THE Text is very awful and affecting; deserves the serious Tho'ts of all, but especially challenges a more intense Consideration from our Young People. He that hath an Ear to hear, let him hear. Let these sayings sink down into your Ears, and be written on your Hearts. By discoursing on the Text, may I be so happy, by the Blessing of GOD, as to prevent the fulfilling of it among our Young People! Of whom I see so numerous a Concourse on the present solemn Occasion.

They are the words of Elihu, who having un­dertaken to speak on God's behalf, in Vindica­tion of his dealings with Job, first gives him (as in the preceeding Context) a brief account of [Page 2] the various methods of Providence towards the Children of Men, suted to their different Tempers and Carriages towards God; and then gives him agreable Counsels and Admonitions thereupon. Elihu observes to him the design of God in bring­ing Men under the Bonds of Affliction; that it is with a view to their spiritual Benefit, for the good of their Souls, ver. 8, 9, 10.—In the next place he observes the different Issue of a right Improve­ment of Divine Corrections, and of Impenitence under the Hand of God, ver. 11, 12. He fur­ther amplifies on the Case of impenitent Sinners, in the two next Verses, ver. 13, 14.

And then, after having made some particular Remarks on Job's case, he proceeds to give him that solemn Caution, in the 18th. verse, not to make light of God's Wrath, but to fear lest he should fall a Sacrifice to the Divine Vengeance. Even good Men have enough amiss in 'em, to expose them to God's Wrath, if He should enter into Judgment with them. It was therefore a proper and seaso­nable Caution: and if so holy and good a Man, as Job, needed such a Caution, surely impenitent Sinners much more have need of this solemn Warning. It is a Word more especially fit to ad­dress secure Sinners withal: tho' 'tis also applicable to all others, good as well as bad; young and old.

'Tis the proper Use and Application of the Hint given in the 14th verse, concerning the miserable End of Impenitents: and therefore I've connect­ed these two Verses, for the Subject of my present Discourse. They die in Youth, and their Life is a­mong the Unclean: Because there is Wrath, &c.

I shall speak to the Words under these Three distinct Heads.

[Page 3] 1. Mankind are sometimes taken out of the World by an early Death, even in the days of their Youth.

2. Of those, who die in Youth, many there be, whose Life is among the Unclean.

3. These Reflections should awaken all, and particularly young People, to a Fear and Concern, lest God in his Wrath should take them away with a stroke, leaving them no Hope of Relief.

DOCT. I. Mankind are often taken out of the World by an Early and untimely Death.—It's the Case of many, They die in Youth, a premature Death.

I am aware, That some take Youth here in a figurative sense, and understand the Text to mean, They die in Ignorance and Folly. For he that has not yet learn'd to live as he ought, seems to die prematurely: and he that dies prematurely, seems to die as an Infant, that can't discern its right hand and its left. The old Man, that is a late Penitent, dies a very Child: and the Impenitent, though he may have been an hundred Years in the World, yet he has not truly lived so much as one day, if he at last dies in his Sins.

But others take the Word in a proper sense, as intending the Age of Youth, the Morning of Life. Nor see I any Occasion to depart from the literal Construction.

It is an obvious Truth, that Multitudes are taken out of the World by an early Death. There are Multitudes, who perish in the Womb, and never see the Light: Multitudes that die in Infancy; having breath'd a few days or months, they ex­pire and vanish: Multitudes, that die in Child­hood and Youth. Many are taken away in the [Page 4] midst of their Days; and many attain not to this; they scarce live out half their Days.

The longest Liver in these times may be said to die in Youth, if compared with those in the first Ages of the World. Many in primitive times attain'd to nigh a Thousand Years. But there has since been a wonderful Abbreviation of the Life of Man;—of which no Philosophical Ac­count has yet been given, to the satisfaction of rational Inquirers: but we are oblig'd to content ourselves with Theological Reasons, and must re­solve this mysterious Event into the sovereign Pleasure and Providence of God.—From Moses's time the extent of human Life in general has been but about Seventy or Eighty Years. Psal. 90. 10. This is the common Boundary, which few exceed, and Multitudes fall short of.

Vast Numbers (as I said) are taken away in the midst of their Days, and yet more in the Be­ginning of their Years. The Dispensation of early Death is common both to the Just and Unjust.

The early Death of the Righteous is a mysterious Dispensation, of which scarce any other Account can be given but that, Even so, Father, because it hath seemed good in thy sight!—However, many Things might be said to justify the Providence of God herein; and particularly this, that altho' God shortens the days of such in this World, yet he gives them length of Days and Life everlasting in a better: So that the Curse is turn'd into a Blessing, as to them. Untimely Death is in itself evil, and a fruit of the Curse: but to one in Christ, it becomes a surprising Mercy; for it turns to his Salvation, and hastens his eternal Happiness and Glory.

[Page 5] But to the Wicked this Dispensation is in Judg­ment. Shortness of Days is often threaten'd in Scripture, as a Punishment of Sin. Prov. 10. 27. The Years of the Wicked shall be shortned. So Eccl. 8. 13. It shall not be well with the Wicked; neither shall he prolong his Days, which are as a shadow, be­cause he feareth not before God.—And Psal. 55. 23. Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the Pit of De­struction: bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their Days, i. e. not half the ordinary Age of Man, not half so long as they might live in the usual Course of Nature.

But whether they be righteous or wicked, whe­ther it be in Mercy or in Judgment, we often see very affecting Instances of early Death. How many are in their Youth cut off by pining Sickness How many by fatal Casualties! When God com­missions Death to arrest any, he regards not the Beauty or the Vigour of Youth: that cannot bribe, nor this resist him. When the Death-Warrant is sign'd, the King of Terrors becomes inexorable, and spares not the ruddy Youth, any more than the hoary Head. He minds not Age or Quality, Sex or Rank: but every one, when his Hour is come, falls by the impartial Hand of this common Devourer. By the Greatness of his strength shall none prevail: nor will the pitiable Tenderness of any obtain a Reprieve for them. The Children and Sucklings he makes to pour out their Soul into their Mother's Bosom: He crushes the Young Men with a Rod of Iron, and treads the Daugh­ters of Zion, as in a Wine-press. In how many Instances do we see that fulfilled, Job 21. 23, 24. One dieth in his full strength being wholly at ease and quiet, his Breasts full of Milk, and his Bones moist­ned [Page 6] with Marrow.—Them that bid fairest for long Life, how often do we see cut off by the stroke of Death: Some in the way of Nature, by a fatal Distemper; others in the way of Violence, by a sudden Accident, by the Hand of Malice, or the Sword of Justice.

Herein is the Sovereignty of God display'd: and his Righteousness is herein exalted. For every Death is an Execution of the primitive Curse, and an Exercise of the Divine Dominion over the Life of Man: and in particular early Death is eminently so. There is also the Wisdom of God to be seen in his ordering Death unto Mankind in all Periods and Ages of Life; inasmuch as their being at an Uncertainty about the Time of their dying, and not knowing but that they may die in Youth, tends to excite in 'em a Care of early Preparation for Death.

In a word, while we behold the severity of God to some in cutting them off by an untimely Death, We that survive should be more deeply affected with a sense of the distinguishing goodness of God to us, in preserving us hitherto; especially since we have forfeited our Lives by innumerable Pro­vocations. We have been expos'd to the same Perils, as others; we are by Nature Children of Wrath, even as others; our Childhood and Youth has been Vanity, full of Sin and Folly, even more perhaps than many others were guilty of, that have been taken away before us.—And shall not these Considerations strike our Hearts; fill us with Ad­miration of the Divine Patience towards us, and lead us to Repentance! O let us devote our re­prieved Lives to the Honour of God; by whose Visitation out Spirits have been preserved. Let [Page 7] him have the Service of our adult and advanced Age, to whose Mercy it's owing that we did not die in Youth or Infancy. Let that be the Tho't of our Heart, our Resolution and our Petition con­tinually, Psal. 56. 12, 13. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou de­liver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God is the light of the living!

But I pass now to another Observation,

DOCT. II. Of those that die in Youth, many there be, whose Life is amongst the Unclean.

There are different Constructions of this Passage: Some refer it to the present Life, and others to that which is to come.

(1.) We may take it as respecting the present Life. The Word [is] not being in the Hebrew Text, our Translators have supply'd the Vacancy with that; as perhaps understanding Elihu to speak here of the Life future. But if it be understood of the Life, which now is, there may other Sup­pletives be made use of; and accordingly, various Glosses may be made on the Words

1. Thus, it may be read, Their Life is seen to have been among the Unclean. However they may have hid their Wickedness heretofore; yet now, when they come to die, they are detect­ed, or confess; the Mask is pull'd or thrown off, and it appears they were but whited Se­pulchres, fair without, but foul within. Now the Mouths of Men are open'd to speak what they know of their wicked Lives; the Providence of God strangely brings to Light their hidden Iniquities; or Conscience compels them to a Con­fession. [Page 8] The Hypocrite's Hope perishes in Death, and many times vanisheth at the Apprehension of Death approaching; so that the false Professor, tho' perhaps he formerly appear'd to have a sa­cred Heat of Love and Grace in his Soul, yet now confesses himself to have been under the power of a fatal Cold in divine Things, & to have possess'd no other Heat than that of fleshly Lusts, which war against the Soul: and he now numbers him­self among the Unclean, calls himself a spiritual Adulterer, who made Pretensions of Love to Christ, as the Guide of his Youth, but yet only flatter'd him with his Mouth, while in Reality his Heart went a whoring after the World, led away with divers Lusts.

2. Again, the Text may be read, Their Life is found among the Unclean, that is, they are found living in Uncleanness, when Death comes and takes them away. In a State of Sin, and it may be in the Act of Sin, Death surprizes 'em, and drives them away in their Wickedness. I might instance in wicked Er and Onan, those Brethren in Iniquity, whom the Lord slew for their abo­minable Filthiness, that they died before their Time. So Nadab and Abihu, who profaned the Worship of God, there went out Fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. So Korah and his Company, Wicked­ness was amongst them & in their Dwellings, and the Earth open'd her Mouth, and swallow'd them up, and they went down alive into the Pit.—Many are thus cut off by the more immediate hand of God. Others have been slain in Battel, or been cut off by the Sword of the civil Magistrate, who is a Revenger to execute Wrath upon them that [Page 9] do Evil. [...] smote Zimri and Cozhi in the very Act of Lewdness.—Joab slew Absalom in the midst of his Rebellions.—Others again have been judicially abandon'd of God, so as to lay vio­lent Hands on themselves; as Judas, who not be­ing able to bear the Shame & Guilt he had bro't on himself, went to the Halter for Relief. Ahito­phel did the same before him.

3. Again, The Text may be read, Their Life is taken away among the Unclean, i. e. in Company with them, or by a Death ignominious as theirs. They are in their Death number'd among the Transgressors: Cut off for their Sins, by a shameful Execution, as Criminals. They are cut off after the manner of unclean Persons, by an infamous Death. The original Word in our Text, for the Unclean, is in other places frequently render'd Sodomites: and some read it, Their Life is cut off after the same Manner as Sodomites are cut off, that are most hate­fully unclean, abominably wicked, i. e. by a vile and shameful Death. As if it had been said, They die in Youth, and come to an ignominious End.

