Section 20
his praise, the doing of which will be indeed thine own praise.
Man, woman, insist upon thy ho Domry and |m«-serve it by maintaining thy virtue. Arge thus wift thyself, shall that noble structure which waseieeled for a palace be converted into a swine-stye? Tkit curious frame which was designed to be the tabemft-cle of the human spirit, and the temple of the Divine Spirit, shall that become the habitation of uncleu spirits ? What a base and sordid thing is it to make these bodies members of a harlot, which were desigi-ed to be the members of Christ, as the apostle argues, (1 Cor. vi. 15.) to make them instruments of onrift-eousness to the dishonour of God, which he made to be instruments of righteousness to his praise, Roo. vi. 13. The body is for the Lord, for his service, for his glory, and therefore ought not to be for fomics-tion, 1 Cor. vi. 13.
If you have any sense of honour, surely you will not do so vile a thing, as to prostitute that body to the slavery of a base lust which was framed and fitted for the service of God. If you should escape reproach among men for the sin, yet surely you cannot reflect upon yourselves without shame and blushing ; and self-reproaches are of all other the most uneasy. Chastity is called sanetification and ktmmir, (I Thess. iv. 4.) for every thing that is unchaste is t profanation both of your holiness and of your honour. You were made but a little lower than the angels, make not yourselves a great deal lower than the brutes-
(5.) It unfits you for communion with God both here, and hereafter. You were made for him that made you, to serve, glorify, and enjoy him ; and thii is the greatest happiness you are capable of; but by indulging these filthy lusts, you render yourselves utterly incapable either to do any thing for God, or to have any thing to do with him ; you quench all the sparks of love to him, and utterly extinguish that holy fire; you root up all the seeds of grace, and kill them with these weeds.
Whoredom takes away the heart, (Hos. iv. 11.) takes it away from God, who has the right to it, and should have the possession of it, and puts it into the hand of his enemy and ours. It takes the heart away from Christ the Redeemer of souls, and gives it to Satan the destroyer of souls; it alienates the afiections from every thing that is heavenly and divine, and causes them to cleave to the earth, and to embrace dunghills. It fills the mind with vile and wicked thoughts in holy duties, which render them an abomination to the Lord ; for thus polluted bread is offered on his altars. This we find a convinced adulterer reproaching himself for as sensibly as for any thing, (Prov. v. 14.) / was almost m mH evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
These unclean lusts are the corruption of all the faculties of the soul. They are the blindness of the
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485
Qiiderstandingy the debauchery of the conscience, the alienation of the soul from its felicity, and the obstruction of all its intercourse with heaven. For what communion has light with darkness, the father of lights with the works of darkness? What fellowship can there be between the holy God and an unclean and filthy heart ? 2 Cor. vi. 14.
(6.) It is a sin not only against God and yourselves, but against your neighbour also. The seventh commandment is therefore one of the laws of the second table; and the apostle makes it the first of those commandments which are comprehended in this saying. Thou shah love thy neighbour as thyself, Rom. xiii. 9.
Consider this, sinner; if thou thyself be under the sacred ties and bonds of marriage, every act of un-cleanness is downright perjury, it is a violation of the covenant of thy God, and a breach of the marriage vow; it is a great injury to thy yoke-fellow, whose thou arf by solemn contract, who ought to be dearer to thee than any other person whatsoever, and to whom thou hast promised to be faithful. Darest thou deal treacherously with her who is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant? Mai. ii. 14. or with him who is the guide of thy youth, and that ought to be to thee for a covering of the eyes? Prov. ii. 17. and Gen. xx. 16. Is the marriage covenant nothing with thee ? Is it nothing to thee, that thou art guilty of the greatest injustice that can be to one whom thou oughtest to be not only just but kind to? and to do a wrong which thou canst never by any restitution make amends for? Though thy injured yoke-fellow may perhaps know nothing of the injury done, yet the righteous God knows it, and will certainly avenge it.
If thou thyself be single, but the person with whom thou committest lewdness is in the married state, thou contractest the same guilt, by being injurious to the yoke-fellow of another; a crime of so heinous a nature, that besides the prohibition of it in the letter of the seventh commandment, the very desire of this forbidden fruit is expressly restrained by the tenth commandment. Thou shah not covet thy neighbour's wife.
Yet this is not all; the greatest injury of all is done to the precious soul of that person who is thy partner in the sin, and whom thou courtest, or con-sentest to. Know, sinner, that thou perlshest not alone in thy iniquity; but, as if it were a light thing for thee to defile and destroy thy own soul, thou art accessary to the pollution and ruin of another soul, a precious soul, more worth than all the world. If thou be the tempter, thy guilt is double, thou art not only a sinner, but a Satan, a child of the devil, (Acts xiii. 10.) an agent and factor for him, who, not content to be himself a wicked one, goes about continually, seeking to make the children of men wicked like himself. Verily, they arc of their father the devil, who tlius do his lusts, they bear his image, and they are in his interests, John viii. 44. And if thou only consent to the temptation, yet besides thy own guilt, thou sharest in the sin of those to whom thou consentest, strengthening their hands, and hardening their hearts in their wicked way. Hearken to this, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship ye pretend to each other is really the greatest enmity that can be? You hurt, you vnt)ng, you ruin one another's souls. O what a stinging reflection will this be hereafter! How many precious souls are you accessary to the murder of? Except a miracle of mercy give you and them repentance, you will die in your iniquity, but their blood will be required at your hands.
God by his grace make these words convincing! Nothing less than almighty grace can make them so, but that can do wondrously.
2. Besides the malignity and guilt that there is in this sin, consider also the mischief and misery that follow after it. If calling it sin will not frighten you from it, we will call it death, and try what that will do; and we do not, either in the one, or in the other, miscall it It is one of those things for which the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Col. iii. 6, 6. And woe to those, ten thousand woes to those upon whom the wrath of God alights and lies!
Let us take a distinct view of some of the dismal, and perhaps fatal, consequences of this sin.
(1.) Uncleanncss wastes the body. He that commits fornication sins against his own body, not only by putting a dishonour upon it, and prostituting it to a base and scandalous service, but by contributing to the consumption and destruction of it. If you have any regard to your own bodies (the pleasing of the vitious appetites of which is the utmost the tempter can pretend to) you will surely avoid that sin which threatens so much mischief to them. Shall the fundamental law of self-preservation have no command over you, nor influence upon you ?
Have you no dread of those pains and loathsome sicknesses which are commonly the products of these abominations ? The righteous God, by a disease not known in the world till these latter ages, has stigmatized very many who have given themselves over to uncleanncss, and has set them forth as monuments of his justice ; in them the Scripture has been fulfilled, that whoremongers and adulterers God will judge, if men will not. Multitudes have been made to mourn at the last, (though I doubt very few have been brought to repentance by it,) when their flesh and their body have been consumed, and they have rotted above ground, Prov. v. 11.
The bones of many an old fornicator are full of the sins of his youth, which will lie down with him in the dust, as Zophar speaks. Job xx. 11. Yea, and many in the midst of their days become the devil's martyrs, and after they have long been racked and tortured I with grievous pains, end a miserable life in a more
A WORD OF ADVICE
miserable death, and fall unpilied sacrifices to tbeir own lusts. The word of God has said it, and all the world cannot unsay it, He that defile* the temple of Gody him gftall God destroy, 1 Cor. iii. 17.
(2.) It wars against the soul, the better, the immortal part of the man. Fleshly lusts, though they appear in the soft and charming guise of courtiers, yet really they are warriors, they are enemies, they are in arms against us ; they are rebels, enemies in our own bosoms, and therefore the more dangerous; the apostle tells us, (I Pet. ii. 11.) they war against the soul, they lay siege to it, batter it, and threaten the ruin of it.
How many precious souls have been undone by these enemies! They disturb the peace of the soul, and make it subject to continual frights and alarms, which fill it with secret terrors night and day. They waste the wealth of the soul, as soldiers that make havoc of all that is good for any thing in the countries they ravage and plunder. They obstruct the administration of all government in the soul; reason loses its dominion and conduct; conscience loses all its power and influence, it is not heard, it is not heeded; these base lusts put all into tumult and disorder.
And is thy soul, that precious soul of thine, nothing to thee? Darcst thou thus neglect it, thus expose it, thus suffer it to be wasted and overrun by the enemy ? Dost thou not know that thou must very shortly give an account of it to him that made it, and made thee the keeper of it? And an uncomfortable account thou wilt give, if thou thus resign it to Satan, and yield it as his easy prey. The serpent could not beguile thee but by thy own fault.
(3.) It is reproachful to the name. An incurable wound and dishonour is got by it, Prov. vi. 33. Though there may be other sins as provoking to God, and as mischievous to the soul, yet there is none so scandalous among men as this is. It is a shame even to speak of these things Eph. v. 12.
And is this nothing to you ? Have you no value for a good name, nor any care to preserve an interest in the esteem of wise and sober people ? Can you contentedly be looked upon as slaves and willing captives to a sordid lust, and to lie under a stain and brand of perpetual infamy and disgrace ? Is it nothing to you what people think or say of you, when they speak evil of you truly, and your own consciences know a great deal more and worse than they say? Is it nothing to you for good people to be ashamed of you, as fit only for the society of those who are altogether such as yourselves? Is it nothing for you to bring such a blot upon your reputation as will stick to it when you are dead and gone?
Or if your own names be of such small account with you, yet have 3'ou no regard to the name of Christ, that worthy name by which you are called ? If you have made, and still make, a personal profession of relation to Christi and call yourselves by tlM name of Jacob, the scandal of your sio goes further than your own names, it is a reproach to God his-self, and to the Lord Jesus. The name of God aad his doctrine is blasphemed through yoa. What shall pagans and Mahometans, atheists and deisti» make of Christianity, if those who profess that holy religion, act worse than heathens ? What will they say of Christ and his gospel, if those who, by tbdr' baptism, profess to follow Christ, and believe Us gospel, live impure, unholy lives, contrary to tk sacred character of both ? Surely then the old reproach of our Master will be again renewed, Tlas Man receiveth sinners, and eateth with ihetm and yoo who have occasioned it will bear this iniquity. The apostle in God's name directs us. If any man that is called a brother, called a Christian, be afomieaier, with such a one we must not so much as eaty that we may testify the utmost abhorrence and detestation of those who thus name the name of Christ, and yet allow themselves in this iniquity, 1 Cor. v. 11.
(4.) It is ruining to the estate. The prc Kiigal sod who spent his living on harlots at last was reduced to husks, and became fellow-commoner with the swine. Many a one has been brought to a moriel of bread by means of a whorish woman, in our days, as well as in Solomon's, Prov. vi. 26. Almost eveiy place and every year can produce fresh instances of the wastefulness and expensiveness of these fleshly lusts. Many have so outspent themselves and their patrimony in these lewd and dissolute courses, that they have worn out the latter end of their days ii miserable poverty, and, perhaps, ended them at last in a prison. So that If a careless world would take warning, others also might see and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
As there is a direct tendency in the sin itself to the impoverishing of men, for it spends that upon the devil which should be spent upon the man, so it provokes the righteous God to entail a corse upon the house and family, which will undoubtedly sink and ruin it. Holy Job says concerning this sin, and he seems to speak the sense of the patriarchal age, that it was a heinous crime, and an iniquity proper to be punished by the judges, as it was under the law of Moses, But if they, out of a contempt of other people's guilt, or consciousness of their own, should leave the sin unpunished, yet God would take the work into his own hands, and it should be a fire consuming to destruction, which would eat mii all the increase. Job xxxi. 11, 12.
(5.) It is dreadful to the conscience, if ever it be awake. Know this, (sinner,) that though now tboa makest a light matter of this sin, and thy conscience altogether holds its peace concerning it, yet if ever God open thy eyes to see the error of thy ways, and set thy sins in order before tliee, thy uncleannes will appear above all the rest exceeding sinful, and
TO THE WANTON AND UNCLEAN.
487 the remembrance of it will bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder. Solomon himself, in the reflection, found it more bitter than death, (Eccl. vii. 26.) and more terrible; and so wilt thou, if God have mercy in store for thee, and set home the conviction of it upon thy soul, making thee to know thy abominations, and to see them in their own colours and consequences.
O the horror and amazement thou wilt then be filled with ! Then the sin which thou madest a sport of will sit heavy; though the iniquity was sweet in thy mouth, and rolled under thy tongue as a pleasant morsel, it will then be as the gall of asps, and the reflection upon it will perhaps make thee a terror to thyself, and to all about thee: how canst thou be otherwise, if the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against thee.' Thou wilt then loathe thyself and abhor thyself, and call thyself fool a thousand times, for venturing upon counterfeit and transient pleasures, which thou seest and feelest attended with real and remaining pains.
Think (sinner) when thou art tempted to this sin, think seriously what will come of it: the best that can come of it is, that thou wilt repent of it, and this thou presumest upon ; but dost thou know what it is to repent ? That it is to be filled with grief, and shame, and fear, to see thyself under the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, and upon the brink 6f hell, and to be under all the terrors that may be supposed to arise from hence. And is repentance a thing to be bought so dear? Or, What fruit will you then hare of these things whereof you are now ashamed ?
(6.) It is damning to eternity, if it be not repented of in time. It is a sin which shuts the sinner out of heaven. The Scripture speaks expressly, more than once, that they which do such things sJioU not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. Gal. v. 21. Nothing that defiles must enter into the New Jerusalem, that holy city. Heaven indeed would be no heaven to these impure polluted souls; nor will the holy God take those to be near him and with him for ever, who chose to set themselves at such a distance from him, and engaged themselves in opposition to him here.
And if thy sin shut thee out of heaven, I need not tell thee where it will shut thee up; but the word of God tells thee, that the abominable, and particularly the whoremongers, shall have their part in the lake that bums eternally witli fire and brimstone, which is the second death, Rev. xxi. 8. The filthy Sodomites, who gave themselves over to fornix cation, suffered the vengeance of eternal fire, and are set forth for an example to all who should afterwards in like manner live ungodly, Jude 7. There is a special reservation of this kind of sinners to the judgment of the great day, because, commonly, they escape punishment from men; for when all sinners are bound over to that judgment, it is added. Chiefly they that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleannessj 2 Pet ii. 9, 10.
Let no man deceive you with vain words, as if God would not be so severe with sinners as his word says he will. Is he not a God of truth, faithful to his threatenings as well as to his promises ? Is he not a righteous Governor, the God to whom vengeance belongs ? And canst thou think that he will suffer his law to be violated, and the authority of it ridiculed, his gospel to be slighted, and the grace of it trampled upon, and never reckon for all these indignities done him ? No, sinner, thou art mistaken if thou think him altogether such an one as thyself.
