MATTHEW MEAD Minister of the Gospel  
Aetatis Suce 70. An. ᵒ Do: 1699.  
Printed for john Martial & Sold by him at the Bible in Grace-church-Street    

THE Young Man's REMEMBRANCER, AND Youths Best Choice: BEING An Exhortation to Conversion, in Two Anniversary Discourses from  Eccl. xii. 1. 
Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth, while the Evil Days come not, nor the Years draw nigh, in which thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.  
LONDON: Printed in the Year MDCC.   

THE EPISTLE TO Young Readers Looking towards the Kingdom of God.  
Dear Beloved in our Lord,  
THE Hopes, that there is a Harvest of Young Ones to Christ, for which the Fields are Already White, when Christ shall have in this sense the Dew of his Youth from the Womb of the Morning, and You  Offerings to Him in that Day of his Power, This gives Encouragement of this Address to you, in Confidence, there will be many of You Readers: It is Evident. Young Persons are One Eminent Portion of the Lord Jesus his Love, and Care; and so of the Gospel Ministry, and of the Servants of God in all Ages; God was assured of Abraham, he would Instruct his Children after Him in his Knowledge, and Fear: Moses took great Care of this, to leave Monuments for Young Israelites growing up; David the Father gave Excellent Principles to his Son Solomon; And in a Holy Zeal, and Love to Young Men, cries out, Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his Way? As if he should say, What Spiritual Engine shall I find to raise the Hearts of Young Men, to Buoy them up from the World, the Raging Sea of Vanity, Lust, and Wickedness? I should rejoice in such a One, and I have found it, even thy Word, to which they should always give heed. Solomon in this Penitential Sermon of his, after some Declinings, recovering the Piety of his Youth in which he styles himself Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher is much engaged in it; as you will see in the Following Discourses. Jesus Christ in Love to the Rising Hopes of Young Ones, Blessed early, even Infant Age: The Beloved Apostle, that lay in the Bosom of Christ, says, I writ to you, Young Men, because you are strong, Vigorous in Mind, Body, full of Spirit, and Vivacity; and in all of them who are Christians, the Word of God abideth; and as Vigorous Persons, the Champions of Christ overcome the Wicked One, though the Strong Man; Obadiah feared God from his Youth, that early Saint of the Old Testament: Timothy of the New Testament, Knew the Scriptures from a Child. Christ remembers the Kindness of Youth, the Love of First Espousals, before farther Alienations from him, and Prostitutions to Sin, Satan, the World; His Soul desires the First Ripe Fruit. Oh that all this might persuade; But I especially recommend the following Directions, prepared for you, given forth by some Excellent Master of Assembly, whom I will not attempt to suppose, who he was, being not entrusted with it; and whether he did not Animam in Vulnere Ponere; He did not draw out his very Spirit, and Life in shooting this Sharp Arrow of Christ into your Hearts, that you might fall under Christ; Oh therefore, You in the Ascendency of Life, against all Temptation, flee Youthful Lusts, sacrifice this Choice Part of Life to God; take heed that Curse come not on you; You who have in your Flock this Male of Life, even Youth, Oh design not to Vow, to Sacrifice to God the Corrupt Thing of Old Age; Grown old in Sin: The Brand of a Deceiver is set on all such; Know therefore in this your Day, the Lord hath made for you the Day of your Visitation, the Accepted Day of Salvation, the Things of your Peace; This is recommended to you, in the following Instructions, under the Blessing of the Eternal Father, through the Redemption of the Eternal Son, by the mighty Efficacy of the Eternal Spirit, the One Eternal God, the Ancient of Days, the Father of Lights, with whom is no variation of Age, nor shadow of Turning to the West of Days, to whom be Glory for Ever.  
Amen.   

TO THE READER.  
IT may not be amiss to inform thee, that this Piece thou hast now in thy Hand may truly he called Orphan, and therefore it cannot be expected to come forth in such a Curious Dress, as becomes the Child of such a Parent, there being no possibility of access to his Wardrobe to adorn it: Yet notwithstanding (I hope) there are many Witnesses to its Birth, into whose Hands it may come, that may give sufficient Testimony of its Legitimacy. It cannot be at all questioned, but you who have so often desired, and have with pleasure heard its Voice, but will also add this Request to your former, Let me see thy Face. It now with Samuel to Eli cries out, Here am I, for thou didst call me. Say not of it as the God of Israel, How shall I put thee among the Children? But let this which was the Parents Benoni, be thy Benjamin; and the rather, because, (as the Reverend Mr. Mead says) 
* Preface to Four Useful Discourses by J. Burroughs.  The Publishing the Labours of such Men of Worth, is of Happy Tendency to promote our Communion with them in the Spirit, whom it may be we never saw in the Flesh; and it is to be reckoned among our Mercies, when the Dead are made to speak, that the Living may be persuaded to hear. May the God of Heaven attend this Essay with his Blessing, that its Publication may be attended with such Success, as was the Author's Design in its Preaching; and may'st thou by this Small Tract be Enabled to have an Eye to that Reward which now he reaps as the end of so Liberal a Seedtime here, even Everlasting Joy and Felicity in the World to come.  
Farewell.   

THE Young Man's REMEMBRANCER. I. DISCOURSE.  
Eccles. xii. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth, while the Evil Days come not, nor the Years draw nigh, in which thou shalt say, I have no Pleasure in them.  
THE Two great Duties of the Christian Life, are, to Cease to do Evil, and to Learn to do Well; the one is Negative, Godliness; the other is Positive; the latter can never be without the former. No Man can be Good that doth not Cease to be Evil; and therefore Solomon Exhorts to the former in the Last Verse of the foregoing Chapter, and he brings it in with an Illative Particle, Put away Evil from thy Flesh. It refers to the Ninth Verse, Know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgement. These things, that is, these youthful Lusts, these sensual Pleasures, which by a sharp satire he does reprove in the former part of the Verse, Rejoice, O young Man, in thy Youth, and let thy Heart Cheer thee in the Days of thy Youth, and Walk in the Ways of thy own Heart, and in the Sight of thine Eyes. As if he should say, if thou art resolved upon thy Lusts, and bend to spend thy Youthful Days in thy sensual Delights, why then go on and take thy Course, but consider were this will end, and what follows; there is a Reckoning Day a coming, thy pleasant Way will have a doleful End; though the Beginning may be Sweet, the Conclusion will be Bitter; for thou must Die e'er long, nor canst thou say how soon, and then thou must answer to God, for all thy sinful Courses, and sensual Vanities; for Know that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgement, and therefore Put away Evil from thy Flesh.  
And then he proceeds to Exhort to the Positive Part of Godliness, and that in the Words of the Text, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth. He tells you in the Last Words of the former Verse, Childhood and Youth are Vanity; and the Vanity of it appears in nothing more than in indulging to Sense and Flesh, and forgetting God; therefore these Words of the Text are the wise Man's Memento to young Ones, wherein he gives this seasonable Counsel for the Cure of their Vanities, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth, whilst the Evil Days come not, nor the Years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no Pleasure in them.  
In which Words you have an Exhortation to a very concerning Duty, and it is backed with a threefold Argument in the Six following Verses. In the Duty exhorted to, you have Three Things.  
First, The Act, Remember.  
Secondly, The Object to be Remembered, Thy Creator.  
Thirdly, The Time when he must be Remembered, Now. Remember now thy Creator: But lest you should think that this now takes in the whole Time of this Life, therefore he Excludes the latter Part of Life, and Limits this now to the former Part, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth.  
And then you have a Threefold Argument or Motive upon which the Duty is urged.  
Old Age, with its Infirmities, Hastening.  
Mortality Approaching. And,  
Judgement Ensuing.  
First, The Approaching of old Age, with the Infirmities that accompany it; that we have in those Words, While the evil Days come not, nor the Years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no Pleasure in them; and what these Days and Years are, he tells you in the various Allegories in the following Verses, While the Sun, or the Light, or the Moon, or the Stars, be not Darkened, nor the Clouds Return after Rain, in the Day when the Keepers of the House shall Tremble, and the strong Men Bow themselves, and the Grinders Cease, and they fa● that Look out at the Windows, etc.  
Secondly, You have an Argument from Death and Mortality approaching, Verse 15. Man goeth to his Long Home. Verse 7. Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was. Then; when? When the Sun, and the Light, etc. is Darkened, when the Keepers of the House Tremble, when the strong Men Bow themselves, and and the Grinders Cease, then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was.  
Thirdly, You have the Judgement ensuing, Verse 7. The Spirit shall return to God who gave it; it is the Soul that is here intended, which is frequently called a Spirit, because of its Spiritual and Immaterial Nature; as the Body of every one Returns to the Dust, so does every Soul Return to God; not to God as a Chief Good, but to God as a Great Judge; not to his Blissful Presence, but to his Judicial Presence. All Souls do not Return to God to Enjoy him, for that is the Portion but of a few; but all Return to God to be Judged by him, both Good and Bad, Saint and Sinner. So says the wise Man in the Third Chapter of this Book, Verse 17. God shall judge the Righteous and the Wicked; for there is a Time there for every Purpose, and for every Work; so that there is such a Returning of the Soul to God, as sets it before his awful Tribunal, where it must be Sentenced to its Everlasting State, either to Enjoy God for Ever, or to be Everlastingly Shut out of his Presence and Favour; so that these are the Arguments to Enforce the Duty in the Text.  
Old Age is Hastening.  
Death follows it.  
And then comes the Judgement.  
In old Age you will have no list to Remember God, in Death you cannot Remember God, and in Judgement you must be called to an account for not Remembering God, and therefore since it is thus, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth. I shall open the Words, and then apply them.  
First, I will begin with the Act, Remember; this is applied sometimes to God; he is said to Remember; God Remembered Noah, Gen. 8.1. He Remembered Abraham, Gen. 19.29. He Remembered his Holy Covenant, Luke 1.72. But there is, to speak properly, no such thing in God as Remembering; for he that can never Forget, cannot be said to Remember.  
But it is properly applied to Man; and so to Remember is either,  
To call to Mind some Past; or,  
To keep a thing in Mind for the Time to come.  
Sometimes it is to call to Mind something past; thus it is said, that Peter Remembered the Words of Christ, Mat. 26.75. and as it Imports keeping in Mind for the Time to come, so it is said, Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy, Exod. 20.8. To Remember, is put here in a double Opposition.  
First, It is opposed to a Forgetfulness of the Duty mentioned. And,  
Secondly, It is opposed to a slight Performance of it. Both which are Sin.  
It is a Sin to forget God, and it is a Sin to have slight Thoughts of God; the Act should be some way answerable to the Object; the Great God is thy Maker, and he should not be put off with slightly Respects, Remember thy Creator.  
The manner in which the Duty is Enforced, is such as does import, that it ought to be our chief Business. God does not use in his Word to put his Memento's upon slight and indifferent Matters, but upon such Duties as are Necessary, and of the greatest Importance. As,  
First, To press us to Repentance, Rev. 2.5. Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, Ezek. 16.61. Thou shalt Remember thy Ways, and be Ashamed.  
Secondly, To mind us of our latter End, Eccle. 11.8. If a Man Live many Years, and Rejoice in them all, yet let him Remember the Days of Darkness, for they shall be many.  
Thirdly, To press upon us the Duty of Sabbath Holiness, Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy, Exod. 20.8.  
Fourthly, To keep in our Hearts the great Works of Providence, Psalm 105.5. Remember the Marvellous Works that he hath done; and Mat. 16.9. says Christ, Remember the Five Loaves that fed Five Thousand, and how many Baskets full he took up.  
Fifthly, It is used to incite to a full and complete Obedience, Num. 15.39. Remember all the Commandments of the Lord to do them.  
Sixthly, To stir us up to be mindful of himself, and therefore this Duty of all the rest is charged both Negatively and Positively.  
Negatively, Deut. 8.11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God. And,  
Positively, as in the Words of the Text, Remember now thy Creator.  
But why doth God put a Memento upon this Duty here? Why, there is a Fivefold Reason for it.  
First, To Intimate to us the Opposition of our corrupt Hearts to this great Duty; naturally Man cannot endure the Yoke of Obedience to God. He is without God in the World; God is not in all his Thoughts; therefore he calls us to Remember him.  
Secondly, The Sum of all Religion lies in the Observation of this one Command; there can be no such thing as Religion where God is forgotten. Jacob gave a severe Charge to his Sons concerning Benjamin, because he lay nearest his Heart; the Honour of God lies nearest his Heart of any thing; and no Man can Honour him, that doth not Remember him; therefore he gives such a strict Charge about it. It is this that frames our Spirits for all other Duties, and makes them fit for every good Work; Sin never prevails more upon our Hearts than when God is shut out of our Thoughts; the Children of Israel did Evil, and forgot the Lord, therefore Remember thy Creator.  
Thirdly, It implies, that no Age is so prone to forget God, as that of Youth. Youthful Pleasures, and youthful Lusts and Vanities, do frequently turn the Heart away from God, therefore Solomon says, Childhood and Youth are Vanity, in the Words before the Text. It is Vanity, both  
In a Natural, and  
In a Moral Respect.  
