Again, to seek early is to seek chiefly, 'primarily, after this or that thing. What we first seek, we seek as chief.1 Now, to seek the Lord early is to seek him primarily, chiefly ; in the 63d psalm, and the 1st verse, ' Thou art my God, early will I seek thee/ that is, I will seek thee as my choicest and my chiefest good. God is Alpha, the fountain from whence all grace springs, and Omega, the sea to which all glory runs, and therefore early and primarily to be sought. God is a perfect good, a solid good, Id bonum perfectum dicitur, cui nil accedere, solidum, cui nil decedere potest (Lactantius), That is a perfect good, to which nothing can be added ; that a solid, from which nothing can be spared. Such a good God is, and therefore early and chiefly to be sought. God is a pure and simple good ; he is a light in whom there is no darkness, a good in whom there is no evil, ] John i. 5. The goodness of the creature is mixed, yea, that little goodness that is in the creature is mixed with much evil ; but God is an unmixed good ; he is good, he is pure good, he is all over good, he is nothing but good.2 God is an all-sufficient good : ' Walk before me, and be upright : I am God all-sufficient,' in the 17th of Genesis and the first verse. Habet omnia, qui habet habentem omnia, (Augustine), He hath all that hath the haver of all. God hath in himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you. God is a satisfying good, a good that fills the heart and quiets the soul, Cant. ii. 3. In the 33d of Genesis, and the 11th verse, 'I have enough,' saith good Jacob ; ' I have all,' saith Jacob, for so the Hebrew hath it {Cholli), I have all, I have all comforts, all delights, all contents, &c. In having nothing, I have all things, because I have Christ; having therefore all things in him, ' I seek no other reward, for he is the universal reward/ saith one. As the worth and value of many pieces of silver is to be found in one piece of gold, so all the petty excellencies that are scattered abroad in the creatures are to be found in God, yea, all the whole volume of perfections, which is spread through heaven and earth, is epitomised in him. No good below him that is the greatest good, can satisfy the soul. A good wife, a good child, a good name, a good estate, a good friend, cannot satisfy the soul. These may please, but they cannot satisfy. ' All abundance, if it be not my God, is to me nothing but poverty and want,' said one.
Ah! that young men and women would but in the morning of their youth seek, yea, seek early, seek eai*nestly, seek affectionately, seek diligently, seek primarily, and seek unweariedly this God, who is the greatest good, the best good, the most desirable good; who is a suitable good, a pure good, a satisfying good, a total good, and an eternal good.3
Reason ] 0. Because the time of youth is the choicest and fittest time for service.
Now your parts are lively, senses fresh, memory strong, and nature vigorous. The days of your youth are the spring and morning of your
1 Omne bonum in summo bono. u Quicquid est in Deo, est, ipse Deus.
3 Omnis copia quce non est Deus meus, mihi egestas est — Aug [ustine] Soliloq. c. 13.
183 APPLES OF GOLD. [1 KlNGS XIV. 13.
time, they are the first-born of your strength; therefore God requires your non-age, as well as your dotage, the wine of your times as well as the lees, as you may see typified to you in the first-fruits, which were dedicated to the Lord, and the first-born, Exod. xxiii. 16, Num. iii. 13. The time of youth is the time of salvation, it is the acceptable time ; it is thy summer, thy harvest-time.1 O young man ! therefore do not sleep, but up and be doing; awaken thy heart, rouse up thy soul, and improve all thou hast; put out thy reason, thy strength, thy all, to the treasuring up of heavenly graces, precious promises, divine experi- ences, and spiritual comforts, against the winter of old age ; and then old age will not be to thee an evil age, but as it was to Abraham, ' a good old age/ Gen. xv. 15 ; do not put off God with fair promises, and large pretences, till your last sands are running, and the days of dotage have overtaken you. That is a sad word of the prophet, ' Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his Hock a male, and yet offereth to the Lord a corrupt thing,' Mai. i. 14.
Ah ' young men and women, who are like the almond tree;2 you have many males in the flock, your strength is a male in your flock, your time is a male in the flock, your reason is a male in the flock, your parts are a male in the flock, and your gifts are a male in the flock. Now, if he be cursed that hath but one male in his flock, and shall offer to God a corrupt thing, a thing of no worth, of no value, how will you be cursed, and cursed, cursed at home, and cursed abroad, cursed temporally, cursed spiritually, and cursed eternally, who have many males in your flock, and yet deal so unworthily, so fraudulently, and false-heartedly with God, as to put him off with the dregs of your time and strength, while you spend the primrose of your youth in the service of the world, the flesh, and the devil, Mat. xxi. 20.
The fig-tree in the Gospel, that did not bring forth fruit timely and seasonably, was cursed to admiration.3 The time of youth is the time and season for bringing forth the fruits of righteousness and holiness, and if these fruits be not brought forth in their season, you may justly fear, that the curses of heaven will secretly and insensibly soak and sink into your souls, and then woe ! woe ! to you that ever you were born. The best way to prevent this hell of hells, is to give God the cream and flower of your youth, your strength, your time, your talents. Vessels that are betimes seasoned with the savour of life never lose it, Pro v. xx ii. 6.
Reason 11. Because death may suddenly and unexpectedly seize upon you ; you, have no lease of your lives.
Youth is as fickle as old age. The young man may find graves enough of his length in burial places. As green wood and old logs meet in one fire, so young sinners and old sinners meet in one hell and burn together. When the young man is in his spring and prime, then he is cut off and dies ; ' One dying in his full strength (or in the strength of his perfection, as the Hebrew hath it) being wholly at ease and quiet, his breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow,'
1 The days of youth are called oetas bona, in Cicero, and alas optima, in Seneca. [Epist. xlix.— G.]
* Jer. i. 11, the almond tree blossoms in January, while it is yet winter, and the fruit is ripe in March. 3 ' Amazement.' — G.
1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 139
Job xxi. 23, 24. David's children die when young, so did Job's and Jeroboam's, &c. Every day's experience tells us, that the young man's life is as much a vapour as the old man's is.1