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AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LORD'S DAY : 
 
 HUMBLY DESIGVED TO 
 RECOMMEND THAT IMPORTANT DUTY. 
 
 BY THEc 
 
 Rev. SAMUEL "GILFILLAN, 
 
 JIIXISTER or THE GOSPEL, COMRIE. 
 
 Dies Dominica, Regina dierum I — Tehtullian. 
 
 THE TENTH EDITION. 
 
 COERECTED AND GREATLY ENLARGED. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 PRINTED FOR WAUGH & INNES ; 
 
 M.OGLE, GLASGOW ; R. M. TIMS, DUBLIN ; J. NISBET, 
 AND F. WESTLEY, LONDON. 
 
 1825. 
 
AvDHSW Jack, Printer. 
 
NOTICE 
 
 TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. 
 
 The Author of this Essay returns many 
 thanks to his friends and the public, for giving 
 it such an extensive circulation. In this edi- 
 tion, which has been greatly enlarged, he has 
 quoted authorities from several celebrated 
 writers, in confirmation of his sentiments- He 
 again commits the work to the protection and 
 blessing of the Lord of the abbath, and to the 
 candour of the friends of religion. 
 
 It will be observed, that in this Tenth Edi- 
 tion a few verbal corrections have been made, 
 and two new quotations, in further illustration 
 of the subject, inserted. The latter circum- 
 stance has necessarily occasioned the exclusion 
 from this edition of the extracts from ** The 
 Sabbath, a Poem." 
 
 Comrie, August 1825. 
 
n i^rn. NHV 188Q 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 General Design of the Institution of the 
 Sabbath, 5 
 
 The Iforalitt/ of the Sabbath, ... 13 
 
 The Change of the Sabbath from the Se- 
 venth to the First Bay of the Week, . 21 
 
 Good Men in all ages have sanctified the 
 
 Sabbaih, 26 
 
 Prepaixition for the Sabbath, ... 45 
 
 General sketch of the Duties of the Sabbath, 49 
 
 Some Sins forbidden in the Fourth Command- 
 ment, 77 
 
 Sketch of the manner in which the Sabbath 
 was hept under the Old and New Testa- 
 ment Dispensations, . . . . 115 
 
 The Manner of spending the Lord's Day 
 in a private Family, . , . . 123 
 
 A luell- spent Sabbath Day, . . . 135 
 
 Serious Address in relation to tlie Sanctiji- 
 cation of the Lord's Day, . . . 142 
 
 Appendix, 171 
 
,REC. I*SV 1880 
 
 ESSAY, 
 
 ExoD. XX. 8. 
 Remember the Sahhath-dayy to keep it holy* 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 These words are a part of the moral law, 
 which was delivered to the children of Israel, 
 with awful solemnity, from Mount Sinai. The 
 people of God, here addressed, had but lately 
 come out of Egypt, the house of their bondage, 
 where they had been surrounded and polluted 
 by idolaters. The worship of the Egyptians 
 was about that time most base and superstitious; 
 the meanest and the most despicable creatures 
 were the objects of veneration and regard ; and 
 there is every reason to believe that the Israel- 
 
S Introduction, 
 
 ites had in part learned the way of these idola- 
 ters, for the golden calf which they made in the 
 wilderness bore a striking resemblance to Apis, 
 one of the Egyptian idols. The Lord had, 
 however, preserved his people from many of 
 the grosser impurities of that country, having 
 designed them to be henceforth a people who 
 should dwell alone, and not be reckoned among 
 the nations, but to be to him a name and a 
 praise above all the people on the earth.— The 
 time of the promise drew nigh, and every thing 
 was tending to its accomplishment. Instru- 
 ments were called into action by Providence, 
 and qualified for the part which they were to 
 act in that grand scene. Moses, a shepherd, 
 far advanced in life, was sent, with Aaron his 
 brother, to a proud despot, not with fleets and 
 armies, or with other engines of great power, 
 but with the rod of God in his hand, and a mes- 
 sage in his mouth from the great I AM ! The 
 tyrant, as might have been expected, refused 
 to let the Israelites depart from his land ; but 
 his obstinacy only tended to illustrate the power 
 of God, the truth of his promise, and the deep 
 interest he had in his church. A series of mi- 
 racles was wrought ; Egypt was punished, and 
 
Introduction. 3 
 
 left inexcuseable ; and the people of God were 
 conducted, in spite of all opposition, out of their 
 enemies' country. They passed through the 
 Red Sea about the middle of March, or at the 
 vernal equinox, and after journeying about six 
 weeks in the adjacent deserts, they came to 
 Mount Sinai in Arabia. There God was to re- 
 veal his moral law, on the day of Pentecost, or 
 on the fiftieth day from the Passover which 
 they had celebrated in Egypt ; and the circum- 
 stances attending its publication were inexpres- 
 sibly sublime and awful : " So terrible was the 
 sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and 
 quake. That terrific scene at once discovered 
 the infinite purity of the divine nature, the ho- 
 liness and extent of his law, with the utter im- 
 possibility of being saved by the covenant of 
 works. In order to show that God was even 
 then a God in Christ, he prefaces his law with 
 a promise of grace, I am the Lord thy God; 
 demonstrating, by this exhilirating declaration, 
 that all acceptable obedience to the law must 
 flow from the application andbelief of the pro- 
 mise : " Because God is the Lord, and our God 
 and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep 
 all his commandments." The law originally 
 
4 Introduction. 
 
 written on man's heart, had been effaced by sin. 
 The moral law was but obscurely known in the 
 patriarchal state ; and now, when the church 
 was to be organized, it became the Governor 
 of the world to publish a system of laws for 
 the use of his people, to be a standard of morals 
 to them as rational beings, and as immediate 
 subjects of a peculiar government, they being 
 a typical people. The law concerning the Sab- 
 bath was no doubt greatly neglected and for- 
 gotten during their continuance in Egypt, part- 
 ly on account of the oppression of their enemies, 
 and partly on account of their own irreligion. 
 God therefore, in republishing it, with others, 
 from Mount Sinai, to the church, restored it to 
 its primitive design and use ; and declared, in 
 a manner never to be forgotten, that the obser- 
 vation of one day in seven, as a holy Sabbath 
 to himself, is intimately and indissolubly con- 
 nected with all the other branches of religion. 
 
GENERAL DESIGN OF THE INSTITUTION 
 OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 It is a truth not to be questioned, even by 
 the most ingenious sceptic, that God is the ab- 
 solute proprietor of all our time ; and of course 
 that he possesses an unquestionable right to re- 
 quire as much of it, for his own imme- 
 diate service, as he pleases. God can do with 
 his own whatever seemeth good in his sight, 
 and none can say to him, without consummate 
 arrogance, ''What doestthou?" For of him, 
 as to original design ; through him, as to in- 
 vincible efficiency ; and to him, as to their ulti- 
 mate issue, are all things ; and to him be all 
 the glory, Rom. xi. 36. Time is ours only 
 in trust, and it is a talent highly valuable in it- 
 self and in its application, very important for 
 promoting the honour of God, and the benefit 
 of men. Happy were it for men if they would 
 always act under the belief of this affecting con- 
 sideration, that for the use of every moment of 
 their time, as well as for the improvement of 
 
6 General Design of the 
 
 every other faculty of their being, they must ren- 
 der an account to God at the day of judgment. 
 The appointment of the Sabbath is not only an 
 act of justice in God, but it is evidently an act 
 of kindness to man. If any person refuse the 
 seventh part of his time for the more direct 
 purposes of religion, he would, according to the 
 natural tendency of that perverse principle, deny 
 God one day in three hundred and sixty-five ; 
 nay, he might proceed to dispute the divine 
 claim upon any part of his time at all 1 So un- 
 just are men to God ! so ungrateful are they 
 to him who is the Father of all mercies, and 
 the God of all comfort ! — The Jews were long 
 the peculiar people of God ; they lived under 
 a theocracy or immediate divine government, 
 which secured to them, in connection with their 
 obedience, everything pertaining to life and 
 godliness ; hence, it was infinitely reasonable, 
 that much of their time should be devoted to 
 the service of Jehovah their King. Their sa- 
 cred festivals, especially the rest of the Sabbath, 
 were not left to be fixed by the will of any man, 
 but were defined and enacted by God himself, 
 with indisputable precision, and none under 
 that dispensation durst say, nor, if devout. 
 
Imtitution of the Sabbath. 7 
 
 would say, " Why hath the Lord required such 
 a great proportion of our time ?" Such a com- 
 plaint would have been reckoned ingratitude, 
 rebellion, and iniquity, against their God and 
 Sovereign. — The rest of the Sabbath-day was 
 designed by Infinite Wisdom to be an universal 
 benefit to the world and to the church in every 
 age. God, in appointing it, hath connected his 
 own glory with the good of the church, and the 
 repose of the world. He might have required 
 more of our time for his immediate service than 
 he hath done, and on that supposition, none 
 can dispute his right, or arraign his sovereign- 
 ty ; but the appointment of but one day in seven 
 to himself is so equitable, and at the same 
 time so kind, that no person who fears God can 
 refuse it. The gratitude of a good man's heart, 
 which is always ingenious in finding out ways 
 to express itself, would cheerfully give more. 
 No man who knows that he holds of God all 
 the benefits of providence, and all the blessings 
 of salvation, can for a moment refuse to give 
 him any portion of his time he requireth. His 
 renewed mind perceives in the institution the 
 authority of his Father, and his heart anticipates 
 the time when he, with others, can appear be- 
 
 B 
 
8 General design of the 
 
 fore God in the ordinances of grace on the 
 Lord's day. 
 
 The Sabbath is an appointment of mercy to 
 our bodies, and to the brute creation employed 
 in our service. He who himself rested and was 
 refreshed on the Sabbath-day, hath made this 
 day an ordinance of mercy, to be an interrup- 
 tion of painful toil, a restorer of exhausted na- 
 ture, and a season of repose to the world. On 
 this sacred day, there is, or should be, an uni- 
 versal pause of labour, and thus rest and com- 
 fort is diffused through the whole Christian 
 world at the same time. The lowest classes 
 of our species, and the brute creation, are re- 
 freshed and recruited by this benevolent insti- 
 tution. How cruel and impious are they who 
 are continually perverting the merciful purposes 
 of Heaven on the Sabbath; who will neither rest 
 themselves nor allow their servants and cattle 
 to rest, although these have been generally 
 strained beyond their strength on the other six 
 days of the week, and have a just claim to a 
 suspension of labour on the seventh day I A 
 merciful man, a man who serves and loves a 
 merciful God, is merciful to his beast at all 
 times ; and surely himself cannot treat it un- 
 
Institution of the Sabbath. 9 
 
 mercifully, nor will he allow others to do so, on 
 that day when it ought to rest. The groans 
 of these poor beasts, which are exhausted and 
 overdriven on the Lord's day, have entered into 
 the ears of the God of Sabaoth. They have 
 an advocate in God himself, who made them, 
 and who will revenge every injury done to any 
 of his creatures; for amidst the mighty move- 
 ments of the universe, which he influences by 
 his presence, he carelh for oxen ! He heareth 
 the sound of the whip which goads on poor 
 worn-out horses, as well as the profaneness of 
 those whom they carry or drive. — If this were 
 the sole design of Providence in the appoint- 
 ment of the Sabbath, carnal men would perhaps 
 acquiesce in its institution ; but it was chiefly 
 designed for the rest and spiritual improvement 
 of our souls. It is a holy rest, a season of 
 mental exertion, of devout contemplation, of 
 beneficence, and of virtuous and reb'gious inter- 
 course. This is a season on which all men who 
 have tasted that God is gracious, endeavour to 
 raise theirminds to those things which areabove, 
 where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, 
 to meditate on the works of God in creation and 
 providence, and upon the still more transcendent 
 
10 Genera! design of the 
 
 wonders of redemption by the blood of Christ. 
 These spiritual thoughts are excited by the 
 Holy Ghost, who dwelleth in them ; they grow 
 out of their divine nature which he hath impart- 
 ed to them ; and they are often very vigorous 
 on that day on which their Saviour rose from 
 the dead. On that day they are taught to ex- 
 pect the gracious presence of God in his ordi- 
 nances ; they follow hard after him as the por- 
 tion of their inheritance and their cup ; they 
 examine themselves, whether they be in the 
 faith, and whether they be growing or declining 
 in the divine life. Surely such a day is a high 
 privilege to the church of God ; and where could 
 the church find a substitute for this day which 
 God hath made ? This is the day on which the 
 saints renew their strength ; their resolutions 
 are generally prompt, their thoughts are vigo- 
 rous, and they call into action the whole force 
 of their renewed natures. On that day they 
 cheerfully go with the multitude into the house 
 of God, to join in praise and prayer, to hear 
 the word of God read and preached, and, with 
 their brethren in Christ, to shew forth the death 
 of Christ in the sacrament of the supper. O I 
 how delightful is it to draw near to God in 
 
Institution of the Sabbath. \\ 
 
 company with the saints of the Most High, — to 
 dimb the walls of heaven by faith, and prayer, 
 and divine love,— to press into the kingdom of 
 God by an earnestness in spiritual worship not 
 to be denied access, and an importunity not to be 
 abated ! — Ye infidels I have ye any enjoyments 
 like these ? Ye savages in a Christian country, 
 who despise fellowship with God, and disdain 
 the society of the godly ; who seldom assemble 
 but for riot and every evil work ; who flout at 
 that glorious gospel of the blessed God, which 
 alone produces an antidote to the miseries of 
 human life ; who shelter your crimes behind 
 your infidelity, and hate that law which you do 
 not find it convenient to obey ; — how long will 
 ye turn your glory into shame ? how long will 
 ye love vanity, and seek after leasing ; how 
 long will ye continue to profane that day which 
 is to the church the happiest of all her days ? 
 O ! taste and see that our God is good, and 
 that in keeping of his commandments there is 
 a great reward. Godliness hath the promise 
 of the life which now is, and of that which is 
 to come. Them who honour his Sabbath, and 
 do those things which please him, God will 
 bring tohis holy mountain, and make them joy- 
 
113 Getieml design of the 
 
 ful in his house of prayer. But irreligion, by 
 whatever name it is called among men, and 
 Sabbath profanation in particular, embitters all 
 your comforts, tarnishes your honours, degrades 
 your learning, and fills you with anguish un- 
 utterable in the prospect of an approaching 
 eternity. Without true religion, you cannot be 
 safe from the ills of the present life ; and with- 
 out it, how can you escape those formidable 
 dangers which extend their mischief to a future 
 
 state ? " The Sabbath was sanctified from 
 
 the beginning, that there might be a fixed time 
 for the children of Adam to unite with solem- 
 nity in spiritual worship. It is natural and fit 
 for Christians, when they approach the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to adore the 
 illustrious and harmonious display of his per- 
 fections in our redemption, and to recollect the 
 spiritual blessings which are secured to his 
 people by the death and resurrection of our Re- 
 deemer. The Sabbath was changed from the 
 seventh day of the week to the first, for the 
 purpose of drawing Christians to that great event 
 which, connecting the humiliation with the 
 exaltation of the Lord Jesus, at once establishes 
 our faith, and cherishes our hope. While 
 Christians, in assembling on the Lord's day, 
 
tnstiiution of the Sabbath. 13 
 
 fire thus called to remember both the creation 
 and the redemption of the world, they are call- 
 ed by the religion of sinnersto acknowledge their 
 own unworthiness, and under the impression of 
 entire dependence, to that forgiveness of which 
 they stand in need." — Hill's Institutes. 
 
 THE MORALITY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 The institution of the Sabbath was nearly 
 coeval with the world. From the beginning 
 God appointed one day in seven to be peculiarly 
 his own, as holy to himself. He made the uni- 
 verse in six days, and in every part of it there 
 are the most striking signatures of his perfec- 
 tions, especially ofhis wisdom, power, and good- 
 ness : '• He rested also on the seventh day 
 from all which he had created and made ;— 
 he rested and was refreshed." When he review- 
 ed the effects of his infinite power, it was wuth 
 indescribable complacency ; and he continued 
 to preserve them, by his universal agency, from 
 relapsing into their original nothing. As his 
 procedure with his rational offspring is always 
 worthy of himself, we may infer, that an inti- 
 
14 Ow the Morality of the SahbatL 
 
 mation was made to Adam and Eve, that one 
 day in seven was tobe peculiarly appropriated to 
 his immediate service ; or if no such intimation 
 was explicitly made, it was made in effect by 
 the law which was written on their hearts. If 
 they were prompted by this law to obey God in 
 every thing, it is impossible to conceive that 
 they were ignorant of this devotement of a day 
 to God, seeing this precept holds such a con- 
 spicuous place among the precepts of the moral 
 law. A suspension of those labours which were 
 consistent with a state of innocence, that man 
 might enjoy pre-eminent tokens of divine fa- 
 vour, was infinitely befitting God to appoint, 
 and man to enjoy. This was to our first pa- 
 rents a type of the more sublime felicities of 
 heaven, where the Sabbath is endless and wholly 
 spiritual. But the appointment of the Sabbath 
 could not have been for a local, a temporary, 
 or a ceremonial use,- but was, beyond contro- 
 versy, designed to be perpetual in its obliga- 
 tion, and universal in its practice. Whether 
 the Sabbath shall be the seventh or the first day 
 of the week, is a circumstance entirely depend- 
 ent on the will of the supreme Lawgiver, and 
 alterable at his pleasure, and does not affect the 
 
On the Morality of the Sabbath, 15 
 
 great argument or spirit of the fourth com- 
 mandment, which is. That a seventh part of 
 our time shall he devoted to the service of God. 
 The law concerning the Sabbath was given to 
 man in innocency, (Gen. ii. 3.) long before the 
 existence of any ceremonial usages, and even 
 before the revelation of the Saviour, whom these 
 rites and ceremonies were designed to prefigure 
 to the church under that dispensation. The 
 fourth precept of the Decalogue was, with the 
 other nine precepts, written, not upon paper or 
 parchment, or leaves of trees, as the temporary 
 laws of the Jews were ; but upon tables of 
 stone by the very finger of God, to point out 
 its peculiar excellence, and its perpetual obliga- 
 tion. Moreover, it was not mingled with the 
 ceremonial and judicial laws which were given 
 to the Jews as a typical people, but held a dis- 
 tinguished place among those precepts which 
 even Anti-sabbatarians confess to be perpetual. 
 Such an admixture would have been unworthy 
 of the infinite wisdom of God, the Lawgiver ; 
 an incongruity never discernible in any of his 
 words or ways. Precepts which are moral must 
 not be blended with those which are ambulatory, 
 or temporary, or which concern a portion of 
 
16 On the Morality of the Sabbath. 
 
 God's rational offspring only. The principal 
 reasons for enforcing and recommending the 
 observation of the Sabbath, are reasons which 
 equally concern Jews and Gentiles, and of con- 
 sequence must be moral. If God give man 
 six working-days, or days for his own employ- 
 ment, and if this be adduced as a strong rea- 
 son for sanctifying the seventh day to God, 
 there is nothing in this motive peculiar to the 
 Jews. God is the common parent of all men. 
 The Gentiles are as nearly related to God as a 
 Creator, as the Jews are, or ever were ; and if 
 the Jews observed the Sabbath because it was 
 God's due or right to claim it, the same 
 obligation extends to the Gentiles, especially 
 when his claim is revealed in the promulgation 
 of his moral law. The rest of God on the 
 seventh day from his works of creation, which 
 js propounded as a reason for our cessation from 
 labour on the Sabbath, is an example which is 
 exhibited for imitation by the Gentiles as well 
 0S by the Jews. If God blessed the Sabbath 
 and hallowed it, this is the general concern of 
 all rational beings on earth ; for all want his 
 blessing, all are the work of his hands, and the 
 ^objects of his providential care. It has been 
 
On the Morality of the Sabbath. It 
 
 urged, indeed, by the opponents of this doctrine, 
 that the Jews were bound to observe the Sab- 
 bath, because God (Deut. v. 15.) brought them 
 out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
 bondage ; and hence they reckon it to be a rea- 
 son peculiar to the Jews. But this argument 
 has no solidity in it, and cannot affect the mo- 
 rality of the Sabbath ; for this good reason, the 
 general promise, / am the Lord thy God, con- 
 tained in the preface to the law, has not a refe- 
 rence to one precept more than to another, but 
 is exhibited as a motive to obey the whole ; and 
 surely that grand and comprehensive promise 
 may be supposed to have more force in promot- 
 ing obedience than the other, which has a refe- 
 rence only to the Jews. It sounds harshly in a 
 pious ear to affirm, that the grace of the gospel 
 supersedes or destroys the moral law of God ! 
 The deliverance from Egypt was truly a mag- 
 nificent display of the power of God, and was 
 strongly interesting to the Jews ; but this de- 
 liverance pourtrayed something grander than 
 itself, even the redemption of men by Jesus 
 Christ, in which all nations are interested. If 
 the Jews were induced to sanctify the Sabbath, 
 because of this striking interference of God in 
 
18 On the Morality of the Sabbath, 
 
 their behalf; how should the Gentiles, who 
 glorify God for his mercy, be strongly impelled 
 to devote to God that day on which the Son of 
 God arose from the dead ! Surely no person 
 who believes that Christ was delivered for his 
 offences, and was raised for his justification, can 
 neglect the sanctification of the Lord's day ! 
 
