SERM. blessed the sabbath-day, and hallowed it;" which we may consider either as a command, or a blessing.

LVIII.

I. If we consider them as a command, it is a wonder that ever such a command should be neglected by any man who is in his right mind. Pray do but go along with me in considering two things; first, who it is that has given this command; secondly, to whom this command is given.

First; The Lord of heaven and earth, whose blessing alone maketh rich, who commandeth the heavens and they obey Him; by whose providence the world is governed and preserved; who holdeth our soul in life; who alone can forgive sins; who giveth food to all flesh; who causeth grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of men; in whose hands our breath is, and whose are all our ways; who is able to do exceedingly abundant for us, more than we can ask or think; this great and good God has commanded us to observe religiously one day in seven.

Secondly; But what are we to whom this is commanded? Why, we are creatures who cannot live one hour without God's blessing; we are poor, weak, frail, perishing creatures, liable to a thousand miseries; to ignorance, to want, to sickness, to sin, to death.

But what is it which God has commanded us? Why, that one day in seven we should leave all our worldly concerns in His hands; that we should go to the public congregation, where, meeting many such helpless creatures as ourselves, we should acknowledge our own unworthiness, our own weakness, and the little power we have to help ourselves; we should there confess, that God only can succour and preserve us; that without His great mercy, we are, and are like to be, miserable; and therefore we are all to join our prayers, beseeching God to pardon our sins, to pity our infirmities, to enlighten our minds with saving truth, to give us grace and strength to serve Him acceptably, and for His own goodness sake, for His promise sake, and for the sake of Jesus Christ, to save our souls in the life to come.

In the mean time, we are to pray to Him constantly, that He would be pleased to remove from us all such public calamities as we shall at any time labour under, or that He would make them useful for our eternal welfare, and give us

such common blessings as we should most stand in need of: all which He has encouraged us to ask for, and has promised to be found of them that diligently seek Him.

Lay these things together: God, who stands not in need of our service, has for our own good commanded us to keep holy one day in seven; He has commanded us on that day to leave our business in His hands, and instead of working for our daily bread, only to pray for it, and for whatever else we want. We are satisfied, that without His blessing, it is to no purpose to rise early, and take late rest; that His blessing upon one day's labour is of more value than the whole week's work without His blessing; that therefore it is necessary we should observe this command of God, to serve Him upon His own day, if we look for success in this world, or happiness in the next.

In short, God has commanded this good day to be observed, that men may never forget to whom they ought to go for help and salvation; that men may not forget God; and God has promised not to forget them. "Lord, what is [Ps. 8. 4.] man, that Thou hast such respect unto him, or the son of man, that Thou shouldst so regard him?" But what is man, if he despise such love, such consideration, such happiness?

II. We have now considered the command. Let us proceed to consider the blessing that attends it, where it is conscientiously observed.

33.]

And first, it will be a means of bringing a blessing upon every man's private affairs; which will prosper the better the more religiously the Lord's day is observed. Christ has expressly promised, that if we "seek the kingdom of God, [Matt. 6. and His righteousness," all the necessary things of this life shall be added unto us. And if we truly believe what the Scriptures have made known to us, and indeed what we find by experience, that "except the Lord build the house, their [Ps. 127. 1.] labour is but lost that build it;" we shall never look for success, nor a blessing, to come upon what we undertake, but when we carefully keep His commands, and remember to keep holy the Lord's day; which, if we do, it will be a means of sanctifying the rest of the days of the week.

And indeed we have no right to the rest of the week,

LVIII.

SERM. unless we first employ this day in the service of God. He that permits us to labour six days (and who alone can make our labours prosper) has reserved one in seven to Himself; that men may know to whom they are to be thankful for their time, for all their days, for all they enjoy. And as, under the Law, a man had no right to eat the fruits of his labours, until he had offered the first-fruits to God, and acknowledged the Lord to be the giver of all good things, until he had praised God for His bounties in blessing the earth; no more ought any man to look upon six days as his own, until he has first acknowledged, that it is the Lord who gives us all our time, blesses all our labours, who alone can prosper our handy work.

[Exod. 34. 23, 24.]

And good men have made this observation in their own private business, that God has been favourable to them, or their ways, according to the conscientious observation of the Lord's day, or their neglect of it.

