to the mansions with Chrift, or to a dwelling with devils; and that endless eternity depends upon your attention to God's word. How attentively would a condemned rebel hearken to his prince, every word being either life or death to him! Confider, it is matter of life and death to you, yea, your life through all the ages of never ending eternity; your life depends on right hearing, Deut. xxxii. 47. And will you not take head? You would have God attentive to your words in the time of your distress, and will you not be attentive to his words in the time of your health? Could a minister tell you how you might acquire a good eftate, or where you might find a rich treasure, you would hearken to that; but, for an inheritance or treasure in heaven, many think it not worth their while to notice: Is not this an argument of strong carnality and atheism? O If we could imitate Chrift's hearers, Luke xix. 48. it is faid, "They were all very attentive to hear him ;" the word attentive according to the original, may be rendered, They hanged on him, or They hanged their ears at Chrift's lips! Let us, in like manner, hang upon Chrift in hearing of the word, even as the child doth upon the breast, or as the bee upon a flower. 1 There is nothing that fatan aims at more, than to divert your attention in time of hearing the word. This enemy of your fouls is bufy every day laying fnares for you, feeking your ruin: But, O how active is he every Lord's day! The devil is ftill firft at church; the children of God never gather together, but fatan is among them: And his great defign is, to render this engine of the word fruitless, because by it the ftrong holds of his kingdom have been battered and broken down. Now, the way he finds most fuccefs is, by tempting our eyes and thoughts to wander, in order to keep us from being attentive in time of hearing. O then, if we would have the word to profit us, let us watch against satan's temptations and fuggeftions; let us guard against wandering, wearying, drowlinefs, or any thing that may hin der our attention. And for thofe that can write quickly, to write down the heads of the fermon in time of hearing, is by fome reckoned a good mean to engage the Cc 2 attention, attention, prevent drowfinefs, and help the memory afterwards; and fome have found it very refreshing and edifying a long time after, to be looking over what they had written. But efpecially it is proper for young people to learn and ufe this way of writing. VII. In a fpecial manner, take heed to the word that fuits your cafe, and moft concerns your fonl; particularly to that word that difcovers the finfulness and vilenefs of a poor foul by nature; and to that word that points out the mifery of the unbeliever, and that shews the weight of thofe curfes, the terror of that wrath, and feverity of divine juftice, to which he is hourly expofed; and to that word that sets out fin in its black and bloody colours; to that word that fhews your inability to help yourself out of your miserable state; to that word that difcovers your need of Chrift, and his excellency, fitness and suitableness for you; and to that word that comes close home to your confcience, and tells you, as Nathan did David," Thou art the man," thou art the poor loft finner that is condemned, and for ever undone, without Chrift. Take heed to that word that points out your particular fins, your predominate lufts and idols; take with the charge, and cry out, Unclean, unclean. While hearing the word, you ought to place your fins, and especially your darling lufts, in the front of the battle (as Uriah) purpofely to be flain, and fay," Lord, let thefe fmooth ftones taken out of the brook of the fanctuary be thrown by fo fkilful and powerful a hand, that they may fink deep into the foreheads of these uncircumcifed ones, to their utter ruin and destruction." And O it were happy, if, while the word doth touch our fins, our hearts wree melted like Peter's, and moved to go home and weep bitterly. O what reafon have we to weep, when we hear of the boundless mercy which we have defpifed, the matchlefs mifery which we have deferved, the infinite love which we have abused, and the righteous law which we have tranfgreffed! VIII. Mix your hearing with faith, i. e. believe, 1. That it is God who fpeaks; the word is his, and not man's. 2. That he fpeaks to you in particlar, as if he mentioned you by name and firname. Put not reproofs reproofs and threatenings by yourselves, and fay, They belong to your neighbour, and not to you; for this is a dangerous ftratagem of the devil against your fouls. But let every man open his ear, and hear what the Spirit faith to him, and apply the word particularly to himfelf; for the best plaifter that ever was made up, can do no good unless it be applied. 