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No time is fo gainful as a fabbath holily observed. And indeed the great reafon of the profaning of the fabbath may be found to lie,

[1.] In carnality and worldly-mindednefs. The fabbath is no delight to many. Why? Because heaven would be none to them, for they favour not the things of God. The heart that is drowned in the cares or pleasures of the world all the week over, is as hard to get in a fabbath-frame as wet wood to take fire.

[2.] Infenfibleness of their need of fpiritual bleffings:' They are not fenfible of their wants, and hence they despise the bleffing. He that has nothing to buy or fell, can stay at home on the market-day, and the full foul cares not for God's day.

[3] The not believing of the bleffing of that day. They that think they may come as good fpeed any day in the duties of the day as on the Lord's day, no wonder that they count God's day and the duties of it as

common:

USE. Let me exhort you then to beware of profaning the fabbath. Learn to keep it holy. And therefore I would call you here to feveral duties.

1. Remember the fabbath-day, before it come, to prepare for it, and let your eye be on it before the week be done. Timeoufly lay by your wordly employment, and go not near the borders of the Lord's day, and ftrive to get your hearts in a frame fuitable to the exercises of this holy day.

2. Make confcience of attending the public ordinances, and waiting on God in his own houfe on his own day. Loiter not away the Lord's day at home unneceflarily, feeing the Lord tryfts to meet his people there. This will bring leannefs to your own fouls, and grief of heart to him who bears the Lord's meffage to you.

3. Before you come to the public, fpend the morning in fecret and private exercifes, particularly in prayer, reading, and meditation; remembering how VOL. H. 4 D

much your fuccefs depends upon fuitable preparation. Put off your fhoes before ye tread the holy ground. 4. Make not your attendance on the public ordinances a by-hand work, and a mean for carrying on your worldly affairs. If ye come to the church to

meet with fome body, and to discourse or make appointments about your worldly business, it will be a wonder if ye meet with the Lord. If ye travel on the Lord's day, and take a preaching by the way, it may well cheat your blinded confciences; it will not be pleafing to God, for it makes his fervice to ftand but in the fecond room, while your main end is what con cerns your temporal affairs. Among the Jews no man might make the mountain of the house, or a fynagogue a thoroughfare. And beware of common dif courfe between fermons, which is too much practifed among profeffors.

4. When ye come home from the public ordinances, let it be your care, both by the way and at home, to meditate or converfe about fpiritual things, and what ye have heard. Retire and examine yourselves as to what ye have gained, and be not as the unclean beafts who chew not the cud. Let mafters of families take account of their children and fervants how they have profited, catechife and inftruct them in the prin ciples of religion, and exhort them to piety.

6. When ye are neceffarily detained from the pu blic ordinances, let your hearts be there, Pfal. lxiii. 1. 2. and do not turn that to fin, which in itself is not your fin. And ftrive to fpend the Lord's day in private and fecret worship, looking to the Lord for the upmaking of your wants. As for thofe that tie themselves to mens fervice, without a due regard to their having opportunities to hear the Lord's word, their wages are dear bought, and they have little refpect to God or their own fouls; and I think tender Chriftians will be loath to engage fo. But alas! few mafters or fervants look further than the work and

wages in their engaging together! A fad argument that religion is at a low ebb.

7. Do not cut the fabbath fhort. The church of Rome has half-holy days; God never appointed any fuch; it is one whole day. Alas! it is a fad thing to fee how the Lord's day is fo confumed, as if people. would make up the lofs of a day out of Saturday's night and Monday's morning, which they do by cutting fhort the Lord's day.

8. Lastly, Labour to be in a fabbath-day's frame. Let the thoughts of worldly bufinefs, far more worldly words and works, be far from you. To prefs this, confider,

(1.) It is God's command whereby he tries your love to him. This day is as the forbidden fruit. Who does not condemn Adam and Eve for eating of it? O do not profane it any manner of way.

(2.) Heaven will be an everlasting fabbath, and our converfation fhould be heaven-like. If we grudge the Lord one day in feven, how will we digeft an eternity? We are ready to complain that we are toiled with the world: why then do we not enter into his reft?

(3.) The great advantage of fanctifying the Lord's day. He has made it a day of bleffing. It is God's deal-day; and keeps up the heart of many through the week while they think of its approach.

(4.) Lastly, Ye will bring wrath on you if ye do not fanctify the fabbath. God may plague you with temporal, fpiritual, and eternal plagues. Many begin with this fin of profaning the Lord's day, and it brings them at length to an ill hour, both in this world and that which is to come.

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EXODUS XX. 12.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

W

E come now to the fecond table of the law, which teacheth us our duty to man, i. e. to ourfelves and others. There are two parts of religion, piety towards God, comprehending our duty to God immediately, delivered in the four firft commandments; righteoufnefs, our duty to our neighbour, delivered in the laft fix. As God has fet the four firft commands to maintain his own worship and honour in the world; fo he has covered man with the last fix. The fifth command is a fence for him in his station, whatever it is; the fixth guards his life; the feventh is a fence to his chastity; the eighth to his goods; the ninth to his name, and the tenth to all that is his. Over these hedges no man muft break under the pain of the Lawgiver's difpleasure,

Religion must run through the whole courfe of our converfation, and mix itself with all our actions, thofe that refpect men as well as thofe that refpect God immediately. Therefore in vain do they pretend to religion, that make no confcience of their duty to men, Religion makes not a man only a good man, but a good neighbour. And it is obfervable, that these duties are ordinarily made the trying point to profef fors of religion. And if ye have got any good of the late folemn occafion, ye will not only love God more, but love your neighbour more; not only grow in duties of piety towards God, but of righteoufnefs to men, giving every one their due, Micah vi. 6.-8. Zech. viii. 16. 17. Matth. xix. 18. 19. Rom. xiii. 8. 9. 10.

In this paffage there is a command, Honour thy father and thy mother; and the reafon of it, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. In the command two things are to be confidered.

1. The object, father and mother. By thefe are meant not only our natural parents, but alfo all fuperiors, fuperiors in age, 1 Tim. v. 1. 2.; fuch as are fuperior to us in gifts or grace, Gen. iv. 20. & xlv. 8.; but efpecially fuch as are by God's ordinance over us in authority, whether in the family, as hufbands, 2 Sam. xii. 3. mafters, 2 Kings v. 13. in the church, as minifters and other church-officers, 2 Kings ii. 12. or in the ftate, as magiftrates, fupreme or fubordinate, If. xlix. 23. These are more directly meant by father and mother who are to be honoured.

Thefe are the objects of this command expreffed. The objects implied are,

(1.) All inferiors; that is, not only children, but the younger, the weaker in gifts and grace, wives, fervants, people, fubjects. That thefe are alfo the object of this command, is clear if ye confider that their fuperiors are called fathers and mothers to them in the command, and confequently it binds them to be as fathers unto them.

(2.) All equals; that is, brethren, filters, friends, neighbours, and all amongft whom there is little difference as to age, gifts, grace, place, or dignity. That the command refpects these alfo, is clear if ye confider that Chrift fums up the whole fecond table in that general, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. Therefore our neighbour in the general must be the ob ject of this command, as well as of the reft of the fecond table.

2. The duty, Honour. All thefe must be honoured by their relatives. Giving of honour does not imply the fuperiority of the perion honoured; God himfelf will honour thofe that honour him; and all men must be honoured by us, whether they be our fuperiors, inferiors, or equals, 1 Pet. ii. 17. God has put fome excellency of his in every perfon, for which they are to be honoured. The titles of father, husband, teacher, and ruler, are honourable, for they are God's titles. The ftation wherein God has fet every one, though

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