4. Finally, If we read it thus, Their Life is taken away among the Unclean, it may intend, they die like the worst of Sinners, as to their Frame and Carriage. The Hypocrites in heart, of whom Elihu had been speaking, often make as poor a figure in the Approaches of Death, as the openly Profane: they behave no better than the most foul and scandalous Sinners; either dying under the power of brutish Stupidity, or else in hellish Despair. Balaam's Wish was wont to be theirs, That they might die the Death of the Righteous: but alas! how often do we see, that the Hypocrite [Page 10] dieth as the Fool dieth, either in sottish Security, or in miserable Anguish and desponding Rage?

Having thus consider'd the Words in various Lights, as they are understood to refer unto the present Life; I come now

(2) To give you another Gloss upon the Text, which refers the Life here spoken of unto the future State. And I find some of the most judi­cious Expositors understanding it in this Sense: Their Life is among the Unclean, i. e. their future Life is so: the Life of their Souls in the separate State is, and the Life of their Bodies in the Re­surrection-State shall be, among the Unclean; among Sodomites, in the everlasting Fire The fil­thy Sinners of Sodom who gave themselves over to Fornication, and went after strange Flesh, are said (Jude 7th) to be set forth for an Example, suffering the Vengeance of eternal Fire.

The vain and lewd Youth, that dies in his Sins, yea the most moral and virtuous Youth, that dies out of Christ, unpardon'd and unrenew'd in the Spirit of his mind, must have his Portion with the unclean Spirits in Hell. When he giveth up the Ghost, where is he? Whither does he go? Not to Paradise, but to a Prison. We read of the Spirits in Prison, 1 Pet. 3. 19. It means damned Souls in Hell.—Heaven is a holy Place; and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, nei­ther whatsoever worketh Abomination, or maketh a Lie, Rev. 21. 27. Hell is the only fit Receptacle of impure Souls: thither, when such depart from the Body, they go, as to their own place, their proper Centre. Act. 1. 25. Now among them that die in Youth, as well as in other Ages of Life there are many that die in their Sins, and their Life [Page 11] afterwards is among the Unclean. They lie down in Sorrow; and in Hell they lift up their Eyes, being in Torments.—There they bear the Re­proach of their Youth. God in Anger now writes bitter Things indeed against them, & makes them to possess the Iniquities of their Youth: these, which once were as sweet Morsels in their Mouth, are as the Gall of Asps to them now. Bitter, bit­ter are their Reflections on lost Time, on the Mis­spence of Youth, the golden Opportunity of Life, and the only Opportunity (as it prov'd) to them. Conscience now lashes terribly, and reads the most doleful Lessons to them. They see an amazing ETERNITY before 'em, & have a certain fear­ful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation to devour them for ever and ever. They were cut down out of Time (as the Phrase is Job. 22. 16) their Life was soon cut off, and their Souls flew a­way: But alas! the days that were wanting on Earth, are made up in Hell. He that dies in Youth, with his Sins unpardon'd and unrepented of, enters immediately upon a never-expiring State of Woe & Misery, Sorrow & Despair. His short Life of Sin here is follow'd with a long (long) Eternity of Sufferings & Torment. And in pro­portion to their Guilt, is the future Punishment of Sinners greater or less. They that have perished from under the Gospel, shall have a more intolera­ble Damnation, than even the Sinners of Sodom and the heathen World. And such under the Gospel as have contracted the greatest Degrees of Guilt, shall have the most aggravated Punishment. They that carry out of the World with them most of the Temper & Complexion of Hell, shall have the greatest share of the Pains & Torments of Hell. [Page 12] The Sentence passed on the Scarlet Whore, the Mother of Harlots, will be the Language of the great Day, in regard to some Sinners, Rev. 18. 5, 6, 7 Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembred her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double, accord­ing to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified her self, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sor­row give her.

O let us all realise it, that when ever we shall die, whether in Youth or Age, if we be found in our Sins, if we go out of the World unpardoned & im­penitent, our Life in the future State must be a­mong the Unclean, among filthy and abhorred Spirits, in a State of Punishment to everlasting. Devils and Unclean Spirits only will be fit Com­panions for us: Hell only will be a fit Habitation for us:—And the most horrid Abodes there will be assign'd unto us, as being the Chief of Sinners.

And now being warned, shall we not be moved with Fear, and be in Concern of Soul that this may not be our miserable Lot, when we die, to have our Life among the Unclean! O let us be perswaded by the Terrors of the Lord, and hasten our Flight from impending Vengeance.—But to excite and direct your Care and Endeavour, in this Regard, will be my Business under the last Ob­servation; which therefore I now come to.—

DOCT. III. These Reflections should awaken all, and in particular Young People, to a just Fear and Care, left GOD in Wrath should take them a­way with his Stroke, beyond hope of Relief.

[Page 13] They die in Youth, and their Life is among the Unclean: Because there is Wrath, beware lest he take thee away &c. q. d. Because you see the Wrath of God signalized in terrible Judgments on others, cutting them down by Death, and sending them into the Pit; and because you have reason to ap­prehend the Wrath of God kindled against you, by his present afflictive Dispensations: O beware, lest he proceed to cut you down also by an awful Death, and so you appear to die & perish, even as the vilest Sinner by the hand of Vengeance.—Or it may mean, Because there is a Wrath to come, Treasures of Wrath reserv'd in Hell for impeni­tent Sinners; Beware that you be not found in this unhappy Number, and so when you die, your Lot be among the Unclean.

Beware lest God in Wrath cut you off with his Stroke, in a Day that you look not for it, in an Hour that you are not aware of. Don't be cry­ing Peace & Safety to your self, lest sudden De­struction come upon you, as Travail upon a Wo­man with Child, and there be no Escaping. Boast not thy self of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a Day may bring forth.

And as a further Motive of Fear, consider, if God should cut you off with his Stroke, there will be no Hope of Relief; Then a great Ransom can­not deliver thee: which may refer, either to a Re­covery from the Grave, or a Redemption from Hell. When Men are once dead, there's no re­turning into this Life and World: Do with Might therefore what your Hand findeth to do, lest Death surprize you in an unprepared State, and that Night come upon you unawares, in which no Man can work.—And when Sinners have once [Page 14] shot the Gulph and are shut up in Hell, there's no Escaping, no Discharge for ever. O what shall a Man give in Exchange for his Soul? Had you the whole World at your Command, it would not be a sufficient Price for the Ransom of your Soul. Neither will all your Tears, Cries and Promises avail any thing: Divine Justice will be inexora­ble to you. Neither will you have any Advocate to plead for you: He who is the only prevailing Advocate with the Father, will then be turned a­gainst you; His Blood, which now speaks better Things than the Blood of Abel, will then plead a­gainst you, and loudly imprecate divine Vengeance upon you to all Eternity.

Now is the accepted Time; Now is the Day of Salvation: O see that you refuse it not. How will you escape, if you neglect so great Salva­tion!—Tremble, lest God should cut you off with his Stroke, while you are delaying to ac­cept this Salvation. Then a great Ransom cannot deliver you: Even the great and the only valuable Ransom, that which Christ paid down for the Re­demption of Souls, will then be of no Benefit to you: for its saving Virtue is applicable only in this World; it reaches not to the Prison of Hell. Not that it is not in it self sufficient; for it has an infinite intrinsecal Value and Vertue: but in the Application 'tis limited by the Wisdom and Sovereignty of God, who has made this transient Life the Season of Probation for a future ever­lasting State.

Surely then it is a matter of infinite Concern­ment to us, that we now use the utmost Care to secure to our selves eternal Salvation, and make sure of being deliver'd from the Wrath to come. [Page 15] We should work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling. It may well be our fear, lest a Promise being left us of entring into Rest, we should after all come short of it.

I might say here,—We should beware of car­nal Security and Presumption, and of every Thing that tends to nourish a careless Temper or false Hopes, which will hinder us in preparing for the future State.

We should beware of criminal Courses, and Ways of Sin and Wickedness, which tend to kin­dle the Anger of God against us, and provoke him to bring everlasting Destruction upon us.

We should beware of Hypocrisy in Religion; which will make us a Loathing to the holy Heart-searching God, and provoke him to spue us out of his Mouth with Indignation.

In a Word, Whatever we do, we must be care­ful to secure an Interest in Christ, who only saves from the Wrath to come; and therefore beware of an evil Heart of Unbelief. By reason of Sin, we are by nature Children of Wrath: and if ever we be reconciled to God, his Wrath must be ap­peased toward us, by an Application of the Blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all Unrighteous­ness: and this Application is thro' Faith. Hence then we must make it our Care to get and exer­cise Faith in Christ. We must beware, that we don't miss of Life thro' Unbelief; beware that we don't deceive our selves with a dead Faith; beware of carnal Prejudices against Christ, and the way of Salvation by him. We must realise our Need of a Saviour, and the infinite Sufficiency and gracious Willingness of Christ to be our Sa­viour: We must submit to and entertain him in [Page 16] all his Offices; Commit our Souls into his redeem­ing Hands, to be cloath'd with his Righteousness, and adorn'd with his Image, to be washed, justi­fy'd and sanctify'd, and sav'd for ever. So shall we find Christ a Refuge for us in the day of Death, a Security from the Wrath to come. For whoso­ever believeth in the Son, hath everlasting Life: Whereas he that believeth not, shall not see Life, but the Wrath of God abideth on him, Joh. 3. 36.

I come now to the APPLICATION.

And here,

USE I. Is it so, that many die in Youth, whose Life is among the Unclean? O with what Astonishment should old Sinners reflect on the sparing Goodness of God to them: and what need have they to hasten their Repentance and Turn­ing to God!

Are there not some of you, who may be right­ly called (in respect of corrupt Practice, as well as a vitiated Nature) Transgressors from the Womb! Who have a Childhood and Youth to look back upon, that were full of Vanity, Sin and Folly; and as if this were not enough, have spent your maturer Years in Sin, and are even still going on in your Trespasses; Increasing in Sin, as you increase in Age. Are there not many Sins, which you have to reflect on; heinous Sins, Sins against the Light, against Warnings and Convictions, against Vows and Resolutions; Sins often repeated, long continued in, and dreadfully aggravated: And yet God has spared you hitherto! You have seen many fall on your right Hand & on your left: and still you've been reprieved. You may well wonder, [Page 17] and be astonish'd, that you are as yet on this side the Grave, and out of Hell. Why did not you die, even as many others, in Youth! Is it not a merciful of God, that has made you to differ! O the Riches of Divine Patience toward you! Ad­mire and magnify it: be affected with it, and improve it to Repentance, lest ere long abused Mercy turn into enraged Justice. The longest Liver surely must die at last: and thinkest thou this, O Man that art an old Practitioner in Sin, that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God? Or despisest thou the Riches of his Goodness & For­bearance; not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance? O do not af­ter thy Hardness and impenitent Heart persist in Rebellions against God, and Neglects of thy Soul; treasuring up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. Hear that Divine Reproof and Warning, Eccl. 8. 11,—13. Because Sentence against an evil Work is not executed speedily, therefore the Heart of the Sons of men is fully set in them to do Evil: But tho' a Sinner do Evil an hundred times, and his Days be prolonged; yet surely it shall not be well with the Wicked in the End.—Eccl. 6. 3. If a man live many years, and his Soul be not filled with Good, I say that an untimely Birth is better than he. It is an awful Threatning, in Isai. 65. 20. The Sinner be­ing an hundred years old, shall be accursed. O that this Word might strike an Awe and fasten upon the Heart of every foolish One, whose hoary Head is a Shame to him, being found in the way of Unrighteousness! Flatter not your self with the Thought of finding-Mercy and dying in Peace, tho' you go on a little longer in your Sins. Be­cause there is Wrath, Treasures of Wrath heaped [Page 18] up by your long Life of Sin, beware lest God take you away with his Stroke: then a great Ransom can­not deliver you. But his Anger will smoke against you, and all the Curses of his violated Law be pour'd on your guilty Head. If impenitent Sin­ners, dying in Youth, have their Life among the Unclean; where shall the old Sinner appear? Can you expect any better Doom? Verily if you at last die impenitent, full of Days, and full of Sins, you will be of all Men the most miserable: the day of Death will be a day of Wrath, & the day of Judgment, a day of terrible Vengeance, unto you above all others. O consider, before it be too late. It is high time to awake out of Sleep. Give glory to God, before your Feet stumble upon the dark Mountains. It is the Admonition of Heaven to you, Eccl. 11. 8. If a Man live many days, and re­joyce in them all, yet let him remember the days of Darkness; for they shall be many.—O take Heed lest that come upon you, Job 20. 11, & 27. His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity: and the earth shall rise up against him.