Say not then, " I shall have peace though I go on," for that is to contradict God, who has said, There is no peace to t/ie wicked: neither say thou, ** I will repent of it hereafter, though I go on in it for a while;" for that is to contradict thyself, since the same reason that there is for thy repenting hereafter holds for thy repenting now. Do not then by a daring presumption run thyself upon an endless despair.
Now, consider this ye that forget God, consider it seriously, and be persuaded to break off" this wicked course of life you lead.
Consider that an unclean conversation is a certain sign and evidence of a graceless heart; it manifests the prevalence and predominance of the corrupt nature, and that the unclean spirit is upon the throne. And if thou live and die graceless, thou art undone for ever.
Consider also that it is a very dangerous thing to sin against the warnings and checks of conscience. Few go on in this sin without disturbance sometimes from their own consciences, which say, O do not this abominable thing which the Lord hates. Take heed of baffling your own consciences, and of rushing as Balaam upon this sword's point, lest you provoke God to sear your consciences, and to give you up to your own hearts' lusts, and so to seal you unto condemnation. When men deal with their consciences as the Sodomites dealt with Lot, prss hard upon them, and will not allow them to be reprovers and judges, (Gen. xix. 9.) Sodom's plagues are not far off"; Fire and brimstone, and a hm-rible tempest.
Consider also that an outward profession of religion is so far from excusing, that really it aggravates, these abominations; it now aggravates the guilt of the sin, and will shortly aggravate the ruin of the sinner. Be sure your sin will find you out, though perhaps your neighbours do not.
II. If you be in some measure convinced of the evil of this sin, I would now put you in a way to break off" from it; and God, by his grace, put you into the right way ! Perhaps, by this time, some of these sinners, these sinners against their own souls, may be so sick of their disease as to be glad of a physician,*
A WORD OF ADVICE
and desirous of a care. You that are enslaved to these filthy lusts, and under the power of them, that labour in these fires, like Israel in Egypt, do you not sigh, as they did, by reason of the bondage ? Are you not weary of serving divers lusts, and pleasures, those unreasonable task-masters, and suffering at the same time the frequent lashes of an accusing conscience, that just avenger under God ? Are you never brought to wish that you were disentangled out of the snare you are in, and that you could live a virtuous and a religious life, as you see some do who have the comfort and honour of so doing ? Do you never blush to think of the abominable lusts you are under the dominion of? Nor ever tremble to think of the bottomless pit you are upon the brink of?
Know (sinner) that the God of heaven thinks the time long that thou continuest in thine uncleanness. See bow he expostulates with filthy sinners, (Jer. xiii. 27.) Wih thou not be made clean ? When shall it once be ! And dost thou not think it long enough ? May not the time past svffice that thou hast walked in lasciviousness ? I Pet. iv. 3. Is thy conscience seared ? Is thy heart quite hardened ? Are darts, God's darts, counted as stubble before thee, and canst thou with the leviathan, laugh at the shaking of this spear? Job xli. 29. Shall no considerations influence thee ? Shall neither reason nor religion sway with thee ? If they may be calmly and impartially beard, I dare say thou wouldst be prevailed with to break oflf this vile and wicked course of life, and wouldst thankfully submit to the method of cure, though the operations necessary to the cure may be difficult and displeasing to flesh and blood.
Would you then be cleansed from this leprosy, this noisome and dangerous disease ? Observe these directions;
I. Heartily repent of all the uncleanness you have been guilty of, and be deeply humbled for it before the Lord this day. Rest not in a bare disgust and dislike of the sin, as if that would amount to repentance ; Amnon hated Tamar. when he had satisfied his brutish lust, and, yet, was far from being a true penitent: no, it is necessary that you experience in your own souls a very great and deep sorrow for the sin, and that you reflect upon it with the highest regret and remorse imaginable.
Think of the afi'ront that you have ofi'ered to the holy God, the guilt and stain you have brought upon your own souls; think of the folly and fil-thiness of it. Think what you have lost and forfeited by it, the favour of God, the grace of Christ, and the joys of heaven; think what you have deserved and exposed yourselves to by it, temporal, spiritual, and eternal judgments. Think of these things till you are pricked to the heart, and in bitterness for the sin, as one that is in bitterness for a firstborn; and contract such an habitual indignation against the sin, and yourselves because of it, tkit you may be pained upon every remembrance of it, and may even loathe yourselves because of it
They that can easily forgive themselves upoo a slight and superficial repentance, and flatter themselves with a conceit that God has thereupon forgiven them, will easily be brought to yield to the next temptation ; it is therefore necessary that yon take pains with your own hearts, to work upon then the powerful influence of those considerations which are proper to open springs of godly sorrow there, and to keep them ever flowing.
After David had been but once guilty of ancleaii-ness, he went mourning from day to day for it The sin was ever before him, Ps. li. 3. The remen-brance of it broke his bones, (v. 8.) and was to him as a heavy burthen, too heavy even for him to bear, Ps. xxxviii. 4—6. Solomon confesses that he had found it more bitter than death, and calls it not a trick of youth, or an excusable slip of human frailty, but the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness, Eccl. vii. 25,26. Imitate these great penitents. Lay a load upon yourselves, and lie in tbe dust before God in penitential tears. Let the sin be a terror to you in the reflection upon what is past, and then it will not appear such a pleasure to you as formerly, in the next temptation. Thus the qoairel with it must begin with true remorse and godly sorrow for our former folly, and then it is to be hoped the quarrel will be irreconcilable.
Perhaps it will help to melt and break the hard and stony heart, if you humbly confess your guilt, not only to God but to your minister, or to some Chrif-tian friend, especially if the ofience has been made public, and has proved a scandal: the Scriptan prescribes this method of cure, (Jam. ▼. 16.) Cot/est your faults one to another, and pray one for anotkeri that you may he healed. That you may effectoally humble yourselves, it will be of use for yoa to shame yourselves ; you have not been ashamed to sin, be not ashamed to repent, for next to the credit of an innocent is that of a penitent. Do then as the convinced leper under the law. Lev. xiii. 45. Pot thyself into his place and posture, and cry with sorrow and self-loathing, Unclean, unclean.
2. Take up a full resolution, by the grace of God, now to break 00" this vitious course of life, and Derer to return to it again. Faint purposes will not stmt for the disentangling of you from the strong cords of this iniquity; they will but deceive you and betray you to the tempter. Wishing is but trifling; it is not enough to say ** I hope I shall never be guiltT of this sin again, surely I shall never again be sach a fool as I have been ;" but you must say, *^ la the strength of God I am firmly resolved I never will* If these fleshly lusts be indeed your enemies, as eer-tainly they are dangerous enemies, you must cany on a war against them with vigour. Feeble efM
TO THE WANTON AND UNCLEAN.
i%9 will never repel the strong assaults of this temptation : you must be stedfastly resolved against it. Say not, ** If I make a resolution I doubt I shall break it;" that is to yield to Satan: but /' I will make a resolution, and I trust in God I shall never break it;'' this is to resist the devil, and if we do this faithfully he will flee from us.
There have been instances of those who, by the assistance of divine grace, have conquered and subdued habits that were extremely vicious, and have been wonderfully changed in the temper of their spirits, and ihe course of their lives; and the same grace that wrought mightily in them shall be sufficient for you, if you pray for it, improve it, and do not rebel against it. Argue the case with yourselves, reason with your own hearts upon it, and let the result be a settled resolution to cleanse yourselves from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit, that you may perfect holiness in the fear of God, 2 Cor. vn. 1.
What can hinder but that you should speedily come up to a firm resolution in this matter? Swear this to the Lord, and vow it to the mighty God of Jacob, that you will never, never more have fellowship with these unfruitful works of darkness; that you will never return again to this folly. Bind your souls with a solemn bond to this purpose, bind them fast, for they are apt to fly off. Let every Christian in this sense vow chastity, and call God to witness that you are sincere in it.
3. Let the fear of God rule in your hearts. You believe there is a God, you dare not deny it, you dare not question it; and do you not know that this God sees you, and is acquainted with all your ways; that he will judge you, and call you to an account for all your works 1 Do you not know that his eye is always upon you, and that all the hidden works of darkness arc open before him ?
Be persuaded, therefore, to set the Lord always before you; and dare not to do that in his sight and presence, which you would not dare to do in the sight and presence of a worm of the earth like yourselves. When none else sees, take heed, God sees,
A living principle of grace in your hearts will purify and cleanse them, and then the streams will not be thus muddy and polluted. Cast salt, the salt of grace, into these springs, and then the waters will be healed. Make the tree good, and then the fruit will be good. Stand in awe of God's unspotted purity, his tremendous majesty, and his strict and unerring justice ; and say, How dare I live such a life as this in a constant contempt of God's authority, and rebellion against his justice ? *' How dare I provoke a God of almighty power to jealousy ? Am I stronger than he?'' None oast off modesty till they have cast off the fear of God, and are resolved to live without him. If you have the fear of God before your eyes, you will say as Joseph did, whenever you are insulted by any temptations of this kind. How can I do this great wickednen and sin against God?
4. Stand upon your gard against the first appearance of this evil, and all approaches towards it. Take heed of every thing that leads to uncleanness, that looks like it, or looks towards it. If you would be innocent from the great transgression, allow not yourselves in lesser transgressions of this kind. The unwary fly often fools away her life by playing about the candle. Those sports and dalliances which seem harmless may introduce the greatest mischiefs, as the little thief thrust in at the window opens the door to the great ones. Nemo repentefit turpissimus — Men arrive not at first to the highest pitch of this wickedness, but gradually, and by indulgences less criminal, come to the vilest enormities. The way of this sin is down hill, a man cannot easily stop himself; one unclean thought, word, or action, draws on another, strengens the corruptions by gratifying them, weakens the convictions by baffling them, and so the unthinking sinner goes from bad to worse: so like to the letting forth of water is the beginning of this sin; therefore, if you love your souls, meddle not with it.
Dread a snake under the green grass, and take heed where you tread. Fear this enemy, and come not within his borders. Watch that you enter not into this temptation, for it will be no easy matter to make a retreat Do as holy Job did, make a covenant with your eyes (the common inlets of this sin) that you may not admit, much less entertain, any wanton and unchaste desires, Job xxxi. 1. If you would not be burnt, do not take fire into your bosom, nor go upon hot coals, it is Solomon's comparison, Prov. vi. 27, 28. Crush this cockatrice in the e%%^ lest the fruit of it be a fiery flying serpent. Pluck up this root of bitterness as soon as it puts forth, lest it spring up and trouble you, and thereby you and many more be defiled, Heb. xii. 15.
5. Be quick and peremptory in your resistance of temptations to this sin. Stand not to parley with them, nor ever listen to terms of surrender. Eve was half betrayed when she entered into discourse with the serpent, and was willing to hear what he had to say.
Arguments enough there are against this sin, and very convincing, cogent ones; your sober thoughts have many a time represented them to you in their evidence and demonstration. Be satisfied then, and look upon the case to be so plain that there needs not a dispute upon it: there are no probabilities, nothing but fallacies, on the side of the temptation. And yet, such is the weakness, de-ceitfulncss, and desperate wickedness of your own hearts, that you may be imposed upon ere you are aware, if you admit of a debate concerning it, and recommit the resolves yon have made.
A WORD OF ADVICE
Therefore, whenever you are solicited to this sin, startle at the thought of it, with the utmost abhorrence and detestation imaginable. Say as Peter, (Acts X. 14.) Not to, for nothing unclean hath come into my mouth. Say as David in another case, (1 Chron. xi. 19.) My God, forbid it me, that I should do this thing ! Say as our Saviour has taught us to say, when the tempter assaults us, Get thee hence, Satan, Matt. iv. 10. The Lord rebuke this unclean spirit, so that it may not be suffered to speak ; the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke it. Let the very temptation be to you as a thorn in the flesh, a pain and a terror, and not a pleasure. You who have fallen into this sin have found, by sad experience, how dangerous it is to venture too far; therefore, dread the thoughts of reasoning with indifference, concerning that which, being confessedly most unreasonable, must be gainsaid with a severe resolution. As he who will dispute whether there be a God or no, must be hissed at in the schools, and not argued with, so must he who will question whether he should keep the law of God, in so plain a case, or break it.
6. Keep at a distance from the tempter. If there be any particular person that you arc in special danger of being insnared by, avoid that person as you would avoid one that yon were in danger of being infected by with the plague, though otherwise dear to you.
The wise man's advice, or rather the wise God's command, is. Remove thy way far from the house, (Prov. V. 8.) much more far from the man, the woman, who, under the colour of love and friendship, would allure you, with the devil's baits, into the devil's nets. This seems to be in part intended in that command which our Saviour has given us, to cut off the right hand, and pluck out the right eye, which offends us. Matt. v. 29, 30. and again. Matt, xviii. 8, 9. Though the person be dear to us, and could be as ill spared as a right eye, or a right hand, yet resolve upon a separation. This was Joseph's wisdom, that he would not be alone in the house with his mistress, when he perceived her vile designs, Gen. xxxix. 10, 11. When we thrust ourselves into temptation, we put ourselves out of God's protection, for he has promised to keep us in all our ways, and not otherwise. Presume not too near the danger, in the strength of your own resolutions, that hitherto you will go and no further, lest you be found tempting the devil to tempt you, and so become your own betrayers. If you would be kept from harm keep out of harm's way.
This caution must go further than the particular person yon are in danger of being insnared by; yon must carefully avoid the places of temptation to this sin. As the plays have many of them, in this degenerate age, been plainly designed to teach the arts of debauchery, and not only to palliate this wickedness as a jest, but to recommend it as the accomplishment of a finished gentlemen, so the phiy-houses have been the rendezvous of these sionen, where the plays have been indeed acted. There those are mustered and disciplined, who having in their baptism renounced ** the pomps and vanities of this world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh," and listed themselves under the banner of the cross, now in effect disclaim their baptism, return to those pomps and vanities, (by which were originally meant the plays,) and embrace these fleshly lusts, and engage themselves to fight manfully against virtue and religion, and all that u sacred, and to continue the devil's faithful servants and soldiers to their lives' end. And are these persons fit for you to associate with ? Are these places fit for you to be found in ? No, if thou love thy son!, if thou wouldst preserve thy purity, peace, and honour, come not nigh the door of that house; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away.
7. Think much of death and hell. Sinners of this kind must be saved with fear, that is, they mast be frightened out of their sin, pulled out of the fire with a friendly violence. We must not, we dare not, prophesy smooth things to you ; we prophesy deceit if we do. O that these sinners in Sion were afraid I O that fearfulness might surprise them ! Let yoor hearts meditate terror, the terrors of the Lord, which from the word of God we desire to set before yoo, not to frighten you out of your wits, but to frighten you out of your sins. And it is better to be saved with fear, than that you should be damned yourselves without fear.
