mind prepossessed and actually stâ—ff'd with the cares of this life Intus existens prohibet alienum How canst thou ascend with thy burthen upon thy back unload unload lay aside every weight and then go up and prosper Say to all thou hast stay you here whilest I go and pray before the Lord let the night before each Sabbath be as the grave betwixt the two worlds there let thy dust be buried and thy Spirit fly naked to thy God Let that night which is the partition betwixt thine own dayes and the Lords be thy Souls taking its leave of all thou hast any sinful thoughts works or pleasures thy lusts and thy evil wayes give them an eternal burial Be gone see my face no more for ever and for matters lawful and honest that concern this earth charge them not to thrust in before the Lord go you also your way for this time and when I have a convenient season I will send for you and if from Sabbath to Sabbath thy feet stand thus on the mountain of the Lord thou mayst find them all the week long on the tops of the mountains of the earth Brethren where is our Sabbath separation Is there not a fault among us upon this account let him that heareth enquire How it is with me Am not I faulty what are my Sabbath thoughts what are my Sabbath discourses If I be better employed in the house of God what do I in mine own house what are my morning and evening and midday thoughts what is my table talk my chimney talk If business if bargains or journeys be not admitted are not visits or complements or vain stories or impertinent news suffered to fill up the time is it thus or not with thee Is it well that it is thus O clear your Sabbaths of such worldly encroachments or you 'l never clear your hearts drive all the world into Pathmos into banishment and be wholly in the spirit on the Lords day Be abstracted from earthly things and earthly thoughts bring them with you neither to the house nor to the day of the Lord let your own houses and your own tables be as the house and table of the Lord have nothing to do from morning to evening but to wait on God 2. It is a day for special Communion with God Tbe meeting of God with his people on that day is like unto that meeting which is promised to Moses Exod. 25. 22. before the mercy seat There will I meet thee and commune with thee there will I shew thee all my mind and hear all thy requests It is a day of blessing thither the tribes go up to bless the Lord and there he comes down to bless his people It 's said Gen. 2. and Exod. 20. that God blessed the Sabbath day Gods blessing the day makes it a day of blessing a good day to his Saints he then comes unto them in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel Those that question whether the first day of the week be the Christian Sabbath let them consider which of all the dayes of the week the Lord hath since the death of Christ so exalted above the rest of the dayes that they can with most confidence say This is the day which the Lord hath blessed on what day were the gates of death broken the Lord Jesus declared to be the son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead on which day was the spirit of God most signally shed abroad on the Apostles and primitive Christians in those extraordinary gifts whereby they were made more capable of publishing the blessed Gospel to the ends of the earth and in that special grace which seized three thousand Souls in one day Act. 2. What day is it that hath been honoured to be the birth day of the greatest number of Saints ever since that hath been their feast day wherein their Souls have been most sensibly nourish'd and they have been increas'd with the increasings of God what meals have they had to their Lords-day meals what joyes to their Lords-day joyes Surely if this may determine the question which day is the Sabbath of the Lord the day that of all others God hath blessed and made a good day the experiences of Christians in all ages would bring in their vote for the first day This is the day that God hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it this by the way This day as is said before is the rest of God a little Heaven let down to us on earth God calls us up hither as he called Moses up to Pisgah to give us a view of the promised land The Sabbath is Heaven opened we may give a guess at the glory to come by those glimses and tastes we have of it now It is the day of interview betwixt the bridegroom and the bride wherein he beholds our faces and shewes us his loves wherein he comes down into his garden to eat his pleasant fruits and we behold his goings the goings of God in his Sanctuary The business of this day is to look into the Ark of the Covenant to review and renew the Covenant transactions betwixt God and our Souls to search out contemplate and admire the mercies and lovingkindness of the Lord to receive the overflowing of his goodness and to pour forth our Souls as an offering to him in our prayers and praises to give and receive mutual tokens and pledges of Love and faithfulness to seal to our fidelity to him and to receive farther assurances of his grace and good will to our Souls to