holy services it shall be sufficient I am sure the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jom a day is in both both the six dayes and in the seventh and how comes the signification to be altered if jom a day signifies a whole day in the one why not in the other why not the whole seventh day engaged in divine service as well as the whole six dayes taken up in secular employments Chrysostome and Theodoret observe that from the very beginning God taught man this lesson that one whole day in the circle of seven is to be employed in holy services And many famous lights of the Reformed Church conclude that whatever is moral in the fourth Commandment this must needs be that the seventh part of every week be consecrated to the worship of God So Zanchy Bucer Martyr c. That famous person mentioned last speaks roundly when he saith That it is perpetual and eternal while the Church remains upon Earth that one day in the week be designed for the service and worship of God and this saith he is firme and unshaken Augustine in one of his Sermons adviseth the people That from the Evening of the Saturday till the Evening of the Lords day they avoid all vain sloth and idleness and all secular toyle and labour and wholly set themselves apart for the worship of God This excellent man gives the full current of twenty four hours to the holy observation of the Sabbath And this saith he is rightly to keep the Sabbath and truly if God gives us six natural dayes to labour in is it not fit that the seventh should bear an equal proportion with every working day And therefore it is a natural day consisting of twenty four hours which we must in conscience allow to God to be the Sabbath day But besides the force of Divine Command which as clearly enjoyns the seventh day for holy Rest as indulges the other six dayes for toyle and labour the very plea's of the soul may come in to affirme the sanctification of one whole day in the week to spiritual and divine services Let us consider The Soul in the Nobleness of its Original it is a Heaven-born soul Gods breath in mans bosome Mans soul onely bubbles from the fountain of spirits our soul is but a beam The Soul is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the glorious Sun God beam d into man a glittering soul and shall not this noble soul so worthily descended lay claim to one day as well as the body that dusty case of the principle of life the soul that body which is onely the sheath of the soul the cabinet for this jewel to lye in put in its title and right to six What is this but to degrade the soul from the honour of its Excellent Original Let us look on the soul in the excellency of its capacity what is not a reasonable soul capable of It is capable of Gods Anima est ex Deo non ut ex materia et ex traduce dei â—eu ejus quadam particula sed ut â— causâ efficiente accessu quodam naturae propiore ad essentiam dei divinarumque proprietatum assimilatione Leid Prof. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Image There is little of Gods Image to be seen in the body God is a spirit and so stamps his Image on the spirits of men and shall not the soul which bears so noble a superscription enjoy the priviledge and latitude of one day as well as the body that earthly tabernacle which is soon taken down and wrapt up in a silent grave enjoy the immunity of six whole dayes But must the abatement fall on the souls portion Consider the multiplicity of a souls work and therefore let not its day be shortned by frothy pleasures or servile labours John 9. 4. Praeclarae sunt arimae dotes effâ—ctus divinae functiones miranda solertia ingenii cogitationis celeritas facilitas perceptionis judicii acrimâ—nia disâ—ursus et ratiocinatio de rebus omnibus memoria rerum praetâ—ritarum contemplatio praesentium futurarum praevisio et maxime inse ipsam conversio et reflexio suaeque contemplatio c. Lied Prof. The work of the soul is very great and very various there are many duties to perform many graces to act many ordinances to wait upon much knowledge to acquire many corruptions to subdue Now he that is to ride far let him not want day-light the souls task is great let not its time be short especially shorter then God hath made it The body hath onely two things to get viz. food and raiment it hath but two rooms to go thorow the Kitchin and the Wardrobe But the soul hath more and nobler atchievements to pursue It hath a Pardon Grace Christ God Heaven to look after and obtain and shall its owne day given it more especially for these great attempts be subject to an unhappy diminution Let us look on the soul in the eternity of its duration The soul saith one is a bud of eternity the business of the Animaâ—e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Domine aufer à me hanc tunicam graveâ— corpus scil terrestre ponderosum et aerumnosum et dâ— mihi leviâ—rem soul is of everlasting concernment But the body is a shattered piece of dust a shaking fa brick which is soon unpinned the paint of its beauty is soon washed off the vigour of its strength is soon weakned and enervated a thousand diseases can crack this piece of frailty and yet this tottering piece of flesh must have its full six dayes and the eternal soul not enjoy one whole day without allowance made for pleasure and secular employments Let us consider the soul in the importance of its wellfare The body follows the condition of the soul but the soul doth not follow the condition of the body If thy soul miscarry it had been better as our Saviour speaks thou hadst never been born Man fares as his soul fares It was Mat. 26. 24. Sic alloquitur anima sancta suspirans O civitas sancta civitas speciosa de longinquo te saluto ad te clamo te requiro desidero verè te videre et in te requiescere O civitas desiderabilis Muri tui Iapis unus Custos tuus ipse deus Cives tui semper laeti semper enim gratulantur visione Dei Hug. Victor the Redemption of the soul that drew Christ from Heaven to tabernacle amongst us and to offer up himself a sacrifice to Divine Justice and therefore how rational is it that the precious soul should enjoy a full Sabbath without any sensual vacancies for pleasures and pastimes seeing the whole man is dependant upon its disposal and is happy or miserable according to its state or condition But to wind up this particular Argument if we consider either the force of the fourth Commandment or the pregnant plea's of the immortal soul whose interest is much pursued on a Sabbath nay the Sabbath is the very
the dawning of the morning and cryed I hoped in thy word Morning gâ—aces like morning stars shine brightest David used to cast anchor upon divine truth in the morning he did not onely meditate on it but act his hope and confidence in it and this was Davids work in the earliest part of the day and this is a rare Copy for us How should we prevent the dawning of a Sabbath in our flights to God in our longings after Christ in beginning our Sabbath-work Judg. 21 4. Love to God and his Ordinances should tear the curtains open disdain the softness of the pillow and betimes 1 Joh. 1. 3. break open our closet doors to enjoy fellowship with Pers râ—m Rex unum habebat cubi uâ—arem qui idoffi ii habebu ut manè ingressus regi diceret Surge ô Rex etque ea cura quae te curare voluit Mosoromisdes Plutarch the Father and his Son Jesus Christ But to conclude this particular Plutarch reports That the Persian King had one of the Servants of his Chamber every morning to come to him and to cry to him Rise O King and follow those cares which thy good genius will have thee to pursue Let us onely invert the phrase and instead of thy good genius say Gods good spirit and it will be applicable to our selves Let us especially early on Gods day resolve we will follow the traces in which the holy spirit shall lead us Let us seriously preponderate the weight and multiplicity of a Sabbath-days work The Traveller who is to ride many miles gets up early in the morning and so sets upon Judg 19. 8. his Journey The soul hath a great way to travel upon the Lords day its task is great and therefore its time must not run wast There are many duties to perform First Secret duties On the Sabbath there are some duties which must onely be acted between God and the devout soul A gracious heart will have private intercourse with God Jesus Christ went into a Mountane apart to pray Mat. 14. 23. and he was there alone The Saint some times turns the Closet into a Sanctuary and never more fitly then on a Lords day Our dear Lord bids us go some times into our Chambers Mat. 6. 6. and shut the doors upon us The Saints are Gods hidden ones in point of worship they serve God in their recluses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quem vis locum occulium notat Par. and private retirements and this is an evidence of their uprightness The Spouse sometimes meets her beloved and none shall be spectators of their holy fellowship Nunquam minus solus quà m cum solus and upon Gods holy day let the gracious soul set upon these several duties First The reading of Gods word The Eunuch was reading the Prophet Isaiah in his Charriot not onely because he would lose no time but because he would be more serious Acts 8. 28. in this secret duty David compares the Word to an honey comb Psal 19. 10. and honey combs are usually in the private gardens The same Psalmist saith The Law was Psal 1. 2. his Meditation in the night and then surely he had few witnesses to view his devotion The closet door may keep out not onely other people but other thoughts and then we are fittest to converse with Gods Word when we are most intent Secondly Another secret duty for the Lords day Is holy Prayer to God and praising of God Indeed prayer is a duty 1 Thes 5. 17. accommodated for all places for all times and all cases but closet prayer on the morning of a Sabbath is like a morning star which portends a fair day We read of our Saviour Mark 1. 35. that in the morning rising up a great while Mark 1. 35. before day he went out and departed into a solitary place Acts 10. 9. and there prayed let us go and do so likewise And holy Peter in this confessed that the Disciple was not greater then his Master for he pursued the same practice Acts 10. 9. Peter went up upon the house to pray about the sixth hour And as we must pray to God so we must sing the praises of God in secret sometimes our closets must not only be our Oratories to poure out our prayers in but our Mount Olivets to sing Hymns of praise to the Divine Majesty Mat. 26. 30. We must begin the works of Heaven in secret which we shall be doing to eternity in blessed Society Thus David praised God seven times a day and certainly he had not every time witnesses of his Divine Exaltation Psal 119. 164. Thirdly A third secret duty is Holy Meditation When the mind that Spiritual Bee is working and seeking honey out of every flower and this piece of service is calculated Gen. 24. â—â— onely for privacy Company untravelling whatsoever meditation works but of this more largely hereafter Fourthly The last duty to be acted in secret upon the holy Sabbath is Self-Examination when Conscience is both Judge Witness and Tribunal And in the acting of this duty there needs no Sessions-house but a mans own breast David saith when we commune with our hearts we must Psal 4. 4. 1 Cor. 11. 28. be still There wants no noise from the world nor from the company of others These two last duties viz. Meditation and Self-Examination are most proper for the most secret and retired places fitter for the Closet then the Church the secret Chamber then the open Sanctuary they are as one saith actions of the mind and so concern a Dr. Gouge mans own self in particular And these secret duties of piety should especially be performed in the morning of a Sabbath that the Lords day may begin with them and then we shall be in a good preparation for other duties The beginning with God thus in the morning may influence the whole Sabbath like the tuning of an Instrument which makes the whole Lesson's melody the sweeter and indeed pure Religion and undefiled which the Apostle speaks of Jam. 1. 27. never look's so comly as on a Sabbath day the day Jam. 1. 27. inhances the duty as the lovely dress doth outward beauty Thus we see there are secret duties to be acted on a Sabbath Secondly Private Duties On Gods holy day we must not lock up our selves and our services above in the Chamber but we must come down into the Family and there the morning stars must sing together to allude to that of Job Job 38. 7. Consort makes the musick The stars shine brightest in a constellation Jesus Christ would not be transfigured alone but he took some to be witnesses of his Glory when he would Mat. 17. 1 2. Luke 9. 18. Mat. 13. 36. pray his Disciples were with him and when he would open the blessed mysteries of the Gospel he takes his Disciples to him In our closets there is indeed a meeting of thoughts
saepius nobis accidit ut quae omnium optime addicisse videmur quando ad rem ventum est ignoremus Ger. Gen. 19. 3. to aggravate our condemnation Memory is onely the registring of a truth but meditation is the learning of it by heart memory opens the door to entertain spiritual knowledge but meditation it locks the door upon that discovery It will not let it fly out again Meditation like Lot is importunate that holy truths like welcomed Angels lodge with us The meditation of any thing hath more sweetness in it then bare remembrance The memory is the chest to lay up a truth but meditation is the palate to feed upon it The memory is like the Ark in which the Manna was laid up Meditation is like Israels eating of the Manna When David began to Psal 63. 5 6. meditate upon God it was sweet to him as marrow There is as much difference between a truth remembred and a truth meditated on as between a cordial in the glass and a cordial drank down The next thing considerable in this excellent duty of meditation is the timing of it how much how often how long we must meditate Indeed the Scripture doth not positively Requiritur animus memor vigilans qui dies noctes de praeceptis servandis cogitet Ger. determine any set time for this holy service Our chief Pilots and Guides is this main importance must be spiritual prudence and divine affection Our wisdome must select and our love must limit the time for sweet meditation Indeed some of Gods holy people have taken long Journies in this holy duty David tells us that he spent the whole day in it Psal 119. 97. Nay he mentions a Godly man Psal 119. 97. who when the day was shut in would not call off his soul from this blessed service as being tired and wearied but would travel all night in the same complacential performance But leaving these extraordinary examples we may Psal 1. â— certainly and truly conclude that we must consecrate some part of our time every day to this duty of meditation David though he had the business of a Kingdome and the pleasures of a Court to divert him yet saith of the Law it was his meditation all the day and in this evidences the excellent Psal 119 97. disposition of his soul Truly frequency in this duty is not onely praise-worthy but will bring in a harvest of spiritual gain By frequency we shall make our thoughts more plyable for the discharge of this secret and difficult duty the soul will be made more apposite and accommodate for it Frequent and customary running maketh a person long breathed and more able for exercise when we use this duty of Meditation every day our thoughts will be more consistent they Hos 6. 3. will be more improved and ripened for meditation And on the contrary when we neglect the frequent use of it we shall find meditation first more unpleasant and then more unnecessary and at last more distastfull and burthensome Disuse quickly brings holy duties into disgust The interruption in and infrequency of this duty will hinder the fruits of it when there are long strides between the performances of this duty we lose the benefit of former meditations As in the body when a man makes a free and liberal meal this will not maintane and support him long Panem petimus quotidianum quo quotidiè indigemus quique quotidiè nobis frugalitèr alendis sufficiat Par. but the next day a new and fresh hunger importunes another meal and if denyed the body faints and languisheth So meditation like food it must be our daily repast else the refreshing of former meditations wear out and leave no fruit or benefit behind When the Hen leaves her Eggs for a long time and doth not sit upon them they are unfit for production and never are reared to be Chickens but when she daily broods upon them they are living and lively productions So when we leave our wonted course of meditation for some space of time our affections grow chill and cold and are not fit to produce comfort and holiness to our souls when we are constant in this work we shall find the benefit and advantage of it Quest But if it be demanded how long we must continue in this duty of meditation Answ It may be answered so long till meditation bring forth some considerable benefit till it stir up our affections warm Domine nunqâ—om à te absque te recedam Bern. our hearts and tune our inward man till we find some sensible change and transformation in our souls Indeed nature disrelisheth this duty and we are very apt to be soon weary of it Our thoughts are like a bird in a Cage which flutters the more when confined and meditation fastens and confines them to some spiritual object But the distasts of nature to this duty should make us not more weary but much more vigorous As when the wood is green or wet we do not throw down the bellows in a pet or anger but we spend more time and draw out more strength in the blowing and in so doing there first riseth some smoak then some sparkes and by going forward at last it breaks into a hot and bright flame And so it is with the duty of divine meditation when we first meditate on spiritual things at first we raise a smoak of a few sighs towards God and by continuance sparkes of holy affections fly up heaven-ward Gen. 8. 21. but at last there is a flame of seraphical loves the soul is in an extasie with Jesus Christ Now we should not give over In phrasi hac primò est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tribuiturque deo quod proprium est hominibus Secundò est metaphora sicut homines odoribus gratis suaviter officiuntur it a deus delectatur file gratitudine Noah Par. in Genes meditating till this flame break out and ascend up towards God as Noah's sacrifice with a sweet smelling savour to the Divine Majesty When a man goes forth in a calm and serene evening and views the face of the Heavens he shall at first see a star or two twinckle and peep forth but if he continues his prospect both their luster and their number is increased and at last the whole Heavens are bespangled with stars So when we first meditate upon the promises of the Gospel at first it may be one star begins to appear a little light conveighs it self to the heart but let us go forward and we shall find when our thoughts are amplified and ripened there will be a clear light more satisfaction will be conveyed to the Soul and in continuance of these divine meditations the Covenant of Grace will be bespangled with promises as the Heavens with stars to give us rich and full satisfaction But there are some signal and special seasons for the acting of this duty of meditation Sometimes our
affections are more smart and vigorous our thoughts are more lively and unwearied and so more disposed to this excellent service and such seasons are our harvest for the acting of this duty and reaping the great comfort of it The morning is an accommodated time for meditation then the body hath been refreshed with the sweetness of The first season for meditation rest and so the impressions of toyle being worn off it is the more active for the labours of meditation David was with God before break of day The morning Sun smiles with the Psal 119. 147. most pleasant aspect when first it begins it 's laborious circuit Our thoughts are shot out of our minds with greatest strength in the morning when our bodies can yield their most lively assistance and there are many pregnant reasons for it Holy thoughts and meditations are most acceptable in that season When we awake in the morning many suitors attend our thoughts aad every suitor useth urgent importunity Jer. 2. 3. now if spiritual things obtain the first admittance this is most grateful to God It cannot but be a sinful provocation that our thoughts should be as the Inne in Bethlehem Luke 2. 7. where strangers took up all the rooms and Luke 2. 7. Christ was excluded and was fain to lye in a manger Indeed Charitas sponsae quae tot allecta beneficiis sponso deo in amore obedientiâ et obsequio mutuò respondit et eum deperiit Lyran. it cannot but be matter of deploration that vain and worldly thoughts should take up all the rooms of our souls in the morning and Christ shut out But for the prevention of this let Divine things first attach our meditations and this will be well-pleasing to the Lord. In the stilling of strong water the first water which is drawn from the still is more full of spirits and the second and the third they are weaker and smaller and not of the same value So the first meditations which are still'd from the mind in the morning are the best and we shall find them more full Gen. 4. 4. of life and spirits and they come nearer to Abels sacrifice Abel non etemandato tantùm sed exside obtulit The morning is the golden hour of the day like the first springing grass which is most pleasant to the eye and most sweet to the taste The morning is the first budding of time Let Christ have it in holy and divine speculations Meditation in the morning will be more influential The Vessel which is first seasoned with that which is pretious and odoriferous will retain the scent and tincture nor will easily lose it but with much toyle and labour That of the wise man is considerable When thou awakest it will talk with Prov. 6. 22. thee As Servants come to their Masters in the morning and receive Rules from them how they shall manage their business all the day following So a gracious heart which meditates on Gods Word and things divine in the morning those savoury tinctures abide on him all the day and Quâ— semel est imbuâ—a recers servabit odorâ—m teâ—ta diu he walks with more circumspection and fruitfulness Wind up thy heart towards Heaven in the morning and it will go the better all the day The wool takes the first dye best and it is not easily worn out The heart seasoned with holy meditations in the beginning will keep this colour in grain It would become us to perfume our minds with divine thoughts betimes on the day that the smell may scatter it self to all we meet withall that day Equity requires our morning meditations to be sequestred and set apart for God Some of his first thoughts were set upon us If we are in Christ we had a being in his thoughts Eph. 1. 4. of love before we had a being in the world His earliest 1 Joh. â— 19. loves fastened upon us when we were onely in the possibility Spirituales benedictiones in ipsâ aeternâ praedestiratione suerunt nobis in Christo praeparatae Zanch. and futurition of a being We had the morning of Gods thoughts before ever the Sun did rise or shine in the World What thoughts of free and rich Grace what kind thoughts of mercy and peace had God of us from all everlasting Let us in some measure retaliate the first loves of God let us fix our thoughts upon God in holy meditation before the day breaks and delivers the light the infallible Jer. 31. 3. harbinger of it But more especially the morning of a Sabbath is the most genuine and sweetest season for meditation and that upon this two-fold account Holy meditation will fasten the heart upon God which is very necessary upon the morning of a Sabbath Meditation is properly the centring of the thoughts as was suggested before and fixing them upon some spiritual object Gen. â—4 1. Our hearts they are naturally slippery and will be gadding with Dinah unless they are kept at home viz. with God the proper home of the soul by divine contemplation It was the boast of holy David that his heart was fixed the Psal 57. 7. fixing of the soul on God is both the duty and the glory of a Psal 108. 1. Christian Now when once meditation hath fastened our thoughts on something divine they will not be so easily call'd off nor so subject to sinfull avocations which will be a transcendent happiness on the Lords day Divine meditation will fledge and raise our affections not onely six our hearts upon God but draw them out to God in ardent and holy desires which likewise is most suitable to the morning of a Sabbath We light affection by the fire of meditation On Gods holy day we should be in an extasie Psal 42. 2. of love to Jesus Christ and meditation is that which can elevate and draw up the desires to Christ and when they are once raised they do not so easily sink and fall again Psal 119. 97. When Bells are raised then they are musical and proclaim their loud harmony to all who are within the hearing The Psal 19. 6. Sun when it is risen it ascends gradually and runs its pleasing and swift circuit untill it be stopt by full noon So Psal 104 34. likewise the soul being raised by sweet and divine meditation on the morning of Gods holy day it will be drawing out its holy fervencies and longings after God the whole Sabbath ensuing The next season for holy meditation is the Evening So we read of holy Isaac He went out to meditate in the field at Even tide Gen. 24. 63. When business is over and every The second season for meditation thing is calm it is then a convenient time to let out our thoughts loose to fly up to God God had his Evening as Exod. 29. 39. well as his Morning sacrifice As the cream at the top is sweet
