The Lord's Day

How much do you prize God's day, the means of grace , opportunities of worship , that are for the inward man ? The Sabbath day is a feast for souls . Now when men are weary of it , it is the most burdensome day of the week : " When will the Sabbath be gone that we may set forth wheat?"(Amos 8:5. ) It is a sign they are carnal , when men count that day the only lost day : as Seneca said of the Jews , they lost the full seventh of their lives , speaking of the Sabbath day ; so carnal men think it is a lost day to them , they look upon the Sabbath as a melancholy interruption of their affairs and business . The Apostle James said of those that are begotten of God , "that they are swift to hear "; Certainly they that have an inward man to maintain , another life than an outward and animal life , must have the supply and will look after the comforts of it .
Consider how differently we are concerned with bodily and soul concerns . If the body be but a little diseased , if we want an appetite to a meal , or a little sleep in the night , we complain of it presently , we inquire what is the cause ,and look for a remedy ; but what a wonderful disproportion is there as to the soul ? It is a strange expression : " Beloved , I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health , even as thy soul prospereth "(3John 2) Alas ! we may say of most , Oh , that their souls did prosper as their bodies ; as they flourish in the conveniences of the outward man !
  What care have you for the inward man , to adorn the soul , to beautify it with grace , that it may be of price and esteem with God , or to fortify it with grace ? Now when all our strength and travail is laid out for that which does not conduce to the inward life , and we lay out our money for that which is not bread (Isaiah 50:2.) it is a sign we are wholly carnal . We read in Ecclesiastical story of one that wept when he saw a wanton woman decking herself with a great deal of care to please her lovers : said he "Have I been so careful to deck my soul for Christ Jesus ?"

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