us, that as face anfwereth to face in water, fo doth the heart of one true Chriftian to that of another. In this exercife holy men of old have employed themfelves, and met with fingular tokens of divine favour and acceptance. At no time furely can fuch conference be more feafonable than on. the Chriftian Sabbath: and it is owing probably to the neglect of this, that the preaching of the word, and other parts of public religious fervice, are fo generally fruitlefs and unfuccessful. I have thus given you a general account of the manner in which the Sabbath ought to be fanctified. In the next difcourfe, I fhall confider the prohibitory part of the commandment, and endeavour to enforce the obfervance of it by fome motives and arguments. Amen.

SERMON

SERMON XVIII.

EXODUS Xx. 8.

Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.

[The 2d Sermon on this Text.]

I HAVE already endeavoured to prove, that we are ftrictly bound by this divine precept to keep One day in seven holy to the Lord; and that the change of the Sabbath, from the feventh to the first day of the week, on which our Lord rofe from the dead, bears fuch evident fignatures of divine authority, as are fufficient to justify the uniform opinion, and uninterrupted practice, of all the Chriftian churches in this matter. I have alfo endeavoured to explain the commandment itself, and to give you an account of the manner in which the Sabbath ought to be fanctified. I now proceed to confider the prohibitory part of the commandment, and to enforce the obfervance of it, by fome motives and arguments.

The prohibition chiefly refpects bodily labour. "The Sabbath-day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," faith the Supreme Lawgiver; “in "it thou shalt not do any work." It is expreffed, you fee, in very ftrong and abfolute terms, and was for a long time understood by the Jews in a very rigid fenfe, in fo much that they thought it

even

even unlawful to defend their lives when they were attacked by their enemies on that day. So univerfally did this opinion prevail among them in the beginning of the wars of the Maccabees, that, in fome inftances, it proved fatal to many of them. But this was afterward, by the univerfal confent of the learned in their law, declared to be a mistake: and indeed, from the defign of the precept, from other paffages of Scripture, and efpecially from our Saviour's inftruction and example, it appears, that fome kinds of work are perfectly confiftent with the reft which is here enjoined. Of this nature are works of neceffity, i. e. works which cannot be done the day before, nor delayed till the day following. Thus, for inftance, fhould a fire break out on the Sabbath, we may and ought to ufe every means to extinguifh it. Should our enemies attack us, it is lawful to refift them: if we are at a diftance from church, we may travel as far as is neceffary, in order to hear the word of God, and to join with others in public worship. For, as our Saviour tells us, "The "Sabbath was made for man, and not man for "the Sabbath;" and the means are never to be fet above the end; nor is refting on the Sabbath to be interpreted fo as to exclude the religious employment of it.

In like manner, works of charity and compaffion are lawful on this day. Our Lord wrought many miracles of mercy on the Sabbath, and vindicated his conduct against thofe who found fault with him, by fuch maxims as plainly fhew, that offices of charity are not only allowable but

praife

praiseworthy, and are perfectly confiftent with the reft which is here enjoined.

But then it is abfolutely unlawful to pursue our worldly bufinefs on this day; because this thwarts the great end and defign of the commandment, which ordains the feventh part of our time to be ftatedly employed in the immediate fervice of God, that we may thereby become better acquainted with him, and may become more fit for an eternal communion with him in heaven. The very intention of the law is to fet apart a certain proportion of our time for the care of our fouls; which, amidft the hurry of our fecular affairs, we are too apt to neglect.

To apply ourselves therefore to our ordinary bufinefs on the Sabbath, to talk of it, or even to spend our thoughts on it, is doing what we can to fruftrate the gracious defigns of the Lawgiver, and muft neceffarily be of infinite hurt and prejudice to our fouls. And if our worldly employments, which are not only lawful, but even neceffary on other days of the week, are criminal on this day, you will eafily perceive, that sports and recreations muft certainly be confidered as included in the prohibition: for thefe are ftill more oppofite to the proper bufinefs of the Sabbath, and have not the remoteft pretence either to neceffity or usefulness. To have recourfe to amusement on this day, is wantonly to throw away our time, without any advantage; and carries in it a plain declaration, that we have no relish for fpiritual things; and that rather than think of God, and the concerns of our fouls, we will VOL. II. banish

U

banish reflection altogether, and study to forget both God and ourfelves. It was the judgment, of one of the fathers, that it was more lawful to plow than to dance on the Lord's day; and the fame thing may be faid of all other diverfions, which entirely withdraw us from the business of religion, and will not fuffer our minds to be ferious and compofed. If it is criminal to work or to labour on this day, it must evidently be ftill more fo to wafte the time in carnal mirth, or in indolence and floth, or in vain and trifling. amufements. In a word, whatever is foreign to religion, or has not a direct tendency to glorify God, and advance our own fpiritual intereft, ought carefully to be avoided on this holy day, as we regard the approbation of God, and our own present and eternal happiness.

Having thus laid your duty in this matter before you, it only remains, in the

Third and laft place, That I enfore the practiceof it by fome motives and arguments -And,

If, Allow me to obferve, that though this commandment were to be confidered as a mere pofitive inftitution, or only as a teft of our obedience and fubjection to God; yet the portion of time which is thereby feparated from common ufe, is so very moderate, that we have not the remoteft caufe to complain of it. I am even perfuaded, that were God to refer the matter to ourfelves, and, after having reprefented that he had brought us into being, and would allow us a certain term of life in his world, were to afk us what portion of our time we would freely