SEAM. VI.] THE LORD'S-DAY, OR CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 89 sores of this life, the hours and minutes of worship will for the most part be but poorly improved, and become much less profitable to our spiritual interest. It is hardly possible to attain the best ends of preaching and hearing, praying and praising, administering and receivingof the Lord's-supper, if we come into the sanctuary with our heads and hearts full of the affairs of this life, and all our earthly cares buzzing about our souls. And how much less good will a sermon do us, if as soon as the hour of worship is ended, we run immediately from God and plunge ourselves hito worldly affairs, without giving our thoughts leisure and leave to reflect on *hat we have heard ? And much worse would it be still for religion if we spent the rest of the day in recreations and sports, for these carnalize the spirit and estrange it from God and things heavenly much more than the common la- bours of life. . Alas ! how difficult a matter do we find it to disengage our thoughts from this world when we come into the pre- sence ofGod, even though we have a day appointed for this purpose ? How hard it is to shake off all the dust of this earth when we would arise to God in devotion? And though we have bid farewell toour secular concerns the night before, and have had a long interval of sleep to divide our thoughts from this vain and busy life, yet how do the weighty cares of it hang continually upon our spirits, or the trifles and amusements of it hover and play about our souls, and divert our hearts from the ex- ercise of godliness ? And let us think with ourselves, howmuch harder it would be to fulfil the duties of the sanctuary with any good success, to improve public «nor-,, ship,to our further acquaintance with God and things heavenly, to our greater delight in him, our mortifica- tion of sin and our growth in holiness, if there were no time devoted to religion but only that hour or two while we are at church ? Howwould the words of the preacher run off from our souls, like a stream of oil gliding over marble, if there were no recollection to fix it in our me- mory ? How easily would Satan pluck up the good seed that was sown in the heart, if we join to assist him by giving a loose immediately to the cares or delights of this life, and call them to break in upon us when the sermon is ended ? We may reasonably conclude, if Christ ap-
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