USE II. Do many die in Youth, whose Life is among the Unclean? Here then is a moving Argu­ment to awaken Parents unto an early Care and fer­vent Prayer for their Children, that they may be con­verted betimes: and no Wonder, pious Parents are full of Sorrow and Fear, when they see their Chil­dren hardning their Hearts & growing in Sin, as they grow in Years, notwithstanding all their Pains and Prayers for and with them.

God has put into Parents a natural Affection to the Fruit of their own Body; so that they are ten­derly [Page 19] concern'd for the Welfare of their Children. Tho' they be evil, they know how to give good Gifts to their Children: to nourish their Bodies, to defend 'em from Harms, and provide for 'em a Portion in this Life.—But now let me mind you, that are Parents, of the Duty you owe to the Souls of your dear Children. O let not all your Concern for 'em terminate on the outward Man, and centre on the low and mean Things of this transitory World. Remember, your Children are Children of Death, and Children of Wrath by Nature; They are bound for another World; They may die in Youth: They may, if let alone to go on in their Sins, come to an infamous End, and bring you to Shame: and if they die in their natural State, their Life in another World will be among the Unclean; not among the Saints in Light, not a­mong the pure and blessed Spirits in Heaven, but among the filthy accursed Spirits in a miserable Hell.—And can you bear the Tho't of this! Do not your Bowels now yearn within you for 'em! Will not a Father pity his Children, or can a Mo­ther forget to have Compassion on the Son of her Womb!—O pity the perishing Souls of your poor Children. Fear the Sin and Doom of Eli; who, when his Sons made themselves vile, restrain­ed them not, and God judged his House by cutting off all the Increase of it in the Flower of their Age. O save your Children with fear: plucking them as Brands out of the Fire. Mourn their Sins: mourn their guilty, polluted, miserable & exposed State by Nature. Realise their Need of a sanctifying Change: and let it be your first and great Care for them, that they may be born again; without which they can never see the Kingdom of Heaven. [Page 20] Let it be your Heart's Desire and Prayer to God for them, and your continual Endeavour, in the use of appointed Means, that they may be con­verted betimes. Begin early with them, and fol­low 'em incessantly with your pious Instructions, Counsels, Reproofs, and Warnings. Charge 'em, as David did his Son Solomon, 1 Chron. 28. 9. And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy fa­ther, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the tho'ts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. Set an holy Example before 'em; walking in your House with a perfect Heart.—And to enforce Means and Endeavours, Offer up fervent Prayers to the God of all Grace, that he would by his Spirit be­get your Children to a new & divine Life.—Thus Abraham pray'd, O that Ishmael might live in thy sight! Gen. 17. 18. So David, 1 Chron. 29. 19. Give un­to Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy com­mandments. And if you obtain this for 'em, you will have Joy in them, supposing they live to ma­ture Years: or if they die in Youth, you will have this for your Consolation, the Hope that their Life in the World of Spirits, is not among the Unclean, but among the Perfected in Glory.

And as to you, who have Children adult or growing up, but cannot see them under any hope­ful Impressions; no Wonder, if you are bow'd down with Sorrow for them and go mourning all the day. Ah! Your Hearts may well meditate Ter­ror, when you think what miserable Circumstances they may bring themselves by Sin into even here, and that if they should die in Youth, unconverted [Page 21] and unpardon'd, they must be undone, for ever undone; must have their Life among the Unclean in a future State, and become a Prey to the worst of all Devourers. How can your Minds but be in Pain! How can you but be full of Anxiety and Anguish; to see your Children hardning their Hearts in Sin, careless of their Souls, & taking Methods to hasten on themselves Destruction without a Re­medy! Alas, What tender and serious Parent can see this without a weeping Eye, and bleeding Heart!—Yet let your Sorrow and your Fear be kept within due Bounds, and under a holy Regu­lation. Duty is yours; the Event is God's. Whatever your Fears are, don't slacken your Pains or Prayers. I propound that Example of a de­vout and watchful Parent to you, Job. 1. 5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings ac­cording to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

USE III. Is it so, that many die in Youth, whose Life is among the Unclean? How astonish­ing is the Stupidity and Security of wicked & pro­fane Young People! How foolish & mad their pre­sent Mirth and Jollity in ways of Sin! Sure I am, they have little Reason to rejoyce in Iniquity.

Sin is the most unprofitable Thing in the World; yea, the most dangerous and injurious. It tends to wound the Name, ruin the Estate, destroy the Body, and damn the Soul.—However Fools may make a mock at Sin, and put far away the evil Day; however it may be an Abomination [Page 22] to Fools to depart from their wicked ways: yet surely Evil pursueth Sinners, and Wo to them that are at Ease in Zion. Wo to you that laugh now; for ye shall mourn at the last. The Plea­sures of Sin are but for a Season: they are short in their Duration, brutish in their Nature, and bane­ful in their Consequence. How often do we see the Wicked fall by their own wickedness; the Backslider in Heart filled with his own Ways, and Transgressors taken in their own Naughtiness! Oh how often do we see the Lamp of the wicked put out! the Simple pass on and are punished. How many lose their Lives in the Pursuit of sinful Pleasures! How many lose their Souls! How ma­ny by this means bring Shame and Ruin on them­selves in this World, and everlasting Contempt and Misery in the future!

And yet notwithstanding the Warnings given by others Harms; notwithstanding the Admoni­tions given by God in his Providence, and in his Word; alas! Are there not many of our young People that have fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness, serving divers Lusts & Plea­sures? O the Folly you are guilty of! We mourn your Folly: We pity you as Children void of Wisdom. You are your own Enemies: you are destroying yourselves, Soul and Body. You seem to love Death, and court Destruction. You are taking the surest Methods to shorten your Days in this World, and to hasten your Damnation in the next. And yet (amazing!) you dwell at Ease, as if you were in no Hazard. You appear lost to the Reflections of reasonable Creatures. Surely you have not the Understanding of Men: but may justly be compar'd to the Brutes, that have no [Page 23] Knowledge. Prov. 7 [...] 22, 23. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaugh­ter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, Till a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hast­eth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. That's the Censure pass'd upon secure Im­penitents, Eccl. 9. 3. The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. They bring themselves to a miserable End; often to an un­timely & ignominious Death: But that is not all; they throw themselves into a burning Hell; they bring everlasting Destruction on their Souls. Prov. 9. 17, 18. Stollen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Surely Madness is in their Heart while they live, who to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin, will expose their Souls, their precious and immortal Souls, to the Hazard of being gather'd with Sin­ners in Hell, when they die.

How can you now think of this, and not be a­fraid! Or are you more brutish than the Beasts that perish! Be astonish'd, O Heavens, at this! Be horribly afraid, O Earth!

USE IV. From what has been said, we may infer the Happiness, and the Wisdom of such as are cleansing their way and fearing God in their Youth.

Thro' the Grace of Christ, we trust, there is a Number of Young People of this Character a­mong us:—tho' (alas) but a small Remnant. And to such I would bring this day the Consola­tions of God, after the Lessons of Terror that have been uttered.

[Page 24] Know it then, such of you as are indeed seek­ing God and following after Righteousness, you are taking a happy method to obtain long Life in this World, and eternal Life in the next.—You are the most likely to live long on the Earth: for as we read Prov. 10. 27. The Fear of the Lord pro­longeth Days. It hath a natural Tendency to do so, Chap 11. 19. Righteousness tendeth to Life. And Godliness hath the Promise of the Life, which now is. Prov. 14. 10. Receive my Sayings, and the Years of thy Life shall be many.—Chap 9. 10, 11. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom:—for by me thy Days shall be multiplied, and the Years of thy Life shall be increased.—However, if God should see good to take you away in Youth, you will be able by his Grace to resign chearfully to his Will; having overcome the World by Faith, you will be satisfy'd with Life, whether longer or shorter. And the earlier you die, you will but the sooner get to your Reward in Heaven. If you do but give Diligence in the Work of God, you may live long in a little Time: and tho' in re­spect of Age, you may die a very Child, yet in respect of spiritual Attainments, you may be said to die an hundred years old. (Isa. 65. 20.) And the Promise of long Life shall be gloriously accom­plish'd to you in a better World. When you die, you shall enter into Life; Life eternal; a Life as happy, as long: Not among the Unclean; but a­midst holy Angels & glorify'd Saints in Heaven: a Life of Communion with the blessed God in ful­ness of Joy for evermore. O the Consolation, that this should be to you now, under all the Troubles of this mutable World, and under the Apprehen­sions of hastning Death and Judgment! And the [Page 25] Wisdom of your present Conduct from hence a­bundantly appears. We read, Prov. 28 7. Whoso keepeth the Law is a wise son. He is truly a wise Child, that fears God, that seeks Christ betimes; whose Loving-kindness is better than Life. Such a Youth minds the one Thing needful; regards his truest Interest; has the best End in View, and the best Means in Use. He takes the surest Method to promote his own Usefulness and Comfort in the present, and secure his eternal Happiness in the coming World. Surely the Knowledge of the Holy is Understanding. Better is a poor & wise Child, than an old and foolish King, however great and rich. O what Praises are due to the Grace of God in Christ, who has made you to differ, made you to excel! By his Grace alone it is, that you are what you are, in respect of every good thing found in you, towards the Lord your God.—And he expects singular Returns from you in ways of Gratitude, Love, and Obedience. Be much in meditating & admiring the Distinction, sovereign Divine Mercy has put upon you; that while thou­sands of others are made Pillars of Salt for the glory of vindictive Justice, you are among the bright Monuments of saving Grace, and belong to that happy Number, in whom Christ, when he comes, shall be glorify'd, and admired for ever. Let it be your solicitous Study now to bring all possible Honour to Christ, in a way of Obedience to his Gospel. Ye were sometimes Darkness, but now are Light in the Lord: walk as Children of Light. See that you walk circumspectly, not as Fools, but as wise. Beware that the way of Truth be not evil spoken of on your account: let not that worthy Name, by which you are call'd, be [Page 26] blasphemed thro' you at any time. Remember how David sinned in the matter of Uriah, by which he gave Occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, and for which God was displeased with him. Take Warning from his Example: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into Temptation. Falls into Sin will cost you a bitter Repentance, & may draw down heavy Corrections upon you, in order to bring you to Repentance, that you may not be condemned with the World. Let the Life you now live in the flesh, be by the Faith of the Son of God: Trust in him to keep you from the Evil; and you may hope to be deliver'd from every evil Work, and preserved to his heavenly Kingdom.

