figures of Sabbaths the ordinances of them are to us as wells without water lamps withoul Oyle meer shadows of good things we go up from week to week to meet one with another but how seldom do we see God in the company and hereupon Sabbaths come and goe and leave us still as we were the Devil may well enough trust us with such Sabbaths the world may give us leave to go thus before the Lord and be no looser by it Brethren get you into the inner court which on these dayes especially was to be set open Ezek. 46. 1. there is an entry through the house of the Lord that leads in to the heart of the most high get you into that sanctum sanctorum and there let be your rest as often as the morning of that blessed day looks forth upon you get your vessels ready and go you forth to meet the bridegroom open your eyes with these thoughts this is the day which the Lord hath made I will rejoyce and be glad in it climb up betimes and let every duty be a stair by which you ascend to your Lord let divine contemplation let prayers and praises c. be the whole work let the blessings of Divine Communion be the whole expectation of that day and when you find your hearts refreshed with his presence and filled with the company of your God and he sends you away laden with the tokens of his love and with the impress of his face upon your hearts and the relish of his goodness fresh upon your palats when you thus go hot out of the presence of the Lord then you will learn to despise that day of small things with which the World entertains you Shall I forsake my sweetness saith the figtree shall I forsake my fatness saith the Olive and become King over the trees let the bramble take that honour farewell dignities and dominions farewell pomps and pleasures farewell houses and lands I have enough I have seen the face of God 3. It is a day of special provision for Souls whereon the Lord brings forth out of his treasury his spiritual provisions to keep the Soul in heart Hunger-starv'd souldiers are but poor fighters they are the weak souls whom the World hath vanquished Sabbaths are the Souls Market dayes Men have their Markets whence to be supplied with necessaries for their bodies and on this day God keeps a Market for Souls He hath his Milk and his Honey his Wine and his Oyl his Bread and his Water of Life and on this day in special he makes Proclamation Ho every one that thirsteth come to the Waters and he that hath no money Come ye buy and eat yea buy Wine and Milk without money and without price The bread which comes down from Heaven though it be to be had every day our Week-dayes may in their measure be all Sabbaths yet on this day it falls more plentifully The Jews had their corporal Manna on the six dayes and none on the Sabbath but the hidden Manna falls more thin and more sparely on our other dayes and on this day more abundantly They were to gather double on the sixth day that they might have to supply them on the Sabbath but for the Spiritual Manna all our other dayes are to be supply'd from our Sabbath provision A Christian who is not fit to meet the Bridegroom is neither fit to meet his adversary without Oyl in his Lamp T is the great commodity that 's set to sale in this Market Oyle for our vessels Come bring your empty vessels here 's Oyl to fill them The Ordinances which are this day administred are the pipes opened those golden pipes by which the golden Oyl is emptied forth and conveyed down from the living Olive Zech. 4. T is no wonder that men hunger after this world who know no better feeding An Asses head or a kab of Doves dung are of great price when there is no bread 2 King 6. 25. T is for want of bread that worldlings can make such a feast of their Locusts and wild Honey Those that have eaten of the hidden Manna will not lust after Quails the Worlds dainties will come out at their nostrils whose bellies have been filled with this hid treasure Those whom God hath fed in his green Pastures those whom God hath led by his still waters they cannot live in these salt Marishes or stubble fields Those whose souls God hath made well watered Gardens will not need the Pools of the Wilderness It s no wonder that the World beats us when we go for many daies together without making one good meal When our souls are famished into weakness then are we our enemies prey they are the hunger starved sheep that are a prey to Crows and Kytes If Sathan can but keep us low if he can either keep the Manna from falling about our Camps or keep us idle when we should be gathering he may then lead us after his lure at pleasure T is not a little strength that will suffice us against his great temptations and t is not a little bread by which we are like to gather any great strength we had need feed well if we will be strong and we had need be strong or we shall never fight well A Soul that uses to come before the Lord with an appetite that feeds hungrily and is as the thirsty earth that drinks up the showers that come oft upon it whom the Lord satisfies with the fatness of his house you may turn him loose to the World flesh and Devil the life of God within him maintained by influences from above will much secure him against all their assaults Christians know your Sabbath priviledges the advantages of Sabbath separation Sabbath communion and Sabbath provision Understand your advantage and make your advantage of them Be ye seperate Remember your Creator and rest from your works as God did from his Remember your Redeemer and rise from your dust as Christ did from his Let this day of his Resurrection be the day of your Resurrection and Ascention Let Sabbaths be Sabbaths indeed holy to the Lord and wholly his Divide not the day betwixt flesh and Spirit God and Mammon but let it be entirely the Lords day Let every duty and Ordinance of this day be a Communion Prepare to meet your God and go up to meet him Seek his face in hope to see his face see and love see and rejoice see and admire and praise him in his excellent greatness Hearken what the Lord God will speak and let him hear your voice Confirm your friendshâ—p renew your acquaintance in Heaven repeat your Covenant transactions Have you chosen the Lord for your portion tell him you stand to your choice have you renounc'd your flesh and the World promise him not to return to folly Have you made the Lord your trust put forth fresh acts of faith upon him Look to him lean on him for his righteousness and strength Let such as these