It is Vanity in a Natural Respect, as being Frail and Mortal. Though by the Course of Nature, Young Ones may think to Live long, yet by reason of the Frailty of Nature, they may Die before the Eldest; many Younger than you lie yonder Rotting in their Graves. Now thou hast the Seeds of Death in thee, and thou hast Sin the Cause of Death cleaving to thee, and the Sentence lies against thee, and therefore tho' thou mayest please thyself with the Thoughts of Living many Years, like the Fool in the Gospel, yet thou mayest Die before to Morrow, as he did. Thou Fool, this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee. And as Youth is Vanity in a Natural Sense, so it is in a Moral Sense, for it is Tainted and Defiled with Lust and Corruption all over. Thou art a Child of Wrath from the Womb; under a Damning Gild, before ever thou didst commit one actual Sin, For by the Offence of one Judgement came upon all Men to Condemnation, Rom. 5.18. But alas! How much Gild hast thou Contracted by thy Actual Sin, thy Lying, thy Swearing, thy Drunkenness, thy Gluttonny, thy Pride and Envy, thy Lewdness and Uncleanness, thy sinful Mirth and Levity, thy Slothfulness and Vanity, thy Stubbornness and Obstinacy? These are the common Sins of Youth. And no wonder that that Soul is prone to forget God, where these Lust's reign; therefore Remember thy Creator.  
Fourthly, It is a Duty of the Greatest Equity, not only from the Will of him that Commands it, but from the Reason of the Command itself, which Consults Man's Good as well as God's Glory, and is it not Equal, that we should Remember that God that never forgets us, and that we should mind his Glory who is mindful of our Good? Besides, how Equal is it, that God, who is the First Cause, the Chief Good, and Last End, should be first owned, best loved, and most served? And is it not Equal, that Time, being so rare a Jewel, so great a Betrustment, so Rich a Talon, should be employed for him who gave it; and who can either continue it, or cut it short, as we either lay it out upon God, or profusely lavish it upon our Lusts? Therefore Remember thy Creator.  
Fifthly, God gives us this Memento, to mind us of that strict Account we must e'er long give to him for all our Time; Youth is to Account to God for a few Years, as well as Old Age is for many more; and therefore the Wise Man warns Young Ones of a Judgement Day for them, as well as for those of more Years, Eccles. 11.9. Rejoice, O Young Man, in thy Youth,— But know that for all those things, God will bring thee to Judgement. If we do not Remember to keep this Precept, God will Remember to punish the breach of it. If we forget our Obedience to God, he will not forget to punish our Disobedience; and therefore God puts a Memento upon this Command, that so we may be Awakened to our Duty, from the Sense of an Approaching Judgement. Remember thy Creator.  
But it is not barely an Act of the Mind that is here called for; it is not enough merely for you, to Remember or Think of God, for that is done in Hell; they all Remember God there; the Memory of the Damned shall then be more quick and strong than ever, and shall bring all your Sins into an Eternal view. Now the Sins of Youth are committed and forgotten by us, and we are apt to think God forgets them too, and that they shall never be remembered more; they say, Tush, the Lord seethe us not, Ezek. 8.12. But mark what God says, Psalms 50. ver. 21. These things hast thou done (speaking of their Sins before) These things hast thou done, and I kept Silence— But I will Reprove thee, and set them in Order before thine Eyes. Every Sin shall be set in Order, and come into Remembrance, in that Day. Son, says Abraham to the Rich Man, Son, Remember, Luke 16.25. pointing him back to his Lusts. If Sinners could but forget in Hell, it would be a Comparative Happiness. A Loss though never so great, yet when it is forgotten the trouble of it ceases It would be an ease to Sinners in Hell, if they could never think of God more, and if they could raze out the Remembrance of Christ and the Gospel out of their Minds, and forget that ever they heard of a Redeemer; to Remember what a God, what a Creator, what a Redeemer, what a Heaven, what a Happiness they had tendered to them, and therefore might have secured, but would not; to Remember what Calls they were once under, to Convert and Turn to God, and Close with Christ and Live, O how will this wound and afflict in that Day; I had once the Means of Grace, I heard the Preacher often Calling and Wooing me to leave my Lusts and come to Christ, I have many times felt the Convictions and Strive of the Spirit in me, under the Word, to bring it about, and had I had Wisdom to Consider, and a Heart to Comply, O how Happy had I been! I might have been one amongst the Blessed Saints in Heaven, who are here Tormented amongst Damned Spirits. O how often have I had Life and Death set before me, and therefore this Misery is the Fruit of my own Choice!  
To Remember Lost and Past Opportunities, O how will this Torment! Fool that I was, to have such a Price put into my Hands to get Wisdom, as once I had, and yet to have no Heart to it. Wretch that I was, that I could find Time for every thing else, but no Time for Eternity. I had Time to Eat, and Drink, and Sleep, and to mind the Work of my Calling, but no Time to Work out my Salvation. I had Time for my Mirth, and my Games, and my Sports, and Pleasures, and Youthful Vanities, but I could find no Time for God and my own Soul.  
To Remember upon what easy Terms they might have Escaped Wrath and Misery, and have been Happy for ever, will not this wound and torment? I was not put upon what was Impossible; Christ told me, his Yoke was Easy and his Burden Light, that his Commands were not grievous; it was but forsaking my Lusts, and Cordially accepting of Christ for my Saviour and Lord, and I had been Happy for ever; and how reasonable was this? If he had bid me do some great Matter, should I not have done it? How much more than when he laid upon me no other Conditions but these, Believe and be Saved, Seek my Face and Live. Remember thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth.  
O how bereft of Judgement was I, when I thought myself too Young for this Work, when I called God a Hard Master, and his Service Bonds and Bondage, when I Censured the Holy Ways of God as needless Preciseness, and cast off his Holy Laws as too Severe and Strict? O Cursed Wretch that I was and am, not to be Persuaded to Own and Embrace them.  
To Remember what it was that they Chose in lieu of Blessedness, and what they parted with Heaven and Glory for, this will Amaze and Confound a few Short-lived Pleasures, and Carnal Delights, a little Sensual Satisfaction of the Flesh, a few Pleasant Cups, or Sweet Morsels, a Heap of Gold, or a Puff of Honour; this is all I had for my Immortal Soul, and Eternal Salvation, and for a God who is the Chief Good, and in whose Favour is Life; so that you see God is Remembered in Hell. Nay, let me say it, he is in some Sense Remembered more there than he is here; for here the Ruin is so Distracted, with divers Lusts and Sensual Vanities, that they divert the Thoughts from their Proper Object, but in Hell there is nothing to flatter the Senses, no Objects to divert them; God is perpetually Remembered there, not as a Duty, but as a Punishment; not as a Comfort, but as a Torment. And let me tell you, it will be one of the greatest Torments of Sinners in Hell, to Remember what a God they have lost, what a Heaven they have miss, what precious Souls they have undone.  
But this Momento here in the Text, is a very Comprehensive Duty; in this Place it takes in the Whole of Religion, it comprehends the Whole Duty of Man.  
It is usual with the Spirit of God in Scripture, to include all the Operations of the Soul, in the mention of one single Act, and to denominate the Whole of Religion, by some one Chief Part of it, which is a Principle Productive of all the rest; sometimes we are Commanded to love God, sometimes to fear God, sometimes to seek God, and here in the Text to remember God, and in any one of these, all the rest are included; so that this Injunction, to Remember thy Creator, points us to a  Duty, without which it is not done as a Duty.  
First, This Remembering implies and supposes Knowledge; you can never Remember your Creator, unless you Know who he is; the Memory is the Store-House of the Soul, where known Truths are Treasured up. Christ says of the Scribe instructed for the Kingdom of Heaven, that he brings out of his Treasury Things New and Old.  
Knowledge is the first Step to Salvation; he will have all Men to be Saved, and come to the Knowledge of the Truth, 1 Tim. 2.4. and therefore the great Design of the Devil is to blot out the Knowledge of God from the Mind; his Kingdom is a Kingdom of Darkness, and he rules in the Darkness of this World; for he can lead the Blind which Way he will; and therefore he that doth not know God, cannot remember him; and he cannot be rightly known but in Jesus Christ. If one had a Knowledge of God as clear as that of the Angels, who never sinned, yet he cannot be rightly known by us but in Jesus Christ; without the Knowledge of Christ, we shall be miserable with all our Knowledge. Though the Knowledge of Christ be not simply necessary to the Angels that never sinned, and therefore needed not a Mediator, yet it was necessary for us who are by Sin Obnoxious to God's Wrath, and so need a Reconciler, because of our Enmity; and a Redeemer, because of our Slavery; a Refiner, because of our Filthiness; and a Mediator, because of our Distance, that he may bring us to God; and therefore the Knowledge of Christ is as necessary to Happiness, as the Knowledge of God; both are joined together as a needful Means of Salvation. This is Life Eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, Joh. 17.3. If we do not know God, we cannot know what is our Duty to him; and if we do not know Christ, we cannot know the way of Performing that Duty; the more we come to understand the Nature of God, and the Offices of Christ, the more we shall know of our Duty, and how to do it. There can be no Right Knowledge of God, but in and by Christ, He is the True Light that lightens every Man that comes into the World, John 1.9. Every One that partakes of this Light hath it from Christ. Natural Light is from Christ, and Spiritual Light much more. No Man hath seen God at any time; the only Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the Father, he hath Declared him. John 1.18. And therefore this Remembering thy Creator, includes in it the Saving Knowledge of God in Christ.  
Secondly, This Remembering includes Faith; he cannot be said to Remember God, who doth not Depend upon God, and Trust in him; therefore David Expresseth his Faith in God, by Remembering of him. Psalm 20.7. Some trust in Chariots, and some in Horses, but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God; that is, we will trust in his Name; others trust in Creatures, but we will trust in the Creator; others rely on an Arm of Flesh, but we will rely upon the Name of the Lord; then God is Remembered aright, when the Remembrance of him is accompanied with Faith and Trusting. Faith in God, is the best, the truest way of Remembering of God.  
It is said of Israel, Psalm 78.32. They believed not for his Wondrous Works; but when he slew them, than they sought him, and they remembered that God was their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer; that is, than they believed. So Isaiah 26.8. The Desire of our Souls is to thy Name, and to the Remembrance of thee; that is, to keep up the Glory of thy Name, by Acting Faith and Confidence in thy Word and Promises.  
Thirdly, This Remembrance implies Repentance; Forgetfulness and Impenitence always go together; Repentance is a Calling Sin to Remembrance, with a Due Sense of the Evil of it, and Sorrow for it, as it is done against God; and how can this be where God is forgotten? If there be no right Conceptions of the Nature of God, His Omniscience, His Holiness and Justice, there can be no Repentance for Sinning against him. They are frequent Remembrances, fresh Views of God, that work to Repentance and Self-abhorring. So it did in Job, Chap. 42.5, 6. Mine Eye seethe Thee; therefore I abhor myself, and Repent in Dust and Ashes.  
The Clearer Manifestations a Soul hath of God, the Deeper will its Humiliation for Sin be. When Peter remembered the words of Christ, than he went out and Wept bitterly. Till we Remember and Consider God in the Purity of his Holiness, the Severity of his Justice, the Tenderness of his Mercy, the Inevitableness of his Wrath, we can never truly Repent of Sin.  
Fourthly, This Remembering of God, carries Love in it. Though an Object be every Way Amiable, and made up of Delights, yet it can never be let into the Affections, so long as it is shut out of the Thoughts; nor on the other hand, can it be with any pleasure Remembered, when it has no room in our respect. God's Design and End is not so much to be Remembered by us, as to be Loved by us; and his bespeaking a room in our Thoughts, is that he may Dwell in our Hearts.  
The Highest Act of Honour the Creature can do to God, is to trust him, and love him. Those that Distinguish the Order of the Angels, place the Seraphims above the Cherubims, because they have a more ardent Love, as well as a more clearer Light; a Remembrance of God, without a suitable respect, will neither be Profitable nor Durable; for when any other Object Possesses our Affections, God is soon forsaken and forgotten; then a Man Remembers God aright, when his Affections are suitable to his Apprehensions.  
As it is with Sin, a Man hath not the right Notion of Sin, unless he feel the Weight of it, and loathe it. Then shall ye Remember your own Evil Ways,— and shall Loath yourselves for your Iniquity, Ezek. 36.31.  
Or as it is with the Word of God, no Man remembers the Word aright, if he do not Believe it, and Love it. So no one can have right Apprehensions of God, who has not Choice Affection to him, and his Chief Delight in him.  
Look what that is which we Love best, and we always think of that most; what a Man Loves best, is his Chief Good; and his Chief Good is his Treasure; and where the Treasure is, there the Heart will be, Christ says.  
What we Love, we Delight to think upon; as what we hate, we soon forget. So it is said of Jeshurun, Deut. 32.15. He forgot God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation. He lightly esteemed him, and therefore soon forgets him.  
