Judas What is that to us look thou to that Such is the Strength and Power of Sense and Fancy in the Days of our Youth such is the Weakness of our Reason as not having attained to any great Consistency of Judgment which must be ripened by Consideration and Experience such is the violence of our Passions and the Inconstancy of our Resolutions so variable and uncertain the Objects of our Affections and Choice such the venomous Influence of Self-Flattery and that of others about us such the force of Examples and so great the number of ill ones so deep the Impressions we receive by the Company we converse with especially if Atheistical or Licentious Youths are the Instruments of the Devil to entice us so little command have we of our selves to bridle those Impetuous Lusts that are easily Fired by every Spark of Temptation and so intolerable is the Reproach imagined of being singular of not complying with the Customs of those of the same Age with our selves that on these and the like Accounts the Devil hath a mighty Advantage against us in that Portion of our Time For the most part Young Men are Changeable and Unsteady Heedless and Unwary are but little Fortified against the Wiles of the Devil are little used to consider things with any Strength and Intensness of Thought and prone to flatter themselves with foolish hopes and projects of the wonderful things which they shall be able to compass to do and be and enjoy and reach before they leave the World c. That 't is no wonder that the Principal because most hopeful Attempts of the Devil are directed against such to deceive and destroy them by Youthful Lusts Children are not capable of doing him such Service or themselves such Prejudice or of being employed to so many ill-purposes And commonly Old Men are already fix'd in their way The Minds of Youth are more flexible and withal sharper for any Undertaking their Bodies stronger and more active for most kinds of Wickedness their Blood more warm their Spirits more Vigorous as their Sinful Desires are more Raging and all their Passions more vehement On which account the Wisdom of the Ancients would not admit Persons very Young to the Lectures of Moral Arist Ethic Lib. 1. Chap. 1. or Civil Philosophy as supposing them to be so very much under the Government of their Passions that good Counsel would be lost upon them and all such Discourses prove in vain But though the Philosophers despaired of being able to reclaim and reduce Young Men by their weak and naked Rules of Morality we need not do so who are under the dispensation of a Gospel of Grace and are acquainted with the power of the Divine Word The Precepts of Philosophy may assist our Recovery from the grosser Immoralities in practice such as violate the plain Sentiments of natural Conscience or are Scandalous in the view of Men. But the Divine Word accompanied with the power of the Spirit can work an effectual Cure in Heart and Life by healing our Corrupt Nature and making us partakers of the Divine This is one special Priviledge of the Gospel State and is much for the honour of Divine Grace recommending at the same time the Excellency of the Word of God as the holy means of it Which leads us to consider Thirdly That the Word of God is the sufficient and only means of Cleansing and Reforming the sinful ways of Youth This Enlightens the Eyes Psal 19.6 7 8. Psal 17.4 Psal 37.31 Prov. 6.23 Converts the Soul makes Wise the Simple shews us the way of Life and keeps us from the Paths of the Destroyer It was for this end that our Blessed Lord gave himself that we might be Sanctified and Cleansed with the Washing of Water by the Word Eph. 5.26 He declared that his Disciples were Clean by the Word he had spoken to them John 15.3 He prays that they might be Sanctified by the Truth which Truth is his Word and makes the same Request for all those who should afterwards believe John 17.20 And here we might distinctly consider that hereby we are made acquainted with the Nature and Necessity of this Sanctification and Cleansing And that by Divine Appointment this is the ordinary Means of effecting it And farther that herein the Wisdom of God is honoured by its exceeding Fitness to that end 1. Without the knowledge of this Word we could not fully have understood the loathsom Depravity and Corruption of our Hearts or the manifold Transgressions of our Lives How wretchedly we are Polluted and how often we Offend how Defective are our best Duties how short we come of our Rule and Pattern and what need there is of seeking to recover the Divine Image and Life This Blessed Word instructs us how the Ground of our Sanctification is laid in the Satisfaction of Christ how it is procured Acts 3.26 and how we may partake of it What we owe to the Blood of the Cross and what to the influence of the Divine Spirit The Treasury of Heaven was opened by the Sacrifice of Christ that the Holy Spirit might be given to Convince and Convert the World His Departure or going away John 15. which