Sabbath Caelum est illa requies ubi fugit dolor tristitia gemitus omnes solicitudines Ibi nec invidia nec zelus nec morbus nec nox nec mors nec tenebrae sed omnia pax gaudium jucunditas voluptas bonitas c. Chrysost which signifies a holy Rest to shew us that the due and holy observation of our Rest here is the ready way to our perfect rest hereafter It is a sad contemplation to take a view of prophane persons how they impose upon themselves in a dream of glory Can they possibly conjecture that they can sing their songs here on a Sabbath take their cariere in sensual delights play away walk away prate away their precious Sabbaths and at last sing Hallelujahs in the Sabbath above Is not this to conceive a Mountane to be Chrystalline because it is covered with snow which bears some resemblance to the colour of it Well then prophanation of Gods day is a complicated evil a chain of darkness with many links in it a body of sin made up of the four Elements of Contempt Infidelity Ingratitude and Soul-prodigality it is an heretical vice which practically denies the resurrection of Christ Arg. 2 There is much in the day to solicite our holy observation It is a Sabbath of spiritual delights it is the souls festival day a day of fat things and wine upon the lees Isa 25. 6. The Cant. 2. 4. Sabbath is the season in which Christ brings his beloved into Psal 118. 24. to his banqueting house Christians on this day are to rejoyce in the Lord as the memorial of the greatest benefit which Dies dominicus domini resurrectione declaratus est inde caepit habere festivitatem suam ever accrewed unto them Their life rose this day a conquerour and in him they are more then conquerours as the Apostle speaks most triumphantly Rom. 8. 37. And therefore holy men in all ages have waited with impatience for the coming of this day and have rejoyced with unspeakable joy at its approach This day is the darling is the delight Aug. Serm. de temp of dayes and all other dayes are to be obsequious unto it It is recorded of holy Mr. Dod and heavenly Mr. Bruen that Deut. 32. 49. they were even in heaven upon a Lords day This day is Heb. 2. 10. the day of Christs visits the souls spiritual market and fair in it we have our prospect of Canaan upon Mount Nebo the Hujus diei laetemurâ— festivitate Hilâ—r day it is of holy Discipline to train us up in the School of Christ Hilary cries out Let Christians be exceeding glad on this day of their festivals This day is the souls seeds time Officia hodiè praestanda spiritualia mirificam in se complectuatur jucunditatem O quà m suave est communione cum Christo frui in via Ordinationum per quam Christus transire solet ipsi occurrere and glory shall be its harvest this is the most special time for the recruiting of the inward man and strengthning it with all might The duties of this day are not only the plowing but the reaping of the soul they are in themselves not only work but wages for in acting of spiritual duties there is great reward As one saith Sabbath-service implies a wonderfull sweetness as the musick of the sphears which is included in its own circumference How delitious is it to enjoy communion with Christ on his own day and to embrace him in the way of his Ordinances as Zaccheus to meet him in the way as he passeth by Luke 19. 5. Christ indeed is sweet to our enquires much sweeter to our acquests when we have found our beloved Cant. 3. 4. Now then the Sabbath being a day of joy and jubilee to the soul how spiritual exact and heavenly should we be The Sabbath is joyous in its constitution let it be so in our disposition let not this joy be damped by our sin or neglect let us not jar the musick of it by our sloath or sensuality our carnal ease or fleshly delights for so we may at night go down with sorrow to our bed Gen. 42. 38. Arg. 3 Not only the pleasure of this day might allure but the profit of this day might enforce our greatest care and devotion On this day the soul makes its greatest merchandise and drives Deus in suo opere conquiescens benedixiti huic diei eum sanctificavit in ecclesiâ suâ ut sanctus haberetur in eâ benedixit illi et benedicetur its most gainful bargains on this day the poor believer follows the chase of a Christ of an heaven of an eternity this day is a day of bleâ—sings how many have met with their beloved recruited their faith amplified their joy and gained a better insight into their spiritual condition on this holy day Their souls as Hannah have begun the Sabbath with sighs and sobs but in the close thereof have gone away and have been no more sad 1 Sam. 1. 18. It is usually on the Sabbath Jun. in Gen. that the believer makes his greatest journies towards his home God saith of this day as once Isaac said concerning Die dominico videre est animae mercaturam quaestuoâ—issiman et opulentiorem omnibus mundi opibus majâ—r certè est utilitas frui praesentiâ de quum Margaritas ac fodinas aureas acquirere Jacob I have blessed it yea and it shall be blessed Gen. 27. 33. On this day the gracious soul enjoys Christs presence communion with the blessed Trinity and the happiness of those spiritual Ordinances which are the Mines and the means of grace On this day he drinks more deeply of the waters of life and participates more freely of the good things of the graces of the spirit and tasts more sensibly of the prelibations of future and eternal joy Rev. 1. 10. Indeed on the Lords day the believer makes up himself for the decays and losses of the week and drives the spiritual trade to the best advantage Now profit should engage us to care and sedulity and add a wing to our zealous and holy industry when we are sloathful or sensual upon the Sabbath we do not only sin away our timâ— â—ut our treasure and lose our season for advantage Limnâ—rs will be very exact in drawing that picture for which they are well rewarded a high price will procure the most curious works and why should not a gainful Sabbath which will pay for all our pains engage us in the greatest strictness of observation Profit is the great engine which prevails with worldly men Some Nations will sell Swords Diei dominicae luâ—rum non crumenam sed animam spectat and warlike furniture to their open and proclaimed enemies for profit and unusual gain and surely the riches of Ordinances are finer gold then the treasures of the Mine though they be digged in Ophir Arg. 4 The honour
Lords day is the day of Commemoration for Christs Resurrection and the day of Preparation for ours The Sabbaths are as the rounds of a Ladder by which we climb up to our Fathers house our present Sabbaths work being sanctified becomes the way to our future Sabbaths rest On this holy day the soul more especially waits at wisdomes gates and brings its corruptions to the slaughtering power of the Word inricheth it self with Gospel-treasures feeds its graces upon Gospel provisions and every way accommodates its self for the imbraces of eternity There is another command in the Text viz. of fruitfulness so the Text and shalt honour him Now there is nothing more honours God then our holy fruitfulness this gratisies his Will this magnifies his Grace this adorns his Gospel this glorifies his Name Our Saviour saith expresly John 15. 8. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit We exceedingly honour God when on a Sabbath day we Sint submissi tractabiles et sequaces mores Cyr. weep much in the Closet pray much in the Familie hear much in the Sanctuary when we tremble at Gods Word rejoyce in Gods Ordinances melt in Gods presence when Sabbaths soften us ripen us raise us and bring us to a nearer conformity to Christ when this sun-shining day of a Sabbath melloweth us and maketh us look fairer and more beautiful Thus we spread our branches and Gods Name together CHAP. VIII The Promises in the Text made over to Sabbath-Holiness explicated and unfolded ANd thus far we have assayed to unfold the duty enjoyned in the Text which is the holy and strict observation of the Sabbath and the Sabbath may be sanctified by forbearing what is criminal and by pursuing what is commendable and what is both displeasing or satisfactory we have amply laid down in the Text and hitherto hath been discussed Now we come to the glorious reward of a due sanctification of the Sabbath which is folded up in a Tria hic praemia Sabbathum deumque colentibus promittit Deus Alap Com. in Isaiam three-fold promise mentioned in the Text for one promise is not thought sufficient by divine bounty to be a spur to this holy observation It must not be a single Diamond but a Casket of Jewels Here is a constellation of happiness promised a Tree of Life with many branches as if God would tell us in the Text how pleasing how grateful what a Prov. 11. 18. sweet sinelling sacrifice the conscientious keeping of the Sabbath was to him such a Saint the Promises troope after him they cluster together to refresh him God gives the Bond and the Counterpane too But more particularly these promises they are not onely rare but comprehensive they are both temporal and spirituall Gods bonds for left hand and right hand mercies And first God promises Vbertatem Voluptatis abundance Prom. 1. Si in Sabbathâ— te abstraxeris â—â— deliâ—iiâ— carnis deus dabit tibi suas delicias longe majores scil pro carneis dabit spiritusles pro teciporalibâ—â— aeternas pro humanis divinas Psal 104. 34. Cant. 4. 