operum sui ante-actorum recordatiom sese applicet c. Hosp Dicitur Sabbatum Domini et Sabbatum sanctitâ—tâ—s et sanctâ—tas Domini quia non modò dei sancti est sed et sanctum eâ— et rebus domini publicè et privatim dicatum et impendendum est c. Leid Prof. this truth most sweetly There is saith he a sublime end of the Sabbaths leisure viz. That we might get nearer to eternal salvation that we may follow the duties of an holy life that we may remember our former actions and so drenâ—h our selves in tears of repentance and this saith he the very Jews can not deny Our Sabbaths according to this worthy man are only post dayes for heaven opportunities for grace which is the morning star of glory and the dawning of blessedness Nay let us hear a Quaternion of Divines the Professours of Leyden Cessation of work say they is commanded not that we should only enjoy corporal idleness but fall upon spiritual business holy duties and exercises It is not called the Sabbath of man but the Sabbath of the Lord not only because God is the Author of it but likewise because it is to be dedicated to and spent in the things of the Lord both publickly and privately and is to be directed to the sanctification of his name These Champions of truth direct us to the proper end of the Sabbath which is not to waste but to work not to consult our ease but to consult our souls Our temporal affairs must be suspended that our better affairs may be minded The poor soul should have been whâ—lly neglected had not the God of it appointed one day in the week for its service and salvation This truth is so apparent that our very adversaries joyn issue in the attestation of it Mr. Bâ—erewood who wrote so zealously for sports on the Sabbath yet in his second Tract pag. 15. acknowledgeth That the Commandment for the Sabbath enjoynes 1. The outward worship of God Manifestum est non moâ—o legis hujus judicio sed ipsâ—â—simâ expeâ—iâ—ntâ—â— non facere ad vâ—â—ae religionis profectum siotia multiplicentur Musc 2. Cessation frâ—m works as â— necessary preparation for that worship that as the end and this as the means So then by his confession to holy rest we must joyn holy work And experience tells us saith Musculus that too much leisure never makes for the increase of Religion no more then the Country-man gains by his fallow ground Nay the very Heathens themselves laughed at idleness upon the Sabbath And Seneca derided the custom of the Jews upon their Sabbath because they spent it in things vain and impertinent and not in the worship of God and said The Seneca derisit Sabbatum Judaeorum quia non vacabant divinis sed rugis et inutilibus Aquin. Jews threw away the seventh part of their lives And surely that sin must be grievous which becomes the scom and derision of an Heathen that crime must needs be great which lies open to the discoveries of Natures light But the Scriptures which are the most authentick testimony in this case will bring in most ample witness they will find us employments for the Sabbath 1. If we look into the Old Testament we shall find the sacrifices to be double on the Sabbath day Two Lambs of Num. 28. 9 10 the first year without spot and two tenth deales of flower with a meat offering mingled with oyl and the drink offering thereof this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath besides the continual burnt offering and the drink offering Numb 28. 9 10. There must ye see be an over-plus of sacrifice on the Luke 23. 3. Sabbath then our worship must be in the full and not in the waine in the strongest tide not at low water Likewise Convocatiosancta fuit totâ—us populi ad opera sacra et divina on the Sabbath there was to be an holy Convocation and surely the Jews did not meet solemnly to look one upon another Their meeting in the Temple or the Synagogues spake worship something of Service Divine Likewise on the Sabbath there was the reading of the Law Gods will was then opened to the people Nehem. 8. 8. The Sabbath was not a day of sloth but instruction it was not a day to be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cantica singu laria Sabbato unoquoque occinenda erant Leid Prof. the rubbish of ease but to be built up in the most holy faith And on the Sabbath there were certain solemn songs chanted forth to the praise of the Creatour and therefore the ninety second Psalm is inscribed a Psalm for the Sabbath And there was likewise reasonings and discourses of Divine things as we have hinted Acts 17. 2. There were exhortations given to the people for their furtherance of faith and godliness Acts 15. 21. Moses was preached every Sabbath day as the Apostle James speaks in the fore-cited place So then the Sabbath wanted not its employment in the times of the Law Nor did the Lords day run waste in the times of the Gospel then the Disciples met together the Sacrament was administred the Gospel was preached Acts 20. 7. And charity was collected 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Which duties unquestionably wanted not the concomitancy of fervent prayers and supplications so then there was an aggregation of holy and solemn services Holy duties were not as a single star but as Isa 65. 8. a constellation and in that cluster there was a blessing So Old and New Testament are a twofold witness to condemn Mat. 18. 16. sloth and idleness upon Gods blessed day And by the mouth of two witnesses especially if infallible every thing shall be established And indeed idleness on any day carries its brand in its Milites otio si incipient luxu diffluere murmurare pecuniam inclamare Ordinem omnem turbare aâ— tandem rebellare Alap forehead Idle Souldiers will easily turn mutinous Idle Scholars will easily degenerate into sin and ignorance and idle Tradesmen will easily sink into want and poverty Abundance of idleness was one of the sins of Sodom the worst of places Ezek. 16. 49. It is the sink of sin the Common shore of evil it is the rust of the soul which eats out its noble faculties Themistocles used to say It was burying men alive And idle persons like wanton widows to use the Apostles phrase are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5. 5. And Ephr. Syr. de consummat seculi the Apostle makes idleness the source of many other sins 1 Tim. 5. 13. It was once the saying of Ephrem Syras Do not fly labour least the Crown fly from thee Idleness is every way sinful It is opposite to mans condition He was born to labour Gen. 3. 19. Dew is not more natural to the surface of the Homo natus est ad laberem sicut avis ad volatum Earth then sweat is to the brow of
