and, consequently, often met together about religion, “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." To enable us to comply with this admonition, and to obtain this blessing, God has appointed the seventh part of our time for social religion. -For the Conversion of Sinners. This is

the day on which thousands are reclaimed from their vices, recalled from their wanderings, and brought, in penitence and prayer, to a gracious Redeemer. At this very time, the angels of God are flying through the vault of heaven, with the everlasting gospel to preach to the nations. To-day, the towers of the mystical Babylon totter, and the peaceful kingdom of a gracious Saviour, succeeds the tyranizing domination of satan and sin.-For Instructing the Ignorant. Now the poor mechanic, whose unhappy circumstances in youth deprived him of religious education, or whose constant engagements in the week may prevent him then from making any considerable improvement; can hear the word of God, can learn to read and understand it, and may be made wise to salvation, "through the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue."-For Comforting the Afflicted. To-day, the christian who has wept all the week, is set on the rock that is higher than himself; where he smiles

s Heb. x. 25.-Mal. iii. 17.

at the tempest and enjoys the storm. "Though the waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof; he will not fear, for the Lord of hosts is with him, the God of Jacob is his refuge."-For Attesting our Christian Character. Every class of mankind has some characteristic feature by which it is distinguished from all other classes. The servants of God, and the worshippers of the Beast, had their respective marks in their foreheads; the Mahometans, as a badge of their religion, hallow the sixth day of the week; the Jews, as a sign of judaism, sanctify the seventh day: t and we shall manifest our attachment to christianity by keeping the first. -To Wean us from the World. Man, by nature is attached to the earth; almost every temporal object has a growing interest in his heart; and if no moments ever returned, when his affections were diverted from below, and set on things above, to part at last would be distressing indeed. Therefore, to make our final departure more easy, the Sabbath was appointed. Then, like the new-fledged bird, we try our feeble pinions, tempt the spiritual atmosphere, gaze with indifference upon the world beneath, and find our attempts more easy every time; till at length, "flush. for flight," expert from experience, and attracted by heaven, "we shall fly away and be at rest."-As an Emblem of Heaven. And were it duly observed, how appropriate the Ex. xxxi. 13.

emblem would be! As in heaven there is neither labour nor traffic, ungodly amusement nor criminal indolence; so, to-day, there would be none upon earth. As heaven is a place of religious exercise and spiritual joy, so would be our Sabbaths, if properly hallowed. We should have glory below, and with pleasure anticipate the rest, or keeping of a Sabbath, that remaineth to the people of God; u con-cluding in praise what our Saviour taught us in prayer: "O Lord thy will is done upon earth as it is done in heaven.""

THIRDLY.-The Sanctity of the Chris-.. tian Sabbath. In treating this part of our subject, we have,

(1.) A few Things to Premise.-First, The scriptures afford us ample rules for the regulation of our conduct towards God on the Lord's day. For though we have comparatively few precepts concerning the Sabbath, in the new testament, yet we have abundance in the old since all the laws, rules, and regulations, respecting the sanctification of this day, found in the old testament, not of a typical nature, or peculiar to the Hebrews, in their levitical economy; but which are of a natural or moral import, are as binding on us now as they were on the Jews formerly; or as any other law, contained in the decalogue. or found in the sacred volume. Secondly, The laws of our country either do, or should, afford ample rules for the regulation of our Heb. iv. 9. Greek.

conduct towards man on the Lord's day. God having resigned the management of that part of his earthly and temporal government, which respects our civil deportment, to duly elected magistrates of every nation, who are to embody his laws in their civil codes; so, our English statutes either do, or should, contain proper rules for the regulation of our moral demeanour on the Sabbath day. And these laws are, or ought to be, enforced by such penalties as should ensure their constant and due observance. Thirdly, Those rules which are given to us for the regulation of our conduct towards God and man on the Lord's day, are rather general than particular. In regulating divine worship among the Jews, God treated with them as an infant church, and their forms of worship being, for the most part, typical, and which must exactly correspond with their respective antitypes; their modes of worship were specified even to the posture of the body, or the motion of the finger. But now, the church having arisen to greater maturity, and our forms of worship not being typical of any thing to come; we are left to a much greater freedom in the length of our devotions, and in the modes of our worship.Fourthly, A perfect correspondence between the modes of worship, adopted by different christian communities, on the Lord's day, is neither practical nor requisite. If any thing of this nature be left to the judgment of one man, it must be left to the judgment of all;

for who in religion can dictate to another? And to have perfect conformity to a human, standing rule, it is necessary that all men should be brought either to think alike, which will never be the case, or be made to act contrary to their judgment, and, consequently, to their inclination; which would be worshipping God in a way very unacceptable to him. But should perfect conformity be practicable, it does not appear either what advantage religion at large would obtain from it, or what additional glory would redound to that God who has been studious of variety in all his works. Fifthly, A rigid, superstitious, or painful observance of the Lord's day, is neither profitable to man nor acceptable to God. This is an error into which, not only the Catholic and Jew, but even many protestant Professors, are frequently running. Instead of making the Sabbath a delight, they render it painful to themselves, and a burden to all their connections. Religious services are stretched so long, prayers become so tedious, such rigid and nice restrictions are laid on their children and servants; that they are induced to hate even the very name of the day. That such sanctimonious practices are not necessary, we have proof from the lips of the Saviour himself; who warmly reprobated such supercilious conduct. v Works of piety, necessity, and mercy; such as refreshing our bodies, feeding our cattle, visiting the afflicted, Matt. xii. 1-13.