to lye that as soon as the one learns them to go on Earth the other learns them to go to Hell hence these two are joyn'd together in that 58. Psal 3. Speaking of young ones they go astray from the Womb telling lies This is a sin that all but especially young ones are exceedingly prone to whereby Satan leads them captive at his will to make them his Vassals Look there young people there are several sins that are as I may say the very off-spring and Progeny of Satan and in acting of them a sinner resembles the Devil as a Child the Father For instance Pride it 's called their condemnation of the Devil 1 Tim. 3. 6. an angry passionate spirit it 's stiled giving place to the Devil 4. Eph. 26 27. the like one may say of this sin of Lying in the 8. John and the close of the 44. v. the Devil is called a lyer and the Father of Lies and in the 5. of the Acts 3. Satan is there said to fill Ananias his heart to lie against God which sheweth that where there is a lie in the Tongue there is the Devil filling of the Heart ruling in Children of disobedience hence James saith 4. chap. and the 6. v. that it sets all on fire of Hell O how great is the power that Satan acquireth in young people by this sin it gives him that which he so earnestly desires namely a spiritual possession of Souls as a man possesseth and dwells in his House and there it is he learneth young ones that master-piece in the Black Art to call Evil Good and Good Evil and to deny the fact when they have committed sin as 2 Kings 5. 25. thy Servant said lying Gehazi went no whether thus Jacobs Sons after they had wickedly sold their Brother come with a plausible Tale tho a palpable lye to their Father we found this bloody Garment in the Field but whose it is we know not 37. Gen. 32. 12. Another Sin young ones are given to is neglect of Relative duties as honouring and obeying their Parents and Masters c. this is a sin peculiar to young people and there are but few that escape the guilt of it Hence have Ministers Ecclesiastical Fathers almost every Lords-day Bills of complaint like Ezekiels Roll filled with lamentation put into our hands begging our earnest Prayers for rebellious and disobedient Children and Servants Though the justice of God is ordinarily manifest in the execution of his threatned Judgments upon Children of Belial even in this Life yet alas how seldom do young people take and improve such awful awakening warnings to hear and fear and do no more so wickedly How common is it for Children yea when grown up and their Parents grown old to set light by them and to speak Sawcily and Contemptuously of them and to them behaving themselves proudly and rudely before them as if they were their equals a practice most vile against the light of Nature and always according to the Scripture entaileth a Curse upon such unnatural Children 27. Deut. 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his Father or his Mother and all the people shall say Amen The punishment that the Heathens inflicted on such was to few them in a Sack with a Dog Cat Viper and Ape an Emblem of unnaturalness and so drown them together and the punishment that the Law of God in the time of Moses did assign to a rebellious Son was to be stoned to Death 21. Deut. 18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious Son which will not obey the voice of his Father or the voice of his Mother then shall they lay hold on him and bring him out unto the Elders of the City and all the men of the City shall stone him with stones till he dye And it is observable now under the Gospel how the holy and wise Povidence of God ordinarily sets a mark upon disobedient Children either in imbittering their lives with a succession of miseries and vexations here or suffering them to fall by an untimely Death 13. Another Sin Youth is prone to is Sabbath breaking a day which usually young people meet together upon to walk abroad in the Fields and take their pleasure and run into all excess of Riot Chambering acting their filthy lusts drinking Healths playing at Cards Dancing Swearing and sometimes Quarrelling Fighting Thieving Robbing of Orchards and Gardens and thus inverting that Day which God hath sanctified and appropriated to his own Honour and Service and the saving of souls to the service of the Devil and damning their own souls sure I am the whole Christian world at this day groans under the tragical and bitter effects of this sin and he is nothing worthy of Eyes that weeps not to see whole droves running headlong to Hell through this breach viz. the Breach of the Sabbath Verily the Devil hath more service done on this day than on all the six besides and how deplorable is the serious consideration hereof that the day which should be Christ's is the Devil 's great harvest of Souls and that day which should make joy in Heaven by an addition to the Church of such as shall be saved should ever prove Satans triumph