the heart is in the liveliest temper then the spirits are freshest and quickest and natural cheerfulness being Sanctified is a furtherance of spiritual joy The quickness of the natural temper which is in youth most vigorous is a good servant to quickning grace Think not that God is best pleased with the lumpish old age which many times is little more than a dead piece of Earth with a little portion a small remainder of life abiding in it God is the living God and he requireth living Sacrifices Rom. 12. 1. Now thy youth hath more life in it than thine old age There is as it were a close union between the Soul and Body in youth The Soul imparteth a more plentiful â—nfluence of Life unto the Body in youâ—h than â—n old age by the quickness and plenty of the Spirits which in youth are more abundent than in age Give up therefore this most living part of thy life thy young daies unto God and not only that part of life which partaketh more of Death than of life thâ—ne old decrepit and disabled age The hoary head is a Crown of Glory if it be found in a way of Righteousness Prov. 16. 31. Found He doth not say if it enter into the way of Righteousness but if it be Found there If a Man hath turned to God in his youth and persevered in upright walking before him until gray haires come upon him that Man needeth no Crown of Gold to adorn his head his hoary head is a Crown of Glory to him If under the Law a Man did burn the prime of his Beast in Sacrifice it was accepted yea when it was almost consumed even the remainders that were half burnt did yield a sweet savour to the Lord because the best was burnt also upon the Altar of the Lord. So let a Man consecrate the prime of his daies his youth to the Lord offer up this as a living Sacrifice and then even his worn old age which is like a Sacrifice half burnt and spent shall be exceeding sweet and pleasing to the Lord because the best was given up unto him whereas on the other side should any of the Priests have burned a Sacrifice upon the Altar of Baal and then when it was half burnt should have brought the gleanings and laid them upon the Altar of the Lord this would have been a grievous abomination in the sight of the Lord. So in this case c. Oh then Remember thy Creatour in thy youth lest he forget or despise thee in thine age Remember him in thy youth that thy hoar head may be found in the way of Righteousness and so may be a Crown of Glory and not a Spectacle of Reproach and Contempt unto thee 3. Consider especially the unspeakable danger of Sin confirmed and rooted with time wrought and wreathed into the heart and clasped in the affections by long custom in sin Oh when sin hath been thirty or forty years in growing and taking root it cleaveth like the skin to the bones like the Leprosy that was rooted in a wall which could not be taken away untill the wall were pulled down That sin which is in growing the whole time of a Mans youth during the best of his strength it is even a Wonder if it doth not accompany that Man to his Death-bed yea to the Judgment-seat of God I know the mercy of God is infinite and he calleth at the Eleventh hour but I am perswaded those are very few which are so called and especially very few if any of those who have had the means of Grace in their youth and regarded them not Oh this willful hardning of the heart is dreadful This continuing in sin against knowledge this with-holding the truth in unrighteousness moveth the Lord to give men over to a Reprobate sence Rom. 1. 21 24 25 28. Into such a state that he becometh uncapable unteachable that neither blessings nor crosses neither the Rod nor the Word neither sickness nor health neither gray haris nor the approach of Death can work him to to sound Conversion Ah poor forsaken Soul such a one may come to say with Saul God hath forsaken me A speech that might rend a render heart to hear it I speak not this to bring you to despair but to stirr you up to speedy Repentance that ye may prevent this desperate and woful condition CHAP. I. IN the last place let me speak a few words to Parents and old People 1. To Parents Ye that are Parents labour ye to season the very Child-hood of your Sons and Daughters with the true knowledg and fear of God pray over them daily instruct exhort rebuke and use all good means that the prime of their daies may be given up to God Teach them to Remember their Creatour in their Childhood that they may neither forget him in their youth nor forsake him in their old age I fear that most Parents among us by neglecting their Duty herein are guilty of their Childrens Destruction 2. To the Aged Ye that are grown old and have not remembred your Creatour in your younger daies whose bones are full of the sins of your youth Oh know that your case is exceeding dangerous therefore bewaile your lives whereby ye have so much dishonoured your Maker humble and judge your selves in the bitterness of your Souls cry continually and importunately in the ears of the Lord that if it be possible the sins of your youth and the long continued wickedness of your Lives may be forgiven you that the often resistance which ye have made against the spirit of God may be pardoned if it be possible that the frequent casting of the Word of God behind thy back may be forgiven Oh how odious and contemptible is the hoary head found in the way of wickedness in a state of impenitency What is an old Drunkard or Adulterer a gray-headed Swearer an old Covetous Worldling an hoary headed impenitent person but even a monster among Men What dost thou not yet remember thy Creatour not in old age not at fifty at sixty or seventy years Oh wreched security Awake awake unto Righteousness unto Repentance ye old ones that sleep in sin lest ye sleep the sleep of everlasting Death and never behold the face of God in Righteousness SERMON III. Eccles. 12. 1. Remember now thy Creatour in the daies of thy Youth c. CHAP. I. BEsides what hath been already observed something yet may be further noted Viz. Observ. That Grace and Holiness are exceeding fit and no way unseemly for the younger sort Man's Life hath in some regards been compared to a Comedy or Enterlude Acted upon the Theatre or Sage of this World and the truth is many a Mans life is but a Play and many in their courses do but act other mens parts not in sincerity express their own inward dispositions And therefore that decorum which they suppose may grace them in the eyes of Men is the thing they most of all affect and aim
remember thee let my Tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth c. The course of the words shew manifestly that it was not simply to remember this City and Temple which he undertook but to be deeply affected with its calamity for he preferred Jerusalem above his chiefest joy But most plainly doth Moses expound this word unto us Deut. 8. ver 11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his Commandements and his Judgments and his Statutes which I command thee this day Where to forget is as well not to embrace in affection and not to observe in practice as not to keep in memory Many other examples we have of like nature in Psal. 119. besides many other Texts of Scripture So that in a word Forgetfulness of God is a withdrawing declining and turning aside of the Heart and Soul from God upon Earthly things manifested in a course of neglecting God's Service and his Commandements and running after the vanities of this life CHAP. III. II. NOw that this is especially incident to the younger sort I wish the lamentable experience of all times and of this especially did not too much ease me of the labour in proving yet something must be said for it according to promise The wise man in setting forth the impudency of a graceless Strumphet sheweth that young men are especially apt to forget God and to be ensnared by her Prov. 7. 6 7. At the window of my house I looked through my casement and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding passing through the street near her corner and he went the way to her house c. These are the men who in the pride of their youth and heath of their Blood value their own witts at an high rate and think themselves the wisest in the Countrey despise the dulness of elder years and more setled spirits as if wisdom were born and should dye with them Yet here ye may see how the wisest of men doth censure them for fools simple ones void of understanding men especially forgetful of God of his Word and Will such a one was seen going toward the house of a strange Woman toward a Whore-house and such are some Ale-houses frequented so much by young men for I know none so fit to keep a Stews as those who professedly without regard of Magistracy Ministry Credit c. do keep common shops for Drunkenness But mark the Wisdom of our young man 21. 22 23. With much fair speech she caused him to yield with the flattering of her lips she forced him he goeth after her straight way as an Oxe goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life She filled his head with her prateing and enticeing speeches and put better things out of his mind She caused him to forget God and cast his fear behind his back so she carried him captive in the bonds of lust and driveth him as an Oxe to the slaughter and as a fool to the correction of the stocks c. So the wise man in Eccles. 11. 