Death is the king of terrors; O that it might appear so terrible to you as to cool the courage yon take in a sinful way ! Sirs, you are dying creatures, your days upon earth are to be but few; and, perhaps, you are shortening the days of this life, and hastening the day of your death, by this lewd and vicious course of life you live. But O what a dismal change will death make when it comes! A dismal change, when the charming eyes (as they now call them) which give the wanton glances, shall sink and fall, and be closed up ; when the countenance that is now proud of its skin-deep beauty shall gather blackness, and become ghastly; when the body that is now pampered and indulged, and such provision made for it, shall become a loathsome carcass. O let the thoughts of the pains and agonies of a death-bed, and the darkness and terror of a bed in the grave, be an effectual damp and check to all the forbidden pleasures of the bed of uncleanness! It would be thought unaccountably absurd, and would be imputed to a very high degnree of hardness and searedness, if a malefactor condemned to die, and the warrant signed for his execution to-morrow, should so far forget the dreadful pomp of it, as to spend the night in wanton sport and revelling, is
TO THE WANTON AND UNCLEAN.
401 mirth and laughter. And are you sure that you shall live till to-morrow ? Thii night, perhaps, your ^oul may be required of you. And O what a terror >^'ill death be if it surprise you while you go on in this sinful way!
But this is not all ; after death will be the judgment, a strict and particular judgment, into which God will bring every secret thing; and after judgment, the lire of hell will certainly be the portion of all those who live and die in this sin: if God be true it will. Our Saviour thunders hell and damnation against this sin, and you may assure yourselves he is in earnest: he has told us that if we do not mortify these corrupt dispositions, our whole body shall be cast into hell. Matt. y. 29, 30.
Lay your ears by faith to the gates of hell, and hear the doleful shrieks and out-cries of multitudes who lived as securely in this sin as you do, and said they should have peace though they went on, and are now paying dear for all their brutish pleasures, in ap eternity of easeless and remediless torments. The prophet speaks of it as a very sad change, which approaching judgments in this world would make with the daughters of Sion, when there should be instead of a girdle a rent, and instead of well set hair, baldness, Isa. iii. 24.
But much more dreadful and amazing will the change be, when, instead of the cup of fornication. Wherewith these besotted sinners are now intoxicated, the righteous God, who has said he will judge whoremongers and adulterers, shall put into their hands a cup of fury, a cup of trembling, a cup of lire and brimstone. Instead of music and songs of Knirth, there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing nf teeth. Instead of a bed of down shall be a bed of flames. Instead of the amorous society of them tliat wear soft clothing, there shall be the company of devils and damned spirits. Let a holy fear of this be a damp to all carnal mirth, and an effectual check to all forbidden pleasures. Who among yon can dwell with devouring fire, who can inhabit ever-lasting burnings?
8. Lift up your hearts in prayer to God for strength and grace to enable you to mortify fleshly lusts, and to resist every temptation to this sin. Prayer is a principal part of that armour of God which we are to put on, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. It is that which girds on all the rest, and fetches in that Spirit from on high, which alone makes our armour impenetrable, and us invulnerable, Eph vi. 18.
Let it be your daily prayer to Almighty God, that he would lead you out of this temptation which assaults you so frequently, so vigorously; that he would deliver you from this evil, this sin which most easily besets you. Pray against your own iniquity, which has so often, and so long, had dominion over you. 0 pray earnestly that the power of divine gce may be greatly magnified and glorified in the suppressing and extirpating those vicious habits, which havd hitherto seemed inveterate and obstinate to the me> thods of grace. Go and complain to Christ for thyself, as some did for their relations when he was here on earth, Have mercy on me, thou Son of David, my soul is grievously vexed with an unclean spirit; Lordy dispossess him, cast him out. This hind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting; add fasting therefore to thy prayers, and thou shalt not seek in vain.
Whenever you find yourselves entering into this temptation. Watch and pray. Lift up your hearts to God in such an ejaculation as that of Nehemiah in another case, Now therefore, O God, strengthen mf hands; strengthen them for this conflict, that I may come off a conqueror. Some of the ancients thought that the thorn in the flesh which St. Paul complained of was a violent temptation to uncleanness, a met-senger of Satan (for so all such temptations are) which buffeted him; and it was so far from pleasing him that it pained him, and was as a sword in his bones. But by prayer, instant and importunate prayer, he prevailed for grace sufficient, 2 Cor. xii. 7—9. And if we come in faith on the same errand, we need not fear but we shall speed as he did.
9. Bring the body into subjection by abstinence and labour. Luxury and idleness are often the unhappy incentives and causes of this sin. Sodom was made a very sink of uncleanness by fulness of bread (not plenty, but the abuse of plenty) and abundance of idleness, Ezek. xvi. 49. What Solomon says of a servant is true of the body : He that deli" cately brings it up from a child, shall have it become his son, nay, his master, his taskmaster, at the lengthy Prov. xxix. 21. They that do not deny themselves in other things, will find it the more difiicult to deny themselves in this.
Corporal austerities and mortifications, though merit is not to be placed in them, nor will they of themselves, without the grace of God, gain us a victory ; yet they are excellent means to subdue lust, and to bring the body into a good temper, that it may be more manageable by religion and right reason. If you cannot drive out this enemy by storm, try to starve him out, by denying yourselves the use even of those lawful things, which through the infirmity of the flesh may prove a snare to you. Pamper not the body with varieties and dainties, lest it gw wanton, but use yourselves to deny yourselves, so shall it become easy to you.
Live not in sloth; for when you have nothing to do, the devil will quickly find you something to do. Standing waters gather filth, while running streams keep pure. Be always employing yourselves in some good business, and then perhaps you will find it as effectual an answer to a temptation, to say ** I have no leisure," as to say '* 1 have no leave.*' Love not the bed of idleness, lest it turn into the bed of lust.
A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO THOSE
10. Do not keep the devil's counsel. This treason is in effect qaashed when it is discovered, and the devices of it will be brought to nought, if they be but brought to light, for it is an evil that hates the light and seeks the shade as much as any other. Does this sin then most easily beset you ? Is it violent and importunate in its assaults ? If you have a friend who is fit to make a confidant of, it may do well to open your case to such a friend who will deal faithfully with you, and will help you by prayer and suitable advice, and, it may be, speak some word in season.
It may be of use to shame yourselves out of the danger of being overcome, by confessing your weakness, and obliging yourselves to confess your wickedness, if, in any instance, you should be overcome. You had better shame yourselves to a faithful friend that will pity you and help you, than let the sin get bead, and not only shame you in this world before men who will insult over you, but fill your face with everlasting shame and contempt.
If you think these metliods of cure too difficult, and call these directions ^* hard sayings which cannot be borne,'' you have reason to fear that you are not yet thoroughly convinced of the danger of your disease, nor truly desirous to be made whole. If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing for the cure of a bodily sickness, wouldst thou not have done it? how much more when for thy spiritual cure he only says to thee, Wash and be clean ?
And now (sinner) must I close this paper and leave thee as I found thee ? Will he that is filthy resolve to be filthy still ? And will he that is unclean be unclean still ? God forbid : shall neither the terrors of the Lord startle thee and awaken thee out of thy security in this sinful way? Nor his gdness win upon thee to lead thee to repentance ? Wilt thou make thy condition desperate by adhering to that desperate resolve. There is no hope, no, for I have loved strangers, and after theni I will go, Jer. ii. 25. Is religion a jest, and reason a sham, and the arguments fetched from the word of God, and the sober sense of all mankind, but rant and banter? Shall all that has been said be turned off with a flout, and converted into sport and ridicule ? Yet know that thy unbelief cannot make the wrath and curse of God of none effect. Though thou lovest to slumber, yet thy damnation slumbers not
If, after all, thou dost indeed prefer the gratification of a base lust before the favour of God, and the pleasures of wisdom's ways; if thou dost indeed choose the puddle water of sensual delights rather than the pure water of life, and the wine of divine consolations; if thou wilt rather expose thyself to all the just reproaches of thy own conscience now, and to all the miseries of the damned for ever, than submit thyself to the restraint and conduct of virtue and religion; know then, that God also will choose thy delusions, and they will be thy eternal destruction : So shall thy doom he, thou thyself kati db-cided it.
A SERIOUS ADDRESS
TO THOSE WHO
PROFANE THE LORD'S DAY.
Those I reckon guilty of profaning the Lord's day, and to them in the name of God direct this paper, who neglect the appointed work of that day, and who violate the prescribed rest of that day.
1. It is a profanation of the Lord's day, and a breach of the law of it, to neglect and omit the proper duty and business of that day, which is, the immediate service and worship of our God. If we leave undone that which on this day ought to be done, we are transgressors, for omissions are sins, and must come into judgment
That the eternal God is to J[>e solemnly and religiously adored by the children of men, and that we are all bound, by acts of piety and devotion, to gifc unto him the glory due unto his name» and pay oar homage to him, none will question, who really believe that there is a God, who is a being infinitely perfect and blessed, and the fountain of all bein; and blessedness, our Creator, Owner, Ruler, and Benefactor, on whom we have a necessary and constant dependence, and to whom we lie under the highest obligations imaginable. Never did reasonable creatures speak more unreasonably, than they did who said, What is the Almighty that wa skmdd serve him? Jobxxi. 15.
Something of this work ought to be done eveiy day ; no day must pass without some solemn acts of religious worship, both morning and evening; when we address ourselves to the work of the day, and when we compose ourselves to the rest of the night, we ought actually to acknowledge God, both by oor prayers and praises, as our Protector, Guide, and Benefactor. Six days shalt thou labour and do aU thy worh; and is this no part of our work ? Is it not the most needful and excellent work we have to do! Those who live without daily worship live withoat God in the world. As God allows us time for works of necessity and mercy out of his day; so we ought to allow time for works of piety and devotion out of our days, else we are not only undutiful, but veiy ungrateful.
But besides the morning and evening sacrifice, which the duty of every day requires, the wisdom of God, for the preserving and securing of divine wor* ship in the world, has instituted and appointed a particular time for the special solemnities of il»
WHO PROFANE THE LORD'S DAY.
483 which is one daj in seven. The body of a seventh day, that is, the working hours of it, are by this institution appointed to be spent in the acts of reli-^on and devotion, as the other days of the week are intended for secular business, and the works of our particular calling.
Now this instrumental part of religion, (give me leave to call it so,) though it be not equally necessary with the essentials of it, the love of God, and faith in Christ, yet it is undoubtedly necessary, both as a duty in obedience to the divine law, which requires us thus to consecrate a seventh day to the services of religion, and as a means of keeping up communion with God in holy ordinances, and preparing ourselves, by his grace, for the vision and fruition of him. It is so necessary, that revealed religion, and with it all religion, would in all probability have been lost and forgotten long ere this, if it had not been kept up by the observation of sabbaths.
Now, forasmuch as it is the wol'k of the Lord's day to worship God, not only in public solemn assemblies, which we ought conscientiously to attend npon both the former and the latter part of the day, but in secret and in our families, morning, evening, and at noon, those do, certainly, profane the day, who do not spend the best part of it, and much more those who scarce spend any part of it, in pious exercises ; either not attending on them at all, or with socb a constant and allowed carelessness and indifference, as discovers a great contempt of the God they pretend to honour.
Those profane this sacred day, who waste the precious hours of its morning in sleep and sloth, and proud and needless dressing, and the rest of the day in idle chat and perfect sauntering, as if sabbath time hang upon their hands, and they knew not what to do with it, nor how to idle it away, and pass it off fast enough, till they have that which is their heart's desire. When will the sabbath be gone ?
Such as these, how innocent soever they may think themselves, are to be counted sabbath-breakers, who instead of keeping the sabbath day lose it, and throw it away, and wilfully suffer it to run waste; and instead of sanctifying it, and advancing it above other times, vilify it, and make it the most idle, insignificant, and unprofitable day of the week; for the days that are spent in worldly business serve to some purpose, but this, that should be spent in the business of religion, being trifled away, and the work of it undone, serves to no purpose.
2. It is a profanation of the Lord's day, to violate and break in upon theholy rest of that day, and to do that from which we are bound up and restrained by the law of the day, in order to our more close application to that which is the work of the day. On that day we are to rest both from those worldly employments of our particular callings, which on other days are our duty, and the work of the day, and from those sports and recreations which on other days are lawful, as the entertainment of our spare hours, and the preparatives for our busy ones; from both we are to rest on the Lord's day; for certainly carnal pleasure is as great an enemy to spiritual joy as the sorrow of the world is, and sport is as inconsistent with the sabbath rest as labour is.
Rest from worldly business on the sabbath day was under the Old Testament more primarily required as a duty, and a great stress laid upon it, according to the nature of that dispensation; to all the purposes of this rest we are not now so strictly tied up as the Jews then were: but it is still secondarily requisite as a means, in order to the due performance of the work of the day; and so far it is a duty.
Then, when the more solemn worship of God was appropriated to one place, where the ark was, the place which God chose to put his name there, which the people were appointed generally to attend but thrice a year, the rest of those, who were at a distance, was required and accepted as a tacit joining with the temple service on the sabbath day; by a strict cessation from other work, they testified an implicit concurrence in that work. But now, under the gospel, we are not so confined to one place as they then were; it is God*s will that men pray every where, and that in every place the spiritual incense be offered; we have now larger opportunities and better helps for doing the work, and enjoying the comforts, of that day than they then had; and therefore, now the bare rest from worldly labour is not in itself so much a sanctification of the sabbath as it was then. Yet we cannot think ourselves less obliged than they were to rest from worldly employments and recreation, as far as that rest will contribute to our attendance on the work of the day, with more solemnity, and with greater freedom and closeness of application, and without distinction.
Those, therefore, undoubtedly profane the Lord's day, who absent themselves from the public worship of God, either the former or the latter part of the day, that they may underhand follow their callings, settle their accounts, drive bargains, push on journeys, make visits, or the like, unless when the occasion is urgent, and mercy comes to take place of sacrifice.
Yet, not they only are guilty of the breach of the sabbath rest, who spend that part of the day, which we call ** church time," in worldly employments and recreations; bat they also who spend the time before, between, and after public worship, so as either to intrench upon that foil scope of time, that they ought to take on that day, for their secret and family worship, and to abridge themselves of that, or so as to unfit themselves and put themselves oat of frame for holy duties, or obstruct their profiting by them, do violate the sabbath rest Works of ne-
A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO THOSE
cessity (which yet ought not to he a self-created necessity) we are allowed time for, the hody must be fed, and clothed, and rested, that it may be fit to serve the soul in the service of God on this day. But no more of the time than is convenient for these must be alienated from the business of the day; if it be, we break in upon the appointed rest.
Those who go to their shops, and exercise their trades openly or secretly on the Lord's day, thereby show that they mind the world more than God, and that they are more solicitous for the meat that perishes, than for that which endures to eternal life; and those who go to the ale-house, or follow their sports, and divert themselves or others with idle walking and talking, show that they mind the flesh more than God, and that they are wholly taken up with the mere animal life, and wretchedly estranged from the principles, powers, and pleasures of the spiritual and divine life.
