saith Mat. 20. 16. and therefore but few Saints in the world That which speaks the work of grace arbitrary is the free-agency of God in sanctification of the means of grace The Gospel of Christ is a savour of life unto some unto others a 2 Cor. 2. 16. Joh. 6. 67 68. Acts 13. 48 50 savour of death The Word it melts and mollifies some others it leaves to hardness and incrustation When Christ preach't some leave him but his Disciples adher'd the closer to him When the Apostles preached some believed others persecute both the Doctrine and the Preacher The Ordinances of Christ are marrow and fatness to David Psal Praedicatio crucis et mortis Christi est odor mortis incredulis et cedit in eorum exitium qui mortem Christi ut mortem tantummodò considerant sed credentibus est odor ex vitâ quia ipsi vitam ex haâ— morte amplectuntur 63. 5. more then necessary food to Job Job 23. 12. But to others they have no tast no sweetness no power no reach to affect the heart When Paul and Barnabas preached at Iconium their Doctrine onely stirs up rage and passion Acts 14. 2. Like a high wind which turns the waves of the Sea into froth The preaching of the word is a cure to some and a curse to others to some it strengthens their grace to others it amplifies their guilt some fall before it as the word of salvation Acts 16. 29. others reject it and so dash upon eternal perdition The word indeed is a light to some and to others onely a stumbling block as God is pleased to pass by or work by his holy spirit Ordinances they are attended by man but sanctified by God The Word works unnaturally Eph. 4. 16. Joh. 3. 19. Prov. 16. 1. Eph. 3. 7. upon the Jews Acts 7. 54. pleasingly upon Herod Mark 6. 20. most powerfully upon Lydia Acts 16. 14. fully and effectually upon Paul Acts 9. 5. And thus the Gospel which is onely an instrument in Gods hand works variously and differently according to the pleasure and free agency of his will That the work of grace is arbitrary is evidenced in the impossibility of humane merit We cannot prepare our selves Natura corrupta est et lex morbum ostendit non sanat vos autem meritum nescio quod excogitastis quod mul 〈…〉 â—â—lutem 〈…〉 endam â—â—â—eat Whit. Qâ—i dignitate â—iâ—tationis hereditariae nituntur multò sunt verae pietatis studiosiores quam qui â— servorum merito riâ virtute dependent Mort. Epis Dunelm contra Merita for the entertainment of this work of the holy spirit there is no meritum ex condigno or meritum ex congruo as the Papists fondly imagine and our Protestant Divines have fully evinced When God first begins his work of grace upon the soul he finds nothing but ruines and rubbish no remains of beauty The spirit of God meets with a great deal of enmity Rom. 8. 7. and boysterous opposition much wrigling and reluctancy of the flesh All the powers of man are up in arms against this blessed work It is therefore only Gods free and eternal love which prompts him to carry on this powerful work One observing that of the Apostle Our carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. By carnal mind saith he is not to be understood sensuality the dregs the lees and the whites of nature but our natural wisdom our most refined part nature in its best condition even Lady reason it self unsanctified and therefore the work of grace must needs be arbitrary there is nothing to allure it nothing to engage God to effect it wrinkles will not stir up love The wise man saith Prov. 16. 1. The preparations of the heart are of the Lord Observe preparations in the plural number to shew us that every little wheel in the work of grace is moved Prov. 16. 1. and turns by power from God every good tendency Vita nostrae animae maximè beata à deo pendet et donatur dei amicis every regular propension every breathing and anhelation after good is implanted in us by God who is liberrimum agens as the school-men speak most free and arbitrary in all his works and dispensations This further is demonstrated by the ineffectualness of all mans attempts to arrive at a state of grace and holiness There are many things bid fair for this holy work but they all Tollitur cooperatio liberi arbitrii interior volentis exterior currentis et totum opus bonum est dei miserentis et gratiae operantis Calv. bring onely to the birth they cannot bring forth the least semblance of it all turn into a timpany at last Good Education holy Patterns sweet Ordinances precious Sabbaths these may contribute something to an outward restraint from evil but they beget not the Saint without the admirable work of divine grace The holy spirit must overshadow the soul and so beget Christ in it That holy thing the new birth is the product of the Eternal and Almighty spirit we cannot ascribe the New creature to any thing in Rom. 9. 16. man for creature implies a work of creation which onely is to be attributed to an infinite power Thus most evidently the Apostle Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God who sheweth mercy Mans fairest colours are but paint they may counterfeit but are not true beauty Let us meditate on the morning of a Sabbath on the secrefie of the work of grace It is a sweet but a spiritual work indeed Vita sanctorum obscondita est quia sancti à mundi cupiditatâ—bus et mundarâ conversatione se abstrahunt et abscondunt Anselm it is admirable but most frequently indisecruable this blessed work is like a river under ground like a star behind a cloud the world cannot see it they look upon the Saints as the onely troublers of Israel Holy Paul was called a seditious fellow Acts 24. 5. The Apostles were called intemperate men filled with new wine Acts 2. 13. Nay Christ himself was called Beelzebub and a friend of publicans and sinners though he had the spirit above measure John 3. 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epic. The world understands not the Saints Shibboleth Nay often the Saint himself is at a loss whether this work be Mundus non agnoscit aliquid spirituale in filâ—is dei Dav. wrought in him or no He often wants the lively and vivid sense of the spirit of God he many times is so clouded with afflictions battered with temptations disturbed Heb. 11. 37 38. with the hurries of the world dazled with sensual flatteries Col. 3. 3. and benighted with desertion that he can scarce see any day light of grace by the least cranny of observation or experience How doth David cry out that the spirit had taken Cum sentiant sancti insehanc vitam spiritualem
Heaven In a word they should be in the spirit which duty must first look upwards We should strive to be in the assistances of the Spirit Holy duties without the holy Spirit are onely the carcasses of Religion like profession without practice which is offensive and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost useless such services bring neither glory to God advantage to our selves or benefit to others and all are of no more significancy then a body when the spirits are fled away On the morning therefore we must incessantly beg the divine assistances of Gods blessed Spirit It is the Spirit fits for Magistratical Luke 11. 13. dignities Num. 11. 25 26. It is the spirit fits for ministerial Numb 27 18. services 2 Kings 2. 9. and it is the spirit fits us all for Christian and holy duties The Spirit directs us unto holy duties Simeon came into the Temple by the spirit Luke 2. 27. the good spirit directed him to meet Jesus How often doth Gods spirit excite and provoke to holy Prayer to secret meditation and to those close devotions wherein the soul tasteth deepest of Christs flaggons and apples This inward Counsellour is often Cant. 2 5. restless in us till it â—end our knees lift up our hands and raise our hearts in sacred approaches to the divine Majesty The Spirit leads the Saint into solitariness to converse with God as once it did lead Christ into the Wilderness to be temped Mat. 4. 1. of Satan this divine principle with us is importunate Luke 4. 1. till it put us upon enquiries after God The holy Spirit quickens us in duties John 6. 63. and makes us lively and vigorous Corrupt nature takes off the wheeles in holy services flaggs and casts a damp upon us in Christus dicitur non spiritus vivens sed vivificans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiritus vitarum Theoph. such heavenly intercourse but the Spirit oyles the wheeles to make them go with greater speed When the soul is carried out by the Spirit how full is it of holy heaâ— divine zeal and rare enlargement as if of late it had conversed with a Seraphim his tongue is the pen of a ready writer Psalm 45. 2. and his heart is like a bubbling Fountain he melts in prayer as the Cloud into drops Paul assisted by this good Spirit runs on till midnight Acts 20. 7. and knows not how to break off his sacred discourses And our ever 1 Cor. 15. 45. to be admired Saviour raised and quickned by the same spirit wrestles with God in prayer all night Luke 6. 12. the very arteries of that duty were stretched out by that divine Spirit which was given to Christ without measure John 3. 34. The Spirit then is the animation of our holy performances without which they saint and die away The holy Spirit sustains us in holy duties Psal 51. 12. Mans spirit would quickly fail in wrestling with God was it Spiritus promptus scil graece 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebraicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alacâ—iter festinans Lyrus habet duo vocabulà Dolanta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—ucundus not under-propt by this good Spirit The most sparkling wine if it stand long it will grow flat and dead And though the spirit of man be willing Mat. 26. 41. yet while it is in the body it will be soon tired and flag in holy duties which are so contrary to corrupt flesh but then the Divine Spirit comes in and renews poor mans strength like the Eagle and so he runs through holy services and faints not the annointing of the Spirit makes him agill and fresh and holy Ordinances are not his burden but his satisfaction Believers offer their sacrifices as Christ did himself Heb. 9. 14. through the eternal Spirit who recruits them continually with additional strength and vivacity The blessed Spirit causeth us to overflow in holy duties Job 32. 18. Our rich enlargements in Prayers and other Gospel services are from the good spirit of God when the heart Psalm 45. 