I pass now to another Head.

USE V. Let it be a word of Warning & Ex­hortation to all our Young People, that they be­ware of those dangerous and provoking Evils, which have so often been the Means of bringing others to an untimely End; lest they also die in Youth, and their Life be among the Unclean.

Attend to the solemn Caveat in our Text: Because there is Wrath, beware lest God take thee a­way with his Stroke; then a great Ransom cannot deliver thee. There is Wrath secret, in his holy Breast; he is angry with the Wicked every day. There is Wrath revealed, in his Word and Provi­dence. There is present Wrath in this World: and a Wrath to come in the eternal World. The Threatnings and the Judgments of God proclaim his Indignation against Sin, and speak Terror to Sinners. The Wrath of God is truly tremendous: Who knows the power of his Anger? Who can stand [Page 27] before him, when once he is angry? O beware then of the Wrath of God: beware of every Thing that tends to kindle against you this consuming Fire.

You should be afraid of humane Justice, the Wrath of the civil Magistrate. For Rulers are a Terror, not to good Works, but to evil: wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power? If thou do that which is evil, be afraid: for he beareth not the Sword in vain: for he is the Minister of God, a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth Evil, Rom. 13 3, 4.

But you should above all be afraid of Divine Justice, the Wrath of the supreme Ruler: into whose Hands it is a most fearful thing for any to fall. Job 19 29. Be ye afraid of the Sword; for Wrath bringeth the Punishments of the Sword, that ye may know there is a Judgment. It was the saying of Job, God knoweth the Way that I take; when I consider, I am afraid of him And David said, My Flesh trembleth for Fear of God; I am afraid of his Judgments. And will not you be afraid? Will not you tremble at the Presence of an holy God, who are in danger of the Judgment, in danger of Hell-fire! O consider, and beware. Because there is Wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his Stroke. Beware of every grievous and provoking Evil: beware of undoing Ignorance and Error, of Impiety and Profaneness, of Im­morality and Vice, of carnal Security and Hypo­crisy! Upon each of these Heads distinctly I shall now give some short and solemn Lectures of Caution: to which, in the Name of God, I de­mand an awaken'd Attention.

1. Beware of undoing Ignorance and Error.

[Page 28] These are Snares of the Devil, by which many Souls are captivated, and held under the Power of Satan, until the Arrows of Death dispatch 'em out of the World, and send 'em down to the Chains of Darkness in Hell, without a Remedy. O be upon your Guard, study and watch and pray, that your Souls be not ensnar'd and undone by fatal Ignorance or Error.

Beware of undoing Ignorance. As you love your Souls, and wou'd save them from Destruction, be careful to get necessary Knowledge; I mean, in Things spiritual and Divine. That the Soul be without Knowledge, it is not good; it is not safe. Grosly ignorant Souls are capable of doing but little Good, and of getting but little Good. They are expos'd to innumerable Evils, and fall an easy Prey to the subtil Adversary of Souls. It was GOD's Complaint in old time, My People are de­stroy'd for lack of Knowledge. Take heed that this be not your Ruin. It may be you think there's little danger of it, in this Land of Light: perhaps you are puffed up with a vain Conceit of your Attainments in Divine Knowledge. But I would mind you of that of the Apostle, If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet, as he ought to know it. And may it not be com­plain'd as to many, When for the Time, and the Ad­vantages you've had, ye might be qualify'd to be Teachers, ye have Need that one teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God! Some have not the Knowledge of God: I speak this to your Shame. O take heed, lest ye be found worshipping ye know not what. Take heed, lest as concerning one Gospel-Truth or Precept and another, that Charge lie against you, Of this ye are willingly ig­norant. [Page 29] If you would escape the Pollutions of the World, it must be through the Knowledge of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. He that is blind, cannot see afar off, to espy and avoid Dangers. He that walketh in Darkness, knoweth not whi­ther he goeth, nor how to shun the Stumbling-blocks before him. Thro' Knowledge shall the Just be deliver'd: but he that hateth Knowledge, is brutish; and no wonder if the brutish Person pe­rish. How often is shame the Promotion of Fools, and a miserable Death the Wages of affected Ig­norance! O do not despise your Souls, by refu­sing Instruction; lest it be your awful Punishment to die without Instruction, and go into Blackness of Darkness for ever. How long, ye simple ones, will ye love Simplicity, and Fools hate Knowledge? Be ye not as the Horse and the Mule, without Under­standing: lest you be left in the greatness of your Folly to go astray, and run blindfold to an untime­ly Death and eternal Destruction; as the Ox goeth to the Slaughter, or as a Bird hastneth to the Snare, and knoweth not that it is for his Life.

I would earnestly caution you also against the dangerous Snare of Errors and false Opinions in Religion. You may be Masters of a great deal of Knowledge (Science, falsely so called) and yet have very wrong Notions, in divine matters of the greatest Importance. There are Errors, that strike at the Vitals of Christianity, and sap the Foundations of Religion: mortal and damning Errors, which many, even under the Light of the glorious Gospel, give an easy Entertainment to; being calculated to gratify the Pride, or indulge the Sensuality of corrupt Nature. None can be such a Stranger in Israel, as not to know that in [Page 30] this day of abounding Errors, some of the most Soul-concerning Truths are by many call'd in Question, yea exploded with Derision: and the contrary ungodly Principles eagerly embrac'd and zealously disseminated; even such as may well make our Ears tingle to hear them. O beware that ye be not led away with the Errors of the Wicked, and make Shipwrack of Faith and a good Consci­ence. I am jealous over you, O our Young Peo­ple, in this giddy Period of your Life and in these Times of growing Infidelity and Heresy; I fear lest by any means as the Serpent beguiled Eve thro' his Subtilty, so your Minds should be cor­rupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ, and be removed to another Gospel; which yet is not another:—for some are already turned aside af­ter Satan, and they lie in wait to seduce others, to beguile unstable Souls. O take Heed, and let no Man deceive you with vain Words. Be not Children, tossed to and fro, and carry'd about with every Wind of Doctrine, by the slight of Men, and cunning Stratagems, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Whatever Flouts you may hear at Orthodoxy, as a matter of no Significance; yet realise it, that, 'tis thro' Sanctification of the Spi­rit and Belief of the Truth, we are chosen to Sal­vation. Realise it, there are Doctrines of Devils, hellish Errors, impious, profane and malignant; which eat as doth a Canker, have a corrupt Influence into the Heart and Life, and are of fatal Consequence. Be exhorted then to take Heed of Seducers; mark them which cause Di­visions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned, the Doctrine of Christ, the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints; mark such, and avoid [Page 31] them.—Be not soon shaken in Mind, by the perverse disputings of Men of corrupt Minds. Beware lest any Man spoil you thro' Philosophy & vain Deceit, after the Wisdom of this World, & not after Christ. Beware of indulging your selves in carnal Reason­ings against the Mysteries of Divine Revelation, however incomprehensible: Beware of indulging a secret Enmity to Gospel-Truths, however hum­bling and mortifying to Flesh & Blood, and how­ever unreputable in an Age of prevailing Infide­lity and Vice. Take heed that worldly Interest, or Applause with Men, do not bribe you in favour of any Error, when it is become fashionable or popular. Take heed, that you don't run into any Error grateful to a proud or worldly and sensual Mind, for the easing a wounded Conscience, and stifling of Convictions. In a Word, Beware of grieving the Holy Spirit by practically denying the Faith, lest He be provoked to give you up to a Spirit of Error; leave you to fall into damnable Heresies; and bring on your selves swift Destruction. As it is written, They received not the Love of the Truth, that they might be saved: and for this cause God shall send them strong Delusion, that they should believe a Lie; that they all might be damned, who believed not the Truth, but had Pleasure in Unrigh­teousness. Take Heed lest that come upon you; Even as they did not like to retain God in their Know­ledge, but became vain in their Imaginations, God gave them over to a reprobate Mind, and unto vile Affections, to do those things which are worthy of Death. O our young People, as you would avoid the ways of Death, as you wou'd shun the paths of the Destroyer, beware that you be not found walk­ing in the paths of Error and Ignorance.—This was the first Caution.

[Page 32] 2. Beware of all Profanity, and Irreligion.

Take good Heed unto your selves that ye love the Lord your God; that ye be Worshippers of God, and confess Christ before Men. However orthodox and knowing in Religion you may be; yet take Care that you do not satisfy yourselves with a mere speculative Belief of the Truth; separate from agreable Impressions on the Heart and practical Acknowledgments in the Life. Take heed lest that be fulfilled in you; They are without Excuse, because that when they knew God, they glorify'd him not as God, neither were thankful. Take heed that you do not cast off Fear, and restrain Prayer be­fore God; that you don't neglect secret Prayer in particular, & so live as without God in the World. Beware of those growing Sins of the Times, pro­fane Swearing and taking the Name of God in vain, Sabbath-breaking, despising the Gospel of Christ, neglecting the Publick Worship of God, mocking at the Messengers of the Lord, deriding serious Devotion and a tender Conscience, and turning Sacramental Mysteries into Banter. O be ye not Mockers, lest your Bands be made strong; lest you provoke a holy God to lead you forth with the Workers of Iniquity, and hang you up in Chains, as Monuments of his just Severity. Take heed lest any of you be profane Persons, as Esau, and miss the Blessing. Beware lest a terrible and jealous God come forth in Indignation to plead the Cause of his despised Name, and smite you, as he did profane Nadab and Abihu, by Fire from Hea­ven; lest he tear you in pieces by wild Beasts, as he did the Children that mocked Elisha; or lest he drown you in perdition, as he did the Scoffers of the old World; making them an Ensample unto [Page 33] all that after shou'd live ungodly.—Do you not often hear Malefactors, under Sentence of Death, confessing & bewailing their Profaneness, as what led the way to all their fatal Wickedness? And will you not take Warning from their Example, to deny all Ungodliness, lest it be your Ruine in the end for both Worlds! Beware lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the Prophets, Behold, ye Despisers, and wonder, and perish. Hear this, O ye that say, When will the Sabbath be over, that we may sell Corn, may return to Business or Di­version? that say, What a Weariness is it? that snuff at God's Altar, and call his Table contemp­tible: Behold, He will cut off the man that doth this. The Lord hath sworn by the Excellency of Jacob, Surely I will not forget any of their Works. Shall not I visit for these Things, saith the Lord, and shall not my Soul be avenged on such as do these things!

