Thomas Watson
The Ten Commandments
File 12
(... continued from file 11)
Distracted thoughts in hearing proceed from an evil habit. We
inure ourselves to vain thoughts at other times, and therefore we
cannot hinder them on a Sabbath. Habit is a second nature. 'Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye
also do good that are accustomed to do evil?' Jer 13: 23. He that is
used to bad company, knows not how to leave it; so such as have vain
thoughts to keep them company all the week, know not how to get rid
of them on the Sabbath. Let me show you how evil these vain
distracting thoughts in hearing are: -
[1] To have the heart distracted in hearing, is a disrespect to
God's omniscience. God is an all-seeing Spirit; and thoughts speak
louder in his ears than words do in ours. 'He declareth unto man
what is his thought.' Amos 4: 13. To make no conscience of wandering
thoughts in hearing, is an affront to God's omniscience, as if he
knew not our heart, or did not hear the language of our thoughts.
[2] To give way to wandering thoughts in hearing is hypocrisy.
We pretend to hear what God says, and our minds are quite upon
another thing. We present God with our bodies, but do not give him
our hearts. Hos 7: 11. This hypocrisy God complains of. 'This people
draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but
have removed their hearts far from me.' Isa 29: 13. This is to
prevaricate and deal falsely with God.
[3] Vain thoughts in hearing discover much want of love to God.
Did we love him we should listen to his words as oracles, and write
them upon the table of our heart. Prov 3: 3. When a friend whom we
love speaks to us, and gives us advice, we attend with seriousness,
and suck in every word. Giving our thoughts leave to ramble in holy
duties, shows a great defect in our love to God.
[4] Vain impertinent thoughts in hearing defile an ordinance.
They are as dead flies in the box of ointment. When a string of a
lute is out of tune, it spoils the music; so distraction of thought
puts the mind out of tune, and makes our services sound harsh and
unpleasant. Wandering thoughts poison a duty, and turn it into sin.
'Let his prayer become sin.' Psa 109: 7. What can be worse than to
have a man's praying and hearing of the word become sin? Would it
not be sad, if the meat we eat should increase bad humours? How much
more when hearing the word, which is the food of the soul, is turned
into sin!
[5] Vain thoughts in hearing offend God. If the king were
speaking to one of his subjects, and he should not give heed to what
the king says, but be thinking on another business, or playing with
a feather, would not the king be provoked? So, when we are in God's
presence, and he is speaking to us in his word, and we mind not much
what he says, but our hearts go after covetousness, will it not
offend God to be thus slighted? Ezek 33: 31. He has pronounced a
curse upon such. 'Cursed be the deceiver, which has in his flock a
male, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing.' Mal 1: 14. To
have strong lively affections is to have a male in the flock; but to
hear the word with distraction, is to give God duties fly-blown with
vain thoughts, and to offer to the Lord a corrupt thing, which
brings a curse. 'Cursed be the deceiver.'
[6] Vain thoughts in hearing, when allowed and not resisted,
make way for hardening the heart. A stone in the heart is worse than
in the kidneys. Distracted thoughts in hearing do not better the
heart, but harden it. Vain thoughts take away the holy awe of God
which should be upon the heart; they make conscience less tender,
and hinder the efficacy the word should have upon the heart.
[7] Vain and distracting thoughts rob us of the comfort of an
ordinance. A gracious soul often meets with God in the sanctuary,
and can say, 'I found him whom my soul loveth.' Cant 3: 4. He is
like Jonathan, who, when he had tasted the honey on the rod, had his
eyes enlightened. But vain thoughts hinder the comfort of an
ordinance, as a black cloud hides the warm comfortable beams of the
sun. Will God speak peace to us when our minds are wandering and our
thoughts are travelling to the ends of the earth? Prov 17: 24. If
ever you would hear the word with attention, do as Abraham when he
drove away the fowls from the sacrifice. Gen 15: 2. When you find
these excursions and sinful wanderings in hearing, labour to drive
away the fowls; get rid of these vain thoughts; they are vagrants,
and must not be entertained.
How shall we get rid of these vagabond thoughts?