obtain help from God against our enemies whereby we may execute upon them the vengeance written and upon this mountain ordinarily is the victory obteined there breaks he the arrowes of the bow the sword the shield and the battel Christians have you ever experimented this Sabbath Communion hath the Lord God appear'd thus unto you have there been such friendly and familiar intercourses betwixt him and your Souls Oh how contemptibly hath the world look'd in that day But oh what dark and cloudy dayes are our Sabbaths ordinarily to us Sundayes per antiphrasin the Sun not once appearing it may be for many dayes together no wonder our Souls are so earth'd all the week when they are so seldom in Heaven on the day of the Lord what dry feasts are our Sabbath feasts rather fasts then feasts real Communion with God is a strange thing to us even in the day of God Heaven is opened but our eyes are shut God comes down to meet us and to bless us but our hearts are not there the breasts of consolation are full but we have no skill or no list to draw at the breasts we come to the well but we do not let down the bucket we stand by the pool where the Angel comes down but our creeple Souls put not in to the waters we stand without in the outer court of the Lords house our Sabbaths are to us but
figures of Sabbaths the ordinances of them are to us as wells without water lamps withoul Oyle meer shadows of good things we go up from week to week to meet one with another but how seldom do we see God in the company and hereupon Sabbaths come and goe and leave us still as we were the Devil may well enough trust us with such Sabbaths the world may give us leave to go thus before the Lord and be no looser by it Brethren get you into the inner court which on these dayes especially was to be set open Ezek. 46. 1. there is an entry through the house of the Lord that leads in to the heart of the most high get you into that sanctum sanctorum and there let be your rest as often as the morning of that blessed day looks forth upon you get your vessels ready and go you forth to meet the bridegroom open your eyes with these thoughts this is the day which the Lord hath made I will rejoyce and be glad in it climb up betimes and let every duty be a stair by which you ascend to your Lord let divine contemplation let prayers and praises c. be the whole work let the blessings of Divine Communion be the whole expectation of that day and when you find your hearts refreshed with his presence and filled with the company of your God and he sends you away laden with the tokens of his love and with the impress of his face upon your hearts and the relish of his goodness fresh upon your palats when you thus go hot out of the presence of the Lord then you will learn to despise that day of small things with which the World entertains you Shall I forsake my sweetness saith the figtree shall I forsake my fatness saith the Olive and become King over the trees let the bramble take that honour farewell dignities and dominions farewell pomps and pleasures farewell houses and lands I have enough I have seen the face of God 3. It is a day of special provision for Souls whereon the Lord brings forth out of his treasury his spiritual provisions to keep the Soul in heart Hunger-starv'd souldiers are but poor fighters they are the weak souls whom the World hath vanquished Sabbaths are the Souls Market dayes Men have their Markets whence to be supplied with necessaries for their bodies and on this day God keeps a Market for Souls He hath his Milk and his Honey his Wine and his Oyl his Bread and his Water of Life and on this day in special he makes Proclamation Ho every one that thirsteth come to the Waters and he that hath no money Come ye buy and eat yea buy Wine and Milk without money and without price The bread which comes down from Heaven though it be to be had every day our Week-dayes may in their measure be all Sabbaths yet on this day it falls more plentifully The Jews had their corporal Manna on the six dayes and none on the Sabbath but the hidden Manna falls more thin and more sparely on our other dayes and on this day more abundantly They were to gather double on the sixth day that they might have to supply them on the Sabbath but for the Spiritual Manna all our other dayes are to be supply'd from our Sabbath provision A Christian who is not fit to meet the Bridegroom is neither fit to meet his adversary without Oyl in his Lamp T is the great commodity that 's set to sale in this Market Oyle for our vessels Come bring your empty vessels here 's Oyl to fill them The Ordinances which are this day administred are the pipes opened those golden pipes by which the golden Oyl is emptied forth and conveyed down from the living Olive Zech. 4. T is no wonder that men hunger after this world who know no better feeding An Asses head or a kab of Doves dung are of great price when there is no bread 2 King 6. 