3. Beware of all Sensuality and Vice, and every criminal Course.

You must not only deny Ungodliness, but worldly Lusts, & live soberly & righteously, as well as godlily in this present World, if you wou' descape the Wrath of God in the next. His Wrath is revealed from Heaven, as against all Ungodliness, so against all Unrighteousness of Men. What will it profit you, to have a Form of Godliness, if you deny the Power of it, by living in Vice? Thus saith the Lord, Trust ye not in lying Words, crying, The Temple of the Lord! Will ye steal, & murder, & commit Adultery; and come & stand before me, and say, We are deliver'd to do all these Abominations! Behold, ye trust in lying Words, that cannot profit! Will ye provoke me to Anger, saith the Lord? [Page 34] Will it not be to the Confusion of your own faces? Let not him that is deceived, trust in Vanity; for Vanity shall be his Recompence: it shall be ac­complished before his time, and his Branch shall not be green.

O our young People, hear that Divine Warn­ing, Eccl 7. 17. Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: Why shouldest thou die before thy Time! There are many heinous Vices and Immoralities, and one of which if you indulge yourselves in, and besure then if in a Variety of them, you may be said to be wicked overmuch; may justly be rank'd among the Fools in Israel; and will be in danger of dying before your Time. Beware of these Things, as you would not die in Youth, and come to a mi­serable End of a scandalous Life. O see that you flee youthful Lusts. These will but kindle the Fire of Hell in your Bosom, and prepare you for the e­verlasting Burnings: and how often do they bring down the Wrath of God on the Children of Dis­obedience, taking them away with a stroke, & send­ing 'em to the place of Torments, from whence a great Ransom cannot deliver them!

I wou'd caution you particularly in a few Words.

1 Beware of Disobedience to your Parents; whe­ther natural, civil, or spiritual.—'Tis the Fifth Commandment in the sacred Decalogue, Honour thy Father and Mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayst live long on the Earth. It implies a Curse upon the Disobedient, that they shall soon be cut off: And the Word of God ex­presly threatens, That the Eye which mocketh at his Father, and despiseth to obey his Mother, the Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out, and the young Eagles [Page 35] shall eat it:—i. e such shall come to the Gallows, be hung up in Gibbets, & their Carcases become Food for the Birds of the Air. And how often do we see this is the miserable End of undutiful Chil­dren, of heady unruly Servants, & rebellious Sub­jects! O our Children, take heed that you do not walk in the paths of Disobedience; lest the Curse of the Fifth Commandment cut you off, as it did Absalom (the Son of David) who rose up in Re­bellion against his Father, and was thrust out of the World as an Execration.

2. Beware of the Sin of Pride.

This is a lust that very early discovers itself in young ones; has a peculiar Power over them; and being not check'd in its Beginnings, quickly grows rampant in many, brings them into Mischief, and produces fatal Effects. It is written, God resisteth the Proud: and very often in his over-ruling Pro­vidence he brings strange Punishments upon them. How frequently do we see that Proverb sadly veri­fy'd in Young People; Pride goeth before Destruction, and a haughty Spirit before a Fall! Pride has made many Youths impatient of Family-Government, and by an Affectation of lawless Liberty bro't them into a Snare and Ruin. Pride, working by Envy or Resentment, has tempted many a young Man, to make or accept a Challenge to some bloody Duel, in which he has fallen by the Sword; or else has kill'd his Brother, & so made way for his own ignominious Execution by the Halter. So Pride has tempted many a young Woman to destroy the Fruit of her own Body, that she might avoid the Scandal of a spurious Child; and the monstrous Fact being detected, has brought her to yet greater Shame, by an infamous Execution, as a Murderer.

[Page 36] Hear ye then, O our Sons and Daughters, hear ye, and be not proud. Be not high-minded, but fear. Be ye clothed with Humility: let this be your Ornament & Guard. Let our Sons take Warning from that wicked Haman, whom Pride bro't to the Gallows. And let our young Women be admonish'd by those Words of the Prophet; Moreover the Lord saith, Because the Daughters of Zion are haughty, & walk with stretched forth Necks, and want a Eyes; therefore the Lord will smite with a Scab the Crown of the Head of the Daughters of Zion: and it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet Smell there shall be Stink; and instead of a Girdle, a Rent; and instead of well set Hair, Baldness; and instead of a Stomacher, a girding of Sackcloth; and Burning, in stead of Beauty.—Remember also the Words of Solomon; Favour is deceitful, & Beauty is vain. How many that proudly valu'd themselves upon it, have been expos'd by it to such Temptations, as have been the Ruin of their Virtue, rob'd 'em of their Honour, cost 'em their Lives in the End, and destroy'd their precious Souls! Let every proud one look in Jezebel's painted face; and take warning from her miserable Fall & Ruine. Go, see now this cursed Woman, said Jehu, and bury her. I wou'd say, Go see her, & in her see the End of a haughty Spirit; see the Folly, the Sin & Danger of Pride: & take Warning from this Example, which was put on Record for your Admonition.

3. Beware of the Sin of Lying.

Among the seven Things, which Solomon reckons up, as an Abomination to the Lord, those two stand in the front, A proud look, and a lying Tongue. But alas! how doth this Sin of Lying abound among us! 'Tis one of the earliest Sins of Youth. They go [Page 37] astray as soon as they be born, speaking Lies. And the evil Habit grows on many, as they advance in Years and Cunning.

But be warned, O our Children, to flee this youthful Lust; and beware lest lying Lips be the Snare of your Souls, the Ruin of your good Name, and the Loss of your precious Lives in the End.

Are you tempted to tell Lies for Diversion; making yourselves and others Merry with false Stories, as with slanderous Reports, or the like? Re­member, Truth is too sacred a Thing to be trifled with; and the Reputation of your Neighbour too valuable to be treated in so ludicrous and abusive a manner. Will you, as Madmen, cast about Fire­brands, Arrows and Death? and say, Am I not in Sport! Such Mirth surely it is mad. It is often as the piercings of a Sword to the abused Party: And what bloody Revenges do these merry Re­vilings often produce! He that sportfully rolleth a Stone, often finds it return upon him to his Cost.

Or are you tempted to tell Lies for Flattery; speaking fair with the Mouth, while perhaps there are seven Abominations in the Heart? Take heed lest a flattering Tongue work Ruin to your selves, as well as your Neighbour. The Kisses of an Enemy are deceitful, and provoking: and often have no other Return but Hatred & Indignation.—The Lord has threaten'd to cut off all flattering Lips. He has said, Whose Hatred is covered by Deceit, his Wickedness shall be shewed before the whole Congrega­tion.—And how do you know, while you hide Hatred with lying Lips, & let Anger rest in your Bosom, but that before you are aware the smother'd Fire may break out, beyond Controul, in Fury and Mischief, that shall prepare the way for your In­famy & Ruin!

[Page 38] Or, again, are you tempted to tell Lies for Pro­fit; in matters of Trade speaking falsely, to get Gain by cheating others? O take heed that you deal not Treacherously, lest the Sin of your Mouth bring you into undoing Snares. Remember that Word; The getting of Treasures by a lying Tongue is a Vanity tossed to & fro of them that seek Death: the Robbery of the Wicked shall destroy them: They that make no Conscience of telling a Lie, when there's anything to be got by it, do expose themselves to the Envy & ill Will of Men, and to the Wrath and Curse of God. You had as good pick a Man's Pocket, as cheat him by a Lie: And as this leads to that, take heed lest you be punish'd for one by being left to the other, and so proceed from Evil to Evil, till you be undone, as to Name, Estate, and Life, and destroy your Soul for ever.

In a word, Are you tempted to Lying, from a Fear of Punishment; inventing Falsehoods to hide some Fault you have been guilty of? Remember, this is but to make two faults of one, and will ex­pose you to double Punishment upon the Disco­very. And then consider, this is an unhappy Me­thod to harden you in your Sin, & tends to draw you into a Snare by tempting you to other Sins. If once the Spirit of Lying takes possession of you, and especially if you find it a successful Means, in repeated Instances, to conceal your Faults, & screen you from Punishment; it will prepare you and tempt you to other Sins, which there's any Hope of covering by a Lie. A Habit of Lying has a fatal Tendency to blind and stupify Conscience: It drives away the holy Spirit: it gratifies the De­vil, the Father of Lies, & emboldens him to tempt you to the worst of Crimes, until you fill up the [Page 39] measure of your Iniquity. O take Heed lest by this Snare he ruin your Soul: fear to indulge yourselves in Lying, lest Satan draw you on from this Sin to others; from Lying to Perjury; from Lying to profane Swearing and Cursing; to Blasphemy; to such Crimes as will bring the greatest Scandal, and perhaps a shameful & untimely Death; but besure (without Repentance) an eternal Punishment.

Let the Fear of God restrain you from this Sin: for he has said, The mouth of Liars shall be stopped; and that all Liars have their part in the Lake, which burns with fire and brimstone. Will you not then put away Lying! O see you be Children that will not lie, as you would not ripen yourselves for a dreadful Vengeance.

4. Beware of rash Anger, Envy, Malice, and a Spirit of Revenge.

Study to get your Passions mortify'd, & guard against all exorbitant Resentments. Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the Sun go down upon your Wrath: neither give place to the Devil, when he tempts you to malicious and vindictive Designs. Be not over­come of Evil, but overcome Evil with Good. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto Wrath; not rendring Evil for E­vil, Railing for Railing, & Blow for Blow. He that is of a hasty Spirit exalteth Folly: and where Envying and Strife is, there is Confusion and every evil Work. Wrath is cruel, and Anger is outragious: but who is able to stand before Envy? O my Soul, come not thou into their Secret (said Jacob concerning his two Sons Simeon and Levi) unto their Assembly, mine Honour, be not thou united: for in their Anger they slew a Man, and in their Self-will they digged down a Wall. Cursed [Page 40] be their Anger, for it was fierce; and their Wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.—Ungovern'd Passion and Contention has led on many a horrid Murder; and this has bro't the guilty Actor to a shameful and untimely Death by the hand of Justice. Many a hot young Man has been kill'd, like Asa [...]el, in a bold and bloody Adventure: or been cut off by civil Revenge for his murderous Deeds, and not liv'd out half his days. Had Zimri peace, who slew his Master? Or, Cain, who for Envy slew his Bro­ther? It's tho't he fell by the hand of Lame [...]h. O let all Bitterness, & Wrath, & Anger, & Clamour, and evil Speaking, be put away from you, with all Malice. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed ye be not consumed one of another. He that hateth his Brother is a Murderer: and no Murde­rer hath eternal Life; neither doth Vengeance often suffer such to live long in the World.

