The Duty of Young People to Give their Hearts Unto God

DOCT. IT is the Indispensible Duty of young People to give God their Hearts and Affections, and to be seriously religious in their early days.

I shall explain and urge this Doctrine under these Three heads of Argument. 1. That they owe this unto the Lord their God and should in Obedience to Him, and for his Glory give their Hearts unto Him. 2. That they owe this unto Themselves, and for t •• sake of their own Souls, their own Interests, present and future, they ought to give God their hearts. 3. That they owe this to Others; to the World they live in, to their Relatives and Friends, and to those that come after them; to all that are about them.

THESE are great & weighty Arguments, worthy of the attentive Consideration both of Old & Young; their Obligations to God, to Themselves, and to their Neighbors; For on These hang all the Law & the Prophets. Mat. 22.40.

1. YOUNG people owe this duty to the Lord their God, and should in Obedience to Him, and for the sake of his Honor and Glory, give him their hearts. Our Obligations are first to God. His Will is the Rule his Glory • he End of our Actions. Your first Consideration must be, what God is in Himself and what he is to Thee? what his Word requires of thee, and what his Glory calls for from thee? what Bonds thou art under unto Him? And you will easily see the Reasons from hence resulting, why thou shouldest give thy heart to God while thou art young.

• 1. In Obedience to him.
• 2. As his Propriety.

GOD requires thy heart, & thou owest it to Him in Obedience to his Precept and Commandment. The Text is a Law and Commandment of the great God, My son give me, &c. It is the Duty thou owest to God, what the Lord thy God requires of thee He demands, he challenges thy Heart. He does not ask of thee a thing which thou mayest deny or refuse to him. No; it belongs to thee to obey. He speaks as a Father and as a Lord; and on both accounts must be obeyed. I son honors his Father and obeys him. It is the Will and Pleasure of the great God that thou give him th • heart in thy youthful days. Eccl. 12. Remember now thy Creator in the day of thy Youth. God is the Sovereign, and you must sear him from thy youth. Youth is the age of Submission and Obedience, and to be under the government of Parents, Masters and Tutors: And wilt not thou be subject to God now in the days of thy youth? Will thy earthly Father or Mother require and command thee? and shall they be obeyed by thee? and shall not God thy Heavenly Father? Wilt thou show Reverence to the Father of thy flesh, and not be in subjection to God the Father of thy spirit? Which should be obeyed? surely God more than man; Man in Obedience to God only. Young people are not of Age, save to be obedient, and to do as they are directed and required: and will they not be observant of the Will and Direction of the blessed God? are their Superiors on Earth something in their eyes, and is God most High nothing with them? Say to Him, My Father, and the Guide of my Youth! speak Lord, For thy servant heareth! Fit words to be put into the mouth of young People; as Eli put them into the mouth of Samuel when the Lord called the Child. So God calls our Children, He speaks to them, he bids them give Him their Hearts; He commands 'en to do this: Do it then and be obedient: If you do it not, you are a young Rebel, bursting the bonds of Natures and breaking that Yoke which it is good to bear from thy youth. God says to thee, Son do this: Will you answer Him, I will not? and turn away from Him, and deny his Right and Authority to command thee? his Dominion and Power over thee? You would not do so by an earthly Parent, Master or Ruler? and how dare you act thus to the blessed God?

THIS is the first Argument; In Obedience to God give Him thy heart, now while thou art young; for He requires it of thee.

2. I come to consider God's Proprie •• in thee, and his Right to thy Heart. And here let us consider, first the right and bonds of Nature. Secondly cho •• of Grace. Under the first head w • must consider God as our Creator and Preserver, under the second as our Redeemer and Covenant God.

1. GOD has an unalienable Right to thy Heart as the Lord thy Maker, Preserver and Benefactor; and as such thou owest Him this Gift, in Justice and Gratitude. God's Propriety in us arises from his Relation to us, and Benefits done us. For as He has made us what we are, and we receive our Being, Endowments, Preservations and Supplies from Him; so by all these ties of Nature, Justice and Gratitude we are wholly and solely His, and ought to render unto Him all that we are and have; and that as soon as we are capable of doing it. To be sure God speaks here, and bespeaks the hearts of young People, as their natural Lord, Ruler, Lawgiver, Judge, and the only Portion of their Souls. He cannot deny Himself, & you must not deny him. He must and will reign; will reign over thee, and would reign in thee; and if thou refuse him the Rule in and • ver thy Soul, thou deniest him his sacred Right in a most unjust and ungrateful manner. Here,

1. GOD is thy Creator, thy Maker, and therefore thy Proprietor; and shall he not have thy heart? Why he made it, and he made it for Himself, and never gave it away, nor can he do it. What thou makest is thine, especially what thou hast made of thy own, for thyself; and hast not parted with thy Right in it to another. And shall God be denied this common Justice and Equity, or Right, between man and man? Who formed thy fleshly Heart? and who made thee a Soul and Spirit? who fashioned thy Body in the womb, and who quickened it there with a living Soul? The Spirit of God hath made thee, and the Inspiration of the Almighty hath given thee life. Job 32.8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me together round about Job 10.8. He made thee in his own Image, in the likeness of God, with an understanding Heart, to know, and love, and choose him; and give thyself to him. He gave thee not a beasts heart, that cannot think and say, where is God my maker! but he made thee this Heart which is fitted for Himself, and is able to render itself back to God. What ever thy Heart & Spirit be it is his, for he made it; but if he made it such as it is proper to give to Him, and endowed it with this Power of giving itself to Him; to be sure it ought to be so given; it is the most righteous thing in the world that it be so; and it cannot be wi • held without great Injustice.— Will a man rob God? yet he robs Him that gives not his heart to him, which God made for Himself and not for another, & which is made for a Man voluntarily to offer and give to God. To whom would a Man give his heart, if not to God? he may not to Himself, not to his dearest Relatives, and much less to worldly things which cannot fill and satisfy a Soul; and much less to sin and Satan and vile lusts, which are all Enemies to God. And yet if it be not given to God the heart will be given to these, to the utmost wrong and injury of the blessed God. For the Spirit & Heart, the Mind, the Will and Affections of Men are plainly made for God the infinite Spirit and the Father of Spirits: they are made for Spiritual things, Exercises and Felicities; for Communion with God, for the Serving of God, for the Enjoyment of God. It is therefore the greatest wrong and injury to God that can be, not to give Him this heart, which is formed exactly for the Knowledge of Himself, for the loving and choosing Him, for the serving and enjoying Him. If then thou givest not thy Heart to God, thou robbest him of one of the richest pieces of his • w • Workmanship, which he has just finished for Himself; and of the Rock that beg • t thee thou art unmindful and hast forgotten God that formed thee Deut. 32.18 Yea thou worshippest and servest the Creature rather than the Creator, who is God over all blessed forever, Rom. 1.25. God is therefore worthy to receive Blessing, and Glory, and Honor, and Power from all his reasonable Creatures, because he created them all for his pleasure. Rev. 4.11. And this great Maker of thee & of the Universe has therefore required thy Heart of thee because he made thee, and made thee for this very thing. Eccl. 12.1. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy Youth. Because he made thee therefore he must never be forgotten by thee; therefore he must have thy first and early remembrance. For should not a man look to his Maker? and should not the first respect of his Eyes and Heart be to Him? Yea, thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob, and he that formed thee O Israel! bring my Sons from far, and my Daughters from the ends of the Earth; even everyone that is called by my Name; for I have created him for my Glory, I have formed him yea I have made him. Isa. 43.4, 6, 7. Thus God has the first and sole Right to thy Heart for he made thee.

2. GOD is the Preserver and daily Benefactor, therefore thou oughtest now to give him thy Heart, in the days of thy Youth. The Benefits of God to thee demand from thee thy Heart. The law of Gratitude and common Ingenuity teaches thee this. He is an unnatural Creature, and to be abhorred among Men, whose Heart is not wroit upon by Benefits, and that has no Consideration of Kindnesses shown unto him. It is inhumane, irreligious and unchristian to be insensible of Benefits done us. We are obliged to render the love and respect of our Hearts to our Benefactors. This is one reason why Children should & do love their Parents; their Obligations are so many and great to them for the Benefits they have received from them. It is a kind of Instinct in Nature to love them that love us and take care of us. Infants therefore do so naturally and strongly love them that nurse and tend and feed them. And the very brute Creatures do after their way the same thing: the ox knows his Owner, and the ass his Masters crib. The lion they say, and the dog we know, will long retain a sense of Benefits done them.

AND shall not the Sons & Daughters of Men give their Hearts to God, their first and supreme Benefactor? the Lord that daily loads them with his Benefits! what shall they not render to Him? to whom they owe all they are and have, for they have received it all of Him. Therefore the first and great Commandment is this, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

GOD is thy Benefactor in giving thee thy Being, and such a Being that thou art capable of knowing & loving Him, and being blessed forever in him. God is thy Benefactor in all his Care of thee through thy Infancy & Childhood: Thou owest much to thy Parents, but more to thy God, infinitely more; yea They and all that they have ever done for thy Soul or Body are God's gift to thee; among his first and greatest Benefits to thee. Thou art ready to give thy heart to Them, and you should do so first among Men; i. e. more to Them in thy youth than to any others. But how much more owest thou thy Heart unto the Lord thy God? the God (Creator and Preserver) of thy Father and of thy Mother, as well as thine.—Read thy Obligations to God on all these Accounts, and think how wicked thou art if He have not thy Heart now while thou art young. Job 10, 11, 12. Thou hast poured me out as milk, thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and senced me with bones and sinews, thou hast granted me life and favor and thy, &c. Psal. 22.9, 10. Thou art He that took me out of the womb, thou didst make me hope upon my Mothers breasts. I was cast upon thee from the Womb. Gen. 32.10. O God of my Fathers, I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercy which thou hast shown me to this day. Psal. 139.7. How precious are thy Thoughts towards me O God, how great is the Sun of them, when I Awake I am still with thee.

Now what wilt thou render, my Child, for all these Benefits of a gracious God unto thee? wilt thou den • him thy Heart, when that is all • that he asks of thee? Ah wicked and ungrateful! if thou dost not give it with Thankfulness and with the greatest Pleasure. Deut. 32.6. Dost thou thus requite the Lord? Is be not thy Father that has made thee and established thee? Isa. 1.2. Hear, O Heaven, and give ear O Earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have rebelled against me.

