THE YOUNG MAN'S DUTY.

BY THE

REV. THOMAS COLLINS, B.D.,

PERPETUAL CURATE OF FARNHAM, KNARESBOROUGH.

ECCLESIASTES XI. 9.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things, God will bring thee into judgment.

IT

T would be well, if that age which most needs counsel and direction, were disposed to follow the advice of the more experienced, when offered. But, alas! those who require the strictest control, are generally the most impatient of control, and those who ought to be guided by wiser heads than their own, are seldom inclined to submit to such guidance. Youth is headstrong, as well as thoughtless, and will follow its own imaginations in spite of all remonstrance. Much, however, may still be done to check the sallies of youth by early discipline, and accustoming the youthful mind to exercises of selfcontrol, as also by timely and well-adapted instruction. It becomes, therefore, an important duty of parents, and of those intrusted with the education of the young, to inure them early to habits of regularity and virtue, and to imbue their minds with the principles of true religion, that so they may enable them to pass through the temptations of the world unhurt, and arm them for the warfare which as Christians they will have to wage.

And

as the young bear some proportion in every Christian audience, and in this present assembly a large one, I trust I shall be fulfilling my duty by addressing this discourse to them; and I earnestly beseech their attention, while I point out to them the sins to which they are most liable, and their evil consequences, that by thus warning them of the dangers which beset their course, I may if possible, by the grace of GoD, deter them from evil, and invite them to what is good.

1. Let me first warn the young against sensual pleasures. To keep the body in temperance, soberness, and chastity, is the duty of all ages, but such virtues must be cultivated in youth if we would retain them in after years. A dissolute young man seldom becomes steady and chaste as he advances in age. Remember, my young friends, to whom you have devoted yourselves. You have engaged in your baptism to renounce the lusts of the flesh, and to serve GOD. Your bodies, as the Apostle declares, are the temple of the HOLY GHOST, who dwelleth in you. To defile the temple of GOD is a grievous sin, and will bring upon you destruction. GOD will withdraw his Spirit from such as thus grieve Him, and then they must become a prey to Satan. What if the world allow and commend such unhallowed practices; what if wicked companions entice and encourage you? GOD is your master, and not the world; GOD, too, is your judge, and the smiles of the world, and the cheerings of associates, will avail nothing to clear you from the guilt of sin, or to soften the sentence which shall be pronounced against it. Therefore, flee youthful lusts, and mortify your earthly members, and be holy, even as GOD is holy.

2. Swearing and loose conversation are sins to which the young are exposed; they account it manly to give the reins to their tongue, and oaths and filthiness are the

result of such an opinion. But he that values the favour of GOD will guard the door of his lips; he will do more, he will watch the recesses of his heart, that no evil desire within prompt him to speak what is displeasing to GOD. For nothing is clearer than that GOD will not hold those guiltless, who dishonour his holy name by rash oaths and curses. And the Apostle, after speaking of filthy communication, declares that, because of these things, the wrath of GOD cometh upon the children of disobedience. Indeed, how does such language become the redeemed of the LORD, those whose business on earth is to purify themselves, even as He is pure? Therefore, my friends, keep your tongue from evil, and your lips, that they speak no guile. Profane discourse is an open defiance of the dread majesty of GOD, and indecency is a thing not to be named among Christians. Whatever the world may say, there is neither wit nor pleasantry in such discourse; it is the abhorrence of good men, and GOD will bring it into judgment.

3. My next caution is against indulgence in frivolous pleasures. The spirits of the young are generally gay and buoyant, and are apt to hurry them after every vain amusement that presents itself to their notice. The world and its attractions are all new to them, and there is a charm in mere novelty sufficiently strong to captivate the inexperienced. Let me, therefore, remind my young hearers, that pleasures of this nature, even though innocent in themselves, ought not to be the occupation of their life, but only a relaxation from labour or study, or close application to the business of their calling. When the mind is absorbed in such amusements, either in calling back the remembrance of what is gone, or in preparing for the future, the weightier concerns that belong to us will necessarily be forgotten and laid aside,

and our souls, instead of being prepared for immortality, will be found grovelling about earthly things, and of earthly things the most trifling and insignificant. This is to be indeed unprofitable; and when GOD brings us into judgment, what can we expect as the end of such thoughtlessness, but to lose that happiness after which we have never aspired? Such is the danger of being lovers of pleasures more than lovers of GOD.

4. Misemployment of time is a sin to which the young are especially liable. When removed from the restraint of school, or the control of parents, they account it a chief source of happiness to be idle and do nothing. Now, idleness is sure to lead to sin; in the poor it is the parent of thieving, in the rich, of profligacy. If not well employed, we shall be ill employed. The result is, that when GOD demands an account of our time, which is a valuable talent bestowed upon us for the most important purpose, we shall be found to have wasted our LORD'S goods, and abused them to our own destruction. Let me, therefore, most earnestly recommend to the young to cultivate a habit of industry, as not only qualifying them to go honourably and usefully through life, but as preserving them from many snares, and fulfilling the ordinance of GOD, who has appointed us labour. And if any, by their plentiful circumstances, are exempted from the necessity of working for their bread, they are not thereby exempted from making a good and religious use of their time. Having more leisure to serve Gon, they must devote more time to his service, and account those hours as best employed, which are spent in promoting the glory of GOD and their own salvation.

5. And as the young are tempted to misemploy their time, so also their money. Perhaps they have not much at their disposal, but whatever they have to spare, GoD

requires a portion of it. Opportunities of almsgiving are never wanting; and we cannot begin too early to counteract the disposition to turn everything we possess to our own gratification.

6. Neglect of GOD and of their duty to Him, is another sin into which young persons are very generally betrayed. The world lays so strong a hold on them, that they have no relish for spiritual exercises. They regard religion as well enough for maturer age. At present they would eat, drink, and be merry, and take their fill of the pleasures and pastimes of life; and thus they increase that distaste for religious employments, which is part of our fallen nature. And while the passions are impetuous, as those of youth are, such will be invariably the case, unless they exert a vigilance proportionable to the danger. But the evil does not rest here. Habits of irreligion, once formed, are seldom eradicated; worldlymindedness clings to them through life, and if, for the sake of decency or custom, they frequent the ordinances of religion in after life, they will find that they have no savour for the things of GOD. And if death surprise them in this state, what a fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation awaits them! Let me, therefore, warn the young against the danger of forgetting GOD, or neglecting the means of grace and spiritual improvement which He has placed within their reach. Let me warn them against loving the world, which will draw them from GOD; for if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

7. I shall advert to one other sin, which is found more particularly in young persons;-it is that false shame, which leads them frequently to partake of sinful practices which their hearts condemn, but of which they dare not avow their dislike. They that will live godly in CHRIST