duty is properly the task of the understanding The Tongue works in prayer the Ear bends in hearing the Hand is stretcht out in Sacramentall receiving the Eye toyls in reading the Heart is or ought Jam. 5. 16. Mat. 11. 15. to be employed in every sacred service but the Mind is taken up in meditating on sublime and supernatural objects The Eagles of the thoughts fly upon this Carcass to allude Mat. 24. 28. to our Saviour Meditation fructifies duty without which the truths of God will not stay with us The heart is naturally hard the memory slippery and all lost without meditation every drop Mark 8. 17. runs out again and the whole web of divine service is unravell'd The Apostle compares the word to rain Heb. 6. 7. Heb. 6. 7. Now it is meditation onely which saves this rain water that it sheds not and run in waste This necessary duty of meditation it fastens truth upon the heart and is like the selvedge which keeps the cloath from ravelling It is the engraving of letters in Gold or Marble which will endure without this piece of holy duty all the preaching of the Cor est sons sapientiae Word is but writing in sand or pouring water into a sieve Reading and hearing without meditation is like weak physick which will not work The Word cannot be in the heart Deut. 6. 6. unless it be wrought in by holy meditation this is the hammer which drives the nail to the head Ordinances without this duty are but spiritual pageantries a pleasant landskip which when we have viewed we presently forget Jam. 1. 23. Knowledge without meditation is like the glaring of a Sun-beam upon a wave it rushoth into the thoughts and is gone There is very much in this duty to fix truth upon us Carnal mens thoughts they are usually flight and trivial they know things but they are loath to let their thoughts dwell upon them Musing makes the fire burn Men musing and meditating Psal 39. â— on the Word are much affected and then they are ready to say now we taste the sweets of our beloved we lie Psal 119. 93. under the force and power of the Word Meditation it sweetens our life here below The contemplative Christian lives in the Suburbs of Heaven How did meditation cast a flavour upon Davids soul and fill it with Psal 63. 5. aromatick and perfuming impressions Geographers are at a loss to find the place where Paradise was now to stop their curiosities it may be replyed it may be found in the fragrant tract of heavenly meditation When we meditate upon the sweetness of scriptural promises upon workings of Christs heart towards believers upon the watchfulness of Gods eye over his people upon the all sufficiency of our Saviours merit for 1 Cor. 2. 9. life and salvation upon the recompence of reward so great that 2 Cor. 12. 1. mans thoughts cannot grasp it how do these and such Rev. 1. 10. like things raise us to St. Pauls rapture or St John's extasie which were the initials of Glory to those heavenly Apostles Quid est quòd futura laetitia in cor non ascendit quiâ— sons est et ascensum nesâ—it Bern. It may be averred for certain that the neglect of this duty brings a searcity of comfort upon our lives which otherwise might meet with a plenteous harvest and a constant revenue of joy and satisfaction CHAP. XV. What we must meditate upon on the morning of the Lords day HAving thus drawn the portraicture and given a description of this duty of meditation with the blessed appendices which do attend it as its seasons advantages c. I now come to present suitable objects for this duty to prey upon and so to raise a little stock for meditation to trade with And as to the Queries viz. What we must meditate on in the spring and morning of the Sabbath It is answered Dies vitae nostrae est dies parasceves in quo laboramus et cum Christo patimur succedit dies quietis in sepulchro quem sequitur dies resurrectionis ad vitam Ger. whatsoever is spiritual any thing of a spiritual nature we may meditate on the promises of God the loves of Christ the strictness of the Law the sweetness of the Gospel on the filthiness of Sin on the vanity of the Creature on the excellency of Grace we may muse and fix our thoughts upon the estate of our souls and of the fewness of them who shall be saved so likewise upon Death or Judgement As holy David sometimes he meditated on the works of God sometimes on the Word of God and sometimes on God himself But I shall onely open a double fountaine to feed our meditations Psal 143. 5. Psal 119. 148. Psal 63. 6. on the morning of the Sabbath Viz. 1. Let us meditate on the God of the Sabbath 2. On the Sabbath of God These two superlative objects are like mount Hor and mount Nebo where Moses and Aaron took their prospects Numb 33. 38. Deut. 32. 49. before they were conveighed to the mountane of Spices we Cant. 8. 14. will handle them distinctly And 1. Let us meditate on the God of the Sabbath Indeed this Divine and admirable object takes up the views and contemplations of holy Angels and the inhabitants of glory Mat. 18. 10. who spend eternity in beholding God face to face But yet some glances we may have of this soveraign being by holy Cor. 13. 12. and spiritual meditation CHAP. XVI God is most glorious in his essence and nature LEt us meditate on the essence of God He is an infinite being the fulness of Heaven the mirrour of Angels Exod. 15. 11. Creasti nos domine propter te et irrequietum est cor nostrum donec perveniat ad te August the delight of Saints so glorious in himself that he is onely perfectly known by himself God is an Ocean of goodness a fountaine of life a spring of grace a father of mercies mans center to which he must come before he find quietation or rest for his soul He is so infinitely glorious that he must be described by removing from him what he is not rather then by asserting what he is The eyes of Angels are too weak to behold him and must make use of a vail alittle to remit De deo dicisacilius potest quid non sit quam quid sit Rivet the beams of his glory Our knowledge of him is onely borrowed from his own discoveries Let us then meditate on The everlastingness of his nature He is the antient of dayes He was before time was fledged and had either wing Dan. 7. 9 22. Psal 102. 28 Psal 29. 9. Rev. 4. 8. Rom. 16. 26. Isa 57. 15. Psal 90. 2 or feather His duration admits neither of beginning or ending God is the first and eternal being He did shine in perfections before the
and rule of all Laws and Laws are so far just good and equal as they accord with the Divine A primâ veritate quae est deus dependent omnes veritates Law So every thing is true as it is consentaneous and conformable to the Counsels and Will of God to that truth which is in the mind of God As Ambrose observes No man can call Jesus Lord but in and by the Holy Ghost because whatsoever is true by whomsoever it is spoken it is from the holy spirit All truth flows from the spirit as all lies are from Satan he is the Father of them God is immutably and unchangeably true Man runs often from truth to errour deceiving and being deceived we often leave the plain way of truth and go into the by-wayes Pulcherrima est veritas per quam immutata quae sunt quae fuerunt et quae futura sunt dicuntur Cic. of errour and mistake The Church in all ages hath had its Pests as well as its Pillars and hath been plagued with an Arrius as well as blessed with an Athanasius Simon Magus hath crept in among the fold of Christ as well as Simon Peter hath had the charge of the flock of Christ And besides truth in us is sometimes more clear sometimes more clouded Our understanding is different and graduate in Amos 3. 6. Jer. 10. 10. Joh. 17. 3. the apprehensions of it But the Lord is alwayes unchangeable in his truth because he is so in his being in his will in his wisdom and other attributes God is not subject either to misapprehensions or recollections God is true in all his works Whither we consider his spiritual operations whom he justifies he not onely freely but truly justifies not onely reprieves but pardons suspends Isa 46. 