 It is evident also, that the Sabbath hath 
 been sanctified by the church of God in every 
 age since its first institution. The Scripture 
 makes no mention, indeed, of the Sabbath, from 
 the time of its appointment in Paradise till the 
 time of Moses ; but the silence of the Scripture 
 on that head is no evidence that the celebration 
 of the Sabbath did not obtain. The history of 
 the patriarchs is comprised within very narrow 
 limits. We have only brief notices, outlines, 
 and hints in relation to their worship, their ex- 
 perience, and their walking with God. Many 
 things are doubtless omitted which we might 
 have wished to know, but which God hath 
 judged proper to conceal. The history of the 
 saints, both before and after the flood, till the 
 giving of the law, was only an introduction to 
 a grander scene in the church of Israel when 
 she was organized. If the Sabbath was sancti- 
 
On the Morality of the Sabbath. 19 
 
 fied in Paradise, if God, in the future ages of the 
 theocracy, vindicated the honour of that holy 
 day by his judgments upon violaters of it, as 
 well as enforced it by gracious promises ; how 
 is it possible to conceive that he allowed it to 
 fall into disuse during a period of more than 
 two thousand years ? The thought is impious 
 and irrational. Moses, when he narrates 
 its first institution, does not give it the name 
 which it bears by anticipation, as if the law was 
 in force only after the promulgation at Mount 
 Sinai. This reasoning, if carried to its legiti- 
 mate issue, would go to destroy the relations 
 between God and his rational creatures ; for no 
 reason can be given why a law, founded in the 
 nature and will of the Deity, should cease to 
 bind its natural subjects to obedience. Holy 
 men of old times walked by faith, they believed 
 the divine promises about salvation by the Mes- 
 siah, and hence they endeavoured to walk in 
 all the commandments and ordinances of the 
 Lord blameless. We have many instances of 
 their personal piety on record, both before and 
 after the deluge. When persons are really re- 
 ligious, they quickly become religious in all the 
 relations of life. Man Js formed for society, 
 "= C 
 
20 On the Morality of the Sahhath, 
 
 and saints cannot live without felllowship with 
 their brethren in Christ. If the public worship 
 of God obtained in the earliest ages of the 
 church, (of which there can be no doubt,) if pray- 
 ers and sacrifices were presented to God, it is 
 reasonable to suppose, that they assembled on 
 the seventh day of the week in preference to any 
 other day. On that day they met to refresh 
 their memories and to warm their hearts, by re- 
 hearsing the promise of the coming Messiah, to 
 listen to the preachersof righteousness who then 
 explained and applied these delightful truths, 
 and to strengthen each other's hands in the work 
 of the Lord. It is extremely probable that the 
 first man taught the necessity of sanctifying the 
 seventh day to his children, both by example 
 and precept ; and that they, especially those 
 in the line of Seth, taught their children 
 through a series of generations to do the 
 same ; till, on account of the increase of hu- 
 man wickedness, a republication of the whole 
 law became necessary for the honour of the 
 Lawgiver, and for the benefit of a particular 
 people. The words in the beginning of the 
 precept. Remember the Sabbath-dai/, to keep it 
 holy, evidently prove, that the Sabbath was no 
 new thing to them, but that though they knew 
 
On the Morality of the Sahbath, 21 
 
 the letter of it, they had forgotten its spirit and 
 importance ; more particularly, that during 
 their abode in Egypt, their morals had been 
 contaminated, and their worship leavened with 
 superstition. It is also very evident, that the 
 account which Moses gave of the Sabbath to 
 the Israelites (Exod. xvi. l6. xxii. 23.) would 
 have appeared very abrupt to them, if they had 
 not previously known it : To-morro7v, says he, 
 is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. 
 And it is to be remarked, that this injunction 
 was delivered before the republication of the 
 moral law from Mount Sinai. From this latter" 
 event, the Sabbath was clothed with additional 
 glory, and the observation of it became an emi- 
 nent branch of religion among all the Jews, in 
 all places, and in all their circumstances. 
 
 THE CHANGE OF THE SABBATH FROM 
 THE SEVENTH TO THE FIRST DAY OF 
 THE WEEK. 
 
 Having proved, as we apprehend, the mora- 
 lity of the Sabbath, it is of much consequence 
 to establish the change in question. This lia-s 
 
22 The Change of the Sabbath 
 
 generally been acknowledged by the whole 
 Christian world, and has been so since the ear- 
 liest periods of Christianity. In the primitive 
 ages, no dispute, as far as we can learn, obtain- 
 ed about it. The Jewish converts, indeed, paid 
 a great deference to the seventh-day Sabbath, 
 until the destruction of Jerusalem ; but it does 
 not appear from the Scriptures of the New Tes- 
 tament, that ever the Gentiles conformed to 
 the Jews in this particular. On the contrary, 
 it is evident, that after that memorable event, 
 the whole church, Jews and Gentiles, joined 
 together in observing that day on which Christ 
 rose from the dead, which, by way of eminence, 
 was called the Lord^s day. This name, as the 
 Lord^s supper, and the Lord''s table, indicated 
 that our Lord, as the supreme God, and as the 
 Head of his church, appointed it for the benefit 
 of his people, and that himself rested upon it, as 
 an example to all ages. This change, so impor- 
 tant to the church, was most probably among 
 those things in which Christ instructed his dis- 
 ciples during the forty days he continued with 
 them after his resurrection ; for it cannot be 
 supposed, withoutarraigning the wisdom of our 
 Saviour, that he should leave the day on which 
 
from the Seventh to the First day. 23 
 
 the church was to rest, to be appointed by men, 
 or to be subjected to the caprice of human opi- 
 nions. This was eminently of the things which 
 pertained to the kingdom of God, and contribut- 
 ed extensively to the glory of Christ, as Lord 
 of the Sabbath. That there was a change in va- 
 rious other particulars relating to the worship of 
 God, intimated to the apostles during that pe- 
 riod, and which was to be applied when the 
 Spirit should be poured out upon them, cannot 
 be doubted ; hence we may infer that there was 
 also a change in the time. The original law 
 concerning the Sabbath could not be repealed ; 
 but the immutability of the law is not affected 
 by the change of the Sabbath from the seventh 
 to the first day of the week. The Jews enjoy- 
 ed a rest on their Sabbath, but this rest was 
 partly typical ; and, having restrictions which 
 could not suit all men, it was not designed for 
 the kingdom of the Messiah, nor to last for 
 -ever. If the rest of the Jewish Sabbath had 
 been designed to be coeval with the existence 
 of the church, God would not have spoken 
 (Heb. iv. 8, 10.) of another day: '* But there 
 remaineth," saith Paul, " a rest, or the keep- 
 ing of a Sabbath, (Sabbatimos,) for the people 
 
^4 The Change of the Sabbath 
 
 of God," distinct from the Jewish Sabbath. 
 The seventh day was appointed to commemo- 
 rate the divine glory in the creation of the world; 
 but when a more memorable event took place, 
 it became Infinite Wisdom to appoint another 
 day on which it should be remembered, and 
 the church should enjoy her rest. As the re- 
 surrection of Jesus from the dead forms the 
 most wonderful sera in the works of God, so 
 God hath stamped an indelible honour upon 
 the first day of the week. He hath made it a 
 day peculiarly his own ; a day which all the 
 friends of the Redeemer anticipate with pleasure, 
 hail with delight, and enjoy with exultation and 
 interest. " He that hath entered into his rest, 
 he also hath ceased from his work, as God did 
 from his," Heb. iv. 10. Christ did not enter, 
 indeed, into a place of rest immediately after his 
 resurrection ; but he entered into a state of rest 
 on that first day. His rising again was an in- 
 fallible evidence that his humiliation and his 
 sufferings had terminated, that his atonement 
 had been accepted by God, and that his glory 
 had commenced. If God rested on the seventh 
 day from his works, and was refreshed; if Christ 
 arose from the dead on the first day of the 
 
from the Seventh to the First day. 25 
 
 week, and entered into his state of glory ; the 
 argument hence is invincible, that the rest of 
 the church is to be henceforth on the first day of 
 the week. On that day Christ met his disci- 
 ples in person, «md diffused among them the 
 most affecting evidences of his gracious pre- 
 sence : " He breathed upon them, and they re- 
 ceived the Holy Ghost." It is certain, that the 
 apostles were authorised and appointed to teach 
 the churches of Christ those things pertaining 
 to the kingdom of God, wherein he had instruct- 
 ed them ; the Spirit was poured out upon them, 
 to enable them rightly and faithfully to execute 
 their commission, so as to answer all the great 
 ends of it. Now it is evident, that the apostles 
 and the primitive Christians did religiously 
 observe the first day of the week, as the day of 
 their solemn assemblies for divine worship. 
 On that day they statedly met to hear the 
 word preached, to collect for the poor, and to 
 commemorate the death of Christ, Acts xx. 7. 
 1 Cor. X. 21. and xvi. 1. If the apostles had 
 convened the churches on that day, without re- 
 gard to Christ's precept or examples, they had 
 been chargeable with the most outrageous con- 
 tempt of his authority, and the churches them- 
 
S6 The Change oftJie Sabbath, SfC. 
 
 selves could not have had reason to expect his 
 gracious presence among them. The earlier 
 fathers of the church expressly affirm this change 
 to have been made by the Lord himself, to 
 have been universally promulgated by the apos- 
 tles after the day of Pentecost, and to have been 
 submitted to by the whole Christian world. 
 Their testimonies could be produced, but the 
 limits of this Essay forbid their insertion. 
 
 GOOD MEN IN ALL AGES HAVE SANCTI- 
 FIED THE SABBATH. 
 
 As experience in religion is a species of proof 
 that it is true, so the examples of good men 
 afford the best evidence that the laws of God 
 are practicable and excellent. Reverence for 
 the authority of him who commands in the law, 
 and promises in the gospel, is a test of true re- 
 ligion, which cannot be appealed to by the pro- 
 fane, or by hypocrites. That religion which 
 has no influence upon tlie heart, and no com- 
 mand over the life, may in truth be pronounced 
 to be no religion at all ; for they who have be- 
 lieved in God, are ever ready to shew their 
 
Good Men in all ages, ^c, 27 
 
 faith by their works. Even charity itself, that 
 thinketh no evil, must call that man's religion 
 a pretence, if he shall habitually profane the 
 Sabbath-day, because such conduct is every 
 where through the Scriptures branded as im- 
 pious ; and the very character of times is drawn 
 as favourable or unfavourable, as men sanctify 
 or profane the Sabbath. Holy men in all ages 
 have been witnesses for God in the midst of 
 the crooked and perverse generation in which 
 they lived. They shone as lights in the world, 
 holding forth the word of life, being guardians 
 of the divine glory, and depositaries of the di- 
 vine will. Though they existed and acted in 
 different periods of time, differed in rank, in 
 circumstances, and in some religious opinions, 
 and had various degrees of gifts and grace; 
 yet they were all unanimous in this, — to re- 
 member the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. One 
 cannot open the Bible, cannot read the his- 
 tory of the church, nor the particular lives of 
 ministers or private Christians, without per- 
 ceiving that the sanctification of the Sabbath 
 was a striking feature of their piety. Whether 
 saints inhabit palaces or hovels, whether they 
 be the great, the mighty, the noble, or the 
 
28 Good Men in all ages 
 
 small and despised, and embrace dunghills ; 
 whether they acted in concert with others, or in 
 solitude did the will of God ; they devoted the 
 Sabbath to the Lord. This, above every other 
 thing, distinguished them from the world lying 
 in wickedness, or from those who halted be- 
 tween two opinions. Under the legal economy, 
 the religious Israelites observed it with the 
 greatest reverence and most scrupulous atten- 
 tion. God was among them as their King. 
 He was so jealous Of his honour, and blended 
 so frequently the displays of his holiness with 
 the communications of his grace, that he would 
 not allow his highly-favoured people to sport 
 with his institutions, and he punished the slight- 
 est deviations from the letter and spirit of his 
 law with merited severity. He especially set 
 up among them fearful tokens of his indigna- 
 tion at their profanation of the Sabbath. A 
 profane person, who either did not know,oi' did 
 not regard, the sanctity of the Sabbatic, pre- 
 sumed to gather a bundle of sticks upon that 
 day, and God commanded that man to be stoned 
 to death. In the eyes of the world this man's sin 
 was trivial, and the punishment awarded dis- 
 proportionate tp the crime; but surely the Su- 
 
have sanctified the Sabbath. 29 
 
 preme Lawgiver is the best judge of the nature 
 of sin, and of the proportions of punishment. 
 This instance of the divine severity was de- 
 signed to operate as a warning to the church in 
 all her generations. In a later period of the 
 Jewish history, that is, in the days of Nehe- 
 miah, the Sabbath became eminently a sign be- 
 tween the church and the world. The Jews had 
 lately returned from Babylon, and had proba- 
 bly contracted much pollution in that country, 
 as they had done formerly in Egypt. The 
 circumstances connected with their captivity 
 had occasioned a forgetfulness of the Sabbath- 
 day. The neighbouring nations also all mock- 
 ed this peculiarity of their worship. God, 
 therefore, at the period referred to, raised up 
 several holy men, who were zealous of his 
 honour, and of the credit of his laws, — men 
 who punished sin by their authority, and brought 
 it into disgrace by their example. Nehemiah 
 the governor, in particular, exerted all his power 
 as a ruler, and all his influence as a good man, 
 to retrieve the honour of the Sabbath, and to 
 prevent its profanation. He was not a man 
 that could be frightened orcajoled from his duty. 
 The mongrel nobles, the false-hearted Jews, 
 
30 Good Men in all ages 
 
 the interested vulgar, all coalesced in order to 
 terrify or seduce him from his attempt at re- 
 formation ; but such a man as he was^ scorned 
 to flee, and refused to yield. — See Neh. xiii. 
 
 In the days of Isaiah, and of Jeremiah, good 
 men are generally described from their pro- 
 found veneration for the Sabbath, Isa. Ivi. 4 
 —6. Jer. xvii. 21-— 26. While the majority of 
 professors of that age despised the holy Sab- 
 bath, following their own pleasures, there were 
 a blessed few who dared to be singular, by keep- 
 ing that sacred day from polluting it, and by 
 keeping their hands from doing any evil. That 
 happy minority had to struggle against all the 
 influence of the upper ranks, and all the despite 
 of the vulgar ; but as they had the promises of 
 God to fortify their minds, they did not de- 
 cline from the paths of the Lord. God exhi- 
 bited them as his friends, who would keep his 
 Sabbath, although the nobles frowned upon 
 them, and the multitude laughed them to scorn. 
 As the reverse of this, an aversion or an indif- 
 ference to the holy Sabbath, is a sufficient indi- 
 cation of public corruption, and of the absence 
 of personal piety. When men think or say, 
 (whatever they profess to the contrary), "When 
 
have sanctified the Sahlxith. 31 
 
 yj]\\ the Sabbath be over, that we may set forth 
 wheat," or pursue occupations more suited to 
 the temper of our minds? they are far advanced 
 in practical impiety, Amos viii. 5. The spirit 
 which breathes in tlie question now quoted, is a 
 spirit which animates unrenewed men in every 
 age. The holy Sabbath offers a restraint to their 
 pleasures which they cannot endure, and which 
 tliey endeavour to remove by a thousand inge- 
 nious devices. They either wis!i there were no 
 saa-ed seasons at all, or they endeavour to sink 
 these to the level of their oAvn washes. But 
 let these persons know to their shame, or to 
 their conviction, that no person can possess a 
 truly noble spirit, nor enjoy genuine liberty, 
 but in keeping God's commandments. Reli- 
 gion cannot exist nor be prosperous, if the Sab- 
 bath-day be profaned. He cannot be uniformly 
 and consistently pious, he cannot walk with God 
 as a friend and Father, — he cannot recom- 
 mend religion to his friends nor his acquaint- 
 ances, who neglects or carelessly performs the 
 duties of the Lord's day. His vigilance over his 
 children, his attention to his servants, his inter- 
 course with the church, will be constrained and 
 inefficient, while he liimself is not animated by 
 ihe fear of God, and while he mutilates the 
 
 D 
 
32 Good Men in all ages 
 
 duties of the Sabbath. The world itself, which 
 he endeavours so much to please, will deem 
 him inconsistent. His family will yield him a 
 partial obedience, his servants will grow inso- 
 lent and imperious, his visitors will mark his 
 disingenuity, when an attention to the Sab- 
 bath is not preserved with unbending fortitude. 
 All thebranches of personal and domestic piety, 
 with all their ramifications, terminate here. 
 The vigour, or declension, of any man's grace, 
 may be safely inferred from his conduct on the 
 Sabbath-day. 
 
 In the primitive ages of Christianity, in the 
 times of the first and second Reformations in 
 Scotland, and in New England for several ge- 
 nerations, the sanctification of the Sabbath was 
 a prominent and decided evidence of religion. 
 In some of our great cities also, where so much 
 profligacy now prevails on the Lord's day, there 
 was a decorum in behaviour, and solemnity of 
 spirit, as well as diligence in the duties of reli- 
 gion on that holy day, which we fear are now 
 very rare in their occurrence. In England 
 also, in her better times, this marked the cha- 
 racter of the friends of Christ. These good 
 men had to contend, not only with the iniquities 
 
have sanctified the Sabbath. 33 
 
 of the times, but with an iniquity decreed by 
 a law. King James VI. in the true spirit of 
 his family, who were always infamous for Sab- 
 bath-profanation, issued, in the year 16I8, the 
 following order, in opposition to the law of the 
 Most High ! " As for the recreation of our 
 good people on the Sabbath, our pleasure is. 
 That after the end of divine service, our good 
 people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged 
 from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, 
 either men or women, archery for men, leaping, 
 vaulting, or any other harmless recreation, nor 
 from having of May-games, Whitsun-ales, and 
 morrice-dancers, and the setting up of May- 
 poles, or other sports therewith used, so as the 
 same may be had in due and convenient time, 
 without compeding or neglecting of divine ser- 
 vices ; and the women shall have leave to carry 
 rushes to the church for decorating the same ac- 
 cording to the old custom !" This order from 
 the court was equivalent to a licence to pro- 
 fane the Lord's day ; and being issued under 
 a penalty for disobedience, had a most perni- 
 cious influence upon the manners of the nation. 
 The Puritans, as they were reproachfully call- 
 ed, together with all the serious people in Eng- 
 
S4f Good men in all ages 
 
 landj were panic-struck and alarmed at such 
 horrid profaneness. Many treatises were pub- 
 lished in vindication of the honour of the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath, meetings convened for delibera- 
 tion, and spirited remonstrances were present- 
 ed against such iniquitous innovations. Many 
 men, of whom England may justly boast, re- 
 signed every thing the world calls dear, rather 
 than comply with those public corruptions. 
 They exerted all their influence, in order ta 
 counteract the orders and example of the court. 
 Even some of those who read the Book of 
 Sports in obedience to the king, were fully con- 
 vinced, that in so doing they were offending 
 the Lord of the Sabbath. The great and the 
 good Bishop Hall read the royal proclamation 
 encouraging sports, on the morning of the Sab- 
 bath ; and on the afternoon of the same day, he 
 preached upon the fourth commandment, to 
 please the Lord of Hosts ! How this em^inent 
 man reconciled these parts of his conduct, we 
 have no means of knowing ; but surely, the 
 very attempt to please God and man in one 
 day, was unworthy of his character. From the 
 period specified, profaneness flowed for many 
 years like a torrent over that country; and per- 
 
have sanctified the Sahhath. 35 
 
 haps the effects of this relaxation of the holiness 
 of the Sabbath may be seen in England till this 
 very day. 
 