and Hells inlarging it self beyond Measure at the accession of so vast a multitude of Sabbath-breakers into it 14. Another sin that Youth is exceedingly prone to is nourishing of vain hope and flattering themselves with the thought of long life putting far away from them the memorial of the evil Day Young people account it a kind of death to think of Death the meditations or tydings of it are like those of the Judges coming to the Bench to Malefactors entertained with great reluctancy and when they cannot wholly banish the items of it out of their Consciences they will be sure to set it a great way off as those bold sinners did the Prophets Vision in the 12. of Ezek. 27. the Vision that he sees is for many days to come and hence as that evil Servant in the 24. Mat. 48. when he saith in his heart my Lord deâ—ayeth his coming he began to smite his fellow Servant and to eat and drink with the drunken so young people when they once drive off the thoughts of death as far as they can from day to day then they run a whoring from God lay aside Religious duties let loose the reins of their Lusts laugh at the tremendous threatnings of the Almighty It is one of the greatest strengthners of temptations to Luxury Pride and almost every sin in the World when sinners are bold to promise themselves many years to come as you may see in that 12. Luke 17 18 19. where our Saviour brings in that foolish rich man speaking to his soul after this manner Soul take thine ease eat drink be merry thou hast goods laid up for many years O young men as you would escape the rebukes an angry God and an exasperated guilty Conscience promise not your selves long
be as Wool Jer. 13. 27. O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean â—â— when shall it once be Thus having cleared what lay in our way as matter of Objection and discouragement touching the means of Conversion on our part I shall proceed to consider more particularly those instituted means of Conversion and then shew you how your Lusts oppose those means and thereby hinder your Conversion For the Means I shall begin with that of Consideration and that because I find the Holy Ghost in Scripture beginning here with unconverted Sinners commanding and commending this as an excellent means of Conversion in the 1 Kings 8. 47. If they shall bethink themselves and repent then hear thou their Prayer c. where you see plainly that retiring into our own hearts by serious thoughtfulness and consideration is a singular means to Repentance and Conversion Again in Hag. 1. 5. Now therefore thus saith the Lord Consider your ways Psal 119. 59. I thought on my ways and turned my Feet unto thy Testimonies He first considered and then he converted So the prodigal Son came first to himself by consideration and then he came home to his Father by sound Conversion Luke 15. 17. Here the Lord complains of that People's impenitence in Jer. 8. 6. No man repented him And in the next words relateth the Cause of it to be want of consideration No man said What have I done O would but young men retire from the Noise and foolish Vanities of this world and allow their Souls leisure for the serious exercise of this important Duty to consider their sinful and woful estate by Nature in what posture they stand God-wards with their apostate Natures and how the Wrath of God that is revealed from Heaven against all Unrighteousness this wrath abideth on them every moment during their unconverted state and how fearful a thing it is to carry ones doom in ones own bosom to go up and down the world in a state of enmity to the most high Jehovah under his Curâ—e and Wrath as they most certainly do iâ— their state of Nature and there to consider of their manifold Omissions and Commissions how many thousand ways they have offended God how many checks of Conscience they have stifled what Motions of the Spirit they have resisted what preciouâ— seasons of Grace they have neglected whaâ— Light Love Mercies Engagements Vowâ— they have sinned against what pains they have taken to satisfie their Lusts stopping their Ears at the holy Instructions Counsels Exhortations intreaties of Parents Ministers what estrangedness and separation theiâ— Sins have made between God and their Souls and then to consider how short their time oâ— Earth will be how sure it is that their youthful Sins will sooner or later find them out â— how certain that God will bring them â—â— Judgment for all thy Pleasures in the Flesh all thy Thoughts Words and Deeds Thuâ— I say would but young men take time â—â— commune with their own Souls about theâ—â— tremendous matters it would surely awakeâ— and call them to fear and enquire What mâ—â—â— I do to be saved And so prepare them foâ— that other Head of Consideration nameâ—â— the rich soveraign and free Grace of God in Christ laid open in the Gospel how God hath so loved the World as to give his only Son to dye for us when