world to heaven? Or fuppofe there were ftrict laws made, that, for every time you neglected prayer, you fhould be thrown into a " den of lions," as Daniel was for praying; or that you should lofe a finger of your hand, or but pay a hundred merks of fine: would you not pray as you can, and find time for it alfe, rather than lofe your life, finger, or money? And are not the laws of God more awful and ftrict than the laws of men? Is not hell's dungeon, or a den of devils, more terrible than a den of lions? Are not hell's torments more fearful than the lofs of a finger? Is not the wrath of the great God more dreadful than a fine? Oh, will not the fear of God prevail more with you than the fear of man? Remember Daniel's zeal of family-prayer, who chose rather to be caft to the lions, before he would forbear it for for one day: Oh, what fhall we fay of those, who will rather venture to be an eternal prey to the roaring lion, than be at this pains for falvation to themselves or their families; but you may hear in their houfes twenty oaths for one prayer!

2. Confider the great fin of neglecting family-inftructions upon the Sabbath, which, alas! is fo common, by reafon whereof many children and fervants are ignorant, prayerlefs, and graceless: Their parents and maf ters do not teach them to read, nor inftruct them con cerning the principles of religion; they neither pray for them, nor direct them how to pray for themselves. Is the knowledge of Chrift a choice and excellent treasure? And will you withold it from thofe whom you love, feeing it will not make you the poorer, but the richer, to communicate it to them? It is the commendation of Abraham, that he both made his houfehold know. God's ways, and commanded them to obey the fame," Gen. xviii. 19. and do you ever think to land in Abraham's bofom, that will not tread in Abraham's footsteps? Have you no pity or compaflion on them that are "bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh ?" Where is the yearning of your bowels towards their precious fouis, that are in a starving and perishing condition for lack of knowledge? Will you be like cruel oftriches, Job xxxix. that are hardened against their Hh 2

young

young ones," and leave them to be destroyed after they bring them forth? Will you, in like manner, bring forth your young ones, and then carelessly leave them to be a prey to the devil, and eternally to be torn to pieces by him? Are you indifferent about those that came forth of your loins, and whom you profefs to love fo dearly, whether they live with the bieffed Jefus in heaven, or with the curfed devils in hell? Remember, O patents, who neglect the education of your children, God may punish you for it, even in this world, by their unnatural and undutiful carriage to you in old age, whereby they may bring down your gray hairs with forrow to the grave; and no wonder though they make no confcience of their duty to you, who made no conscience to teach them their duty to God. Remember alfo, how many children have been brought to a miferable end in this world by the negligence and unfaithfulnefs of their parents this way; fome going to the gib bet have bitterly reflected on their parents as the caufe of their ruin, for giving them fuch a bad example, and not inftructing them in the time of their youth. But, above all, confider how your children and fervants may rife up and accufe you at the bar of God at the great day, and fay, "Lord, there ftands my father, there ftands my mafter, he never taught us, prayed with us, or for us; he neglected prayer, he curfed, he lied, che brake the Sabbath, and fo did we after his example. It is true, we are justly condemned, but yet we perish through their neglect, our blood is upon their heads.” O parents, will it not make you fpeechlefs, and fting you to the heart, to hear your poor children crying out against you in that day, saying, "Had you noticed our fouls as well as our bodies, had you been as careful · to teach us the knowledge of God as of fuch a trade, it had not been with us as it is this day; we had not now stood trembling in expectation of that dreadful doom, which is just ready to be paft upon us. Curfed be the man that begat us, and the paps that gave us fuck; it is to you we owe our eternal ruin and mifery."

O negligent

O negligent parents, what horror and confufion will then feize you in that great and terrible day of the Lord, to hear fuch a charge from your children! but much more to hear God charge you with their blood, and say, "O unnatural wretches, behold how many precious fouls you neglected and ruined, whofe happiness you were bound to procure by so many ties of duty and af fection They were ignorant, and you inftructed them not; they were prayerlefs, and you taught them not they were Chriftlefs, and you pitied them not: Yea, you not only neglected to give them good instruction, but you gave them bad example; you fwore, lyed, fpoke obfcenely, broke the Sabbath, mocked religion, &c. and lo, in thefe very practices they have followed you to hell, to be an addition to your torments there for ever."