(1) Pray and watch against them. (2) Let the sense of God's
omniscient eye overawe your hearts. The servant will not sport in
his master's presence. (3) Labour for a holy frame of heart. Were
the heart more spiritual, the mind would be less feathery. (4) Bring
more love to the word. We fix our minds upon that which we love. He
that loves his pleasures and recreations, fixes his mind upon them,
and can follow them without distraction. Were our love more set upon
the preached word, our minds would be more fixed upon it; and surely
there is enough to make us love the word preached; for it is the
word of life, the inlet to knowledge, the antidote against sin, the
quickener of all holy affections. It is the true manna, which has
all sorts of sweet tastes in it; the pool of Bethesda, in which the
rivers of life spring forth to heal the broken in heart; and a
sovereign elixir or cordial to revive the sorrowful spirit. Get love
to the word preached, and you will not be so distracted in hearing.
What the heart delights in, the thoughts dwell upon.
[2] Take heed of drowsiness in hearing. Drowsiness shows much
irreverence. How lively are many when they are about the world, but
in the worship of God how drowsy, as if the devil had given them
opium to make them sleep! A drowsy feeling here is very sinful. Are
you not in prayer asking pardon of sin? Will the prisoner fall
asleep when he is begging pardon? In the preaching of the word, is
not the bread of life broken to you? and will a man fall asleep over
his food? Which is worse, to stay from a sermon, or sleep at a
sermon? While you slept, perhaps the truth was delivered which might
have converted your souls. Besides, sleeping is very offensive in a
holy assembly; it not only grieves the Spirit of God, but makes the
hearts of the righteous sad. Ezek 13: 22. It troubles them to see
any show such contempt of God and his worship; to see them busy in
the shop, but drowsy in the temple. Therefore, as Christ said,
'Could ye not watch one hour?' so, can ye not wake one hour? Matt
26: 40. I deny not but a child of God may sometimes, through
weakness and indisposition of body, drop asleep at a sermon, but not
voluntarily or ordinarily. The sun may be in an eclipse, but not
often. If sleeping be customary and allowed, it is a very bad sign,
and a profanation of the ordinance. A good remedy against drowsiness
is to use a spare diet upon the Sabbath. Such as indulge their
appetite too much on a Sabbath, are fitter to sleep on a couch than
pray in the temple. That you may throw off distracting thoughts and
drowsiness on the Lord's-day, and may hear the word with reverend
attention, consider -
(1) It is God that speaks to us in his word; therefore the
preaching of the word is called the 'breath of his lips.' Isa 11: 4.
Christ is said now to speak to us 'from heaven,' as a king speaks in
his ambassador. Heb 12: 25. Ministers are but pipes and organs, it
is the Spirit of the living God that breathes in them. When we come
to the word, we should think within ourselves, God is speaking in
this preacher. The Thessalonians heard the word Paul preached, as if
God himself had spoken unto them. 'When ye received the word of God,
which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as
it is in truth) the word of God.' 1 Thess 2: 13. When Samuel knew it
was the Lord that spake to him, he lent his ear. 1 Sam 3: 10. If we
do not regard God when he speaks to us, he will not regard us when
we pray to him.
(2) Consider how serious and weighty the matters delivered to
us are. Moses said, 'I call heaven and earth to record this day,
that I have set before you life and death.' Deut 30: 19. Can men be
regardless of the word, or drowsy when the weighty matters of
eternity are set before them? We preach faith, and holiness of life,
and the day of judgement and eternal retribution. Here life and
death are set before you; and does not all this call for serious
attention? If a letter were read to one of special business, wherein
his life and estate were concerned, would he not be very serious in
listening to it? In the preaching of the word your salvation is
concerned; and if ever you would attend, it should be now. 'It is
not a vain thing for you; because it is your life.' Deut 32: 47.
(3) To give way to vain thoughts and drowsiness in hearing,
gratifies Satan. He knows that not to mind a duty, is all one in
religion as not to do it. 'What the heart does not do, is not done.'
Therefore Christ says of some, 'Hearing, they hear not.' Matt 13:
13. How could that be? Because, though the word sounded in their
ear, yet they minded not what was said to them, their thoughts were
upon other things; therefore, it was all as one as if they did not
hear. Does it not please Satan to see men come to the word, and as
good stay away? They are haunted with vain thoughts; they are taken
off from the duty while they are in it; their body is in the
assembly, their heart in their shop. 'Hearing, they hear not.'