comprehend his Death and Ascension was necessary and expedient unto this We are also here instructed how this Sanctification is carried on by our perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God For this Water of the Spirit hath a continual Cleansing Virtue upon all true Christians until their Purified Souls ascend to Heaven He that pitied them when they were in their Pollution will not leave them after they are Cleansed till he hath finished his Work It is from this Word that we are acquainted with the Necessity and Extent of this Sanctification as reaching to Soul Body and Spirit It tells us the very Mind and Conscience are defiled and that there needs not only the Cleansing of our Hands but the Purifying of our Hearts Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. For the Doctrin of the Grace of God teacheth us to deny all Vngodliness and Wordly Lusts James 4.8 to kill the Lusts of the Eyes to mortifie the Pride of Life to crucifie the Desires of the Flesh and bring the Understanding and Conscience and every Thought into Subjection to the Laws of Christ 2 Cor. 7.1 This tells us what the Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit is from which we must be Cleansed and how indispensably necessary this is to our Acceptance with God and our Communion with him This represents the Divine Purity which we are to imitate and resemble as every way Amiable and Excellent As that the Blessed God essentially hates every Sin earnestly forbids it and terribly threatens it and patiently dissuades us from it and severely punishes it and hath mercifully sent his Son to destroy this Work of the Devil Therefore that he cannot tempt any man to evil or necessitate and cause the Sins of Men which he warns them against on pain
of Damnation Never was inward Purity so pressed by any Law before or the universal Sanctification of our Nature advanced to such a pitch No other Law pretends to reach to the inward Thoughts of the Heart as those in the Word which forbids us to Covet to Lust or hate our Brother in our Heart This ransacks every filthy Corner and pierceth into the Secrets and Recesses of every Man's Breast speaking with absolute Authority to the very Grounds Principles and Ends of every Action dissecting the whole Body of Sin uncovering the inward Ulcers of the Soul manifesting that a Lustful Desire impure Mouth or an unclean Hand will make a Man polluted before God and stand guilty of the Breach of his Commandment This Law is exceeding Broad it forbids not only the sinful Acts but the Instruments of 'em what would begin or promote 'em or is chosen for the Sin 's sake with relation or in order to it This shews us whence our Infection did first arise tracing it unto its Spring-head the first Apostacy from God manifesting the spotless Holiness of the Divine Majesty and his perfect abhorrence of every Sin so as to judge and condemn the invisible risings of Disobedience and Contrariety to it in our very Thoughts Yea by the measures of the Gospel we are unclean unless we have active Purities If we are not crucified to the World we are covetous we are malicious and hate our Brother if we do him not all the Good we can tho he have treated us injuriously we dishonour the Name of Christ if we do not to our utmost advance his Glory Eph. 5.13 This is that Light which maketh manifest discovering that Deformity in Sin which we never saw before and so much of it in the Heart as we never before believed with the aggravating Spots of many plausible Duties and the provoking circumstances of our particular Faults For when we thought our selves very Absolons for Beauty by looking into this Glass we appear as vile and loathsom as Lepers and all our Secret Sins which are always in the Light of God's Countenance are by the Word set in order before us What is said of the Sun in the Heavens is true of this Word its Circuit is to the Ends of the Earth and there is nothing hid from the Light and Heat thereof Psal 19.6 2. This may be also consider'd as the ordinary Means which God hath appointed for the cleansing of our Hearts and Ways And therefore the Sanctification of the Spirit 1 Pet 1.22 2 Thess 2.13 Acts 15.9 and believing of the Truth are joyned together The Sense of some particular more notorious Sin is commonly the first means to humble the Soul When the Charge is brought home by the Word to this or that Person Thou art the Man or Thou art the Woman who hast scorned and slighted the Authority of thy Maker in this or the other Instance Thou art the Fool-hardy Rebellious Creature who hast affronted thy Sovereign who hast despised that Goodness which should have led thee to Repentance abused that Patience which hath a tendency to thy Salvation rejected that Grace that would have helped thee and contemned that Redeemer who shed his Blood for thee This Voice of the Lord is powerful to shake the stoutest Cedars and make a Felix on the Bench to tremble when preached but by a Prisoner at the Bar. They that