9. of Pleasure so the Text then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord. As if God should say if my Sabbath be thy delight then my presence shall be thy delight if thou take pleasure in my day thou shall sind pleasure in my self the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnanag delight which is used in the former verse for our delight in the Sabbath is here used for our delight in the Lord. Our duty shall not exceed his bounty if we on a Sabbath delight in him we on a Sabbath shall receive delights from him God will meet the gracious soul its breathings after God shall be compensated with his blessings in God thou shalt never lose by satiating thy self in God thy understanding shall be delighted with meditation thy desires with satisfaction thy heart with exhileration he that is an Ocean of delight in himself shall be thy delight If thou takest pleasure in Gods holy day thy heart shall be more sweetned in the thoughts of God of his Faithfulness of his Fulness Incomprehensibleness Goodness Tenderness then in all sliding and secular delights for our delights in God are Most Pure they are Christalline pleasures without spot or faeculency they are incapable of excess The soul may rejoyce Psal 94. 19. in God and fear no surfet There is no tang of sin or mistake cleaves to them as holy David In the multitude of my thoughts Passim Haeresiarehae et Haeretici fuerunt voluptuarii eaque de causâ plurimos habuerunt assectus sicut et Epicurus plures discipulos habuit quà m alit Philosophi Epiphâ—n within me thy comforts delight my soul Now as for the pleasures of this life their object is sordid what is a Field or a Bag or a Hawk or a Hound The excess is easie we mostly over-do in outward delights their satisfaction is sensual only the smiles and laughter of dust their time is short the frolicks of this life are onely for this life as long as a vapour lasts and their end for the most part is heaviness a smiling countenance a wanton palate a catching eye and a prancing phancy for the most part ending in a heavy heart But our pleasures in God are holy and undefiled their rising is their rarity and their exceeding is their excellency Our delights in God are most abundant they exceed the pleasures of this life as far as the receptive faculty of the Anima nostra delectatione carere nequit unam si non habet quaerit si non divinam tum humanam soul exceeds that of the body A whole world cannot fill the soul it is too vast in its desires and entertainments but a little prospect can fill the theatre of the eye a little wine the wanton vagaries of the palate a little game the galloping fancies of the hunter Our pleasures in God are a soul full of delight Thy Comforts delight my soul saith David they are over-flowing waves of love rising and ravishing Psal 94. 19. waters which cover the sea of mans heart Most satiating Our pleasures in the Creature cloy us Our pleasures in God comforts us outward delights surfet not Ecles 1. 2. Voluptas est duplex vel Terrestris vel Coelestis Coelestes voluptates sariant nonsaturâ—ne ideò diuturniores terrestres sâ—turant non satiant ideò breviores quòd etiam jam dileximus pieni quidem prâ—rsus nauseamus Baron satiate they have something of the flesh and that will not alwayes go down Solomon the great Chymist of pleasures at last after a thorough gust of them extracted nothing but wind from them or the waters of Marah either vanity or vexation of spirit But the pleasures we have in God relate not to the body which is a tiresome piece of flesh but to the soul which is full of life and activity and delighting in God which is its center
in ordinances for what will it profit thee to gain a whole world of Gospel opportunities and at last to lose thy own soul Let us study a broken frame of spirit in Ordinances A eleven foot is a sign of Satans appearance A cloven tongue was a sign of the spirits appearance but a cloven broken Psal 51. 17. heart is the sign of a Saints appearance Our best composed Acts 2. 3. services flow from a broken heart Hezekiahs chattering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plural numeri denetare amplitudinem magnitudinem sacrificii cordis contriti like a Crane Isa 38. 14. And Davids weeping oratory were forcible engines to batter heaven Our hearts like clouds they are best when melted It is well when our services like Pauls companions come to the shore upon broken planks A melting spirit will melt God into compassion Moaning Ephraim is a pleasant Child Jer. 31. 20. The softer the Luke 4. 18. heart is the sweeter is the duty Squeezed Grapes onely Psal 34. 18. yield the Wine The Psalmist avers That the Lord is nigh to them who are of a broken heart he loves to dwell near Isa 57. 15. them nay the Prophet saith he loves to dwell with them Unquestionably God is never more seen in the Sanctuary Psal 63. 1 2. then when it is a Bochim a place of tears and spiritual dissolvedness Foramina Petrae sunt vulnera sanciantia Alap Broken clouds forerun a fair day broken hearts foretell a fair acceptation Thus Christ comes in at the clefts of the Rock Cant. 2. 14. And when we faint most we sink least When the Spouse is sick of love Cant. 5. 8. then is Cant. 2. 5. her beloved well pleased When we are most spirituall in ordinances let us hâ—ve ardent desires to be better in those sacred administrations The gracious soul is good at desires he would offer better if there was better in the flock his love shall piece up what is wanting in his duty though he cannot be excellent yet he Duplicem Cain culpam impingit unam quòd post multos dies obtulit serò obtulit cúm celeritate sacrificium commendatur alteram quoÌ„d ex fructibuâ— non ex primis fructibus obtulit Phil. Jud. would be obedient if he cannot offer an entire service yet he would sacrifice a broken heart to God and though his services are wanting in weight yet they are not deficient in wish his desires are plumed though his performances flag and hang the wing Abel will give the best though he hath no better and though the Saint can only offer a little Goats hair or a pair of turtle Doves yet he would offer a young Bullock or the fat of Rams he could wish his tongue was more fluent in prayer his ear more attentive in hearing his spirit more melting in service his heart more open in ordinances his desires are fledged though often his duties are in the shell And this would become us in holy ordinances when we are best to think we are short and when we fly fastest to complain of our clipt wing and Psal 63. 8. when we follow hardest after God to suppose we might mend our pace And surely holy desires after better things are most pleasing to God The Child who offers to serve his Father is very acceptable though his desire be more then Phil. 3. 14. the Act. Paul pressed forward towards the Mark in this our exsample We are most acceptable and more truly spiritual in Ordinances when we bring the whole man to them when the knee doth bend and the eye doth weep and the heart doth yield and the soul doth stoop and the ear incline in holy duties Gods great work was to make the whole world for man and mans good work in spiritual approaches is to give the whole man to God We must come to Ordinances as the Israelites went out of Aegypt with their whole train we must come with all the faculties of our souls and all the Psal 103. 1. parts of our bodies If there be one wheel missing in a In divinis officiis non tantùm sit totus homo sed totum hominiâ— watch it cannot go at all to be an Index of time And so in holy duties if the ear be missing or the memory wanting or the heart lacking all our design falls to the ground Those who will serve God in ordinances must give him their hottest love their highest joy their strongest faith their greatest fear they must act every grace extend every faculty improve Psal 9. 1. every part all the worshipper must be employed in that sacred work The Ship which sails well must have all Psal 119. 34. its tackle the Mast must be up the sails must be spread it must have both its pump and its lanthorn the want of any furniture may endanger the whole There must be head Jer. 3. 10. work and hand work and heart work in ordinances It was the resolution of the Psalmist to keep the Commandments Jer. 24. 7. with his whole heart Psal 119. 69. It is the whole man which is gratefull to God in holy duties we must as the poor widow give all we have cast in all our capacities into the treasury of holy worship Mark 12. 44. CHAP. XXXII Active graces do well become Holy Ordinances AND we must not only be strict in our behaviours and spiritual in our duties in the time of publick Ordinances but we must likewise be very active in our graces in those sacred solemnities There are three seasons when our graces must be active and vigorous Eph. 6. 13 16. 1. In a time of temptation Then faith is a shield as the Apostle speaketh Eph. 6. 13 16. Taking the whole armour of God we shall be able â—o withstand in that evill day Luke 21. 19. 2. In the day of affliction Then patience keeps possession and self-denyal breaks the stroke Wind up the watch and it goes as stedily in the night as in the day 3. In Gospel opportunities The breast is full of Isa 12. 3. milk but the Child must draw and strive to get it out A quae salutis sunt sacrae scripturae doctrina Evangelica quam hâ—â—â—imus á Christo Hier. Orig. There is a life and sweetness in Ordinances but grace and desire must draw it out there must be a hand of faith to let down the bucket to bring up the water from the wells of Salvation If any ask what spices must flow out what graces must be acted in holy ordinances it is answered We must act our knowledge in holy duties We must know it is God the infinite Jehovah with whom we have to do All worship without the knowledge of the true God is a notion and empty speculation God alone is the object of a godly mans worship Exod. 20. 2. His hope is in God Psal 39. 7. His dependance is on God Psal 62. 8.