(4) Each Sabbath may be the last we shall ever keep; we may go
from the place of hearing to the place of judging; and shall not we
give reverend attention to the word? Did we think when we come into
God's house 'Perhaps this will be the last time that ever God will
counsel us about our souls, and before another sermon death's alarm
will sound in our ears; with what attention and devotion should we
feel, and our affections would be all on fire in hearing!
(5) You must give an account for every sermon you hear. Redde
rationem: 'Give an account of thy stewardship.' Luke 16: 2. So will
God say, 'Give an account of thy hearing. Hast thou been affected
with the word? Hast thou profited by it?' How can we give a good
account, if we have been distracted in hearing, and have not taken
notice of what has been said to us? The judge to whom we must give
an account is God. Were we to give account to man, we might falsify
accounts; but we must give an account to God. Nec donis corrumpitur,
nec blanditiis fallitur. Bernard. 'He is so just a God that he
cannot be bribed, and so wise that he cannot be deceived.'
Therefore, having to give an account to such an impartial Judge, how
should we observe every word preached, remembering the account! Let
all this make us shake off distraction and drowsiness in hearing,
and have our ears chained to the word.
VI. IN order to hear the word aright, let the following things
be attended to: -
[1] Lay aside those dispositions which may render the preached
word ineffectual. As,
(1) Curiosity. Some go to hear the word preached, not so much
to get grace, as to enrich themselves with notions: having 'itching
ears.' 2 Tim 4: 3. Augustine confesses that, before his conversion,
he went to hear Ambrose for his eloquence rather than for the
spirituality of the matter. 'Thou art unto them as a very lovely
song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an
instrument.' Ezek 33: 32. Many go to the word to feast their ears
only; they like the melody of the voice, the mellifluous sweetness
of the expression, and the novelty of the opinions. Acts 17: 21.
This is to love the garnishing of the dish more than the food; it is
to desire to be pleased rather than edified. Like a woman that
paints her face, but neglects her health - they paint and adorn
themselves with curious speculations, but neglect their soul's
health. This hearing neither sanctifies the heart nor the Sabbath.
(2) Lay aside prejudice. Prejudice is sometimes against the
truths preached. The Sadducees were prejudiced against the doctrine
of the resurrection. Luke 20: 27. Sometimes prejudice is against the
person preaching. 'There is one Micaiah, by whom we may inquire of
the Lord, but I hate him.' 1 Kings 22: 8. This hinders the power of
the word. If a patient has an ill opinion of his physician, he will
not take any of his medicines, however good they may be. Prejudice
in the mind is like an obstruction in the stomach, which hinders the
nutritive virtue of the meat. It poisons the word, and causes it to
lose its efficacy.
(3) Lay aside covetousness. Covetousness is not only getting
worlds gain unjustly, but loving it inordinately. This is a great
hindrance to the preached word. The seed which fell among thorns was
choked, Matt 13: 22; a fit emblem of the word when preached to a
covetous hearer. The covetous man is thinking on the world when he
is hearing; his heart is in his shop. 'They sit before thee as my
people, and they hear thy words, but their heart goes after their
covetousness.' Ezek 33: 31. A covetous hearer derides the word. 'The
Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they
derided him.' Luke 16: 14.
(4) Lay aside partiality. Partiality in hearing is, when we
like to hear some truths preached, but not all. We love to hear of
heaven, but not of self-denial; of reigning with Christ, but not of
suffering with him; of the more facile duties of religion, but not
those which are more knotty and difficult; as mortification, laying
the axe to the root, and hewing down our beloved sin. 'Speak smooth
things' (Isa 30: 10), such as may not grate upon the conscience.
Many like to hear of the love of Christ, but not of loving their
enemies; they like the comforts of the word, but not its reproofs.
Herod heard John the Baptist gladly; he liked many truths, but not
when he spake against his incest.
(5) Lay aside censoriousness. Some, instead of judging
themselves for sin, sit as judges upon the preacher; his sermon had
either too much gall in it, or it was too long. They would sooner
censure a sermon than practice it. God will judge the judger. Matt
7: 1.
