and laid the foundation of a better world then this created universe this beautiful artifice of Divine Power Again in the Creation there was nothing to withstand but in the work of Redemption there was Justice against Mercy Wrath against Pity In the Creation God brought something 2 Cor. 5. 21. out of nothing but in the work of Redemption God Gal. 3. 13. brought one contrary out of another Good out of Evil Life out of Death an immortal Crown out of a shameful Cross Indeed the great discoveries of Wisdom Grace Power Justice Mercy were all seen in the glorious work of mans Redemption The Heavens are the work of Gods fingers Psal 8. 3. But Redemption is the work of his Arm Isa 53. 1. Isa 52. 9 10. So that if it shall be demanded wherein doth the work of Redemption excell the work of Creation it may be answered as the Apostle in another case much every Rom. 3. 2. way Once more let us put these two works in the scale and we shall find the work of Redemption to weigh down the work of Creation as Gold of all metals is the weightiest In Eph. 2. 4. John 3. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 9 10. Gal. 4. 4. Phil. 2. 6 7. the creation Adam was Head but in the work of Redemption Christ was the Head by the creation we have a temporal life by the work of Redemption we obtain eternal life In the creation Adam was espoused to Eve but in the redemption the poor soul is espoused to Jesus Christ By creation Non solùm de me sed de omni quoque quod factum est Scriptum est dixit et facta sunt At verò qui me tantùm et semet fecit in restituendo et dixit multa mira gessit et pertulit dura nec tantùm dura sed etiam et indigna Bern. de diligendo deo man enjoyed an earthly Paradise but by redemption we enjoy an heavenly Kingdom In the creation Gods wisdom and power was principally seen but in the work of redemption All his glorious attributes were seen in their greatest splendour In the creation man was produced out of nothing but by the work of redemption he is produced out of worse then nothing a state of enmity and opposition Rom. 8. 7. Thus the glory of the work of redemption shines with a brighter ray and glitters with a stronger beam then the work of creation And shall not this most glorious work of which our Sabbath is the weekly memorial enforce us to a more devout observation Let us consider we equally enjoy the benefit of the creation with the Jews but they nothing at all of the benefit of the redemption with us They are Strangers to the Covenant of grace and the common-weal of the true Israel Eph. 2. 12. Let us then see the beauties of free-grace in the glass of our redemption and let this put new life into us to walk closely with God upon his own day when we are remiss in the duties let us reflect upon the occasion of the day and let us remember that the conquering of Death the chaining of Satan the subduing of Sin the quenching of Divine Wrath the perfuming of the Grave these several branches made up that blessed work which calls upon us for the keeping holy of the Lords day And again if the Jews have observed their Sabbath strictly Christ came not to licentiate us and to enlarge our carnal and sensual liberty Christs people are a willing but Psal 11â— â—â— 2 Tit. 14. not a wanton people The Son hath made us free and so we are free indeed as Christ himself speaks John 8. 36. But this freedom is from burdens not from duties a freedom it is to Debitâ 〈◊〉 â—â—minicae obseâ—vatione 〈◊〉 minuitur quicquam Christiana libertas Non enim est libertas sed licentia Christina ut nos liberaâ—i putemus ab observatione illius praecepti è Decalogo Et experientia docet licentiam et rerum sacrarum non curantiam magis magisque invalescere ubi diei domâ—nicae ratio non habetur run the wayes of Gods commandments Psal 119. 24. That can be no christian freedom to indulge our ease to flatter our sense to please the flesh to pursue our sports to gratifie our fancy with dalliance and delight upon Gods holy day this kind of liberty Christ never died to purchase Christian liberty is quite another thing it is a liberty from ceremonial yokes and legal impositions Gal. 5. 1 2 A liberty of access to God to cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 6. A freedom it is from sins vassalage from Satans slavery from the worlds drudgery and lusts dominion and tyranny Christ did not die to make us free to sin but free from sin Tit. 2. 14. It is a harsh and injurious interpretation of Christs coming to suppose he came to make the broad way broader then before that before Christ came the people of God were tied to a strict observation of the Sabbath but since we have a latitude and liberty for sports and delights for ease and recreation on that blessed day and that now we are not so pinnion'd and shackl'd as in the times of the law This must needs be some loose construction of a carnal Gospeller who Ames is become Antinomian in the fourth Commandment Christian freedom is a dilatation and enlargedness of bea rt in holy Isa 61. 1. services when the soul can freely vent it self without contractedness Luke 4. 18. and drawing their praying breath with difficulty Gal. 5. 1 13. Sensualliberty is a priviledge which better becomes the Disciples James 1. 25. of Bacchus or Epicurus and well suits with a feast of Priapus Ruffinus pleads hard in his prescriptions for Sabbath-observation That we do not spend it carnally and in delights this is to act the Jew not the Christian And Die Sabbati nihil exomnibus mundi octibus oportet operari si ergo desiâ—â—â— ab omnibus socularibus nihil mundanum geras sed spiritualibus operibus vaces lectionibus divinis tractatibus aurem praebeas ut non respicias ad praesentia visibilia sed ad invisibilia futura haec est observatio sabbati christiani Origen in a passionate heat cryes out Let us lay aside the Jewish mode of keeping Sabbaths and let us observe them as Christians discarding all worldly acts and secular employments let us be conversant in spiritual works in reading the Scriptures in hearing the word not eying things present and visible but looking forward to things to come and invisible and this is the observation of a Sabbath which will become a Christian The Fathers of the primitive times could not bear with any carnal liberty on the Lords day well knowing how contrary it was to the mind of Christ Nor can it be supposed that it was any part of Christs purchase to procure us a freedom to handle a Bowl or
saith Mat. 20. 16. and therefore but few Saints in the world That which speaks the work of grace arbitrary is the free-agency of God in sanctification of the means of grace The Gospel of Christ is a savour of life unto some unto others a 2 Cor. 2. 16. Joh. 6. 67 68. Acts 13. 48 50 savour of death The Word it melts and mollifies some others it leaves to hardness and incrustation When Christ preach't some leave him but his Disciples adher'd the closer to him When the Apostles preached some believed others persecute both the Doctrine and the Preacher The Ordinances of Christ are marrow and fatness to David Psal Praedicatio crucis et mortis Christi est odor mortis incredulis et cedit in eorum exitium qui mortem Christi ut mortem tantummodò considerant sed credentibus est odor ex vitâ quia ipsi vitam ex haâ— morte amplectuntur 63. 5. more then necessary food to Job Job 23. 12. But to others they have no tast no sweetness no power no reach to affect the heart When Paul and Barnabas preached at Iconium their Doctrine onely stirs up rage and passion Acts 14. 2. Like a high wind which turns the waves of the Sea into froth The preaching of the word is a cure to some and a curse to others to some it strengthens their grace to others it amplifies their guilt some fall before it as the word of salvation Acts 16. 29. others reject it and so dash upon eternal perdition The word indeed is a light to some and to others onely a stumbling block as God is pleased to pass by or work by his holy spirit Ordinances they are attended by man but sanctified by God The Word works unnaturally Eph. 4. 16. Joh. 3. 19. Prov. 16. 1. Eph. 3. 7. upon the Jews Acts 7. 54. pleasingly upon Herod Mark 6. 20. most powerfully upon Lydia Acts 16. 14. fully and effectually upon Paul Acts 9. 5. And thus the Gospel which is onely an instrument in Gods hand works variously and differently according to the pleasure and free agency of his will That the work of grace is arbitrary is evidenced in the impossibility of humane merit We cannot prepare our selves Natura corrupta est et lex morbum ostendit non sanat vos autem meritum nescio quod excogitastis quod mul 〈…〉 â—â—lutem 〈…〉 endam â—â—â—eat Whit. Qâ—i dignitate â—iâ—tationis hereditariae nituntur multò sunt verae pietatis studiosiores quam qui â— servorum merito riâ virtute dependent Mort. Epis Dunelm contra Merita for the entertainment of this work of the holy spirit there is no meritum ex condigno or meritum ex congruo as the Papists fondly imagine and our Protestant Divines have fully evinced When God first begins his work of grace upon the soul he finds nothing but ruines and rubbish no remains of beauty The spirit of God meets with a great deal of enmity Rom. 8. 7. and boysterous opposition much wrigling and reluctancy of the flesh All the powers of man are up in arms against this blessed work It is therefore only Gods free and eternal love which prompts him to carry on this powerful work One observing that of the Apostle Our carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. By carnal mind saith he is not to be understood sensuality the dregs the lees and the whites of nature but our natural wisdom our most refined part nature in its best condition even Lady reason it self unsanctified and therefore the work of grace must needs be arbitrary there is nothing to allure it nothing to engage God to effect it wrinkles will not stir up love The wise man saith Prov. 16. 1. The preparations of the heart are of the Lord Observe preparations in the plural number to shew us that every little wheel in the work of grace is moved Prov. 16. 1. and turns by power from God every good tendency Vita nostrae animae maximè beata à deo pendet et donatur dei amicis every regular propension every breathing and anhelation after good is implanted in us by God who is liberrimum agens as the school-men speak most free and arbitrary in all his works and dispensations This further is demonstrated by the ineffectualness of all mans attempts to arrive at a state of grace and holiness There are many things bid fair for this holy work but they all Tollitur cooperatio liberi arbitrii interior volentis exterior currentis et totum opus bonum est dei miserentis et gratiae operantis Calv. bring onely to the birth they cannot bring forth the least semblance of it all turn into a timpany at last Good Education holy Patterns sweet Ordinances precious Sabbaths these may contribute something to an outward restraint from evil but they beget not the Saint without the admirable work of divine grace The holy spirit must overshadow the soul and so beget Christ in it That holy thing the new birth is the product of the Eternal and Almighty spirit we cannot ascribe the New creature to any thing in Rom. 9. 16. man for creature implies a work of creation which onely is to be attributed to an infinite power Thus most evidently the Apostle Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God who sheweth mercy Mans fairest colours are but paint they may counterfeit but are not true beauty Let us meditate on the morning of a Sabbath on the secrefie of the work of grace It is a sweet but a spiritual work indeed Vita sanctorum obscondita est quia sancti à mundi cupiditatâ—bus et mundarâ conversatione se abstrahunt et abscondunt Anselm it is admirable but most frequently indisecruable this blessed work is like a river under ground like a star behind a cloud the world cannot see it they look upon the Saints as the onely troublers of Israel Holy Paul was called a seditious fellow Acts 24. 5. The Apostles were called intemperate men filled with new wine Acts 2. 13. Nay Christ himself was called Beelzebub and a friend of publicans and sinners though he had the spirit above measure John 3. 34. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epic. The world understands not the Saints Shibboleth Nay often the Saint himself is at a loss whether this work be Mundus non agnoscit aliquid spirituale in filâ—is dei Dav. wrought in him or no He often wants the lively and vivid sense of the spirit of God he many times is so clouded with afflictions battered with temptations disturbed Heb. 11. 37 38. with the hurries of the world dazled with sensual flatteries Col. 3. 3. and benighted with desertion that he can scarce see any day light of grace by the least cranny of observation or experience How doth David cry out that the spirit had taken Cum sentiant sancti insehanc vitam spiritualem