enemies that whosoever believeth and repenteth shall not perish but have everlasting Life how able and willing Christ is to save and receive all heavy laden weary Souls that see themselves lost and â—aste the bitterness and feel the burden of their Sin that come to him how lovingly he invites all such to come to him and assureth them of a gracious reception and a full remission of all their Sins and eternal Salvation c. and that it is not all the aggravations of their Sins however they have been multiplied and commited against the Light of Natural Conscience or the Light of Supernatural Grace revealed in the Scriptures that shall be an impediment or bar to their acceptance and pardon upon their return If the Wicked forsake his Way and the Vnrighteous man his Thoughts and turn unto the Lord he will have mercy and to our God and he will abundantly pardon Isa 55. 7. or multiply to pardon Again there is nothing but an unbelieving impenitent Heart resisting this Grace can or shall ever deprive you of so great Salvation as is offered to you in the Gospel and tho' you have refused in past seasons when he hath called yet for all that he won't refuse you If you flee from your lusts to him the only refuge for lost Souls the match shall not break on his part and if you perish and miss Salvation at last it shall not be long of him So that this is undeniable viz. that Consideration on our part is a most fit and apposite means of Conversion I have some time read of a Religious Father that had rebellious wicked Son that was a great grieâ— to him when the Father was on his deaâ—â— bed he called his Son to him and laid hiâ— under a solemn engagement and promise That he would every day retire alone aâ—â— spend one quarter of an Hour in seriouâ— thinking After the pious Father was deaâ— the wild Son began to consider of his promise to his Father and accordingly once day retires at first he began to think of thâ— Honours and Pleasures of this World buâ— after a while he began to consider what hâ—â— Father's design was in obliging him theâ— once a day to retiredness and thoughtfulness and then he began to call to mind his Sinâ— and wicked Life that he had lived and thâ— good Spirit of God concurring with thosâ— thoughts he became a new man So thaâ— Consideration is a means of Conversion Now I come in the next place to shew yoâ— how youthful lusts directly oppose this meaâ— of Conversion and that will appear it yoâ— consider the rage of these Lusts they wiâ—â— not give the judgment leave or leisure â—â— animadvert and consider they are impâ—ruous and tyrannical hurrying poor Siâ—ners Hell wards this is obvious to our oâ—servation every day how many young people do we see by one base pleasure or other always led captive from the time they awake in the Morning till they lie down at Night and never take time to consider or ask themselves What have I done What must I do to be saved Where must I abide for ever If a man rides through a Country full speed he can never draw a true Map of that Country If you â—oile and ruffle the Waters you can never see your face in them Thus if a Soul be hurried with its Lusts it can never retire and soberly debate matters in its own breast Consideration can find no place in such a Soul as Christ told the malicious Jews in the â— John 36 37. My words can find no place in â—ou because they were so enraged and blindâ—d with the
you thâ— suggests that Corvina Cras as Augustine caâ— it cras cras if you have been ignoraâ—â— hitherto know it from this day for a mâ— certain truth it is no other than that lyer â— Hell the Devil and sure I am he hath â— way so plausible and politick to circumvâ—â— thee as by hanging these weights of delaâ— upon thy Soul and thereby letting and bindering thy present flight from Sin to Christ with an hereafter is time enough so that thou mayst conclude upon this that more perish this way than any other for Satan can prevail upon few to say peremptorily they will not repent but this is the common snare and bait wherein and whereby he taketh multitudes I will turn to God hereafter for these delays provoke the God of Grace to take away his Spirit and then what can the miserable Sinner do It was the saying of an Eminent Person The Spirit of God is a tender thing grieve it once and you may drive it away for ever and then it is not your crying Lord Lord that will fetch him back again Thou mayst intreat to use the words of that blessed Soul-converting Preacher for Mr. Fenner's danger of deferring Repentance one dram of that Mercy that hath been offered but thou hast rejected but it shall never be granted to thee God may clap that fearful sentence upon thee Now henceforth never Fruit grow on thee more never Repentance come into thy Heart more If now thou wilt not repent and be converted the Lord may set it down in his decree that from this day forward thou mayst sumble about thy Sins but shall never get