9. Sheweth the solly and forgetfulness of young men where by way of Irony and in an holy scorn he bideth them do that which they will do though never so much forbidden and threatned Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the daies of thy youth put God the Judge of all the World out of thy thoughts lay aside all sad remembrance of the last Judgment let none of these Melancholick passions any whit interrupt thy youthful delights walk in the waies of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes Follow thy lusts and senses like the bruit beasts and forget all that will follow even as if thy Soul should vanish away in the ayr at the hour of thy Death like the breath of a Beast without hope of Joy or fear of Vengence in another World By this irronical concession he giveth us an excellent description of the brutish and sensual forgetfulness of the younger sort minding present things with the full bent of their Souls and never seriously looking towards the things that are above But what is the issue but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Even these things which thou makest nothing off as pardonable Errours of youth shall be scanned in the impartial judgement of God and he will bring thee to Judgment for them all CHAP. IV. III. IN the next place I am to shew the causes of this forgetfulness in the younger sort and here it were but an idle piece of Philosophy to ascribe it to the natural moisture and fluid temper of their brains whereby the impressions of things are presently dissolved like letters written in the water No this forgetfulness is as well in the heart as in the brain and requireth a further search into it's causes 1. In the first place then one special cause is a fleshly confidence in the natural strength of body and hope of long life They look at Death as a thing afar off even out of sight and therefore suffer not the apprehension of it to make any such impression upon them as in any degree to lessen that carnal sensual content which they take in the glut of earthly Vanities The blind Worldling when his barnes were full blessed himself in his own conceited happiness Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years But these persons think they have the advantage of him for whereas his Soul that night was to be taken from his goods they think they have life in store for many years an so with the unfaithful servant conclude that their Master will defer his coming and they may safely delay their Repentance and put him out of their remembrance As Gaal and the men of Shechem could eat and drink and curse Abimilech because they thought he was not near them though he was nearer than they were aware so the younger sort can satisfy their lusts and please themselves and do what they will scorning all admonitions or threatnings of Death because they think it not neer unto them Whereas perhaps Death as the punishment of Sin lyeth at their door and will be found to have way-laid them in the midst of their vanities and to cut them off in the midst of their strength and sins Strength Health abundance of Spirits freedom from aches pains and bodily distempers do put Death out of their thoughts and they will leave crooked and way-ward old age to vex it self with pensive remembrances of the Grave 2. The lively vigour of youth filleth them with a kind of carnal self-content and maketh them please themselves in themselves and so to feel no need they have of happiness and of delighting themselves in the Lord and therefore to neglect and
others with them in the same wayes of Destruction and being joyned together in a wretched society by lewd and lustful songs scurril jests abusive speeches loud laughter ruffian-like out-faceing better and wiser men than themselves they encourage each others they harden their hearts they drown the voice of Conscience they contemn the Word of God they fight against Heaven with prophane and horrible Oathes and as it were seal alâ— their leagues of pretended good-fellow-ship even with a resolved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a decreed forgetfulness of God and so of godliness oâ— Death and of Judgment to come wherewith St. Paul made even his Heathen Judge to shake as he sate upon the Bench. 2. Secondly and especially a company oâ— grounded Drunkards that are up and down iâ— the Countrey old Sotts that are setled upon their lees who know almost every corner in every common or blind Ale-house as well as the rooms in their own houses and never think themselves so well at home as in a Tap-house Oh how do these work about to poyson the youth of our age and to make them like themselves the children of hell who by the assistance of the Devil abuse their old crafty pates to ensnare young heedless Souls and to bring in Captives to the Prince of Darkness Doth not the same doom belong unto these which was due to Elymas the Sorcerer for seeking to turn away the deputy from the truth to whom St. Paul himself used this language Thou Child of the Devil and enemy of all goodness wilt thou not cease to pervenâ—â— the streight wayes of the Lord Do not these by the enchantment of their fawning tongues bewitch green years and cast them into a dead sleep of security and forgetfulness of God Oh that miserable experience did not prove my words too mild which yet some that in their own causes can be merciles perhaps will accuse me of too much roughness But who can forbear when he seeth them to be the very Emissaries of Hell and as I may so speak Ipsius ebrietatis leannes the very Panders or Bawds for Drunkenness an inferiour sort of Tempters or Devils Satan's under-Officers and Factors for the Land of Darkness who are not content to go to Hell without a Troop at their heels as if it were not sufficient for them to be guilty of destroying their own Souls unless they have many more Murthers of the same kind to be put into the same Indictment I tell you who soever ye are your society is more to be shunned than his that hath a Plague-sore upon his body ye are to be poynted at and accounted by all that know you as the very Mothes that fret the newest and the strongest Cloth Juventutis pestes The very bane of youth and the corrupters of the next age which shall then arise when your bodies are rotten under ground yea the sins you now set in a course may stream down unto the end oâ— the World whilst they that are infected bâ— you shall infect others and so again successively so that by this means ye may bâ— guilty of those sins which shall be committed many hundred years hence if the World so long continue 3. Those Ale-house-keepers who givâ— way to all manner of excess in their houses whose Motto may be Lucri bonus odor c. In whose ears Swearing is good Musick in whose eyes beastly vomits are a pleasing spectacle and the Lords day a fit time for tipling and swilling with greediness so that they may take mony feed higher go braver and look bigger than men of more worth and better employment These have their trains to draw on the younger sort who know not that their houses go down to the chamber of Death 4 Those Magistrates and Officers cannot by any means be excused under whom these youthful sins growsâ— fast whiles they hold the Sword that is put in to their hands rusting in the sheath where is the Spirit and courage that should be in these that are the very Triarii in the armies of the Lord of Hosts the stoutest and choicest Soldiers Are ye afraid of those who are but Lixae calones Scullions and Tapsters under Satans Banner should such Men as ye fly or fear and not dare to face those who at the most are but Milites levis armaturae Souldiers lightly armed as I may so speak What can they do against a Justice of the Peace a Constable or an Head-borough more than let flye their Arrows even bitter words I know not what policy is in this connivance unless it be to leave the envy and burthen upon us of the Ministry whiles we alone fight against these things with the Sword of the Spirit But if ye refuse utterly to joyne with us in bearing your part of the burthen you must not look to share in the reward I desire above all that you would let the honour of God prevail with you your Charge your Oathes but if these things move not take heed lest the Lord repay you in your own Coyn and whiles you tender not the Glory of God nor the good of the younger sort in general by restraining their licentious meetings by informing against or punishing those that entertain them he may justly leave your own Children to be thus corrupted or at least your Childrens Children of the third or fourth Generation The Lord give you zeal and courage that you may not have your portion without among the fearful CHAP. VII Vse LEt me speak a few words to you that are of the younger sort When soever you see a young Man or Maid carried to their graves that spectacle of Mortality forbids you to be forgetful of your Creatour in any Age or part of your Life Look upon that Coffin that holdeth a body young and very lately strong in constitution and let it be unto thee O young Man an use of instructioâ— nâ—t to trust to long life in the heat of thy youth or the best of thy strength not to please thy self in a self-content arising out of thine own form youthful lively temper not to magnify thine happiness in regard of a seeming advantage which thou thinkest thou hast of old age in being more capable of carnal delights than it that thou art able to take in more of the Devils baits which he never casteth forth without an hook Let it teach thee not to hearken to the enticements of Sinners old or young nor to think that house of all others the best adorned that hath a Sign-post Let it reprove thy great forgetfulness of thy Creatour in the daies of thy youth Let it strike a deep apprehension into thine heart of the necessity of present repentance without all delay and let this so work upon thee and stick by thee that no potts mâ—y wash it off nor no loud Ale-house clamours may drown the voice of thy Conscience when it shall bring this to thy remembrance Oh let not Satan bewitch thee Weart thou as certain of a long
the old the starveling the blind the lame c. That man could never obey the Commandment so when the Lord biddeth us to remember to give up our youth to him if we spend this and our strength in sin we can never obey this Commandment for that time and strength is gone and our importent time crazy drowsy old age is left 4. From this Word Creatour God made all things for his glory and the more excellent any Creature is either in regard of its specifical nature or kind or in regard of its particular qualities and excellencies the more is it tyed to glorify God that made it such So among all earthly Creatures Man being made of the most excellent nature is most straitly tyed to glorify God the Creatour And among Men such as are in their youth and strength being endowed with the most excellent abilities ought more especially to remember him 5. Consider these Words Thy Creatour God is the Creatour of young Men as young Men. He did nor only give thee the being of a Man but the years the life the health the strength the vigour of a young Man He is the Author of thy youth the Creatour of thy strength he is thy Creatour in special he hath now Created that strength and ability in thee which he hath not yet Created in Children that which he hath taken from old Men. Thou hast that work of his now wrought upon and sheâ—ing it self in thee which is not in others and therefore Remember thy Creatour that hath Created that hot Blood that warmeth thy heart that quickness of apprehension and those lively Spirits that are within thee 6. Consider these Words In the dayes of thy youth daies and not years daies and not nights Thy youth is but a few May-daies it will presently be gone and therefore in those few daies that short time thou shouldest give up thy self to thy Creatour Could not ye Watch with me one hour a just reproof of our Saviour to his sleepy Disciples Could ye not afford me a few daies a just reproof of all silly souls who are not wise unto Salvation and think their youth too good too much to be given up to God It is not three hundred years that the Lord asketh at thy hands as at Henoch's nor Nine hundred and upwards as he required of other Patriaches but a few daies of youth