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A88550
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The Lord's-day to be kept holy Asserted in a familiar conference betwixt two friends about the unlawfulness of exercising their trades or ordinary callings on that day. Published for the use of ignorant people, to prevent the prophanation of that holy day. Licens'd, July 19. 1694. Edward Cooke·
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1694
(1694)
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Wing L3060C; ESTC R224912
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8,431
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16
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the Lords-day that did not move the good Man or make him mistrust God's Providence And as God loves to reward his Servants in a visible manner so in this Case to let the besotted world see what happiness they miss in not serving him for the Scene here soon altered and in a little time his Customers began to come again in greater numbers than they went away and he had so great a Trade on the week-days that himself said he desired no greater so long as he lived I might have given a fuller Account of this good Man but it would take up too much of our time at present S. Truly Mr. B. I wish there were more such Men as this you speak of for indeed he had a better Faith than I have B. Truly your Wish is good but wishing will not do the work of God therefore strive to make your self what you desire others to be and in this degenerate Age shew your self an Example to others for God delights in a Free-will Offering and expects his Servants should wait upon him in the midst of Difficulties If we will give ourselves time to consider his wages are infinitely beyond our labour our Task is short but our Rest will be long and the reward of Obedience will be great though the besotted world will not see it S. 'T is something strange if it is so great a Sin as you speak of that so many hundreds of Alehouses Taverns and Coffee-houses should be so much frequented and they not see the greatness of this Sin though some of them are counted honest Men. B. It is strange as you say that so many should do it and not see the greatness of the Sin though I am apt to believe they do but their Interest keeps them from believing in good earnest however if they cannot or will not see their Sin that 's no Example for you and I as I told you before though Ten thousand do it that doth not take off the Sin You see some hundreds will cozen and swear and be drunk yet all this while the Sin is great for it is said They shall not inhabit the new Jerusalem And so here the Commandment is plain for on the Lord's-day Thou shalt not do any manner of Work except Works of Necessity Mercy or Charity neither thou and thy Son and thy Daughter thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant and thy Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates For let me tell you the Sin is greater and aggravating so much the more in being done by a multitude which we are not to follow to do Evil. And though you think some of them Honest Men that do so yet they may be Carnal and if so the Apostle tells us The Carnal Man cannot conceive the things of the Spirit of God neither doth he know them because they are spiritually discerned You will find all good Men in every Age have lookt upon it as a Sin and some Hundreds have writ against it also the Laws of the Land are levelled against it but I wish they were put more in execution against all those Men that profane the Sabbath It is not long since our Gracious QUEEN did send a Letter to the Justices of Middlesex I believe you may remember it to put the Laws in execution against prophaning the Lord's-day and other Sins And in the Order which the Justices put out They were to punish all Persons that frequented either Ale-houses Taverns or Coffee-houses as well out of Divine Service as in And that none should expose their Goods to Sale on the Lord's-day This put me in mind of a Friend of mine who was walking along the Streets at that time and seeing a Woman exposing her Fruit and Herbs to Sale he spoke to her of the ill Consequence of it and told her She ought to go to Church and serve God The Woman reply'd She took more Money on the Lord's-day than any day of the week and she could not live if she did not do it My Friend said he to the good woman if you would but keep the Lord's-day as you ought and not sell your things on that day but shut up your Cellar and go to Church and serve God and when you come home spend your time in reading the Word of God using Prayer and rendring Praises to him for all his Mercies In so doing you need not doubt but God will be infinitely kind and send a blessing upon your Labour the rest of the Week which you cannot expect while you make a market-Market-day of his Sabbath The woman accepted of his Counsel took in her things shut up her doors and went to Church My Friend call'd upon the poor woman some time after and she was glad to see him and thanked him for his good Advice saying She had found his words true for ever since she had kept the Sabbath-day she sold more things on Mondays and Tuesdays than before she used to do all the week S. Your Friend I think did very well I wish others would do the same for this Story of yours puts me in mind of a Book that I have of Sir Matthew Hales's where he saith something to this effect if I am not mistaken If you please I 'll fetch the Book and read that Passage to you B. I Pray do if it be not too great a trouble for you S. The Passage is this 't is in a Letter to his Children Because I have by long and sound Experience found that the due observance of this Day meaning the Lord's-day and the Duties of it have been of singular Comfort and Advantage to me and I doubt not but it will prove so to you God Almighty is Lord of our Time and lends it to us and it is but just we should consecrate this part of that Time to him so I have found by a strict and diligent Observation that a due Observation of this Day hath ever had joined to it a Blessing upon the rest of my Time and the week that hath so begun hath been blessed and prosperous to me On the other side when I have been negligent of the Duties of this Day the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful and unhappy to my own secular Employment so that I could easily make an Estimate of my Successes in my own secular Employments the week following by the manner of my passing of this day and this I do not write lightly or inconsiderably but upon a long and sound Observation and Experience because I find in the world much Loosness and Apostacy from their Duty People begin to be Cold and Careless in it allowing themselves Sports and Recreations and Secular Imployments in it without any necessity which is a sad Spectacle and an ill presage It concerns me therefore that am your Father as much as I may to rescue you from that Sin which the Examples of others and the Inclinations and Inconsiderateness of Youth is otherwise apt to lead you into I will read