let faith and love and hope and prayers and praises which are the stairs to the other World and your weapons against this be your sabbath-Sabbath-work and delight Let not finer cloaths and better fare let not idleness and ease no nor filling up a place in the Congregation be the only difference betwixt Sabbaths and other daies but this better work and meat for souls Provide against the dayes of scarcity provide against the dayes of temptation Let not the Manna fall besides your vessels Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches Catch at every word observe every look of your Lord upon you And whatever you receive lay up and ponder in your hearts Have you received a check or reproof lay up your reproof have you received a word of counsel or instruction lay up your instructions Hath he spoken peace to you lay up that word charily by you whatever transactions have passed betwixt the Lord and your Souls keep the records and when you go forth whither ever you go carry all this upon your hearts that whenever the World meets you again and tempts you again you may be thus well appointed and throughly furnished against its assaults Brethren put hard on every Sabbath for such an undisturbed attendance on the Lord single out the Lord for the object of your whole converse knit your hearts thus to him solace your selves thus in him get you thus elevated and raised in your spirits from earthly to heavenly and every inch of ground you get of your adversary maintain it carefully from Sabbath to Sabbath If this were seriously design'd and more generally attempted by Christians we should find both another face and another power of Christianity in the earth the children of the Kingdom would be more visibly differenced from the men of this World and both the guilt and reproach of earthliness and sensuality be wip'd off from the Professors and Profession of the Gospel 3. Improve Sacraments this way The advantage that we have in Sacraments against the World lies In our Preparation Participation 1. In our preparation One confessed preparatory duty is self-examination 1 Cor. 11. 28. A great security of this Idol is the secret of its tabernacle It s covert in which it lurks unseen Worldlings many of them if they knew what is within them their Conscience would so prick that they could have no rest or ease till this thorn were puld out but they are not aware that the World is within them Yet this enemy lies not so close but upon a privy search it may be discovered Sacramental trial should be close and thorow no corner within us should be left unransacked The reverence of this great Ordinance and the dreadful consequence of comming so solemnly before the Lord with a Traitor in our bosoms eating and drinking judgment will cry in our ears Make diligent search The evidence that this one thing an earthly mind carries in it of our treachery towards God is so notorious that he hath but little understanding in the matters of God that would not from this alone conclude himself an unworthy guest at the Table of the Lord were all things else never so specious and fair Dar'st thou say Surely the Lord will accept me for he hath but this one thing against me That I love the World more than I love God I can own his name and waies I join with the Assemblies of his people I can pray and hear and fast I am neither proud nor froward nor envious nor malicious there is no evil but this covetousness but I hope I can acquit my self of Dar'st thou say thus I am no drunkard I am no Adulterer I am no swearer I am nothing but an Idolater the Lord I hope will excuse me in this thing Dost think he will indeed And may it not be like enough that upon this diligent search thou mayst find this to be thy case Friends get the sense of these terrible truths upon your hearts He that eateth and drinketh unworthily is guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself He that is an Idolater eateth and drinketh unworthily He that is covetous is an Idolater Let these things sink into your hearts and then see if you dare come without a narrow search make a narrow search and then you will see how great your unworthiness and danger is Certainly were there a due care taken of this duty it were not possible that men could go on from Sacrament to Sacrament under the power of their earthly hearts this would surely startle them This Ordinance would either make them afraid of their worldliness or this worldliness would make them afraid of Sacraments Worldly Professors what care is there ordinarily taken of this duty do you examine do you make diligent search do you make particular search for this evil It may be you enquire Am I in the faith am I in charity do I bear no malice hath no man a quarrel against me nay possibly you may go a little farther and ask Am I unjust am I an oppressor an extortioner have I done wrong to no man and if you can acquit your self here then an end But do you further ask Do I not love the world Is not mine heart too much upon it Am I not too busie for the world is not my time spent too much upon it are not duties neglected is not my soul or my families souls neglected for its sake am I not so bent upon growing rich in the world that I mind not how poverty grows upon my soul