If one that is but a common Acquaintance with you be Absent, you soon forget him; out of Sight out of Mind; but a bosom Friend, a dear Friend, a Friend that is as a Man's own Soul, you cannot forget such a one; Love will remember him, when the Eye cannot see him, and makes him Present, when he is Absent; nay, he lives in the Mind, when perhaps he lies dead in the Grave; therefore I Pray mind that Precept of our Lord, Matth. 22. ver. 37. Thou shalt Love the Lord with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Mind. Mark ye, it is not said only, Thou shalt Love God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, but with all thy Mind; we Love him with the Heart and Soul, when we Devote ourselves to him; and we Love him with our Mind, when we have him daily in our Thoughts and Remembrance; the Desire of our Souls is to thy Name, and to the Remembrance of thee, Isa. 26.8.  
Fifthly, This Remembering of him implies Obedience, Obedience to his Will; the Will of God is the Rule of Obedience, and his Will is made known in his Word. Obedience is Knowledge digested into Affection and Practice. Hence is that Counsel of David to his Son Solomon, Know thou the God of thy Father, and serve him with a perfect Heart, and with a willing Mind, 1 Chro. 28.9. Paul's first Question when touched his Heart was, Who art thou, Lord? And then the next was, What wilt thou have me to do? Acts 9.5, 6. to show us, that all Obedience is produced by Knowledge. As Ignorance is the Cause of Sin, so a Right Sense of God, is the best Antidote against it; for this begets Love; and the more God is beloved, the more readily he will be obeyed; a weak Conception, and a fruitless Remembrance of God, Glorifies him no more, than a Painter does the Person whose Picture he draws.  
The Glory of God consists not in the lifeless Notions of him, but in active Conformity to him; a Natural Man may have some Pleasure in knowing the Nature of God; Ay, but he cares not for knowing the Ways of God. Job, 21.14. They say,— we Desire not the Knowledge of thy ways. He would own him in his Mercy and Goodness, but he hath no regard to his Precepts, Mercy is suitable to our Wants but Obedience is repugnant to the Interest of the Flesh. That Knowledge of God which doth not take root in the Heart, and grow up into Obedience in the Life, it is Blindness and Ignorance in God's Account, whatever our Notions of it may be.  
Those Gentiles which are said to know God, Rom. 1.21. they are said, ver. 28. not to know God: The Sons of Eli could not but know the Lord, having such a good Father, and being the Lord's Priests: But yet because they were Lose and Vile in their Carriage and Behaviour, therefore they are said not to know the Lord, 1 Sam. 2.12. As there can be no Obedience where God is known; so that Knowledge of God stands for nothing which is not fruitful in Obedience.  
It is a Blessed thing so to know God, and so to Remember him, as not to forget his Precepts. It is Moses his Counsel to that People, and it is mine to you; Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, Deut. 8.11. How is that? The next Words tell you, in not keeping his Commandments; that is, forgetting of God. Disobedience is called a Forgetting God; They forgot God their Saviour, Psalm 106.21. And we are said to forget his Words, when we do not Remember his Commandments to do them, Psalm 103.18. And that which here in the Text is called Remembering thy Creator, is in Chap. 12. Ver. 13. expressed by Fearing God and keeping his Commandments; which is said to be the Whole Duty of Man.  
If the Authority of God be cast off, and we make not his Word the Rule of our Lives, he is as much forgotten as if he were utterly shut o● of our thoughts; therefore says David, Psal. 119.55. I have remembered thy Name, O Lord,— and have kept thy Law.  
Thus you see how much this Remembering thy Creator carries in it; to wit, 

Knowledge of God.  
Faith in God.  
Repentance toward God.  
Love to God. And,  
Obedience to the Will of God.    
When you Know God, so as to Believe in him; and Believe in God, so as to Repent of Sinning against him; and Repent, so as to express your Love to him; and Love God, so as to conform to his Will, and keep his Commandments; then is this Duty done as it ought, and you therein answer the Call in the Text, Remember thy Creator.  
And that brings me to the  
Second thing, The Object to be remembered, thy Creator: Remember thy Creator. In the Hebrew Text it is; Remember thy Creators, in the Plural Number; so it is used frequently, Gen. 1.1. God's Created the Heaven and the Earth; so Isa. 54.5. Thy Maker's is thy Husband, in the Plural; so Job 35.10. None saith, where is God my Makers.  
And its being thus Plurally expressed, it is very Emphatical; for it points us to Father, Son and Spirit; all the Three made Man; they were our Makers.  
The Father made Man, Gen. 6.7. The Lord said, I will Destroy Man whom I have Created.  
The Son made Man, Col. 1.16. By him were all things Created in Heaven and Earth.  
The Holy Spirit made Man Job 33 4. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life.  
There is a great Truth (which will give you to understand this) I say, there is a great Truth in that Maxim amongst Divines, That the Works of the Trinity, ad extra, towards the Creatures, are undivided. All the Three, Father, Son and Spirit, sat in Counsel to make Man; Let us make Man in our Image, in the Plural Number, Gen. 1.22. And it is very observable, that though our Makers here are expressed Plurally, yet the Image is put in the Singular Number; Let us make Man in our Image; not in our Images; but in our Image to note, that though the Persons are Three, yet the Image is but One: They have but one Nature, and so are but one God; therefore it is said, Mal. 2.13. Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God Created us? Father, Son and Spirit, and yet but one God; and shall we not Remember him that made us? Remember thy Creator. It is a Term that gives a Claim; God is thy Creator, and that gives him a Right to thee. All Souls are mine; as the Soul of the Father, so also the Soul of the Son is mine, Ezek. 18.4. The Soul, that is, the Person, a Part being put for the Whole frequently in Scripture. Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers. All Persons are mine, whether Father or Son, whether Old or Young, I am their Creator, I am their Common Father; and this gives God a just Right to thy Soul, to thy Body, to thy whole Person, to thy Life, to thy Strength, to thy Talents, to all thou Art, and all thou Hast, and to all thou canst Do; for he is thy Creator. He doth not say here, Remember thy God, but Remember thy Creator. God is not every one's God; we have lost him by the Fall; that Relation is cut off by Sin, till Grace restore it: But though he be not every one's God, yet he is every one's Creator; Fallen Creatures are his Creatures still as much as ever, and therefore thy Remembering him as thy Creator, is that that brings thee to Claim him as thy God: Thou owest thy Time, thy whole Time, to him; for thou art Created every Day by him; for Preservation is a continual Creation. Thou owest thyself and Service to this Creator. As thou art what thou art by his Power and Goodness, so thou oughtest to live to his Glory. He made thee after his own Image; and as thou art hereby more capable, so thou art more obliged to Remember him, and Honour him.  
Thirdly, Here is the limitation of the Time when he must be Remembered, that is now: Remember now thy Creator; which now sometimes used in a more Extended Sense, and sometimes in a more Restrained Sense.  
First, In a more Extended Sense; it is taken for the present Life, all the Time a Man lives in this World; and than it is opposed to Death. Death is no time to Remember God in; so says the Psalmist, Psal. 6.5. In Death there is no Remembrance of thee, in the Grave who shall give thee thanks? It is the same with that of the Wise Man, Eccles. 9.10. There is no Work, nor Device, nor Knowledge, nor Wisdom in the Grave whether thou goest; that is, when Death comes, it cuts off all our Opportunities.  
There is no Work in the Grave, that is no place of Business; there is none can be done by us, and therefore there is none required of us.  
And as there is no Work, so there is no Device; as there is nothing to be done to procure Salvation, so there is no Devising any way to escape Damnation; you cannot lie and think there: He returns to his Earth, in that very Day his thoughts perish, Psal. 146.4.  
Nor is there any Knowledge there either of Good or Evil, For the Dead know not any thing, Eccl. 9.5. And if there be no Work, nor Device, nor Knowledge, there can be no Wisdom. Wisdom is profitable to Direct, but there is none of this in the Grave.  
Wisdom lies in Choosing a Right End, and Pursuing it by Due Means; but there is none of this in the Grave.  
Wisdom lies in finding and embracing the Chief Good; but there is none of this Wisdom in the Grave.  
When Death comes it puts an end to all your Opportunities: In Scripture Opportunity is often called a Door, 1 Cor. 16.9. A great Door is opened to me. 2 Cor. 2.12. A Door was opened to me of the Lord. When God sends and makes way for the Gospel, and enlarges the Hearts of Ministers to Preach the Gospel, and opens the Hearts of People to receive the Gospel, than a Door is opened: Now if Death shuts this Door, it puts an end to all our Opportunities. And is there not a time coming when this Door, this open Door, will be shut: Pray Read Luke 13.24, 25. Strive to Enter in at the straight Gate, for many will seek to Enter in and shall not be able; when once the Master of the House is risen up, and hath shut to the Door, and ye begin to stand without the Door, and knock, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; the Master of the House is risen up, and the Door of Opportunity is shut. So Matt. 25.10. it is said of the Foolish Virgins, While they went to Buy Oil, the Bridegroom comes, and they that were ready went in with him, and the Door was shut; a sad word.  
Now you Read in Scripture of several Doors which will all be shut in that Day; there is the Door of Gospel Grace, Rev. 3.18. I have set before you an open Door, and no Man can shut it; but when Death comes that will shut it.  
There is a Door of Faith, Acts 14.27. He opened a Door of Faith unto the Gentiles; that is, he brought them to Believe in Christ; but when Death comes the Door of Faith shall be shut.  
There is a Door of Hope, Hos. 2.15. I will give them the Valley of Anchor for a Door of Hope; but when Death comes, this Door shall be shut for them that never entered into the Good Land, the Heavenly Canaan in this Life, Whose Hope shall be cut off, and whose Trust shall be a Spider's Web, Job 8.14.  
There is the Door of the Heart, where God stands and knocks; Rev. 3.20. Behold I stand at the Door and knock. And, my Brethren, God is this Day knocking at the Door of the Hearts of you Young Ones: He is now knocking by his Word, and what does he say? Remember now thy Creator. If any Man hear my Voice, and open the Door, I will come in to him, and Sup with him, and he with me; that is, I will give him the Saving Influences of my Spirit; he shall have Communion with me in Grace here, and Glory hereafter. O how should you Young Ones beg now that God would Put in his Hand by the hole of the Door, that you may open to him. Open ye Gates, stand open ye everlasting Doors, that the King of Glory may come in, Psal. 24.7. Rowl away the Stone, those Sins and Lusts that keep Christ out of the Heart; and do it now, lest God give you up to the Hardness of your Heart, and then when Death comes, you Perish in your Sins.  
Again, there is a Personal Door in Scripture; that is, the Lord Christ: I am the Door; by me if any Man enter in, he shall be saved, John 10.9. Now never did God set open such a Door of Hope, such a Door of Grace, such a Door of Salvation, as this is; In whom we have Boldness and Access with Confidence to God by the Faith of him, Ephes. 3.15. We have boldness to enter into the Holiest, by the Blood of Jesus, Heb. 10.9. Now this Door stands open ready to let you in; Christ calls you this Day to come, and he hath promised he will not shut you out, John 6.32. Is there never a Young Sinner here that hath a Heart to enter in at this Door to Day? Do it whilst it may be done, before it is too late; for when Death comes, this Door will be shut to: If we stand out now, there can be no entering in then, you must be shut out for ever. The Door of the Gospel will be shut, the Door of Faith, the Door of Hope, the Door of the Heart, the Door of Christ's Blood and Righteousness will be shut; and therefore the Door of God's Bowels and Mercy will be shut: All these Doors will be shut against thee in that Day; therefore then there can be no Entering, for Death will put an end to all thy Opportunities; therefore Remember now thy Creator; that is, now in the time of this Life; for Now is the Accepted Time, now is the Day of Salvation, 2 Cor. 6.2. And thus much for the Extended Sense of this NOW in the Text.  
Secondly, Sometimes this NOW is used in a more Restrained Sense, not only for the present Life, but for the present Time of this present Life: So it is used in the Text; therefore Mark, it is not said only, Remember now thy Creator; that is, only now in this Life, but now in the Days of thy Youth, in the early part of thy Life; and so now is opposed to hereafter; and this makes the Work of Closing with God in Christ to be a present Duty, a Duty to be done without delay; Remember him now in the Days of thy Youth. The Life of Man from the Womb to the Grave, consists of Three Stages; Infancy, Youth, and Old Age; and the Duty here is not affixed to the first, for Infancy is too soon to know God, when we cannot know ourselves: Nor is it affixed to the latter, for Old Age is too late to serve God, when we cannot serve ourselves: But it is affixed to Youth; this is the only time to know both ourselves and God, and our Lost Condition without him, and our Happiness by an Interest in him; therefore Remember now thy Creator, now, in the Days of thy Youth. Indeed Youth is the only time of Life for this. In Infancy we are too Young to live, being but in our Imperfect Beginnings; in Age we are too Old to Live, being in our Drooping and Declining.  
The Life of Man is a Life of Reason; now Children are too Young to understand, and Old Men are twice Children; and therefore the Days of thy Youth are the only Days of thy Life to Remember thy Creator in; Remember now thy Creator, now, in the Days of thy Youth. And so I should come now to the Conclusion I thought to speak to; but I pass that by for the present, and come from Explication to the Application, but in two Uses.  