(6) Lay aside disobedience. 'All day long I have stretched
forth my hands unto a disobedient people.' Rom 10: 21. It is said of
the Jews that God stretched out his hands in the preaching of the
word, but they rejected Christ. Let there be none among you that
wilfully refuse the counsels of the word. It is sad to have an
adder's ear and an adamant heart. Zech 7: 11, 12. If, when God
speaks to us in his word, we are deaf, when we speak to him in
prayer, he will be dumb.
[2] If you would hear the word aright, have good ends in
hearing. 'Come to the word to be made better.' Some have no other
end in hearing but because it is in fashion, or to gain repute, or
stop the mouth of conscience; but come to the word to be made more
holy. There is a great difference between one who goes to a garden
for flowers to wear in her bosom, and another that goes for flowers
to make syrups and medicines. We should go to the word for medicine
to cure us; as Naaman the Syrian went to Jordan to be healed of his
leprosy. 'Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow
thereby.' 1 Pet 2: 2. Go to the word to be changed into its
similitude. As the seal leaves its print upon the wax, so labour
that the word preached may leave the print of its own holiness upon
your heart.
Labour that the 'word' may have such a virtue in you, as the
water of jealousy, to kill and make fruitful; that it may kill your
sins, and make your souls fruitful in grace. Numb 5: 27.
[3] If you would hear the word aright, go to it with delight.
The word preached is a feast of fat things. With what delight do men
go to a feast! The word preached anoints the blind eye; mollifies
the rocky heart; it beats off our fetters, and turns us from the
'power of Satan unto God.' Acts 26: 18. The word is the seed of
regeneration, and the engine of salvation. James 1: 18. Hear the
word with delight and complacency. 'Thy words were found, and I did
eat them; and thy word was the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.' Jer
15: 16. 'How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than
honey to my mouth.' Psa 119: 103. Love the word that comes most home
to the conscience; bless God when your corruptions have been met
with, when the sword of the Spirit has divided between you and your
sins. Who cares for the physic which will not work?
[4] If you would hear the word aright, mix it with faith.
Believe the truth of the word preached, that it is the word by which
you must be judged. Not only give credence to the word preached, but
apply it to your own souls. Faith digests the word, and turns it
into spiritual nourishment. Many hear the word, but it may be said
of them, as in Psa 106: 24 'They believed not his word.' As
Melanchthon once said to some Italians 'Ye Italians worship God in
the bread, when ye do not believe him to be in heaven;' so, many
hear God's words, but do not believe that God is; they question the
truth of his oracles. If we do not mix faith with the word, it is
like leaving out the chief ingredient in a medicine, which makes it
ineffectual. Unbelief hardens men's hearts against the word. 'Divers
were hardened, and believed not.' Acts 19: 9. Men hear many truths
delivered concerning the preciousness of Christ, the beauty of
holiness, and the felicity of a glorified estate; but, if through
unbelief and atheism, they question these truths, we may as well
speak to stones and pillars of the church as to them. That word
which is not believed, can never be practised. Ubi male creditur,
ibi nec bene vivitur [When belief is unstable, conduct also wavers].
Jerome. Unbelief makes the word preached of no effect. 'The word
preached did not profit, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it.' Heb 4: 2. The word to an unbeliever is like a cordial put
into a dead man's mouth, which loses all its virtue. If there be any
unbelievers in our congregations, what shall ministers say of them
to God at the last day? Lord, we have preached to the people thou
sentest us to, we have showed them our commission, we have declared
unto them thy whole counsel, but they have not believed a word we
spake. We told them what would be the fruit of sin, but they would
not heed. They would drink their sugared draught, though there was
death in the cup. Lord, we are free from their blood. God forbid
that ministers should ever have to make this report to him of their
people. But this they will be forced to do if their hearers live and
die in unbelief. Would you sanctify a Sabbath by hearing the word
aright? Hear it with faith. The apostle puts the two together,
'belief and salvation.' 'We are of them that believe to the saving
of the soul.' Heb 10: 39.
[5] If you would hear the word aright, hear it with meek
spirits. James 1: 21. Receive the word in mansuetudine, 'with
meekness'. Meekness is a submissive frame of heart to the word.
Contrary to this meekness is fierceness of spirit, when men rise up
in rage against the word; as if the patient should be angry with the
physician when he gives him a medicine to purge out his bad humours.
'When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and
gnashed on him [Stephen] with their teeth.' Acts 7: 54. 'Asa was
wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house.' 2 Chron 16: 10.
