not amaze you We can never serve God too soon because he lov'd us from Eternity and we cannot serve him too much because he loves us to Eternity Never fear thy setting out too soon for the sooner the welcomer and too soon thou canst not be The consideration of this methinks should perplex the Aged that have lost their time and spur on such who are in their full vigour and strength and tempus commodum they have for God Know you who are here present and yet shall not put in practice what has been told you will have nothing to say for your selves You cannot not serve God too soon why then do you not begin run and keep on in that way Thirdly Remember your Creator in the dayes of your Youth because it is a Time that is most Acceptable Now is the acceptable time Now is the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 4. Upon this Monosyllable Now saith one depends Eternity As there is a present Time so there is a present Truth to lay hold on The time of our Youth is the onely time to lay hold on Eternal Life and to make a surrender of our selves unto God and Jesus Christ. When we take a far Journey it is requisite that we have the Morning before us Sirs to goe from Earth to Heaven is a great Journey let us then be carefull to set out in the Spring and Morning of our Age deferre not till thou beest Old but walk while thou hast Light lest the Darkness and Night of Old Age and Death overtake thee when no man can work If therefore young Men you would ever be serviceable to God let it be while your strength lasts and before it quite fails Give not the Devil the Prime Bud Blossome Flower of your Age and the Cream of your dayes and in your Old Age when you can do nothing offer your selves to God as if he were bound to have you then and onely then when the Devil has done with you And O unreasonable Creature that hast nothing for thy Maker but the Devils Leavings viz. Old Age a Receptacle of all manner of Maladies Behold the wrinckled Face rotten Teeth stinking Breath withered with Drieness dim'd with Blindness absurded with Deafness overwhelm'd with Sickness and bowed together with Weakness having no use of any sense but the sense of Pain Therefore said the Wise-man Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth while the evil dayes come not nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them And so the Wiseman goes on Allegorically describing Old Age shewing the Miseries that do attend the same a little whereof you may take notice of for the quickening you unto an Improvement of your Time while ye are young While the Sun or the Light or the Moon or the Stars be not darkened nor the Clouds return after the Rain Shewing hereby that in Old Age all the Abilities of the Mind shall be decayed The Clouds retrn after the rain As in Winter one Evil following another In the day when the Keepers of the House shall tremble The Hands and Arms prove crazy And the strong men shall bow themselves The Thighs and Leggs
must it is profitable but we must not make their doing Good as the Grounds of our doing Good Shun Evil Company Is it not an hard thing for a Bird to flie away that is taken in the Lime-twigs Why Evil Company are the Devils Lime-twigs And what is the Reason that many a man doth continue in Sin who is convinced of the Evil of it but because he is held fast in the Bands of his wicked Company Thirdly I would caution you from Pride This is a Vice which is incident to all more or less but especially to young men Converted young men beware of Pride for it is that which will rankor all your Graces know that you are vile in Progress Egress and Ingress Unconverted young Men do you also beware of Pride for it tends to your hurt as well as it doth to the other for that self-conceitedness of yours is that which helps to barre your Hearts against Christ. Young Men be cloathed with Humility let every one of us look with one eye upon Grace to keep the Heart cheerfull and with the other eye upon Sin to keep it humble Fourthly I would have young men to beware of Lust it being their Complexion Constitution and beloved Sin the sin that attends their Age and therefore so much the more diligence and pains must be taken in the Mortification thereof and I know not any thing that is so proper hereunto as being moderate in Diet keeping the Body down by frequent Fastings in private between God and thy own Soul upon that Occasion Flee Youthfull Lusts 2 Tim. 2. 22. Fifthly and lastly Beware of Hypocrisie Perhaps the Devil may flatter you with telling you That if ye can get the Shape Figure and Form of Godliness it is no matter for any thing else thou mayst saith he go for a Christian eminent enough among men Ah but tell the Tempter It is onely Piety that hath the Promise of the Life to come and though thou mayst goe for a Christian amongst Men and seem well enough in their sight yet know in Gods sight thou shalt be discern'd God will one day pull off thy paint discover thee and shew thee to the world in thy proper Colours The very Interiour Intents of thy Soul he knows thy heart he can read without a Commentary and those things that are secret which thou keepest under Lock and Key he knows and though thou mayest deceive Man yet