1. bubbles and runs over in holy discourse and when the Eructans cor significat cordis locutionem cum nondum ad os pervenit et querit illam emittere circum volvitur et movetur huc et illuc et volutatur egressum quaerens quem prae gaudio non primo impeâ—u invenit c. Felix Praton mind flutters and flyes high in holy meditation and when our affections dilate and follow hard after Jesus Christ all this is from the Spirits gracious and divine assistance 2 Cor. 3. 16. It is the holy Spirit spreads our duties like Gold to greater extensions and oftentimes makes the Saint in duty query whether he be in the body or out of the body 2 Cor. 12. 2. His heart is like the squeezed Grapes overflowing with wine which is better then the drink of Angels It was the Spirit enlarged Solomons heart in that divine Prayer at the dedication of the Temple 1 Kings 8. 22 23. It was the Spirit enlarged Daniels heart in Prayer to hasten deliverance from the Babylonish captivity Dan. 9. 4. It was the Spirit enlarged Jonah s heart in Prayer when the Whales belly was consecrated into an Oratory Numb 18. 27. Jonah 2. 2. It is the Lords good Spirit which makes mans Deut. 15. 14. heart as the gushing streams or the over-flowing Fat or the Numb 18 30. dropping Wine-press in services Evangelical John 3. 8. It is the Spirit sweetens duty As Christ when he was at prayer rejoyced in spirit Luke 10. 21. Duties are sadned by mans sin but are refreshed by Gods Spirit David acted Mat. 17. 1 2. by this blessed Principle delighted so much in duty Luke 9. 29. that he begs to spend his whole life in the Temple of God Psal 27. 4. Ordinances become mellifluous by the concomitancy of Gods Spirit which often turneth them into a transfiguration As it is reported of Basil that when Greg. Orat. de laud. Bas the Emperour came upon him while he was at prayer he saw such lustre in the face of holy Basil that he was struck with terrous and fell backwards It is the Spirit ravishes the Fructus spirituâ— est gaudium sed impura voluptas est similis voluptati quâ afficiunâ—â— scabiosi cum se scalpunt Chrys heart indulcorates and captivates the soul in holy duty and toucheth the tongue with a Coal from the Altar Isa 6. 6 7. which turns all into a perfumed flame The Apostle saith the fruit of the spirit is joy Gal. 5. 22. which is never so fresh and diffusive as in holy services Ordinances are the spiritual opportunities wherein the Comforter John 14. 16. sheds abroad his comforts in the soul It is the Spirit which helps our infirmities in holy duties As in Prayer Rom. 8. 26 27. so in other spiritual services When we are flat the Spirit quickens us when
wonder then Intus est in corde est Sabbatum nostrum Aug. if St. Augustine cry out Our Sabbath is within in our hearts There indeed is the musical spring of joy Let us take heed of grieving the spirit Eph. 4. 30. No fountain casts out sweet and bitter water a grieved spirit will not dash joyes upon the soul the mournful Dove flies Offenditur spiritus verbis putidis etiam quo vis peccato Hier. away We must cherish the graces if we will possess the joyes of the spirit The birds sing most sweetly in the spring when every thing is fresh and green Gods spirit in the soul yields its freshest delights among flourishing graces when the Peccata sunt injuriae contumeliae spquae eum contristantur Alap seared boughs of corruption are broken down Sin and vanity break the strings of the spirits musick and chase away the Comforter from our coasts as birds hushed away leave the place of their present abode Let us not suspend our answer to the spirits excitations Let us listen to every motion and apply our selves to every counsel of this inward Monitor Slighted advocates plead no more we must hearken to every whisper of the Holy Ghost who first commands and then comforts To stir up to holy duties to good works to circumspect walking is the office of the spirit but to ravish the soul with divine delights is the reward of the spirit Observe holy David Psal 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts thy comforts delight my soul He was now acting the duty of meditation and then the spirit besprinkled him with dews of joy A Deus per essentiem est totus consolatio immò Mare Oceanus consolationis quem in servos suos etiam in hac vitâ effundit learned man saith God is an Ocean of consolation Let not our sin and disobedience be such banks and ramparts that this Sea cannot overflow us with complacential effusions Obedience indeed and duty make way for the streams of spirituall comfort And to our case let us keep the Sabbath circumspectly and we shall keep it comfortably Let us follow the spirit in every duty obey the dictates of the spirit in every Ordinance When the spirit prompts us to prayer let us tune our hearts to that duty and not fold our hands in sloth and negligence when the spirit suggests to Prov. 6. 10. us the import of an Ordinance let us not be slight and careless in that holy institution and let us consider the motions Prov. 24. 33. of the spirit go before the melodies of the spirit And thirdly Let us study to be in the spirit on the Lords day This duty must Look downwards we must avoid whatsoever opposeth the spirit whatsoever may quench that celestial flame 1 Thes 5. 19 We must on the Sabbath lay aside all temporal cares Cares at all times are thorns Mat. 13. 22. But on a Sabbath they are thorns in a flame not only scratching but scorching Indeed the Lords day is not without its cares but they are heavenly not worldly cares care to please the spirit not to please the flesh care to lay up treasures in heaven not to fill our coffers below The soul then must be Divina benedictio Sabbati est quâ sibi deus studia occupationes asserit Calv. cared for how to prepare it for duty how to pacifie it with pardon how to beautifie it with grace how to fit it for eternity Head and heart must be at work on the Sabbath but it must be for the soul not for the outward man But to set our servants on work in our callings to be in our counting Mat. 16. 26. house to contrive business for the following week on Gods holy day this is not only to defile the Sabbath but to affront providence as if God who takes care for the Lillies of the field Mat. 6. 30. could not provide for the strict observers of his holy day We must throw away all worldly thoughts How many are there whose thoughts are as fresh and affections as vigorous towards the world upon the Sabbath day as if they were trading in their shops walking in the Exchange or Exod. 8. 24. posting their Books and pursuing their bargains I may say to such as the Lord to Satan Zach. 3. 2. The Lord rebuke Plaga muscarum fuit foedo colluvies quae fuit numerosa et molestissima immò et nocentissima et ideo molestissima quia numerosissima Riv. thee what is this but to turn time into a chaos where there is no distinction between light and darkness between the Egypt of the week and the Goshen of the Sabbath This day is a day of light life and salvation and shall worldly thoughts that judgment of lice or flies stain and ecclipse it Worldly imaginations on this day they are the sacriledge of the mind the worm at the root of duty the souls destructive avocation the Shibboleth of a covetous man the bluster and gross miscarriage of a Christian they are the souls imprisonment when it should be enlarged in the way of Gods Ordinances We must take heed of unnecessary diversions The heart is wholly to be set on God on his own day One observes The Law is spiritual and so is the fourth Commandment and is not fully obeyed by outward conformity but it requires the Rom. 7. 14. inward truth and bent of the heart Happily we shut up Psal 51. 6. our shops on a Sabbath so the Law of the Land commands but do we shut up our hearts on a Sabbath that nothing unseemly may intrude Do we bring our hearts and Christ together and lock them both in that nothing may interrupt their sweet and mutual intercourse It is a vain thing to dissemble with God on his own day He can unriddle and will judge our splendid and varnished artifices Let us not play the hypocrites but walk in the spirit the whole stage of Rom. 8. 2. the Sabbath To keep our doors close is an empty ceremony unless we keep our hearts close to God and Christ in Ordinances in Family and secret duties Diverting imaginations are the cobwebs of the mind the sores which In dic Sabbati ab omnibus aliis curis et studiis omninò obstinendum est Gual fester the heart as Dalilah her smiles did Samson and so entangle the soul that it cannot enjoy its freedom with Christ on his own blessed day Such divertisements disturb the Musick of Ordinances and eat out the profit of holy Communion with God if we will be working on a Sabbath Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling Augustine Phil. 2. 12 13. Aug. de temp Serm. 251. speaks most excellently in one of his Sermons That we may be fit and ready for Gods service on his own day there must be nothing to cumber us and we at that time must cast off the interposition of worldly
the Apostles with an unusual elegance â—f speech to captivate their auditours to the obedience of the Gospel and to prognosticate these rare gifts which being heated with the fire of divine zeal should fecundate and sublimate the succeeding Church but when was this unusual illapse and descent of the holy spirit Why it was on the first day of the week to put a fairer print upon the seal of our Christian Sabbath A blessed bargain was here made between Heaven and Earth 3. Scientiae lumen est et author spiritualis intelligentiae Bern. To triumphing Saints was given the corporal presence of Christ to militant Saints was sent the visible efflux of the spirit surely that cannot hut be a holy day wherein the holy Ghost came down And this is another indelible mark of honour which Christ hath fixed on the first day of the week Concludimus ergo diem hunc primum septimanae ab Apostolis Sabbatho fuisse institutum et ecclesiae commendatum non tantùm potestate ordinariâ qualem omnes pastores habent sed potestate singulari tanquam ab iis qui in universam Christi ecclesiam irspectionem habuerunt et quibus tanquam extraordinarâ—is ministris Christi concreditum est ut fideles essent Wal. our Christian Sabbath this was his royal gift when he came to heaven such a princely largess such a glorious donation as was never given before but when God gave his own Son God so loved the world that he gave his Son John 3. 16. And Christ so loved the world that he gave his Spirit And as Christ was given according to the fullness of the Promise so was the holy Ghost given And Christs resurrection and the spirits descention were both upon the first day of the week On this day then the Church was visited from on high the promise of the Father was sent Acts 1. 