saepiùs Christus in die Sabbati officia charitatis praestitit quà m aliis diebus Iren. dayes And let us in this imitate both our Priest and Pattern who died for us and must go before us and we taking up this practice weekly let us follow him Surely melting bowels do bear a symphony with mercifull Sabbaths On the first day of the week the day of our Sabbath God created Gen. 1. 2 the world out of a chaos of confusion Christ restored the Mark 16. 2. World from sin and destruction and on the same first day Acts 2. 3. of the week the holy spirit enlightned the world in falling down solemnly upon the Apostles and redeemed the Church from Judaical misapprehension And shall these glorious works which have put such a bright emphasis upon the Christian Sabbath not soften our bowels to pity the groans of the sick the sights of the prisoner and comfort those who are in trouble and dejection On this day the spark Buc. in Mat. 12. 11. of our love should turn into a flame the drops of compassion should swell into a stream Bucer makes the visitation of the Luke 10. 33. sick to be a principal duty of our Sabbath On which day Infundit vinum et oleum Samaritanus vinum denotat legem oleum gratiam Evangelii Sacramenta sunt quasi alligamenta quibus labia vulnerum alligantur Chemnit Christians should turn good Samaritans they should drop tears into those wounds they cannot drop Oyl into and pour in the wine of consolation if they have no other to offer as a sacrifice of mercy Bleeding hearts become a blessed Sabbath One well observes It doth behove us as occasion is offered to spend some time of a Sabbath in visiting the sick because this will fill our minds with holy meditations and fill our mouths with heavenly discourses and fill our hearts with serious apprehensions of death and judgement which will shortly encounter us and there is no avoiding the stroke of the one or the Bar of the other There is Charitas spiritualis spiritual Charity which is Verbis exprimi non potest quantum homo qui ad imagirem dei conditus est et pro quo unigenitur dei filius proprium suum sanguinem fudit quem denique sp sanctus per verbum Evangelii ad communionem filiorum dei vocavit et sanctificavit irrationalibus et brutis animalibus praestet Lys most apposite to the Lords day One well argues If our mercy on a Sabbath must extend to the Oxe and the Ass Luk. 13. 15. much more to man who is Gods Vice-Roy upon Earth bears his own image and is enriched with that nature which Christ himself took upon him and if in outward things we must minister to him viz. man much more in spirituals and heavenly by how much the soul transcends the body and the wants of the soul are more dangerous and for the most part less felt then those of the body and therefore to succour them is more necessary and less dispensable Surely this is the highest mercy to pull men out of the pit of despair out of the mire of prophaneness out of the dungeon of ignorance to unfetter chained sinners to consolate and advice distressed souls It is observable our Saviour did not only heal the poor woman of her bodily infirmity on the Sabbath but delivered her from the chains of Satan with which she had so long been held Luke 13. 16. It is our great work on a Sabbath to shew mercy to distressed souls On the Lords day Christ rose for our justification Rom. 8. 34. which was a spiritual benefit not for supply but for our justification not for the encrasie of our bodies but for the rescue of our souls And the Apostle notes it with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather in the Text forementioned And in soul advantage every Christian may have a share they may have soft bowels who have not full purses every one may give savoury counsel put up ardent prayers labour to set home convictions nay enter into heavenly discourses and so endeavour to draw those who go astray to the Sheepfold of the Great Shepherd of their souls Every one may 1 Pet. 2. 25. bleed over sinful revolters and as St. John who ran after 1 Pet. 5. 4. the young man when he was extravagant in his practice they may run weeping after straying transgressours This willing mind as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 8. 12. may lodge 1 Thes 5. 14. in the breast of the meanest person there may be zeal in the heart when there are rags on the back and when their apparrel is more contemptible then John the Baptist's leathern girdle and Camels hair Mat. 3. 4. And that which enforces this duty is 1. The excellency of the work To instruct to admonish comfort and pray for Brethren is the greatest mercy the softest pity nay even the work of Christ himself who shed not only his tears but his blood to ransome immortal souls how did Christ grieve for a hard heart weep over an unbelieving City and lay down his life for poor lost sinners To Mark 3. 5. rescue poor perishing souls is a heavenly work and well Luke 19. 42. is becoming a heavenly Sabbath Mat. 18. 11. 2. The reward of the Service Not a tear we drop over a wandering sinner but will turn into a pearl The Apostle speaks expresly Jam. 5. 19. Brethren if any of you have erred from the truth and one hath converted him let him know that he hath converted a sinner from going out of his way he shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins This text it seems informs us of a double reward Rom. 10. 14. 1. The salvation of a soul the purchase of Christ himself 1 Tim. 4. 16. souls were the gains of his victories Isa 53. 11. The Redemption of souls was the reward of all his sufferings Luke 22. 32. 2. Here is the covering a multitude of sins which onely Heb. 12 15 16. speaks blessedness Psal 32. 1 2. And it may likewise be inferred from this text of Scripture That God hath made us Heb. 3. 13. Guardians one of another Acts of spiritual charity belong to the care of all Christians God hath not onely set conscience to watch over the inward man but hath set us to watch over the outward conversation one of another We must exhort one another while it is to day Heb. 3. 13. especially Luke 24. 17. while the light of Sabbaths continues to us When the two Disciples were travelling to Emmaus Christ joyns with them this blessed Physician came to comfort to satisfie and to inform them they were poor distracted timorous persons and these he visits Christ will not leave them in a maze and intricated with inexplicable apprehensions but he will bring them home to the knowledge of the truth and this is Christs
day Indeed the Sabbath is the market-day for the Soul as Mr. Rogers used to call it but other markets on this day are not the supplies of provision but of profanation in other merchandizing we treasure up not wealth but wrath In Jer. 17. 22. There must be no carriage of burthens on this day such servile employments are black spots upon the feast of a Sabbath It is most uncouth and unseemly that I should be tiring out my body on that day which is given Jer. 17. 27. me for the strengthning of my soul The Sabbath is not the bodies Term but the souls holy Vacation it's consecrated leisure to look after its blessedness No not in harvest â—ime must we labour on a Sabbath when Nature it self would go a gleaning and be busie with Joseph to bring the grain into the store-house and although Gen. 41. 56. Deus nullam dispensationem admittit etiam cum periculo communis jacturae Calv. in Loc. the uncertainty of the season the necessity of the Commodity and the sweetness of the grain all plead for a toleration in this matter yet it must not be for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Exod. 34. 21. Nature like Naaman might here say only spare me in this thing 2 King 5. 18. but Gods positive Law gives no dispensation There must be no journeying on this day all our travels must be the travels of the mind our journey must be to Canaan with our faces towards Sion thus God expresly Exod. 16. 29. Obj. And as for the Objection of a Sabbath days journey Acts 1. 12. Sol. To that it may be replyed That the Text answers it self for the distance allowed to travel on the Sabbath is very small no further then Mount Olivet from Jerusalem an inconsiderable distance Learned men differ in the interpretation but all agree in this that it was a very small distance Calvin saith it was two miles and of that judgement Calv. in hunc Locum Aliquantulam itineris facere non erat contrà traditiones Phorisaeorium Chemnit are the most of the Latin Interpreters Tremellius in the Syriac Paraphrase readeth the Text thus The Mount of Olives which is near unto Jerusalem and is distant from it about seven furlongs that is not a mile And that learned man observes that the Jews in their Talmud with one consent say that the space which it was lawful for a man to go upon the Sabbath was two thousand Cubits or Spaces which make but one mile and not two And Beza very well Beza notes That all the Hebrews whose testimony is most authentical in this case make a Sabbath dayes journey only one mile Josephus who was very well acquainted with the Joseph Antiq. Lib. 20. place counted Mount Olive but five furlongs from the City But to dilate no further we may conclude with holy Mr. Greenham That this journey was no farther then one might conveniently travel for some holy purpose without hinderance of the ordinary exercises of this day or without wearisomness either to body or mind whereby he should be unfitter for the Lords Worship or his own Duties Not so much as to build Gods House though of very great use and great haste of it Exod. 31. 14 15. a most signal Text compare it with the foregoing verses not any work is indulged though Gods house should call for it The Sabbath calls for Worship not Work for the Service of the Sanctuary not for the Building of it Obj. And now if the poor man shall bring his Plea and urge the necessities of his Condition and that he cannot spare the time of a Sabbath but must work upon that day to satisfie the clamours and importunities of his family Sol. this Answer must be put unto this Plea saith in Deut. 5. 14. On the Sabbath thou shalt not do any Shall the Worm debate it with the Almighty The Lord work Is not this to impeach the wisdome of the Law-giver Deut. 5. 14. as if all cases did not fall under his consideration The Fourth Commandment is a Commandment overflowing with mercy God considers and compassionates Children Servants and Strangers nay the very Beasts of the Field the Oxe and the Asse and the poor mans case should not have been left out had divine wisdome thought a dispensation necessary he should have been left to his work as well as the stranger left to his rest It is the blessing of the Lord makes Rich as the wise man speaks Prov. 10. 22. And what can entail this blessing on Lev. 25. 3 4. comp with Vers 18 19 20 21. thee but obedience Thy Duty shall more prosper thy Estate then thy Work Can'st thou possibly be endammag'd by keeping of the Commandments which Solomon makes the sum of all Religion and Happiness Eccles 12. 13. To which the Psalmist fully accords Psal 19. 11. The best way to sill thy Cruse is to fulfill Gods Commands Godliness hath the promise of the things of this life 1 Tim. 4. 8. To disobey the Command in working on a Sabbath is the only method to drive thee to greater exigence Disobedience like intemperance shall cloath thee with rags Prophanation Prov. 23. 21. of the Sabbath will be a certain moth in the little thou enjoyest This is to fill thy bag not with Coyne but with Curses And as the wise man There shall be no reward for the evil Prov. 24. 20. man Prov. 24. 20. To rob God of his time is such a piece of sacriledge as will assuredly fill thy bags with holes which Hag. 1. 6. will hold no wages Hath not the poor man a soul to look after and when shall he lay up provisions for this piece of eternity his precious soul but onely on a Sabbath He cannot spare time on the week and shall his soul have no time at all Shall the soul which is more worth then a world not be worth that little pittance he gets by working on a Sabbath The Mat. 16 26. poor man pretends necessity certainly he hath the greatest necessity to look after his immortal soul to feed his family will he starve his soul The just man lives by faith whether he be rich or poor and surely that faith runs dregs which will not trust God Hab. 2. 4. for the provisions of a day and how irrational is it not to trust that God who could send a Raven to feed Elijah dost 1 Kings 17. 4. thou not know the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof Psal 24. 1. And cannot he furnish thy Table for a Sabbath thou hast spent with him And will thy poor Earnings on a Sabbath compensate the prejudice thy soul endures Whilst thou hast been labouring for â—he meat that perisheth thou mightest have gained that John 6. 27. Omne studium omne conatus eò conferamus ut habeamus non externa corruptibilâ—â— hujus mundi bona sed ut habeamus cibum qui
Jewes which onely typisied and prefigured a better Country a Country to come saith that excellent Father To the same purpose speaks Cyril and Procopius Those who conscienciously observe the Sabbath they shall have outward enjoyments and they shall be onely pledges of 1 Cor. 2. 9. Vides hîc ô Christiane quanta deus stâ—tuerit praemia misericordiae et pietati better enjoyments the pawns and earnests of enjoyments more glorious As if the Lord should say As I led Jacob from the temporal promise of an earthly Canaan to the promise of a heavenly so will I do with thee if thou observe my Sabbaths thou shalt have a Jacobs reward and what that is our Saviour instructs us Luk. 13. 28. where he saith Luke 13. 28. You shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God Thus God he reduplicates his better promises on the heads of those who carefully keep his Gen. 25. 33. Gen. 22. 36. Gen. 32. 28. Sabbath they shall have the Heritage of Jacob who gained both the Birth-right and the Blessing they shall enjoy the Primogeniture the first born of Mercies nay Mercies with the Blessing with the Fathers Benediction too they shall succeed in Jacobs Heritage who was mighty and prevailed with God who foyled the Angel in his spiritual Combat and had the honour to have his Name and Cùm haec verba ex animo simulque oculos circumfero videoque quà m pauci sunt qui delectentur in Domino sabbatique c. Escucheon changed and into such a name as included the Name of God himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El being the close of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israel and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El is one of Gods own Titles And truly here we may take up the contemplation of a learned man who examining and surveying these pretious promises was taken with a great admiration that so few should act the Duty in the Text should be conscientious in Sabbath Observances Hoc lugendum est et magnoperè plangendum inquit Forerius perswading himself that the diviness of these promises might captivate the most refractory and disingenious and at last he concludes with moans that so few in the world should be taken with so rich a bait To which I shall only add we may here see how much infidelity influences the hearts of most for surely did we not look upon these rare promises as bonds without a seal the Revenue of them would bride us to the most accurate and spiritual observation of Gods holy day our reward would make the Sabbath our delight and the greatness of the gain would inforce Mat. 16. 8. us to attempt this excellent piece of godliness But the Quando doctrinam Christi intra animum non perpendimus nec ad praxinreducere nitimur ex hoc oritur occaecatio cordis et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chemnit 1 Sam. 15. 