unprofitable yielding little profit to those who have most of them Matth. 16. 26. What will it profit a man though he gain the whole World and lose his Soul As he assuredly will who sets his heart more upon gold than upon Grace and Godliness and seeketh more earnestly after worldly things than after an interest in Christ after the light of Gods Countenance and the assurance of his loving favour Suppose a man have an affluency of this Worlds goods yet what profit or priviledge hath he above him that enjoyeth but a competency A little will be enough to a prudent mind and enough is a feast When thou hast the most what wilt thou have more than for Food and Rayment out of all thy store For what 's over and above thou must be Accountant to thy Lord and Master at the Great Day how and where thou hast bestowed it for him Obj. It may be thou wilt reply that the rich may have daintier Diet and more costly Apparel than the poorer sort of people A. To which I answer That the rich have no greater priviledge or profit thereby because the pleasure of eating and drinking consisteth not so much in the daintiness of the fare as in the goodness of the stomack He who feedeth on his course fare with an hungry appetite taketh more delight in his Meat than he who is glutted with often feeding on his delicious fare Neither hath the rich man any more benefit by his costly Apparel than the poor man by his plain habit which keeps him as warm as the finer and richer But how many rich Misers are there who though they have abundance of this Worlds goods yet have not the heart to use them but spare from their own backs and pinch their own Bellies to fill their Purses What profit or benefit have such by their riches but only the beholding them with their eyes Besides no outward riches can make us better in the best things They cannot make us more acceptable to God neither can they make us more rich in Spiritual Grace more Vertuous or Religious they cannot assure us of Gods love nor of our future happiness they will not profit us at the day of death being then like Iob's Friends miserable Comforters adding to our grief neither will they benefit at the day of Judgment but rather increase our Bills of account how we have gotten how we have used and spent them Thus you see how unprofitable riches are to the owners and possessors of them 5. Consider how riches are not only unprofitable but also hurtful and pernicious to those who setting their hearts upon them do inordinately seek after the same Hurtful they are not in themselves and in their own nature but through our corruption whereby we are apt to abuse them unto evil 1. The immoderate seeking after riches will both keep us from the performance of Holy and Religious Duties and distract us therein 2. It will expose us to manifold temptations as 1 Tim. 6. 9. and put us upon the committing of any sin for the obtaining a little worldly wealth 3. It will hinder us from attaining unto Heavenly Happiness and like the Camels bunch keep us from entring into the strait Gate These considerations seriously weighed will be a special means to take off thine heart from an immoderate seeking after worldly riches CHAP. XXV Sheweth the danger of bad Company and the advantage of good Company IV. BE careful of thy Company especially whom thou makest thy bosom and familiar friends for that is a matter of exceeding great concernment to thy Spiritual Welfare This I shall branch into two Heads 1. Avoid the Society of wicked and prophane persons 2. Desire and imbrace the Company of the Godly I. Avoid the Society of wicked men which hath been the bane and ruine of thousands of Young Men. I do not say that all manner of Society with graceless and prophane persons is sinful and unlawful and that thou oughts not to come at all into their company nor to have any intercourse and commerce with them in buying selling and the like But thy care must be to avoid all intimate society and familiarity yea and all needless and unnecessary conversing with them 1. For first It is exceeding dangerous without a just Warrant and Calling to be much in the company of wicked and prophane men especially such as are Scoffers of Religion and Traducers of good men who by their loose Conversation and continual railing against Religion and the Professors thereof will take off thine heart from all love and delight in holy and Religious exercises and work in thee a distast and contempt of the ways of Godliness There is a secret and bewitching power in prophane company to impoyson and pervert even the best disposition sin being of a contagious nature more infectious than the Plague and the Soul much more catching of the contagion of sin than the body of any infectious disease It is a thing of great difficulty ordinarily and intimately to converse with wicked men and not to be tainted with their sins For besides that they are apt to infect others we are very apt to receive the infection having the seeds of all sins remaining in us Ioseph though he were a Vertuous Young Man yet living in the Kings Court soon learned to swear ordinarily by the Life of Pharaoh Gen. 42. 13 14. Common experience telleth us how many hopeful Young Men who have blossomed fairly and brought forth some good fruit yet by frequenting the company of wicked and lewd persons have proved very prophane and debauch'd The Philosophers do well observe that all waters both in colour and taste do participate of the nature and disposition of those grounds through which they pass In like manner men do participate of the disposition and manners of those with whom they frequently and familiarly converse 2. It is not for the honour of Gods Children to hold intimate society and 〈◊〉 with wicked men men being generally reputed to be of their temper and disposition with whom they ordinarily and intimately converse according to that old Proverb Birds of a feather will flock together The company in which thou delightest sheweth what courses thou lovest and what spirit thou art of If therefore thou delightest in the company of lewd and prophane persons thou hast cause to suspect that thine heart is not right The beloved Disciple Iohn makes it a sign That we are passed from Death to Life if we love the Brethren 1 Joh. 3. 