do I honor the Lord with my substance am I merciful am I bountiful do I seek no more nor no otherwise then God would have me seek do I aim at God do I entitle God to all I have do I know how to abound can I want if the Lord will have it so is God enough if I have nothing is not all the world enough if God be a stranger how can I bear crosses and disappointments in the world Speak friends are any of these things enquired after I doubt whether you be faithful in this matter oh might I prevail with you to put upon this closer and severer tryal you know not what it might gain you If you can but apprehend your Enemy at such a time as this when you are making this solemn approach to the Lord when it would be so dreadful to you to be found in league with it at what an advantage would you then have it Now is a time when if ever we are like to have you serious loose not the season beware of solemn triflings hide not now your eyes from seeing your disease beware of palliating and mincing be zealous to know the worst of your case put Conscience close to it what sayst thou Guilty or not guilty If Conscience plead Guilty then come before the Lord if thou darst without serious repentance and
the things of the world without placing our happiness in them The Supremacy of the world is founded in its apprehended sufficiency to bless us and make us happy Whilest we hold it our treasure we resign our selves to it as our Governour Mat. 6. 21. Where the treasure is there the heart will be also The heart will never dwell in or serve this world when it hath chosen another treasure the world can never hold the dominion of a Lord longer then it can hold the reputation of our God The soul will not be governed or commanded by it unless it be content to take it as its reward when the heart hath said to the Lord Thou art my portion it can say to the world Stand thou as my footstool when we neither promise our selves contentment in our expectations nor feel our selves at rest in our possessions of the world when the heart is fixed on an higher good and so strongly working upward that it will not be detained from the pursuit of it by any thing it either hath or hopes for here then the world is vanquished Now in this is included 1. Our making God our happiness It s vain for any man to say or think the world is not who cannot truly say The Lord is my happiness and Heritage It s natural to man to desire happiness and to pitch some where or other where he hopes 't is to be had what he apprehends to be the best of all he knows most suitable and most satisfactory to his desire and appetite there he fastens Worldly men that know no better promise to themselves a worldly happiness and here they fix and it is impossible for them to loosen hence till they discover and close with some higher good till God comes in the World will not out The Psalmist could never but have envied and Idolized the portion and prosperity of the ungodly had not God been his portion First he must say Whom have I in heaven but thee and then he can add There 's none in earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73. 2. The due limiting our desires after and moderating our delights in the things of this world and a subordination of them all to our great end If the world be not our happiness we shall love it and seek it thereafter The world if it be any thing to us it must be either our end or our means if God be our portion he is our end if God be our end the world ceases to be such two last ends no man can have till he have two souls if the world be not our end it must be either our means or nothing to us Our desires and delights are proportionable to our conceits of and our expectations from the objects of them that which is apprehended and accepted as our end is desired accordingly hath the stream and strength of the soul running out after it there it desires and loves without limit that which is apprehended only as a means is so far only amiable and desired as it subserves our end When ever the world ceases to be accounted our happiness it will necessarily be judg'd only as a means to it and thence will follow this limiting our worldly desires and moderating of our worldly delights we shall desire them no farther nor delight in them otherwise then as they are conducible to God 2. Victory over the world stands in a power to mannage our worldly affairs and businesses without the prejudice of our souls Psal 112. 5. He will guide his affairs with discretion and his discretion herein appears 1. That in the multitudes of the thoughts he hath in his heart and the businesses he hath in his hand he hath still an eye to the main He 's a discreet man that rightly understands and duly minds his great concernment the world must be minded the Plough must be followed the seed must be sown the Flocks must be kept the Oxen and the Asses must be cared for But what is the world to my soul what is my food to my life this must be chiefly look'd to that I perish not that I run not upon an eternal undoing that my soul may live and it may be well with me hereafter I must first seek the Kingdome of God and then let other things be minded as they may He that said Be diligent to know the state of thy flocks and to look well to thy herds Prov. 27. 23. said also with an Emphasis Deut. 4. 9. Only take heed to thy self and keep thy soul diligently above all keeping keep thy heart Prov. 4. 