Daiâ—s and not Nights The times of youth consist of Daies then is the Sun-shine the Night follow dark times of old age aches weakness sickness sleepiness Now because these are Daies they must be given up to God who is Light and not to the Devil who is the Prince of Darkness not to sins which are works of Darkness This is gross folly to give the Days of youth to Satan and to leave the dimme evening of our old declining age to God to give the good the best daies to Satan and the evil daies as they are called afterwards yea the worst to God CHAP. III. Vse 1. THis sheweth the great folly of young Men who think of all others in a Congregation that they have least reason to give any special heed and yield obedience unto the Word Preached Old Men they think had need to look about them they smell of the Winding-sheet the Grave groaneth for them an earthy cold benumeth their Limbs the beginnings of death are already upon them and have taken deep possession of them but as for themselves they are full of Life and feel no messengers of Death Life aboundeth in their Blood in their Spirits it is strongly seated in their Bones it beateth in their pulses it looketh out at their eyes and shineth in their faces there is no sign no shew of Death Alass poor souls Death doth not alwayes give any long time of warning it maketh many sudden surprizals as well as tedious and lingring seiges It hangeth up young Absalom invironed with his Warlike troops it sheddeth young Amnon's blood in the midst of his Cups while Jobs Sons and his Daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest Brothers house there came a great wind from the Wilderness and smote the four corners of the house and fâ—ll upon the young Men and they dyed Job 1. 18 19. In one night Death slâ—yeth the Sons and Heirs of Pharaoh and of all the Egyptians so that there was scarce one house where there was not one young Man dead How often hath the supream Lord of Life and Death taught us by evident examples that no age is privâ—ledged no years are exempted that the youngest cannot promise himself another year another day or hour ye that sit here old and young who knoweth when or where the next blow will light Sin hath perverted the order of Nature and put it out of course and therefore ye must not look that the same order should be kept in passing out which was in coming into the World and that those who came first should alwaies leave those behind them which were born after them The Son dyeth before the Father the Nephew before the Grand-father the Young before the Old the Heir before him that is in possession Sin hath let in Death into the World and that cometh in as an Enemy not upon parly and conditions bâ—â— as a Conqueror by a forcible entry and 〈◊〉 sacketh this City of the World and maketh no difference of Sex or Age but killeâ— and striketh on the right hanâ— and on thâ— left It hearkneth to no such plea Theâ—â— is an elder man There is a Woman that 〈◊〉 old when I was a Child let me alone I am content to yield when mine Auntients aâ—â— gone before me No if I will that he 〈◊〉 what is that to thee follow thou mâ— Some daies in the year are not near so loâ—â— as some others Some mens lives will bâ— reach the middle of some others their 〈◊〉 setteth at noon and the night is come upoâ— them before they have begun their daâ—â—â— work Therefore let young men learn wiâ—dom from the wise man yea from the Spâ—rit speaking in this Text Remembering the Creatour in the daies of their Youth And 〈◊〉 thou O young Man whatsoever thou heaâ—â—est concerning the wayes of God thinâ— that whatsoever remembrances are deliveâ—ed from the Word to put thee in mind of 〈◊〉 Creatour that they concern thee in especial 〈◊〉 there were none but young Men in a Parist that place should have special need of thâ— Word of God If there were no gray-heâ—â— in a Congregation yet there is need of spâ—cial Exhortations from the Word to mind such of their Creatour If thou hearest of present Repentance conceive that it is spoken to thee If the danger of continuing in sin and delaying conversion be set forâ—h in the Ministry of the Word know that this belongeth to thee in special manner who art in the daies of thy youth If thou hearest the charge of our Saviour Watch therefore left at any time your hearts be overcome with Surfeiting
Are they full of courage and valiant as well as strong They can never with so much honour follow any other Captain as they may fight under the Banner of Jesus Christ the Prince and Captain of their Salvation No Victory so honourable for a young Man as to kill pride and lust in himself and to get the old red Dragon under his feet To shed an enemies blood is no way so honourable as to Triumph over Satans malice One Mastiff can tear out another's Throat one Bull can goar another's side one desperate person can shed another's Blood but where is that glorious valour in a young Man that like Josuah's followers setteth his feet on the necks of five Kings of Canaan at once that subdueth his five Senses and overcometh all Temptations that enter in at these He that can strongly guard these Cinque-ports and stands out against all approaches in his youth he is an honourable Souldier of Jesus Christ. And if he go on and overcome He shall sit down with him in his Throne as he overcame and sate down with his Father in his Throne Rev. 3. 21. They that fight this good Fight may assure themselves that 〈◊〉 Crown of Glory is laid up for them which they shall wear when many renowned Captains of the World who have been Triumphant over their Enemies Shall lye down in sorrow and confusion But as the Apostle saith concerning Marriage If any man thinketh that he behaveth himself uncomely towardâ— his Virgin if she passe the flower of her age and need so require let him do what he will he sinneth not let them Marry 1 Cor. 7. 36. So if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward the courage strength and valour of his Body and Mind if he wear out his youth in Peace and do not shew himself in the Field let him know that Religion doth not disarme him if the Cause be good and the Warr necessary otherwise to fight in Publick Warrs is no more honourable than it is to assault men on the high-wayes side And when a Christian hath a just Call to fight the Lords Battles Religion doth not daunt but double his courage True it is Religion takes from him the Sword of Revenge and commandeth him to put it up into its place it alloweth him not to answer every desperate Ruffians Challenge which is as uncomely for a wise young man as it is to fight with every Dog that barketh at him VII Is youth accompanied many times with health what is more seemly for him that is well than to do well and to serve him faithfully who giveth him every hour of health which he enjoyeth The sickness and craziness of old age is many times a great distraction and discouragement to the Service of God therefore they are much deceived who make Repentance the work of the Sick-bed and think that the fittest time for that work VIII Is youth enclined to love Christ commandeth nothing but love and that which love supposeth and inferreth only it requireth a more noble divine and excellent kind of love and turneth it upon a more excellent object upon which it is better bestowed than upon the common objects of natural love Viz. upon God the chiefest good and upon such things as are subordinate to him IX Is youth disposed to Mirth Grace is so farr from depriving it of this that he which never felt true Grace never came where sound joy was The heart is filled with peace and joy in Believing and the peace of God passeth understanding Yea the Word of God calleth for joy Rejoyce in the Lord again I say rejoyce It bettereth and encreaseth our mirth it doth not take it from us X. Consider the young man in Relation to others and you shall find nothing so seemly for him as grace and holiness and a conformity to the Word of God Nothing more comely for a young man than so to carry himself toward his Superiours as the word of God directeth him What more seemly for the younger sort than to give that honour reverence respect to Parents Masters Aged People which the word enjoyneth them A proud undutiful contemptuous carriage in the younger sort towards their betters doth worse become them than any deformity or blemish in the body A young man is never more out of fashion than when he is careless of his duty in this behalf and again never more comely than when he adorneth his life with that modesty and dutiful respect to which true grace directeth younger years It is a singular ornament to a young man to be one of those few which find out and constantly walk in the narrow way in their youthful daies CHAP. III. Vse 1. THis may shew that nothing doth worse become the younger sort than sin A licentious ungodly a loose unbridled conversation is a young man's greatest blemish weakness of natural parts shallowness of capacity blemishes of the body are not so unseemly in a young Man as prophaness and want of true holiness Nothing can worse become such an one than to forget or disobey him that made him No blemish in the face is so unseemly as an unruly tongue full of vain and idle oathes full of prophane swearing full of cursing and bitterness full of wanton rotten communication full of raiâ—ing of scoffs against godliness against old Age or as a loose lustful eye which is roveing and wandring after vanity or an ear listening after idle tales and greedily taking in false reports such as tend to the undeserved disgrace of others A violent hand a stragling foot they are the blemishes and reproaches of the younger sort And what is Drunkenness but the shame and stain of that green and flourishing age when the witt in its prime and best time shall be besotted and brought to a brutish dotage by the abuse of Gods good Creatures and excess of drink what is more unnatural and unseemly The stupifying of the senses the faultring of the feet are they not the symptoms of old age yes What then is more unseemly for youth than to over-burthen it self so with drink as to lose for the time its witts and leggs Oh do not count this a matter of credit thus to keep company this is your shame The sin of Whoredom which is the young Man's Zoar he counts it a little one and hither he would fly for contentment when the Word threatneth Fire and Brimstone against this sin from Heaven It is his Dalilah in the lap of which sinful pleasure he thinketh he may sleep securely by the priviledge of youth But the Scripture saith It is a deep ditch Prov. 23. 27. And therefore most dangerous And as it is dangerous so most shameful and unseemly It is the defilement the blasting of the flower of youth it is the very snare of the Devil whereby many young ones are held Captive by him at his will The sin of stubbornness and contemptuous carriage towards Superiours in years or otherwise it is most