29. world is fallen under the same rebukes as once the Disciples did O ye of little faith why reason you among your selves saith Christ why question you the publick faith of Heaven to the neglect of a duty so transcendently beneficial And in the conclusion of the whole Text we have the seal and confirmations of this Charter of blessings for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and let us be fully assured with the greatest certainty that the strength of Israel will not lye nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent CHAP. IX The Doctrinal observation comprised in the Text propounded and proved HAving thus taken in pieces the Text by a large and copious explication I shall now set it together again in a solemn and serious observation viz. Doctr. That God hath lockt up many rich blessings in sweet and sure promises for those who spiritually and conscientiously observe his holy day Thus the Inventory in the Text presents us with delights for the inward man with supplies for the outward Isa 56. 2. with a reserve of happiness for them both Such shall succeed in the Heritage of Jacob who keep holily the Sabbath Now to Jacob God was his protection here and his portion hereafter There is no Duty wears a richer Crown in the performance of it then the serious observation of the Sabbath for besides the pleasures riches and grace promised in the Text the Lord Jer. 17. 24 25 26. gives Jer. 17. 24 25 26. us additional promises the words recorded in the Text quoted are these And it shall come to pass if ye diligently hearken to me saith the Lord to bring in no burdens through the Gates of this City on the Sabbath day but hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein then shall there enter into the Nota hunc locum pro cultu Sabbati apud Judaeos et diei dominicae apud Christianos Alap gates of this City Kings and Princes sitting upon the Throne of David riding in Chariots and on Horses they and their Princes the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever and they shall come from the Cities of Judah and from the places about Jerusalem and from the Land of Benjamin and from the Plain and from the Mountanes and from the South bringing burnt Offerings and Sacrifices and Meat-offerings and Incense and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. See in this Scripture in these two verses a heap of rich promises more valuable then a pile of Diamonds a mountane of Spices or a rock set with Pearls The promises clustered and piled up in these verses they are considerable in a five-fold notion They are full of pomp and splendour Kings entering into the Gates of the City Where the Sabbath is duly observed Prosperity shall guild that Nation their Princes shall be Pace gloriâ et vebus prosperis erunt affluentes Currus et equi sunt gloria regum Gen. 25. 27. Mat. 6. 29. resplendent their Nobles flourish their Potentates shine in the dazling rayes of glory such a people shall not onely succeed in the heritage of Jacob who dwelt in Tents but in the flourish of Solomon who dwelt in Palaces The holy keeping of the Sabbath sheds beams of honour and renown upon a Nation These promises they are full of largeness and amplitude they are not personal so much as national A good observation of the Sabbath can diffuse mercies scatter them up and Quum nihil aut parum esset praesidiiâ—â— urbe tuendâ et conservando regni statu Jeremias promisit tanquam singulare dei benefiâ—ium Reges fore stabiles cum suis proceribus et extendit Propheta fructum hujus promissionis ad totum corpus non tantùm ad proceres sed ad plebem tanquam sociam hujus benedictionis et gratiae dei Regnum erectum erit et totus populus cognoscet se agere sub fide et tutelâ Dei Calvin down a Land So the Text makes
mention of Kings and Magistrates of Publick Authority Cities places of publick Receit The good keeping of the Sabbath procures publick benefits opens the store-houses of blessings to Cities and Nations it is the rise and spring of Epidemical happiness And our own Nation formerly in the strict observation of Gods holy day did tast the sweetness of these Cataracts of mercy it lay under national happiness and prosperous abundance to the wonder and astonishment of all the world nor was our felicity in the wain till the Inhabitants of this Land grew loose and careless on Gods holy day and then it fell under the shadows of sore and dismall afflictions and our Sun was darkned and made the world wonder gazing at its Eclipse They are full of stability so the very words of the Text And this City shall remain for ever Mercies they are more Heb. 7. 25. Christus in coelo orat pro nobis tanquam Pontifex Hap. sweet by how much they are the more stable Duration it felicitates and enriches every possession Christ is the chiefest good because he ever lives to make intercession for us Those sweets are pretious which are permanent and therefore the grace of the spirit is more valuable then the Gold 1 Pet. 1. 7. of Ophir for Gold is perishing Gold Now these promises 1 Pet. 1. 18. are of permanent good things and so the more transcendent The holy observation of the Sabbath it intails Vrbi erit salva sivere et piè colat deum idque testatur observatione Sabbathi Calv. mercy and blessings on a Person upon a Family or a City Mercy shall not be our physick but our food It lengthens our dayes of prosperity If thou wouldest put thy owne name and the names of thy Family into a long lease of Grace and Favour be very strict in Sabbath Observation They are full of impartiality Sabbath-holiness shall shed a blessing on City and Country so the Text They shall come from the Cities of Judah from the places about Jerusalem Jeremias hic planè signifiâ—at communem fâ—re hanc bâ—atituâ—inem totâ— populo from the Plain from the Mountanes c. This blessed performance of Sabbath sanctity it shall prosper the Citizen and the Country man the Shop the Farme the Cottage nay the poor inhabitant of the mountanes who hath but a shed or a Cave to shelter him shall not be exempted the dewes of this benediction The holy observation of Sabbaths knows no distinction of persons They are full of spirituality They shall bring burnt offerings and sacrifices and meat offerings and incense so the Text. The due observation of the Sabbath shall procure soul-mercies affluences for our better part the sweets of Ordinances divine Influences rich Graces coelestial Communications not onely the redundancies of outward prosperity Jerusalem florebit templuâ—que mirè frequentabitur but the participations of better prosperity It shall fill our understandings with light our minds with refreshment and our hearts with joy They that have delight in the Sabbath of God shall find delight in the God of the Sabbath Christ shall be their Paradise We have now seen what treasures of temporal and spiritual riches are laid up in this blessed Scripture and what need there any other bait to catch our affections to love and keep Gods holy Sabbath This duty is an heir of the sweetest promises such a duty as may seem to carry the Key of Gods choysest treasures about it God saith to him who holily observes his day as once Ahasuerus said to Hester What is thy request Esther 5. 3. and it shall be given thee Indeed not a holy sigh not an affectionate prayer not a savoury discourse not a heavenly duty not a divine meditation which is shot up to Heaven on a Sabbath day shall lose its reward Holy sacrifices are then more especially a sweet smelling savour in the nostrils of Gen. 8. 21. God It was a rare promise God made to the Eunuch who kept his Sabbath Isa 56. 4 5. the words run thus For thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbath and choose the things which please me and take hold on my Covenant Isa 56. 4 5. even to them will I give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better then of sons and daughters and I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut Nomen i. e. memoria fama gloria Hanc enim filii parentibus conciliant off Thus if Eunuchs keep Gods Sabbath God will repair all their contempts in the World and they shall be had in everlasting remembrance and though their grave bury all the memory of them in silence because they have no progeny to bear up their name yet their name shall be engraven in Gods house which shall out-vie the duration of the most numerous off-spring Nay the Lord as if he was unwearied in making bonds of love to the holy observation of his Sabbath makes a rich promise to the very strangers so Isa 56. 6 â— the Text Isa 56. 6 7. the words are these Also the sons of the strangers that joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the Name of the Lord to be his servants every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my Covenant even them will I bring to my holy Mountane and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my Altar Here God makes a three-fold promise of the best kind viz. spiritual to the very strangers who keep his Sabbaths undefiled First They shall enjoy the Ordinances I will bring them to my Holy Mountane saith God Those who sanctifie the Sabbath they shall not want a Sabbath to sanctifie they shall Isa 25. 6. Per convivium medullatorum â—en intelliguntur carnales sed sâ—irituales deliciae et summae voluptates enjoy seasons of prayer opportunities of love means of grace and feed upon the fat things of Gods house Gods Sabbaths are fastned by an holy improvement and fledged to be gone by a careless abuse Nothing so ensures our Sabbaths as a conscientious observation Secondly They shall be refreshed by Ordinances I will make them joyfull in my house of Prayer Prayer shall be their Paradise hearing their Heaven meditation their Triumphant flight Sacraments their savoury meat which their souls shall delight in All the Ordinances shall be as the holy Alymbecks Gen. 27 4. to drop sweetness into the soul of him who undefiledly keeps the Sabbath Thirdly They shall be accepted in Ordinances God will fill the Temple where they meet with smoake they shall have sure signs of his presence fire shall fall down upon their 1 Kings 8 10 sacrifices as a testimony of Gods acceptation And all this the very strangers shall enjoy those who are not inoculated into 1 Kings 18 38. a Jewish stock but
above all his works Psal 145. 9. Quiâ—quid est in deo est deus Psal 145. 9. Gen. 22. 17. 2 Chron. 33. 12. How sweet was his mercy in multiplying Abraham's Seed in knocking off Israels bonds in sanctifying Manassah's Fetters in throwing Devils out of Mary Magdalen and introducing himself in the room in stopping Paul in the carier of his persecution of the Saints and destruction to Exod. â—2 51. Luke 8. 2. himself It was Mercy pâ—nned the Covenant of Grace sent an onely Son into the world and it is the same mercy which Acts 9. 4 5. Deus non pater judiciorum aut ultionum dicitur sed Pater misericordiarum non â—â—dò quia Pater filicrum misereâ—â—â— timentium so sed quod miserendi causam et originem sumat ex proprio Bern. scatters Gospel-light for mans direction to eternal life Divine mercies are the brightest rayes to enlighten us the sweetest drops to soften us the surest forts to safe-guard us The Hand of mercy giveth us the bonds of the promises the Ear of mercy gives us an account of our prayers the Tongue of mercy speaks comfortably to us in our distresses the Eye of mercy beholds and pities us in our falls and lapses the Heart of mercy yearns over us in our sins and iniquities A learned man observes God in infinite mercy places our justification upon faith not upon works upon the stretching out of a hand not the exact performance of a work If God should lay the stress upon accurate obedience we should assuredly fall short of a Crown Let us meditate on the glory of his wonders He is a wonder-working God He can fetch water out of the Rock Exod. 17. 6. Gen. 19. 24. send fire out of heaven he can rain down Manna and so Exod. 16. 4. furnish the table with a showre and fetch provisions not 2 Kings 20. 10. from the Kitchin but the Clouds He can make the Sun Dan. 3. 25. run in a retrograde motion and turn a flaming furnace into an arboret a walk of safety and delight He can fright Armies 2 Kings 7. 6. with a noyse they shall be discomfited by the weak 2 Kings 19. 7. sound of a rumour He can raise an host of Caterpillers Joel 2. 25. and Palmer worms and they shall do execution and overthrow his Enemies without Sword or Spear Christ can Mark 6. â—2 John 2 9. prepare bread without going to the meal in the Barrel and provide wine without going to the store in the wine Cellar and his Command shall yield more then the Vine And the wonders of God Sometimes they are destructive They strangled the first-born of Aegypt and washed away the Princeliness and Glory Exod. 12. 29. of the Land of Ham in the Red Sea God miraculously stirred Exod. 14. 28. 2 Chro. 20. 2 3. up the Inhabitants of Seir to help forward the destruction one of another Sometimes Gods wonders are preservative The Mariners see Gods wonders in the deep and the boisterous Psal 104. 24. waves by Gods wonderfull power are their Pillars not their Dan. 6. 22. Perdition they support them not swallow them up Thus Deuâ— solus est qui â—acit miracula multâ— enim sunt stultis miracula quae talia non sunt sapientibus Aug. God wonderfully preserved Daniel in the Lions Den and those beasts of prey served for his Guard and not his execution Gods wonders are sometimes walls of fire to scorch and burn and sometimes walls of brass to secure and defend Sometimes God works wonderfully to shew his love and faithfulness and sometimes to shew his wrath and indignation Gods wonders are sometimes declarative they are the essay of his power before the eyes of the world the Heavens take notice of them Psal 89. 5. The children of men take notice Psal 89. 5. Job 9. 10. Psal 105. 5. Psal 77. 14 15. Nehem. 9. 10 Josh 2 10. Psal 136. 4. of them Job 9. 10. Holy Job was a notary to set them down and the sweet singer of Israel an instrument to set them out Psal 105. 5. And not onely the children of Israel Nehem. 9. 10. But the people of the Nations have taken notice of the wonders of the Lord Josh 2. 10. and resented them with astonishment and admiration CHAP. XVII God is most Adorable in his blessed Attributes LEt us meditate on the Attributes of God The Divine Attributes are those glorious beams which give us the best discovery of the Divine Being His Justice is a scorching beam His Mercy is a warming beam His Faithfulness is a refreshing beam His Truth is an enlightning beam His Infiniteness is a dazling beam His Power is a piercing beam But this prospect is so pleasant we cannot so suddenly take off our eye and therefore we shall glance at the Divine Attributes something more distinctly Let us meditate on the Power of God His Power as his Glory is transcendent He can bow the Heavens he can Psal 144. 5. Judges 5. 20. Job 37. 16. Psal 104. 32. Isa 5. 26. Isa 7. 18. Exod. 14 24 25. marshal the Stars he can ballance the Clouds he can destroy single persons he can subvert whole Cities wash away the World with a Flood he can make the Mountains smoak with a touch he can summon the Nations with a hiss and he can take off Pharaohs Chariot wheels with a look If God frown the Mountains quake the Hills melt the Earth is burnt the World is blasted and the Inhabitants of it tremble Nah. 1. 5. He can scatter Nations hurle Mountanes Lev. 10. 1 2. to and fro as the dust Hab. 3. 6. Such divine discoveries Gen. 19. 24. of Gods infinite power we meet with in sacred writ Gen. 7. 19. He created the World by the Power of his Word and blâ—w Ad imperium nutum etinstinctum dei volentis puniâ—e Judaeos staâ—im quasi liâ—lores accurrunt Egyptii et Assiâ—ii sibilo tantùm opus est et advolant Alap the Vniverse into a being by the breath of his mouth His Fiat reared the Heavens and the Earth into an existence it fill'd the Sun with light bespangled the Firmament with stars deck't the fields with grass laded the trees with fruit and made the vallies sing with Corn Psal 65. 13. Paradise Mans first and delightfull seat was but the issue of Gods Commanding Power He planted every Flower he sowed every Seed he set up every Tree not with his Hand but his Word And as in Naturals so is Gods Power seen in Spirituals He can subdue the strongest corruptions break the hardest Ezek. 11. 19. Dan. 4. 33. Luke 7. 38. Jer. 5. 22 hearts relieve the most fainting graces he can unhorse the proudest Persecutors and put the greatest Kings to 2 Sam. 17. 23. grass and throw the leudest Curtizans at his fect And as Hest 7. 10. Gods Power is seen in perfective so in destructive actions he