5. Beware of sullen Discontent.

This makes Men Devils incarnate, & has temp­ted many (as Ahithophel and Judas) to the most unnatural & monstrous Act of Self-Murder. Or it has so distracted their Minds, as to put them upon the barbarous Murder of others about 'em, even their dearest Friends: and so bro't them to die before their time by the civil Sword. Other­wise it has put them upon desperate Courses of Liv­ing, in pursuit of which they have met with fatal Accidents, or been thrown into mortal Distempers; that they've died in Youth & come to an untimely End. Beware therefore of sullen Discontent: Why shouldst thou destroy thy self? Neither murmur ye, as some have done, and were destroy'd of the Destroyer? But I pass to say, in the next place,

[Page 41] 6. Beware of Covetousness, and a worldly Mind. The Love of Money is the Root of all Evil: 'tis an evil Disease, that has slain its Thousands. They that will be rich, fall into Temptation and a Snare, and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts, which often end in Destruction. This has made many to be Murderers of Fathers and Mothers, and Murderers of Brethren, that they might the sooner come to the Inheritance or possess it alone: but how often have they hereby bro't themselves un­der the Wrath of Man, as well as the Curse of God, which has cut them off with a stroke, & turn'd 'em at once out of the possession of their Estates and their Souls. Thus God rendred the Wickedness of Abimeleck, the Son of Jerubbaal, on his own head; the Wickedness he did unto his Father, in slaying his Seventy Brethren, that he might reign alone: and upon him came the Curse of Jotham.—How many have by Greediness after Gain, been tempted to dishonest Practices, to vicious Gaming, to Robbery, to Piracy, or the like; and it has hap­pen'd to 'em according to the true Proverb, He that getteth Riches and not by Right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a Fool. Surely in such ways Men lurk privily for their own Lives. Take Heed then & beware of Cove­tousness. Remember Achan's Folly and the un­timely and accursed Death it bro't him to: and take Warning, that worldly Lusts be not your Ruin. Surely Whoso is Partner with a Thief, hateth his own Soul. Whoso robbeth his Father or his Mo­ther, his Master or his Mistress, and saith, It is no Transgression, the same is the Companion of a Destroyer; is a Son that causeth Shame, and bringeth Reproach, and is in danger of having his Lamp put out in ob­scure [Page 42] Darkness. So are the Ways of every one that is greedy of Gain: which taketh away the Life of the Owners thereof.

7. Beware of Lasciviousness, & all Uncleanness. This Sin of Unchastity is what the Heat of Youth will particularly dispose you to: but let it not be once named amongst you, as becometh Saints: for this ye know, that no Whoremonger, nor unclean Person (no unclean Person of any kind, whether Forni­cator, or Adulterer, or Effeminate, & Abusers of themselves) have any Inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these Things cometh the Wrath of God on the Children of Disobedience. Be ye not there­fore partakers with them: lest you give your Years to the Cruel, & you mourn at the last, when your Flesh is consumed, and your Soul destroy'd. Let our Sons remember & take Warning from the aw­ful Death of abominable O [...]an, the wretched Exit of adulterous Hophni & Phinehas, & of incestuous Amnon, & the dreadful Overthrow of the accursed Sodomites. And let our Daughters remember and take Warning from the tragical Story of the Damsel of Bethlehem-Judah, who play'd the Whore, and was abused to Death by certain Sons of Belial.—O let our young People beware of indulging an unclean Spirit, & resist it in its very minutest Beginnings: for Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth Sin; and Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth Death, as you see this day. Take Heed, lest a sovereign God say concerning you, He that is filthy, let him be filthy still: until you become hot as an Oven, and your Wickedness burn as the Fire, & consume you. O take Heed: lest it happen that you bring forth Children to the Murderer; and it be said of thee, In [Page 43] thy Skirts is found the Blood of the Souls of the poor Innocents. Or, lest God in his Fury smite thee, that thou perish in thy Filthiness. Will our young People be perswaded to take Direction and Warning from an inspired Apostle! 1 Cor. 7. 2, 5. To avoid For­nication, let every Man have his own Wife, & let every Woman have her own Husband:—that Satan tempt you not for your Incontinency. So 1 Tim. 5. 14, 15. I will that young Persons marry,—and give none Oc­casion to the Adversary to speak reproachfully: for some are already turned aside after Satan. And he tells you, Heb. 13. 4. Marriage is honourable in all, and the Bed undefiled: but Whoremongers & Adul­terers God will judge.—Whoremongers, that is, Per­sons in the single Life committing Fornication; and Adulterers, i. e. Persons in the marry'd Life committing Impurities with strange Flesh; All such God will judge: Either in this World, by their own Consciences, bringing them to a bitter Re­pentance; or by his Providence, bringing them to Shame and Punishment among Men; Or if Im­penitent, most certainly in another World, casting them away from his Presence, to have their Life among unclean Devils for ever.—Hear also that of the Wise Man, Prov. 5. 18.—Rejoyce with the Wife of thy Youth, and be thou satisfy'd always with her Love. Why wilt thou, my Son, embrace the Bosom of a Stranger? For the Ways of Man are before the Eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his Goings. His own Iniquities shall take the Wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the Cords of his Sins. He shall die without Instruction, & in the greatness of his Folly he shall go astray.—Surely whoso hath Eyes full of Adultery, lacketh understanding; and every unclean Person sinneth against his own Body; yea, [Page 44] they that walk after the Lusts of the Flesh, destroy their own Soul.—Read Matth. 5. 27, to 30. and 1 Thes. 4. 1, to 7. Turn to those Scriptures, and think sadly upon 'em: and cease, my Son, to hear the Instruction, that causeth to err from the Words of Knowledge.

8. Beware of Intemperance, Gluttony and Drunkenness.

Intemperance has slain its ten Thousands (per­haps more than ever the Sword devoured) and has bro't Multitudes even of young Persons to an untimely & miserable End. Hear thou, my Son, and be wise, be not among Wine-bibbers, amongst riotous Eaters of Flesh: for the Drunkard and the Glutton shall come to Poverty, be cloathed with Rags, live despis'd, & die in Ignominy. Who hath Wo? Who hath Sorrow? Who hath Contentions? Who hath Wounds without Cause? And who dies before his Time? None so often as they that tarry long at the Wine; who feast themselves without Fear, and drink without Restraint; whose god is their Belly, and who often make very Beasts of them­selves by intemperate Cups. They drink and for­get the Law; and lay themselves open to all man­ner of Temptations, and to all manner of Evils. At such a time they are as a Man that lieth down in the midst of the Sea, or as he that lieth upon the Top of a Mast; exposed to the greatest Hazards. And how often do the Intemperate drown them­selves in Perdition! How often do they come to tragical Ends! Remember what a miserable Exit drunken Nabal, that Son of Belial, came to and how the Lord slew Belshazzar in the Night of his Pleasure, when his Heart had been merry with Wine. And forget not Elah, the Son of Baas [...]a, [Page 45] whom his own Servant conspired against, and slew him as he was in Tir [...]ah drinking himself drunk in the house of his Friend. From these Examples do you take Warning: and put a Knife to thy Throat, if thou art one given to Appetite, a Lover of Wine. Look not on the Wine, when it giveth it's pleasing Co­lour in the Glass: for at last it bites like a Serpent, and stingeth like an Adder. Consider this, and watch, as you wou'd to shun any such venomous Creature.—Beware (says our Saviour) lest at any time your Hearts be overcharg'd with Surfeiting and Drunkenness; and that Day come upon you unawares. And the Apostle exhorts; Be not drunk with Wine, wherein is Excess [Intemperance virtually contains all manner of vile Enormities, and seldom goes a­lone] but be ye filled with the Spirit: This will give you true Joy, Courage, and Vigour; which things you vainly expect that Wine should inspire you with. The Works of the Flesh (says he) are ma­nifest, which are these, Drunkenness, Revellings, and such like: of the which I forewarn you, as I have also done in time past, that they which do such things, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Whereas the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance: against which there is no Law, no Prohibition of God or Man, no Curse or Penalty. But Drunkards are a Reproach among Men, & the Abhorred of the Lord. Hath he not said, Wo to the Drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious Beauty is a fading Flower, and as the hasty Fruit before the Summer. O our Children, be perswaded to refrain from all sensual Excesses: lest that Word be fulfilled in you, as in Myriads of others; They shall be as the Morning-Cloud that passeth away, as the Chaff that is driven [Page 46] with a Whirlwind out of the Floor, and as the Smoke out of the Chimney, which is soon dissipated & dis­appears.

I add now in the last place under the third general Head,—

9. Beware of Idleness, and evil Fellowship.

These Sins and Snares are seldom separate, and therefore I put 'em together. The one leads to the other, and they both have a pernicious Influ­ence to draw unwary Youths into a thousand other Snares and Sins.

Idleness, behold this was the Iniquity of thy Sister Sodom: Abundance of Idleness was in her, & in her Sons & Daughters. It is very much a City-Sin, and a Sin of Youth. The Apostle remarks it of young Persons, They learn to be idle, wandring a­bout from house to house, and not only idle, but Tatlers also, and Busy-bodies, speaking Things which they ought not.—Idleness is a common Inlet to many other Sins: it's seldom that those who are idle, are only idle: they are at Leasure to attend the Devil's Motions, and often go of his Errands.

Let our young People, whose glory is their strength, be asham'd to eat the Bread of Idleness. Some seem to fancy it a piece of Gentility, the Sign of a polite Education, to be always at Leasure & above Business; and therefore affect an idle Life: But I wou'd mind them of that Passage in the heathen Poet, quoted by the Apostle, The Cretians are evil Beasts, slew Bellies: and of that of Solomon, Go to the Ant, thou Sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: learn of her to redeem your Time.

And be afraid, lest by indulging a Humour for Idleness, which so leads to Wantonness and De­bauchery, you fall into Reproach, & the Snare of [Page 47] the Devil. Be not ignorant of his Devices, lest he get an Advantage against you, to draw you on to wretched & hellish Business, worse than simple Idle­ness: and so bring you, with the Sinners of Sodom, to a miserable End before your time. O fear, lest with the slothful and unprofitable Servant, you be doom'd at last to be bound hand and foot, & cast into the Dungeon of Hell.

Beware also of bad Company-keeping. Take Care how you contract unnecessary friendship and intimacy or partnership with vain Persons, lest you get a Snare to your Soul, & learn their Ways; be inticed into Sin, and harden'd in Vice, by evil Counsels & ill Examples: which have a peculiar force upon the giddy tho'tless Age of Childhood and Youth. He that walketh with the Wise, shall be wise: but a Companion of Fools shall be destroy'd; his religious Principles shock'd, his Virtue ruin'd, his Honour lost, & his Estate consum'd, his Life perhaps cut short, & which is worse, his Soul undone for ever. For how naturally does evil & foolish Company lead to and cherish the Vices of Idle­ness & Extravagance, of Gaming, and Drinking, and Whoring? And how inevitably do these things work Death and Misery, to Body & Soul! Will you not then, my Children, forsake the Foolish, and live. Depart, I pray you, from the Tents of these wicked Men, lest ye be consumed in all their Sins. O save your selves from this untoward, this adulterous & voluptuous Generation.

Enter not into the path of the Wicked: avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, & pass away. Let our young Women remember what came of un­happy Dinah's Gadding, when she went out to see the Daughters of the Land, to get Acquaintance with [Page 48] the Canaanites; and take Warning, that Diversion and Company do not betray you into the Snares of Lust and Folly. The Apostle wou'd have the young women taught to be sober, discreet, Chast, Keepers at home, that the word of God be not blasphe­med.—And let our young Men be admonish'd and take Warning from the tremendous Example of Ahaziah (the Son of Jehoshaphat) who was ruin'd by ungodly Company. It's said of him, He did Evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab;for they were his Counsellers, after the death of his Father, unto his Destruction.

Dear Children, if you would not have your Souls gather'd with Sinners in another World, abhor and fly their Company in this. Come out from a­mong them, saith the Lord, & be ye separate, i. e. in respect of Affection, Imitation, & familiar Society: and I will receive you, and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

We proceed now to the other general Head of Caution.

