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nature to go to, and have the glorious atchievements of condescending and redeeming love to commemorate this day?

The Lord requires us to perform the duties of this day with a frame of mind fuitable to the fpirit, freedom, and liberty of the gofpel, guarding against the servile frame of fpirit which the Jews had in the obfervance of the duties of the law: For "we are not come unto the mount that burned with fire, and was terrible to behold; but unto mount Zion, the city of the living God.” In the fervice of this day, we ought to keep up impreffions of God as moft acceffible, familiar to us, and dwelling in our own nature, and as one that doth not fo much regard our outward performances, as the inward frame and fincerity of our hearts. The Pharifees prétended to great ftrictness about the outward observance of the Sabbath: (and hence they prefumed frequently to cenfure Christ and his difciples practices on this day) bat they were ftrangers to inward fincerity, and love to God. It is the willing mind and honeft heart, in Sabbath performances, that God chiefly regards, not a pharifaical ftrictnefs.

7. Being in the Spirit on the Lord's day" implies, the having of the graces of the Spirit in a more lively exercise this day than ordinary: And therefore we ought this day folemnly to invite the "north and fouthwinds of the Spirit to come and blow upon our gardens, that the fpices thereof may flow out ;" and that, particularly in all our approaches to God, we may be poffeft with a holy awe and reverence of God's majelty and greatnefs, and a deep fenfe of our own bafenefs and naughtinefs, and have our faith acting vigorously upon God's goodness and mercy in and through Chrit, our hearts melting with evangelical contrition and repentance, our love and fp ritual defires flaming forth in all our acts of devotion; nay all our graces and affections fhould be this day elevated more than ordinary to God's fpecial honour and glory.

8. A more than ordinary fpiritual and heavenly frame of foul, fuited to the work of this day. Since this day is wholly dedicated to God, and fpiritual duties VOL. IV.

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are the only work of it, our frame upon it fhould be more heavenly and divine, than upon any other day, or when going about the duties of God's worship at any other time; we should this day be much viewing and admiring, with thankfulness, the dying" love of Chrift," and the glorious "work of redemption" completed this day by his refurrection. We fhould be living this day above the world, and within view of heaven, making this day a little emblem and prelude of the ever-s lafting reft of the faints above.. ༩ ༦ བཏྭཱ ༥:༥ཏྟཾ "?

9. It imports, that there is fomething of an univerfal fanctity and holiness peculiarly requifite upon this day. Now, this fanctity must be univerfal, with refpect to ourselves, with refpect to the day, and with refpect to the duties of it..

P. With refpect to ourselves; all our thoughts, words and actions this day, fhould be God's in a special manner; all that we are, all that we have, all we can do, fhould be wholly devoted to God's worship and service on this day, Ifa. lviii. 13. God would not only have our hands tied from working, but also our tongues from talking, and our minds from thinking on worldly things this day.

2. With refpect to the day; we should spend the whole of it in holy duties, either public, private, or fecret. It is not for an hour or two only, that we must study to be specially holy, but through the whole day; we should count every moment of Sabbath time precious, and fuffer none of it to be loft that we can save, ftill aiming to be doing fomething for God and our own fouls.

3. With refpect to the duties of the day; we should esteem them all, and make confcience of them all, fince they all have a divine stamp upon them, reading, hear ing, prayer, praises, communicating, meditating, conferring, catechifing, giving alms, &c. God is to be. found in every one of thefe duties, and therefore none of them is to be neglected: And, when we find him not in one of them, we must seek him in another; and, if we conscientiously go the round of duties, we shall furely" find him whom our fouls love," Cant. iii. 44007

Laftly,

Lafly, This expreffion, of being "in the Spirit on the Lord's day," imports the performing the duties of it with pure and fpiritual ends, viz. " to glorify God, and enjoy him." God is the fole object of our worship, and he must be the principal end of it too. In our worship we must feek him, Heb. xi. 6. not ourfelves. It is natural for man to worship God for felf ends; we often perform duties, not only to be seen and esteemed of men, but also to be seen and valued by God for them, Ifa. lviii 3. "Wherefore have we fafted, (say they) and thou feeft not?" &c. They did not perform duties to glorify God, but to obtain a re ward for themselves, and have a righteousness of their own to found and plead upon. Let us ftudy to be denied to our own duties, and guard against a selfish and legal spirit in our Sabbath-days performances. This will be a dead fly to fpoil the ointment, and will keep our beft duties from being favoury to God. study then to perform them all " in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter," Rom. vii. 6. »Letc us use them all as means for bringing God and our fouls together, as means for obtaining communion and fellowship with God, and holding fpecial intercourse with him, which is the only way to fit us for glorifying God both here and hereafter.

