1 nigh to fo great a God upon this holy day? For holý performances God requires us to make holy preparations; and therefore David faith, Pfal xxvi. 6. "I will wath mine hands in innocency, fo fhall I compass thine altar, O Lord." The mariner that intendeth a voyage, he not only provides his tackling, but he is careful be fore he fail, to put his fhip off from the land, that he may catch the firft fair wind. In like manner, Chrif tian, if thou wouldst launch heavenwards upon a Lord's day, be concerned to get the veffel of thy heart put off from the earth on the evening before. Wert thou a perfon of great quality and eftate, and the king should fend thee word that he would dine with thee to-morrow, thou wouldst make preparation for his entertainment the day before, by cleaning the houfe, and putting all things in order, fuitable to the dignity of fo great a prince. Now, when King JESUS gives thee notice before hand, that on fuch a day he is to fup with thee, wilt thou not teftify thy refpect to fo great a potentate, by making preparation for him? When Chrift prepares a table for thee in the gofpel, and furnishes it with all the dainties of heaven, pardon, peace, love, grace, and eternal life; fhouldft thou not empty thy ftomach, cleanfe thy heart, adorn thy foul, and make ready to feast with thy Redeemer? At this gofpel table others fit and feed, their fouls are filled with marrow and fatnefs, and their mouths praise the Lord with joyful lips; but alas! many have no flow mach; they can eat little, and favour nothing. Their ftomachs are foul, their hearts unclean; the world fills their thoughts; they tafte no goodnefs in hearing, in prayer, praifes, or any duty of God's worship: Why? They are at no pains before-hand to empty their minds of the world, and prepare for this heavenly fare. Reader, were I to counsel thee how to improve a market-day, fo as thou might gain much wealth and treafure, I doubt not but thou wouldst hearken to me: And wilt thou not regard me, when I arn to advife thee how to fpend the Lord's day, the market-day for thy foul, fo as thou mayft get the true treafure, even dura ble riches and righteouinefs? Lay afide worldly caress remember remember, and prepare for this market-day, before it come, and beg skill from God how to improve it aright to the enriching of thy foul. Anciently there were laws obliging people to lay aside their work at fuch a particular hour on Saturday's afternoon that they might remember and pr pare for the Sabbath: Likewife it was a cuftom in fome places to have, public divine exercise and worship on the Saturday's evening; fo that, at the ringing of a bell for it, people gave over their work, and repaired to the church to worfhip God, and hear fomething fuitable and preparatory to the Sabbath, I cannot but commend this practice, as a good way to conclude and fhut up all the labours and cares of the week and publicly to give God thanks for profpering the works of our hands, and alio to confefs and mourn for the carnality of our hearts, and our little minding of Chrift and heaven in our weekly bufinefs, and cur manifold fhort-comings in our duties both to God and man, and our forgetting and not practifing through the week the fermons we heard the preceding Sabbath: Likewife it is a good way to take off our hearts from the world, and to compofe and fpiritualize the thoughts for the work of the approaching Sabbath; and allo to pray and wrestle together for a bleffing on the fame, and for fpecial affittance to minifters and people in the duties of the day, that the enfuing Sabbath may be one of the best Sabbaths we ever had, and that it may be one of the days of heaven to our fouls. But more particularly, the preparation needful for the Sabbath confifts in these things; 1. In your difpatching and order ng your labour and bufinefs through the week with fuch prudence and forefight that it may nowife hinder or disturb you on the Sabbath-day. 2. In leaving off your work timeoufly the night before, and going feafonably to reft, that both your fervants and you may be in cafe to rife early on Sabbath morning, and not to be droufy or fleepy through the day. It is a great incroachment upon the Sabbath that fome are guilty of, they fit up and work later VOL. IV. Y on . on Saturday's night than any other night of the week a they ly longer on Sabbath morning than any other day; they go fooner to bed on Sabbath night than any other night, and they rife fooner on Monday morning than any other day of the week. Now, what is this but a grudging God his due time, a wearying of his day, and making it as fhort as you can, and feeking to win it, if poffible, from off the Saturday's night and Monday's morning? Under the law, the latter part of the day, preceding the Sabbath, was called " the day of preparation for the Sabbath," Luke xxiii. 