4. The blessed spirit came the Disciples were assembled thousands were converted as a hansel of the spirits power and a fruit of the spirits descent and why was the Church assembled on that day why the holy Ghost descended why preaching why conversion and administration of Sacraments why the promise of Christ accomplished and all on this very day But still to declare the will and ordinance of Christ blessing and sanctifying this day to the Church and so marking it out for solemn and weekly worship as a day in all its prerogatives superlative to all other dayes the day of our Saviours resurrection by which we are justified the day of the holy Ghosts descention by which we are sanctified The learned Twisse observes That Dies dominicus est Traditio vere Divina et ab Apostolis spiritu dictante instituta Beza as at the first the holy Ghost descended on the Apostles upon our Sabbath day so stili the same spirit descends ordinarily on the same day upon his faithful Ministers in the dispensation of the Word and administration of the Sacraments and in the puting up of prayers to the most high for the sanctifying and edifying the body of Christ even the Church of God The day of Christs Ascension he departed from the Apostles as touching his presence corporal but on the day of Pentecost Christ came down upon them as touching his presence spiritual and so be doth still in our Sabbath exercises though not in an extraordinary manner yet no less effectually to the edification and sanctification of our souls And here I cannot omit a rare speech of the incomparable Bishop of Armagh At the time of the Passeâ—â—eâ— saith he Christ our Passeover was sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 5. 7. and lay in his grave the whole Sabbath following so on the morrow after the Sabbath when the sheaf of the Bishop Vsher in his Learned Letter to Dr. Twisse p. 91 92. first fruits was offered to God Christ arose from the dead and became the first fruits of them whâ— slept many dead bodies of the Saints who sâ—ept arising likewise after him from whence was the count taken of the seven Sabbaths or fifty dayes and uâ—â—n the mâ—rrâ—w after the seventh Sabbath which was our Lâ—rds dâ—y was that famâ—us feast of weeks the day of Pentecost Numb 28. 2. spoken â—f Acts 2. 1. Vpon which day the Apostles having Exod. 34. 22. themselves reâ—eived the first fruits of the spirit begâ—t three Jam. 1. 18. thousand sâ—uls by the word of Truth and presented them as Rev. 4. 14. the first fruits of the Christian Church to God and unto the 1 Cor. 15. 20. Lamb And from that time forward doth Waldensis note Mat. 27. 52 53. That the Lords day was observed in the Christian Church and was suâ—stituted in the place of the Jews Sabbath Thus far Sicut pascha typus eâ—â—t Christi sic panâ—s â—â—â—mi sunt typus Christianorum eorum scil innocentiae pâ—râ—tatis Alap the famous Vsher And to wind up this particular the Holy Ghost being sent down among the Disciples in an eminent manner was the special benediction of this day to such solemn assâ—mblies to teach them and the succeeding Church when and on what day they should more especially expect the sweet illapses and effectual descents of Gods holy and most blessed spirit The Lords day was kept and sanctified by the practice of the hâ—ly Apostles Now the blessed Apostles were men intimately Praecipua regiminis ecclesiastici cura Apostolis deputata est quorum unus quisque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deinde speciali authoritate ad ecclesiam cujus fâ—ndamenta jacere Apostolicae dignitatis est ex prâ—miscâ—â omniâ— gâ—ntiâ—m multitudiâ—◠〈◊〉 Christus eâ—s misit 〈…〉 sp s gratiâ abâ—ndâ—nte ad ministerium sibi à domino commendatum erant instructissimi ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veritatem Evangelii praedicarent acquainted w th the secrets of Christ being most of them trained up in his School and personally conversant with him after his Resurrection besides they had immediate inspiration from him and authâ—ritative mission to manage the publick affairs of the Church Our Saviour gave them their credentials to preach in his name and to act as his substitutes as if he himself had been personally present John 20. 21. Luke 10. 16. Mat. 28. 19 20. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. Neither doth this extend only to verbal preaching but to visible preaching also I mean their practice at least in things Evangelical Moral and of general and perpetual concernmâ—nt to the Churches of Christ otherwise why is their practice propounded as a pattern Phil. 3. 17. Phil. 4. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 2. 1 Thes 2. 14. Now these blessed Apostles met for solemn worship on this day our Christian Sabbath so Acts 20. 7. And upon the first day of the week when as the Disciples came together to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight Now the full discussion and ventilation of this solemn text will give
Exod. 17. 10. hands they are apt to faint and fall down but a continued violence and force must keep our affections in their highest sphere The Bird cannot stay in the Air without continual flight and motion of the wings nor can we persist in affectionate prayer without constant toil with our own hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Mart. Apol 2 affections faint and thoughts scatter weariness makes way for wandring so that we must take pains to keep our affections sailing towards heaven we must keep the wind of the spirit and row at the Oar that we be not sinfully becalmed and so miss of the end of our voyage Justin Martyr observes That the prefect of the assembly in his time used to pray with his utmost strength So then our prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be cordiall and affectionate Our prayers must be cloathed with humility we must pray in a sense of divine purity and of our own unworthiness Luke 18. 23. Not only the bended knee but the submissive Isa 66. 3. spirit becomes prayer Christ himself kneeled down and prayed Luke 22. 41. On the morning of a Sabbath we Quatuor sunt gradus humilitatis Primus est contemptibilem se esse cognoscere Secunduâ— de hoc dolere Tertius hoc confiteri Quartus Aequo animo ferre se contemptibilitèr tractarâ— Ansel have great things to beg and we our selves usually give our charity not to the sturdy but to the stooping beggar If we look for blessings from Gods hand it is fit we should lie at Gods feet Christ himself melted Heb. 5. 7. and shall not we stoop and be humble in prayer Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed Isa 38. 2. as being conscious of his own unworthiness covering his face with blushes which the world must not see and so confounded in himself he pours out his soul before God In this holy duty we lie at the allowance of Gods mercy and most rationall it is we should lie at the foot-stool of Gods Throne The Publicans stroke on his breast which was an evidence of his humility and self-abhorrency made his way to that acceptation the Luke 18. 13. proud Pharisee could not attain unto Our closet and family prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be sharpened and spirited wirh the sense of want and with hungrings and desires after supplies The Mat. 5. 6. Neh. 1. 11. Luke 11. 13. Non frigidè à deo petere debemus beneficia sed affici nos oportet sensu et vehementi desiderio illarum rerum quas à deo petimus Daven beggar cryeth loudest his rags make him roar we are cloyed in our apprehensions and we are cool in our Petitions Necessity inflames importunity Were we but sensible on the morning of a Sabbath to come to our case in hand what need we have of sins pardon of an understanding heart of a hearing ear of a holy and suitable frame of spirit for divine Ordinances and to run profitably through the duties of the whole Sabbath surely our hearts would be like coals of Juniper Psal 120. 4. we should burn with ardency and importunity We pray most fervently when we pray most feelingly want is the bellows of desire Let In petendo panem nostrum quotidiunum egestatem mendicitatem nostram agnoscimus us therefore study a sense of our spiritual wants and that will set the wheel of prayer on going with the greatest speed and eagerness Let these introductory prayers on a Sabbath be animated with faith That grace makes every duty weight and every service without it if it be put into the ballance will be found too light In our prayers we must be perswaded of the Heb. 11. 6. 1 John 5. 14. Psal 10. 17. mercifulness of Gods nature to encline and bow his ear to them of the riches of his promises to encourage them of the infiniteness of his power to fulfill and accomplish them Olea Arbor pinguedine suâ fertur nunquam deficere sed folia sub aquis manere possunt virentia Par. or else all our requests are like the bird with clipt wings they may flutter up and down the ground but they can rise no higher We must believe that God can fill every chink of our desires and that he will send home the Dove with the Olive branch in his mouth These annexed Scriptures will further evince this truth 1 John 5. 14. Mat. 21. 22. Psal 141. 2. Jam. 1. 6. Psal 55. 17. Where David saith He shall hear my voice O rare act of vigorous faith In a word Then Jude v. 20. we pray aright when we pray in the Holy Ghost His concurrence is necessary God will own nothing in prayer but Rom. 8. 26 27 what comes from his spirit any other voice is strange and barbarous to him God delights not in the flaunting of parts and in the unsavory belches of a carnal heart nor in the tunable cadency of words which is only an empty ring in Gods ear But the method of the Lord is to prepare the 1 Kings 18. 38. heart and then to grant the request Psal 10. 17. Our heart is opened first and then God opens his ear Fire from Potentia ad precandum non est ex nobis metipsis sed ex spiritu sancto Psal 147. 9. Vt adjuetis me in Orationibus i. e. ut concertetis in agone mecum graeâ—è est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heaven to consume the sacrific was the solemn token of acceptation heretofore 1 Kings 18. 38. Fire from heaven is the token still even an holy ardour wrought in us by the Holy Ghost Indeed prayer is a work too hard for us we can babble of our selves but we cannot pray without the Holy Ghost we can put words into prayer but the spirit must put affections without which prayer is but cold prattle and spiritless talk Our necessities may sharpen but they cannot enliven our prayers The carnal man may cry unto God as young Ravens and as the rude Marriners did in Jonahs ship but now gracious affection is quite another thing There may be cold and raw wishes after grace in an unbeliever but Jonah 1. 6. serious and spiritual desires after the same blessed gift these Hos 12. 4. we must have from the Holy Ghost Quest Did we consider what prayer properly is we should then easily see the necessity of the spirits assistance Prayer is a Qui precatur debet esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certans et luctans etiam cum ipso deo Daven work which will cost us travel of heart Acts 1. 14. a working spirit Jam. 5. 16. an earnest striving Rom. 15. 30. and contending with God himself Col. 4. 12. It is very observable that the party Jacob wrestled with Gen. 32. 25. is called a Man an Angel nay he is called God a man for his shape and the form he assumed an Angel to denote the