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Would you then prevent this fad reckoning, and be found with your children upon the judge's right hand? fee that you inftruct them and pray for them. O fam thers, would you wish to have your children well provided, then lay up a stock of prayers for them, both family and fecret prayer: This is a stock that would not be soon spent, nay, it will be bringing them in something when you are dead and rotten. O mothers, your bodies travailed in pain at their first birth, let your fouls travail in pain for their fecond birth: Where is your motherly tenderness toward the fruit of your womb? Would you not be forry to hear them fcreeching, or fee them frying in hell's flames, without remedy? Then do what lies in your power, to prevent it, by inftructing them, praying for them, and praying with them.

Thirdly, Beware of neglecting fecret duties this day, fuch as were afore, mentioned, and particularly prayer, If thou be one, O finner, that reftraineft prayer before God this day, it is a black mark of a graceless heart; for a spirit of grace and fupplication go ftill together. As difficulty of breathing, and painfuinefs in fpeaking, are symptoms of a fick body; fo averfion to prayer is a fad fign of a fick foul: For prayer is the foul's breath, and fpeech to God, Lam. iii. 16. Again, confider the danger of living in the neglect of this duty. • If fatan might have his with against thee, (faith one)

it

life for then he is as fure of thee as a robber is of a traveller, whom he has faft bound, lying in a ditch, and his mouth ftopt that he cannot cry for help." O prayerlefs finner, confider fatan has thee faft bound, and is just ready to murder thee; and wilt thou not cry to God for help? Moreover, think what a brutifh thing it is to live prayerlefs, as alas many do; they rife like the beats in the morning, they work with the beasts all day, and ly down like beafts at night, and never mind to look up to God, till he lay them on their backs upon a death-bed, and then they begin to cry like the beafts, when the knife is at their throat. Confider, Oman, why God hath given thee a countenance erected towards heaven, and hath not made thee to creep on allfour, as other creatures, with their backs to heaven and mouths to earth; but to teach thee, that thou art made to converfe with thy Maker, and have intercourse with heaven, and that the world's hufks are not fit food for thy foul. We would pity a poor man that were all bowed together, and forced to go like a beaft upon hands and feet, with his eyes always to the earth: And is it not a more pitiful fpectacle to fee a foul that is a fpark of heaven, and created for communion with God, fo crippled with ignorance and earthly mindednefs, as ftill to be poring and grovelling upon the earth, without looking up to God its Maker and happinefs!

Of Sins of Commiffion on the Lord's day.

II. IN the next place, I proceed to warn you against fins of commiffion, by which the Lord's day is too commonly profaned: And thefe are either inward or out

ward.

I. Of inward Sins of Commission.

Inward fins, or heart fins, fhould be carefully guarded against this day, as being moft provoking to God, polluting to his worthip, and hurtful to our fouls. Sinful thoughts are an abomination to God every day,

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Prov. xv. 26. but more especially this day. Thoughts are as loud in God's ears as words; and he commande evil thoughts to be forfaken, as well as evil ways, if we would have pardon, Ifa lv. 7. Wherefore let us get renewed and fanctified hearts, and overawe them with the thoughts of God's prefence and omnifcience: Let us imagine this day, that we hear the found of the last trumpet, and fee the throne fet, and God calling for an account of hearts; (for in that day he will judge hearts as well as lives) and, when any evil thought breaks in, fay, "What if God, who fees this, fhould prefently call me to account?" Let us keep a conftant watch over our hearts this day, striving to crush all finful thoughts in the bud, at their first rifing, cry out for God's help. Let us be fenfible what a mafs of villany is in the heart, "It is defperately wicked," as Jeremiah faith; yea, "our inward part is very wickednels," Pfal. v. 9. Hence it was that Luther profeft, that " he feared his heart more than the pope or the cardinal;" And Auguftine prayed, "Libera me, Domine, a meipfo." The heart is like the Trojan horse, out of whofe belly proceeded armed enemies; fo out of the heart proceed all evil words and actions, Mat. xv. 19. It is the corrupt fountain, from whence all the impure ftreams of actual fin do flow: Therefore we should look narrowly to it.

But, befides incident evil thoughts, we have many evil habits and plagues of heart, that we fhould guard against on the Sabbath, being fuch as profane the day, and hinder the fanctification of it: Particularly,

1. Atheism, and mifbelief of God's truths. If this harbour or prevail in us, we can reap no profit by the word read or preached this day. Why do people delay or refufe to embrace Chrift, and leave their fins, but because they want a fixed and firm impreffion of the truths of the gospel upon their hearts? It is true, you will not fay that you mifbelieve any of them, but you give no heart-affent to the truth of them, which is little better; you give no firm inward credit to the gospel, and to all its affertions, commands, threatenings and promises, that they are come from God, and are molt true, certain and infallible. Were you once firmly perfuaded