victory over them thou mayst blunder about Repentance but never do the work what is the reason why because I would have purged thee and thou wouldst not therefore thou shalâ— not be purged any more O young men there is a time wherein God will not be found he will not always wait your leisure your pleasure how long or how shoâ—â— your time of Grace will last is hid from you Repentance is God's gift and Giâ—â— are given according to the good pleasure of the giver It is a great mistake to think that it is at your pleasure to call it down from Heaven at your need to convey you to Heaven when you feel your selves falling into Earth bitter Experience hath taught multitudes of shuffling delaying Sinners the delusions of such conceits while it their immoderate pursuit of their Lusts they have endeavovred to stop the mouth oâ— Conscience with promises that e're long they would take time to consider and recollect themselves and return to God in the mean while stifling and slighting the merciful motions of the Spirit of Grace oâ— a sudden e're they are aware a silent and secret decree passes against them Let theâ— alone they are joyned to their Lusts which though it make no noise in their Heads yet it effectually sealeth up their Heart to an incurable obduration and hardness And now I appeal to you upon this consideration viz. the uncertainty of the time of Grace whether Delays are not unspeakably dangerous since no man knows whether the next day will afford him so much as a possibility of Repentance if he put off and defer it this day Wherefore O young man as ever thou wouldst not be forsaken of God and have the things of thy Peace for ever hid from thine Eyes and the dreadful guilt of innumerable Sins seal'd upon thy Soul O flee this youthful Sin of delaying Repentance a moment longer 2. Consider the Impiety and Wickedness of Delaying for it doth in effect speak thus to God The real love and delight of my Soul is in my Lusts I desire thee therefore to stay for my Repentance till hereafter and by no means to punish me while I shall be provoking and dishonouring thee in the tract of my youthful days give me leave to be a faithful Servant to divers Lusts and Pleasures while I have strength and spirits and then when I grow impotent and my Lusts turn me off I pray thee to accept me and grant me Heaven O what monstrous Blasphemy and Impiety is there in such a vile deportment towards the Blessed God and pray is there not something of this in every delay it sheweth evidently that thou preferrest thy Lusts before him yea the Devil's service before his O transcendent horrid Wickedness that ever a reasonable Creature should choose to be employed in the Devil's work and drudgery before that most gracious noble honourable service of God O young man let Conscience speak is the Devil so real a Friend so good a Master or is there so much pleasure in being a slave to thy Lusts as that the Loâ—â— of Heaven and Earth the Author of thy Life and Breath should stand by and stay till they are in the first place served and then when the Devil and thy Lusts will dismiss thee God shall have their leaving I beseech you let Conscience judge in thâ— case whether Hell it self can exceed sucâ— Ungodliness Suppose your dear Fatheâ— that begat you or your tender Mother thaâ— bare you should knock at your Door anâ— intreat an admission and you should say That at present they must excuse you theâ—â— are a company of Thieves Murderers anâ— Adulterers that you must first attend anâ— entertain c. Would not this be condemned as a piece of vile Inhumanity And can it be deemed in the present casâ— a less piece of Impiety to put such an higâ— affront and indignity upon the Great God as when he graciously invites you to breâ—â— off your Sins by Repentance that he mighâ— shew you Mercy to put him off as Feâ—â— did Paul Go thy way for this time herâ— after possibly I may attend but for â—â— present there is the Devil and a train â—â— youthful Lusts stay for me and I must give entertainment to them in the first place This without an Hyperbole may be stiled the Master-piece of Wickedness the Mother of Abominations it is a plain contradiction of and direct opposition to the soveraign command of our Maker who saith Eccles 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth before the Evil days come c. God saith To Day while it is called to Day repent And you say No to day while it is called to day I must rejoyce and follow my youthful pleasures and delights And so you put the lye upon God and credit the Devil who is the Father of Lyes O this Sin of Delays hath a world of rebellion in it and Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft Moreover the impiety of this Sin will further appear if you consider what a Scorn it casts upon the admirable Grace of all the three glorious Persons of the Trinity as if not worthy of acceptance the Father's Love and Wisdom to and for a lost World of Sinners in decreeing and revealing of Jesus Christ his blessed Son to seek and to save what was lost opening a