 In order to confirm the above statements, we 
 beff leave to introduce the following extracts 
 from authors of high reputation. '' There is a 
 decent behaviour not uncommon in the world, 
 which preserves men from gross and open vices; 
 but from this nothing certain can be deduced, 
 because it (liscovers no particular veneration 
 for God, nor regard for his authority ; but par- 
 ticular practices, which give decision to charac- 
 ter, and lead others to form a favourable opi- 
 nion of his piety — such as family- worship, and 
 the sanctification of the Sabbath-day. If, after 
 the public worship of the Sabbath, the rest of 
 the day is given up to business or pleasure, to 
 unprofitable visits, and worldly conversation^ 
 what is there to stamp his character as a Chris- 
 tian, and to distinguish him from the world 
 lying in wickedness } Whatever he may be in 
 civil society, he will, by the majority of reli- 
 gious people, be excluded from the rank of an 
 exemplary disciple of Christ. The Puritans 
 devoted the whole of the Lord's day to the 
 services of religion. Public worship was reck- 
 
36 Good Men in all ages 
 
 oned by them the first of duties ; and after at- 
 tending in the house of God, they devoted the 
 rest of the sacred time to the instruction of 
 their families^ and secret exercises of devotion. 
 The complaints of the tediousness of such a day^ 
 and of the irksomeness of such regulations to the 
 younger branches of the familyj,vvrhieh are urged 
 against this manner of spending the hallowed 
 time, will be found destitute of foundation, when 
 children have been trained up to it from their 
 earliest years." Hist, qf Dissenters, hy Messrs 
 Bogue and Bennct. — " Let me," says the cele- 
 brated Wilberforce, ''^ appeal to that day which is 
 especially devoted to the offices of religion. Do 
 they joyfully avail themselves of the blessed 
 opportunity of withdrawing from the business 
 and cares of life; when, without being disquiet- 
 ed by any doubts whether they are not neglect- 
 ing the duties of their proper callings, they may 
 be allowed to detach their minds from earthly 
 things, that by a fuller knowledge of heavenly 
 objects, and a more habitual acquaintance with 
 them, their hope may grow more full of im- 
 mortality } Is this day cheerfully devoted to 
 those holy exercises for which it was appointed? 
 Do they indeed come into the courts of God 
 
hate sanctified the Sabbath. 37 
 
 %vith gladness ? And how are they employed, 
 when nol engaged in the public services of the 
 day ? Are they busied in studying the word of 
 God, in meditating on his perfections, in tra- 
 cing his providential dispensations, in admiring 
 his works, in revolving his mercies, (above all, 
 the transcendent mercies of redeeming love,) 
 and speaking good of his name? Do their se- 
 cret retirements witness the earnestness of their 
 prayers, the warmth of their thanksgivings,, 
 their diligence and impartiality in the necessary 
 work of self-examination, their mindfulness of 
 the benevolent duty of intercession ? Is the 
 kind purpose of the institution of the Sabbath 
 answered by them, in its being made to their 
 servants and dependents a day of rest and com- 
 fort ? Does the instruction of their families, or 
 of the more poor and ignorant of their neigh- 
 bours, possess its due share of their time? If 
 blessed with talents or with affluence, are they 
 sedulously employing a part of this interval of 
 leisure in relieving the indigent, and visiting 
 the sick, and comforting the sorrowful ; in 
 forming plans for the good of their fellow-crea- 
 tures ; in considering how they may promote 
 both the temporal and spiritual benefit of their 
 
38 Good Men in all ages 
 
 friends and acquaintance ? Or if their 's be a 
 larger sphere, in devising measures whereby, 
 through the divine blessing, they may become 
 the honoured instruments of the more extended 
 diffusion of religious truth ? In the hours of 
 domestic or social intercourse, does their con- 
 versation manifest the subject of which their 
 heart is full ? Do their language and their de- 
 meanour shew them to be more than commonly 
 gentle, and kind, and friendly, — free from rough 
 and irritating passions ? — Surely an entire day 
 should not seem long among these various em- 
 ployments. It might well be deemed a privi- 
 lege thus to spend it in the more immediate 
 presence of our heavenly Father, in the exer- 
 cise of humble admiration and grateful homage; 
 of the benevolent and domestic social feelings, 
 and of all the best affections of our nature, 
 prompted by their true motives, conversant 
 about their proper objects, and directed to their 
 noblest end ; all sorrows mitigated, all cares 
 suspended, all fears repressed, every angry 
 emotion softened, every envious, or revenge- 
 ful or malignant passion expelled; and the 
 bosom thus quieted, purified, enlarged, enno- 
 bled, partaking almost of a measure of the hea- 
 
have sanctified the Sabbath. S9 
 
 venly happiness, and become for a while tlie 
 seat of love, and joy, and confidence, and har- 
 mony." — Wilberforce' s Viem. '' I have found," 
 says the eminently pious and learned Judge 
 Hale, " by a strict and diligent observation, 
 that a due observing of the duty of the Lord's 
 day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon 
 the rest of my time ; and the week thus begun 
 hath been blessed and prosperous to me ; and 
 on the other side, when I have been negligent 
 of the duties of this day, the rest of the week 
 hath been unsuccessful and unhappy to my se- 
 cular employments, so that I could easily make 
 an estimate of my success through the week, 
 by the manner of my passing this day." — Lord 
 
 Hales Advices io his grand- children. In 
 
 like manner, the great Boerhaave of Leyden was 
 wont to declare, in the most solemn manner, 
 that none of his schemes ever succeeded to his 
 wish, if he did not conscientiously devote the 
 Sabbath to the service of God. 
 
 It may not be improper, in this part of our 
 essay, to mention briefly, that the judgments 
 of God have been visible and striking upon 
 nations and individuals who profaned the Sab- 
 bath day. On this subject it becomes us to 
 
40 Good Men in all ages 
 
 speak with reverence and holy caution. Our 
 views of the divine government are very limit- 
 ed, and we are too prone to reckon that to be 
 the cause of divine judgments, which is not 
 really the cause. We know that there is a 
 God who judgeth in the earth, and that he 
 connects sin with its punishment ; but it be- 
 comes not us to affirm peremptorily, that such 
 and such tokens of divine anger either point to 
 particular sins, or are connected with the pu- 
 nishments of eternity. While, however, we 
 abide by the general principles of Scripture, 
 and advert to its examples, we may conclude, 
 without presumption, that the nature and ag- 
 gravations of some sins are distinctly marked 
 in their punishment. If the Lord of the Sab- 
 bath hath done so much to guard his holy day 
 from profanation and abuse, it is fair to in- 
 fer, that his judgments upon Sabbath- breakers 
 shall be signal and severe. These judgments 
 may be invisible, or in the open sight of others ; 
 they may be immediately connected with the 
 crime, or they may be inflicted long after the 
 sin has been committed and forgotten ; but the 
 connection between sin and punishment is still 
 entire. Upon these general principles we are 
 
have sanctified the Sabbath. 4 1 
 
 allowed to affirm, that the ruin of communities 
 and of individuals may be dated from the time 
 when they ventured to trifle with this import- 
 ant part of the divine law. For this sin, thrones 
 have been overturned, and princes made to 
 wander in a wilderness where there isno way; 
 fat lands have been turned into barrenness, and 
 made to enjoy their Sabbaths, being desolate. 
 As a moth and rottenness, this sin hath wasted 
 the beauty and prosperity of many honourable 
 families ; and their houses, though once great 
 and fair, (Isa. v. 9.) are now without inhabit- 
 ants. For this sin God hath long since kindled 
 a fire in the gates of Jerusalem, and it hath de- 
 voured the palaces thereof, Jer. xvii. 27- In 
 the days of Augustine, a general declension of 
 religion had begun, not only in Africa, but all 
 over the christian world. The Sabbath was 
 greatly profaned, both in the palaces of the 
 emperors, a; d in the cottages of the peasants. 
 The church, on account of her errors, her di- 
 visions, and her immoralities, was ripening for 
 divine judgments. God therefore thrust in 
 his sickle, with awful effect, in permitting the 
 Goths and the Vandals to ravage the empire, 
 and to persecute the church. In the desolation 
 
42 Good Men in all ages 
 
 of the provinces, the conflagration of churches, 
 and the universal ruin effected, the serious of 
 that age contemplated the anger of an insulted 
 God, and the danger of sporting with divine 
 institutions. In England, too, the calamities 
 which, for upwards of thirty years, afflicted 
 the country, were nearly coeval in their com- 
 mencement with the publication of the Book of 
 Sports. The family of Stuart, as before hint- 
 ed, generally led the way to Sabbath-profana- 
 tion ; and all the world knows, that the wrath 
 of God hath come upon them to the uttermost. 
 Carnal men trace their destruction to the impo- 
 licy of their councils, or to the cruelty of their 
 natures : but serious observers of Providence 
 give a better account of the matter, when they 
 see in the extinction of that House, the anger 
 of God against senseless bigotry and daring 
 profaneness. He rooted them out, because 
 they were enemies to the liberties of men, and 
 to the prerogatives of God.- — It is an irksome 
 task for one who loves his country, to become 
 its accuser ; but public duty shoul.) at all times 
 control private inclination. That the Sabbath 
 is generally venerated in our country at the 
 present time, cannot with truth be asserted ; 
 
have sanctified tlie Sahbaih. 43 
 
 on the contrary, it is evident to every person who 
 has the shghtest discernment, that we are become 
 bare-faced in the profanation of the Lord's day. 
 But how or when the Lord of the Sabbath shall 
 plead his controversy with us for this sin, it 
 becomes not us to say. The aspect of matters 
 is such, however, as to create a necessary alarm 
 in every serious heart. Divine judgments are 
 abroad in the earth ; they have been perform- 
 ing a tremendous circuit in the other nations of 
 Europe for many years, and in nations, too, 
 infamous for violating the Christian Sabbath ; 
 and who knows how soon the cup may pass 
 through unto us .? Individuals, also, of great 
 eminence in rank and literature, have, in those 
 moments when deceit can ^erve no purpose, la- 
 mented most bitterly their contempt of the 
 Lord's day. We could give a long list of names, 
 and detail many anecdotes in support of this as- 
 sertion, but our studied brevity compels us to 
 forego that intention. The celebrated Mr Sa- 
 muel Johnson of London may be mentioned as 
 one equal to a thousand witnesses. It is well 
 known that his conscience and his inclinations 
 w^ere at perpetual war ; that he had a strong 
 bias to religion, but his life was too frequently 
 E 
 
44 Good men in all ages, Sfc, 
 
 the reverse of his resohitions. On his death- 
 bed, he earnestly intreated his friends to culti- 
 vate an habitual reverence for God, and a deep 
 regard for the Sabbath. The holy Sabbath ! 
 he pronounced with the emphasis of a dying 
 man. This testimony might be supposed to 
 have some influence upon learned and wise 
 men ; but how evanescent is the impression of 
 human testimony upon those who forget the 
 awful words of him who hath said, Remember 
 the Sabbath-day to keep it holy ! We ourselves 
 have heard and seen persons, dying as victims 
 to the justice of their country, lament, with 
 tears rolling down their faces, and but one step 
 between them and eternity. Sabbath-profana- 
 tion as the primary cause of their ruin ; and 
 that their parents, instead of controlling them 
 on that day, led them astray by a pernicious 
 example, and were their counsellors (2 Chron, 
 xxii. 3.) to work wickedness ! How solemn the 
 spectacle ! How venerable are divine institu- 
 tions in the light of eternity ! In what light to 
 contemplate the many accidents which befall 
 watering- parties on the Lord's day, and other 
 parties of pleasure, we leave others to judge ; 
 but the frequency of their recurrence speaks a 
 
Preparation for the Sabbath. 45 
 
 language not easily misunderstood, and says, 
 that there is a God who taketh vengeance, — 
 a God who judgeth in the earth. 
 
 PREPARATION FOR THE SABBATH. 
 
 Good men, in ordinary cases, walk by rule. 
 What is done by no fixed rule, is done awk- 
 wardly, feebly, and confusedly. When a thing 
 is done seldom, and by no certain plan, it is 
 generally done with reluctance and dislike; and 
 from dislike, the natural transition is to omis- 
 sion, to total neglect, or to contempt. On the 
 contrary, what is subjected to a fixed standard, 
 and to a set time, is done accurately and effec- 
 tually, and with ease and delight, because it is 
 done from habit and custom. Custom, all 
 men know, is a kind of second nature, and 
 there is scarcely any thing to which custom will 
 not reconcile. It is recorded of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, that it was his custom to enter into 
 the synagogue on the Sabbath-day ; a day 
 which he always sanctified by a course of active 
 benevolence. Applying these hints to our- 
 
46 Preparation for the Sabbath. 
 
 selves, it would greatly facilitate the perform- 
 ance of the duties required on the Lord's day, 
 if we made conscientious preparation for it be- 
 fore it came. In other cases, our interest or 
 our reputation induces us to anticipate what is 
 proper to be done, in order to receive our 
 friends, or to bring our plans to a happy issue. 
 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy 7vorIc, 
 are words which plainly and forcibly intimate, 
 that we should wisely arrange our affairs 
 through the week, and especially on the last 
 day of it, that, in ordinary circumstances, we 
 may meet with no interruption or disturbance 
 in the great work of that day. Our attach- 
 ments to the things of time should always be 
 moderated by religion ; and our regard to the 
 world should, in no instance whatever, be al- 
 lowed to tempt us to encroach upon what is due 
 to God, or to clog our minds in spiritual ser- 
 vices. We should prudently and diligently 
 dispatch the business of the week, that we may 
 be prepared for the rest of the Sabbath ; that, 
 in as far as our care and foresight can extend, 
 it may be said of our Saturday as was said for- 
 merly of the day preceding the Sabbath ; // 
 tvas ike preparation, and the Sabbath drew on, 
 
Preparation for the Sabbath. 47 
 
 Luke xxiii. 54. Every thing subjected to our 
 influence should be put into such a state 
 through the week, as to prevent sohcitude 
 about it on the Lord's day. Our houses, our 
 vv^orhlly business, our attire, and our necessary 
 provisions, should be in a situation favourable 
 to the exercises ot devotion on that day, which 
 is holy to the Lord, and honourable. Magis- 
 trates, men of business, ministers, and heads 
 of families, with every person of influence, are 
 under the strongest obligations of reason and 
 religion to do so. They are bound by a law, 
 paramount to all human authority, to watch 
 over their concerns during the week, and to 
 put them into such a train, that their children, 
 subjects, servants, and acquaintance, shall not 
 be exposed to the temptation of sporting with 
 the obligations of the Christian Sabbath. A 
 pernicious example in this respect, and even a 
 neglect, in persons of influence, may occasion 
 many breaches of the Lord's day. It speaks 
 little for their good sense, and less for their 
 piety, when men who profess to fear God, by 
 their heedlessness and improvidence, lead those 
 astray who have not fortitude to obey God ra- 
 ther than man ; and is it any wonder that con- 
 
AS Preparation for the SahbatL 
 
 fusion seizes upon those men's affairs through 
 the week, when they have not ordered them 
 with discretion with a view to the approaching 
 Sabbath ? It should also be the first of our 
 concerns, to exercise grace during the week, in 
 reference to the Lord's day, as the best portion 
 of our time, and as the most delightful of our 
 days. " When shall we again appear before 
 God ? How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord 
 God of hosts ! A day in thy courts is better 
 than a thousand !" should be the language of 
 our desires. These desires after fellowship 
 with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, 
 should be strong and ardent, and should mingle 
 themselves with our ordinary occupations dur- 
 ing the week. If We are born again; if we are 
 spiritually minded ; if we have really tasted 
 that the Lord is gracious ; this will be our at- 
 tainment. In this spirit, as the excellent Her- 
 vey says, " every ordinary meal is a kind of 
 sacrament, and every common day is a Sab- 
 bath." To persons of this character, the re- 
 turn of the Lord's day is a privilege of the 
 highest order, a felicity superior to that enjoy- 
 ed by persons who hail the return of a feast, 
 or who, in darkness and among dangerous pits 
 
Preparation far the SabbCith. id 
 
 "Wait for the niorniiig-light. Watchfulness over 
 Our spirits every tiny, will tend to elevate our 
 affections on the first clay of the week, and 
 prevent us from carrying into spiritual duties a 
 carnal temper, or from shewing that we are by 
 no means in our element, when assembling and 
 worshipping with the people of God on the 
 holy Sabbath. The carnality of men's minds^ 
 and of their conversation, on the Lord's day, 
 is easily accounted for upon this principle, that 
 they do not walk with God any day. If the 
 mind be in league with sin, if it grovel conti- 
 nually upon the earth, how is it possible for a 
 mere change of a day to produce a spiritual re- 
 volution in the heart ? The most of men make 
 a rapid transition from the cares and business 
 of the week, to the exercises of the Sabbath, 
 in which, whatever they pretend, their hearts 
 find no pleasure. 
 
 GENERAL SKETCH OF THE DUTIES OF 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 " TuE Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy 
 resting all that day, even from such worldly 
 
50 General Sketch of the 
 
 employments and recreations as are la-wful on 
 other days, and spending the whole time in the 
 public and private exercises of religion, except 
 so much as is to be taken up in the works of 
 necessity and mercy." 
 