midwived into the world by Apostolical precept or practise The infinite distance between the Authorities must needs conclude a vast difference between the benedictions nor can the Canon of a Council tie conscience so fast or bless the obedient so much as the Canon of Scripture our enemies themselves being Judges nor can in the least any Scripture be produced to authorize the Church to set up a Sabbath for the Christian World God usually blesseth his own institutions Prayer is powerful because He commands it Preaching John 14. 15. effectual because He enâ—oyns it the Sacraments comfortable Mat. 28. 19 20. because He ordains them and so the Lords Day is often Luk. 22. 19 20. bedewed with showers of the choicest love and benediction because it was Christs institution either more immediately by his personal command or else mediately by his inspired and infallible Apostles And therefore let us fall down before the force of truth and conclude the blessings of our Sabbath speak the beginnings of our Sabbath to be in Gods breast and not in mans will God usually accepting the worship at Jerusalem and not that at Dan and Bethel he loves those festivals of which himself is the Author And let us fetch a pregnant argument from Providence What signal judgements hath God punished the prophaners of Peccatum est deiâ—idium â— Christiciâ—â—um est summum malum spomaneâ— infania somnus et mors anima ex sui naturâ mortem meretur gravâ— est onus animum deprimens cibus durus nullo stomacho digestibilis morbus pesti lentissimus putidissima corruptio Alap the Lords day with as shall be shewn more fully hereafter Now the prophaning of the Lords day must needs be a breach of the law of God or else how can it be a provocation of the wrath of God God punisheth only for sin which the Apostle saith is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a transgression of the Law 1 John 3. 4. Now if our Christian Sabbath be only a law of Man where is the positive and provoking sin in the violation of it where is the infinite evil which should so inflame divine displeasure as to pour out his fury on the violatours of it and to follow them with tremendous judgements Is it probable that God would strike so deeply and punish so fearfully and wonderfully for the breach of a Canon of the Church or a Decree of a Council It is true was the Lords day bottom'd on Ecclesiastical authority it would be a piece of disobedience to the Church to violate it but still where is the infinite evil as every sin is to stir up so much indignation in the Almighty Surely the breach of a humane constitution could never raise such storms in the world nor pelt so many untimely into their dust and oftentimes on a sudden and in a stupendous and terrible manner as shall be fully shewed hereafter And again we meet with no such tragedies in our sporting upon holy dayes and those festivals which are of the Churches appointment those dayes run waste in mirth and jollity nor do we meet with broken limbs sudden deaths fearfull diseases unexpected blindness c. the common issues of the prophanation of the Lords day to be the success and consequence of that vanity Providence then makes the distinction between dayes of the Churches appointment and that blessed day our Christian Sabbath which is of divine institution To conclude then this particular Let us cloath the Lords Quid hac die fâ—â—icius est quâ dominâ—â— judaeâ—â— mortuus est nobis resurrexit In quâ cultus Synagogae ocâ—ubuit et est ortus ecclesiae in quâ nos homines fecit surgere et vivere secum et sedere in coelestibus Haec est dies quem fecit dominus exultemus et laetetemur in illo Omnes dies fecit dominus sed caeteri dies possunt esse ju daeorum possunt esse Haereticorum possunt esse Gentilium sed dies dominica dies est resurrectionis dies Christianorum est dies nostra est Hier. day in all its royal Apparel and put on all its Jewels and Ornaments and then we shall see this Queen of dayes in all its splendour and glory A day it is of honour and renown above all dayes that ever the Sun shone in the most gloririous day that ever God created the most solemn day that ever the Church celebrated a day which Christ hath crowned with the greatest glory of any day that ever dawned upon the world It is a day of the Lords power a day of his perfection the day of his praise and glory and a day of his bâ—â—â—nty and blessings the day of his espousals and of the gladness of his heart When Christ was born the Angels celebrated that day with Songs and triumphs Luke 2. 13. When Christ rose from the dead or else why was he born Let the Saints celebrate that day with weekly solemnities and praises and not passe away their laud in a transient musick as the Angels did On this day our Christian Sabbath day there was a confluence of wonders and wonderfull transactions wrought by him whose name is wonderfull Isa 9. 6. In a word this day is the highly favoured of God a map of Heaven a taste of Glory the golden spot of time the market day of souls the day break of eternal brightness a day to be marked of thousands for their new birth day a day on which many have been redeemed from more then Aegyptian bondage a day of light of joy of love and delight a day which is truly delitiae humani generis the delight of mankind as once Titus was called Ah! how do men flutter up and down on the week dayes as the Dove on Rom. 1. 4. Luke 13. 32. John 20. 22 23. the waters and can find no rest for their souls till they come to this day as to an Arke and this day takes them in On this day the light was created the Holy Spirit descended life hath been restored Satan subdued Sin mortified Souls sanctified Cant. 3. 11. Hos 2. 19 20. Acts 13. 34. Sex praerogativae recensentur ad diem dominicum propiissimè pertinentes Beda in lib. de officiis Eccles Cap. 1. the Grave Hell and Death conquered O! the mountings of mind the ravishings of heart the solace of soul which on this day men enjoy in their dearest Saviour Our Lords day is the first day of the week was the first day of the world On it the Elements were formed the light was created the Angels were produced On it Manna was first rained down On it say the Fathers of the sixt General Council was Christ born On it did the Star first appear to the wise men who came out of the East On it was Christ baptized in Jordan by John the Baptist as the Council of Paris observe Sextum Concilium generale Constantinopoli celebratum On it saith a learned man Christ
hearts by the light of Nature but this only was given by outward Ordinance and Institution and we are more apt to forget Instructions then Inclinations 2. Because this Commandment more restrains natural liberty then all the rest the other Commandments restrain only things sinful but this prohibits things lawful at any other time nay it restrains our very words Isa 58. 13. and our very thoughts our lawfull works and secular employments must be laid aside on this day we must not think or discourse of the world and the things of it on this blessed day 3. Because of the multitude of our affairs on the six days which had need to be remembred to be finished seasonably or else they will breed distractions on the Lords day nor is it so facil and easie to keep off their impressions and intrusions when we are to converse with God on his own day 4. Because the Devil will assuredly prompt us to forget this Commandment so to quench the memory both of the Creation and the work of our Redemption that he may the more readily draw us to despair by forgetting the salvifical work of our Redemption or else to Atheisme by forgetting the stupendous work of the Creation for as the work of Creation first give us a Sabbath so the work of Redemption afterwards gave us our Sabbath Now to prevent these mischicvous inconveniencies we are alarm'd and quickned with a Memento to keep this Commandment as a means to preserve the memory both of Father and Son and so to keep on foot holy and divine worship This Commandment of the Sabbath is of most weight to be remembred for the observance of all the rest of the Commandments depend much upon the keeping of this Let us cast our eye upon the Conversion of sinners where one hath been converted on the week day many have been brought home to God on his own day God doth delight to dispence his graces on his own day so that in keeping this day we preserve an opportunity when God doth confer his graces on the Sons of men and in a careless observing of this day we put from us an opportunity of getting and obtaining the grace of God So then keep this day and we keep all neglect this day and we neglect all the proper means for life and salvation This is the season when the Angel comes down to stir the waters and then is our time to step in and be healed John 5. 4. This indeed is the fundamental command on which the superstructure of piety and religion is fastened and built On this day God draws nigh to his people and they to him nay the way to lay hold on Gods Covenant is to keep his Sabbath there is some hopes of a mans salvation when he makes conscience of keeping this holy day 7. The reason why this Commandment is of so much weight to be remembred is because in it we are made more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritually minded it frames our spirits to be more fit and adequate to every good word and work we are as not of this world the Apostle saith Heb. 4. 9. Verily there remains a Rest for the people of God Implying that the Saints in Heaven keep a Sabbath-Rest meditating divine things singing praises and minding only the things of Heaven Nothing more fits and accommodates our spirits to the supreme good Vis in die quem dicunt solis solem colitis sicut nos in eundem dominicum non solem sed resarrectionem domini veneramur then a holy observation of the Sabbath it is the beginning of heaven here our hearts then work up more and more to their centre to their God to their Christ 8. We must remember this Commandment In keeping the Sabbath we keep in mind Gods chiefest mercies the benefit of our Creation and of our Redemption the first giving us our beings the second our well beings the first being the Aug. Contr. Faust Manich Lib. 10. fountain of Nature the second being the spring of Grace And whereas there are Three most glorious persons shewing themselves in their several works tending to mans good the due observation of the Sabbath puts us in the remembrance of them all Of the Father who created us and then gave the Gen. 2. 3. world a Sabbath of the Son who redeemed us and on this day ascended from the Grave of the Holy Ghost who inspires Acts 2. 