and now be very earnest with the Father of mercies to pass by the multitudes of thy sins whch in these many years of thy life thou hast made thy self and others guilty of CHAP. VI. Use 5. LAstly yea that are young let this enter into yovr hearts and be ye perswaded that nothing doth so well fit you nothing so well become your years as to remember your Creator as to know to love to fear to serve and obey him that made you Now is the Spring now is the time of sowing in tears even in your Youth and if ye sow so ye shall in Youth reap the first fruits of comfort Now is the day and therefore work now the night cometh darkness cometh yea the night of spiritual darkness and blindness of mind may come a dreadfull gloomy night may shade your Souls the spirit of God withdrawing his light against which you have so long sinned in the pride of Youth and Satan drawing a black vail over your Souls then there is a woful night within the night of an hardened heart that cannot repent and of a â—eared conscience and a reprobate sense may come when none can rightly work the works of God Oh then what an extreme folly is it for you now to sleep in Sin whiles it is day and whiles mercy is offered and the way of life is shewed and the works which God hath ordained for his people to walk in are laid before you Now then it becometh you to flee youthfull lusts and not to stay till they flee you Now learn to hate all sin and especially the sins to which your age enclineth you even as Death as Hell Do not think that the sins of Youth will become you because Youth is enclinable to them but rather think they are so much the more unseemly because nature corrupted enclineth Youth unto them Sin is so contray unto that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and right order of things whch God hath made that it enclineth men to those things whch are most unseemly for them And this must needs be so for Sin is most contrary unto God now God by his work enclineth every Creature to that which becometh it and so by his work upon man in the Creation he did frame in him a propension and inclination to that which did every way become him best Now Sin being quite contrary unto God and seizing upon man's nature did so corrupt it as to encline it to that which is most unseemly for it So man in general is enclined to earthly to bodily and sensible things sutable to the body and to neglect heavenly and spiritual things which are sutable to his Soul and inner man which considering the nature and creation of man is most absurd and unseemly as if a man should be more carefull of his foot than of his Head What comparison is there between the Soul and the Body Is not that of far greater excellency than this How unseemly a thing is it to seek the satisfying and contenting of the body rather than of the spiritual and better part of a man's self So Sin enclineth old men in age to become more earthly and covetous than before Now this is most unseemly So the Heathen could observe counting it as foolish and absurd for an old man to grow more covetous and eager after the world as for a Traveller to provide himself so much the more carefully for his Journey the nearer he cometh to his Inne or Journey 's end Were it not an unseemly folly when a man is even at home and seeth the smoak of his own Chimney to seek about carefully for a fresh Horse and other necessaries fit for a Journey of many hundred miles So what more foolish and unseemly than for an old man travelling to his last home to be the more carefull of earthly things the nearer he cometh to his grave which are useful to him only by the way And as sin enclineth old age to that whch is most unseemly so also it doth younger years Oh do not think these things seemly for thee to which Nature corrupted by sin enclineth thee no more than that is wholsome for a sick man to which his Stomach vitiated by a disease doth move him Esteem Grace of all things to be the richest ornament put on Christ Jesus that thou maist partake of the beauty of his Grace and Spirit who is the fairest of ten thousand that thou maist be one of those in whom God himself through Christ Jesus is delighted SERMON IV. Eccles. 12. 1. In the daies of thy youth CHAP. I. IN the next place we may observe under what terms the daies of Old Age are opposed to the daies of Youth it is under the notion of evil daies They are opposed to the daies of Youth as evil to good therefore hence I observe Obs. That the daies of Youth are good daies So the opposition teacheth us to inferr for they are such daies as men enjoy while the evil daies come nor The Hebrews call young men by such a name as imployeth choice and a young man in that Language is as much as a chosen or selected man a man picked out of the multitude for special use and so the time of Youth is expressed as a chosen selected time So in this very place for as he had said before Eccles. 11. 9. Rejoyce O young man Or O thou chosen selected one So here Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy Youth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or thy choicest daies So that ye see the ordinary expression used in primitive significant Tongue which is as it were the fountain of all Languages noteth out of time of Youth unto us as a good yea as a choice selected time So much I think the Psalmist implyeth too Psal. 71. 17 18. O God thou hast taught me from my youth and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works Now also when I am old and gray-headed O God forsake me not c where he seemeth to set the daies of Old Age against the daies of Youth as evil against good O thou hast taught me from my Youth Thou hast vouchsafed me thy presence thy Spirit to teach and guide me in those good and pleasant daies of Youth those good daies when I in confidence of thy presence and assistance encountred the Bear and Lion and rescued my Lambs Tâ—ose daies when I assaulted the Philistine took away the reproach from Israel Those daies when with a lively and ravished Spirit I leaped and daunced before the Ark But now the evil daies of Old Age the winter of my life is growing upon me the times are coming when I shall see no pleasure in them when Clothes shall scarce suffice to warm me and therefore now O my God! forsake me not withdraw not thy presence now in special I find need of thee that thou maist make those daies good unto me through thy love and Spirit which otherwise sin would make exceeding evil and wofull
doth the Psalmist return an answer sutable to these mens conceits when the question is moved Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way but quite contrary By taking heed thereto according to thy word Where ye see both the Rule by which and the manner how they are to frame their Courses requireth a special strictness The very Word of God that pure and holy Rule of Righteousness and not the customs of the time nor the ordinary practice nor lusts of youth must guide them and this Rule they must heed with much attention and watchfulness having one eye upon their ways another upon the word taking heed thereto according to the word ever marking the steps they tread and observing how it suiteth with the precious truth of God This is the wisdom of the Antient of daies and whatsoever is contrary to it gray hairs cannot exempt from folly CHAP. IV. SECT I. II. THis should perswade the younger sort not to make those daies evil which God hath made good Oh do not abuse your choycest daies to the basest employments Think the spring of your age too good for Satan too pretious for Lust for Drunkenness for Vanity too good to be so spent that in old age ye shall not be able to remember it without shame without a sting Ye know what the Lord spake long since to Israel If ye walk contrary unto me I also will walk contrary unto you How can ye walk more contrary unto God than to make those the worst daies which he hath made the best To have abused any of God's good Creatures under the Law had been sin to have profaned the first fruits a double sin to give any of our time to the service of sin is unworthy of a Christian but to abase the prime of Youth and the crown of our years the choicest of our daies to this slavery what is it but to set our selves to cross the Lord in the wisdom of his wayes and to make these daies evil because he hath made them good Regard not those who scoff in their carnal folly at the uniting of these two together Youth and Holiness as at an unequal match as if a young man and an old woman were joyned together in marriage Assure thy self that nothng can so well become the best daies as the best affections and the best conversation that nothing is more seemly for a vessel of honour than to be seasoned with true grace and sanctification even while it is now in the daies of Youth 1 Joh. 2. 13 14. I write unto you young men because ye have overcome the wicked one Again I have written unto you young men because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one Here is the excellency of young men not that they have so much strength oâ— body or daring Spirits to challenge or lay others on the ground as that they have strength of grace and power of the Spirit to wrestle with Satan in all his temptationâ— and tread them under their feet when theâ— have the word of God abiding in them anâ— powerfully enabling them to wrestle witâ— Principalities and Powers and so to wrestlâ— as to overcome These are young men to whom the beloved Apostle of Christ vouchsafeth to write in a peculiar manner aâ— indeed such are young men whose Youthâ— man ought to despise SECT II. TAke heed then of making these goâ—â— daies of Youth to be evil daies whiâ—â— God hath made good daies Quest. But some will say perhaps hoâ— are they made evil daies Sol. I. I answer in general The daies of Youth good in themselves are made evil when they are spent in unregeneration spent in a state of impenitency without sound conversion to God without holy communion with him Every young man who is not brought home to God by unfeigned repentance in his Youth maketh the daies of his Youth to be evil daies Rom. 6. 