t

"Oxen and the Stouteft of his Servants with "all his Inftruments of Husbandry, all well "contriv'd and in good Order, where they σε might be in Sight of the Judge, he thus "makes his Defence. I am here accus'd " of Witchcraft; but Thefe (says he, point66 ing to them,) are all the Unlawful Arts I "ufe; nor can I expofe to your View my "Watchings, and Labours, and Sweats, and "all my Diligence, and Cares, and Contri• vances, which are all the Charms I have "to bring down a Bleffing upon my Fields: "It is by these Charms only that I Prepare "them, and contrive to get them into a "proper Pofture and Temper, fit to receive "the Fatning Drops of Heaven *." The Moral of This is very pertinent to our Prefent Subject: It is our Conftant Carefulness and Industry in the Ufe of those Means and Ordinances that God has appointed us, that alone can Change the Barrenness of our Hearts: These are the proper Means to prepare the Soil, and the Only Charms that will prevail with God, to fend down the Bleffings and Good Influences of Heaven upon us, to make us Fruitful in every Good Word and Work.

But what Good Fruit can ever be expected from Careless, Unaffectionate, Bare

*Plin. Nat. Hift. lib, 18.

Hearing;

Hearing; when we come to the House of God to Hear his Word out of Custom or Curiofity, or to pafs away an Idle Hour; and can fatisfy ourselves with Hearing, though little minding the Practice? No, This will profit us nothing: We must be Doers of Jam. i. 22, the Word, and not Hearers only, Deceiving our own Souls. When we come to Hear the Good Word of God, we must come in Truth and Sincerity, fully purpofing to Form ourselves in Heart and Life by it: Diligently liftning to what we Hear, to that very End, that we may apply all to our own Case, Refolving faithfully to Do All that he Commands, and carefully to Avoid All that he Forbids, without Exception or Referve. Then Shall we neither be Barren nor Unfruitful in 2 Pet. i. 8, the Work of the Lord,-But fhall Grow in 2 Pet. iii. Grace, and in the Knowledge of Our Lord 18. and Saviour Jefus Chrift; and fhall be still improving ourselves in all Virtue and Godlinefs; and God will give us his Bleffing. For the Earth which drinketh in the Rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth Herbs meet for them by whom it is dreffed, receiveth Bleffing from God: But that which beareth Thorns and Briars is rejected, and is Nigh unto Curfing, whofe End is to be Burned, Heb. vi. 7.

III.

IIIdly, Another of our Duties in the House of God, is the Receiving of the Holy Sacra

ment.

In

In the Primitive Times, when there was great Zeal and Fervency of Devotion, the Holy Sacrament was conftantly a Part of Divine Service every Lord's Day. From the very Beginning of Christianity we are told, that on That Day they were wont to come together to Break Bread, Acts xx. 7. But if the Lukewarmness of this Age will not admit of fuch Constant Communion, the feldomer it is adminiftred, the more Reason we have to neglect no Opportunity, and never to turn our Backs upon it.

Nor let any one prefume to despise the Means in Either Sacrament, or dare to say in his Heart, What can Water do to the Washing away of Sin? Or Bread and Wine to the Strengthening of the Soul? Might we not have These at Home? This was Naaman the Leper's Reasoning; (and it was Reasoning worthy of an Affyrian Infidel :) -"What can the Waters of Jordan Do? "Have we not Nobler Rivers at Damaf 2 Kings v." cus?" Are not Abana and Pharpar better than all the Waters of Ifrael? Yet after all, the Waters of that poor Despised River Jordan did cleanse his Leprofy, which could not have been done by all the Waters of Syria; becaufe Jordan upon that Occafion had, what They had not, the Divine Appointment and Bleffing for that Supernatural Cure.

12.

In like Manner the Leprofy of Sin cannot be Cleanfed by Natural Water, no not by all the Water of the Ocean: The Power or Efficacy is not in the Elemental Water, but in the Baptifmal Water only, as it is by Chrift's Inftitution Sanctify'd to the Myftical Office of Washing away of Sins, that the Perfon to be Baptifm. Baptifed therein may receive his Grace.

So in the other Sacrament, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Outward Signs, Bread and Wine, are only proper to nourish the Body, but have of themselves no Power or Virtue for the Strengthening or Refresh ing of the Soul; But when God has appointed Means, he giveth a Virtue as it hath pleafed him; and is Prefent to his own Inftitutions, to communicate that Virtue, that Inward and Spiritual Grace.

I fay, Neither our Prayers, nor our Sa craments, have in themselves any proper Virtue or Efficacy of their own, to cleanse us from our Sin. The Water in Baptism, and the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, are in themselves no more than the Waters of Jordan; in their Nature but mere Elements, ferviceable to the Ufes of the Body; It is only the Divine Institution and Bleffing that makes them Sacramental, and Effectual for the Cleansing and Healing, and Sanctifying of the Soul, to the Worthy Receiver.

As

As I have not Time to discourse of the Inftitution, nor of the End and Benefits of the Sacrament, fo neither of the Dispositions nor Qualifications that are requifite to Worthy Receiving; These are Subjects that cannot be briefly, and ought not to be slightly handled: I fhall therefore only just mention what our Church has taught us, as a proper Preparation and Difpofition to receive it with Comfort and Benefit to ourselves,

cr

"That we truly Repent us of our Sins, and are in "Love and Charity with our Neighbours, " and fully purpose to lead a New Life, fol"lowing the Commandments of God, and "walking from thenceforth in his holy Ways: "Then may we draw near with Faith, and "take the Holy Sacrament to our Com« fort.

These are the Duties to be Performed in the Houfe of God, which I have briefly confidered, and the Benefits that we may receive thereby. I fhall only farther take Notice, that as we are admitted into the House of God with Minifterial Abfolution, fo we are dismiss'd with Minifterial Benediction; which being given by those who are Divinely Commiffioned for it, may be of great Comfort to us, if we are duly qualify'd to Receive it. But if we are wanting on our Part; If we Come without Reverence, and Pray without Devotion, and Hear without Attention, and Receive without Faith and Charity, no

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