direct our requests that they may not miss Sicut in perperam dictis parum aut nihil momenti est sed ad irritandum deum contigit sic commodè et opportunè dictis nihil ferè bonitatis abesse creditur Cartwr the mark of a blessing But we must see to the matter of our prayers that our devotions be not onely sweet but seasonable not onely fervent but pertinent there may be petitions which are lawful which are not so expedient for the season of a Sabbath and therefore to secure us against such mistakes we must be informed what seasonably to beg of God as the boon of the instant opportunity We must put up our prayers for the Minister who is to be Gods mouth to us in the publick worship of the Sabbath we must pray that God would give him a door of Acts 16. 14. Eph 6. 18 19. Col. 4. 3. 2 Cor. 1. 11. 1 Thes 5. 25. utterance He that must open the hearts of the people to receive the word savingly must open the lips of the Minister to preach the word effectually How often doth Paul intreat the prayers of the people that Seraphick Apostle would not set sail without fresh gales of the peoples prayers Indeed Preces sunt arma sacerdotis Ambr. the preaching of the Word is an arduous affair and cannot be success fully managed without divine help and supplement which must be begged by prayer and importunity Ambrose saith That prayers are the weapons of a Minister Rom. 15. 15. It may be truly added that prayer must put weapons into the hands of a Minister for the killing and slaughtering of Eph. 6. 20. the lusts and sins of the people We must therefore pray on Audacitas et animositas Ministros decent et in Evangelio praedicando et in praedicatione defendendâ Theophil the morning of a Sabbath that the Minister may open his mouth boldly and publish freely the mysteries of the Gospel that he may speak the Word truly sincerely powerfully and profitably delivering what is suitable to our present condition For he that guided the arrow to kill a wicked Ahab 1 Kings 22. 34. must guide the truth to hit and destroy a cursed lust and corruption A learned man tells us we must pray for three things for the Minister That God would give him the Faculty the Liberty and the Efficacy of preaching That God would open the door that he may come out in the fulness of the Gospel of Christ to our souls That God would give him dexterity and wisdome to improve Petendum est pro Ministris 1. Vt facultas siâ— illis libertas et efficacia predicandi 2. Vt sit praxis hujus facultatis 3. Vt sit modus debitus in eadem exercenda Daven his gift and faculty Every one which takes a Lute in his hand cannot make sweet musick on it There is a holy Art in the Ministry and this we must beg for that God would give it to the Minister who plies at our souls The Word is a Sword Eph. 6. 17. We must pray that the Minister may weild it to the highest advantage and that he may do the greatest executions upon our carnal hearts That the Minister may speak as becomes him with that gravity affection zeal and soul-awakening power which may render him a faithful Ambassadour of Jesus Christ And we should consider the weightiness of a Ministers work Heb. 13. 18. Est â—fficium omnium piorum assiduè et enixè deum orare pro pastoribus et Evangelii ministris Dav. how tremendous and formidable it is The larger the Ship is the more strength is required for the lanching of it Prayers are more then needfull that the Minister may do the work of God in the strength of God One saith A faithful Minister is the treasure of the Church our prayers should be that this treasure may be spent in the enriching of our souls Surely preachers are much carried out upon the peoples prayers It is prayer fetcheth the coal from the Altar to touch their tongues and causeth these fishers of men to cast the Net on the right side of the Ship We must pray for the Congregation which associates with us Our Saviour saith Luke 22. 32. When we are converted Luke 22. 32. we must strengthen the Brethren The Apostle avers we must prefer others before our selves Rom. 12. 10. And surely Rom. 12. 10. then we must strive to advantage others as well as our selves Totus populus Christianus unum sunt Cyprian saith All Christian people are one thing but there must needs be a greater unity in the same society and congregation which is as a large family In our heavenly Sabbath Cypr. de Orat. Domin it will be our joy to see one another there the assembly of the first born shall congratulate the happiness of one another and then surely on our Sabbath here below it must be a gratefull service to pray for one another Thy Acts 16. 14. prayers may prevail with the Lord who alwayes hath the In nostis orationibus oportet nos esse memores non nostrae conditionis solummodò sed fratrum et aliorum à nobis key in his hand to open anothers heart as well as thy owne Some sympathy thou shouldst have with the members of Christ who joyne with thee and prayer is the best evidence of this fellow-feeling Christ prayed on the Cross for his adversaries Luke 23. 34. and wilt not thou pray in the Closet for the flock with whom thou art to mingle Let the miraculous workings of Christs heart be attractive to the meltings of thine that a showre of the spirit may fall upon all that hear the word with thee Acts 10. 44. God can 1 Cor. 13. 1. give a showre as well as a drop of his spirit and let me add this will be charity which may speak thee to be more then sounding brass or a tinkling Cymbal As we must pray for persons so we must pray for things too on the morning of Gods holy day We must pray that the Gospel may run and be glorious and that that sacred leaven may leaven the whole lump Let 2 Thes 3. 1. us consider Rom. 10. 17. First The work of the Gospel is glorious it begets grace which is the seed of glory it is instrumental to bring to glory 2 Cor. 4. 4. The glorified Saints which are now in their triumphs Pauli armâ— fuere preces suae et suorum quibus omnes hostes devicit Haec nobis imitanda sunt hisce Armis Hezechias vicit Assyrium Moses Amalekitas Samuel Askalonitas et Israel 32 Reges Chrysost are eternally praising God for the blessed and glorious Gospel Secondly The work of the Gospel is necessary where there is no vision the people perish Prov. 29. 18. It is by the Call of the powerful and divine Gospel souls are brought home to Christ who is the great
the Gospel We might likewise fall into the thoughts That there are many opposites to the Gospel as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses 2 Tim. 3. 8. And thus Stephen in preaching Christ was opposed by the Sanedrim of the Jannes Jambres duo suerunt magi qui Mosi restiterunt cum eo miraculis et portentis edendis concertarunt Jews and truth was buffeted by Cryes Storms and Stoning of the Preacher Acts 7. 57 58. The building up of souls like the building of Jerusalem will meet with Sanballats and Tohias to race the very foundation Neh. 4. 3. Satans instruments will hinder Christs work The worlds persecutions are ready to obstruct the progress of the Gospel Threats and flames like the Angel which stood with a flaming sword Gen. 3. 24. are ready to keep the soul from entring Paradise And when persecution Josh 6. 20. arises for the Gospel sake mens fear often shuts out mens faith and few will close with a persecuted Gospel It may be hinted how the Sun of the Gospel is often clouded with reproaches Paul was called a Babler a setter forth of strange Gods Acts 17. 18. The Gospel is often Acts 17. 18. reviled where it cannot be rooted out and it must wear the habit where it doth not endure the execution of a Malefactor it is often wounded by the sword of the tongue where it escapes the sword of the hand Nay the evil lives of those who preach and profess the Gospel put no small stop to the enlargement and progress of Sicut Foetor apes ita peccatum bona abigit Hier. it and therefore what need of strong and numerous prayers to God That he would give the Gospel a free and uninterrupted passage into the hearts of all that hear it seeing it is encompassed with so many impediments and obstructions We must pray in our closets and in our families on the morning of the Sabbath that the Ordinances of Christ may accomplish their designed events that God would cloath them with his own power and that they may be mighty in operation for the bringing in and building up of many souls Psal 63. 2. and that the Saints may see the power and the glory of God in the Sanctuary There is no greater reproach to a Congregation or a people then barren Ordinances that they Hos 9. 11 14. should be clouds without water and breasts without milk and that God should give them a miscarrying womb pray Durum fuit maximè apud Hebraeos vulvam esse sterilem apud quos simulier esset infaecunda apud omnes infamioe stigmate notabatur Riv. therefore earnestly before thou comest to the publick Assembly that God would take away this reproach Indeed it is a mournful consideration that the blossoms of holy Ordinances which promise hopefully to bring forth fruit should on a sudden be blasted either with divine withdrawings or our own neglect Prayer is necessary for the success of Ordinances as a right wind is for the Ship which sets forth and a fresh wind to fill the sails to carry it to it s desired Port. And we are the more comfortably induced to pray for that Hos 9. 16. which is most consonant and agreeable to the Divine Will Now nothing can be more pleasing to the Lord then that Isa 45. 19. our prayers should not be in vain but return fraught with Mat. 13. 8. success and advantage and that the seed of the Word Luke 22. 