23. And therefore to this he hath a most special eye his eye looks most inwards it s well with me without or whether it be or no how is it within how goes the work of Faith and Repentance on how goes the work of Mortification and Sanctification on here he bestows his special labour in working out his salvation in laying up treasure in heaven I shall never count my self to prosper whilest my soul prospers not I shall never count my self a good husband whilest mine own Vineyard hath not been kept and I shall never count my self poor while I am growing rich unto God I shall never count my self an ill husband whilest I have been wise and busie for Eternity 2. That to this end he overcharges not pulls no more of business upon him then he can go through with without neglecting his soul though he must imploy himself yet he will not intangle himself in the affairs of this life 2 Tim. 2. 4. His Lord hath given him fair warning Luke 21. 34. Take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with the cares of this life and he 's willing to take the warning He 's wary how he undertakes more business then God calls him to if God put him upon a more busie life and lays on a greater load of work or care upon him he chearfully sets his shoulders to it knowing that where God sets him on work he will be with him in the work and help him out but he would have no more to do then God sets him about Christians besides the Call of God there are too often other Masters call us to work 't is not seldome that mens lusts set them on work as their lusts call them off from work call them to play or to sleep or to be idle so sometimes also mens lusts call them to work Some mens pride sets them on work many an hard daies work they have to get something to maintain it Some mens prodigality sets them on work that they may have to spend on their throats their bellies or companions but most of all mens covetousness sets them on work this is an hard and cruel Master oh what a labourious weary life do such men live their life is a meer drudgery rising early going to bed late eating the bread of carefulness How many irons hath the covetous man in the fire how many cares how
my house and my table shall appoint me the quality and limit the proporof my daily food this shall order me for my habit both the cost and the fashion of my raiment this shall direct me in the visiting and entertaining my friends this shall set me my business and allow me my recreations this shall measure my daies and my nights and set me my times for my sleep my watch and my work this shall dispose of my estate while I live and make my will when I die This shall give my self mine allowance my wife her dower my children their portions and Gods children his poor orphans theirs I would so feed and so clothe and so recreate my self so work and so rest as God would have me I would never spend nor save but for the Lord. I would visit whom God would have me visit I would entertain as God would have me entertain I would never visit a friend but to whom God sends me nor entertain but as God bids me I would put it into the hands of the Lord to divide mine estate no more to my children and no less to his then my conscience tells me he would have O how few are there who are thus resolved And why is it not thus with us Oh these worldly hearts hinder us these put in for a share they would carry all but if that may not be they will divide with God something for thy self something for thy flesh something for thy friends and let God take the rest and as the heart would have it so ordinarily it goes insomuch that it often comes to pass that by that every one else is served he to whom all is due hath little or nothing left God shall be last served and by that his turn comes the store is spent Oh these false and treacherous hearts Is the Lord our God or not to whom do we owe any thing but to him is not all his is not he Lord of all is there any thing in our hands concerning which we can say this is mine own this is none of his Do we not eat his bread and dwell in his houses and wear his clothes his wooll and his flax Is not the earth the Lords and the fulness thereof and may he not require of his own what he will And what doth the Lord require doth he not require all doth God reserve only a chief rent to himself and let the rest go which way it will hath he allowed any part to be bestowed on his enemies would God that the Divel and lust go sharers with him Do we not know and these tongues confess that all is his due and expectation what then is this flesh what are these lusts that we should hearken to them when they put in for a part O rebuke and repell these imperious beggars you shall have a whip and a scourge but no alms at my door you are none of the beggars that God would have me feed clothe Did God ever allow me to clothe my pride or feed my covetousness or nourish this unruly and greedy appetite away away nothing is allowed you but a cup of cold water to quench your flames The Lord he is God the Lord he is God my soveraign and supreme proprietour of him and through him and to him are all things his I am and to him I owe and devote whatever I am or have my streams shall fall into no other channells but what will convey them into the Ocean he is my Ocean who is my fountain O my God my springs do all rise and rest in thee O what a strange change would this doctrine and the practise of it make upon us then we should live like Christians indeed and be able to say with the Apostle Philip. 1. 21. To me to live is Christ O what exemplarie Christians should we be had we nothing to do but to bring forth fruit unto God how rich should we grow were all our business to lay up treasure in Heaven how roundly would the work of our salvation go on were all our works made to fall into this what a tribute of praise and honour would be raised to the name of the Lord if our united streams ran all upward how glorious should the Lord be if God should thus become all in all 4. Victory over the world stands in a power to want the worlds good things and to suffer the worlds evil things and to keep our hearts and our way whether we prosper or suffer Philip. 4. 