3. Believe that what the Lord fpeaks to you by his word, is true and certain; that his doctrine is holy, and his laws juft: that his threatenings will be ftrictly executed, and his promifes faithfully accomplished. It is for want of faith that the word doth not profit. If but as much credit were given to the divine teftimony and word of God, as we give to human teftimony and the writings of men, the word would have more success and efficacy than, alas! it hath on the most part. IX. Lay up what you hear in your hearts and memories, and be at all pains to retain it; for the devil, like the fowls of the air, is at hand to fnatch away the feed of the word as foon as it lights, if we be not careful to hide it in our hearts. Therefore it is a good help in time of hearing, to be often recalling and repeating the heads of what has been spoken in our minds; for when we hear a head but once, and think no more upon it till the fermon be done, we are fair to lose it. X. Join cordially with the congregation in finging the praises of God. This is a heavenly duty, pleasant to God, and profitable to yourselves: therefore be confcientious in the performing of it: "Sing with underftanding," and meditate upon what you fing; "fing with grace in your hearts," Col. iii. 16. It is grace that sweetens the voice in God's ear, an old heart cannot fing a new fong; nay, grace must be in a lively exercise when you fing, according to Pfal. Ivii. 8. you fhould cry to your hearts and to your graces, and particularly to faith, love and delight, as in Judges v. 12. "Awake, awake, Deborah, awake, awake, utter a fong," &c. There should be a great warmness of love and affection to God when we fing to him, according to Ifa. v. 1. Look well then to your hearts in finging, mind the matter more than the mufic, the cleanness of the heart more than the clearness of the voice. Non vox fed votum; non mufica chordula, fed cor; I cannot pafs fome here, without a reproof, fuch as thofe, 1. Who fit dumb in the congregation, while their neighbours are práifing God, as if the devil had tackt their tongues to the roof of their mouths: Think not this work below the greatest of you, for it is your honour. Excufe not yourselves by faying, you cannot fing mufically; for, if you had any delight in the duty, you would fing as you can. 2. Those who in finging, notice the tune more than the matter, and mind the voice more than the "making melody in their hearts to the Lord." 3. Those that absent themselves from the finging of the pfalms, who either come not at the beginning of worship till the pfalms be over, or rise and go out at the close before the pfalms be fung. Would you know whofe difciples they are who do fo, they are not Chrift's, but Judas's; for when Chrift fang the hymn on the back of the communion, Matt. xxvi. 30. all the difciples were present but Judas, who flipt out before the pfalms; and, fince he turned his back upon fo fweet a duty, it could not be a good errand he was going about; it was firft to betray his Mafter, and then to hang himself. O then, take warning, and follow Judas's example no more. XI. Let none go forth before pronouncing of the bleffing. God allows none, great or small, to go out before his worship be ended; both prince and people must meet and part at the fame time, Ezek. xlvi. 10. Those that wilfully depart without hearing the blefling pronounced, and make a custom of it, if they repent not, it is to be feared they must one day ftay to hear that fentence, "Depart from me, ye curfed." run away from the bleffing, but you cannot run from this curfe. Wherefore let us ftay the bleffing, and revérently stand up (as the congregation of Ifrael did, 1 Kings viii. 14.) to receive our fhare in it, hoping and You praying praying that it may come down upon us, as it furely will, if we believingly look up to him, that " commands the bleffing upon mount Zion, even life for evermore." Concerning our behaviour betwixt Sermons. HAVING finifhed the work of the forenoon, you muft take care how you difpofe of yourselves betwixt fermons. 1. If the intermiffion be fomewhat long, and your houfes near at hand, then retire to them, meditating upon what you have heard, and fixing the convictions and directions into your minds; beware of worldly thoughts or words by the way. 2. Affoon as you come home, go to fecret prayer, and beg God's help to improve what you have heard, that it may kill fin, and quicken grace in you; and that God may ftrengthen your weak memories to retain it, and pardon your failings in his service. 3. Eat fparingly betwixt fermons, left it dull your fpirits, and indifpofe you for the afternoon's work; and fee that your discourse in time thereof be fuitable to the day. 4. If time allow, neglect not to call your families together for the worfhip of God. 5. If you have any time to be alone, spend it frugally in reading, praying, or meditating; let not a moment of it be loft: Either think on what you have been hearing, or draw fpiritual inftructions from what you fee. Do you fit by the fire, and fee the fparks fly up? think, Man is born to trouble as the fparks fly upward," Job. v. 7. "Sin hath filled my fhort life with troubles; but bleffed be God, that I am this day invited to come to Jefus Chrift, who is a remedy both for fin and for row." Doft thou see a spider in the window weaving cunning webs to catch the filly fly? Think, "Satan, that cunning enemy, is doing the like for my poor foul." Seeft thou how the fpider hides itself in its hole till once the fly be intangled, and then runs to feize it, and drag it into its hole? So doth the devil lie in wait till once finners be caught into his fnares, and then he lays on them, |