1 2 3. us and sheds a beauty upon us who as on this day descended from heaven in a miraculous flame upon the blessed Apostles which was an infallible earnest of those plenteous effusions of the spirit which should be poured forth upon the Church in all ages Thus upon weighty reasons a Memento Dan 5. 6. is affixed to the fourth and only to the fourth Commandment which if it be not a note of observance to point out our Sanctificatio Sabbati est diem à deo anteà sanctificatum pro sancto habere et exercitâ—is religionis et fidei exercendae sedulo inâ—umbere Atque ita sanctificationem dei haudquaquam prophanare sed illibatam conservare Muscul great concernment in the holy keeping of it it will be an hand-writing on the wall to make us tremble to all everlasting A learned man observes That God should preface this Commandment with a Memento it implies that some serious thing is commanded something of the highest importance which upon our peril must not be neglected or forgotten This command is a treasure committed to us with a great charge And it is observable it is not said Remember that thou keep the Sabbath day but remember the Sabbath to keep it holy Exod. 20. 8. God stops not at Sabbath day but adds to keep it holy evidently implying that to set apart the time of a Sabbath is not considerable but to spend that time in holy duties and in the holy exercises of faith and religion this is the fulfilling of the Commandment When Gods sanctifying of Sabbatum non est merè quies Leid Prof. the day as Musculus speaks is not prophaned by us but kept pure and unspotted The Memento then in this Commandment is only the usher of holiness Gods loud call to strictness and sanctity on his own day the significant harbinger to tell us Christ is coming and on this day he must lodge in our hearts Arg. 7 No Command is sweetned with more equity then that of the Sabbath There is that which Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in it a Facillimum est et aequissimum ei cujus toti sumus unum diem è septem conservare qui sex alios nostris laboribus concessit cùm tamen potuisset jure suo plures illis servandos judicare Riv. just and moderate Imposition there is not so much voluntas imperantis the will of him who commands as ratio impeâ—andi the reason of the command it self In this command God rather exercises jus Patris
affections are more smart and vigorous our thoughts are more lively and unwearied and so more disposed to this excellent service and such seasons are our harvest for the acting of this duty and reaping the great comfort of it The morning is an accommodated time for meditation then the body hath been refreshed with the sweetness of The first season for meditation rest and so the impressions of toyle being worn off it is the more active for the labours of meditation David was with God before break of day The morning Sun smiles with the Psal 119. 147. most pleasant aspect when first it begins it 's laborious circuit Our thoughts are shot out of our minds with greatest strength in the morning when our bodies can yield their most lively assistance and there are many pregnant reasons for it Holy thoughts and meditations are most acceptable in that season When we awake in the morning many suitors attend our thoughts aad every suitor useth urgent importunity Jer. 2. 3. now if spiritual things obtain the first admittance this is most grateful to God It cannot but be a sinful provocation that our thoughts should be as the Inne in Bethlehem Luke 2. 7. where strangers took up all the rooms and Luke 2. 7. Christ was excluded and was fain to lye in a manger Indeed Charitas sponsae quae tot allecta beneficiis sponso deo in amore obedientiâ et obsequio mutuò respondit et eum deperiit Lyran. it cannot but be matter of deploration that vain and worldly thoughts should take up all the rooms of our souls in the morning and Christ shut out But for the prevention of this let Divine things first attach our meditations and this will be well-pleasing to the Lord. In the stilling of strong water the first water which is drawn from the still is more full of spirits and the second and the third they are weaker and smaller and not of the same value So the first meditations which are still'd from the mind in the morning are the best and we shall find them more full Gen. 4. 4. of life and spirits and they come nearer to Abels sacrifice Abel non etemandato tantùm sed exside obtulit The morning is the golden hour of the day like the first springing grass which is most pleasant to the eye and most sweet to the taste The morning is the first budding of time Let Christ have it in holy and divine speculations Meditation in the morning will be more influential The Vessel which is first seasoned with that which is pretious and odoriferous will retain the scent and tincture nor will easily lose it but with much toyle and labour That of the wise man is considerable When thou awakest it will talk with Prov. 6. 22. thee As Servants come to their Masters in the morning and receive Rules from them how they shall manage their business all the day following So a gracious heart which meditates on Gods Word and things divine in the morning those savoury tinctures abide on him all the day and Quâ— semel est imbuâ—a recers servabit odorâ—m teâ—ta diu he walks with more circumspection and fruitfulness Wind up thy heart towards Heaven in the morning and it will go the better all the day The wool takes the first dye best and it is not easily worn out The heart seasoned with holy meditations in the beginning will keep this colour in grain It would become us to perfume our minds with divine thoughts betimes on the day that the smell may scatter it self to all we meet withall that day Equity requires our morning meditations to be sequestred and set apart for God Some of his first thoughts were set upon us If we are in Christ we had a being in his thoughts Eph. 1. 4. of love before we had a being in the world His earliest 1 Joh. â— 19. loves fastened upon us when we were onely in the possibility Spirituales benedictiones in ipsâ aeternâ praedestiratione suerunt nobis in Christo praeparatae Zanch. and futurition of a being We had the morning of Gods thoughts before ever the Sun did rise or shine in the World What thoughts of free and rich Grace what kind thoughts of mercy and peace had God of us from all everlasting Let us in some measure retaliate the first loves of God let us fix our thoughts upon God in holy meditation before the day breaks and delivers the light the infallible Jer. 31. 3. harbinger of it But more especially the morning of a Sabbath is the most genuine and sweetest season for meditation and that upon this two-fold account Holy meditation will fasten the heart upon God which is very necessary upon the morning of a Sabbath Meditation is properly the centring of the thoughts as was suggested before and fixing them upon some spiritual object Gen. â—4 1. Our hearts they are naturally slippery and will be gadding with Dinah unless they are kept at home viz. with God the proper home of the soul by divine contemplation It was the boast of holy David that his heart was fixed the Psal 57. 7. fixing of the soul on God is both the duty and the glory of a Psal 108. 1. Christian Now when once meditation hath fastened our thoughts on something divine they will not be so easily call'd off nor so subject to sinfull avocations which will be a transcendent happiness on the Lords day Divine meditation will fledge and raise our affections not onely six our hearts upon God but draw them out to God in ardent and holy desires which likewise is most suitable to the morning of a Sabbath We light affection by the fire of meditation On Gods holy day we should be in an extasie Psal 42. 2. of love to Jesus Christ and meditation is that which can elevate and draw up the desires to Christ and when they are once raised they do not so easily sink and fall again Psal 119. 97. When Bells are raised then they are musical and proclaim their loud harmony to all who are within the hearing The Psal 19. 6. Sun when it is risen it ascends gradually and runs its pleasing and swift circuit untill it be stopt by full noon So Psal 104 34. likewise the soul being raised by sweet and divine meditation on the morning of Gods holy day it will be drawing out its holy fervencies and longings after God the whole Sabbath ensuing The next season for holy meditation is the Evening So we read of holy Isaac He went out to meditate in the field at Even tide Gen. 24. 63. When business is over and every The second season for meditation thing is calm it is then a convenient time to let out our thoughts loose to fly up to God God had his Evening as Exod. 29. 39. well as his Morning sacrifice As the cream at the top is sweet
did not rein in the Wolves and put bounds to their brutish severity Fifthly God gives daily testimonies of his love to and care over his people He commands the Earth to nourish and sustain their outward man God provides flocks for Abraham Corn for Jacob and his Family and the Son Joseph Psal 24. 1. Gen. 42. 25. Exod. 16. 13. Exod. 17. 6. 1 Kings 17. 4 6. shall help to support the Father Nay rather than want shall befall his people he will fetch water out of the Rock shower down Manna send Quailes from Heaven prepare a Table in the Wilderness The Empty cruse shall 1 Kingâ— 17 14 be filled to support the Prophet and the Ravens shall dish in provisions for Elijah And God doth not only feed his people with bread that perisheth John 6. 27. but with that Neque corpori neque animae ullâ in parte deest Deu◠è terrâ nutrit corpora è coelis animas verbo spiritu donis innumerabil bus which endureth to Eternal life The Saint lives not by bread only but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God Mat. 4. 4. God feeds the weak Saint with milk the sincere milk of his word 1 Pet. 2. 2. and those who are grown to a higher stature in Religion he gives stronger meat to O blessed care of the great Jehovah towards his dear and precious people Are they sluggish he excites them to work Are they insolent he presently humbles them If Jesurun wax fat and kick he turns them out of Canaan which was both their Granary and Dairy Do they indulge sinful desires God mortifies them and as the Gardiner prunes the Vines weeds the Banks and waters the Cant. 4. 16. flowers of the Garden to cause it to flourish so God visits his people with the North-wind of affliction and with the South-wind of grace and favour that its spices may flow out that his Church may bud and blossom with happiness and prosperity But to wind up this particular so tender and passionate is God in his providence towards his people that he fixes his Church upon a rock Mat. 16. 