THE Words are among some of the last of the wise Solomons; his dying Pre­cept and Counsel (as it were) to Young People. He was now Old, and happily recovered to GOD by His Grace, from whom he had fallen after a pious Education, and a very gracious beginning of his life: And now in the day of his repentance, and after such an experience both of good and evil, of wis­dom and folly, as scarce any one ever had the like before him, he addresses this Exhortation [Page 2]to Young People, to remember their Creator now in the days of their Youth; inforcing it with an Argument which he had felt the reason of and which became his Age and sad Expe­riment, — while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.

LET Young People therefore hear with Re­verence the words of the Preacher, the Royal Preacher, King of Israel; who in the close of this his practical and penitential Sermon warns and admonishes them; counsels, directs and charges them; Remember now thy CREATOR in the days of thy Youth.

THIS is the Instant and important Duty of Young People; And I shall endeavour here to show them,

• 1. That they have a CREATOR.
• 2. What it is to remember Him.
• 3. That they must remember Him now, in the days of their Youth.

1. I am to shew thee, O Young Person, that thou hast a CREATOR, and who is thy Creator. The Great GOD is the CREATOR of all things▪ GOD that made the World and all things in it, who is Lord of Heaven and Earth, He is thy MAKER; and has made of one Blood all Nations of men that dwell on all the face of the earth, Act. 17.24. The LORD that stretcheth forth the Heavens, and layeth the foundation of the Earth, and who formeth the Spirit of man within him, Zech. 12.1.

THERE is but One GOD and no other beside Him. The LORD JEHOVAH is the One true [Page 3]and living GOD. And by Faith we under­stand that the Worlds were made by Him. Isai▪ 44.34. Thus saith the LORD thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb; I am the LORD that maketh all things, that stretched forth the Heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by my self. Jer. 10.11, 16. The god's that have not made the Heavens and the Earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens; the Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the FORMER of all things, the LORD of HOSTS is his name: He hath made the Earth by his power, He hath established the World by his wisdom, and stretched out the Hea­vens by his discretion.

MOSES informs us in the manner of our Creation: Gen. 2.7. The LORD GOD formed Man out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Man be­came a Living Soul. And He who made the first Man is the Creator of every Individual, Son or Daughter that has proceeded from him, or that are yet to be born. We must own our selves the Divine Workmanship, and bow down and kneel before the LORD our Maker. Psal. 100.3. Know ye that the LORD he is GOD, it is He that made us and not we our selves. When we look upon our curious Bodies, we must lift up our admiring eyes to Heaven and say, Joh, 10.8. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me round about. And when we look in upon our Souls, which as plainly perceive their own Existence powers and operations, as our Eyes survey the [Page 4]form and parts of our Bodies, we must again adore before the Father of Spirits, the Creator of Angels and the Former of the Spi­rit of Man within him, and say, Jer. 38.16. The Lord liveth that made us this Soul.

So has the LORD our Maker spoken of Him­self, and reveal'd Himself to us; that we may know that we have a Creator, and Who He is.

II. I come to Enquire, WHAT it is for us to remember our Creator? And to be sure it is here a word of great Import and Significancy, and means much; for it stands for every thing that the Young Man owes to the GOD of his Being and Life. More particularly,

1. It means that we be often thinking of the Great and Blessed BEING, who has made us and all things, and that we do always pre­serve and keep in our minds a lively and reli­gious Apprehension of His Being, Blessedness, Perfection and Glory.

RELIGION very much consists in and is preserved by our having right and honourable tho'ts of God, and setting Him always before us. And First,

1. WE must stedfastly believe and strongly realize His Being; which is supposed in the Act of remembring Him; for how can we remember that which we suppose not to be, or question the Being of? Wherefore as the Apostle says, Heb. 11.6. He that cometh to God must first believe that he is. Nor is this the easiest thing in the World for us to do, tho' it [Page 5]be one of the plainest things in the World to be proved, that GOD is: Because there is abun­dance of unbelief and infidelity in the hearts of the Children of Men, which is one great part and proof of the Corruption of our Nature; Psal. 14.1, 2. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God, they are corrupt, there is none that do understand and seek God. Job. 35.10. None saith, where is God my Maker—. Psal. 10.4. God is not in all their thoughts. This proves an un­accountable Atheism lurking in the hearts of Men. For the first thing in Religion is that, Isai. 17.7. A man shall look to his Maker, and his eyes have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And what irreligion can be greater than that, Isai. 51.13. And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the Heavens, and laid the foun­dations of the Earth. Now when we have rea­liz'd the Being of God, and fix'd that first Prin­ciple deep in our hearts, which God Himself must do for us; then,

2. WE must always bear in mind What He is; that so we may ever maintain worthy Idea's of Him, and always think becomingly and re­verently of His Glorious Name. We must therefore form our Conceptions of the Great GOD from His holy Word, wherein He has spoken in a manner worthy of Himself, the things that are true of Himself; for the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, and has revealed them unto us. We must accord­ingly believe that God is the Immense, Infinite, Eternal and Unchangeable Spirit, Self-existent, [Page 6]and Blessed for evermore, the first Cause, Au­thor and Creator of all things, and the Preser­ver and Governour of all; for whose Glory all things are and were Created, and in the Being and Government of all things His Per­fections and Glories do shine forth: therefore that He is (as is clearly seen from the things that are made) a Being most High, most Wise, Almighty, most Good, most Holy, True & Just. And we must ever remember that this blessed and glorious and fearful BEING is ever present with us, and that we are always before Him. Unless we have these great worthy tho'ts of GOD, it will be no honour done him if we remember him; for an unworthy tho't of Him is to do him dishonour; as for instance, should we own his Being and with-hold any divine Attribute and Glory from Him: shou'd we say as they did—How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Israel regard it?—this were to frame to our selves a de­fective, lame and imperfect Deity; and in effect to think him altogether such a one as our selves, and sink him down into an Idol or Image; a god that is good for nothing, neither great, nor to be feared, nor to be trusted in. Where­fore if we would at all remember our CREATOR, we must be sure to bear in mind a very worthy Idea of Him; What he is in himself; how glo­rious and fearful his Name is, And then,