Son too He takes upon him the rags of our flesh and they are farther torn by sorrows and afflictions and at last dipt in bloud How Christ glosses upon his own love Joh. 15. 13. and sheweth us that death was the most sincere testimony and the most superlative Character of entire love his wounds dropt more love than bloud his arms spread upon the Cross were stretched out for amicable and Cùm inimici essemus reconcilâ—ati sumus deo per sanguinem filii sui et Christus mortuus esâ— pro â—â—â—cis et si nondum qâ—iâ—â—m amantibuâ— sed tamâ—n jam amatis Bern. amiable embraces There was a threefold Inscription upon the Cross of Christ I will only a little invert it let it be this The wisdom of the Father the love of the Son and the Salvation of sinners Christs heart was full of love Joh. 10. 15. He lays down his life it is not forced from him Ioh. 10. 18. he deposits it as the pawn of his affection Christ dies for his friends saith Bernard happily not yet loving him yet already beloved by him The mercy of God did most illustriously shine in the glorious work of Mans Redemption The Apostle Rom. 5. 10. Rom. 5. 8. assures us that Christ died to reconcile enemies to his Father and what would have been the issue of enemies how bitter Coristus ex charitate suâ et Patris pro â—ohn injustis et malefactoribus peccatoribusque mori voluit Christus ergo longe omnem omnium hominum charitatem superat et transcendit Alap in Rom. Ezek. 16. 6. their portion how full of wrath their Cup how sure their slaughter Luke 19. 27. But Christ comes to die for us in this low and lost condition Ezek. 16. 6. when we were ready to receive the reward of enemies when we were falling by the hand of Justice as so many enemies How sweet and seasonable was this pity and compassion we had all the Characters of misery upon us which are fastned upon the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. we were blind miserable poor and naked both helpless and hopeless then Christ redeemed this dying Captive crew by the ransom of his bloud and as the price of his death Our Messiah must die for us when nothing else can help us and his wounds must bleed to stanch ours his bloud must be our balsam his Corrosives our Cordials his fresh wounds must cure our festred ones Heart-breaking pity and mercy brings our beloved to the slaughter when mankind was ready to drop into the flames Alapide observes There was more charity Gen. 42. 25. â—en 44. 1. and pity in one Christ dying for sinners then there can be bowels in all mankind Joseph in pity preserves his Family from famine Christ in softer bowels preserves his people from raine The wisdom of God was greatly seen in the work of mans Redemption in this work there was apparent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 3. 9 10. the manifold wisdom of God as the Apostle speaks all the embroydery and artifices of rare contrivance and wisdom Omnes illae â—ultae variae eâ—pâ—gnantes inter sâ—râ—tiones quibus usâ—s â—â—t deus in redimendis electâ—s Christo conjungendis omnes haerationes ab aeterno definitae fuerunt in divino consilio admirabilem vere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fuisse aeternam Dei sapientiam Zanch. in Eph. Zanchy observes that many seeming contrarietiâ—s and contradictions were reconciled in the Redemption of mankind Jew and Gentile dissevered in Name Nature and Priviledge are copulated in the same Gospel with the joyful news of our Redemption by Christ God and Man at an infinite distance united in the same person of Christ who is our blessed Redeemer Justice and Mercy in a mutual antipathy one to the other meet and kiss each other in the same work of our Redemption What an efflux of wisdom was this that the Son of God should die to free the Sons of men that so the Sons of men should become the Sons of God what rare contrivance of divine wisdom That justice should be executed and yet mercy no way impaired that justice should over-take the surety but mercy should be displayed to the sinner that our pardons should be written in anothers bloud our favours should lie in anothers smiles our persons clothed with anothers robe of spotless righteousness Rom 13. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20 Heb. 7. 25. Rev. 1. 5. Christus jam vivit non sibi sed nobis nostram causam agens in conspectu dei that our Prayers should be heard upon the account of anothers intercession Heb. 7. 25. That our souls should be cleansed in the bath of anothers bleeding Rev. 1. 5. All these methods of interwoven wisdom may be both our wonder and meditation Christ is the wisdom of his Father 1 Cor. 1. 24. not only as he was his Son and his Character but as he was our All-sufficient Redeemer The power of God did eminently appear in the work of our Redemption Love brought Christ to the grave but power Heb 9. 14. brought him out of the grave Justice laid the weight of sin upon Christ but power sustained him under that burden Simplicius est res postulat de ipsâ Christi divinitate intelligere hunc phrasm aeternum scil spiritum quae nisi aeternam fragantiam humanae Christi victimae ospirasset utique satisfactoria pro mundi peccatis aeternaeque justitiae meritoria esse non poâ—â—isset Par. which would have crushed men and Angels into nothing It was nothing but Almighty power which supported Christ and carryed him effectually and gloriously through the work of mans Redemption which must necessarily be exerted to sustain Christ under those effusions and chataracts of divine wrath which were poured out upon him and to raise him from that grave where he lay breathless for an appointed time What but omnipotency could break the bonds of death and petarre the Sepulchre to make way for the Resurrection of a glorious Redeemer CHAP. XXI God exceedingly to be praised in his works of Grace and Glory LEt us meditate on the morning of Gods holy day upon the works of grace Now divine grace may be taken in a Rom. 8. 28. Rom. 9. 11. Eph. 1. 11. Eph. 3. 11. double sense First Either for grace the cause which is nothing but the favour and good-will of the Lord his rich grace and mercy folded up in purposes of eternal love and therefore the Apostle 2 Tim. 1. 9. joyns Gods purpose and his grace together Gratia ab aeterno data in decreto scil Dei praedestinatione et haec donandi voluntas absoluta est et irrevocabilis Alap to evidence his gracious purposes of favour which he had from eternity towards his dear Saints These methods of grace are various and admirable The rejection of the Jews and the calling in of the Gentiles the different dispensations used in the Church before the Law under the
Isa 59. 2. Gods service and to waste any part of it upon our gains ease or pleasure is to rob God of his offerings which is Macrob. Saturn l. 1 c. 16. matter of complaint and condemnation Mat. 3. 8 9. While we make bold with Gods day we do but mangle it and every Illorum dierum quibusdam horis fas est jus dicere quibusdam fas non est jus dicere Macrob. waste is a wound in it Indeed Macrobius tells us That the heathens had their dies intercisos bipartite dayes which were divided between their God and themselves Semisolemnities And the Papists have their half holy dayes as St. Blacies day and others c. But we have not so learned Christ It was an excellent constitution of King Pepin of Abstinere in eo diâ— primò mandamus ab omni peccato et ab omni opere carnâ—li â—t ab omni opere terreno et ad nihil aliud vacare nâ—si ad orationem et ad ecclesiâ—s concurrere cum summâ mentis devotione Concil Forojul cap. 13. France We command saith he That all abstain from every sin and from every carnall work and from every earthly work and to be at leisure for nothing but prayer and Church assemblies with the greatest and highest devotion and with charity to bless God who upon this day rained down Manna in the desart and fed so many thousands with bread Morsels nay grains of time are savoury upon a Sabbath The soul can feed upon the crums of such a day Sabbath wastes are the throwing away pearls the casting over-board the best goods which might enrich us to all everlasting That time thou mispendest on a Sabbath might be Gods time for the calling thee home to himself CHAP. XXXVII Some further Directions conducing to the same End Dir. 6 LEt the whole man be employed on the Sabbath 1. All the parts of the body The tongue in prayer the ear in attending the knee in submission the eye in contemplation the hand in charitable contribution This Rom. 12. 1. would be a sacred symphony and make the body not only a a reasonable but an acceptable sacrifice 2. All the faculties of the soul must understand their several offices and tasks 1. The understanding must drink in truth as the tender Deut. 32. 2. herb the small rain and the new mown grass the seasonable Nondum in observatione externorum exercitiorum Sabbati plena est sanctificatio nisi eo fine quó institutum est ut piè sanctè et interiùs haec gerantur Qui est sabbatismus internus Leid Prof. Cant. 5. 16. showers Then the understanding must be as the lights of the Sanctuary of very great use 2. The will must embrace the Doctrines of the Gospel The understanding sees the commodity the will buys it The understanding fastens the eye upon the treasures of the Gospel but the will fastens the hand the understanding is the purveyor of truth but the will brings it home 3. The affections must be employed in pursuing Christ and in holy meltings in sacred duties the soul must be all afloat in loves and delights on Gods blessed day then our affections must follow the prey our dear Jesus our Beloved who is altogether lovely 4. The Memory must be the Scribe to set down every heavenly counsel every thing which drops from the heart of God As that King of Syria whose Ambassadours catched at every word 1 Kings 20. 33. The Memory must record every soul-concernment it must be the Exchequer where the riches of Ordinances are reposited and laid up And after all we must with the Virgin Mary ponder all those things in our hearts Luke 2. 51. Thus both soul and body must be Luke 2. 45. espoused in Sabbath service they must as Joseph and Mary go both together to seek Christ as the two Disciples which went to Emmaus both must joyn in conversing with Christ Luke 24. 15. Though the body act the part of Martha in Luk. 10. 29 41. the week and is cumbred with many things yet it must act Maries part on the Sabbath and mind onely the one thing necessary and lie at Gods feet in holy dispensations Body and soul on the Sabbath are as those two Disciples that went to Christs Sepulchre John 20. 4. but the soul is that Disciple which out-runs the other and comes soonest to the end of their Enquiry the soul comes quickest in and closest up to Christ Mariners observe that the two stars Castor and Pollux when they are asunder they prognosticate Intus est in corde est sabbathum nostrum August foul weather but when together they portend a fair and calm season so when we bring onely the body to the Ordinances of a Sabbath it portends nothing but sorrow and disappointment but when soul and body both meet in sacred duties upon this holy day it is a good prognostication Mat. 6. 24. of fair weather to the Christian smiles from above Luke 16. 13. and peace from within In the duties of a Sabbath we must study devotion but not division we must not think to please the flesh and to please the Lord too on his own day Direct 7 Works of mercy do very well become the Sabbath This is a day of love and mercy If in the times of the Law the Law of Circumcision a painful Ordinance was not to be omitted Opera misericordiae nemo illo die facere prohibet ut sub vâ—nâ—re egeno curare aegrotum Opem consilium afflicto laboranti afferre Cujus cura illo die nobis maxime commendatur Rivet in Decal John 7. 22. Much more in the times of the Gospel a law of Love must bind us and oblige us on a Sabbath Love is under a Command as well as Circumcision John 13. 35. Rom. 13. 10. Mercy it is the very musique of Gods Attributes Psalm 108. 4. it is the Almoner to provide for mans wants it is the service of Angels Luke 22. 43. And it is the comely dress which sets off the beauty of a Sabbath That we have a Sabbath is an Act of divine mercy and we cannot duly keep a Sabbath without employing our selves in the works of mercy Tertullian in one of his Apologies joyns Prayer reading of the Scriptures and giving Almes together as being all equally the duties of a Sabbath With him joynes issue Learned and profound Huc referenda sunt reliqua misericordiae opera quibus sabbatum minime profanatur Just Mart. Chemnitius who speaking of the Church of Brunswick saith That upon the Lords day a great multitude of people are gathered together to praise God to hear his Word to receive the Sacrament to holy Prayer to give Almes and other exercises of godliness Thus Charity is mingled with other holy duties Gualter cryes out Let us admire the goodness of God in giving us a day of Rest and shall not our bowels Dei bonitatem exosculâ—mur