themselves and sensualize upon Gods holy day let them not waste that golden spot in trifling recreations let not them formalize and dissemble away the Market-day of their Souls surely their doom will be aggravated with all circumstances of horrour and amazement Fond Christians who idle away and unravel their precious Sabbaths see not the Witness behind the Curtain viz. the blessed and glorious Gospel which will come in against them to sharpen their sentence and condemnation we Christians cannot violate Sabbaths at so cheap a rate as others may more especially a poor benighted Jew who hath lost his way and is wandering to eternal perdition Let every Christian consider Christ makes his flocks to rest at noon The Jews never had those patterns of Sabbath-holiness as we Christians have had It is true God rested the seventh day after the finishing and accomplishment of the stupendous Gen 2. 3. work of the Creation and his Rest was both exemplary and preceptive to the world to keep that day as a day of holy rest But the great Jehovah was in Heaven above the eye of observation But now Jesus Christ the great Archetype of sanctity he was a visible Pattern of Sabbath-holiness John 5. 8. to us and let us trace our dear Redeemer in his Sabbatical actions and wherein they are imitable they are admirable Mat. 12. 13. we shall find our Beloved on that day either working Luke 14. 4 5 6 7. 8 9. his Cures or shewing his Miracles or breaking out into holy discourses or preaching abroad his heavenly doctrines Luke 6. 6. or pouring out his Soul in holy prayers something or other Luke 6. 12. like the Son of God he is doing on the day of God And so the holy Apostles those blessed Spirits as one calls them Those Pen-men of the Holy Ghost as all call them they were rarely exemplary in Sabbath-observation Not to mention how affectionately they grasped the opportunity of the Jews Christus utitur exemple ovis in soveam incidentus in die Sabbati post â—eâ—â—cta ea quae ad Sabbati ministerium et cultum pertinent Sabbath as a fit season to preach Jesus Christ and to throw their Net into many waters How did they manage the true Sabbath the Lords day now taking possession of its right in becoming the weekly Festival of the Church 1. They were most frugal of the time of it Paul preaches on this day till midnight Acts 20. 17. 2. They were most copious in the duties of it they preach they administer the Sacrament which undoubtedly was accompanied Chemnit with fervent and solemn prayer 3. They take care of the poor Acts 20. 7. And 4ly One of this Apostolical society is in high raptures 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. and sublime elevations on this day Nay the Apostle of the Gentiles acts charity to a miracle Acts 20. 10. thinking Revel 1. 10. nothing too great to add to the celebrity and honour of this holy day Now do the Jews tell you of a zealous Nehemiah who shut the Gates of Jerusalem the Evening before the Sabbath to keep God in and shut prophaneness out Nehem. 13. 17 18 19 20 21. we may reply a little to invert our Saviours speech A greater than Nehemiah is here one whose shoo-latchet that worthy man is not worthy to unloose to speak in the language of John the Baptist Mark 1. 7. We then having fairer Luke 11. 31. Copies it is no reason but we should mend our hand The Limner draws the Picture according to the person who sits and the more lovely the person is the more beautiful is the Picture How should we then keep the Sabbath holy who have the pattern of him who is the fairest of ten thousand Psal 45. 2. And how doth this upbraid their practice who make the Sabbath a day of sloth and idleness when the holy Apostle on the same day laboured in preaching of the Gospel Acts 20. 7. till midnight Let us then in the fear of the God of Jacob keep Sabbaths as we have Christ and his blessed Apostles for our ensamples We have more liberty and desirable freedom than the 1 Cor. 11. 1. Jews had in sanctifying the Sabbath their sanctification of that holy day consisted in a multitude of purifications washings and cleansings and in a number of Sacrifices and Oblations they had their burnt Offerings and their Num. 28. 9 10. Meat-offerings nay and their Drink-offerings and all these Sacerdâ—s singulis sabbatis lignum subjiâ—it ad nutriendum ignem in Altari Movebantur panes propositionis c. were doubled as was suggested before on the Sabbath-day their observation of the Sabbath was more toilsom and laborious they were imployed in more drudgery they were to look after their Flour and their Oyl killing of Beasts and such things which were of a more inferiour and carnal nature their duties on the Sabbath were clogged and burdened with more sweat and â—â—â—poral painfulness and were of a grosser alâ—oy The Priests among the Jews on a Sabbath Mat. 12. 5. were busied in cutting of word to feed the fire of the Altar that it might not go out and in preparing of bread to put upon the Table of Shewbread and to remove that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was there before All these Operations as Chemnitius calls them required the hand not the heart and were works of the lower form To all which may be added that the Jews Levit. 23. 6. besides their weekly Sabbath they had the Passeover the Levit. 23. 16. Feast of Pentecâ—st the Feast of Trumpets the Feast of Tabernacles Levit. 23. 24. the day of Attonement which was the tenth day of Levit. 23. 27. the seventh Moneth and these were all called Sabbaths Levit. 23. 34. Levit. 23. 24 32 36. And some of these Feasts and Solemnities Levit. 23. 8. were celebrated divers days together Levit. 23. 36. Now it is not so with us under the Gospel the Apostle Exod. 12. 3. hath eased us at once of all these legal Festivals 2 Col. 16. Exod. 23. 14. Let no man condemn you in respect of an holy day or of the new Gal. 4. 9 10. Moon or of the Sabbath days viz. Jewisn And so Gal. 4. 9 Non sunt damnandi christiani tanquam divinae legis transgressores out violatae conscientiae rei quòd non observant festa legis ceremonialis quicquid contra superstitiosè ogganniunt Pseudo Apostoli Daven 10. Ye observe days and months and times which are weak and beggerly rudiments All these Festivals are of no use to us but are fully cancelled and cashiered Thus God hath sweetned our Sabbath far above that of the Jews Prayers are our onely Offering Sighs our Incense Sacraments our Passeover we have no Drink-offering but to drink in truth in the hearing of the word we have no Meat-offering but to feed upon
sweet promises the first made to Charity the best of duties 10 11. Verses the second made to a Holy Observation of the Sabbath the best of dayes Verse 13 14. And thus much may serve as a manuduction to lead you to the Text. CHAP. II. The Explication of the Text. IN the Text we have two remarkable Parts An Eminent Duty enjoyned Duties they are the Cords of a man to use the Prophets Phrase by which we are Hos 11. 4. sweetly drawn nearer to God they are our Travel towards Canaan While we are in a way of duty we are in Bona opera sunt via ad Regnum our way to the Kingdome Holy Duties are our spiritual intercourse our traffique with Heaven and such a duty is enjoyned in the Text. A Precious promise entailed on the accomplishing and right acting of this duty and indeed God doth not usually send our duties when duly performed empty away Duties Evangelically acted they are like Noahs Dove with the Gen. 8. 11. Gen. 44. 2. branch in her mouth like Benjamins sack with the silver Cup in the top of it God will not leave unrewarded the sweat of the soul But of these in their order For the Duty it self in the whole of it is a spiritual observation of the Sabbath The Sabbath day as God ordained it for his own Rest so it must be observed for his own Honour The Sabbath is Gods by his own Institution and by our sanctification As we receive it from God so we must keep it to God But in the Text there are many branches sprouting from this common stock God directs us many wayes and in many methods how to observe his Sabbath and we will trace and open these Directions in an orderly progress and proceeding These Directions they are partly negative and partly positive These Negative Directions call us from some practices which are prohibited and from some language which must be restrained Now there are four sorts of actions we must be abstemious from upon the Sabbath or to speak in Gospel language upon the Lords Day CHAP. III. Secular and servile works utterly unlawfull on the Sabbath day ACcording to the Text we must abstain ab actionibus civilibus from Civil Actions from the works of our Secular actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day we are in no wise to follow the works of our Calling Alap Callings the Shop and the Change-business must be laid aside on a Sabbath so the Text If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath Now Alapide gives us the genuine interpretation of that phrase Omne opus servile quod pedibus fit aut manibus hic erat prohibitum All servile works which the feet or hands accomplish is here prohibited Indeed the feet are quick and ready to prosecute the gains of the World and therefore here we are commanded to keep our feet from being exercised in servile or secular imployments on this Holy Day not any work must â—xod 20. 10. be done saith God in the fourth Commandment a Commandment in which we may truly-say digitus Dei the Exod. 31. 18. Finger of God We must not mingle the Week with the Sabbath Oecolampadius well descants on this phrase in Oecolamp in hunc locum Judas Macchab We are to abstain from all servile work that having no work of our own we may be wholly taken up with Gods work that he may speak with us and reveal himself fully and familiarly to us as friends do when they get alone Shep. p. 84. the Text Si quicquam rerum tuarum in Sabbatho if thou hast appointed to do any of thy works upon the Sabbath and shalt draw thy foot away from the Sabbath intermiseris illud opus propter Sabbathum that is shalt intermit and lay aside that work for the Sabbath-sake because of the Sabbath in remembrance of the Sabbath then thou shalt sanctifie the Sabbath for such a Sabbath is acceptable to God Whatsoever work we have purposed we must break it off and turn our feet from it upon a Sabbath One well observes that Judas Macchabaeus whom God raised up for the defence of his People against the Tyranny of Antiochus that he having a great Victory against Nicanor and his Host and putting to the sword nine thousand and chasing away the rest the day before the Sabbath after that they had gathered the spoyle together they did rest upon the Sabbath and praised God for the Victory and after the Sabbath was past then they took order for the dividing of the spoyle Indeed should we labour upon Prohibeturopus nostrum scil servile mechanicum laboriosum quaestuosum ordinarium tum privatum tum publicum quae cum prohibita fuerint in festis aliis solennioribus Lev. 23. 7 8 25 32 35. Num. 28. 25. Multo magis Sabbatho Leid Prof. Luke 23. 56. Psal 1. 2. the Sabbath day this would breed confusion and confound Gods day with ours we labour six dayes and should we labour on the seventh where is the distinction this is to mingle light and darkness and to abolish the Sabbath name and thing The Sabbath is the Souls Monopoly then we must not labour with our hands but with our hearts and not seek the gains of the Earth but the Kingdome of Heaven we must not then follow our Callings but our Christ Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James would not prepare odours to annoinâ— Christs body when he was dead on the Sabbath day but rested that day least while they went about to Embalm his body they might indeed eclipse his Glory On this day Physicians must not study Galen nor Philosophers Aristotle nor Mathematicians Archimedes but their delight must be in the Law of the Lord. The Sabbath is sanctum otium a holy leasure to pursue Eternity We must so give rest to our bodies and our souls upon this day that nothing trouble us for here we must take up that of the Philosopher Postulandum secessum Toto hoc die vacandum Domino ut melius intendamus we must have our repose that we may the better intend the great work of our souls and therefore not onely worldly cares but worldly businesses are forbidden that so our whole body may be at command to serve God It is most eminently remarkable that we have in the Scriptures six Commandments for the observation of this Rest In Exod. 16. 22. The Israelites were to cease from gathering Manna on that day They were to gather a double measure on the day before that they might not be diverted to gather any on the Sabbath day On this day you have mercatur animae merchandise for your souls wherein are better things then Manna to be gathered Manna not like Coriander Joh. 6. 53. 1 Pet. 2. 3. seed Exod. 16. 31. but Manna which is the seed of the Word which is able to save our souls In Nehem. 13. 15 16 17. Where holy Nehemiah forbids all Traffique on the Sabbath
part of our inheritance above whereof our Sabbath is but a sign and pledge When we come to glory we shall cease from all sweat and painfulness and as there shall be no tears lying upon our cheeks so there shall be no sweat bedewing our brows Our toile shall be turned into triumph our pains into pleasure our industry into rest our hard labours into soft loves and glorious rewards and therefore Lazarus lies in Abrahams hosome a place not of sweat but repose and all this our present Sabbath is but a harbinger of So the working upon a Sabbath doth not onely destroy the Observation of it which is to be Rev. 14. 13. The holy rest of the Sabbath is the twilight and dawning of heaven Shep. Treatise of the Sabbath p. 79. Luke 16. 23. Sabbathum nostrum perpetuum illum caelestem Sabbatismum consequentem et perfectum figurat ubi fideles à propriis malisque operibus sint in aeternum feriantes Leid Prof. with no manner of work but the very significancy of it Working on this day eclipses the Sabbath as it is our earnest of a better rest and undervalues this noble end of a Sabbath finis sublimior as some call it to represent the perpetual sabbatisme the Saints shall enjoy in a better place and state Let us consider the equitableness of mans resting from worldly labours on the Lords day Shall Man that frail piece of dust be like a Salamander alwayes in the fire of toyle and painfulness Shall there be no time for him to interferiate and feast with God and consecrate himself to Exod. 31. 17. holy observances God was refreshed on the Sabbath as was hinted before and shall trembling flesh have no leisure Omnis actio deâ— nobis pietatis et virtutis regula est Basil to pause and walk with Christ in his ordinances Doth devout sequestration to pious and holy exercises no way belong to him Or shall God in the fourth Commandment that grand Charter of the Sabbath take care for the repose Quia durabile non est quod requie earet otium quoddam sanctum deus praecepit ut insatiabilem hominum cupiditatem frae naret qui tam seipsos quam servos suos nimiis laboribus exhauriunt modò lucrum faciunt Gualt of the Oxe and the Ass the beasts that perish as the Psalmist speaks Psal 49. 20. and no care of Man that sublime piece in the Creation which is little lower then the Angels Psal 8. 5. To conclude this large Argumentation The Labourer who defiles the Sabbath with his sweat opposeth divine command universal authority and the dictates of sound Reason which are the cords of a man But now for works of absolute necessity which could neither be done before the Sabbath nor deferred till after the case is far otherwise here to labour is not our crime but our duty To breath a vein to one sick of a Plurifie is the duty of a Sabbath so to quench our neighbours house on fire is our proper work on the Lords day to stop inundations Psal 8. 5. of waters which else would break forth to the prejudice Hos 11. 4. of the adjacent parts this is not to defile but to honour Acts 20. 10. a â—abbath Paul on the Sabbath day uses means to recover Luke 13. 15. Lutichus who was dead for the present The Jewes Mat. 12. 5. in their greatest strictness were not so bound up as not to do works of necessity They might fight against their enemies on a Sabbath take and destroy the Cities of their adversaries Jericho is encompassed seven dayes and taken the seventh Josh 6. 20. Excipiantur illa opera quae singulari aliquâ necessitate nobis imponantur quo in numero illa non sunt habendâ— quae homines sibimetipsis quasi necessari fingunt Ames probably the Sabbath Josh 6. 20. which was no blemish to Israels Victory but an inhancement to the praise of Israels God Works of necessity they do sweeten they do not soyle a Sabbath they shew the love of God they do not break the law of God It no wayes hinders my Soul from being put in joynt upon the Lords day because my leg is put in joynt which was broken by a sad and afflictive providence And works of necessity are secured from Sabbath-prophanation by a four-fold warrant and dispensation Our Saviours holy example signs this dispensation He wrought his cures on the Sabbath for the most part Mat. 12. Luke 6. 10. Mark 3. 5. Mat. 2. 28. 13. and many other places The wound should not bleed to death because our Saviour would not act the Physician on this holy day Christ who was the Lord of the Sabbath would oftentimes cause an Ordinance to wait on a Cure and many times the Preacher must yield to the Physician Our dear Lord well knew a dying Patient was not fit to be a devout Worshipper The necessities of the Disciples being gratified were no blemish to the holiness of the Sabbath upon that day they Mat. 12. 1. Christus sumptâ occasione ex discipulorum facto viz. spicarum fricatione et comessione factum illud defendit Lysit pluckt the eares of Corn. They carried bodies of clay about them which must be shored up or their souls would fly out at the cracks of them If the glass be broken the cordial will be spilt Our bodies must be indulged or our souls will be uncapable of services or ordinances Faint bodies are listless to lively duties The very plea's of Reason have warranted a dispensation Our Saviour urges three rare Arguments to indulge cases of necessity The first Argument is a majori from the stronger and more forcible inference which argument we find Luke 13. Luk. 13. 15. Verbis exprimi non potest quantum homo qui ad imaginem dei conditus est et pro quo unigenitus dei filius proprium suum sanguinem fudit quem denique spiritus sanctus per verbum Evangelii ad communionem filiorum dei vocavit et sanctificavit irrationelibus animalibus praestat Chem. 15. where our Saviour urges most sweetly and wisely that if we can secure and take care of the beast on the Sabbath man should not in his necessity be neglected on that holy day Man is not onely more worth then many Sparrows Mat. 10. 31. but then many Oxen or Asses or more valuable Cattel If the beast must be pluckt out of the ditch on a Sabbath shall the plucking of a man from the jawes of death on that day be a polution of it This Argument the great Master of the Assemblies is pleased to use to indemnifie works of necessity The second Argument is a meliori from the better which we find Mark 3. 4. where our Saviour sharply expostulates Mark 3. 4. Finis est praestantior medie salus hominis est finis proptâ—r quem Sabbathum est institutum Par. and queries whether it be lawful or no to do good on
a Sabbath whether good actions are not becoming a holy day this must needs be undeniable Now to cure a sick person quench a burning-house resist an incroaching adversary they are actions immutably good and therefore they must be so on a Sabbath There is no time when to save a dying person can in it self be unlawfull it is an obedience to the law of Nature a compliance with those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common principles which are concreated with us Therefore such actions cannot pollute the holy Sabbath or defloure the purity of it The third Argument our Saviour takes à potiori from that which is more eligible which is most fit to be done in case of a Dilemma and this Argument is urged Mat. 12. Mat. 12. 3 4. Generalis est haec doctrina non Davidem tantum ut sanctum Regem et Prophetam Domini licitè edisse panes propositionis quasi personale fuisset privilegium sed eâ— famulos qui cum ipso erant non peccasse manducando in casu necessitatis Lyser Mal. 4. 2. 3 4. Our Saviour tells us what David did in case of necessity It was far more eligible for David to make bold with the shew-bread then for the holy Saint and King to die for hunger his life was more considerable then an appointed observation A substantial good is more to be valued then a shadow which onely signifies something to come and would fly away at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness and therefore as necessity intrenched on extraordinary food without blanâ—e so it may presume on an extraordinary day without crime The light of Nature warrants a discharge and gives in not guilty to works of necessity on the Sabbath If my wound bleeds to death because it is not dressed on the Sabbath or my disease send me to the dust because medicinal applications are not made on the Sabbath this is my errour not my duty If I have no being God can have no worship and so acts of necessity are dispensible God will have us to worship him with all chearfulness and alacrity which cannot be with an undrest wound or a disease not to be lookt after because it is the Sabbath I cannot chearfully joyne in Divine Worship and in the mean time the waters break into my house and there must be no stoppage of them because the time of Gods holy day will not permit it Cases therefore of indispensible necessity neither pollute nor prophane the Sabbath But to wind up this particular of working on a Sabbath which hath been the more copiously handled because of the greatness of its importance we read that the holy Apostle Paul sometimes laboured with his hands but yet his Acts 20. 34. Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. works on the Lords day were Sacred and Divine nothing but preaching the Word administring the Sacraments pouring out his Soul in Prayer taking care of the poor and those duties which are the just companions of a Sabbath He acts then not as a Tent-maker but as an Apostle his Acts 18. 3. heart works not his hands In a word this particular shall be shut up with the confession of learned Master Breerwood Breerw Tract of the Sabbath p. 47. who improved so much parts and pains in asserting an undue liberty on the Sabbath yet we may hear him thus acknowledge It is meet that Christians should on the Lords day abandon all worldly affairs and dedicate it wholly to the honour of God And one of our Church Homilies hath these words Gods obedient people should use the Sunday holily and Hom. Of the timeâ— place of worship give themselves wholly to heavenly exercises of Gods true Religion and Service and this was the practice of all Gods people in all ages And so much for this large particular But secondly there are a second sort of actions we must forbear on the Lords day viz. Sensual actions so the Sensual actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day Text from doing thy pleasure on my holy day We are to forbear indulging our appetites we must not please a wanton eye or a luxurious palate on the Sabbath which is a day not to feast the Body but to feast the Soul Feasts and Banquets are not the Celebration but the Prophanation of a Sabbath then our fat things must be the fat things of Gods house Psal 36. 8. Isa 25. 6. A full luxuriant table where no necessity requires it is fitter for the day of a Bacchus then the day of Jehovah who is all purity and perfection A moderate repast for Nature doth best become the holy Sabbath The Disciples feed upon a few ears of Corn upon a Sabbath Mat. 12. 1. De caenâ nostrâ hoc dicendum est nihil utilitatis nihil immodestiae admittit non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur editur quantum esurientes capiunt bibitur quantum pudicis est utile ita saturantur ut qui meminerint etiam per noctem adorandum etiam esse doum ita fabulantur ut qui sciant dominum audire Tertul. Exod. 16. 22 23 24 c. Numb 28. 10. Exod 35. 3. On this day a Table spread with dishes is more spread with temptations It is dangerous then to study to please a palate when we are more especially to look after a soul On this holy day the Word must be our food tears must be our wine singing of Psalms our musick the Sanctuary our parlour and place of repast and our festivity must be joy in the Lord our eare must be taken up in holy attention our heart in spiritual devotion our eye in divine speculation The Sabbath is the Souls not the Senses feastival then to please the curiosities of sense is not to keep but to lose the Sabbath The Jewes had onely the usuall proportion of Manna for the Sabbath they had no exceedings and though they were to offer double Sacrifices on the Sabbath they were not to eat double meals to have an increase of outward provisions They could not lawfully kindle any fire on the Sabbath and surely those preparations could not be plenteous where there was no fire to make them We Christians make the Sunday a day of spiritual rejoycing saith Bishop White and he quotes it out of Turtullian Our pleasures on this day must not be in our Meats but in our Messiah not in our varieties unless it be of Ordinances Chrysostome reports that the Love-Feasts of the Christians in the Primitive times consisted of divers Viands provided by a common purse and collation of which they took as much as would suffice the Communicants Diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tertul Chrysost On the 1 Cor. Cap. 11. Hom. 27. and so celebrated the Lords Supper together which done they presently fell to the spare and slender chear entertaining and solacing themselves with spiritual and divine Colloquies And indeed here we have our pattern in the purest times The Golden Christians