3. As our Text requires me to add, We must remember what He is to us: Thy CREATOR. [Page 7]We must consider him in the Relations wherein he stands to us; without which we had as good never remember him at all: for without this we shall neither honour him nor benefit our selves by any remembrance of him. Nei­ther indeed can a Creature remember his Maker, but the relation he herein stands to God must be a principal thing in the remembrance. When­ever we remember God it must be as our Maker. Preserver, Lord, King and Judge; our Saviour, Redeemer, and great Benefactor: that we have receiv'd our Being from him, and in him we live and move and have it; and that God has made us for himself, form'd us for his own Praise: that we are not our own, nor to live unto our selves, but that we depend on God, and must account to him, and can be saved only by him. This is the acknowledg­ment of God which the HOLY GHOST has led us into: Thou O Lord art our Father, and we all are the work of thy hand. We are the clay & thou our potter: We are his People and the sheep of his hands, for of him and to him are all things. He is the God of the Spirits of all flesh: in his hand is every living Soul, and the breath of all mankind. The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King. He is our Father in Heaven.

Thus to remember our CREATOR implies our thinking often of the Great and Blessed Being who has made us and all things; and that we do always preserve and keep in our minds a lively and religious apprehension of [Page 8]his Being, blessedness, perfection and glory: that God is, and what he is in himself, and what he is unto us. Not a day, nor yet an hour should pass us, without some actual re­membrance of our blessed Maker, Preserver, Judge and Saviour. And we should never pass a tho't of this great and blessed Being, without a most profound veneration, fear and love.

Which leads me to say,

2. THE remembring of our CREATOR must be with a Mind and Soul duly affected with the glorious Idea of Him, and toward the glorify­ing him. We must remember him with ad­miring and adoring Souls; we must remember him with a holy fear and dread; we must re­member him with love, gratitude and delight of Soul; The desire of our Souls must be unto his Name and to the remembrance of him: Our medi­tation of him should be sweet unto us, and we should be glad in the Lord. We must remember him and trust in him, whose Name is a strong Tower; the righteous flyeth thereunto and are safe. Psal. 20.7. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We must remember who and what he is and resign to him in all that He in his Governing Wisdom orders for us. As Elihu teaches, Job. 26.2, 3. Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf; I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker: He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee. In a word, We must remember [Page 9]our CREATOR and device our selves to him for ever; make our Choice of him for our God and portion, and the Consecration of our selves to him, to his service and glory here and here­after believing in his Covenant-faithfulness, and looking for his sure mercies, and the Ever­lasting Enjoyment of Him in supream glory and blessedness. So the Psalmist remembred God upon his bed, and meditated on him in the night watches; his soul follow'd hard after him, and in the shadow of his wings he did rejoyce, Psal. 6.3.7.

THIS is to remember God with the religi­ous veneration of Creatures that are made capable of knowing him and loving him; and O how thankful should Sinners be that they may and can thus remember their Holy CREATOR; remember him and not be trou­bled, not be confounded and overwhelmed at the remenbrance of him.

IN this Affective sense we pray that God would remember us; that he would think upon us for good according to our needs, re­member that we are dust; remember us with the favour that be bears unto his chosen: remember all our offerings, and accept our burnt-sacrifices; remember for us his tender mercies and his loving kindness, which have been ever of old. And if this be for God to remember us, then for us to remember him can mean nothing less than that we bear upon our minds and hearts, a due and lively sense of his Excellent Majesty and Great­ness, of his Poliness and Purity, of his Justice [Page 10]and Truth, of his Grace and Mercy (the glory wherein he passes before sinful Men) and ren­der him those pious Affections which these Glories of his exalted Name call for from us.

IN this latitude and extent the Text is to be understood, and such let thy Remembrance of God thy CREATOR always be: Sanctifying to thy Soul, and having the Government of thy Life: This is that remembring of God which only is worthy of Him, who searches the heart and who demands it of us; who is a jealous God and will not be mocked; and if thou sayst— Behold we know it not,—doth not he that ponder­eth the heart consider it? and he that k [...]eth thy Soul doth not be know it? and shall be not render to every man according to his Works?

AND thus we have considered the Import of the Duty prescribed in the Text, What it is to remember our CREATOR. I shall now add a few words with respect to our manifes Obligations to do so. And First,

1. WHAT serve our Eyes and the visible Works of God for, but to remember us of our Creator? As soon as we do but observe and con­sider the Light which God has made for us to see by, and our Eyes the light of the body by which we see, and the various beauteous [...] which surround us and present themselves unto our sight; what must we first think or but the GOD that made all these things? made them in the elegant Order wherein they are and as in the elegant Form wherein we behold our selves? that is to say, the first thing that occurs to the [Page 11]rational Mind, upon his surveying his own Body and the visible Universe is the Greatness and Glory of the Creator. This the Man is instant­ly put in mind of, namely Of the GOD that made him and all these things. For the Hea­vens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work, day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge, Psal. 19.1, 2. That Person is stupid and bruitish therefore that live in such a World as this is, and minds not the invisible things of GOD, which are so clearly seen from the things which are made, even His Eternal Power and God-head. We are utterly without excuse if we do not know God and glorify him as God, with admiring and thankful Souls; because that which may be known of God is manifest in these his Works; wherein God hath shewed of himself to us, even the glories of his Incorruptible GODHEAD, Rom. 1.20.