qui nobis consecravit quietis diem Gualt be softest on that day when Gods mercy is sweetest Mans pitty is a good handmaid to wait on Gods bounty That day which is a day of life to us should be a day of love from us Charity on a Sabbath is like fire put to Juniper it turns it into a perfumed flame Now there is a four-fold Charity we must exercise on Gods holy day There is Charitas oeconomica Charity to our Families It is very observable that every clause in the 4th Commandement Manifestè praecipitur mandati verbis quieti sabbati rationem habendam esse servorum ancillarum quo quisque admonetur de assectu charitatis erga domesticos suos et insatiabilis avaritiae impetus restringitur Muscul Quo magis à dei dilectione recedimus eò magis à proximi distamus quantum verò dei â—haritati adhaeremus tantum et proximi et proximi deo conjungimur Biblioth Patr. is an injunction to Charity We must be tender to our servants they must not work we must be compassionate to our Children they must not toyl we must pity our beast that must not drudge we must have bowels to the stranger within the Gates he must rest and be refreshed so that we may say with the Apostle Rom. 13. 8. Love is the fulfilling of the Law The Command for the Sabbath is written in golden Letters of love and Charity The Lords day must be spent not in the sweats of labour but in the sweets of duty not in wearisome toyl but in holy rest Parental or despotical rigour is an open breach of this Command which breaths nothing but sweetness and indulgence The Sabbath is no day for the forge or the plow it was never set apart to waste our spirits but to mind and negotiate the affairs of our souls Bishop Andrews saith Mercy on a Sabbath is the sanctification of a Sabbath Surely those Governours of families do highly prophane the Sabbath where the maid-servant must toyl at the fire to provide for their luxury The man-servant must be no otherwise employed then to serve their company Children must wait and serve at the table to shew the grandure of the family where instead of singing Psalmes there is clattering of Dishes and instead of gathering Manna there is gathering up of fragments and instead of a composed lying at Christs feet Politicum illud est ut quâ—es concedi debeat iis qui subsunt alienae potestati Jer 17. 21 22. Psalm 105. 27. in holy Ordinances there is nothing but hurries noyse and confusion Here it might be expostulated Shall servants have no breathing for their souls no necessary pauses to mind eternity Is not this more then Aegyptian bondage Is not not this to cause our families to return back to the Land of Ham to their wonted captivity and thraldome Can such Governours disciple it after Christ and yet have no bowels Quae officia hic demandata etsi videantur levia et rusticae â—bi de pecore aberrante redâ—cendo et asino sublevando agitur non tamen nobis talia erunt si perpendamus finem legulatoris qui non tam animalium rationem habuit quà m hominum Riv. to the immortal souls of their inferiours Christ shed his blood for precious souls and these will not dispence with a humour with their pride with a feast with an entertainment for the good and advantage of a never dying soul But such cruelty and oppression saith Dr. bound is the scandal of Christianity and unravels all that mercy which is folded up in the fourth Commandement God in the Law commands us to pity and shew mercy to our enemies Oxe Exod. 23. 4. to an Oxe which is a beast to be fatted for the slaughter to our enemies Oxe whose enmity might damp our charity and yet here we must shew compassion How much more must the soul of a Child or a servant be precious to us Shall thy servants here lie among the pots and hereafter among the flames and wilt thou do nothing to prevent it Wilt thou not give them Sabbath room to sayl to Heaven in Surely this is the dregs of tyrannie Well then this piece of Charity we must shew upon a Lords day we must be tender to our families we must call them from all toyl and labour to wait on God in his sacred institutions In a word to despise our servants on a Sabbath so as to think they are onely fit to drudge here is an act of pride ond insolency Such remember not that Paul wrote an Epistle to Philemon for his servants sake and to employ our servants Philem. v 16. on a Sabbath and not regard what becomes of them hereafter is an act of inhumanity and such forget that the poor receive the Gospel Mat. 11. 5. The lame the maimed were brought to the Kings feast Luk. 14. 21. and the difficulty Mat. 10. 25. lies how the rich man shall get to heaven Luk. 18. 25. Nay Mat. 19. 24. Christ himself took upon him the form of a servant Phil. Mat. 16. 26. 2. 7. Thy servants soul is of an higher price then the world Mat. 11. 25. It is observed by a worthy man That in the fourth Commandement Rest is granted to those who have most need of it to the poor servant and the friendless stranger to shew that it is even a duty of nature to be pittiful and charitable to our families upon Gods holy day There is Charitas crumenae a charity of the Purse which Petit pauper suum pauculum temporarium Da et recipies magnum eternum Aug. we must likewise shew on the Sabbath Now we must find objects to be the Cisterns of our bounty we must here occurrere ut succurramus meet some whom we may minister to Augustine his rule is a golden Rule on this day The poor petitions a little of our temporals give it him thou shalt receive it in eternals But if we object our inability It is replyed It is not how much but out of how much God looks at The widdows two mites was a commended charity even by Christ himself But let this caution be minded Caution let us take heed in our giving that we do not take away on other dayes to give on this day rob the week to Recondet Christianus apud se cumulet auctumque deinceps et cuâ—â—â—latum deferat Sclat adorn the Sabbath this is pride not charity and the greatest portion is given to Satan But let our charity on the day of the Lord be according to the simplicity of the Gospel and so our charity may make our purse the lighter but it will make our Crown the heavier and what we have laid out in one world we have laid up in another In the Conseruntur eleemosinae sec discretionem unius cujusque propter egenorum subsidium aegrotorum et exulum solamen primitive times there were
collections for the poor every Lords day 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. A consecrated day being fittest for a consecrated dole the week day being the seeds time the Sabbath the harvest for Christian charity This sacred stock as one calls it which is laid up in the week day will be put to the highest and the holiest usury on the Lords day if the hearts of the poor be filled with food and gladness and the backs of the poor wear the livery of our bounty Just Mart. Justin Martyr speaking of the order of Christians upon the Lords day in his time affirms That Almes are given Chrysost in 1 Cor. 11. Hom 43. according to the discretion of every man for the relief of the poor the fatherless and the banished Chrysostome observes that the duty of charity is most seasonable on a Sabbath because it is a day wherein God appears in his best and largest bounty to us then he gives us his sweetest ordinances then he enricheth us with Gospel priviledges then he drops Qui aliquià recondit et thesaurizat pauperibus hic sibi ipsi thesaurum comparat et coelo reponit Alap down upon us his divine graces In our Churches at this day the poors bread is set up for distribution on the Lords day which imports the sweet correspondency between that day which is a day of love the duty which is an act of charity A learned man takes notice that this custome of relieving the poor on the Lords day was grown obsolete at Constantinople till the worthy Chrysostome restored that commanded duty And this custome well becomes the Sabbath for what are we but Almes-men at the throne of Gods grace on the time of Gods day Indeed the Sun of Righteousness as on this day arose and scattered his beams of light and love and the world rejoyced in that appearance let us scatter our hounty and laudable charity on this day that the poor Conferre in pauperes debemus in diem dominicum Buc. may rejoyce in our seasonable contributions Let us remember the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 16. 2. we render it laying by but it is treasuring up He that layes up and treasures for the poor layes up an everlasting treasure for himself And let us consider charitable words are not enough the love of the tongue only is flattery not charity it is adulation and not affection Words are cheap and the pities of language Nehem. 8. 10. Johannes Archiepiscopus are at no cost or charge The belly is not filled with roseat phrases nor the back cloathed with the embroydery Alexâ—nâ—â—â—nus 〈…〉 eò plus alâ—â—nde recipiâ—bâ—t hinc ipse Deo dicere solebat videbo Domine quis citiùs deficiet an tu mihi dando an ego aliâ—â— distribuendo Alap of indulgent language only to bid the poor be filled or be cloathed is not compassion but dirision And therefore on the Sabbath our love must be the charity of the purse and not only of the lip we must act good works and not only give good words Faith acts not without love Gal. 5. 6. and love acts not without works Heb. 13. 16. When we are blessing God on a Sabbath let the poor be blessing us it will be sweet harmony when our heart and the poors loyns both praise God together On the Sabbath we must appear before God Psal 42. 2. And the Old Law commands us not to appear before God empty Deut. 16. 16. Charity on any day is Silver Bullion but on the Sabbath is Golden Ore Let us therefore on that holy day feed the hungry refresh the thirsty receive strangers cloath the naked visit the sick and comfort those in prison this will redound to our account in that day when acts of Charity are the recorded Mat. 25. 36. characters of a sincere and sympathizing Saint Mat. 25. 35. And happily capacitate us for the donative of a Crown There is Charitas Corporalis Mercy and Charity to the bodies of others It is recorded of our Saviour that usually upon the Sabbath he visited the Sick healed the Criples Mar. 1. 30 31. Insigniora miracula edidit Christus in diem Sabbati Athan. restored the Blind and in this he leaves himself a president to others and a pattern for holy imitation We meet with divers Miracles which Christ wrought on the Sabbath on this day the eye of his pity guided the hand of his power his strength and his sweetness both conjoyned in acting and on this day Christ would be both Pastour and Physician And in his miracles on the Sabbath divers things are observable 1. He cures all varieties he healeth partial and external distempers Mat. 12. 13. he healeth the most durable and Nihil extrà legem fecit Christus curans in die Sabati Iren. lasting distempers John 5. 8. he healeth the most chronicall and habitual distempers Luke 13. 10 11. he healeth the most threatning and drowning distempers Luke 14. 4. Nay Christ on the Sabbath dislodgeth Satan himself Mark 1. 34. Diabolus vocatur potestas aeris quia in Aere miscet ventos tonitru fulgura et in A cre i. e. in mundo inter homines potestatem suam exercet eos tentando et vexando et quoquo modo nocendo Aquin. Satan at his word shall fall as lightning though he be Prince of the Air and God of this world Christ casteth out many Devils on the Sabbath Legions of Spirits are but atomes which scatter at his rebuke and disperse themselves after new enquiries Thus all varieties of diseases are cured by Christ on a Sabbath and will ye know why upon this day because this day is a season of shewing mercy 2. That which is observable in Christs cures upon the Sabbath is he justifies all his Cures as the sanctification and not the prophanation of the Sabbath Luke 13. 15 16. Works of mercy are the perfume not the pollution of a Sabbath not its eclipse but its observation And this Christ shews by the custome of the rigorous Jewes themselves and Magnae est stultitiae prohibere hominem à sanatione in diem Sabbati Theoph. by the light of nature Luke 14. 5. Christ is the Lord not the Task-master of the Sabbath And mans weale is to be carried on that day by cures as well as ordinances and the sick bed as well as the sick soul is to be visited Mercy is the sweetness and the epiphonema of a Sabbath Iraeneus avers that the true sanctification of the Sabbath Vera Sabbati sanctificatio est in operibus misericordiae Iraen lies in works of mercy We then keep the Sabbath when we are pitiful to our own souls and to our brothers body and we may serve God on that day as well in a dungeon in visiting a prisoner of Christ as in the sanctuary in waiting on an Ordinance of Christ Iraeneus observes Christ did more works of Charity upon the Sabbath then upon other Multò