My Son, thy Parents and all the Benefits of God to Them, and whatsoever God has made Them to thee, or thee to Them; the Blessings of his Providence and of his Grace to them for thy Comfort, thy good Education, thy Instruction, and Nurture, and Admonition in the Fear of God; these are so many strong Obligations on thee now to give thyself thankfully to the Lord.

AND consider, how great and glorious a Being God is! and what a wonderful thing it is that he should do so much for such a Worm of the dust as thou art, and one altogether born in sin. If a Friend and Nei'bour do thee a common kindness your Heart will go out to him; but if your Governor or King should look upon you and enrich or dignify you, you would hold yourself yet more obliged, because of his high Estate and Rank: But look up then to Heaven and see there the King of glory, the King of kings, regarding thee in thy low estate, and every day feeding thee & holding thee in life, & requiring of thee the love of thy heart; and say — with what Humility and Gratitude and Affection thou shouldest give it all unto Him? As when David sent for poor Mephibosheth to his Court, and when he came into his Presence and did Obeysance, the King looked on him with a heart full of Love and said, Mephibosheth! I will surely sh • w thee Kindness, and thou shall eat at my Table every day, and I will restore thee all the Land of Soul thy Father: The obliged grateful Youth answered, as one overwhelmed with the gracious Favor and Goodness o • the King, and said, What is thy Servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am! 2 Sam. 9, 8. O how much more cause have We to say these Words before God our great Benefactor, who has done for us more than David did for Mephibosheth, and it is infinitely more Grace and Condescention in him to do it. For we are indeed dead dogs before Him the Blessed and only Potentate; but Mephibosheth was the Son of David's Friend, the son of a Prince his Equal, and who had been his Benefactor and Patron; the generous Savior of his life; and to whom he had sworn to show the Kindness of God to his Seed after him. But as for our Children, they are born of sinful Parents, and they are born Sinners, and in the day of their Nativity they are guilty and polluted before God, and as soon as they can speak and go they go astray from God speaking lies; and yet the great King of Glory speaks kindly of them and to them, and takes a tender Care of them, and feeds them every • ay from his Table with a munificent hand: And if Mephibosheth though he was so much obliged to David what should our Children think they owe to the Lord their God? But a David looked for nothing from lam • Mephibosheth, but a loving and grateful Heart, in return for his princely Kindness to him; so the great Go • requires nothing from us for all th • Benefits of our lives, of a tempora • and spiritual nature, but to give hi • our Hearts; which it is free and sovereign Grace in him to accept o • from us! For what is the heart o •• such dead dogs as we are before Him that he should accept of them? B •• if you refuse, My Son, to give th •• heart of thine to the high and grac • ous God, how justly will he be offended at thee and very angry? 〈◊〉 David was when Ziba falsely told hi • that Mephibosheth was ungrateful the King in a passion (rashly and unjustly) took all away from him th • he had given him: So will the ho •• God most righteously be displeased with thee my Child, and justly incense against thee, if thou wilt not give him thy Heart after all the Benefits that he has done thee. Ezra 9 14. Will he not be angry with thee, & consume thee? Josh. 24.20. Then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after he has done you good — Thus I have enlarged on the natural and unalienable Right which God has to thy heart as the Lord thy Maker, Preserver and Benefactor. Surely our hearts were made for One in these Relations to us; and that is God alone.

2. LET us pass now from the bonds of Nature unto those of Grace; God is thy Savior and Redeemer, and thy Covenant God; therefore (my Son) give him thy heart. This is a further and higher Reason. He is the Maker and Preserver of all Men, and they all partake richly of the Bounties and Benefits of his common Providence; and therefore the very Heathen and their Children owe their hearts to God; and they are left without Excuse, even by the light of Nature, if they know him not, and glorify him not as God, and are not thankful: Rom. 1.21. But how much more guilty will the Children of Christians be, to whom God has made known his Name in his Word, and to whom he has therein shewn the Covenant of his Grace thro • Jesus Christ; if they under the light of the Gospel, and under their covenant and baptismal Bonds, do not give their hearts to God from their early days.

FOR thou, my Son, hast from thy Infancy been told of the great God thy Creator, and Redeemer and Sanctifier, and of a Child hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation; hast been born within the walls of God's House, and hast been educated within the Household of Faith, and hast grown up in the Courts of the Lord, under the droppings of the Word upon thee from the mouth of thy Parents, and from the lips of God's Ministers; who have taught thee and charged thee, innumerable times over, Know thou the God of thy Fathers, and serve him with a perfect heart: Thou therefore art under the bonds of Grace, superadded unto those of Nature, to give God thy Heart betimes: For 1. He has bought thy heart with the Blood of his own Son. And 2. He has bound thee by thy Baptism to do it.

1. GOD has bought thy alienated Heart with the Blood of his own Son; And therefore you ought readily and thankfully to give it. What a moving Reason, what a marvelous Argument is this! Herein is Love on the part of God; not that thou hast loved Him but He thee; and has parted with his own Heart to bleed for thee; for the recovery of thy estranged heart back to Him. Herein God commendeth his love to us, that while we were enemies Christ died for us. Rom. 5.10. Thou art an Enemy to God by Nature, thy •• rnal Heart is Enmity unto him; but to slay this Enmity and gain thine inimical Heart, the blessed God has given the Son of his love, in whom his soul delighted, to suffer and die. O what has God done to gain back our Hearts unto Himself! and what has the Son of God undergone for this thing! and wilt thou nevertheless refuse him thy Heart! O hard hearted and ungrateful! O heart of stone, insensible & impenitrable as the Rock! How good and tender has the Heart of God and of Christ been to thee? and how base and evil is thy heart to thy Father that has bought thee? Deut. 32.6.

MY Son! thou art not thy own; but thou art bought with a price, both Soul and Body, that thou shouldest glorify God with thy body and spirit which are his; 1 Cor. 6.20. And wilt thou not yield thyself then to God, who has thus purchased thee? Consider the Price that God has given for thy heart: Thou art not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver & Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish, and without spot. 1 Pet 1.19. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! He has shed his precious Blood to purchase thy Heart for God! He ha • given Himself for thee, an Offering & Sacrifice to God of a sweet smelling savor. Eph. 5.2. Will not this prevail on thee to give thyself to Him? If another would but give thee a little Silver and Gold, a corruptible Price, you would give your Heart to him; and think yourself highly obliged to do so; But God has given his Son and with Him the Treasures of Heaven for thy heart, and this affects thee not; constrains thee not! O if thou knewest the Gift of God, and who it is that speaks to thee, (my Son, give me thy heart) thou wouldest give it, instantly, wholly and forever; thankfully and joyfully.

SUPPOSE you were taken by Turks, and carried into slavery by those that hated the name of Christ; or suppose you were taken captive by Indians (as many of the Children of our People have been) and carried into a howling hideous Wilderness, by bloody Salvages; and some kind Person should send and offer them some great Price for thy Redemption; Yea, suppose this Person was one whom thou and thy Fathers had highly disobliged and offended; whom you had hated in your hearts afore time and often injured and when he had ransomed you from this miserable Servitude into which you were fallen; suppose He should in the most obliging manner imaginable tell you, that he desired nothing now of you but an Interest in your Heart and Love; and that he would greatly reward you for this likewise, if you did not deny it to Him; Tell me how you would think and speak of such a Person how you would honor Him and study to oblige him all the days of your life! Why, this is the Case, my son, between God and and thee. He has paid a great Ransom for thee, and bought thee out of the hands of Satan, to deliver thee from the pit of eternal Destruction and now only asks of thee thy Heart in return for this redeeming Pity to thy poor Soul! He only asks and requires the Love and D • votion of this Soul which he has redeemed. Truly it is his, as what a Man buys and pays for is his own. Mat. 10.45. The Son of Man came to give his life a Ransom for many. 1 Tim. 2.6. Who gave himself 〈◊〉 Ransom for all. O will you not be the ransomed of the Lord, and as such give him thy Heart. Christ died to buy Us and our Children for God; to he his purchased Possession, his peculiar Treasure: thy given Heart shall be this to God.

O that we could see the Heart of God in this Gift of his love, his Son, 〈◊〉 Ransom for our Souls; that we might thankfully give our Hearts an Offering acceptable and well pleasing to Him.

2. As God has bought thee, so He his bound thee by Covenant Engagements to give him thy heart. The Covenant • s the fruit and purchase of Christ's Blood: And what is the Tenour of the Covenant but this, what the Term • nd Condition of it on our part, but •• e giving our hearts to God! O Covenant of Grace indeed! God promises • he his Heart when he takes thine: We love him because he first loved 〈◊〉 Read the grace of the Covenant, a • it is given to our young People to take • hold of; Prov 8.17. I love them th •• love me, and they that seek me early sha •• find me.

CONSIDER my Son, what the great God has done to oblige thee to give • him the first of thy Heart, to give 〈◊〉 first to Him. He took thy Parents i • to Covenant with him, to be a God 〈◊〉 Them and to their seed. He oblige • them to make the early Dedication 〈◊〉 thee to Him in Baptism; for the Pr • mise is to Us and to our Children; to 〈◊〉 who were afar off and the Lord ha •• called us; Act. 2.30. The Blessing 〈◊〉 Abraham is come upon us Gentiles th •• Faith. Gal. 3.14. God required th •• Parents to bring thee up for Him, 〈◊〉 a devoted seed to serve & glorify him and to this end that they should di •• gently teach thee his laws, Deut. 6. •• and inform thee of the meaning 〈◊〉 his Sacramental Institutions, the se •• of his Covenant; Deut. 6.20. A • so bring thee on by a pious Nurtu •• and Education in the fear of God to make the Gift and Offering of thy Self to God; first in secret, and then in a more public and solemn manner; openly giving thy self to the Lord and his People. Thy Parents have accordingly given thee to the Lord in Baptism, and I hope they have told thee of the Bonds of the Lord which are upon thee to give thyself to Him: Your Ministers have often admonished you hereof in the Name of the Lord, and required your hearts for Him. Thy Parents, my Son, have a Right to bind thee to the Lord: In thy Minority they have power to bind thee out for thy temporal Interest and Usefulness among Men; And the God of Nature and Grace has certainly given them power to bind thee to God, to be for Him and not for another; to be his dutiful Children and his obedient Servants; that you may be blessed in Him forever. And now, my Son, what does God and Man expect and require of thee, but to begin betimes to be religious and to love the Lord thy God, and to fear him, and serve him and to cleave unto him all the days of thy life? Is not your Heart his by all possible Engagements, & by every Right and Claim? Can you give away your heart from God to any Creature, and much less to sin and Satan, the Enemy of God, without the greatest Guilt and Impiety? Ought you not with Jacob, while you are in the house of your Parents, and when you leave it, to remember the God and Fear of your Parents? and to implore Him to be with you in all your way through this World, from the beginning to the end of i • ? and to say — the Lord shall • e my God! He is my Fathers God and 〈◊〉 will exist Him; my God and I will prepare Him an Habitation; a Palace and Throne in my Heart; a Temple, Altar and Sacrifices there forever! — Dost thou not hear thy Parents saying to thee, What my Son, and the son of my Vows, Wilt thou not now give thy heart to God? to whom I have given thee wilt thou give it away from Him 〈◊〉 thy infinite Guilt and eternal Ruin 〈◊〉 Wilt thou not reverently answer before God and thy Parents; and say, My Father, hast thou opened thy Mouth to God on my behalf? be it according is thy word! And to God say, My Father, be Thou the Guide of my Youth. Lord, take my unworthy heart and make it thy own! prepare and fix it for thy Self forever! I cannot rightfully or lawfully, nor for my own Advantage. dispose of it anywhere else! it would be impious Sacrilege and to my eternal ruin if I should! Therefore set up thy Throne in my Heart and reign there forever! write thy Law there, and put thy Fear there and be obeyed there forever! build thee an Altar there, and prepare thy Sacrifices, and kindle a Fire there for thy holy Worship forever and ever! Accept me through Christ, as a living Sacrifice, which is my reasonable Duty and Service!