14. And 't is Love that makes their company delightful And what sign is it in thee that lovest and associatest with the haters of the Brethren Search and consider if this do not mark thee out for one whose Soul abideth in death Therefore O Young Man as thou desirest to keep up the credit of Religion thine own Reputation with the godly and the hopes of thine own uprightness with God beware of evil workers and as much as possible keep
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
examine thy self to search thy heart and try thy ways that thou mayst know the estate of thy Soul Dost thou this How seldom dost thou spend any pains this way It may be thou hast never done it nor so much as seriously put the question to thy self Whose Child am I or How may I know whether I be the Child of God or the Child of the Devil Thou knowest it is thy duty to watch to watch thine heart and watch thy tongue and watch against corruption and temptation Dost thou do it Thou knowest it is thy duty to sanctifie the Sabbath by forbearing thy Calling thy Recreations and Carnal Pleasures by spending the whole day in the publick and private exercises of Religion not allowing thy self in vain and impertinent talk or idle or worldly thoughts Dost thou so Thou knowest it is thy duty to do good to others to their Souls by exhorting or reproving them to their bodies by feeding or cloathing or otherwise relieving them Dost thou so Is there none of all this nor nothing else which thou allowest thy self in the neglect of If it be so how canst thou think thy self sincere O Young man if thou wouldst please God indeed and have evidence that thou art his resolve on Universal obedience and be ready to every good work Let not Conscience fly upon thee at last and tell thee one thing thou lackest one thing thou wouldst not do Be faithful study to know thy whole duty and rest not till thy heart be willing to follow the Lord in all things whatsoever he commands thee II. Live not in the practice of any known sin For 1. One sin is a Violation of Gods Law as well as many Jam. 2. 10 Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all A wilfull breach of one part of the Law makes thee guilty of the Violation of the whole Law The Law of God is a chain of holy precepts if one link of a chain is broken you may say the chain is broken 2. One sin allowed and delighted in is enough to keep thy soul out of Heaven As Adam by eating one forbidden fruit was cast out of Paradise So maist thou out of Heaven for but one sin that thou hast committed and not repented of 3. The living and delighting in one sin doth evidence a rotten and unsound heart As it is made in the Scripture a note of uprightness to make Conscience of every known sin So it is made a note of Hypocrisie to seem to make Conscience of the forbearance of some sins and yet to live and lye in the practice of others Hereby was Herods Hypocrisie discovered who though upon Iohn Baptists Preaching he reformed much and did many good things yet would not part with his beloved Horodias notwithstanding she was his Brothers Wife 4. One sin never goeth alone but is ever accompanied with more For it is the natural effect of sin especially being wittingly committed to make men apter to sâ—…n Rom. 6. 19 You have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity God in his just judgement oft-times as a punishment for some oâ—…e sin leaves men so to themselves that they break forth into the committing of others 5. For a man to live and lye impenitently in the practice of a known sin is the dreadfullest judgement in the World Better were it for a man to be given up to the Devil than to the power of one sinful Lust. The incestuous person was delivered up to Satan 1 Cor. 5. 5. but he was restored again and the better for it Whereas we seldome read or hear of any who were given up to the Lusts of their own hearts that ever recovered O Young man how doth it then concern thee to withstand every Lust not to indulge thy self in any sin but especially to keep thy self from thine own iniquity I mean thy natures darling sin to which thou art most propense by thy complexion and constitution and of all thy Lusts are lothest to leave Let not that bear rule in thee as formerly but bend thy greatest force against it As the King of Syria commanded his 32. Captains to fight principally against the King of Israel for full well he knew that the King being once slain the whole Army would soon be discomfited So if thy beloved sin that reigns and rules in thee were once subdued thy other sins would soon be vanquished What saist thou now O man wilt thou hearken to this counsel not to allow thy self in any one sin thou knowest to be so Hast thou hearkened to it Thou knowest it is a sin to lye and yet dost thou not lye Thou knowest that defrauding over-reaching defaming backbiting scoffing quarrelling thou knowest that these are all sins are there none of them which thou allowest in thy self Thou knowest 't is a sin unnecessarily to keep company with sinners to be the companion of Drunkards the companion of Swearers and the vile ones of the earth dost thou keep not only from the wayes but from the company of such Are they no company for thee who are no friends to Godliness Dost thou know thine owne iniquities