its particular proper Lusts this appropriation cuts off young ones from all vain Excuses that ordinarily are made when they sin O such a one provoked me or Satan tempted me Alas these Lusts are from thy self they are inherent in thee if it be enquired Whence are all these heaps of filthy Lusts in young ones the Answer is easie Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornication Theft false Witness Blasphemies 15. Matth. 19. This is that Dunghil in which the whole Serpentine blood of all actual Sins is conceived and brought forth here is that hoâ— Aetna which is within you young ones that never ceaseth from sending forth continual steams and fumes of vile Lusts It true the Devil and the World are greaâ— enticers to Sin but not like your inherenâ— Lusts 1 James 14. 15. But every man â— tempted when he is drawn away of his owâ— Lust and enticed That when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when iâ— is finished brings forth Death Satan and thâ— World can only tempt and entice you Objectively and Externally but your youthful Lust tempts internally and thereforâ— more dangerous Now see the strength â—â— this 1st Reason viz. that that gives me moâ—â— danger that must put me on more labouâ— and diligence to shun and escape Besides whatever any of our spiritual Enemies shoulâ— attempt to draw you to Sin it would be altogether ineffectual were it not for these Lusts within These most endanger the Soul and according to your mortifying and fleeing these you may estimate the true estate of your Soul to be a state of Grace 18. Psalm 23. I was also upright before him and have kept my self from mine Iniquity Alas young ones the propriety and inherence of your Lusts is such as necessitates your continual Watchings Strivings in Prayer at the Throne of Grace if a man had a Thief in his House a Fire in his Chamber he had need to bestir himself or he will be rob'd and burn'd Young man thou carriest Gunpowder about thy very Nature O had thou not need to flee them or that which carries Fire It 's dangerous yielding to thy youthful lust It 's like putting Fire to the Powder It was the saying of a German Divine when his Friends were commending him recounting his usefulness and serviceableness Auferte ignem adhuc enim paleas habeo Take away the Fire for there is yet Chaff in me O what Guards do you young ones need to keep you from being ruin'd by so near domestick an Enemy What sharp Winters of Frost and Snow i. e. Fasting Weeping or Suffering dost thou need to kill these rank Weeds i. e. thy youthful Lusts in the Garden of thy Soul the consideration of this Inherency of thy Lust young man calls for both inward and outward Exercises Assistance internal as Checks of Conscience solicitousness of Thoughts earnestness of Desires actings of Faith in Christ the strivings teachings strengthenings quicknings of the blessed Spirit External as denying your Senses that dangerous tho' extreamly delightful Flesh and Blood liberty of a guardless careless and needless converse with the world's Trinity Honours Pleasures Profits and allowing your sinful and needy Soul a due proportion of time in constant attendance upon God in all outward Ordinances both publick and private which he hath appointed and instituted for thy help and assistance to mortifie and abandon thy youthful lusts It 's upon this account and consideration namely that propriety of Sins inherence in thee that renders this duty of fleeing thy youthful Sins so very difficult hence it 's called 18. Matth. 9. a cutting off a righâ— Hand a plucking out a right Eye hence it is that the Gate of entrance into Life iâ— by our blessed Saviour called a strait Gate hence it is that if there were no Devil in the world to tempt you or wicked Instruments to entice you yet would you be carried out to commit all Evil with greediness iâ— you close not with the Counsel here given you Were it not for this propriety of your Lusts inherence you might no more feaâ— that roaring Lyon that goeth about seeking whom he may devour than the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah who said The Prince of this World cometh unto me and finds nothing in me 14. John 30. But alas your Lusts are within you as the Canaanite in the Land of Israel and they easily beset you there is a naturality of Sin now since the Fall as blackness to the Aethiopian and like a fretting Leprosie adheres to our Natures with so much pertinacy that even after conversion Sin remains while on this side the Grave which truth is verified by the sad experience of all believers in the world that so they may never put off their Christian Armour till they put off this earthly Tabernacle but be continually kept watching fighting runing wrestling praying c. after millions of Tears and Prayers still they