Pride and guilt make men fret at the word. What made Asa enraged but
pride? He was a king, and thought he was too good to be told of his
sin. What made Cain angry when God said to him, 'Where is Abel, thy
brother?' He replied, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' What made him so
touchy but guilt? He had imbrued his hands in his brother's blood.
If you would hear the word aright, lay aside your passions. 'Receive
the word with meekness;' get humble hearts to submit to the truths
delivered. God takes the meek person for his scholar. 'The meek will
he teach his way.' Psa 25: 9. Meekness makes the word preached to be
an 'ingrafted word.' James 1: 21. A good scion grafted in a bad
stock changes the nature of it, and makes it bear good and generous
fruit; so, when the word preached is grafted into men's hearts, it
sanctifies them and makes them bring forth the sweet fruits of
righteousness. By meekness it becomes an ingrafted word.
[6] If you would hear the word aright, be not only attentive,
but retentive. Lay it up in your memories and hearts. The seed 'on
the good ground are they, which, having heard the word, keep it.'
Luke 8: 15. The Greek word for 'to keep,' signifies to hold the word
fast, that it does not run from us. If the seed be not kept in the
ground, but is presently washed away, it is sown to little purpose;
so if the word preached be not kept in your memories and hearts, it
is preached in vain. Many persons have memories like leaky vessels.
If the word goes out as fast as it comes in, how can it profit? If a
treasure be put in a chest and the chest be not locked, it may
easily be taken out; so a bad memory is a chest without a lock, out
of which the devil can easily take all the treasure. 'Then comes the
devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts.' Luke 8: 12.
Labour to keep in memory the truths you hear. The things we esteem
are not easily forgotten. 'Can a maid forget her ornaments or a
bride her attire?' Jer 2: 32. Did we prize the word more, we should
not forget it so soon. If meat does not stay in the stomach, but
rises up as fast as we eat it, it cannot nourish; so, if the word
stays not in the memory, but is presently gone, it can do the soul
but little good.
[7] If you would hear aright, practice what you hear. Practice
is the life of all. 'Blessed are they that do his commandments, that
they may have right to the tree of life.' Rev 22: 14. Hearing only
will be no plea at the day of judgement - merely to say, 'Lord, I
have heard many sermons.' God will say, 'What fruits of obedience
have ye brought forth?' The word preached is not only to inform you
but reform you; not only to mend your sight, but to mend your pace
in the way to heaven. A good hearer opens and shuts to God as the
heliotrope to the sun.
(1) If you do not hear the word to practice it, you lose all
your labour. How many a weary step have you taken, your body has
been crowded, and your spirit faint, if you are not bettered by
hearing! If you are as proud, as vain, and as earthly as ever, all
your hearing is lost. You would be loath to trade in vain, and why
not to hear sermons in vain? 'Why then labour I in vain?' Job 9: 29.
Put this question to your own soul: Why labour I in vain? Why do I
take all these pains to hear, and yet have not grace to practice it?
I am as bad as ever! Why then do I labour in vain?
(2) If you hear the word, and are not bettered by it, you are
like the salamander, no hotter in the fire; and your hearing will
increase your condemnation. 'That servant which knew his lord's
will, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes.' Luke 12: 47. We pity such as know not where to hear; it
will be worse with such as care not how they hear. To graceless
disobedient hearers, every sermon will be a faggot to heat hell. It
is sad to go loaded to hell with ordinances. Oh, beg the Spirit to
make the word preached effectual! Ministers can but speak to the
ear, the Spirit speaks to the heart. 'While Peter spake, the Holy
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.' Acts 10: 44.
[8] Having heard the word in a holy and spiritual manner, for
the further sanctification of the Sabbath, confer with the word. We
are forbidden on this day to speak our own words, but we must speak
of God's word. Isa 58: 13. Speak of the sermons as you sit together;
which is one part of sanctifying the Sabbath. Good discourse brings
holy truths into our memories, and fastens them upon our hearts.
'Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another.' Mal 3:
16. There is great power and efficacy in good discourse. 'How
forcible are right words!' Job 6: 25. By holy conference on a
Sabbath, one Christian helps to warm another when he is frozen, and
to strengthen another when he is weak. Latimer confessed he was much
furthered in religion by having conference with Mr. Bilney the
martyr. 'My tongue shall speak of thy word.' Psa 119: 172. One
reason why preaching the word on a Sabbath does no more good is
because there is so little good conference. Few speak of the word
they have heard, as if sermons were such secrets that they must not
be spoken of again, or as if it were a shame to speak of that which
will save us.