If any pretend that they can perform the work of the Lord's day well enough, though they do not observe the rest of the day, they suppose themselves wiser than God, who has instituted the sabbath rest in order to the better and more solemn management of the sabbath work, both public and private.
We find now who are chargeable with the sin of profaning the Lord's day; let the conscience of every one that is guilty herein deal faithfully with him in the reading of this, and say. Thou art the man; thou art the man, tlie woman that makest the day of the Lord either a day of idleness, or a day of worldly business, and dost not spend it in the service of God and communion with him. Either thou dost not diligently attend the public worship in its season, or but one part of the day, or without any just cause stayest at home, or walkest abroad, when thou shouldst be in the holy convocation; or, if thou go to church for fashion sake, thou thinkcst when that service is over thou hast no more to do, and dost not spend the remaining part of the day as thou oughtest, in prayer, reading, meditation, and other religious exercises, alone and with thy family. God's time, which is devoted to him, and should be employed for him, thou givest to the world, and thy worldly business, or (which is perhaps more common) to the body, and to the ease and pleasure of it, and to the entertainments of a vain and foolish conversation. Art thou verily guilty in these or any of these things ? This paper comes with an humble request to thee, that thou wouldest consider thy ways and amend them. •
This is one of those sins which the public attempts for the reformation of manners at this day are levelled against, at least in some instances of it; and justly, for the profanation of God's sabbaths, which he is very jealous for the honour of, is a sin, that brings judgments upon a land* perhaps, as soon as any other. It is a sin that kindles Jires in the pates of Jerusalem (Jer. xvii. 27.) a sin that hriit§s fH more wrath upon Israel Neh. xiii. 17* 18. Afid, therefore, all who wish well to the pablic peace, tad those, especially, who are intrusted with the preservation of it, are concerned in interest, as well as duty, to take care of the due sanc Cification of the sabbatb, as far as it falls within their cognizance, so that whatever guilt of this kind particular persons may contract, it may not become national.
Now in our dealing with this sin, as we bare this advantage, that we are not struggling with tke violent impetus of a particular lust, appetite, or passion, which is commonly deaf to reason and expostulation ; so, on the other hand, we laboar nndcr this difficulty, that they who are guilty of thlssii, are commonly more ready to insist apon their owi justification, than any other sort of sinners. It ua way that seems right, and they who walk in it say, They have done no wickedness ; and not only so, but they are forward to censure and condemn those wk allow not themselves the same latitude, as needlessly and superstitiously precise.
I should transgress the designed limits of this paper, if I should enter into the dispute coneemiiif the perpetual obligation of the fourth commandmeBt, which (as to the substance of it, the keeping of one day in seven holy to God) is I hope no dispute with us, since we are all agreed to pray to God to kat mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep tkii law.
I shall therefore only in a few lines (that I may hasten to what I principally intend) endeavour to make out the divine appointment of the Christiai sabbath, as a day of holy rest in order to holy worhi by these three steps:
(1.) It appears by the light of nature, that there must be some such day observed. If God is to be worshipped by us solemnly and in comfort, there must be some fixed and stated times for the doing of it, the designation of which is necessary both to preserve the thing itself, and to put a solemnity upon it
The Gentiles had days set apart to the honour of their gods, which they spent accordingly, in rest from worldly labour, and, by the solemnities of theh religion, looking upon those as peculiar days, distinguished from and dignified above other days. Does not even nature teach men thus to own God the Lord of time, and to constitute opportunities for the pablic solemn worship of him? Now, if all people will thus walk in the name of their god, should not we walk in like manner in the name of the Lord oar God ? Mic. iv. 5.
(2.) It appears by the Old Testament, that one day in seven should be thus religiously observed. It is plain that a sabbath was instituted from the beginning, it was a positive institution in paradise, as marriage was; the former necessary to the pie-serving of the church and sacred fellowship, as the
WHO PROFANE THE LORD'S DAY.
406 latter to the sapport of families and haman fellowship, Gen. ii. 2,3. When the Scriptare says expressly there, that God rested on the seventh day and that he blessed and sanctified it because he so rested; we wrest the Scripture, if we suppose it recorded there as a thing done long after. By this management the plainest evidence of Scripture may be turned off and evaded. To suppose that sabbaths were not kept in the patriarchal age, because no mention is made of them in the history of that age, is absnrd ; since we have a record of the institution of the sabbath in the beginning, and an account of the religious observation of a sabbath, before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, viz. when the manna was given, Exod. xvi. 23, 26. As at the first planting of religion in the world, so now at the revival of it out of its ruins in Egypt, one of the first things taken care of is the sabbath, and it is spoken of, not as a new institution, but as an old law, which, when ' Moses had notified the day to them, (they having ' lost their reckoning in Egypt,) they are sharply rebuked for the violation of, v. 28. How Umg refuse ye to heep my commandments and my laws ?
The first word of the fourth commandment. Remember the sabbath day plainly shows that it was the revival of an old commandment, which had been forgotten, viz. That one day in seven should he sanctified to God. It is the solemn declaration of an ancient institution, and is of perpetual obligation, that the seventh day, not the seventh from tho creation, which in the revolution of so many ages, we cannot be infallibly certain of, but the seventh day, after six days worldly labour, is the sabbath of the Lord our God, and is so to be sanctified. And though God rested the seventh day from the creation, yet in the fourth commandment it is not said he blessed the seventh day, but he blessed the sabbath day. or a sabbath day, (in that proportion of time,) and sanctified it: and this part of the blessing of Abraham's seed comes upon the Gentiles through faith.
Very much stress was laid, in the times of the Old Testament, upon the observation of the sabbath, more than on any institution purely ceremonial: and the Old-Testament prophecies, that point at gospel times, make it part of the description of converted strangers, that they make conscience of keeping the sabbath from polluting it, Isa. Ivi. 6.
(3.) It appears by the New Testament, that the first day of the week should be observed and sanctified as a Christian sabbath. It is evident to any who read the New Testament without prejudice,
[1.] That a weekly sabbath is to be religiously observed in the Christian church. We not only find no repeal of the fourth commandment, in the New Testament, nor any reason for the repeal of it; bat on the contrary we find it expounded by otir Saviour, and vindicated from the corrupt glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees, who, as in other things they were profanely loose, so in this they were superstitiously strict Several occasions Christ took to show that works of necessity and mercy are no violations of the sabbath rest; as Luke xiii. 14. John V. 18; ix. 14. and especially Matt. xii. 1, fitc. Had the law of the fourth commandment been to expire presently, our Saviour would not have been so careful to explain it; but it is plain he designed to settle a point, which would afterwards be of use to his church, and to teach us, that our Christian sabbath, though it is under the direction of the fourth commandment, yet, it is not under the arbitrary injunctions of the Jewish elders.
Our Saviour has likewise told us, that the sabbath was made for men, and not for the Jews only; and that he himself was Lord of the sabbath day, that is, that it should be in a special manner his day, and devoted to him. He likewise supposed the con* tinuance of a sabbath, to be so religiously obsened by his disciples, at the very time of the destruction of Jerusalem, which put a final period to all the peculiarities of the Jewish economy, that he bids them pray that their then flight might not be in the winter, nor on the sabbath day. Matt. xxiv. 20. And the apostle (Heb. iv. 9.) plainly speaks of a sabbath, or day of rest, which believers have now under the gospel, like that day of rest which God instituted, when he had finished the work of creation. [2.] It is likewise evident, that the day which the Christian church has in all ages observed, and does still, which is commonly reckoned the first day of the week, is the day which it is the will of Christ we should observe as our Christian sabbath. It is certain that the apostles were authorized and appointed to teach the churches of Christ those things pertaining to the kingdom of God, wherein he had instructed them; the Spirit was poured out upon them to enable them rightly and duly to execute their commission, so as to answer all the great ends of it. Now it is plain that the apostles and first Christians did religiously observe the first day of the week, as the day of their solemn assemblies for divine worship, (Acts xx. 7. 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2.) and that with a regard to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This they called, The Lords day (Rev. i. 10.) as a day that answers all the intentions of a weekly sabbath; as such it has been received and observed by the churches of Christ. It is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it, Ps. cxviii. 24.
What there was in the Old-Testament sabbath which was typical, has had aad will have its accomplishment in the spiritual and eternal rest of true believers; but that which was the main scope of the fourth commandment, that the seventh day, after six days' labour, should be kept holy to God, remains still in fall force. But now, under the New
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Testament, a ^eater stress is laid upon the holy work of the day, than apon the holy rest, and upon the rest, only in order to the work, and worship, and the ends of it. When the church was in its infancy and childhood, it was dealt with accordingly ; a bodily rest was then mainly insisted on, as the sanctifica-tion of the sabbath, which was so called because it was a day of rest, for so sabbath si{;nifies. But now, under the gospel, the church is grown up to full age, and, therefore, now more notice is taken of the business to which the day is devoted; viz. joy in God, (Ps. cxviii. 24.) copamunion with Christ, (John XX. 19, 26.) and with the Spirit, (Rev. i. 10.) and with our fellow-Christians, Acts xx. 7. And as to the rest, this general rule is to be observed, that nothing be done to derogate from the solemnity and honour of the day, and to lay it common with other days, nor any thing to divert us from, or distract us in, any part of the work of the day. Yet, still it is not improper to call it the Christian sabbath, because it is a day of rest from the world, and rest in God.
Having thus endeavoured to set this matter in a true and convincing light, I come now to reason the case a little with the consciences of those who make light of the Lord's day. Those 1 mean who spend it, or any part of it, in idleness, sport, tippling, or secular business, and turn their backs upon the public worship of God in religious assemblies ; or, if not that, yet, either wholly neglect, or very carelessly and superficially perform, their secret and family worship. And O that I could offer something now, which by the grace of God might help to convince and awaken such !
I will take it for granted (sirs) that yon have not abandoned religion, that you are not desirous to disengage yourselves from its sacred bonds, nor willing to disclaim its joys and hopes; you are toot arrived to that desperate resolution of living without God in the world; no, it is not come to that with you. You have not renounced the Christian faith, nor abjured your baptismal covenant, nor by searing your consciences, as with a hot iron, marked them for the devil and hell; what I shall say, will have little influence upon those who are of such a character as this. But to you, O metij I call, and my voice is to the sons of men, not to such incarnate devils: I speak to those, who, I hope, have some sense of religion, and of whose consciences God has still some hold.
Give me leave, therefore, to recommend to your serious consideration the two great intentions and designs of the Lord's day, which are (as far as lies in you) defeated and frustrated by your profanation of it, and your constant neglect of the duties of it.
The Lord's day was appointed to be kept holy and religiously observed,
I. For the glory and honour of God ;
II. For the good and happiness of man. So that all those who profane the Lord's day, do a great dishonour to God to whom it is dedicated, and no less an injury to themselves, for whose benefit and comfort it was intended.
I. In profaning the Lord's day you sin agaioii heaven, and put a daring. aflfront upon the divine authority and grace. Here let me speak boldly, let me speak warmly, as an advocate for God. 1 Iw-seech you consider seriously what I have to say, sod give me your patient hearing while I reason with you.
You are baptized into the name of the Fatlr, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and it is yoar hoooor and privilege that you are so ; you say yon adhere to it, and you would not for all the world be unhap-tized, nor renounce your ChHstian name. Suffer ne then a little to expostulate witli 3'oa apon the acknowledged principles of your baptism, which, 1 think, you are not true to, while you continue to profane the Lord's day as you do.
1. Have you no regard to the Eternal God, even the Father, that made you and all the world ? Tbe sabbath was first ordained to be celebrated by tbe reasonable creatures in this lower world (for in tlie upper world they keep an everlasting sabbath) to the honour of the great Creator, as a standing memorial of the finishing of the work of creation ; that is the observance of H we may give him praise for the wonders we see in all the creatures, and may give him thanks for the favours and comforts we rccetve by them. This is specified in the fourth commandment, as the ground of that ancient institution, which bore date before the entrance of sin into tbe world.
The author and spring of all the movements of time justly claims to be the Lord of time, and he has wisely appointed one day in seven to be consecrated to him, as an acknowledgment that be is so, and that our times are both from his hand and in his hand. And dare you sacrilegiously rob him of this tribute, and demand to have even this also, as well as tbe rest of the days of the week, at your own disposal, to be given away to the world and the flesh ?
Consider (sirs) you are God's creatures, and tbe work of his hands; you are his reasonable creatures, the priests of the visible creation, the collectors of his praises, to gather them in from tbe inferior creatures, which do all praise him objectivel}, and to pay them in by actual adorations. For flus noble purpose you were endued with noble powen, those of reason; you were taught more than the beasts of the earth, and were made wiser than ^ fowls of heaven. All the supports and comforts of your lives are likewise the creatures of God's power, and the gifts of his providence ; so that joa are bound both in duty and gpratitude to serve and I praise him. And dare you then prostitate thattiaa
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U) the world and the flesh, which is consecrated to the honour of your great Lord, the author of jour beings, the protector of your lives, and the giver of all your comforts? You do thus in effect say to the Almighty, Depart from tu, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways, like those impudent sinners, Joh xxi. 14. And do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish creatures and unwise ? O faithless creatures and unjust?
In your idle walks on the Lord's day, and the di-Tersion you take abroad, while you find your own pleasure in them, I wonder how you can look either to the heavens above- or the earth beneath, or the ornaments of either, and not be ashamed to think, that when they observe their time of serving you, and contributing to your comfort, in the proper season of the day, the proper season of the year, according to the law of their Creator, you do not observe your time of serving God, and contributing to his praise, according to the law given you, but are playing abroad when you should be praying at home. The sun does the work of the day in its day, but you do not. The stork in the heavens knows her appointed time, and comes in her season to wait upon you; but you observe not the time God has appointed for your approaches to him. To say, can we not meditate, and praise our Creator, like Isaac, in the fields as well as in our closets, is no good reply to this reproof, unless your own hearts can witness for you, that indeed you do so, which I fear they cannot; for your walks are plainly chosen, to befriend your diversion by society, not to befriend your devotion by solitude.
When you spend any part of the Lord's day in the ale-house or tavern, do not the good creatures of God, which there you abuse, upbraid you with the basest ingratitude, that when you have been receiving the comfort of those gifts of God*s bounty, the rest of the days of the week, you grudge to spend the Lord's day in humble and thankful acknow-ledgnnents of the goodness of God to the whole creation, and to you in particular. Do all God's works praise him every day, and will you think much this day, to join with his saints in blessing him ? Ps. cxlv. 10.
