frequent the means of grace I mean the Ministry of the word that being the ordinary instrument whereby the Spirit of God who is the principal Author of grace doth convey grace into the hearts of sinners Whereupon the Apostle Peter affirmeth 1 Pet. 1. 23 That we are born a new not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God Where by being born a new is meant such a thorow change in us whereby we are brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace and so are made new Creatures having an infusion of new and holy habits or supernatural graces put into our hearts which blessing is ordinarily wrought in us through the Ministry of the Word Acts 2. 41. We read of three thousand sinners who had grace wrought in their souls by one Sermon Yea Acts 10. 44. It is said Whilest Peter was preaching the Holy Ghoss fell on all them that heard the Word And therefore O Young man as thou desirest true saving grace frequent the Ministry of the word take all occasions of hearing the same hoth in season and out of season And for thine incouragement know that as graceless and prophane hearts as thine have been sanctified by the Spirit of God as they have been attending upon the Ministry of the Word And who knoweth but thou maist find the same effect of the Word upon thy soul whilst thou art waiting upon it 3. Beware thou neglect not the day of grace There are certain seasons of Grace when the Lord makes tenders and offers of grace to the Souls of poor sinners Yea there is no man that lives in the bosome of the Church but probably he hath his critical day a certain time for grace which if he neglect it is a question whether ever it will be offered to him again Happy therefore and thrice happy are they who observe those seasons of grace and know in their day the things that concern their everlasting peace Now it may he God speaks home to thy Conscience now he warms thine heart and puts thereinto good purposes and resolutions It will be therefore thy wisedome carefully to observe and improve the same to thy Souls advantage not suffering them carelesly to pass away lest if thou lose the benefit of those blessed motions thou lose life and salvation for ever Luke 19. 41 42. Our Saviour tells the Jews they had a day of grace which because they slighted and neglected they should never enjoy it again the means of grace and salvation should be no more offered unto them God being a just God is it not just that he should reject them for ever who have for a long time rejected him that he should turn a deaf ear unto them crying unto him on their death beds for grace and mercy who would not hearken unto him calling upon them in the day of his merciful visitation Whilest therefore the day of grace lasteth whilest God stands knocking at the door of thine heart by the motions of his Spirit and admonitions of his Ministers speedily open to him embrace his motions be willing to follow the dictates of his Spirit in ways of obedience Thou knowest not when thy day of graee will end Though some mens day continueth to their old age some to the day of their death yet some mens day of grace may end in their youth and younger years Thy first day may be thine only day for Heaven loyter out that and thence forth it may be night with thee for ever Therefore O young man how doth it concern thee to take the first and present season Now hearken now accept and submit to mercy now give thy self unto God be his faithful servant to obey and serve him with all thy heart and strength or the day may be lost and thy soul lost for ever Behold now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth thou maist suddenly be taken from the means of grace or the means of grace may be suddenly taken from thee The Sun of heavenly light which now shineth may set and thou be left in darkness The gate of mercy now opened to thee may be shut against thee The things belonging to thy peace may be hid from thee There is a time coming and we know not how near it is in which as Christ saith many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Luke 13. 24. Oh what woful yelling what pitiful crying and earnest knocking will there be then at the gate with Lord Lord open to us But all in vain having slighted and neglected their day of grace when they should have got Oyle into their Lamps and grace into their hearts 4. Be earnest with God in prayer who is the God of all grace that be would be pleased to vouchsafe unto thee his holy sanctifying Spirit which may quicken thy dead soul infuse the grace of life and make thee partaker of his holiness whereby thou maist become a new Creature Beg of God that he would not put thee off with the things of this world but together with his outward blessings or whether thou have them or not that he would bless thee with spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus and that he would inrich thee in the Inner man with his saving and sanctifying graces What the Apostle Iames saith of Wisdom is true of all grace If any one lack it let him asâ—… of God that giveth to all men liberally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not and it shall be given him Jam. 1. 5. O young man may grace be had for asking Ask and ask again never keep silence nor let fall thy suit till thou hast obtained And in thy Prayers plead that gracious promise Isa. 44. 3. I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and flouds upon the dry ground That is where there is no sap of grace nor moisture of goodness upon such saith the Lord will I pour out my water my living water my grace shall flow down upon him and his soul shall be as a well watered garden Go therefore thou poor sinful soul who never yet to this day hadst one drop of grace within thee go thou to the Throne of Grace go to the Fountain of Grace lament thy sinful barren heart before God and plead his promise of pouring the spiritual water of grace upon the barren thirsty soul say unto him Lord make good this good promise unto me behold the dry and barren heart upon which no dew or rain from above hath ever fallen pity this hard and parched soul a drop Lord a drop from the fountain of living water God of grace give grace unto me and effectually work it in me And know for thy comfort that if God hath given thee a sense of the want of grace and an heart to pray for it it is an hopeful sign that he intends to bestow it on thee 5. Stir up in thy soul an earnest longing desire after grace To that