THUS in point of Duty to God, you most give Him thy Heart: in Obedience, to his Precept, for the Glory of his Name, and because of his Right to thee and Propriety in thee, as thy Creator, Preserver, Redeemer and Covenant-God.

DOCTRINE. THAT it is the duty of young People to give God their Hearts and Affections, and to be seriously religious in their early days.

THE Method I went into was, 〈◊〉 consider the Obligations upon young People to give God their Hearts,

• 1. In point of duty of God.
• 2. To Themselves.
• 3. To Others.

• 1. In Obedience to his Precept to them.
• 2. Because of his Propriety in them and Right to them;
  • 1. As their Creater, Preserver and Benefactor;
  • 2. As their Redeemer and Covenant God. — I come now to the second Head.

II. YOUNG people ought to give God their Hearts in point of duty to Themselves. For their own sake they ought to do this thing, It is their Interest, and their Happiness depends on it. Man is a selfish Creature. In a good sense he is so, and ought to be To. Angels are so and it is their W •• dom & Duty. Our first respect must • e to the Glory of God from us, and • o his Will respecting us; and then • e may and should respect Our selves, • ur Happiness in God, and his Fa •• r and Blessing to us. God is firstly and ultimately regarded in all this and we ourselves only in the second place, and in subordination to his Will and Glory. He has commanded us to •• ve this Respect to ourselves, and 〈◊〉 us with that Principle of self love which is invincible. It is his great Glory that he has made us to be happy, and made it out duty to seek after Happiness. But then our Happiness is found only in the way of Holiness, which is the way of Obedience to the Will of God, and Devoted ness to the Glory of God, and of ou • coming to the everlasting Enjoyment of God. Wherefore we do most and best seek our Selves, by giving ou • hearts to God.

GOD made us holy at first because i • was our Blessedness to be holy. And God has redeemed us from our Sin because they are our Misery. Because he would have us again holy and happy he gave Christ for us. And no • as a redeemed People he requires 〈◊〉 to give him our Hearts, and to do early, as the Means of our true Hapiness. For the ••• liar it is done we so much the more consult our Happiness. For though he that gives his heart late to God shall be happy, yet he that does it in his Youth is happier, both as to Body and Soul, Time and Eternity. He shall escape many G • ilts, and enjoy much more of God in this Life; and he lays up the more in store against the World to come; greater degrees of Happiness forever.

THE Word of God calls thee, O young Man, to this far exceeding Weight of eternal Glory: in requiring thee now to give him thy heart. This is the Way to it, the Means of it; and therefore thou owest it to thy self. God is very good to thee in this Precept. If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thyself. Prov. 9.12. Is it profitable to God if thou givest him thy Heart? No: If thou be righteous what dost thou give Him, &c? Job 35.7. The Benefit is only to thy Self and Others here on earth. Indeed God is pleased and thou art saved. He is pleased and gratified to see thee saved. He has commanded thee, this for thy Good, as well as for his own Glory. Hear it and know it for thy good. And let it move thee to give thy Heart to God that his Soul may bless thee. It is God's Favor and Blessing that makes Man happy. God's Heart toward us makes us blessed: his heart turned against us makes us miserable. Now what can be the way to have God's heart turned toward us, to bless us and make us happy? but this — to give our Hearts to Him.

WHEREFORE come ye Children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the Fear of the Lord, and the proper Motive to it: Psal. 34.12. What Man is he that desireth li • e, and loveth many days that he may see good? let him give his Heart be •• mes to God and to the ways of Religion, for the Eyes of the Lord are upon the Righteous, and his Ears are open to their Cry. And they are happy indeed on whom the Eyes of the Lord are, and to whose Cries his Ears are open 〈◊〉 Chron. 22.11. My S • n, the Lord be with thee and prosper thou

WELL then, It is thine own Interest to give God thy heart while thou are young. Thou owest it to thy Self. The law of self love teaches it to thee. You sin against Self and are your own Enemy if you do not give God your heart betimes. You wrong your own Souls, and injure your own Bodies. You are guilty not only of self-neglect, but of self destruction. You are ignorant of, or wretchedly careless about your present temporal & worldly Interest; as well as your spiritual, future and eternal Interests.

To be particular therefore in this Argument.

1. IT is thy temporal and worldly Interest to give God thy Heart betimes. God condescends to move us by these low and inferior things. And why not? when he has made us to live and sojourn a while in this World, to tabernacle in Bodies of flesh and blood. For while we are here we have a temporal and worldly Interest to se • k, together with (but in subordination to) our spiritual & eternal Interest God has therefore joined these things in his Word, as well as in their own Nature; the one to subserve unto and promote the other; and that He might omit no kind of Motive proper to use with • s. Deut. 4.1. Now therefore hearken O Israel unto the Satute • and the Judgments which I teach you, 〈◊〉 do them; that ye may live, and go in & possess the Land which the Lord giveth you. To prosecute a little this lower Argument.

1. IT shall be thy Credit and Reputation, my Son, among good Men and in the Church of God, if thou give God thy heart. What is there more to be esteemed than a Child that fe • ts and loves God? Like CHRIST he increases in Wisdom as in Stature; and grows up in favor with God and Man Even those that have not given thei • own hearts to God, will be likely t • admire and praise the Child that does it. But to be sure, all that have done it themselves will love & este ••• the Child that does it O such 〈◊〉 be sure thou shalt be had in honor, an • that should content thee altho' others should contemn and scoff at thee. — Let your Parents see that you have given your heart to God, & they will doubly love and esteem thee. You should value their good opinion of thee very much; to be tender and only beloved in their Eyes. My son, if thine Heart be wise my Heart shall rejoice, even mine. If thy heart be wise thou wilt give it to God, and this shall rejoice the heart of thy godly Father and Mother; and make thee doubly dear to them. And so if you value the esteem and love of your Ministers and of the People of God, and the honor that cometh from God; this is the way to have it; Give thy heart to God. As Eli loved Samuel when he saw that be Lord had called the Child, and all • srael saw with pleasure that he was • stablished a Prophet of the Lord. 1 Sam. 〈◊〉 . 20 As Solomon says of the Woman • hat feareth the Lord, so may we of • he Son and Daughter that does so, — He or She shall be praised. As David • ad this Praise in his Fathers house; 1 Sam. 16.18. Behold I have seen a So • of Jesse the Beth •• mite, a comely Person prudent in matters and the Lord is with him. What Son of ours is there, that should not be very ambitious of this Character? It shall be thy Honor among wise and good Men, my Son, if thou givest thy heart to God. Prov 3.4. So shalt thou find Favor an • good Understanding in the sight of Go • and Man.

2. IT shall be Health to thy Body, to give thy Heart to God. You will believe the God of thy health who says so; Prov. 3.8. Fear the Lord and depart from evil, it shall be Health to thy navel and morrow to thy bones. 4.22. My son attend to my Words, keep them in the midst of thy Heart, for they a •• Life unto these that find them & Heal •• unto all their flesh. The good Habit of the Body depends very much o • the good habit of the Soul. A good Disp • sition of Soul in young people would often preserve a good Constitution of Body; which is very often broken by youthful Lusts, and the giving the Heart to Wine & Women instead of God. My Son, by giving thy Heart now to God thou shalt preserve thyself from many hurtful Lusts which are destructive to bodily Health; as Intemperances, Uncleanesses, Sloth, Passions, &c. As Solomon warns the simple One of going after the Harlot till a Dart strike through his liver, and he die of a Consumption the Effect of his Intemperance. Our Health and long life depends on the Blessing of God; but to give Him our Heart is certainly to put ourselves in the way of his Blessing. This has the Promise of life and health here, so far as God shall see it best for thee: Prov. 3.2. Long life shall they add to thee. To be sure the Commandments of God tend only to Life; They are a Tree of Life to them that keep them. Obedience to' them never burt any ones Health, in an ordinary course of things. But God has sometimes smitten young Sinners, and for being wicked they have died before their time. —It is true that young People may give God their Hearts, and yet remain sickly & weekly; or grow sickly after they ha • done it: But then it shall be best fo • them to be so, and God will turn it to the Health of their Soul. Yet it may certainly help a weakly Body, an • will never hurt it, to give the Hea • to God. But to give it to Sin is the way to hurt and consume it apace for a weakly Constitution will wash away the sooner under wasting Lust • It will follow also upon this,

