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lieving on him, and so believing, as to partake of all the spiritual desires which his doctrine tends to excite, and all the spiritual supplies which his grace promises to bestow. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after such food; it never cloys, it cannot be exhausted, it both strengthens and delights, it detaches from the inordinate love of mean. er gratifications, it is the fore-taste of Heaven itself.

ure.

Temperance in Pleasure recommended.

Let me particularly exhort youth to temperance in pleas Let me admonish them to beware of that rock on which thousands, from race to race continue to split. The love of pleasure, natural to man in every period of his life, glows at this age with excessive ardour. Novelty adds fresh charms as yet, to every gratification. The world appears to spread a continual feast; and health, vigour, and high spirits, invite them to partake of it without restraint. In vain we warn them of latent dangers. Religion is accused of insufferable severity, in prohibiting enjoyment; and the old, when they offer their admonition, are upbraided with having forgot that they were once young.-And yet, my friends, to what do the constraints of religion, and the coun sels of age, with respect to pleasure, amount? They may all be comprised in a few words-not to hurt yourselves, and not to hurt others, by your pursuit of pleasure. Within these bounds pleasure is lawful; beyond them it becomes criminal, because it is ruinous. Are these restraints any. other than what a wise man would choose to impose on himself? We call you not to renounce pleasure, but to enjoy it in safety. Instead of abridging it we exhort you to pursue it on an extensive plan. We propose measures for securing its possession, and for prolonging its duration.

ANDOVER:

PRINTED FOR THE NEW ENGLAND TRACT SOCIETY,

BY FLAGG AND GOULD.

1820.

[4th edit. 2,000.

AN

ADDRESS TO YOUTH.

PROV. XX111. 26.

My Son, give me thy heart.

SOLOMON, the wise and magnificent king of Israel, arrayed in royal robes, and dispensing justice from the throne, is an interesting object of attention. Nor does he appear less engaging, or less venerable, when, descending from the throne, and losing the monarch in the man, he exercises the office of a spiritual instructor and guide. Are not our reverence and affection even increased, when we see him become the monitor of children and youth, and vent the fulness of a father's heart in exhorting them to be wise, and to be happy?

But behold, a greater than Solomon is here! It is not merely an affectionate human parent, claiming the love and obedience of a dear son. Solomon speaks, not so much in his own name, as in the name of the King of kings—the glorious JEHOVAH. It is HE, the kind and venerable Father of the great family of man, who here addresses every individual of his rational human offspring, in language such as this: "Ye creatures of my power: ye children of my family; objects of my constant care and compassion ;remember your Creator, your Father, and your God. Expand your souls to the Supreme Good. Let your best and purest affections be mine. Choose me as your portion. Love me as your Friend. Delight in me as your happiness. Reverence my authority; adore my wisdom; trust my grace; lean upon my arm; resign yourselves, your all, to my service and disposal. And you especially, the younger members of my family, just rising into existence, give me your hearts. To your kind Parent, and your guardian God, devote the flower and prime of your affections, and your earliest obedience. In the fair morning of life, choose my service as your business, and the enjoyment of me as your bliss." Such is the tender and gracious exhortation of the blessed God: an exhortation, which most powerfully addresses the reason, the conscience, and the sensibilities of every human being.

But the present design is, to bring it home, if possible, to the bosoms of the young. Let us then, after stating a few arguments, which illustrate the general obligation of giving the heart to God, subjoin some considerations which press the duty with peculiar force on youth.

The obligations, which bind every human being to give the heart to God, are numerous, and infinitely strong. Among the variety of arguments, which the subject presents, let the following receive a serious attention.

First. The Being, who requires of us all, that we give him our supreme affections, is, in himself, infinitely worthy of them. Were it enjoined on us to give our hearts to a hase and unworthy object, we might justly treat the injunction as unreasonable, and think ourselves excused in disregarding it. But how different, how opposite is the case here! Is not the great JEHOVAH the source, the sum, and the perfection of every thing excellent and amiable? If power and majesty fill us with reverence; if purity, justice and truth engage our esteem and admiration; if goodness and compassion attract our love; has not the glorious JEHOVAH, who possesses all these attributes in perfection, the strongest possible claims that we should revere and adore him, that we should admire and love him, with our whole hearts? And does it not betray an awful perversity of taste and feeling, that we should often be so strongly attracted by some faint shadows of excellence in creatures; and at the same time, so cold and dead to the real and transcendent loveliness of the Creater ?—This leads to observe,