are fain to send up their Cries and Groans to Heaven for the abating and destroying the remains of Pride Atheism Unbelief c. And what hope can be left O young ones that ever you will obtain a Victory when your Enemy is so near you nay dwells in you if you lie idle nay how sure is it that you will be carried a miserable Captive by your Lusts to Hell if you take not this Advice to flee your youthful Lusts especially if you consider how the Devil night and day is watching to set Fire to thy Lusts thou hast a combustible Nature and Constitution and he is cunning and filled with Malice and with all sorts of Wiles Depths Baits Snares for all tempers and above all he desires to have young ones so that to be secure and indifferent here is in a sense equivalent to yield your Souls to Sin and Satan which brings me to the second Reason of this Doctrine Second Reason That therefore it is a duty of special concernment to Youth to flee youthful Lusts because of the malignity of their influence this I shall evidence to you more generally and then more particularly 1. More generally Your youthful Lusts so far as they prevail they destroy your Souls 8. Rom. 13. If you live after the Flesh you shall dye Mark it I pray upon what unalterable terms it runs O the malignity of these Lusts 7. Rom. 21. and the 23. What Fruit had you then in those things whereof yoâ— are now ashamed for the end of those things is Death v. 23. The wages of Sin is Death But to be more particular there is a threefold evil influence these youthful Lusts if noâ— abandon'd will certainly have upon you 1. They will hinder your Conversion oâ— render it exceeding difficult 2. They will hurry you into most grievous Temptations and Perplexiâ—ies 3. They will hasten your utter Ruin anâ— Destruction 1. They will hinder your Conversion or render it exceeding difficult and this they will do these two ways 1. As they wofully indispose the Soul
with horror wheâ— you find not your affections strongly beâ—â— and inclined to him how much more then should you loath your selves when your Affections are sullenly averse to him Is not this a fearful pitch of malignity wouldst thou not think him a vile Miscreant and reckon the Earth too good to bear him that should hate the presence of his own Father and abhor all converse with him and canst thou so accuse and condemn such a one and not thy self for much greater degrees of wickedness better thy affections were disinclined to thy nearest Relations yea to thy self than to the blessed God who is the spring of thy life and being and yet thus it is while thy Lusts are obeyed instead of loving God thou lovest thy Pleasures more than God instead of hating Sin thou hatest God more than Sin O then possess thy Soul throughly with a due and deep sense of this great Evil that thy youthful Lusts do thy poor Soul in depraving thy Affections so that they seem to be in you what the Devils were in the Herd of Swine violently carrying you from God the fountain of living Waters to lying Vanities And thus I have shewed you how these youthful Lusts do hinder Conversion as they indispose the Soul in all its parts and faculties to Conversion Which brings me to the second thing namely to shew how these Lusts do hinder Conversion as they directly oppose the means of it and that both on God's part and yours 1. On God's part These youthful Lusts provoke God to withdraw his Spirit and Grace and leave you to your own Hearts Lusts and then what hope of Conversion remains It is God alone that can take away that Stony Heart and give a Heart of Flesh that quickens the dead Soul In Conversion we are said to be his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto gooâ— Works 2. Ephes 10. And St. John saith 1. John 13. We are born again not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will â—â— man that is not by any natural power vertue or strength inherent in them Bâ—â— of the Will God it 's he that worketh both â—â— will and to do and his people are said tâ— be a willing People in the day of his Power Psal 110. 3. The Metaphors that the holy Ghost useth in Scripture to set forth thâ—â— work of Conversion by do plainly poiâ—â— out this That no less power than that Omnipotent Power of God is required to thâ— Conversion of a Sinner as for instance 1. That of the Resurrection from the dead 6. Rom. 4. to raise the Dead is the effect â—â— an Almighty Power 2. That of Creation 2. Ephes 10. And who can create bâ— God no Creature can the mightiest Aâ—gâ— cannot create the meanest Worm Thâ— Conversion is set forth in Scripture to be the Lord 's own workmanship Hence you read 2. Ephes 1. You hath he quickned who were dead in Sins and Trespasses And in 36. Ezek. 27. A new Spirit also will I put within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and ye shall do them And in 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive And it was God that opened Lydia's Heart It is true that the Lord of Heaven the God of all Grace who could work of himself and without any means is pleased to make use of means to wit his Word as in the 1. James 18. By the Word of Truth of his own Will begat he us that we should be a kind of First Fruits of his Creatures Hence the Word is called the Incorruptible Seed 1 Pet. 1. 