25. T is for want of bread that worldlings can make such a feast of their Locusts and wild Honey Those that have eaten of the hidden Manna will not lust after Quails the Worlds dainties will come out at their nostrils whose bellies have been filled with this hid treasure Those whom God hath fed in his green Pastures those whom God hath led by his still waters they cannot live in these salt Marishes or stubble fields Those whose souls God hath made well watered Gardens will not need the Pools of the Wilderness It s no wonder that the World beats us when we go for many daies together without making one good meal When our souls are famished into weakness then are we our enemies prey they are the hunger starved sheep that are a prey to Crows and Kytes If Sathan can but keep us low if he can either keep the Manna from falling about our Camps or keep us idle when we should be gathering he may then lead us after his lure at pleasure T is not a little strength that will suffice us against his great temptations and t is not a little bread by which we are like to gather any great strength we had need feed well if we will be strong and we had need be strong or we shall never fight well A Soul that uses to come before the Lord with an appetite that feeds hungrily and is as the thirsty earth that drinks up the showers that come oft upon it whom the Lord satisfies with the fatness of his house you may turn him loose to the World flesh and Devil the life of God within him maintained by influences from above will much secure him against all their assaults Christians know your Sabbath priviledges the advantages of Sabbath separation Sabbath communion and Sabbath provision Understand your advantage and make your advantage of them Be ye seperate Remember your Creator and rest from your works as God did from his Remember your Redeemer and rise from your dust as Christ did from his Let this day of his Resurrection be the day of your Resurrection and Ascention Let Sabbaths be Sabbaths indeed holy to the Lord and wholly his Divide not the day betwixt flesh and Spirit God and Mammon but let it be entirely the Lords day Let every duty and Ordinance of this day be a Communion Prepare to meet your God and go up to meet him Seek his face in hope to see his face see and love see and rejoice see and admire and praise him in his excellent greatness Hearken what the Lord God will speak and let him hear your voice Confirm your friendshâ—p renew your acquaintance in Heaven repeat your Covenant transactions Have you chosen the Lord for your portion tell him you stand to your choice have you renounc'd your flesh and the World promise him not to return to folly Have you made the Lord your trust put forth fresh acts of faith upon him Look to him lean on him for his righteousness and strength Let such as these
is grown up there is the spirit of a man in him there 's a Soul in him which in time will do wonderous things a dead child neither can do any thing neither is there hope that ever he should but a living child hath a soul hath that within him that in time will do much How small are the appearances of the Saints in the Infancy of their New-birth how low are their hopes that they should ever come to any thing 't is a weak Enemy indeed and a weak assault that is not too strong for them a little wind may blow away a small twig but despise not this day of small things consider their Root the Spirit of Christ that is in them and thence you may expect great things Are there any of you that are grown Christians strong in the Lord and in the power of his might that are able for service and mighty for sufferings that can stand against the temptations of Satan and endure the contradictions of sinners and not be weary and faint in your minds yet look back and consider what you were in your original time was when it was as low water with you as with others when you were as weary and weak as the weakest But behold what that mighty Spirit that was in you is at length grown up to the same spirit is in every new-born Saint What contemptible things were Joshua and Gideon and Sampson and David when they were children but when they were grown and the Spirit of the living God came upon them what Victories did they obtain the Sons of Anak the Armies of the uncircumcised the great Goliah were then but children to them You that are yet little children but of little time and but of little strength that are newly begotten by the Gospel and brought forth into a tempestuous world let not the greatness of your work nor the potence of your enemies nor those astonishing tempests that meet you at the threshold of Christianity discourage or dismay you as weak as you are as many fears and faintings as you are surprized by as many doubts as arise in your hearts what shall I do how shall I stand how shall I go through yet comfort your hearts greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world ye are of God little children and have overcome them Mat. 13. 31 32. The Kingdome of heaven is like to a grain of Mustard-seed which is indeed the least among seeds but when it is grown is the greatest among herbs This greatest of herbs is virtually in this smallest of seeds Who knows what a little grace may grow to what is there in that bitter root of sin all those monstrous wickednesses and prodigious villanies which infest this earth and fill up hell all the drunkennesses adulteries murthers rapines and most barbarous inhumanities which are the plague of this earth and the fuel of that Furnace they all lye in that little bitter root Jam. 1. 