thy special sins that have greatest power over thee and thou hast greatest pleasure in and dost thou keep thy self from these Is there not one Lust that thou wouldst have spared to thee God will not spare thee one sin the Scripture will not allow thee one and if thou wilt approve thy self to him let not thy Conscience allow thee what God allows thee not and let not thine heart love and entertain and practice it whether Conscience allow it or no. If thou wilt be upright keep thee from all but especially from thine own iniquity III. If thou hast been overtaken with any sin and thereby made a wound in thy Conscience seek an healing Plaister by sound Repentance and faith in the blood of Christ. Lie not secure in any known sin into which thou art fallen but rise speedily again make up every breach between God and thy soul betimes What the Apostle saith of wrath Ephes. 4. 26. the same may I say of other sins Let not the Sun go down upon them Do not presume to sleep one night in any sin unrepented of It is dangerous sleeping at the brink of hell Hast thou fallen into sin do not say it is but one or but a little one 'T is sin be it great or little one or more t is sin and that 's enough to destroy thee for ever unless thou repent Go speedily and make up the breach repent and seek thy pardon and thy peace But what shall I say to you O rude and wicked Young men whose whole life is a continued course of iniquity who have so black a cloud of witnesses to testifie against you who are so sunk and drown'd in Lust and sensuality whose hand is never out but is alwayes ingaged in one wickedness or other whose whole life hath been an
hypocrisie to gain the applause and commendation of men But he that maketh Conscience of praying in secret and that in obedience to the Command of God with a desire to approve himself unto him hath some good evidence of the truth and sincerity of his heart 2. It is in our secret prayers that God doth ordinarily give the greatest discoveries of his love Iacob met with the blessing when he wrestled with God in secret As Cornelius was praying by himself alone a Man in bright cloathing or an Angel appeared to him and said Cornelius thy prayer is heard Act. 10. 30 31. When Peter was praying alone upon the House he saw a Vision and heard a Voice from Heaven speaking unto him Act. 10. 9 10 c. The secrets of the Lord are usually revealed unto his people when they are seeking him in secret Christ giveth his sweetest kisses and dearest imbraces to his Spouse when she is alone Yet how is this duty of secret prayer generally omitted especially by the younger sort of Citizens whose heads and hearts and time are so taken up with sensual pleasures and worldly businesses that they can scarce allow themselves any time to spend with God in secret Surely such do plainly demonstrate that they love the World and the pleasures thereof more than God himself Nay how can such say that they love God at all in truth and sincerity when they delight not in communion with him nor love to have any intercourse with him in secret Oh young men that I might prevail with you for the time to come to be more constant in this duty that you would not go into your Shops till you have been with God in private and there offered up your morning Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving I beseech you for the sake of your precious souls plead no excuse from worldly businesses The Devil and your own corrupt hearts will find many occasions to divert you from the duty but say to them as Abraham to his servants Stay you here while I go and worship the Lord yonder Shouldst thou omit thy Morning Devotions for any worldly businesses thou wouldst thereby hazard the loss of thy precious Soul for the gaining of a little worldly wealth which can yield thee no true comfort And what will it avail thee to gain the whole world and lose thine own Soul Mark 8. 36. Friend let this my Counsel be accepted of thee and prevail with thee set upon a constant course of serious secret prayer or else never talk of Christianity or Religion in thee thou hast nothing of it A Christian without prayer is a man without breath Prayer is the very breathing of a Christian soul. In the performing thy secret devotions observe these Rules 1. Beware of doing them in a cursory careless and formal way He who serves God carelesly is like to bring a curse upon himself instead of a blessing For cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord negligently Jer. 48. 10. So it is in the letter of the Hebrew though the new Translators of our Bible render it Deceitfully Which two words may very well interpret one another For he that doth a work negligently doth it deceitfully he doth as if he would deceive God but at last he deceiveth his own Soul Such prayers as are performed coldly and negligently they are as if they had not been done in Gods account and a man is never the better for them yea he is the worse for such prayers for they leave the Heart more worldly and covetous more hard and obdurate than it was before and more guilty before God 2. Let thy prayers be fervent performed with earnestness of Spirit and affection Set thy self in good earnest to seek the Lord which is the only means to prevail with him for it is the fervent prayer only that is effectual Jam. 5. 