54. intimating that it is our duty to prepare for the Sabbath before it come, and to do it upon the day preceding. Likewife, we find that Nehemiah ordered the gates of Jerufalem to be fhut when it began to be dark before the Sabbath, Neh. xiii 19. thereby teaching us timeoufly to give over our traffick ing and worldly bufinefs on the evening before the Lord's day, and not to follow our business too late, left our thoughts be too much embaraffed with fecular affairs, and we thereby indifpofed for the religious duties of the enfuing holy day. 63 It would be a good way to prepare for the Lord's day, fometimes to take your children and fervants on the Saturday's night, when you call them together for family worship, and inftruct them concerning the end and institution of the Lord's day which is approaching, and the nature of the fervice that is requifite upon it. The Lord commends Abraham, for " commanding his household and children after him to keep the way of the Lord," Gen. xviii. 19. And he frequently directs the Ifraelites to inftruct their children concerning the meaning of their rites and obfervations; and particularly concerning the paffover, he faith, Exod. xii. 26. 27. "And it fhall come to pass, when your children fhall fay unto you, What mean you by this fervice? that ye fhall fay, It is the facrifice of the Lord's paffever, who paffed over the houses of the children of Ifrael in Egypt, when he fmote the Egyptians," &c. So, in like manner, concerning the obfervation of the Lord's day, you should tell your families, "The day of facred reft, now approaching proaching, is a memorial of God's wonderful love to us, that when we were loft and undone by fin, curfed by the divine law, and excluded out of God's reft, our Lord Jefus Chrift undertook a great work for us to make up our peace, become our furety, and bear the curfe and wrath due to us; and when he had fo done, and finished his work of redemption, he, on the first day of the week, entered into his rest by his refurrection, and thereby. made known to us that we should keep this day as a day of holy reft to him, in remembrance of his glorious work, and as a pledge of our celebrating an everlafting Sabbath with him above, in admiring his love, and finging his praife: And therefore let us make fuitable preparation for this folemn day, and the duties of it." Alas! the omiffion of fuch inftructions as thefe to young perfons, doth caufe the observation of this day, with many, to be built only on custom and example; and hence follows the great neglect of Sabbath fanctification, which is fo common among us. 4. If you would prepare for the Sabbath, call off your thoughts timeoufly on Saturday's night, from worldy cares and business, that you may think on the great work of the approaching day and labour to put yourfelves in as folemn and as ferious a frame, as if you were to die and ftep into eternity, and clear counts at God's tribunal; or as if you were vifibly to tryst and meet with God, and folemnly treat with him concerning your falvation. As godly Nehemiah took care to fhut the gates of Jerufalem on the evening before the Sabbath, that no burdens might be carried in on the Sabbath-day; fo fecure you the gates of your hearts on the Saturday's evening, that no worldly thing may enter to disturb you in the performance of the great and folemn duties of the Sabbath. 5. Look back on the bypast week, and examine your actions therein as particularly as you can, and repent for all the fins thereof, whether omiflion or commiffion, and flee to the blood of Chrift to be cleanfed from the guilt and filth of them, that fo you may be be prepared to appear before a holy God, who is "of purer eyes than that he can behold iniquity." O feek to get all quarrels through the week removed, that you may have a reconciled God to meet with upon the Sabbath 6. Study to have a deep fenfe of your wants upon your fpirits, that you may get fuitable fupplies for them upon the Sabbath. If you were going to a great market next day, you would be thinking the night before what you wanted or needed thereat: The Sabbath is the great market day for your fouls, when you may hear Christ crying, as Rev. iii 18. "I counfel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayeft be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayeft be clothed," &c. 7. Think the great defign of the Sabbath, the upon commemoration of Christ's redeeming love; and entertain ferious and thankful thoughts of the goodness of God manifefted in the glorious work of redemption; and with godly Nehemiah, Neh. ix. 14. blefs God for giving you the Sabbath, fince it is fuch a pleasant and profitable day for the foul. 66 S. Beg earnestly for God's help to fanctify the Sabbath, and that God may put you in a spiritual frame for the work thereof, and that you may have grace to leave all your worldly care at the bottom of the hill, while you go up into the mount to worship God, and return again to them." Beg that the fins of the bygone week, and the mifimprovement of former Sabbaths, may not hinder God's prefence upon the enfuing Sabbath. Pray that minifters may be directed to a fuitable word for your fouls cafe, that your hearts may be prepared, your enemies reftrained, and God's ordinances bleffed, fo that it may be a good day, a day in God's courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." And then, having fo ordered and difpofed matters, lay yourselves down to fleep in Chrift's arms, and under his protection, leaving your hearts in heaven, that when you awake next morning, you may be ftill with God. Study to fleep, as well as "eat and drink, to the glory of God." Go to bed with this defign, that your bodies may |