 This description, which we have taken from 
 the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, is both com- 
 prehensive and perspicuous. We have never 
 seen any thing equal to it for comprehension 
 and perspicuity, in relation to the subject be- 
 fore us. The law of God requires a whole day 
 for the rest of the Sabbath, and a whole day 
 spent in the service of him who appointed it. 
 It never was disputed that the six days of the 
 week, given to us for our own employment, are 
 days taken in their ordinary duration; but how 
 men began to conceive, that the Sabbath should 
 be understood as meaning only part of a day, 
 is impossible for us to comprehend. As, in the 
 other days, the refreshment of sleep, with the 
 time in which men take food, are included in 
 the work of the day ; so works of necessity and 
 mercy on the Sabbath, are deductions provided 
 for in the law itself. It becomes us, however, 
 to distinguish between those which are invented 
 by men, and those which the law allows. It is 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 5 1 
 
 very evident, that many call these things works 
 of necessity and acts of mercy, which are not 
 provided for by the divine law. The stations in 
 which they are placed, as well as the sinful cus- 
 toms which are familiar to them, induce them 
 to interpret the law of God according to their 
 wishes, and not according to its genuine spirit. 
 It is certain, also, that in performing these 
 works of necessity and charity, we are glorify- 
 ing God, and displaying the mild genius of our 
 religion. It is a piece of nice casuistry, in 
 which carnal men generally take the wrong side, 
 when duties which we owe directly to God in- 
 terfere with those which we owe to men. It 
 is a work of no little difficulty to form a correct 
 list of the works of necessity and mercy ; be- 
 cause these may vary according to the state 
 of the church, and the exigencies of society. 
 To administer to our bodily wants; to flee 
 from danger ; to extinguish destructive fires ; 
 to feed cattle that are dependent on us ; to 
 defend ourselves from aggression, whether 
 of war, or of thieves and robbers ; to stand by 
 the helm, and work a vessel ; to visit the sick ; 
 to bury the dead, in certain circun^stances ; to 
 make collections for the poor ; and to us« 
 
52 General Sketch of the 
 
 means for the recovery of our health, in the 
 use of medicines ; are a few of those works of 
 necessity and mercy which we should perform 
 in the spirit of the gospel on that holy day. 
 These duties, performed in connection with du- 
 ties hereafter to be specified, may well be sup- 
 posed to fill up the whole of that sacred season 
 for the honour of God, and the benefit of men. 
 It was the fashionable doctrine of the times 
 alluded to already, to assert, and to profane 
 the Scriptures in support of the assertion, that 
 Sunday was to he sanctified no longer than dur-- 
 ifig the time of public worship ! This blasphe- 
 mous avowal was not merely a theory which 
 pleased the court, but the majority of the na- 
 tion acted upon it, and willingly followed the 
 impious commandment. That foreign churches, 
 and some in the United Kingdom, thus profane 
 the Lord's day, is a melancholy fact, too ob- 
 vious to be denied, and too important to be 
 concealed. How they can justify this practice 
 to God, or to sister churches, we are not pre- 
 pared to affirm ; but in the great issue of things, 
 we may believe, the great Lord of the Sabbath 
 shall retrieve the honours of his own day, and 
 stamp infamy upon every species of Sabbath- 
 
lyutles of the Sabbath, 5S 
 
 profanation. Many things which constituted 
 parts of the holiness of the Sabbath among the 
 Jews, do not concern us ; but no lapse of ages, 
 no change of the day, can authorise men to vi- 
 lify that holy time, or to abridge its duration. 
 In order to the true enjoyment of the Sab- 
 bath, it is requisite that our minds be in the 
 Spirit on that day. Rev. i. 10. "I was in the 
 Spirit on the Lord's day." That these words 
 may partly refer to the Spirit of prophecy 
 which was given to John, cannot be denied ; 
 but that they have no respect to the temper of 
 his mind, seems extremely absurd to maintain. 
 It is more than probable, that while he was 
 driven by Domitian to the solitudes of Patmos, 
 he was greatly affected with the love and grace 
 of his Saviour, that glorious person who would 
 never leave him nor forsake him, and whose 
 presence turns a wilderness into an Eden, and 
 a desert into the garden of Jehovah ; that he 
 meditated frequently upon his death, his resur- 
 rection, and glory ; and that the first day of 
 the week, or Lord's day, powerfully reminded 
 him of these great events. When his mind 
 was in such a frame, the divine Redeemer ma- 
 
54> General Sketch of the 
 
 nifested himself to John in anotlier way than 
 he did to the world. He said in effect, " Fear 
 not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for 
 I am thy God ;" and John, *' though ready to 
 perish, drank and forgot his poverty, and re- 
 membered his misery no more." It is not at all 
 credible that any person can be prepared for, 
 or can delight in, the duties of the Lord's day, 
 if he take no heed to the temper of his mind. 
 " As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." 
 If he be habitually carnal, the holy exercises of 
 that day will be a task and an inconvenience 
 to him, whatever he pretend to the contrary. 
 Carnal thoughts will intrude themselves into 
 the holiest minds, even after all their serious 
 endeavours to prevent and exclude them ; but 
 still they are not carnally-minded, for it is a 
 part of their infelicity to be troubled with them, 
 and a part of their happiness to oppose and 
 overcome them. It is truly as grievous to a 
 spiritual mind, to find the motions of sin in his 
 members, as it is for a living man to have a 
 putrified corpse tied to his body, and which he 
 is compelled to bear till it becomes a skeleton ! 
 It is a melancholy fact, justified by the expe- 
 rience of all saints, that Satan practises most 
 
Duties of the Sahlxi th. 55 
 
 effectually upon tlieir corruptions during that 
 day set apart for the service of God ; when 
 they would do good, evil is present with them. 
 God permits that enemy to try whether they 
 be girt about with their spiritual armour, whe- 
 ther they be in a posture of holy vigilance, and 
 whether, on that day, divine things have their 
 due ascendancy over their minds. The lively ex- 
 ercise of faith, an habitual watchfulness over our 
 hearts, and sweet meditation upon God, are 
 the great means of escaping his snares and re- 
 sisting his influence. Meditation upon divine 
 things is a direct proof of a mind renewed by 
 the grace of the gospel, and is an excellent pre- 
 parative for all the duties of the Lord's day. 
 Hereby grace is exercised, the heart is disposed 
 to secret and private prayer, the attention is 
 raised to hear what God shall speak by his ser- 
 vants, and especially faith and love ar^ put in 
 motion towards their blessed object. 
 
 When the mind is intensely fixed upon God 
 by faith and meditation, abstraction of the 
 thoughts from the things of time is the natural 
 consequence; and such an exercise will lead to 
 retirement and secret devotion. The sacred 
 flame in the heart cannot be kept burning, holy 
 
 F 
 
56 General Sketch of the 
 
 ejaculations cannot ascend to heaven, without a 
 frequent perusal of the Scriptures and other re- 
 ligious books. The Scriptures are the fuel of 
 meditation, the food of faith, and the life of 
 prayer. How delightful is it, on the morning 
 of the Lord's day, to find the mind turn to 
 God " as the clay to the seal ;" to rise together 
 with Christ, and to start from our slumbers to 
 enjoy communion with our heavenly Father ! 
 Early rising has been recommended by philo- 
 sophers and physicians, as promoting the health 
 of the body and vigour of the mind ; and sure- 
 ly it becomes the friends of Christ to say, " Our 
 \'oice shalt thou hear early in the morning." 
 Christ himself arose from the dead early, even 
 while it was yet dark ; the women were early 
 at his grave ; and worldly men can prevent the 
 dawning of the day, that they may pursue their 
 favourite schemes : Why, then, do the saints of 
 God slumber so long upon their beds on the 
 Sabbath-day ? Servants and labourers, on ac- 
 count of the toils of the past week, are more 
 excusable. But there can be no apology made 
 for those who are not worn out with fatigue of 
 body or anxiety of mind, and who only loiter 
 on their couches, because the duties and enjoy- 
 
Duties of the Sabbath, ST 
 
 ments of the Sabbath are a burden to them. 
 The love of glory made Demosthenes, the cele- 
 brated orator, to be angry at himself, if any 
 workman in Athens began his work before he 
 was in his study; and what influence will the 
 love of Christ have upon the heart which knows 
 and believes it ! 
 
 When a man has enjoyed fellowship with God 
 in his meditations, in his ejaculations, in his 
 closet, or in reading the scriptures by himself, 
 the savour of this is diffused to all his family, 
 in his worship and in his walk. Secret prayer 
 holds such an eminent place among the duties 
 and privileges of a saint, that he cannot neglect 
 it without offending God, and injuring the in- 
 terests of his soul. The church of Christ is 
 found " in the clefts of the rock, and in the 
 secret places of the stairs." We introduce this 
 remark, to shew that secret devotion has an 
 influence upon domestic piety : He who hath 
 found the pearl of great price himself, cannot 
 be indifferent whether his family find it or not. 
 He who walks with God in his closet, will not 
 neglect the worship of God in his family. Eve- 
 ry saint would say with Joshua, ^' As for me 
 and my house, we will serve the Lord." There 
 
58 General Sketch of the 
 
 are some professed Christians who worship God 
 in their families on the Lord's day, who totally 
 neglect this duty through the week. From this 
 neglect we may candidly infer, that these per- 
 sons would not worship God on the Sabbath^ 
 if it were not suited to their own convenience. 
 This custom may be condemned as inconsistent 
 and impious, as highly injurious to families, 
 and as indicative of an inordinate attachment 
 to the world. 
 
 The Lord's day is consecrated for the wor- 
 ship of God, in secret, in private, and in public. 
 Family prayers and praise, with serious read- 
 ing of the word of God, are duties on that day 
 never to be dispensed with. As, under the old 
 dispensation ofgrace, the sacrifices were doubled 
 on the Sabbath, (Numb, xxviii. 8, 9.), so the 
 church was taught by this to abound in the du- 
 ties of religion on that day ; and the people 
 upon whom the ends of the world are come, 
 are instructed to go and do likewise. Family- 
 duties, when rightly performed, are an excel- 
 lent means for preparing to hear the word 
 preached, and for other parts of public worship. 
 These tend, by the blessing of God, to solem- 
 nize the mind, to warm the affections and heart. 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 59 
 
 .'ind to show to the junior branches of the fami- 
 ly, the connection there is, or should be, be- 
 tween one duty and another. The ordinances 
 of God are that only to us which he is pleased 
 to make them, and his blessing is to be sought 
 by frequent and importunate prayer. To re- 
 strain prayer before our families, from whatever 
 motive we do it, is a dreadful instance of in- 
 difference to their present and eternal welfare. 
 It argues much inconsistency of conduct, not 
 to give it a worse name, when persons, as it 
 were, step from their beds, their tables, or 
 their dressing-closets, to the house of God on 
 tlie morning of the Lord's day, without the 
 intermediate duties of secret devotion. And 
 what siiall we say of those who consume a great 
 part of this hallowed season in adorning the 
 body, in plaiting the hair, and putting on of 
 apparel, (I Pet. iii. S — 5.), while they neglect 
 the hidden man of the heart, the ornament of 
 a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price 
 in the sight of God ? " For these things our 
 land mourns, and Zion weepeth sore in the 
 night." 
 
 Good men in every age, and under every 
 dispensation of grace, love the habitation of 
 
60 General Sketch of the 
 
 God's housCj and the place where his honoUf 
 dwelleth. When public ordinances are dis- 
 pensed according to the will of God, and are at 
 all accessible, the saints will come over a thou- 
 sand obstacles to enjoy them* The fertility of 
 a country, the security of its political state, the 
 beauty of its scenery, ai*e nothing to them, if 
 they are denied access to God in the means of 
 grace. Like the ancient Rabbin, they value 
 their houses and possessions as they are near 
 the synagogue j see also Psal. :5tliii. Ixii* and 
 llxxxiv. These psalms breathe a spirit common 
 to saints in every age. Their religion is not to be 
 envied, who can voluntarily absent themselves 
 from the places where God has promised to 
 meet his people, and to make all his goodness 
 pass before them,- — who can despise those wells 
 of salvation whence believers draw and live, — 
 and who reckon it not a privilege to appear be- 
 fore God in Zion. The Son of God himself, 
 in the days of his flesh, attended the worship 
 of God in the temple, in the synagogues, and 
 in every ordinance of divine appointment. It 
 has been the custom of the church, from the 
 earliest ages of Christianity, to assemble in her 
 several congregations upon the Lord's day, and 
 
Ihitlts of tilt Sabbatk. 61 
 
 \o reckon it a special honour and privilege to 
 do so. If the states of Greece were .ill in com- 
 motion every fifth year, to meet their brethren 
 upon the plains of Olympia; how much more 
 should the friends of Christ rejoice, to meet one 
 another in the courts of God's house, to see 
 together the goings of their God and King in 
 his sanctuary ! The saints, therefore, when act- 
 ing in character, are conscientious and punctual 
 in their attendance upon all the worship and or- 
 dinances which God hath appointed in his word. 
 His authority delightfully constrains them, his 
 loving-kindness is before their eyes, and his 
 favour manifested in the gospel is better to them 
 than life. When he says to them, " Seek ye 
 my face," their hearts re«echo at his command, 
 '* Thy face. Lord, will we seek above all things. 
 Our souls pant after God, as the heart panteth 
 cifter the water-brooks." They therefore, with 
 as many of their children, their servants, their 
 friends and visitors, as can conveniently attend, 
 are early, or at least timely, in the house of 
 
 God. " In early times in London, and in 
 
 the country, householders walked to the church 
 before their families : Bui i.o ,v these very fa- 
 
62 General Sketch of the 
 
 milies which are kept together by business on 
 the week-days, are on the Sabbath-days dis- 
 persed, like sheep that have no shepherd, whi- 
 ther humour or whither pleasure calls. The 
 master too often beholds this with indifference, 
 if not with approbation. And this is one cause, 
 as well as fatal consequence, of that astonishing 
 licentiousness of manners, which hath in these 
 present days loosened, and almost destroyed, 
 every relative band of duty and obedience." 
 
 As it is a part of the religion of good men, 
 not to disturb others when worshipping God, 
 so they reckon punctuality in the outward de- 
 cencies of public worship to be not only com- 
 mendable in itself^ but encouraging to fellow- 
 worshippers, and to the ministers of religion. 
 How comely is it to see a whole assembly wait- 
 ing, like Cornelius and his friends for Peter, 
 till their minister enter the pulpit, and all, but 
 those whom necessity detains, prepared to join 
 with him in praise and prayer I Coming into a 
 church when some of the most delightful parts 
 of worship are over, and habitually doing so, 
 argues little sense, and small concern for the 
 interests of religion. Ministers ought not to be 
 left to commence public worship with but a 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 63 
 
 small part of their congregations present. People 
 in the present state of society generally know 
 the time when worship begins, and should there- 
 fore be conscientious in keeping it. — A grave, 
 serious deportment during all the partsof divine 
 worship, is highly becoming Christians ; and le- 
 vity is altogether unsuitable at such times. Du- 
 ring worship, it is very improper to look around 
 at other people. Though this be a practice much 
 too common, it deserves reprehension ; because 
 it betrays an indifference to the gospel preach- 
 ed, and it hinders the edification of others. — It 
 is exceedingly painful to ministers and lively 
 Christians, when they behold the house of God 
 converted into a dormitory, or place of sleep. 
 This is a custom highly indecent and sinful. If 
 the word of God be enlightening our minds, 
 nourishing our souls, and impelling our con- 
 sciences, it is hardly possible to suppose that it 
 will not engacre our attention ! This is the in- 
 firmity of some good men, but they should 
 pray, watch, and strive against it. — It may be 
 mentioned here, in one word, that parents should 
 not permit their children to mingle promis- 
 cuously with the audience, but should keep 
 them in the same seats with themselves, that 
 
64 General Sketch of the 
 
 the children may learn decorum and reverence 
 in divine worship from the example of their pa- 
 rents. As the religion of Jesus sets all men on 
 a level before God, it is proper that servants 
 should also sit near their masters in the house 
 of God, and thereby be prevented from being 
 ausent, or from behaving improperly when 
 present. 
 
 The reading of good books at home on the 
 mornings and evenings of the Lord's day, or 
 where public ordinances are inaccessible, is a 
 duty ; but it ceases to be such, when the word 
 preached is within our reach. In ordinary 
 cases, the one duty ought not to supersede or 
 interfere with the other. The gospel preached is 
 the great means of conversion and of spiritual 
 life ; the glorious chariot in which the Spirit of 
 all grace rides ; the sword girt upon the thigh 
 of our Redeemer ; the channel in which the 
 waters of the sanctuary glide into the church 
 and the heart. The reading of sermons, or 
 even the Scriptures, at home, as a divine of the 
 seventeenth century says, is like 7nilk cold in 
 a vessel, but hearing the word preached, is like 
 drawing milk nmrmfrom the hreasi I It is one 
 thing when the word comes as the word of 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 65 
 
 man, adorned with the wisdom of words, and 
 recommended by tlie powers of eloquence ; and 
 quite another, when it comes in power, and in 
 the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, and 
 worketh effectually in them who believe, 1 
 Thess. i. 5. ii. 13. The preaching of the gospel 
 is an ordinance of divine appointment, of stand- 
 ing obligation, and of universal benefit. But 
 for this blessing, the nations who enjoy this 
 glorious light had yet remained in darkness. 
 To this very day God hath furnished his church 
 with pastors after his own heart, who have fed 
 the people with knowledge and understand- 
 ing, and successive generations have been 
 trained up for glory. The preaching of the 
 gospel in its purity and simplicity, constitutes 
 one important duty of ministers on the Sab- 
 bath ; and this duty involves in it a reciprocal 
 obligation on the part of the people. They must 
 receive the word at the hands of teachers. To 
 this there is an awful reluctance in many, and 
 in others a dreadful indifference even under 
 the preaching of the gospel. But it is a consi- 
 deration of the most alarming nature, that those 
 who will not hear, and that those also who will 
 
66 General Sketch of the 
 
 not obey when they do hear, are alike inevi- 
 tably exposed to final perdition. It is not suf- 
 ficient, therefore, that men pay a decent atten- 
 tion to the preaching of the word, but they 
 should hear that their souls may live. When 
 faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the 
 word of God, the attention is so eager that it 
 cannot be diverted. Hearing for eternity, 
 hearing the truths of God, hearing as men who 
 have their eternal all identified with the gospel 
 preached, is the true way of hearing. The 
 heart is alive, the ear is fixed, ^he conscience is 
 over-awed, and God is in the word of a truth. 
 Men should not only take heed how they hear, 
 but what they hear. If they cannot find spi- 
 ritual food for their souls in one church, let 
 them go where they can find it. If the waters 
 of the sanctuary are defiled, and the pastures 
 of Zion trodden down, let them go and seek 
 " richer pasture and a purer air." They cannot 
 be satisfied with merely moral declamation; 
 for a system of ethics is not a body of divinity, 
 nor is a string of dry moral precepts, the doc- 
 trines of our Lord Jesus Christ. The moral 
 preacher expatiates on the beauty, importance, 
 and advantage of virtue; but the Christian 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 67 
 
 pastor tells men roundly and plainly, that they 
 are universally depraved and helpless; he points 
 them to the blood and righteousness of Christ 
 for pardon and acceptance; he recommends the 
 grace of the Saviour, as the alone cause of sanc- 
 tification of heart and life. He shews that true 
 religion alone effectually serves the cause of mo- 
 rality ; for though a man may be externally mo- 
 ral and not holy, he cannot be holy and not mo- 
 ral. It is in fact an outrage upon the gospel, as 
 well as a lie against God himself, to assert, that 
 evangelical preaching leads to licentiousness. 
 The gospel alone provides an antidote to human 
 evils ; and the gospel, by its native tendency, 
 secures the honour of the moral law. Men 
 should hear without prejudice, should hear with 
 attention, receive the word with meekness in a 
 good and honest heart, and apply it faithfully 
 and impartially to their own circumstances. 
 It should be accompanied with prayer, that it 
 may become the word of their salvation ; it 
 must be deposited in the mind with care, and 
 guarded with solicitude, that it may not be lost, 
 but live within them, and produce fruit in their 
 lives. They should come to it as to a living 
 fountain of consolation, draw largely from it. 
 
68 General Sketch of the 
 
 and remember, that the word they now hear 
 has an awful influence upon their character and 
 state; and must be heard again, and they 
 judged by it, in the great and terrible day of 
 the Lord. 
 