19. should fall into good ground and so we should not hear in vain Let us therefore lie at Gods feet for that which is so according to Gods heart But as we must pray for other persons and other things on the morning of a Sabbath so more especially must we pray In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est metaphara à rebellicâ translata ad cogitationes ordine miâ—itari animo digestas instructas Cartw. for our selves The wise man saith Prov. 16. 1. The preparations of the heart of man are from the Lord And he that makes provisions of grace must prepare the heart for grace we must make our approach to the God of Ordinances before we come to the gate of Ordinances he that gives us the priviledge must teach us how to use it Let us then earnestly beg Eph. 6. 17. First That God would enlighten our minds let us begin Quanta fuerit caecitas gentilium in gentilismo etiam quoad illa quae ratio naturalis lex naturae dictat Persae sorores matres filias suas nefandis sibi matrimoniis jungebant Humanis carnibus vescebantur Scythae filios suos immolabant Mossagetae cognatos senes comedebant Hircâ—ni senes avibus Caspii canibus devorandos objiciebant Lacedaemones furtum laudabant tanquam rem solertem ingeniosam Alii conjuges suis hospitibus tanquam symbolum hospitii adulterio polluendas concedebant Euseb lib. 6. de prepar Evan. at the head The Apostle saith Eph. 5. 8. That in our selves we are darkness Not dark in the concrete but darkness in the abstract which shews our own incapacity to understand Gospel-mysteries of our selves we are as Paul when he was first unhorsed by Christ Acts 9. 8 9. blind and had need to be led by the hand Nature's eye hath a mist before it and cannot of it self see the glorious things of the Gospel 1 Cor. 2. 14. But it is the blessed spirit must scatter this mist must take away the scales from the eye of our understanding and make way for an apprehension of the glad tidings of Salvation which spirit saith our Saviour is obtained by prayer Luke 11. 13. And if we have any feeling of our own blindness and not as Prisoners in a dungeon laugh at the Sun or if we have any high esteem of the great things of the Law Hos 8. 12. if we see the word with the eye of the Psalmist Psal 19. 7 8 9 10. First To be perfect in its nature Secondly Predominant in its effects converting sinful making wise simple and rejoycing sadned souls Thirdly Various in its operations rellishing the soul rejoycing the heart opening the eyes pleasing the taste enriching the believer all which are attributed to it nay if the word be everlasting in its duration which the Psalmist strongly avers Psal 19. 91. and is likewise attested Rev. 14. 6. we should then be importunate for that directive spirit which can lead us into the right understanding of this most glorious word This manuduction of the spirit was the summe of that precious promise which Christ when about leaving the world made to his drooping Disciples Joh. 16. 13. And how earnestly doth the Psalmist importune this very mercy That God would open his eyes that he might behold wondrous things out of his Law Psal 119. 18. Psal 119. 34. God must give us the prospect of the glories of Divine truth Psal 119. 73. This eye-salve we must beg of the
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
no discord or division It is very deplorable to consider Quot homines tot sententiae what confusions are in many families so many persons so many opinions the Master is of one Church the Wife of another the Child of a third and may be the Servant of a fourth the Master possibly will sing Psalms the Child or the Servant happily cannot joyn in that heavenly duty Are not these families too like the speckled bird the Prophet speaks of Jer. 12. 9. Or like the spotted Leopard Jer. 13. 23. too like Josephs party-coloured coat which afterwards was dipt in blood Gen. 37. 31. The Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assures us that God is a God of Order and not of Confusion 1 Cor. 14. 33. Christ's coat was not torne though lots was cast for it It was the praise of the Primitive Church They did serve God with one accord Acts 2. 46. Magna suit Ignatio cura 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ecclesiâ Ordo venustatem parit confusio infidelitatem Zach. 14. 9. the same pulse beat in all the same spirit acted them all the same love united and espoused them all the same service employed them all Divided Families like divided Kingdoms cannot stand The four and twenty Elders in heaven sung the same song Rev. 4. 11. The Angels all utter the same triumphal words Rev. 5. 8 9 11 12. It is a blessed and glorious promise That we shall call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one consent Zeph. 3. 9. How pathetically doth the Apostle press unity Eph. 4. 3 4 5 6. A consort of Musicians play not several tunes but one and the same lesson Concord in service is the Musick of a family when we all sing the same Psalm all pray the same prayer fix our thoughts on the same truths hear the same Sermon and variety is over-ruled by unity Surely divisions are the wounds and jars of a family and such contrarieties are the flashing emblems of novelty and sad Prognosticks of fatall scepticism Let us then study that our selves and families may serve the Lord on his own day with one voice with one shoulder with one lip and with one heart Vnited stars make a constellation When stars do fight it presages great slaughter and is no less then miraculous Jud. 5. 20. Dir. 3 We must act the services of the Sabbath freely and chearfully Our services must be the fruit of love not the effect of force Holy delight must draw us to the Sanctuary not a pressing and rigorous conscience God loves a chearfull giver and a chearfull worshipper It was Davids joy to go with the multitude Psal 42. 4. Our service on a Sabbath must not be as wine squeezed from the grape but as water flowing from the fountain Our service must be the service of children not the homage of slaves In this we must imitate Ezek. 10. 5 the Angels who have their wings to fly upon every Neminem voluit cogi sed sponte prompto animo offerri quicquid unus quisque conferri vellet voluit deus hilares datores etiam et spontaneos cultores eos solos acceptabat Obsequium enim involuntariè delatum obedientiae nomen non moretur Riv. commanded service It was a brand put upon the people of Israel they were weary of his Sabbaths Amos 8. 9. The Sanctuary must be our Paradise not our Purgatory In the time of the Law those who would offer to the Lord they must do it with a willing heart Exo. 35. 5. Rivet well observs Involuntary obedience deserves not the name much less the reward of obedience Our duties on the Sabbath must be lively and vigorous The true Mother cries the living child is mine 1 Kings 3. 22. So God saith the living Sabbath is mine It is a character of Gods people that they are a willing people Psal 110. 3. The Hebrew reads it a people of willingness to shew how exceedingly willing we should be in the day of the Lords power which is principally his own holy day It is usually the sigh of a poor Saint Lord I would run faster but my corrupt heart hampers me Sabbaths should be our element not our burden David made it his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only request that he might spend his whole life in the Temple Psal 27. 4. Every thing in an Ordinance might flush our joy and fledge our desires 1. The superscription it bears it hath the stamp of Christ upon it Preaching is the preaching of Christ the Sacrament is the Supper of Christ Now the name Jesus should be like Caesar his Quirites it should put new life into the Saint 2. The advantage it brings It brings spiritual Life Faith Rom. 10. 17. Conversion Ordinances bring spiritual lading to the soul Acts 16. 14. Lydia was converted by the preaching of Paul 3. The end it designs which is the everlasting good of the soul We hear that we may be holy we receive that we may be hearty we pray that we may be happy Eternal Justificatio praecedit gloriam vitam aeternam Fulgent life is the stage of all Ordinances the center where the lines of every Ordinance meets And the Gospel is generally called the Gospel of life and salvation 2 Cor. 2. 16. Eph. 1. 13. Let us a little glance at the pleasing gradation Faith comes by hearing Justification by Faith and Justification ushers in holiness here and future glory and happiness Thus every Ordinance of a Sabbath may accent our de-delight and put an emphasis upon our joy We must then Rom. 8 30. keep our Sabbaths in holy joys in heavenly satisfactions and the Bride-chamber here below must be in our own bosoms Psal 119. 97. On this day our feasting must be converse with God our meat and drink must be to do our fathers will Psal 119. 20. and to do his will must be our meat and drink Jobn 4. 24. On this day we must be filled with the spirit which is better Cant. 5. 1. then new wine The day of God is prophetically called a day of joy Psal 118. 24. This day literally is a day of delight it is the day on which Christ sprang from the Mark 16 9. grave and gave a new life to the world This day prefiguratively is a day of rich consolation for it prefigures an eternall Sabbatism with the Lord Heb. 4. 9. It adumbrates that glorious state when we shall enter into our Masters joy Mat. 25. 21. Our services then on the Lords day must be enlivened with activity and sweetned with alacrity Dir. 4 Our services on Gods day must be solemn and serious Though they must not be without joy yet they must be without lightness we may be complacential but we may not be formall Delight well becomes a Sabbath but laughter doth not We must consider we have Sabbaths to carry on soul work which is an interest of the greatest importance
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