[9] Close the Sabbath evening with repetition, reading, singing
Psalms, and prayer. Ask that God would bless the word you have
heard. Could we but thus spend a Sabbath, we might be 'in the Spirit
on the Lord's-day,' our souls would be nourished and comforted; and
the Sabbaths we now keep, would be earnests of the everlasting
Sabbaths which we shall celebrate in heaven.
Use one. See here the Christian's duty, 'to keep the
Sabbath-day holy.'
(1) The whole Sabbath is to be dedicated to God. It is not
said, Keep a part of the Sabbath holy, but the whole day must be
religiously observed. If God has given us six days, and taken but
one to himself, shall we grudge him any part of that day? It were
sacrilege. The Jews kept a whole day to the Lord; and we are not to
abridge or curtail the Sabbath, as Augustine says, more than the
Jews did. The very heathen, by the light of nature, set apart a
whole day in honour of false gods; and Scaevola, a high-priest of
theirs, affirms that the wilful transgression of that day could have
no expiation or pardon. If any one robs any part of the Christian
Sabbath for servile work or recreation, Scaevola, the high priest of
the heathenish gods, shall rise up in judgement to condemn him. Let
those who say, that to keep a whole Sabbath is too Judaical, show
where God has made any abatement of the time of worship; where he
has said, you shall keep but a part of the Sabbath; and if they
cannot show that, it robs God of his due. That a whole day be
designed and set apart for his special worship, is a perpetual
statute, while the church remains upon the earth, as Peter Martyr
says. Of this opinion also were Theodore, Augustine, Irenaeus, and
the chief of the fathers.
(2) As the whole Sabbath is to be dedicated to God, so it must
be kept holy. You have seen the manner of sanctifying the Lord's-day
by reading, meditation, prayer, hearing the word, and by singing of
psalms to make melody to the Lord. Now, besides what I have said
upon keeping this day holy, let me make a short comment or
paraphrase on that Scripture. '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.' Isa 58: 13. Here is a
description of rightly sanctifying a Sabbath.
'If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath.' This may be
understood either literally or spiritually. Literally, that is, if
thou withdrawest thy foot from taking long walks or journeys on the
Sabbath-day. So the Jewish doctors expound it. Or, spiritually, if
thou turn away thy affections (the feet of thy soul) from inclining
to any worldly business.
'From doing thy pleasure on my holy day.' That is, thou must
not do that which may please the carnal part, as in sports and
pastimes. This is to do the devil's work on God's day.
'And call the Sabbath a delight.' Call it a delight, that is,
esteem it so. Though the Sabbath be not a day for carnal pleasure,
yet holy pleasure is not forbidden. The soul must take pleasure in
the duties of a Sabbath. The saints of old counted the Sabbath a
delight: the Jews called the Sabbath dies lucis, a day of light. The
Lord's day, on which the Sun of Righteousness shines, is both a day
of light and delight. This is the day of sweet intercourse between
God and the soul. On this day a Christian makes his sallies out to
heaven; his soul is lifted above the earth; and can this be without
delight? The higher the bird flies, the sweeter it sings. On the
Sabbath the soul fixes its love on God; and where love is, there is
delight. On this day the believer's heart is melted, quickened, and
enlarged in holy duties; and how can all this be, and not a secret
delight go along with it? On a Sabbath a gracious soul can say, 'I
sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was
sweet to my taste.' Cant 2: 3. How can a spiritual heart choose but
call the Sabbath a delight? Is it not delightful to a queen to be
putting on her wedding robes in which she shall meet the king her
bridegroom? When we are about Sabbath exercises, we are dressing
ourselves, and putting on our wedding robes in which we are to meet
our heavenly bridegroom the Lord Jesus; and is not this delightful?
On the Sabbath God makes a feast of fat things; he feasts the ear
with his word, and the heart with his grace. Well then may we call
the Sabbath a delight. To find this holy delight, is to 'be in the
Spirit on the Lord's-day.'