10. Rom. 11. 29. his execution but makes him heir of life and salvation If God call us he doth it truly and effectually not by Rom. 8. 30. a pretended invitation but by a powerfull and successfull vocation The Apostle links predestination and vocation together in the same chain Whom God regenerates he doth truly convert to himself giveth them true faith and the blessed graces of his holy spirit And so in the works of his hands Angels are glorious and real spirits Man is a noble and a true creature resembling the God of truth and bearing his image he is no fantasm no spectrum as some Gen. 1. 26. hereticks in the primitive times asserted of the body of Christ God made all things very good Gen. 1. 31. and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no mixture of false semblance embased their worth The Creatures are real according to their appearances The world is no dream or fantastick landskip God is true in his words He is true in the incarnate word Christ is the true Son of God not suppositious not the Son of Joseph but the Son of God He was truly 1 Joh. 1. Joh. 7. 40. Heb. 5. 10. Joh. 12. 15. Col. 2. 9. Psal 19. 8. God and truly Man a true Prophet a true Priest a true King 1 Joh. 5. 20. And Christ calls himself the truth Joh. 14. 6. God is likewise true in every word which the Prophets or Apostles have pronounced or laid down for Joh. 18. 31. Joh 18 37. Mat. 5. 18. Rom. 3. 4. our advice and instruction truth is an indelible character of the Scriptures In his Word God is true in every particle of it in every tittle of it Mat. 5. 18. And therefore as the Apostle saith Let God be true and every man a lyar Rom. 3. 4. Christ asserts he spoke nothing but the words of truth and he left heaven to converse with the Sons of men to bear testimony to the truth Joh. 8. 40. Joh. 8. 40. God is true in his donations He gives us true happiness true grace puts in us a principle of truth God writes us true Eph. 4. 30. Mundi bona sunt fugacia et falsa sed Christus robis confert spiritualia et aeterna spiritum sanctum et vitam aeternam Ger. pardons seals us by a spirit of truth to the day of redemption give us true knowledge fills us with true joy and sweetens our souls with real and true consolations He enriches us with true riches Luke 16. 11. The profers of the world are false and evanid false shews and counterfeit satisfaction But all true complacencies and delights are to be found in Christ and are treasured up in God God is true in his promises Those breasts which yield better liquor then wine those flowers which smell sweeter then Promissiones habent ubera verè vino meliora et magis fragrantia unguentis optimis Bern. the choycest oyntments as Bernard saith sweeter then the flowers of Paradise All the promises in Christ are Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. They are all established in him as a strâ—â—â—ure built upon a sure foundaâ—ion Indeed the Lord is abundant in truth Exod. 34. 6. He is encompassed with truth as with a girdle Isa 11. 5 6. He is plenteous in 2 Cor. 1. 20. Exod. 34. 6. Isa 11. 5 6. Psal 86. 15. Psal 100. 5. Psal 91. 4. Psal 117. 2. Psal 146. 6. truth Psal 86. 15. Ready to write truth in our inward parts He is eternal in truth he is holy and true in this generation and so he will be in the next Psal 100. 5. He is preservative in his truth his truth is both shield and buckler Psal 91. 4. So that truth is not onely Gods glorious attribute but mans sure defence We must meditate on the Love of God This is that influential attribute which sets God on work His love sets his eye on pittying his head on contriving his hand on acting his heart on melting God out of love sent his Son Joh. 3. 16. Joh. 3. 19. out of his bosome scatters his Gospel in the world that light which is more glorious then the Sun In love God saith Ezek. 16. 6. to the sinner live Ezek. 16. 6. seeketh after enemies for reconciliation 2 Cor. 5. 19. and makes clods of earth and 2 Cor. 5. 19. poor worms heirs of salvation Heb. 1. 14. But for the further Heb. 1. 14. discovery of this sweet attribute we must search for it in its properties it may be discerned in its characters though not in its cause Now there are divers explanatory characters of divine love The love of God is eternal love Gods love to poor man had no beginning there never was any time when the heart 2 Tim. 1. 9. Jer 31. 3. Hos 11. 9. Apostolus tempora secularia vult quae simul cum seculo et mundo fluere et volui caeperunt sed ante tempora secularia quod ante mundi constitutionem ante temporis et mundi origineÌ„ est Ansel of God was not set upon a Saint He loved him in his futurition when the believer was to be a child of God
release or redemption Sin is not expiated but by blood and not by the blood of a Ram a Bullock or a Goat but by the blood of him who was God as well as Man Acts 20. 28. and therefore our Saviour expostulates the case What shall a man give in exchange for his soul Suppose he should pick Mat. 16. 26. up the excellencies of the whole Universe and sacrifice them for the souls redemption will they be accepted Surely no. When the Captive is rescued by force from his thraldom as Israel was from their Aegyptian Task-masters as by a Proâ—â—e verè Christus vocatur redemptor noster quia ut frater noster primogenitus dato pretio redemit fratres suos Zanch. mighty hand and a stretched-out arm as Lot was by the prowess and valour of Abraham and his company Gen. 14. 16. But this is not the way of our Redemption we are rescued not by killing but by dying not by giving wounds but by receiving them When the Captive is bought with a price And this is our case Empti redempti sumus We are bought we are re-bought or redeemed as the primitive Christians sung it out 1 Cor. 6. 20. Quanto sibi pretio deus nos sibi comparavit scil sanguine suo Alap usually and triumphantly but by what price are we bought Not by furnisht mines which are the rich linings of the earth but by the large effusions of spotless and chrystalline blood Let us meditate on the slaveries from which we are redeemed There are four Cardinal Miseries from which our blessed Redeemer hath rescued us From the slavery of Satan Christ in managing the work of our Redemption hath trod Satan not onely under his own Dâ—o in cruce affixi intelliguntur Christus visibilitèr sponte suâ ad tempus Diâ—bolus invisibilitèr invitus in perpetuum Fidei ergooculus conspicit Christum in summitate crucis quasi in curru triumphali sedentem Diabolum in imâ parte cruci alligâ—tum et Christi pedibus conculcâ—tum Orig. feet but under our feet Rev. 16. 20. By death he hath conquered him who had the power of death which is the Devil Heb. 2. 14. It is true even still Satan tempts but not triumphs over the Saints his conflicts are for the tryal of our grace but not for the trampling upon our souls he may raise a dust but not give a mortal wound to the poor believer Luk. 22. 