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day, is that of John the divine, Rev. i. 10. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." It is a moft comprehenfive expreffion, and a noble pattern for our imitation; wherefore I fhall enquire into the meaning and import of it. It is probable it may imply fomething extraordinary with respect to John; he might be in fome fingular spiritual extafy or tranfport, which ordinary Christians cannot attain to: Nevertheless, the expreffion imports fomething attainable, and which ought to be endeavoured by all true Chriftians on the Lord's day.

To be in the Spirit, may be taken either as respecting the Spirit of God, or our own fpirits, or both: For certainly both the Spirit of God, and our own fpirits, are neceffary, and to be much employed, in the fanctification of the Lord's day: Wherefore, taking the expreffion as including both, I conceive, to be " in the Spirit on the Lord's day," imports these things:

1. A fpecial dependence upon God's Spirit, for conduct and affiftance, in order to the right performance of the duties of the Sabbath, and exercife of the graces therein For, without the Spirit's aid, we can neither pray, praise, hear, read, or do any thing aright.

2. The" ferving of God with our fpirits," as Rom. i. 9. or "worfhipping him in fpirit," John iv 24. and performing the duties of the Sabbath with inward fincerity of heart. "The Lord defires truth in the inward parts. He faith, "My fon, give me thy heart;" not, Give me thy ear, thy tongue, thy lips, thy hands, or thy knees; for thefe may be given without the heart: But the heart can never be bestowed without these as its attendants. This is fo neceffary in all our duties, and approaches to God, that God faith of it, as Jofeph did of Benjamin, " Unless ye bring your hearts along with you, ye shall not fee face." my

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obferve Sabbaths, hear fermons, ling pfalms, put up prayers, &c. but all will be to no purpofe, lía. i. 1I. God would rather have the heart without the body, than the body without the heart. Soul-prayer, when it is alone, is accepted; but wo to bodily prayer, if it be alone.

3. A folemn retiring ourselves from the world, and abstracting our though's from earthly things, that we may be fitted for more immediate approaches to God, and intimate converfe with him on his own day, wherein he uses to deal more familiarly with his people than at other times.

4. A laying ourselves open to the influences and iv operations of the Spirit of God, waiting for and thankfully entertaining his motions, convictions, reproofs, and confolations, when they are allowed to us in the! ordinances; and carefully guarding against every thing that may in the leaft grieve or offend the Holy Spirit.

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5. A more than ordinary intenfenefs of heart and affections in the duties of God's worship: On Sabbath days, efpecially, we fhould be " fervent in fpirit, ferv ing the Lord;" we should call in all our ftraying** thoughts and affections, praying with the pfalmift, Pfal. lxxxvi. 11.“ Unite my heart to fear thy name;" and Pfal. xxx. 18: ** Quicken us, and we shall call upon thy name." This day we fhould put forth our fpiritual ftrength to the utmoft, perform every duty, and exert every grace, with the greatest intenfeness; we ought to love God with the most fublime affections, obey him with the pureft intentions, pray to him withi the moft fervent importunity, and praife him with the moft fpiritual elevation of heart: Nay, do it in fome fuitable proportion to the greatnefs of that God, "with" whom we have to do" in fo folemn a manner on the t Lord's day; for, Pfal. cl. 2. we must not only " praise › him for his mighty acts," but "praife him according to his excellent greatnefs;" we must worship him like + himself.

6. A willing and chearful performance of Sabbath! duties: We ought to call the Sabbath "a delight, holy and honourable," and go this day with "joy to drawi water out of the wells of falvation," and be joyful in the house of prayer." Holy David was not fatisfied this day with a bare approach to the altar, but he muft; "go to God as his exceeding joy," Pfal xii. 4. Aúd ought not believers under the gospel more especially to do this on the Lord's day, who have God in human I nature

nature to go to, and have the glorious atchievements of condefcending 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, free, dom, and liberty of the gospel, guarding against the fervile 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 pretended to great ftrictness about the outward obfervance of the Sabbath: (and hence they prefu ned frequ ntly to cenfure Chrift and his difciples practices on this day) but 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 exercife 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 majefty and greatnefs, and a deep fenfe of our own bafenefs and naughtiness, and have our faith acting vigorously upon God's goodness and mercy in and through Christ, our hearts melting with evangelical contrition and repentance, our love and fpiritual defires flaming forth in all our acts of devotion; nay all our graces and affections hould 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 should 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 fhould 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 everlafting reft of the faints above.

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

1. 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 efteem them all, and make confcience of them all, fince they all have a divine ftamp upon them; reading, hearing, prayer, praifes, communicating, meditating, con. ferring, 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 muft feek him in another; and, if we confcientiously go the round of duties, we shall furely "find him whom our fouls love," Cant. iii. 4.

Laftly,

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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 worThip, and he must be the principal end of it too. our worship we must feek him, Heb. xi. 6. not ourfelves. It is natural for man to worship God for self ends; we often perform duties, not only to be feen and efteemed of men, but also to be feen and valued by God for them, Ifa. Iviii 3. "Wherefore have we fafted, (fay they) and thou feeft not?" &c. They did not perform duties to glorify God, but to obtain a reward for themselves, and have a righteoufnefs 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 fpirit 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. Let us ftudy then to perform them all " in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter," Rom. vii. 6. Let us ufe 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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Concerning the holy duties requifite upon the Lord's Day.

THE duties neceffary upon this day, are either public, private, or 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 fhall infift only upon thofe duties required of all Christians in common.

Queft. 1. What are thofe public duties required of us upon the Lord's day?

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