20 21. When ye were the servants of Sin ye were free from righteousness what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death Whiles a man is an unregenerate person he is a servant of Sin and all that while he maketh his daies evil daies his life an evil life for he is not able to shew any fruit that he hath reaped of all his works and wayes no true benefit no sound comfort ariseth out of all his courses So it is with old men that live in the service of sin without true regeneration In like manner it is in young men that are unregenerate let them do what they will or can let them fill themselves with all manner of earthly pleasures let them please themselves every way and do what they can to enjoy these dayes of Youth walking in the wayes of their own Heart and in the sight of their Eyes please their Senses of all sorts c. Nay let them spend their daies of Youth better than so even in Wars in Study and Learning in getting some useful commendable Trade yet so long as they are unregenerate and do not seriously remember turn to their Creator now in these daies of their Youth they have no true fruit worth the having of all their endeavours of all their daies of Youth Now doth not a man make his daies evil daies when he spendeth them so that no true good cometh of them when they bring forth more evil than good so much evil as that the good that might come of them is not good unto them for the end of these things is death When a man is still hastening to his destruction running oâ— towards his death as every one unconverteâ— is what fruit can there come of any thing he goeth about All ye that are young who put off repentance and are not regenerate nor labour to be so ye make the daies of your Youth which ye so rejoyce in evil daies cursed daies ye walk under the wrath and curse of God and are not freed from the sentence of condemnation Whiles ye are merry and jocund whiles your Hearts cheer you ye do but sport your selves in the midst of your own misery and dangers Canst thou enjoy one good day whiles thou hast no assurance for an hour to be free from the fire that never goeth out whiles thou standest accursed and hast the sentence of condemnation written upon thy conscience and not washed off by the blood of Christ spinkled by faith oh these are evil bitter daies if thou couldest discern them rightly wherein Heaven frowneth upon thee God is angry with thee and all thy sins remain unpardoned Therefore repent and make thy peace with God that so the daies of thy Youth may be good daies daies wherein thou maist be assured that God is appeased with thee daies wherein thou maist walk in the bright Sun-shine and light of his countenance daies wherein thou maist have thy fruit in holiness for the present and be
that are young and yet enjoy the good daies of your life do not ye make them evil Remember your Creator in the daies of your Youth take heed to your ways according to the word of God so shall these daies indeed be good daies to you and you shall prepare your selves either for an honourable Old Age or for a blessed end and an happy death preventing the evils of Old Age and putting you in possession of everlasting life which never seeleth the decays of Age. Finally let me in a word beseech those who have already out-lived their best daies to look back seriously and speedily upon the times and courses of their Youth and see how those daies have been spent observing what matter of joy and thanksgiving or what causes of grief and humiliation they may find and accordingly to be affected If you have made them evil daies how should you mourn for this How should you seek God now that it draweth towards the eleventh hour before the night cometh when no man can work which burieth all secure loiterers and unprepared ones in an everlasting night of utter darkness where is weeping and gnâ—shing of teeth The night cometh the darkness is coming yet before it cometh do ye that great work that your Soul may live and not die eternally CHAP. V. Eccles. 12. 1 before the evil days come OF the next point I shall speak very briefly and that is this Observ. That the daies of Old Age are evil daies So the Spirit of God here calleth them This the Holy Ghost here and in other Verses of this Chapter sheweth in divers circumstances Here he saith They are daies wherein there is no pleasure daies wherein there is much matter of grief and vexation little contentment when a man's life is like gloomy daies such as St. Paul met with in his Sea-voyage when neither Sun nor Starrs for many daies appeared to such daies Old Age is here compared daies of darkness wherein Sun Moon and Starrs have their light hidden and darkened and the Clouds return after the Rain Though the showres fall yet it doth not clear up but the Clouds grow up and gather together again so it is in Old Age the end of one trouble is but the begnning of another affliction like to that In the words following these evils of Old Age are more particularly expressed and numbred up The keepers of the house do tremble the arms which are to guard and defend the body shake with the Palsey the strong men the Leggs which are the pillars to bear up this house of clay begin to fail with weakness and to double under their burthen like posts worn and weakened with age The Grinders the Teeth cease because they are few and the Windows shall be darkned c. In a word we may summe up the evils of these Aged daies in these two heads Evils of Loss and Evils of Sense The loss of Contentments in God's good blessings the loss of ability for many good Offices on the other side the suffering of many inconveniences in body and mind which maketh a man a burthen to himself being burthened with such an heap of years CHAP. VI. Use. THe use of this is to renew the former Exhortation to the younger sort that they may prevent these evil daies and remove the evil of them by timely repentance and sincere obedience in their Youth Impenitency and ungodliness makes the good daies of Youth to become evil daies repentance and an holy conversation make the evil daies of Old Age to be good Godliness is profitable to all things saith the Apostle and so it is profitable for all times for times of Youth as well as times of Old Age for health for sickness for life for death it shall do thee good and not evil all thy daies If Old Age bring so many inconveniences with it how careful shouldest thou be to remove the guilt of thy sins before the burthen of Old Age cometh upon thee If these wounds of thy conscience be truly healed by the blood of Christ aforehand sprinkled on by the hand of faith then shall thy Spirit be enabled to bear the infirmities of Old Age yea thou shalt be able to do all things through the Spirit of Christ strengthening and supporting thee Oh how miserably is that poor Soul burthened that hath an heap of years and an heap of sins unpardoned lying upon it but how blessed how honourable is the gray hoary head found in the way of righteousness whose unrighteousness is forgiven whose sin is covered Such shall be Trees planted in the house of the Lord which in their Old Age shall be more and more far and flourishing and their last works as it is said of the Church of Thyatira Revel 2 19. shall be more than the first their last daies better than the first Such a good old age they shall have as divers of the Saints are said to have had Labour then so to live now that the evils of your Age may be mitigated and removed But on the other side how evil and wretched must those daies of Old Age be which are accompanied with the guilt of many sins when years encrease and wickedness encreaseth when a man will not be admonished but as he hath been rebellious in his Youth so he will be obstinate in his Old Age Oh take heed of this if these evil daies have overtaken thee before thou hast put away thy sins before thou hast sought the Lord with all thy heart repent now in the anguish and bitterness of thy soul. SERMON V. Eccles. 12. 1. before the evil days come c. CHAP. I. THus ye have heard how Old Age is said to consist of evil daies now here we see how the Holy Ghost doth call away the thoughts of young men from the pleasures and vanities of Youth wherein they are usually drowned and over-whelmed and giveth them a foresight of a change letteth them know that it will not alwayes be thus with them they must look for other times hereafter to pass over them now they have their good daies their daies of Youth but they must perswade themselves there be other daies coming these good daies will not last alwayes Hence I observe Observ. That it is Christian wisdom to foresee and provide for changes ere they come it is a brutish and sensual folly to have the Heart so possessed and taken up with present prosperity and earthly contentments of any kind as not to have any serious and effectual regard of such changes as may be brought upon us Therefore the Spirit of God having to do with young men in this place who did please themselves in themselves and in their present youthful wayes delights and contentments he setteth before their eyes a lively image of Old Age with the many evils grievances and blemishes of it yea he leadeth them along to the death-bed and hangeth out their winding-sheet before their eyes and by the way presenteth them with many objects unpleasing
upon this improvidence when changes happen which are grievous in themselves they become more grievous to us for want of preparation That which in its own nature is a misery is made a double misery to us when we are not prepared for it What discomfort will sickness bring when it cometh unlook'd for and when we have not prepared for it by searching our hearts casting up our accounts getting assured pardon of our sins at the hands of God when a sick body and a guilty conscience meet together there is a woful condition when a man shall lie down in his death bed with the guilt of all his sins lying upon him and pressing upon his Soul there is a grievous burthen and especially when death cometh and findeth him not regenerate findeth in him no other life but that which floweth from the union between the Soul and Body no new spiritual life issuing from an inseparable communion between Christ and him Oh how wiâ—l death insult over such a one how will the name the thought the visage of death dismay him when it meeteth him alone not joyned to Christ and entreth into a single combat with him not strengthened by an happy union with the Lord of life will it not tear him in pieces as a Lion might do a little Dog It is a double misery not to be aforehand with death not to be provided for this change 4. on the other side much ease much good much comfort followeth upon a timely foresight and wise preparation for such changes When a sad and sudden change was brought upon Hezekiah a sharp fit of sickness supposed to have been the Plague and a peremptory message from the Lord by the Prophet Set thine House in order for thou shalt die and not live Did it not wonderfully ease his burthen that he was so well prepared for this change and able to say his conscience bearing him witness 2 Kings 20. 3. I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and havâ— done that which is good in thy sight What a comfort will it be when thy health is turned into sickness thy strength into weakness when thou art fastened to thy bed and hast received in thy self the sentence of death if then thou findest thy self provided for this change A sweet comfort it shall be in old age when the Grashopper is a burden even the lightest thing it shall then ease that burden of years that makes thee stoop if thou didst in time foresee and provide for it turning to the Lord aforehand that so thy gray hairs may be found in the way of righteousness CHAP. III. Use 1. 