32. he may sift us but not sink us he may winnow us but not win us Christ hath redeemed us from his destructive power It is a rare speech of Origen There were two fastned to Christs Cross Christ visibly of his own accord for a time the Devil invisibly unwilling and for ever therefore the eye of faith may behold Christ at the top of the Cross as sitting in a triumphant Chariot the Devil at the bottom of it bound and trampled upon by the feet of Christ Look upon Satan as a Serpent Gen. 3. 1. Christs death took away his sting as far as concerns believers Look upon Satan as a Dragon Rev. 20. 2. Christs death cut off his tail Gen. 3. 1. and look upon Satan as a roaring Lion Christs death dashed Rev. 20. 2. out his teeth and made his paw unserviceable 1 Pet. 5. 8. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law so the Apostle fully and elegantly Col. 2. 14. Blotting out the Subnectit Apostolus ipsum châ—â—ographum esse deletâ—m sed fortâ—sse non tam deletum quin pâ—ssâ—tâ—lis nova suboriri Addit igitur Apossolus in super sublatum esse sed fortâ—sse aliquid lâ—tet absconditum et in posterum proferri possit immo inquit Apostolus est cruci affixum dilaceratum et in frusta absâ—â—ssum Daven Gal. 3. 13. Gal. 4. 5 Christus emendo nos exemit dato pretio et in christianam vindicavit libertatem Eras hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross And Bishop Davenant descants most sweetly upon that Text The Apostle saith he proceeds here in a most pleasing gradation and consults the case of trembling consciences for saith the Apostle the hand-writing was blotted out but answers the doubting Christian but new controversies may arise the Apostle adds but it is taken away but replyes the doubting Christian but some other may lie hid and be brought to light hereafter therefore saith the Apostle The hand-writing is nailed to Christs Cross it is rent and torn to pieces by the same nails by which Christ was pierced and fastned to the Cross Indeed the Law is now Directory but not Damnatory to the believer his rule but not his ruine his glass to see himself in but not his rock to dash himself upon The Apostle avers Gal. 3. 13. that we are redeemed from the curse of it The Law is our Copy but it cannot be our curse we may steer by its purity but believers cannot fall by its power Gal. 4. 5. The Law is our Teacher but not our Task-master we are delivered from the tyrannical domination though not from the guidance and sacred instruction of it we may be advised but we viz. believers shall never be endangered by it Christ hath redeemed us from the power and destructiveness of sin A believer may mourn over the spot but he shall not Rom. 6. 2. 12. Christus meritò fuit percussus non suo sed alieno peâ—cato nos illum attrivimus nos illum â—ulneravimus qui illi nostra peccata tanti dolâ—ris causam tanti cruciatus materiam attulimus Riv. fall under the weight of sin Sin may abide in but not reign over a Saint it may be his grief but not his condemnation Rom. 8. 1. Christ hath redeemed us from the destroying though not from the disturbing power of sin He hath redeemed us from all iniquity Tit. 2. 14. He hath purchased our forgiveness Eph. 1. 7. so in the Col. 1. 14. In whom we have redemption through his bloud even the forgiveness of sins And it is observable there are two Texts of Scripture viz. Eph. 1. 7. and Col. 1. 14. which speak the same thing in the same words which is unusual that by the mouth of two witnesses this great truth may be confirmed Our pardons are written in Christs bloud 1 Joh. 1. 7. And so most 1 Joh. 1. 7. excellently the Apostle Peter speaking of Christ saith Who 1 Pet. 2. 24. Christus spirituales nâ—stros moâ—bos sâ—nâ—vit â—t inâ—â— recepit â—â—â—â—llerit et aâ—â—leret neâ—pe per imputationem et paenae persolutionem Riv. his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree Now if Christ hath born our sins then they are taken from us our souls must not die for them they are his charge and not our condemnation So then the Inâ—itement of sin cannot reach the believer the guilt of sin cannot cast him the power
the manner of our seeing God whether with the eyes of our body or onely with the eyes of our minds or whether as some with our bodily eyes spiritualized I shall not intricate my self in these mazes of dispute but onely conclude our sight of God will be glorious full perfect ravishing everlasting and will run parallel with our eternal Sabbath Our Sabbath here resembles our Sabbath above in the rest of it To work upon our Christian Sabbath is to defile it our sweat is our sin the pains we must take on this holy day is not with our hands but with our hearts The brain indeed must work but in holy meditation the tongue must work but in prayer and supplication the heart must work but in ardent and holy affection our faith must work but in seasonable application in apprehending Christ and entertaining Truth But as for secular works they must be Operum humanorum duo sunt genera unum est licitorum in se alterum est illicitorum licita sunt necessaria honesta utilia in rebus humanis Illicita sunt noxia inhonesta et superflua Quae in Sabbatâ— prohibentur non sunt in se idicita sed quae alitèr sunt omninò licita ut appareat prohiberi operas domesti eas necessariaâ— et honestas 〈◊〉 utilos quideâ— in se verùm ad sanctificationem Sabbati omninò incommodas Muscul wholly suspended and laid aside on the Lords day To work upon the Sabbath 1. It is a sacrilegious act it robs God of his time that season which God hath principally set apart to converse with men The Sabbath is the Lords day it is none of ours it is his inclosure none of our Common and therefore to spend his day or any part of it about our works it is both sin and sacriledge Secondly It is a confusing Act Six dayes we must work if we likewise work on the Sabbath where is the distinction Then there will be no wall of separation all will be working dayes and there is no day of rest and so the fourth Commandment is a meer parenthesis and God wrote with his own finger a meer impertinency To what a height of frenzy will these consequencies rise There is no gold of a Sabbath to be found in the rubbish of the week why should any rubbish of the week be found among the gold of a Sabbath Thirdly It is a destructive act It robs the soul of its sweetest opportunity Christ is most principally to be spoken with by the soul on his own day this day is set apart for intercourse with heaven it is the term time of the soul a busie time for his affairs and therefore to spend any of this time in secular works what is it but to pluck the bread out of the mouth of the soul and to throw fire-brands into the believers harvest Fourthly It is an Irreligious Act below the devotion of the very Heathens who have kept a Sabbath as a rest It is recorded in Heathen Stories That their Boyes go not to School on the Sabbath day neither are humane Arts and Sciences then taught or disputed And Philo Judaeus observes Quae operasabbato facienda deus prohibuerit illud non solùm ex aliis scripurae locis sed ex praecepti hujus verbis colligitur non facies ullum opus scil servile quod publici ministerii partes et cultum divinum impediat Morale enim et perpetuum est opera illa prohiberi quae publici ministerii exercitium impediant Interim tamen opera illa quae ad culium dei dilectionem proximi et vitae necessitatem pertinent non sunt prohibito â—â—r de leg 〈◊〉 That divers poor people that never had Scripture or Prophet among them but followed onely the conduct of the light of Nature and what they had learned from their Ancestours did keep the Sabbath day And Clemens Alexandrinus tells us that the very Heathens did account the seventh day a holy day And that Alexander Severus Emperour of Rome though a Pagan and an Infidel yet every Sabbath day he retired from his warlike affairs and went up into the Capitol to worship the Gods Musculus calls All secular and servile works the impediments of Sabbath-holiness And indeed they are that dirt which stops up the water-course of grace that it cannot run out upon the soul It is very observable in the time of the Law how severely God prohibits working upon the Sabbath First He puts a prohibition in the fourth Commandment that Standard of our obedience in the observation of the Sabbath Thâ—u shalt do no manner of work Exod. 20. 