3. IT may serve thy bodily Beauty 〈◊〉 thou givest thy heart to God. Thi • may seem a mean and small thing 〈◊〉 bring into the Argument I am upon and comparatively it is so, and so 〈◊〉 bodily Health too. But the Lord is so the Body, even for the Beauty of it 〈◊〉 the Health of it. For by Beauty I 〈◊〉 not mean so much Features, as th • Complexion & Vigour of Health whi •• makes the Face to shine, and give • Life and Sprightliness wherein 〈◊〉 Comliness of the Person is most c •• spicuous. So God took care of Dan and his Companions, and blessed th • bread and their water, because they •• d given him their hearts, & would not defile themselves with the Kings meat and wine: Their Countenances were the fairer and they fatter in flesh Dan. 1.15. The Hearts of young People are too much given to their Beauty; and alas! they give it away from God from a vain and wrong conceit of making themselves appear beau •• ous. But after all, some of the Ornaments they pl •• se and deceive themselves with do • on • dd to their Beauty, but take from it: And the Extremity of their Adornings is their Blemish in the Church of Christ. It shows an Heart given to Vanity rather than to God. And though' these Daughters of men may be fair in the Eyes of some of the Sons of God, yet a Heart more given to God and set less upon these things would make 'em look fairer in the Eyes of all that regard the inward Adorning. Favor is deceitful and Beauty is vain, but the young Persons that give their hearts to God they shall be praised. The one is skin deep, the other deep as the Heart, whose Praise is of God Which is fairest? a fair Face or a fa • Soul? Besides that the fair Soul shines through the fair Eye and Face, and makes them fairer. — Give God thy heart, and as it will not alter thy Features, so to be sure it will not hurt them. It will add the inward to the outward Beauty; the hidden and incorruptible to that which is visible and fading. The heart that is given to God should be the more serene and Joyous, and shine thro' the Face and irradiate it. So Moses skin shone, and Stephens face was beheld as if it had been the Face of an Angel. But to be sure the way to have the Body raised in Glory, like Christ's transfigured Body which shone as the Light, is to give our hearts to God. This Resurrection Body can never be looked for, i • the Heart be not now given to God. And as one Body will then differ fr •• another in Glory, so where the Heart has been given young to God there may the greatest Degree of Glory b • looked for.— But to return from thi • Excursion.

4. IN respect of thy Worldly Estate 〈◊〉 shall be thy Interest to give thy Heart to God while thou art young. It will give thee P •• udence and Consideration, and make thee sober, moderate, diligent in thy worldly Business. It will preserve thee from Idleness and Intemperance which are the way to Poverty. It will give thee Credit and Trust among Men, when th •• see thee religious, virtuous and temperate, prudent & diligent, righteou • and conscientious, just and upright, and true to thy Word. Men will love to deal with thee; and good Men to assist thee and put thee forward. The Blessing of God also, which maketh rich, will attend thy honest Industry, and give thee Food convenient for thee. While you seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness, God will add other things needful and convenient for thee. So Christ has promised and you may take his Word Mat. 6.33. Both Riches and Honor come of Him, & of those ways of Wisdom which He has laid out for us to walk in. You may ever indent with God when you are going forth into the World, as Jacob did, Gen. 28.21. If God will be with me in the way wherein I go, and will give me Bread to eat and Raiment to put on. But this must be done with a Moderation of Desire to the things of this World, and with Submission to the Will of God respecting them, & with a Resolution through his Grace to adhere unto his Covenant, Worship and Service, in the Acquisition and Enjoyment of them: all which must needs be supposed in Him that has given his heart to God. Such a one is fittest to be rich in this world, that will be rich in good works. But God who knows Men, only knows what is fittest for them. We may think that there's many a good Man that does good with his Competency, would fall into Temtation and a Snare and into foolish and hurtful lusts if he had much more. God chooses for his Children, and they pray to him daily, lead me not into Temptation. So Agur prayed, Give 〈◊〉 neither Poverty nor Riches, Feed me with food convenient for me.

5. To give God thy Heart in thy Youth will interest thee in the special providential Care of God from thy Youth up. God's Heart is toward thee, if thou hast given thy heart to Him. Yea because his Heart was to thee for good, thou hast given thy heart to Him. You may trust in the Lord therefore and do good, so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Psal. 37.3. God will not fail him that casts himself upon Him in his early days. He shall take thee up in the hands of his fatherly Providence, and of his Covenant Mercy. He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee to hold thee in their hands, to incamp about thee; to minister to thee in all thy way, through this world, as an Heir of Salvation. So Jacob gave his Heart to God as he set out, and at his Return the Angels of God met him, and he said, These are the Lord's hosts. They were an heavenly Guard ordered to attend and defend that Heir of Promise, who as a Prince had power with God and had prevailed. Many a •• the Afflictions of the righteous, but yet no Evil happens to the Just. All is meant for good, and made to work together for their best good. So take that Promise along with thee when thou hast given thy Heart to God, Psal. 91.10. There shall no evil befall thee. This Secret of the Lord is with the righteous, and he shows them his Covenant when others see things with them just as with other men, or it may seem worse. But th • y and their works are in the Hand of God; and they should consider themselves so, and say All is well. Is it not so, if God is thy Hope and Trust from thy Youth? thy Guardian & Guide from it? and even unto Death? and thy Portion after it. Yet surely it is and shall be thus with thee, if thou givest Him thy Heart from thy Youth.

6. To give thy Heart to God in thy Youth is the way to be made a Blessing to all about thee as long as thou •• v • st. That Blessing of Abraham shall here by come upon thee, as one of his spiritual • eed, Gen. 12.2. And thou shalt be a Blessing. What a blessed thing is this! What a Blessedness to a Person to be a Blessing to the World he lives in, all his life! from the early to the latest days of it: So shall the Man be blessed that gives his Heart early to God. A Child thus becomes a Blessing to his Parents, and the Joy of their hearts. Thy Father and thy Mother shall be glad. Such a Child becomes a blessing in the Family, to his Brethren and Sisters, and to the Servants in the house. A little spiritual Leaven may leaven the whole lump. A little spark of Fire presently catches the Tinder that lies in its way, and spreads over it.

WHAT a Blessing was Joseph rendered by his Piety to his Fathers house, both on temporal & spiritual accounts? and so Samuel to all Israel, as well as to his Parents? How did Hannah 's heart rejoice in the Lord on his account? her Horn was exalted in the Lord: i. e. her honor, happiness and joy. — But the great Instance of a heart always with God, from the first exercise of Understanding and from the first use of Reason, was our Lord Jesus Christ; who came to bless us and to give us an Example; to love us, teach us and die for us; in whom all the Families of the Earth are blessed. Would our Children be in their places Blessings to the World, as Christ was; let them now give their Hearts to God and be before Twelve Year old, and after it about their Heavenly Fathers business. It became Him, in whose Heart God's Law was from his Conception and Birth, and in whom was no sin, that in Him all the Families of the Earth should be blessed▪ The Child that sconest gives his heart to God is most like to ••• rist, and most like to be a Blessing 〈◊〉 the Church of Christ.

GODLY 〈…〉 like to serve their own 〈…〉 Samuel and David did 〈…〉 to the Will of God; 〈…〉 a Foundation for many 〈◊〉 . That Blessing is greatly to be desired, Psal. 144.1 • That our Sons may be as Plants grown up in their youth, that our Daughters may be as Corner st • nes polished, &c. The way for our Children to attain this Honor and become this Blessing, is for them to give their Hearts now to God. Happy is the People that is in such a Ca •• .

7. And lastly, GIVE thy Heart young to God and it will prevent thy giving it to other things, destructive of Soul and Body, and injurious to all about thee. God has his Rivals which stand Candidate for thy heart, and vehemently solicit for it. And alas! thy foolish corrupt and vile Heart naturally & strongly inclines to them, and is averss to God till he change and constrain it. Sin, Satan and worldly Lusts would ensnare, captivate and possess thy Heart forever. Thy heart is gone to them, but God requires thee to give it back to him; and he will help thee to do it, if you will seek his help. Wilt thou give thy Heart to the greatest Evil, and to thy greatest Enemy? Is this thy Interest? No; it is to r •• ne and destroy thyself. Nothing can save thee from this Destruction, but the giving thy heart to God. Give it not to destructive Vices rather than to God. He would save it and these damn it forever. Destroy not that for which Christ died. Hear the words of King Lemuel, the Prophecy that his Mother taught him; Prov. 31.1, 2. What my Son, & what the Son of my Womb, and what the Son of my Vows! Give not thy strength to Women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth Kings: It is not for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes strong drink. That meaning is, that if young People do not give their hearts to God betimes they will be in great danger of giving them to one destructive Vice or other to their after undoing on temporal and on spiritual Accounts. To prevent this, give thy Heart betimes to God: It w ••• save thee on all accounts: It is thy temporal and th • worldly Interest, — This was the first thing proposed. I 〈◊〉 to say,

2. IT is thy spiritual and eternal interest to give thy Heart unto God 〈◊〉 thy Childhood and Youth. If thou lovest thy precious Soul, do this; place it on God and portion it in Him. This is of more price than all earthly and temporal Things. What shall it profit a Man, if by giving his Heart to this. World he could gain the whole of it, and should l • se his own Soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul? O that those Words of Christ were graven on our Hearts! What are all the poor Interests of Time, when compared with those of Eternity?

OUR Hearts are made for spiritual and invisible Things, things heavenly and eternal. The eternal God is their Portion. They are made for spiritual Exercises & for spiritual Enjoyments; and those out of the Body and beyond the Grave; and in the Body forever after the Resurrection, in Glory and Incorruption.

OUR Hearts are made to know and love and desire God, to thirst after the living God, to choose Him & seek after Him; to walk before Him and enjoy Him; and attain Glory, Honor and Immortality in his Presence, where is the fullness of Joy and at his right Hand Pleasures for evermore.

OUR Heart were never made for this World and the temporary passing things of this life. Our immortal Souls can never find a Happiness in a dying Body, and in things which they are going from; but only in Him that only hath Immortality to Whom they are going; and in whose Favor is their Life, and in his Anger is their eternal Death.

THE young Person may die today or tomorrow, and if he have not given his Heart to God, what will then become of Him to all Eternity? Or suppose that he may have many Years to abide in the Flesh, yet it is his spiritual everlasting Interest to give his Heart now to God, as much as if this night his Soul were to be required of him. For why is Life given us, but to be preparing therein for a blessed Eternity?

BESIDES that it makes the whole Life easy and pleasant, if the Heart is given young to God. Then go, eat thy Bread with a merry heart. Then lay thee down in peace and sleep. Then take the Comfort and taste the sweetness of all the good things of this Life that God giveth thee. The Work of Righteousness is Peace, and the Effect thereof Quietness & Assurance forever.

AGAIN, Thy Advan •• s and Proficiency in Grace from thy Youth are the true Riches, the enduring Substance. The Heart and Treasure are in Heaven. This is the good Foundation against the Time to come, that thou may est lay hold of eternal Life. This is to choose that good Part which shall never be taken away from thee.