1. THis may serve to reprove the great sensuality and security that is naturally among us that we look at things present and do not seriously take to heart such changes as may befall us A Comment upon Psal. 49. would be a fit enlargement of this use where the Psalmist discourseth excellently of this point both shewing the folly of men trusting to outward things as to certainties and declaring his own spiritual wisdom which God had taught him in preparing for any changes that might befall him First he calleth for attention for all sorts of men throughout the world Hear this all ye people give ear all ye Inhabitants of the world both low and high rich and poor together It concerneth all sorts nearly and all sorts are faulty therein and need to be stirred up by way of remembrance Then he doth very effectually seek to win attention by the excellency of the things which he is about to deliver My mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding such wisdom as many worldly wise men never learned yea he sheweth in the next verse that it is an hidden wisdom and as a parable to natural men for the most part Then he entreth upon his discourse and in the first place beginneth with himself ver 5. Wherefore should I fear in the daies of evil when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about as if he had said I do foresee changes and afflictions I look for assaults from Satan but I am armed against them through the mercy of God who hath pardoned my sins and therefore when such evils come and Satan shall seek to entangle my Conscience as in a snare as if these were sure arguments of God's hatred against me I will not fear I am prepared for these things Then on the other side in the next verse unto the fifteenth he goeth on at large declaring the folly and blindness of worldly-minded men c secure sinners in this case They that trust in their Wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their Riches none of them can by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a ransom for him They trust in outward things as if they were enduring substance and their hearts are lifted up with thoughts of their Wealth and Riches they think not seriously of changes to come they trust in their strength and healthy tempers in their Youth they rest their hearts in their present carnal contentments sinful pleasures c. as if these things should alwayes continue whereas they can neither rescue or ransom themselves or dearest friends from the power of death that he should live for ever and not see corruption For he seeth that wise men die likewise the fâ—ol and the brutish person shall perish and leave their wealth to others This sheweth their great sensuality and sottishnes that though they have daily experience of divorces separations made by death between men and their wealth their honours their pleasures and that they are forced to leave all and go naked out of the world yet they do not apply this and make it their own case but they go on even like to the brute beasts which when they see one of their own herd led away to the slaughter-house regard it not but delight as much as before in their fat pastures sitting themselves daily more and more for the same end So these though they see those that were framed of the same clay with themselves drop away and return to their dust yet they mind it not unless it be for a short fit but set their hearts upon these things as much as if they had never heard of any that had been taken away by death For their inward thought is that their Houses shall continue for ever c. The Spirit of God here looketh into the inside and rippeth open the bosomes of these earthly-minded persons and sheweth what thoughts and hopes they have even of perpetuities here on earth and so they love and strive for these things as if there were eternity in them as if they were everlasting things Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish Let him enjoy never so much of these things yet he abideth not there shall come a change
are secure and content themselves with present things they foresee not dangers miseries death destruction marching furiously towards them untill it be too late the poisoned shafts of death piercing through their hearts and cleaving the body and soul asunder But a Christian must be a watchman and still stand upon his watch-tower that he may descry changes and dangers afar off that he may see death riding post towards him on his paâ—e horse Revel 6. 8. and Hell following that he may betimes provide against it and may escape the sting of death laying hold on Christ and may escape the damnation of Hell Death hath many thousands by the throat ere ever they see it coming and arm themselves against it They use to say of such who when they first â—ell sick had the symptomes of death upon them that they were taken with death Beloved every one that death surpriseth before he be provided for it may well be said to be taken with death Death hath taken hold of all such and hath them within it's power But he that is aforehand with death and is a partaker of life in Christ cannot be taken with it but he hath death rather in his power and is a conquerour over death by the power of Christ. Others are taken unprovided they are taken sleeping in their sins when death driveth it's nail into their heads as Jael did into the head of Sisera Oh then be watchfull to foresee and provide for changes to come Sickness may be coming poverty may be coming general calamities may be at hand Wars may be marching furiously towards a Land the Angel may be coming with his destroying Sword The Arrows of Pestilence may 〈◊〉 now laid to the Bow and drawn to the heâ—â— and ready to fly abroad among us Darkneâ— may be coming the loss of the glorious Gospel of Christ may be at hand Anti-Christ may be coming Howsoever these things may fall out it is most certain that Death is a coming not many daies journey from each of our doors and perhaps even now ready 〈◊〉 knock at some of our gates None of 〈◊〉 know who shall be first visited by it and they that are not provided for it aforehand may assure themselves that Hell will follow Death close at the heels Oh then learn to 〈◊〉 daily that death may become familiar to you and not come as a stranger or an enemy or an Executioner when it doth come but rather as a friend to let your Souls out of this prison of the flesh that ye may enter into glory and blessedness SERMON VI. Eccles. â—2 1. nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them CHAP. I. IN this last Clause of the Verse the daies of Old Age are opposed unto the daies of Youth in these terms The years wherein 〈◊〉 shalt say I have no pleasure in them Hence I note Observ. That this short and mortal life may outlast the pleasures and all the contentments of this life This life is short yet as short as it is it many times is longer than the comforts of this life longer than the delights and pleasures of this world There 〈◊〉 be years within the compass of this shor◠〈◊〉 wherein a man shall find no pleasure 〈◊〉 shall be weary of himself Man is buâ— of short continuance the longest liver among men shall quickly go hence and yeâ— many a man and woman may and do out-live the comforts of their lives survive alâ— the pleasure and contentment that ever they had here below And if something remain wherein they can take delight yet it is so little in comparison of those things which they have lost that they think their good daies be gone and past They have lived to see the pleasures of life vanish away life smoak and do often look back with 〈◊〉 hearts upon the times wherein they enjoyed such and such things wherein it was thus and thus with them So it was with David he had been a victorious King and prosperâ—â— exceedingly in his wayes but in the latâ—â— part of his life his Daughter was deflowâ—â—â— by his Son and that Son killed by another Son when he was feasting the same Son rebelled against his Father defiled his Concubines sought his life and was slain in rebellion Then Sheba rebelleth and not long after David lieth bed-rid and no clothes could keep him warm 1 Kings 1. Wheâ—â— were now the pleasures of life might 〈◊〉 he very well have said of these last years 〈◊〉 his life I have no pleasure in them It is true he did comfort himself in God and in 〈◊〉 assured expectation of a better life but the pleasures of this life were gone and past and if he had been one of those that have hope only in this life what good had all the former pleasures of this life done him That which was verified of this good King was true also of one of his best Subjects viz. Barzillai the Gileadite who had so liberally supplied King David when he was forced to flee from Absalom The King would now have him to be his Guest at the Court and to live with him at Jerusalem But thus he answereth David 1 Kings 19. 35. I am this day fourscore years old and can I discern between good and evil Can I taste what I eat or what I drink Can I hear any more the voyce of singing men and singing women Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burthen to my Lord the King The pleasures of this life are gone with me saith Barzillai I was wont I could relish my Meat and Drink now I cannot Musick now is no Musick to me I have out-lived the delights of this world Now if these men did out live the outward comforts and contentments of this life how much more do many wicked persons How was it with Saul He was preferred beyond his expectation before all the men of Israel He overcame the Ammonites and Philistines and was in a flourishing estate But for his sin the Lord blasted all the comforts of his life took away those gifts of his Spirit from him whereby he had fitted him for the Kingdom suffered an evil Spirit to vex and torment him gave him over to torment himself with envy and bitterness of spirit to vex himself with Davids success answereth him not in his distress leaveth him to consult with a Witch and thereupon to receive a sad answer and to hear his dooâ— which soon after was executed upon him Thus ye see in these examples how this shoâ— mortal life lasteth beyond the pleasures and comforts of this life We have also a notable example in this kind in King Jehoraâ— a wicked Son of a good Father He had a flourishing Kingdom left by his Father but after that he had slain his Brethren and wrought much wickedness the Kingdom of Edom revolted from him Ver. 9. 10. So did the City of Libnah He was severely threatned from Heaven Ver. 12 13 14 15.