Crucified the Redeemer and scorned his Doctrin were pierced to the Heart and cry out Men and Brethren 1 Cor. 14.26 2 Acts. what shall we do be saved By this the Chains of the Devil are knock'd off and his Captives recovered into the Liberty of God's Service You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free John 8.32 In this Jordan the most polluted Creatures have been washed and Hearts full of loathsom Filth have been changed into Vessels of Purity Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are justified but ye are sanctified 1 Cor. 6.9 3. This therefore is the most likely fit and proper Means For besides the Encouragement of these Examples to seek for cleansing we have others propounded as our Patterns to imitate Sometimes the Blessed God himself and our Lord Jesus Christ that we may not rest in low Attainments and sometimes the Examples of the Saints that we might not despair of being healed For the same powerful Grace that hath sanctified others is able to do the like for us Therefore while our Impotency and Impurity is declared in this Word we are directed by it to a Fountain open for sin and for uncleanness We have Promises and Precepts most graciously connected What God commands us in one Place as our Duty he promiseth to do for us by his Spirit or enable us to do in another or at least gives us ground to hope he will Let us then consider the exceeding great and precious Promises which are the Motives and Means of our being cleansed from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 2. Cor. 7.1 For by them we are made Partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 It 's by this means Divine Impressions are made upon the Soul Mr. Howe 's Blessedness of the Righteous p. 268. the obdurate Heart of a Sinner melted and overcome and transform'd into the Image of God Compare this Means God works by with the Subject to be wrought upon and the Effect to be wrought and none can be conceived fitter It is the Office of the Word by Precepts Promises and Rewards to inform the Judgment and awaken Conscience and persuade the Will It is some Encouragement to expect the Influence of the Spirit in the use of this means because it is so excellently fitted to this End to heal our Impotency which is not Natural but Moral And God would not appoint us Means which should be altogether in vain Dr. O. of the Dominion of Sin and Grace p. 14. Grace is tender'd unto Men in the preaching of the Gospel to enable them to perform and comply with that which God requires For altho we know not the Way and Means of the effectual Communications of Grace unto the Souls of Men This is certain That Grace is so tender'd in the Preaching of the Gospel that none go without it none are destitute of its Aids and Assistance but those alone who by a Free Act of their own Wills See to the like purpose Mr. Howe 's Blessedness of the Righteous ch 17. do refuse and reject it Ye will not come unto me that you may have Life And all Unbelievers have or may have Experience of this in themselves that they do voluntarily refuse the Assistance of Grace which is offer'd for their Deliverance Therefore is their Destruction of themselves The common Grace * Redeemers Tears p. 53. Append p. 192. which is generally afforded to them who live under the Gospel extends so far as that they have thereby a Day allow'd them to provide for their
Seasonable Advice to Youth A Funeral Sermon On Psal 119.9 Preach'd upon the DEATH OF Mr. Richard Walter Jun. In the Eighteenth Year of his Age. January 13th 1691 2. By JOHN SHOWER LONDON Printed for Samuel Crouch at the Corner of Pope's Head-Alley over against the Royal-Exchange 1692. TO Mr. JOHN WALTER Sir IF the following Sermon upon the Death of your Brother may be of any Vse and Advantage unto others the Obligation will be very much owing to you with whose Desire I complied in the Preaching of it and now in the making of it Publick The chief of my Design therein being the Instruction of the Younger sort I could not so fitly prefix any other Name as yours I hope your tender Affection to your Brother will make you read this Memorial of of him with great Seriousness and assist your good Improvement of those Counsels which are so needful for Persons of your Age to consider and obey I shall only add my Hearty Prayer to God for the Early Impressions of his Grace to Sanctifie you betimes and make you to know and love the Holy Scriptures and so preserve you from the Snares of the World the Flesh and the Devil and particularly from Youthful Lusts If this Sermon may any way contribute to such a desirable effect on you and others of your Age I shall bless God London Feb. 25. 