10. and these words are repeated Deut. 5. 14. That by the mouth of two Witnesses this truth may be established And Secondly From the root of this great Command sprouts many additional injunctions not to work upon the Sabbath Exod 31. 14 15. Exod. 35. 2. Lev. 23. 3. Thirdly Nay Servile work is so inconsistent with the solemn feast of the Sabbath that God forbids all servile works on other festivals those solemnities of an inferiour nature On the dayes of the Pass-over Lev. 23. 7. On the dayes of Expiation Lev. 29. 23. Lev. 23. 28 29 30. On the feast of Tabernacles Lev. 23. 34 35. And surely if inferiour dayes of observation were defiled by secular works much more the blessed Sabbath in which the people of God must keep their meetings in the Suburbs of Heaven Fourthly How often doth God espouse Sabbath and Rest together as indivisible Exod. 16. 23. Exod. 31. 15. Exod. Sabbatum est sanctum otium 35. 2. And indeed holy Rest is the life of a Sabbath and if the Sabbath rest be disturbed it faints away and becomes Leid Prof. an unprofitable miscellany of rest and labour and an expiring dying priviledge Fifthly How severely doth God threaten the disturbers of the Sabbath rest God threatens them to throw them out of the Church Exod. 31. 14. Nay to throw them out of the world Exod. 31. 15. And brands such as are violatours of his Covenant Exod. 31. 16. And shall Rest be so necessary for the legal and not as convenient for the Evangelical Sabbath Surely much more the Lords day must not be disturbed by mans work but as Christ on the first day of the week rose from his toyle to his triumph so must Christians on that sanctified day lay aside all their worldly toyle and labours and take up their triumph and rejoycing in God spending those golden hours of the Sabbath in heavenly Communion sweetly delighting themselves in the visits of their beloved to which all labour is a disturbance and so our Sabbath above it is a perfect an undisturbed rest Cessat homo ab omni opere die Sabbati futuram sanctorum requiem significans quâ—ndo laboribus hujus vitae liberati et sudore carporis de terso beatam cum Christo et jucundissimam vitam agemus Ambr. in which the mind shall not be rackt with
Father before we go to the Psal 119. 27. publick Ordinances on the blessed Sabbath Rev. 3. 18. Secondly As we must pray that God would take away the scales from our eyes so likewise that he would remove the caul from our hearts that he would open our hearts to receive the word Judgment discerns truth but affection embraceth it Indeed the understanding takes a view of Gods word and finds it to be holy just and good Rom. 7. 12. But the heart entertains it and lays it up as its choicest Luke 2. 19. treasure A poor man goes by a Goldsmiths shop and seeth Mandata dei sancta sunt quia praescribunt quomodo deus sanctè colâ— debet justa quia praescribunt ut proximum non laedas sed ei quoâ— suum est tribuns bona quia praescribunt eâ— quibus quisque in se bonus est Alap Nisi Sp. s cordi sit audientis otiosus est Sermo Doctoris Greg. Money Jewels and Plate but he is not enriched by this wealth and a traveller in his journey takes a view of pleasant Lands delicate Mountains and amiable Prospects but his own Tenure is not amplified by all that he seeth So our judgment views truth and is convinced of its beauty and excellency but the heart only espouses the blessed truths of God and makes them his own to all intents and purposes Gospel discoveries are no riches till they are locked up in the heart and therefore God must be intreated for this thing for he that opens the eye must open the heart or else when the Sermon is done all the Prospect is over and we are not at all the better Lydia's attending was unavailable untill God opened her heart Arts 16. 14. The Apostle speaks of receiving truth in the love thereof 2 Thes 2. 10. Truth is pleasant to the Understanding but profitable to the Will Then the Gospel advantageth us when the Doctrine of it is not only the guide of our eye but the good of our heart It is love and affection which squeezeth the Grapes of truth and maketh it generous wine to the soul Where Acts 2. 37. the word Preached by Peter wrought upon the Jews it Christimors morita sacramenta praecepta promissa licet incredulis pudorismâ— et risui tamen nobis virtus dei et potentia pricked them to the heart Acts. 2. 37. If we buy the truth as Solomon adviseth us Prov. 23. 23. the heart must be the Chapman If we taste the word 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. the heart must be the Palate we then rellish truth when we affect it If we delight in truth Psal 119. 47. It is the joy and the rejoycing of the heart as Jeremy speaks Jer. 15. 16. A learned man observes It is the love of truth which is one of those graces which accompany Salvation Therefore on the morning of a Sabbath let us importune the Lord to engage our hearts in the service of truth and for the entertainment of it he who searches must draw the heart Rom. 1. 16. Thirdly Let us wrestle with God for the strengthning of our memories that he would make them pillars of Marble to write divine truth on It is very sad when heavenly Doctrines are written in sand or dust and after our hearing of them they run out again as the sands in the hour glass sad it is that truth which cost so dear should be lost so soon If God is so gracious to keep a book of remembrance for our discourses Mal. 3. 16. how serious should we be to keep a book of remembrance for Gospel discoveries It is most reasonable that those truths which were bought with Christs bloud should be wrought on our hearts Indeed in this case Jonah 2. 8. to forget our mercies is to forsake them How earnest was the Apostle Peter that the Saints might not forget those Doctrines which he â—ad preached how doth he reduplicate his care and their duty 2 Pet. 1. 12 13. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of 2 Pet. 1. 12 13 15. these things yea I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance And so in the fifth verse Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance Thus this blessed Apostle again and again stirs up and urges their mindfulness and remembrance of those Gospel truths he had discovered to them and presses that the Gospel might not die with them when he was dead and gone Our memories are naturally sieves of vanity and therefore need divine assistance to close up the chinks and stop the holes that the waters of life run not out in waste Indeed mans memory is never so usefull as in the time of Ordinances it is then a sacred Register and a holy repository like 1 Cor. 4. 