18. that it may be unmoved and unshaken He leaves heaven to come down to visit it and to lay down his life for it John 10. 11. And after John 10 11. a little time he returns to glory again but he will not leave them comfortless John 14. 18. but sends the Infinitae sâ—nt promissiones innumera exempla quibus apertissimè demonstratur quanta siâ— providentia quâ suoâ— regit electâ—s Deus nihil ut sit certius quam ecclesiam imprimis maximae curae esse Deo Comforter in his room John 14. 16. as his Delegate to refresh and sanctifie his people Now he is in glory he commissionates his Angels to be the guard of his believing ones Heb. 1. 14. and to Minister to their necessities He leaves his promises to be his bond and security to his Saints that their trembling faith may have something to stay upon 1 Cor. 1. 20. He vouchsafes his Ordinances to be marrow and fatness to them Psal 63. 5. for their comfort and revival And least those Ordinances should be dry breasts and barren wombs he promises his presence to enliven and fructifie them Mat. 18. 20. And if his people fall into persecution he will give them interest for their sufferings They Mat. 19. 29. shall have a hundred fold for the present Mat. 19. 29. And if the pension be so large what will the portion be And his Angels shall not only watch over them but God will take care of them himself he will not suffer their foot to be moved Psal 121. 3. Not a foot the lowest member of the body and not moved it is not said not broken but not moved Zach 2. 8. He will keep his people as charily as the apple of his eye Isa 63 9. Zach. 2. 8. If they be over-taken with afflictions he will be in the fire and the water with them Isa 43. 2. Nay so tender is Christ to his people they must not disturb themselves Mat. 6 28. with any care that hair in the eye of the soul which makes it water and is so troublesome 1 Pet. 5. 7. and it is Phil. 1. 29. not to be over-passed God pours his spirit on his people John 14. 26. and his people must cast their care upon God a rare Joel 2. 28. change God sheds his blessings on them and they cast Psal 55. 22. their burdens upon him Psal 55. 22. And to conclude if any attempt their hurt They kick against the pricks Acts 9. 5. And every wound is struck at Jesus Christ Acts 9. 4. All their injuries are reflexions upon himself Gods providence is not only extended to precious Saints but even to the vilest sinners He keeps their breath in their nostrils Isa 2. 22. God sustains and supports them those Vipers fasten upon the hands of providence and it is often a Acts 28. 3. long time before he shakes them off into the fire Psal 64. 8. First He fills their belly with his hid treasure Psal 17. Acts 4. 27 28. 14. He sends the Prophet to anoint Jehu 2 Chron. 22. 7. Gen. 6. 7. and Hazael 1 Kings 19. 15. God kept cursed Cham in the Prov. 8. 15. Ark. He set the Crown on Nebuchadnezzars head Bad as well as good Kings reign by God by his permission and constitution Rom. 13. 1 2. Secondly As God gives wicked men temporal blessings as he is the Author of their possessions so he is the Over-ruler Lam. 2. 16 10. of their actions God bid Shimei curse for the humbling of David He calls Nebuchadnezzar out of Babylon to lead his Jer. 4. 6. people into Captivity Jer. 4. 6. He checkt Laban that he could not vent his rage and enmity against Jacob he curbed him in and restrained him Gen. 31. 24. he must hush Gen 31. 24. and not speak a distastful word to him It was of God that Judas did act so treacherously the Pharisees so blasphemously the Jews so inconstantly and the Souldiers so cruelly against Jesus Christ Acts 2. 23. Herod murders the innocents and in it fulfills a Prophecy Mat. 2. 28. The Romans destroy and burn Jerusalem and so fulfil what was foretold by holy Daniel Mat. 24. 15. Thirdly God doth not only over-rule the actions but the words of wicked men Balaam that cursed Miscreant shall pronounce a glorious prophecy concerning Jesus Christ Numb 24 17. Numb 24. 17. And Caiphas unawares shall foretell Christs death the meritorious cause of Mans felicity John 11. 50 51. He spake not as byassed by his own judgment but as over-ruled by Divine Providence Though Princes wear their Crowns on their heads yet their hearts are in Gods Prov. 21. 1. hand Fourthly And God doth not only over-rule the actions Impii sunt vasa irae â—daptata ad
cares the body shall not be wasted with toyle nor the spirits spent with labour or the heart torn with griefs but soul and body shall be calmed into an eternal quietation The Apostle saith Heb. 4. 9. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God The Greeks call it a Sabbatism our future Sabbath and Rest being all one When the Apostle wrote his Epistle to the Hebrews the rest of the legal Sabbath was over and the rest of Canaan was first disturbed by Nebuchadnezzar and upon overthrowing and quite taking away by Titus the Roman so now then there remains onely a rest in Heaven a heavenly Sabbath for the people of God In this life our Laudabile Sabbati otium sanctorum vitam requie et sanctificatione exprimit tum futuram ostendit cùm omni hujus vitae curâ de positâ bonis aeternis fruimur Cyril Alex. Sabbath it self is disturbed sometimes with vain thoughts with deadness and coldness in duties it is disquieted with the iniquity of our holy things we cannot pray as we would and we do not hear as we should we often displease Christ at his own table when we come with polluted hands and unprepared hearts and when duties are over we either dash upon sins of omission or rush upon language or practices unbecoming the Lords day there is still something to discompose our spirits our hearts are sad and our moans are great but however the week treads upon the heels of Sabbatâ—m Coeleste est requies illa Coelestis patriae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Sabbath and then like the Sons of Adam we get our livelihood in the sweat of our brows then we toyle our brains harden our hands and weary our bodies and all for that which is not bread Isa 55. 2. And besides as Master Herbert that sweet and excellent Poet observes our Sabbath doth but leap from seven to seven it flies away and then recurs in a constant revolution One Sabbath passeth over and we must press through the croud of weekly and worldly Rabbin affairs which will make us sweat and faint before we attain Isa 55. 2. to another But our Sabbath above is A rest from sin In it we shall enjoy absolute purity and spotless perfection we shall there be a Glorious Church Excitat sibi Christus ecclesiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multo decore et gloriâ illustrem non habentem maculam peccati aut rugam vetustatis Alap not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5. 27. Sin cannot dwell in Heaven with God it is impossible if Achans wedge one sin disturbed the whole Camp of Israel John 7. 11. How would one sin disturb the Court of Heaven It would put a damp upon all the triumphs of it there cannot be perfect joy where there is the least relique of sin A rest from troubles and afflictions In our heavenly Sabbath there shall be no groans but musicks no sighs but songs no tears but triumphs not a drop of the waters of Marah in a whole ocean of joy and satisfaction if any grief remain'd our joy would not be full The Saints in glory shall be freed from natural afflictions They shall hunger no more nor thirst any more Rev. 7. to 16. Rev. 7. 16. to which accords that of the Prophet Isa 49. 10. The Isa 49. 10. Saints cannot hunger in their eternal Sabbath for the good Shepherd of our souls doth not onely fâ—ed us to eternal life Psal 16. 11. but likewise in eternal life and there he shall feed us with fulness of joy with the smiles of his face with the fruits of his love and with the over-coming influences of his grace and favour And moreover the Saints cannot thirst in glory The Lamb shall bring them to living fountains Rev. 22. 1. of waters Rev. 22. 1. They shall have waters for their necessity Rev. 7. 17. Rivers of water for their plenty nay pure rivers of water for their greater extasie and these rivers of water shall proceed out of the Throne of God and the Lamb for their superlative complacency Nor shall the Saints Eternal rest be disturbed with pressing afflictions All tears shall be wiped from their eyes a Isa 25. 8. sentence mentioned three times in Scripture Isa 25. 8. John 7. 17. Rev. 7. 17. Rev. 21. 4. As if every person in the Trinity Rev. 21. 4. would severally assure the Saints of future undisturbed felicity A learned man observes this phrase of wiping tears from our eyes is a metaphor taken from tender mothers Lacrymae malorum sensu exprimuntur who give their breasts to their infants when they cry for want and then wipe off their tears from their pretty cheeks which were bedewed with that emblem of sorrow Tears Altera foelicitatis pars est quòd nullis miseriis aerumnis molestiis hujus praesentis vitae obnoxii erimus Malorum immunem esse maximum est bonum cujus Author deus est Par. are those drops which fall when the fire of affliction is put under the sense of some evil the feeling of some corroding sorrow squeizeth them out as the extremity of pain makes the patient sweat But such oppressive calamities shall not seize upon the Saints in their Sabbath and Rest above here indeed they are in a valley of tears but one tear shall not interrupt the joyes of the glorified Saints The Psalmist saith Psal 30. 6. Weeping endures for a night but joy cometh in the morning and when the Saints are arrived at their rest above all night is past to return no more the morning is begun to pass away no more The Saints Eternal Rest shall not be disturbed with privative afflictions There shall be no more death Rev. 21. 4. Rev. 21. 4. Isa 25. 8. 1 Cor. 15. 57. John 3. 16. Then death shall be swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15. 57. and it shall rally no more to do any execution upon the Saints in glory Our Sabbath in heaven is eternal and therefore our life is eternal Indeed here below death is alwayes Sabbatum hoc coeleste est sempiternum sicut omnia alia bona quae ad perfectionem pervenerunt Musc to be expected Job 14. 14. But above death is never to be dreaded there that King of terrours as Job calls it Job 18. 14. hath lost both his Scepter and hs Sithe both his force and his prevalency There is neither fear nor expectation of death in glory were it not so it would turn those rivers of pleasure memorized by the Psalmist Psal 36. 8. into Psal 55. 4. salt and unpleasant waters and upon the very possessions of heaven would be written bitterness in the latter end But faith in Christ gives us eternal life John 3. 16. A full assurance and security against the approaches and seizures of death or conclusion Perfection which is the character of the Saints future condition excludes and denies all