1691 2. I am Yours in the best Services John Shower A Funeral SERMON On the DEATH of Mr. Richard Walter Psalm 119.9 Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way By taking Heed thereto according to thy Word A Practical Discourse to Young Persons would not be unfit at any Time in this Age and in this City if there were no special Occasion leading to it But it is most fit when there is one such as the Providence of God hath now given me by the Death and Funeral of a Young Gentleman What I shall say on that Subject I reserve for the Close to inforce the Improvement of the other contained in this Text Which will admit to be considered two ways Either First As the rectifying and cleansing the way of Youth is a necessary Means in order to the obeying God's Word and the keeping his Commandments Dr. Hammond The Original will bear this Interpretation And some Ancient Versions do countenance it The Sense then is this How shall Young Men be purged and purified by Divine Grace so as thereby to be qualified for Obedience to God It is a kind of Prayer in a Poetick strain for that Grace which is necessary to Holy Walking But Secondly I chuse rather to consider those Words as an Answer to the Enquiry by what means we may be sanctified betimes and enabled to please and obey God in our whole Course And that we are told is by carefully observing and taking heed to the Word of God The Blessed Influence whereof to that purpose is here Asserted and Amplified Partly from the Subject with respect to whom it hath this Effect A Young Man Partly from the special Object about which this purifying Influence of the Divine Word is employed in such an one i. e. The Cleansing of his way This extends to all that needs to be rectified either in Heart or Life in Spirit or Practice Not only as to his external Behaviour but his inward Principles and Temper For we read of the Young Man's walking in the way of his own Heart and in the sight of his own Eyes Eccl. xi 9. Neither are we to over-look the Form and Manner of Expression by way of Question Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way The Psalmist had before declared the Desire of his Soul that his Life might be ordered according to God's Word Ver. 5. Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy Statutes He had professed the Purpose and Resolution of his Heart to endeavour it Ver. 8. I will keep thy Statutes O forsake me not utterly Upon which follows the Interrogation in the Text Wherewithal c. i. e. But how shall one so Young as I am under the Guidance of a Deceived Mind and the Biass of Corrupt and Vicious Inclinations assisted with very little Experience surrounded with many dangerous Examples and suitable Temptations c. How or wherewithal shall such a One be Cleansed and Reformed and Enabled to please and obey God The Answer is by attending to the Instructions of his Word by observing the Orders and Directions he hath there given us by applying that Word for our Sanctification and by following the Holy Counsels and Conduct of it The Question it self how this may be done doth suppose the Necessity and imply the Difficulty of it There is great need it should be done but how shall it be effected Were it not a matter of some Difficulty there would be no ground for such a Question by what means it may be brought about But because it is not a slight and easie though most needful matter the proper means must be diligently sought for and minded viz. by taking heed unto the Word of God For the opening of this Passage there are Four things to be considered First The sinful ways of Youth that need to be Rectified and Cleansed Secondly The Difficulty that is supposed by the Interrogation to Purifie and Reform them Thirdly The sufficient and only means how this may be done i. e. by the Word of God Fourthly The Necessity of careful Attendance unto this Word and particular Application of it to an effectual Cure First Concerning the sinful impure ways of Youth which need to be Rectified and Cleansed The Corruption of Human Nature upon the the First Apostacy is not more plainly expressed in the Divine Revelation than manifest in the effects of it unto the experience of all who are any ways acquainted with themselves We need but compare what we find in our selves with the Holy Image Nature and Law of God unto which at first there was a just Conformity and Agreement in the Nature of Man But now we are alienated from God and disaffected to him The inward and deep depravation of the Vnderstanding and Will the Two Superior Powers of the Soul that command the rest may easily be discerned if we will but examine and reflect upon our selves Tit. 3.3 That our Judgments are deceived and our Minds blinded and our Wills fetter'd by Sensual Lusts and that we are pleased with our Slavery and unwilling to be delivered The Rectitude of our Nature being lost by the First Transgression an Hereditary Corruption is transmitted from our First Parents to all their Posterity We are shapen in Iniquity and conceived in Sin And that which is born of the Flesh is Flesh Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean This discovers it self very early in Children and with more violence in the various Lusts of Youth according to the several circumstances of their Conditions in the World and the different Channel that is formed for it by