a two-edged sword to divide between sin and Heb. 4. 12. the soul Ordinances are kindly Physick and work the cure sweetly and effectually if this Physick be given by the hand of the Spirit if the third Person in the Trinity be our Physician how then should the necessity of the spirits assistance inflame our importunity to sue out that precious John 15. 5. Promise for the attainment of it recorded in Luke 11. 13. In Ordinances without the Spirit we can do nothâ—ng Christ 1 Cor. 9. 26. must work by his Spirit or else in all our holy duties we onely beat the ayr to use the Apostles phrase Let us study to be under the impressions of the Spirit on Gods holy day The earth stands not in so much need of the beams of the Sun as the soul doth of the influences of the Spirit The Spirit is a Spirit of Truth to guide the Understanding John 15. 26. It is a Spirit of Counsel to enrich the mind Isa 11. 2. and fill it with knowledge How naked Eph. 5. 18. is mans understanding if it be not covered with the covering John 14. 17. of Gods Spirit Isa 30. 1. 1 Cor. 12. 8. The Spirit is a good Spirit Neh. 9. 10. to sanctifie the will It is a holy Spirit Ephes 1. 13. in relation to its effects and productions it cures the will of its pertinacy and Rom. 1. 4. stubbornness and melts mans will into Gods We may take 1 Cor. 12. 9. an instance in Paul Acts 9. 6. The Spirit is a Spirit of Grace Zach. 12. 10. to beautifie the heart and fructifie it with all the sweet fruits of Righteousness It is more then the Sun to the Garden It not 2 Thes 2. 13. Phil. 1. 11. onely blows the flower but it plants The graces of the Spirit are those stars which shine in the firmament of the heart 2 Thes 2. 17. those vigorous principles which carry out the soul to every good word and work It is the spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14. to sublimate the affections and raise them as high as heaven Col. 3. 2. The spirit discovers glorious things to us shews the soul its treasury 1 Cor. 2. 12. Eph 3. 8. 2 Cor. 5 21. Rev. 1. 6. Cant. 7. 8. 13. Col. 3. 11. 1 Pet. 2. 7. where its riches lie It opens Christ to a believer who is the Wardrob of our Robes the Exchequor of our wealth the fountain of our honour the paradise of our delight or to speak in the Apostles language who is all and in all to the believing soul It is a spirit of life to quicken the whole man Rom. 8. 2. God breaths into man and so he becomes a living soul the Spirit breaths into man and so he becomes a living Saint Gen. 2. 7. Nay God works all his works upon us and in us in Christ by the spirit it is the spirit makes us upright and sincere 1 Cor. 6. 11. and so rectifies our obliquities Psal 51. 10. It is the spirit snuffs the understanding which is the candle of the Lord Eph. 1. 17. Prov. 20. 27. and so enlightens our darknesses It is the spirit 2 Thes 2. 1â— fixes and establisheth us and so settles our inconstancies Psal 78. 8. It is the spirit softens and suples us Isa 32. Sapientia hominis est quâ res difficillimas scrutatur et pervestigare conatur Cartwr 15. and turns our barren hearts into a fruitfull field and so fills our vacuities It is the spirit conducts us in our straights John 16. 13. and so prevents our miscarriages It is the spirit takes us up Ezek. 3. 12. nay lifts us up Ezek. 3. 14. and so cures us of our pedantick and dreggish succumbencies for Man is the worm Jacob Isa 41. 14. and will naturally grovel on and immure himself in the Earth The spirit of God is an excellent spirit Dan. 5. 12. and will create in the 1. Cor. 12. 11. believer those excellencies which will make him more excellent then his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. The irrigations and pouring forth of the spirit Isa 44. 3. will make the soul fresh 1 Cor. 12. 13. Corroborari in interiore homine est intellectu voluntate caeterisque animae partibus suffulciri and green and be in a spring of grace which is most pleasant to the eye of God and Man This holy spirit upon us Isa 59. 21. is not so much our covering as our Crown our strength to encounter every temptation Eph. 3. 16. Let us then not as Sadduces mis-believe the spirit Acts 23. 8. But cry out Lord evermore give us of this spirit And to set our selves under these various and rare impressions We must purifie our selves The spirit is a holy spirit which will dwell onely in a clean heart flesh and spirit are combatants and not cohabitants they oppose one another Gal. 5. 17. then grace triumphs when flesh is subdued and chased out of the field We must supplicate our God The spirit is given to the Petitioner and not to the professor How much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Isa 63. 11. Eph. 4. 30. 1 Thes 4 8. 1 Cor. 6. 19. saith our Saviour Luke 11. 13. Earnest prayer is the means to obtain the good spirit whose works are so many and so marvellous and whose operations are so secret and so soveraign But secondly as this duty must look upwards for the assistances and the impressions of the spirit So this duty must look inwards we have not onely to do with heaven on the Lords day and to look up to Gods spirit but we have to do with our own hearts too and seek the spirit to proportionate Prov. 4. 23. them to the holy services of the Sabbath and here our duty is two-fold 1. We must be in the graces of the spirit and that too in a double sense We must be in grace habitual We must come as Saints to the duties of a Sabbath That of the Apostle is highly observable Our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. 3. Observe the terms of Relation Sancti est in spiritu vivere i. e. internam habere vitam et animum gratiâ spiritu etjustitiâ imbutum sancti est in spiritu ambulare i. e. secundum spiritus et gratiae dictamen ductumque incedere conversari agere operari et Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat certo ordine serie et normâ incedere Alap the term Father speaks us to be Children It is not our communion is with God but with the Father and his Son Saints properly are the guests of the Sanctuary Christ in us is not onely the hope of our glory hereafter Col. 1. 27. but our hope of acceptance here We must bring Benjamin we must bring Christ if we will ever see the face of God in Ordinances wicked
seasons of Per spiritum sanctum clamamus non voce sed filiali et fiduciali affectu Abba Pater prae dulcedine teneritudine amoris quasi teneri insantes qui charissimum parentem c. Alap our spiritual communion In Prayer we cry as Children to the Father In hearing we receive messages from our Father which relate to our inward man In our Prayer God opens his hand in our hearing God opens his heart Acts 20. 27. In Prayer we enjoy his bounty God gives us even to his own spirit Luke 11. 13. In Hearing we are admitted even to the Counsels of God in that forementioned text Acts 20. 27. In a Sacrament our dainties are the body and blood of Christ and he refresheth us not from his Cellars but from his Wounds Cast thy eye upon the effects of Ordinances what wonders hath that one duty of Prayer wrought 1. It is able to overthow enemies Isa 37. 36. Vtpote pueri balbutiantes blandulâ iteratâ voculâ compellare solent Pater Pater sic credentes c. 2. It is able to divert Judgements Plagues Pestilence Famine Sword 1 Kings 8. 57. 3. It is able to bring down mercies It is the key of Heaven Jam. 5. 15. It is the most efficacious engine in the world it can open the doors of the prison nay it can open the door of the womb Acts 12. 7. 1 Sam. 1. 10 20. 4. It is the sum of all wisdom strength and policy 5. It prevails against God himself Gen. 32. 26. Hos 12. 4. Exod. 32. 11. Isa 45. 11. 6. It can work Miracles so Joshua by Prayer caused the Sun to stand still in Gibeon Josh 10. 12. What amazing productions hath this one Ordinance caused May we not then say of those who undervalue Ordinances O foolish pieces of frenzy and ignorance who hath bewitched you Gal. 3. 1. that you should trample upon Pearls walk upon Amber and neglect so great salvation Heb. 2. 3. Cast thy eye again upon the tendency of Ordinances these stars lead us to Christ They are the womb of grace Rom. 10. 17. And grace is the heir of Glory Eph. 1. 14. When we Mat. 2. 9. converse with God in Ordinances we turn our faces Sionward Isa 51. 11. and we are travelling home The blessed Ordinances Isa 35. 10. are our fresh gales to carry us to our harbour of Rest they are the birth places of the Saints the ready way to the new Jerusalem therefore whoever thou art who callest prayer a vain breath hearing a dry attendance Sacraments empty meals retrench thy errour and let the love of Christ constrain thee to better thoughts of these blessed Seasons And let not a word be unseasonable to shew thee the cause and cure of this jejune apprehension of divine Ordinances These modern Ehionites who have so low thoughts of Christs institutions they are henighted with ignorance they Ebion sumpsit nomen suum ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pauper indigus quia misellam de Christo habuit opinionem do not know there is a God in Ordinances that they are animated by a divine spirit Who opened Lydia's heart in hearing Who pricked the heart of the Jewes Act. 2. 37. in the same Ordinance Who showred down the Spirit when the Assembly met for Gospel dispensations Acts 10. 44. when God rained heaven out of heaven Indeed Ordinances are the sphear where the Sun of Righteousnesse Mal. 4. 2. turns the waters where the Angel moves John 5. 4. And if the Angel move the waters heal but these inapprehensive sinners like Balaam see not the Angel Numb 22. 23. They are prejudiced by inexperience they cannot say with David Psalm 66. 16. Come and I will tell you what God hath done for my soul Pauls Companions did not see Jesus Christ they onely heard a confused noise Acts 9. 7. These unhappy sinners never tasted how good and gracious the Mat. 11. 23. Lord is in a sweet Ordinance they never felt the power of a truth they were never enriched with the flush returns of Psalm 34. 8. Prayer A Promise well pressed home and applyed never reverberated Acts 2. 37. upon their souls with influential joy they never Psalm 85. 8. had their hearts raised to Heaven in Gospel Revelation and 2 Pet. 1. 4. in the glorious discoveries of divine Love Blind men admire Nos transeramus affectus ad coelestem illam vitam oremus dominum ut panem qui dâ—â—cae lo descendit lâ—rgiaâ—â— not the Sun The Indians more prize a log a gewgaw or a piece of brasse then Gold Gemms or Spices To them who have tasted Christ he is precious The converted soul saith of Ordinances Lord evermore give us this bread Such cry out O sweet Sacraments those divine festivals O fructiferous Prayer But now to cure this sinful and destructive mistake and to raise the price and esteem of Ordinances John 6. 34. Look on them as the means of Grace The Sun shines through the ayr and Christ works by Ordinances Preaching is not the breath of man but the power of God to salvation Rom. 1. 16. The Word is that immortal seed which is able to save our souls 1 Pet. 1. 23. These Oracles delivered in Rom. 3 2. Preaching are able to make us wise to eternal salvation It is the power of Ordinances raises us from the grave of sin 2 Tim. 3. 15. plants in us the flowers of grace causeth the day to dawn in 2 Pet. 1. 19. our souls If ever thou comest to heaven the wind of the Spirit John 3. 8. filling the sails of Ordinances will carry thee thither Look on them as the resemblances of glory Sitting at a Sacrament resembles our eating and drinking with Christ at his table in his Kingdome Luke 22. 30. the Communion Cant. 1. 12. resembles the fruition Let us then prize Ordinances which Matth. 11. 23. are the twilight and dawning of Glory CHAP. XXXIX The Lords day is a day of Rest but not of Idlenesse Caut. 5 LEt us take heed least we interpret the day which God calls a day of Rest to be a day of Idlenesse God gives us relaxation Exod. 31. 15. on his own day but it is not either for sport or sleep but for duties not for pastime but for prayer Our ground Quies non fuit ignavum otium ut Christiani nihil agerent sed ut divina curarent non sua Riv. lies fallow sometimes that we may plow it and sow it to the better advantage Rest is given us because the body and the soul cannot both well be employed together earth and heaven cannot both be minded together Now this divine indulgence must be a spur to holy duties and not our leave to play with lying vanities The Sabbath is a holy leisure our spiritual vacation to attend on the affairs of our precious souls Sabbatum est sabbatum cessationis