The first shall be of Reproof to all such as forget God now in their Youth: O what a Common Sin is this, especially amongst Young Ones! A Sin (I think) that never was so common as now; it is a Complaint every where, that the Youth of the Nation is generally Corrupted and Debauched; and it may appear by the Bills you put up full of Complaints of their States: Pray for an Undutiful Child that despises his Parent's Counsel, says one; Pray for a Sabbath-breaking Child, says another; Pray for a Child that Dishonours God by Cursing, and Swearing, and Lying, says a third; and so many more: And truly Parents may very much thank themselves for this. It very much proceeds from want of Good Government, by timely Instruction and Correction; and the want of this at home, together with Evil Examples abroad, hath so leavened the Youth of this Day, and stained them with such vicious Tinctures, that God is not in all their Thoughts. Nay, they cannot endure the Name of God, unless it be to Curse or Swear by it: And is not this for a Lamentation? It is such a Sin, as would you be persuaded seriously to consider of it, you would be ashamed of; for it is the most unreasonable thing in the World to forget God: It is such a Sin, as if God would help you to lay it to Heart, you would be ashamed of it. See how God Disputed the Case with Israel, Jer. 2.2. What Iniquity have your Fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and walked after Vanities, and becomr Vain, neither say they, where is the Lord? As if God should say, tell me what have you against me? What Evil have I done? As Christ says, Many Good Works have I done, for which of them do you Stone me? What have you to lay to my Charge? Have I been a Barren Wilderness, or a Land of Darkness? If so, you have some occasion to Revolt and Forget me; but if not, why say ye, We will come no more at thee? Jer. 2.31.  
O what a shame is it that any one should forget God, that never did him hurt, but good, all the Days of his Life. Pray Consider that first Question in your Catechism, Who made you? You once were not; and that which once was not, could not make itself; as Nothing has no Existence, so it can have no Operation: Nothing cannot be a Creator to every one of you. You derive your Being's from God, It is he that made us, and not we ourselves, Psalm. 100.3. therefore you are called the Offspring of God; Acts 17.28. In him we live, move, and have our Being, for we are his Offspring. Now what a shame is it that a Creature that is made by God should forget his Maker? God complains of this, Isa. 51.13. They forgot the Lord their Maker; and should he be forgotten that gave us our Being?  
Honour thy Father and thy Mother; it is a Law written in Nature; they deserve the highest Respect and Reverence, because they were the Instruments of our Being. Now God is much more the Author of our Being than he that Begat us, or than she that Brought us forth: Thou art he, says David, that took me out of the Womb; thou art my God from my Mother's Belly. Parents are but the Second Causes of our Being; God is the First Cause, and all Second Causes depend upon the First, in their Being and Operation; therefore Man is nothing in our Production, if compared with God; and shall this God be forgotten, and sinned against? He calls Heaven and Earth to witness against such Rebels, Isa. 1.2. Hear, O Heaven, and give Ear, O Earth, for the Lord hath said, I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have Rebelled against me. Heaven and Earth will cry out against you, if he that made us be not remembered and owned by us.  
Secondly, Consider what a Price God has put into your Hands for the good of your Souls. He hath not only made you, but he hath made Seasons of Grace for you: Seasons for the getting the Knowledge of God in Christ: Seasons for getting an Interest in Christ: He has given you his Sabbaths, his Word, his Ordinances, a Powerful Means and Ministry: Nay, many Young Ones have felt somewhat of the Power of these things; God has been at Work with them betimes, their Hearts have been touched, the Spirit of God hath wrought in them some Convictions of Sin, and of their lost undone State. O what a Price has God put into your Hands; and how can you answer the neglect of it? What says Solomon? Prov. 17.16. Wherefore is there a Price put into the Hand of a Fool to get Wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? He that hath a Price put into his Hands to get Wisdom, and hath no Desire in his Heart to it, that Man is a Fool: God says so, He is a Fool: And as he is so now in the Judgement of others, so he will be so one Day in his own. It will be a Sword in his Heart to consider, I might have had God for my God, but I forgot him. I might have had an Interest in the blessed Redeemer, but I neglected it. I might have been Saved, but I let slip all these Opportunities that God put into my Hands. I have now woefully destroyed a Precious Soul by my Impenitent continuance in my Cursed Lusts, against the Calls and Counsels of God.  
It is an awakening Passage, Eccles. 8.6. Because to every Purpose there is Time and Judgement, therefore the Misery of Man is Great upon him. Therefore; Wherefore? Why, because he hath not Judgement to discern the fittest Opportunity for every Purpose. Many Young Ones, O how do they purpose that they will seek God hereafter? How do they purpose to mind their Salvation? One purposes a New Life, and a Better Course; and God has given every one of you time for this, but they want Wisdom to know the Time; and so the Opportunity is lost and gone, and they are miserable for ever; Because to every Purpose there is Time and Judgement, therefore the Misery of Man is great. Sirs, Consider it. Young Ones, how will your fruitless Repentance begin; when your Opportunities are past and gone, than you will see your Folly: At his Latter End he shall be a Fool- He was a Fool at first, but he shall see it at last; at his Latter End, he shall be convinced of his Folly.  
Thirdly, Young Ones, you that now forget God, and slight Religion, and indulge to your Lusts; let me tell you, you are a Judgement to the Nation, a Judgement and a Plague to the Land; I have formerly said it to you, and I say it again, the Youth of a Nation are always a great Good or a great Mischief to the Nation; they are either the Hope or the Plague of the Land. When Young Ones are Serious, and mind God and their Souls, when the Word of God is Precious to them, to Awaken and Convert them to Season their Hearts with Wisdom, to Know and Remember God, to Seek after Christ, to Honour Religion, by a Sober and Holy Conversation; such a Race of Youth are a Blessing in any Age, they are a Blessing of God to a Land.  
But when the Youth of a Nation cast off Religion, cast off all Duty to God and Man, and all Sobriety and Virtue, and grow Proud, Profligate, Profane, tainted with all manner of Wickedness, even to Atheism itself, What shall we say then? Then I say, this is a sad sign of some Judgement of God coming upon the Land; and indeed we have many Young Ones in this Day, such Monsters in Wickedness as hath not been known in any Age; such Young Swearers that can scarce speak plain; Young Sabbath-breakers, Young Blasphemers; Young Atheists; never any Age produced the like; and for accompanying with Harlots, and all manner of Uncleanness, that is become a Fashion: Therefore I tell you, and I tell you from the Word of the Lord; and I beg you would Consider it; there is some sore Judgement of God near at hand; I tell you the truth, it is near, and hastens greatly; a Day of Trouble and Distress, a a Day of Wasting and Desolation; therefore, my Brethren, I speak it with an Aching Heart, England is now big with such a Brood as will Eat out our Bowels; the Children will Destroy the Mother; therefore Pray hearken to a word of Exhortation, and not from me, but from the Lord; it is the Exhortation in the Text, O Remember your Creator now in the Days of your Youth! Now, if ever; now, or never; now, in the Days of your Youth. As ever you would have Good Times, as ever you would have God own this Nation, as ever you would have the Gospel continued in the midst of you, O Remember your Creator!  
First, Remember how he Created you in his own Image; every one of you was made in the Image of God; every one; though the Moral Image of God is blotted out by the Fall, that Image that consisted in Righteousness and Holiness, that is lost; yet there is a Natural Image of God which is seated in the Intellective and Elective Powers of the Soul; and this every one of you hath; this Image every one brings into the World with him; it cannot be lost; it shall be carried to Heaven and Life, and to Hell too: It will be the Comfort of Saints in Heaven, and the Torment of Sinners in Hell, to lie there with this Image of God, there their Mind, Understanding, Memory, to Consider and Remember how they Sinned against this God in their Lives. Now why has God stamped every one with his Image, but to make him capable of Knowing God, and Choosing God, and Loving God, and Closing with God, and Desiring God, and Serving God, and Enjoying Communion with God? This is the End why he put his Natural Image into every Soul; otherwise Man might have Served God as Brute Creatures do; but he could never have known him, never have had Communion with him: Now shall we bear this Image of God, and shall we not labour to know the Lord?  
Secondly, Remember him so as to make it the Chief Business of your Lives to seek him, and to Seek him while he may be found. It is the Counsel of the Holy Ghost, Seek the Lord while he may be found. When is that? He tells you, Prov. 8.17. They that seek me early shall find me. Now he seeks God early, that makes it his first Work; therefore says our Lord, Seek first the Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added to you, Mat. 6.33. Seek the Kingdom of God as the End, and his Righteousness as the Means; for Grace is the way to Glory, Holiness to Happiness. Without Righteousness there is no Heaven to be had; but with it comes both Heaven and Earth too; for Godliness hath the Promise of both Lives, both that which is now, and that which is to come: But this Kingdom must be first sought; First seek the Kingdom of God; first, before every thing; and first, above any thing else.  
Our Interest in God is lost by the Fall; it may be recovered, and there is nothing so useful to be sought and secured as that. Is not the Life more than Meat, and the Body than Raiment? Says Christ: So say, is not Heaven more than Earth? Is not God better than the Worldi, and Spiritual Blessings better than Temporal? O therefore, let not the Lean Kine devour the Fat; nor the things of the World shut God and Christ out of our Hearts and Thoughts. The Spiritual Blessings are the best, therefore God Promises them first. He will give Grace and Glory, Psal. 84.11. There be Spiritual Blessings; and he will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly; there follow Temporals. God suits his Mercies to our Necessity; therefore he gives them first that we need most.  
This should direct our Duties, and teach us what to Beg, and what to Seek. Seek God in the the first place, God in Christ; and and if Spiritual Mercies be secured, Temporal Mercies, so far as is for your good, shall never be denied: Therefore let it be your Work to seek God before all, above all, and more than all; for he is all in all: But be sure to seek him in Christ, or I tell you, you will never find him, nor find acceptance with him. Since the Fall, God is not to be found, but only by a Mediator; He that finds me, saith Christ, findeth Life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord, Prov. 8.33.  
O get an Interest in Christ; of all things, Young Ones, get an Interest in Christ, a hearty Closing with Christ, a Saving Faith in Christ; this is the right way of Remembering your Creator. Remember him so as to Obey him, and Live to him; that is the Sense of the Apostle's Counsel, 1 Pet. 4.19. Commit your Souls to him in well-doing, as to a faithful Creator; it must be in well-doing. He hath promised Eternal Life to them who seek him by Patiented continuance in well-doing, Rom. 2.7. And therefore let me add this, as you must Remember him first, so you must Remember him to the Last: Pray take that, and I will have done: As you must remember God first, so you must remember him to the last: You must begin with God, and you must end with him: O take heed of beginning in the Spirit, and ending in the Flesh.  
You Read in the 20th of Matthew, that the Labourers came to Work in the Vineyard at very different Hours: Some came Early in the Morning; some at the Third Hour; some at the Sixth; some at the Ninth Hour; and some at the Eleventh: Some came in Earlier, and some Later; they did not all come in in the Morning. Ay, but they all tarried till the Evening; they all Laboured till the Evening.  
It is the Wise Man's Counsel, and O that God would help you to take it! In the Morning Sow thy Seed, and in the Evening hold not back thine Hand, Eccles. 11.6. My Brethren, God must have the Duty of the whole Day of your Life: Christ says so, I must work the Work of him that sent me while it is Day. Christ never spent one Hour of his Day Idly. The Lord Pity Young Ones; How do they Idle away their Time? God must have the Duty of the whole Day; for as we are here in the Text called to seek him Early, so we are commanded to seek him continually. 1 Chron. 28.7. God is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the Ending; therefore as we are to begin with him first, so we are to hold on with him to the last: For he that endures to the end shall be saved: Be thou faithful to the Death, and I will give thee a Crown of Life, Rev. 2.10.  
Now I might urge this Duty upon you, which is so great by many Arguments.  
From what God is to us; our Creator.  
From the Command laid upon thee to Remember him as such.  
From what he deserves of us; For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; therefore Glory should be to him for ever, Rom. 11.32.  
But I shall urge but this one Motive, and I have done. The Present Time is only thine; thou hast a great Work to do, a God to remember, a Christ to seek, Sin to kill, Grace to get, a Heaven to mind, a Hell to avoid, a Soul to save, a strict Day of Judgement to pass through; O what work have we to do! And all the Time we have to do it in is but Now: The Present Season is only thine, thy Days are here limited and bounded in the Text to a Present now; Now in the Days of thy Youth. What Fools are Young Ones now to say, by the Grace of God I intent to Repent hereafter, and I will seek after God hereafter. I am too Young now, when God says, Remember thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth?  
You little think how soon Death may come; it doth not always give warning; what warning had the Rich Man? Thou Fool, this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee; when he cries out, I have Goods laid up for many Years. What warning had Job's Children, that were all taken away in an Hour? O Sirs! Death hath several passages to your strong Holds, that you cannot find out: He doth not lay long Siege to all: There is no saying to Death when it comes, there is one Older than I, take him; there is one was Grace when I was but a Child, let him go first. No, Sirs, you must know that Sin hath altered the Course of Nature; the Son Dies before the Father, and the Daughter before the Grandmother.  