12. I know both how to be abased and how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry to abound and to suffer need T is one thing to know what t is to abound and what to want and another thing to know how to do both it may be though the Apostle knew sufficiently what t is to want and to be hungry yet he knew but little what t is to be full and to abound but he had learn'd how to want and how to abound To know how to want and how to abound is to know how to carry it as a Christian in both estates Poverty and riches have each of them their temptations Prov. 30. 8. Lest I be full and deny thee or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain both estates have their temptations and he knew how to deal with either of them so that neither the one nor the other should put him besides his duty or draw him to any thing unworthy of a Christian He is a Christian that neither beholding to the world for his religion he hath other arguments to perswade him to be godly then that godliness is gain and that will not be forc'd out of it by all that the world can give or take away he that is not beholding to the world for his religion will be the more like to be religious in spite of the world if the loaves were not they that drew him to Christ neither will the want of bread drive him away those that come to Christ in hopes of a temporal Kingdom will when they see themselves disappointed go back from him again those that found nothing but Christ to draw them after him will find nothing whilest Christ is Christ to draw them off A Christian counts Christ sufficient a sufficient reward and a sufficient safeguard enough to satisfie him and to secure him and thereupon can be content in all his wants and patient in all he suffers we seldom depart from God but it is either from discontent or impatience either we think it intolerable abiding with him or at least that we may have a better being elsewhere our turning aside from God to the world is in hopes some way or other to mend our condition either to be better provided for or better pleas'd when God is accepted as a sufficient portion so that we need not the world to make us happy when God
Gen. 18. 19. Paul commends Timothy or rather his Mother in him that he had of a child known the Scriptures 2 Tim. 3. 15. David begun with Solomon whilest he was a young man 1 Chron. 28. 9. And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Fathers And as the Lord charges parents to give holy education so is it the duty and the happiness of children to receive and submit to it a towardly and tractable childhood promises a gracious and fruitfull age When he is old he will not depart from it that is there 's hopes he will not t is true it does not alwaies prove so sometimes there 's too much truth in that proverb A young Saint and an old Devil Some there are whose youth is the winter that withers all the buds of their childhood or at least their age is the grave that buries all the flowers of their youth who however it was with them whilest they were under the influences of instruction and the restraint of discipline no sooner do they get their neck from under the yoke and feel the reins of government loosened but presently they grow wild and wanton and fall to pulling down what hath been built to rooting up what hath been planted and razing out those holy principles they have suck'd in and so letting themselves loose to all manner of rudeness and debaucherie these are monsters a degenerate brood and of all persons in the world most likely after this first step from Saints to brutes to take their next from brutes to Divels O let all such tremble whose youthful lusts have gotten the head of their religious education the Divel hath broken into Gods nursery and snap'd off those twigs to engraff them in his own Orchard among those trees that are only for the fire I say thus it may happen and look to it that this be the case of none of you that those who have been trained up whilest children in the good way of the Lord depart from it when they are come to age yet there is such a flexibleness in young ones and such an aptness to receive and retain the impressions of their holy education that there 's great hope it may abide by them all their daies If it should wear out it s usually worse with such then with those that have been born and bred up in the dark but there 's hope it will abide 2. Youth is more vigorous and sprightly of warm affection and full of action quicquid agit valde agit there 's life in its action it is not clog'd with the infirmities nor depress'd with the weakness and unweldiness that creeps on with age In this morning the Soul is free and fresh the spirits are quick and lively the edge is sharp and keen which in time grows more blunt and dull We may now both act more for God and taste more of God there would be more service and we should find more sweetness in it did we begin betime before our native warmth is cooled and our edge turned What work do rude young men make in the world how much service do they to the Devil in a little time laughing and mocking drinking and gaming rioting and revelling giving themselves to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness what haste do they make to undoe themselves how hot are they in their lusts how heady in their wayes how swiftly and violently does the torrent run down towards the burning lake in how little time are the plants and flowers rooted out which had been setting and nursing up all their time and how suddenly are their weeds sprung up and how rank are they grown what might not this heat and activity have brought forth to God had it been but set right how greatly might God have been honoured how much might Souls have been advanced what a treasure might have been layd up in Heaven had the stream in this spring-tide been running towards God as it hath been towards Hell You that have thus foolishly lost your season and run out the flower of your dayes