Jer. 31. 33. of growth in Promissio facta est Christianis amicitiae dei remissionis peccatorum et regni coelestis grace Hos 14. 5. the gift of a Christ lay under a promise Gen. 3. 15. Luke 1. 71. the gift of the spirit was bound up in a promise Acts 2. 33. Gal. 3. 14. If a new heart be put into our bosomes it is the issue of a promise Ezek. 36. 26. And God in a pursuance of a promise breaths a new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. into our souls Shall we rise higher Thirdly God hath made promises to his people of things eternal Of a future Crown 2 Tim. 4. 8. Of a glorious Kingdom Luke 12. 32. Of a heavenly Throne Rev. 3. 21. Of eternal Inrer pocula Germaniae clamatum est spiritus calriviamus est spiritus melancholicus Sclat Life John 3. 16. Of everlasting Habitations Luke 16. 9. Of everlasting Salvation Heb. 5. 9. And therefore how much are they to be censured who accuse Religion of sadness and sorrow and upon the force of that argument draw back to courses of sin and prophaneness What do they less then blaspheme both the God and the priviledges of the Saints Joy is a constant dish with the people of God but Cujusmodi est gaudium quod est in domino In his quae secundum domini mandatum fiunt gaudere debemus Basil their joy is hidden Manna it lodges in their bosomes not in their looks their musick-room is a little more retired the world doth not hear their melody Look upon the Saints in their lowest condition when grace it self is at an ebb at very low water Yet then First The Lord assures us that little is a pledge of more 2 Cor. 1. 22. And even Secondly That little he will enable to get a final victory Rev. 3. 8 9. And in Rev. 2. 7. the promise is made to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is overcoming not to him who hath already overcome And Thirdly That little shall be kept perfect to the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Thes 3. 10. Phil. 1. 6. So many causes of constant joy are there to all Gods Children what roses do they walk upon here even while they are in a valley of tears In their bosomes lies a pardon like Aarons Rod blossoming in the Ark their consciences are serene and calme with holy peace nay they can laugh in a storm they can joy in tribulations Rom. 5. 3. Jam. 1. 2. And they can Gaudium Christiano utile est immò necessarium ut jucunde vivat et alacritèr in virtutibus pergat glory in a ship-wrack they can triumph in death it self 1 Cor. 15. 55. And therefore the Apostle inculcates and reduplicates the command for holy joy Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes again I say rejoyce Phil. 4. 4. But though the joy of the Saints open to the wide Common they can and may rejoyce in all things and in all times yet in the inclosure of Gods blessed Sabbath the freshest and sweetest springs of joy are to be found And thus much for the third duty Jam. 1. 2. to be performed on the morning of a Sabbath before we go to the publick congregation Viz. Labouring with our own hearts The fourth duty to be discharged before the publick on Gods holy day is private reading of the Scriptures What a charge doth God lay upon the Jews to be acquainted with Deut. 11. 18. the Scriptures Deut. 6. 7 8 9. And these words which I command thee this day they shall be in thy heart and thou Verbum dei in nos totos admittamus in mentem in memoriam in affectus in vitam ut nulla sit pars nostri in quâ verbum dei non inhabitet shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest in the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up and thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thy hand and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates Let us summe up this charge First Gods word it must possess every part it must be between our eyes for direction it must be a sign on our hands to regulate our works and operations it must be lodged in Evangelica historia debet esse perpetua lectio cujuslibet hominis Christiani Mirandul our hearts to sanctifie and spiritualize our love and affections that the heart may be warm but not feavourish Secondly Gods word must possess every room it must be our discourse in our Parlors where we use to sit it must be our meditation in our chambers where we use to lie and if we take the air abroad this holy word must be our companion this must be testis conversationis the witness of our conversation Thirdly Gods word must possess every season It must go to bed with us to sanctifie the farewell thoughts of the day that we shut up the day and our eyes with God if we rise in the morning it must be our morning star to guide us our morning dew to soften us our morning Sun to warm us Ne patiamini verbum dei esse quasi peregrinum et foris sâ—are sed intromittatur in domicilium cordis nostri versetur assiduè in animis nostris non secus ac domestici versantur in domo suâ immò sit nobis non minùs noâ—um ac familiare quà m illi esse solent qui apud nos habitant Daven it must be our first company and our best Breakfast in the morning And Fourthly Gods word must not only possess the inside of the house but the out-side too it must be written on the posts and the gates to shew its own excellency that we must hold it out and own it in the view of all the world This is the summe of the charge and indeed it is not unnecessary if we consider the Scriptures are the guide of our youth 2 Tim. 3. 15. They are the cure of our minds Mat. 22. 29. Ignorance of Gods word breeds errour and spiritual distempers in us They are the comfort of our souls Rom. 15. 4. They are both a Cordial and a Julip to warm us in cold affliction and to cool us in careless prosperity They are the treasure of our hearts Col. 3. 16. He is the potent and mighty man who is an Apollos in the Scriptures Acts 18. 24. Nay they are the breathings of the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 20. They are not only mens advantage but the divine issue of the third person in the Trinity The result of the whole is this if God lay so much weight on reading of the Scriptures and man receives so much advantage by acquaintance with them no season fitter for this duty then the morning of a Sabbath First The reading of the word prepares for the hearing of it that we
Momentum unde pendet aeternitas Alap Now if ever this is the Sabbaths Motto This is our moment on which eternity depends Though there be no vacation for sin yet the Sabbath is the Term-time for the Torius mundi opes non conducunt nec sufficiunt ad redimendam unam animulam deperditaÌ„ sed omnes animae sunt redemptae pretio sanguinis Chemn soul the Sabbath is the Mart the Staple the Market for the soul and not to improve this opportunity judiciously savingly spiritually with the greatest intent of mind with the greatest severity of observance with the greatest inclinations and workings of spirit is the highest vanity and prophaneness A slight vain spirit on a Sabbath is like tears and sighs at a Nuptial Feast or laughter and jocularity in the house of mourning On the Lords day we must pray as for our souls hear as for eternity and improve Ordinances as those who are to deal with an infinite God in Ordinances What we do we must do with all our might as Qui rectè currit in Christianismo coron am gloriae accipiet Chrysost the Wise-man speaks Eccles 9. 10. Now especially we must run the race which is set before us and strive to enter in at the strait gate storm heaven that we may take it by force Sweat in our callings is our policy but sweat and labour in holy duties is our wisdom In the duties of the Sabbath 1 Cor. 9. 24. especially we wrestle for a prize we seek for life as those persons who fetched water for David from Bethlehem with Luke 13. 24. hazard and invincible magnanimity Frozen duties will Mat. 11. 12. speak cold answers and a light dead careless frame of spirit only teaches God to withdraw his presence from our 1 Chr. 11. 18. seeming approaches We must pray and hear on a Sabbath as David danced before the Ark with all our might 2 Sam. 6. 14. we must stretch out the hand of faith lift up the 2 Sam. 6. 14. voice of prayer and breath out the longings and anhelations of our souls These heights of spirit do exceedingly become the holy and blessed Sabbath Dir. 5 We must he frugall of the time of the Sabbath The filings of Gold are precious much more the filings of a Sabbath Every minute of a Sabbath is like a pearl small but of great value There are no loose minutes in the Lords day every little parcell of time is a holy fragment which must be gathered up that nothing be lost We must fill John 6. 12. up every space of a Sabbath either with holy thoughts divine meditations ejaculatory prayers reading of the Scriptures or some holy duty correspondent to that holy day Every branch of this consecrated time must bear precious fruit we should in our Sabbath below imitate our Sabbath above and there no time will be lost Not a drop of idleneness in an Ocean of rest Though there will be no pains in glory yet there will be perpetual praises eternall uninterrupted Hallelujahs and there shall be no breach or chasm in our Sabbatum eâ—t sanctum otium Leid Pros everlasting triumphs Indeed the Sabbath is rest from our callings but none from our duties it is an holy leisure for our souls which must not run waste Grains of Musk Fragmentorum collectione et asservatione Christus nos monet frugalitatis ne insumendo et prodigendo bona à deo nobis concessa uno impetu perdamus sed quae supersunt religiosè colligamus et seponamus Lyser are sweet and valuable so are the most minute pieces of a Sabbath The Romans were so ambitious of the Consulship that one Consul dying the last day of his Authority one sued for the remainder of the time whence that memorable speech of Cicero O vigilantem Consulem c. O watchfull Consul who slept not one night in his Authority Such holy ambition we should have for the time of a Sabbath we should sue for the smallest remains of it to improve for soul advantage The Author of the Practice of Piety complains of some who spent their Sabbath or a great part of it in trimming painting and pampering themselves and were like Jezabels doing the Devils work when they should be doing Gods Surely such are the greatest unthrifts Neque dominicis diebus quae sunt hilaritatis praeter sanctitatem aliquid dicere aut facere concedimus Clem. and are guilty of the most prodigious prodigality It was a pious constitution of Clemens That on the Lords day we should give no way to mirth or earthly delight but all our words and facts should savour of holiness Dr. Bound sadly bemoans the custom of some great personages who lay longest in their beds upon Gods holy day and made it a day of pleasing Sabbatum est observandum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the flesh which should be a day of sanctified rest And saith this worthy man in an extasie of zeal We must not give our selves to sleeping on this blessed day no more then to surfeting The Prophet Joel tells us On solemn Feasts the Priests were to lie all night in sackcloth Joel 2. 