I say therefore, the Present Time is only yours; yesterday can never be recalled, and to Morrow may never be enjoyed: The Present Time is only yours. Young Ones Die as well the Old: Blossoms are liable to Nipping in the Spring, as well as full Grown Fruit to Rotting in Autumn. Thou that art Young and Strong; thou art not sure of another Year, no, nor of another Day: O therefore who would hazard his precious Soul upon such uncertainties! Opportunity ended returns no more: There is hope of a Tree if it be cut down, (saith Job) that it will sprout again; but Man lieth down, and riseth not till the Heavens be no more.  
Sirs, Pray remember we have but one Arrow of Life to hit the Mark with, and if we shoot at Random we lose all; therefore we had need be good Archers. O what will you do, Young Ones, what will you do, if your Day be ended before your work be finished, if your Paradise be laid waste before the Tree of Life be planted in it! O therefore that you would be persuaded to hearken to God here in the Text, To Remember thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth, while the Evil Days come not, nor the Days draw nigh, wherein thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them!   

THE Youths Best Choice. II. DISCOURSE.  
Eccles. xii. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth, while the Evil Days come not, nor the Years draw nigh, in which thou shalt say, I have no Pleasure in them.  
THere are two great Concerns which lie upon all our Hands, which ought to be seriously thought of by us, and duly attended; the one is, A Wise Improving this present Life, and the other is, A careful providing for a better; two Things which none can be too Diligent about; and he that is truly Faithful in one, will in some Measure be Conscious in both: And both these are pointed at in the Text. For he that in the Days of his Youth Remembers his Creator as he ought, does at once rightly improve the present Life, and wisely provide for that to come, and so unites in his Practice those Duties that God hath joined together in the Precept, Remember thy Creator now in the Days of thy Youth, etc.  
In which Words you have the Call and Command of God to a very Important Duty; wherein we may observe,  
First, The Act or Duty itself, to Remember.  
Secondly, The Object to be Remembered, Thy Creator.  
Thirdly, The Season wherein this Duty is to be put in Practice, now. But lest you should think that this now takes in the whole time of the Present Life, therefore he does exclude the latter Part of Life, and limits this now to the former Part; Remember thy Creator now in the Days of Youth.  
I did the last Year, as some of you may remember, upon this Occasion, speak from these Words. I then only opened them to you, and shown the Comprehensive Sense of them, without making any Observation from them. I told you, that this remembering our Creator points to a Fivefold Duty.  
First, To a right Knowledge of God; and he cannot be rightly known, but in and by Christ; we cannot else know the Way of doing it; for he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life: And therefore the right Remembering our Creator, includes in it a Saving Knowledge of God in Christ.  
Secondly, This Remembering includes believing; we cannot be said to remember God in the Sense of the Text, if we do not depend upon him, and trust in him; therefore David expresses his Faith in God, by remembering of him, Psalm 20.7. Some trust in Chariots, and some in Horses, but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God: That is, others trust in Creatures, but our trust shall be in God.  
Thirdly, Remembering implies Repenting; Forgetfulness and Impenitency always go together; Sinning is called in Scripture, a Forgetting God, and Repentance is a calling Sin to Remembrance, with a true Sense of the Evil of it, and Sorrow for it, as done against God; and therefore where God is forgotten, and out of our Remembrance, there can be no Repentance.  
Fourthly, Remembering our Creator, carries in it Love and Respect. Though an Object be every way Amiable, and made up of Delights, yet it can never be remembered with pleasure, when it hath no room in our Respect. God's Design and End in requiring to be remembered by us, is, that he may be loved by us; and his bespeaking a Place in our Thoughts, is, that he may have a Room in our Hearts. The highest Act of Honour the Creature can do to God, is to trust him, and love him. A Remembrance of God, without suitable Respect, cannot answer the Call in the Text, because it is but passant and transcient: For when any other Object possesseth our Affections, God is soon forgotten and forsaken. What we love, we love to think on, as what we slight, we soon forget. As it is said of Jeshurun, he forgot God that made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation.  
Fifthly, This Remembering of God includes obedience to his Will. Obedience is nothing else but Knowledge, digested into Affection and Action. Hence is that Counsel of David to his Son Solomon, Know thou the God of thy Fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart, and willing mind. As there can be no Obedience, where God is not known, so that Knowledge of God stands for nothing, that is not fruitful in Obedience: Mark that Counsel of Moses, Deut. 8.11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God: How is that? The next Words tell you, in not keeping his Commandments. Disobedience is a forgetting God; so that that which in the Text is called a Remembering our Creator, is in the last Chapter of this Book, ver. 13. expressed, by fearing God, and keeping his Commandments. If the Authority of God be cast off, and we make not his Word the Rule of our Lives, he is as much forgotten in a Scripture Sense, as if he were utterly shut out of our Thoughts: So says David, I have remembered thy Name, O Lord, and have kept thy Word. So that you see this Remembering is a very Comprehensive Term.  
Then the Object to be Remembered was opened to you, (thy Creators) for in the Original it is in the Plural Number; and so it points to Father, Son, and Spirit. It is not said Remember thy God, but, Remember thy Creator. God is not every one's God, but he is every one's Creator; fallen Creatures, they be his Creatures still, as much as ever; and this Remembering him as thy Creator, is that that gives thee a Claim to him as thy God.  
And then in the last place I opened to you the Season of this Duty, now; not now as intending any time of Life, but now in the Days of thy Youth. I insisted largely upon these things, in the opening of them to you, and improved them by a Particular Application: And this is the sum of what I spoke last Year upon these Words.  
I now come to give you some Observations from them; one is this.  
That Youth is naturally very prone to forget God; this is plainly implied: For what need else of this Memento in the Text, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth.  
Another might be this; that the true and best Improvement of Youthful Days, is to devote them to God, to mind Religion betimes.  
But I shall not speak to any of these; my Design, at present, is to speak to the Words as they lie in the Original.  
Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Choice: The Word that we render Youth, here the Days of thy Youth, is from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Elect, to Choose; and accordingly Montanus renders the Word; Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Choice.  
Now this admits of a double Sense. Either,  
Thy Choice Days, or thy Choosing Days.  
First, The Days of Youth they are your Choice Days, the Prime of your Time, the Flower of your Age. As the Spring is the choice time of the Year, so is Youth the choice time of Life; Nature is then most brisk, and active, and full of vigour, and the Spirits quick and lively, the Wit sharp, the Affections strong, the Memory retentive; and therefore there is no time to mind Religion like this choice time of Youth.  
O where now are those isaac's that meditate whilst they are young? Where are those jacob's that seek for the Blessing betimes? Where are those Children that ask their Parents as they under the Law did? What mean the Sabbaths and the Ordinances of the Lord, that we may also keep them? Where are the Children amongst you that sing Hosannah's to Christ, as they did in the Days of his Flesh? These are the Young men's Looking Glasses; and because we are led by Example more than by Precept, therefore the Holy Ghost has set before you these Precedents in Scripture, that you may imitate and copy them out; these are choice Patterns, and if you make Conscience to follow them in your Choice Days, you will show yourselves to be a Chosen Generation, Children that God will delight to own. But,  
Secondly, (For I will pass that too) the Days of Youth, they are your Choosing Days; as they are Choice Days, so the Days of your Choice. Choosing, What is that? Why it is a deliberate Act of the Soul, it is done upon Consideration and Debate; when a Man upon a Judgement rightly informed and Affections thereby engaged, does cleave to God, and the Ways of God, that is Election and Choice.  
The Observation then that I shall lay down from the Sense of the Words, is this, that it is the great Concernment and Duty of Young Ones, to make God the Object of their First Choice, to begin with God in their First Setting Out in the World.  
We never enter into God's Service aright, till we enter upon it by Choice, for God will have it so: Choose you this Day whom you will Serve, either the true God, or Idols: Not as if it were at their own liberty to serve which they pleased: No, but to convince them of the Folly of a bad Choice, and to direct them to a right Choice.  
But for the clearing of the Doctrine, I will show you,  
First, What it is to choose God.  
Secondly, I will give you the Reasons of the Concernedness of the Duty.  
And so apply it.  
First, What is it to choose God? It implies Five Things.  
First, A due Consideration of the Object, its Nature, Worth, and Excellency; till things are duly weighed in the Balance of a true Judgement, we can never make a right Choice; and here the business sticks with Young Ones. In this first Work we cannot persuade them to consider, they will not weigh things, but they will act according to the inclination of their Lusts; therefore the Apostle advises us to resolve upon trial, 1 Thes. 5.21. Prove all things, and hold fast that which is good: A Man will never hold fast that which is Good, until he first prove and try it.  
Indeed the things which are usually opposed to Religion, are such poor paltry Vanities, that they are not worthy to be set in competition with God, or to come into a serious Debate: How easy is it to resolve which is fittest to be pleased, God, or the Flesh? Whether the Transitory Pleasures of Sin should be preferred to the Life and Salvation of an Immortal Soul. A Serious Consideration on these Things, would soon determine the Matter on God's side.  
Secondly, This Choosing of God, implies Esteem and Preference; for Election and Choice is the preferring one thing before another. Our Choice of all Objects is according to our Esteem of them: As far as we judge a thing needless, so far we count it worthless. Let a Man have but slight Thoughts of God, and his Duties shall be as short as his Thoughts are slight: Mean Apprehensions are ever attended with listless Devotions. It is the Soul that highly esteems God, that chooses and seeks him. What said Caleb and Joshua when they returned from spying out the Land of Canaan, and had tasted the sweet Fruits of it? O, say they, it is a good Land, let us go up and take it at once: But the other Spies that undervalved it, laid aside the thoughts of Possessing, and are for facing about to Egypt.  
Though God and Christ are the best Good, yet there are many Competitors that stand as Rivals with them in the Soul; and therefore your Choice can never be right, unless these Rivals be trampled under foot. It is said of the Wise Merchant, that when he had found a Pearl of great Price, he went and Sold all that he had, and bought it, Mat. 13.46. First, he shows his Esteem of it, as a Pearl of great Price, and then he parts with all to purchase it. What a high Esteem had Paul of Christ? The Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, Phil. 3.8. There is his Value of him; and see how it drew his Heart after him; I count all things but Loss— that I may Win Christ. It is not enough to approve of God and his Ways simply, but we must approve of them comparatively; not only as good in themselves, but as better than all other good whatever. We shall never choose God before all, till we come to Esteem him above all.  
Thirdly, This choosing of God, implies a voluntary Inclination and Desire; a Man is said to choose those things which he Likes and Loves, and which his Soul Inclines to. So that he is carried after them, not by the Force of any External Principle, but by his own Propension and Inclination, and this supposes Love; for Desires are the Natural Issues of Love.  
The Soul can never mount upward, if the Affections tend downward; and therefore when the Holy Ghost would give an advance to the Life of God in the Soul, he gins first with the Affections; Set your Affections on things above; and then, as Desires always spring from Love, so they are drawn forth by a Sense of Want; for what we Love, and have not, that becomes a Want; and Sense of Want will quicken Appetite, and set Desires on Work; now these Desires must be fed and satisfied, and that none can do, but God; therefore it is God that he chooses.  
Fourthly, This choosing implies a firm Purpose, and a fixed Resolution, of adhering to our choice. We never choose till we bring our Minds and Wills to a firm Purpose; there may be many good Thoughts and Wishes in the Soul, but still till we are resolved for God, we do not choose him. When the Heart is Peremptory and Fixed for God, that will come to something; when the Soul says, I see I am an undone Creature, I am convinced of my State, and the Necessity of my Case; I must have God, I must secure an Interest in Christ, I must be Born again, I must mind the saving of an Immortal Soul, this will come to somewhat; and a Profession of Religion (let me tell you) signifies very little till it comes to this. Who is this that hath engaged his Heart to Approach to me, says God, Jer. 30.21. It is Resolution that engages the Heart for God, and makes our choice of him firm and unalterable; especially if it be deliberate and entire.  