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DIRECTION II.

Let us

Concerning the holy duties requifue upon the Lord's Day.

THE duties neceffary upon this day, are either public, private, for fecret,

I thall not meddle with the duties of public perfons as fuch on the Sabbath, or what is fpecially incumbent upon magiftrates or minifters upon this day, in their public ftations, but thall infift only upon thofe duties; required of all Chriftians in common.

Queft. I. What are those public duties required of us upon the Lord's day?

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Anf. They are thofe which we are bound to perform in the public flemblies of God's people and indeed the Sabbath is inftitute chiefly for the folemn perfor mance of the duties of God's worship, in the public meetings of his people: for the Lord hath a fpecial delight therein; "he loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob; and wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he will be in the midst of them." Why? It is in the affemblies of God's people for public worship, that God receiveth the highest praifes from us; and hence the Pfalmift faith, "I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praife thee among much people. And in his temple doth every one fpeak of his glory," Pfal. xxxv. 18. Pfal. xxix. 9. And as in public worship God receiveth the highest praifes, fa there it is he bestoweth the richest mercies, Pfal. lxv, 4" Bleffed is the man whom thou chusest, and caufeft to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts; we thall be fatisfied with the goodness of thy houfe," &c. O what good things are contained in that word, the "goodness of thy houfe!" there is pardon, peace, love, grace, life, light, ftrength, comfort, &c. Now, the public duties of the Sabbath, recorded in scripture, which God's people ought to meet and affemble that day for, are various; and particularly, they are to meet together for reading and expounding the word of God; for preaching, hearing, praying, praifing, partaking of the facraments, collecting for the poor, &c. for all which we may fee Lev. xxiii. 3. Pfalm xcii. Ifa. lxvi. 23. Luke iv. 16. Acts xiii. 14. 15. 27. 44. xv. 21. xvi. 13. xx. 7. 1. Cor. xvi. 12. But particu larly,

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1. Hearing the word publicly read and preached with reverence and attention, is a principal duty on the Sabbath; nay, our life depends upon it, Deut. xxxii. 46. 47. It is the great mean God hath appointed for the conversion of fouls, Rom. x. 14. 17. Whatever men think of it, it is the powerful inftrument of our falvation, Rom. i. 16. The waters of the fanctuary run only through the channels of the word; the mines of grace are found only in thefe climates where the gof

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pel fun fhines. The Lord, if he pleased, could immediately, by his Spirit, break open finners hearts; but he hath determined to honour his word in this work, as is plain in Lydia's cafe, Acts xvi. 9. 10. 14. Reading the word and fermons at home is good; but hearing the word preached is the ordinary mean God hath appointed and promifed to blefs for converfion: And if this be flighted, or prove ineffectual, no other way can be contrived for it, as we are told, Luke xvi. 29. 31 So that though a glorified faint or angel fhould come down from heaven, and preach upon the beauty of Chrift, and glory of heaven, in the most lively and demonftrative manner; yet, if a preached gofpel do not perfuade finners, neither would that, Or, though a damned foul fhould come up from hell, and preach the evil of fin, and torments of hell, in the most pathetic manner; yet neither would that perfuade, if the word do it not. Why, the one is God's inftituted mean, the other not. Let us then have an high efteem of God's ordinance, and embrace all occafions for attending it. "Be fwift to hear," Jam. i. 19. Let none dare to count that mean, weak, or defpicable, which the wife God hath inftitut ed to fave fouls, Cor. i. 21. It pleafed God, by the foolishness of preaching, to fave them that believe." And how comes believing but by hearing? Reading good fermons (as one fays) is like milk cold out of the dish, but preaching is like milk warm from the breast, which is far more nourishing to the child. Let us al ways, then, as "new born babes, defire this milk, that we may both live and grow thereby," Pet. ii. 2,

II Another of the public duties of the Sabbath is public prayers with the congregation.

Prayer is a principal part of God's worship, and therefore is frequently put for the whole, Zech. viii. 21. 22. Acts xvi. 23. Hence God's temple of old was called the house of prayer. Public prayer is moft neceffary for averting judgments, obtaining bleffings, and preferving love and unity among Chriftians; alfo it is a folemn owning the God whom we serve in the face of the world, and fo highly glorifies God. The bountiful Lord is well pleafed to fee many beg

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