but in our houses there must be a meeting of Relations there must be Parents and Children Masters and Servants those who are born at home and the stranger Exod. 20 10. Commâ—ni sâ—nctifiâ—â—ndi Sâ—bbathi lege â—onstringuntur omnes ex aequo herus servâ—â— peter liberi mas fâ—â—mina sâ—perâ—â—res et inferâ—ores Musc within our gates and all these must joyntly keep Gods Sabbath in holy duties and no less God commands in the fourth Commandment the Son and Daughter must remember to keep the Sabbath holy as well as the Parents the Man-servant and the Maid-servant as well as the Governours of the Family nay the stranger within the Gates On the Lords day we must by a conscionable and constant performance of holy duties turn even our private house into a little Church and thus we shall intail Gods presence to our houses as he vouchsafed his blessing on the house of Obed Edâ—m we must not onely act secret duties on the Sabbath 2 Sam. 6. 12. but likewise Family duties What those duties are shall be more copiously handled hereafter But Thirdly we must act publick duties on Gods holy Sabbath we must not onely open the doors of our closets and of our chambers to come down into our houses but Ex hac comâ—â—â—iâ—â—e tum Regnum 〈…〉 Zanch. we must open the doors of our houses too to meet with Gods people to celebrate the Lords day The Sabbath is the day wherein the Saints visit God and one another they then begin that society which shall be perfected and eternized in Glory David rejoyced when he went with the multitude to the House of God The great Apostle taught every where in Psal 42. 4. every Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He taught when the people 1 Cor. 4 17. were called together The Corinthians came together in one place to eat the Lords Supper Nay Christ himself will declare 1 Cor. 11. 20. the name and praises of God to his Brethren in the midst Luke 8 19. of the Church We must therefore serve God on the Sabbath in the Assemblies of Gods people not in our houses onely but in the Church i. e. in the Congregation of the faithfull Moses speaks of a holy Convocation Exod. 12. 16. Exod. 12. 16. and the Psalmist makes mention of the Assembly of the Saints Psal 89. 7. nay the promise is intailed on the Congregation of Gods people Isa 4. 5. The omission of this our assembling of our Isa 4. 5. selves is by the Apostle sharply rebuked Heb. 10. 25. One commenting on this Text hath divers things remarkable Heb. 10. 25. and worthy of our observation As First By this assembling the Apostle intends no other but the meeting of Believers to hear the Word of God and Per collectionem hanc Apost caetus ecclesiae et conventus fidelium ad sacram synaxin ad verbâ—m dei pâ—eâ—esque publicas intelligit Secundò Hos caetus vult Apost ut Châ—istiani fidem profiâ—â—â—ntur gratiarum actiones persoâ—ent et se inviâ—em excitent ad veritatem et bona opera Terâ—â— illi catus et mutui congressus mirè sovent fidem quae in secessâ— et separatione diuturniori lâ—ngue scit Quartò Qui ecclesiae â—aeâ—â—s negligunt et deserum facilè urgente perseâ—utione ecclesiam ipsam et fidem Christi deserunt et abnegant Alap to pour out their prayers before God Secondly The Apostle injoynes the Assemblies that Christians might meet publickly to profess their faith in Christ and to sing the praises of God to stir up one another to love and good works Thirdly The same Author observes that these Companies and Assemblies do exceedingly foment and cherish faith which by a perpetual recluse and separation quickly would languish and be infeebled Nay Fourthly He observes That those who forsake the Assemblies of Gods people will easily in the urgency and heat of persecution desert the Church of Christ thus far that learned man And what a rare promise doth the Apostle mention 2 Cor. 6. 16. the words are these For ye are the 2 Cor. 6. 16. Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall Lev. 26. 12. be my people Christ when he was upon the Earth he goes into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day Mar. 1. 21. and Mark 1. 21. taught the people Paul and his Company go into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and Paul preacheth there Nay Acts 20. 7. afterwards Paul preacheth to the Christian Assembly in a house on the Lords day Acts 20. 7. In a word where doth Christ walk but in the midst of his candlesticks which are the Churches Rev. 1. 20. Cornelius Alapide observes that Rev. 1. 20. Alapide holy Ignatius who was the Disciple and follower of the Apostle Paul adviseth in his Epistles those of Smyrna and Ephesus to frequent the meetings of the Saints and gives this reason because they will wonderfully confirm us in the faith so then the whole duty of a Believer on the Lords day lies not in the Closet or the Family but likewise in the Societies of Gods people met for divine worship Coals put together make the warmer fire When the Christians were Assembled Acts 10. 44. to hear Peter then the Holy Ghost fell upon them The Saints in Glory are the Assembly and Church of the first-born Heb. 12. 23. and therefore we must act publick duties on Heb. 12. 23. Gods holy day in the publick Assemblies But now what these publick duties are and how we must demean our selves in the performance of them shall be more largely discussed hereafter We had need rise early on the Sabbath for as we have many Duties to perform so we have many Graces to act The Sabbath is both the field to exercise Grace in and the treasury 2 Tim. 2. 1. to supply grace with Ordinances are both the breathing Grâ—â—iâ— non soliâ—â—est sâ—vâ—r â—â—i 〈◊〉 qâ—od ex eo sâ—qâ—â—tâ—r Alap and the breasts of grace In prayer we act and we augment our graces and so in other Ordinances The Sabbath is the Believers resting day but Graces working day it is love which sweetens the work of a Sabbath Faith makes effâ—ctual the Ordinances of a Sabbath Repentance reconciles Hâ—b 11. 6. Jer 31. 19 20. Rom. 12. 11. Isa 57. 15. Hâ—b 4. 2. Jam. 5. 16. the God of the Sabbath Zeal makes acceptable the duties of a Sabbath Humility ingages Gods presence on a Sabbath We cannot hear the Word profitably on this holy day without we mingle it with Faith nor address our selves to God in prayer without we inflame the duty with fire with the fire of zeal In our prayers we must get our affections fired by the Holy Ghost that they may flame up towards God in Devout and Religious ascents Broken-hearted and penitent Isa 23. 16. believers
and season for spiritual communications between Christ and the Spouse But now the main Query will be what are those duties which are incumbent upon us on the morning of a Sabbath To Reply therefore to this Query I shall instance first in Meditation Meditation is the souls flight towards Heaven and therefore it had need take the wings of Psal 139. 9. the morning When thou hast broken thy sleep begin the Sabbath with holy Meditation that is the morning sacrifices of the mind CHAP. XIV The Benefits and Excellency of Holy Meditation MEditation is a most notable piece of Gods service the very life and strength of all other Duties and without which all duties are infeebled full of weakness and infirmity Meditatio est nutrix orationis Ger. Meditation is the Nurse which feeds our prayers it is the Nail which fastens the Word it is one hand that puts on the wedding Garment to fit us for the supper of the Lord. Meditation it is the spiritual silk-worm which works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haec cura haec satage his juge studium et corporis et animae vires impende et intende rare and curious silk rich goods out of its own bowels It is the travel of the understanding the souls Hue and Cry after Divine things it is the fixing of the heart upon God or some thing of God it is the stop and pause of the mind from the impertinent wandrings and rovings of it In a word Meditation is the randezvous and trooping together of the thoughts in some spiritual matter as Sun-beams are Psal 119. 15. gathered together in a burning glass If we meditate upon the Word or any truth therein then our thoughts flock together 1 Tim. 4. 15. and center in the divine truth in this spiritual object Now for the canvasing of this Excellent Duty I shall briefly open what may conduce to the fullest discovery of it First Let us view Meditation in the nature of it and it may be thus described It is the souls retiring of it self that Quatuor tibi meditanda reor quae sub te quae circate quae supra te et teipsum a te meditatio inchoet ne frustrà extendaris in alia te neglecto Quid tibi prodest si universum mundum luereris si teipsum perdas Et si sapiens sis c. Bernard Consid ad Eugenium Mr. Greenham in his tract of meditation by a serious and solemn thinking upon God or some thing divine the heart may be raised up to heavenly affections Some refer this holy duty chiefly to the understanding but others draw it nearer to the memory as one describes Meditation thus That it is the exercise of the mind whereby we calling our selves to remembrance that which we know we do further debate of it with our own souls reasoning about it and applying it to our selves that we may make use of it in our practice and so it frameth our affections accordingly Holy Greenham observes in Meditation two parts of the soul are busied First The Memory remembring some thing heard or read Secondly The understanding gathering some thing upon that which is remembred Now First Meditation is a retired duty A Christian when he Meditation a retired duty goes to meditate he must seclude himself from the World the affairs of this life make so much noyse that they drowne the sweet though secret musick of meditation Holy Isaac Mat. 14. 23. retires into the field to meditate there must be a necessary sequestration Gen. 24. 63. of our selves from every impertinent and intruding object if we will pursue this holy service of Meditation this duty is chamber nay closet practice The sweet Manna the soul feeds upon when there is no spectator of its banquet When Zacheus would see Christ he climbs Luke 19. 3 4. up into the Sycamore tree to see him so when we would see God we must get out of the croud of worldly business Si sapiens sis deest tibi ad sapientiam si tibi non fueris Quantum verò Noveris licet omnia mysteria noveris lata terrae alta coeli et profunda maris si temetipsum non noveris eris similis aedificanti sine fundamento ruinam non structuram faciens Bern. we must climb up into the tree by retiredness of Meditation St. Bernard when he came to the Church door he used to say Stay here all my worldly thoughts that I may converse with God in the Temple so say to thy self I am now going to meditate O all ye vain thoughts stay behind come not near When thou ascendest the mount of meditation take heed that the world do not follow thee at thy heels Indeed meditation is an inward and secret duty the soul retires its self into the closet and bids farewell to all impertinent extravagancies which may discompose its privacy and takes a view of those things which are within its self Meditation is an invisible duty to the eye of the world and therefore carnal men do relish it Meditation is a Serious Duty and it is one of the noblest works a Christian can perform Reason then is in its exaltation When the soul doth meditate it puts forth the Meditation is a serious duty most judicious and rational acts then is the soul most like to God who spends eternity in contemplating his own essence Psal 77. 12. and glorious attributes When the Christian meditates he practices an imitation of Divine Majesty 1 Tim. 4. 15. Meditation is a sublime Duty It is an exercise of the understanding it is not a duty in which we converse with Qualis illic coelestium regnorum voluptas sine timore moriendi cum aeternitate vivendi Cypr. drossie things meditation properly sets upon spiritual things upon spiritual objects spiritual truths spiritual doctrines David meditates on Gods Law Meditation pitches upon the joyes of Heaven the great account man must give the defiling nature of sin the extremities of hell and on objects of the like nature Psal 119. 97. Meditation a sublime duty Meditation is a fixed duty It is not a cursory work Mans thoughts naturally labour with a great inconsistency but meditation chains them and fastens them upon some spiritual object The Soul when it meditates layes a command Meditation a fixed duty Josh 1. 8. mand on it self that the thoughts which are otherwise flitting and feathery should fix upon its object and so this duty is very advantagious As we know a Garden which is watered with suddain showers is more uncertain in its fruit then when it is refreshed with a constant stream so when our thoughts are some times on good things and then run off when they onely take a glance of a holy object and then flit away there is not so much fruit brought into the soul In meditation then there must be a fixing of the heart upon the object a steeping the thoughts as holy
is our way if we read Christ is the word if we eat or drink Christ is our food if we live Christ is our life Thus a gracious heart may make a spiritual use of all earthly objects and every Creature which presents it self may supply our contemplations on Christ And so we may happily begin our Sabbath But more particularly We must meditate on the most noble works of the Creation And here the Angels heighten and sublimate our meditations the Sun and the stars enlighten them the several pieces of the Universe enlarge them and the sweet fields and flowers refresh them the thunder and lightning awaken them the musical notes of the birds delight them Our Psal 18. 13. meditations are raised in beholding the Creatures The Creationis mundi efficiens causa non sola est Dei bonitas sed bonitas cum summâ sapientiâ conjuncta contemplation of created beings turned the Prophet into a Philosopher he observed the Wisdom and Power of God in the worlds Creation Jer. 10. 12. there saith the Prophet He hath made the Earth by his power he hath established the world by his wisdome and hath stretched out the Heavens by his discretion How sweetly doth the Prophet Philosophize upon the raising and setling the Fabrick of the world The Jer. 10. 12. contemplation of created beings turned the Psalmist into an Job 35. 5. Oratour How eloquently doth David paraphrase upon the Psal 104. 2. wonders and works of the Creation Psal 104. 2. there saith the Psalmist He stretcheth out the Heavens like a curtain layes the beams of his Chambers in the waters who makes the clouds his Chariot who walks upon the wings of the wind The Psalmist spends largely upon the treasury of his Rhetorick to set out the excellency of the worlds Architect Nay the contemplation of created beings turns Nomen gloria decus creatoris quia Coelum est nominatissima pars mundi Martin holy Job into an Astronomer he views with admiration Arcturus Orion the Pleiades and casts his eye upon the Chambers of the South Job 9. 8 9. And then he is folded up with amazement at the glory and power of the Creatour There are some who derive the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Job 26. 13. Heavens from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be amazed Indeed a prospect of that glorious body the Heavens the roof of the great house of the world that bespangled and enamel'd Canopy over our heads can drive the most considerate person into amazement The vastness and beauty of the body of the Heavens the swiftness and regularity of their motions and agitations which is above all reason can easily raise men into wonder and trasportation In Scripture we sometimes meet with the Heavens of Heavens 1 Kings 8. 27. and with the Nehem. 9. 6. Psal 148. 4. Isa 63. 15. Obstupuit propter insignem vastitatem istius corporis quod ipsi nos aspicientes in stuporem rapimur iscat third heavens 2 Cor. 12. 2. There are likewise the highest heavens and yet God made them Gen. 1. 4. and he can bow them as he listeth Psal 18. 9. He can stretch them to what latitude he pleaseth Isa 45. 12. He can span them Isa 48. 13. And if he be angry and inflamed he can throw a black cloath over them and shade their glory Isa 50. 3. Jer. 4. 23. 28. and melt them Psal 68. 8. and cause them to vanish like a smoak Isa 51. 6. Amos 9. 6. Nay how doth Holy Paul like an exact Logician draw the conclusion of the glory of things invisible by the splendour and excellency of things visible Rom. 1. 20. But further to dâ—late on this subject God created the body Acts 4. 15. of this world Gen. 1. 1. The inhabitants of this World Angels and Men Isa 42. 5. Mat. 2. 11. The light and Psal 89. 12. Luminaries of this world to distinguish it from a great and Amos 4 13. darker prison Gen. 1. 14. He created the garnishes and delights Psal 74. 17. of this world the soft waves the sweet fields the Si interrogas quotâ horâ creabantur Angeli Resp primâ cùm coelum creabatur Si interrogas quo loco Resp in loco beatorum Zanch. shady clouds the piercing winds to fan and cool the world and the different seasons to beautifie the year with successive alternations Pontanus Chancellour of Saxony propounds to be viewed the most beautiful arch work of heaven resting on no post but Gods power and yet standing fast for ever the clouds as thin as the liquor contained in them yet they hang and move salute us onely and threaten us and pass we know not whither Now all these things may feed our meditations on the morning of the Lords day though divine medidation may become any part of that sacred day Augustine August findeth no reason why God should be six dayes in making the world seeing he could have made it with a word but that we should be in a muse when we think of it and should think on his works in that order he made them Our meditations should take leisure in the survey of them and not pass them over in a short and momentany flight And besides the reason urged by St. Augustine we may take notice of a second viz. what a beautiful and sweet prospect meditation shall have in the survey of the works of the Creation which may entertain our view for some considerable Gen. 19. 3. time and may stop and stay our meditation as Lot did the Angels and force it to a retirement Let us meditate on the Sun that glorious though inanimate creature What is the Sun but the eye of the world Quid potest esse tà m apertum tamque perspicuum cum coelum aspeâ—cimus et coelestia contemplati sumus quam aliquid esse Numen praestantissimae mentis quo haec reguntur Tull. de Nat. deorum lib. 2. If we take notice of its scituation and motion the contemplation will be rare It is fixed in the midst of the Planets that it may dispense its light and heat for the greater advantage of the lower world By its course from East to West it causes the agreeable vicissitude of day and night and maintains the amiable war between light and darkness And this distinction of time is necessary for the pleasure and profit of the world The Sun by its rising chases away the shades of the night to delight us with the beauties of the stupendous Creation It is Gods Herald to call us forth to discharge our work The Sun governs our labours conducts our industry and when it retires from us a curtain of darkness is drawn over the world And this very darkness in some sense enlightens us for it makes visible the Ornaments Hunc diem confâ—cit Sol non motusuo proprio qui est per Zodiacum sed motuquo à primo mobili movetur Zanch. of
Man when he breaks Gods Commands Omnia deus quidem nectit ad suos trahit effectus Boeth he fullfills Gods Decrees and when he runs counter to what God imposes he keeps pace with what God determines That alwayes comes to pass which God who exerciseth an universal providence over the world hath appointed to fall out and come to pass Those who crucified Christ acted a Acts 2. 23. great sin yet they fulfill a certain decree for the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world Rev. 13. 8. The divine purpose and determination is the center to which the lines of occurrences and affairs are drawn There was a medley and miscellanious contrivance to bring Christ to the Cross There was Judas his treachery the Pharisees enmity the peoples inconstancy Pilates desire to make himself popular and the Souldiers cruelty but all these different interests meet in the execution of Gods designed purpose as Peter most excellently Acts 2. 23. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God ye have taken Acts 2. 23. Exod. 2. 24. Exod. 7 22. and by wicked hands have crucified and slain And thus Pharaoh not onely burdens Gods people but hardens his own heart both which carry on Gods end which he had 1 Sam. 6. 6. determined viz. The delivery of the poor Jewes and the drowning of Pharoah and his wretched Aegyptians So Mat. 2. 15. Gods end and purpose is atchieved in every undertaking Herod in his rage enforces Joseph to carry Christ in his infancy Hos 11. 1. into Aegypt but Christs going into Aegypt did not so Verba haec ad Christum referenda sunt quamvis judaeorum interpretationes ab hoc scopo lâ—ngè abeant Riv. much decline Herods fury as accomplish a divine prophesie Hos 11. 1. Herod unwillingly fulfils what God wisely had foretold The Gospel is the sweetest means of salvation yet it is a savour of death unto death to the reprobate world They suck poyson out of these flowers because they shall dash upon their designed ruine The Gospel of life shall be a means to accomplish their determined death All things arrive at Sicut fragrantia unguenti columbam vegetat scarabaeum necat et sicut lumen solis oculos sanos recreat debiles offendâ—t sic Christus malis in ruinam est bonis in resurrectionem gloriosam Theoph. 2 Cor. 2. 16. 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. that end which God hath set them Christ himself is for the ruine of sinners which are appointed to misery for the joyous salvation of Saints who are determined to glory So the same fire purges the Gold and consumes the stubble In a word the works of providence First Sometimes how strange are they and misteriously intricate as in the case of Joseph through how many mazes and maeanders did that holy man pass to his appointed principality Secondly Sometimes how terrible are they and tremendous as in the case of Pharoah his fatal and final destruction being ushered in by ten preceding Judgements Thirdly Sometimes how worthy and glorious are they as in the case of Hester who was advanced by unexpected Est 7. 3 4. means to her soveraignty for the preservation of the Isa 44. 28. Church from ruine Isa 45. 1. Fourthly And sometimes how good and gracious as in the case of Cyrus who was raised by God for the returne of Israel to their beloved Country and Home CHAP. XX. God is most gracious in the transcendent work of mans Redemption LEt us meditate likewise upon the great work of our Redemption This glorious work is the Master-piece of divine Christus est dei sapientia tum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aeterm patris tum revelata quia in Christi cognitione salutaris sapientia sita est Par. wisdom The Angels desire to look into it 1 Pet. 1. 12. but though they excell in wisdom yet they cannot see to the bottom of it there are so many small threads of curious contrivance in it that no eye of the creature can possibly discern them It is worth our notice that Christ who carties on this work is not onely called the power of God but the wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. to evidence the traces of infinite contrivance which are in this blessed undertaking And therefore how should we on the morning of a Sabbath contemplate on this rare design of mans redemption by our dear Jesus the holy Son of God How should we ponder 1 Pet. 1. 19 20. Gen. 3. 15. it deeply get lively and strong apprehensions of it that it might leave deep and lasting impressions upon our souls Let Eph. 1. 4. us view over the several passages and transactions of this Non-such of Gods works First Let us view it in the plat-form how gloriously was this laid in the eternal purposes of Gods love Eph. 1. 4. Yea in the eternal promise past between the Father and the Son Eph. 3. 8. Christus est agnus mactaâ—us ab origine mundi 1. Aeternâ dei praeordinatione 2. Promissione de semine mulicris contrituro caput serpentis 3. Fide Patrum quae sui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rerum sperandarum 4. In victâ—mâ—â— patrum quae erant ipse agnus sacramentaliter 5. In membris suis quibus patientibus ipse patiebatur Par. Tit. 1. 2. O the everlastingness infiniteness and unsearchableness of this love of God! That the everlasting God the Majesty of Heaven and Earth should take care of us before the world was that he should buisie himself and his Son about poor worthless and wretched worms O let us adore this first love admire this free love of God and Christ Secondly Let us see in the next place the early discovery and shining forth of this mistery in the very morning of the world No sooner man was fallen but a promise of Christ our Redeemer is reached forth unto him Gen. 3. 15. And after many ages God sends his blessed Son out of his bosome to fulfill this promise Gal. 4. 4. We could not come up to Heaven to Christ and therefore he comes down upon Earth to us O let us see the King of glory stooping bowing the Heavens to come down and dwell in a dungeon and lodge among prisoners and pitch his tent in the Rebels camp Let us think how the holy Angels wondered to see the King of Heaven stepping down from his throne to sit on his footstool Occisio Abelis innocentis suit figura occisionis agni Lyra. yea putting off the robes of a Prince to put on the livery of a Servant Phil. 2. 7 8. and that after treason had been stampt upon it nay taking our nature after it had been in armes against God not that Christ took the sin of our nature upon him Heb. 4. 15. but he took the shame of it after it had been under a cloud under a blot before God and Angels nay God