CHAP. III. Containeth a sharp reproof of those who devote their Flower and Prime to the service of Satan and their sinful lusts and reserve their decayed strength for God Use 1. IS it a duty incumbent upon all Young Men to consecrate themselves to the service of God then such are to be reproved who devote their Flower and Prime to the service of Satan and their sinful lusts and reserve their decayed strength for God and his service accounting the very dregs and refuse of all to be good enough for him for whom the best and principal is not worthy Under the Law they were forbidden to offer any thing unto the Lord that had a blemish or that were lame and blind Lev. 3. 1. 22. 18 19 20. and Deut. 15. 21. And for transgressing this Law the Lord reprehended his people by the Prophet Malachy 1. 8. If ye offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil Offer it now to thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of Hosts Was the Lord greatly offended when as men reserved the best of the Flocks to themselves and offered the old the blind and the lame unto him And will he be well pleased that thou shouldst dedicate thy best unto Satan and reserve for him only thy decrepit lame and withered age when as thy body is full of diseases and thy mind of infirmities Will God accept the Devils leavings Shall sin have thy blood and thy spirits and thy marrow and thy God be put off with skin and bones He that hath had the best may even take all God will laugh at thee in thy Evening who laugh'st at him in the Morning of thy days Is it not extream folly while the Ship is sound the Tackling good the Marriners hail and strong to lie playing and sporting at Road and when the Ship is crazy the Tackling weak and rotten the Marriners sick then to hoyse up sail for a Voyage into a far Country And how wise a man art thou who wilt delay the Voyage for Heaven till thy Vessel be broken and those Worms thy Lusts that have been bred in it have eaten it through and made it utterly useless We generally confess that our sins must be left and that God must be sought and served but we cannot accord of the time when to begin One saith he will begin when he hath served his Apprenticeship and is out of his time another when he is made Free and set up for himself another when he is Married another when he is Old Thus every one is apt to procrastinate The whole World almost are men for hereafter When must God be minded Hereafter When must these souls be looked to Hereafter When must these sins be sent packing Hereafter When we have served our selves of this World then we 'l be for the other World and when we have satisfied our Lusts then we will satisfie our Consciences and when we are unfit and unable for any thing else then we will follow God When we are scarce able to turn our wearied bones in our bed then will we think of turning to him Canst thou think God will accept thereof Believe it if thou canst Mark what the Prophet Malachy speaketh Chap. 1. 14. Cursed be the deceiver that hath in his Flock a Male and voweth and consecrateth unto the Lord a corrupt thing Who hath the Male of thy Flock whose is the First-born of thy strength Doth the Devil carry away that and must this corrupt thing this weak and weary and sickly time of thine age be the offering for God what thinkest thou will he say to thee but cursed be the deceiver that hath in his Flock a Male and consecrateth unto the Lord a corrupt thing CHAP. IV. Containeth an Use of Exhortation unto all young men to offer unto God the First-fruits of their lives Use 2. OF Exhortation unto all Young Men to offer unto God the First-fruits of their lives to give themselves to him betimes and forthwith to have done with the service of their sins and in earnest to betake themselves to holiness and righteousness of life Though the Devil the World and the Flesh have been aforehand with Christ and have gotten possession of thine heart yet now without further delay give a Bill of Divorce to them all cast out the Bond-woman and her Children and open unto Jesus Christ who stands knocking at the door of thine heart for entrance who by the admonitions of his Ministers the motions of his Spirit and checks of thine own Conscience doth call out unto thee Open to me I pray thee let me come in Oh let not thy love to thy Lust so far prevail with thee as to put off Christ to another time but this day open to him imbrace him for thy Prince and Saviour resign up thy self unto him to serve and obey him before thou art too far ingaged in the service of sin and Satan say with David That God shall be thy God and thou wilt seek him early Psal. 63. 1. Even now in the spring of thy life while the day of health and the day of Grace hath dawned upon thee Consider O Young Man how unfit old age is either to grapple with thy Lusts or thy duties to resist the tyranny of sin or to bear the difficulties of Religion We find by experience that the soul acting by and through the body acts according to the disposition thereof When the body is dull and heavy through age or infirmity the soul acts thereafter Is thy dulness and coldness all that thou wilt spare to the God of thy spirits How will he take it at thy hands when the Devil hath rode thee off thy legs and so lamed and cripled thee that now thou canst do no more then thou wilt be for God think how well this will please thy Maker Ye shall not see my face said Ioseph to his Brethren except you bring your younger Brother with you Gen. 43. 2. And how canst thou look to behold the face of the Lord Jesus with comfort if thou bring not unto him thy Youth and strength Now therefore O Young Man in the morning of thy life while the faculties of thy soul and parts of thy body are fresh and quick set thy face Heaven-ward especially considering how great thy work as a Christian is like to be even greater than thou canst dispatch in an Age. Those evil customs and habits which have been long growing cannot easily be cut off Those strong corruptions which have taken root in thine heart cannot readily be removed That knowledge grace peace comfort and assurance which thou needest cannot be attained without great labour and industry The work of Religion requires time it concerns thee to set upon it presently and not to be so very a Fool as to say It 's time enough yet Though thou hast foolishly mis-spent so much of thy Oyl already in