'The holy of the Lord, honourable.' In the Hebrew, it is
glorious. To call the Sabbath honourable, is not to be understood so
much of an outward honour given to it, by wearing richer apparel, or
having better diet on this day, as the Jewish doctors corruptly
gloss. This is the chief honour that some give to this day; but by
calling the Sabbath honourable, is meant that honour of the heart
which we give to the day, reverencing it, and esteeming it as the
queen of days. We are to count the Sabbath honourable, because God
has honoured it. All the persons in the Trinity have honoured it.
God the Father blessed it, God the Son rose upon it, God the Holy
Ghost descended on it. Acts 2: 1: This day is to be honoured by all
good Christians, and had in high veneration. It is a day of renown,
on which a golden sceptre of mercy is held forth. The Christian
Sabbath is the very crepusculum and dawning of the heavenly Sabbath.
It is honourable, because on this day 'God comes down to us and
visits us.' To have the King of heaven present in a special manner
in our assemblies, makes the Sabbath-day honourable. Besides, the
work done on this day makes it honourable. The six days are filled
up with servile work, which makes them lose much of their glory; but
on this day sacred work is done. The soul is employed wholly about
the worship of God; it is praying, hearing, meditating; it is doing
angels' work, praising, and blessing God. Again, the day is
honourable by virtue of a divine institution. Silver is of itself
valuable; but when the royal stamp is put upon it, it is honourable;
so God has put a sacred stamp upon this day, the stamp of divine
authority, and the stamp of divine benediction. This makes it
honourable; and this is sanctifying the Sabbath, to call it a
delight, and honourable.
'Not doing thine own ways.' That is, thou shalt not defile the
day by doing any servile work.
'Nor finding thine own pleasure.' That is, not gratifying the
fleshly part by walks, visits, or pastimes.
'Nor speaking thine own Words.' That is, words heterogeneous
and unsuitable for a Sabbath; vain, impertinent words; discourses of
worldly affairs.
Use two. If the Sabbath-day is to be kept holy, they are
reproved who, instead of sanctifying the Sabbath, profane it. They
take the time which should be dedicated wholly to God, and spend it
in the service of the devil and their lusts. The Lord has set apart
this day for his own worship, and they make it common. He has set a
hedge about this commandment, saying, 'Remember;' and they break
this hedge; but he who breaks this hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Eccl 10: 8. The Sabbath day in England lies bleeding; and oh! that
our parliament would pour some balm into the wounds which it has
received! How is this day profaned, by sitting idle at home, by
selling meat, by vain discourse, by sinful visits, by walking in the
fields, and by sports! The people of Israel might not gather manna
on the Sabbath, and may we use sports and dancings on this day?
Truly it should be matter of grief to us to see so much
Sabbath-profanation. When one of Darius's eunuchs saw Alexander
setting his feet on a rich table of Darius's, he wept. Alexander
asked him why he wept? He said it was to see the table which his
master so highly esteemed now made a footstool. So may we weep to
see the Sabbath-day, which God highly esteems, and has honoured and
blessed, made a footstool, and trampled upon by the feet of sinners.
To profane the Sabbath is a great sin; it is a wilful contempt of
God; it is not only casting his law behind our back, but trampling
it under foot. He says, 'Keep the Sabbath holy;' but men pollute it.
This is to despise God, to hang out the flag of defiance, to throw
down the gauntlet, and challenge God himself. Now, how can God
endure to be thus saucily confronted by proud dust? Surely he will
not suffer this high impudence to go unpunished. God's curse will
come upon the Sabbath-breaker; and it will blast where it comes. The
law of the land lets Sabbath-breakers alone, but God will not. No
sooner did Christ curse the fig-tree, but it withered. God will take
the matter into his own hand; he will see after the punishing of
Sabbath violation. And how does he punish it?
(1) With spiritual plagues. He gives up Sabbath profaners to
hardness of heart, and a scared conscience. Spiritual judgements are
sorest. 'So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust.' Psa 81: 12.
A sear in the conscience is a brand-mark of reprobation.
(2) God punishes this sin by giving men up to commit other
sins. To revenge the breaking of his Sabbath, he suffers them to
break open houses, and so come to be punished by the magistrate. How
many such confessions have we heard from thieves going to be
executed! They never regarded the Sabbath, and God suffered them to
commit those sins for which they are to die.