15. And so on the other side all the beauty and glory of holiness all the powers victories and triumphs over sin the world and the devil are seminally contained in the first grace begotten in the heart The whole Harvest of Glory is in the least seed of grace The least drop from the Fountain of Life is a Well of water springing up to life eternal Joh. 4. 14. Beloved are you in Christ hath the day-spring from on high visited you is the Spirit of the living God within you then whatever your doubts difficulties hazards temptations or weaknesses are the victory hath already passed on your side Death where is thy sting sin devil world where is thy victory Here are thy Armies here is thy power here are thy policies thy fury thy fawnings on every hand before us behind us on the right hand and on the left here are thy Armies but where is thy victory Thanks be to God that hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Thanks be to God who maketh us alwayes to triumph in Christ Jesus from the first time in the worst time when we are hardliest bestead hotliest pursued nearest to a fall yea even when we fall for though we fall we shall rise again thanks be to God whâ—ch causeth us alwayes even when we despair in our selves to triumph in Christ Jesus 3. He hath broken the Head design of the world this is to keep Christ and the soul apart to keep the soul from ever coming to Christ Herein as hath been said already stands the deadly enmity of the world against souls in holding them under its dominion and thereby under the damnation of hell When we are once come over to Christ this great design is broken when we are conquered we are Conquerours A soul subdued unto the Lord is the world conquered to the soul every Convert to Christ is a Captive set at liberty a soul broken out of prison that 's the word that Christ hath to preach Isa 49. 9. To say to the prisoners go forth and to them that are in darkness shew your selves And that 's the work that Christ hath to do To bring forth the prisoners out of prison Isa 42. 7. Every Convert to Christ is a prisoner broken loose It is a sufficient Conviction that thou art a worldling still that thou art no Convert to Christ and it is a sufficient Conviction that thou art no Convert if thou be still a worldling he that is come to Christ is come off from the world Joh. 15. 19. and he that is still under the world is not come to Christ That 's the great contest betwixt Christ and the World who shall carry the heart Come along with me sayes Christ give me thy heart be my servant be my Disciple No no saith the World stay with me be my servant or at least if thou wilt not any longer be wholly mine then it sayes as the Harlot be neither his nor mine but suffer thy self to be divided let him take one half and let the other half be for me halt betwixt Christ and the world keep both worlds what hinders but thou mayst have thy gains and thy pleasures here and yet have Christ too When the heart is convinc'd that there is no compounding betwixt Christ and the world that Christ is the better Master and that it cannot serve two Masters but must necessarily take to the one and let the other go and hereupon yields it self to Christ Lord I am thy servant and will follow thee whatsoever become of the world whether I sink or swim want or abound prosper or suffer whatever my condition be here thine I am and thee will I love and serve when the soul is come to this there 's conversion there 's the Head design of the world broken 4. He is effectually marching on in the pursuit of his victory he is overcoming So the word in the Text he overcometh the world he hath already gotten the better and he is pressing
it is chiefly because their Victory over the world is not perfect and compleat There are three grounds of mens unwillingness to die 1. From a natural abhorrence of death 2. From a lothness to part with their treasure here 3. From an uncertainty whither they shall go when they go hence 1. From that abhorrence of death which is implanted in the natures of all living And upon this account there may be even in the best of Saints an unwillingness to die Our Lord himself who was without sin discovers something of it when he cried out Matth. 26. 39. Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me It s true in his case there was more in it there was wrath in the Cup there was a curse in the Cup there were all the sins of the World wrung in to mingle him a bitter draught but this was also something of it there was death in the Cup. He that said a little before Luke 12. 