[5. 1 Fifthly, Consider, if you do not prepare yourselves beforehand for thcU day of the Lord, and all the duties of that day, lohat difference ivill there be beticeen you and the ivcyrst of hypocrites, formalists, super- stitious, or profane 2:)ersons, who rush upon holy duties as the horse rushefh into the battle? Dost thou dress up thy house, thy husband, thyself, thy children ? so do the worst of persons. If you do not pre- pare for the duties of the day, and to meet with God in those duties, what singular thing do ye ? Mat. v. 27.
[6.] Sixthly, Consider what blessed earnings you have made on those Sabbaths ivherein you have been prepared to meet ivith the Lord, and to manage the duties of those days. Oh the joy, the peace, the comfort, the communion, the satisfaction, the enlargements, that you have then met with ! And, on the other hand, consider what poor earnings you have made of it, when you have been careless and rash,
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 289
and have not prepared yourselves for the duties of the day, and for the enjoyment of God in those duties. Oh how flat, how cokl, how dull, how dead, how straitened, have you been on those Sabbaths wherein you have not prepared to meet with the Lord ! &c.
Quest. But you may say, Wherein doth our preparation for the Sab- bath consist ?
Ans. In these three things : —
[1.] First, In a holy care, so to order oil our ivorldhj business and affaws on the day he/ore, that they may not increase iijjon 2is on the LoixVs day, to troiihle us or distract us in the duties of that day.
[2.] Secondly, In putting iniquity far from you, in Haying aside all supeifiuity of naughtiness, that you may receive the engrafted luord loith meekness, ivhich is able to save your souls:' Job xi. 14, 15 ; James i. 21. When the vessel is unclean, it sours quickly the sweetest liquors that are poured into it. And so when the heart is filthy and unclean, it loses all the good it might otherwise gain by ordinances. If the stomach be foul, it must be purged before it be fed, or else the meat will never nourish and strengthen nature, but increase ill humours. So the souls of men must be purged from foul enormities and gross impieties, or else they will never gain any saving good by ordinances : 2 Tim. ii. 21, ' If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work,' &c.
[3.] Thirdly, In acting your graces in all the duties of the day. Sleepy habits will do you no good, nor bring God no glory : all the honour he hath, and all the comfort and advantage you have, is from the active part of grace, Isa. 1. 10, and therefore you nmst still be a-stirring up the grace of God that is in you : 2 Tim. i. 6, ' Stir up the gift of God that is in thee.' I know the apostle speaks of the ministerial gift ; but it is as true of the work of grace : for the Greek word ')(apL(Tixa signifies grace, as well as gift. ' Stir up the grace of God in thee.' Mark the phrase, it is a remarkable phrase ; for in the original it is to blow up thy grace, ^Avat^wTrvpelv, just as a man blows up a fire that grows dull, or is hid under the ashes : blow up the grace of God in thee. Some think — Calvin and others — that it is a meta- phor taken from a spark kept in ashes, which by gentle blowing is stirred up till it take a flame. Others say it is an allusion to the fire in the temple, which was always to be kept burning. Look, as the fire is increased and preserved by blowing, so are our graces preserved and increased by our acting of them. We get nothing by dead and useless habits. Talents hid in a napkin gather rust. Look, as the noblest faculties are imbased when they are not improved, when they are not exercised ; so the noblest graces are imbased when they are not improved, when they are not exercised. Grace is bettered and made more perfect by acting. Neglect of our graces is the ground of their decrease and decay. Wells are the sweeter for drawing, and so are our graces for acting. We had need pray hard with the spouse. Cant. iv. 16, ' Awake, 0 north wind ; and come, thou south ; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruit.' Satan's grand design is not to keep men from going the round of duties, nor yet to keep men from attending
290 London's lamentations on [Isa XLII. 24, 25.
on ordinances, but liis <2;rand dcsif^n is to hinder the exercise of grace. All other exercises without the exercise of grace will do a Christian no good, as you may see by comparing the scri()tures in the margin together.! The more grace is exercised, the more corruptions will be weakened and mortified. As one bucket in the w^ell rises up, the other goes down ; so as grace rises higher and higher, corruptions fall lower and lower. There was two laurels at Kome, and when the one flour- ished, the other withered; so where grace flourishes, corruptions wither. As the house of David grew stronger and stronger, so the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker, 2 Sam. iii. 1. So as grace in its exercise grows stronger and stronger, so sin, like the house of Saul, will every day grow w^eaker and weaker. If you keep not grace in exercise, it may most fail you when it should stand you most in stead, Mark iv. 40. If a man uses a knife but now and then, he may have his knife to seek when he should use it. That sword grows rusty in the scabbard that is used but now and then. You know how to apply it. But,