 The Sabbath is a day consecrated to God. 
 Every moment of it is sacred, and ought to be 
 improved to the greatest advantage. It is not 
 practicable nor expedient, that the whole of it 
 should be spent in the public exercises of reli- 
 gion. There are intervening spaces in it ; but 
 it is necessary to be cautious, lest these inter- 
 vals of public worship be abused, and the effect 
 of the foregoing duties be obliterated and lost. 
 Those hours which intervene should not be 
 spent in idle and unprofitable conversation. If 
 saints are alone, they should meditate upon 
 what they have heard, should pray to God for 
 his blessing upon what is past, and upon what 
 remains of the public services of the day ; and 
 if they are in company, they should, like the 
 disciples going to Emmaus on the Sabbath, 
 converse seriously and frequently upon the 
 truths of religion which were delivered to them 
 in the name of the Lord. The Scriptures and 
 religious books may be perused. It will be 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 69 
 
 advantageous in a high degree to recall what 
 they have heard, and to do it in all the fami- 
 liarity of conversation ; they must have heard 
 with little attention and to little purpose, who 
 cannot retain something of what was delivered. 
 If it is not practicable to recollect much, it is 
 necessary, however, to preserve what has been 
 impressed upon the mind. Men have different 
 talents, the word may have had different effects, 
 and the discourses of some ministers, from their 
 plainness and familiarity, may be more easily re- 
 collected than those of others. It is rot easy to 
 be credited, that if the word of God has been 
 quick and powerful upon the heart, it can altoge- 
 ther perish from the memory. It is a law of the 
 memory, that we remember long that which we 
 clearly comprehend, which makes a powerful 
 impression, and in which we have a deep in- 
 terest. If but a single sentiment were gathered 
 from every sermon we hear, and if that truth 
 were fixed in the memory, a large stock of spiri- 
 tual knowledge would be acquired in the course 
 of time. When the head is clear, the heart warm, 
 and the memory retentive, when one is willing 
 to supply the defects of another, and when all 
 love Christ, how profitably might the intervals 
 
TO General Sketch of the 
 
 of public worship be spent! — But as the reverse 
 of this, how sinful and scandalous is it, for 
 ministers and their hearers to talk about the 
 news of the day, about every common incident, 
 to read the newspapers and letters of business, 
 during the intervals of worship on the Lord's 
 day ! If this be not departing from the letter 
 and spirit of the law on this head, we have 
 never understood the one nor the other.— They 
 who have found God in the forenoon, and en- 
 joyed him during the interval, will not be 
 reluctant to see him again in the worship of 
 the afternoon, or in the evening. They must 
 be far advanced in wickedness, and in contempt 
 of the Sabbath, who can prefer a good dinner, 
 a convivial entertainment, a walk of pleasure, 
 or a friendly visit, to the service of God in the 
 afternoon of the Sabbath I This is a custom 
 with many, an inveterate habit, from which 
 they cannot be deterred by the terrors of the 
 Lord, nor charmed by all the charms of the 
 everlasting gospel. Ministers testify against 
 it, some in the lower ranks of society condemn 
 it by their practice ; but still it continues, and 
 resists every means to abolish it, until the grace 
 of God shall draw men from their tables to the 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. 71 
 
 house of him who is our Father and Friend ; 
 then shall their pleasures be sacrificed to the 
 salvation of* their souls. 
 
 The saints having heard the word of God in 
 public, they return to their houses in company 
 with others, as far as is practicable, conversing 
 with them about the things they have heard, to 
 tell their friends what God hath done for them, 
 (Mark v. 19.), and to rehearse the gracious 
 words which proceeded out of his mouth. If 
 they cannot repeat many of the truths which 
 they heard, they love them in their hearts, 
 and live under their spirit and influence. A holy 
 life is a better recommendation of religion, 
 than a retentive memory or an eloquent tongue. 
 Hearing with interest or appropriation in pub- 
 lic, makes the face to shine in the closet and 
 family. The good which saints enjoy is diffu-i 
 sive ; they cannot hide it from others^ nor mo- 
 nopolize it to themselves. When they imbibe 
 the spirit of religion, they become relatively 
 holy ; they bless God for the return of the 
 Lord's day, as it promotes their own spiritual 
 welfare, and affords them an opportunity of 
 more immediate intercourse with their families. 
 Then they converse with them about God, 
 
72 General Sketch of the ' 
 
 they impart all the instruction they can to 
 them ; they read the Scriptures and other good 
 books to them ; they rehearse some of the doc- 
 trines they heard delivered in public^ and they 
 invoke God in prayer before them as their God 
 and Father. These, and other things which 
 might have been specified, are such essential 
 branches of domestic piety, that no person of 
 conscience or principle can neglect or carelessly 
 perform them. Children rise in importance to 
 good men, in proportion as they live near God 
 themselves, and as they know the worth of pre- 
 cious souls. It is truly a gratifying spectacle, 
 to see parents in the midst of their children, 
 of various dispositions, features, and ages, at- 
 tempting to accommodate themselves to the 
 size of their understandings, by familiar in- 
 structions, gaining their hearts to the love of 
 religion, and putting words into their mouths, 
 which they are to address to that God who 
 hath said, ** I love those that love me, and 
 they that seek me early shall find me !" Of 
 how much pleasure are they deprived who trifle 
 with the Lord's day, and who sport with the 
 eternal interests of their children ! Their ser- 
 vants also have precious souls, and therefore 
 
Duties of the Sabbath. "t^ 
 
 good men earnestly endeavour to make them 
 acquainted with that Saviour, whose yoke is 
 easy and whose burden is light. How pleasant 
 isit to consider, that our children arethoseyoung 
 captains, (as Melancthon said to Luther, when 
 he heard the boys of Wurtemberg repeat the 
 Orthodox Catechism), who are to fight the 
 battles of the Lord when we are dead ; that all 
 that is important to the church shall soon be 
 surrendered into their hands ; that they shall, 
 in consequence of our example, be sanctifying 
 the Sabbath when we are asleep in the dust of 
 the earth ; and that our servants, relatives, and 
 visitors, shall have reason to bless God through 
 eternity, for having come under our roof !— 
 What time is so suitable for the most of Chris- 
 tians, to attend to these important concerns, as 
 the evening of the Lord's day ? At that time 
 they are generally sequestered from the world ; 
 the impressions of divine things are then most 
 likely to be strongest ; and good men, whose 
 hearts have been warmed with the love of 
 Christ through the day, wish then to diffuse a 
 similar spirit among all within the sphere of 
 their influence. How much good might be 
 donr, by the divine blessing, in a few hours. 
 
f 4 General Sketch of the 
 
 if heads of families and parents were diligent, 
 conscientious, and faithful ! Thus their houses 
 should be Bethels, and nurseries for the church 
 and society, and the youth would escape the 
 pollution that is in the world through lust. 
 Then society should be ameliorated, iniquity 
 should be ashamed, and stop its mouth. Then 
 men might dwell safely in the wilderness, and 
 sleep in the woods.— Men of talents and piety 
 might also spend an hour or two in visiting the 
 sick, in instructing their ignorant neighbours, 
 comforting the dejected, in private families, or 
 Sabbath Schools, and then return to their fa- 
 milies, commending them to God by prayer. 
 In this manner they enjoy a divine rest, in 
 never being idle. The transition from one duty 
 to another, from the church to the family, and 
 from the family to the closet, would be easy 
 and pleasant, because the whole is a labour of 
 love. In the close of the Lord's day, all saints 
 should recollect, that their Sabbaths shall soon 
 terminate, and ordinances disappear. Life is 
 precarious, and time is uncertain. Let every 
 Sabbath be concluded, in the family and in 
 the closet, with the solemn reflection, that it 
 may possibly be the last j that though that 
 
Duties of the Sabbath, 75 
 
 event may be postponed, it must shortly come. 
 Influenced by these considerations, let every 
 Sabbath be spent in preparation for that Sab- 
 bath which is to be enjoyed in the immediate 
 presence of God. Thus the word of God affords 
 those instructions to us, which are calculated 
 
 " To light our way to ceaseless joys, 
 Where Sabbaths never end.'* 
 
 We shall conclude this part of our Essay with 
 an extract from the late and justly famous Mr 
 Cecil : 
 
 " It belongs to our very relation to God, to 
 set apart a portion of our time for his service ; 
 but as it might have been difficult for conscience 
 to determine what that portion should be, God 
 himself hath prescribed it ; and the ground of 
 the observance remains the same, whether the 
 remembrance of God's resting from his work, 
 or any other reason, be assigned as the more 
 immediate cause. The Jewish Sabbath was 
 partly of political institution, and partly of mo- 
 ral obligation. So far as it was a political ap- 
 pointment, designed to preserve the Jews dis- 
 tinct from other nations, it is abrogated ; so far 
 as it was of moral obligation, it remains in force. 
 
76 General Sketch of the 
 
 Our Lord evidently designed to relax the strict- 
 ness of the observance. Christianity is not a 
 hedge placed round a peculiar people. A slave 
 might enter into the spirit of Christianity, 
 though obliged to work as a slave on the Sabbath; 
 he might be in the spirit on the Lord's day, 
 though in the mines of Patmos. Difficulties of- 
 ten occur in respect to the observance of the 
 Sabbath. I tell conscientious persons, * If you 
 have the spirit of Christianity, and are in an em- 
 ployment contrary to Christianity, you will la- 
 bour to escape from it, and God will open your 
 way.' If such a man's heart be right, he will 
 not throw himself out of his employment the 
 first day he suspects himself to be wrong, but 
 will pray and wait till his way shall be opened 
 before him. Christ came, not to abolish the 
 Sabbath, but to enforce it, as he did the rest of 
 the law. Its observance was nowhere positively 
 enjoined by him, because Christianity was to 
 be practicable, and was to go into all nations ; 
 and it goes thither stripped of its precise and 
 various circumstances. ** I was in the spirit on 
 the Lord*s day," seems to be the soul of the 
 Christian Sabbath. In this view of the day, 
 4 thousand frivolous questions concerning its 
 
Duties of tJi£ Sabbath, 7T 
 
 observance would be answered. * What can I 
 do?' says one. ' Do what true servants ot* 
 Christ will do ; bend not to what is wrong ; be 
 in the spirit, God will help you.' In short, we 
 are going to spend a Sabbath in eternity. The 
 Christian will acquire as much of the Sabbath- 
 spirit as he can. And in proportion to a man's 
 real piety, in every age of the church, he will 
 be found to have been a diligent observer of the 
 Sabbath-day. 
 
 SOME SINS FORBIDDEN IN THE 
 FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 
 
 " The fourth commandment forbiddeth the 
 omission or careless performance of the duties 
 required, and profaning the day by idleness, or 
 doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unne- 
 cessary thoughts, words, and works, about 
 worldly employments and recreations." 
 
 This is also a very happy and comprehensive 
 description. If we examine ourselves and our 
 country by it, or by the scriptures from which 
 
T8 Sins forbidden 
 
 it is drawn, and if we extend our observations 
 to other nations in Christendom, we shall have 
 abundant cause of humiliation before God, and 
 shall find the evil to be very alarming. It is 
 beyond measure astonishing, to see that law 
 which is so clearly defined, so beneficent in its 
 tendency, as promoting the temporal and spi- 
 ritual advantage of nations and individuals, 
 so wantonly and contemptuously violated ! 
 Many persons in a Christian country would 
 make no distinction in the days of the week, 
 but in the very name, were it not from confor- 
 mity to a laudable custom, or in submission 
 to the laws of the land, or from fear of singu- 
 larity. The institution of the Sabbath, as from 
 the highest authority, seems to have no influ- 
 ence whatever upon their thoughts, words, or 
 actions. Such persons would coincide with the 
 appointment as calculated to polish and civi- 
 lize society, or as tending to clear away the 
 rust of the whole week, (see the Spectator, No. 
 112.), or as a holiday on which they might feast 
 with their friends ; but have no relish for it as 
 a holy rest, or as abridging their usual plea- 
 sures. If men had no immortal souls, if there 
 were no future state of retribution, or if the in- 
 
in the Fourth CotnmajidnmU, 79 
 
 terests of the soul required no time to arrange, 
 this conduct might be vindicated; but if these 
 things be true, their behaviour is stamped with 
 daring impiety, who profane the Lord's day. 
 In the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and in 
 the other periods of the Jewish history, the 
 Sabbath was greatly profaned by men who 
 pursued their ordinary occupations, and who 
 found their usual pleasures upon it ; and the 
 Jews are exhorted to bear no burden upon that 
 day, Jer. xvii. 21. As the Sabbath was a sign 
 between God and his church, and between the 
 church and the heathen, it ceased to be such, 
 its very nature was destroyed, if ordinary work 
 was performed upon it ; and it always happen - 
 ed, and it shall always happen, other circum- 
 stances being equal, that in proportion as the 
 Jews declined in religion, or were conformed 
 to the idolatrous nations around them, the holy 
 Sabbath was neglected and profaned. If the 
 adversaries, as before hinted, mocked at their 
 Sabbaths, they would surely encourage their 
 profanation ; and is not the same spirit of insult 
 apparent at this very day ? While the society for 
 suppressing of vice are most laudably employed 
 in guarding the honour of the Lord's day, there 
 H 
 
80 Sins forbidden 
 
 are reviewers and pamphleteers, who turn their 
 zeal into ridicule, and lampoon their exertions. 
 So far are some men advanced in irreligion and 
 profaneness in a Christian country ! 
 
 The sins of omission of which men are guil- 
 ty, are reckoned altogether trivial, and almost 
 not worthy of a thought. If a crime be not 
 flagitious, if it excite no horror in the world, 
 or do not expose to punishment or reproach, 
 then it is generally committed without remorse. 
 Many persons seem to tremble at sins which 
 are odious in the sight of men, while they live 
 at ease during the omission of duties which 
 they owe to God and man ; they forget, that 
 in the scriptures of truth a man is held equally 
 criminal who is idle or slothful, as he who is 
 active in the commission of sin ; that in the 
 procedure of the Last day, sins of omission 
 alone are rehearsed in order to be condemned, 
 and that he who does nothing for God or his 
 church, shall soon be employed by one whose 
 work is not very honourable. An idle servant 
 will soon become a wicked one ; a barren tree 
 shall be cut down, as well as one which bears 
 noxious fruit. From these hints we have rea- 
 son to fear that many duties are omitted on the 
 
in the Fourth Commandment, 81 
 
 Lord's day which ought to be performed. It is 
 to too many, literally, a day of idleness ; they 
 consume it in doing nothing, and observe it 
 only as the cattle do it, in a mere cessation from 
 labour. A great part of it is wasted in sleep, 
 or in loitering in their houses, or in strolling 
 in the fields. Persons of this character gene- 
 rally neglect the public ordinances of religion, 
 and by this neglect do an essential injury to 
 their own souls, and exhibit a most pernicious 
 example to their families. Houses of this class 
 are commonly nurseries of vice, and from them 
 spring those youths who disturb society so long, 
 that at length they become victims to its ven- 
 geance. Many kings and righteous men desir- 
 ed to see those days of the Son of Man which 
 these persons see, and do not improve them. 
 There is somewhat peculiarly wicked in that 
 neglect of public worship which so much pre- 
 vails, even in our own highly-favoured coun- 
 try. We are not certain if such conduct can 
 be matched in any nation under heaven. The 
 followers of Mahommed hasten to their mosques, 
 and in large cities five times a-day ; the Jews 
 greatly esteem their synagogues ; the heathen 
 count the days till the return of their festivals; 
 
82 Sim forbidden 
 
 and yet Christian churches are deserted, or 
 thinly attended in many places upon the Lord's 
 day. " Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in 
 the gates of Ashkelon." How anxious are many 
 persons to fill their places, in every society but 
 in the meeting of the saints ! to meet in every 
 place but in the house of our God ! The great 
 and the noble of our land, who are in general an 
 honour to it, and a blessing by their public 
 spirit and charities, would greatly endear them- 
 selves to good men, as well as produce an excel- 
 lent effect upon their inferiors by their example, 
 if they were regular and punctual in their at- 
 tendance upon the public ordinances of religion. 
 There is no reason which they can give, why 
 they should not attend, or why they should not 
 wait the entire service. The gospel is equally 
 addressed to them with the poor. Providential 
 distinctions do not relieve men from their de- 
 pendance on God, but should increase it. They 
 need every thing from God as a benefactor or 
 as a Father, equally with the poor. They 
 have sinned, they deserve the wrath of God, 
 they need salvation by Christ, in all respects as 
 the poor do; they hope to meet the poor in the 
 heavenly world, when these differences in their 
 lot shall disappear ; why then do they not de« 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 83 
 
 light to join with them now in the worship of 
 God ? That it is the duty of all ranks to honour 
 the Sabbath, and to attend the pubh'c ordinan- 
 ces of God, will be strikingly illustrated by the 
 following extracts from Bishop Horsley.— " By 
 keeping a Sabbath/' says he, " we acknow. 
 ledge a God, and declare that we are not athe- 
 ists. By keeping one day in seven, we declare 
 that we are not idolaters ; and by observing 
 the first day of the week, we protest against 
 Judaism. As the reason of the institution rests 
 on such common benefits as the creation of 
 the world and man's redemption, it is evident, 
 that all descriptions of men stand obliged to 
 the duties of the day. No elevation of rank 
 may exempt, no meanness of condition may 
 exclude, no inexperience of youth disqualifies 
 for the task ; no decrepitude of age is unequal 
 to the toil ; no tenderness of sex can suffer 
 from the fatigue. Since the proper business of 
 the day thus engages every rank^ every sex, and 
 every age, it is evident that it requires a sus- 
 pension of the ordinary business of the world ; 
 for none can be at leisure for secular enjoy- 
 ments, when all are occupied as they ought to 
 be, in devotion."— i/orj%'j Sermons. 
 