WHEN Old Age comes (the evil Days to him that has never given his Heart to God) O the Consolation to him that gave his in Youth to God. When the Grinders cease you shall Feast on this and sing, Psal. 71.14. I will hope continually and will yet praise Thee more & more.

OR let Death come, sooner or later, it is disarmed of its Terrors, its Sting is taken away, by having given our Hearts young to God. The aged Believer may then be waiting for his Departure in peace, like Simeon. Of if the Believer die in the Prime of Life, he may take up Hezekiah 's Prayer, Lord remember how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect heart. The Angels of God will be near to that failing Heart, to take it and carry it to the bosom of Abraham. Like Daniel it shall stand in its Let, and that a very glorious one, at the End of Time.

THUS blessed is He like to be that gives his Heart young to God. He is the Candidate for that Blessing. Rom. 5.17. Abundance of Grace and of the Gift by Jesus Christ. These are the Sons, and these the Daughters, that are like to sit on Christ's right Hand and on his left in his Kingdom. For the • furely it is prepared of the Father.

AND thus in point of Duty to Themselves should young People give their Hearts to God. It has the Prospect and the Promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come.

WE wish you Happy as to both Worlds, and therefore require you now to give your hearts to God. We urge you as Rebecca did her Jacob, to seek and get the Blessing of Abraham. Obey our Voice. God give thee of the dew of Heaven and of the fullness of the Earth! But what is infinitely more, God crown thee with the Riches of Grace here and of Glory hereafter. So Isaac kissed Jacob and said, See the smell of my Son is as the smell of a Field which the Lord hath blessed .

I come now to the third and last Head, which is,

III. YOUNG people owe this to Others, to the World they live in, to all that are about them, and more especially unto all Those that are related so them and concerned in them: For the sake and benefit of Others they ought to give their Hearts to God.

THIS is an Argument of great weight also, though it ought to come after the other two which have been already named and urged. God is first, our own Souls are next, and then the Souls of Others. The whole moral Duty of man lies in these three Branches, our more immediate Duty to God, to our Selves and to our Neighbors. So our Savior and his Apostle have taught us; He in his Gospel, the Other in his Epistle. Mat. 22.37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: This is the first and great Command. And the second, is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy Neighbor as thyself. On these two Commandments hang all the Law & the Prophets. Tit. 2.16. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men, teaching us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present World. Young People are not righteous toward Men, no more than godly before God, unless they give themselves unto God. If they give their Hearts unto the ways of God they are dutiful to Him, they are wise for themselves, and will be but just & righteous to others. God has set us all in mutual Relations one toward another, and there are the Duties of those Relations to be discharged; and pure Religion before God and Piety toward Men lies in the discharge of those Duties. And young People stand in various Relations to one and another as much as their Elders; and are as much bound by the Law of God to render unto all the Duties of these Relations, as Others are: All Souls are God's to obey him, and the Law of God binds all Souls alike to their particular Duties; even the soul of the Son and Daughter as much as the soul of the Parent. Therefore young People cannot be Religious before God, if they be not Righteous and dutiful toward all that they stand related unto; whether in a nearer or more remote Relation. And the Glory of God from them, and their own Happiness and Comfort in their Obedience to God, depends upon their doing their Duty to Others, in their several places and Relations.—God has sent us into the World to do good in it, to do good to all about us, to be Blessings to them among whom we live, to whom we are related, with whom we have Conversation and Acquaintance. Our very Children know that they sustain these and those Relations, to their Parents, to their Brethren and Sisters, to their Masters and Teachers, to their Ministers, to their Rulers, and to the Church and People of God whereof they are a part; Now if they give their Hearts betimes to God then and then only they will answer all the Duty of all the Rela •• ons which they stand in to Others For the Word of God and the Lo •• & Fear of God teaches them all thes • Duties; and if they refuse their Heart • to God, to his Word & Ways, then the •• will never do their Duty to other • according to his Will and Commandment: And therefore young People owe this unto Others that they give their Hearts now to God because then and not till then will they be just and righteous to all about them, whether Superiors, Inseriours or Equals.

My Text points me to this Argument with young People, that for the sake of Others and particularly of their Parents they should give their hearts to God. For thus runs the Context, My son if thy heart be wise my heart shall rejoice even MINE; thy Father and thy Mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. Solomon speaks here as a Father, and says to his Son, My Son! for my sake give thy heart to God, do it for thy Mothers sake as well as mine; We command thee to do this; do it in obedience both to God and us; and do it for our good, for our Comfort and Benefit, for the Joy that it will give to us; to see thee wise and good and happy. — You see then that I must forget my Text and depart from that, if I do not pursue this Argument a little, and move young People to give their hearts to God, for the sake of Others, that so they may have Comfort in them, and Good from them.

I say therefore again, Young People owe this to Others, to the World they live in, to those they are more nearly related to, and unto all about them that they give their Hearts unto God. — And to be particular, and to begin where Nature and my Text teaches me to begin,

1. YOUNG people owe this unto their Parents, to give their Hearts betimes to God. They owe it to their godly Parents as an Act of Obedience to their Commands; and as an early Requital of all their Love to them, and Pains and Cares and Prayers for them. They owe them this Joy; for the Father of the Righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that heget • eth a wise son shall have joy of him. Prov. 10.1. A wise Son maketh a glad Father, but a foolish Son is the heaviness of his Mother. Here is an Argument with Children that love their Parents, why they should give their Hearts to God, because hereby they will glad the hearts of their Parents, and if they do it not they will be a Grief of heart unto them. What do not Children owe to their Parents? and what should they not be glad to do for their Comfort? And what can they do to comfort them and make their Hearts glad like this, to let them see the Fear and Love of God in them while they are young? How will they, like Mary, lay up all they see of this in their Hearts; and give God Praise for it? For what is a Parents hope, or joy, or Crown of Rejoicing? or what should it be, but this! even the Grace of God in their Children? the Earnest of their seeing them hereafter in the Presence of the Lord Jesus at his Coming! Every pious Parent is ready to say to his or her pious Offspring, as the Apostle to the Thessalonians, Ye are our Glory and our Joy. If Children did but know and consider how it would please, gratify and even edify their gracious Parents; it would 〈◊〉 of some force with them to cause them to be religious in their early days. Prov. 29.17. Yea he shall give Delight to thy Soul. So Jacob did 〈◊〉 the Soul of Rebecca, and Joseph to the Soul of Jacob, and Samuel to the Sou • of Hannah, and JESUS to the Soul o • Mary: And so should you to the heart of your pious Parents.

2. YOUNG people should give God their hearts for the sake of their Brethren and Sisters, and for the good 〈◊〉 the Family whereof they are a part They owe this Duty to all that are in the House with them; to let them see that God has their hearts. Hereby they will be Examples to the Children and Servants of the Family, and e •• cite them to give their Hearts to God and will reprove and admonish them if they are wicked and do it not They will become a living Lesso • and daily Monitor to all that li •• with them. So thy Fathers Childre • shall learn of thee; and thou may 〈◊〉 save the Souls of them that live w ••• thee. Besides, that if You give your Heart to God, you will daily pray to Him for others, when you do for yourself. For thy Brethren and Companions sake therefore, now give thy heart to God. Who knows but you may save some of the Household? yea and others in the nei'bourhood where you dwell?

3. YOUNG people owe this to their Masters according to the flesh, to give their Hearts early to God; that they may the better do their Duty to them in obedience to the Word of God, and become Blessings in the Families where the Providence of God disposes of them. So Jacob, having given his heart to God, carried a Blessing with him to the house of Laban. He served him faithfully by day and by night, and the blessing of the Lord accompanied him in all that he set his hand unto. Laban found by Experience that the Lord had blessed him for Jacob 's sake, Gen. 30.27. So Joseph went down a sold servant to Egypt, 〈◊〉 he had given his heart to God, and was prudent and diligent in hi • Masters business, for he feared God; and God blessed the Egyptians house for Josephs sake. Gen. 39.5. — And so it will be always good for a Family to have such young People come into Service in it; who have given their hearts to God and his Ways; they will set themselves to do their Duty, in their place, to their Master and Mistress, to the Children of the house, and to their Fellow servants, in singleness of heart, fearing God. And such Servants are an unknown Blessing in a Family. And for this reason, among others, young People should give their hearts to God, that they may be Blessings to the Families where they may go to serve. Read what a Blessing religious Servants are to a Family, and what an Argument it should be with young People in their Services to be religious that they may be such Blessings; Eph. 6.5, 6, 7. Col. 3.22, 23, 24.

4. And lastly, YOUNG people should give their hearts to God, for the s ••• of the Generation which they are to serve by the Will of God, if they live. Young people should not build upon living long; but they ought to prepare and lay in for a godly Life of Service to God and Good to Men, if it should please God to prolong their lives. And in order to this the short Rule before them is this in my Text, My Son, give God thy heart, Thou wilt then give thyself to his People according to his will, to do good in the place wherein his Providence sets thee; that thou mayest be a Blessing both in Church and State. If a young Person has given God his heart, he is like to make a grave, prudent, judicious, faithful Man in his civil Capacity and Relations, and into whatever public Offices he may be called. And in like manner he that gives his Heart young to God is like to be a • hining exemplary useful Christian • n the Church of Christ. Both in • tate and Church, he will be seen and • bserved with a raye of Moses shining ••• e upon him. So Joseph having given his heart early to God, what a Blessing was he made to the World, and unto Israel? And so we may say of Moses & of Joshua; and of Samuel and David; and of Daniel. The Luminaries, and Glories, and great Benefactors to the World, have been such as have given their hearts young to God. In These, in their measure after Christ, (from the Spirit of Christ dwelling and ruling in them) has been exemplified that Blessing of blessings, the Glory of the Son Himself in our Nature; In thee the Families of the Earth are blessed. And what 〈◊〉 Motive and Reason should this be to young People? that they may be great Blessings in their places as long as they live, even unto old Age if God should spare them to it.

AND thus for the sake of Others you should give your hearts to God while you are young.

HAVING now gone thro' the several Arguments I proposed, and show • that young people owe this Duty 〈◊〉 God, to Themselves, and to the World they live in;

I come now to make some Improvement and Application of the Doctrine. and it may be in three or four Uses, of Examination, of Reprehension, of Consolation, and of Exhortation.

1. OF Examination, and serious Self-Enquiry. Have we yet given our hearts to God? Child, hast thou done it? and you that are Parents did you do it in your younger days? or is it done even to this day? And should you not do it now? Should it not have been done many a Day, or Month, or Year past? and when shall it be done? when shall it once be?