people are called by the name of that Idol-god which they worshipped as the Moabites were called the people of Chemosh because they worshipped an Idol so called Jerem. 48. 46. So likewise the Ammonites are called the people of Milcom because they worshipped an Idol so called And Euripides calleth the Athenians the people of Minerva because they worshipped that Goddess by this you may gather that those whom God owns for his people are in Covenant for to be the people of God is a Covenant-stile and this the Children of all believing Parents are V. Godly Parents are a glory and honour to their Children in that for their sakes the blessing of the Lord falls upon their Children Prov. 20. 7. The just man walketh in his integrity his Children are blessed after him The Hebrew word denoteth one that walketh in all godliness constantly to the end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beat itudines blessings shall be upon his Children God hath graciously promised that he will shew mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his Commandements What a motive should this be to Parents to stir up Parents to labour after godliness Ye would have your Children to be rich and many men do adventure the loss of their immortal Souls to advance their posterity now the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it God doth sometimes divert his anger from the Children of Godly Parents and give them special mercies It is a frequent passage in Scripture nevertheless for my servant David's sake c. So God saith of Solomon I will make him Prince all the daies of my life for David my servant's sake whom I chose c. 1. Kings 10. 34. So in the daies of Abijam it is said Nevertheless for David 's sake did the Lord his God give him a Lamp in Jerusalem to set up his Son after him â—nd to establish Jerusalem 1 Kings 15. 4. God ten saith that he remembreth the Covenaâ—â—t that he made with their 〈…〉 shew how faithfull God is in his promiseâ— to his believing servants VI. It is a glory to a Child that his Father dies a servant of the Lord his death is precious in the sight of the Lord and in the sight of man It is the highest commendation that can be given of any one that he died the servant of the Lord Moses my servant is dead said God to Josua Jos. 1. 2â— Such a one is dead that was the servant of the Lord what greater commendation than this can be given to any Worldlings will say such a one died worth so many hundreds by the year worth so many thousands of pounds poor creatures did not the fool in the Gospel die rich Did not the glutton die rich What commendation is it to say of such a one he was rich but a glutton a fool an adulterer an oppressour a covetous unjust dealer What honour is this to the Children of such a man enjoying his wealth and riches And as his death is precious so the memorial of a good man after his death is precious The memory of the just shall endure but the name of the wicked shall rot CHAP. IV. IN the next place I shall also shew how Children are the glory of their Fathers I. Their filial obedience to their just and lawful commands is an honor to their Parents Therefore in the fifth Commandement it is said Honour thy Father and thy Mother that is out of reverential obedience to them St. Paul saith Eph. 6. 2. That it is the first Commandement with promise But it may be said Is not the second Commandement with promise The answer is two-fold There is a double Commandement affirmative and negative This is the first affirmative Commandement or rather it is the first Commandement in the second Table to shew that next after the care of Religion our duty to Parents must be regarded Aristotle could say God and Parents cannot be sufficiently required The Heathen punished injuries to God and Parents alike Valer. lib. 1. Qui dubitat utrum oporteat Deos revereri aut Parentes non indiget natione sed pari poenâ Arist. Topic. lib. 8. He that doubteth whether God or Parents be to be reverenced needs not to be confuted by reason but by the same punishment Now stubbornness in a Child is a reproach to his Father Who so keepeth the law is a wise Son but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his Father Prov. 28. 7. God ordained a Law that such Children should be stoned to death and the Parents should be the first that should throw a stone upon them to shew how hainous a sin stubbornness is in Children Deut. 21. 20 21. The sins of Riot and Drunkenness were not by Moses's Law punishable by death this punishment therefore was inflicted upon a riotous Son in respect of his disobedience to his Parents which greatly aggravated his sin and for which he was to die when other Drunkards escaped with lighter punishment The Rechabites were an honour to their Father in that they kept the Commandement of Jonadab the Son of Rechab their Father II. When they shall give pliable attention to the godly instructions and admonitions of their Fathers A wise Son heareth the instructions of his Father but a scorner heareth not rebuke Prov. 13. 1. It is an high point of folly and contempt when the Father is wisely charming and the Son stoppeth his ear against the voice of the charmer Hear ye Children the instruction of a Father and attend to know understanding Prov. 4. 1. Children are sluggish had need to be often called upon to hearken to pious instruction None can be more faithfull to give counsel to thee than he that loveth not thine but thee saith Gregory Such indeed are Parents therefore most worthy to be heard Godly Parents take care of their own Souls and therefore will not neglect the Souls of their Children Therefore saith Gregory Committe anâ—mam diligent bu suam commit thy Soul to them that love their own Let not Children slight the sharp rebukes of faithfull Parents seeing it is for the good of their Sâ—uls Quem enim seâ—ret patrem si nâ—n ferret suum Trent For whom should a Child bear withall if not with his own Father III. When Children walk in the holy steps of their godly Parents and are followers of them as they are of Christ. Such a one is an honour and no shame to his Father There cannot be a better resemblance between a Child and a Father than this spirâ—tual resemblance in that which is good This was ever the praise or ignominious brand of the Kings of Israel That those that were godly they did walk after the Lord as did David their Father or who walked in the way of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin So it is the high commendation of a Son when it shall be said he walketh in the same holy religious course as did as doth his Father It
Fathers They dealt proudly they hardened their necks c. Furthermore observe they did not insist upon the sins of their immediate Progeniâ—ors but upon the sins and rebellions of their Fathers that came out of the Land of Egypt and first inhabited Canaan They make mention of their Fathers sins as if all their mâ—sery came upon them chiefly for their Fathers Sins rather than for their own Sins What reason can there be assigned why the Holy Ghost makes such a record of their Confession of their Fathers Sins rather than of their own if it be not to convince and shew what we ought to do viz. Not only to lay our own sins to heart and to confess them before God but also the sins of our Fathers as also to shew us that the iniquities of our Fathers do bring the dreadful Judgements of God like a flood upon us as well as our own sins Jerem. 3. 25. We lie down in our shame and our confusion covereth us for we have sinned against the Lord our God we and our Fathers from our Youth even to this day and have not obeyed the Voice of the Lord our God And Jerem. 16. 19. The Prophet cries out thus to God O Lord my strength and my fortress and my refuge in the day of affliction the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth and shall say surely our Fathers have inherited lies vanity and things wherein there is no profit Lam. 5. 7. The Church cries out Our Fathers have sinned and are not and we have born their iniquities SECT II. ONe reason why we should be humbled for the sins of our Fathers as well as for our own is because God hath threatned and accordingly hath visited the sins of the Fathers upon their Children Their Idolatries have brought destruction on their posterity the Fathers-adulteries have brought the Children to a morsel of bread That God hath threatned to visit the sins of the Fathers on the Children you find in the second Commandement visiting the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation So Exod. 34. 7. That God hath visited Children with Plagues for the Iniquities of their Fathers there are manifold sad instances of it Numb 14. 32 33. Ye may see a double punishment threatened â— Against the Fathers who murmured But as for you your carkesses shall fall in this wilderness vers 32. 2. Against the Children who certainly did not partake in that Sin for many of them were Infants vers 33. And your Children shall wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your whoredoms untill your carkeisses be wasted in the wilderness 1. Sam. 15. 3. The Lord commandeth Saul to go and smite Amalek and utterly to destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both man and woman infant and suckling oxe and sheep camel and ass Now see what reason the Lord renders why Saul should put all the Amalakites to the sword vers 2. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts I remember what Amalek did to Israel how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt Now the Children must be destroyed for the sins of their Progenitors So the Infants and little Children of the Sodomites perished by fire and brimstone for the horrid abominations which their Fathers had committed What a dreadful Judgement did God inflict upon old Eli for his sin So the Lord told David that the Sword should never depart from his house because of his sin 2. Sam. 12. 