16. To this end be sure thou give not way either to drowsiness of body or distractions of mind unto which we are all naturally too too prone but stir up thy self to the duty putting forth all the strength thou canst therein Though thy strength be but weakness yet if thy strength be in the work God will accept thereof As when a Father sets his Child about such or such a work though the Child be very weak and insufficient for the same yet if it put forth its strength therein to do it as well as it can the Father will accept thereof as if it were done after the best manner So it is between God and us though we are very weak and insufficient for the performance of any spiritual duty yet if we put forth our strength therein God will accept thereof Among other directions which might be given to drive away wandring thoughts in prayer and to raise up thine affections therein take notice of these two 1. Make choice of such a place for the performance thereof where thou mayst use thy voice and not be heard of others The Voice in prayer will be found very effectual both to keep thine heart close to the duty and to quicken thine affections therein 2. If notwithstanding thou findest thy mind hath been wandring in prayer after worldly matters it will be a good course in thy Closet Devotions to pray those heads over again which thou deliveredst without any Observation labouring as to keep thine heart closer to the duty so to perform it with more fervency and earnestness of affection CHAP. X. Containeth Directions for the manner of following thy particular Calling HAving thus begun the day with Prayer thou must then betake thy self to the duties of thy particular Calling for particular Callings are of Gods appointment as for our own good and the good of our Family so for the benefit of others In following whereof have special regard both to thy Ends and Manner of performing them 1. For thy Ends Follow not thy worldly businesses meerly for gain and advantage thereby to get an Estate but chiefly in obedience to the Command of God who requireth every one to labour in some honest Calling that thereby thou mayst serve and follow his Providence in the use of those means he hath appointed for the getting a comfortable subsistance for thy self and family and that thou mayst in some measure be profitable in thy Generation and serviceable to the Publick Good minding above all things the glory of God in what thou dost who is glorified not only by the practice of holy and Religious duties but also by a conscionable performance of the duties of thy particular Place and Calling 2. For the manner of following thy Calling observe these Rules 1. Be diligent therein To live without a Calling or not to labour therein are both sinful and unwarrantable Every Son of Adam ought to mind some particular Calling by vertue of that Command which God laid upon Man immediately after his Fall Gen. 3. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground Which
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the foulness of their sin by the strangeness of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have read of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was a common Swearer upon every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the name of God in vain whâ—…h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord against him as that he sent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his mouth as eat out his Tongue the very instrument wherewith he had so abused the name of God I have likewise met in Authors the relation of a young Gentleman of Cornwall who being in the company of other Gentlemen swore most dreadfully for which being reproved by some in the company he swore more and more At length as they were going over a Bridge in their journey which went over an arm of the Sea this swearer so spurred his Horse as he sprang clean over the Bridge with the man on his back who as he was going cryed horse and man and all to the Devil Such remarks of the Divine vengeance thou maist fall under here but O what remains to be look'd for hereafter These Oaths which now vanish with the speaking and fly into the wind will all meet thee in the belly of hell and there those darts which thou hast thrown up against Heaven will all be fired and stick in thy heart for ever O Young man consider therefore what folly and madness it is for thee to hazard thy body and expose thy soul which is of more worth unto thee than ten thousand Worlds to the suffering of all these fearful punishments both in this life and the life to come for just nothing for a vain and unprofitable sin which bringeth good neither to soul or body CHAP. XVI Of Lying which is another Vice whereunto Young men are addicted VI. ANother Vice whereunto Young men are addicted is Lying which doth usually accompany swearing Therefore Hos. 4. 2. we find swearing and lying yoaked together Common Swearers I know do ordinarily twit those who make Conscience of an Oath that though they will not swear yet they can lye But sure we are that they who make no Conscience of an Oath will make less Conscience of a lye they who make no bones of dishonouring God by taking his name in vain will make no bones of deceiving their Neighbour by a Lye In the opening this Vice I shall shew you 1. What a Lye is 2. What be the kinds and sorts of Lyes 3. The greatness and heynousness of the sin 4. Some Motives and Arguments against it I. For the first A Lye is a deceitful expression of ones mind against his mind Or It is à speaking an untruth wittingly and willingly with a purpose to deceive II. For the sorts or kinds of Lyes They are commonly three viz. An Officious A Sporting And a Pernicious Lye An Officious Lye is that which is intended to prevent some danger or procure some good either to our selves or neighbour Many of these are mentioned in Scripture as the Midwives of Aegypts Lye Exod. 1. 19. Rahabs Lye Iosh. 2. 4. Michaels Lye 1 Sam. 19. 