(3) God punishes Sabbath-breaking by sudden visible judgements
on men for this sin. He punishes them in their estates and in their
persons. While a certain man was carrying corn into his barn on the
Lord's-day, both house and corn were consumed with fire from heaven.
In Wiltshire there was a dancing match appointed upon the
Lord's-day; and while one of the company was dancing, he suddenly
fell down dead. The 'Theatre of God's Judgements' relates of one,
who used every Lord's-day to hunt in sermon-time, who had a child by
his wife with a head like a dog, and it cried like a hound. His sin
was monstrous, and it was punished with a monstrous birth. The Lord
threatened the Jews, that if they would not hallow the Sabbath-day,
he would kindle a fire in their gates. Jer 17: 27. The dreadful fire
which broke out in London began on the Sabbath-day; as if God would
tell us from heaven he was then punishing us for our Sabbath
profanation. Nor does he punish it only in this life with death, but
hereafter with damnation. Let such as break God's Sabbath see if
they can break those chains of darkness in which they and the devils
shall be held.
Use three. It exhorts us to Sabbath holiness.
Make conscience of keeping this day holy. The other
commandments have an affirmative in them only, or a negative; this
fourth commandment has both an affirmative in it and a negative.
'Thou shalt keep the Sabbath day holy,' and, 'thou shalt not do any
manner of work in it,' shows how carefully God would have us observe
this day. Not only must you keep this day yourselves, but have a
care that all under your charge keep it; 'Thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maidservant;' that is, thou
who art a superior, a parent or a master, thou must have a care that
not only thou thyself, but those who are under thy trust and
tuition, sanctify the day. Those masters of families are to blame
who are careful that their servants serve them, but have no care
that they serve God; who care not though their servants should serve
the devil, so long as their bodies do them service. That which Paul
says to Timothy, Serva depositum, 'That good thing, which was
committed unto thee, keep,' is of large meaning. 1 Tim 1: 11. Not
only have a care of thy own soul, but have a care of the souls thou
art entrusted with. See that they who are under thy charge sanctify
the Sabbath. God's law provided, that if a man met with an ox or an
ass going astray, he should bring him back again; much more, when
thou sees the soul of thy child or servant going astray from God,
and breaking his Sabbath, thou shouldest bring him back again to a
religious observation of this day.
That I may press you to Sabbath-sanctification, consider what
great blessings God has promised to the strict observers of this
day. Isa 58: 14. (1) A promise of joy. 'Then shalt thou delight
thyself in the Lord.' Delighting in God is both a duty and a reward.
In this text it is a reward, 'Then shalt thou delight thyself in the
Lord;' as if God had said, If thou keep the Sabbath conscientiously,
I will give thee that which will fill thee with delight; if thou
keep the Sabbath willingly, I will make thee keep it joyfully. I
will give thee those enlargements in duty, and that inward comfort,
which shall abundantly satisfy thee; thy soul shall overflow with
such a stream of joy, that thou shalt say, 'Lord, in keeping thy
Sabbath there is great reward. (2) Of honour. And 'I will cause thee
to ride upon the high places of the earth.' That is, I will advance
thee to honour, ascendere faciam; so Munster interprets it. Some, by
the high places of the earth, understand Judea; so Grotius. I will
bring thee into the land of Judea, which is situated higher than the
other countries adjacent. (3) Of earth and heaven. 'And I will feed
thee with the heritage of Jacob;' that is, I will feed thee with all
the delicious things of Canaan, and afterwards I will translate thee
to heaven, whereof Canaan was but a type. Another promise is,
'Blessed is the man that does this, that keepeth the Sabbath from
polluting it.' Isa 56: 2. 'Blessed is the man;' in the Hebrew it is,
'blessednesses.' To him that keeps the Sabbath holy, here is
blessedness upon blessedness belonging to him; he shall be blessed
with the upper and nether springs; he shall be blessed in his name,
estate, soul, progeny. Who would not keep the Sabbath from polluting
it that shall have so many blessings entailed upon him and his
posterity after him? Again, a conscientious keeping of the Sabbath
seasons the heart for God's service all the week after. Christian
the more holy thou art on a Sabbath, the more holy thou wilt be on
the week following.
Watson, The Ten Commandments
(continued in file 13...)
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