4. Beware of carnal Security, and Hypocrisy; of indulging any Sins under the notion of their be­ing Little, & of living in secret Sins under a Cloke of visible Religion & external Sobriety.

Beware of sottish Security, and of every thing that tends to nourish spiritual Sloth, a Fearlesness of Death and Hell, and a Presumptuous Hope of Heaven; lest if God should take you away with his Stroke, you be found in a Christless graceless Con­dition, and have your future Life among the Un­clean. O beware of flattering yourselves in your own Eyes, and deceiving your Souls by resting in a dead Faith, a legal Repentance, & unregenerate Morality; in a partial Reformation of Manners; [Page 49] in a formal Round of religious Duties; in a Spirit of Bigottry for certain Superstitions, or an empty noisy Zeal for Divine Institutions: as if such things intitled you to the favour of God, and would engage the Protection & Smiles of Heaven upon you.—Be­ware of imbibing loose Principles in Religion, or taking up light Thoughts of Sin: beware of indul­ging a vain Dependence on pious Parentage and Covenant-Privileges; or a proud Conceit of your own Sufficiency, and Self-Righteousness; or un­dervaluing Tho'ts of spiritual Blessings, & an im­moderate Opinion of this present World; or the fond Dream of a long Life on Earth:—Which things are often the fatal Impediments to Sinners Conversion, the Means of their hardning now, and perishing hereafter. God hath denounced, WO to them that are at Ease in Zion. Let us then not sleep, as do others, lest God awaken us with the Terrors of his Indignation; lest sudden Destruction arise, and break in upon us, as upon Laish, a Peo­ple that were secure, & dwelt carelesly: or as on the Sinners of the Old World, who knew not till the Flood came & destroy'd them.

Beware of indulging yourselves in seemingly little Follies. No Sin indeed is absolutely little: but it's one Wile of the Devil to tempt unto some Sins by a pretence of their being small ones; and hereby he deceives many Souls into Ruin. But consider, the least Sin indulged tends to harden the Heart, is malignant in its Nature, and is pro­voking to God; who often in righteous Displea­sure gives Men up, when they will not be reform'd, to commit greater Sins, heinous Crimes, with the same Security. O then resist every Lust in its smallest Beginnings, and never allow yourselves, [Page 50] as the manner of some is, to live in any Sin under a vain Imagination of its being a little venial In­firmity, that may safely be indulg'd.

And beware you be not tempted to commit grosser Sins by the delusive hope of Secrecy: which is another hellish Snare, by which Satan captivates Multitudes, especially of young People. It is a shame (as the Apostle observes) even to speak of those things that are done of them in Secret; even by many, who in the open Light and View of the World appear virtuous and modest. But beware, young ones, lest that Word be fulfilled in you; The Iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his Sin is hid: The Sorrows of a travelling Woman shall come upon him; he is an unwise Son. Take heed, for Instance, that you do not dishonour your own Bodies by un­natural & impure Abuses; lest from solitary Filthi­ness you be left to pass on unto social; and from secret Fornications to secret Murders; and at length come to an untimely & shameful Death.—Let it be consider'd; Secret Sins bewray the dreadful A­theism of your Minds; and when cover'd over with a specious Shew of Piety, argue the wretched Hy­pocrisy of your Profession. These secret Sins have a fatal Tendency in their nature, by blinding and searing the Conscience: and as they are a practical denying of the God that is above, whose Eyes pierce into the darkest Corner, and who re­vealeth secrets, such Sins are a high Provocation to him, to call away his striving Spirit, & take off the Restraints of common Grace; the inevitable fruit of which is the Sinner's growing bold in Sin, and his Corruptions breaking forth into heinous Crimes In a holy Indignation at that Atheism and that Hypocrisy, the secret Sinner is guilty of, [Page 51] [...] often leaves him to turn a scandalous Apostate; gives him up to work all Uncleanness with Gree­diness; and sometimes leaves him to fall into ca­pital Crimes, Iniquities to be punish'd by the Judge.—Beware then of secret Sins; of Pilfering & secret Frauds & Falshoods, of secret Impurities, of secret Profanities: lest a provoked God lay open your Sin before the World to your shameful Confusion, and avenge the Quarrel of his holy Covenant upon you, by terrible Things in Righteousness, in the or­dinary Course of his Providence; or else smite you for your horrible Hypocrisy by his immediate Hand, as he did Ananias & Sapphira.—It was our Savi­our's repeated Caution to his Disciples, Beware of Hypocrisy. Beware ye of the Leaven of the Pharisees, which is Hypocrisy: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known Whatsoever ye have spoken or done in Darkness, shall appear in the Light; and that which ye have said or done in the Closet, shall be proclaim­ed upon the House-Top.—It was a terrible Word to David, from the Mouth of the Lord, after he had sinned in the matter of Uriah; Behold, I will raise up Evil against thee: thou didst it secretly; but I will do this Thing before all Israel, & before the Sun. And if even good Men may have their se­cret Sins & Hypocrisies thus expos'd & punish'd; What will a Heart-searching and Sin-hating God do to false Professors, under the reigning power of Hypocrisy! What will he do to a Saul, that boasts of his Obedience, & yet spares an Agag, and saves the Fatlings under a shew of Sacrificing to the Lord!—What, to an Absalom, that under the pretext of Vows & Devotions, is only pursuing dark Designs of Ambition & Rebellion! To a Jehu, that [Page 52] boasts a Zeal for the Lord, only to colour over in­trigues of Malice & Envy! To a Judas, that betrays his Lord with a Kiss, & is secretly a Thief under a Cloak of Compassion to the Poor!—Surely, as is said in the Verse preceeding my Text, The Hypo­crites in Heart heap up Wrath: hence no Wonder it follows, They die in Youth, and their future Life is among the Unclean.

Take Heed then lest there be in any of you an evil Heart of Unbelief, cover'd with specious Shews of Piety & Virtue. Fear lest it be said to you at last, as to the Young Man in the Gospel, One thing thou lackest. O mind Religion in Earnest. See that you have Truth in the inward Parts; and so remember now your Creator in the days of your Youth, as that you may escape those evil Days of Wrath, which carnal Hypocrites must & shall see, either in this or in a worse World.

USE VI. Let it be a Word of Exhortation to such of our Young People, as have already commit­ted horrible Evils, & been walking after their own Lusts in the Paths of the Destroyer: O repent and turn ye now, lest a Sin-revenging God take you away with his Stroke, & thrust you down to Hell among the Unclean, without a Remedy.

It may be some of you have dreadfully polluted your Youth with the grossest Vices, even with Ca­pital Crimes; which, had the Eye of Man seen them, & Justice been done you, would have bro't you to be hung up before the Lord. O admire the Divine Forbearance toward you: and hasten your Repentance & Reformation, lest your Iniquity find you out, & bring you to Die before your time.—You have perhaps already felt something of God's [Page 53] Wrath, in Afflictions, or in Terrors of Conscience: O sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you: Even that, God shall cast upon him, & not spare: Men shall clap their hands at him, & hiss him out of his place. You are ready, it may be, to say as Agag, when Saul had repriev'd him, Surely the Bitterness of Death is past: But take heed, lest in a little time, like that unhappy Man, you be hewed in pieces before the Lord. I pray you, read & ponder upon those awful Scriptures, Eccl. 11. 9. Prov. 29. 1. and Deut. 29. 19, 20. with Psal. 50. 16, to 22.

However, thro' the Grace of God, there is yet Room for Hope of a Pardon upon your Repent­ance: and those are the compassionate Calls from Heaven to you this day, Turn & live; turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die!—Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the Way.—Acquaint now thy self with him; thereby Good shall come unto thee.—Turn you at my Reproof; Behold, I will pour out my Spirit upon you.—Ask and it shall be given you.

O Cry then to a merciful God, that he wou'd give you his holy Spirit, to renew you, unto saving Re­pentance & Faith. Plead with him your absolute Necessity, the Merits of Christ, & the Glory of Di­vine Grace. And be frequent in your Essays of active Conversion, with an intire dependence on a supernatural Power to effect it. O try, try to stretch out the withered Arm. Strive to enter in at the strait Gate. And never give over your Prayers and Efforts, until you happily experience a sensible Energy of the holy Spirit upon your Heart, working in you Repentance toward God & Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.—And so, being justify'd by Faith in his Righteousness, you shall have Peace with God in this World, and Life eternal in the next.

[Page 54] I wou'd now (as doubtless it is expected from the I shou'd) apply the Exhortation more particularly to the unhappy Condemned Woman, at this time in the Presence of God with us, and in a few days to be cut off from among the Living.

Hearken, O Woman, to the Word of the Lord, and let it sink down into your Ears. Hear, and your Soul shall live. O seek the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. You have had your Life among the Unclean (I speak it not with any De­light to upbraid you; for we pity and mourn for you: but still in Faithfulness we admonish you) and for your being wicked overmuch you are to die in Youth, to die before your time. O tremble and be afraid, lest also in the coming World your Life be among the Unclean, even among filthy Devils in the burning Lake.

Surely it becomes you to look back on your past Life with the deepest Shame and Regret. Has not that word been fulfilled in you, 1 Tim 5 6. She that liveth in Pleasure▪ is dead while she liveth! O reflect with Grief and Blushing on all your Gratifications of fleshly Lusts: and consider your Sins in all their aggravating Circumstances; as committed against the Light of Na­ture and the known Commands of God in holy Scrip­ture; against the Advantages of a pious Education; a­gainst the Bonds of holy Baptism and a personal Pro­fession of Religion; against the Warnings of Provi­dence, and Checks of the Holy Spirit; against your own repeated Vows and Resolutions, the Reproofs of Friends, and the Calls and Admonitions of the Word of Christ; against the Riches of Divine Goodness and Pa­tience, the Bounty of the Creator, and the Mercies of the Redeemer.—O look upon your Sins in all these and other their Aggravations: Realise the infinite Evil of all Sin, as it dishonours and displeases God, as well as wrongs the Soul of Man; and see the dreadful Ma­lignity of your own Sins in particular, which have been very heinous in their Nature, and the Guilt of them amazingly heighten'd by the Circumstances attending them. Of your self guilty and polluted, exceeding­ly so; and while you meditate your Sinfulness, let not [Page 55] your Thoughts stop at external Life and Practice, but carry them up to the black Original, and see the secret Springs of all in an apostate guilty State of Soul, as you are a Child of fallen Adam. (Psal 51. 5.) O see how guilty you are by Nature & Practice; and loath your self in your own Sight, repenting in Dust and Ashes.