14. A Sporting Lye or a Lye in jest is that which is made meerly to make one merry to pass away time with the like such are old Wives tales of Robbin-hood Fortunatus and the like A Pernicious Lye is that which is made for some evil hurtful and dangerous intent against our Neighbour Q. Are all these kind of Lyes sinful A. Yea. 1. For the last none can doubt It 's a sin against truth in the general nature of it And a sin against love and mercy in the end and intent thereof 2. For the second namely a Sporting Lye no great doubt is made for to say the least of it besides that it is a sin against truth it is also an unwarrantable and an idle mispending of precious time which ought rather to be redeemed 3. For the third namely an Officious Lye though some make doubt thereof yet it appears to be sinful and unlawful 1. The Scripture maketh no difference or distinction of a Lye when it condemns it but indefinitly and generally forbids and condemns all manner of Lying therefore the Officious Lye is a sin 2. That which is committed against God though it make never so much for man is sin But every Lye is committed against him for in every thing we do we have to deal with God and must approve all our actions to him therefore before him to say any thing with our Tongue which in our Consciences we know to be otherwise is to sin against God who is a God of truth 3. Men may not Lye for God much less for a man Isa. 61. 8. I hate Robbery for Burnt-Offering and he that hates to be served by Theft does as much hate to be served by a Lye Obj. Many Saints and holy servants of God have used ' this Officious Lye as Rebecca and Iacob Gen. 27. 18 19. Abraham Gen. 20. 2. A. The best have their sins and we are to follow their Vertues and to fear their faults Their faults were never recorded for our imitation but for our Caution Obj. Yea but God commendeth and rewarded many for their Officious Lye A. It is not so God never commended nor rewarded any for their Lye Indeed many did excellent works by this means which had yet been better had they not used a Lye as Rahah the Aegyptian Midwives and others In their works they gave great testimony of their faith though in their Lye of their frailty Now it was their faith which God commended and the things they did not the manner of doing them for therein they failed and God was merciful to them So much for the several kinds of Lyes III. For the third particular namely The greatness and heinousness of this sin of Lying Surely of sins that are lightly accounted of in the World and commonly committed it 's one of the most heinous which appeareth 1. In that it is so full of infamy that such as make no Conscience of any sin yet cannot endure to be charged with a Lye 2. It tends to the utter overthrow of humane Society For what comfortable Society or commerce can there be where men regard not what they say How shall a man know what to look for or what to trust to unless men speak the truth one to another He that uses to Lye how can he be believed when he speaks truth 3. Lyars in Scripture are reckoned amongst Murtherers Idolaters and other heinous sinners whose lot and portion without true and unfeigned Repentance will be hell-fire to all eternity Rev. 21. 8. But the Fearful and Unbelivers and Murtherers and whore-mongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Lyars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone 1. The heinousness of Lying appeareth in that it is a sin against knowledge and Conscience It cannot be committed ignorantly but against knowledge and consequently against Conscience if it be not past feeling 5. The heinousness of this sin appears in that it is ordinarily an aggravation of other sins It
Oh how sad a sight is it to see men making a Profession of Religion instead of adorning the same with a godly life disgracing it and denying the power thereof in their loose and carnal conversation Let such talk what they will of their Faith that they do believe in Jesus Christ and therefore doubt not their condition is as good as the best yet let them know that that Faith will not save them which brings not forth a godly life Though Faith alone justifies yet Faith which is alone not accompanied with good works doth not justifie nor save It is a dead Faith Jam. 2. 20. Wilt thou hope to live by that Faith which is dead Young men let it not content you to be only believing but be doing Christians be not professing only but be living Believers Hast thou Grace prove that thy Grace is true by this that thou hast not received the Grace of God in vain Let thy love prove thy Faith and thy labours of love prove thy love and the fruit of thy labours prove that thou hast not either believed or laboured in vain Be a Christian for action let Religion be not only thy Profession but thy business Let it not be the business of thy Sabbaths or of thy praying times but let it be the ordinary business of thy life let thy whole course evidence that Godliness is not an Airy or empty notion an insignificant and useless form or shew but that there is a spirit of life and power in it which worketh in thee mightily That thy actions and the way of thy life may be according to Godliness I shall give thee 1. Some general 2. Some particular Directions General Directions are these 1. Ingage thy self deeply in a design for Eternity Resolve for Heaven and the way that leads to it Be not longer a man for this world but for the Everlasting Kingdom and study out with plainness of heart what is the surest way to the blessedness to come and what ever thou findest it to be what ever Objections thou meetest with against it let that be thy way Studiously consider how thou mayst get into that way and contrive and cast about how thou mayst effectually make progress in it Godliness is the way to blessedness and therefore let that be thy great study how thou mayst live godly Till thou hast in good earnest taken up a godly design thou wilt never do any thing to purpose in it The most of men are so far from living a godly