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SERMON I.

ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUTH.

ECCLES. xi. 9.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, but know that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

In this text there are two things to be considered: the permission or exhortation to enjoy the pleasures of life while we are young, and the caution or warning joined to it, that we shall be judged by God, accordingly as we have used this permission to a good or a bad purpose. "Rejoice," he says, "O young man, in the days of thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee." There is no harm in all this; it seems to be according to the law and order of nature; but remember in the midst of all thy pleasures that "God, for all these things, will bring thee into judgment." It is by these seasonable warnings that the violence of the young, and their appetite for pleasure, is kept within the bounds of moderation. They would be apt to imagine that they were created merely for pleasure; that all the high spirits, the strength and the liveliness natural to that period of life, were given to them that they might indulge themselves without limits and restraints; but then comes this dreadful remembrance across them, that for these things they will be judged by God. From this text it is clear that the youth of a sinner will not be accepted by God as an excuse. This is a very serious consideration: a man's

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youth is no excuse for his sins! I am sure this reflection must make some men tremble, but we must not be surprised at this doctrine; and if we reflect a little, we shall find that it is founded upon perfect wisdom, and proceeds from the same knowledge of man and his sinful nature, upon which every principle of the Bible is founded. For suppose the contrary doctrine to be truesuppose a man could plead his youth as an excuse for his sins—what righteousness would remain in the world? where should we find either a good man or a good action? Every man is young at one period, and as temptation is the strongest at that period of life, would of course avail himself of this excuse to plead his cause with his Creator, and to shrink from the labour of welldoing. I was guilty of adultery, but I was young; I abstained from every exercise of religion, but I was young; I was a drunkard, but my youth betrayed me into the fault. Every one would make such excuses as these, and all idea of religious duty would be at an end; therefore you see God cannot admit the excuse of youth as an apology for sin; because, if he did, every one would make that excuse, and there would be nothing else but sin in the world. Scarcely any young people can plead that they are ignorant of the great duties of life. When they commit great faults, they know them to be faults: almost every body is sufficiently educated for that purpose; and though they may say they were tempted, yet they cannot say that they did not know it was wrong to yield to the temptation. And if temptation is strongest in youth, does any man who remembers the justice of God doubt but that the reward will be equal to the temptation? Does any man doubt but that an higher destiny awaits him who can say to his Creator in the day of judgment, that he sought God day and night in the season of his youth? that he did not wait till passion was extinguished, and reason and experience had got the entire dominion; but

began obedience, and began worship, in the midst of tumultuous feelings and lively temptations. And with rules yet imperfect, and with an half-formed experience, if God does punish our sins during this period (and most assuredly he will punish them), yet God rewards us more abundantly if we remain steadfast in the faith during this season. And in this manner he preserves the eternal principles of justice, by which this world is always governed.

We see then from the text, that youth will never be admitted as an excuse for sin, and I think I have made it clear that it ought not to be. But we gather from the text a great warning that young persons should always bear about with them, that they will be judged by God for their pleasures; and this is what I want you to remember-judged, not punished. There will not be punishment for every pleasure you enjoy-God forbid but there will be examination whether the pleasure was lawful or unlawful; holy or unholy; and the punishment will be according to the decision. God loves the happiness of his creatures; and the wise man whose words I have quoted says, "Be happy, but remember, you will be judged!"

Youth is the season of

pleasure, but it is also the season of God's judgments. Be prudent, and take only so much of the good things of this world as is consistent with eternal salvation. What I want, then, is to connect the pleasures of youth with the judgments of God. If I see young persons before me full of life and strength, I want to put them out of conceit with their strength and their life, and to alarm them with the notion of death and judgment. You will grow old-you will grow paleyou will grow weak-you will die-you will be placed beneath the earth, within a few yards of the spot where I now stand! The trumpet of God will call you back, and every action of your life will be examined. These are the considerations, and these only, which can ever save

the young from the mortal pleasures of sin. They must join together the enjoyment of pleasure with the remembrance of judgment; and this is the principal point on which I wish to insist. And this rule is by no means confined to the young, but is a general rule which applies to all mankind; only it is more particularly directed to the young, because they think most of pleasure, and because they appear from their time of life to be the furthest removed from God's judgments.

Join the enjoyment of pleasure with the memory of judgment. This is a much better and wiser rule than many melancholy and foolish men would have you follow; for they seem to think, that there is a sin in happiness that all kinds of enjoyment are hateful to God; that pleasure was not made for man, but that he is to work out his salvation in sighs and tears, and by a rigid abstinence from every thing from which he can derive amusement or gaiety. So says mistaken man; but the scriptures say "Rejoice in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, but know, that for all these things, thou wilt be judged by God." They permit pleasure, but they put some control upon it: they desire mankind to be happy, but they expect they should be wise also: they leave us free, but they remind us that we are accountable. But this will be said, that to remember on every occasion that we shall be judged for our pleasures, to be perpetually saying to ourselves, May I enjoy this? Is this sinful in any degree, and how far is it lawful? to weigh all these things in a fine balance, and to be happy with the scales in our hands with a delicate finger, and a watchful eye, and an anxious soul, pleasure is impossible upon these terms; no man can be happy and enjoy himself, if these are the only conditions upon which he is allowed to be so. It would seem from this objection, that there was something very difficult and very delicate in the duties which God and our blessed Redeemer ask of us; that

it required great abilities to be righteous, and that none but men of fine minds, thoroughly well educated, and become profound scholars, could ever do their duty to their Creator. But, my dear friends, did you ever know a man so ignorant that he was unacquainted with the common difference between right and wrong. Did you ever know a man steal, who did not know at the same time that he was doing that which was forbidden? Did any man ever waste his life in the brutal sin of drunkenness, without knowing that he was offending his God, and his judge? There requires no nicety of judgment, no exertion of thought, no labour of the mind to do our duty. If it were so, there would be one set of duties for the learned, and another for the ignorant: everybody would have a line of conduct prescribed to them exactly suiting their capacity: but now it is, "thou shalt love thy neighbour," "thou shalt not take God's name in vain," "thou shalt not break the Sabbath," "thou shalt honour thy parents, thou shalt not murder, nor commit adultery, nor bear false witness, nor steal:" no man who means to be happy, to enjoy himself and to extract pleasure from life, ever need stand trembling, and asking whether God will judge him for these guilty pleasures. Every man who passes these bounds, knows he is guilty; he knows that for these things he will be judged by God; but he prefers present gratification to eternal happiness, and brings a curse upon his soul because he has not the firmness to wait and to deny. So that you see this rule of connecting worldly enjoyments with the recollection of eternal judgments, does not drive us to that state of fluctuation and doubt which was at first supposed; does not lay us under the necessity of examining with great subtlety and minuteness the consequences of our actions, because right and wrong are so plain, that no man who means to do his duty has occasion to reflect much about the matter; but suppose a young man at the outset of life does employ