men defile not enjoy an Ordinance John 17. 21. They are spots not guests in that holy Feast It is onely the spiritual man is fit for converse with God Princes converse not with Beggars nor God with sinners Christ in his incarnation tabernacled with the Sons of men John 1. 14. But in his communion he converses with the Sons of God he gives his people the meeting Mat. 18. 20. The Sun shines upon the stars and they reflect its light with a glittering rebound Christ when he arose again gave not the meeting to the world but to his Disciples Luke 24. 36. And so in his blessed fellowship he visits not the formalist but the Saint Christ in his ordinances influences his living Eph. 1. 22 2â— members not glass eyes the speculative Atheist not painted faces the varnished hypocrite not ' wooden legs with the silken stocking upon them the spruce and self-deceiving moralist who with Agag are ready to depose the bitterness 1 Sam. 15 32. of death is over We must be on the Lords day in grace actual On the Sabbath the soul is to be set on work in acting several graces and some seem to be of a different nature As faith and fear heavenliness of mind and humbleness of heart repentings for sin and relyings on God tremblings of the soul and restings on Christ a real longing for promised mercies and yet a quiet staying for those mercies promise by hope expecting good things to come and yet by faith possessing those things at present This embroydery of grace must be on the heart of Lam. 3. 26 a Saint upon the Sabbath One of the Ancients compares Greg. Mor. l. 19. sect 30. holy men upon Earth unto those holy Angels of Heaven Rev. 4. 8. that are said to be full of eyes within and without In the week the Saints must use their eyes without Psal 77. 6. looking after their necessary callings and their occasions in Hos 6. 3. the world but upon the Sabbath they more solemnly set Ex cognitione dei omnia utriusque tabulae officia tanquam ex fonte promanant et eatenus placent quatenus illam praelucentem habent Riv. on work their eyes within looking inward upon the estate of their souls knowledge must open its eyes and repentance must drop its tears every grace must be in ure and exercise Indeed the Sabbath is the proper season for the acting of our several graces working as Bees in a Hive making honey of every ordinance Sorrow and confession must begin faith and prayer must carry on and holy thanksgiving must conclude the duties of a Sabbath Our hearing the Word must be introduced by holy appetite and desire we must long to be in the Courts of God It must be entertained Psal 84. 2. Luke 8. 1. Heb. 4. 2. Mat. 13. 19. by faith and affection it must be improved by zeal and an holy conversation our lives must be comments on Gods sacred truths and so all other ordinances of the Sabbath must be the sphears for our graces to move in as stars in their Phil. 1. 27. Orbs and this is to be in the spirit on the Lords day Let us study to be in the comforts of the spirit upon the Lords day The joyes of the Holy Ghost are the musick of heaven below the hearts rapture paradise in the bosome the sweet earnest of future blessedness they are the ecchoes of assurance and the reverberations of a good God and a good Conscience Spiritual comforts hath many springs but all most pleasing and complacential They are the comforts of God 2 Cor. 1. 3. who is a fountain above us The Father of mercies leaves a seed of joy in the soul They are the comforts of the Holy Ghost Acts 9. 31. who is a blessed spring within us John 7. 37. shedding those grateful streams of peace and joy which drench the soul with unspeakable delight They are the comforts of the Scriptures Rom. 15. 4. which are as sweet Gardens without us every promise being Consolatio omnis nititur promissionibus gratuitâ— Dav. as a sweet rose every truth being as a flower of the Sun and every threatning being as wholesome worm-wood in this salvifical garden They are the comforts of the Saints Col. 4. 11. which are as lights about us for our more comfortable passages to Sancti nos solantur invisendo condolendo necessitatibus nostris administrando et miserrimas nostras conditiones sublevando Dav. our rest and happiness Communion of Saints being not only an article of our Creed but an helper of our joy in our travels to Canaan But to return to the comforts of the spirit Gods people may find soul-refreshing comforts in Christ the Lord upon his own day and the measure of their comforts may mount their souls so high as to make them like Moses upon Mount Pisgah viewing Canaan the heavenly Canaan flowing with that which is better then milk and honey the soul of a sincere Isa 51. 12. 2 Cor. 1. 4. Luke 2. 29. Isa 56. 7. Christian may swim in a sea of sweet delight he whose heart hath been as a boat which could not be got up all the week because of low water yet may be brought up in an high spring tide of spiritual comfort upon the Lords day being ready to say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke 2. 29. the soul may be so Psal 94. 19. Isa 57. 18. filled with joy upon Gods holy day in his house of prayer that he may be ambitious of his eternal Requiem in the bosome of Christ Nay upon the Lords day a believer being in the spirit the worst evils may amplifie his best comforts to think of sin remitted hell removed death vanquished devil Gen. 42. 38. conquered all these make for him that he may go down with Jud. 14. 14. joy and triumph to the grave Out of every eater comes meat the upper and the neither springs run all into the Josh 15. 19. same stream of comfort to the Saints Every thing on a Sabbath is an occasion of spiritual joy to them If they look up Isa 29. 19. to God they will joy in the Lord Rom. 5. 11. If they consider Isa 35. 2. the season of a Sabbath that is the time nay the term Isa 52. 9. time for the soul which is matter of joy nay as the joy of harvest Isa 9. 3. If they glance at the word they receive the word with joy Luke 8. 13. If they act their graces this is with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. It was a brave speech of a Martyr to his cruel tormentors Work your will upon my weak body as for my soul it is in heaven already and over that Caesar hath no power So it may be the case of a Christian upon a Sabbath he may be as in heaven beginning his triumphal hallelujahs It is no
may graciously smile and lift up the light of his countenance upon thee Moaning Ephraims are pleasant Children Meditate on Gods works Thou mayest see the glory of a Creation through a prison grate or within the curtains of a sick bed thou mayest contemplate on the Sun when thou doest not see it that emblem of Gods power and the worlds glory The Stars shine as bright to meditation in the day as in the night and we may take an intellectual when we do not take an ocular view of them Meditate on the state of the Church to rejoyce in it or to grieve at it The Jews in Babylon could weep savourily in the remembrance of Sion when they did consider its present Psal 137. 1 2. calamity and its former glory Every Christian should Psal 122. 6. be of a publick spirit and lay the case of Sion to heart either for tears or triumphs When nothing of the Church is Isa 62. 6 7. in thy eye much of it should be in thy thoughts Much of Psal 137. 5. piety is discovered in sympathy It was one of Israels great offences they had not a fellow-feeling of the afflictions of Amos 6. 6. Joseph The Prophet adviseth those who make mention of the Name of the Lord to give him no rest till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth Isa 62. 6 7. When thou art alone on a Sabbath and thy condition necessitates thee to it let the many thoughts of Sion keep thee company and be thy congregation to joyn with Meditate on the attributes of God Those glorious beams can shine into the darkest and most solitary dungeon as well as into the most solemn assembly Think of Gods power in creating a world his justice in burning of a Sodom his wisdome in contriving a way for mans redemption his love in John 3. 16. sending his Son to dye for sinners his faithfulness in making and keeping his Covenant Such heavenly meditations might sweeten a prison might mitigate a distemper might alleviate Psal 104. 34. the severity of service or slavery and might comfort thy soul on Gods blessed day in the greatest recluse and solitariness Spend some time of this solitary Sabbath in conversing with the Scriptures The Bible is the most delightful companion Rom. 3. 2. Omnia mea mecâ—m porto Bias. in the want of all others the Saint with these Oracles may say with the Philosopher I carry all my estate with me Caesar so prized his Commentaries that being enforced by the Egyptian Army to leap into the Sea he did swim with one hand and held up the Book of his Commentaries in the other his life and his book should both perish together Our Bible is the most seraphick Commentary upon Gods love and Josh 1. 8. mans heart God commanded Joshua to meditate day and night in this sacred volume Indeed the Scriptures they are a hive of sweetness to delight the soul a choice treasure Psal 19. 10. to enrich the soul more then necessary food to support the Job 23. 12. soul The sword of the spirit to defend the soul a transcendent Eph. 6. 15 17. Paradise to consolate and refresh the soul Every truth in the Scriptures is brighter then a star every promise Rom. 13. 12. in the Scriptures is richer then a Mine every threatning in Heb. 4. 12. the Scriptures is sharper then a sword every offer of grace contained in the Scriptures is more valuable then a world therefore in thy lonely Sabbaths say with the Psalmist O how I love thy Law It is my meditation all the day Psal Facit Scriptura consolationes per exempla quae narrat per promissiones praemia quae offert His nos consolatur inspem beatitudinis excitat erigit 119. 97. And this converse with sacred writ will be a good prognostick of success and happiness It is reported of Queen Elizabeth that in her great afflictions in her sister Queen Maries reign she was much conversant in the holy word and as the word of God sweetned her soul so the Providence of God smiled on her condition for after the flight of a very few years she wore the Diadem of this Nation flourished many years in the throne of her Royal Progenitours Fill up this solitary Sabbath with the Collection of former experiences David when he was kept waking in the night Psal 77. 3. he remembred God his thoughts were taken up with that In concilio Parisiensi hoc facinus Patribus dolori fuit quòd licet dies dominicus à quibusdam dominis venerando custodiri vide batur a servis tamen eorum servitio pressis per rarò debito honoâ—e â—â—li invenâ—râ—tur divine object When thou art kept from the solemn assemblies by a sick bed or a close prison or a sharp Master Remember thy experiences which thou hadst of old 1. All thy providential mercies as the Psalmist recounts his promotion that God took him from a sheepfold to a throne and at such a time advanced him to the Soveraignty of the best people in the world Psal 78. 70 71. Then remember thou the additions God hath made to thy Estate or to thy Family thy escapes from imminent dangers thy often deliverances c. Experiences of divine love receive new life from meditation and serious recollection 2. All thy seasonable mercies The Psalmist comfortably Concil â—aris relates That when his Father and his mother forsâ—â—k him Dâ—o sunt quae sâ—ntertiae gratâ—â—m dignitâ—tâ— coâ—ciâ—iant 〈…〉 si 〈…〉 ad 〈…〉 rationâ—m accommodetur Cartw. then God did take him up Psal 27. 10. Then the rare providences of God are most rare and remarkable and to be noted with an Higgaion Selah As words so favours in season are like apples of Gold in pictures of Silver Prov. 25. 11. The season is the emphasis of every mercy Even at the red Sea Psal 106. 7. This amplified Israels sin they offended even at the red Sea where they were crowned with a stupendious and seasonable deliverance Cast thy eye back in thy solitary Sabbaths upon those mercies which were eminent for their season Health after sickness supply in wants rescue from temptations from sinful or destructive company when thy soul was pluckt out of the snare Ah how sweet was water to a thirsty Samson deliverance to the poor Jews when their destruction was signed and sealed Such pleasing recollections would abundantly sweeten a solitary Sabbath 3. Thy unexpected mercies those loving-kindnesses which thou didst not think of nor pray for which thy want did not proclaim nor thy moans pursue An Angel cometh Acts 10 3. Luke 1. 26 27. to Cornelius in his prayers when he looked not for him Happily many mercies have befallen thee which like Gabriel to the Virgin Mary have brought not onely good but unexpected news On a solitary Sabbath view over thy unlookt for mercies which were returns of love without a
prayer or any other duty their thoughts look back as Lots wife did upon Sodom and so that duty is as it were turned into a pillar of salt a monument Duo contrarii amores in eodem corde locum non habent nec habere possunt Zanch. of shame And so in hearing the Word they bring the cares of the world with them and they are thorns which choak the blessed Seed of the Word Mat. 13. 22. and it becomes altogether unfruitful And again worldly thoughts do very unseasonably mix with heavenly duties we do ill to be in the vale when we should be on the mount Exod. 24. 18. with God to be supping up the dregs of the world when we should feed on the marrow Psal 63. 5. and drink of the Isa 25. 6. wine well refined in blessed Ordinances this is to powre contempt upon the provisions of the Sanctuary To say our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ on a Sabbath when yet our hearts are fluttering over the John 1. 1. 3. world this is to delude not to satisfie the Soul But be it we can taste no sweetness in Sabbath duties yet we are bound to continue our diligence we must observe our duty though presently we receive not the mercy It is Job 1. 9. the badge of Mercenaries to plead no Recompence no Obedience Indeed the recompence of reward may be in our eye though it be not our end In the work we do we may have a love to the reward though the meer love of the reward doth not attract us to do the work God is our great Lord and Master and though it is not servile obedience yet it is the obedience of Servants we ow him continually and much more upon his own day Cassian observes That he Cassian l 4. c. 24. knew a young man who meerly in obedience to his Superiors command for a whole year together went two miles every day only to pour water on a withered stick We ought every Lords Angeli quomodo discurrunt medii inter deum nos Bern. day to come under Gospel waterings though our hearts remain withered and dry though we feel no softnings or comforting it is enough we have a command the duty is ours the day is Christs who is over all God above all blessed for ever It is a favour God will employ us though he Rom. 9. 5. should never reward us The Angels rejoyce that God will engage them in his business though they receive no new recompence they are chearful to increase the duty though they do not enlarge their glory The Angels saith the Apostle are Bernardus solitus est dicere Angelos secum cooperari unoquoque die dominico all ministring spirits sent forth to minister c. Heb. 1. 14. This is their property they think themselves happy in that God thinks them worthy to do his work in the world And so must we esteem our selves honoured in conversing with God in Ordinances though we do not hear the spouts run Hab. 3. 17 18. with the waters of life and though the fingers of Christ do not drop Myrrh Cant. 5. 5. nor do we taste the honey-comb in them Cant. 5. 1. For Ordinances in themselves are Jude 14. 8. as Sampsons Lion with the swarm and the honey in them they are in their own nature pots of perfume more reviving then the smoaks of incense and though our resentments be not so quick yet we must follow the scent It is a good observation Hos 6. 