S4 Sins forbidden 
 
 A spiritual mind savours the things of the 
 Spirit, but a carnal mind the things of the 
 flesh. Carnal thoughts, or rather thoughts 
 about carnal things, are lawful and proper on 
 other days, but are sinful and injurious upon 
 the Lord's day. The best of men cannot pre- 
 vent the intrusion or the operation of vain 
 thoughts; for it is a part of their spiritual 
 warfare, to resist and overcome them ; but 
 they ought not to indulge or to excite them. 
 They should trace them to their origin in 
 the alienation of the mind from God ; should 
 resist their earliest motions, and cry out with 
 the Psalmist, '* We hate vain thoughts ;" 
 " for lust, when it conceiveth, bringeth forth 
 sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth 
 death." The eggs of the cockatrice in due 
 time become fiery flying serpents. If persons 
 allow their thoughts to roam at large, and to 
 be with the fool's eyes at the ends of the earth 
 on the Sabbath, without being grieved at their 
 extravagance, or endeavouring to impose a check 
 upon them, it is a melancholy symptom that 
 their hearts are not right with God, nor sound 
 in his statutes. If men drank deeply into the 
 
in the Fourth Commandment, 85 
 
 loVe of the Saviour on the Lord's day, it would 
 powerfully, yet delightfully, elevate the heart 
 to things above, and bring them into a diffi- 
 culty mentioned by the excellent Leighton, 
 " when it takes some time and great force to 
 bring the mind to the level of common things !" 
 It must therefore be a sin of omission, in rela- 
 tion to the duty before us, to take no heed to 
 our hearts upon the Sabbath-day. If we sup- 
 pose that any frame of mind is acceptable to 
 God, we are far removed from just conceptions 
 of his holy nature and law. If we apprehend 
 that it is equally indifferent to him, whether our 
 services are polluted by the filth of worldly 
 and sinful thoughts, or sprinkled by the blood 
 of Jesus, and performed in the true spirit of 
 religion, we have the very first principles of 
 saving knowledge yet to learn. — There is also 
 reason to fear, that family-worship is sadly ne- 
 glected on the Sabbath. The scriptures are a 
 sealed book, and there is an indifference to the 
 interests of the soul apparent. The neglect of 
 domestic piety is peculiarly inexcusable, espe- 
 cially among the lower classes in the commu- 
 nity ; because they generally have the Sabbath 
 as their own, and should improve it as a 
 
S6 Sins forbidden 
 
 golden opportunity for increasing their own 
 religious knowledge, and for instructing their 
 families. If persons would pause for a single 
 moment, and consider their relation to God, 
 their obligations to the Redeemer, their own 
 promises at the baptism of their children, and 
 the responsibility growing out of their connec- 
 tion with their families ; they would not, nay 
 could not» neglect the worship of God on that 
 holy day. It is delightful, in no common de- 
 gree, to hear the praises of God sung in great 
 cities, in villages, or in separate houses, on the 
 mornings or evenings of the Lord's day. — See 
 this beautifully illustrated in a poem called the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 " Out of the abundance of the heart themouth 
 speaketh." They cannotlong maintain a spiri- 
 tual conversation on any day, at least consist- 
 ently do it, who do not keep their hearts with 
 all diligence. Our speech should at all times 
 be seasoned with salt for the use of edifying ; 
 but on the Lord's day especially, we should be 
 constantly solicitous that no word escape us 
 that is idle or sinful. Cicero, the celebrated 
 orator, was wont to declare, that he could not en- 
 dure to hear philosophers converse about com- 
 
in tlie Fourth Commandment. 87 
 
 mon things, as about ploughs and cattle, (de 
 aratro et hove,) but about the sublime truths 
 of philosophy. If this great man abhorred trif- 
 ling conversation among wise men, how de- 
 void of dignity and decorum may Christians 
 pronounce their conduct to be, who talk about 
 ordinary things on the Lord's day ! If an esti- 
 mate be formed of our character as a people 
 professing Christianity, from the conversation 
 of the many on this day, it will be difficult to 
 discover, that we possess the spirit of our re- 
 ligion at all, or regard its precepts ; so unlike 
 are the speech and conduct of men to that reli- 
 gion which inspires fhe surest hopes, and teaches 
 the sublimest virtue. To give an unbounded 
 licence to our tongues on the Sabbath, is a sure 
 indication of insincerity of heart before God, 
 and classes us with the enemies of true and 
 undefiled religion. If ministers and parents, 
 and men of authority and rank, be guilty of 
 this sin, they become doubly criminal ; for 
 thus they not only dishonour their stations, 
 but spread the infection through the whole 
 sphere of their connections, and harden many 
 in their crimes. In ministers especially, this 
 
88 Sins forbidden 
 
 becomes a crime of singular enormity, as it of- 
 fends and grieves all good men who witness or 
 hear of it^ and renders them contemptible in 
 the eyes of men, who laugh to scorn those 
 men who enjoin one thing from the pulpit, and 
 who meet the world more than half way in 
 their lives. The mischief that such persons do 
 to the interests of the gospel by such conduct, 
 is incalculably great. Who shall honour tha 
 Sabbath, if the ministers of religion profane it ? 
 It is alarming to serious minds, to hear the un- 
 guarded language of professed Christians on the 
 Lord's day, in going to and returning froni 
 the church, during the intervals of worship, and 
 even on solemn occasions ; and there is reason 
 to believe, that the evil extends to their fami-. 
 lies. They know little of the preciousness of 
 Christ, or of the fulness of scripture, who dis- 
 honour their lips by such conversation. " O ! 
 my soul, come not thou into their secret; 
 unto their assembly, mine hononr, be not 
 thou united." In some places there are cus* 
 toms which tend to increase the evil, such 
 as proclamations of sales of timber, grass, or 
 corn, and the placarding of notices on the gates 
 and doors of churches. Hearing and reading 
 
in the Fourth Commandment, 89 
 
 these prevent the influence of the truths de- 
 livered, beget an association of carnal ideas on 
 the Lord's day, and occasion worldly talk- 
 Though these customs be authorised by the 
 law of the land, they cannot be vindicated up- 
 on any principle of reason or scripture. If 
 their utility be pleaded as an argument in their 
 favour, or that they have continued from time 
 immemorial j it may be answered, that there 
 are other ways of announcing tiie sales ; that 
 our private interest ought never to interfere 
 with the honour of God ; that no length of time 
 can sanction the commission of sin ; and that 
 no prescription can bind, in opposition to divine 
 authority. Magistrates and ministers, by a 
 prudent exercise of their power, might speedily 
 abolish them, and doing so would be credit- 
 able to themselves, and honouring the Lord of 
 the Sabbath. — In this place it may not be im- 
 proper to remark, that mutual converse about 
 the truths of religion on the Lord's day, seems 
 to be every year we live more rare and uncom- 
 mon. This defect may be traced to a want of 
 love to the truth, to a decay of love to God and 
 to the brethren, and to a haughty selfish spirit. 
 Such silence and contempt must be dishonour- 
 
90 Sins forbidden 
 
 ing to God, disheartening to ministers, and 
 ultimately pernicious to the church. If the 
 conversation take a religious turn, it too com- 
 monly degenerates into common-place remarks 
 about the gifts of the speaker, the place of wor- 
 ship, the number of worshippers, or some other 
 topic altogether void of interest. These things 
 may be adverted to, as an introduction to higher 
 matters ; but not as in themselves suitable to the 
 sanctity of the day. It frequently happens in 
 the present state of things, that if a pious indi- 
 vidual drop a hint about the love of Christ, or 
 the power of his grace on the heart, this be- 
 comes a signal for separation or silence. Or if 
 the company do not separate, the religious hint 
 is imputed to an affectation of singularity, to 
 ostentation, or to enthusiasm, Alas for the 
 times into which we have fallen, when to speak 
 of our Saviour is a burden, when Christian ex- 
 perience is branded with the name of hypocrisy, 
 and when regeneration and communion with 
 God are said to be things not found in the 
 present circumstances of Christianity! In the 
 best times of the church, and in the days of our 
 forefathers, such carnal conversation on the 
 Lord's day was not known, or if known, was 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 91 
 
 not to be endured. Oh .' when will God re- 
 vive us again, and renew our days as of old ? 
 
 The Jews were allowed by their law to go a 
 Sabbath-day's journey, which perhaps was the 
 ordinary distance from the synagogue where 
 they worshipped ; and this behoved to be to 
 some of them greater, and to others less ; and 
 when performing works of necessity and mercy, 
 they might exceed these limits : but it does not 
 appear from their history, that ever they were 
 allowed to commence or to prosecute a journey 
 of business or of pleasure on the Sabbath. One 
 should think that it would not be difficult to 
 prove, that the law of God, in the fourth pre- 
 cept, most pointedly prohibits every kind of 
 abuse just to be mentioned.— Strolling in the 
 fields, under whatever pretence, and frequenting 
 public walks on the Lord's day, must be reck- 
 oned obvious breaches of the law. In a se- 
 questered place, or sometimes with a religious 
 friend, a walk may be lawful, and a work of ne- 
 cessity ; but if it tend to unfit us for the duties 
 of religion, by withdrawing the mind from the 
 concerns of eternity, if it interfere with other 
 important services, if it shall harden the wicked 
 in their crimes, and if it make us postpone or 
 I 
 
!&2 Sins forbidden 
 
 trifle with the secret, or private, or public wor- 
 ship of God, it should by all means be avoided. 
 The scenes of nature are enchanting, the health 
 of the body is greatly to be prized ; but the 
 work of our salvation, and the duties we owe to 
 God and our families, ought to predominate 
 over these, and every other thing. It is exceed- 
 ingly offensive to God and good men, to see 
 persons who bear the sacred character of Chris- 
 tians, foremost on the walk on the Lord's day, 
 tossing their heads with a fulsome levity, with 
 a smile of contempt at God and his holy day 
 diffused over their countenances, and an en- 
 deavour strenuously made to convince their as- 
 sociates that they were born only to trifle or to 
 be amused ! The streets of our great cities, 
 with every avenue around, present mortifying 
 spectacles of the arrogance and depravity of 
 man on the day of our God. — Travelling on 
 the Sabbath, both for business and pleasure, oP 
 upon improper visits, is now become so com- 
 ^non and shameless, that it ceases to excite 
 Wonder or abhorrence. The noise of chariots, 
 the prancing of horses, the bustle of pedes- 
 trians, are every where witnessed. Many of 
 the rich, the fashionable, the gay, with men also 
 
i7i tJie Fourth Commandment. 93 
 
 of low degree, sally forth from our cities and 
 towns on the morning of the Lord's day, as if 
 the plague were raging in these places, or as if 
 they fled from the devastation of an earth- 
 quake ! The upper ranks of society are in this 
 respect highly culpable ; and their conduct in 
 travelling in a kind of cavalcade upon Sabbath 
 without any plea of necessity, reflects infinite 
 disgrace upon their rank and character. If they 
 be magistrates, who are entrusted with the exe- 
 cution of the law, they weaken its sanctions by 
 their example : For they should be " a terror 
 to evil-doers, and a praise to them who do 
 well." Their laws and proclamations in fa- 
 vour of the observance of the Sabbath, cannot 
 be efficient, nay, may be pronounced ridiculous, 
 if they themselves are breakers of the divine 
 law, and of their own. If they are noblemen 
 and gentlemen, though not in any office, their 
 example may be supposed to produce much 
 good or much evil. If their servants, depend- 
 ants, and servile imitators, observe that they 
 pay no regard to the Sabbath, they unhappily 
 imbibe the same spirit, and tread the same path. 
 An ancient philosopher was used to say, " that 
 he feared to do an unworthy thing because of the 
 
94 Sins forbidden 
 
 presence of his servant.*' And another, when 
 solicited to commit a crime, indignantly replied, 
 ** Turpe, quid acturus, te sine teste, time ;" that 
 is, Reverence thyself, and do no base thing, 
 though no witness be present. These are ele- 
 vated sentiments, and may create a blush in 
 the faces of many who enjoy the lightand liberty 
 of the gospel ! As the above hints about tra- 
 velling on Sabbath, may be by some deemed 
 precise and puritanical, we beg leave to furnish 
 them with an excellent extract from Bishop 
 Horsley, who never was suspected of enthusiasm. 
 '' It appears," says he, '* from what has been 
 said, that the practice which has become com- 
 mon in this country, of performing long jour- 
 neys on the Sabbath-day, without any urgent 
 necessity, is one of the highest breaches of this 
 sacred institution. It breaks in upon the princi- 
 pal business of the day, laying some under a ne- 
 cessity, and furnishing others with a pretence, 
 for withdrawing themselves from the public as- 
 semblies ; and it defeats the ordinance of its 
 subordinate ends, depriving servants and cattle 
 of that temporary exemption from fatigue, 
 which it was intended both should enjoy. 
 This, like many other evils, hath arisen from 
 
in the Fourth C&inmandmerU. 95 
 
 small beginnings, and by an unperceived, be- 
 cause a natural and a gradual growth, hath at- 
 tained at last an alarming height. Persons of 
 the higher ranks, whether from a certain vanity 
 of appearing great, by assuming a privilege of 
 doing what was generally forbidden, or for the 
 convenience of travelling when the roads are 
 most empty, began, within our own memory, 
 to make their journeys on Sabbath. In a com- 
 mercial country, the great fortunes acquired by 
 trade, have a tendency to level all distinctions, 
 but what arises from affluence. Wealth sup- 
 plies the place of nobility ; birth retains only 
 the privilege of setting the first example. The 
 city presently catches the manners of the court, 
 and the vices of the highest peer are faith- 
 fully copied in the life of the opulent merchant, 
 and the thriving tradesman." — Horil€y''s Ser- 
 mons. 
 
 There are many other sins forbidden in the 
 Fourth Commandment, to which we can only 
 advert in a very brief sketch, and which only 
 to name is to condemn. We indeed despair of 
 being able to effect a reformation by any thing 
 we can say ; but we hereby lift our feeble 
 testimony against every abuse of the holy 
 
J)6 Sins forbidden 
 
 Sabbath, and against every person, whatever be 
 his rank, who is guilty of it. — Every kind of 
 intemperance should be avoided on the Lord's 
 day, with a religious solicitude. It is the duty 
 of all men to feed and refresh the body with 
 moderation on that day, in order to strengthen 
 it for the services of Christ, and for the duties 
 of mercy to others. In this the strictness of 
 the Jewish Sabbath is relaxed, and the com- 
 forts of life to be received, while they do not 
 militate our own spiritual interests, or hinder 
 others from attending the means of grace. It 
 is a pleasant enjoyment to feast moderately on 
 the Lord's day, while the comforts of time 
 are converted into emblems of the bread and 
 the water of life ; while our society bears a 
 distinct similitude to the general assembly and 
 church of the first-born, which are written in 
 heaven ; and while we are prevented, by vene- 
 ration for God, from making the most distant 
 approach to excess in eating or drinking. The 
 Sabbath is to many a day of feasting : Though 
 they have almost starved through the week, 
 they feed on Sabbath with all the ingenuity of 
 epicures, and in a manner, too, totally incon- 
 sistent with that abstinence required by the re- 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 9T 
 
 Hgion of Jesus. In those also who wait on 
 God in the ordinances of grace, there may be 
 occasionally an approach to intemperance which 
 is not altogether compatible with sobriety of 
 mind, or with the enjoyment of God as a Spi- 
 rit. How can the mind be prepared for medi- 
 tation, self-examination, and communion with 
 God, how can the spirit be eager in attention 
 to the word preached, or sprightly and active 
 in the duties of religion, if the body be glutted 
 or overpowered with the delicacies of sense ? 
 A plain diet with simple beverage, is most 
 becoming Christians, and the spirit of the di- 
 vine law. It may be asserted with confidence, 
 that none who fear God can lounge in an inn, 
 or be present at convivial entertainments, far 
 less approach a nightly revel, on the time con- 
 secrated to religion. The riot and tumultuous 
 conversation, which in country places accom- 
 pany baptisms on the Lord's day, as well as on 
 account of those who have lately been married, 
 are shameful and offensive. 
 
 In a commercial country, like our own, the 
 speedy circulation of intelligence by posts and 
 mail-coaches, is necessary to give energy and 
 dispatch to trade. The anxiety so natural to 
 
98 Sins forbidden 
 
 merchants who have their all at stake, should 
 be relieved by every lawful means in the power 
 of the public. But as, in a Christian country, 
 where the Sabbath is at least nominally ho- 
 noured, there is a suspension of all active em- 
 ployments in relation to mercantile concerns, 
 it is surely fitting that every thing which tends 
 to confound the Sabbath with the other days of 
 the week should be avoided. If the divine law 
 allow men to dictate or peruse letters on busi- 
 ness ; if it permit them to inquire at the post- 
 ofEce for letters, which themselves know relate 
 to secular affairs ; if it authorise Christians to 
 assemble in coffee-rooms for the express pur- 
 pose of reading newspapers, and conversing 
 about politics and trade ; if all these things be 
 consistent with the duties they owe to God and 
 their souls ; then they are bound to produce a 
 dispensation from the great Author of the Sab- 
 bath : Till that be done, we must pronounce 
 such conduct to be a flagrant breach of the law 
 of God. — Printing, circulating, and reading 
 newspapers on the Lord's day, are such out- 
 rages upon the feelings of good men, and so 
 obviously contrary to the laws of God and our 
 country, that the publishers of them dare not 
 
m the Fourth Commandtnent, 99 
 
 send them to the post-office, nor openly dis- 
 perse them on that holy day. They indeed 
 assiduously circulate them by stealth, vend 
 them in corners, and put them into the mail- 
 coaches at some distance from the great mart 
 of intelligence. We have not been able to pro- 
 cure exact information as to the time when the 
 reading of newspapers in coffee-rooms on the 
 Lord's day commenced ; but we may assert, 
 that it was a fatal era to our religion and mo- 
 rals whenever it did begin. This practice of 
 reading the papers by ourselves, or in the so- 
 ciety of others, on the Sabbath, is not only a 
 literal breach of the law on that head, but it 
 removes the mind as far as possible from the 
 spirit of our religion ; it tends to withdraw the 
 attention from the blessed Bible, which records 
 scenes infinitely more interesting to immortal 
 beings than any which a newspaper can present; 
 it tends also most powerfully to prevent the 
 efficacy of the gospel, which they may hear in 
 their respective churches, and it gives a secu- 
 larity to the heart, which renders the other du- 
 ties of the Sabbath a task or an inconvenience. 
 If our feeble voice can be heard amidst the 
 
100 Sins forbidden 
 
 noise of wordly concerns ; if this small tract 
 shall ever come into the hands of any of those 
 who are chargeable with this crime ; we most 
 earnestly beseech them to abandon the practice. 
 It may be, that when they take a retrospect of 
 their conduct from the borders of the grave, 
 they may be thankful that a friend admonished 
 them to forsake the foolish, and live. If those 
 things are to be realized at some future time, 
 why should they not at present possess a domi- 
 nant influence over our hearts and conduct? For 
 
 " In this one point is all true wisdom cast, 
 -■ To think that early we must think at last.** 
 
 We beg leave again to confirm our senti- 
 ments by an extract from an eminent writer :— -.^ 
 
 Speaking of the evil of Sunday newspapers, 
 he says, "Of all the evils against which we 
 should provide, and to which the most con- 
 scientious and resolute discouragements should 
 be given, I know not any which will demand a 
 greater portion of our zealous opposition than 
 the baneful but increasing enormity of Sunday 
 newspapers. Whether the immorality of an- 
 cient or of modern tirpes be greatest, I presume 
 not to decide ; but of this I am convinced, that 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 101 
 
 ' no period of our Religious History, since the 
 Reformation, can shew an instrument so pal- 
 pably insulting to the commandment of God, 
 so diametrically hostile to the laws of the land, 
 and so injurious to the interests of piety, as the 
 Sunday newspapej-. This is an invention, the 
 whole praise of which is due to this age of in- 
 novation ! and I feel a conviction, which it is 
 my duty to avow, that it will produce, if not 
 speedily and effectually checked, effects more 
 mischievous to the great cause of religion and 
 godliness, than many of those changes which 
 we have already beheld with such astonish- 
 ment and regret. That the careless and thfe 
 corrupt, the deist and the libertine, should 
 seek to repose, in the lassitude and the irk- 
 someness of their Sunday-hours, upon this ex- 
 pedient, so suited to the vacuity of their minds, 
 or the depravity of their hearts, is no matter of 
 astonishment ; that those who regret the in- 
 terruption of their business, or their pleasures, 
 should rejoice in this substitute, which amuses 
 the merchant with a table of markets, the po- 
 litician with a cabal, the licentious with intrigue, 
 the splenetic with scandal, and all with some 
 
1 02 Sins forbidden 
 
 matter adapted to their different tastes, is little 
 surprising ; but that among the abettors of such 
 a traffic, should be found men of reputed vir- 
 tue and discretion, whose minds have been 
 alarmed at the progress of infidelity, and who 
 have seen with sorrow the strides of irreligion 
 and profaneness, is a mystery which can only be 
 accounted for upon the supposition of their not 
 having sufficiently attended to the nature of 
 the fact, nor conjectured the mighty mischiefs 
 which it portends to society. Persons of this 
 description would do well to consider, what 
 numbers of their fellow-creatures are involved 
 (some from fear of offence, others from love of 
 gain) in this enterprise of unlawful and un- 
 sanctified commerce; how many are confined 
 to the labours of the press ; how many employ- 
 ed in the circulation, and how many decoyed 
 in the purchase, of this baneful commodity ! 
 Many, very many, of the venders and readers, 
 it is probable, were once found upon the Sab- 
 bath in the sanctuary of God, attended to the 
 concerns of their souls, and regarded the breach 
 of this day with Christian abhorrence. To 
 many of the first, the emolument arising from 
 the traffic, has appeared a sufficient counter- 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 103 
 
 balance against all they might lose by sacrific- 
 ino- a good conscience, and flying in the fiice of 
 a positive law. To many of the last, the peru- 
 sal of this paper now stands in the stead of a 
 pious discourse, or a portion of God's word ; 
 and finding some food for the levity of their 
 minds, and the looseness of their affections, in 
 this modern contrivance, they seem to want 
 leisure, because they want inclination, to seek 
 some employment of a more profitable nature. 
 Those, therefore^ who have fallen into this 
 snare, are conjured to consider how many en- 
 gines are kept at work, in order to afford them 
 this gratification; and in how complicate a 
 scheme of mischief and transgression they are 
 concerned. Ye friends of order, virtue, and 
 social happiness ! be admonished of your de- 
 lusion and your danger. Regard not with in- 
 difference such an artful innovation upon what 
 you have learned to revere, and what you 
 have shewn yourselves so forward to maintain. 
 In pledging yourselves for the public welfare, 
 in bringing your property into the treasury, 
 and your engagements before your fellow-cili- 
 zens, you have done well. Give to God and 
 religion this other sacrifice, and offer your Sun- 
 K 
 