WHO can behold the Sun when it shines, or the Moon walking in brightness, and not own the GOD that is above? Or when we consider God's Heavens the work of his singers, the Moon and the Stars which he has ordained; must we not admire the Greatness and Condescention of God in what he has done for us Psal. 8. Init. We must either make God's of the Hosts of Heaven and worship them, as the Heathens foolishly did, to the infinite dishonour & offence of the Great CREATOR; or we must fall down and adore Him, who has divided them among all the Nations of Men that dwell on the face of the whole Earth. Deut. 4.19. Why has God spread [Page 12]out the skye over us, which is (as He Himself says of it) like a Molten looking-glass, but that when we look up into it we may see the CREATOR, the Face of GOD in it. Every Work and every Creature of GOD which Man beholds with his natural eye, loudly proclaims to him the Creators Being, perfections and glories, and bids him to remember Him. When God had gone thro' a long and sublime Account of his Works, in one part and another of the visible Creation, then Job cries out—Now mine eye seeth-thee. The Psalmist could not look upon these, but as one dazled with the Creators Glory, he breaks out, Psal. 104. O Lord my God thou art very great, thou art clothed with honour and majesty, who coverest thy self with light as with a Garment; who stretchest out the Heavens as a Curtain; who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, who maketh the clouds his chariots, and walketh upon the wings of the wind: the Glory of the Lord shall endure for ever, the Lord shall rejoyce in his works. And again he calls upon the Sun and Moon and Stars of light to praise their MAKER; yea upon Mountains & all Hills, Eeasts and all Cattle, as well as Kings of the Earth and all People.

BUT we need not look off from our own Bodies, to be put in mind of GOD. Let us but look in one anothers Faces, and observe their beauty and comely proportion, the Grandeur and Majesty which is visible therein, and can we forget the GOD that has form'd us what we are? Who fram'd these elegant Bodies, this [Page 13]sublime Countenance, these seeing eyes, and hearing ears, and speaking mouths, and agile hands? He that first made he Earth, he only could thus refine it and animate it. Remem­ber I beseech you Him that his form'd you of the clay! You must forget your selves sooner than you can your CREATOR. Or, were you deaf and blind and dumb and lame, yet there would remain eno' to remember you of GOD. Job. 10. 10. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Psal. 139. 14. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and won­derfully made; marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right will.

Now what serve these visible Works of God to us, if not to remember us of Him from day to day? these call upon, and admonish us from day to day to keep him ever in our minds, for they keep him ever in our sight; and our eyes should affect our hearts.

2. WHAT serve our Souls for, and those rational Powers wherewith God has endowed us, but to remember him. There is a Spirit in Man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth us understanding. This we are as sensible of, and the operations of our living Souls are as evident to us, and to one another, as the light of the Sun is to our eyes, and the forms of every Creature. We think, we speak, we rea­son and discourse, and form Idea's of things we never saw, and whereof bare matter, and out­ward form can give us no intimation. We find within our selves the power of remembring and [Page 14]recollecting, calling things to mind and keep­ing them in mind. Who now gave us this power, and made us for this? should He not be remembred by us? Can we consider this spiritual power in us, and not say, Where is God my Maker, who hath taught me more than the beasts of the Earth, and made me wiser than the fowls of Heaven? Job. 35.10. How well does he deserve to be degraded from this honour and glory wherewith he is crowned, (made but a little lower than the Angels, an Angel in flesh) that remembers not the God that made him this Soul! Let him lose that Soul which he so debases! let him be turn'd down from his Throne, like Nebuchadnezzar, among the beasts of the Field, and let a beasts heart be given him! let him be driven from his dwelling with Men, and let him eat grass as an ox, and his hairs like theirs be his clothing! let him wear no more a humane shape, but cover him with Eagles fea­thers, and change his fingers for birds claws; till he know and bless the most High his Maker, and honour Him that liveth for ever and ever.

O Man, endued with a Heaven-born immor­tal Soul, a spiritual Intelligence, that knows and wills, and thinks and reasons and resolves, that recollects it self when it pleases, & dwells on what it will, and contemplates and searches into thy self and other things as thou pleasest; canst thou or darest thou to forget thy Creator, who gave thee these powers? From within thy self thou knowest in a very great measure what GOD is, the Living, Eternal, Immortal, [Page 15]Immense Spirit, most Wise, Holy and Good; Almighty, most Perfect, most Blessed, the Fa­ther and Former, and the only Portion of Im­mortal Spirits? And cans thou be and think and ever forget this Blesed BEING, whose Offspring thy Soul is, and in whom thou dost live and move and hast thy being? Can HE be ever far from thee? is He not ever nigh unto thee? in thy heart and nouth! He only sear­ches and knows thee, and understands thy tho'ts afar off: there is not a vord in thy tongue but he knoweth it altogether: whither wilt thou go from his spirit, or whither canst thou fly from his pre­sence? He is ever present with thee, and should he not be so to thy Mind.