life that they have not yet designed any such thing Some good may be done at times by them but it is only as it falls in their way by accident rather than upon any serious good intent This God regards not at all nothing is acceptable to him no nor like to be profitable to us but what is done upon design upon this godly design When the series or course of our actions do as the several Links in a Chain all hang together and draw all one way then there 's like to be something done to purpose When there is only some little good scattered up and down here a Link of the Chain and there another but not joyned in a Chain together they will not help us on our way Let that therefore be your first care take up an heavenly design and therein let all your particular acts of Religion hang together 2. Let thy whole life be a prosecuting and serving thy godly design And that thou mayst the more effectually prosecute it and prosper in it 1. Let Faith and Love be the Root of thy life and the several actions of it 2. Let the Word and Will of God be the rule of thy actions 3. Let the glorifying and injoying God be the end of them 1. Let Faith and Love be the root of thy actions 1. Let Faith be the root of them 1 Tim. 1. 5. The end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned Heb. 11. 6. without Faith it is impossible to please God Our persons must be accepted first before our actions and neither the one nor the other will be accepted without Faith in Christ Heb. 11. 4. A godly life and a life of Faith are the same A life of Faith hath its Original from above is fetch'd down from Christ and is maintained and carried on by a continual supply of fresh influences from him without whom we can do nothing If thou wilt live godly thou must look to Christ and lean on Christ and go to Christ for all thy strength and motion A Christian is beholding to Christ for every good motion he moves for every Grace he hath and for every good duty he doth Carnal Professors are beholding only to their Books or their Teachers or their Acquaintance or their Parts their Understanding their Memories c. Nay it may be to their Flesh and their Lusts for all their Religion they would not pray as they do nor take such pains to hear as they do nor profess as they do did not their pride or their covetousness or their company prompt and press them to it But the Religion of a sincere Christian whatever advantage it may have from Books or Teachers or good Society yet it springs and rises all from Christ. That Faith which is their Root uniting them to Christ doth also as their root suck such spirits and sap and strength from Christ and convey it to their Souls that they are thereby furnished for and quickned to every good 〈◊〉 Let it be thus with thee O Soul let thy Faith iâ—… Christ be the root from whence all thy actions and 〈◊〉 strength for action comes 2. Let Love be the root of thy life Let thy duties be the works of Faith and labours of Love The love of Christ constraineth us 2 Cor. 5. 14. Christians love Christ both his Person and holy ways and thence 't is they follow him so fast They love to be holy and therefore follow Holiness they love to pray and love to hear and love to labour for Christ and to watch with Christ and walk with him and therefore 't is they live a Praying Hearing Labouring Watchful life Love quickens them to duty and love sweetens every duty Young Man thou wilt never bear through the hard services and great severities of a godly life thou wilt never â—…old out in that constant care labour watchfulness self-denial which Religion will put thee upon unless thy love to Christ do quicken thee on and sweeten all to thee Carnal Professors whatever they do they do all for fear or from force or fashion they would be bad enough or do little enough if they did dare if they were not afraid or ashamed or were it not from the influence of some things external upon them Though thou also must make use of fear and all manner of Arguments and helps to lead and press on thy backward heart yet see to it that thy love
to Christ be the main Spring that sets all thy Wheels a going this will both give vigour and a sweet relish to all thou dost and according to this according to what love there is in thy duties so will thy acceptance be with God 2. Let the Word and Will of God be the Rule of thy life Psal. 119. 9. Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way The question may be inlarged wherewâ—…thal shall a Young or Old Man cleanse and order his way And the Answer will be the same By taking heed thereto according to thy Word This Word is a Light to the feet and a Lanthorn to the steps it sheweth thee what is good and that good must be done it sheweth thee what is evil and what evil is to be avoided it sheweth thee what good is to be done and how what evils are to be eschewed and how thou mayst avoid them Young Man do not as the most of thine Age use to do be unruly live not according to thy unruly head or heart according to thy unruly lusts and passions but live by rule live not by the rule of Custom or by the rule of example after the course of this World but let God be thy Ruler and his Law be thy Rule As many as walk according to this rule peace shall be on them and mercy Gal. 6. 16. Enquire diligently what would God have me do How would God have me live Would God have me live an idle life Would God have me to swear or to lye or to covet Is not this it that the Lord would have me do to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously and soberly and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 12. And if this be it that the Lord would have go and live accordingly 3. Let the glorifying and enjoying of God be the end of thy life and of all the duties and actions of it Let this be the scope of thy life the mark at which thou aimest that thou mayst honour God and be happy in him And that thou mayst eye and pursue both these in one let this be the aim and intent of thine heart in thy whole course To work out thine own Salvation Phil. 2. 