23. and the Gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit Hence the Lord hath appointed and instituted the great and honourable Office of the Ministry and bestows Gifts on his Ministers to preach the everlasting Gospel to the World to open Sinners Eyes and turn them from Darkness to Light Hence Ministers are called Spiritual Fathers not that there is any inherent power in either the Word it self or him that preacheth it but from the Spirit of God whose Instruments we are 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. The Weapons of our Warfare saith the Apostle are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds c. And in 2 Cor. 4. 7. We have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God So then saith the same Apostle 1 Cor. 3. 7. Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth but God that giveth the increase Not any thing in a way of efficiency only instrumentally as a Pen is the Instrument but it 's the Hand that writes so the Word preached and the dispenseâ— of it are Instruments of Conversion but it 's the Spirit of God is the quickning Agent for it must needs surpass the strength of a Creature to change the Nature and to cause a return from so miserable a privation and death as by Nature we are in unto so glorious and excellent a participation of the divine Nature and Life as every converted Soul is put into when transformed into the Image of God Now then to raise the Argument and build upon this Foundation that I have laid if the principal efficient Cause and means oâ— Conversion on God's part be his own Almighty Arm revealed and made bare hiâ— Spirit poured out and putting forth a quickning vital Energy then there 's little hope of Conversion where this Almighty Agent is provoked so far forth as to with-hold his Spirit and to leave a Sinner to his own Hearts Lust But youthful lusts yielded to and served do most certainly thus provoke God to withdraw his Spirit and Grace and therefore obstruct their Conversion in a direct opposing the means of it on God's part That they do thus provoke God is evident from these Scriptures 81. Psal 11 12. But my People would not hearken to my Voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up unto their own Hearts Lusts and they walked in their own Counsels 1. Rom. 26. For this cause saith the Apostle God gave them up to vile Affections This Text it 's true speaketh of the Heathens of whom the Apostle had been speaking before in ver 19 20. he had been shewing what means they had to know God they had not the Light of the Gospel as we have only the Light of Nature then he sheweth us ver 21. how they had abused this Light wherefore saith he For this cause God gave them up You see here what may befall poor Heathens that have no more than a Natural Light yet even they for not improving and living up to that may so far provoke God as to give them up O what do you think young people that are within the Pale of the Church you have what the Heathen had and you have superadded a further and more excellent Light the Light of Scripture and many of you have the enlightenings
very few that are saved pray examine carefully what such a Repentance is made up of usually it consists in the passionate awakenings of natural Conscience upon the Sinner's Alarm to appear before that God to whom he has been a long time estranged and against whom he has maintain'd a long and old Enmity hereupon there springs up in his Breast a servile fear and dread of this holy and just God hence the Sinner being stript of all Creature comforts and help flies and cryes to God for pardon of his Sins and deliverance from Hell in great affrightment of Spirit and O if God will spare what manner of person he will be and the like Now pray judge righteous Judgment and make a true estimate herein many ignorant Wretches call this true Repentance whereas all this is but nature in misery crying for ease which the veriest Reprobate in the World may do nay can't but do if Conscience be awakened here is no change of their hearts from darkness to light and the power and love of sin to God and holiness Alas let but these Men be put into their former state of health and temptation again and they would be the very same a Balaam may come thus far to cry out O that I might dye the death of the Righteous and my last end be like his There is the same love of Sin and hatred of strict Godliness within as ever which would soon appear if they might but still enjoy their former Vanities but alas all is under a force they are launching out into the eternal World and