First, It must be deliberate from a Sense and Conscience of our Duty and Interest. Resolves taken up upon Sudden Surprises or Present Heats, rarely produce any good Effect: This is often the Case of you Young Professors, that are like an Early Spring, all Blossoms, but no Fruit; or like a Vapour Exhaled by the Warmth of the Sun, that rises no higher than the middle Region, where it is Condensed, and drops down again: This is that very thing that makes so many Apostates from God and his Ways; they take up a Profession of Religion too soon before the Word of God has taken Root in the Heart. Indeed a Soul that chooses God aright, can never Profess him too soon, the sooner the better; but he that makes a Profession of God, before he makes a choice of God, before the Word is rooted in the Heart, or any thing of the Power of Religion is felt within, such a one takes up a Profession too soon. It is said of the Seed Sown in stony Places, Mat. 43. Forthwith it sprung up. Above ground too soon; it grows upward, but not downward; all Blade, but no Root: So says Christ, Verse 21. Yet hath he not Root in himself: And what follows? He dureth but for a while. A Mushroom Christian, the Birth of a Night, and the Abode of a Day. Such begin too soon to hold out with God long: This has caused many Scoffers at Religion to take up that Envious Proverb, A young Saint, and an old Devil: whereas if they had said, A young Hypocrite, and an old Apostate, it had been a Truth too too often Experienced. Flashy Affections, that have no Principles to maintain them within, come to nothing; they are like Fire in Green Wood, that burns no longer than it is blown; or like Water hanged over a Quick Flame, that is soon Hot, but when it is taken off again, is as soon Cold; nay, Colder than it was before; because the Natural Spirits are evaporated. How nimbly does the Windmill Work when it blows a Brisk gale, but the Wind no sooner ceases, but the Mill stands: So sudden and immature Resolutions come to nothing; they must be managed with Judgement and Deliberation: David's Practice is an excellent Pattern, Psalm 119.59. I considered my ways, and turned my Feet to thy Testimonies: David speaks like a Man under a Dilemma, as having two ways before him; there is the Way of Sin, and Lust, and Carnal Delight; this the Flesh presents, and it seems an easy and a pleasant Way: Ay, but it leads to Destruction. Then there is the Way of God's Commandments: This the Word presents, it is Narrow, it is Troublesome, but it leads to Life, and that makes amends for all. Now when we stand still, and debate upon the Choice, which of these is the better Way, and consider the Loss and the Gain of either Side; and the final Issue of the one Way, and the other, and thereupon resolve to take in with the Ways of God, as promoting our truest Interest and Felicity, this is a deliberate Resolution: And this was the Course of that Prodigal Son, when he came to himself, Luke 15. v. 17. he first bethinks himself, falls into a serious Debate of his Case, How many Hired Servants of my Father's have Bread enough, and I perish with hunger? What shall I do? I will arise and go to my Father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son, make me as one of thy hired Servants: Thus he debates the case with himself, and thereupon takes up this resolve, well, I will arise, and go to my Father; there is his deliberate Resolution.  
Secondly, Our Resolution must be entire; that is, without boggling at any of God's Commands, and without the reserve of any one Sin or Lust; for no Man can serve two Masters; the Commands of Christ and Satan are absolutely inconsistent; Obedience to the one is downright Rebellion against the other; we must not capitulate with Christ, and think that strictness in some Duties will excuse our Indulgence to any Lust; the great standing Law of Heaven is, Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and him only shalt thou serve. The Work of the Christian Calling is such, as that it cannot be done without this; we have many Enemies to oppose, many Sins to conquer, many Lusts to mortify, many Duties to perform; therefore our Resolution must be entire; and that is a Fourth Thing.  
Fifthly, This Choosing in the Text implies a complacency and delight in the Object of our choice; though Election be an Act of the Will, yet it is quickened by the Motions of the Affections: As where the Will is bend against Sin, there is always a hatred of it included; so wherever it fixes upon God, it is attended with pleasure and delight. When David had chosen God for his Portion, he expresses a delight in his choice, Psalm 16. v. 6. The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage: This is the Language of a Soul affected with its own Felicity, and the pleasure it takes in an All-sufficient Good: So it was in his choosing the Precepts of God, says he, I have chosen thy Precepts, Psalms 119.173. and in the next Verse, Thy Law is my Delight: A Man loves what he chooses; and where there is Love in the Choice, there will be Pleasure in the Service; for to love there is nothing grievous. Thus you see what this choosing God does imply and carry in the Nature of it, and that is the First Thing.  
Secondly, Let me give you the Reasons, why it is the Duty of Young Ones thus to choose God. Why,  
One great Reason is, because God commands it, that is the First. Pray mind that of the Apostle, 2 Epistle John, v. 4. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy Children walking in the Truth, as we have received a Commandment from the Father: Pray mind, these were a Lady's Children, to teach us, there are none too great to be good; these Children were found walking in the Truth; not taking a step or two, making it a Business by the by, as your Genteels, and great Persons use to do; but they persisted in it, they were steady in the Ways of God, and that in their Childhood, against all the Tide and Stream of Youthful Lusts. Now this was that God had commanded. Mark ye, though they were Children, yet God commands this of them, I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy Children walking in the Truth, even as we have received a Commandment from the Father: But where do we find this Command, that Youth should devote themselves to God? You have it in the Text, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth: And there is a Command older than that, Psalm 78.5, 6, 7. He established a Testimony in Jacob, and appointed a Law in Israel, which he commanded our Fathers, that they should make them known to their Children: (What for?) That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the Works of God, but keep his Commandments. Nay, our Lord Jesus Christ strictly enjoins it, Matt. 6.33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and the Righteousness thereof. First, here does not only not a Pre-eminence first above all, but it notes a Priority first before all.  
It is very Observable, that our Saviour in that Prayer he gave to his Disciples, which you call the Lord's Prayer, he gives but one Petition for Temporal Things, and Five for Spiritual; and that for Temporals is neither the First nor the Last. Not the First, for Hallowed be thy Name is before it. Nor is it the Last, for Deliver us from Evil comes after it; to teach us that we must begin and end with God. In Mat. 21.28. The Command of the Father to his Son, is, Go Work to Day in my Vineyard: The command of God brooks no Delays, the Promises of God have Respect to the Future, but the Command looks to the Present; To Day if you will hear his Voice, harden not your Hearts. Why did God under the Law require for himself the first Sheaf of the Harvest, the first ripe Fruits, the Firstlings of the Herd and Flock, but to teach us, that our first Affections, our first Strength, our first Desires, and first Choice, and first Service, should be Devoted to God? For it is the command of God, and that is the great Reason and Rule of all Obedience; that is one.  
Another Reason is this, the Nature of your Extract and Original requires this. Pray where had you your Being's? Young Ones, how came you into the World? Who made you? The Text tells you who this is in the very Notion God is mentioned in thy Creator. There is a Concatenation of Reasons, for the Creatures Owning and Choosing the Service of God, included in this Notion of a Creator.  
First, He made us, and not we ourselves, Psalm 100.3. The Prophet Isaiah says, He spreadeth forth the Earth, he gives Breath to the People upon it, and Spirit to them that Walk therein, Isaiah 42.5. So Elihu says, Job 33.4. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life; and is it not Reason that he that made us should b owned by us?  
The Name of Father and Mother bespeaks all Duty and Honour from you Children. If Children could begin their Duty in the Cradle, and continue it a Hundred Years, it could never Pay what Parents Deserve for all their Sorrow, Care, Pains, and Cost. Therefore Solomon is much in Pressing this Argument upon Children, Prov. 23.22. Obey thy Father that Begat thee. Mark, that Begat thee; he gave thee thy Being; and Despise not thy Mother that brought thee Forth. We are ever bound to Honour and Obey them for what they have done for us. These Rational Being's do require it; which they have been the Means to Derive to us, and to Nourish and Nurse up. This is highly Deserved at our Hands; yea, though they grow Old and Impotent, and can serve us no longer. O what then does God deserve from us, who is much more the Author of our Being than our Father that Begat us, or than our Mother that Bore us? God is the First Cause, Parents are but the Second Causes of Generation; and the Second Cause depends upon the First, and cannot act without it: Therefore it is said of God, In him we Live, and Move, and have our Being. Therefore Man is nothing in our Production, if compared with God; and is it not Reason then, that he made us, should be owned and Honoured by us; that he that is our Creator, should be our Ruler?  
We Own our Service where we Receive our Existence; we are Debtors to God every one of us. We Own him ourselves, all we are, and all we have; for we are not our own, we are the Lord's Propriety, at his Disposal, he hath the absolute Dominion over us, as giving Being to us. It is the Apostle's Argument, Whether we Live, or Die, we are the Lord's, de jure, and it should be so, de facto; therefore we ought to Live to him, Rom. 14.7, 8. This Glory is the White at which we should aim Living and ●●ying: He is the Centre in which all the whole Circumstances of our Life should meet, for he made us, therefore Remember thy Creator.  
Secondly, He made us after his own Image, and that is a Peculiar Privilege of Creation beyond what other Creatures enjoy. There is the Print of God's Hand upon all his Creatures; but there are none bear his Image but Angels and Men; and this you are Stamped with in the very Womb. Not one of you but have the Image of God upon you, the Youngest as well as the Oldest.  
Though indeed the Moral Image of God which consists in Righteousness and Holiness, that is Blotted out and Lost by the Fall, we have Sinned it away; yet there is the Natural Image of God, and that remains in all of you; for what is Natural Light, Knowledge, Understanding? What is Skill to Discern, and Wisdom to Choose? What are all the Intellective and Elective Powers of the Soul, but the Image of God in Man? And what is this Image for, but in order to Recover that which is Lost? It is to Capacitate us to Know God, to Seek him, to Choose him, to Live to him here, that so we may for ever Enjoy him; and if we do not make this our chief Work, we are made in Vain, and Degenerate into Brutes, being wholly acted by Sense, and the Design of this Image is Lost; for by partaking of his Likeness, we become bound to his Laws.  
Thirdly, That Power that created us at First, does create us every Day: You are made of God every Day; for Preservation is a Continued Creation. As he gives Life, so he holds our Souls in Life; if God withdraw from us but a Moment we shall Die; Thou takest away their Breath, and they Die, and return to their Dust. And do we receive our Preservation and Support from him, and shall we not pay Respect to him? This violates the very Law of Nature, and fills Heaven and Earth with Wonder; therefore God does Summons Heaven and Earth to hear his Complaint against such Rebels, Isa. 1.2. Hear, O Heaven, and give Ear, O Earth, says God. But why does he Summons these?  
Why, First, To Rebuke and Shame the Stupidity of his People, that the Senseless Creatures were more like to hear God speak than they.  
Secondly, To show that these Creatures by which God had done them much good, might well bear Witness on his behalf against their Ingratitude.  
Thirdly, To Convince them, how Stupendious a thing it was, that God Complains of against them; even such as the Senseless Creatures might stand amazed to hear, were they capable of that Sense.  
And what is the Complaint that God makes here? It is Twofold.  
The one is Horrid Ingratitude.  
The other is Transcendent Brutishness.  
First, Horrid Ingratitude. Hear, O Heavens, and give Ear, O Earth. What must they hear? Why what God hath to say against this People? The Lord hath said, I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have Rebelled against me. For any of us Parents to bring forth and breed up Children, and after all our Trouble, Cost, and Care, when they are come to Years of Knowledge, not to own us: Nay, when they are grown to be Men, to turn to be Rebels, to violate such Bonds, and break such strong Ties, Heaven and Earth may well cry out against them. Why, this is my Case, says God; I made these Children, I maintained them, I brought them up at my Cost, and yet after all they will not Know me, they will not Own me. Instead of Choosing me, they turn their Back upon me, and turn Rebels against me; they have not a bit of Bread to Eat, but as I feed them, nor a Rag to Wear, but as I cloth them. It is my Wool and my Flax, yet I am forgotten, and the very Law of Nature broken. Thus God Complains of their base Ingratitude.  
Secondly, He Complains of their Transcendent Brutishness, which was such, that it outdid the most Brutish amongst Brutes. The Ox and the Ass are reckoned amongst the Dullest and most Stupid Creatures; yet, says God, they are worse than these; for the Ox knows his Owner, and the Ass his Master's Crib, but Israel doth not know me: My People doth not consider. These Beasts as Stupid as they are, yet they after their Kind own them that Feed them, and are ready at all Times to submit to and serve them; yet, says God, they will not own me: Nay, says God, they will not so much as consider what I have done for them, that thereby they might be brought to own and serve me. My People doth not consider.  
Fourthly, He that made us, can unmake us; he that gave us our Being, can turn us into nothing; he that created us, can destroy us; he who breathed thy Soul into thy Body, can take it away, and throw it into Hell. And this is the very Argument our Lord Christ makes use of, Mat. 10.28. Fear him who is able to cast Body and Soul into Hell. All these Arguments do result from the Relation we stand in to God as he is our Creator.  
He made us.  
He made us after his own Image.  
He makes us continually, by preserving us.  
And he that made us can destroy us, and will you forget your Maker? This will provoke him, when they that are made by him seek not after him. None says, Where is God my Maker? Job 35. v. 10. All Worship, and Respect, and Obedience, is a just due to God as your Maker: You had your Being from God, therefore you should always seek after God. It is natural for every thing to make to the place of its Original: Solomon shows it you in divers Instances; so does the Sun, It arises, and goeth down, and hasteneth to the place whence it arose, Eccles. 1. v. 5. So doth the Wind, It whirls about continually, and returneth again to its circuits, v. 6. So does the Rivers, Unto the place from whence they came, thither they do return again, v. 7. And should not Man that is made by God, and comes from God, seek after God, and take up his rest in God? Nature teacheth this.  
A Circle is the most perfect Figure, because it ends where it began; the last point meets in the first from whence it came; it is the Perfection of the Rational Creature, that had its Being from God, to seek after him, and terminate itself in him; that is the second Reason.  
