profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?"* The petty gains, purchased at the expense of their duty to God-whose laws they break, whose holy day they dishonour-will be dearly bought. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten; your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last day." Nor will the condemnation of those who buy be less than that of those who sell on the Lord's day their guilt is equal, and so will be their punishment. "Men are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." This is the other great cause of the breach of the Sabbath. Men will do their own pleasure on God's holy day, notwithstanding his commands and threatenings. Thus a day designed for sacred purposes,-for a holy rest,for the public worship of God,-for stopping, as it were, in the journey of life, to withdraw the mind from the too-engrossing cares and enjoyments of the world, and inquire into the state of our souls,-to meditate on the end and object of life, and wean our hearts from earthly things, and to set them on things above,-is made, with many, a day of light amusement, or of sinful indulgence. Alas! this growing evil affects all classes of society. Be not ye, my Christian friends, partakers of their sin. The true Christian, who receives, as his sole guide in the affairs of God, God's own Word, and thence reasons that the Most High is jealous for the honour of His name, mourns over the violation of the Sabbath, which, more than any thing else, has injured the morals of the people of England.* At the same time, he now rejoices in the hope that better days are, through God's mercy, in store for our land; for the various petitions which have been, during the present session, addressed to Parliament, for an amendment of the laws regarding the observance of the Sabbath, show that the public attention is now drawn to this most important subject. May the Lord of the Sabbath prosper the labours of those who desire to secure His holy day from open violation! And may He pour into the hearts of the people His Holy Spirit, that, sanctifying the Lord God in their hearts," they may employ that day as designed, and receive the blessing promised to its due ob"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy Father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."† 66 servance. The public worship of God, my brethren, is necessarily connected with the due observance * Mr. Ruell, the Chaplain of Middlesex, states, as the result of the observation of some years, that 100,000 persons, who have come before him as convicted of different offences, all traced their commencement of crime to the breach of the Sabbath. + Isaiah lviii. 13. B profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?"* The petty gains, purchased at the expense of their duty to God-whose laws they break, whose holy day they dishonour-will be dearly bought. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten; your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as if it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last day." Nor will the condemnation of those who buy be less than that of those who sell on the Lord's day: their guilt is equal, and so will be their punishment. "Men are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." This is the other great cause of the breach of the Sabbath. Men will do their own pleasure on God's holy day, notwithstanding his commands and threatenings. Thus a day designed for sacred purposes,-for a holy rest,— for the public worship of God,-for stopping, as it were, in the journey of life, to withdraw the mind from the too-engrossing cares and enjoyments of the world, and inquire into the state of our souls,―to meditate on the end and object of life, and wean our hearts from earthly things, and to set them on things above,—is made, with many, a day of light amusement, or of sinful indulgence. Alas! this growing evil affects all classes of society. Be not ye, my Christian friends, partakers of their sin. The true Christian, who receives, as his sole guide in the affairs of God, God's own Word, and thence reasons that the Most High is jealous for the honour of His name, mourns over the violation of the Sabbath, which, more than any thing else, has injured the morals of the people of England.* At the same time, he now rejoices in the hope that better days are, through God's mercy, in store for our land; for the various petitions which have been, during the present session, addressed to Parliament, for an amendment of the laws regarding the observance of the Sabbath, show that the public attention is now drawn to this most important subject. May the Lord of the Sabbath prosper the labours of those who desire to secure His holy day from open violation! And may He pour into the hearts of the people His Holy Spirit, that, "sanctifying the Lord God in their hearts,' they may employ that day as designed, and receive the blessing promised to its due observance. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy Father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."+ "9 The public worship of God, my brethren, is necessarily connected with the due observance * Mr. Ruell, the Chaplain of Middlesex, states, as the result of the observation of some years, that 100,000 persons, who have come before him as convicted of different offences, all traced their commencement of crime to the breach of the Sabbath. Isaiah Iviii. 13. of the Lord's Day. In the command addressed by God to His chosen people, they are thus united:-"Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reVerence my sanctuary. I am the Lord."* And that soul was to be cut off from Israel, who failed to present himself before the Lord, on the great appointed days of solemn service and sacrifice. Do not our consciences again find matter of accusation against us, sufficient to humble the heart of the most regular and devout worshipper, and draw from him the confession, that infirmity mingles itself with our best works, our holiest exercises? The higher the believer advances in holiness and spiritual-mindedness, the more he feels the propriety and beauty of that petition, in our admirable Liturgy, “Although we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet, we beseech Thee, to accept this, our bounden duty and sacrifice, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord." For our perception of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, grows with our spiritual growth. But must we not fear that there are heavier charges against some of us than sins of infirmity? Is it not "the manner of some," "to neglect the assembling themselves together?" Do not others appear to forget the admonition, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil?" Are all fearful to incur the condemnation passed upon the Jews, "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with *Levit. xix. 30. Eccles. v. 1. |