THAT only among the Creatures here below can ascend to him, can know and love and laud him, receive and entertain Him: What House can we build him, or where is the place of his rest? He dwelleth not in temples made with hands, but in living, holy, gracious Minds of his own pre­paring, sanctifying and enlightening! Thy Mind, thy Memory, thy Adoring Tho't is some­thing like His own Simplicity, Spirituality and Immensity, a spacious Palace for his glorious Re­sidence; lift up your heads ye Heavenly Gates, and be ye lift up ye Everlasting-Doors, and thy CREATOR, the King of glory shall come in! HE that made thee this Soul, in his own Image, and for his own praise; here ever to be re­membred and adored.

WILT thou not remember thy MAKER, O my Soul; who form'd thee above matter and [Page 16]all corruptible things! who form'd thee vaster than the Universe thou seest, for thou canst add the Heavens of Heavens unto the visible ones in thy enlarged tho'ts Who made thee swifter and brighter than the rays of light, so that in one moment of time thou canst pass the fixt Stars up to the Father of Light? That Soul de­serves to lose the pover of thinking any more for ever, except it be on its own Guilt; that does not employ it tho'ts on GOD, and how he may be glorifyed and enjoyed by him: and well does he deserve to lose the faculty and power of remembring any thing, but his own wretchedness and misery, who forgets his Maker.

IN a word, Each noble Faculty of the Humane Soul is made for GOD; the Mind to know him, the Will to chuse him, the Conscience to act in his Name and by his Authority, the Me­mory to keep him always in mind, and every Affection of the Soul to place on him; And not to think of, or not to keep in mind, this great and blessed BEING; not to remember Him evermore with the highest love, desire and de­light; how unnatural and inhumane and impious a thing must it be in our own Consciences! What can be more ungrateful and base? It is worse than brutish, it is devilish. It is a vile abuse of our selves, for as One says, ‘Our Memory is as a noble Cabinet made for the laying up this Excellent Jewel in, our Great Creator, his Word and Works and Will; and shall we fill it with straw and pebbles, with dung and filth!’ What an abuse is this [Page 17]to God who made us these living Souls and made us for himself. Once more,

3. WHY has God reveald Himself to us in his Holy Word, the Inspired and written Scriptures of Truth; and why has he instituted and appointed to us the Ordinances of his Wor­ship, but that we should always preserve a believing thankful and devout Remembrance of him.

THAT we might know him and not forget him, he has written to us the great things of his Law and Gospel, his Great works of our Creation and Redemption; for these begin and finish the Old & New Testament, which are given us by the Inspiration of GOD. These are put into our hands, and laid open before our eyes, and are written for our learning, and we are commanded to read in them day & night, and to search them daily, and to keep in memo­ry the things that are spoken to us, and not turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven. Here we read of God's Being, his Name, his Nature; Perfections, Glories, Works, and of his Law, Covenant, Promises and Threatnings, what we are to believe concerning him, and what duty he requires of us; how he will be wor­shipped served and glorified by us here, and how we may come to enjoy him for ever.

MAN by his Apostacy from God had sadly lost the knowledge of him. The World by wis­dom knew not God: and as for tradition it it could not keep up the Remembrance of him. In pitty and mercy to our necessity he therefore [Page 18]made a Revelation of Himself, his Truth and Will unto us; for we needed a Day-spring from on high to visit us and enlighten our dark­ness, and guide our feet in the way of holiness, spiritual duty and worship. Deut. 6.6, 7. These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy CHILDREN: and talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up: and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and thou shalt write them upon thy posts—, and beware lest thou FORGET the LORD thy GOD.

AND that we may the more effectually pre­serve a religious Remembrance of GOD, the Ministry and Preaching of the Word is instituted to us; and God's Sabbaths and the Ordinances of his House are appointed to us for the more solemn Remembrance of Him. And all little eno' to prevail on a few of us to remember our Creator, in any suitable manner.

THE Sabbath we know was from the begin­ning appointed for the Remembrance of our CREATOR thereon. It is a Holy Memorial of his Rest. And the House and Worship of God was from the days of Moses, and is to the end of the World, to keep God in our minds: there­fore we come to Pray before him & Praise him, and hear his Word, and observe the Memorials and Remembrances which he has ordained to us of Himself.

HIS Sanctuary, his Tabernacle, his Temple in [Page 19] Israel were the place which he chose and hallow­ed to put his Name there. 1 Kin. 8.16. Exod. 20. 24.2 Sam. 7.13. The Passover Ordinance to the Children of Israel, was in a special manner to them a Remembrance of the LORD their GOD; of His Redeeming power and mercy, and Covenant-kindness & faithfulness to them, and of their holy awful Bonds to him. Exod. 12.14. This day shall be a memorial to you for ever. 13.9. And thou shalt shew the reason of it to thy Son after thee, and it shall be a sign unto thee upon thy hand.

AND so in like manner, the Preaching of the Gospel with us from Sabbath to Sabbath, & the Administrations of the Sacraments of Christianity from time to time, are to revive upon us, and keep in us a lively & affectionate Remembrance of God our Creator and Redeemer. Therefore has he requir'd that from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh should come and worship before him; and in effect has he said of every Ordinance do this in Remembrance of Me. But of the Word Preached, as I was saying, what has a more natural and powerful tendency to keep up the Remem­brance of GOD than this? 1 Cor. 15.2. By which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, (which unless you do) you have believ­ed in vain. 2 Pet, 1.12, 13. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, tho' ye do already know them: yea I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance; that so after my decease you may ever remember them.