thou canst not deceive God Deus nee fâ—llere nec falli potest I should now give some Exhortation but I cannot because of being prevented as to that which I spoke before Remember your Creator in the dayes of your youth And as Helps hereunto take these and enlarge upon them your selves 1. View often the Creation of the World what Man in the World can forget God that has himself and the whole Creation to contemplate at any time 2. Call to mind his signal Favours vouchsafed unto you in such a Time at such a Place among such Company Can the Begger soon forget that hand which he constantly receives his Alms from 3. Study the Holy Scriptures Who can soon forget a holy God that may read of him every day in the Holy Scriptures 4. Attend upon the Ministry of the Word You in London may hear from God every day and surely cannot soon forget him 5. Keep good company and then you cannot easily forget God because you converse with his Friends and 't will be marvel if they do not talk of him sometimes unto you I shall conclude with the words of the Text. Remember now your Creator in the dayes of your youth that you may be as so many Vessels of Gold for the Prayse and Service of your Maker Amen Oecolampadius de Scriptis suis. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si bene quid scripsi Christo gratate datori Si male quid scripsi noveris esse meum FINIS When a Book is of too great a 〈◊〉 the Poor cannot purchase it Ecclesiastes i. e. a Preacher The evil dayes spoken of in the text and the years wherein we have no pleasure is old age Quoad ordinem Patris oper andi modus est à se per Filium Spiritum Sanctum Hinc origo rerum nempe Creatio propriè tribuitur Patri qui ordine originis est personarum prima Deus Hebr. Elohim id est unus ex Elohim scil Pater alloqui Filium Spiritum Sanctum Synecd integri Non alloquitur Angelos Piscat in loc Homo naturâ duplicem format syllogismum de Deo theoricum et practicum Theoricus est duplex 1. Deus est ergo debeo eum cognoscere 2. Deus est bonus ergo debeo cum colere Practicus est in quo conscientia format assumptionem Deus mihi bonus est Ergo mihi est colendus Alsted Syst. Theolog. Where the Fear of God is there Sin is conquer'd as to its reigning Power and it shall no more storm Walls demolish Castles break through Guards beat up Quarters and let in Enemies By the Fear of God Men do not only depart from that which is Evil but are also inclin'd to do that which is Good Prov. 16. 6. Deut. 5. 29. So did not I said good Nehemiah because of the fear of God Prov. 14. 26. Pulchra sunt omnia faciente te Domine ecce tu inenarr abiliter pulchrior qui fecisti omnia Chrys. All those things which thou hast made are beautifull but thou thy self art infinitely more beautifull Some Eyes have been dazled too much with the glitterings of the Creatures so as to take the Servant for the Master and have been so much in admiring the Glass as that they forgot the glorious Beauty that is represented What Worship and Adoration hath the Sun had even almost as much as the great Creator of Heaven and Earth himself Strange that they should see so darkly as not to discern the Face from the Veil that covers it For the Sun is at best but umbra Dei and nubecula citò transitura a mere spot a cloud if compar'd with so bright an Essence and as He saith notably the same Worshippers must needs be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheists in the Night-time Man is defiled à capite ad calcem from Head to Foot that as the Philosopher saith concerning the Soul It is in every part where there is Life there is the Soul for the Soul is the Life so whatever is in us and cometh from us and is acted by us receiveth defilement from us Sin is like a Leprosie over the whole man like a gangrene spreading over the whole Soul In thy favour is life Psal. 30. 5. Hostis Gratiae inimica salutis Bern. Every wicked man carries saith one the Devils Pack God's Spirit is an assisting and supporting Spirit Love is due to God not onely for the Good he hath done us and for the Good that we hope for from him but for the Good that is in him Yea God is
Creator is our Preserver as we had our Being from God so on him doth our Being depend The same Power that made the World upholds the World the same God that made us out of nothing can make us into nothing It concerns us therefore that all of us do see to this main thing Remember thy Creator Are we not in Gods hands as the Clay is in the hands of the Potter we are his Creatures and he may do with us what he pleaseth and who shall gainsay or oppose him in the least Let us now therefore deferre no longer but remember and call to mind our Holy Creator lest he becomes so angry as not to be pacified but to destroy us for evermore Fourthly God is a bountifull Benefactor he feeds us cloaths us and gives us House-room and therefore not to remember him is double Ingratitude God shewed Mercy unto thee before thou couldst understand it he prevented thee with Blessings before thou couldst desire them When thou wast in the Womb his Bounty embrac'd thee when thou hangedst on thy Mothers Breast he did care for thee How many years are past in which thou wast not yet God erected this House of thy Body for