their particular Constitutions and Tempers The most principal Duties and Institutions of Christianity do suppose this Degeneracy and Corruption of Human Nature and in this and many other Scriptures it is manifestly implyed The Subject of this Text is not Pure and Unbiassed equally indifferent unto Good or Evil but 't is supposed that he needs to be purified as well as guided Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way His way cleansed There is hardly any Metaphor whereby the Affections and Conversations of Men are more usually expressed than by this of their Way and Walk But there are some particular ways of Wickedness more appropriate unto Youth than to Elder Persons The Instructions Counsels and Exhortations of the Holy Scriptures besides those of common and universal Concern are therefore all suited to the various Classes under which Men may be severally considered There are some corrupt Inclinations and Practices some ways of Sin to which Young Men are more inclined and tempted than before or after that Age which in Childhood they are not arrived unto and in Riper Years are commonly exchanged for others I say commonly because sometimes Gray Hairs are deformed by the Vices and Follies of Youth and sometimes the Wisdom and Virtue of Old Age may be Eminently the Ornament of Young Men. Old Age may sometimes flourish in Youth and be as often perished in those that are well stricken in Years Covetousness for instance is not so much the Peculiar Vice of the Age but may be the Fault of Young Persons The Rich Young Man in the Gospel is an Instance who told our Lord that he had kept the Commandments But he had Houses and Lands and Bags of Mony which stood in his way to Heaven those he observed and kept as well as the Commandments Particular Countries and Places particular Callings and Relations particular Seasons and Times may have their special Sins and so have the different Ages of Men. The Ignorance of Youth is commonly attended with Pride and Conceitedness For they who know but a few things are always most presumptuous of their own Understanding and so are commonly more Rash and Hasty Giddy and Inconstant fond of Liberty and Impatient of Restraint Affecters of Novelty and Lovers of Pleasure of Company Pastime and sensual Mirth c. There are some youthful Lusts which young Timothy is warned against 2 Tim. 2.22 such as Ambition and Vain-glory Curiosity and Envy to appear Great and considerable before others as the Scope of the Place and three or four following Verses seem to manifest Not Drunkenness and Vncleanness or such carnal Lusts For tho' all Men have the Seeds of these yet the Modesty and Frugality the Weakness of Constitution and often Infirmities of Timothy make it very improbable they should here be principally meant The Corruption of Human Nature 't is true doth usually and with great Violence discover it self in unsanctified Youth by these Lusts of the Flesh These are some of the ways of their Heart according to which they form their Lives Where the Restraint of Bodily Temper special Providence Religious Education and Divine Grace do not make the difference I need not go about to prove that Childhood and Youth are Vanity or Sinful Folly considering the many Examples in Scripture and the multitude of such in every Age and in none more than our own considering the frequent Warnings given us by God against such Lusts considering the bitter Remorses and penitent Confessions of many who are truly Converted or but Awakned by the prospect of Death and Judgment considering the earnest Supplications even of Good Men that God would not Remember the Sins of their Youth Even David thought he had cause for such a Request Psal 25.7 whose Poverty and Piety whose Industry and Afflictive Trials in his Younger Years were a very great Restraint from those Lusts which are more Unbridled in others of another Education and Condition Not to mention how many in Riper Years are made to passess the Sins of their Youth Job 13.26 and their very Bones are full of them Job 20.11 For a Young Sinner hath himself for his Heir and Successor when he is Old and that which he receives for his Inheritance is only the sorrowful remembrance and bitter Fruits of his Youthful Follies It is sad to consider how many Young Men of hopeful Parts and promising Capacities are taken in the Devils Snares in the pursuit of Sensual Pleasures and lay up Matter for future Diseases and bodily Pains how they poison their Blood and weaken their Constitutions how they hasten or antedate the Infirmities of Old Age and do what they can to dig their own Graves But it is a more Melancholly Reflection to consider how they provoke God and incense his Almighty Vengeance how they wound and wrong their own Souls and treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath how they provide Fuel for everlasting Fire and consign their Bodies and Souls to Hell for ever To see them run headlong to their own