104 Sins forbidden 
 
 day newspapers upon the altar of your coun- 
 try."— Ow^ew'^ Christian Monitor, 
 
 It is a fact known to every serious observer 
 of the state of our country, without our specify- 
 ing the particulars, that many occupations are 
 followed on Sabbath, which ought not to be en- 
 dured by a religious public. Many of these 
 may indeed be reckoned necessary, from the 
 present state of society ; but if the matter be 
 candidly investigated, it will be apparent, that 
 many of them minister to the vanity or vices 
 of men, rather than to their necessity or comfort. 
 There is not any thing which tends really to 
 the comfort of men on the Lord's day, but which 
 might be provided before it arrive, if we except 
 medical aid in the case of distress. 'Tis pity 
 when men, by their negligence and want of fore- 
 sight, whether they be masters or servants, 
 trench upon the holy Sabbath. Every article 
 of dress might be prepared for the decorum of 
 the Sabbath, before it come ; all necessary pro- 
 visions might be purchased in ordinary cases. 
 The business of the world should be taught to 
 make a pause, when the great Lord of the sab- 
 bath interposes his authority. It is unworthy 
 of a christian country, to allow men to make 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 105 
 
 the Sabbath a day of merchandise, either open- 
 ly or clandestinely, especially as the sales made 
 might have been made on the day before, 
 or may, without injury to either party, be 
 postponed to the day following. It is pain- 
 ful to some persons who retain some vene- 
 ration for the Lord's day, to be reduced to the 
 disagreeable necessity of either acting contrary 
 to their consciences, in complying with the im- 
 portunity of persons who tempt them to sell on 
 the Lord's day, or injuring their temporal in- 
 terests if they refuse. There have been per- 
 sons who have, by their insidious conduct, al- 
 most overcome the virtue of good men, in ad- 
 dressing temptations to their poverty or their 
 avarice. There are instances on record, of 
 persons who have seen their substance moulder 
 away before their eyes, while they, contrary to 
 their convictions, have courted the friendship of 
 the world, by vending their goods on Sabbath ; 
 whereas these very persons have found Provi- 
 dence to smile on their affairs when they re- 
 turned to their duty, by resolutely sanctifying 
 that holy day. The driving of cattle to markets 
 at a distance on Sabbath, the sailing of ships 
 from port, the travelling of posts and waggons, 
 
1 06 Sins forbidden 
 
 are public evils and nuisances that reflect dis- 
 honour upon every christian country where they 
 exist. There can be no reason why vessels, in 
 ordinary cases, should sail on the Lord's day, 
 more than a man can give for yoking his 
 plough, or for following any other secular em- 
 ployment : and they who have witnessed the 
 crowds and bustles in maritime cities on these 
 occasions, can be prepared to judge in this 
 case. Our brave tars seldom enjoy the means 
 of grace, and should be permitted to enjoy, as 
 frequently as possible, opportunities of hear- 
 ing those things which belong to their eternal 
 peace; things which, when they exert their 
 influence on the mind, fortify in danger, and 
 reconcile to death in every shape. In rela- 
 tion to the driving of cattle, it is evident, 
 that though, on account of bad weather, and 
 being detained at ferries so long that it becomes 
 a work of necessity to drive them on Sabbath, 
 that they may be in time to the market ; yet as 
 these cases seldom occur, the evil might be re- 
 medied by the care and foresight of the pro- 
 prietors, or by the interference of magistrates in 
 executing the law upon offenders. The law 
 concerning the Sabbath, is a part of the law of 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 107 
 
 the land, and christian magistrates, who ought 
 not to hold the sword in vain, but judge for 
 God, ought to execute the law for the benefit 
 of society, and the welfare of the church. Good 
 laws should never be slacked, Hab. i. 4. for, 
 bad as the world is, it would be infinitely worse, 
 were not men restrained by the fear of salutary 
 laws and the indignation of society ; and many 
 of the evils specified might be in a great mea- 
 sure removed or prevented, if magistrates and 
 ministers did their duty. " If any man," says 
 a pious writer, "hath prevented but one sin in the 
 course of his life, he hath not lived in vain." — It 
 has been asserted, and there is reason to believe 
 the assertion is founded on the fact, that many 
 professed Christians devote a portion of every 
 Sabbath to the arrangement of their secular con- 
 cerns. These persons indeed retire from the 
 world, but not to hold fellowship with God, or 
 to converse with the things of eternity, but to 
 wind up their affairs, to balance their books, 
 and to read or answer letters to their correspon- 
 dents. Dreadful abuse of the Lord's day ! We 
 have reason to hang our heads, and to blush 
 deeply for the Christian name, when we hear of 
 such contempt of our blessed Redeemer. The 
 Spirit of God, whose delineations tf human 
 
108 Sins forhidde7i 
 
 characters are exact and true, hath in the Scrip- 
 tures informed us, " that there is no fear of 
 God before their eyes ; that their sin, though 
 concealed from men, will find them out as 
 certainly as the Lord liveth, and their soul liv- 
 eth J" Though these persons be not principals 
 in these crimes, yet if they are accessory to 
 them, by employing their servants or clerks in 
 the nefarious business, while they have it in 
 their power to prevent them, they become 
 doubly criminal before God ; for they have not 
 exerted their authority to recommend the sane- 
 tification of the Sabbath, but have abetted its 
 profanation^ by precept, advice or example. 
 
 We are not ignorant of the dispute among 
 ministers and people, Whether it be a duty to 
 lead in corns on the Lord's day, when it hap- 
 pens to be favourable in the time of inclement 
 weather? That it is a work of necessity to re- 
 move the fruits of the ground from the ravages 
 of fire, from the sphere of an inundation,, on 
 Sabbath, no person can deny ; but the case 
 before us is of a description totally different : 
 For, not to mention that the impatience dis- 
 covered in the case specified, is irreconcileable 
 with trust in Providence, we shall confront 
 those persons who plead for its expediency. 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. lOli 
 
 with the direct testimony of God in his word, 
 Exod. xxxiv. 21. " Six days thou shalt work, 
 but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; in 
 caring-lime and in harvest thou shalt rest." 
 These seasons are the seasons of peculiar an- 
 xiety to agriculturists ; but their anxiety is 
 not to be removed by transgressing the Divine 
 law ; neither can they have permission from 
 the lawgiver, in any age, to follow a servile em- 
 ployment on the holy Sabbath. We unequi- 
 vocally deny that this is a work of necessity or 
 of mercy. The principle assumed in the argu- 
 ments of those who plead for its propriety is 
 false, and the consequences absurd ; for it goes 
 to relax the obligation of the Sabbath, and if 
 pursued to its legitimate issue, would teach 
 men to regard it as a bugbear of superstition* 
 or the offspring of political contrivance; and 
 then, what security remains for the survival of 
 any religious institution among us ? 
 
 Visiting our distressed relations or neigii- 
 bours on the Lord's day, is a work of mercy, — 
 a work of mercy to their bodies and to their 
 souls. When we are honoured to administer 
 relief to either of these, by our instructions, 
 advices, prayers, or our charity, we glorify the 
 
110 Sins forbidden 
 
 God of mercy. It is an eminent part of true 
 religion and undefiled, before God and the Fa- 
 ther, to visit the fatherless and the widows in 
 their affliction. This is the best expression of 
 Christian sympathy, as well as an evidence 
 that we partake of his Spirit, who is afflicted in 
 all our afflictions ; who was anointed to preach 
 the gospel to the poor ; was sent to heal the 
 broken-hearted ; to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind ; 
 to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luke iv. 
 18. But when crowds of idle and irreligious 
 people rush into the chambers of the afflicted, 
 (especially in a carnal frame of mind, and be- 
 cause they have got nothing else to do,) they 
 are frequently chargeable with a twofold impro- 
 priety to the sick or dying, — with inhumanity 
 to their bodies, and cruelty to their souls. 
 The sympathy of these visitors may be alive, 
 but is surely ill directed, when their conversa- 
 tion is about the world, and the news of the 
 country, and bears no reference to the com- 
 forts of the gospel, or the certainty and glory 
 of the heavenly state, with other topics, which 
 are truths to the living, but are inquired after 
 as blessings by the dying. The sick cannot 
 
in tlie Fourth Commandmmt. Ill 
 
 remove from the sphere of their impertinence, 
 and seem to say to persons of this class, " Mi- 
 serable comforters are ye all !" 
 
 The Lord's day, -which is appointed for the 
 service and enjoyment of God, is by very 
 many converted into a day of visiting their 
 friends, whether near or at a distance. They 
 reckon this day to be their own in a peculiar 
 sense; hence they judge that they may use all 
 freedoms with it, being their own. Such per- 
 sons are freqently informed, that the Sabbath 
 is the day of God, appropriated for his honour 
 and service, and that it is theirs only in use 
 and enjoyment. Were servants to use the same 
 freedoms with the six working-days which are 
 devoted to their masters' work, that they do 
 with the Lord's day, which is the property of 
 God, their connection with their masters would 
 soon terminate. The restraints of religion, 
 and of the Sabbath, are blessed restraints, or 
 blessings under the form of inhibitions ; but 
 arc an intolerable yoke to carnal men. They 
 love to walk at liberty, but it is as a lamb in a 
 large place, without an inclosure around the 
 pasture, and without the protection of tlie shep- 
 herd. They promioc themselves liberty, while 
 
112 Sins forbidden 
 
 they are the slaves of sin. They love to gad 
 from place to place, from house to house, and 
 from company to company ; an association of 
 worldly imaginations, converse about the news 
 of the day, or the occurrences of the past 
 week, or, as the highest ground which carnal 
 men can occupy, some account of the last mi- 
 nister who preached, are the fruits and conco- 
 mitants of such unhallowed visits. At those 
 meetings also, appointments, bargains, and 
 projected journeys are indirectly made, which 
 are not only unlawful before men, but which 
 tend to bring the curse of God upon all their 
 comforts and prospects, while they occasion 
 sorrow and sadness to all good men. Their 
 seats, also, in their respective churches, are 
 left empty; their pastors are breaking the 
 bread of life to the people, but many of their 
 flocks are not present to receive it ; they are 
 unnecessarily at home, or at a distance, and 
 their souls suffering hunger. How melancholy 
 is the reflection which arises in the mind of 
 every faithful minister who loves his people as 
 his own soul, " That many of his flock are this 
 day falling into the snare of the devil, by lov- 
 ing pleasures more than God, by dining with 
 
in the Fourth Commandment. 113 
 
 a friend, travelling with a party of fine fellows; 
 are on a water-excursion, in quest of natural 
 curiosities, or the relics of art ; are visiting their 
 friends without necessity : and while he is talk- 
 ing of those things which astonish angels, they 
 are diverting themselves in an inn, joining in 
 the loudest laugh of fools, or sanctioning, by 
 their presence, orgies of pleasure!" Such vi- 
 sits as we have alluded to are contrary to the 
 very letter of the Divine law ; good men are 
 described, (Isa. Iviii. 13.), as ** not doing their 
 own ways, nor finding their own pleasure, nor 
 speaking their own words." If the character 
 there described be ours, how incompatible with 
 it is it to join in that idle, trifling, insignifi- 
 cant chat, which engrosses our ordinary visits ? 
 Whether it be possible to mingle with modish 
 company on the Lord's day, and obey this 
 law, let those judge who know the world. 
 They who are sick of the Sabbath and its ser- 
 vices, seek such triflers to afford them some 
 relief from the intolerable burden. They want 
 relaxation ; they seek recreation in the company 
 of the giddy and vain. Their hearts are ill at 
 ease ; they are empty at home, and therefore 
 must go abroad to seek refreshment in the 
 
1 14 Sins forbidden, Sfc. 
 
 company of those who are like themselves. 
 " Business/' say they, '' is suspended ; all are 
 in their best clothes ; and all circumstances in- 
 vite to pay visits to our friends." How is the 
 soul of a saint refreshed ? By having his faith 
 increased, his hope elevated, and his views of 
 heaven enlarged. Is it the best part of our 
 time ? Let it then be improved to the best of 
 purposes, and devoted to the best of Beings. 
 Is it a common custom of this world to pay 
 visits on the Lord's day ? Then let us not be 
 conformed to the world. This custom is the 
 idol which we are called to renounce. In op- 
 posing this soul-destroying custom, all religious 
 persons should, by all means, be singular ; 
 should distinguish themselves by a becoming 
 zeal for God and his holy Sabbath ; should set 
 an example to others, and should shine as 
 lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
 generation. If they have visited their friends 
 on Sabbath without a call, let them do so no 
 more. Let the honour of God, the credit of re- 
 ligion, and the welfare of their own souls^, coun- 
 terbalance every other consideration. Hence- 
 forth, remember to keep the Sabbath holy to 
 the Lord. 
 
11 
 
 SKETCH OF THE MANNER IN WHICH 
 THE SABBATH WAS KEPT UNDER THE 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT DISPENSA- 
 TIONS. 
 
 The design of this section oF our Essay is, 
 to endeavour to bring the serious reader to tlie 
 actual practice of the church, and to let him 
 see with his own eyes, how the saints walked 
 with God on the Sabbath, or on the Lord's 
 day. In order to do this with effect, we must 
 speak in the language of Scripture, or refer the 
 reader to certain passages which he can peruse 
 at his convenience. The word of God has an 
 emphasis peculiarly its own, on the conscience 
 and heart of every saint. The people of God, 
 in obedience to the divine command, rested 
 from all their labours, and reckoned the Sab- 
 bath, immediately after its republication from 
 Mount Sinai, a holy rest, and truly a holy day, 
 Exod. XX. 8. and xxxi. 14. They began the 
 day with preparations for its solemn services. 
 They endeavoured to wash their hands, and 
 L 
 
116 Manner of keeping the Sabbath 
 
 purify their hearts,-— to keep their feet before 
 they entered the temple, or ascended the hill 
 of God, Eccles. v. ]. Psal. xxiv. S. They 
 were reconciled to their brethren, before they 
 presented their offerings upon the altar of God, 
 Matth. V. 2S, 24. They washed their hands 
 in innocency, or had a clean conversation, 
 Psal. xxvi. 6. They had a high esteem for the 
 ordinances of God, as the scenes of their gra- 
 cious enjoyments, and the places where they 
 were to meet their brethren. They longed, 
 they panted, their flesh and heart cried out, for 
 the living God. His ordinances were delight- 
 ful to them for his sake. Their meetings were 
 holy convocations, the place was the house of 
 God, and they reckoned those truly happy who 
 dwelt there for ever, Psal. Ixxxiv. 1 — 4. xxvi. 
 8. xxvii. 4. xlii. 1 — 3. They not only at* 
 tended themselves, but they earnestly intreated 
 others to go likewise. The pastors exhorted 
 the people, and the people exhorted one an* 
 other. The great sentiment in their hearts, 
 and the common language of their lips, was, 
 " Let us go up to the house of the Lord," 
 Jer. 1. 4, 5, Mic. iv. 2. Psal. cxxii. 1, They 
 entered the gates of the tabernacle or the 
 
under the Old and New Dispensations. 117 
 
 temple with praise, as honouring the God of 
 the house, and as anticipating the discoveries 
 he was to give thera of himself. They went 
 up to be instructed in their duty and privileges, 
 Isa. ii. 2. Nehem. viii. 1 3. They worshipped 
 at the entrance of the temple; they kneeled 
 down before God in earnest prayer ; they gave 
 thanks, and joined together in the praises of 
 God, Psal. xcv. 6. 2 Chron. vi. 13. Psal. xcii. 
 a psalm for the Sabbath-day. The holy scrip- 
 tures were read by the officiating priests, and 
 an exposition was made, and the sense was 
 given, Deut. xxxi. 11 — 13. xxxiii. 10. Mai. ii. 
 7. It was a blessing to them when their priests' 
 lips preserved knowledge, and it was a curse 
 upon them when they had no teaching priests, 
 2 Chron. xv. 2. Serious exhortations, drawn 
 from the subjects explained, were addressed to 
 them, Neh. viii. 3. Luke iv. l6. During the 
 time of preaching, the people stood up, their 
 eyes were fastened on their teachers, and their 
 ears were attentive, Neh. viii. 5. Luke iv. 20. 
 Neh. viii. 3. Their offerings were then pre- 
 sented to God, and money was cast into the 
 treasury, Mark xii. 41. A solemn blessing 
 was then pronounced over them in the name of 
 
118 Mcuuier of keeping tke Sabbath 
 
 the Lord, and in the form prescribed. Num. 
 vi. 23 — 27. When the congregation was dis- 
 missed, it was the duty of all, and it was the 
 privilege of some, to meditate upon what they 
 heard ; they searched the scriptures in relation 
 to those things which they were taught, Psal. i. 
 2. Acts xvii. 11.; and they hastened to their 
 houses to instruct their children in the great 
 things of God. This was their duty every 
 day, and much more on the Sabbath, Deut. vi. 
 6, 7. This holy day recalled to their remem- 
 brance their deliverance out of Egypt, and how 
 to shew mercy to their man-servants and maid- 
 servants, to the strangers among them, and 
 to their cattle, Deut. v. 14. They remember- 
 ed the Lord their God, who wrought all these 
 wonders for them, and sanctified them for him- 
 self as a peculiar people, Ezek. xx. 20. They 
 were reminded also on this day of another rest, 
 a spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter 
 in heaven. On this day they were to declare 
 their delight in the Lord, reckoning it holy to 
 the Lord, and honourable ; and so far to deny 
 themselves, as not to think their own thoughts, 
 speak their own words^nor do their own works, 
 Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. In one word, it was to be 
 
under the Old and New Dispensations. \\9 
 
 spent, not as a fast-day, in mourning, but in 
 spiritual gladness, in sending portions to others, 
 or to them for whom nothing was prepared ; 
 and this joy was chiefly on account of their un- 
 derstanding the word, and enjoying the pre- 
 sence of God, Neh. viii. 10. for, on that day, 
 the joy of the Lord was their strength. 
 