2. THE Use is of Reprehension to all such as have not given their hearts to God, whether Elder or Younger Persons. The youngest among us are very wicked and miserable if they have not yet given their hearts to God. Our Children may not excuse themselves or think God will excuse it in them. They may and should see their own vile Nature, the Plague of their hearts, how vitiated and depraved their Minds are, alienated from God, and Enmity against him. It is a desperately wicked heart of thine, or it would give itself to the blessed God. It is a cursed heart that departeth from the Lord its God. —But then how criminal and guilty are Elder People, under the power of this evil Heart; and in the same gall of bitterness and bond of Iniquity! Our Children are to be bewailed under it, but much more our Adult people. As Moses lamented over the Children of Israel, Deut. 29.4. Yet the Lord hath not given you a Heart to perceive, nor Eyes to see, nor an Ear to hear unto this day. How wretched is their case that have lived long in the world, but all their days without God in it! that are just going out of the world and have never given their hearts to God! It is a hard word to the youngest sinner, but should sound terribly to the Older; Of the Rock that bega • thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

3. THE next Use is of Consolation, to all them that have given their hearts to God, but especially them that have done it in their younger days. If it is done at all, though' done late, blessed be God for it, and blessed be thou of the Lord thy God. Happy is he that can say with the Apostle, 1 Cor. 15.8. Last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. But happier is he that can say with Him, My manner of life from my Youth up, has shown a heart given to God. Happy was Obadiah, who could say of himself, 1 King. 18.12. I thy servant fear the Lord from my Youth. Let the Mouths of such be filled with God's Praise and Honor all the day. — Happy is the young person that has given his heart to God; whether he lives to serve God in this World, or whether he dies and goes to enjoy him in a better. Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven; the Kingdom of Grace here, and o • Glory hereafter. Where ever Jesu • sees any such young People he loves them; and such Children be takes 〈◊〉 in the Arms of his Grace and Covenant, and blesses 'em.

4. THE last Use is of Exhortation; and let it be directed to all, both elder & younger Persons, as the Voice of God to them; Give God your hearts. What a gracious Exhortation is this, which speaketh to us as unto Children? for surely it is a Father that asks of us our hearts. Who can refuse this to God? For let us consider,

• 1. GOD only has Right to our hearts. To whom shall we give them, if not Him? What has sin or Satan, the world or flesh, to do with these hearts of ours? God that made us this Soul, made it for Himself He filled the heart of Man at first with Himself, and fixed it on Himself, and He has redeemed it for Himself. He claims but his Own, and of his Own we give Him, when we give him our Hearts.
• 2. THY Heart is too great and good I thing for anything below God. It is I Spirit, and made for spiritual Blessedness: It is a living and immortal spirit and made for a blessed Immortality. This World therefore, with all the Objects of sense which it is filled with, is not suited to nor sufficient for thy Heart. These are not great, good or durable eno' to fill and satisfy that. Wherefore reverence thyself; know ye not their own selves? that you are spirits and not flesh; like the horses and cattle about your doors, to feed & live upon the husks of this World; and that you are immortal Spirits, made for a future and eternal World. You must not therefore bow down to this stock, nor sacrifice your Hearts to these empty and transitory things, nor prostitute your noble Souls to trifles and childish Vanities? to Riches and Honors which neither improve nor satisfy the Souls of Men while they live, nor can descend after them when they die? Or wilt thou give thy Heart to those ways of Sin and Wickedness, which render this Life miserable, and which end in Hell and eternal Damnation? Surely thy Heart is too good to give it to the devil; and yet in effect thou givest it to him if it be not given to God.
• 3. CONSIDER that you owe your heart to CHRIST, who has died to purchase it for God; to redeem it from Sin, to recover it from the devil, to purify it for God: Thou art bought with a Price, therefore glorify God with thy Body and Spirit. 1 Cor. 6.20. Thy whole Spirit Soul and Body is due to Him, who gave Himself a Ransom for thee; who made his Soul an Offering, who thro' the Eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God! He claims thy Heart, for he has dearly bought it with his Blood, to sanctify and cleanse it, for an Habitation of God, a living Temple and a living Sacrifice. Rom. 12.1. I beseech you therefore Brethren, by the Mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 14.7. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord: and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
• 4. LET young people consider that they have been given to God in Baptism, by which they are bound and obliged to give their hearts to God. And now it lies upon them to make this Act and Deed, the Dedication of themselves to God; secretly and publicly. Your Parents and Ministers who have done their part in giving you up to God according to his Appointment, and all the Lord's People that saw you brought under the holy Bonds of God in your Baptism; do all join in calling upon you to give your hearts to God And God calls upon you as the Seed of his Covenant People, as a devoted Seed to him, and as your Covenant God— My Children, give me your hearts. To refuse him is in effect to deny & renounce your Baptism.
• 5. And lastly, GOD will give Himself, his Son and Spirit, his Heaven and Glory, to all them that give their hearts to Him. He requires our hearts, that he may bestow Himself on us. The Heart of the Blessed Trinity is toward thee in this Demand of thy Heart for God; it is that thou mayest be blessed in God, in his Love and Favor, in his Presence and Glory forever and ever. Give thy heart to God & God will come down into it and possess it for Himself, and dwell and reign in it, and prepare it for his heavenly Glory. Give thy Heart to God, and the Grace of Christ, the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost shall be with thy Spirit. Give thy heart to God and when flesh and heart faileth God will be the Strength of thy heart and thy portion for even. Give thy Heart to God, and when thou diest God will take thy Spirit to Himself; to his Presence where is the fullness of Joy forever and ever. All that God has to give, and that thou canst receive, God will give to thee another Day if thou givest thy Heart to him now.

BY way of Direction,

• 1. GIVE thy heart to God, and do it instantly. What you do, let it be done quickly, forthwith, presently. Do it now: To day if you will hear his Voice. Delay not in a matter of this Importance. To morrow may be too late; you may be dead before it • omes; This night may thy Soul be required.
• 2. GIVE thy heart to God and give 〈◊〉 wholly to him. He requires of thee all thy Heart and all thy Soul. He 〈◊〉 a right to It all, He will not accept of a part, a divided heart. His Glory forbids it. It is wholly His, •• d must be all devoted to him, all •• ployed for him. Thy Soul and all that is within thee, thy whole Spirit, Soul and Body; This is God's claim.
• 3. GIVE thy heart to God & give it forever to him. It is a living immortal Spirit, that thou rendrest to the living God, the everlasting King. Thy heart must be given absolutely and irrevocably. This is my God, and my Heart shall be his forever and ever. Come and let us join out selves to the Lord in an everlasting Covenant, never to be forgotten. You are acting for Time & Eternity.
• 4. GIVE thy heart to God and do it joyfully and thankfully. It is thy greatest Honor and Happiness that he will accept of thy poor heart, and that thou hast a heart inclined to give itself to him. Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my People, that we should be allowed to effer so willingly after this sort! Thy heart! it is a wonder of Grace that God should allow thee to make a Tender of it to Him. If he has prepared it for Himself it will be a most willing Offering a Thank offering.
• 5. GIVE thy Heart to God and give it to his People, in all his appointed Ways. Give your own selves first to the Lord, and then to Us by the Will of God; As the Apostle speaks; 2 Cor. 8.5. Give thyself to God and come into his Church, and be walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless. As Ruth clave to Naomi and her People, having given herself to the God of Israel: Ruth 1.16. Entreat me nor to leave thee, nor to turn from following after thee; for thy People shall be my People, and thy God my God. Let our young People show that they have given their Hearts to God by coming into full Communion; and by continuing stead fastly (all their Life) in the Fellowship of the Saints. Give your Hearts to God and it will bring you on to the Table of Christ, and make you welcome there. Yea when you have given your Heart to God, you may give Thanks unto the Father who hath made you meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light.
• 6. And lastly, GO to God in the name of Christ that he would give the • a Heart to give to Him The Prep • ration of this heart in Man is of the Lord, and we must ask it of H • m. It is a singular Gift of his Grace. Let us ask of Him a new Heart, a purified and clean Heart; a holy and heavenly Heart; that He would put his •• ar in our hearts & shed abroad of his l • ve in them Let thy Heart answer to God's; O that there were such on Heart in me. David has r •• ght us to pray, Unite my Heart to fear thy name; Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies. And David has assured as that God will hear the 〈◊〉 of the Humble, w • en that is their Petition; he will prepare their Heart, & cause his Ear to hear.

DOCT. IT is a great and serious Truth, worthy of our most devour and frequent Consideration, that we are the Off spring of GOD.

I shall endeavor

• 1. To explain and wave the Thing asserted.
• 2. To lead you into a proper Improvement of it.

I. And first, To explain and prove his Truth, that We are the Offspring of God. A high & noble Truth, which should be awful as well as pleasant to confider of. We must limit & state it aright, least we debate God and elate ourselves. We should do both in a very heinous manner, if we should call ourselves the Offspring of God in the highest sense, or should we call ourselves so as to our Bodies, out earthly part; or should we count out selves less his Creature and his Work in our Souls, though they are Spirits that bear his Image and likeness.

HERE then let me premise, and say,

1. WE are not the Offspring of God in the highest fe • se, which is singular & peculiar to the Only begotten and eternal Son. There is an Only-begotten of the Father; a S • n by an eternal Generation; His only Son our Lord. He is a Divine Person, his Nature and Glory is Divine. Joh. 1.1. In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ver. 14. And the Word w •• made Hesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his Glory, the Glory as of the Only begotten of the Father. O this eternal Existence of Christ, the Wisdom and Power of God, we read Prov. 8.22. The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of his ways, before his Works of old: I was set up from Everlasting, from the Beginning, or ever the Earth was: Then I was by Him, as one bro t up with Him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing a ways before Him: rejoicing in the habitable parts of the Earth, and my Delights were with the Sons of Men. This Divine Offspring of God is so by an Ineffable everlasting Communication of Essence, having Life in Himself, even as the Father bath life in Himself. He and the Father are One, in Essence, in Glory and Power. Joh. 10.30. I and my Father are One. His glory is incomprehensible and incommunicable. Phil. 2.6. Who being in the Form of God thought it not robbery to be Equal with God. Heb. 1.3. The Brightness of the Fathers Glory, and the express Image of his Person. Col. 2.9. In Him dwelleth all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily.