oh be ashamed and bewail your loss you that have yet your day before you be warned let others folly make you wise know in your season what a price you have in your hand O 't is pity such a treasure should be lost and wasted what is God that he must have only the last and worst Sin and the world must have the first and best and only the lees and dregs left for him to whom all is due the Devil must have our marrow and if God will accept our dry and weary bones that 's all we ordinarily design for him Brethren how many of our morning hours are already run out and what hath the Lord had of them how few early Christians are there of us who of us are there that came along into the vineyard at the first hour of the day we think the last hour the best and enough for our work soon enough to come into the vineyard when we are going out of the world we will not bear the burthen and heat of the day but choose rather to come in the cool of the evening Unworthy Spirits wee le first make our selves good for nothing and then wee le be the servants of God 3. Young men have day before them he that hath a long journey to go had need set out early he that hath much work to do had need be at it betimes he that goes an Apprentice to a trade when he is old is not like to do any great matter at it either to get any great skill or to make any great gain they are never like to come to much who are so long ere they come to any thing the journey of a Christian is long vita brevis iter longum the work of a Christian is great Young men if you would come to Christ this day the youngest of you would find work enough to hold him the longest day he has to live these strong holds which have been so long a fortifying against Christ will not be batter'd down in a day your evil customs and evil habits which have been so long growing and rooting in you will require time to be well changed and rooted out grace and peace and assurance are ordinarily the fruits of many years labour and travail when you have wrought your selves out of work then wish you had staid longer out of the vineyard 3. The first time is the acceptable time 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation The present season is the blessed season the accepted time that is the time wherein you may be accepted and which God will take well at your hands if you will accept Now you may be accepted for behold he calleth you t is a question whether hereafter you may or no if you will not accept to day it may be God will not accept to morrow It s very acceptable to the
mind prepossessed and actually stâ—ff'd with the cares of this life Intus existens prohibet alienum How canst thou ascend with thy burthen upon thy back unload unload lay aside every weight and then go up and prosper Say to all thou hast stay you here whilest I go and pray before the Lord let the night before each Sabbath be as the grave betwixt the two worlds there let thy dust be buried and thy Spirit fly naked to thy God Let that night which is the partition betwixt thine own dayes and the Lords be thy Souls taking its leave of all thou hast any sinful thoughts works or pleasures thy lusts and thy evil wayes give them an eternal burial Be gone see my face no more for ever and for matters lawful and honest that concern this earth charge them not to thrust in before the Lord go you also your way for this time and when I have a convenient season I will send for you and if from Sabbath to Sabbath thy feet stand thus on the mountain of the Lord thou mayst find them all the week long on the tops of the mountains of the earth Brethren where is our Sabbath separation Is there not a fault among us upon this account let him that heareth enquire How it is with me Am not I faulty what are my Sabbath thoughts what are my Sabbath discourses If I be better employed in the house of God what do I in mine own house what are my morning and evening and midday thoughts what is my table talk my chimney talk If business if bargains or journeys be not admitted are not visits or complements or vain stories or impertinent news suffered to fill up the time is it thus or not with thee Is it well that it is thus O clear your Sabbaths of such worldly encroachments or you 'l never clear your hearts drive all the world into Pathmos into banishment and be wholly in the spirit on the Lords day Be abstracted from earthly things and earthly thoughts bring them with you neither to the house nor to the day of the Lord let your own houses and your own tables be as the house and table of the Lord have nothing to do from morning to evening but to wait on God 2. It is a day for special Communion with God Tbe meeting of God with his people on that day is like unto that meeting which is promised to Moses Exod. 25. 22. before the mercy seat There will I meet thee and commune with thee there will I shew thee all my mind and hear all thy requests It is a day of blessing thither the tribes go up to bless the Lord and there he comes down to bless his people It 's said Gen. 2. and Exod. 20. that God blessed the Sabbath day Gods blessing the day makes it a day of blessing a good day to his Saints he then comes unto them in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel Those that question whether the first day of the week be the Christian Sabbath let them consider which of all the dayes of the week the Lord hath since the death of Christ so exalted above the rest of the dayes that they can with most confidence say This is the day which the Lord hath blessed on what day were the gates of death broken the Lord Jesus declared to be the son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead on which day was the spirit of God most signally shed abroad on the Apostles and primitive Christians in those extraordinary gifts whereby they were made more capable of publishing the blessed