destruction by walking in the way of their Hearts and in the sight of their own Eyes To consider how easily they are led into destructive Paths and made a cheap and hasty Prey by the Tempter till they are hardned past Recovery or cut off in the midst of their days by a sudden Arrest of Judgment And so for the short and vain Pleasures of Youth they perish to Eternity unless some few of them by an extraordinary Grace are recovered at the last Hour and renewed unto Saving Repentance But it is much to be feared that very few Death-Bed Penitents are so Secondly It is supposed to be a matter of no small Difficulty for a Young Man to Reform and Cleanse his Ways This in part appears from what hath been said already of the Corruption of Human Nature and the Vicious Inclinations of Youth Their Ignorance and Rashness and want of Experience their Aversion to serious Thoughts for fear of Melancholy with the apprehended unsuitableness of Restraint and Retirement unto Persons of their Age do all increase the Difficulty They usually reckon that they have the World before them they have Time enough hereafter and are now in the Age of Liberty and Pleasure and that both God and Man will indulge a great deal to them because of their Youth Presuming at the same time that a great while hence they shall have Opportunity and Heart and Help to work out their Salvation when ever they please For when they Calculate their own Nativities they reckon to the longest Term of Human Life that any are wont to reach to Their Sun is climbing higher they have a great while to Night and so are far removed from the Thoughts of Death Accordingly when ever they are advised by those who are Elder to look forward to the Grave and beyond it to bethink themselves of their Everlasting State and provide for an Endless Life their inward Thought is agreeable to the High-Priests Answer unto
Peace Now though this Grace is not yet certainly Saving yet it tends to that which is so and none have cause to despair but that being duly improv'd and comply'd with it may end in it It is expresly said to such as live under the Gospel they are to work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling for this reason that God works or is working in them i.e. statedly and continually is at work or is alway ready to work in them to will and to do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his own good Pleasure 2 Phil. 12.13 The matter fails not on his part He will work on in order to Salvation if they work in that way of Subordinate Co-operation which his Command and the necessity of their own case oblige them unto The Impotence therefore of the Will lies in its * D. Bates's Harmony of the D. Attributes in Octavo p. 63. Obstinacy This is the meaning of St. Peter speaking of Unclean Persons That their Eyes are full of Adultery and they cannot cease from Sin 'T is from their own Fault alone that they are without Power Therefore the Scripture represents Man to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weak but wicked His disability to Supernatural Good arises from an inordinate Affection to that which is sensual Let me add if this Holy Word animated by the Divine Spirit be not effectual to our Sanctification those means which are more Extraordinary are not like to be so Psal 78.22 23 24. They Rebelled against God and would not believe his Word or Trust in his Salvation though he commanded the Clouds from above and opened the Doors of Heaven and rained Manna for them to Eat and gave them the Corn of Heaven Their Victuals came out of the Clouds and their Water cut of a Rock and yet these Miracles did not Convert them Neither the Miracles of Moses or those of our Blessed Lord were sufficient in their time In some Places our Lord wrought Miracles and yet they desired him to be gone out of their Coasts And when he was on the Cross they jeared him with his Miracles though they could not but acknowledg them he saved others himself he cannot let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe After the Miraculous Feeding of Two Thousand with Five Loves and Two Little Fishes John 6.14 22 26 30. the People were astonished and said one to another This is he that should come this doubtless is the expected and long looked for Messias and would have taken him by force and made him King And yet I think the very next Day at least within a Day or Two when he told them they followed him only for the Loaves they say unto him What Sign shewest thou that we should believe What work dost thou As if he had never wrought a Miracle before Luk. 16.31 Yea our Lord hath told us If we will not hear Moses and the Prophets neither would we believe though one should rise from the Dead Though one of your Acquaintance who Perished in his Sins should appear at Midnight in a Frightful Shape and warn thee in particular by his Example to take heed of Youthful Lusts and not continue one Hour longer so near to endless and intolerable Misery as is every Impenitent Sinner