of God shall be close and intimate and not onely the conveyance of delight but an affluence of all good things and desireable satisfactions God being the chiefest good our beholding him must needs return to us all unspeakable happiness all joy and sweetness in the highest degree Mat. 18. 10. Our Saviour avers hereafter the Elect shall be like the Angels Mat. 12. 25. Luke 20. 36. And how glorious Dei visio summum erit beatorum praemium Aug. is their sight of God! Those excellent spirits how do they fill their joyes from that ocean of pleasure which flows from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyssen de Virgin the beatifical vision Augustine saith our sight of God is our chief reward in heaven Gregory Nyssen takes notice That so far to be honoured as to see God is the consummation of our hope the full of our desires the top of all unspeakable good things I may add to see God is the issue and stage of our faith the sea of enjoyment into which the River of faith runs and is lost How infinitely greater then will our enjoyments in our Sabbath above be then those we attain to here in our Sabbath below In our Sabbath above there shall be fulness of joy Psal 16. 11. A torrent of pleasures which will be ever running and over-flowing but here our delights Imago dei sita est in hominis mente sive in eo quod homo sit in summo rerum gradu in quo est dâ—us et Angelus scil quod sit naturae spiritualis secundum animam et naturae intelligentis Alap in the Lord are faint and few like the Sun shining in a showre mixed with successive tears In our Sabbath above we shall be satisfied with the likeness of God Psal 17. 15. But here in our Sabbath below we must bemoan the iniquity of our holy things not onely the iniquity of our slips but of our services there are black spots upon the face of our fairest duties those which look with the most taking countenance our very tears had need of washing our prayers interceding for pardon and our sighs which are the hearts incense had need perfuming and when we are in our best dress we may be censured for uncomliness In our Sabbath above there shall be everlasting triumph and exultation Psal 68. 4. The Saints shall be alwayes glorying upon their beds of spices and on their Mountanes of prey everlasting Cant. 5. 13. joy shall be upon their heads as a triumphall Crown Isa 35 Isa 35. 10. 10. But here in our Sabbath below our rejoycing is soon Isa 61. 3. over-cast either God hides his face in displeasure or we let Isa 65. 14. fall our hands in duty and then our triumph is turned into Mat. 25. 21. trouble and we are ready to say Wo to us that we sojourn in a valley of Baca a wilderness of tears and inconstancy The two Sabbatht differ in their suavity and delight Indeed our Sabbath below is not wholly destitute of its sweets Exod. 16. 14. and consolations dews of delights fall upon it like Manna about the Israelites Camp there is marrow and fatness in the Ordinances of it Psal 63. 5. There are refreshings and The sweetness of holy duties Psal 104. 34. Job 23. 12. Acts 10. 10. Dan. 9. 21. perfumed gusts in holy duties Davids meditations were sweet and lushious Psal 104. 34. Job perfers Gods word above his necessary food Job 23. 12. John was in the spirit on the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. in an excess of joy and in the height of intellectual rapture Peter in his prayers was in a trance Acts 10. 10. he was carried above himself and saw heaven opened to present him with unwonted views Daniel in the midst of his supplications had the prospect and company of an Angel Dan. 9. 21. An inhabitant of glory descends to congratulate and accost him nay oftentimes the word is sweeter then honey to the tast of the hearer Psal 19. 10. And while we attend upon it we feed upon dropping honey-combs Peter preaching to his Auditory there falls a showre of the spirit and heaven came Compositio thymiamitis offerri debuit coram domino Altare enim incensâ— ob eam causam fuerat constructum Riv. down to visit the Congregation Holy duties how often are they spiced with unspeakable delight and complacency Among the Oblations of the Jews there were perfumes to be offered upon the Altar of Incense Exod. 30. 1 7. And our Gospel Sacrifices are often sweetned with inward joy and consolation If Christ meet us in a duty or an ordinance he drops sweetness from his voyce Cant. 2. 14. sweetness from his lips Cant. 5. 13. sweetness from his fingers Exod. 30 34. Psal 119. 103. Psal 141. 6. Lev. 16. 14. Cant. 5. 5. sweetness from his cheeks Cant. 5. 13. sweetness from his mouth Cant. 5. 16. If we tast any thing of his fruit it is very sweet Cant. 2. 3. when Christ gives a visit he is every way sweet to the soul The Sabbath receives an additional delight from the Fructus Christiâ— dulcis est accipi potest de praedicatione Evangèlii aut de contemplatione dei aut deconsolatione Sacramenti Del Rio. Communion of Saints we do not only meet with God but with his people on his sacred Sabbath we flock as Doves to the windows and as stars meet in a constellation as morning stars we sing together David remembers with some kind of complacency the joy he had in going to the Sanctuary with the multitude Psal 42. 4. The Primitive Christians prayed and brake bread together Acts 2. 42. Their harmony was their happiness and their society was their satisfaction But yet all these sweets have their allayes their damps and their ecclipses they are as the shining moon behind Isa 60. 8. a cloud they yield onely a duskish light Isa 38. 7. First The sweets of our present Sabbath are onely partial they may delight the soul they do not delight the body a diseased body is not cured at a Sermon a tormented body is not eased at an Ordinance if we read the dim eye is not made more vivacious if we receive the Sacrament the paralitical hand is not made more steddy the hand of faith may be strengthned but not the hand of flesh moreover the Ordinances they may delight the mind with information when they do not affect the heart with gracious impressions Hos 6. 3. they may be our Counsellers when they are not Psal 119. 24. our Comforters they may convey gladness when they do not transmit grace to us Mark 6. 20. Nay they may cherish one grace when they do not recruit another The word Maledicere rebus irrationalibus in se consideratis est otiosum vanum Aquin. may be a pillar to our faith when it is not a prop to our patience as Job he flings in his troubles Job
severall attributes in God which bespeak our greatest attention and Rev. 1. 13. devotion in holy Ordinances First His excellent and incomprehensible greatness If we Christus praesens est medio suorum cà m convenerint nomine suo gratiosâ sut praesentiâ had any dread or awe of an infinite Majesty upon us we should throw away all sleep and drowsiness when we come before him in holy worship Let us contemplate on the royalty of his Throne of the brightness of his Majesty and this would awaken us to fear and astonishment Shall a besotted worm stupifie himself by sleep when he is under the full view and immediate eye of the Almighty Surely not only his sences but his reason is asleep and his whole man is Psal 11. 4. in a benummed Lethargy Cannot infiniteness startle us And the dread of the Almighty pull us out of our dream One sparkling of his eye could confound us if he should command a ray of the Sun it would fire us out of our sloath and scorch us into nothing or that which is worse then nothing Secondly His omnisciency We sleep but God doth not Psal 121. 4. slumber he fully seeth our desperate carelesness and wilfull drowsiness in holy Ordinances There is no dropping asleep in a croud or taking a nap in some obscure place can Gen. 28. 17. evade the full view of Gods eye He takes notice of the frame of our hearts much more of the posture of our bodies 1 Chron. 28. 9 When thou sleepest in the time of worship there is no curtain before thee nothing to abate the view of God or darken his eye God sees all thy snoring indulgence which is excessively Psal 139. 12. offensive to him Thirdly His holiness God is exceedingly displeased with our unbecoming behaviours in holy worship his purity is much provoked by our sinful Lethargy Sleeping in Ordinances it is a sin nay a dangerous sin nay it is a crying sin Psal ◠5. and therefore highly provoking to divine holiness Our Saviour Rev. 3. 1. speaks of some who seemed to be alive and yet were dead And such are sleepy hearers their Pew is their grave their cloaths their winding-sheet and their present sleep their temporary death Indeed sleeping in Ordinances is a sin against nature it self The Sun will not stop in its course in attending on the world but the foolish sleeper stops in his attendance on the word and yet the Sun receives no reward but the Christian looks for one and though he hath snorted away a Sermon he presumes he hath discharged a duty and so is in his road to life eternall Fourthly His justice which is easily awakened by his holiness a just God will not endure a drowsie hearer The young man who slept at Pauls Sermon fell down from the Acts 20. 9. third loft and was taken up dead In mercy God presents the Gospel to our attention and in justice he will punish our want of attention God indeed took away a rib from Gen. 2. 21. Adam when he was asleep Gen. 2. 21. But he will not take Edormiente potiús quam vigilante formavit deus mulierem quia deus se ei in somnis revelari voluit sicut se revelare solebat prophetis Par. away a lust from any of the Sons of Adam while they are asleep in the Paradise of Ordinances A Lamb will not sleep in the paw of a Lion in the reach of an enraged Panther how much less should fond and formall sinners sleep in the presence in the most peculiar presence of him who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah Rev. 5. 5. who can tear our souls like a Lion Psal 7. 2. nay tear us in pieces and there is none to deliver Psal 50. 22. and break us in pieces as a potters vessel Jer. 19. 11. to be made whole no more Jer. 48. 38. Sleeping in Ordinances is distastful to the view of Angels Those holy spirits frequent the assemblies of the Saints 1 Cor. 11. 10. And they are witnesses of our carriage and Nos Angelos habemus obedientiae inobedientiae no strae c. Chrys Theo. Theoph. Ans deportment of our obedience and disobedience as Theophylact Anselm Chysostom and others aver and how much disgust must it cast on those holy and most Seraphick beings those blessed Courtiers of heaven whose concerns are so much wrapt up in the honour of God to see a stupified formalist with his sences chained up in unseasonable Angeli templum percurrunt singulorum habitus gesta vota explorent Nil sleep when the Eye Heart Mind and all should be attentive to grasp after divine truth in the publick dispensations of it and when the inward and the outward man like winde and tide both should meet to carry away and treasure up the discoveries of Gods word and counsel to him The Angels see our foolish glances wanton looks undecent postures they have a strict eye upon us in Ordinances O then let us not damp these glorious spirits by our uncomely and unworthy drowsiness This sinfull sleepiness is disquieting to the assembly of the Saints with whom we do associate Do we know what hearts are saddened what spirits are grieved what passions are raised by our sleepy carriage and our drowsie behaviour Our Saviour charges us not to offend one single Saint much 1 Cor. 10. 32 less an assembly of Gods people when we are met together in divine worship When we see one sleeping and Mat. 18. 6. hear another talking and observe another rowling his eyes from one object to another is not this to turn the Temple Sed etiam Christi monitu quantò magis necessaria tantò magis cavenda sunt scandala ne à nobis vel concitentur vel capiantur into a Babell and the order of the Church into confusion and to attempt to build Gods house a new with axes and hammers A sleepy hearer is a spot in our Feasts like a seared bough in a green tree a disturbance and grief to the assembly like a broken string in a lute which jars the Musick This stupid drowsiness is very prejudiciall to the work we are about when we come to Ordinances we are employed in the work of heaven This is opus dei Gods work a holy and sacred work In Ordinances we deal with God we pay our tribute to God we have communion with God we drive a great trade with 1. Vt in eâre quam agimus sit tota animi intentio 2. Vt sit inexplicabilis cupiditas benè operandi 3. Vt accedat assiduitas continuatio Basil God and shall we sleep in Gods work Basil observes there are three things requisite for the carrying on Gods work First That the mind be wholly set upon it and taken up in it Secondly That there be a restless desire of doing well Thirdly That there be diligence and unweariedness in the work
Ceiling the largeness of the windows which observation is not blame-worthy in it self yet not eying the person whose picture he is drawing he is guilty of folly and carelesness Our thoughts in holy duties are sinfull if not suitable Wandring thoughts in holy ordinances they are the ebullitions and breakings forth of a corrupt heart Mans heart hath Jer. 2. 24. no month to be taken in it is as the troubled sea which always casts up mire and dirt as a Furnace which is ever sparkling forth its vanity and folly nay the special presence of Christ in ordinances cannot shackle it or compose it to a due consistency Maligni spiritus in menstruis animum inveniunt quando in pollutis cogitationibus positum facilè ad perversam operationem trabunt Greg. it will steal away under the eye of the judge impertment thoughts in holy duties are the pimples which evidence the heat of Corruption within And here we may expostulate with Job Job 14. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean And surely the scum of a putrified heart must needs be offensive to the pure eyes of an holy God this is wickedness which God hath no pleasure in Psal 5. 6. Vain thoughts in duty are onely the breaking of the impostumation which lies covertly in the heart where no eye sees it But now the Disease being discovered let us apply the Remedies And for the preventing of wandring thoughts in holy Ordinances Let us heartily bemoan these sinfull impertinencies Let us speak to God in the language of the Psalmist Psal 120. 5. Wo is me that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar Wo is me that I cannot keep my heart close to Christ in holy Ordinances nor watch with my Lord one hour no not one hour but that I dwell among sinfull vain foolish and flatulent thoughts God surely will take away the cumbersome burthen of a troubled soul if it be a real burden he will chase away these frothy thoughts from our minds and this is one of those burdens we must cast upon God Psal 55. 22. Christ will not break the bruised Reed It breaks the very heart of a Saint that when he should enjoy close Communion with Jesus Christ a cloud of vain thoughts should interpose to eclipse his happiness and darken his comforts Let us spread therefore this affliction before the Lord with a weeping eye and a bleeding heart God knows how to stop up every passage that a vain thought shall not slip out of any cranny of thy heart Let us over-awe our hearts with a sence of the divine presence Say with the Centurion Acts 10. 33. We are all here present before God The Creature dares not trifle if thunder-struck Acts 17. 28. with the presence of the Lord he cannot but know something of Gods power his own dependance I can speak it Loquor per experientiam quantillum boni per sacras scripturas obtinendum c. Eras by experience saith Erasmus That there is little good gained by the Scriptures if a man hear or read them cursorily and carelesly but if a man do it out of Conscience and heedily as in Gods presence he shall find such efficacy in it as is not to be found in any other Book Gods eye will make us serious and Pedro Mexia Histor Imper. fetter our flitting thoughts The Servant will not sport in the Masters presence The Historian observes That Domitian the Emperour played with flies when he was in the Chamber alone Indeed we give the reins to our hearts in holy duties because we think there are none see them but were we sensible of the divine presence and that Gods piercing eye 1 Thes 2. 13 saw all the hurly burly in the soul when our thoughts took their ranges we should fetter our hearts straighter then the Jaylor did the feet of the Apostles Acts 16. 24. and put a pad-lock upon our imaginations We suppose there is none in the congregation but the Minister and the people and they are strangers to our thoughts whether they are fixed or flying but let us not deceive our selves Psal 139. 12. our thoughts are as fair Champian to Gods eye and prospect as our actions Let us take some pains with our own hearts Children will be wanton if not disciplined our hearts will be flying if not deplumed by care and industry Charge thy heart in holy Ordinances not to stir up to awake thy beloved until he Cant. 2. 7. please which will be after the Ordinance to bless thy care Cant. 3. 5. and watchfulness Cant. 8. 4. We must pray against these wandring thoughts that God would fix our Quick-silvered hearts and keep Dinah at home We must strive against them and set before our hearts 1. The eye of God 2. The day of Account when evil thoughts will be canvassed and condemned for lesser evils 3. The great evil of lesser sins nay let us threaten our hearts if they will not commune with God in Ordinances and be still Psal 4. 4. that we will fill them with smarting grief and sorrow We must fight against these vain and wandring thoughts with the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God Eph. 6. 17. We must convince our hearts how many Scriptural Commands wandring thoughts are the breach of and Eph. 6. 17. therefore in themselves they are weapons drawn against heaven Our hearts like Gardens are best when dressed but being neglected they are easily over-grown with sin and vanity If vain and impertinent thoughts arise in our minds when we are in holy Ordinances let us not dwell upon them Ah let Agrippina cū filio suo Nerone concubitum ambire ausa est ut imperium petulantèr et superbè exerceat Hist Imp. us not take pleasure in speculative Wickedness Evil thoughts like Curtezans if they are smiled upon they grow impudent and will croud in upon the soul therefore when such thoughts arise send them away with a sigh Let us drown our sinfull thoughts as Pharoah did the Israelites Children in their first birth Exod. 1. 16. When our hearts are ready to cherish them let our graces be ready to crush them Vain thoughts even in holy duties will be ready to break out if the love of Christ and holy resolution keep Acts 15. 9. not the door That heart-purifying-grace of faith will give these sinfull intruders their speedy dismission Let us preserve and keep holy affections in the heart for such affections as we have such necessarily will be our Sibimutuò causae sunt thoughts Psal 119. 97. Mal. 3. 16. The fear of God will make us think much of God Indeed thoughts and affections are mutual causes one of another thoughts are the bellows which enflame affections and when they are enflamed they cause thoughts to boyle over and therefore men newly converted to God have new and strong affections and they think more of God then any other Superlative love to Jesus
His dread is of God Psal 119. 122. His love is to God Psal 18. 1. in every Ordinance he approacheth to God is the only object of his prayers Psal 5. 3. If he come to Sermons it is to Paulo quinto Vice-deo hear something of God and Christ John 10. 3. In Ordinances we must not worship men as the Samaritans worshipped Antiochus Epiphanes stiling him the mighty God or as the Venetians petitioned Paul the fifth Pope of Rome giving him the title of Vice-god nor must we worship the host of heaven as the Ammonites nor the Devill as the Indians nor Ezr. 9. 1. Zeph. 1. 5. Phil. 3. 19. Col. 3. 5. Jer. 50 2. Judg 2. 13. Acts 19. 28. 2 Kings 5. 18. Jer. 51. 44. Chemosh non potest defendere Moabitas à Babyloniis Nec aurei vituli Israelitas ab Assyriis Alap the belly as the Glutton nor interest as the Covetous nor the Cross as the Papists nor must we worship false gods not Belas as the Assyrians nor Baal as the Tyrians nor Diana as the Ephesians nor Juno as the Samians nor Rimmon as the Syrians but we must worship the great God the incomprehensible Jehovah God in Christ and him only must we serve In a word we must be cautionated against a threefold worship First We must not worship deos mortuos dead Gods images and reliques c. Nec deos mortales nor dying gods Men or Princes Nec deos mortificos deadly goods our swaying lusts and corruptions How necessary is it then for us to come with knowledge to holy worship that we may seririously apprehend that infinite Majesty that most glorious Being Psal 82. 7. Nahum 1. 5. at whose presence the mountains quake and the hills melt and this is the God the Jehovah Elohim with whom we converse in holy Ordinances We must act sincerely in holy Ordinances VVe must be hearty in our hearing we must not only bring the ear but Col. 3. 16. the heart to the truth of the word Truth must dwell in us Col. 3. 16. and must be not only our information but Luke 2. 19. our inhabitant it must be treasured up as well as attended to The truths of the Gospel are as so many Jewels and rare Pearls which must be lockt up The ear is only as the Verbum dei intromittatur in domicilium cordis nostri ac versetur assidâ—è in animis nostris Daven Psal 17. 1. Heb. 10. 22. Lam. 3. 41. Notandum est quod quae offeruntur in holocaustum interiora sunt quod exterius est non deo offertur ut pellâ— Orig. stall the heart is the Cabinet And indeed Satan can quickly pick truth out of the ear he can easily open that window but he cannot penetrate the heart that lock is only broke open by Omnipotency Truth is under lock and key safely secured when laid up in the heart and indeed it is never well housed till it is folded up in the soul And so we must be sincere and hearty in our prayers Tongue and heart must keep time and tune The Jews have this sentence written in their Synagogues where they meet for holy Ordinances A prayer without the heart is like a body without the soul God looks not so much to the Elegancy of our prayers how neat they are nor to the Geometry of our prayers how long they are but to the sincerity of our prayers how cordiall they are Thy prayers without thy heart will be a sacriledge not a sacrifice When the heart is Rector chori the chief leader of the quire then the voice is pleasant in Gods ear The heart though it be one of the least parts of man yet it is the best And as we must be sincere in our management of holy duties so in the ends we propose Acts 17 18. Some go to Ordinances as Athenians to understand some Mat. 22. 15. new thing some as Herodians to carp and to catch some to be gratified with ingenuity and wit as those who go to hear a noise of Musicians All these are as Children who Ezek. 33. 32. go to Fairs to buy toys and trifles But let us go to Ordinances to gather those flowers which grow in Eden to advantage our better part and to lay up treasure for our immortal souls We must act faith in holy Ordinances The Apostle avers it positively That without faith it is impossible to please God This grace is the incense in our sacrifices the rising Heb. 11. 6. perfume in all our offerings The hand of faith sprinkles the bloud of sprinkling upon all our oblations Faith is the Heb. 12. 24. eye of the soul to see the light of the Gospel faith is the hand of the soul to receive Christ offered in the Gospel Though faith be not the One thing necessary yet it is the chief thing necessary in all our duties and services This Si non unicum necessarium tamen primò necessarium est fides sacro soleâ—ni cultu efficox grace doth not only justifie our persons Rom. 5. 1. Purge our hearts Acts 15. 9. Nay espouse us to Jesus Christ Eph. 3. 17. But it doth sanctifie our duties and make them authentical and effectuall It is the believing soul alone enjoys an Ordinance profitably and performs a service acceptably he only feeds upon the tree of life in the Paradise of Ordinances We must act holy and ardent desire in holy Ordinances We must come to the Ordinances as the Hart to the brooks Luke 17. 37. Psal 42. 1. Fides quâ solâ apprehenditur Christus cujus justitiâ induimur verbi praedicatione procreatur conservatur Cartw. or as the Eagle which flyeth upon the prey or as the poor stooping Israelites who lapt at the water Judg. 7. 6. Indeed there are many desirable things in ordinances there is a desirable Christ desirable Grace desirable Life a desirable Soul to save a desirable heaven to ensure It may be added the Scriptures resemble this blessed work to whatever may inflame desire It is light for its pleasantness John 3. 19. It is honey for its sweetness Psal 19. 10. It is food for its necessity Job 23. 12. It is gold for its value Psal 19. 10. We live by it Mat. 4. 4. And we perish without it Prov. 29. 18. And let our desires answer all these allurements Indeed we should come to Christ in ordinances as the Bride to the bridegroom with joy and delight as the Husband-man to the Vine for a Vintage of satisfaction David rejoyced and triumphed in his own soul when the multitude called him to go to the house of God and indeed the Sanctuary is the Saints Bride-chamber on this side heaven And thus we see how we may every way deport our selves in publick ordinances and opportunities CHAP. XXXIII How we must improve the interval between the Morning and the Evening worship in the publick Assembly THE publick worship being over and the assembly
divinae naturae tribuendum judicarunt singings must not serve our pleasure our wantonness our gain but our Saviour our Christ our God In this heavenly musick we must study not so much to keep time that we do not spoil the Consort as to keep the heart close to God that we do not spoil the Duty The heathens celebrate their false gods Neptune Mars Jupiter c. with Songs and Hymns and think that by this service and worship they proclaim their greatness and Divinity And shall Christiani essent soliti ante lucem convenire carmenque Chrâ—sto quasâ— deo dicere not we much more celebrate the praises of God and Christ who hath loved us and given himself for us Gal. 2. 20. in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs shall not God have the sweetness of our voice the melody of our hearts the songs of our lips nay the musick of our holy lives that all that is within us and without us too may praise his holy and glorious name And thus at last there is laid before us a Scheme of Sabbath observation and we are instructed how to keep the Lords day according to the Lords will which doing we Psal 4. 8. â— shall lie down at night with safety and satisfaction A well spent Sabbath will warm our bed at night will strew our bed with roses will sent it with perfumes nay strew it with pearls and we may joyfully expect a full crop of blessings the subsequent week nay our future life may be prospered with the gifts of the right hand and the left and drenched with the effusions of the upper and the nether springs CHAP. XXXVI Some supplemental Directions for the better observation of the Lords day BY way of Addition and Appendix some other particulars may be annexed and suggested for the furtherance Sâ—bbatum est aureum vitae tempus of this blessed service Indeed much of Religion is summed up in the care of Gods Sabbath and we should be as chary and tender of this trust viz. The Lords day as Jacob was of Benjamin in which Child his life was bound up The prophane person wasts this golden talent the formalist Luke 19. 20. wraps it up in a Napkin but the sedulous Saint puts it out to great advantage and will give up his account with joy Bishop White tells us The keeping holy of the Lords Bishop White in his Preface to his Treatise on the Sabbath day and why then should he plead so much for recreations on that holy day it is a work of piety a Nursery of Religion and Vertue a means of sowing the seeds of grace and of planting faith and saving knowledge and godliness in the peoples minds And our blessed Lord and Saviour being duly and religiously served and worshiped upon his own holy day imparteth heavenly and temporal benedictions Thus this learned man seems to lay the whole weight of Religion and to entail the whole reward of godliness upon a due observance of Gods blessed Sabbath And let this ever be the praise of his learning Undoubtedly Religion and the Sabbath are twins which live and die together And the piety of the Sabbath is the prosperity of the Nation But let us hasten to some further directions for the more sweet and full discharge of Sabbath piety Dir. 1 We must keep Sabbaths not only personally but domestically not only by our selves but by our families It is not enough for thee to pray but thy family must joyn in prayer Abraham Gen. 18. 18. caused his family to serve God which gave him no small interest in the love and heart of God Joshuas holy resolution was That he and his house would serve the Lord. Josh 24. 15. On a Sabbath every house should be a lesser Temple where all should meet to worship Every one must keep this holy Josh 24. 15. day in order Superiours must be carefull that inferiours observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 20. 10. it Can a Master of a family be said to keep a Sabbath when he is praying and his servant is sinning his Child is gadding his Wife is visiting In Heaven where there is an everlasting Sabbath kept there the whole Host is praising God and the Inhabitants of Heaven are called a Family by the Apostle Eph. 3. 15. Our services must be the musique of a Consort not of a single Instrument In the 4th Commandement Servants are commanded the sanctification of the Sabbath as well as Masters and Children as well as Parents This blessed Command takes Necessitas obedientiae non ex cusat servum sed necessi aâ— coâ—ctionis in the whole Family within its circuit And learned men observe the necessity of obedience doth not excuse the servant from observing this day onely the necessity of compulsion Servants must not work this day by command but onely by overpowering force and violence as the Israelites did in their Aegyptian bondage In matters of Religion there is no difference between bond or free male or female Gal. 3. 28. Every one hath a soul to look after an account to give a Christ to pursue Communi sanctificandi sabbatum lege constringuntur omnes ex aequo herus dominus pater liberi superiores inferiores Muscul a Heaven to take by force Mat. 11. 12. There dwelleth a piece of immortality in the bosome of the meanest servant And that Child which hath no portion to receive hath a Christ to ensure which is the work of this holy day Museulus observes The common Law for the keeping of the Sabbath equally reacheth all and is a common bond to oblige all and in this it is like the Law-giver It is no respecter of persons Acts 10. 34. nor must the power of Superiours prejudice Religion A Governour of a Family cannot lawfully call off his Children or Servants from religious observations and so from the duties of a Sabbath and Religion is as much the interest of the meanest Servant as of the greatest Masters of the most inferiour Peasant as of the most noble Prince Nay the lower our condition is here the more strictly we should keep the Sabbath that we may better our estate to come in that place and condition where all civil distinctions will be taken away The greatest Magistrate is called to be a nursing Father of the Church of God Isa 49. 23. and therefore herein must he look that the Church be fed and not delivered over to dry Nurses They are Gods Ordinance and their power is of God for of themselves they can do nothing Joh. 19. 11. And therefore they must honour God uphold his Ordinances 1 Sam. 2. 30. They must give to God the things which are Gods Rom 13. 1 2 6. Mat. 22. 21. and must employ their Power and Authority to the service and glory of Christ Wherefore seeing Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 27. Mat. 12. 8. Prov. 8. 15. They must