thee gave thee a Reasonable Soul made thee a Man and not a Stone or a Serpent And yet wilt thou not love this God take delight in this God fear this God serve and obey this God Is it not in and by him that thou livest movest and hast thy being Is not the Aire which thou breathest in his Is not the Night and Day his whose Intercourses serve for thy Labour and Rest Is not the Earth his whose Fruits do nourish thee most plentifully Yea doth not this Benefactor wonderfully form furnish and conserve all the Creatures for thy sake some whereof serve to obey thee some to nourish thee some to cloath thee some to cure thee some to chastise thee but all of them to teach and inform thee What sayest thou now wilt thou resolve to think now and then on this precious Creator of ours Muzzle not I beseech you the mouth of Conscience but give it leave to speak its mind freely Fifthly We should not forget but above all things remember our Creator because he is our Redeemer also We do not onely owe unto God our Creation Sustentation but Redemption likewise So that thou mayst say I was in the jaws of Hell but thou O God didst pluck me out by the Blood of thy Son I was the slave of Satan but thy Grace hath deliver'd me out of his power I owe unto thee more than I can perform for my Creation how then shall I do to repay thee for my Redemption The lost Sheep thou hast deliver'd out of the Claws of the infernal Wolf The fugitive Slave thou hast brought out of the Prison of Hell The lost Groat thou hast sought out with great carefulness In Adam I fell and thou hast erected me In Adam I was captivated but thou hast set me at liberty In Adam I was lost and again thou hast saved me Sixthly and lastly we must not forget but above all things what-whatsoever Remember our Creator because our chiefest Happiness and Felicity consists therein God is the summum bonum and if we would be happy it must be by resting in him setling and staying the heart on him not the Creature but the Creator is the Souls Centre The Soul is immortal and nothing can satisfie it but God who is immortal Thy Soul nothing can satiate But God who did thy Soul create The Needle of the Compass trembles till it turns to the North Pole There is in Man a Natural Pulse that beats after Happiness Noahs Dove could find no rest for the sole of her foot till she came to the Ark. Return unto thy Rest O my Soul Psal. 116. 7. There is an impossibility of finding true Rest Solace and Satisfaction of Soul any where but in God and with God alone You may as soon find Life in Death or Light in Darkness as Rest for your Souls any where but in God alone On the transitory things of this world the Soul often seeks for Rest but finds it not why Because the Soul is more worthy than all the Creatures God is the End whereunto the Soul was created For it was made after the Image of God therefore it cannot be quiet and at rest but in its End that is in God As the Soul is the Life of the Body so is God the Life of the Soul And where wilt thou go Sinner thou canst not find Rest here below in any thing at all Can Sin give rest that is the greatest Evil in the world Can that give rest that is the Cause of all the Confusions and Desolations that are in the world Can that give Rest that was the first and onely Cause and Founder of Hell Can that give rest that makes us like the Devil that restless Spirit will you have recourse to the good things of this world to Creature-comforts and Enjoyments to Friends Relations Estate and the like The Creatures sayes a worthy Divine are not good at least they are not the Souls good nothing says he but an infinite Godhead can allay your hunger after Happiness And so another The understanding Will and Affections are such a Triangle as that nothing but the Trinity can sill them Dura sunt omnia tu solus requies All things sayes Austin are full of trouble and difficulty Thou alone O God art the true Rest. All things on this side God have their Mixtures they have a dark as well as a bright side Is not our Wine mixt with Water our Honey with Gall our Sugar with Wormwood and our Roses with Prickles But now God is every way a pure and immixed Good He is all Light Love Sweetness and Holiness Deus meus Vita mea Dulcedo mea c. O my God my Life my Sweetness saith Augustine Why then should we seeke Happiness in those things that cannot give us Health or Strength or Ease or a good Nights Rest or an Hours Sleep or a good Stomach The Application of the first Doctrine It will be of great Use unto us by way of Reprchension Exhortation and Commendation First By way of Reprehension if this be so then such are to be Reproved that neither remember God or his Mercies whose Minds are fill'd with Vanity and swell therewith but God and his Mercies are out of their Thoughts Secondly By way of Exhortation we who have given God but little of our Time Strength and superior Powers let us now begin For shame let us not live longer in the world without God and Christ how comfortless and dangerous is it Some of us have liv'd a great while and yet have not made choyce of our chiefest Good but are as far from it as when we came first into the world Thirdly You who have call'd upon God betimes and do serve