whose province it is to conduct the worship of the con gregation. This sometimes is occasioned by their lawful removal to another part, where an opening is made for their greater usefulness. Ministers are subject to bodily infirmities and disease as other men, and thereby are liable to be laid aside from their public duty, and cause their people to experience a silent Sabbath. Ministers too, are mortal, and frequently are caught away by death in the midst of their usefulness, and leave their people to mourn the loss of public privileges. And now and then, Ministers, by temptation, and by error, are seduced; wound the cause of Christ, and produce among their peo ple a gloomy Sabbath indeed! The loss of a Minister in this way is of more serious consequences, and more to be lamented than many deaths!-DOMESTIC AF FLICTIONS frequently deprive us of an attendance on the public duties of religion. Severe losses, disobedi ence and unfaithfulness of servants and children, ex treme sickness in dear connections, and sometimes the entrance of death into our houses: these afflictions ab sorb the mind, and unstring the golden harp of praise. The Lord's day, under such calamities, heavily passes away; little else but sighs and tears are experienced. PERSONAL AFFLICTIONS must also be named. Confinement in the chamber, or wrecked on a sick bed, has a natural tendency to create a gloomy day. In this, as in every other case named in this Lecture, satan, our grand adversary, takes every possible advantage of a secluded state. Indeed, we may say, that silent Sabbaths are some of the devil's best holidays; in which he fails not to make sport with the feelings of those who are confined under the pressure of suffering. While I recite these things as peculiar to Christians in common, I will, in this place, say, that there are circumstances in the silent Sabbaths of MINISTERS which sometimes produce exquisite pain. Now and then we may meet with a public servant of the Lord, who has been so highly indulged by his Master, as in a long life not to have met with any interrup<tion from his stated delightful work, till called to recline on his dying bed. Such an one has not known the gloom and the pain of a silent Sabbath. Yet the number of such is certainly very small in comparison with others. May such favoured men possess gratitude and zeal proportionate to their mercy! 3. I shall now proceed to offer you a few directions, which, if pursued, will tend to alleviate your mind under -your present distance from public worship. It will certainly be of use for you to reflect, that your absence from public worship is not by choice, but necessity; therefore, it does not become your sin of wilful neglect. If you are .conscious that the providence of God hath debarred you from external privileges, indulge reflection upon the cause, so far as to produce resignation to your heavenly Father's will; particularly so if you experience family affliction. If called to attend a sick or dying relative, you must remember, God intends your affliction to be to you a sermon from which you ought to derive many valuable lessons. Painful as it may be to spend a silent Sabbath over a sick child or valuable friend, if rightly improved, it may be to you of great advantage; and, should the affliction particularly rest upon your own person, and yourself be confined to a sick bed, it certainly becomes you, with Job, to inquire of the Lord, wherefore he contendeth with you? For, in all the afflictive dispensations of God, there are valuable designs. They often show us more of ourselves, and lead us sensi bly to the Lord for faith, patience, humility, and other valuable virtues, which are little known in ease and prosperity. Thus, like David, commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.-The advantages of MEDITATION to a person confined from the house of God, are exceedingly great. Christians have the most sublime objects for their attention, which are calculated to yield the most sublime pleasures. While I mused, said David, the fire kindled. And frequently, although the mind may be under extreme depression, by meditation on Christ, his love, his dispensations, light and joy break into the disconsolate breast.-PRAYER is both a duty and a privilege to Christians, at all times. Communion with God is the substance of religion. As certainly as the magnet is directed to the north, so grace, in whatever breast it may reside, cannot be satisfied with any thing short of Christ. Fellowship with God is the same, let the medium, duty, or ordinance, public or private, through which it may be enjoyed, be what it may. When confined in your chamber; or absorbed in personal or family sufferings, prayer becomes more necessary in order to support and to relieve you. Indeed, nature, as well as revelation, teaches this lesson. And to which may be added, the experience of Christians has ever evinced, that their sufferings have had an influence to lead them to the sensible enjoyment of God, to which they were too great strangers in times of prosperity. If, therefore, your silent Sabbath leads you to converse more freely with the Lord of the Sabbath and your own heart, you have reason for gratitude. God, though he has appointed public means, on which it is our duty to attend, nevertheless does not confine his gracious communications to them. He can hear your prayer, shine upon your heart, and enrich you with grace in your family, as well as in the church, when he is pleased to confine you at home. Thus the silent Sabbath has its duties and advantages as well as public ones, and has made many a Christian to -say, O solitude! thou friend to roving thought, Thy stilness helps my mem'ry to retrace The silent Sabbath of MINISTERS, however in some instances painful, has very important duties. This will be a proper season for examination of the heart; and, if confined by sickness, to exercise that faith and patience which they have preached to others. St. John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day; but it was when an exile in the Isle of Patmos. There the Lord gave him the most animating views of Jesus, and unfolded to him the most interesting subjects. Silent Sabbaths, therefore, to Ministers are frequently attended with new discoveries of the Lord: it is a time to trim their lamps, that they may appear the brighter when again called to their public duty. At any rate, Ministers, when laid by from their usual work, should remember that their Lord knows best when to employ them; and if he has no need of their present service, they certainly ought to employ their retirement to preach to themselves, and thus they will most assuredly preach the better to others. S I shall conclude by directing you, whether ministers of others, in your silent Sabbaths to reflect on that happy Sabbath in reserve for you in glory, where no silence reigns, but incessant praise shall employ your heart and tongue! There you shall unite with the general assembly of the redeemed, and again embrace those happy pious friends with whom you once enjoyed the sweets of Christian love in the Church and family below. Then you shall breathe in heavenly air; no tempest shall rage, nor vile temptations distract your soul. Joy, peace, love, and holy rapture, without the shadow of imperfection, shall be your happy portion. Your Saviour, though once bleeding on the cross, you will behold upon his brilliant throne, while his sacred smiles shall absorb your soul in unutterable bliss! With such prospects may we spend .our Sabbaths on earth, improve every vicissitude of time, and eventually share in that rest which remains for the people of God. |