collections for the poor every Lords day 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. A consecrated day being fittest for a consecrated dole the week day being the seeds time the Sabbath the harvest for Christian charity This sacred stock as one calls it which is laid up in the week day will be put to the highest and the holiest usury on the Lords day if the hearts of the poor be filled with food and gladness and the backs of the poor wear the livery of our bounty Just Mart. Justin Martyr speaking of the order of Christians upon the Lords day in his time affirms That Almes are given Chrysost in 1 Cor. 11. Hom 43. according to the discretion of every man for the relief of the poor the fatherless and the banished Chrysostome observes that the duty of charity is most seasonable on a Sabbath because it is a day wherein God appears in his best and largest bounty to us then he gives us his sweetest ordinances then he enricheth us with Gospel priviledges then he drops Qui aliquià recondit et thesaurizat pauperibus hic sibi ipsi thesaurum comparat et coelo reponit Alap down upon us his divine graces In our Churches at this day the poors bread is set up for distribution on the Lords day which imports the sweet correspondency between that day which is a day of love the duty which is an act of charity A learned man takes notice that this custome of relieving the poor on the Lords day was grown obsolete at Constantinople till the worthy Chrysostome restored that commanded duty And this custome well becomes the Sabbath for what are we but Almes-men at the throne of Gods grace on the time of Gods day Indeed the Sun of Righteousness as on this day arose and scattered his beams of light and love and the world rejoyced in that appearance let us scatter our hounty and laudable charity on this day that the poor Conferre in pauperes debemus in diem dominicum Buc. may rejoyce in our seasonable contributions Let us remember the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 16. 2. we render it laying by but it is treasuring up He that layes up and treasures for the poor layes up an everlasting treasure for himself And let us consider charitable words are not enough the love of the tongue only is flattery not charity it is adulation and not affection Words are cheap and the pities of language Nehem. 8. 10. Johannes Archiepiscopus are at no cost or charge The belly is not filled with roseat phrases nor the back cloathed with the embroydery Alexâ—nâ—â—â—nus 〈…〉 eò plus alâ—â—nde recipiâ—bâ—t hinc ipse Deo dicere solebat videbo Domine quis citiùs deficiet an tu mihi dando an ego aliâ—â— distribuendo Alap of indulgent language only to bid the poor be filled or be cloathed is not compassion but dirision And therefore on the Sabbath our love must be the charity of the purse and not only of the lip we must act good works and not only give good words Faith acts not without love Gal. 5. 6. and love acts not without works Heb. 13. 16. When we are blessing God on a Sabbath let the poor be blessing us it will be sweet harmony when our heart and the poors loyns both praise God together On the Sabbath we must appear before God Psal 42. 2. And the Old Law commands us not to appear before God empty Deut. 16. 16. Charity on any day is Silver Bullion but on the Sabbath is Golden Ore Let us therefore on that holy day feed the hungry refresh the thirsty receive strangers cloath the naked visit the sick and comfort those in prison this will redound to our account in that day when acts of Charity are the recorded Mat. 25. 36. characters of a sincere and sympathizing Saint Mat. 25. 35. And happily capacitate us for the donative of a Crown There is Charitas Corporalis Mercy and Charity to the bodies of others It is recorded of our Saviour that usually upon the Sabbath he visited the Sick healed the Criples Mar. 1. 30 31. Insigniora miracula edidit Christus in diem Sabbati Athan. restored the Blind and in this he leaves himself a president to others and a pattern for holy imitation We meet with divers Miracles which Christ wrought on the Sabbath on this day the eye of his pity guided the hand of his power his strength and his sweetness both conjoyned in acting and on this day Christ would be both Pastour and Physician And in his miracles on the Sabbath divers things are observable 1. He cures all varieties he healeth partial and external distempers Mat. 12. 13. he healeth the most durable and Nihil extrà legem fecit Christus curans in die Sabati Iren. lasting distempers John 5. 8. he healeth the most chronicall and habitual distempers Luke 13. 10 11. he healeth the most threatning and drowning distempers Luke 14. 4. Nay Christ on the Sabbath dislodgeth Satan himself Mark 1. 34. Diabolus vocatur potestas aeris quia in Aere miscet ventos tonitru fulgura et in A cre i. e. in mundo inter homines potestatem suam exercet eos tentando et vexando et quoquo modo nocendo Aquin. Satan at his word shall fall as lightning though he be Prince of the Air and God of this world Christ casteth out many Devils on the Sabbath Legions of Spirits are but atomes which scatter at his rebuke and disperse themselves after new enquiries Thus all varieties of diseases are cured by Christ on a Sabbath and will ye know why upon this day because this day is a season of shewing mercy 2. That which is observable in Christs cures upon the Sabbath is he justifies all his Cures as the sanctification and not the prophanation of the Sabbath Luke 13. 15 16. Works of mercy are the perfume not the pollution of a Sabbath not its eclipse but its observation And this Christ shews by the custome of the rigorous Jewes themselves and Magnae est stultitiae prohibere hominem à sanatione in diem Sabbati Theoph. by the light of nature Luke 14. 5. Christ is the Lord not the Task-master of the Sabbath And mans weale is to be carried on that day by cures as well as ordinances and the sick bed as well as the sick soul is to be visited Mercy is the sweetness and the epiphonema of a Sabbath Iraeneus avers that the true sanctification of the Sabbath Vera Sabbati sanctificatio est in operibus misericordiae Iraen lies in works of mercy We then keep the Sabbath when we are pitiful to our own souls and to our brothers body and we may serve God on that day as well in a dungeon in visiting a prisoner of Christ as in the sanctuary in waiting on an Ordinance of Christ Iraeneus observes Christ did more works of Charity upon the Sabbath then upon other Multò
we are contracted as a ship becalmed the Spirit fills our sails which is that VVind which bloweth where it listeth John 3. 8. Spiritus sanctus postulat i. e. postulare et gemere facit est hebraismus quo kal ponitur pro Hiphil Ansel When we are sad and dejected the Spirit consolates and chears us and flushes us with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. Oftentimes we cannot lanch forth in a duty the Spirit then helps us off from the sands Many times we are dull in hearing and then the Spirit opens the heart Acts 16. 14. and makes us vigorous and attentive And when we are at a loss in Prayer the Spirit puts life into our dead duty and makes us groan a sign of Sex modis in orando erratur primò si bonum temporale petimus animae nociturum Secundò si à malo aliquo quod prosit nobis liberari oremus Tertiò siquid petamus ex ambitione ut filii Zebedaei petebant primus in regno Christi quartò si quid petamus ex zelo indiscreto ut filii Zebedaei optabant ignem de caelo manasse in Sâ—maritanos Christum respuentes quinto si petatur ardentius quod utilius est differri sextò si petamus statum nobis incongruum life and furnisheth us with suitable petitions to accost and lay siege to the throne of Grace And when we are weak and stagger in a holy duty the Spirit takes us by the hand and sets us with fresh strength to finish our service the Spirit corrects all our errours in holy duties A learned man observes there are six great errours in Prayer 1. When we petition some temporal good to the disadvantage of the soul 2. When we earnestly desire the removal of some affliction which conduceth much to the good of the soul 3. When we ask something out of ambition as the sons of Zebedee that they might have a primâ—cy in the Kingdome of Christ 4. When we petition any thing out of an indiscrete zeal as the sons of Zebedee requested fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritans who would not entertain Christ Luke 9. 54. 5. When we are earnest for that which it was better it was delayed that by this delay our prayers may be more importunate and our perseverance may be more fully discovered 6. When we beg that state of life in this World which God sees inconvenient for us Now the Spirit correct all these errours and is the Censor of our miscarriage in duty He maketh us more wise more humble more heavenly more self-resigning more patient in duty The guidances of the Spirit are the Pole-star to direct us in every Ordinance and holy service The Spirit is our advocate within us John 14. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Greek which fits us with holy pleas to sue with when we address our selves to God and carries out the heart to urge its case with greater earnestness with great weight and authority The Spirit is the President of our duties to guide the soul that it write fair without blot In a word The Spirit helpeth our infirmities in duty Not a good Angel as Lyra Not a spiritual man a Minister as Chrysostome Not spiritual Grace as Ambrose Not Charity as Chrysost tract in Joan. Augustine But it is the Holy Ghost as Pareus And this blessed Spirit helpeth us as the Nurse helpeth a little Child holding it by the â—â—â—eve As the old man is stayed by his staffe or rather â—â—â—peth together as that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 26. seems to imply being a Metaphor taken from one who is to lift a great weight and being too weak another claspeth hands with him and helps him So the Spirit is ready to relieve us in all our spiritual duties The holy Spirit succeeds and prospers our holy duties It makes our duties prevalent with God God attends when we sing in the spirit God hears when we pray in the spirit Ephes 2 18. as the Apostle speaketh 1 Cor. 14. 15. VVhen this Dove moanes within us Rom. 8. 26. God understands the groans of his own Spirit and will give seasonable answers God Donum et efficacia orationis non in verbis sed in gemitâ— desiderio affectu et suspiriis ignitis consistit Alap gives his Spirit to assist in these duties which he fore-determines to accept Man speaketh words in prayer but the Spirit raises groans Alapide observes God is not so pleased with locution as affection in that holy duty not so much with expressions as inexpressible sighs which are as incense in his acceptation As the smoak of that Cloud a sign of Gods smile and favour Isa 4. 5. A duty spirited by the Holy Ghost shall never fail an expected end for God knows the mind of his Spirit as the Syriack reads it Rom. 8. 27. As the Mother knows the groanes and cries of her tender Child and presently runs to help it and to give it what it wants and cries for The Spirit is our intercessour within us as Christ is our intercessour above us whose pleas shall 1 John 2. 1 2. not meet with a denial The Spirit moving upon the waters Gen. 1. 2. produced a World and brought forth living Creatures The Spirit moving upon the Word the dispensations of the Gospel causes the New Creation and makes living Christians O then when we come under the Word and are in the midst of the waters of the Sanctuary let us wait for the good spirit of the Lord Other Birds drive away but let the Dove come in Pareus observes Suspiria perturbata semper exaudiuntur Primó Quid sunt suspiria spiritus Secundò Quia semper spiritus interpellat juxta placitum et voluntatem dei Pat. that the groans of the Spirit within us shall not vanish into ayr and that upon a double account 1. Because the Spirit comes from God John 15. 26. and is his Commissioner in a gracious soul and he will not deny his Leiger in a Saint 2. The Spirit always intercedes according to the good will and pleasure of the Lord And pleasing petitions shall not meet with a repulse what suits with the heart of God shall open the hand of God Congruous desires shall be conquering desires The Spirit makes duties effectual to us That Prayer which is animated by the Spirit shall not onely gain upon Gods heart but melt ours If the Spirit open our heart in hearing we shall attend to the Word and savingly entertain it When Christ by the Spirit opened the understanding of the Acts 16. 14. two Disciples Luke 24. 45. then they dived into Gospel mysteries and understood fully what was fulfilled concerning the death of the Messiah When the Spirit brings home a Sermon he makes it fire to burn up the dross of the soul Jer. 5. 14. he makes it a hammer to break the hardness of the soul Jer. 23. 29. he makes it
Christus est rosa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 optimè flos quia florum flos Del. Rio. men tell over their riches with no small delight The very Gospel is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glad tidings and can we be weary in hearing glad tidings messages of love and life from heaven news of a Christ and a Kingdom The soul which is tired on a Sabbath understands not its own interest but as the Prophet Jonah saith forsakes its own mercies Jonah 2. 8. Can our conversation be in heaven as the Apostolical command is Phil. 3. 20. and yet droop and be flatted in heavenly Sancti in coelis habitant dum hic vivunt atsi Aquilae quae in arduis nidum ponunt Greg. duties in heavenly ordinances and pine after a dismission and release Burdens of Roses are not painfull but pleasant Ordinances are onely bundles of Myrrh to refresh and revive the Soul Surely the Sabbath may plead with tired professors as once God did in another case Mic. 6. 3. O my people what have I done to thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me So might the Sabbath expostulate what is in me so burdensom Is it my institution because it is divine Luke 2. 37. Is it my duration because it is for a few hours onely David longed to dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of his life Psal 27. 4. And Anna the Prophetess departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers Insabbato unusqâ—isq sâ—dere debet in suo loco Exod. 16. 29. et non procedà ◠ex eo Quis est locus spiritualis animae Justitia est locus ejus et veritas et sapientia et sanctificatio et omnia quae Christus sunt et hic est locus ex quo eum non oportet exire Orig. night and day Still the Sabbath may plead are the Ordinances of God my Jewels and my Ornaments such causes of surfet Or rather are they not the Galleries for Christ and the soul to walk in the very stages of Christs presence Mat. 18. 20. The rich opportunities for soul-advantage the spiritual mans Mart Here the sinner like the sloathful servant can answer nothing It is both our doom and degeneracy to be weary of divine Ordinances and it loudly speaks 1. That Christ is not our beloved else his company would ravish not tire our attendance and be our satisfaction not our surfet Lovers are not quickly weary of their interchangeable converses 2. That heaven is not the end of our race surely if it were we should not then be so soon tired in the way Ordinances are the road to glory The Traveller puts on till he allight at home 3. That the world hath too much influence us The Jews were weary of the Sabbath Amos 8. 5. but it was that they might set forth Corn. Carnal minds do not relish spiritual duties they are their clog not their complacency To be in the flesh in fleshly desires and delights and to be in the spirit are a real contrariety The love of the world will cast out the love of ordinances This and much more our wearisomness in and of ordinances proclaims to every observer It is the observation of Origen that burdens were not to Onera non sunt portanda die Sabbati onus est omne peccatum Orig. be carried on the Sabbath day Nehem. 13. 15. saith he What is this burden but sin And this is the mistake of many when sin should be they make service their burden when they should groan under vile practices they groan under precious Ordinances One well observes wearisomness in duties sucks out all their sweetness and makes them dry and unpleasant and casts a dishonour on the God of ordinances Isa 5. 20. as if he was a fountain shedding bitter streams but on the contrary delight makes duty savoury meat and Gospel recreation Jacob for the beauty of Rachel served seven years and they seemed but a few dayes Gen. 29. 20. The Gal. 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 27. 4. Psal 119. 97. Psal 1. 2. Psal 110 3. Dr. Full. Eccl. Hist Saints in the beauties of holiness run through many services and they are not their toyle but their prerogative they rise from duty as Galen usually did from his meals with an appetite Dr. Fuller observes a Philosophical act did once so please Queen Elizabeth that her delight did drown all tediousness and she heard the Disputes till within night in the midst of Summer And shall Philosophy refresh and captivate more then Divinity shall the hand-maid more please then the Mistris Shall disputes of Nature be more satisfactory Deus est natâ—ra naturans et creaturae sunt natura naturata Baron then the God of Nature Shall the Schools more delight then the Sanctuary Nay shall the Mathematicks of Archimedes so drown him in rational pleasure that being in his study he heard not when Syracuse the City of his habitation was taken by the Romans Shall such raptures drop from the contriving of a Mathematical Instrument and is there no fruit on the tree of Life no delicacy in ordinances to affect our souls and to wear off a cloyed irksomness from our spirits on the blessed Sabbath Surely it argues weak and faint grace when the breast that feeds it becomes troublesome and the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2. 2. becomes sowre and stales because it is not made use of Caut. 2 Let us take heed of trifling away the Sabbath under the pretence of vain excuses The Sabbath is the solemn time of mans Aurum igne probatum alii intelligunt de vâ—rbo dei Illud enim argento septies decâ—cto est probatius Auro obrizo desiderabilius Alii intelligunt de fide quâ solâ divitiae caeleste accipiantur quaeque igne afflictionis quovis auro purgatior redditur Coram deo non facit divites aurum sed fides Christum cum the sauris suis possidens 2 Cor. 5. 21. life the soules gale of opportunity the good wind for the harbour of Rest On this day God sets forth his merchandize Rev. 3. 18. for man to buy up to enrich himself to eternity then God offers his gold to make us rich in grace his white raiment to make us rich in beauty his eye-salve to make us rich in knowledge Pareus well observes Adams fall proclaimed him bankrupt and he naturally labours under a three-fold malady 1. Of Poverty and so God offers Gold Rev. 3. 18. to set him up again to repair his lost revenues and estate 2. Of Nakedness when Adam sinned his first sin Gen. 3. 7. himself and so after himself his posterity was shamefully naked and now God offers especially on a Sabbath day the spiritual fair-day for such merchandises white raiment to cover our nakedness and to adorn us with a beauty exceeding our Primitive loveliness He offers the righteousnesse of Christ a fairer Garment then Adams
shouldst consider the importance of it it cost more even the precious bloud of Jesus Christ and while thou art sporting and idling in the fields God might have been speaking to thy soul Augustine was converted by a Sermon of holy Ambrose Peter Martyr was brought home to God by a passage of a Sermon As for those who must have a walk after Sermon these impoverish their souls Are there not family prayers to procure blessings family repetitions to digest the word family duties to warm the heart on a Sabbath day Publick Ordinances are too often as land-floods to the soul which will quickly disappear unless the waters of life sink in gradually by private repetition and meditation Serious consideration and fervent prayer at home work into the heart those truths and doctrines we heard abroad These ill husbands for their better part too frequently drop in the fields what they have pickt up in the Sanctuary and the air is more fresh Absit ut dejicerem animum nobilem et illum corpori mancipium facerem then their memory These field-walkers how do they sink below some heathens It was the saying of a noble heathen Far be it from me that I should make my noble mind a slave to my body If we will have our pleasures on the Lords day let us meet with Christ in his Garden Cant. 5. 1. let us gather fruits in his Orchard of Pomgranates Cant. 4. 13. Let us lie down by the fountain of Gardens Cant. 4. 15. Let us stay our selves with his Apples and Flagons Cant. 2. 5. and sit down with our beloved in his banquetting house Cant. 2. 4. And then travel over the mountains of spices Cant. 8. 14. Christ indeed is the Paradise of pleasure he can ravish us with one of his eyes Cant. 4. 9. and make us drink of the cup of Salvation Divine pleasures become the Sabbath not the titillations of sence but the refreshings of the soul Let those then who waste the Sabbath in taking the air take Joh. 6. 58. Isa 25. 8. Eph. 2. 2. heed least they meet with the Prince of the air considering these unnecessary walks contain more temptation then recreation in them they are Satans refined and plausible bate to cause the incautelous Christian to let fall and so lose his spiritual morsels we know it is his grand artifice to steal away the seed of the word Mat. 13. 19. and pleasing recreations give him the best aime Caut. 3 Let us take heed of the sin of unbelief The believer only sanctifies the Sabbath they truly keep it who themselves are kept in their most holy faitb Jude v. 20. Every duty of a Mark 11. 24. Jam. 1. 6. Sabbath requires faith If we hear we must mingle the word with faith Heb. 4. 2. If we pray it must be believing Crede et manducasti crede et bibisti Aug. Mat. 21. 22. It is faith makes our prayers effectual If we receive we must come to the Sacrament with faith Augustine saith Believe and thou hast eaten believe and thou hast drunken Faith is the chief guest at Christs table If we meditate faith sweetens that duty and makes it lushious not tedious Psal 119. 97. Observe Thy Law c. It was Heb. 11. 6. the Law of his God and that sweetned his meditation on it If we read the Scriptures it is faith must make that duty effectual without faith the Word is onely a â—iddle the Acts â— 3◠〈…〉 Christi puzzle not the profit of a Christian Faith then puts life into every duty and makes it both vigorous and viâ—â—â— Buâ— unbelief is a sin which like the Câ—terpillar eats up al◠〈◊〉 fruit of a Sabbath and turns its Sun into dâ—rkness Vnbelief invalidaâ—es our approaches to God Heb. 11. 6. 〈◊〉 In vain the knee bowes unless the heart believes in vâ—â—â— we lift up the hands of flesh unless we lay hold on God by 〈…〉 sâ—d infidâ—â—itas à â—hâ—isto planè a◠〈◊〉 illius spiritu nos privâ—t et Satanae insidiis nos expositos reddit Lys the hands of faith We must bring faith to make our way acceptable to the Almighty In the forcecited Text Heb. 11. 6. the Apostle doth not say without faith it is improbable but it is impossible to please God Without faith all duties are acted in the dark there must be an eye of faith to see our way to God in Christ Vnbelief prevents the work of Christ upon the heart Mat. 13. 56. It unqualifies us for spiritual successes this sin is so great it can cast Christ into an admiration Mark 6. 6. What great things might Ordinances work upon the soul if the heart was not barred up by unbelief It was this sin which unchurched the poor nation of the Jews Rom. 11. 20. It may be the Epitaph of that ancient people of God Here lies a people cast off by God because of unbelief Vnbelief shuts up the gate of mercy Heb. 3. 19. Faith melts the cloud of Ordinances into a fruitful shower unbelief makes ordinances a dark appearance onely and turns Heb. 4. 6. them into stones of emptiness Isa 34. 11. An Ordinance to an unbeliever is a dead Child the spirit of God doth not breath in it And therefore on a Sabbath above all thy gettings get faith Vnbelief it puts a defilement upon the sweetest Ordinances They are as a Jewel in a dead mans hand The prayers of an unbeliever are an abomination to the Lord. The Apostle Prov. 4 7. saith Tit. 1. 15. To them who are unbelieving every Omnia opera infidelâ—um sunt noxia et peccâ—tâ— thing is defiled Vnbelief damps the pearl of Ordinances puts a flaw upon it The School-men say All the works of unbelievers are sins and so then are all his services and they accommodate themselves to that of the Apostle Rom. Gregor Arim. Capriolus Câ—tharinus c. 14. 23. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin Vnbelief blasts the sweetest duty as lightning doth the fairest face The Lord saith to the unbeliever What hast thou to do to take my word into thy mouth Psal 50. 16. Why do I pray if I do not believe returns What do I hear if I do not believe doctrines VVhat do I receive if I do not believe Christ in the Sacrament Ordinances to an unbeliever they are not dews Rom. 1. 16. but dreams not Gods power but Mans fancy and Sermons are only the Romances of the Pulpit The Apostle Heb. 11. per totum tells us of many Miracles of faith and unbelief Heb. 11. 11 29 30 33 34. Exod. 4. 3. can work on it can turn all our rods into Serpents it can work the same wonder Christ wrought on the barren fig-tree Mark 11. 21. It can curse with a perpetual blast Augustine used to dispute from John 3. 19. That unbelief was the only damning sin This sin like popish Rome is the Mother of Harlots Rev. 17. 5. And therefore against