12. In this one work is included all that thou hast to do or mind In this thou wilt best glorifie God and secure his everlasting love to thine own Soul Therefore upon this set thine eye and thine heart in all thy ways So that if the question be put wherefore livest thou wherefore livest thou thus thus holily thus humbly thus watchfully thus self-denyingly that thou mayst be able to answer Why I live thus that herein I may work out my Salvation Resolve to set thy self about nothing nor to allow thy self in any thing concerning which thou art not able to say I am herein working out my Salvation I am herein serving the Lord and endeavouring the saving mine own Soul Young Man dost thou live to this end what goest thou so often to the Alehouse or the Tavern for Is that to serve God and save thy Soul what is the intent of thy greediness upon the world of thy sensual licentious life of thy scoffing at the strictness of Religion dost thou all this also for the pleasing of God and working out thine own Salvation Canst thou say when thou art Drinking and Revelling when thou art swearing and Lying or when thou art loytering and playing away thy time canst thou then say Now I am serving of God herein I am working out my Salvation Or when thou art playing the Hypocrite and Formalist professing and praying and hearing and talking of God and the matters of Religion deceitfully out of pride or for ostentation or so coldly and negligently as thou ordinarily dost canst thou then say I am now praying for my life bearing for my life Will thy pride and thy hypocrisie bring thee to Heaven Are these false Duties that have nothing but a Lye at the bottom that are the Covert of a rotten heart are these they on which thou meanest to adventure thy Salvation Young Man if thou wouldst in earnest make this thine aim indeed the serving of God and saving thy Soul and have thine eye and thine heart much upon it this would both discover to thee whether thy way were right or wrong and also fetch thee off from all thy vain and wicked ways and quicken thee on in and hold thee close to that righteousness sobriety and godliness of life which is indeed the way to blessedness Thus much for General Directions CHAP. XXI Containeth particular Directions for the ordering our lives and actions according to Godliness IN the next place I shall give thee some particular Directions I. Beware of living in the wilful omission of any known duty The omission of good maketh us as liable to eternal vengeance as the committing of evil The unprofitable servant we read was â—…ast into outer darkness where was nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth not for mispending his Talent but for not improving it to his Masters advantage Matth. 25. 24 30. And Luk. 16. 20 25. We read how Dives was tormented in Hell not for taking away from Lazarus but for not relieving him in his wants And at the day of Judgment the Reprobate are condemned not for oppressing the Poor but for not feeding them not for stripping them of their Apparel but for not cloathing the naked Mat. 25. 42 43. And no marvel considering the omitting of a known Duty ariseth from a wicked heart and from a mind averse from God and unwilling to his service Besides sins of Omission are always accompanied with sins of Commission when we cease to do good immediately we begin to do evil Bless not then thy self O Young Man in thine harmless condition thinking thou art as good a Christian as the best because thou art not as bad as the worst but canst thank God with the Pharisee thou art neither Adulterer nor Drunkard nor Extortioner it were to be wished that some could say so much but know that this is not sufficient A man may truly say this I am not as bad as others and yet suffer with them in the same Lake of fire Thy Omissions may be thy undoing Yea not only a total omission of all that 's good but an ordinary and wilful and allowed omission of any one thing thou knowest to be thy Duty This cannot stand with sincerity which however it may be at some time will in ordinary certainly have respect to all the Commandments of God Psal. 116. 9. O how sadly doth this speak to thee thou halting and trifling Soul Many things thou dost and therein thou comfortest thy self but are there not many things also which thou knowest thou shouldst do but wilt not Thou knowest it is thy duty to pray to pray in thy Family in secret in thy Closet to be constant to be instant in prayer Dost thou so Thou knowest it to be thy duty to
out from among them And whensoever thou dost occasionally fall among them abide there with fear not with pleasure and no longer than needs 3. By an unnecessary conversing with prophane men thou makest thy self accessary to their sins even to their Blasphemies Ribauldry and Prophaneness For by thy silence thou givest a secret consent to their wickedness and so makest them thine own 4. Intimate and needless society with the wicked will make thee liable to their punishments He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed Prov. 13. 