17. the Ark where the two Tables in which the Decalogue was written were put and lodged After a good heart and 2 Tim. 2. 14. a good life nothing more conduceth to mans happiness then a good memory Forgetfulness is the grave of Gods truth 1 Tim. 4. 6. and mans treasure what I forget I can neither dwell upon by meditation nor feed upon by love and affection nor live upon in a holy and fruitful conversation Forgotten promises cannot support my faith forgotten commands cannot regulate my life forgotten truths cannot enrich my mind Forgetfulness is never happy but when injury is the object when we bury our injuries in that silent sepulchre One glorious office of the spirit is to bring things divine to our remembrance John 16. 26. and to fasten truth upon the Spiritus sanctus non solùm ut sciamus Author est sed ut verè sapiamus Doctor est ut beati simus intimae suavitatis largitor est Aug. soul we should therefore be earnest with God on the morning of a Sabbath to cause his spirit to execute this blessed office For though in preaching of the word the Mysteries of the Gospel are propounded to us yet it is the spirit must open our minds to understand the word else it will be a book sealed as the Prophet speaks Isa 29. 11. It is the spirit must give us wisdom to apply the word Eph. 1. 17 18. It is the spirit must support our memory to retain the word A learned man observes The Holy Ghost performs his office Isa 29. 11. not only by revealing truth to us but by imprinting it upon us Else the sounding of the Gospel will be like the sounding of Eph. 1. 18. a Clock after it hath struck a little noise there is for the present but it ceases by degrees and at last no sound at all is heard In a word forgetful hearers go from Ordinances Spiritus Sanctus apud nos officium suum peragit non solùm docendo sed et suggerendo just
partakers of And indeed none but a corrupt heart would chain up holy discourse upon the Lords day that heavenly season when gracious words should be our dialect If the word of God dwell richly in us Col. 3. 16. Inhabitants will not always keep within doors we shall bring forth our treasure for the enriching and edifying of others And let us not excuse our selves with a pretence of shamefastness The shame of the world will not keep us from vain why then from godly discourse Sweet and spiritual communication Christiani in primaevâ ecclesiae aetaie non tam caenà m caenabant quà m diciplinam Tertul. Apol. c. 39. is none of those fruits whereof we may be ashamed Rom. 6. 21. Nor let ignorance be alledged for an excuse ignorance it self might induce thee to propound things profitable which will feed good discourse the Question will beget an answer and the Answer will bring forth a progeny of heavenly communion But in a word what do our tables especially on the Lords day without savory and Christian discourse differ from a manger After our meal our dinner is over then follows not onely the digestion of our food but of the word that better food John 6. 27. Verùm non publicè modo sed privatim hunc ipsum diem sanctâ— pietatis officiiâ— qualia sunt sacrae Scripturae lectio et meditatio domestica colloquium de rebus sacris atque charitatis officiis transigendum censemus Leid Prof. which nourisheth unto eternal life and this will be the best wine at the end of our meal John 2. 10. We must repeat over discourse over pray over that word we hear in the Morning in the publick Congregation Indeed Truth is most pleasing when most tasted David calls the word Honey Psalm 19. 10. and honey pleases not the eye but the palate it is better food then prospect Then the word doth its work not when it is onely heard but when it is ruminated on and is not onely discovered but digested it then doth most good to us when it is riveted in us fastned nails help forward the building not those which lye loose up and down when we work Gods word upon our hearts this is like inlaid Gold which makes the richest embroydery Hearing may bring a truth to the head but meditation and a careful pondering works it into the heart It is the seething of Milk makes the Cream The Bee sucks the flowr and then works it in his Hive and makes honey of it Satan himself is called an Angel of light 2 Cor. 11. 14. He knows very much It is not truth in the head but riveted fastned and setled in the heart which speaks us to be translated from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God Acts 26. 18. Chrysostome in one of his excellent Homilies upon Matthew layes it as a charge upon Christians That when we depart from the Ecclesiastical Assembly we should not in any case entangle our selves in businesses of a contrary nature but as soon as we come home turn over the holy Scriptures and call our wives and children to confer about those things which were delivered in publick and after they have been deeply rooted in our minds then to proceed to provide for those things which are necessary for this life And the same worthy Father makes the Similitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Sciendum est quòd non sufficit ut concionibus dei sabbati attendaâ—us et doctrinam bonam recipiamus et ut nomen dei invocemus sed ut haec omnia digeramus et ad hanc rem ipsi quoque transformemur Calv. Acts 17. 11. Si detis operam verbo ut inde pietatem et omnem salutiseram sapientiam discatis Haec est meta studii nostri et sic instruamur expenâ—â— scripturarum Daven Psal 119. 15 23 48 78 148 97 99. When saith he we retire from Fields in their beauty and flourish we bring some Rose or Violet home with us And when we come from a goodly Supper we bring some remaines of those dainties and give them to our friends And when we have been in publick Ordinances shall we not bring some doctrine and heavenly admonition to our wives friends ad children when this doctrine is more profitable then the flowers of the field or the dainties of the Table Heavenly Truths are Roses which will not shed fruits which will not perish and delicacies which will not corrupt c. So then the word which we hear in the publick Assemblies that heavenly food must be concocted it must be walked down by holy Meditation staked down by good and seasonable Communication fastned upon the soul by holy musing and ardent Prayer The seed in the ground brings forth grain not the seed upon the top of the clods The digested word will bring forth twins delight and obedience Women when they dress themselves they do not walk by the Looking-glass but set themselves before it and spend some time in fastning every pin onely to hear the Word is but to walk by the Glasse but repetition discourse prayer and contemplation must fasten every truth upon the soul and so it will look amiable and beautiful The clean beasts chew the cud Levit 11. 