[Page 20] THUS the Revelation that God has given us in his Word, the Ordinances of his Worship, the Ministry of his Word, all serve to this one End and are intended by God thereunto; name­ly, to remember us of our Creator and Saviour, and cause us to remember him with a becoming de­votion and solemnity and to walk before him in all holy Obedience for ever and ever.

AND so I have briefly shown from the visible Works of God, from the nature of our own Souls, and from the Revelation that God has made of Himself and his Will to us in his Word, that it is our duty to remember Him our CREATOR.

I come now unto the Third and last Head under the Doctrine, and the first and principal scope of the Text, which is,

III. THAT thou must remember Him NOW, in the days of thy YOUTH. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy Youth. Now instantly, now in Youth eminently and more especially; Begin now; do not delay, defer or put off, till some uncertain hereafter, and particularly not to Old Age, the Evil days, which the Text speaks of afterward.

THE Words do not mean to limit the Remem­brance of GOD to our Youthful days only: nor to allow us to forget him in riper Age or Old Age; or if we have forgotten God in our Youth we may not think that the Text does not con­cern us: It is the perpetual duty of Man in every Age of his life to remember his Creator, and it is as much incumbent on him in Old Age as in our Early Life: but the meaning of the [Page 21] Text is, that Youth is the time to begin this duty in, and that it is of great importance to the whole Life that God be remember'd then. Remember thy Creator NOW whether thou be Young or Old, but especially if thou be YOUNG begin now to do it.

1. FIRST then let me say, We must remem­ber GOD our MAKER now, whether we be Young or Old; whether we have remembred or forgot him in days past; yet instantly and for all times to come let us preserve a devout remem­brance of him. Now speaks the present time, immediately: and also from henceforth, al­ways hereafter, thro' all our future days. Time is in a constant course and succession; Now is gone in the breath wherein it is uttered; and yet Now is ever present with us, and ever passing away. It ever continues the same.

NOW is a little Image of Eternity; it is the first and the last, ever existing and ever the same. When GOD, the ETERNAL, pleas'd to make known himself to Moses, as a Man is known by his Name, he said, Exod. 3.14. I AM that is my Name. Truly if we would know the measure of our life and days, what it is, this short word Now, importing the in­stant moment of our passing life is all that is ours. God exists in an Eternal Now; without beginning of days or end of time; We exist in one instant passing moment, and our age is as nothing before Him.

To remember our CREATOR Now takes in the whole of this passing life; which now [Page 22]only is; for the days past are irrecoverably gone; and we are not sure of a breath to come. Wherefore Now, this instant, is all that we have, or are sure of, to remember our Creator in: Do it now as you would at all, do it now and you do it always. Now as Young as thou art remember God thy Maker; Now do it, i. e. still, as long as thou hast any Being. Now, that is to day while it is called to day; and now will be to morrow if it comes as truly as to day is. You actually forget God, if now he be not in thy mind and memory. If you say you will do it hereafter, that it will be time eno'then; this is the thing which the Precept in the Text forbids, and would warn you against: that's the sure way ever to forget God. Now is the only time we have, or that God will accept; 2 Cor. 6.2. Now is the accepted time and now is the day of Salvation. Psal. 119.44. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

I close this head with a wise and good Tho't of Dr. Hickmans; ‘The time past is fled and gone for ever, and leaves nothing behind it but either the comfort of having discharg'd our duty, or the sad remembrance of our neglects. The time to come is it self nothing; the fond imagination & forlorn hope of the sluggard and the spend-thrift. The time past is already dead, the time to come is yet unborn; but Now is our life.’

BUT yet neither is this the immediate Scope of the Text, what that means by Now is the days of Youth: to that the Text limits it:

Wherefore,

[Page 23] 2. MORE especially Young People must remem­ber their Creator now, in the days of their Youth.

TO YOUNG PEOPLE therefore I shall confine my self in the rest of my Discourse, and on them I am to press the Duty as especi­ally incumbent on them. The Text implies and supposes that they especially are in dan­ger of forgetting their Creator, that they from their Early Childhood should be carefully in­structed in the knowledge of Him, and that they carefully receive and retain the Instructi­ons of their Parents, Tutors and Ministers.

BUT I shall only lay before the Young Per­son these Three Reasons why he, is peculiarly obliged to remember his CREATOR now in the days of his Youth.

1. BECAUSE it is exceeding honorary and well pleasing to GOD that he do so. Now the first End of your Being is to please and honour your CREATOR, and to it you ought in the first place to apply your selves. This GOD requires of thee. Prov. 8.17. Seek me early. 23.36. My Son, give me thy heart. OUR SAVIOUR'S words and action were a plain declaration and a lively Emblem of the pleasure he has in early Piety; When he said of little Children, Suffer them to come to me, of them is my Kingdom; and when he took them up into his arms and blessed them. The LORD our GOD, requir'd the first ripe fruits under the Law, and his Soul desires it under the Gospel; And the one was but a Type and shadow of the other. Under both Testaments, we have many beauteous In­stances, [Page 24]from righteous Abel down to gracious Timothy, of GOD's pleasure in and glory from an Early Piety. The time would fail me to speak of Enoch, Isaac, Joseph, Joshua, Samuel, David, and SOLOMON in his Glory. Who but GOD should have the first possession of the mind and heart, or the first fruits of the Life? The first affections of a Creature made to be Religious, must be sacred to GOD. It is both a high dishonour and injustice to the Great CREATOR, to rob him of this; and a thing very pleasing to the Devil.