may graciously smile and lift up the light of his countenance upon thee Moaning Ephraims are pleasant Children Meditate on Gods works Thou mayest see the glory of a Creation through a prison grate or within the curtains of a sick bed thou mayest contemplate on the Sun when thou doest not see it that emblem of Gods power and the worlds glory The Stars shine as bright to meditation in the day as in the night and we may take an intellectual when we do not take an ocular view of them Meditate on the state of the Church to rejoyce in it or to grieve at it The Jews in Babylon could weep savourily in the remembrance of Sion when they did consider its present Psal 137. 1 2. calamity and its former glory Every Christian should Psal 122. 6. be of a publick spirit and lay the case of Sion to heart either for tears or triumphs When nothing of the Church is Isa 62. 6 7. in thy eye much of it should be in thy thoughts Much of Psal 137. 5. piety is discovered in sympathy It was one of Israels great offences they had not a fellow-feeling of the afflictions of Amos 6. 6. Joseph The Prophet adviseth those who make mention of the Name of the Lord to give him no rest till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth Isa 62. 6 7. When thou art alone on a Sabbath and thy condition necessitates thee to it let the many thoughts of Sion keep thee company and be thy congregation to joyn with Meditate on the attributes of God Those glorious beams can shine into the darkest and most solitary dungeon as well as into the most solemn assembly Think of Gods power in creating a world his justice in burning of a Sodom his wisdome in contriving a way for mans redemption his love in John 3. 16. sending his Son to dye for sinners his faithfulness in making and keeping his Covenant Such heavenly meditations might sweeten a prison might mitigate a distemper might alleviate Psal 104. 34. the severity of service or slavery and might comfort thy soul on Gods blessed day in the greatest recluse and solitariness Spend some time of this solitary Sabbath in conversing with the Scriptures The Bible is the most delightful companion Rom. 3. 2. Omnia mea mecâ—m porto Bias. in the want of all others the Saint with these Oracles may say with the Philosopher I carry all my estate with me Caesar so prized his Commentaries that being enforced by the Egyptian Army to leap into the Sea he did swim with one hand and held up the Book of his Commentaries in the other his life and his book should both perish together Our Bible is the most seraphick Commentary upon Gods love and Josh 1. 8. mans heart God commanded Joshua to meditate day and night in this sacred volume Indeed the Scriptures they are a hive of sweetness to delight the soul a choice treasure Psal 19. 10. to enrich the soul more then necessary food to support the Job 23. 12. soul The sword of the spirit to defend the soul a transcendent Eph. 6. 15 17. Paradise to consolate and refresh the soul Every truth in the Scriptures is brighter then a star every promise Rom. 13. 12. in the Scriptures is richer then a Mine every threatning in Heb. 4. 12. the Scriptures is sharper then a sword every offer of grace contained in the Scriptures is more valuable then a world therefore in thy lonely Sabbaths say with the Psalmist O how I love thy Law It is my meditation all the day Psal Facit Scriptura consolationes per exempla quae narrat per promissiones praemia quae offert His nos consolatur inspem beatitudinis excitat erigit 119. 97. And this converse with sacred writ will be a good prognostick of success and happiness It is reported of Queen Elizabeth that in her great afflictions in her sister Queen Maries reign she was much conversant in the holy word and as the word of God sweetned her soul so the Providence of God smiled on her condition for after the flight of a very few years she wore the Diadem of this Nation flourished many years in the throne of her Royal Progenitours Fill up this solitary Sabbath with the Collection of former experiences David when he was kept waking in the night Psal 77. 3. he remembred God his thoughts were taken up with that In concilio Parisiensi hoc facinus Patribus dolori fuit quòd licet dies dominicus à quibusdam dominis venerando custodiri vide batur a servis tamen eorum servitio pressis per rarò debito honoâ—e â—â—li invenâ—râ—tur divine object When thou art kept from the solemn assemblies by a sick bed or a close prison or a sharp Master Remember thy experiences which thou hadst of old 1. All thy providential mercies as the Psalmist recounts his promotion that God took him from a sheepfold to a throne and at such a time advanced him to the Soveraignty of the best people in the world Psal 78. 70 71. Then remember thou the additions God hath made to thy Estate or to thy Family thy escapes from imminent dangers thy often deliverances c. Experiences of divine love receive new life from meditation and serious recollection 2. All thy seasonable mercies The Psalmist comfortably Concil â—aris relates That when his Father and his mother forsâ—â—k him Dâ—o sunt quae sâ—ntertiae gratâ—â—m dignitâ—tâ— coâ—ciâ—iant 〈…〉 si 〈…〉 ad 〈…〉 rationâ—m accommodetur Cartw. then God did take him up Psal 27. 10. Then the rare providences of God are most rare and remarkable and to be noted with an Higgaion Selah As words so favours in season are like apples of Gold in pictures of Silver Prov. 25. 11. The season is the emphasis of every mercy Even at the red Sea Psal 106. 7. This amplified Israels sin they offended even at the red Sea where they were crowned with a stupendious and seasonable deliverance Cast thy eye back in thy solitary Sabbaths upon those mercies which were eminent for their season Health after sickness supply in wants rescue from temptations from sinful or destructive company when thy soul was pluckt out of the snare Ah how sweet was water to a thirsty Samson deliverance to the poor Jews when their destruction was signed and sealed Such pleasing recollections would abundantly sweeten a solitary Sabbath 3. Thy unexpected mercies those loving-kindnesses which thou didst not think of nor pray for which thy want did not proclaim nor thy moans pursue An Angel cometh Acts 10 3. Luke 1. 26 27. to Cornelius in his prayers when he looked not for him Happily many mercies have befallen thee which like Gabriel to the Virgin Mary have brought not onely good but unexpected news On a solitary Sabbath view over thy unlookt for mercies which were returns of love without a
expietur Greg. M. lib. 11. Epist 3. of complacency variety of choice voices please the ear variety of curious colours delight the eye variety of sweet dainties is acceptable to the tast and so varieâ—y of holy duties make a Sabbath gratefull and complacential God hath set forth his worship in several services that it might be the more pleasing and the less wearisome Sometimes on a Sabbath we are praying to him for the supply of our necessities sometimes we are praising of him for his own infinite excellencies Sometimes the ear is busied in hearing truth sometimes the Dies dominicus est dies panis per Eucharistiam Athan. hand in giving almes sometimes the eye in weeping tears sometimes the knee in doing homage alwayes the heart in willing obedience Thus the same meat is dressed several wayes to make it more delightfull and pleasing to the pallate To see several towns pleaseth the traveller and makes Dies dominicus est dies lucis per baptismum Chrysost his journey the less tedious and the more recreative In Sabbath worship the bending of the knee is relieved by the hearing of the ear and the hearing of the ear by the singing of the tongue and the service of the tongue may be refreshed Die dominico pro arbitrio quisque suo quod visum est contribuat et charitatem suam deponat and relieved by the contemplations of the mind So then the Sabbath cannot be tedious whose duties are so various Several birds singing make the Grove a common musick room That soul must needs distast every Ordinance which cannot be pleased with variety Just Mart. 10. But no further to amplifie the vanity of these objectours who put this case I shall now a little rectifie their mistake by shewing them how flesh and blood may keep a whole Sabbath spiritually and sweetly to God Let them be earnest in prayer for the spirit of grace this is that principle which can turn the soul to any point that spirit which can guide our way Rom. 8. 1. which can produce the new Creature John 3. 5. which can fill our sails John 3. 8. which can heal our Natures 1 Cor. 6. 11. which can help our infirmities Rom. 8. 26. that spirit which can Acts 16. 14. open the eyes to behold Acts 26. 18. and can open the heart Joh. 7. 38. 39. to embrace Gospel mysteries 1 Cor. 2. 14. that spirit can sweeten Ordinances and accommodate our souls to them that Spiritualia spiritualitèr examinantur et spiritualis judicat omnia qui spiritum rectorem animae habet Doctorem Ansel the streams of a Sabbath may run smoothly without the stop of weariness or storm of discontent The spirit of God can fit our spirits to the things of God and where there is no disparity there can be no dissatisfaction Indeed the Ordinances are the ship and the spirit is the wind As the ship of an ordinance cannot move without the wind of the spirit so the wind of the spirit will not blow without the ship of an Ordinance but when the wind carries on the ship it is pleasant and delightful sailing Therefore let John 3. 