A Christian Directory, Part 2: Christian EconomicsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 2: Christian Economics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
_Direct._ III. Remember that the special work of the day is to
celebrate the memorial of Christ's resurrection, and of the whole work
of man's redemption by him. Labour therefore with all diligence in the
sense of your natural sin and misery, to stir up the lively sense of
the wonderful love of God and our Redeemer, and to spend all the day
in the special exercises of faith and love. And seeing it is the
christian weekly festival, or day of thanksgiving for the greatest
mercy in the world, spend it as a day of thanksgiving should be spent,
especially in joyful praises of our Lord; and let the humbling and
instructing exercises of the day, be all subordinate to these
laudatory exercises. I know that much time must be spent in teaching
and warning the ignorant and ungodly, because their poverty and
labours hinder them from other such opportunities, and we must speak
to them then or not at all. But if it were not for their mere
necessity, and if we could as well speak to them other days of the
week, the churches should spend all the Lord's day in such praises and
thanksgivings as are suitable to the ends of the institution. But
seeing that cannot be expected, methinks it is desirable that the
ancient custom of the churches were more imitated, and the morning
sermon being suited to the state of the more ignorant and unconverted,
that the rest of the day were spent in the exercises of thanksgiving
to the joy and encouragement of believers, and in doctrine suited to
their state. And yet I must add, that a skilful preacher will do both
together, and so declare the love and grace of our Redeemer, as by a
meet application may both draw in the ungodly, and comfort those that
are already sanctified, and raise their hearts in praise to God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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