judgment seems to them just at hand now they cry aloud for mercy and desire pardon bewail their abuse of time make large offers of Reformation and yet all this is but as an Iron in the Fire or a Mariner in a Storm Well said * Quale bonum hoc â—st quod melius est poenâ c. Tertull. Tertullian What a mean sort of good is this that only excels punishment It is good to repent and be saved because who can dwell with everlasting burning All this is good just when a Man 's a dying O young man is this consistent with Reason to venture thy All to all Eternity upon so rotten a foundation thou wouldst not venture to put out to Sea in a leakâ— Vessel and wilt thou be so mad as to venture thy Soul upon such a bold Presumption as this What if O Youth after your mad and long Rambles in the ways of Sin after thou hast try'd these desperate Conclusions and thou at last begins to come to thy self and attempts to come to Christ what if he should remand thee and send thee back again to find Relief among the Husks and Swine thou so lately left if when you in your distress and calamity supplicate with the most mournful Note his mercy and compassion he shall return you back with this greeting and ungrateful answer It is now too late thou shouldst have remembred me in the days of thy youth depart my patience and compassions are at an end because you refused when I called I will now reject you O what if God should conclude his day of grace and mercy just as thy time of Religion commenceth If he end his Patience as thou beginnest thy Repentance If his Ear be stop'd just as thy cry for mercy is opening pray what then will you do what say you young ones will you enquire return and come now or no to allude to that of the Prophet Isa 21. 11 12. Watchman what of the night what of the night if you will enquire enquire return and come How many expressions are here to shew the vehemency of the Call What say you Youth wilt thou dare to run the venture of the loss of God's acceptance of Heaven and eternal glory for a year a month a week a day shall the blessed Trinity stay till your Lust will release you Why then be it known to you and remember hereafter that I this day give you notice of it that as you sowe so you shall reap If you sowe a deaf Ear to God's call to day while it 's called to day you shall reap a deaf Ear to your calls and cryes for mercy when your calamity and desolation cometh as a whirlwind upon you O young Men I beseech you and O that God would persuade you by his Spirit this day to practise this advice here exhibited to you Flee this youthful Sin of delaying The sooner you come in the more acceptable it will be to God the more comfortable to your own Souls and the more useful and beneficial to others I might enlarge upon all these but I have been long already in other Considerations against this Sin of delaying and therefore I shall only tell you That no Tongue can relate no Pen can describe all the advantages of an early Conversion One days sweet communion that you will have with a reconciled God in a state of grace will be more comfortable than a thousand years of impenitent Sinners who are or may be in continual fears of death and judgment But O the blessed state of an early Convert that is aâ— peace with God his Soul may dwell at ease let what will come that can in life or death Sin is pardoned the sting of all is removed Christ's yoke is easie there is no condemnation to such an one O the sweet peace and tranquility of such a Life what should trouble or disturb him that hath good grounds to believe That he shall be for ever with the Lord when he shall go bence and be seen no more Young People are apt to thâ—nk that there is no contentment in the ways of God but they must lead sad and uncomfortable Lives whereas it 's most manifest that there is nothing tends to free them from discontent and uncomfortableness like an early conversion to God The Kingdom of God consists in joy and peace and there is a day at hand when the proudest despiser of an holy life shall be convinc'd of it O therefore make a tryal of it and if you do not find it so take your own course I have no more to say but to pray that God would circumcise your hearts and give you wisdom to take the present opportunity and to admire his mercy that it is not too late The next Sin that I shall direct Young Ones to flee is An eager pursuit of sensual and sinful Pleasures their loving these more than God c. I Have shewed you already how strongly Youth is bent upon Pleasures Sports Games Feasts Pastimes O! Young Men love these as their Lives and some will as soon part with their Lives as with their youthful Pleasures they have had Threatnings Promises Commands Intreaties Mercies Afflictions yet nothing to this day could prevail with them What Solomon saith of the Fool Prov. 27. 22. Tho' thou bray a Fool in a Mortar yet will not his foolishness depart from him may be applied here to