do it so should Gods fear move us to keep a whole Sabbath Thou sayest thou art not able to keep a Sabbath but canst thou lose an eternal Sabbath It is a cursed exchange to forfeit everlasting rest for a little sloth Sabbaths must be kept if thy soul be saved Let the sense of a future judgment when every Sabbath shall be brought into the account let the dread of an infinite God who is a consuming fire Heb. 12. 29. Let the golden and precious trust of a He. 10 31. Sabbath all spur thee on to Sabbath duties to make thy way more pleasant and delightful Let that be done which must be done or else thou art everlastingly undone Things of absolute necessity are to be effected not disputed If thy Pedibus timor addidit alas servant must go of his errand or turn out of doors this makes him run Here we act for our souls and Sabbaths whole Sabbaths must be kept or our souls will perish in the action thy murmurs cannot silence divine wrath Imperfections through corruption of nature are one thing for they are in the best but to nourish them and willingly to yield to them is another I cannot do what I ought by nature Jer. 5. 31. shall I not therefore endeavour to do what I should by grace To say thou canst not keep a whole Sabbath doth not onely speak thy corruption but that thou lovest to have it so Ease corrupts nature and makes it putrifie nay it sets it backward in the things of God If the Clock be never Prov. 15. 19. wound up the wheeles will rust say to thy unactive heart John 1. 6. a wake thou who sleepest my eternity is bound up in the due observation of Gods day The slothful servant was condemned Dilectio et charitas dictat immò imperat ut serviamus domino inomnibus virtutum officiâ—s Alap Mat. 25. 26. not he that spent but he that hid his talent Thou hast a trade to drive on a Sabbath away with sluggish nature flesh like the sensitive plant if touched will withdraw from spiritual performances but force it by holy violence It is Apostolical counsel and most seasonable for the Lords day that we should not be slothful in business but fervent in spirit Rom. 12. 11. The Sabbath should be our sphear not our servitude we should then be as the Sun which needs no whips to scourge it forwards Mr. Bernard of Batcombe asketh the question Why we should be more indulgent to weak nature more yielding to the flesh in and about the 4th Commandement for the keeping Mr. Bern in his Tract on the Sabbath of a day wholly to God then in or about our whole service in obedience to the other nine Indeed we should breath after communion with God on his own day as once Christ did after the Cross to dye for his people when he was streightned in his own spirit Luke 12. 50. till it was fulfilled and accomplished To say we cannot keep a whole Sabbath to the Lord is an imputation cast upon divine Wisdome God never commands impossibilities and yet he severely commands the full observation of a whole Sabbath and yet to say God is an Exod. 20. 8. hard Master deserves the brand of an unprofitable servant Luke 19. 22 23 24. The Yoke of Christ is easie not galled with an incapcity of bearing of it If we can honour our Father and Mother Exod. 20. 12. which is the next Commandement why not keep Matth. 11. 30. Gods Sabbath There is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a natural affection sweetens the 5th and there is communion with God a more noble attraction indulcorates and facilitates the 4th Commandement Lazy flesh must not commence a suit with infinite Wisdome God knows our frame and we must know our Psalm 103. 14. duty nay in this particular our priviledge for to keep a Deut. 5. 29. day with God is a temporary Paradise nay a transient heaven Rom. 11. 33. our elevation above the world Let us not then inveigh against the rigour of the Command but deal with our own hearts to run chearfully and sweetly through the heavenly circuits of Gods blessed and holy Sabbath Quicquid factum fuit fiat Whatsoever hath been done may be done Now David layeth it down as a Character of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a godly man to meditate in the law of God day and night Psa 1. 2. The Syriack reads it as if his whole will pleasure was wrapt up in the Law of God the life was to be spent in holy contemplation not a day not a few hours nay the Psalmist gives an instance in himself the Law was his meditation all the day and if he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might have his option he would dwell The Hebrew bears it he would Sabbath it in the house of God all the dayes of his life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his Temple This blessed man thought his life too short a moment to converse with God and to behold his beauty The beauties of God delight not dazle the eye of the soul and such prospects drown all tediousnesse The Apostle Paul preaching on a Lords day continued his discourse till midnight Acts 20. 7. not imping but spreading the wings of the Evening Psalm 139 9. for greater latitudes in holy Communion and no doubt but many a Saint could put a curb into the mouth of Sabbath time to stop its speed that his weekly Jubilee should not fly away so fast Therefore let not any make this objection of sloth to say flesh and blood cannot keep a whole Sabbath surely such objectours are part of the world who know not the meat the Saints have to eat in the Banquets of the Lords day When Peter and the two other John 4. 32. Mat. 17. 1 4. Disciples saw Christ in his transfiguration they would build tabernacles to fasten their abode Sabbath Communion is only a more duskish transfiguration And why should we tire so soon when the way is so pleasant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost de sacerdot In the Primitive times the reading of the word and the preaching of the Gospel took up some part of every day And Chrysostome took good notice of the profit of that diligent course Mens minds were more babituated to the things of God and became richer treasuries of holy truth It was not then accounted tedious or irksome to spend some time every day with God for soul advantage The Primitive Church thought time spent in spiritual converse their term not their toyle and the School of Christ was open not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. on a Sabbath as Janus his Temple among the Romans only in a time of peace but on every day The worthy Chrysostome highly commends his Auditours That they turned a day which might have been spent in the service of
diebus Rab. Kimchi in Psal 92. secular affairs and compose himself for divine intercourse he can more conveniently dress his soul to meet with his beloved But suppose man could prepare himself every day for this holy converse with his Maker yet Gods Name would lose by it if God should not have the honour of a solemn day Idols have their set dayes for their worshippers to celebrate their honour in And Kings have their birth dayes Pharaoh had his birth day Gen. 40. 20. And Herod had his birth day Mark 6. 21. which was solemnized with great joy and festivals And so Princes have their Coronation days which are annually kept with the highest observation And is it not meet and just that Gods Name should be magnified by us Commonly by setting apart some time every day which we may well spare out of our employments and callings for God and this doth honour him but a day a set solemn day much more when all Christians in the whole world shall harmoniously and unanimously meet to worship Acts 19. 28. and to honour the great Jehovah and shall cry out Great is the God of the Christians Set dayes of worship do reflect much honour upon God as the stated Noon speaks the elevation of the Sun To keep every day a Sabbath subverts the design of a Sabbath which was to rest after our worldly labours and to set apart that rest for the service of the Lord. So the very words Sabbatum est sanctum otium cultui sacro deputandum of the fourth Commandement Deut. 5. 14. And we have this rest in imitation of Gods rest Now God did not rest every day but onely the seventh Nor did Christ rise every Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est Christianis et ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam day but onely the first That which put life into the old Sabbath was Gods resting one day and that which authorizeth the Sabbath of the new Testament is Christs rising one day it is still one day not many dayes If God had rested every day where would have been the work of creation And if Christ had been alwayes rising from the bed of his grave where would have been the work of Redemption Aug. Epist 119. cap. 13. Thus praecedaneous work ushers in a Sabbaths Rest and so it must be still To rest every day plucks up the very foundation of a Sabbath upon which it is built and as Frederick Barbarossa did Millaine sowe it with salt To keep every day a Sabbath dasheth upon many absurdities and supposeth impossibles We must understand the definition of a Sabbath It is a day of divine appointment which must Hanc ob causam deus septimo die ab omni opere quievit ut nos ab omni opere externo vacâ—ntes ipsi uni soli hoc die vacaremus Idcirco hunc diem benedixit sanctificavit i. e. in usum suum separavit et elegit Oecolâ—â— p. in 4turn praecept Tom. 3. Oper. be consecrated wholly to the service and worship of God Now should we do nothing every day but attend the service of God in spiritual duties and holy Ordinances what would become of the Common-wealth the Magistrate the Master the Subject the Servant How can the one rule and the other obey Who shall provide for our Families whilst we worse then Infidels cast off the care thereof 1. This opinion overthrows all commerce traffick it plucks down all Empories and Cities of trade or shall we continually fly from the Sanctuary to the Shop from unlading our Souls in prayer to unlade our goods from the Key or the Ship Shall we hurry in Gods Ordinances and suddenly start from them to look after our Merchandise 2. This opinion countermands all those injunctions of God which were given before the Law In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3. 19. And so likewise in the Law Six dayes shalt thou labour Exod. 20. 9. And after the Law in the times of the Gospel We command them to work with quietness and to eat their own bread 2 Thes 3. 12. And if any would not work neither should he eat So that this fancy drives men into the extremity of irreligion and Atheism 3. This opinion takes away all distinction of our general and particular calling Christians have not only their general calling viz. To profess the name of Christ that heavenly Calling Deus vocavit nos vocatione sanctâ dum nos ab infidelitate et peccatis ad suum fidem et sanctitatem vitamque sanctam et divinam Et hac vocatione spes Christianorum acuitur cum Evangelio pro Evangelio pati as the Apostle calls it Heb. 3. 1. That hopeful Calling Eph. 4. 4. That high Calling Phil. 3. 14. That worthy Calling 2 Thes 1. 11. That holy Calling 2 Tim. 1. 9. Now besides this Calling all Christians lay claim to particular Christians have their particular Callings their Trades their Vocations and several employments Shall we then serve God hear pray or receive Sacraments continually and without intermission Where would be the time for our Callings Then we might as the Woman of Zareptah said of her little Oil in the cruse and the little meal in the barrel 1 Kings 17. 12. Even shut up our shops and die our hands then should not minister to our necessities as the Apostle assures us his did Acts 20. 34. This being true Every day must be a Christian Sabbath then the Apostles must not mend their nets Mark 1. 19. Nor Paul make his Tents Acts 18. 3. This fond opinion subverts every trade ties up every painful hand breaks all working instruments it silence the Lawyers tongue and benums the Scholars brain and withers the Plow-mans hand and the Smith at the forge shall sweat no more then the Prince on the Throne and so the world shall have a writ of ease to go down in a pleasant dream to the silent grave 4. This fancy puts God upon constant miracles to rain down Manna for our daily supply and again fetch water Exod. 16 35. out of the rock for we must not apply our selves to worldly Numb 20. 8. labours for that is inconsistent with a Sabbath and every day say these men must be a Christian Sabbath which we know must be most strict and serious and what is all this but daring presumption Truly this opinion fairly leads us back from Canaan to the wilderness again 5. This opinion makes man perfect in this life for weak flesh cannot keep a constant Sabbath If Paul lengthen out his discourse more then ordinary Eutichus falls into a deep sleep and drops from the third Loft and destroys himself Acts 20. 9. Nay our Saviour complains that the Disciples could not watch one hour with him but they were surprized Quot sunt remorae Christianae vigilantiae aut risus diffusio aut intemperantiae gravamen aut quaelibet superfluitas
ceremoniality in resting one day in seven they may as well give themselves to devise a ceremoniality in setting apart some time in general for Gods holy worship and service So then the fourth Commandment being a Moral law it binds all persons Christians as well as Jews it binds in all places in England Scotland and Ireland as well as in Palestine and Judea it binds at all times since the coming of our dear Redeemer who drew a line over all Ceremonies and expunged them that they should have no more existence in the Church of God as well as before Mat. 4. 2. this glorious Sun appeared to beautifie and revive the world CHAP. XLVI The Sanctification of the Sabbath is the Christians homage as well as the Jews if we look back to the infancy of the Gospel HAving already shewn that the Sabbath in the first institution Dies Dominiâ—â—â—â—hristianis 〈…〉 bere festivitatem suam Aug Epist 119 cap. 13. ad Januar. of it was given to Adam and in him to all his posterity and so it belongs to us Christians as well as to otherâ— and that the command for the Sabbath in the second Edition of it upon Mount Sinai was Moral and perpetual a standing Law and so binding all man-kind Christians as well as Jews I shall now go one step further and shew that the Sabbath is still the same though the day be changed from the last to the first day of the week and that by Divine Authority Now to make way for the clearer evidence of this truth Exod. 20. 9. so much decried and contradicted by some who too much amplifie Ecclesiastical Power and Authority I shall begin in discovering that two dayes weekly cannot be observed This would not only repeal the indulgence of God in giving us six days every week for our secular affairs and worldly Sextò considera illud quod sex dies operibus et unus tantùm quieti datur et certè in hac re divina sapientia non quid probabile sed quod populo conducibile spectavit Muscul labours to sustain our selves and families and to acquire the good things of this world but it tacitely impeacheth the wisdome of God who in the fourth Commandment hath accommodated himself to the frame and constitution of man who knows his weakness and frailty and therefore frankly and bountifully hath bestowed upon him six dayes knowing that he must get his living in the sweat of his brows Gen. 3. 19. And likewise considering that in spirituals the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak Mat. 26. 41. And besides all this this must be a work of pride and supererogation for man to go about to outvy Gods blessed example who rested one day only and no more for our future and constant imitation His Presidency binding us as well as his Precept And it may be added these two dayes would be as the twins in Rebekah's womb alwayes strugling and striving who should have the preheminence and how with Zebedees Gen. 25. 24. Sons they should be both nearest Christ nor can it easily Mat. 20. 21. be conceived what confusion this may engender in the Church competition being alwayes the womb of dissention Besides how much would this confirm the Jews in their blasphemous obstinacy and hinder them from closing with their Messiah when their Sabbath shall still be retained and dignified with a solemn and reverential observation Surely they will interpret it conscience in Christians and that in keeping the seventh day Sabbath they do no more then their bounden duty and how will this feed their insultations and put their hope upon the wing that the Christian Church is coming back to the Jewish Synagogue If the head of their Sabbath be got in they will strongly conjecture that in Manifestum est non solum legis judicio sed ipsissimâ experientiâ non facere ad verae religionis profectum si otia multipliâ—entur sed abundè satis est unum in septimana diem religionis exercitiis esse deputandum Mus time the whole body of ceremonies will follow after As the Apostle most critically and prudentially joyns all the solemn feasts of the Jews together in their discharge and abolition Gal. 4. 10. Col. 2. 16. wisely fore-seeing that if any one was continued the whole train in process of time would unavoidably follow Pleas for the one would easily be raised into arguments for the others And it is very well argued by Musculus It never contributes saith he to the progress of Religion that rests should be multiplyed to the people for one Sabbath every week is abundantly sufficient for vulgar capacities Moreover the Celebration of two dayes every week is more then the Law requires or the Gospel allows And here Exod. 30 8. Acts 20. 7. Chrysostome is most Elegant The week contains seven dayes saith he now see how the Lord hath distributed these dayes he Chrysost Tom. 5. hath not taken the greatest part unto himself and left the least to us neither hath he taken half and left half No the Lord pag. 523. is more liberal he hath given us six and taken but one for Rev. 1. 10. himself And both Law and Gospel speak the same And if we take five dayes only for labour we make void the Law Note Synecdochen per observantias dierum mensium annorum Apostolus intelligit omnes ceremonias legis veteris quasi ex parte torum Alap in this particular and besides how inconsistent is it to Gospel liberty to keep two dayes every week this would outvy all the Jews Festivals in number and bring us again under a severer yoke and this would at once both break the bonds of Christian Vnity and the bonds of Christian liberty and render the golden yoke of Christs Gospel heavier then the iron yoke of Moses his Law As for that objection that the Apostles kept the seventh day Sabbath and preached on that day among the Jews Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. Acts 18. 4. To this it is answered It is most equal and rational that some time must be granted for the wearing away of an old usage A Sabbath Aequum fuit aliquid temporis intercessurum ut populo melius innotesceret Sabbati Judaici abrogatio ejusdemque sepultura honori sicentissima which had continued in the world much about four thousand years the world could not presently be awakened to take notice of its abrogation Old customes are removed with some difficulty and the religion of our Fathers takes so great impression upon us that it is not easily eaten out notwithstanding we see clear reason for it Antiquity in things natural is their weakness and unbeautifulness but in things spiritual it sheds a greater lustre upon them Time then must be granted to convince the world that the old Sabbath is now deceased and honourably buried in Christs own grave Suppose it be granted that both Sabbaths Jewish and Christian were
of the Fathers call our Sabbath by this name and imbrace its honour with an holy and triumphant ambition they took an advantage from the very Title to use this blessed day with greater veneration Titles among men commanding respect and submission Our Sabbath is called the Lords day saith a learned man 1. Because the Lord did constitute the solemnization of it as the Lords Prayer is so called because Christ did dictate it 2. Or because on this day the Lord is more solemnly worshipped 3. Or because Christ our Lord on this day rose from the dead opening a door for us to an everlasting Sabbath and Rest Surely it is some additional honour to this illustrious Day that as it was the first day of time mentioned in the first Gen. 1. 1. Book of the Bible so it is the last day of fame noted in the beginning of this last Book of the Bible to the praise of Revel 1. 10. him who is our Alpha and Omega Revel 1. 11. The very Omnes ferè sacrae â—cripturae interpretes tam veteres quà m recentiores de primo die hebdomadis Revel 1. 10. intelligunt Wal. Name speakes Christ the Author of this day and his resurrection whereby he was declared both Lord and Christ must needs be the occasion of it Ignatius who lived in the times of John the beloved Apostle makes the Lords day the Christians weekly Festival which they then observed in the room of the Jews Sabbath So doth Tertullian Athanasius Hierom Augustine c. and indeed who not By this title of the Lords day we may trace it down from the Apostles times through the Ocean of the Fathers Councels Schoolmen Arguimus appellatione ejus Revel 1. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sic appellari non potuit ille dies nisi eum dominus instituisset ut in caerâ et Oratione dominicâ factum est Eatonus p. 73. to this present age in which we live And to cast our eye on Scripture there seems to be much in that which Beza observes out of an ancient Greek Manuscript wherein the first day of the week is called the Lords day And the Syriack Translation tells us That the Christians meeting together to receive the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. was upon the Lords day Bucan saith The Sacrament is called the Lords Supper as in respect of the institution and the end of it so also in respect of the day on which it was wont to be administred viz. the Lords day And we may fairly expound the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. by the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. Here we may take notice that the spirit of God who had his choice of words and never spake any thing but with admirable reason never vouchsafed this title of honour in the Caena domini dicitur ab anthore vel etiam à fine nam à domino instituta est et in ejus memoriam celebratur vel etiam à tempore quia diebus dominicis celebrari consuevisset Bucan New Testament but only to the Supper and the Day the Lords Supper and the Lords day Now therefore the phrase being the same and thus singular the sense must needs be the same Look therefore in what notion the Supper is the Lords Supper and in the same sense is the day styled the Lords day The Supper is the Lords because the Lord Christ did institute and ordain it yea and substitute it in the room of the Passover And why not the day his because he instituted it and substituted it in the room of the Old Sabbath It is evidently a day of Christs institution a day of the Lords making and with reference to Christs resurrection and let any other day be set up in competition with it and it will evidently and easily be non-suited One well observes That from these Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. See Mr. Perkins in his cases of Conscience Rev. 1. 10. may well be gathered the laudable and Evangelical practice of the Apostles and the excellent confirmation countenance and authority that God gave thereunto in this point of sanctifying the Lords day So that God did bear witness thereunto by signs and wonders On this day Eutychus was raised from the dead Acts 20. 10 11. On this day three thousand are raised from the grave or rather from the hell of sin Acts 2. 37. And on this day John the Apostle is in his raptures and extasies Rev. 1. 10. And besides the more remarkable Acts 1. 2 4. benefits and fruits of this day upon which the Holy Ghost hath put a Selah still the Lords day is a wonder-working day What sense have many of the Saints on this day of peace of conscience joy in the Holy Ghost and great increase of grace holy knowledge and the fear of the Lord And indeed the advantages and precious fruits of this day are manifest to common and constant experience Dies dominica dicitur eadem ratione qua sacra Eucharistiae caena vocatur caena domini 1 Cor. 11. 12. quia scil à domino nostro Jesu Christo fuit instituta et ad eundem etiam dominum in fine et usu refeâ—ri debet Ames Learned Rivet tells us that all Interpreters do expound Revel 1. 10. of our Lords day viz. the first day of the week excepting one single Gomarus as when ever was truth published which was not snarled at by some humorous and impatient adversary And one thing more is very observable in Rev. 1. 10. It is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day not the day of the Lord for so is every day he being the Lord and Master of time but it is called the Lords day by way of singularity and conspicuous eminency But to draw towards a conclusion in the discussion of this particular of much moment indeed and therefore of more curious disquisition We may take notice that the Riv. Dissert de Orig. Sab. cap. 10. Lords day is not only the most proper name of our Sabbath and most in use in the dayes of the Apostles but it is most expressive being both an Historian and a Preacher For the Huc facit quod Lords day looking backward mindeth us what the Lord hath Johan Apost in die dominico correptus fuit ita ut spiritu viderit audiverit Apocalypsiâ— de statu ecclesiae deinceps futuro unde colligitur eum tum sanctis meditationibus quae diem dominicum decebant vaâ—asse Piscat done for us as on that day viz. He arose from the dead And looking forward it admonisheth us what we ought to do for him on the same day viz. spend it to the honour of the Lord in the proper and sacred duties of it In a word In the Lords day three things are considerable 1. A day founded on the light of Nature Meer Pagans destinate whole dayes to their idolatrous service 2. One day in