20. that is whosoever partake with wicked men in their wicked ways and courses shall assuredly partake with them in their punishments Therefore S. Iohn as it is recorded of him going to the Bath at Ephesus there met Ebion and Cerinthus two blasphemous Hereticks belching out their blasphemies against Christ whereupon he made all the haste he could out of their company fearing some eminent Judgment from the Lord to fall upon them Who was no sooner departed but presently the house fell down and destroyed them with their Companions Ah Young Man know assuredly that if thou needlesly and frequently associatest thy self with wicked and prophane persons thou wilt partake of their Plagues If therefore thou art ingaged into evil company speedily withdraw thy self from them The Physitians rule in reference to persons infected with the Plague is good to be observed towards prophane company Cito Longe Tarde 1. Speedily flee from their company 2. Flee far away 3. Return slowly to them again Now Visited persons are not more infectious than lewd company therefore as thou regardest the health of thy Soul 1. Speedily flee from them 2. Flee far away 3. See them amend before thou returnest to them again Never expect to be one of Christs true Disciples till thou leave that accursed Fellowship Hadst not thou better say to them Depart from me I will know you no more than have Christ say to thee at the Great Day Depart from me into everlasting fire I know you not For one of these will certainly be if thou dost not here depart from thy lewd Companions leaving their Society thou must hereafter depart from Christ into Hell fire where instead of roaring and singing there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth But it is not only the company of dissolute scandalous persons as Drunkards Swearers and Scoffers of Religion that I would advise thee to shun but even persons meerly civil dead-hearted formal Professors of Religion Let not these be the Companions of thy choice or thy Bosom Friends who being unacquainted with the Mysteries of the Gospel and the Power of Godliness cannot minister any savoury profitable discourse to their hearers So that whosoever shall frequently associate himself with such neglecting the Communion of Saints he will soon find his zeal for God and the ways of godliness much cooled his fervency in holy duties much abated his love to God and his people much lessened yea and an universal decay of his Graces insensibly to grow upon him So that a Christian instead of proceeding forward in Religion and growing in Grace he will go backward and find a spiritual decay in himself Therefore O Young Man in the choice of Friends for thine intimate Acquaintance and familiar converse seriously think of this II. Desire and imbrace the company of the Godly who may further thee in the way to Heaven make them thy familiar Friends and Companions The more thou conversest with such the greater increase wilt thou find in thy self of Knowledge Faith Love Zeal Humility and other Graces The very presence of a Religious Person much more his gracious speeches his holy advice his seasonable reproofs and his godly Conversation will be a great help to thee in the way to Heaven There is a certain vertue in the words and behaviour of men indowed with Heavenly Wisdom which by the blessing of Gods holy Spirit doth work effectually on those who are conversant with them for the inlightning their minds with the knowledge of God and his Truths for the inflaming their hearts with a love to God and zeal for his glory O Young Man thou canst not imagine what spiritual advantage may be got by conversing with holy gracious persons especially if thou beest careful to treasure up those Christian experiences thou hearest from them and what else may make for thy spiritual good Thus will the Communion of Saints be improved to the edification of Saints Having done with the Directions which concern your selves in particular I now proceed to such which relate to others CHAP. XXVI Sheweth wherein a peaceable Disposition consisteth I. BE peaceable towards all Rom. 12. 18. If it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men Those two phrases if it â—…e possible and as much as lieth in you though they may seem limitations of the duty yet they are also amplifications thereof and shew that there must be nothing wanting in our endeavours but our utmost ability must be put forth in following after peace A peaceable Disposition consisteth in these eight things 1. In a backwardness to give offence unto others A man of a peaceable disposition will forbear all provoking language and carriage or whatsoever may stir up others unto wrath I confess too many Young Men are like unto the troubled Sea continually casting forth the foam of passion and fury but he who hath peace in his heart will shew it in his words and actions 2. In an unaptness to take offence when given well knowing that it is the sudden taking an offence that doth occasion strife and contention rather than the giving it as it is the second blow that makes the fray Many out of their pride think it a point of â—…aseness ignominy and disgrace to put up the least wrong But Solomon saith Prov. 19. 11. It is the glory of a man to pass over an offence taking little notice thereof and putting the best interpretation on it If God were strict to mark what we do amiss what would became of us God indeed is strict to mark what we do well if there be any little good in the midst of manifold imperfections Gods way is to pass by the imperfections and take notice of the good O Young Man if thou wouldst behave thy self as a Child of God and a Son of Peace be not strict in observing every petty injury and offence done unto thee but rather pass them by taking no notice of them 3. In a forwardness to be reconciled unto those who have wronged thee I have read that there was sometime a variance between two Famous Philosophers Aristippus and Aeschines Aristippus at length goeth to Aeschines and seeks for Peace and Reconciliation and withal said Remember though I am the Elder yet I first sought for peace True said Aeschines and for this I will ever acknowledge you the Worthier Man for I began the strise but you the peace