ADD here these two very serious Conside­tions: What abundance of Sin against GOD, and Dishonour to him is prevented, if we Early remember Him? and what a foundation is laid for Service and Glory to Him herein, if He spare us in his World? As long as we forget Him we shall be sinning against him; and as soon as we begin seriously to remember Him we shall be serving and glorifying him. The Infant in Years becomes a great Sinner and a high Offender against the GOD of his Being out of whose Hands he is but just come, if he do not begin to remember his Creator: and what a Generation of Vipers are the little brood like to be that run astray as soon as they born, without any check or restraint upon them from the Remembrance of GOD? Gen. 8.21. On the contrary, What a World of time is sav'd and work done, if we begin betimes and hold on? What proficiency in Grace is the earnest Youth like to make, if he sets out soon [Page 25]and keeps on, tho' he run but slow! The way will rid away apace, and he get a great way a head! the Child may die a hundred years old! be further on his way, and have done more for God, than a late Penitent of that Age; might such a one be supposed. He that grows in Grace while he does in Stature may in his Youth be a Man in Christ Jesus.

2. IT is exceeding Profitable and beneficial to our selves if we remember our Creator in the days of our Youth. Is it GOD's honour and glory that we remember Him Young? it is as much our own Interest and happiness, present and future.

THE Pious Youth prevents a world of evil and mischief, guilt and misery to himself; and a world of good comes to him. If we forget GOD in our Youthful days we make sad work for an after-repentance, and a sorrowful Remem­brance there will be of our folly and wicked­ness as long as we live. No body knows the darkness and remorse, the sorrows & anguishes, the wounds and dolours of Soul that it may procure you; or which is a worse plague, what blindness and hardness, insensibility and obdu­racy! Besides the Woes which the Prodigal is usually reduc'd to in Body and in worldly Cir­cumstances, wherein he is made to possess the Sins of his Youth, thro' many an evil day and month of vanity and mourning, Prov. 5.11.

ON the other hand, by early Piety and Re­ligion the Young Person puts himself under the care and blessing of a Gracious Providence. He [Page 26]makes Jacobs Choice of GOD and Vow to Him; and GOD makes the same Covenant with him. Gen. 28.20. Like Jabez he prays, and GOD gives him his Petition. He is like a green Olive­tree in the house of GOD, and trusts in his mercy for ever and ever, Psal. 52.8.

MORE especially, He that remembers his CREATOR in the days of his Youth is blessed on Spiritual Accounts. This is the BLESSING which he early seeks and finds. He is like to blessed with an Abundance of Grace and of the gift of righteousness; as was before hinted. What a spiritual Mind is this like to be in mortal Flesh! and what a Divine life is he like to attain in Communion with GOD? How na­tural and familiar, easy and pleasant will a Godly life be rendered by Use from thy Youth-up! What a Preparation will it be against the Evils and Afflictions of the present life; and what a preservation from the Evil? Psal. 71.17, 18. What a peaceful and happy Death may well close this comfortable life, and O the exceeding Great and Eternal weight of Glory to this happy Person! If there are Degrees of Glory in Heaven, as doubtless there be, These are like to be High therein, who beginning Young in the good ways of the LORD hold on and out to the end. These eminently have glo­rified CHRIST on Earth, and he will glorify them with himself for ever. These are the Rich in Grace, and ripe for Glory. These shall have an Entrance administred abundantly into the Joy of their LORD, and be taken near to the B som [Page 27]of JESUS. To what Crowns and Mansions shall they be taken who by a patient continuance in well doing have been seeking after Glory Honour and Immortality! This Tribe of righteous Abel, living long in the Worship and Service of GOD, if they come not quite up to his Crown of Martyrdom, seem to come next to it.

THUS the Benefit is vast to us both present and future. on temporal & in spiritual respects, by remembring your CREATOR now in the days of your Youth.

3. And lastly, IT is the way to be singularly useful and blessings to Others if we remember our CREATOR in the days of our Youth. We are not born for our selves only, but also for the good of others: and as soon as may be we should be benefitting others; and how soon can GOD make us beneficial to others? His Grace in us betimes, makes us useful betimes.

To be particular:

1. WHAT comforts and blessings will this ren­der you to your Parents and gracious Friends? if they see you remember your CREATOR Now in the days of your Youth. How lovely will it render you in their eyes, and how much their Joy? Such Children are their Parents Crown, and such Youths are the Staff of their Old Age, and happy the Father in such a Son, happy the Mother in such a Dau'ter.

SOLOMON tells us, and it is the first of his Proverbs strictly so called; Prov. 10.1. A wise Son maketh a glad Father. And again he says to the Young Man, 23.15. My Son, if thine [Page 28]heart be wise, my heart shall rejoyce, even mine; yea my reins shall rejoyce when thy lips speak right things. Children know not what joy they would give their Parents by Early Piety.

EVEN Parents that are not Converted to GOD themselves are glad to see their Chil­dren Pious and Religious; yea it may be the means of their Conversion, and sometimes has been. But if a Parent be gracious it both de­lights and edifies him to see the Grace of God in his Child; it enlarges his heart in thank­fulness to God as well as in love to his Child. Prov. 23.24. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoyce, and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him; thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoyce. Therefore remember thy Creator now, that while you are in the house of your Parents, they may have comfort in you, and when you are for your selves their comfort in you may in­crease.