seven grounded on the moral equity of the fourth Commandement which is perpetual and inalterable 3. Our seventh day being indeed the eighth from the Creation but one of the seven in the week and this is built on Divine Right having analogy in the Old and insinuations Gâ—oria aeterni regis gloriosa suâ resurrectione emicans primatum cum religime diei dominicae concessum voluit sanctos retinere Sedul demonstrative in the New Testament with the universal practice of the Church in all ages Thus we have traced the Divine Right of the Lords day which appears clear and orient to every unprejudiced eye We will now pursue it to all ages and here will come in a full concourse of witnesses to attest the Honour and Authority of it Our Christian Sabbath is confirmed by all laws not only by divine law as hath already been largely proved but by Die dominico nihil agendum nâ—si deo vacandum nulla operaâ—io in eâ die agatur nisi tantum hymnis et Psalmis et caâ—â—ticis spiritualibus dies illa transigatur Linw. Canon law Linwood the Canonist tells us That we are to do nothing on the Lords day but to be at leisure for God No work must be done on that day but singing of Psalms chaunting of Hymns and warbling forth spiritual Songs to the praise and glory of our dear and blessed Redeemer Spiritual work best becomes this sacred day Nay the Canon law takes so much notice of our blessed Sabbath that many learned men have fastned it upon the Authority of the Canon law So Cajetan Thomas Aquinas Turrecremata Scotus Tabiensis Navarrus and many others Panormitan saith That all the Canonists who write of Festivals teach that the Lords day is Aquin. 2da 2dae quest 122 Turrec cap. 1 de consecrat Dist 3. Wal. de sacramental lib. 16. Scot lib. 2. de instit quest 4. Tabiens in verbo dominic num 2. carefully to be observed and sanctified in Cap. pronunciandum de Sab. And if the Canon law lay claim to the institution of the Lords day much more to the confirmation and establishment of it In the Decretals of the Church then we find our Christian Sabbath both owned and honoured And indeed in the whole body of the canon Law the law for Sabbath-observation must needs be the head and most eminent constitution Our Christian Sabbath hath been established by the Civil law Constantine the first Christian Emperour who thought Euseb de vitâ Constant lib. 4. cap. 18. Constantinus legem tulit ut die dominico omnes ab obeundis negotiis vacarent Sozom. lib. 1. cap. 8. the chiefest and most proper day for the Devotion of his Subjects was the Lords day thus declared his pleasure and enacted That every one who lived in the Roman Empire should rest on that day weekly which is instituted to our Saviour and to lay aside all businesses and wholly on that day to attend the Lord. An excellent Pattern here is for Princes On the Lords day say the Imperial Constitutions The whole minds of Christians and Believers should be busied in the worship of God Leo the Emperour follows the steps of his Predecessour L. Omnes cap. de Feriis Constantine and makes this remarkable sanction It is our will saith he according to the meaning of the Holy Ghost and of the Apostles by him directed that on the sacred day wherein we were restored to our integrity all men should rest themselves and surcease from labour for if the Jews did so much reverence their Sabbath which only was a shadow of ours are not we which inhabit light and the truth of grace obliged to honour that day which the Lord hath honoured and therein delivered us from dishonour and death Are not we bound to Leo Constit 54. God lib. 3. tit 12. de feriis et Justinian lib. 3. tit 12. keep it singularly and inviolably and sufficiently contented with a liberal grant of all the rest and not encroaching on that one which God hath chosen for his service nay were it not a retchless slighting and contemning of all Religion to make that day common and so think we may do thereon as we did on others A most excellent and truly imperial law fit to be written upon the Gaâ—es of every City upon the doors of every House upon the thoughts of every Christian And this law the Reverend Hooker takes notice of with a just emphasis of Hooker Eccl. Polit. lib. 5. sect 72. p. 385. praise and commendation as being a seasonable corrosive of former remisness in the Empire the Lords day before being in an exinanition by neglect and want of due severity by degrees fainting into contempt and disregard The Emperour Theodosius a most worthy Prince enacted That Cod. Theod. An. 384. peoples minds should be wholly bent to the service of God and that all Theatres and Cirques should be shut up on the Lords day and that no law-suit or pecuniary affairs should pollute that day that no officers of the Exchequer should be molested by any persons addressing themselves to them Nullus die solis spectaculum praebeat nec divinam venerationem consectâ solennitate confundat Theodor. on that holy and venerable day Such care did this excellent Prince take for the observation of our blessed Sabbath And that famous and renowned Charles the Great An. Dom. 789. published his Royal Edict saying We do Ordain according as it is commanded in the law of God that no man do servile works upon the Lords day but that they come to Church to divine worship and magnifie the Lord their God for those good things which on that day he Grat. Valent. Cod. Theodos lib. 15. Tit. 5. Lex 5. hath done for them Here we may hear the victorious Emperour justly called the Great not onely clearly acknowledging the Divine institution but likewise strictly commanding the Divine observation of the Lords day And the Emperour Ludovicus Pius the good Son of a Noble Father viz. Charles the Great enacts this Constitution It Ludov. Pius leg Eccles lib. 6. cap. 202. addit cap. 9. is our pleasure That all the faithful do reverently observe the Lords day in which the Lord rose again for if Pagans for the memory and reverence of their Gods do celebrate certain dayes and the Jews do devoutly observe their Sabbath how much more ought this Day to be honourably observed and celebrated of Christians Let not Christians upon this holy day attend upon Fables c. but let Believers do so that all may know such to be true Christians Thus still the same strain of spiritual and holy zeal runs in the Acts and Edicts of these worthy Potentates And the prosperous Justinian the great Compiler of the Civil Laws and therfore the body of them is called Justinians Code when he was Emperour of Constantinople Justinian Cod. lib. 15. tit 5. he enacted this savoury and rare Constitution On
due observation of it 1. Temporal promises Isa 56. 5. Lev. 26. 2 3 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Etiam Amen promissiones verissimas esse confirmat Amen enim significat verè firmitèr fidelitèr stabilitèr Hebraeis vox est confirmatis sic Christus vocatur Amen Rev. â— 14. i. e. stabilis constans verus ipsaque stabilitas constantia et veritas Ambros 2. Spiritual promises Isa 58. 14. He who prophanes the Sabbath loseth the sweets which are to be found in a God and disinherits himself of those plenties which are to be reaped in a flourishing earth He tramples upon pearls for the promises which are to be made good in Christ 2 Cor. 1. 20. are the riches of the Gospel Let us review this folly in the severals of it 1. The prophanation of the Sabbath argues much contempt it spurns the crown of a promise and despiseth the riches of divine grace it refuses the breast of a promise which is a breast not fill'd with milk but consolation Isa 66. 11. It is worthy our notice God hath made promises to every duty of a Sabbath 1. To Prayer John 14. 15. Mat. 21. 22. Nay it is part of the Covenant of Grace that the Saints should fly to God by prayer and that the Lord should hear from Heaven his dwelling place Psal 89. 26 27. And 2dly Promises are made to the right receiving of the Sacrament Mat. 26. 29. That blessed banquet wants not a blessed promise 3. Hearing of the word is encouraged by a promise Isa 66. 2. That duty also is like Benjamins sack with a cup in 2 Cor. 7. 1. the mouth of it Rom. 9. 4. 4. Acts of charity a necessary and comely duty which fills up the services of a Sabbath they are bribed with a promise Heb. 11. 33. Psal 41. 1. Every silver piece we give shall be turned into gold by the inhancing nature of a promise Heb. 6. 12. 5. Meditation another duty of a Sabbath hath the experience of divine sweetness and soul-satisfaction Psal 104. Heb. 8. 6. 34. Now when all these duties are carefully and spiritually acted on a Sabbath under what a golden shower of promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. doth the active Saint lie Let those who prophane the Sabbath be ashamed of their contempt to slight the treasure of so many promises We may take notice that the promises are the Saints best estate they are the Churches priviledges Promissiones sparsim in scriptaris celebres sunt bona in coelis nobis propter Christum promissa Alap Rom. 9. 4. They are the highest encouragements 2 Cor. 7. 1. They are the rewards of faith Gal. 3. 16. They are the believers inheritance Heb. 6. 12. They are the varnish and the wealth of the Gospel Heb. 8. 6. What is the Gospel but a golden mine filled with promises with the stamp of Christ upon them The promises are the cordials of grace to keep it from fainting Heb. 11. 13. They are the most pregnant incentive to obedience Heb. 11. 17. They are the exceeding great and precious donations of the soul 2 Pet. 1. 4. Nay they are the believers fairest revenue For 1. They are in the surest hand 2 Cor. 1. 20. And 2dly They shall be paid in the most seasonable time Psal 50. 15. 3. They contain in them most glorious acquests John 3. 16. Luke 11. 13. The spirit and glory are folded up in the promise 4. We shall be spending upon them to eternity Heb. 11. 13. Now what base contempt are they guilty of who prophaning the Sabbath trample upon these glorious and precious promises these despise the riches of divine goodness to use the Apostles phrase Rom. 2. 4. 2. Prophanation of the Sabbath speaks much infidelity Did we believe Gods promises which he hath made to Sabbath holiness we should be more precise and strict in our Infidelis solo generali concursu dei potest proferre nomen Jesu aut de eo habere cogitationem aliquo modo benam sed absque verâ fide non obtinet remissionem peccatorum et gratiam supernaturalem et beatitudinem Anselm observance Indeed unbelief is the damp of every duty it puts a faintness and languor upon holy services The primitive Saints who were acted by a principle of faith Heb. 11. 33 34. run upon and accomplished glorious things this grace shews us the crown realizes all the promises to us Heb. 11. 1. And so it puts animation and life into every holy duty Constantine the Great when he saw the Cross in the air with this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this overcome he summoned up his undaunted courage and obtained a noble victory Many look on the promises of God as bonds without a seal as debenters which are not like to be paid and this makes the Chariot of duty drive heavily and causeth men to slight Sabbaths with so much carelesness and indifferency A believing soul will double the tale of his duties he will hear attentively he will pray devoutly he will Redemptionis à Christo factae apertum documentum factum est in resurrectione Christi O quanta ergò est ingratitudo hominibus charitati Christi non reâ—pondere Ambros meditate divinely and discourse savourily on Gods blessed day and all this as eying the recompence of reward and preying upon the rich incomes of the promises It is cursed unbelief sowers and flags the duties of a Sabbath that men either desperately neglect them or else carelesly perform them 3. A prophanation of the Sabbath discovers much ingratitude Doth God give thee a Sabbath a Jewel of great price to throw away into the Sea of idleness or prophaneness Men who are slight on the Sabbath do not adore the rising Sun for the Sun of righteousness arose as upon this Mat. â— 2. day Our Sabbath is Christs resurrection day which is the foundation of all our happiness had the grave detained him hell had inclosed us Christ opening the prison of the grave opened our way to the throne How ungrateful then shall we be to wound Christ on his own resurrection day Shall we be formal drossie vain talkative sensual upon that day when the Sun rose to give light to a new world what blackness of darkness had we eternally been wrapt in if this blessed Sun had not risen after the night of a grave to be our conduct and guidance to a better life Sabbath-breakers may wear the scars and brand of the most loathsome ingratitude 4. Prophanation of the Sabbath is soul-prodigality it is a disinheriting sin too Can we expect a Sabbath to eternity and not keep a Sabbath here Can we neglect the service of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a day and yet look for the reward of more then many ages It is a good observation of a Learned Man That our Rest-day Heb. 4. 9. is not called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manuchah a Common rest but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
splendour of England was defaced How deformed is the body without the head And was not London the head of England as Damascus of A Hierusalem plaga dei incipit tum quia illa cognoscens et colens deum plus caeteris gentibus peccavit tum quia caeteris statuitur in exemplum ut ex eâ suum quisque plagam metiatur similemque expectet Alap Syria Isa 7. 8. Nay London was not only the head of England but of the three Nations the two chief Cities of Scotland and Ireland easily yielding to the Glory and Renown of London What the face is to the body that London was to England the beauty and the loveliness of it Londons glory was the sweet complexion of the Land which made strangers and forreigners fall in love with it But now God hath given a scar to Englands face and that must needs be a great blemish Look upon England as Rich and London was the Exchequer of it the Mine to feed that Exchequer Look upon England as Potent London was the Arsenal of it and the Tower was not so much an Honourable Prison as a well furnished Armoury for all military provisions London was a City which could raise an Army and pay it when it had done This Glorious City was the sword and the sinnews of war the very right hand of all publick undertakings But now we are as Samson with his hair cut off enfeebled for want of strength Now England is like the Sichemites Gen. 34. 25. unfit for any invasion Our strength is fallen Lam. 1. 14. The Head of England is made bald both of strength and ornament London the Crown of England hath lost its Jewels of wealth and beauty Now London is rowling in its ashes and we may write Ichabod upon poor despicable England If our Father spit in our face saith God to Moses ought we not to be ashamed seven dayes Numb 12. 14. Ah! God hath spit fire into the face of England London like Job lies on its dung-hill Job 2. 8. and with the afflicted Jews Esth 4. 3. makes its abode in its ashes From the Daughter of Zion beauty is departed Lam. 1. 6. The honour of Renowned England is laid in the dust In Londons fire is observable the greatness of the wind at that time The Lord seemed to prepare bellows to blow this fire that it might not go out till it had accomplished its Execution Winds they are the fan of Nature to cool and purge the Air to maturate and ripen the Corn but here God brought the winds out of his treasury to scatter the flames of his indignation they served only to speed our ruine so that the helps of nature became the hurts of London The fire Psal 18 10. did ride upon the wings of the wind that it might sooner Luke 8. 25. come to its journeys end The Apostle James speaks of Christus loquitur mari et ventis quia majestas dei habet absolutum imperium in creaturas rationales et irrationales Par. fierce winds Jam. 3. 6. And such were these to scatter the fire and so make the destruction Epidemical He that commands the winds now gave them a Commission in wrath for the purposes of his severe vengeance the winds indeed were high and that raised the storm which shipwrackt famous and renowned London It was very remarkable That the season should be so hot and dry at the time of this fire God seemed to make the houses of the City like tinder before he struck fire that it might be sure to take and that intemperate heat as it fitted our dwellings for sudden waste so it dried up the springs insomuch Vt sâ—lis venustas gloria dâ—pingatur solem Jovis oculum appellavit antiquitas that little water could be had where usually there was the greatest plenty This parching season fought against London with a two-edged sword it prepared the houses for fuel and it kept back the remedy those needfull streams which should have grapled with this devouring fire This is worthy Macrob. our observation In the time of our need we have a burning sun instead of a moistning showre That Sun which rules the day guilds the world guides man and fructifies the earth was an an open enemy to London so that we may say that when London was on fire it was not a pleasant Eccles 11. 7. thing to behold the sun That glorious luminary in which at other times we see the glory of God Psal 19. 4 at this time Psal 19. â— we might see the wrath of God That which was observable in Londons fire was That the waâ—eâ—-house which served much of the City with water was onâ— of the first things which was set on fire O tremendous wrath Our help was removed that our hurt might be amplified God betimes in the very first commencing of this O lachryma hâ—miâ—is â—â—a est potentia si sola intres non râ—libis vaâ—uâ— â—â— vincis inviâ—cibilem et ligâ—s omnipotenâ—eâ— et filium vâ—ginis incliâ—as in misericordiam Just judgement took away our relief We had nothing to quench our flames but our tears and if they before had been seasonably poured forth happily the first flames had been prevented When God was highly incensed against Israel he took away their weapons they must go down to the Philistines to sharâ—en â— Coulter 1 Sam. 13. 20. They had enemies to assault but no swords to defend And in this judgement God took away our remedy we had fire to devoure but no water to quench the Lord threw fire upon our houses and he broke our Buckets We may read Gods heavy displeasure in the very preface of this judgement The fire licked up our 1 Kings 18. 38. water as in Elijahs sacrifice but with this difference that was a sign of Gods favour but this the token of his wrath God stripâ— us as soon as he struck us and took away our defence that his judgement might fall with the greater force The infatuation of the people in not being industrious to quench the fire was most remarkable When formerly fire seized upon the City every one was an instrument to suppress it and every passenger an Engine to quench it there was labour in the hand and meltings in the heart of every person to put a stop to the devouring flames But in this tremendous fire the question of the Angel to the Disciples was very seasonable Acts 1. 12. Why stand ye gazing The feebleness of a Samson when he had lost his hair the distraction Judg 16. 19. Dan. 5. 6 7. Acts 24. 25. of a Belshazzar when he had lost his wits and the trembling of a Foelix when he had lost his design seized upon the inhabitants of London their frights were great but their help was small and they knew better how to weep then to work Magistrates themselves were wrapt up in confusion and their Authority did only accent their misery that they
Gospel So the Apostle most expresly 1 Cor. 15. 14. If Christ be not risen then is our preaching in vain and your saith is also vain Christs death had been wholly ineffectual for the remission of sins if Christ had not conquered death but still had been Peccatum plenè aboletur quia ejus effectus i. e. mors aboletur Chrysost detained in his dust But Christ hath abolished sin because he hath conquered death the effect of sin by his glorious resurrection as Chrysostom well notes and observes All the sufferings of Christ were animated by his resurrection that glorious Act put worth and value upon them Had he not risen all our hopes had been buried in the same Grave with him but he is truly risen and this is the comfort of our Souls and the riches of his sufferings Christs resurrection makes faith a saving grace and therefore the rather is put upon Christs rising not upon his death Rom. 8. 34. His Resurrection makes the Gospel a lively and glorious Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 4. Totum Evangelium esset vanum et mera fabula si Christus non resurrexisset Par. and Christ an all-sufficient Redeemer When Christ rose the Jews blasphemy was execrated Scripture-prophesies and types verified the hearts of believers revived and the Gospel was made a Doctrine full of grace and truth fit to be preached for life and salvation The Prophet Hosea tells us Hos 6. 2. After two dayes he will revive us and the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight which text Hos 6. 2. of Scripture Tertullian rightly accommodates to the Resurrection Quem locum Tertullianus lib. adv Judeos cap. 13. ad Christi resurrectionem rectè accomodat Ger. of Christ which was on the third day then did our life spring with his and the Sun rising caused our light The Resurrection of Christ is that pleasant spring which the Law foresaw the Gospel discovers and the Christian rejoyces in Had Christ been shut up in the Grave and there kept as Natures Prisoner all the truths of the Word had been as fading leaves and the believers faith an empty notion the Preachers pains unprofitable sweat and the sinners soul irrecoverably lost and the professors of Christianity truly of all men most miserable as 1 Cor. 15. 19. And that cursed Quantas divitias comparavit nobis ista fabula Christi Leo. 10. Pap. Rom. speech of Pope Leo the tenth viz. How much wealth hath this Fable of Christ brought to our Coffers might have escaped a reproof And now shall the Resurrection of Christ put life into the Gospel and none into us upon our Sabbath the commemoration of that glorious Act Shall every truth of the Gospel be confirmed by it and shall not we be established in our duties on this holy day Christ rose and our hopes sprang and budded with his rising and shall not this animate our services on the Lords day Either let us lay aside Faith in the Act or be more conscientious in keeping the day of Christs blessed Resurrection The Resurrection of Christ was not only the breaking of his own chains but the breaking out and harbinger of our joyes For Christ as a common person is become the first fruits of 1 Cor. 15. 20. them that sleep 1 Cor. 15. 20. which is an allusion to a rite and ceremony in the Law All the sheaves in a field being unholy in themselves there was some one sheaf in the name and room of all the rest which was called the first fruit lifted up and waved before the Lord and so all the sheaves abroad in the field by that act done to this one sheaf were Christus oppâ—nitur omnibus terroribus in die judicii quidem quadruplici ratione 1. Christi morte qua peccata expiavit 2. Resurrectione quâ jâ—stitiam peperit 3. Evectione ad dextrâ—m dei quâ sp sanctum effudit 4. â—ntercessione quâ meritum effiâ—acitèr applicat Quâ—tuâ—r â—isâ—e gradibus totum Redemptionis opus à Christo peractum est Par. consecrated unto God by vertue of that Law Lev. 23. 10. Rom. 11. 16. And thus when we were all dead Christ as the first fruits riseth and this in our name and stead and so we all rise with him and in him we are all vertually risen in him and this in as true a sence as if we were personally risen As on the contrary hand we being personally alive yet are reckoned dead in Adam because he was a common person and had the sentence of death pronounced upon him by vertue of which we must die and this by the force of the same law 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. Adam was the first fruits of them who died and Christ of them that rise Hence we are said to be risen with Christ Eph. 2. 5. and which is yet more to sit together with him in heaven Eph. 2. 6. Because Christ is a common person representing us and he sits there in our name and in our stead Now let us a little canvass the equity of this law If sentence of condemnation was first passed upon Adam alone yet considered as a common person for us we were condemned in him therefore also this acquitting and justification which was passed upon Christ at his Resurrection for then he had fully suffered whatever divine justice could demand for our sin was passed upon him as a common and publick person for us yea in this his being justified Christ must much rather be considered as a common person representing us then Adam was in his condemnation Vâ—va ego quamvis mortem feram resurgam et vos quoque vivetis i. e. quia videbitis me laetabimini et quasi oâ—cisi reviâ—isâ—eâ—â—â— in meâ manifestatione Theoph. For Christ in his own person had no sin so he had no need of justification from sin nor should ever have been condemned and therefore this must be only in respect to our sinnes imputed to him and if so then in our stead and so herein he was more purely to be considered as a common person for us then ever Adam was in his being condemned for Adam besides his standing as a common person for us was furthermore condemned in his own person but Christ being justified from sin could only be considered as standing for others Thus Christ rose as a common person in our stead and for our good to be the object of our faith the incentive of our hope and the forerunner of our glorious resurrection By Christs rising to life we receive A life of joy His springing from the grave was the blossoming of our joy The retirement of our beloved into his tomb was but transient the delay of three dayes and then In diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tert. he came from behind the hangings and in this our joy is full This dried up Mary Magdalens tears and swallowed up the Disciples griefs and this inflames the Christians triumphs And
