spiritual benefit.

Mankind are formed for society with each other, and cannot be happy in a solitary state. Mutual intercourse serves to harmonize and civilize them, and to render them more amiable and virtuous, as well as religious. This happy effect the sabbath has never failed to produce wherever it has been observed. How differently do those feel and conduct towards each other, who usually meet together every sabbath, and apparently unite in the service of the sanctuary, from those who neglect the duties of the sabbath, and only see one another occasionally, as business, inclination, or necessity may require. Both observation and experience prove the civilizing and harmonizing tendency of observing a day of rest and devotion. Those who have observed it, have found sensible advantage from it; and those who have despised and neglected it, have suffered temporal inconveniency and injury from their ungrateful and criminal conduct. The happy influence of the christian sabbath upon the christian world has been incalculably great. It has formed the christian nations for the enjoyment of that civil order, peace, and harmony, which no unchristian nation ever realized. And there can be no doubt but the God of order ordained the sabbath for the great benefit of mankind in their civil, as well as in their religious connections.

4. The sabbath is highly beneficial, as it affords the most favourable opportunity for training up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Parents and heads of families ought to impart religious instruction to those under their care, and to do all they can to promote their spiritual and eternal good. But amidst the labours of the week, they can find but few good opportunities to pour instruction into the minds of children and youth. And if they could find time, children and youth would not be so ready to hear instructions, while they are eagerly pursuing more pleasing objects. But when they know that God requires them to remember the sabbath day and keep it holy; and when they are actually restrained from speaking

their own words and finding their own pleasure on that day, their minds are better prepared to hear and feel the force of religious instructions. Religious parents and heads of families do esteem the sabbath as a precious season for discharging their duty to those, whose temporal and eternal interests God has, for a time, lodged in their hands. And the effects of such private instructions have often been great, salutary and lasting, upon the minds of children and youth. Indeed, we generally observe a sensible and striking contrast between those families where private instructions are given sabbath after sabbath, and those who are allowed to grow up in ignorance of religion, and in the neglect of all the duties of the sabbath.

5. The sabbath affords a precious opportunity of attending the publick worship of God, and of hearing the publick, as well as private instructions of religion. It is one of the principal purposes of the sabbath, to give mankind an opportunity of hearing the great truths and duties of the gospel explained and inculcated. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." And the sabbath is the day, which God has appointed to hear his word. And to render this appointment more sacred and important, he has raised up and authorized an order of men to deliver his messages, and inculcate the everlasting gospel upon the minds of sinful and perishing creatures. This he did, under the law, and this he does, under the gospel. The sabbath with these appendages is an unspeakable gift to those in a state of probation, whose eternal interests are suspended upon their hearing, understanding, believing and accepting the terms of salvation, which he has provided for them, and offered to them, through the atoning blood of his dear Son. In this respect, the sabbath is of all other days the most beneficial and important. For without it, all other days may be infinitely worse than nothing. Thousands and millions of our fellow men are now destitute of the sabbath and all the means of salvation, which are connected with it, and of consequence, are perishing for the lack of vis

ion. Though those, who enjoy the sabbath, often depreciate and despise it, and consider it a burden, rather than a benefit; yet it is of all temporal blessings the greatest, that God has bestowed upon this guilty and perishing world. I may add,

6. The sabbath is a peculiar and distinguishing benefit to the cordial friends of Christ; as it affords them. a precious opportunity of attending the special ordinances, which he has appointed for their spiritual comfort and growth in grace; I mean baptism and the Lord's supper. Though these ordinances may be occasionally attended on other days, yet the sabbath is the only stated season of celebrating them. Where the sabbath is unknown, these ordinances are unknown. Where the sabbath is neglected, these ordinances are neglected. And where these ordinances are neglected, christians are declining, and religion becoming extinct. There are too many melancholy instances of this kind, to be found in this best part of our country. The sabbath lies at the foundation of all our religious privileges and enjoyments, if not at the foundation of our civil peace and prosperity. How much would religion decay, and the professors of it decline, if the sabbath were to be totally neglected in this place, and the sacred ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper to be entirely laid aside? The bare supposition must be extremely painful to those, who esteem a day in God's courts better than a thousand, and the communion with Christ and his friends, the highest enjoyment this side of heaven. To the godly, then, if not to others, the sabbath must appear extremely precious and beneficial.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If the sabbath was made for man, and designed to promote the benefit of the whole human race in all ages; then they ought to be very thankful for its appointment, perpetuity and obligation. It is the most useful and important ordinance that God ever appoint

ed, and has been productive of the greatest temporal and spiritual blessings in all ages. It has been the principal source of virtue and piety in individuals, in families, and in all civil societies, whether smaller or larger. God promised to smile upon his chosen people, so long as they esteemed and observed the sabbath. "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 thine 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." This promise to Israel was fulfilled so long as they performed the conditions of it, and sanctified the sabbath. Our fathers were extremely strict in keeping the sabbath, for more than a hundred years after God planted them in this land, which was undoubtedly the happy occasion of drawing down a rich profusion of both temporal and spiritual blessings. And though the sabbath has, of late years, been greatly neglected, despised, and profaned; yet it is the richest source of every blessing we enjoy. We have abundant reasons to be thankful, that God still continues this forfeited favour to us, and inspires so many to support, esteem and improve his holy day. It is the grand palladium and bulwark of every thing we hold most precious and valuable. It behoves those who have experienced saving benefit from the sabbath and its sacred ordinances, to make it appear to the world, that they hold these religious privileges in the highest estimation; and are determined to transmit them, so far as lies in their power, to all future ages. God has deposited these invaluable and sacred privileges in their hands, and they stand responsible, if they suffer them to be wrested from them. If the world despise them, they may not despise them. If the world neglect them, they may not neglect them. If the world profane them, they may not profane them. If the world oppose them, they are

bound to protect and preserve them, for the benefit of themselves and all who are coming after them.

2. If the sabbath be such a great and extensive blessing to mankind; then the neglect, the abuse and profanation of this holy day must be exceedingly sinful and displeasing to God. To abuse the sabbath is virtually to abuse every other temporal and spiritual blessing, and to provoke God to inflict every temporal and spiritual evil upon individuals and whole nations. The profanation of the sabbath was the national sin of Israel, and the principal procuring cause of all their national calamities. God told them by the mouth of Moses, "ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary," and subjoined a promise of every publick and personal blessing. But at the same time he said, if they should not keep his sabbaths, but despise his statutes, he would make their land desolate, and cause it to enjoy its sabbaths, which they did not suffer it to enjoy. But neither the threatening, nor the inflicting of national judgments, were sufficient to cure them of their national sin of sabbath-breaking. For after they had returned from their long captivity in Babylon, they still persisted in profaning the sabbath, for which Nehemiah upbraids and condemns them. He says, "Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, what evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath." They were weary of the sabbath," saying, when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?" God employed various means to allure them to observe his sabbath. He appointed the best of teachers to enlighten their understandings; he built the most beautiful and magnificent temple to gratify their eyes; and appointed the best of musicians to please their ears; but nevertheless they were bent to forsaking his house, and to profaning his holy day. And the same spirit has reigned in the hearts of the great majority