THIS is the Mystery of God; of the Father & of Christ; which we receive and adore, as it is revealed and because it is revealed, without pretending to comprehend it. Prov. 30 4. What is his Name, and what is his Sons Name, if thou canst tell? No, we must answer, I neither learned Wisdom, nor have the Knowledge of the Holy. Far be it from us. (and as far is it above all Angels ) to call ourselves the Offspring of God in such a sense; Far b • the Thoit from us, and detested by us. The Only begotten Son it Christ, whose Name is above every Name, and Angels in Heaven as well as we on Earth how down before it.

2. WE are the Offspring of God eminently or only in our Souls, not called so with respect to our Bodies or outward Form. When the Creation of Man came on, the Crown and finishing piece of God's Creation here below, the Lord God said — Let us •• ks Man in our Image, ofter our likeness: and he formed the Body of Man out of the dust of the Ground, and breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life, and Man became a Living Soul. Mans Body is a wondrous piece of Divine Workmanship, and great is the glory of the Wisdom and Power and Bounty of the CREATOR shining in it. But the living Soul or Spirit which God breathed into this Body, bears the Image of the wise, eternal ever living SPIRIT, whose breath it is. God is the Father of Spirits. Angels and Souls, intelligent and immortal Beings, are his Offspring; and not Bodies. There is a Spirit in Man, and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth him Understanding. Souls are His, all Souls are so; his Offspring in his Image.

AND this is the manner of Reasoning in our Context; that it is absurd to worship the invisible and immense. SPIRIT, that gives to all Life and Breath and all things, under any dead and bodily Form, whether of Man or Beast; for in HIM we live & move, being made living Souls by Him and active Spirits, and so his Offspring.

3. IT must moreover be premised & considered, That Angels and human Souls, though vastly in their Nature excelling Bodies and bearing the Image of the Invisible God; yet they are as much at last the Creatures of God and infinitely below Him, as any and every part of the inferior World. At last the distance is infinite between God and the highest created Intelligence. There is no proportion between Finite and Infinite: there is no measuring that which is Eternal and which is Immense. An eternal Existence is just the same to a million Years before the World, as to a million after it: And so is an immense Presence just the same to the Heaven of heavens and to this House which we are in. That is to say, There is neither greater not less if compared to Infinity: the Heaven of heavens do no more contain God than this Room can. In like manner the highest created Beings are but Creatures, and the least Worm or Mire is one of God's Creatures. If therefore some of God's Creatures are called his Offspring, what then? they are never the less as much below the eternal and immense Creator, as the least and lowest thing that he has made. Wherefore He putteth no Trust in his Angels, he charge them with Folly, they cover their Faces before Him; the Heavens are not clean in his sight. And as for the Spirits in Flesh, what are they but Dust and Ashes before Him? as Abraham beheld himself, when God spake to him, and gave him leave to speak before him. — As our Context has it, — God that made the World and all things in it, seeing he is Lord of Heaven and Earth, is as much above the highest as the least of his Creatures. So then, although our Souls are the Offspring of God, yet pride must be hid from Man, and he is before his Maker but a Worm of the dust. Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, in his high state grew proud, not considering that his distance from the Throne of the Majesty on High, was as great as if he had been the least of Angels or only a Spirit here below in flesh; and so he fell —. But having said this to keep us low under the Privileges of our Nature and the Favors of God to us; I come now to say,

4. YET it pleases the High God to call some of his Creatures his Offspring, and to require them so to account of & esteem Themselves. For we are his Offspring.

ANGELS and Men may say this. They both are so. God calls them so, owns them so, puts them among his Children.

1. ANGELS are the Sons of God. Job 38.7. When the Morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy. i. e. The Angels did so when God made this Earth of ours. The blessed Angels are among Creatures, the First born of the Father of lights; and they shone bright in the Morning of time; before that God commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness here below. They saw God rear the Earth for Men their younger Brethren, immortal Spirits like themselves; and they rejoiced at it; (in the habitable parts whereof the Son of God was before rejoicing.) The holy Angels shine bright in the Image of God; love him as their Father, he delights in them as his Sons, their delight is to do his Will, they dwell in his House above, and they inherit everlasting Life and Light.

2. MAN was created a Son of God as well as the Angels. So we read, Luk. 3. ult. Adam, which was the Son of God. He was immediately the Offspring of God in his Creation; We are mediately, Deut. 32.6. Is he not thy Father? hath he not made thee? Mal. 2.10. Have we not all our Father? hath not one God created us?

Now there are two Reasons why Angels and men should be called the Offspring of God, more than the other inferior Creatures which God has made.

• 1. They are made more in the Image and Likeness of God than the inferior Creatures. And
• 2. They are in an eminent & exalted sense made for God, his Service and Praise more than the other Creatures.
• 3. They are treated by God in a peculiar manner as his Offspring.

I. ANGELS and Men are the Offspring of God because they are made more in the Image and Likeness of God than the inferior Creatures are. This is the Distinction that God put, and the Difference he made, in the Creation of other Creatures and of Man: Let us make Man (said He) in our Image and likeness. Which means not that the inferior Creatures do not bear the manifest stamp of God's Wisdom, Power and Goodness upon them; They evidently do so, and His eternal Power and Godhead are clearly seen in the things which are made. But in Man there is the Image of God's Spirituality, Dominion and Government, Knowledge, Rectitude, Immortality, as is not to be found in the Inferior Creatures.

IMAGE and likeness; i. e. says One, the likest Image, the nearest Resemblance of any of the visible Creatures: It is this Image of God on Man, this Likeness to God in him, that makes us the Offspring of God: As Children bear the Image, and are in the Likeness, of their Parents.

So,

1. WE bear the Image and are the Offspring of God because we are living Souls and Spirits. God is a Spirit, Joh. 4.24. The Lord is that Spirit. 2 Cor. 3.17. The eternal and infinite Mind; invisible, incorporeal, immaterial, incorruptible; that is GOD. Material and visible things cannot give us any Image of God, like things Spiritual which only fall under the discerning of our Minds, which are Spirits, and capable of Spiritual Operations. In his we are like God, that our Souls are Spiritual Substances; that there is a Spirit in Man; invisible, incorruptible, immortal; a Power & Principle intelligent, active, free, self-conscious: God made us this Soul, and herein we resemble God, whose Spirituality and Simplicity of Essence is infinitely above the Nature of created Spirits, as these are above stupid and gross Matter.

2. We bear the Image and are the Offspring of God because intelligent and rational Creatures. We are Minds; God has given us Knowledge and Understanding. Man is a Spiritual Intellect, as the Angels of Heaven also are Intelligences. The Inspiration of the Almighty has given Us an Understanding. An Understanding to know HIM, and to form Ideas of things spiritual, invisible, immaterial & eternal. In this we must needs see & consider the Image of God upon us. Job. 35.10. Where is God my Maker, who teacheth us more than the Beasts of the field, and hath made us wiser than the Fowls of Heaven? The LORD is a God of Knowledge; Angels bear his Image in their Knowledge and Wisdom, and so doth Man on Earth, Col. 3.10. Created after God in Knowledge. Christ the express Image of the Father has his Name, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the Word and Wisdom. So Man is a thinking reasoning Creature. And this Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord, Prov. 20.27. As a Candle is light from some Fire, and then shines and gives light itself.

3 WE bear the Image and are the Offspring of God, in our Will, Freedom, Election and Choice, in our Actions. We are Agents by Counsel. We judge, deliberate, advise, choose o • refuse; upon reasoning and considering of things. This is the property of a spiritual & intellectual Nature, and shows very much of God's Image on us. Hence we are capable of moral Perfection; Virtue, Grace, Goodness: A Mind rightly disposed and inclined to choose the Good & refuse the Evil. This was the Image of God at first on man: God made him spright. Eccl. 7.29 God made him holy, beheld him very good, and forbad him to Sin. And this is the Image of God in Man restored by Grace 〈◊〉 Eph. 4.24. Created after God in Righteousness and true Holiness. We are made to be good, and do good, and love the things that are holy and good: As to know God and his Will so to please and obey Him; to place our Affection on him, and to choose the things that please him. This the inferior Creatures are not capable of; They have neither knowledge not will for moral Government; the Government of themselves; to be ruled by a Law proposed to them. They are not capable of chufing for themselves, or of yielding Obedience to Another; from a sense of Duty; and because what he commands is wise and right, just and good.

4. MAN is made for Dominion and Rule, and therein bears the Image and appears to be the Offspring of God, The Words of the Great CREATOR are very remarkable about the formation of Man; Let us make Man i • Our Image, after our likeness, and 〈◊〉 him have Dominion over the inferio • Creatures. God is the Lord, Proprietor and Possessor, Ruler and Governor of all things. Man as the Offspring of God bears this part of God's Image, that he was made Lord, Proprietor and Governor of the Earth, and the Creatures on it. The Begotten Son is the Heir and Lord of all things, visible and invisible. Of the Angels we read that they are Thrones and Dominions, Principalities and Powers: And their Agency, Influence and Rule in the Kingdom of Nature and Grace, and over the Kingdoms and in the Hearts of Men, may be much more than we conceive of: But Man the Offspring of God on Earth has that for his Possession and Dominion. He should be Lord of Himself, and have the dominion of his own Soul; and then act as God's Representative and Vice-toy in the use of the Creation. He is made and accomplished for his Place and Dominion by the supreme Power; and then limited in it, as it is meet 〈◊〉 should be. He must rule for God, •• le Himself & reign over the Creatures of God. They are not endowed to fear and serve God, but are made to serve Man, whose Fear is put by God upon them. Gen. 9.2. By the Government of himself Man shines in the moral Image of God, and by his Possession and Use of the Creature he bears the Image of God's visible and universal Government.

5. MAN bears the Image and is the Offspring of God in his Immortality. GOD is the King Immortal; He only hath Immortality. He is to Everlasting. In like manner Angels are immortal Spirits; they live forever, can never die. Man was indeed from his Original Make and Constitution capable of Death. He is a living Soul in a Body of Flesh, or Earth. The Union is wonderful, of things very distant in their own Nature. The Separation of them is therefore the less wonderful. Never the less without the Sin of man it had never been God by his power would have kep • Soul & Body together if he had no • ••• ed. Dissoluble they wore, an • God let him know it, and told him in the day he eat he should surely find it. Never the less the Soul of Man is an immortal Spirit. That lives when it leaves the body. That is liable thenceforth to no other Death than the sinning Angels themselves are under, scil. Guilt & Misery eternal. We read therefore of the Souls returning to God that gave it. Eccl. 12.7. and of the Spirits of good Men immediately in Abraham's bosom; and of the Souls of the wicked in the place of Torment, Luk. 16.23. The Soul is the Man, and that is as much immortal in its own Nature as any Angel in heaven. Herein then it bears the Image of the E • ernal God as much as they, and as much as a Creature • an do; for it is eternal in its duration, it lives and lasts to all Eternity. Mat. 25. ult. These shall go away into verlasting Punishment, but the righteous into Life eternal. The Offspring • f the eternal God must be an immor • l Creature. What Image of the •• ing Being were a short lived, perishing Nature? as the spirit of a Beast that goes entirely out into Air, and downward to Earth. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The living only are meet to be called the Offspring of God. But then too — Immortal, living Spirits must needs be in their original State the high Offspring of God. These are each of them as the Children of the King Eternal: they bear a high Image and Resemblance of his Immortality. This is a high Honor and Glory, wherein Man is at last not a whit below the Angels, those Sons of God. They both inherit Glory. Honor & Immortality: •• e eternal Life.

