[2.] The graciousness of their carriage : ' They came to eat bread with him before the Lord.' That is, saith Calvin on the text, in gloriam el honorem Dei, To the honour and glory of God. Grace must spice every cup, and be sauce to every dish, or nothing will relish well with him whose heart is set to sanctify the Sabbath. ' Aaron and all the elders of Israel ate bread before the Lord,' that is, they ate bread as in the presence of God. Whilst they were eating of bread, their hearts were under a reverential awe of God. Diana's temple was burnt down, when she was busy at Alexander's birth, and could not be at two places together. But God is present both in paradise and in the wilderness at the same time : he is present both at board and bed, both in the family and in the closet at the same time. Oh that in all your natural, civil, and common actions you would carry it as becomes his eye, his presence, that fills heaven and earth with his glory, Ps. cxx.xix. But,
11. Eleventhly, You must sanctify the Sabbath, by managing all the duties of the Sabbath with a spirit of holy joy and delight, Ps. xxxiii. 1, and xxxii. 11 ; Phil. iv. 4 ; 1 Thes. v. 1(3, 18. There is no garment that so well becomes the upright as the garment of gladness. God hath laid his royal command upon us to rejoice on this day : Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, ' If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight' — or as the Hebrew runs, ' delights:' and so Tremehus reads it — ' the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him,' &c. : ' then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord,' &c. : Ps. cxviii. 24, ' This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice therein.' Now if you compare this text with Mat. xxi. 22, 23, and Acts iv. 11, you will find that the precedent verses are a prophetical prediction of Christ's resurrection ; and so this verse foretells the church's joy upon that memorable and glorious day. ' A feast,' saith Solomon, ' is made for laughter,' Eccles. x. 19. Now on this day the Lord of hosts is pleased more especially and more abundantly to make for his people ' a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined,' Isa. xxv, 6. On this day we enjoy the freest, and the fullest, and the sweetest, and the choicest, and the nearest communion of saints: and what doth this call for, but
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 299
a spirit of holy joy ? Oa this day we enjoy all the precious ordinances in a most solemn manner ; and why then should we not be joyful in God's house of praj^er? Isa. Ivi. 7. The heavenly host sung at his birth, Luke ii. 10-14 ; and why should not we sing and rejoice at his second birth, his resurrection from the dead ? 0 sirs. Sabbaths are the very suburbs of heaven ; and who can be in the suburbs of heaven and not rejoice ? A beautiful face is at all times pleasing to the eye, but then especially when there is joy manifested in the countenance. Joy in the face puts a new beauty upon a person, and makes that which before was beautiful to be exceeding beautiful ; it puts a lustre upon beauty. And so doth holy joy put a lustre upon the day of God, the ways of God, and the people of God. It is the duty and glory of a Christian to rejoice in the Lord every day, but especially on the Lord's day. God reserves the best wine, the best comforts, and the choicest discoveries of himself, and of his love, and of his Christ, and of his glory for that day; and all to make his people 'joyful in the house of prayer/ Isa. Ivi. 7. The Manichees were wont to keep their fasts upon the Lord's day, which made Tertullian say that that prac- tice of theirs was a detestable wickedness. To fast on the Lord's day, saith Ignatius, is to kill Christ ; but to rejoice in the Lord this day, and to rejoice in all the duties of this day, and to rejoice in that redemption that was wrought for us on this day, this is to crown Christ, this is to lift up Christ. But,
12. Twelfthly, You must sanctify the Sabbath, hy soMctifying of the whole day to God's service, and not hy Jits, and flashes, and sudden pangs. 0 sirs, if the Lord was so strict that he would not lose a moment's honour in a ceremonial day of rest— Lev. xxiii. 32, ' It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afEict your souls in the ninth day of the month at even : from even unto even shall ye cele- brate your sabbath' — what shall we think the Lord expects upon this day, which is more ? Ps. xcii. 1, 2, ' It is good to sing of his loving-kindness in the morning, and of his fliithfulness every night.' Jer. xvii. 22, ' You shall do no work, but sanctify my sabbath,' Now that this may the better stick, consider,
[l.J First, God hath given you six whole days that you may provide for yourselves and families, and therefore do not deny him one day in seven, Exod. xx. 9, and xxiii. 12. What an unrighteous thing is it to buy by one measure which is greater, and sell by another which is lesser ! Do not rob God of his time, who hath been so noble as to give you six in seven. But,
[2.] Secondly, God rested all the seventh day : he had finished the creation in six days, Gen. ii. 1-3. God did not rest on one part of the seventh day and work on the other part of the seventh day, but he rested all the seventh day. And doubtless it is your wisdom, duty, and glory to write after the copy that God has laid before you. But,
[3.] Thirdly, The Sabbath is not to be an artificial day, hut a natural day, viz., twenty-four hours together : as you may see in Lev. xxiii. 32, ' From even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath.' The days then were so reckoned. But,
[4.] Fourthly, You ivould not take it well at your servants' hands if they should only ivork three or four hours in a day, and either trifle
300 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLTI. 24, 25.
away the rest of titc time, or else spend it in doing their own luork ichen the// should he a-doimj of yours ; and do yuii think tliat tlio j^-eat God will take it well at your liands, that when you have spent three or four hours in the duties of his day, that then you should either trifle away, or fool away, or play away, or sleep away, or sin away the remain! Mij: part of his day ? But,