Thirdly, To choose God betimes, as it is a Duty of great concernment, so it is a Duty of great advantage, and benefit. Religion, however it is mistaken in the World, is the most advantageous course any Man can take; it affords the greatest Promises, the richest Comforts, and the surest Rewards: And therefore the Holy Ghost tells us, That Godliness is profitable for all things, 1 Tim. 4.8. and where lies the profit? It tells you in the next Words; It hath the promise of the Life that now is, that includes all good here; and of the Life that is to come, that includes all good hereafter. But to be a little particular in showing you the advantages of Religion.  
First, If you have chosen God, he is yours for ever; for he becomes yours by your own choice, and you may lay claim to him as yours, and may say as Thomas did, My Lord, and my God: Or with David, This God is our God, for ever and ever, Psalm 48. v. 14. And is not this a great advantage and benefit?  
Nay, you have not only a Propriety in God, but you have the special Presence of God: However it may be as to that Presence of God that is Arbitrary, yet you have always his Presence in a Fourfold Sense.  
The Presence of his Mercy, to pardon your Sins.  
The Presence of his Power, to support your Persons.  
The Presence of his Omniscience, to know your Wants.  
And the Presence of his Goodness, to supply them.  
He is your God, your own God, as David calls him: God, even our own God, shall bless us. A Man can never be happy that has nothing of his own; and a Man can call nothing his own but God. All things else may be lost, but he that has made sure of God, his Right can never be invaded, nor his Propriety lost: Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall never be taken from her: And is not this a Benefit?  
Secondly, Is it not a great Benefit to have the Heart fixed and steadfast in the Ways of God? The Cause of all Halting in Religion, is the Want of a Choice and Purpose resolutely set: The Apostle says, James 1.8. A Double-minded Man is Unstable in all his Ways. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Two-souled Man, one that has a Heart and a Heart, one for this way, another for that; one for God, and another for the World: Such a one must needs be unstable, and of an inconstant Soul; being as ready to departed from God, as to close with him. But he that owns God, and his Ways by choice, will suit his Conversation to his Election. If he be sincere in his choice of God, that will make him faithful in all his carriage to God: And therefore Joshua, when he would engage the People to continue faithful with God, he draws them on to a choice, and then lays that upon their Conscience to bind them, Joshua 24.22. Ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen the Lord, to serve him; and they said, we are witnesses. It greatly strengthens a Bond, when a Man freely binds himself.  
Thirdly, This resolute choice of God is of great advantage in carrying on the Work of the Heavenly Calling with the more ease and delight; because a choice is nothing else but an inclination of the Soul guided by Judgement, strengthened by Resolution, and actuated by Love. Now as Judgement justifies our choice, and Resolution makes it entire, so Love makes it easy and sweet; and so our delight in obeying God, answers to the sincerity of our choosing of him.  
Fourthly, This choosing God gives great peace and comfort in the Ways of God; this is as natural as for the Fire to produce Heat: The Fruit of Righteousness is Peace: As Sin causes a Sting in the Conscience, and a Wound in the Soul, so every good Action done in Sincerity, hath the approbation of the Conscience, and that gives peace, and the witness of the Spirit, that brings joy and comfort: This is intended in that of the Apostle, Rom. 14.7. The Kingdom of God is Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy, in the Holy Ghost. Here is a double Benefit mentioned, Peace and Joy: There is a difference between them.  
Peace is a tranquillity of Mind springing from the rectitude of our Actions.  
Joy is from the Impression of the comforting Spirit.  
Peace is an acquittance from Conscience, but Joy in the Holy Ghost is an acquittance from God himself, who is our Supreme Judge, is the beginning of that Endless Joy that he has prepared for them that love him.  
Fifthly, This entitles you to a future and a fuller reward; for in choosing God, you choose him for the future, as well as for the present; in choosing the ways of God, you choose all that is entailed upon them, and that is Life and Blessedness: So says Wisdom, Whoso findeth me, findeth Life. The Word sets before every one of us Life and Death, as Moses did to that People of old, Deut. 30.15. Now many choose Death rather than Life; for they choose to please their Lusts, and to gratify their carnal Appetite, and therein they choose Death; as Christ says, All they that hate me, love Death: But he that chooses God, and the Ways of God, chooses Life, and he shall have it; he chooses Endless Felicity in another World, and he shall never be disappointed. O the benefit of choosing God and his Ways! That is a Third Thing.  
Fourthly, The Choosing God and his Ways in our Youth, is the only Means to Prevent or Cure the many Mischiefs that flow from our Neglect of it. Days of Youth are Days of Folly; now the Way to correct the Follies of Youth, is to be Wise toward God. Childhood and Youth are Vanity. Now the Way to Cure this Vanity, is to be Serious and Earnest about Eternity. Youth is most apt to be carried away by the Power of Lust; hence is that Counsel of the Apostle, Flee Youthful Lusts; and the proper Way to flee from them, is to flee to God in Christ for Helpe and Strength against them.  
Youth has a great Advantage against Sin, had they but Wisdom to Improve this now in the Text. Now Sin is but Budding, and therefore may the easier be Nipped; now Corruptions are but Twigs, and therefore may sooner be Lopped off; now Lust is but Conceiving, and therefore may more easily be Stifled in the Birth. A green Wound is soon Cured, but if it be let alone long it may turn to a Gangreen that may prove Incurable. O my Brethren, there is no Age so fit, so suitable to the Nature of Religion, as Youth is.  
Religion is the Christian Race; now who Chooses an old Man to run a Race? It is called a Wrestling, and who will call an old Man into the Ring that is ready to have his Heels tripped up by his own Age? It is called a Warfare, and under the Law the Aged were Discharged from War, to show that it is the proper Work of Youth. Religion is a Calling, a High, a Holy, a Heavenly Calling. Now Youth is the fittest Season for Choosing any Calling; and therefore the Text bids us to Choose the Heavenly Calling, by Choosing God in the Days of our Choice.  
The Choosing of worldly Things first shuts God out of our Thoughts, and Sensual Objects quickly draw the Heart from God; therefore you should Choose God first; that is the Fourth Thing.  
Fifthly, (To name no more) No Man knows how soon his Day of Grace may be past, therefore he ought to Choose God betimes. The Seasons of your Closing with God are Arbitrary. Salvation is not to be had when you will, but when God will; and God's Will is that you should seek after it now in your Youth. God hath his set Time of finding; Seek the Lord while he may be found, Isa. 55.6. And let me tell you, if God's Time be once past, though you seek him you will never find him; They shall seek me Early, but they shall not find me, Prov. 1.28. I say this is the very thing, that most perish upon their slighting of God's Time. Esau he would have had the Blessing, but alas he came too late, he miss the Season, Heb. 12.6. The Foolish Virgins would fain have entered in, but when they should have entered, their Oil was to Get; and when they would have entered, the Door was Shut: You should therefore Choose God betimes, because you know not how soon the Day of Grace may be past. These are the Reasons of the Point.  
And now I come to the Application, and I shall make but two Uses of it.  
One by Way of Trial: And,  
The other by Way of Counsel.  
First, By Way of Trial; you have heard, Young Ones, what your Duty is; to begin with God in the first Place, and make him the Object of your Choice. Now the Question I would ask you, is, what have you done in this Matter? You that are in your Youth, and Prime of your Days, what have you done in this Matter? Now is your choosing time, pray what Choice have you made? It is a needful Question, God help you to answer it in your own Hearts. One Chooses this Employ, another that; one Chooses to go to Sea, another Chooses to tarry on Shore; one Chooses this Calling, another Chooses that; but have you Chosen God to be your God? Have you ever made that Choice? It was David's Question to the Egyptian, 1 Sam. 30.14. To whom belongest thou? To whom belongest thou, Young Ones, to whom do you belong? Pray, do you belong to God? Why, you will say, how may I know this? It can't be known a Priori, as we say, by God's Choosing of you, that is an Imminent Act, and Imminent Acts cannot give Evidence, they Prove nothing; therefore it must be known a Posteriori, by some Subsequent Act of our own.  
There are two Ways of being the Lord's People, but there is but one Way of knowing it; we are made his both by his Act and our own; by his Electing of us, and by our Electing of him. Now we cannot know that we are God's by his Act, by his Choosing of us; but we may know it by our Act, by our Choosing of him. This is the Question that I would put to you; have you seriously Chosen God to be your God? Did you ever make this Choice? This must be before any one can lay a true Claim to him. God will never be yours (let me tell you) without your own Choice. Now have you ever Chosen God? I do not mean at a Present Pinch; it may be under the Checks of Conscience, or in some Present Distress, many will take God to be their God, but this Choice seldom comes to any thing, it lasts but till the Storm is over, and the Distress removed; but have you ever chose God in the Sense Described? Have you Chosen him by a Deliberate Act of the Will Guided by Judgement, and with full Purpose of Heart to cleave to God? How shall I know this, you will say? Briefly, there are divers Ways by which it may be known; I will name but Two or Three. It may be known,  
First, By a Self-dedication and devoting of yourselves to be the Lord's. Whenever the Soul truly Chooses God for his God, it is always accompanied with a Self-dedication to God. So it is said of those Macedonians, 2 Cor. 8.5. They gave themselves to the Lord. Now what can you say to this? Have you ever given up yourselves to be the Lord's, resolving to live in an Entire Submission to his Will: Have you ever made a Solemn Covenant between God and your own Souls; that God shall be your God, and that you, through his Grace, will be his? Why, if so, than you have Chosen God, and he is your God.  
Secondly, It may be known by your Behaviour in Reference to Sin. When you are Tempted to any Sin, either by Satan, or by your own Lusts, what do you do? Do you give Way to it, or do you run to Christ for Strength against it? Do you Comply with it, or do you Resist it? Do you Countenance or Curb it? Is it Loved or Hated? This is no hard Case to Determine, every Child can tell what he Loves, and what he Hates. No one that Lives in the Love of any known Sin, can say that ever he hath Chosen God; mind it, any one Lust indulged, will certainly confute this claim: For where Sin is Loved, there it Reigns, and where Sin Reigns, God is Disowned: And can any one Disown God, and yet say he hath Chosen God? It cannot be.  
Thirdly, It may be known by your Obedience: He that Chooses God for his chief Good, Chooses him for his only Lord, and that necessarily infers Obedience to him in all things. So says the Apostle, His Servants ye are whom ye obey, Rom. 6.16. Many make their Boast of God, and Claim a Propriety in him, but whom do you obey? Pray mind that; doth the Flesh bear sway? Doth Pride reign? Do youthful Lusts and Vanities command the Heart? Why then I tell you, God was never the Object of your Choice; you may Profess him, and Talk of God, but you have never Chosen God for your God. It is not Profession, but Affection and Action that must warrant our Title to God.  
David, Psalm 119.94. tells God, I am thine, Lord, I am thine. Ay, but how does he prove it? Why, says he, I have sought thy Precepts. Pray mind, he does not only say, I have kept thy Precepts, I have done them, but I have sought them: Now to seek them is much more than barely to do them. It implies Four Things.  
First, An earnest Desire to know them; and that is a great Evidence of an upright Heart, and a sincere Love to God, to be Inquisitive into the Will of God.  
Secondly, It implies an Affection and Respect; no Man seeks what he doth not Love: I have Respect (says David) to all thy Commandments.  
Thirdly, It implies a constant Endeavour to Practise them; for the end of seeking is keeping; we seek to know his Will, that we may do it; and therefore seeking and keeping are put together. Psalm 119.2. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies, and that seek him with the whole Heart.  
Fourthly, It implies earnest Desires after higher Measures of Grace, for the bettering of our Obedience; this is seeking. Now such a seeking is a sure Evidence of your choosing of God. O therefore that I could prevail with Young Ones to come to the Trial in this Matter, whether ever you have really chosen God or no! And I tell you why I urge it; for Three Reasons.  
First, Because it is about the most concerning Case in the World; as it is the greatest Duty in the World to seek after God, so it is the greatest Privilege in the World to know my Interest in God; therefore it is a Matter worth Enquiring into. What if all the World were thine? If God be not thine, you are undone; and will you not know whether he be yours or no?  
Secondly, I urge it because of the Treachery and Deceitfulness of your Hearts; The Heart is Deceitful above all things; (the Prophet says so) in Young Ones especially, and in nothing more than in this Matter. How fond and presumptuously do many Boast of their Propriety in God, when alas they have no manner of Interest in him? It was the very Case of Laodicea, She thought herself Rich, Increased in Goods, and that she stood in need of nothing, when at the same time she needed all things, and was Wretched and Miserable.  
The Apostle says, If any Man think himself Something, when he is Nothing, he deceives himself; and the Reason why many are thus Deceived, is because they trust to their own flattering Opinion, and are not sensible what a cheating Impostor they carry in their own Bosoms. Pride and Self-love will never believe any thing against Self, and so it takes that for granted, which ought to be proved; and should we not Try in this Matter?  