Gospel to the ends of the earth and in that special grace which seized three thousand Souls in one day Act. 2. What day is it that hath been honoured to be the birth day of the greatest number of Saints ever since that hath been their feast day wherein their Souls have been most sensibly nourish'd and they have been increas'd with the increasings of God what meals have they had to their Lords-day meals what joyes to their Lords-day joyes Surely if this may determine the question which day is the Sabbath of the Lord the day that of all others God hath blessed and made a good day the experiences of Christians in all ages would bring in their vote for the first day This is the day that God hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it this by the way This day as is said before is the rest of God a little Heaven let down to us on earth God calls us up hither as he called Moses up to Pisgah to give us a view of the promised land The Sabbath is Heaven opened we may give a guess at the glory to come by those glimses and tastes we have of it now It is the day of interview betwixt the bridegroom and the bride wherein he beholds our faces and shewes us his loves wherein he comes down into his garden to eat his pleasant fruits and we behold his goings the goings of God in his Sanctuary The business of this day is to look into the Ark of the Covenant to review and renew the Covenant transactions betwixt God and our Souls to search out contemplate and admire the mercies and lovingkindness of the Lord to receive the overflowing of his goodness and to pour forth our Souls as an offering to him in our prayers and praises to give and receive mutual tokens and pledges of Love and faithfulness to seal to our fidelity to him and to receive farther assurances of his grace and good will to our Souls to obtain help from God against our enemies whereby we may execute upon them the vengeance written and upon this mountain ordinarily is the victory obteined there breaks he the arrowes of the bow the sword the shield and the battel Christians have you ever experimented this Sabbath Communion hath the Lord God appear'd thus unto you have there been such friendly and familiar intercourses betwixt him and your Souls Oh how contemptibly hath the world look'd in that day But oh what dark and cloudy dayes are our Sabbaths ordinarily to us Sundayes per antiphrasin the Sun not once appearing it may be for many dayes together no wonder our Souls are so earth'd all the week when they are so seldom in Heaven on the day of the Lord what dry feasts are our Sabbath feasts rather fasts then feasts real Communion with God is a strange thing to us even in the day of God Heaven is opened but our eyes are shut God comes down to meet us and to bless us but our hearts are not there the breasts of consolation are full but we have no skill or no list to draw at the breasts we come to the well but we do not let down the bucket we stand by the pool where the Angel comes down but our creeple Souls put not in to the waters we stand without in the outer court of the Lords house our Sabbaths are to us but
rejoycing Are there any such things Is there any thing in them then let these suffice you will you have your conversation and take your portion with those who are strangers to Christ and the comforts of his Spirit I beseech you by the mercies of God that you do not Do you hope for mercy have you received mercy do you live upon mercy hath mercy pitied you spared you pardoned you doth mercy feed you cloath you and comfort you and will you not hearken to its beseechings Why what doth mercy speak is this it's word Continue in sin for grace hath abounded now follow thy pleasures and thy liberties God is reconciled thy sins are forgiven thy Soul is secure now thou mayst slight the Lord now thou mayst trample upon mercy now thou hast obtained it is this the lesson that mercy teaches or what doth it speak is not this the voice of all the kindnesses and compassions of the Lord come back from your vanities come away from following Idols he sacrifices to God and prostitute not your selves any longer to the lusts of your flesh come away for our sakes come as you love mercy come as you have received mercy come as you hope for mercy come Is not this the voice of mercy and shall it not prevail how shall mercy be heard when it pleads for you if it cannot be heard when it pleads thus with you Is this the rate and price you put upon the grace of God that you will deny it in those little things it demands of you not a carnal pleasure to be abated not a vain companion to be displeased not a few handfuls of earth to be troden under foot for its sake Doth all the interest that Christ and his grace hath in you come to no more then this Brethren where is ingenuity is not goodness obliging will you shew what power mercy hath with you how much you can do how much you can leave for love you at least that have obteined mercy methinks your hearts should be at your mouth ready to take their flight from this wilderness to the mountains of spices Hath God given himself hath God given me his Son and granted me mercy unto life now let him take all farmes and oxen silver and gold honours and pleasures let all go and thou O my Soul become a sacrifice to the most high my love where art thou my desires whither run you come back from these vanities and get you up to your God mercy hath descended let me ascend with it and no longer dwell in the dust 2. Do not the severities of God call you off what mean the Judgments of God which he executes on the earth but to drive us up from our cisterns to the fountain what mean the wormwood and the gall but to wean us from these dugs wherefore are our disappointments vexations distresses but to tell us this is not your rest what speak the winds and the storms the flouds and the fires the