liS A HOPEFUL YOUTH tSERM. Vt. to our Lord, and yet he says, concerning the command- ments of moral duty, I have kept them all from my youth. He sprung surely from good parents ; he had such instructions from them, and they such a jealous and watchful eye over him, that he was kept from gross sins, and was brought up in all the forms of godliness, and in the observance of the moral law. Now Christ, considered merely.as man, loved the law of God so well, that he could not but take pleasure in a person that per- formed it, so far as that obedience reached. Virtue, in the mere outward part of it, will command respect even from the vile and the wicked ; much more will the good and pious man pay honour to the practice of it. There is something amiable in sobriety, temperance, charity, justice, truth, and sincerity, though they may not proceed from the divinest principle of love to God rooted in the heart. 4. He had given some diligence in seeking after eter nal life, and had a great concern about his soul. He came running to ask a question of the biggest import- ance, II7rat shall I do to inherit eternal life? He was convinced there was a heaven and a hell, and he was willing to do something here to obtain happiness here- after. He did not come with a design to put curious and ensnaring questions, as the Sadducees did, Mat. xxii. 23. but he seems to have an honest design to l?now the way to heaven and happiness, for he went away sor- rowful when he could not comply with the demands of Christ. Though he thought he had practised a great deal of religion, yet he was willing to receive further in- structions ; fl/hat lack Iyet? Is there any other pre- cept to be performed, in order to entitle me to life eter- nàl ? Now our Saviour loves to see conscience awakened, to see the springs of religion opened and beginning to flow : A divine teacher conceives some hope of a man that is willing to be taught, and ready to learn, and therefore he loves him. This youth thought himself righteous, yet he did not think himself all-wise; and therefore submits to farther instructions. Now it is a pleasure to communicate knowledge to those that long to receive it; and we pity them heartily when they do not comply with the iteceK.,iry duties that are revealed to them, through the charms of some strong temptation.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=