Secondly. The relation in which God stands to us, as our CREATOR, presents us an obvious aud commanding motive to give him our hearts. At his command, we rose from our primitive nothing to existence. He has given us bodies, curiously and wonderfully made; admirably furnished with various limbs and organs, all adapted to some important use. He has given us souls of still more curious and admirable construction; souls, which are capable of knowing, loving and enjoying their Creator; souls, which shall survive their frail tenements of clay; yea, which shall survive the wrecks of time, and the dissolution of nature, and run parallel in duration, with the everlasting God himself. And why has he made us thus? Was it not that we might glorify and enjoy HIM, through a boundless eter

nity? Was it not that we might present our souls and bodies, a living and acceptable sacrifice to himself? Was it not thas we might yield him a sacred tribute of affection and obedience here, and partake immortal bliss in his immediate presence hereafter ? Shall we then dare oppose the high and benevolent purposes of the great Jehovah? Shall the bodies, which his own hand has made, and fashioned into instruments for promoting his glory, become the servants of base and polluting lusts? Shall the souls, which his own breath has inspired, and which he has capacitated for such an exquisite and endless bliss, forget their high original and destination, and continually grovel in the dust? Shall the noble powers and faculties, by which he has distinguished us from all other creatures in this lower world, be basely prostituted to his dishonour, and our own eternal ruin?

Thirdly. The blessed God is our most gracious PRESERVER and BENEFACTOR; and on this account, he most justly claims our warmest and best affections. He has supported and protected us ever since we have been in existence. He constantly follows us with more than a father's tenderness and compassion. He feeds and clothes us; he guides and guards us. He saves us from innumerable dangers, seen and unseen; and when the shafts of death are constantly flying around us, his all-gracious hand turns them aside from our bosoms. Who of us all can name the day, the hour, the moment, in which he has not been sustained by the arm of God, shielded by his providence, and fostered by his bounty? His mercies are far more numerous than our moments. They are greater, even than our sins. For O, what amazing obstacles of disobedience and rebellion have been triumphed over in their display!-And can we withhold our hearts from such a preserver and Benefactor as this? Shall the numberless and constantly repeated blessings, which he showers down upon us, leave us still unpenetrated, unmelted, insensible, unthankful? Shall the favours with which he loads us every moment, be every moment prostituted to his dishonor; Shall our lives, spared by his patience, and comforted by his love, be fulfilled with nothing but disobedience, neglect, and rebellion against him? Bear witness, heaven and earth, what horrid, what unnatural ingratitude is this!-But,

Fourthly. The catalogue of mercy is not yet closed. Its erowning act is yet untold. Think of the glorious Jehovah

as looking down upon a guilty and rebellious race, with the tenderest benevolence and pity. Think of him as not sparing his own Son, his ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, that he might spare, and bless, and save lost, perishing, hell-deserving sinners. Think, O think, of the love of Jesus. "Should

all the love," says one, "of all the men that ever were, or shall be on the earth, and all the love of the angels in heaven, be united in one heart, it would be but a cold heart, to that which was pierced with the soldier's spear." Think of that crucified Redeemer, with all the inestimable blessings which his blood has purchased, as freely offered to you. Think of him as kindly knocking at the door of your hearts; as tenderly pleading for admission; as presenting before you pardon, peace with God, and life immortal; upon the easiest possible terms. Yea, think of him as earnestly inviting and intreating you, by all his humiliations, toils and sufferings, by all his tears and blood, that you would open your hearts to him, and be his, and be happy forever. Can you remain unaffected by such astonishing considerations as these? Do these mysteries of mercy, which fill angelic minds with wonder, which resound, and will forever resound, through the celestial arches, awaken no lively sentiments in your breasts? Can you trifle with the condescensions of God, and with the dying agonies of Jesus? While viewing his cross, do you not feel your inmost hearts melted with godly sorrow, and fired with humble, grateful love? Are you not irresistably constrained to yield up your bodies and spirits, all you have, and all you are to your redeeming God? Then stand astonished at your own depravity and hardness. Never, never more lay claim to gratitude, to sensibility, to any of the tender or generous emotions of the human soul.

Fifthly. God is the only adequate object of our affections; and therefore we are under obligations indispensably to devote them entirely to him. How poor and sordid are all the objects and enjoyments of the world! How incapable of satisfying the vast desires of an immortal mind! Say, ye who wear away your lives in pursuing the wealth, the pleas ures, or the distinctions of the world; and are often flushed with the hope of finding happiness in these things, are you not as often disappointed? Do you not find amid them all, a void in your breasts, which they are wholly incompetent to fill? Does not something within you continually

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