Was it the will of God that his glorious rest from the work of creation, wherein the Eternal Mind took a complacency in the copies of its own wisdom, and the products of its own power, should be thus commemorated here on earth, by a holy rest every seventh day from worldly employments, while it is continually celebrated in heaven, by those blessed spirits there, who rest not day nor night from praising him ? And will you in effect tell him to his face, that it does not deserve such a firequent and solemn commemoration ? And is the will and law of the eternal God nothing with you ? Is his authority and honour of so small account in your eyes ? Shall the
2 K service of the flesh, to which you are not debtors, be preferred before the service of your God, to whom you are infinitely indebted ?
You hsfve your lives from God, your bodies, your souls, all your powers, and all your comforts, and therefore you ought to be his subjects, and to pay him tribute; you are his tenants, and must not withhold his rent: this is his tribute, this is his rent. Sabbath time is demanded as his part of your time; let this then that is his due be justly and faithfully paid him in full: for will a man rob God ? Your receivings from him are rich and constant; grudge him not these poor returns in their season.
2. Have you no regard to the Lord Jesus who redeemed you, and who gave his life a ransom for many? The NeW'^Testament sabbath, being observed on the first day of the week, is without doubt designed particularly for the honour of Christ, and to be celebrated as an abiding memorial of his resurrection from the dead, by which he was declared to be the Son of God with power, and our accepted surety; for, as by dying he paid our debt, for he was delivered for our offences, so by his resurrection he took our acquittance, for he was raised again for our justification, Rom. iv. 25. The advancement of that despised stone to be the head of the comer, was that which made this day remarkable, (Ps. cxviii. 22, 24.) and they who despise this dignified, distinguished day, do in effect still trample upon that exalted stone. It is for the Redeemer's sake that it is called, The Lord*s day, an honourable title, and we ought to call it so, that we may show we look upon it as holy of the Lord and honourable, and may so honour it It bears Christ's image, and his superscription; we ought, therefore, to render to him the things that are his.
You are called Christians; you profess relation to the blessed Jesus ; you are baptized into his name, and wear his livery, and you say you hope to be saved by him; you are enrolled among his followers, and you have in his house, and within his walls, a place and a name; and can you find in your hearts, so treacherously, and so very disingenuously, to alienate from him any part of that time which he claims a special property in ? Shall he to whom you owe your all, be defrauded of that little which he demands from you? You name Christ's name, you do well; but you contradict yourselves, and will be found liars and dissemblers, if you dare to profane his day, and grudge to spend it in his service to his praise.
Let me beg of you seriously to consider how much you are indebted to the Redeemer; from what a bondage, to what a liberty, and at what an expense, you were redeemed; think what were ihe kind intentions of the Redeemer's love, and what the blessed fruits of his undertaking; and you will see that you owe him even your ownselves, all you are, all you
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have, all you can do, all little enoagh, and too little; and will you then grudge him the whole of his own day, which is instituted in remembrance of that blessed work, for which we are so much Indebted, and should be ever studying what we shall render?
As the Old-Testament sabbath was appointed to be a solemn memorial, not so much of the work of creation itself, as of the finishing of it; so the Christian sabbath was appointed, to preserve in remembrance Christ's resurrection, which gave the finishing stroke to his undertaking on earth. Now consider, if he had not finished his undertaking, what had become of us ; if he had left it, no other could have taken it up; if he that laid the foundation-stone, as the author of our faith, had not brought forth the top-stone, as the finisher of it, we had been undone, for ever undone. Unworthy therefore, for ever unworthy, art thou of an interest in and benefit by this undertaking, if really thou make so light a matter as thou seemest to do of that weekly solemnity in which the remembrance of it is celebrated, not only for the advancing of the Redeemer's honour, but for the advancing of the Redeemer's designs and interests.
Let me therefore with all earnestness beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, if you have any regard to the sweet and blessed name of Jesus, into which you were baptized; that name which is above every name, and which is as ointment poured forth; that name which is your strong tower, and your best plea for the best blessings; have a conscientious regard to that day which bears his name. As ever you hope to see the face of Christ with comfort, and expect he shall stand your friend, in the day of your extremity, testify your veneration for him now, by a veneration for his day, and dare not to break in upon that sacred rest, which is instituted to his honour, nor trifle away any of those precious hours, which he expects and requires should be employed in his service.
Shall we think one day in seven too much, when eternity itself will be too little, to be spent in the joyful contemplations, and thankful praises, of the height and depth, the length and breadth, of the love of Christ which passcth knowledge ? Do the holy angels attend the Redeemer with their constant adorations, and praise him without intermission ? and shall we who are more immediately interested in, and benefited by, his undertaking, convert to other purposes any of those few hours of the week which are consecrated to his praise ? Is our Lord Jesus continually appearing in heaven for us, always mindful of our concerns there, and shall we make thus light of his glory, and care so little to appear before him, and before the world, for him ? Might but the love of Christ command us, and that love constrain us, surely we should love the Lord's day, for his sake whose day it is, woald bid it welcooie, and call it a delight.
3. Have you no regard to the blessed Spirit of grace, into whose name also you were baptized, and in honour of whom the Christian sabbath is celebrated ? The first day of the week was observed by the disciples as a day of solemn meeting, from the vefy day that Christ rose, for we find tbem together again that day seven-night, probably by his appointment, John XX. 26. The day of Pentecost that yesr fell on the first day of the week, and on that day they were together in a solemn meeting, all with one accord in one place, when the Spirit descended upon them. Acts ii. 1, &c.
Now the pouring out of the Spirit was the great promise of the New Testament, as the incamatioii of Christ was of the Old Testament, and was a gift to the church no less necessary and valnable than the resurrection of Christ. He rose to carry on the good work in us, without which we could have do benefit by his mediation. The influences and operations of the Spirit are as necessary to our salvation, as the satisfaction and intercession of the Son. When Christ rose he retired to heaven, to receive his kingdom and to prepare ours ; but when he sent the Spirit, he did in efiect return to his church on earth; for thus the want of his bodily presence was supplied, abundantly to the advantage of his disciples. It was expedient for us that he should go away, that he might send the Comforter, John xvi.7. To the descent of the Spirit we owe those gifts of tongues, which spread the gospel to distant nations, and to ours among the rest; and those inspired writings which propagated the gospel to after ages, and will perpetuate it to the end of time. Without this the earth, even within the church's pale, had been still a wilderness and a barren land; for it is only the pouring out of the Spirit upon us from on high, that turns the wilderness into a fruitful field, Isa. xudi. 15. To the gift of the Holy Ghost is owing the conviction of conscience, the regeneration of the soul, its progress and advances in holiness, and all those consolations of God, which are our songs in the house of our pilgrimage: had not the Spirit been given to apply the redemption, we had never been the better for Christ's purchase of it.
Now it is in remembrance of these gifts given to men, after the Redeemer was ascended on high, that we celebrate the Lord's day ; and therefore, to the right sanctification of it, it is necessary that we be in the Spirit, (Rev. i. 10.) that is, that we compose ourselves into a spiritual frame, and submit oar-selves to the Spirit's workings. The greatest honour we can do to the Spirit, is to walk after the Spirit We then give glory to the Holy Ghost, when we diligently attend to that word, whidh was given by his inspiration, and lay our souls under the command* ing power and influence of it; when we pray in the
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Holy Ghost, under the conduct of the spirit of adoption, teaching us to cry, Abba, Father; and when we carefully hearken to the checks, and follow the dictates, of a well-informed conscience. Thus the sabbath must be sanctified to the praise of the Blessed Spirit.
And is it nothing to you who profane the Lord's day, that thereby you reflect dishonour upon the Eternal Spirit, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, and who with the Father and the Son, together is and ought to be worshipped and glorified on the Lord's day ? You struggle against him who is given to strive with you for your good; you check your Monitor, yon resist your Sanctifier, and grieve your Comforter.
Do you not indeed think it worth your while to spend so many hours every week, as the working part of the Lord's day amounts to, in the joyful, thankful commemoration of so great a blessing bestowed upon the church, which still remains a real benefit to all its ministers, and to all its members, and is the quickening root of all their fruitfulness and flourishing ?
It was on the first day of the first week of time, that the Blessed Spirit moved upon the face of the waters to produce a world, a world of beauty and plenty, out of confusion and emptiness; and it was upon the first day of another week, that he descended on the apostles, and inspired them to produce a ehurch ; justly, therefore, is the first day of the week consecrated to the honour of that divine person, to whom we owe both our being, and our new-being, in order to our well-being. Profane not then that which is thus sanctified, to the praise of the great Sanctifier. How can you expect the comfort of his sacred influences, if thus you violate and break in upon his sacred interests ? Our Saviour speaks of an afi'ront put upon the Holy Ghost as more criminal, more dangerous, and of more fatal consequence to the sinner, than an affront put upon the Lord Jesus himself. Matt. xii. 31, 32. Not as if every sin against the Holy Ghost contracted the indelible stain of an Unpardonable sin, God forbid! but it is intimated that there is a peculiar malignity and provocation In those sins, which put a slight upon the Blessed Spirit, as this certainly does, which not only profanes the time which is sacred to his honour, but neglects the opportunity of receiving his promised gifts, in the way of instituted ordinances.
If there be, therefore, any fellowship of the Spirit, valae it, improve it, be not strangers to it. As ever you look for any comfort from the Holy Ghost, living or dying, here or hereafter, call it not a task, and a burthen, and a weariness, to separate yourselves from the world one day in a week, to an attendance vpon the Spirit, that you may give honour to him, and may receive gce and comfort from him; but rejoice in those stated opportunities, not only of I
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You see (brethren) how great and honourable, how holy and reverend, these names are by which we plead with you, and beseech you not to profane the Lord's day. I am willing to hope, that in what you do, you intend not an affront to the eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; you still honour God with your lips, and call yourselves by his name; but whether you intend it so or no, you see it is with good reason so interpreted. Every contempt of the day of the Lord is, if not designedly, yet constructively, a contempt of him who is the Lord of the day; and so he will resent it, and reckon for it, for in the matters of his worship the Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God, I beseech you, therefore, (brethnen,) for the sake of the blessed God, whose you are, and whom you are bound to serve, and to whom you are accountable, if you have any respect to the honour of his nanle, and the interests of his kingdom, and desire of his favour and grace, or any dread of his wrath and curse. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, for it is the sabbath of the Lord your God. Do not alienate to the world and the flesh any of those precious minutes, which he challenges a special property in; but by a double care and diligence for the future, endeavour to make restitution of those which by your neglects hitherto yon have embezzled. God fills up your time with mercy, look upon yourselves, therefore, as bound in gratitude to fill up his time with duty; so shall God have the praise, and you the comfort
II. In profaning the Lord's day, you sin against your own souls, and throw away that good and benefit, which is designed both to others and to yourselves by the institutipn of it Our Saviour has told us that the sabbath was made for man, and it is reckoned among the favours God showed to his Israel, that he made known unto them his holy sabbath, Neh. ix. 14. And if the Old-Testament sabbath was so great a privilege, much more is our Christian sabbath so, for the New Testament begins with a proclamation of good-will toward men. If the ministration of death was glorious, much more the ministration of the Spirit, We solicit yon for your own good, and beg of you to consider for what ends the Lord's day was appointed in your favours, and if you will but consult yourselves, and the comfort of your own souls, you will study to comply with the intentions of it; if thou be wise herein, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
1. The Lord's day was appointed for the benefit of the church and Christian societies. It was wisely designed, that by the religious observance of that day, and a visible difference made between it and other days, a face of religion and godliness might be kept up, and a profession of Christianity maintained, published, and propagated. This is the show
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of that substance; and though the show without the substance, the form of godliness without the power of it, will not avail particular persons that rest in it; yet, it is for the advantage of the church in general, and helps to support it in the world.
It would have been hard for all Christian churches, b}' a common consent among themselves only, to have agreed upon such a badge and token of the communion of saints, as the solemnizing of the
Lord's day is; and therefore the wisdom of the church's head and lawgiver has appointed it Thus still the sabbath is a sign, a distinguishing sign, as it was to Israel of old, Exod. xxxi. 13. In the primitive times, when a Christian was examined by the heathen judges. Hast thou kept the Lortft day ? His answer was, lama Christian; intimating, that being a Christian he durst not do otherwise. By this might all men know who were Christ's disciples; it was one of the badges of their profession; so that in sanctifying the Lord's day, we testify our relation to, and concurrence with, all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Sinc all Christians cannot possibly meet in one and the same place, by meeting thus on one and the same day, and that the Lord's day, they testify their communion with each other in faith, hope, and love, and that though they are many, yet they are one. Those, therefore, who violate and profane the Lord's day, do as much as lies in them to thwart and defeat this intention.
I beseech you consider it seriously, you are baptized into the great body, and by virtue of that you are called Christians, and it is your honour; but unworthy, for ever unworthy, are you of that honour, while yon manifestly do disservice to the Christian name and cause, stain the beauty of its profession, stop the progress of its interest, and endanger the cutting off of the entail of it, by putting the Lord's day upon a level with other days, and in effect, trampling upon it as a common thing: hereby you pluck up some of the best ranges of the church's pale, and lay all in common. Take away the conscience of sabbath sanctification, and you open a gap, at which all religion quickly runs out, and an inundation of virickedness breaks in of course; they who make no difference between God's day and other days, will not long make any difference between God's name and other names, and between God's book and other books. If sabbaths be generally neglected. Bibles, and ministers, and other institutions, will not be duly prized ; and if these hedges of religion be broken down, religion itself will soon become an easy prey to the boar of the wood, and the wild beast of the forest
And is it nothing to you whether the Lord Jesus has a church in the world or no ? and whether his religion has a place and an interest among men or no ? Are you Indeed in confederacy with those who have said, " Come and let us cut off the Christias religion, that the name of it may be no more in remembrance," Ps. Ixxxiii. 3, 4. Certainly, if all should make as light of the Lord's day as yon do, it would come to this in a little time ; the light of tbe gospel would be put out, its coal would be quenched, and there would remain to it neither root nor bruek. If these outworks be betrayed to the enemy, themiiB forts cannot long be maintained; but the gates of hell will prevail against the church.
Let me, therefore, beg of you for the church's sake, as you value its being and welfare, its continuance and prosperity in the world, if you haveasy regard to its bleeding cause, to its dying interesti, and would help to revive it, do what you can to support the honour of the Lord's day. Let not Sion's friends deal treacherously with her, nor betray bcr to those who seek her ruin; let them not join wiA her enemies in mocking at her sabbaths; for if thoie fail into contempt, and the sanctification of them be disused, she soon sits solitary, becomes as a widov, and all her beauty is departed from her. I refer to those complaints, Lam. 1.1,2, 6, 7. You would willingly see the good of Jenualem, and retigion in a flourishing state; help then to maintain the honoar of God's sabbaths, and thereby show before tbe churches your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ
2. The Lord's day was appointed for the wetiUBf of us from this present world, and the taking off of our affections from the things of it, by giving a stop and pause once a week to our secular pursuits; and we lose this benefit of it if we neglect it, and viobte the appointed rest of that day. It is certain that much of the power of godliness lies in our livhi; above the world, and being dead to it; those are Christians indeed who look upon the things that are seen with a holy indifference and contempt, as those who know their felicity and portion, lie in tbetfai]i|S that are not seen.