Thirdly, A well-grounded Evidence of our Interest in God, is that which will comfort us when nothing else in the World can; that is, in a dying Hour; then is the time when all other Comforts will certainly fail, when a Man looks upon himself as Launching into another World, and gins to consider in Earnest what shall become of his Precious Soul; how terrifying must such Thoughts be to him that has no Evidence of his Interest in God? Nothing but this can support the Soul at such a time. It is this your choosing God that will Enable you to Triumph over Death, and the Grave, to say with the Apostle, O Death, where is thy Sting? O Grave, where is thy Victory? It is true, natural Fears may be strong, and the Thoughts of Dissolution may shake us, but a well-grounded Evidence of our Interest in God will notwithstanding carry us through all.  
What would one give when he lies upon a Dying Bed, for one good ground of Hope that God is his? Why now is the time to bring this Matter to a good Issue: Now is your time; and therefore it is highly Necessary you should put this Matter upon Trial, whether God be yours or no. So much for that Use.  
The next Use shall be by Way of Counsel and Exhortation, and I would speak to it in two Branches.  
First, To such of you, Young Ones, that have never yet chosen God; that have never remembered God in the Days of your Choice.  
And then to them that have done so.  
First, To those Young Ones that never as yet have chosen God for theirs, but have lived without God in the World to this Day; I would say to you as Elihu said, Job 34.4. Let us choose to ourselves Judgement, that we may know what is good. To choose Judgement, is to choose judiciously, with mature deliberation; that is the way to know what is good. The reason why so many put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness, Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bitter, it is for want of choosing in Judgement, and so knowing what they choose. Now my Message to you this Day is, to discharge this Duty; you Young Ones, God hath sent me this Day to speak to you; you that have yet seen but the Third Hour of the Day, I am sent this Day to you, you are called in the Name of the God that made you, and put Breath into your Nostrils; in the Name of the Lord Christ, who shed his Blood to redeem you from Sin and Hell: In his Name I now speak, this Call is from him, and the Business you are called to, is to be so kind to your own Souls, as to take God in Christ from this Day for your God; remember to choose God now in your choosing Days. When thou choosest a Calling, by which to maintain thyself; when thou choosest a Wife, with whom to spend thy Days, O then be sure above all choosing, choose God to be thy God.  
I might multiply Motives to press this Duty upon you: Take a few.  
First, Your giving yourselves to God, it is but paying a Debt, a just Debt; what Paul says of Philemon, God may say much more to us, Thou owest to me even thy own self: For whence came you? Where had you yourselves, but from him, the Origin of all Being? Therefore 'tis but Justice to let God have his own. God gave you yourselves, but let me tell you, he did not give you a Propriety in yourselves; that is a Right God cannot part with; therefore you are not your own, nor can you be: God gave you a Life, he gave you a Soul, he gave you Understanding, he gave you a Will, he gave you a Conscience, he gave you Affections, he gave you all things, but for what intent? Not to establish a Dominion in your own Persons, but only a Stewardship, and a course of Service; you are not Lords of your own Lives, but Keepers of them for God; therefore says the Apostle, If we live, we are to live to the Lord, for no Man lives to himself.  
Secondly, Consider how freely God offers himself to be yours; the Arms of his Mercy they are opened to embrace you, and he is ready to forgive and forget all that is past, whatever thy Sins are, or have been: He calls Heaven and Earth to record, that if you miscarry, the blame is not in him; you have his Oath, that he takes no Pleasure in the Death of a Sinner; and therefore he calls so earnestly, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? Now pray, what answer can you make, if such Tenders of God, and such Bowels of Love, should be ungratefully slighted?  
Thirdly, Consider the Design of Christ: The great Design of Christ, in what he hath done, and what he is doing; he hath stood in your stead to bear the Wrath of God, which you and I must else have born for ever.  
Suppose you heard Christ saying to you, Soul, why (thinkest thou) did I take up thy Nature? Why was guilt charged upon me? Why was I numbered amongst the Transgressor's? Why was I made a Man of Sorrows? Why was my Hands nailed, my Side pierced, my Head crowned with Thorns? Why was my dearest Blood poured out? What canst thou conceive should move me to undergo the bitter, the accursed Death of the Cross, if not to save thee from thy Sins, and bring thee to God? And hast thou no need of a Christ now, and of his Righteousness? Why, says he, I am ready at thy Call, speak and tell me what thou wantest? I am now in Heaven, at my Father's Right Hand ready to relieve thee; ask what thou wilt, I will present thy Prayers to my Father, perfumed with my Righteousness, and they shall all be granted. O what Encouragement should this be to come to Christ! Go thy way, Young One, take thy Life in thy Hand, as once Esther did; present thy Petition, and say with her, If I find favour in thine Eyes, let my Life be given at my request: Let my Soul live by a Saving Interest in God.  
Fourthly, Consider what Joy thy choosing of, and closing with God betimes, will cause in Heaven: I tell you, there is not the Youngest, the Meanest of you, but you may help to fill all the Angels in Heaven with Joy. How is that? Why, take God for your God, and it will be so. O how these Noble Creatures triumph to see the least increase of Christ's Kingdom! If there be but one Lamb, one Young One in all this Assembly added to the Flock of Christ this Day, all the Angels in Heaven will rejoice, Ay, all the Angels in Heaven; nay, it will be the Day of the very Gladness of Christ's Heart; For as the Bridegroom rejoices over his Bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee, Isa. 62.5.  
Fifthly, Consider how uncertain the measure of thy Life is; thou mayest think to live many Years, and yet may'st die soon: How many have you gone after to the Grave, that came after you into the World? Job says, (speaking of the Sinner) The number of his Months are cut off in the midst, Job 21.21. It is not only a Description of Death, but of Early Death; an immature Death is the cutting off our Months in the midst; this is that David deprecates, Take me not away in the midst of my Days: As our Times are in God's Hand, in regard of the event of them, so they are in regard of the length of them; either God may not give thee time to grow old, or not a heart to repent when thou art old: When so many offers of Grace are refused, and so many motions of the Spirit resisted by thee, I tell thee thy heart is in great danger of being for ever hardened.  
How many Young Ones are now awake, and that for ever, in Endless Flames, that would never open their Eyes to see their danger till they came thither?  
That is an awful Word, Psalm 58.9. Before your Pots can feel the Thorns, he shall take them away, as with a Whirlwind, both living, and in his Wrath.  
[Before your Pots can feel the Thorns:] That is, before you have any real Sense of your danger. To what shall I compare the Miseries of Young Ones, that are taken away so often in the midst of all their Pleasure, before ever they thought of Death? It is a thing sad, beyond comparison, beyond all expression: Have you then, Young Ones, no pity for your Souls? Or do you resolve not to prepare for the Trial, till the Assizes come, and the Judge sits on the Bench?  
If we had a certain knowledge from Heaven, that this was the last Sermon we should ever hear, that this was the Last Call to Remember our Creator that God would ever allow us, that we should be in another World before another Day comes about, with how many Tears should we bewail our Folly of neglecting God? And how should we rend the Heaven with Cries, that God would own us, and help us to own him; and that he would reprieve us a little longer, that we might make sure of an Interest in him, before we go hence, and be no more? And why should we not do so now, seeing we know not the day nor hour when the Son of Man will come?  
The Lord awaken Young Ones (for none else can awaken them) and persuade them to seek after God betimes: O that you would be persuaded to this! He is the most Eligible Object in the World; they that have chosen him will tell you so, they have found him so; you will never have cause to repent of your Choice; you may have cause to repent of other Choices. None ever made a carnal Choice, but he repent first or last; either here, with a godly Sorrow, whilst Matters were capable of retrieving; or in Eternal Misery, where there is Repentance without returning: But who ever repent of choosing God? Name one that ever did: Job once cursed the Day of his Birth, but who ever cursed the Day of his New Birth? Who ever repent of his closing with Christ, or of his being sanctified and made like God?  
When Death comes, than the Cry gins amongst Carnal Sinners; How have I hated Instruction! How have I forgotten God, and my Eternal Interest! How have I regarded Lying Vanities, to the forsaking of my own Mercies! O this Flattering World! How hath it deceived and undone me! This will be your cry when you come to a Sick Bed. Now did you ever hear any one say, I have chosen God, but God hath deceived me? I have ventured my Soul upon the Lord Christ for Pardon, for Righteousness, and Christ hath deceived me? I have chosen the Way of Holiness, and that hath deceived and misled me? Did you ever hear such a Complaint? No, nor never shall.  
Arise then, Young Ones; in the Name of the Lord, I say to thee, arise, and shake yourselves from the Dust and Vanities of Youth, betake yourselves out of hand to God in Christ, make Religion your Business, whatever you do, for the Lord's sake; this will make you a Blessing in your Generation.  
Truly, let me tell you, the Days we live in, calls aloud upon you Youth, in this Matter; we are in declining times, sad times, for Religion it loses ground apace in this Age; and if God do not stir up the Young Generation to keep up Religion, I tell you it will be quite lost in the next. O therefore, that you would resolve to devote yourselves hearty and betimes to the Lord! Never think it too soon to seek him, nor too long to serve him: You will not count a whole Eternity too long for your own Happiness, do not therefore count your whole Life too much for God's Service. I had thought to have laid down some Directions for your guidance and help in this great Duty of choosing God, I will but name Five or Six.  
First, Labour for a deep Sense of your Natural State; this furthers the Work. No Man comes to Christ till he is weary and heavy laden; and that no one is, or can be, till a Sense of Sin, and of his Natural State, makes him so.  
Secondly, Another should have been this: Whenever the Spirit of the Lord strives with you, carry it becomingly to him, especially in Two Things:  
Labour to know his Striving Seasons: And,  
Labour to cherish all his Motions. Then,  
Thirdly, I would have said, Do not consult Flesh and Blood on the one hand, nor give ear to the Suggestions of Satan on the other, for he will always draw you from God.  
Fourthly, Do not put off this Work of choosing God from time to time, but resolve to set upon it now without any more de ay. And,  
Fifthly, Besure eat the Conversation of such as Deride and Scoff at serious Godliness, and such as deny all Revealed Religion; it will be the Undoing of your Souls else: And then I would have said,  
Lastly, Beg the renewing Grace of God to carry on all. Fear and Shame may conceal a Sinner, Morality may varnish him, but it is only renewing Grace can change him, and bring him to choose God for his God.  
And then I would have spoken to the Second Branch of the Exhortation; that is, to such of you as have chosen God in your Early Days. I am persuaded I speak to many such this Day; many Young Ones, who have chosen God in their choosing Time. Why,  
First, Bless God: O bless him, magnify his Grace, who hath counselled and inclined your Hearts to this! When David had chosen God for his Portion, he presently cries out, I will bless the Lord, who hath given me Counsel, Psal. 16.7. O Sirs! What a blessed Thing is it to be an early Convert, to be an early Christian? It is not only Matter of Comfort to you, but I tell you, it is a Comfort to your poor Ministers. How do they Rejoice when they can beget one Soul to Christ? What says Paul to the Philippians, to whom God had blessed his Ministry, in their Conversion, Ye are our Crown, and our Joy, Phil. 4.1. And again to them, 1 Thes. 2.20. Ye are our Glory, and our Joy; we bless God that blesseth us to bring in any one of you to Christ.  
O that every Young One in this Place were of this Number! You are our Comfort that God has some to keep up Religion when we are Dead and Gone.  
You are a Comfort likewise to your Godly Parents, that can in you see the Return of many Prayers, and that they can now Die with Comfort, because they leave you their Children, to Walk in the Steps of your Fathers, and to Honour God when they are gone to Heaven. O it is a blessed Sight to see Young Ones Walk with God Therefore bless God for inclining your Hearts to this, whilst you have a Day to Live.  
Secondly, Let it be your Care to renew your Choice of God every Day; renew your choice of God daily, and also the Dedication of yourselves unto God: Our first Dedication is not enough, though it may be Sincere; therefore it must be Improved by repeated Acts: We should be often renewing our Choice of the Lord, and should think it not enough to be the Lord's, but we should labour to be more the Lord's; for let me tell you, though God cannot be more ours, yet we may be more his; and one Excellent Way to be so, is by choosing God, and dedicating ourselves to God.  
Lastly, Live as they that have chosen God for their God; your claim is high, let your carriage be answerable. In short, if you have indeed chosen God, and have given up yourselves to him, make it appear, let it be known, prove it by all Acts proper to such a Privilege. How is that? By daily putting off the Old Man, and putting on the New; by Dying more to Sin, and Living more to Righteousness, giving up yourselves to the Conduct and Leadings of the Spirit, to be guided by him in all his Motions, making the Word of God the whole Rule of your Lives, labouring in all things to Walk worthy of God, who hath called you to his Kingdom and Glory; and in so doing you will have a sure evidence, that you have obeyed this Call of God in the Text, Remember now thy Creator in the Days of thy Choice.  
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
PAge 8. line 18. for some, read something. p. 9 l. 16. r. slighty. p. 21. l. 23. f. ruin, r. mind. p. 32. l. 20. r. when Christ touched. p. 34. l. 16. r. not known. p. 62. l. 21. r. so say I