Should he tell thee that he once made a Mock of Sin and a Jest of Hell and a Scorn of Godliness as thou dost That he did not believe there was such a Holy Terrible God as now he finds or that it would be so fearful a thing to fall into his Hands but now he feels the Word of God to be true and that for a Foolish Lust he hath the Recompence of a Miserable Eternity If such Warnings were given they would not awaken Men to Repentance unto whom the Preaching of the Word is not effectual We read that after the Resurrection of Lazarus from the Dead they that knew him before and knew he was raised again John 11.53 and Conversed with him afterwards were not Converted to believe on Christ for from that very Day of his Raising Lazarus the High-Priests and Scribes and Rulers and People took Council how they might put him to Death The like may be said concerning the Resurrection of Jesus Christ himself And how many do we see brought to the very brink of the Grave within a step of Death and Hell both in their own apprehension and in the judgment of others who upon an unexpected Recovery not unlike a Resurrection have been far from being reclaimed and bettered afterwards Their forc'd Repentance vanisheth when the fear of dying ceaseth It is the Ministry of the Word which is the ordinary Method that God hath appointed for our Sanctification and if that be not effectual these extraordinary Methods would not Fourthly It remains to be considered That if this Word become the effectual means of our Sanctification we must carefully attend and take heed unto it The Original imports to observe narrowly Psal 130.3 with great exactness we must still have it in our Eye that we may form our Designs regulate our Affections and order our Ways accordingly Josh 1.8 We must carefully preserve it as a Treasure and watchfully observe it as a Rule we must hide it in our Hearts verse 11. A competent knowledge of this Word and diligent endeavour to encrease it is manifestly supposed Heb. 2.1 and that we give earnest heed to the things we Read or Hear lest at any time we let them slip We must study the Mind of God in the Holy Scriptures wait on the Publick Preaching of it consider its Tendency and Use as able to make us Wise unto Salvation Col. 3.16 We should ponder it in our Hearts and endeavour to preserve it there that it may cohabit and dwell with us Jer. 15.16 and in us and be unto us the Joy and Rejoycing of our Hearts Yielding up our selves unto the Power of Truth that we may experience its Holy Efficacy to all the Ends for which God hath appointed it 1. What is first and most obviously to be Collected from what hath been said is the Vsefulness and Necessity of the Holy Scriptures What excellent Knowledge may be found there for the cure of our Ignorance What Sanctifying Influence for the purifying of our Hearts and Ways What Establishment and Strength to fix our Wavering Minds and heal our Unsetledness How certain and Divine are its Instructions How Pure and Spiritual and yet Plain and Express are its Precepts What pungent and smart Reproofs what inviting Promises what terrifying Threatnings are imployed in this Word to lead us into the way of Life and save us from the Paths of the Destroyer How fitly do the effects of it answer its Name 1 Cor. 1.18 Rom. 1.16 Psal 110.2 Heb. 4.12 of the Power of God and the Rod of his Strength the Power of God to the Salvation of the Soul It is quick
and powerful sharper than a Two-Edged Sword to pierce and wound by Conviction It is the Word of God's Grace to heal those Wounds Act. 20.32 1 Tim. 2.3 able to build us up and give us an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified What Sins are to be avoided how Temptations are to be resisted how Bosom Lusts are to be Mortified and a Pure Acceptable Worship to be performed and what otherwise is necessary to the pleasing of God and Communion with him is taught us in this Word Hereby we are acquainted with our Sin and Misery and told the only way of our Recovery and Happiness The Malicious Arts and Stratagems of the Devil are here unfolded hence we are instructed how to conceive of God how to approach to him converse with him and resemble him Our Steps are hereby directed by unerring Light our Purposes setled and our Course stated and Directions given us how to use our Selves and all we have for the Service of our Maker Redeemer and Sanctifier By taking heed to this Light we are safely led out of those Labyrinths where others have lost their way and may prevent stumbling into the Pit of Destruction into which others fall All the Doctrins and Precepts of this Word tend to our Healing and Recovery to promote the perfection and felicity of our Nature to bring us to the best kind of Life for the present in respect of duty to God comfort to our Selves and usefulness unto others And this in the expectation of the Heavenly Reward enabling us in some measure to partake of the Earnest and enjoy the Fore-tastes of it In short It is by this Word