9 10. How did God visit Saul's perfidiousness to the Gibeonites on his posterity 2. Sam. 21. 1. There is a double Judgement he visited the Kingdom with Famine for three years vers 1. and visited his Children with a cursed and shameful death vers 6. they were all hanged How did our Saviour threaten the Jewes with all the blood which their Fathers had shed causelesly Wherefore behold I send unto you Prophets and wise men and Scribes and some of them ye shall kill and crucifie and some of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues and persecute them from City to City That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the Son of Barachias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar Matth. 23. 34 35. And is not the blood of Christ upon the Children of the Jewes unto this day I have brought the more Instances to shew the truth how God doth punish the Children for the sins of their Fathers to convince us of what concernment it is for us to confess their sins before the Lord as well as our own and to deterr Fathers from sinning against God Ye may see that Fathers in sinning do not only sin to their own destruction but to the destruction of the Children that are yet unborn ye lay up Estates and Portions for your Children and God layes up wrath and vengeance which shall consume both them and ther Estates CHAP. X. NOw because there are objections which perhaps may arise in your thoughts against this Doctrine and they seem to be grounded on Scripture I shall endeavour to remove them Object But it is said Ezek. 18. 4. The Soul that sinneth it shall die vers 18. as for his Father because he cruelly oppressed spoiled his brother by violence and did that which is not good among his people lo even he shall die in his iniquity So in Jerem. 31. 29 30. In those dayes they shall say no more the Fathers have eaten sour grapes and the Childrens teeth are set on edge but every one shall die for his own iniquity and every man that eateth the sour grapes his teeth shall be set on edge How can these Scriptures be reconciled with that in the second commandment where God is said to visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children to the third and fourth generation c. how can it agree with these dispensations of Judgements Sol. There are divers answers given hereunto I. Origen and some others make an allegorical Interpretation and say that by the third and fourth generation is not meant Children but so many degrees of sins as if God would spare men for the first and second fault and punish the third and fourth But this is a false and foolish conceit because God sometimes punisheth men for the first sin God chastised David for one act of adultery II. Some answer it by distinction of civil and divine punishments The Civil Law which God made for the Common-wealth of Israel did forbid to put the Child to death for the sin of the Father as Deut. 24. 16. The Fathers shall not be put to death for the Children nor shall the Children be put to death for the Fathers Every man shall be put to death for his own sin But God who is the supreme Judge of the whole world and is not tied to humane Law punisheth Children for their Fathers sins
But this answer is not sufficient for those places of Jerem. 31. and Ezek. 18. speak not of a civil but of a divine punishment III Others again answer it thus that God punisheth the sins of Fathers on their Children if they do such like sins as their Father He will punish the Children for their Fathers Idolatry if their Children are Idolaters also and punish them that hate God as their Fathers did before them If this were true then those places in Jeremiah and Ezekiel were answered with this exception The Son shall not bear the iniquity of his Father unless the Son be wicked too the Childrens teeth shall not be set on edge unless they eat sowre grapes as their Fathers did before them But this answer is not to the purpose neither 1. Because Children have been punished for their Fathers sins which they never imitated as the Children of the Sodomites were destroyed with the same destruction their Fathers were 2. Sometimes the Children who have repented have been outwardly miserable because their Fathers were exceeding sinful 3. Because then God did not punish the sins of their Fathers on them so much as their own personal sins not punish their Fathers Idolatry but their own Idolatry nor their Fathers Adultery but their own 4. The force of the threatning is taken away for God brings that threatning of visiting their Idolatry upon their Children to make Fathers to take heed of Idolatry Then this would be the sense of it according to their interpretation Take heed ye Fathers of Idolatry for I will punish your third and fourth generation if they be Idolaters By these reasons it is evident that this answer that God punisheth Children for their Fathers sins because Children follow their Fathers in their sins is not sufficient IV. This answer may give full satisfaction There is a three-fold evil of punishment with which God visits sinners 1. There is eternal damnation so no Child is punished for his Fathers sins but the Soul that sinneth that shall die Every man is damned for his own proper sins only such as eat the sowre grapes of sin they shall gnash their teeth in Hell 2. There is malum morale a moral evil God his giving up the Children to follow their Fathers steps is a punishment for their Fathers sins But this God doth not inflict upon them as they are sins but by denying grace to the Children of wicked Parents upon which denial they fall into the like sins their Fathers did before them God denying grace to the posterity of Idolaters they commit Idolatry also 3. There is malum naurae evils of nature as Losses Crosses Afflictions Famine Sword Plague temporal death God oftentimes punisheth the Children for their Fathers sins with these temporal punishments For Gehazi's Covetousness his posterity shall be leprous and for the mutiny of Dathan and Abiram their Children perished with them For David's Adultery the Sword shall never depart from his house to all successions So oftentimes it falls out that for the riot adulteries or oppressions of Progenitors Children are brought to a morsel of bread The reason is because God in punishing the Children punisheth the Fathers also Qui◠Filii quaedam pars parentum because Children are part of their Fathers as branches are part of the tree therefore the good that is bestowed on the Child or the evil inflicted on him is the good and evil of the Father Quest. But how can the evils which Children suffer when their Fathers are dead be a punishment to him that is deid how can the evil which the fourth generation suffereth be the evil of the Father dead it may be many years before Resp. 1. I answer yes they are evils to them because God threatens them as punishments to them Shall we think that God would threaten this as an evil if it were not look as other evils threatned which follow the wicked after they are dead are a punishment as the name of the wicked shall rot shall stink when they are dead They that pass by their graves shall say Here lieth a beastly drunkard here lieth a profane swearer a cruel oppressour These are curses though they are not sensible of them So when God shall ruine the posterity of wicked men it is a sore punishment to them As now it is a mercy to just men that their memory when they are dead shall be blessed and that the seed of the Righteous shall be blessed on earth Then on the contrary if the seed of a man be cursed it is a punishment to the Fathers 2. We are not to judge of punishment only by our sense and feeling as if it were no punishment because dead men are not sensible of the miseries of their Children but we are also to judge of punishment by the evil which is in it Now it is a sore evil when God shall for the sins of our Fathers bring ruine upon our estates miseries upon our bodies Plagues Sword or Famine upon us 3. It is a punishment to the Fathers though dead because it is directly contrary to their wills and intentions Fathers would have their Children rich and happy after their death and would have their Houses and Names to contiue for ever but God in justice ruinates their Families and cloatheth their Children or Childrens Children with misery as with a garment Object But put the case the posterity of wicked men are converted and become godly doth God punish such for the sins of 〈◊〉 Fathers Sol. I answer yes God sometimes may and doth deprive such of their honours and estates and takes them away with temporal death for the sins of their Fathers But then the evils which such Children endure are only parentum poenae their Fathers punishment and are filiorum probationes medicinae exercitia the Childrens tryals medicines exercises God in mercy turneth their afflictions into their spiritual advantage God makes their death a passage to glory and life eternal And these afflictions though they are the punishments of their Fathers yer shall work out for them a greater weight of glory Here let me add these things 1. We must hold this as an undeniable truth that God is alwayes righteous in all his administrations of Judgements whether in punishing Parents or Children for Parents sake Though the Judgements of God are sometime hidden yet they are never unjust There is no iniquity in the wayes of God though we cannot see the equity of them 2. There is a matter of condemnation in all Children though God sometimes in punishing doth not punish them with an immediate relation to their own sins 3. When God visits Nations and Kingdoms then usually he doth it for the sins of the present generation as for the sins of our Fathers Our sins and the iniquities of our Fathers do joyn forces to bring down Plagues and devastations upon the Kingdom The Jews were led into Captivity for their own sins and their Fathers also So Daniel in his Confession of sins