13. And we know Hester spent three nights and three dayes with her Maids in fasting and prayer Hest 4. 10. And can there be a greater solemnity then the Sabbath the day Imperatum suit â— deo ut sanctifices et consecres totum Sabbati diem et in illo toto die divinis vacare possis Zanch. Iren. contr valent for transacting the great affairs of eternity our golden spot of time to get a Christ to get a crown Zanchy observes That the whole of a Sabbath without abatement and curtail is to be consecrated to God Irenaeus one of the morning stars of the Church informs us That the Sabbath doth teach us there ought to be a perseverance and a continuance of a whole day in the service of God And the Council of Paris an assembly of learned men give in their suffrage to this truth in these words Let your eyes and hands be lifted up to God all this day To the same purpose speaks the Council Conc. Turon cap. 40. Calv. in Deut. Serm. 34. Muscul in quartum praeceptum Pet. Martyr in Gen. 2. of Turon But I shall not over-load or clog the Reader with humane testimonies Let me only subjoyn the attestation of incomparable Calvin This day saith he is not ordained for us only to come to a Sermon but to the end that we may employ the rest of our time to laud and praise God Here we may take up that of the Prophet Mat. 1. 14. Cursed is the deceiver And this is too much to imitate Ananias and Saphira to keep back part of the price of a blessed Sabbath Acts 5. 2. God will not have us to divide the Sabbath between himself and our selves this is to make a separation between God and us Gods day must be spent in
we are contracted as a ship becalmed the Spirit fills our sails which is that VVind which bloweth where it listeth John 3. 8. Spiritus sanctus postulat i. e. postulare et gemere facit est hebraismus quo kal ponitur pro Hiphil Ansel When we are sad and dejected the Spirit consolates and chears us and flushes us with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. Oftentimes we cannot lanch forth in a duty the Spirit then helps us off from the sands Many times we are dull in hearing and then the Spirit opens the heart Acts 16. 14. and makes us vigorous and attentive And when we are at a loss in Prayer the Spirit puts life into our dead duty and makes us groan a sign of Sex modis in orando erratur primò si bonum temporale petimus animae nociturum Secundò si à malo aliquo quod prosit nobis liberari oremus Tertiò siquid petamus ex ambitione ut filii Zebedaei petebant primus in regno Christi quartò si quid petamus ex zelo indiscreto ut filii Zebedaei optabant ignem de caelo manasse in Sâ—maritanos Christum respuentes quinto si petatur ardentius quod utilius est differri sextò si petamus statum nobis incongruum life and furnisheth us with suitable petitions to accost and lay siege to the throne of Grace And when we are weak and stagger in a holy duty the Spirit takes us by the hand and sets us with fresh strength to finish our service the Spirit corrects all our errours in holy duties A learned man observes there are six great errours in Prayer 1. When we petition some temporal good to the disadvantage of the soul 2. When we earnestly desire the removal of some affliction which conduceth much to the good of the soul 3. When we ask something out of ambition as the sons of Zebedee that they might have a primâ—cy in the Kingdome of Christ 4. When we petition any thing out of an indiscrete zeal as the sons of Zebedee requested fire from Heaven to consume the Samaritans who would not entertain Christ Luke 9. 54. 5. When we are earnest for that which it was better it was delayed that by this delay our prayers may be more importunate and our perseverance may be more fully discovered 6. When we beg that state of life in this World which God sees inconvenient for us Now the Spirit correct all these errours and is the Censor of our miscarriage in duty He maketh us more wise more humble more heavenly more self-resigning more patient in duty The guidances of the Spirit are the Pole-star to direct us in every Ordinance and holy service The Spirit is our advocate within us John 14. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so the Greek which fits us with holy pleas to sue with when we address our selves to God and carries out the heart to urge its case with greater earnestness with great weight and authority The Spirit is the President of our duties to guide the soul that it write fair without blot In a word The Spirit helpeth our infirmities in duty Not a good Angel as Lyra Not a spiritual man a Minister as Chrysostome Not spiritual Grace as Ambrose Not Charity as Chrysost tract in Joan. Augustine But it is the Holy Ghost as Pareus And this blessed Spirit helpeth us as the Nurse helpeth a little Child holding it by the â—â—â—eve As the old man is stayed by his staffe or rather â—â—â—peth together as that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 26. seems to imply being a Metaphor taken from one who is to lift a great weight and being too weak another claspeth hands with him and helps him So the Spirit is ready to relieve us in all our spiritual duties The holy Spirit succeeds and prospers our holy duties It makes our duties prevalent with God God attends when we sing in the spirit God hears when we pray in the spirit Ephes 2 18. as the Apostle speaketh 1 Cor. 14. 15. VVhen this Dove moanes within us Rom. 8. 26. God understands the groans of his own Spirit and will give seasonable answers God Donum et efficacia orationis non in verbis sed in gemitâ— desiderio affectu et suspiriis ignitis consistit Alap gives his Spirit to assist in these duties which he fore-determines to accept Man speaketh words in prayer but the Spirit raises groans Alapide observes God is not so pleased with locution as affection in that holy duty not so much with expressions as inexpressible sighs which are as incense in his acceptation As the smoak of that Cloud a sign of Gods smile and favour Isa 4. 5. A duty spirited by the Holy Ghost shall never fail an expected end for God knows the mind of his Spirit as the Syriack reads it Rom. 8. 27. As the Mother knows the groanes and cries of her tender Child and presently runs to help it and to give it what it wants and cries for The Spirit is our intercessour within us as Christ is our intercessour above us whose pleas shall 1 John 2. 1 2. not meet with a denial The Spirit moving upon the waters Gen. 1. 2. produced a World and brought forth living Creatures The Spirit moving upon the Word the dispensations of the Gospel causes the New Creation and makes living Christians O then when we come under the Word and are in the midst of the waters of the Sanctuary let us wait for the good spirit of the Lord Other Birds drive away but let the Dove come in Pareus observes Suspiria perturbata semper exaudiuntur Primó Quid sunt suspiria spiritus Secundò Quia semper spiritus interpellat juxta placitum et voluntatem dei Pat. that the groans of the Spirit within us shall not vanish into ayr and that upon a double account 1. Because the Spirit comes from God John 15. 26. and is his Commissioner in a gracious soul and he will not deny his Leiger in a Saint 2. The Spirit always intercedes according to the good will and pleasure of the Lord And pleasing petitions shall not meet with a repulse what suits with the heart of God shall open the hand of God Congruous desires shall be conquering desires The Spirit makes duties effectual to us That Prayer which is animated by the Spirit shall not onely gain upon Gods heart but melt ours If the Spirit open our heart in hearing we shall attend to the Word and savingly entertain it When Christ by the Spirit opened the understanding of the Acts 16. 14. two Disciples Luke 24. 45. then they dived into Gospel mysteries and understood fully what was fulfilled concerning the death of the Messiah When the Spirit brings home a Sermon he makes it fire to burn up the dross of the soul Jer. 5. 14. he makes it a hammer to break the hardness of the soul Jer. 23. 29. he makes it
wonder then Intus est in corde est Sabbatum nostrum Aug. if St. Augustine cry out Our Sabbath is within in our hearts There indeed is the musical spring of joy Let us take heed of grieving the spirit Eph. 4. 30. No fountain casts out sweet and bitter water a grieved spirit will not dash joyes upon the soul the mournful Dove flies Offenditur spiritus verbis putidis etiam quo vis peccato Hier. away We must cherish the graces if we will possess the joyes of the spirit The birds sing most sweetly in the spring when every thing is fresh and green Gods spirit in the soul yields its freshest delights among flourishing graces when the Peccata sunt injuriae contumeliae spquae eum contristantur Alap seared boughs of corruption are broken down Sin and vanity break the strings of the spirits musick and chase away the Comforter from our coasts as birds hushed away leave the place of their present abode Let us not suspend our answer to the spirits excitations Let us listen to every motion and apply our selves to every counsel of this inward Monitor Slighted advocates plead no more we must hearken to every whisper of the Holy Ghost who first commands and then comforts To stir up to holy duties to good works to circumspect walking is the office of the spirit but to ravish the soul with divine delights is the reward of the spirit Observe holy David Psal 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts thy comforts delight my soul He was now acting the duty of meditation and then the spirit besprinkled him with dews of joy A Deus per essentiem est totus consolatio immò Mare Oceanus consolationis quem in servos suos etiam in hac vitâ effundit learned man saith God is an Ocean of consolation Let not our sin and disobedience be such banks and ramparts that this Sea cannot overflow us with complacential effusions Obedience indeed and duty make way for the streams of spirituall comfort And to our case let us keep the Sabbath circumspectly and we shall keep it comfortably Let us follow the spirit in every duty obey the dictates of the spirit in every Ordinance When the spirit prompts us to prayer let us tune our hearts to that duty and not fold our hands in sloth and negligence when the spirit suggests to Prov. 6. 