3. The careful Christian will whet the word upon his own and as much as may â—e upon anothers heart The Bereans obtained the title of Noble not from hearing but examination of the VVord not for any thing they did in the publick Assembly but from what they did at home The winnowed Corn is fit for use when it hath passed the Flail and the Fan. The Word digested is fit for practice when it hath passed the meditation of the head the discussion and discourse of the tongue the pondering and the laying up of the heart The hearing of the Word onely is but a beautiful Prospect which is delectable but not durable but the weighing of the VVord in the scales of judgment the beating of it out by the labours of the minde makes it a rich treasure and a stock of divine counsel for the life to spend upon The Psalmist no lesse then seven times in one Psalm professes that the Law was his meditation he did not run over the beauty of it with a glance of his eye or pass over the musique of it as the playing of a tune and so lay aside the Instrument but his thoughts did dwell upon it as the Scholar upon his books Let us as our Saviour saith go and do so likewise and let us remember that on Gods blessed Day and on Gods blessed VVord our Luke 10. 37. work is much at home in our Families and with our hearts Let us spend the interval between the Morning and Evening worship in publique in holy prayer Prayer is suitable to every division of a Sabbath It doth not onely prepare Homines sunt instar terrae cursemen verbi dei committitur quaeque culturá ministerii praeparata
pluvia coelestis gratiae ad fructificandumirrigatur Par. us for publick duties but succeeds those publick ordinances to us It is like a good wind which doth not onely carry us off from the shore but goes along with us the whole Voyage it is a sweet duty which must be interwoven in every part of a Sabbath Prayer plows the heart for the seed of the VVord it commands rain to prosper that seed it secundates and ripens the Corn when it appears above-ground and it keeps the weeds from choaking the Corn It doth the whole work When we have been in publick with Psalm 109. 4. God Private prayer in Christ is the Altar which sanctifies the gift and Prayer in this interval of holy worship looks with a double aspect backward to what we have heard and forward to what we may hear indeed in this being like Heb. 4. 12. the Word a two-edged Sword it hath a double edge for our spiritual advantage Now our Prayer is like the sword at the east of the Garden of Eden which turned every way Acts 2. 27. Prayer in the Closet often saves us the labours of the Pulpit Jer. 23. 29. and directs the speech of the Minister to prick the Jer. 20. 9. 1 Cor. 3. 2. heart of the hearer Ananias came to Paul when he was praying Acts 9. 11. If the Word be an hammer it is prayer causes the stroke if the Word be fire it is prayer layes this fire on our hearths if the VVord be a sword it is prayer weilds this Sword to wound our lusts and corruptions In a word private prayer is the best meanes to prosper publick preaching and to guide the arrow of truth to hit the mark of Conscience Another Duty which must take up the space between the publick Ordinances is reading theÌ„ Scriptures VVhen we come home from the publick we must not be confined to the Scripturae sunt spiritualis aniae mensa in quá vivae representantur deliciae et maxima bona Anselm inclosure of the Ministers Sermon but we must open to the wide though pleasant Common of the whole book of God we must read some Chapters for spiritual edification Anselme used to call the Scriptures the spiritual Table of the soul furnished with all heavenly delicacies and with the choicest good things And on Gods holy day when our own table is taken away Let this spread-table be set before us for soul-feeding and repose Every Chapter which may be read is an Epitome of divine Truth which may Si quando procacior suit inimicus Psaltorium decantabat In tentationibus Deutero â—ii verba voluebat In tribulationibus Isaiae replicabat eloquia et scripturae testimonium in consolationem suam edisserebat Hierom. train up our children and influence our servants and which may build up our own souls and water every branch of the Family for spiritual growth in the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord Phil. 3. 8. Hierome reports of Paula that he used the Scriptures as a Medicine against every disease If her enemies were violent she would turn over the Psalmes If her temptations were strong she would fix upon some part of Deuteronomy If her afflictions were forcible then she consulted some part of the Prophesie of Isaiah and so she drew the Scriptures into an universal comfort to her The VVord of God is our light to guide us Psalm 119. 105. And that family where the Scriptures are much read is a Goshen of light and pleasantness where Israel resides and inhabits when other habitations are covered with Aegyptian darkness with the darkness of sin and ignorance Governours of Families are the best stewards not onely when they lay in provisions from the Market Luke 12. 42. but when they bring forth spiritual food from the Scriptures by reading conscionably and constantly those Oracles of Rom. 3. 2. God to those under their roof for holy Job confidently asserts that the word is more necessary than the appointed food Acts 20 27. Job 23. 12. Let therefore the interval between the publick worship be filled up with holy travel in the counsels of God Scripturas non obiter inspicia nus et legamus ut externum corticem tantùm accipiamus sed adhibenda est diligens perscrutatio Chemnit recorded in Scripture Our Saviour imputed all the sottish mistakes of the Jews to their ignorance of the Scripture Mat. 22. 29. and lays it as a charge upon them to search the Scriptures Joh. 5. 39. But it must not be as Chemnitius observes a transient glance but a serious search as Miners for Gold with pains and delight So then it is a great part of wisdom in Families to converse much with Gods word but especially on Gods day and most peculiarly when the most solemn and publick worship doth not call them off CHAP. XXXIV How we must spend the Evening of the Sabbath when the Publick Assemblies are dismissed THere are many who will give an easie answer to the question Nos ab omni opere externo vacantes deo uni et soli hoc die vacemus Ideireò et hunc diem benedixit et sanctificavit i. e. in usum suum separavit et elegit Aret. Eph. 4. 20. proposed and will tell us that when the publick service is ended we have our free liberty for all pleasing Recreations we may exercise our skil in a pair of Bowles we may exercise our valour in a pair of Cudgels we may exercise our fancy in a Dance or a Barly-break But all the reply I shall make this being spoken to before is I hope we have not so learned Christ Now therefore my next task is to lay down those duties with which we may close Gods holy and blessed day We must carefully survey what we have been acquainted withall in the publick The Repetition of Sermons is a heart-penetrating and soul-edifying duty the very manuduction Quod toties Paulus eadèm scribit hoc est ad corroborandum ut Christiani sint tutiores cautiores et vigilantiores Alap John 6. 12. and leading of families into the fear of the Lord Holy truths are those divine fragments which must not be lost but gathered up by a faithful repetition When the Minister hath ended to preach we must begin to rehearse such repetitions being the musical ecchoes from that sweet voice we heard before If Paul thought it not grievous to write the same things which he had taught before Phil. 3. 1. We must not think it painful or impertinent to rehearse the same things which we have learned before The repedting of 1 Sam. 3. 10. Quaevis cogitationes et rationes naturales intellectus quantumvis artificiosae quantum vis sublime subjiciantur doctrinae Evangelicae et de facto subjectae sunt omnibus eadem doctrinâ conversis Mal. 13. 19. truth preacht casts a new light upon it it clincheth Gospel counsel the faster upon the heart and