But it would be very hard, and even impossible, to I attain to this heavenly mind, if we were to be constantly in the crowd and hurry of worldly emph^* ments and recreations, and in an uninterrupted coa* verse with the things of sense and time: if every day were to be entirely for the world, without aoj intermission, every thought and intent of the heart will be for it too, and the whole soul will be plaoged and lost in it
And, therefore, he who knows our frame, andtkit we are, in mind as well as body, dust, apt to move toward the dust of this earth, and to mingle with it; he who knows where we dwell, even where Sataa's seat is, the prince of this world, (Rev. ii. lS.)hti wisely and graciously appointed us some rat frw our worldly pursuits. His providence has appoiilBd us the natural rest of every evening, which calh • in from our work and labour, and gives vssoneait
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minutes (if we have bat wisdom to improve them) for retirement into ourselves; and reflection upon ourselves, for communing with our own hearts, and meditating on God and his word. But this is not all; his grace has also provided for us the instituted rest of every sabbath, which gives us a longer breathing time; that while our hands rest from the business of the world, our minds may rest from the cares of it, and so we may be saved from the inordinate love of it.
Six days thou shalt labour and do all thy work, all that work that must be done for the body thou carriest about with thee, that that may be supported, and for the world thou livest in, that thou mayst pass comfortably through it; but thou must shortly put off this body, and bid adieu to this world; and therefore, one day in seven thou shalt rest from this work and labour, and lay it aside, that thou mayst recall thy thoughts and affections from the world and the body; and so learn to sit loose to them, and by these frequent acts confirm the habit of heavenly-minded-ness. By our weekly retirements from the world, it will be made the more easy to us always to live above the world, as those who are strangers and sojourners in it.
And do you not find (sirs) that there is need of such pauses, such parentheses, as these? Do you not find the world encroaching upon you, and gaining ground in your hearts ? Do you not experience the insinuating nature of these present things, even of care and toil about them, which are strangely bewitching ; and that by constant converse with the things of the earth, we grow in love with them and become eartlfy ? And will you not then take the advantage which this institution ^ives you, to recover the ground you lose all the week, by a total cessation of worldly business on the Lord's day ? By a close application of yourselves to the proper business and pleasure of the Lord's day, you will find yourselves 00 well employed, and so well entertained by your religion, that you will look with a holy contempt upon the employments and entertainments of the world.
Let me add under this head, that your accustoming of yourselves to a strict retirement from the world on the Lord's day, will make your final removal out of it at death more easy and less formidable. Brethren, you are dying, your souls are continually in your hands; death will shortly seal up your hands, it will cut off all your purposes, and put a full stop to all your pursuits; yet a little while, and the place that knows you will know you no more; yet a little while, and you must bid an eternal farewell to your houses and lands, your farms and merchandise, and this will be a hard task, if you never knew what it was to intermit these cares and pleasures. If you will not think it worth your while to leave them at the bottom of the hill, while you go up to worship, with a purpose to return to them again, as Abraham', (Gen. xxii. 5.) what a difficulty will it be to you to leave them, not to return to them again! You cannot find in your hearts to keep from your shops or sports, to lay aside your worldly business and diversions, one day in seven; how then will you persuade yourselves willingly to quit all at death? which yet you must do, whether yon will or no. We must forsake these things shortly; to prepare us for which, it is good for us, at least as often as God hath appointed us, to forget them now, and lay aside the thoughts of them. If we would make a virtue of the necessity we shall be under of leaving the world when we die, let us make a necessity of the virtue of retiring from the world, and putting off the care and business of it, every Lord's day.
3. The Lord's day was appointed for our communion and fellowship with God, with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, and we arc enemies to ourselves, if we neglect to improve it for this purpose; we are on that day not only called off from the world, but called up into the holiest, into which, by the blood of Jesus, we have access with humble boldness. We are invited from on high, Cofne up hither, to the highest degrees of comfort and honour that man on earth is capable of, and will you choose to tarry below, to converse with earthly things, when you are invited to a conversation with things heavenly and divine ? How much soever this may seem a paradox to those who are strangers to the life of God, and to the power of godliness, all who are serious and devout know what it is.
This is a day in which we are with all humility to make visits to God, and with all reverence and observance to receive visits from him; to hear what he speaks to us out of his word, and to speak to him by prayer. This is the proper conversation of that day, for this it was instituted and intended; and, therefore, to spend it in idle visits, and in impertinent talk, either foolish in itself, and which would be culpable any day, or,- at least, in that which is foreign to the business of this day, is to put a great slight upon God Almighty, and upon tiie provision he has made for our communion with him. It is as if a prince, or some great or wise man, should invite you into his company, offer to entertain you with the most pleasant and edifying discourse, and appoint a time and place for the interview, and you should leave him, and turn your back upon him, to go and talk with some idle beggar or buffoon at the door. Would not this justly be construed an intolerable affront? Would you not blush to think that yon should ever be guilty of such a piece of rudeness ? Would you not expect to be forbidden the house and presence of the person you had thus slighted ? Yet you do ten thousand times worse than this, when you trifle away that day in common conversation and business, which God has appointed you to spend in
A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO THOSE
communion with himself, according as yonr opportunities are.
The whole life of a Christian ought to be a life of communion with God; our eyes must be ever toward the Lord, we must walk with him, and set him always before us, and in all our ways we must acknowledge him. Now, in order to the keeping up of this habitual regard to God, wherein consists so much of the power of godliness, it is requisite that we be frequent and constant at stated times in the solemn acts of devotion. We contract an acquaintance with our friends, and an affection for them, by being often in their company, interchanging knowledge and love: thus our acquaintance with God is cultivated by religious worship, and without that it withers and dies, and comes to nothing. The divine life is supported and maintained by the receiving and digesting of the bread of life, and no otherwise.
Communion with God is in short this: it is to admit into our minds the discoveries God has been pleased to make of himself, and of his will and grace, and to dwell upon them in our thoughts, and to make returns of agreeable affections and motions of soul suited to those discoveries. It is to delight ourselves in the pleasing contemplation of the beauty, bounty, and benignity of our God, and to employ ourselves in the pious exercises of faith, love, and resignation to him, and in the joyful praises of his name.
And is one day in seven too much to be spent in such work as this ? Or shall we break in upon the bounds which the divine law has set about that mountain, on which God has promised to come down, —and lay it in common with the wilderness ? Should we not rather virish that every day were a sabbath day, and that we might always dwell in God's house, with them who are there still praising him ?
If we did indeed love God, as we ought, with all our heart and soul, we would not say, when we have been attending upon him two or three hours in public worship, now we have sure done enough for this day, when we are invited, encouraged, and appointed still to continue our communion with him, still to feast upon his holy word, and repeat our addresses at the throne of his grace in our closets and families. Would we be so soon weary of an intimate conversation with a friend we love and take pleasure in ? No, with such a friend we contrive how to prolong the time of conversation, and when the hours of sitting together are expired, we stand together, and, as those who are loth to part, bid often farewell, and we add to this a walk together for further discourses. Is this thy hindneit to thy friend, and wilt thou say of communion with thy God, Behold what a weariness is it? and contrive excuses to contract it, to break it off, or cut it short ?
Reading the Holy Bible and other good books, repetition, catechising, singing psalms, prayiaf, praising, profitable discourse; these are the exercises which, if they meet with a heart piously and devoutly affected toward God, will famish us with such a pleasing variety of good works, to fill ap those hours of the Lord's day which are not spent io public worship, or in works of necessity and meicj, and will turn so much to our advantage, that vc shall complain of nothing so much as the speedj returns of the sabbath evening, and the shadows thereof. Did we call the sabbath a delight, as we ought, and the work 6f it a pleasure; we would be ready to say. Sun, stand thou still upon this GHem; let the day be prolonged, and the minutes of it doubled, for it is pood to hs here, here let us smIt tabernacles: or rather let us endeavour, by the gre of God, to do a double work in a single day, and long to be there where we shall spend an everiastiiif sabbath in communion with God, a sabbath that will have no night at the end of it, nor any weekday to come after it.
Yon who trifle away sabbath time, I beseech yon consider this seriously; Sesmeth it a small thing is you, that the God of Israel has separated you to kriM§ you near to himself? That he has not only admitted you into covenant, but invited you into communioa with himself? And is this a favour that must got begging with you, and that after all the court it makes to you, you will not be persuaded to accept of ? And shall the conversation of a vain companioo in an ale-house or tavern, the entertainments of a coffee-house, or an idle walk into the fields, be preferred before the honour and pleasure of communion with God in Christ? And will you indeed chooee these broken cisterns rather than the fountain of living waters ; these lying vanities rather than yoor own mercies? God in mercy open your eyes and show you your folly! Would David rather be a door-keeper in the house of God, than dwell in the tent; of wickedness ? and will you rather be doorkeepers, slaves, and drudges, in the tents of wickedness, than dwell in liberty, ease, and honour ia the house of your God ?
O that I could now prevail with you to look upon it as your main business on the Lord's day, from the beginning to the end of the day, to converse with God, and to mind it accordingly. If God will condescend to meet with you in your secret, as well as public, addresses to him, and has appointed you a set time for them, be not you so rude to him, and so unjust to yourselves, as to neglect them, or make but a short and slighting business of them.
4. The Lord's day was appointed for our furtherance and increase in holiness, and the carrying on of the work of sanctification in us; in the due pe formance of the work of the Lord's day, and the doe observance of its rest In order thereunto there is not only the pleasure of maintaining communioa
WHO PROFANE THE LORD'S DAY.
603 with God, but the real benefit of increasing oar conformity to him. This profit we shall have, if we pray to him, and keep his ordinances; while thus we behold the glory of the Lord, we are through ^race changed into the same image. By worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness, we come to be partakers of his holiness, and so the beauty of the Lord our God is upon us. And is it not worth while to oblige ourselves to the strictest and most careful observance of the Lord's day, in prospect of those advantages by it ?
The sabbath day is a market day, a harvest day fur the soul; it is an opportunity,—it is time fitted for the doing of that which cannot be done at all, or not so well done, at another time: now, if this day be suffered to run waste, and other business minded than that which is the proper work of the day, our souls cannot but be miserably impoverished and neglected, and the vineyards, we are made keepers of, cannot but be like the field of the slothful, and the vineyard of the man void of understanding. While you make no conscience of keeping the sabbath day, and improving the precious minutes of it, no wonder that you are ignorant in the things of God, fools, or at least but babes in knowledge, for that is the time of getting understanding; no wonder that your lusts and corruptions are so strong as they are, and you so unable to resist Satan's temptations, your graces so weak, and you so unready to every good word and work; for when you should be furnishing yourselves with what is needful for the support of your spiritual life, and the carrying on of your spiritual warfare, you are doing something else, that is not only foreign and impertinent, but prejudicial and inconsistent
Solomon has long since pronounced it, not only as the sentence of a wise king, but of a righteous God, that he who sleeps or plays in harvest, is a ton thmt cauteth shamey and when he begs in winter, he thall have nothing. This is your character, and this, if you do not repent and amend your doings, will be your case. If at last you perish eternally, under the power of a vain and carnal mind, and go down to hell in impenitence and unbelief, your contempt and profanation of the Lord's day will greatly aggravate your condemnation; because your due improvement of that sacred day would have been a means to prevent your coming to that place of torment, without a messenger sent to you from the dead.
Sirs, it is better to think of this now, when lost sabbaths may be redeemed by an after care and diligence, than remember it in the bottomless pit, when the reflection upon it will but pour oil into the flames, and it will be too late to retrieve the precious hours that you are now so prodigal of. O what a cutting, what a killing, remembrance will it be hereafter, to think, if I had spent that time on the
Lord's day in reading and meditation, in prayer and praise, and the study of the Scriptures, and other religious exercises, public, private, and secret, which I spent in tippling, or sporting, or working at my calling, or in idle or unprofitable conversation, I might have got that knowledge and gace, and kept up that communion with God, which would not only have prevented my misery in this land of darkness, but would have prepared me for the inheritance of the saints in light! If I had been as eager to get wisdom, as I was to get wealth, and as solicitous and industrious to please God, as I was to gratify my own sensual appetite, and to recommend myself to a vaii world, I might have been eternally ^^PPy» luid equal to the angels of light, who am now likely to be for ever miserable, a companion with devils, and a sharer with them in their endless pains and horrors.
Then, O then, thou wouldst give a thousand worlds, if thou hadst them, for one of those days of the Son of man thou art now so prodigal of. But the impassable gulph between thee and that grace which is now offered thee, will then be immovably fixed, the bridge of mercy will then be drawn, and the door of hope will be shut for ever. Sabbaths cannot then be recalled, nor will the offers of life be made thee any more; now God calls and thou wilt not hear, then thou shalt call and he will not hear. Thou art now called once a week to rest; to rest from the world, and rest in God; but thou callest even this rest a weariness, and snuffest at it; justly, therefore, will he swear in his wrath, that thou shalt never enter into that rest of which this is a type, and if thou be shut out from it, thy condition will be for ever restless. Surely thy heart is desperately hardened, if this consideration make no impression on thee.
5. The Lord's day was appointed to be an earnest and sign of our everlasting rest; the rest that remains for the people of God. It is intended to remind us of heaven, to fit us for heaven, and to give some comfortable pledges and foretastes of the joys and glories of that blessed state, to all those who have their conversation in heaven, and their affections set upon things above. These are the days of heaven, and if heaven be an everlasting sabbath, surely sabbaths are a heaven upon earth, in them the tabernacle of God is with men.
And have you no value for eternal life, (sirs,) no concern about it ? Is heaven nothing to you, or not worth the thinking of? Do you indeed despise the pleasant land, and prefer Egypt's garlic and onions before Canaan's milk and honey, and a mess of pottage before such a birthright and the privileges of it ? Your profanation and contempt of the Lord's day plainly says that you do so, and according to your choice you shall have your lot, so shall your doom be.
A SERIOUS ADDRESS, S(c.
You say you hope to be saved; bat what ground have you for those hopes, while you plainly show that you neglect this great salvation, by your neglect to commemorate Christ's resurrection, by which it was wrought out, and your neglect to improve the means of grace, by which you are prepared for it ? If you had indeed any good hope of eternal life, you would not think much to spend one day in seven, in the joyful contemplation of it, and in getting yourselves ready for it.