2. A Child that remembers his CREATOR, and he that does it in his Youth, is like to be a blessing to his Brethren and Sisters, while he grows up with them and afterward; a blessing also to the Servants of the Family, to the play-mates of his Childhood, and the Companions of his Youth. Such a Child may be the Salt of the Family, and season the whole house. A little leven le­veneth the whole lump. If in your Childhood and Youth you remember your Creator you will pray to him, and not only Pray for your selves but for your Parents, and Brothers and [Page 29] Sisters, and for the Servants of the House; and who knows what your Prayers may do for them, and for your selves? And the Praying Child or Youth often leads others to Prayer, puts them on Praying, and it may be Prays with them, as well as for them. A pious Child in a Family is like to put others in it on Secret Prayer, either by Word or by his Example. It reproves others that are careless, tho'tless and prayerless; to see one that is younger tho'tful and concerned about his Soul, and retiring to Pray. Yea how often have elder Persons been instructed and corrected by the knowledge and good behaviour of Young Chil­dren. "This Child reproves me, and teaches me, may many a grown Person say; seems to understand and know more than I do, and to be better than I am. And 'tis an admonition usually well taken, when it comes in our way. Now let our Young People be desirous thus to benefit all about them from their Early days, that others may already bless GOD for them.

3. IF you remember your CREATOR now in the days of your Youth, it will be the way to make you Blessings in the FAMILIES into which the Providence of God may bring you, and in the RELATIONS wherein you shall hereafter stand. When the Young Man, or the Maiden, goes into Service here or there, happy may the House be where into they come. They are like to be the faithful, diligent, prudent, hum­ble Servants; like the devout Eliezer the Ser­vant of Abraham, in whom the heart of his [Page 30]Master could safely trust, and who religiously discharg'd every trust committed to him. A Servant that was a Son to Abraham, and a kind of Father to Isaac. A Servant that carried every Affair wherein he was concerned unto GOD, and did every thing as to the LORD and not to Man, doing the Will of God and of his Master from the heart. A good Servant is a rich blessing to a Family. Such a one was Jacob in the house of Laban, if he may be called a Servant there, and what a blessing did he bring with him, as well as carry away with him, out of his Uncles Flocks? Such a Servant was Joseph in the Egyptians house, prudent and diligent and fearing GOD; and GOD bless'd the house or the prison where-ever he came, and made all that he did to prosper. Nay what a blessing to Naaman and his house was the poor girl of Israel, that remember'd and spake of the GOD of Israel in the Land of her Captivity? Thus 'tis the way to make the Young Person a Blessing in the Family that receives him, if he remember his Creator in his early days.

BUT then there are other and Superiour Re­lations which the Young Person hopes in a few Years to come into, and this will make him a blessing to his own Family when he comes to have one; a blessing to his Consort if he mar­ries, a blessing to his Children if God give him any, a blessing to his Servants when he has them under him. And so the Young Woman becomes a blessing in the house of her Husband, a blessing to her Children and Servants, if from [Page 31]her early days she be truly. Religious. Prov. 31.28. Her Children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also and he praiseth her. Happy the religious pair, that thus come together in their Youth, live in holy love, walk in their house with a perfect heart, and go hand in hand toward Heaven.

LET such Tho'ts as these inspire and charm our Young People into a timely remembrance of their Creator, that they may live and be such blessings in one domestic Relation and in another. And now to come to our more publick Relations and Capacities,

4. IF you remember your Creator now in the days of your Youth, it will make you Blessings to the World you live in, and to the Ge­neration you are to serve by the will of GOD. This it is that will make us good Neighbours, and useful to our Town and Country. This is the best foundation too that we can lay for a more extensive serviceableness, and the being good Magistrates or Ministers.

YOUNG People that now remember their Creator, are the Earnests of the presence and favour of GOD with the next Generation. This is the generation of them that seek him, and that shall be accounted of by him for a Generation, Psal. 22.30. They are the good tokens upon a Peo­ple, wherein GOD is speaking graciously con­cerning them for times to come. These will arise and declare unto their Children, the works and praises of the LORD; that they too may set their hope in GOD and keep his commandments, Psal. [Page 32]87.7. Then Religion is not like to die with the pious of this Generation, nor to be buried in their Graves; but to survive when the Gra­cious that now live are gathered to their Fa­thers.

IN three respects you will be like to be great Blessings in your day and place, if now you remember your CREATOR in the days of your Youth; by your Prayers, by your Exam­ple, and by your knowledge and wisdom.

I will add some other Motives and Conside­rations, further to Excite our Young People to the Duty before us.

1. NOW is your learning time, and what should you first learn but the things of GOD, and what has regard to your Supreme Good and Everlasting Welfare? In Childhood you are put to School, in the beginning of your Youth you are put to Trades; what is there to be done for you in these early Years but to instruct you? what business have you to do but to learn? what you now learn you are like to retain; if you don't learn now 'twill be hard to do it hereafter. But of all things that you have to learn there is nothing needful in comparison with this, the things of Religion, the things of your Everlasting Peace and Sal­vation. This only makes you for ever. Other things may serve you here, that saves you for ever. Other things serve you for the Body, this is saving to the immortal Soul. By other knowledge you may be useful to others in tem­poral respects, by this thou may'st he servicea­ble [Page 33]to their Everlasting Salvation. Therefore learn this in the days of thy Youth, thy learning time; learn to fear and serve God.

2. YOUTH is thy beautiful, thy lovely and acceptable time. This is the prime and bloom, the flower, vigour and strength of thy life. This Beginning and Excellency and First-born of thy life devote to God.