sword and the famine the thief and the moth but get you up get you up out of this place of what use is the cross but to crucifie to crucifie us to the world and to crucify the world unto us Brethren have we not sufficiently smarted for our folly what is it that makes us so many rods and makes the lashes of them to cut so deep but our unmortifiedness to this earth how easy would our crosses lye were we dead to the world That 's the voice of the cross Be mortified be crucified prevent the greater severities of God Be crucified or God will crucifie you Be crucified to the world or look to be crucified by the world Friends would you have but one cross in all your lives choose you whether you will have one or many get your earthly minds nayld to the cross of Christ and there 's an end of all your crosses every other cross that comes will thenceforth be so easy that it will even loose its nature 2. What is there in your denyal to hearken to these calls of God Is there any thing less in it then this I will not be reconciled to God! I choose rather that God be mine enemy then that the world be not my friend I had rather have the wormwood and the gall then not the milk and the honey God saies give me thine heart no he shall never have it I have bestowed it on the world and there let it go God saies Take me for thy portion no I will not let me have my portion in this life God saies take me for thy Lord no I will not I will not that God shall reign over me God saies as thou hopest for mercy hearken as thou hopest for mercy submit to me refuse at thy peril be a worldling at thy peril be a sensualist at thy peril well at my peril be it I will run the hazard of that mercy or no mercy I cannot hearken to that word which is so contrary to me Is not all this comprehended in your denyal to come off from the world O tremble and now at length come and give in your answer Are there any of you that will yet say to me as those Jews Jer. 44. 16. The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not do or as those Jer. 2. 25. there is no hope as good hold thy peace speak no more to us about it for we will not hearken we have loved strangers and after them we will go we have loved our companions and after them we will go There is no hope but we will walk after our own devices we will walk after the imagination of our own evil heart Jer. 18. 12. Is there no hope indeed would you henceforth be given over as hopeless would you that the Ambassadours of the Lord keep silence and for ever give you over as lost men shall there be no more treaty with you about this thing would you that we should preach no more to you nor pray no more for you that you may be brought to a better mind May there not be yet hope concerning you may you not yet be convinced may you not yet be perswaded This once let me prevail with you Oh might we hear such a word from you We have done with all our Idols to the Moles and to the Batts with them all we have done with this vain earthly life no more such madness to venture eternity for minutes to stake the everlasting kingdom for pictures and shadows Come we will hearken to the Lord this day hitherto we have been written in the earth henceforth for the invisible world hitherto we have lived in pleasures we have been sowing to the flesh we have been labouring for the wind we have been laying up our treasure on earth we have been gathering in dirt and throwing away Manna we have fed upon ashes and trod upon pearls our life hath been either a meer play or a labour for bubles Henceforth for substance for the durable riches for the everlasting pleasures for the bags that wax not old the treasure in Heaven that faileth not What say you brethren shall this be your voice will you hearken to the Lord at length give in your answer will you now become enemies to the world will you indeed shall your Souls and it now be parted Then go and draw up a writing of divorcement carry it before the Lord and acknowledg it as your act and deed and giving your selves to him go presently and take your leave of all things under the Sun Bid farewell to those that are with you in the house farwel Father farewel Child farewel Husband farewel Wife Bid farewel to all within doors and without farewel Goods farewel Mony farewel Sheep and Oxen Lands and Livings farewel my pleasant habitation farewel my merry dayes and easy nights farewel my friends and dear acquaintance farewel love friendship credit in the world farewel liberty and life Go take your leave of all the world to day stay not till to morrow lest it again intangle you and bewitch you into another mind And this is the leave I would advise you to take of all you have Be able to say to them all I am none of yours you are none of mine I am none of yours I have given my self to the Lord you are none of mine with my self I have given away you all the Lord hath given you me and to him I return you and shall not henceforth count you any thing to me but what you are to him I have given him the right of you and when he calls for it I will give him possession I can enjoy you and I can want you I can be thankful for fruition and I can bear your loss with what I have I am content if I have not I will be patient whether I have or no I am still the same and henceforth I will seek you as if I sought you not I will use you as if I used you not while you are with me I will rejoyce as if I rejoyced not that I may weep as if I wept not when we must part and I must know you no more Go thus and take your leave to day or if you find it more then one dayes work as 't is like you may set to it every day let not your hearts be quiet till they and this world be thus parted And then arise put on thy sandals and after thy crucified Lord Deny thy self take up thy cross and follow him and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven FINIS