You say you hope to go to heaven; but what pleasure can you take in the expectations of an everlasting sabbath, and of the employments and enjoyments of that world, when you are so soon weary of these short sabbaths, which are types of that, and are ready to say. When will they he gone? What pleasure can it be to you to be for ever with the Lord, to whom it is a pain and a penance to be an hour or two with him now ? What happiness will it be to you to dwell in his house, and to be still praising him in heaven, who, by your good-will, would be never praising him on earth, but grudge the few minutes that are so employed ? Heaven vrill not be heaven to a sabbath-breaker, for there is no idle company, no vain sports, no foolish mirth or unprofitable chat, there; and these are his delights now, which he prefers before that communion with God, which is both the work and bliss of that world. All who shall go to heaven hereafter, begin their heaven now; as in other things, so, particularly, in their cheerful conscientious observance of the Lord's day.
And now lay all this together, and then tell me if there be not a great deal of reason why you should keep holy the sabbath day, call it a deiighty holy of the Lordy and therefore truly honourable, and why you should therefore honour and sanctify him on that day ; not doing your own ways but his; not finding your own pleasure, but aiming to please God; not speaking your own words as on other days, but speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, Isa. Iviii. 13.
Can the entanglements of custom, company, carnal pleasure, or worldly profit, be more powerful with you than all those sacred cords and bonds ? Can the pleasing of a customer, the obliging of a friend, much less the gratifying of a base lust, balance the displeasing of God, the dishonouring of Christ, and the wronging of your own souls ? I beseech you to consider it seriously, and be wise for yourselves.
After these considerations which I have urged, surely I need not insist upon any other. I am confident, the reigning love of God in your hearts, and a deep and serious concern about your precious sools and their eternal welfare, will furnish you with coa-siderations sufl Scient to oblige you to as much strictness and care in the sanctification of the Lord's day, as the word of God requires, and as is necessary to answer the intentions of the institution : and more than this we do not insist on. Think much of thit of the Pharisees, which though blasphemously misapplied to the Saviour, was grounded upon a great truth; This man is not of God, because Ae keeptih wst the sabbath day, John ix. 16.
Will it be to any purpose to suggest this fortiier consideration to you; That the way to prosper in your affairs all the week, and to have the blessing of God upon you in them, is to make conscience of the Lord's day ? That truly great and good man, the Lord Chief Justice Hale> writes very solemnly to his children; *' I have found by a strict and diligent observation, that a due observance of the duties of the Lord's day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time, and the week that hath been so begun hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of this day, the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful and unhappy to my own secular employments the week following. This I write, (saith he,) not lightly or inconsiderately, but upon long and sound observation and experience."*
Shall I remind you how much it will be for your credit with all wise and good people ? Those who honour God he will honour. Shall I tell you with what comfort you may lie down at night in the close of a sabbath, after you have carefully done the work of the day in its day ? Yea, thou shalt lie damn, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Especially, think how sweet and easy your reflections upon well spent sabbaths will be when you come to die, and with what pleasure you will then look forward upon the everlasting sabbath you hope to keep within the Teil.
Wonder not that I am thus earnest with you in this matter ; I see how much depends upon it, and I persuade as one who desires and hopes to prevail with you ; let me not be disappointed, as yoo valoe the glory of your Creator, the honour of your Redeemer, and your own comfort and happiness in both worlds. I beseech you. Remember the sahbath day, the Christian sabbath, to heep it holy. Most certainly true that saying is, which I have somewhere met with; That the stream of all religion rmns either deep or shallow, according as the banhs of the sabbeih are kept up or neglected.
• LfOrd Hale's Contemplations, vol. L p 323L
I
A CHECK TO AN UNGOVERNED TONGUE.
606
A CHECK
TO AN
UNGOVERNED TONGUE.
The criminal we are now dealings with, is pronounced by an inspired writer, iln unruly evil, full of deadly poison, (James iii. 8.) and, which is a very great discouragement to any attempt for the reformation of it, it is there said. That the tongue eon no man tame: not that it is impossible for men to govern their own tongues, but it is extremely difficult, and next to impossible, to reclaim and reform the extravagances of other people's tongues. And yet, though no man can tame this unruly evil, doubtless, the almighty grace of God can. With iiifn this is impossible, but with God all things are possible; even this. And that grace, though not tied to any methods in its operations, yet, ordinarily, makes use of the endeavours of men, as means to accomplish and effect its purposes.
Again.st this Goliah, therefore, we go forth to battle, though armed only with a sling and a stone, in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom it hath defied; leaving the success of the attempt to him who made man's mouth, and is alone able to new-make it, as he certainly does, wherever he gives a new heart.
And we will first mention particularly the most common and daring extravagances of an ungovemed tongue, and severally show the evil of them; designing and endeavouring thereby to confirm the innocent, and, especially, to reform the guilty: and then we will, in some general directions, ofier something toward the cure of these epidemical diseases. And God grant that this labour may not be altogether in vain!
I. Profane swearing is one of the common transgressions, or rebellions rather, of an ungovemed, ill-governed tongue. A sin so common, that in most places it is become the vulgar dialect of all sorts of persons, with whose poisonous breath the air itself ■eems to be infected; and yet a sin so exceeding sinful, that tlie tongue is therein set against the heavens, (Ps. Ixxiil. 9.) insults over and tramples upon that which is most sacred and honourable.
The malignity of this sin lies especially in the prostituting of that solemn appeal, which by an oath is made, to God's knowledge and justice, to the most impertinent and trivial purposes. Devout and religious swearing, when we are duly called to be sworn, is an ordinance of God, whereby we give unto him the glory due unto his name, as an omniscient, true, and righteous God. Profane swearing is a scornful and insolent contempt of that ordinance, treading it under foot, as a common thing, and thereby doing despite to him, for whose honour it is intended. It is a sacrilegious alienating of those forms of speech which are consecrated to the glory of God, and turning them to a profane and wieked use; like Belshazzar's polluting the vessels of the temple, by gracing his drunken revels with them, which filled the measure of his iniquity. It is trifling and jesting with that, which in its own nature is awful and reverend, and which ought at all times to be treated and attended to with the greatest seriousness.
Some accustom themselves wholly to this language of hell; all their discourse is corrupted by it They cannot talk with you about business, nor tell you a story, nor give yon an answer to the most common question, but almost every other word must be an oath. It is so familiar to them, that it passes altogether unregarded; charge them with it, and they will tell you in the next breath, they do not know that they swore.
Others, with whom it is not altogether so common, yet think it no harm now and then, when they are in a passion, or speak earnestly, or when they are in company with those to whom they know it is agpree-able, to '< rap out an oath," (as they call it,) and perhaps, to multiply oaths; and by these frequent acts, at length they contract a habit, and become as bad as the worst. It may be, some swear under pretence of gaining credit, nobody will believe them unless they swear what they say; and I know no wise man will believe them the sooner for it; for he that can dispense with the sin of profane swearing, which he gets nothing by, I fear will not boggle much at the sin of wilful lying; especially, when any thing is to be got by it. Others swear under pretence of striking an awe upon their inferiors, nobody will fear them unless they swear at them; that is, they would rather be dreaded and shunned, as roaring lions and ranging bears, than respected and honoured as wise, sober, and religious men, who make conscience of what they say and do, even when they are ever so much provoked.
And there are many who are such hearty well-wishers to this sin, that though they have not yet learned to swear distinctly, and in plain English, for fear of the censure, either of the law, or of their friends, or of their own consciences, yet they venture to lisp this language, and have the Sibboleth of an oath, upon every occasion, at their tongue's end. Though it be not swearing at large, and in express terms, it is the abridgment of it; it is swearing in shorthand. They have learnt to contract wicked words, and to disguise them by half words, which, as they have the resemblance of profane swearing, take rise from it, and border upon it; are bad words, and at the best, are idle words, for which they must give account in the judgment; and being more than yea, yea, and nay, nay, more than bare affirmations
A CHECK TO AN UNGOVERNED TONGUE.
and negations, they come of evil, Mat. y. 37. No wise man will say he knows not what, or that which has no sense at all; and no good man will say that whieh he knows has the appearance of evil, and borders upon a bad sense.
And now, O that this paper might seasonably fall into the hands of the swearer, the common swearer, and the more cautious one, and might (by the blessing of God) be an effectual and happy means to convince and reform both the one and the other, before the flying roll which carries the curse (which we read of as the swearer's doom, Zech. v. 3, 4.) come into their houses, or, which is worse, into their souls, to consume them : that is a roll which cannot be slighted and thrown by, as I suppose this paper will.
You ask sometimes what evil there is in swearing ? Why so much ado should be made about a common form of speech, and a man made an offender for a word ? You plead, that it hurts nobody, words are but wind.
But you will not say so, if you can but be persuaded seriously to weigh the following considerations, and to fix them in your minds:
1. Consider what an enmity there is, in profane swearing, to the Blessed God, and what an indignity is done by it to his glorious and fearful name. Would it not be justly interpreted a very high affront to a magistrate, though a man like yourselves, if you should send for him in all haste, to keep the peace, to decide a controversy, to seize a criminal, or to do any act of his office; and when he comes, it is all ludicrous, and a jest, and you intend nothing but to make a fool of him, and to expose him and his authority to contempt and ridicule ? How would such an intolerable abuse be resented among men, especially if it were often repeated! Yet just such an affront, a daring affront, does the insolent swearer put upon God Almighty ; making his truth, justice, and omniscience to attend all the extravagances of an ungoverned passion and an unbridled tongue. And the affront is so much the worse, because it reflects upon his government, profanes his crown, dis-gpraces the throne of his glory, vilifies his judgment-seat, and attempts to make it mean and contemptible, and thereby to render it questionable.
And is there no harm in this ? Whence can this proceed but from that carnal mind which is enmity against God, and from a rooted antipathy to him, and to his dominion ? To this poisonous fountain the Psalmist traces all these bitter streams, (Ps. cxxxix. 20.) Thine enemies take thy name in vain. It cannot be imputed either to the lusts of the flesh, orthe lusts of the eye, or the pride of life; this is a forbidden fruit that neither is good for food nor pleasant to the eye, nor at all to be desired to make one wise, or bespeak one so ; the sinner is not led to it by the love of pleasure, or the hope of any gain or reward ; it can, therefore, proceed from nothing else but a spirit of contradiction to God Almighty, a contempt of his honour, and a hatred of his government This sin, as much as any other, seems to have taken occasion from the commandment, and to have pat forth itself purposely in defiance of the divine law; so that it may be questioned whether there would have been such a sin as profane swearing, if it bad not been prohibited by the third cc Hnmandment Now this renders the sin exceeding sinfal, and adds rebellion to it; and the swearer being a transgressor without cause, (as the Psalmist speaks, Ps. xxv. 3.) is a sinner without excuse, and sins purely for sinning sake.
This is excellently expressed by our divine poet, Mr. Herbert:
Take not his name, who made thy mouth, in vain, It gets thee nothing, and hath no excuse:
Lust and wine plead a pleasure, avarice gain. But the cheap swearer, through his open sluice
Lets his soul run for nought, as little fearing:
Were I an epicure, I could hate swearing.
And think est thou this, O man, whoever thoo art that thus affrontest the majesty, ridiculest the government, and dcfiest the judgment, of the eternal God, that thou shalt go unpunished ? Be not deceived, God is not mocked. He is jealous for the honour of his own name, and will not see it trampled upon and made a by-word, as it is by every profane swearer. You would resent it, if your names shoaM thus be turned into a proverb, and jested with by every idle fellow; and what then will God do for his great name, which is thus abused ? Shall he not visit for these things ? Shall not his soul be avenged on such sinners as these ? Yes, no doubt, when the day of recompence comes ; for, he has said, Venge-ance is mine, I will repay. Nemo me impune lmee$sii — No one provokes me with impunity.
2. Consider what an evidence it is against yourselves, that you have no fear of God before your eyes. Though you should indeed neither fear God nor regard man, yet why should you hang out a sign to give notice of this to every one who passes by? What need you declare your sin as Sodom, and thus publicly proclaim the devil king in your souls? Is it not enough, that you harbour in your hearts a. secret enmity to God and godliness, but dare you thus avow the quarrel, and openly wage war with heaven ? Dare you thus bid defiance to all that is sacred, and wear the livery of Satan's family ? Is it not enough that your hearts are graceless, and yoa yourselves in the interest of the kingdom of darkness, but you must be industrious to let the world know this ? Thy wisdom fails thee, indeed, if (like the fool Solomon describes) when thou walkest bj the way, thou thus sayest to every one thai ikou tnrt i foolf Eccl. X. 3.
A CHECK TO AN UNGOVERNED TONGUE,
Shall I beg of you to consider this a little: You are called Christians; your baptism, which I take it for granted you have not renounced, entitles you to that worthy name; you live in an age and place wherein it is your honour to be called by that name; it will do you neither credit nor kindness to ha\e your Christianity disproved ; nay, you would take it as an affront to have it questioned; this you would have looked upon as a thing so certain, that *' As I am a Christian" must pass for an oath with you, or vehement assertion ; which gives just cause to suspect that you have little value for your Christianity, since you are so willing to pawn it, as you do other sacred things, upon every trifling occasion. But while thus you boast of your Christianity, you do with your own tongues disprove it by your common swearing, and plainly give yourselves and your profession the lie. Out of the abundance of the hearty the mouth speaks. I see not how it is possible that such a daring contempt of God's sovereign authority, and sacred name, as profane swearing (especially where it is commonly used) most certainly is, can consist with the reigning fear and love of God in the heart, and that sincere regard to the glory and honour of God, which are necessary to denominate a man a true Christian.
When Peter was charged with it as a crime, that he was a disciple of Christ, he took this method to make it appear that he was not, he began to curse and to swear. Matt. xxvi. 74. His speech indeed bewrayed him to be a Galilean; but this manner of speech bewrayed him to be none of the followers of Christ, for none of them used to curse and swear; all that knew any thing of their Master, and his life and doctrine, would certainly conclude so. When Peter therefore cursed and swore, he did as effectually deny his Master, as when he said, I know not the man: these are none of the spots of God's children. It was but once that Peter was thus guilty, and many a bitter tear it cost him; let none, therefore, make Peter's example an excuse for their swearing, unless they intend, as he did, to signify thereby that they disown Christ, and their Christianity ; and since they are resolved not to be ruled by their religion, they disclaim all hopes of benefit by it I have that chanty for you, as to believe that you will not do this professedly, and, therefore, you should be so just to yourselves, as not to do that which amounts to it, and which is capable of such a construction, and which, the apostle tells us, endangers our falling into condemnation. Jam. v. 12. While there is a possibility of your being heirs of heaven, and of the inheritance of the saints in light, prove not yourselves the children of hell, by your apeakingthe language of that kingdom of darkness.