And it is worth our notice, that the greatest offenders, when they come to suffer for and are sensible of their crimes, do generally confess, that the neglect and abuse of the Lord's day was that which first led them into the greatest wickedAnd indeed, how should it be otherways, when it is plain, the further we go from God, the greater power the devil gets over us, and the nearer we are to our ruin?

ness.

And every person, who has carelessly spent this day, ought to fear, that without repentance some ill may befall him or his affairs the following week.

On the other side, whoever, to the best of his abilities, shall spend the Lord's day in the service of God, and in taking care of his soul, may confidently hope, that things will go better with him for so doing; that the favour of God will attend his honest labours, and be with him, through the following week.

In the second place, we shall find, that the public welfare of the Church and state will prosper the better, when this command is conscientiously observed. For to shew that an especial providence watches over the land, when its inhabitants, trusting in God, serve Him after His own way, we have this memorable instance written for our example: the whole nation of the Jews were obliged to go three times a year to

Jerusalem, there to worship God. God, who foresaw that worldly-minded men would say in their hearts, that their enemies might come and seize upon their houses and goods in their absence, assures them, that their enemies should not assault them at such times; which promise was made good to them, even to a miracle.

But thirdly, this day was chiefly commanded for the good of our souls.

If you are sensible of your wants, this is the proper time to lay them before the throne of grace; for on this day we meet a number of necessitous creatures like ourselves, wanting instruction, grace, and strength. If we humbly join with these, and ask in faith, we are sure to be heard, and our petitions will be granted. For this is God's own day, and He makes it honourable by the greater measure of blessings which He bestows upon it.

Have we received any mercy from God (and do not we live by His mercies)? why, this is the proper time to give HIM thanks, to whom we owe all we have and enjoy.

In a word; this is God's day, of giving pardon to sinners, of giving grace to the humble, of giving comfort to the afflicted, of giving strength to the weak, of giving blessings to all that call upon Him.

What then have they to answer for who make it a day of idleness, a day of drunkenness, a day of doing odd business, of making unnecessary visits, or loitering about, as if it were a curse imposed upon them, to be kept one day in seven from their worldly labour !

But if any person is so much unacquainted with the power and goodness of God, as to think he loses time by serving God, let him but read the xvith chapter of Exodus, where he shall find Almighty God dealing with men (like ourselves), who were with very great difficulty brought to trust in God. To convince them of their ignorance, God was pleased to send them, on the evening of the sabbath, twice as much manna as He sent them on other days; both to lead them into an entire dependance upon Him, and to be an everlasting instance of His care to those that serve Him; and that the time, and the days, which men spend in honouring their Creator, are not lost, whatever worldly men may think.

SERM.
LVIII.

I know not what I can add more, to lead you into a due regard for this good day, unless I just mention the ill consequences of not observing it according to the command.

Need I tell you, that one of the greatest occasions of that ignorance, which we meet with among Christians, is the neglect of the Lord's day; insomuch that there are too many who know little or nothing of God, of themselves, or of the world to come?

People may have very slow understandings; they may have little time to think of another world; but still they may, nay they would, know what is absolutely necessary to be known, if they did but constantly keep to Church on the Lord's day. They would learn to know, that we worship God because we cannot be happy without His blessing; they would learn to know, to whom they ought to be thankful for what they enjoy, because they see people meet at Church to give Him public thanks for His mercies. Lastly, they would come to understand what a dangerous thing it is to be a sinner, and at enmity with God, since they see people do not scruple to confess their faults, and to ask pardon for them, even before all men.

In short, if the Lord's day ever comes to be more neglected than it is (which God in His providence prevent), Christians will grow more ignorant, more careless of themselves, and more wicked than they are at present; and then we may justly expect, that God's judgments will be multiplied, and will be more severe amongst us.

And now, if, by what I have said, I have persuaded you to have reverend thoughts of this good day; if I have raised in your souls a desire and a resolution of keeping it holy; let me further instruct you, in a few words, how to do it worthily.

Remember then, to "keep holy the sabbath-day;" first, by laying aside all worldly business. That must not be the employment either of your hands or your hearts. The Lord's day has its proper work, which will take up our time, if we [Is. 58. 13.] resolve to mind it. And therefore, when the prophet requires the observation of the sabbath as a means of preserving the house of Israel, he directs them not to do their own work a work there is to be done, but it is not to be our's,