the same Augustin averres Chrysostom assures us That the words of Ipse de cantatorum psalmorum Davidicorum verba inter canendum prolata recenset Chrysost Homil. de verbis Isai 1. lib. 5. Davids Psalms were the constant matter which was sung that which did feed the voyce and the rejoycing of Christians in his time Thus singing of Psalms was the usual and commendable practice of the golden times of the Church And sing to the Lord Psalm 47. 6. must be the command which must lead us up and down a Sabbath and especially put an Higgaion Selah upon the close of it Now for our more comfortable management of this heavenly service and spiritual recreation we must consider Singing of Psalmes hath excellent Presidents That service is much sweetned which is exemplified by the best Patterns We have the best of Persons going before us in this Job 38. 7. way of holy delight The Morning stars of the Church have sung together Heb. 2. 10. 1. Christ himself the Captain of our sanctification as well as our salvation hath gone before us in this holy practice he sang a Hymn with his Apostles Mat. 26. 30. He sang with the Apostles to shew us that Psalms are calculated not onely for the publick Congregations but private Families He sang not with the multitude but with the Disciples And Christ sang in the Evening to evidence that the Evening of his own day is the most fit season for this heavenly duty And he sang immediatly before he suffered Hymni sunt laudes dei cum cantico Et si sit laus non dei non est hymnus si sit laus dei et non cantetur non est hymnus Oportet ergo ut sit hymnus habeat haec tria et laudem et dei et canticum August Psalmi Davidici sunt sacri hymni Philo. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Archimusico vincenti praecentori cui cura est de re musicà instatque ut ad debitum finem perducatur Prefecto cantorum Occurrit in Psalmis 35 vicibus Bithn to seal this Ordinance with his blood And if it be Queried what Hymn Christ sang Learned Expositors are various in their opinions and shoot so much at Rovers that I shall not stay to take up their arrows But it is not without remark that Augustin gives us the full and rare description of an Hymn which may help us in this case Hymns saith he are the praises of God set forth in singing If it be praise and not of God it is no hymn And if it be praise of God and these praises are not sung it is not an Hymn And therefore if it be an Hymn it must have these three things It must be praise the praise of God and that with a song Christ then was versed in this holy practice and so the Holy Ghost pens a Psalm for the Sabbath viz. the 92 Psalm that as there is the Lords Prayer to guide us in that holy duty so there i◠the Lords Psalm too to excite and stir us up in this feraphical Service 2. Godly Princes have glorified God in this duty 2 Chro. 29. 30. David composes Psalmes and Hezekiah commands them to be sung The chief Magistrate joynes with the chief Musician And he that takes the Scepter in his hand to govern the people he likewise takes the Harp in his hand to sing the praises of the Lord Psalm 98. 5. David and Asaph Hezekiah and the Levites all joyn to sing forth the praises of God There was among the Jews a Prefect of songs as well as a Governour of the People 3. The Holy Apostles those bright luminaries of the Church they have made this musick in their Sphears Acts 16. 25. Paul and Silas sang praises to God in their Exod. 15. 1. darkest Dungeon though their feet were their tongues were not in the stocks 4. Eminent Fathers Some have been cited already to give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Quest 117. ad Orthodoxos in their testimony to the praise and practice of this duty I will onely superadd one more One most worthy among the worthiest famous Basil who thus discants upon singing of Psalmes Look whatever is profitably dispersed throughout the whole Scriptures the same is gathered together Est Psalmus animarum tranquillitas Pacis Arbiter optimarum disciplinarum promptuarium Psalmus turbas et fluctus cogitationum compescit iracundiam mollit est elementum incipientibus incrementum proficientibus c. Basil in the Book of the Psalmes and therefore this Book of Psalmes was preserved that those who are Children in years or altogether young in manners might in shew sing in meeter but in truth might instruct their own souls the instructions of the Psalmes being sung both at home and abroad A Psalm brings quietness to the mind is a peace-maker repressing the perturbations and passions of the mind it doth mollifie anger and procure love and friendship among men suggesting unto the mind a certain concord and a common bond to unite men together and compelling men to the harmony of one Quire A Psalm is instruction to the ignorant an increase to them that profit and one voice of the whole Church This doth beautifie solemnities and causes Godly sorrow for Psalms do pull tears out of the most stony hearts Thus far the Renowned Father launches forth in the praise of Psalmes Ho◠institutum in hodierum diem retentum Aug. Confes that spiritual incense as he is pleased to call them And from the Primitive Church this heavenly service hath been propagated down to our very times This duty like the Sun which runs through the several signs of the Zodiack hath passed the tempers and dispositions of every Age. Singing of Psalms hath not onely excellent presidents but enforcing reasons The Psalmist saith It is a good thing to sing unto our God Psal 47. 1. This duty being like a fruitfull Cloud in the Summer season which is not onely our screen against the heat but melts into a showre for the earths refreshing It doth not onely make a Canopy for us to keep of the scorching Sun but makes a draught for the ground to satisfie its parching thirst So we do not onely magnifie God in singing of Psalms but we solace our selves and put our Josh 6. 20. own hearts into a spiritual delight This duty is much to Edification Our souls are built up as the walls of Jericho were pulled down by loud sounding forth the praises of the Lord while we praise God we engage him and as holy musicians after we have drawn our tongues and hearts into the Quire we shall have our reward The Apostle advises Cum hilaritati inservimus aedificationis et utilitatis mutuae memores esse debemus Daven the Ephesians to speak to one another in Psalms Eph. 5. 19. The Christian at the same time carrying on a three-fold design 1. He praises God 2. He works divine truth upon his