3. NOW O Young People is your chusing time, and commonly your fixing time; and as you fix now it is like to last. Now you commonly chuse your Trade; betake your selves to your business for life, show what you incline to, and how you intend to be imploy'd all your days. Now you chuse your Master and your Education or Occupation. And now you dis­pose of your self in Marriage ordinarily, place your Affections, give away your hearts, look out for some Companion of life, whose to be as long as you live. And is this indeed the work of your Youth? and is it not time for you to fix too in your General Calling, your Heavenly Calling? your Fathers business and the working out your own Salvation? Where now is the love of an Espousal toward GOD? who claims you in the style and relation of a Husband, as well as of a Father and Master! You are to chuse for your life, and to dispose of your self probably for Eternity! whose and where and what you will be! how dreadful is the tho't! wilt thou now forget thy SAVIOUR and thy Soul? despise Heaven and Eternal Glory? and cast away thy self into the arms of the World, the [Page 34] Flesh and the Devil! and into the flames of Hell for ever! God forbid! Wherefore now in thy chusing time remember thy Creator, and chuse the ways of God, the things that please him.

4. Consider, YOU that are Young, Now may be your only Season. Young as you are you may die to day or to morrow. You may die in Youth, and your life be among the unclean, your lot with them for ever, your Eternity among the unclean Spirits of Hell. You are not sure of living to be Old, tho' you are ready to hope for it, and to promise your self some hereafter to repent & remember God in. God may cut short, cut off the thred of your life, and in a moment send you down into the place of torments.

5. WON'T you remember your CREATOR now? it may be He will never give you of his Grace to do it hereafter. Justly may he deny it to you when you are Older. Nay you will be less disposed to remember Him then. Custom in Sin will harden you in it; you harden your selves from his fear while you live without the remembrance of him. Satan and lust blind the mind and fear the Conscience by their possession. They usually hold the possession we give them in our Youth. How few are Converted in riper years! Youth is the time of saving Impressions for the most part. Of such is the Kingdom of Hea­ven, of such on whom God begins to work while they are Young.

[Page 35] 6. AND Lastly, Let Young People consider seriously how they are obliged and engaged, priviledged and advantaged above others, to remember their Creator now. You are not the Children of Heathen, nor born in the regions of darkness, where Men are without the knowledge of the true GOD, the Great Creator of all things. You are not of the Families of the Nations where God is unknown and forgotten. You are not Educated in utter ignorance as they are, nor led into their barbarous Doctrines and worship of Idols and of Devils. GOD has given you his Word, the Holy Scripture, and made Himself known to you in it. The Son of GOD Himself has come to give you an un­derstanding, and to reveal GOD unto you, his Will and the way of a Sinners Salvation. You are informed from the Holy Word, who made you, and how you were made holy and happy; and how you come to be born a Sinner, and what GOD has done to save you, and what you must do to be saved. GOD has taken you under the wing of his Covenant, and into a Visible Covenant and Church state from the day of your birth, it may be; and directed you to be separated and mark'd as one of his Flock. Your Parents have privately and publickly dedicated you to Him, as your GOD; avouch'd Him to be so, engag'd you to be the LORD's, vow'd you to Him with much Solemnity, before you were born & since. Now they say to you— You are the Children of the Lord your God; see that you remember your Covenant bonds, be holy to Him. They have instructed you in the knowledge of him, and taught you in his ways. Herein they have been at some pains; more than you think of; as the Prophet speaks, Isai. 28.9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts? for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little; and with stammering lips and another tongue; you have been spoken to, to instil into you in your Infancy and ignorant state some knowledge of your CREATOR. We have spoken to you in your own language, to your capacity when Babes, and to your ability to receive words in your Childhood. And since that you [Page 36]have been charged by Parents, by Ministers, by Guardians and Friends, that you remember and keep in mind what you have learnt of GOD and your Souls, and seek to GOD betimes. Yea it may be your dying as well as living Pa­rents have Charg'd you, O our Children; or they may do so. They have (it may be) Pray'd over you many a time, and you have heard 'em; they have Wept for you and over you, and begg'd of you, yea entreated you—about your Souls and your duty to GOD, and that you might be blessed of Him, They have Pray'd for you, as Abra­ham for his Ishmael! they have Educated you, as he did his Isaac, the Son of the Covenant; they have put you upon getting the blessing, as Rebecca did her Jacob: They have pour'd out Prayers for you as Job did for his Sons, for he said it may be they have sinned and forgotten their Creator: They have cry'd to GOD for you as David did for his Solomon, Lord give my Son a perfect heart; —and then have come and warn'd you as he did him,— My Son know thou the God of thy Fathers. Your Pa­rents (O Child) have vow'd you to GOD in a manner as Hannah did her Samuel, and will you not abide by the Sacred Act and by the Sanctuary! they have open'd their mouth expresly concerning you, more than Jeptha did concerning his Dau'ter, and you must say with her noble resolution and reverence, My father—it shall be as thou hast said before the LORD. They have charg'd you as Jonadah did his Sons, and will you not obey their voice? And it may be they have had occasion to fear concerning you, and with a melting Soul to warn and say to you— What my Son, and what the Son of my vows—, wilt thou not remember thy CREATOR? canst thou dare to forget him and Sin against him.

THUS, and much more our Children and Young People are obliged and engaged and advantaged to remember their Creator; and if they do it not they are presumptuous and rebellious against GOD and their Parents; they are unna­tural and prophane, and it were better for them (dying so) that they had been born of Heathens and never known GOD, or been known of Him.