8. these Objectours beg the spirit and we have an assured promise to encourage us Luke 11. 13. Let those who put this case which now hath been ventilated and discussed consider our present Sabbaths are Sabbatum est sabbatisini primordium initiale benificae fruitionis odoramentum only the first fruits of an eternal Sabbath The Spring is pleasant though not so fruitfull as the Harvest Our present dayes of grace have their glory and their verdure though not elevated to the raptures of heaven Sabbaths are heavenly dayes though not heavenly eternities Now our Saviour bids us rejoyce at the putting out of the leaf for then Summer draws near Mat. 24. 32. This should silence all scruples of a floathfull heart Sabbaths are golden though little spots they are pensions of grace though not portions of glory they are earnests of better things and he that is to receive the summ will not easily be weary in telling of the earnest The Israelites rejoyced in the Clusters before they came to the Vintage Numb 13. 23 24. Our precious Sabbaths are Cant. 1. 14. our clusters of Camphire before we come to the mountanes of Spices Think not a Sabbath tedious which is only a little stream running into the Ocean of Eternal Glory Such should do well to study their wants more and their ease less Their necessities call for every Ordinance of Grace which fills up the time of a Sabbath their empty cruze Mat. 6. 11. calls for the duty of Prayer their dark understandings call Hos 6. 3. for the Ordinance of hearing their faint graces call for the Isa 25. 6. feast of a Sacrament their sadned spirits call for the joyous Jam. 5. 13. service of singing Psalmes their ignorant Families call for Gen. 18. 19. the duty of Catechizing and their frail memeries call for the Phil. 3. 1. seasonable recruit of Repetition and when these Services are faithfully and spiritually performed the time of a Sabbath Eadem scribere dicit Apostolus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tutum Ambrosius verò inquit est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 necessarium Ambr. flies away and there is no room for the objection of flesh and blood We are much provoked to see Beggars lie sunning themselves in ease and laziness Let these Objectors pass industriously and chearfully through the Ordinances of a Sabbath or else find some other way for the supply of the necessities of their souls But thus much for the fourth Case Case 5 What shall we do when after our serious attendance upon Ordinances on Gods holy day we taste no sweetness in them Saepe etiam pi is successus in laboribus vocationis denegatur non malè sed certo consilio dei cùm verò Petrus sine successu laborasset non ex impatientiâ murmurat non rejicit vocationem Chemnit nor reap any advantage from them It was once the complaint of the Disciples that they toyled all night and could catch nothing Luke 5. 5. The Saints labours in this life are not alwayes successful they may plow upon a Rock and sow the Seed though presently they do not reap the Harvest Beautiful Rachel was barren for a time and she who had so much comliness had no Child Answers to prayer are not alwayes on the speed but sometimes they are suspended and many wait on God in a Sabbath and yet in the evening do not carry their sheaves with them Psal 126. 6. they may toyle all the Sabbath in the fire of Ordinances and yet not for the present be sensible of their melting and refining power But what shall be done in this case Answ 1 Such should examine themselves whether they bring not too much of the world with them to Sabbath opportunities Happily when they are at
the time of the Sabbath Let us labour to get high esteemes of the Sabbath day We Praescrip 3. keep those things most charily we prize most We lock up Jewels which we value but we leave out other things which we despise and contemn One great reason why men practice Sabbaths no more is because they prize them no Apparet in Sâ—râ—pâ—uris hunc diem esse solennem ipse enim est primus dies seculi c. Aug. more Sabbaths fall in their opinion and therefore they sink in their observation They look upon the Sabbath as a common day a day of leisure to please themselves with carnall rest or sensual delight Only their shâ—ps are shut and so they cannot follow the works of their Calling but their hearts are open to entertain any temptation and so they mind the Magistrate more then Jehovah upon his own day Dies dominicus est dies Regalis in quâ— Imperator ascendit ab inferis Chrysost But serious and gracious persons have always spoken highly of Gods blessed Sabbath The Apostle John calls it the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. which is the Lord Christ his day for this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is appropriate to our Saviour Christ both in regard of the dignity and excellency of his person and because of the greatness and largeness of Ne ipsam quidem dominicam diem Jâ—nctissimi festi ullâ inreverentiâ habuere c. Athanas his dominion as likewise in respect of his bounty towards the members of his mystical body Acts 4. 36. Joh. 20. 13 28. Revel 17. 14. Cap. 19. 16. Now things and persons which are named the Lords are sacred and venerable in an high degree So The grace of our Lord Rom. 16. 24. The spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 17. The beloved of the Lord Rom. 16. Is solus et unus reverâ est proprius et dominicus dies et melior est aliis innumerabilibus diebus sive qui communitèr intelliguntur sive qui a Mose c. Hier. 8. The glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. The word of the Lord 1 Tim. 6. 3. The cup of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 27. Et sic Convivium dominicum the Lords banquet Tertul. lib. 2. ad Vxor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hierosol Catech. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The body of the Lord. Athanas ad Epict. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Scripture of the Lord. Clem. Alexandr Ignatius the blessed Martyr of Christ who lived in the Apostles age and was St. Johns Disciple maketh the Lords day the Queen the Princess the Lady Paramount of all dayes Eusebius in the life of Constantine the Great lib. 4. cap. 18. stileth the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In truth and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. very deed the principal and the first Chrysostome calleth it a Royal day And Gregory Nazianzen Orat. 43. saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Higher then the highest and with admiration wonderfull above all other dayes Basil calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first fruits of dayes Chrysologus Ser. 77. saith It is the primate among days And Hierome in Marc. 16. The Lords day is better then other common dayes and then all the Festivals New Moons and Finitur septimus dies dominus est sepultus reditur ad primum dominus est resuscitatus domini resuscitatio promisit no bis aeternam diem et consecravit diem dominicam Aug. Sabbaths of Moses his Law The Lords day saith Maximus Taurinensis is venerable and a solemn day among Christians because like the Sun rising and dispelling infernal darkness Christ the Sun of Righteousness shined forth unto the world by the light of his Resurrection And the incomparable Augustine saith The Seventh day is ended the Lord was buried a return is made to the first day the Lord is raised the Lords Resurrection promised us an eternal day and it did consecrate unto us the Lords day Justin Martyr calls our Sabbath Sunday as many others after him and not without very good reason That being the Chiefest of dayes as the Sun is the most glorious of all the Planets and therefore the Civil Law calls Cod. Justin lib. 3. tit 12. our Sabbath The venerable and much honoured Sunday Our Sabbath is called Sunday to honour Christ who is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4. 2. Enlightning every one who Nos jure optimo diem quem Mathematici solis vocant domino ascripsimus et illius cultui totum mancipavimus quoniam nulla re magis imaginari possumus praepotentis et universim supereminentis Christi Mâ—jestatem quà m per splendidissimum solis lumen Et Leo est solare animal Cael. Rhodig cometh into the world and who by his triumphant Resurrection caused the heavenly light of Truth and Grace to appear in full lustre to them who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death And Gaudentius Brixianus speaks fully to this purpose It behoved Christ saith he the Sun of Righteousness with the fair and pleasant light of his Resurrection to dispell the gross darkness of the Jews and melt the frozen cold of the Gentiles and so reduce all things that we reclouded with the black vail of confusion by the Prince of darkness into the state of prime tranquility And Ambrose concurs in his judgement This day is called Sunday saith he because Christ the Sun of Righteousness arose from death to life upon this day to enlighten the Children of this world Hierom tells us It is called Sunday because on that day Light rose in the world and the Sun of Righteousness appeared in whose wings healing may be found So Christ made it Sunday not only from his beams but likewise from his wings for as there was light in the one so there was Cypr. Epist 33. Orig. in Exo. Homil. 7. contr celsum cure in the other and both together gave it this Name And nothing more speaks the glory of Christ then Light and the Sun is the fountain of light and therefore our Sabbath is Tertul. de Coron Mil. called Sunday as Coelius Rhodiginus observes Nay Christ himself is called Light John 3. 19. And the Gospel is named Light Rom. 13. 12. No wonder then if that day on which Christ is worshipped and the Gospel is preached is called Sunday But in all ages our blessed Sabbath flourished in an honourable Bellarm. Tem. 1 de cult Sanctor cap. 11. lib 3. Dominica dies primatum obtmet et major est inter alios dies Durand Rational lib. 7. de Festiv esteem Bellarmine himself saith The Sabbath is a day above all other days to be esteemed And so Durand gives the Lords day all primacy and assigns it a majority for worth and honour above all dayes And it is very observable that Easter-day so much cryed up by some was once the unhappy cause of much contention in