healing in his wings Mal. 4. 2. The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15. 17. If Christ had not risen we had been still in our sin which fully implies he rising again our sins are taken away and blotted out as a thick cloud and nothing remains to break the peace between God and believers That conscience may be serene and fully satisfied For nothing stung conscience and wounded that tender part nothing Christus resurrexit ideò pacatam tranquillam consciemtiam habere possumus scimus enim pro peccatis quae deum et nos dividebant per Christum fit satisfactio nosque ideò deo reconciliatos esse kept it raw full of pain and anguish but only sin which being fully satisfied for by Christs death and so clearly declared by his blessed Resurrection the burden removed gives ease to conscience and so the poor believer being sensible his peace is made and he is reconciled to his angry Father he hath Halcyon dayes in his bosom and he lies down with comfort and saith his lot is fallen in a pleasant place and God hath given him a goodly heritage Psal 18. 6. And this the Apostle Peter compriseth in fewer words 1 Pet. 3. 21. But the answer of a good conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ That our Redemption will certainly follow So saith our blessed Saviour expresly John 20. 17. I ascend unto my Per Christum quasi antesignanum et mortis dominatorem in Orbem illata est Resurrectio mortuorum Alap Rom. 8. 11. Christus solis bonis est causa meritoria resurrectionis sed efficiens omnibus Reprobi verò resurgunt non ad vitam sed ad damnationem mortem potiùs quà m vitam Thom. Father and to your Father and unto my God and your God And if Christ ascend unto our Father shall not we likewise come to his house John 14. 2. Shall not we see his face shall not we rise again to enjoy his glory Yes verily God is a God of the living and not of the dead of triumphant Saints and not of putrid carkases Mat. 22. 32. Let us further argue if Christ be our Head and we his Members then it is expedient for the glory of the Head that the Members be glorious And it may be further considered that as the first Adam received blessings for himself and his posterity and lost the same for all So Christ the second Adam received life and all other gifts for himself and others and he rising gloriously his Saints likewise shall be charioted to glory by a glorious Resurrection And so moreover Christ being our Elder Brother in his tenderness and affection will not leave us in the grave there always to sleep the sleep of death and so much the rather because he can raise us with a Call with the sould of a Trumpet by the message of an Archangel 1 Thes 4. 16. For he being dead raised himself much more being alive shall he be able to raise us up And withall we should consider our Vnion with Christ by the Spirit whose heavenly influence and divine vertue in raising of our souls to spiritual life is most eminent and admirable how much more clearly may we conclude the necessity of our being raised from death to fellowship with him in glory And Virtutem resurrectionis Christi non tantùm cognoscimus per fidem sed et per experientiam ut Christi resurgentis potentiam sentiamus shall not we know the power of Christs Resurrection to use the Apostles words Phil. 3. 10. in raising us on his own blessed day to heavenly-mindedness to get above the world and to have our hearts taken up in the divine services of it We should remember when Christ rose it was the seal of our Resurrection and can we think of a Resurrection and sleep away Sermons trifle away Sabbaths and formalize away Ordinances which then must come unto a severe account shall we who hope to rise to a Crown be entombed in sloth and idleness upon a Resurrection day The very thoughts of our Resurrection should strike an awe upon us and bridle us from vanity and lightness of spirit knowing 2 Cor. 5. 10. that our Sabbaths are not over when we have spent them but they will meet us at Gods tribunal and at his tremendous Rev. 20 12. Bar. Nothing can more acutely check the prophane person who pollutes Gods day and unravels that golden season in froth and formality then the serious thoughts of a certain Resurrection whereof Christs rising was an undoubted pledge The Resurrection of Christ was an evidence of infinite power And therefore Dr. Twisse rightly fastens the Lords day on Christs Resurrection day because as the Apostle speaketh Rom. 1. 4. Christ was declared mightily to be the Son of God by the spirit of sanctification in his Resurrection from the dead Hereby Christ was manifested to be the Son of God the very Lord of glory Christs Resurrection was the manifestation of most glorious power that the tomb should not confine him nor the dust hold him nor the grave stone stop him but throwing off these clogs as Samson did his wit hs he shews himself a while to his beloved Ones and so takes his joyous ascent to the right hand of his Father Love laid Christ in the grave and Power raised him from the grave love rocked him asleep and power awakened him again love made him die as a Malefactor Luke 23. 33. and power raised him as a Saviour to give full assurance that all was done which was required to procure life and salvation Indeed this did manifest wonderful power when after three dayes being dead the Sepulcher sealed the stone rolled to the mouth of the grave a strong watch placed that Christ should break through all bars beat down all opposition and 1 Cor. 15. 55. spring forth out of his yielding dust as a triumphing Conqueror Heb. 2. 14. over Death and Devils The Jews cryed out Let him Plus erat de sepulchro surgere quà m de cruce descendere et plus mortem resurgendo destruere quam vitam descendendo servare Greg. come down from the Cross and we will believe on him Mat. 27. 42. But it is more saith Gregory to rise from the grave then to descend from the Crosse to destroy death by rising then to preserve life by descending Reas 5 And shall Christs Resurrection be an evidence of his power and not an argument for our piety upon his own blessed day which is the Commemoration of this glorious act Surely he who could pierce the grave and shake off the chains of death for the good of believers can exert as great power for the destruction of sinners especially those who prophane his day Christs love in dying should allure and his power in rising should enforce Sabbath-holiness it is not safe nor providential to provoke the Lion of the tribe of Judah who trampled upon death and the grave especially on the day
Rom. 11. 16 17. should look greener and sprout more then that which is grassed in Let us be earnest with God for Ministers that their success may be great and that they may see of the travel of their souls Praescrip 5. and be satisfied The Ministers work upon a Sabbath may Interior vita vigor gratiae ad crescendum adolescendum in fide charitate et Christianismo hoc solius dei est Alap be painful from himself but it is prosperous only from the Lord the Minister throws the net it is God brings the draught nay he may cast the net but God directs it to the right side of the ship The Apostle assures us It is God gives the increase 1 Cor. 3. 6. That Gods work prospers in the hands of the Ministers and in the hearts of the people is from Gods smile not from the Ministers sweat The Minister may have skill to open the Text but God only hath power to open the heart Let this God therefore be sought to that he would fill the Ministers sail with a prosperous wind and that every Sermon they preach and every Sabbath they celebrate may be as the bow of Jonathan and the sword of Saul which returned not empty 2 Sam. 1. 22. And we have a rare and rich promise to build and bottom our prayers upon which is mentioned Isa 55. 10 11. As the rain comes down and showers from heaven and return not thither but Isa 55. 10 11. water the earth making it bud and bring forth seed to the sower and bread to the eater so saith God shall my word be that goes out of my mouth it shall not return to me void Let us heartily sue out this blessed promise in holy prayer to the Lord Strong prayers are the readiest method to make successful Sabbaths Ministers might do great things upon the prayers of the people they might convince conscience they Acts 2. 37. might prick to the heart and fasten truth upon the soul and go off in the evening of a Sabbath crying victory ovor captivated Converts and lead many lost sheep home to the great shepherd of their souls we have many still-born Ordmances because previous prayers did not put life into them It is prayer that can give a good Minister to a people Philem. ver 22. And it is prayer can bless a good Minister to a people How frequent and pathetical is the Apostle Paul with Ingens est orationum virtus potentia ut Paulus talis tantusque vir illarum ope subsidio indi geat Theopil those to whom he writes to beg and importune their prayers so Rom. 15. 30. Now I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ his sake and for the love of the spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me We may see the great Apostle of the Gentiles though resplendent with such rich gifts enriched with such eminent grace and conducted by the guidance of an infallible spirit yet he stood in need of the people prayers Nay this blessed Apostle not only sollicits the prayers of the Church of the Romans but he addresses himself to other Churches to that at Thessalonica 2 Thes 3. 1. Finally Brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have a free course and be glorified even as it is with you Thus Gospel victories are usually the issue of wrestling with God And thus again Paul importunes prayers 1 Thes 5. 25. Brethren pray for us And again Heb. 13. 18. Pray for us This holy Apostle rests not so much upon his own pains as others prayers knowing that the gales of the spirit by which we hoise up sail for heaven are promised to earnest and importunate prayer Luke 11. 13. And indeed as the Minister must row with one Oare by powerful and painful preaching to the people so the people must row with the other by frequent praying for the Minister Dispensator domus dei curam hobet in eâ omnia regit omnia ordinat distribuit They must strive together as the Apostles phrase is Rom. 15. 30. In a word one piece of service which we owe to the Sabbath is that we beg of God that the Ministers who are stars Rev. 1. 20. may fructiferously shine upon who are light Mat. 5. 14. may be a safe conduct to who are Salt Mat. 5. 13. may throughly season and preserve who are Stewards 1 Cor. 4. 1. may feed and refresh the people of God on his own blessed day Let us be much in prayer that Magistrates would take care Praescrip 6. of Gods holy Sabbath Magistrates are called shields Psal 47. 9. Let us pray that they defend the Sabbath from sin and Lev. 19. 17. prophanation Magistrates are called Gods Psal 82. 6. Let us pray that they would remember their own title and commend Gods day to a holy and strict observation And Qui non vetat peccare cùm potest jubet Senec. surely as children for the most part are as the Nurses are so Sabbaths in Nations and Kingdoms are as the Magistrates are we may feel the pulse of the Magistrate in the observation of the Sabbath And therefore let us pray for Magistrates because the eye of the people is fixed more stedily on the Magistrates Sword then on the Scholars pen or the Ministers tongue Magistratical severity more awes and influences then Ministerial intreaties That weapon gives us the deepest wound which is sharpned by civil Authority When a Ministers zeal is insignificant In Sabbati observatione non Ministros verbi tantùm sed et Patres familias iâ—primis Magistratus versari decet Wal. the Magistrates heat will be effectual a Magstrates frown shall operate more throughly then a Ministers check When Nehemiah threatned the strangers to lay hands upon them they came no more upon the Sabbath day Nehem. 13. 21. The soft bowels of a Minister may be abortive when the sure force of a Magistrate may put life into the reformation of the Sabbath Besides the fourth Commandment is retinaculum caeterorum the bond of obedience both to God and man in the duties Custodire Sabbatum per Synechdochen accipiatur pro observatione totius legis praesertim primae tabulae quae religionem cultum dei spectat Alap of the first and the second table this Commandment is the golden clasp which joynes both the Tables together and therefore it is much to be observed that keeping the Sabbath from polluting it and keeping the hands from doing any evil are both coupled and joyned together Isa 56. 2. The pollution of the Sabbath is the usual introduction of all other sin It may be added if Magistrates let the reins loose to connive at vanity and prophaneness on the Lords day the Nation will be filled with evil subjects the Church will be filled with corrupt members and private families will be filled with stubborn children and licentious Servants and
Jer. 31. 33. of growth in Promissio facta est Christianis amicitiae dei remissionis peccatorum et regni coelestis grace Hos 14. 5. the gift of a Christ lay under a promise Gen. 3. 15. Luke 1. 71. the gift of the spirit was bound up in a promise Acts 2. 33. Gal. 3. 14. If a new heart be put into our bosomes it is the issue of a promise Ezek. 36. 26. And God in a pursuance of a promise breaths a new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. into our souls Shall we rise higher Thirdly God hath made promises to his people of things eternal Of a future Crown 2 Tim. 4. 8. Of a glorious Kingdom Luke 12. 32. Of a heavenly Throne Rev. 3. 21. Of eternal Inrer pocula Germaniae clamatum est spiritus calriviamus est spiritus melancholicus Sclat Life John 3. 16. Of everlasting Habitations Luke 16. 9. Of everlasting Salvation Heb. 5. 9. And therefore how much are they to be censured who accuse Religion of sadness and sorrow and upon the force of that argument draw back to courses of sin and prophaneness What do they less then blaspheme both the God and the priviledges of the Saints Joy is a constant dish with the people of God but Cujusmodi est gaudium quod est in domino In his quae secundum domini mandatum fiunt gaudere debemus Basil their joy is hidden Manna it lodges in their bosomes not in their looks their musick-room is a little more retired the world doth not hear their melody Look upon the Saints in their lowest condition when grace it self is at an ebb at very low water Yet then First The Lord assures us that little is a pledge of more 2 Cor. 1. 22. And even Secondly That little he will enable to get a final victory Rev. 3. 8 9. And in Rev. 2. 7. the promise is made to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is overcoming not to him who hath already overcome And Thirdly That little shall be kept perfect to the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Thes 3. 10. Phil. 1. 6. So many causes of constant joy are there to all Gods Children what roses do they walk upon here even while they are in a valley of tears In their bosomes lies a pardon like Aarons Rod blossoming in the Ark their consciences are serene and calme with holy peace nay they can laugh in a storm they can joy in tribulations Rom. 5. 3. Jam. 1. 2. And they can Gaudium Christiano utile est immò necessarium ut jucunde vivat et alacritèr in virtutibus pergat glory in a ship-wrack they can triumph in death it self 1 Cor. 15. 55. And therefore the Apostle inculcates and reduplicates the command for holy joy Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes again I say rejoyce Phil. 4. 4. But though the joy of the Saints open to the wide Common they can and may rejoyce in all things and in all times yet in the inclosure of Gods blessed Sabbath the freshest and sweetest springs of joy are to be found And thus much for the third duty Jam. 1. 2. to be performed on the morning of a Sabbath before we go to the publick congregation Viz. Labouring with our own hearts The fourth duty to be discharged before the publick on Gods holy day is private reading of the Scriptures What a charge doth God lay upon the Jews to be acquainted with Deut. 11. 18. the Scriptures Deut. 6. 7 8 9. And these words which I command thee this day they shall be in thy heart and thou Verbum dei in nos totos admittamus in mentem in memoriam in affectus in vitam ut nulla sit pars nostri in quâ verbum dei non inhabitet shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest in the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up and thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thy hand and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates Let us summe up this charge First Gods word it must possess every part it must be between our eyes for direction it must be a sign on our hands to regulate our works and operations it must be lodged in Evangelica historia debet esse perpetua lectio cujuslibet hominis Christiani Mirandul our hearts to sanctifie and spiritualize our love and affections that the heart may be warm but not feavourish Secondly Gods word must possess every room it must be our discourse in our Parlors where we use to sit it must be our meditation in our chambers where we use to lie and if we take the air abroad this holy word must be our companion this must be testis conversationis the witness of our conversation Thirdly Gods word must possess every season It must go to bed with us to sanctifie the farewell thoughts of the day that we shut up the day and our eyes with God if we rise in the morning it must be our morning star to guide us our morning dew to soften us our morning Sun to warm us Ne patiamini verbum dei esse quasi peregrinum et foris sâ—are sed intromittatur in domicilium cordis nostri versetur assiduè in animis nostris non secus ac domestici versantur in domo suâ immò sit nobis non minùs noâ—um ac familiare quà m illi esse solent qui apud nos habitant Daven it must be our first company and our best Breakfast in the morning And Fourthly Gods word must not only possess the inside of the house but the out-side too it must be written on the posts and the gates to shew its own excellency that we must hold it out and own it in the view of all the world This is the summe of the charge and indeed it is not unnecessary if we consider the Scriptures are the guide of our youth 2 Tim. 3. 15. They are the cure of our minds Mat. 22. 29. Ignorance of Gods word breeds errour and spiritual distempers in us They are the comfort of our souls Rom. 15. 4. They are both a Cordial and a Julip to warm us in cold affliction and to cool us in careless prosperity They are the treasure of our hearts Col. 3. 16. He is the potent and mighty man who is an Apollos in the Scriptures Acts 18. 24. Nay they are the breathings of the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 20. They are not only mens advantage but the divine issue of the third person in the Trinity The result of the whole is this if God lay so much weight on reading of the Scriptures and man receives so much advantage by acquaintance with them no season fitter for this duty then the morning of a Sabbath First The reading of the word prepares for the hearing of it that we
may arrive at the Nobility of those Bereans who searched the Scriptures whether what the Apostles delivered were consonant and agreeing to them or no Acts 17. Acts 17. 11. Ignorantia negloctus dei ô quantum malum est et in quot et quanta mala Gentilâ—â— per hanci ignorantiam inciderint Alap 11. By constant reading on the Sabbath morning we come acquainted with the body of the Scriptures and so are fitted to entertain particular truths which may be delivered in publick by the Minister Well read Lawyers easily understand particular cases Ignorant persons like Children take in what ever is in the spoon whether Sugar or Poyson An ignorant Auditory wholly depends upon the conscience of the Minister and blind-fold grasp all with an implieit faith they drink in all which is delivered and so most probably the dregs at the bottom But our preparatory reading in private will enable us the more to judge and discern of publick Gospel discoveries Secondly Nor is it a small advantage that Gods word should take livery and scizin of our hearts in the beginning Quo semel est imbuta recens servâ—bit odorem testa diu of the Sabbath and so accommodate our hearts for future Ordinances Vessels retain the sent of the first liquor The Summer much follows the quality of the Spring Conversing in our closets and families with Gods word will much conduce to a spiritual frame of heart The tracing of a Chapter or two in the morning at home will mould the heart to a sweeter compliance with Christ in his Ordinances The reading of the Law made Josiah weep 2 Chron. 34. 27. and then he was flexible for every good purpose Thirdly Theophylact hath an excellent argument to this purpose One great end of the Sabbath saith he is to give Lex homines praecipit in Sabbatum quiescere ut lectioni vacent homines Theoph. us respit for the reading of the Scriptures which is meant not onely of the publick reading in the Church but also of private reading at home the Gospel being nothing else but Christ opened and expanded to study Christ is the purport not onely of our publick but private devotion To read the Scriptures then is one duty which must take up our private leisure on the morning of a Sabbath Fourthly The Lord Christ and his Apostles in alledging Mat. 21. 13. the places of the Old Testament do generally say That it is written or as it is written in the Book of the Psalmes or Luke 20. 42. this was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah Now how much Acts 1. 20. shame will befall us if when the Minister alledgeth Scripture Acts 2. 16. quotations we may say of the word as they did of the Holy Ghost they had not so much as heard whether there be an Holy Ghost or no Acts 19. 2. So we never read of such a Text we never met with such a Scripture we never were acquainted with such an example as is cited by the Preacher This might discolour our faces with blushes of shame and regret It was a sharp redargution of our Saviour which he gave to the Jewes when he remitted them to search the Scriptures John 5. 39. they making their Scriptural knowledge the greatest of their boast and ostentation And indeed to be a stranger to the Oracles of God neither becomes our interest nor our profession And Fifthly In this the Disciple must not be greater Cultus ipse publicus quà m maximè solennitèr est celebâ—andus et postulat necessariò illâ— exercitia Scripturum lectionis meditationis precum c. Quibus paratiores simus ad publicum cultum ut ille etiam in nobis verè efficax reddatur Ames then the Master On the morning of the week day He preached the word John 8. 2. And in the morning of the Lords day we should read it which as he did dictate we must survey if he was early in the dispensation of it it well becomes us to take the dawnings of the Sabbath for its perusal and lection let us take the dropings of this honey-comb at the first effusion And thus much for those Duties which are incumbent upon us in the morning of a Sabbath before we associate with the Assembly of Gods people We must dress our inward as well as our outward man before we come to the Congregation CHAP. XXVII How we must demean our selves in the Publick Assembly on the Holy Sabbath HAving thus performed our Morning Exercises in private Psal 84. 1 2 Psal 122 1. Psal 87. 2. how chearfully should we repair to the Publick Assemblies and draw nigh to the publick Ordinances on this acceptable day of grace and salvation when Christ Isa 2. 2 3. Psal 42. 4. sits in state scattering treasures of grace among hungry and thirsty souls who are poor in spirit and wait for spirituall Almes David admired the amiableness of Gods Tabernacles Deus pluris facit preces in Ecclesiâ quà m domi factas non ob locum sed ob considerationem multitudinis fidelium deum communi consensu invocantium Riv. Psal 84. 1. and he longed for the Courts of God rejoycing when they said to him Let us go to the house of the Lord Psal 42. 4. And the Prophet Isaiah speaking of Gospel times seems to foretell the disposition of Gospel Saints Many people shall go and say Come let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his wayes and we will walk in his paths Isa 2. 2 3. And the Apostle adviseth us by no means to forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is Heb. 10. 25. whom he brands with reproof and reproach Publick Ordinances they are our spiritual Exchange our holy Mart our heavenly Fairs where we buy up and fit our selves with all heavenly Commodities In these seasons we store our selves with grace knowledge and comforts which may abundantly serve us till the revolution of another Sabbath It was once the sad complaint of the Church That the wayes of Sion did mourn because none came to her Assemblies Lam. 1. 4. The want of publick Ordinances might put a Nation in sack-cloath they being the badge of the Church and the glory of the Kingdome Indeed holy duties in private they are of great use and have their blessing But publick Ordinances are the chief work of the Sabbath It is worthy our observation that the Sabbath and publick service are by God himself both joyned together Ye shall keep my Sabbaths saith God and reverence Ezra 10. 1. my Sanctuary Luke 19. 30. The Sabbath and the Psal 68. 26. Sanctuary are coupled as being twins of happiness Every thing is beautifull in its Season Private duties are beautiful Numb 10. 3. and are in season every day But publick Ordinances are never so lovely and beautifull never so much in their full sea as upon Gods