50. I have a Baptisme to be baptized with this Baptisme of Bloud was it and how am I straitned till it be accomplished I think long ere that day come yet when it came his Innocent Nature you see how it was put to it Christians you that seem to have triumph'd over the fears of death that upon good grounds have said unto it in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 55. Death where is thy sting grave where is thy victory yet when it comes to it in earnest you know not how this flesh may shrink and if it do yet be not discouraged possibly this very instance of our Lord may be left upon Record to this very end to comfort his Saints when they shall be thus troubled It will be your wisdome to whatever confidence you are arrived that your death is already swallowed up in victory that you shall entertain your dying day as the most joyful day of your life though in this confidence your hearts pant after the approach of that day Make haste my beloved come Lord Jesus yet will it be your wisdome to buckle on all your armour all your hopes all your graces all your evidences all your experiences and comforts and to expect that the conflict of that day may be such as may need your utmost preparations for it 2. From a lothness to part with their treasure here What men have they cannot carry it with them and they are loth to leave it behind them When men die can they carry their money with them can they carry their houses or Lands with them they covet they purchase they build they lay up with so much care and zeal as if they could ship over all they have into the other world but yet they know that as they came naked in so naked they must go out of this world Job 1. 21. But now a Christian that hath Conquered the World the World from thenceforth ceases to be his treasure A Worldling what he has here 't is his treasure for 't is all he has God is a treasure but he 's none of his Christ is a treasure but he 's none of his heaven is a treasure but man 't is none of thine this earth is all thou hast a Christian hath another treasure he hath not his hopes in his hand that 's to come But yet in regard we have hitherto conquered but in part there may be some unwillingness upon this account also even in the Saints to die-Woe to us there are still such remains of the spirit of this world in us our hearts are still carnal to such a degree so suited to an earthly and fleshly life taking such large allowances of our fleshly delights and finding such pleasure in the enjoyment of them that this makes us linger and hang back when God calls away And indeed such Christians who indulge themselves the pleasures of the flesh and are overgrown with an earthly mind is not this the case of too many such Christians do but deceive themselves and others while they say they are willing to die Thou saist if I were sure that Christ were mine I would not care to live a day longer I want assurance and that 's the only reason I would yet a while longer abide in this Tabernacle No no there 's something more in the matter the world hath still such hold of thy heart thou findest such pleasure in an earthly life thy friends and thy estate and thy contentment thou hast herein are so taking with thee that yet thou canst not find in thine heart to part Search Christians narrowly if you find not the matter to be thus with you I never look to be more willing to die till I find mine heart more loose from the pleasure of an earthly life 'T is the mortified Christian he whose soul is already dead to this world who is ready to die out of this world Those who live most with God whose souls being weaned from this milk and honey can keep their distance from it whose self-denying course hath made the pleasures of the flesh to loose their gratefulness to them whom their communion with God their converse with Eternity their delightful fore-views of the pleasures above have already carried up their hearts these are the Christians that are ready to be gone I will believe such an one that he is in earnest when he sayes Make hast my beloved 3. From an uncertainty whither they shall go when they go hence what world they shall find when they leave this Upon this ground I cannot blame worldlings to be afraid to die art thou afraid thou mayst well enough for whither will thy death carry thee O the Lord knows I know not whither nor where it will lay me Dost thou not know whither death will carry thee thou mayst be sure into no good place if it find thee thus Captives to the world are Captives to the Devil and whither will the Devil carry his prisoners Who would be willing to leave his Country his habitation and acquaintance for an unknown Land especially when he had a jealousie he should be sold for a Bondman Is this thy case Worldling I wonder not that thou sayest It s better to abide here A Christian may know whither he is going when he goes hence 2 Cor. 5. 1. We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And hence sayes the Apostle v. 2. We groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven Whatever our dwelling be here we know where we shall have a better when this fails we groan not under the ruines of this but in hopes of a better building earnestly desiring that joyful day It s true Christians may be at some uncertainty through the weakness of their faith and in doubts what their place and portion hereafter may be and therefore also may fear to be gone But however upon