works are enough to take up thy whole life How then canst thou imagine that the short remaining part thereof should be sufficient for them Ah sinner be convinced that these things must be done by thee or else thou wilt be undone for ever And then judge whether it be not high time for thee to bid adieu to all sinful pleasures and delights and seriously to mind the Concernments of thy precious and Immortal Soul Surely thou canst not be so simple as to flatter thy self with a conceit that all those things may be done either in time of sickness or in old age First For the time of Sickness that must needs be very unfit in regard of the many lets and impediments which then usually fall out to hinder the performance of them as pains of body faintness of spirit dulness and deadness of heart perplexity of mind partly through fear of Gods Judgments and partly with care of disposing thy outward estate for the future maintenance of Wife and Children which will not suffer thee so to collect thy spirits as is requisite for such weighty works Secondly As for Old Age which is scarce able to bear the infirmities of Nature how unfit must that needs be for such hard and difficult services How can it be expected that such who are in a manner past working should go thorow the greatest works that in this world are to be performed Eccl. 12. 1 Solomon calls the days of Old Age evil days not because they are so in themselves but because of the manifold weaknesses and diseases pains and aches which do accompany them whereby they are very much disinabled unto any good work And therefore to put off the main business of our lives the things which concern the Salvation of our Souls to our Old Age must needs be the greatest folly in the world because in so doing we put it to the hazard whether ever it will be done Besides that God who requireth the First-fruits of all we have will not be put off with the Devils leavings If a Souldier should spend the strength of his days in service against his Prince and in his Old Age offer his service to him would he think you accept thereof and not rather reject him and his service Canst thou then imagine that God will accept the service of thine old Age when thou hast spent the strength of thy years in the service of sin and Satan 4. Thou who sayest thou hast time enough before thee and thereupon resolvest hereafter to be for God and Holiness know that thereby thou deceivest thine own Soule For no resolution can be hearty and sincere but what is present He who is willing to indulge his sinful flesh but a Day longer would as willingly do it a Year longer yea to Eternity if he might He who is not willing to cast away his sins and to close with Christ to day would never do it by his good will Thy purposes and resolutions for the time to come are but deceitful and hypocritical O trust not to deceitful purposes 5. Thou who delayest to serve God out of a pretence thou hast time enough before thee I would ask thee what shew of reason thou hast for it Happily thou wilt say Oh the contentment I find in my present course is so sweet and delightful to me that I cannot as yet deny my self therein But is thy Lust sweeter than Christ than pardon of sin than peace and reconciliation with God yea than the joys of Heaven Sure thou art a Bruit if thou say so And if not why dost thou not presently reform and return to the Lord Is it too soon for thee yet to be happy Thou art worthy to die for ever who chusest to lie longer in the estate of the dead when thou mightest presently turn and live 6. Thou who sayest thou hast time enough before thee hast thou not served the Devil and Sin long enough Hast thou not done enough to the damning thine own Soul but thou must go on further in thy wicked and ungodly courses Certainly if thou hadst any of the ingenuity of a Christian within thee thou wouldst rather say I have long enough wallowed in the filth of sin and mire of sinful filthiness I have long enough slighted the free grace of God and rejected the invitations of Jesus Christ 't is a shame I have stood out so long Well I have now done with iniquity from henceforth I will be for Christ and Holiness farewel my former sinful courses and Companions farewel my carnal peace ease and pleasure 't is high time to mind the eternal welfare of my Soul and to give up my self to God 7. Consider Though sound repentance is never too late yet late repentance is seldom sound like untimely fruit it rarely cometh to any perfection as may evidently appear from the usual practise of such as recover of their sickness who in the time of affliction seemed mightily troubled for their wicked lives and outwardly bewailed their sins crying out against them yea made many vows and promises of newness of life and better obedience professing for the time to come utterly to renounce their former lewd courses and to serve God in true holiness and righteousness all the remaining part of their days yet being recovered to their former health again forgetting the vows and promises they made in the time of their sickness with the Dog they have returned to their former Vomit and with the Sow wallowed again in the filth of sin and mire of sinful filthiness imbracing the same sins which they had formerly lamented and so become worse than before It was the observation of that worthy Divine Mr. Robert Bolton that he never knew or heard of any man unwrought upon under conscionable means who after recovery performed the vows and promises of a new life which he made in his sickness and time of extremity which methinks should be a strong Motive to perswade every one of us to turn from our sin and to givup our selves intirely unto God in our health and strength that so we may have some comfortable Evidence of the truth and soundness of our Repentance 8. Consider the desperate hazard thou runnest by delaying to close with Iesus Christ. For what if thy great change should come before the change of thy heart how sad would thy condition be What if Christ who hath long been knocking at the door of thine heart should withdraw himself and never knock again Surely as it was one of the greatest mercies that ever was vouchsafed to thee that Jesus Christ should condescend to stand and knock at the door of thine heart so it will prove in the event the heaviest Judgment that ever befel thee if thou wilt not now open unto him but put him off with delays It will be just with Christ finally to withdraw himself from those who will not hearken unto him in this his merciful day of Visitation Beware that this be not thy case