3. of Chrysostom As fountains saith he send out water though no pitcher be brought to fetch from them so Pastors must preach and Auditors must hear though no fruit be received For as to keep Sabbaths is indispensable for men so to bless them is arbitrary with God But if God shine not forth from between the Cherubims of holy Ordinances Psal 80. 1. yet it is incumbent upon us to wait at the door of the Sanctuary alwayes remembring that subjection is ours but benediction is his and he will have mercy on whom he will have Rom. 9. 18. mercy Suppose Sabbaths are not successful to us what peace or profit can we expect if we lay them aside Upon the same account all other times of holy duty and the exercise of Religion may be waved and left off and then what can there be but a fearful expectation of judgment Hierom upon Heb. 10. 27. that place of the Apostle Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Hieron in Psal 107. mercy Sure then saith he It is not of him who sleepeth nor of him that idleth nor of him who neglects duty for on such the Lord will have no mercy And Chrysostom well observes upon that speech of our Saviour Mat. 16. 24. If any will Chrysost in Matth. homil 56. come after me let him deny himself c. Christ saith not as this Father observes If any man stand still or sit down for the Kingdom of God is not given to standers or to idlers but to walkers and to workers So it may be concluded the comforts of God are not given to any person who upon any pretence whatsoever shall omit or neglect his duty especially Iter monstrat Apost quo fiat ut semper gaudeamus Per orationem nimirum quae non cessat gratiarum actionem Theoph. Non erit glo riosa victoria nisi ubi fuerint laboriosa certamina Ambros upon the Lords day For any to pretend they have performed duties and waited on Ordinances and yet fail of success what good success can they expect upon the ceasing of those duties The Apostle bids us pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. So then we must pray though the blessing do not presently come we must obey the command though we do not receive the reward If men may use the means and yet miss the end surely such must miss the end who will not use the means let none think to better their souls condition by laying aside Sabbath transactions When Christians have performed Sabbath duties and do not find such comfortable and desired success in their Gospel communion Let them smite upon the thigh and reflect upon themselves The word is fire and why am I cold The Psal 6. 6. word is quickning and why am I dead Ordinances are the means of grace and why have I no grace or comfort by the Psal 43 5. means Some are at Sermons and Sacraments with their Psal 42. 4. hearts leaping and go away with their faces shining and Christiâ—ne fige tui cursus profectusque me tam ubi Christus posuit suam Bern. those who see them see they have been with Jesus but why go I mourning all the day Thus we should put our selves upon the search and scrutiny Skilful Physicians search into the cause of distempers and so should
any occasion of disturbance But now in the Latine Churches where this Heresie never took root nor spread it self the Jewish Sabbath was never observed but rather marked with a Note of sadness and sorrow viz. The memory of Christs death our Jesus lying in his Grave as on that day and this sprang fresh tears and did yield new and constant matter of mourning to the Christians of those times And it was no strange thing in the primitive times in a surplusage of zeal to run down one Extream by running into a nother as we see to make a stick straight we bend it on both sides Socrat. Hist lib. 6. cap. 8. Thus then at last we see that we cannot keep two Sabbaths no more then we can serve two Masters Mat. 6. 24. Sozom. lib. 7. cap. 10. Then one Sabbath must be discharged which can be no other than the old seventh-day Sabbath which was fairly laid asleep in the Grave of Jesus Christ and the Christian Sabbath rose up in its stead in the resurrection of Christ To evidence this truth more clearly and methodically we must know a thing may be discharged and abrogated two ways by expiration and so a Law is expired when the reason of giving that Law being ceased in respect of time or persons ceases of it self and so the Law is laid aside as useless and there needs no formal repeal And thus we may argue for the expiration of the old Saturday Sabbath A special Ordinance given unto the old World is then expired when that World it self is ended except it be revived and renewed in the new But this Law concerning the old seventh day was given to the old World Now for the clearing of this we must take notice that the Scripture Gen. 2. 3. Heb. 1. 1. Heb. 1. 2. Acts 2. 17. Heb. 9. 26. 1 Cor. 10. 11. speaks of two Worlds the first which begun at the Creation and ended presently after the passion of Christ the second beginning at Christs resurrection and ending at the general Judgment The Apostle speaks of Worlds 1 Heb. 2. viz. The old World and the new the one before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas de Sabbat Circumcis and under the Law and the other under the Gospel and the new World viz. The time of the Gospel is sometimes called A new Heaven and a new Earth Isa 65. 17. The second World the invincible Athanasius calls it Another Generation when the old Sabbath was to cease as well as Circumcision and the Lords-day was to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Monument of the looked for reparation Upon all this let us assume the first Argument The old Sabbath as also the whole manner of service was limited to the term or time of the old World and so must necessarily expire with it It is not said the Commandâ—ment expired with it for that was moral for one day in Athanas seven to be consecrated to the service and worship of God but the old seventh-day Sabbath instituted at the beginning of the old World is together with that old World expired and a new one come in its room When the reason of any Law ceases for that is the life and the Soul of a Law then the Law it self ceases But the reason of the institution of the old Sabbath ceased at the end of the old World and the beginning of the new viz. The resurrection of Christ The reason of the institution of the old Sabbath was Gods honouring that day in resting from all his works and for the memory of the Creation which was implied and to be supposed till a greater work Sic Romae Aerat et Epoche fuit ab urbe conditâ tali aut tali anno should be finished to be the ground of the institution of another day which was the work of Reparation or Redemption To make this out a little further let it be observed that the ground and reason of the institution of days which are set and solemn is some memorable work falling out upon such days The very Heathens chose out Nativity days the days of founding Cities of memorable Victories c. Now the first Sabbath was instituted upon such a reason viz. Gods honouring that day by his rest from the great work of Creation And so Mr. White of Dorchester urges The way to the Tree of life pag. 278. Mr. White this after this manner That day which is honoured by God above other days by his most eminent work of mercy to Mankind shall be the day of his holy Rest to be consecrated to him for his worship But the day in which Jam vetus expiravit et mundus et sabbatum septimaeque diei commemoratio Christi tumulo sepelitur Resurgit Christus resurgit et sabbatum Christianum mutatur dies sed non minuitur observatio quod ut evidentius sit notandum est Deus habuit opus habuit opus et Christus Deus habuit requiem sic requiem habuit et Christus Deus quievit post creationem et Christus post redemptionem quietem ab opere creationis commemorat dies septimus quietem ab opere Redemptionis commemorat dies primus orbe christiano universaliter observandus God ended and perfected the Creation of the World is honoured and advanced above all other days therefore that day shall be a day of holy Rest Now the Proposition will serve the turn for the Lords-day and thus That day which is honoured by God above all other days by his most eminent work of mercy to Mankind shall be the day of holy Rest But the first day of the week in which Christ rested from the work of Redemption is the day honoured and advanced above all other days old Sabbath and all therefore this is the Christians day of solemn Rest The old Sabbath indeed was to continue upon the reason given viz. Gods rest after the Creation till a greater work should appear and then it must expire and resigne unto a new Possessor Indeed the latter work viz. Mans Redemption so great so necessary so glorious even puts out the memory of the former and so antiquates the reason of it and thereupon the day it self expires and obliges to no more observance The Redemption of Mankind then being the greater work as shall be more fully shewed hereafter and having a stronger reason in it hath swallowed up the memory of the stupendious work of Creation as Doctor Young calls it not that the work of Creation should be forgotten for that glorious work gave us our esse our being as the work of our Redemption gave us our bene esse our well-being but rather that it should be more adorned and perfected we still retain the memory of the Creation in keeping one day in seven to the Lord and the memory of the Redemption in keeping the first of seven Our contemplations on the wonderful work of the Creation are heightned not stifled by the
ecclesiae Corinthiâ—cae mandetur quod à totâ Christi ecclesiâ non requiritur and therefore binds their Consciences to it And if Paul ordained it certainly he had it from Jesus Christ who first commanded him so to appoint it for he solemnly professeth That what he received of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 23. that onely he commanded them to do If this day had not been more holy and more sit for this work of love than any other day the Apostle would not have limited them to this day nor would he have honoured this day above the Jewish Sabbath for the Apostle was always very tender of Christian liberty and would never bind where the Lord hath left his people free for in so doing he should rather make Snares than Laws and go expresly against his own doctrine and that in this very point of the 1 Cor 7. 28. 35. Gal. 5 1. observation of days Gal. 4. 10. He may give his advice indeed in things proposed 1 Cor. 7. 25. but he always distinguisheth between his own counsel and Gods command and makes the Command necessary but the other onely expedient The Apostle doth not in this place immediately appoint and institute a Sabbath but supposeth it to be so already and we know duties of Mercy and Charity as well as of necessity Primr part 3. cap. 6. and piety are Sabbath duties for which end this day was most fit for these collections because they usually Quando quidem â—postolus collectas die dominico faciendas statuit dubium non est quin praecipiat ut diem ipsum celebrent quando finem requirit quid non media ad finem duâ—entia praescribat met togethet publickly on this day and so then collections might be in a greater readiness and partly also that they might give more liberalâ—y it being supposed that upon this day their hearts were more weaned from the World and more warmed by the Word and more elevated by other Ordinances to a vigorous faith and a lively hope of better things to come and so having received spiritual things from the Lord more plentifully on this day every man would be the more free to impart his temporal good things for refreshing the poor Saints And why should the Apostle limit the Church of Corinth to this day either for extraordinary or private collections and such special acts of mercy unless the Lord had honâ—ured this day for acts of mercy and much more of piety above any Et si primaria Pauli intentio scil collectam praecipere tamen quia vult illam fieri dâ—e dâ—minâ—co dubiâ—â—m noâ— est qâ—â—n â—raecipâ—â—t etiam ut Dominicum diem celebrent qui enim vult finem vâ—lt media ordinary or common day What then should this day be but the Christian Sabbath imposed by the Apostles and magnified and honoured in all the Churches in those days It is rightly observed by Bishop White Although this Text of St. Paul saith he maketh no express mention of Church-assemblies on this day yet because it was the custome of Christians and so likewise it is a thing convenient to give Alms on the days of Christian Assemblies it cannot well be gain-said but that if in Corinth and Galatia the first day of every week was appointed to be the day for Alms and charitable contributions the same also was the Christians weekly holy-day for their religious Assemblies Thus this learned man rightly and genuinely Vedel Exercit in Ignat. ad Magnes cap. 7. draws the inference Iâ— the first day of the week was the day for Alms it was likewise the day for Worship Chrysostom upon the evidence of this Text concludes positively That in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia the Lords day was made a weekly holy day by the Apostles for they governed these Churches at that time Philo Judaeus and Philo Judaeus Josephus relate That it was the custom of the Jews who were scattered in other Countries to make Collections every Josephus Sabbath-day which were sent by the hands of eminent persons to Hierusalem every year and for the use of the Temple and the Levits and this custom the Apostle seems to follow in the Text now under discussion in enjoyning Collections every first day of the week our Christian Sabbath to be sent for the relief of the poor Saints at Hierusalem who were oppressed by a multitude of strangers and subjected to persecutions and wants for their zeal and holy fervour to the blessed Gospel Once more if it be demanâ—ed why the Apostle enjoyns Collections on the Lords day Chrysostom gives us a good answer he saith That was a Sacrament-day and dâ—uâ—tless that was a powerful Argument to prompt them to liberality it was strange ingratitude to spare a little from the poor when it is considered God spared not the blood of his own Son which Chrysost is lively represented in the sacramental feast Beza observes Acts 20. 7. That Justin Martyr after he had described the order and manner of the primitive times in sacramental Administrations on the Lords day he adds That their Collections were made according to every ones free will and those Acts 1. 2. 4. Collections were distributed by the chief Minister to Orphans Widows sick persons and those who were in want for their relief and seasonable support So that this sacred custom and holy day were propagated by the Apostle to the succeding ages of the Church And indeed what better Hâ—ctenus ex hisce tribus locis scripturae conjunctim consideratis ex communi sententiâ quam tota fore reformata exlesia ex iis constantèr colligit dâ—ei dominicae usum ad Apostolos esse referendum Wal. exposition of an Apostolical Precept and practise can we meet withal than the universal practise and observance of the Church of Christ VVe must then shut up this particular with what Walaeus takes notice of For these two Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. saith he joyned with Revel 1. 10. have caused almost all the reformed Churches to conclude that undoubtedly the observation of the Lords day must necessarily be referred to the Apostles as the Original Founders of it And let this be added That the Apostles transmitted the Lords day to the Church most probably by the immediate command of Christ most certainly by the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost that unerring conduct of them in the affairs of the Church The Lords day is more illustrious from its eminent Title Revel 1. 10. where it is stiled the Lords day If ye ask why Augustine will tell you because the Lord hath made it This Ignat. Epist ad Magnes Euseb Eccles Histor lib. 3. cap. 21. Diònys Corinth Histor lib 4 cap 22. Cyprian Epist 59. Caeperatintereà post tristia Sabbata foelix dies qui nominis alti culmen a domino dominante trahit c. Sedul name and title was so sweet to the Primitive Church that most