that we believe in Christ and have hope towards God and are enabled to love him and so to dwell in Love Our Faith our Hope our Love to God and Christ are all begun cherished and maintained by the influence of this Word To this we owe that Faith whereby we are vitally united to the Son of God that Hope whereby all our Grace flourisheth and that Love whereby we are Fruitful For as by Faith we have a Spiritual Life by Hope we gather Strength and by Love we become active in all the Fruits of Holy Obedience 2. This will justifie the extraordinary Esteem and Affection that Good Men have for the Word of God Who after such experience of its cleansing Virtue but must profess that the Sayings of this Book are Faithful and True and Worthy of all Acceptation more to be desired than Gold than much Fine Gold sweeter than the Hony and the Hony-Comb Psal 119.93 97. O how love I thy Law saith David It is my Meditation all the Day I will never forget thy Precepts for by them thou hast quickened me O that this Law might be continually within my Heart to enlighten counsel and refresh me that it may dwell richly in me be always an Ornament of Grace to my Head and a Chain of Gold about my Neck Health to my Navel and Marrow to my Bones I heard its Voice I felt its Power and beheld its glorious Beauty and so have been changed into the same Image and shall I not love it If any should seem to wonder and think such Estimations and Affections strange you may answer with the Man born Blind John 9.30 This is a marvellous thing that you know not what it is or why I so much prize and love it when it hath opened my Eyes I was Spiritually Dead and Defiled and by this Word I received quickning and cleansing No wonder therefore if I account all things but Dross and Dung in comparison of this Knowledge Phil. 3.7 8. 3. What Thankfulness should they express whose Hearts have been seasoned with Holy Principles and Affections betimes and their Way cleansed by the Word of God If through the Knowledge of Christ you have escaped the Pollutions that are in the World through Youthful Lusts when so many others are thereby Drowned in the Gulph of Perdition should you not be very Thankful When you behold Multitudes who wallow in the Mire and take Pleasure in the ways of Sin are regardless of God and Christ and the Eternal World you may say I was as Mad as they or should certainly have been so if Free Grace had not prevented What Gratitude do I owe to my Redeemer and his Mighty Spirit who makes me thus to differ Many of you can look back with Joy and Praise upon the Early Experience you have had of this kind You can reflect how early God began with your Souls so early that your Baptism seemed to have had its effects and influence presently so early with some that you cannot tell the very time when God first began Others can remember the special Instruments whom God imployed from time to time to do them good by what careful and prudent Education Prov. 4.4 by what useful Examples of Holy and Affectionate Relations by what convincing Sermons Ch. 5.3 4. by what awak'ning Providences by what repeated Motions and Strivings of the Spirit of the Grace you were brought to the knowledg of your Sin and Duty and enabled to own and avow your Baptismal Covenant and seriously out of choice come under the Bond of it To which Purpose David acknowledgeth God Psal 16.2 7. O my Soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art my Lord therefore I will bless thee who hast given me Counsel and enabled me to receive it who hast enlightened my Darkness removed my Prejudices cleansed me from my Pollutions softned my hard Heart subdued my Enmity and Disaffection to thee and made me willing in the Day of thy Power to come to Christ that I might have Life and Healing by him Lord how is it that thou dost manifest thy Self to me and not unto the World That I should be quickned and cleansed while others are left under Spiritual Defilement and Death 4. What need have Superiors to be careful and diligent to bring Young Persons under their Charge acquainted with the Word of God It is mentioned not only to the Praise of Young Timothy but of those who were concerned in his Education that he knew the Holy Scriptures from his Childhood 2 Tim. 3.15 i.e. those of the Old Testament for scarce any other were then written when he was a Child He was also acquainted with what was necessary to be known concerning Christ as is mentioned in the same Verse under the Expression of the Faith which is in Christ Jesus Women and Children had then the Scriptures in a Language they understood for his Grandmother Lois and his Mother Eunice instructed him very early in the knowledge of God and Christ The Debauchery of Youth is very much owing to the want of good Principles instilled into their Minds in their Tender Years By that means they are a more easie Prey to the Devil having little or nothing to oppose to the Snares he lays for them or to their own corrupt Inclinations You therefore that