3. Consider what an injury it is to those with whom you converse. You think it does no harm to others, because it does not hart them in their bodies, goods, or good name; but is harm done to the souls of others no harm ? Nay, is it not the worst harm you can do them ? If those who hear you swear be wicked, their hearts are hardened by it, and their hands strengthened, that they may not turn from their evil way; from your poisonous breath they take their infection, and add this to all their other sins. 4nd is it no harm to propagate sin, and to support the devil's interest, as his agents, and factors for hell ? Yes, it is harm to them who are thus, by your means, instructed and confirmed in wickedness; and you will find it harm to you too, when you shall bear the iniquity of those who by your example are taught and encouraged to swear. To what a height will your account rise, when you shall be to answer for all the sins you have thus been accessary to ! Which, though it aggravate your sin, yet will not excuse those who have learnt this evil from you, nor lessen their account; for they also shall die in their iniquity.
If they who hear you swear have the fear of God in their hearts, and any concern for his glory, their hearts are grieved, and their hands weakened. It may be, that they have not courage to reprove you for it, but it troubles them, and saddens their spirits, to hear God's name dishonoured, and his soveicignty thus insulted, and to see you thus sell your souls, and all your valuable birthrights, for less than a morsel of meat. It spoils the pleasure of their conversation with you, makes them shy of your company, and, perhaps, dull and uneasy in it; such an affliction it is to them to hear you swear. When David had mentioned those who take God's name in vain, he immediately adds. Do I not hate them am not I grieved because of them .• Ps. cxxxix. 21, Though now perhaps you make a light matter of this, and rather take a pride and pleasure in thus creating vexation to a good man; yet, shortly, you will find it had been better that a mill-stone were hanged about your neck, and you cast into the sea, than that you should wilfully offend one of Christ's little ones. They are the words of our Lord Jesus, and we are sure no word of his shall fall to the ground.
Besides this, is it no harm to bring the curse of God into your house, which shall consume it ? Is it no harm to add to the measure of the nation's guilt, and to increase God's controversy with it ? Because of swearing, the land mourns, (Jer. xxiii. 10.) the land of your nativity, and is it nothing to you that you contribute to its grief, and to the reproach which this, as other sins, puts upon any people? Prov. xiv. 34.
4. Consider, how very frivolous all your pleas in defence of this sin are, and how unbecoming one who pretends reason. When your own consciences sometimes rebuke you for it, and admonish you to reform, you shift off these convictions with such
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trifling excuses as you would be ashamed to offer in any other case.
I cannot think of more than two things that you can allege in your own defence, and they have neither of them so much as the colour of an excuse; while there is all that intrinsic malignity in the sin which we have already showed you, and God has declared he will not hold you guiltless.
(1.) You urge, that it is what you have been Ion*;; accustomed to, and you cannot leave it off. But this cannot make it lawful, no, not though the custom were of so early a date, that you were taught to swear, as soon as you were taught to speak; for though we brought sin into the world with us, that does not make it the less sinful; though it be bred in the bone it must be forsaken, or it vrill be our ruin. If it be absurd to allege a prescription against a record, in human courts, much more to allege it against a divine law. If a thief has been accustomed to stealing, or an assassin to blood and murder, that will be flo far from justifying their villanies, that it vrill justly be accounted the highest aggravation of them.
Nor does it follow, that because thou hast long used thyself to this profane and blasphemous dialect, that it will therefore be impossible to leave it off; if tiiou wert sure that the next time thou swearest thou shouldst certainly have thy tongue cut oat, or thy head struck off, I am confident thou wouldst break off the custom: and is not the wrath of God, and ihe damnation of hell, infinitely more formidable than any punishment man can inflict? It is indeed difficult for a man to change his language, and requires some care and pains, but by the grace of God duly and diligently improved, even this Ethiopian may be made to change his skin, and this leopard his spots. And if now thou wilt not believe it, thou .wilt be convinced of it when it is too late, that it is better a thousand times, to break through the difficulties of a reformation, than to perish eternally in the sin.
Despair not of a core though the disease be chronical, but apply thyself with resolution to the use of proper means: thou wouldst do so in case of bodily sickness; be as wise for thy soul then. If a diseased appetite has long used itself to trash and dirt, does it therefore follow that it must never be healed? If the prodigal have been long upon the ramble, must he never return to his father's house ? Better late than never.
The longer thou hast been accustomed to the sin, the more need thou hast to repent and reform, and that quickly, lest thy heart be hardened, and thy conscience seared; and lest by a judicial sentence of divine wrath, thou be at length given up to thy own heart's lusts, abandoned by the divine grace, and repentance ever hid from thy eyes. God's Spirit is, it may be, now striving with thee» but if thou resist him, he will not always strive.
Let me add this farther, to shame you oat of tUi plea, that by persisting in this sin, after you have been plainly told the evil of it, you not only in efeet disclaim your religion, but you likewise csLSt a le-proach upon your reason. Nothing can be moie absurd, than for a man that pretends to any degree of wisdom, to confess himself so weak, and so incapable of governing himself, as not to be able to Hor-bear a bad word, which he knows eu do him lo service, but will certainly turn to his pndice. Bt-member this, and show yourselves men, men of reason, O ye transgressors, and allow not yourselves in flat which your own sober thoughts cannot but ooi-demn.
(2.) You urge, that it is the fashionable language of the place you live in, and the company you converse with, and therefore you are not willing to leave it off. And if it were so, it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company. What will you get by herding yourselves with those who shall be bundled for the fire, and by doing as they do who are treasuring up to themselves wrath, against the day of wrath ? That is an expensive fashion indeed, which we cannot conform to without losing the favour of God and ruining our souls for ever. If that which is fashionable were manifestly prejudicial to your health, and threatening to your life, you would rather be singular than sick; and would yoa not rather be singular than damned ?
But the matter is not so; we will not grant that swearing is the fashionable language of our countiy, it is only the common language of the fools in Israel, who are the shame and scandal of their coantiy. That which is in its own nature ugly and indecent, and a reproach to mankind, thoagh it may in some places become common, yet cannot be made fashioii-able. There are those, (thanks be to God,) tiiere are many, who have a deep and sincere reverence for the blessed name of God, who fear an oath, and dafe not profane it; there are enough such to save yoo from the imputation of singularity, and to keep yoa in countenance, though you distinguish yourselves from the vile herd of common swearers, and take not that imperious liberty of speech which they do, who say, Our tongues are our own; who is lord over us?
Is that to be called fashionable, which not only all the godly divines in the nation, of every persuasion, both in their preaching and conversation, witness against, as directly contrary to the law of God; but which has the laws of the land against it too, as an iniquity to be punished by the judge, and those laws enforced and strictly ordered to be put in execution, by her Majesty's most pious proclamations, and these publicly read, both in our churches, and in our courts of justice? Is that to be called fashionable, which is branded with so many maiks of public infamy, and which is so frequently and f
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lemnly proclaimed to be a discredit to the kingdom, and a reproach to our holy religion? Shall it be in the power of a few inconsiderate, inconsiderable sots to keep up the reputation of that which all wise, sober, and good men are agreed to run down ? Shall that be called fashionable among persons of distinction, which is become most customary with those of the meanest rank and employment, and is the ¥ulgar kmguage of the rakes, and such as are the refuse of the people ?
Be persuaded, therefore, to break off all intimate society and conversation with those, who not only do such things, but have pleasure in them that do them; and with David, (Ps. cxix. 63.) be companions with those that fear God and keep his precepts, and then you will find it no hard matter (by the grace of God) to break off this wicked practice, how much soever you have been accustomed to it; and to forbear that language which you know is so provoking to God, so displeasing to all good men, and so destructive to the peace and welfare of your own souls.
Set a double watch before the door of your lips, that you thus offend not Abstain from all appearances of this sin ; avoid temptations to it If gaming have insnared you in it, eithernever play at all, or fix it as a principle, that as there is no gain, so there is no game, worth a profane oath. Keep up a dread of the sin, which certainly you will do if you truly repent of it Tremble to hear others swear. Learn to pray, and then you will not be so apt to swear.
II. Cursing is near akin to profane swearing, is the common companion of it, and is another of the exorbitances of an ungoverned tongue. Cursing is wishing evil to ourselves or others, absolutely or conditionally ; a sin exceeding sinful; as great an instance of the corruption and degeneracy of the human nature, and as sure an evidence of the reigning power of Satan in the soul, as any other whatsoever. Nothing is more naturally the language of hell than this ; nay, the devil himself seems to have smothered the curse implied, when he said, (Job i. 11. according to the original,) Ifht curse thee not to thy face ; but that which he stifled, his children speak out, wishing themselves confounded and damned, and what not, if such a thing be not so.
To show you the evil of it, I will only recommend two things to your thoughts:
1. Consider, what a brutish piece of madness it is to curse yourselves. If you do it absolutely, it is of the same nature with self-murder; vrishing harm to yourselves is in effect doing it; and is a breach of one of the first and great laws of nature, that of self-preservation. If yon do it conditionally, it is of the same nature with profane swearing, and incurs the same guilt, with this additional stain, that it is not only a mocking of God's government, by a ludicrous appeal to him, but a defying of his judgmentf a challenge to the Almighty to do his worst.
O the daring presumption of these sinners, sinners against their own heads, their own souls! The devils begged of our Saviour, whose power they were not ignorant of, not to torment them before the time ; but these presumptuous wretches, as if they thought their judgment lingered, and their damnation slumbered too long, pull vengeance down upon their own heads, and pray to God to damn them; and they need not fear but they shall be heard, for so shall their doom be, themselves have decided it They challenge the devil to take them, and he is ready enough to seize his prey. But, shall I ask you, are the arrests of devils, and the flames of hell, such delectable things that you should court them ? Or are they only the creatures of fancy and imagination, that you should make so light of them ? Be not deceived, God's judgment is not a jest, nor hell a sham; if you persist in this impious contempt of divine revelation, you will feel too late what yon would not believe in time.
If you have no regard to God, nor any concern for his honour, yet have you no good-vrill to yourselves, nor any love to your own souls ? Is it not enough that you are doing that every day which deserves damnation, but will you be solicitous to demand sentence against yourselves ? It is but a moderate curse with you to vrish yourselves hanged, yet, I have read of a person of quality in our own nation, who, coming to die upon the gallows for murder, publicly reflected upon it with bitter regret, that he had accustomed himself to that wicked imprecation, " and now " (says he) " I see the Lord is righteous.*'
But as if this were a small matter, you challenge God to damn you, and the devil to take you: and what if God should say " Amen" to the next curse, and immediately order death to fetch you, and hell to receive you ? What if the devils should be ready at the next call, and take you presently ? And can thine heart endnre or thy hands he strong when God shall deal tpith thee ? Art thou able to dwell with devouring fire, and to inhabit everlasting burnings ? Knewest thou the power of God's anger? Is thy eternal salvation of such small account with thee, that thou art vrilling to pawn it upon every trifling occasion, and to imprecate the loss of it, if such or such a thing be not so, which it is very possible may prove otherwise ? How darest thou ihusprovohe the Lord to jealousy, whilst thou canst not pretend to be stronger than he ? 1 Cor. x. 22. Woe unto you that thus desire the day of the Lord ! you know not what you do, for the day of the Lord, whatever it is to others, will be to you darhness, and not light, Amos V. 18.
2. Consider what diabolical malice it is to curse others. It is the highest degree of hatred, nor can any thing be more contrary than this to the royal
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law of love and charity. He who prays to God to damn his neighbour, plainly intimates that he would do it himself if he could; and if he who bates his brother is a murderer, surely he who thus curses him is the worst of murderers, he is Abaddon — a destroyer. That tongue is doubtless set on fire of hell, which is for sending every body thither at a word, and which, by cursing men who are made after the similitude of God, would set on fire the whole course of nature, and is an advocate for the devil, that roaring lion which seeks to devour precious souls, Jam. iii. 6,9. Must the righteous God be summoned to execute thy angry resentments, and called upon to destroy those whom he sent his own Son into the world to save, and to whom he is waiting to be gracious ? Because thou art out of humour, must all about thee be sunk and ruined presently ? As a madman in his frenzy throws about him firebrands, arrows, and death, so is he who curses his neighbour; nay, perhaps his wife, his child, his friend; and says, " Am not I in passion ?" or, " Am not I in sport?" Hast thou no other way of signifying thy displeasure (if it be just) but by the imprecation of evil, the worst of evils, which bear no proportion at all to the offence given ?
Put this case close to thy own heart. When thou wishest thy child, or servant, or neighbour hanged, confounded or damned, or sent to the devil, either thou meanest as thou sayest, or not. If thou dost not wish it, (as I charitably hope thou dost not,) thou art guilty of a manifest falsehood, and must own thyself a liar : if thou dost really wish it, (and what wickedness is it that will not enter into the heart of a furious man ?) thou canst not but acknowledge thyself guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman malice imaginable. So that every curse proves thee a wilful transgressor, either of the law of truth, or of the law of love, two as sacred laws, and which have as much of the image of the law-maker, as any mankind is bound by.
Consider further, that the curses thou art so liberal of will not hurt those against whom they are levelled ; thou dost but show thy ill-will; for as the bird by wandering and the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come, Prov. xxvi. 2. But they will certainly return upon thy own head, to thy confusion, As he loved cursing so let it come unto him: — into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones, Ps. cix. 17,18. They who are called to inherit the blessing, are commanded to Bless and not to curse, Rom. xii. 14. Believe it, sirs, curses are edge-tools, which t< it dangerous playing with.
In your furious and outrageous cursing of the brute creatures, or that which is inanimate and incapable of the harm you wish it, what is wanting in malice is made up in folly and absurdity; like that which the apostle calls the madness of Balaam, when he wished he had his sword to kill his own ass with.
By such silly nonsensical curses as yoo sometiflMS throw about in your passion,'yoa make it to appetr, that with your religion you put off common seiiie. You are men, you are rational creatures; speak with reason then, and act with reason, and be ye not as Ik horse and the mule, tliat have no understanding; a natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed,
III. Lying is another of the exorbitances of an ungovemed tongue, and a very pemick Nis one.
It has been said of some, that tboagh they do not swear yet they will lie; it is to be feared there ue those, of whom it is too true; and let them bear tbdr own burthen; but let not those, who would not for a world do either, suffer for the same; nor let swearers think it will in the least excuse their sin, thit there arc liars who are no swearers. It is certain they arc both damning sins, and either of them persisted in will undoubtedly be the ruin (^ tke sinner. But if we may guess at one sin by another, it is more probable, (as I hinted before,) that thej who make no conscience of swearing will not stick at lying; and we may charitably hope, unless we know the contrary, that they who dread a profane oath, will be as much afraid of telling a wilful lie.
Let me, therefore, in God's name, seriously apply myself to those who (as the prophet s|>eaks) have taught their tongue to speak lies, Jer. ix. 5. For then is an art in it, whether they be such lies as seem to do good, or such as are directly intended to do hwt, or such as are idle, and intended neither for good nor hurt. If they are lies, they are sins agnst God, and all liars shall have their portion in the bottomless pit, if they repent not; and the nice distinctioai with which they think to justify, or at least excuse, themselves, will prove, in the great day, but a refuge of lies, which the hail will sweep away, Isa. xxriii. 17.