the bread of life when we attend upon the preaching of the word and generally as our Estate is better than the condition of the Jews in respect to the whole worship of God so likewise more especially in our worship upon the Sabbath our priviledges are more and our burdens are less than theirs our worship is more spiritual more easie more sublime and heavenly and more above the Alphabet and rudiments of their Religion Their lisping Sacrifices proclaimed their minority but ours speak more plainly the Dialect of Heaven Nay which is very considerable in those things wherein we are equally bound with them we much exceed them are we bound to meditate in the law of God day and night yet Psal 1. 2. we are not commanded to carry it about in the skirts of our Numb 15. 38. garments and upon our bracelets Deut. 6. 8 9. And though Rom. 32. it is our duty as well as theirs to teach our Children the Oracles of God Deut. 6. 7. yet we are not charged with Scripturae sacrae in iisque promissiones et Pacta Divina et suturorum mysteriorum prae dictiones haec fuerunt eloquia dei Judaeis concredita Alap the writing of them upon our gates and the posts of our doors Deut. 6. 9. And so in our Sabbaths we are free from the servilities and rudiments with which the Jews were chained as a signe and token of their bondage and servitude Though we are charged to rest upon the Lords day and so keep it holy yet we are not over-charged with Sacrifices and Ceremonies they are all laid asleep in Christs Grave and we are freed from these Fetters and so enjoy a more glorious liberty The inference of the whole will be this Hath God filed off all Chains of servility plained off all knots of difficulty hath he put an end to all legal Sacrifices and chased away all shadows of Ceremony that nothing might encumber our Christian Sabbath How exact then should we be in the observation of it Divine indulgence as it is properly a curb to sin so it is a forcible spur to duty the Lord hath abundantly sweetned therefore let us more carefully sanctifie our blessed Sabbath he hath freed it from the Jewish thraldom let us therefore keep it with Christian freedom the Sabbath of the Jews like the Infant Moses floated among the Reeds but ours hath its Nest among the Stars Obad. 4. Let its sublimeness and spirituality engage us more strongly to a due and holy solemnity nothing can more soften unto obedience than love and indulgence which is written in the fairest character upon the Christian Sabbath It is a most natural Induction that we being loosed and unfettered should run with more swiftness the way of the fourth Commandement now spiritualized to us by Jesus Christ Our Sabbath triumphs in a more glorious occasion then that Gen. 2. 3. of the Jews doth That which occasioned the Old Sabbath was the finishing of the work of creation but that which Mat. 28. 1. occasioned ours was the accomplishment of the work of redemption which glorious work far surpasses the other as the Temple exceeded the Tabernacle The work of Redemption is more precious As mans gaining the world cannot recompence the loss of the soul so Gods making the world doth not equalize Christs redeeming the Mat. 16 26. Inutile est mundi lucrum cum perditione animae conjunctium perditio enim animae est irreparabile damnum Chemnit soul Christs recavering must needs exceed Gods creating a world to draw men out of an enthrall'd bondage is more then to bring man out of a confused Chaos In the Creation God was to deal with no Enemy but in the work of Redemption Christ was put to combat with all the Devils in Hell and to over-power men opposing their own mercies The work of Redemption is more pressing It made the soul of Christ heavy unto death Mat. 26. 38. In this work Christ did not only fight with the Devils but God Himself seemed to combat with Christ and to put him to grief Isa 53. 10. The worlds creation was finished without difficulty but the Redemption of mankind was a work knotted with much pain and grievance The world was created with the speaking of a word it was only Let it be done and this was all the Sun the Stars and all other Creatures they sprang from the Energy and power of a Command from the force of an omnipraevalent fiat but the work of Redemption was not wrought but by the expence of Christs dearest blood The work of Redemption is more profitable Indeed to have Earth to tread on Air to breath in Meat to feed on Christus vicit triumphavit non virtute et sudore aliorum â—t mumdani Imperatores solent sed suâ solâ passione suâ solius virtute Daven Light to walk by these are benefits and good natural supports but the subduing of Satan the removing of the sting of sin with all the astonishing and sad sequels of it the pacifying and quenching of the flames of Gods anger the reparation of mans nature these are transcendent benefits and bid defiance to an hyperhole The work of Redemption yields a far greater crop and harvest of joy peace and happiness We may be Gods creatures and yet fall upon the spikes of eternal ruine But Christs Redeemed ones shall come with singing to Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads and they Quomodo illum diem qui a domino dicatus est nosque ab exilii dedecore liberavit venerari par est Isych shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Isa 51. 11. Isa 65. 17. The work of Redemption is the fullest treasury of mans happiness And as it was long ago prophesied Hag. 2. 9. That the glory of the second Temple should out-shine that of the first So the glory of the Redemption out-shines the glory of the Creation Indeed the work of Creation is a lesser good to us as the Law is a lesser good then the Gospel and the Old Testament then the New Redemption must be owned as the greater work inasmuch as things spiritual are more valuable then things natural and Gods last works are his best the first being only preparatory to the last and indeed he who shall question whether Redemption be a greater work then Creation knows little what a Redeemer is or what the ransom of an immortal soul is worth Psal 49. 8. In creating the world God did much for me he gave me a body admirably and curiously wrought Psal 139. 15 16. He likewise endowed me with a rational soul and endowed this soul with rare and excellent faculties but all these had been only capacities of misery and receptives of wrath and ruine had not the work of Redemption interposed And therefore Christ in shedding Eph. 1. 7. his blood in conquering death in satisfying for sin hath done more for me
foundations of the world were laid He is from everlasting to everlasting His Name is everlasting God Gen. 21. 33. His Armes are everlasting arms His Mercy is everlasting mercy He is the everlasting Father Isa 9. 6. His Strength is everlasting strength Isa 26. 4. His Kindness Rex seculorum est proprium dei attributum significans quod deus est primum et aeternumens Alap Respondisse fertur Thales Milesius interrogantibus quid sit divinitas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is everlasting kindness Isa 54. 8. His heart was full of love before man was created to be the object of it nay he had his delights in himself before he had his darling Man to let out his love upon The Prophet calls God an everlasting light Isa 60. 19 20. which shews there was no twilight before this illustrious and bright Sun His years fail not there is no faintness can seize upon his Nature nay his years cannot be numbred Isa 36. 26. There can be no termination of his being He inhabits Eternity Isa 57. 15. there he alwayes dwelt The World is but a latter production to which he was pleased to give a being according to his good pleasure Let us meditate on the Independency of his being He subsists of himself and all things leane on the arm of his power and hang upon the good hand of his providence He sustains Acts 17. 28. the Angels He supplies man not onely with bread but Psal 147. 9. with breath He feeds the young Ravens they seek their meat at his hand God is the universal purveyor of the World and He supports this beautiful fabrick which else Psal 104 29. would soon sink into its primitive nothing and he doth it by his own manutenency Should God withdraw his fustentation the whole Creation would faint and dye away He is the great King which maintains the Universe He preserves Psal â—â—6 9. the stranger He relieves the fatherless and the widdow as the Psalmist speaks nay all things here below are constant stipendaries to this infinite God Let us meditate on the variety of his Excellencies He is excellent in Greatness He can wound the hairy scalp of the sinner and break him in pieces as a potters vessel His Exod. 15. 7 Psal 63. 21. Sword is called the sword of his Excellency Deut. 33. 29. as that weapon which can pierce the heart of his Enemies His loving kindness is radiant with Glory and Excellency How glorious and excellent is his mercy to draw sinners out of the dust and seat them with Angels in eternal glory And God is not onely excellent in loving but he is so in Exod. 14. 22. working He can bring mighty things to pass keep the water Dâ—n 3. 25. from drowning the fire from burning the Lions from Dâ—n 6. 22. devouring the Sun from posting His works are glorious in Joâ—h 10. 13. excellency In a word whatsoever is excellent is originally Isa 28. 29. seated in God and the creatures excellency is but a drop from this Ocean a ray from this glorious Sun If God put on Psal 93. 1. his Attire he cloaths himself with Majesty his inward Psal 104. 1. garment is Strength his outward wear is Honour the Sun beams are shades compared to the glittering of his apparel Let us meditate on the luster of his appearances When God discovers himself Angels cannot look upon him they are dazled with that overcoming sight and poor Man is frighted Isa 6. 5. into despair Isa 6. 5. And so Manoah said to his Wife Psal 68. 9. We shall surely dye because we have seen God If God appears Judg. 13. 22. in his Glory Mount Sinai smoaks and flames as if it was turned into an Aetna or Vesuvius those Mountains of Sicily Heu mihi perii occidi defeci ex consterra tione tantae visionis Alap and Campania which continually disgorge themselves in smoak and fire If God cast an eye upon the Earth it trembles if he but touch the mountains they smoak Psal 144. 32. Nay if God wrap himself up in a Cloud that dark appearance Exod. 19. 18. pearance is so full of Glory that the people keep at a distance Terra dicitur siluisse conspectu Alexandri pavore concussa nec resistere ausa est and the Priests dare not make any near approach 2 Chron. 5. 13 14. The most refracted manifestation of God astonisheth and strikes man into a consternation When God appears he must put on the mask of a cloud or else poor dust would unsoder and fall before him His appearance Exod. 3. 5. Exod. 19. 18. Isa 2. 10 19. Exod. 40. 34 35. Exod. 16. 10. Isa 2. 10. in the bush sanctified the ground His appearance on the Mount multiplyed the flame His appearance to sinfull Israel drives them into holes and places of retirement Isa 2. 10. How was Moses raised with the dazling appearance of Gods back parts on Mount Sinai Exod. 34. 6. And the Apostles ravished with Christs splendid and seraphick Exod. 34 6 35. Mat. 17. 2 3 4 5. appearance in the transfiguration His glorious appearance in Heaven feeds the songs of Angels His gracious appearance on earth to his poor wasting people fills their hearts with joy and they are refreshed and refined by it And his powerful appearance in Hell fills the damn'd with horrour and despair Job 37. 2. When God appears in Ordinances Job 37. 22. Mat. 18. 20 Acts 2. 37. Psal 63. 5. those very Ordinances become the Cordials of Grace the Instruments of conversion the Paradise of the soul the fulfilling of a promise the chariots of Christ to convey him to the believer and the banes of the most head-strong corruptions Let us meditate on the tender goodness of his mercies His mercy is great in point of quantity His mercy is numerous Gen. 19 19. Num. 14 19. Psal 5. 7. in point of multitude God hath a large off-spring of love His mercy is sweet and soft in point of quality Psal 103. 4. Sure mercy in point of perpetuity Acts 13. 34. Sheltring mercy where the believer may retire himself in point of security Vnus est dei filius uâ—um verbâ—m â—ed miseria nostra est multiplex non tantùm magnam misericordiam sed et miserationum quaerit multitudinem Psal 13. 5. His mercy fills earth Psal 119. 64. reacheth to the heavens Psal 57. 10. Nay it presseth into the Heavens Psal 36. 5. Nay it is so great it gets above the Heavens Psal 108. 4. And Mercy is not onely an outward dispensation from God but a sweet disposition in God Nehem. 9. 17. It is a pearl in his Crown it is a letter in his Name Exod. 34. 6. and a great letter too Nay it is a beam of his glory He delights to shew mercy His mercy is not above all his attributes that is impossible for what is in God is God but it is