When you consider the deplorable Condition Sin has reduced you to, surely you cannot but blush and tremble. I may say to you, as in Jer. 2. 17, & 19 Hast thou not procured this unto thy self, in that thou hast for­saken the Lord thy God? Know therefore and see, that it is an evil thing & bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord. I may appeal to you, as in Rom. 6. 21. What Fruit had you in those things, whereof you are now ashamed? For the End of those things is Death—Thou hast consulted Shame to thy House, & sinned against thine own Soul. Thou hast sinned away thy precious Life; and hast found by doleful Experience (as to Ruin for this World) the Truth of those awful Threatnings, A Companion of Fools shall be destroy'd; And Whoso pursueth Evil, pursueth it to his own Death. O adore the Patience of a merciful God, who has long been waiting that he might be gra­cious. You may well wonder, when you call to mind your crying Sins, and abuses of the Divine Patience, that a provoked God did not by his own immediate Hand cut you off with a Stroke, in the acting of your Abomi­nations. Give him the glory of his sparing Goodness; and affect your Heart with Reflections upon it, that you may thereby be led to Repentance. Acknowledge the Justice of God (as also of Man) in bringing you into your present Circumstances of Shame and Misery: and accept the Punishment of your Iniquity, without murmur­ing against Man, or repining against God, whose over­ruling Hand has been signally evident in bringing out your Guilt and a Sentence of Death against you—Yet you've Reason to stand amaz'd at the Mercy of God in laying an Arrest upon you, and stopping you in your Carreer to Hell; tho' it was by so dreadful Means. O beg that it may prove indeed in Mercy to you, & turn to your eternal Salvation. O that that Word may be fulfil­led in you: that wonderful Word, in our Context, [Page 56] Job 36. 8, &c If they be bound in Fetters, & holden in Cords of Affliction; then GOD sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they re­turn from iniquity. God has been indulging you (tho' under terrible outward Circumstances) with a precious Season of Grace; such as he has deny'd to Thousands of others, no worse Sinners than you: O take heed that you improve aright your short remaining Opportunity; lest that be your Condemnation from the Mouth of your just and holy Judge, when you (as in a little time you must) appear before his dread Tribunal, Rev. 2. 21, 22. I gave her a Space to repent of her Fornication, and she repented not: Behold, I will cast her into a Bed Ah! not a Bed of Lust and Pleasure, but of Travail & Pain, a Bed of Fire & Torment, without Deliverance for ever.

O with what Concern of Soul, with what Anxi­ety and Fear, does it become you to be looking for­ward to that eternal World you are hastning into! With what Diligence, with what awaken'd Applica­tion of your whole Thought and Heart, should you be getting ready to die: since the Time is short, and the Work great and difficult, and unless now done, must ever remain undone, and your Soul lost without a Remedy. O fear and tremble, lest when the fatal Stroke is given, you perish under the Wrath of an unreconciled God, and with your Lusts unmortify'd go down to Hell, to have your Life for ever among unclean Spirits, and amidst Flames never to be quenched. Unhappy Crea­ture, take heed, lest from hopes of Heaven you fall into the Flames of Hell, ▪ without Recovery! I say not this, un­necessarily to terrify you, but out of a tender Com­passion to your Soul; I would perswade you by the Terrors of the Lord, to beware you do not put a fa­tal Cheat upon your self by a presumptuous and delu­sive Confidence of the good Estate of your Soul. It is a great Truth, Tho' genuine sincere Repentance be never too late, yet late Repentance is seldom sincere and genuine; is seldom free, and resulting from Evangelical Princi­ples, but commonly forc'd and legal, no better than the Repentance of Judas. And the sudden Hopes of [Page 57] late Penitents are therefore very warily to be encou­rag'd. We are sure from the Word of God, there are many that rest their Souls on a false Bottom, which in the Storms of Death and Judgment▪ fail and sink from under them. Some self-deceiving Hypocrites, it may be, hold their Confidence to the End, and have no Bands in their Death; they die secure of Heaven in their own Conceit: but alas! to their dreadful Dis­appointment receive that Doom, Depart from me, I know you not.—Will you therefore, O Daughter of Death, be jealous over yourself, and fear lest you should be de­ceiv'd by rash Hopes into eternal Despair. You have formerly had your Convictions, which wro't some good Effects upon you: but in time they utterly wore off, and you return'd to Folly. And how know you that now you have any better Work wro't on you, than was then! O cry to God, that he wou'd search you; that he would open your State in a true Light before you, and save you from miscarrying in Conversion by undoing Mistakes. And be you very much in solemn Self-Examination day and night. Commune with your own Heart, and make diligent search into the State of your Soul: taking Heed, that you do not try your self by false Rules, nor rashly conclude by hopeful Signs. You may (in a sense) be in Charity with all Men, & seem to love God; may have at times your Affections in Duty, your Convictions of Sin, your good Resolutions, your earnest Prayers, and your Hopes of Heaven too: but know it, for a sad Truth, Every Grace has it's Counterseit, and Satan often subtil­ly imposes upon the unwary Sinner, drawing him into rash Conclusions of his good Estate by deceiving Ap­pearances of Grace in Exercise. Read and tremble at that Scripture, Luk. 11. 24, 25, 26. The Parable of the unclean Spirit going out, &c. Know it, the unclean Spirit may make a shew of going out, under a common Work of Conviction: but unless he be cast out, by a special and saving Work of Conversion, which is the work of Christ, your last State will be worse than the first, the day of your Death worse than the day of your Birth, or any the worst day you ever saw in this World.—O realise it, Nothing, Nothing short of a thorow [Page 58] Work of Conversion, nothing short of the Washing of Regeneration, will stand you in any stead, when you come to die, & appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Think solemnly of those Words of Christ, your Judge (I commend them particularly to your Consideration) and look upon 'em as spoken to you, Joh. 13 8 If I wash thee not, thou hast no Part with me. O Realise the Necessity of your being washed (that is, sanctify'd and justify'd) by Christ: and go to Christ by unceasing Prayer, begging that He would bestow this spiritual Washing upon you; that He would wash you from your Sins with his own Blood; that he would by his holy Spirit cleanse you from all your Filthiness, and purge your Conscience from dead Works, to serve the living God, the few days you have to tarry in this World, and to make you meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light. Believest thou that he is able to do this great thing for thee? O hear him calling to you, as in Hos. 13. 9. Thou hast destroyed thy self, but in me is thy Help. Hear him inviting you, as in Isa. 45 22. Look unto Me, and be saved. O then be thou looking unto JESUS, a once crucify'd, and now glorify'd Jesus. Look to him, whom you've pierced by your Sins, and mourn as a Woman for the Loss of her first born. Look unto him, as the Lord your Righteousness and your Strength: and fly for Re­fuge to him: Blessed are all they, that with Faith un­feigned put their Trust in Him See that you trust not in your Tears & Sorrows, Confessions and Resolutions; they can't atone for Sin, nor cleanse the Soul 'Tis only the Blood of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ, that can do this. And lo, his Grace is sufficient for the chief of Sin­ners. Read (both for your Awakening & Encourage­ment) 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10, 11—O put in for a Share in the Benefit of that precious Blood, which cleanses from all Sin, and has wash'd some of the foulest Sinners whiter than the Snow. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and according to his Mercy he will save you. Yet this you can't do as of yourself: You must be begotten to it by the Spirit of Christ. O beg, and cease not begging at the Throne of Grace, for an Experience of the New Birth.—And know it, if you are born of the Spirit, [Page 59] you shall certainly see the Kingdom of Heaven: if Christ wash you here, you shall partake with him in Glory for ever.—I shall only add, tho' you may be well asham'd to meet Death in those inglorious Circum­stances, in which you are to die; yet remember, that just one the Lord Jesus Christ himself, was hanged on a Tree, died an accursed Death, not indeed for his own Sins, but for the Sins of his People: and so has sanctify'd all manner of Deaths, even the most ignominious, to them which believe on his Name. O be looking to Jesus, by an Eye of Faith: and so doing, you may lift up your Head, at the Approach of Death in its most hideous Shape and infamous Circumstances, with a humble hope of finding Mercy with him, thro' whose Mercy Rahab the Harlot perish'd not, and thro' whose Mercy Mary Magdalen had her many Sins forgiven her.—O give Glory to the Lord, before you die, by making Confession to God, and giving Warnings to Men. Be unto the last committing your Soul, your never dying Soul, into the hands of a merciful Saviour, who knows how to have Compassion upon the Ignorant and the Unworthy.

We have been praying for you, and shall not cease doing it, so long as you are a Subject of Prayer; That Christ would receive your Spirit into his Custody and Presence, into his Kingdom of Grace here and of Glory hereafter.

With Tears and Prayers and Faith unfeigned [...] your own Soul to Christ continually: Live and die calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit.—And we pray God have Mercy on your Soul!

May the distressed Relatives have all needed Sup­ports under this dark Dispensation, and be enabled to make a wise and holy Improvement of it!

And may the Spirit of God reach the Hearts of this Woman's Companions in Wickedness, and sanctify his awful Dealings with her for their Awakening and Conversion!

[Page 60] I now turn me to the Congregation in a short Address on this affecting Occasion.

O let us see to it that we sanctify the Lord in such amazing Dispensations. The sorrowful Spec­tacle before us should make us all reflect most seriously on our own vile Nature; which the Falls of others are but a Comment upon: and should excite us to humble ourselves under a sense of the Corruption of our Hearts, which are naturally as bad as the worst. Matth. 15. 19—Let us admire the restraining Grace of God, whereby we have deen distinguish'd. Let us take Warning, & tho' now we think we stand, let us take heed lest we fall. God in his Judgments upon others sounds in our Ears an awful Alarm, in such Language as that, Luk 13. 4, 5. Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Sinners cut off by divine Judgments are design'd as Ex­amples (Jude 5, 6, 7.) not for Imitation, but Cau­tion & Admonition. 1 Cor. 10. 6, 11, 12.—The [...] holy Severity against Jezebel, and her adulterous Lovers, is for Instruction to all the Churches, Rev. 2. 22, 23. So Christ warns Us, Luk. 17. 32. Remember Lot's Wife.—God has appointed the Execution of Justice on capital Offenders, with this View, that they may be Ensamples and Warn­ings unto others, to deter them from the like Sins. (Deut. 17. 12, 13.) Smite a Scorner, says Solomon, and the Simple will beware. The Righteous shall see the Fall of the Wicked, and adore God's Goodness to themselves, his rectoral Holiness & Faithfulness to his Threatnings, learn Humility, and receive Instruction: and Sinners should hear fear and do no more so wickedly.

[Page 61] In the present Case, the Warning of Providence is particularly pointed to the DAUGHTERS of Zion. The loud Call of God to you is in that Language, Isa. 32. 9, 11. Rise up, ye women that are at ease, hear my voice, ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. Tremble, ye women that are at ease, be troubled ye careless ones: strip ye and make ye bare, and gird sackcloth on your loyns. O let it not be complain'd of any of you, as in Isa. 47. 7. Thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof. Your Obstinacy in evil Courses, after such awful Warnings, will ag­gravate the Sorrow of your anxious Friends, and be an humbling Consideration to us your Ministers. 2 Cor. 12. 21. I fear lest when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many that have sinned already, and have not repent­ed of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lascivious­ness which they have committed. But what should most of all affect you is, that you will greatly pro­voke God, by disappointing his just Expecta [...]. The Meaning of Heaven in this Dispensation [...] to call you to Repentance and Reformation; [...] to warn all by this Example, that they flee youth­ful Lusts. So the Providence is expounded, Ezek. 23. 48. Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all Women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.—O that this may be the blessed Effect! And that we may see the Fulfilling of that, Isa. 4. 4, 5. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,—He will create upon every dwelling place a Cloud by day, & a Fire by night: for upon all the Glory there shall be a Defence.