AND so much for the fi • st Reason why we are called the Offspring of God; namely, Because made in the Image and Likeness of God.

II. WE are the Offspring of God, because eminently and in an •• a •• ed sense made for God, for his Serv • c • and Praise, more tha • any other Creatures here on Earth. The Offspring belongs to the Parents; so we among the Creatures do more immediately to God. We are his more than other Creatures; his Propriety & Peculiar.

Here, 1. IT is true that all things are Created for the Glory and Praise of God. Of Him, and to Him, are all things, Rom. 11.36. For his Glory they are & were. Created, Rev. 4.11. Every Creature of God bears more o • less the Stamp & Impress of his Image; of his Wisdom, Power & Goodness; which declare it to belong to God and to be made for his Praise. Job. 12.7. Ask now the Beasts and they shall teach thee, and the Fowls of the Air and they shall tell thee; or speak to the Earth and it shall teach thee, and the Fishes of the Sea shall declare unto thee: Who knoweth not in all these that the Hand of the Lord hath wroit this? in whose Hand is the Soul of every living thing, and the Breath of all Mankind. Go to any Creature of God on Earth and you will see the Perfections of God shining forth in it. These declare it to belong to God and made for his Glory. The Creature does herein in eff ••• • peak to us and say Whose and for what it is 〈◊〉 and in this sense God is the Father of all things.

2. BUT in a more special Manner and in a higher sense Mankind are made for G • d, his Glory, Praise and Service. Of the inferior Creatures God has said, the Beasts of the Earth shall honor Me; But of Man he adds, Isa. 43.21. This People have I formed for my Self, that they should show forth my Praise. Man is more peculiarly formed and endowed for God than other Creatures are; as in bearing more of his Image, so to design and act more peculiarly to his Honor, And this I shall show of Man both as to his Soul and Body.

1 THE Soul of Man is gloriously formed for God; in the following Respects:

• 1. To know Him; as the Offspring in due time knows the Parent tha • nourishes and brings it up. The inferior Creatures cannot know or acknowledge their Maker; but we may and must, Job 35.10. Where is G • d 〈◊〉 Maker that teacheth me more than the Beasts of the earth? All the People see his Glory; says the Psalmist. If they will but use their Eyes and look about 'em, and look up, they may do so: they cannot help doing it, 〈◊〉 they will but use the Reason & Understanding that God has given them. The •• tute Creatures are not made to know God, they are not capable of it, it is too high for them to attain unto: But we are made to know God, that he is, what he is, who he is, and how he will be worshipped, and what his will is; to know him from his Works, and from his Word, and from within our se • ves; to know him in part here, and more hereafter. In this we are made meet to be called the Offspring of God.
• 2. THE Soul of Man is formed to love God, and design his Glory; propose it and act for it, and herein is meet to be called the Offspring of God. The dumb Creature honors God, but it does not love him. As it does know that he is, so it cannot design his Honor. But Man that is an Agent by Counsel can and should propose to himself this supreme and governing End, to which all things are to be subordinated by him 1 Cor. 10 31. Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all • to the Glory of God. How absurd a Precept would this be to the brute Creatures, that eat and drink, but know not who gives them their Grass and Water? But Man the Offspring of God knows and should consider the God that makes the Grass to grow for the Cattle and Herb for the service of Man; that the Rain has a Father who by it brings forth Food out of the Earth. They are the Offspring, that live on the Table of their Father in Heaven, and can acknowledge Him in their daily Bread. The first & great Commandment of God to Man is that, Mat. 22.37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. This becomes the Offspring; but the Creatures that cannot love, cannot be put among the Children. Now to love God is to design his Praise and Glory, with a supreme Regard to his W • ll. Knowledge and Love are essentially requisite (i. e. a Capacity for them is so) to denominate an Offspring.
• 3. THE Soul of Man is made to obey G • d, which is the duty of the Offspring, and the Expression of love due from us to God. This is the Love of God that we do his Commandments; do his Will, as Angels (the Offspring above) do. This it is that God says to us and requires of us, — Only obey my Voice. This must be done with all the Understanding, and with all the Soul- Obedience is of the Soul. It must be a reasonable and free service. This is what Man only is capable of on Earth, and therefore he only is the Offspring of God here below.
• 4. THE Soul of Man is made for Communion with God; as to know him and love him, and design his Glory and act for it; so to be known of God and beloved by Him; and taken • nto Fellowship with Him. The Soul • an draw nigh to God, and God comes down into it. The Soul by Faith and Love converses with God in mental Acts of Prayer and Praise, or in oral ones. It can delight itself in the Almighty, and in holy Affections and Desires go forth to God. It can wing away and ascend to Him. And God takes pleasure in the Soul so disposed and exercising itself, and manifests himself unto it as to his own. This is the Privilege of the Offspring; to stand in the Parents presence, to sit at his feet, to hear his Words and learn of Him; to ask and receive; to be beloved & delighted in; to be takes into the Arms & Bosom, upon their drawing near with Reverence & Confidence. This is the Offsprings Privilege,— As Children to a Father.
• 5. THE Soul of Man is made to live with and enjoy God forever and ever. The Fathers House & Presence is proper to the Offspring and them only. The immediate Servants in the presence of God are all Children. Angels are therefore Sons because they live and serve in the House eternal in the Heavens, and as Children do the Will and enjoy the Love of God. And so we are the Offspring because made for the same Felicity and Bliss, the same high Dignity and Joy. He that is the Son by an eternal Generation, the Blessed and only Beloved of the Father, has said to redeemed Souls I ascend to my Father and your Father: in my Fathers house are many Mansions. In Heaven the Saints do perfectly know God, perfectly love him, perfectly obey him, and their Communion with God, their Enjoyment of him is perfect; Then & there therefore will it be seen that they are the Offspring of God, and what it is to be so; when they shall shine forth in the Kingd • m of their Father, and be with Christ in his Glory.

I need not add as a distinct Head here, That the Soul of man is the Offspring of God because in it God will be glorified forever. Service and Enjoyment go together, both now and hereafter. So does our Happiness in God and God's Glory from us. The Offspring of God are growing eternally in the Knowledge of God, in the Love of him, in Obedience to him, in his Praises; to the everlasting Glory of God from them. He has Glory from them, & they Blessedness in him to eternal Ages. He the King of Glory makes his Offspring Kings and Priests to Himself; a Crown, a Kingdom, an everlasting Reign is their high Portion. This, this is the Manifestation of the Sons of God at last: This Man was formed, endowed, designed for in his first Formation; and this the Elect of God are redeemed unto by Jesus Christ and called to by the Gospel.

2. To descend lower, Man in his Body is designed & form • d apparently for God and for his Glory more than all the other Creatures here on earth. As the Body of Man is apparently formed for Superiority and Dominion over the Creatures here below, so is it also for the Knowledge of God and the Service of God. The heathen Poet could observe this long since, O •• Homini sublime dedit, Caelumque tueri •• ssit. The Face & Eyes of Man were • or made to look down on the Earth • s the Brute Creatures that know no • hing more than how to find their • ood there; but the erect Form of man's Body bids him survey the Heavens and all the Works of God, and • ee his Perfections shining in them, • nd observe what they demand from • s. Man's Eye was made to read the • ook of Nature & of Scripture, what the one and the other speaks of God • nd our Duty to Him. Mans Tongue, which is his Glory among the Crea • ures, was made to speak of God •• d to discourse of Him and of • is Will, in more familiar and pri • ate manner, or in more public and •• lemn form. Our Speech is given 〈◊〉 to speak to God in Prayer and •• ise & Thanksgiving; to bless and •• d his Name, alone by our Selves •• d also in Company; to sing his •• ises too; to utter the Admiration, •• e and Devotion of our Souls; yea 〈◊〉 to call upon our Soul and all that is within us to admire and love and laud Him. Mans Ear is manifestly made to try Words, receive Knowledge, and Faith which comes by Hearing; to hear from God and of him and of all his Wonders in the Works of Nature & of Grace. Once more, the curious Hand and Fingers of Man are made to write and work for the Honor and Praise of God; as much as the Mind & Tongue to think and speak to his Glory. And again, this Social Nature in Man, which joins us in Families, in Towns, in Churches, and which brings us together this day to worship is intended firstly and ultimately for the Glory of God; that we may join together in Worship, and by Love serve one another; that we may edify one another, excite and animate each other to everything that is holy and just and good. And finally, As our Souls and Bodies are wonderfully united by the Power of the God of Nature, so he has given us a Power of Self-consecration, that we should present our Selves Soul and Body a living Sacrifice, holy and acceptable through Christ; that He may be glorified both in our Bodies and Spirits which are his.

MAN only is capable of all this, which I have but hinted at; & therefore he only among the Creatures here below is meet to be called the Offspring of God. He has a he • ven b • rn Soul to know and admire and love and •• huse and obey God and enj • y Him forever. He is an immortal Soul that can be happy in nothing below God A • d he only has a Body formed for religious Purposes; to see the Glo • y of God in the Universe, to see it by • elliscopes & by Microscopes in things • o minute or distant for the naked • ye to re • ch. He only has a Tongue 〈◊〉 speak, an Eye to lift up an Far to • eat, as well as a Heart to understand. 〈◊〉 o • lie has a Hand to wri • e, or Hands 〈◊〉 lift up i • God's Name, & K • ees to 〈◊〉 bef • re Him. He only is formed 〈◊〉 W •• sh • p in Mind and in B • dy; 〈◊〉 this is • is Honor and P • e • oga •• e among the Creatures that He is the Offspring and they God's Works; God is his Father and their Maker.