10. us the import of an Ordinance let us not be slight and careless in that holy institution and let us consider the motions Prov. 24. 33. of the spirit go before the melodies of the spirit And thirdly Let us study to be in the spirit on the Lords day This duty must Look downwards we must avoid whatsoever opposeth the spirit whatsoever may quench that celestial flame 1 Thes 5. 19 We must on the Sabbath lay aside all temporal cares Cares at all times are thorns Mat. 13. 22. But on a Sabbath they are thorns in a flame not only scratching but scorching Indeed the Lords day is not without its cares but they are heavenly not worldly cares care to please the spirit not to please the flesh care to lay up treasures in heaven not to fill our coffers below The soul then must be Divina benedictio Sabbati est quâ sibi deus studia occupationes asserit Calv. cared for how to prepare it for duty how to pacifie it with pardon how to beautifie it with grace how to fit it for eternity Head and heart must be at work on the Sabbath but it must be for the soul not for the outward man But to set our servants on work in our callings to be in our counting Mat. 16. 26. house to contrive business for the following week on Gods holy day this is not only to defile the Sabbath but to affront providence as if God who takes care for the Lillies of the field Mat. 6. 30. could not provide for the strict observers of his holy day We must throw away all worldly thoughts How many are there whose thoughts are as fresh and affections as vigorous towards the world upon the Sabbath day as if they were trading in their shops walking in the Exchange or Exod. 8. 24. posting their Books and pursuing their bargains I may say to such as the Lord to Satan Zach. 3. 2. The Lord rebuke Plaga muscarum fuit foedo colluvies quae fuit numerosa et molestissima immò et nocentissima et ideo molestissima quia numerosissima Riv. thee what is this but to turn time into a chaos where there is no distinction between light and darkness between the Egypt of the week and the Goshen of the Sabbath This day is a day of light life and salvation and shall worldly thoughts that judgment of lice or flies stain and ecclipse it Worldly imaginations on this day they are the sacriledge of the mind the worm at the root of duty the souls destructive avocation the Shibboleth of a covetous man the bluster and gross miscarriage of a Christian they are the souls imprisonment when it should be enlarged in the way of Gods Ordinances We must take heed of unnecessary diversions The heart is wholly to be set on God on his own day One observes The Law is spiritual and so is the fourth Commandment and is not fully obeyed by outward conformity but it requires the Rom. 7. 14. inward truth and bent of the heart Happily we shut up Psal 51. 6. our shops on a Sabbath so the Law of the Land commands but do we shut up our hearts on a Sabbath that nothing unseemly may intrude Do we bring our hearts and Christ together and lock them both in that nothing may interrupt their sweet and mutual intercourse It is a vain thing to dissemble with God on his own day He can unriddle and will judge our splendid and varnished artifices Let us not play the hypocrites but walk in the spirit the whole stage of Rom. 8. 2. the Sabbath To keep our doors close is an empty ceremony unless we keep our hearts close to God and Christ in Ordinances in Family and secret duties Diverting imaginations are the cobwebs of the mind the sores which In dic Sabbati ab omnibus aliis curis et studiis omninò obstinendum est Gual fester the heart as Dalilah her smiles did Samson and so entangle the soul that it cannot enjoy its freedom with Christ on his own blessed day Such divertisements disturb the Musick of Ordinances and eat out the profit of holy Communion with God if we will be working on a Sabbath Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling Augustine Phil. 2. 12 13. Aug. de temp Serm. 251. speaks most excellently in one of his Sermons That we may be fit and ready for Gods service on his own day there must be nothing to cumber us and we at that time must cast off the interposition of worldly
this sin we must Ex hoc textu Augustinus solebat disputare solam infidelitatem esse peccatum damnans Chemn be cautionated especially on the Lords day which is faiths working day It is observable that miracles are attributed to no other grace but faith Mat. 17. 20. This grace can remove mountanes Luke 17. 6. Bring faith to an Ordinance it can remove the mountane of carnal reason the mountane of prejudice the mountane of fleshly mindedness A Believer at an Ordinance disputes it not with God is not disaffected with any thing of God is dissolved into the will of God he puts up his prayers as a wise Merchant waiting a seasonable return Psal 85. 8. Hab. 2. 1. He hears Omnibus Evangelium praedicatur sed non omnibus creditur omnibus deus salutem offert sed non consert nisi fidelibus sicut medicina omnibus aegris pro ponitur sed non medetur nisi eam sumentibus Chrysost the word and he claps it close to his soul by personal application Vnbelief throws away the plaister but faith layes it on the wound Faith is both the mouth to receive in and the stomack to digest spiritual food The word striketh boldly and worketh miraculously under the banner of faith Rom. 1. 16. 1. Cor. 1. 21. 2 Tim. 3. 15. But there is a blindness in unbelief which cannot see the beauties of an Ordinance and how lovely Christ looks in it Faith hath an eye to see the excellency and an ear to hear the melody of an Ordinance and to attend to Christ speaking loves to his beloved Faith in the threatnings of the word causeth humiliation Faith in the precepts of the word causeth subjection Faith in the promises of the word springeth consolation The unbeliever like a man in a swoon shuts his mouth against the cordials of the Gospel Other sins indeed wound the soul but unbelief like Joab strikes under the fifth rib and kills out-right This sin spoyles all sowres all disanuls all 1 Pet. 2. 8. The word to an unbeliever is like rain upon the Rock like dew upon a barren Heath The Apostles advice Heb. 11. 4. Eph. 3 12. is sweet and sacred Heb. 10. 22. If we will draw nigh to God with acceptance we must do it with affiance Faith is an instrument which justifies both our persons and performances Of all Virgin Graces Faith is the Hester that God will set the Crown upon Let our design then be on a Sabbath to avoid the rock of unbelief and get that indispensable and inestimable grace of faith Let us be earnest for the spirit to plant it and let us attend seriously on the word Luke 11. 13. Rom. 10. 17. to water it that this blessed grace by a divine Chymistry may turn the metal of every Ordinance into gold Caut. 4 Let us take heed of undervaluing the Ordinances of a Sabbath Many make a bad market of a Sabbath day because they do not prize those things which are then set to sale They speak in the language mentioned by Job Job 21. 15. What is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit shall we have if we pray unto him And take up the peevish expostulation of the froward Jews mentioned by the Prophet Mal. 3. 14. Ye have said it is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinance Slighted meals may cloy but not strengthen they may be our surfet not our satisfaction Customary approaches will meet with dead Ordinances It is the humble soul who highly prizes the opportunities of life will be the thriving soul David prized the sanctuary and he saw God there Psal 63. 2. But indeed ignorance is the cause of our disesteem we do not value Sabbath love because we do not understand it we slight the Ordinances of grace because we know not the grace which is conveighed from the Ordinances Ignorant Children throw away Pearls a Lapidary would Canales gratiae à quibus aqua viventes affluentèr diffim duntur not do so The Ordinances they are the channels cut out by Christ through which the waters of life run to the soul they are the spiritual Alymbecks to drop the sweet stillings of grace upon the heart they are the hives of that which is sweeter then the honey and the honey comb Psal 19. 10. They are the Conduits which run with Wine on Christs resurrection day our blessed Sabbath These Ordinances which many foolishly despise but as God saith to their own hurt Jer. Gen. 41. 48. 7. 6. They are the Suhurbs of heaven the Coelestical Exchange where Christ and his people barter for spiritual commodities they are Christs Granary and store-houses to find the soul with bread In these golden seasons God exchangeth mercies for duties not as if our duties deserved mercy but out of his own free grace and shortly will exchange glory for grace Exod. 29. 43 45. If Paul can come in the fulness Externis institutionibus utimur tanquam adminiculis ad veram conteâ—plationem diviâ—â— Majestatis â—â— gloriae ejusdemque erga populum suâ—◠〈◊〉 Riv. of the Gospel Rom. 15. 29. how much more our dear Jesus in his blessed Ordinances These are the Chariots to bring believers down into Goshen a place of light and pleasantness Every holy day is a Sun beam which conveighs light and heat to the inward man Ordinances are those chrystal glasses wherein the soul sees its beloved Those divine graces which are for meat to satisfie and for medicine to heal are found onely growing on the banks near the waters of the Sanctuary Gods tabernacles are amiable Psal 84. 1. And who will nauseate beauties the captivations of sence In the Sanctuary there is strength and beauty Psal 2 Cor. 3. 1â— 96. 6. Christ is never more beautifull in the eye of the believer Cant. 1. 14. Isa 33. 17. Psal â—0 17. Psal â—â— 2. John 5. â— John 9. 7. then when sitting at his table Cant. 1. 12. Or walking among his Candlesticks Rev. 2. 1. David desired to see the beauty of the Lord in his holy Temple Psal 27. 4. It must needs be Satans artifice to beat down the price of Ordinances How many Criples have been healed in this Bethesda How many defiled souls have been washed in this Isa 53. 2. Siloam Thou who undervaluest Ordinances look again and see whether there be no form nor comliness in them cast thy eye upon the Author of them the Author and giver of them is God they are his Institutions He hath appointed Jer. 3. 15. Prayer a means to prevail with himself for mâ—rcies and blessings He hath commanded our attendance upon the word 〈…〉 that the day spring from on high may visit us and the Net being spread our souls may be taken by the hand of Christ God owns and he crowns Sabbath Ordinances Cast thy eye upon the nature of them they are the sweet intercourses between God and the Soul the