 When the day of Christ's resurrection was 
 known by the church to be a holy day, the 
 saints rested upon it under the New dispensa- 
 tion, as the Jews had done on the seventh day 
 under the Old. We have not many particulars 
 in the Acts of the Apostles, or in the Epistles, in 
 relation to the Lord's day : but such as we have 
 are sufficient for our purpose, to establish its 
 divine authority, and the necessity of keeping 
 it holy to the Lord. On that day the whole 
 church came together, or met in her respective 
 congregations. The temple was no longer a 
 centre of worship to them, and therefore they 
 met where they conveniently could ; but their 
 meetings were always on the Lord's day. Acts 
 XX. 7. 1 Cor. xi. 20. Justin Martyr, Tertul- 
 lian, Cyprian, and Augustine, inform us, that 
 " On the Lord's day all of us assemble in the 
 congregation ; all that arc in our great cities, or 
 
120 Manner of keeping the Sabbath 
 
 in the country, do meet together in some place." 
 The unconverted Gentiles occasionally visited 
 those assemblies, and again discontinued their 
 attendance ; but none professing Christianity 
 might forsake the assembling of themselves to- 
 gether, without being chargeable with apostacy 
 from the faith and profession of the truth. In 
 those assemblies, prayers were offered to God 
 and to Christ, and to the Holy Ghost, the God 
 of the Jews and of Christians, the true God 
 subsisting in three persons. We have not so 
 frequent notices about any part of Divine wor- 
 ship among the primitive Christians, as about 
 their prayers, Acts i. 14 — 24. iv. 23. xvi. l6. 
 The scriptures of the Old Testament were de- 
 voutly read, accompanied with an exposition of 
 them suited to the infancy of the Christian 
 church, — an exposition which shewed that the 
 great truths of the Christian religion were to 
 be found in the shadows of the law, and pre- 
 dictions of the prophets. That part of the gos- 
 pel history which was extant, together with the 
 Epistles in circulation, were also read in the 
 meetings of the faithful, Coloss. iv. l6. 1 Thess. 
 V. 27. There was also preaching, properly so 
 called, in their congregation : on the first day of 
 
under the Old and New Dispensations. 121 
 
 the week, Paul preached to the disciples at Tro- 
 as, Acts XX. 7. In this important service, the 
 apostles spent theirstrength,and reckoned every 
 other duty, except prayer, comparatively un- 
 important. Acts V. 42. vi. 4. The apostle Paul 
 exhorts to this duty with great vehemence of 
 spirit, and in a thundering charge, 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
 The word preached was then f/iithfully ap- 
 plied to all the circumstances of the church, 
 for reprehension, exhortation, admonition, con- 
 solation. The matter was the pure gospel ; the 
 manner was not with enticing words of man's 
 wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit 
 and in power; the end was the conversion of 
 precious souls, and the edification of the church. 
 On the Lord's day the Christians met to com- 
 memorate the death of the Lord Jesus, Acts 
 XX. 7. In their congregations, the saints sang 
 praises to Christ as to God, even frequently, in 
 those times of persecution, before the break of 
 day ; they then generally sung with under- 
 standing, and with great ardour of affection, 
 1 Cor. xiv. 1 5. They could not forget the poor 
 amidst the raptures of their piety ; — the true 
 church of Christ has always had a care over 
 the poor ; hence, in all their assemblies, they 
 
1S2 Manner of spending the Sabbath 
 
 tnade collections for them according to their 
 ability. Acts ii. 46. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. For this 
 purpose were deacons appointed to superintend 
 this business, and to apply with prudence and 
 discretion the charities of the church. This, 
 among many other considerations, proves, that 
 Christianity is a religion of benevolence to the 
 souls and bodies of men. How amiable is that 
 religion, which, amidst the grandeur of its pro- 
 spects, provides for widows, for the fatherless, 
 for the sick, for the captives, for exiles and 
 strangers ! On the first day of the week, as is 
 generally supposed, the Holy Ghost descended 
 upon the church. The offices of the church 
 were generally then received by those who were 
 appointed to them by Christ ; and on that day 
 judicial sentences were pronounced against of- 
 fenders. When the public services were ended, 
 the apostles visited private houses for prayer 
 and mutual conference. Acts xvi. 16. The 
 private members returned to their houses, to in- 
 struct their families, read the scriptures, and to 
 pray. Acts xvii. 11. The fathers of the church 
 inform us, " That the people in their times 
 were conversant with the word of God night 
 and day ; that those who could not read, were 
 
under the Old and New Dispensations. 123 
 
 fed by conference, on the mornings and even- 
 ings of the Lord's day." Chrysostom exhorted 
 his flock at Constantinople to this effect, " That 
 presently upon their coming home, they should 
 take the Bible into their hands, and rehearse, 
 with their wives and children, all that they had 
 been taught from the word of God during the 
 public service." These primitive teachers of 
 Christianity warned their people against join- 
 ing the company of ramblers, or those who go 
 about on Sabbath, the company of the lewd 
 and unclean, the vain and idolatrous ; and ex- 
 horted them to spend the day in hearing reli- 
 gious sermons, singing spiritual hymns, visit- 
 ing the sick, comforting the poor and dejected, 
 and in remembering the coming of Christ to 
 judgment. 
 
 THE MANNER OF SPENDING THE LORD'S 
 DAY LN A PRIVATE FAMILY. 
 
 (Extract.) 
 
 " In the mean while, the secret of God was 
 upon our tabernacle, and a consciousness of his 
 
124 Manner of spending the 
 
 favourable presence, added a peculiar relish to 
 all our enjoyments. The Lord himself was 
 our Shepherd : he made us lie down in green 
 pastures, and led us forth by the still waters ; 
 by his bounty our wants were supplied, and un- 
 der his protection we felt security and peace. 
 He anointed our heads with the oil of gladness, 
 and, while our cup was running over with com- 
 forts, we said in our hearts. Surely goodness 
 and mercy shall follow us all the days of our 
 life. Every day was a day of tranquil satis- 
 faction, in which we had little to wish, and 
 much to enjoy; but the Sabbath presented us 
 with peculiar consolations. We saluted every 
 return of that holy day with undissembled joy, 
 cheerfully laying aside all our usual studies 
 and employments, except such as had a mani- 
 fest tendency, either to enlarge our acquaint- 
 ance with, or to advance our preparation for the 
 kingdom of God. It was a day truly honour- 
 able in our eyes, and marked as a season of 
 sacred delights. Its various exercises, whether 
 public or private, produced an exhilarating ef- 
 fect upon our minds, and never failed to set us 
 some paces nearer the object of our supreme 
 desires. It was a kind of transfiguration-day, 
 
Lord's Day iii a private Family. 125 
 
 shedding a mild glory upon every creature, 
 and enabling us to view the concerns of time, 
 in connection with those of eternity. Through 
 all its happy hours we sat as on the holy 
 mount, looking backward with gratitude, and 
 forward with confidence, taking sweet counsel 
 together, for the advancement of our highest 
 interests, and scarcely considering ourselves 
 inhabitants of this lower world. The company 
 of even our most intimate friends, on these oc- 
 casions, would have rendered our intercourse 
 with each other more reserved, and our plea- 
 sure proportionally less lively ; but, unrestrain- 
 ed by the presence of witnesses, we gave an 
 unlimited indulgence to all our affectionate and 
 devotional feelings. We conversed together as 
 parts of the same family; we congratulated each 
 other as members of the Christian church ; we 
 rejoiced over one another as heirs of the same 
 most glorious promises. Some interesting pas- 
 sage of scripture, or some choice piece of di- 
 vinity, generally furnished the matter of our 
 discourse ; and while we endeavoured to obtain 
 a clear and comprehensive view of the subject 
 under consideration, a divine light would some- 
 
126 Marnier of spending the 
 
 times break in upon us, satisfying our doubts^ 
 exalting our conceptions, and cheering our 
 hearts. We have then, with one consent, laid 
 aside our book, that we might uninterruptedly 
 admire the beauties, and enjoy the sweets, of 
 the prospect opening before us. And still, as 
 the scene has become more luminous, we have 
 proceeded from wonder to wonder, with a de- 
 gree of delight far surpassing that which expe- 
 rimental philosophers ever felt, on discovering 
 some grand secret in the operations of nature. 
 Through these flowery paths we have continued 
 to allure each other onward, (first one of us 
 takingthe lead and then another,) refreshing our 
 spirits and feeding our immortal hopes, amid a 
 thousand glorious appearances, till the New 
 Jerusalem itself has burst upon our eyes, even 
 that city which hath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God ; whose inhabitants are the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, and from 
 whose holy walls we heard the voice of harpers 
 harping with their harps. Here we have 
 stayed our happy progress, and while standing 
 to solace ourselves with a view of the goodly 
 object before us, the scene of our future enjoy- 
 ments, and the place of our future destination. 
 
Lord's Day in a private Family. 127 
 
 we have solemnly renewed our vows, resolving, 
 for the joy that was set before us^ to endure 
 the cross, despising the shame, in humble imi- 
 tation of our adorable Master. In such a frame 
 of mind, we found it possible to speak of pro- 
 bable sufferings, and painful separations, with 
 the utmost composure. And with such a ter- 
 mination of our course in sight, we could cheer- 
 fully leave all the casualties of that coarse to the 
 Divine disposal ; fully persuaded, that, what- 
 ever evil might befal us by the way, an abun- 
 dant compensation would be made for all, on 
 our arrival at home. — Many a joyful Sabbath 
 have we thus spent together, especially during 
 the latter years of our Joshua's continuance with 
 us.* And now, when his mother and I are dis- 
 posed, on the return of these sacred seasons, 
 to look with regret towards his vacant place, 
 we endeavour to animate each other with the 
 hope of shortly following our dearest son to the 
 celebration of that eternal Sabbath above, of 
 which we have enjoyed so many sweet antici- 
 
 • Referring to their only son, a young man of great 
 learning and piety, who had died a short time before. 
 
 M 
 
128r Manner of spending the 
 
 pations here below."— —Gt/p?^'^ Monument of 
 Parental Affection. 
 
 " Whilst he thus walked with God in pri- 
 vate, in his family and closet, he was solici- 
 tous, above every thing, to sanctify the Sab- 
 bath to the Lord. Though he was of elevated 
 rank, and frequently attended the court, he 
 did not allow these things to lessen his re- 
 verence for Divine institutions. His situation 
 often occasioned his being far from the places 
 where the gospel was preached ; but he over- 
 came these difficulties, by travelling every Lord's 
 day several miles to enjoy it. Every Satur- 
 day night he called himself to account how he 
 had spent the preceding week, humbled himself 
 for sin, and exercised those graces which make 
 the return of the Sabbath a blessing to a devout 
 mind. He rose early out of bed on the morn- 
 ing of the Lord's day, and having finished the 
 business of the closet, repeated to his servant 
 those sermons which they had heard the Sab- 
 bath before. Though he had a domestic chap*- 
 lain, he constantly attended the public assem- 
 blies twice every day. He was a most atten- 
 tive hearer of the word ; as well knowing that 
 he was in the presence of God, who was no re- 
 
hordes Day in a private Family. 129 
 
 specter of persons; that he heard not the 
 word of man, but of God, and that he will- 
 ingly laid his honour at Christ's feet. Im- 
 mediately after sermon, he retired from the 
 company of his best friends, for a half hour, 
 to meditate on what he had heard, and to ap- 
 bly the truth to his own soul. Two of his ser- 
 vants generally wrote the sermons in church ; 
 these were repeated or read to the whole family 
 on the evening of the Sabbath. Such was the 
 interest his Lordship took in the truths he 
 heard in public, and such was the strength of 
 his memory, that he could repeat more than 
 they had written. These truths were then in- 
 serted in a book, and the whole impressed upon 
 their mind by a devout prayer. To avoid os- 
 tentation, or the appearance of it, in his do- 
 mestic duties, he never admitted to repetition 
 of sermons or prayers with his family but one 
 friend, who could not betray him, nor expose 
 his piety to ridicule." — Life of Lord Har" 
 rifigto?i, who died 1613, aged 22, — modernized 
 from the Old Life. 
 
 It may not perhaps be improper to insert 
 here the following testimony in honour of the 
 Sabbath, from the pen of the celebrated Cow- 
 
130 Manner of spending the 
 
 per. " With respect," says he, in a letter to the 
 Rev. Mr Unwin, "to the advice you are required 
 to give to a young lady, that she may be proper- 
 ly instructed in the manner of keeping the Sab- 
 bath, I just subjoin a few hints which have oc- 
 curred to me upon the occasion ; not because I 
 think you want them, but because it would seem 
 unkind to withhold them. The Sabbath, then, 
 I think, may be considered,^r*^, as a command- 
 ment, no less binding upon modern Christians 
 than upon ancient Jews ; because the spiritual 
 people amongst them did not think it enough 
 to abstain from manual occupations on that 
 day, but, entering more deeply into the mean- 
 ing of the precept, allotted those hours they 
 took from the world to the cultivation of holi- 
 ness in their own souls ; which ever was, and 
 ever will be, a duty incumbent upon all who 
 ever heard of a Sabbath, and is of perpetual 
 obligation both upon Jews and Christians : 
 (the commandment therefore enjoins it; the 
 prophets have also enforced it ; and, in many 
 instances, both scriptural and modern, the 
 breach of it has been punished with a providen- 
 tial and judicial severity, that may make bye- 
 standers tremble) : secoiidlyy As a privilege 
 
Lords Day in a pHvate Family. 131 
 
 which you well know how to dilate upon, better 
 than I can tell you ; thirdly, Asa sign of that 
 covenant, by which believers are entitled to a 
 rest which yet remaineth ; fourlhhjy As the 
 sine qua non, or necessary part of the Christian 
 character ; and, on this head, I should guard 
 against being misunderstood to mean no more 
 than two attendances upon public worship, 
 which is a form complied with by thousands, 
 who never kept a Sabbath in their lives. Con- 
 sistence is necessary to give substance and soli- 
 dity to the whole. To sanctify the Sabbath at 
 church, and to trifle it away out of church, is 
 profanation, and vitiates all ! After all, 1 could 
 ask my catechumen one short question ,• * Do 
 you love the day, or do you not V If you loVe 
 it, you will never inquire how far you may 
 safely deprive yourself of the enjoyment of it. 
 If you do not love it, and you find yourself 
 obliged in conscience to acknowledge it, that is 
 an alarming symptom, and ought to make you 
 tremble. If you do not love it, then you wish 
 it was over, because it is a weariness to you. 
 The ideas of labour and rest are not more op- 
 posite to each other, than the idea of a Sabbath, 
 and that dislike and disgust with which it fills 
 
132 Manner of spending the 
 
 the minds of thousands, to be obliged to keep 
 it. It is worse than bodily labour." — Cowper^s 
 Letters. 
 
 The reader will no doubt be highly gratified 
 with the following extract from the elegant pen 
 of Mrs Hannah More.—" The Christian in the 
 world," says she, " anxious to improve his 
 scanty leisure, will rescue from mere diversion 
 those hours which cannot prudently be sub- 
 tracted from business. To a man thus circum- 
 stanced, the Sunday is felt to be indeed a bless- 
 ing; to him it is emphatically ' a delight' In- 
 stead of appropriating it as a day of preme- 
 ditated conviviality, he converts it into a 
 stated season of enjoyment of another kind. 
 He hardly needs the injunction, to ' remem- 
 ber' to keep it holy, though he is not unmind- 
 ful, that of the ten commandments, it is the 
 only one prefaced with that admonition. He 
 considers the observance as almost more his 
 privilege than his duty. The expectation of its 
 return cheers him under the perplexities of the 
 week. He anticipates it as a rest here, and as a 
 foretaste of eternal rest. He enlarges his pious 
 exercises with the more satisfaction, as he is 
 clearly assured that he is not on this day in 
 
Lord's Day in a private Family. 133 
 
 ^danger of trenching on his professional duties ; 
 and, from this reflection, his heart more warm- 
 ly expands in gratitude to him whose day it 
 more immediately is. He feels that, if it were 
 barely a season ordained by some public act, a 
 royal proclamation enjoining it, as a necessary 
 interval between the labours which close one 
 week and those which begin another, a contri- 
 vance of ease, a measure of political prudence, 
 or personal tenderness, to prevent the bodily 
 machine and the over-laboured mind from 
 wearing out, he would be grateful for its insti- 
 tution ; but to him the day comes fraught with 
 benefits and blessings of a still higher kind. It 
 is an appointment of God ; that entitles it to 
 his reverence ; it is an institution of spiritual 
 mercy; it is the stated season for recruiting his 
 mental vigour; for inspecting his accounts with 
 his Maker ; for taking a more exact survey of 
 the state of his heart ; for examining into his 
 faults ; for enumerating his mercies ; for lay- 
 ing in, by prayer, fresh stores of faith and holi- 
 ness ; for repairing what both have lost in the 
 turmoil of the week. His heated passions have 
 leisure to cool ; his hurried mind to regain its 
 tranquil tone; his whole internal state to be 
 
1 34 Manner of spending the 
 
 regulated ; his mistakes to be reviewed ; his 
 temper to be new-set; his piety to be braced up 
 to the pitch from which it may have sunk in the 
 atmosphere he had been breathing. The pious 
 man of business relishes his family-society and 
 fire-side enjoyments with a keenness not always 
 felt by others. If * the harp, and the tabret, 
 and the viol/ are not always heard in his feasts, 
 he does what those who listen to them do not 
 always remember to do, for * he considers the 
 works of the Lord, and regards the operations 
 of his hand.' It is not enough for the devoted 
 Christian, that his life is dedicated to him who 
 gave it ; his spirit is, as it were, exhaled in his 
 service." — Mrs Move's Morals, p. 229 — 233. 
 Vol. II. 
 
 '* On the due observance of the Sabbath," 
 said the excellent Bishop Porteus, " and the 
 appropriation of a large portion of it to sacred 
 purposes, depends, I am convinced, the very 
 existence of religion in this country. Scarce one 
 symptom of it ever appears among us, except on 
 the Lord's day ; and when the sanctity of that 
 is gone, every thing is gone with it. We can- 
 not therefore bestow too much time and pains. 
 
Lord's Day in a private Family. 135 
 
 in keeping up to the utmost, the spirit of that 
 Divine institution ; we cannot rescue too much 
 of it from the growing encroachments of 
 worklly business and worldly pleasure."— 
 Bishop Portcics'' Primary Charge io the Diocese 
 of London. 
 
 AWELL-SPENT SABBATH DAY. 
 
 In addition to those excellent sentiments pre- 
 sented to the reader in the above extracts, we 
 may be permitted to bring into one view the 
 various branches of Sabbath-sanctifi cation, by 
 the description of a character drawn from life 
 and observation, and by no means a creature 
 of the fancy. The person to whom it applies 
 is, more than any of his friends, sensible of 
 his defects, knowing that in every thing he sins 
 and comes short of the glory of God, and that 
 his endeavours to walk with God on Sabbath, 
 or any other day, fall infinitely short of the 
 spirit of that law which is exceeding broad. As 
 Fidelio is engaged in a concern of considerable 
 extent, and is, moreover, of a nervous habit, he 
 
136 A well-spent Sabhath-day. 
 
 is not a stranger to those anxieties of mind 
 which the fluctuations of business frequently 
 occasion even in a person of the steadiest prin- 
 ciples; neither is he unacquainted with those 
 temptations to conformity to the world, in vio- 
 lating the holy Sabbath, in neglecting family- 
 worship, and in deviating from the strict prin- 
 ciples of justice between man and man, which 
 are so common in every place. By the grace 
 of God, he hath hitherto escaped all these 
 snares. While many of his neighbours, eager 
 to lose no opportunity of sales, have their shops 
 constantly open on week-days, Fidelio's is re- 
 gularly shut at nine o'clock every morning, 
 that he may worship God with all his house- 
 hold, and " hold communion with the skies." 
 Such is the estimation in which his charac- 
 ter is held by his neighbours, that no man 
 dares to violate his privacy, or even almost 
 to knock at his shop-door, while he and his 
 family are in their little sanctuary. While 
 his mercantile friends are gaping for news on 
 the Lord's day, and visiting the post-office, he 
 permits the affairs of the world to recede from 
 his eyes, being occupied with objects to which 
 all other things are but as the small dust in the 
 
A well-spent Sabbath-day. 137 
 
 balance. On other days he talks on politics 
 and trade, with an iiiterest and intelligence al- 
 most peculiar to himself. But on the Sabbath, 
 he is taught by God to mind the one thing 
 needful, to raise his mind to things above, and 
 to bring his family, if possible, to participate 
 oi his spirit. The bustle in his shop on Satur- 
 day evenings is very great ; but his foresight 
 and prudence prevent any confusion from tak- 
 ing place ; and even the glance of his eye seems 
 to say to his customers, that it is time for them 
 to retire to their homes, and prepare for the 
 Lord's day. 
 
 Fidelio, having a strong mind in a weak 
 body, cannot rise so early on Sabbath as many 
 others ; but he is far from being a loiterer on 
 that day. In much weakness of body, he 
 creeps from his bed to his closet, and his spi- 
 rits are re-animated with the ascending sun. 
 His Bible lies before him on the table, and 
 from it he gathers matter of supplication for 
 his closet and family. At a set hour, his chil- 
 dren meet him at the breakfast-table, having 
 previously been also in their closets^ and by 
 their looks seem to hail the return of the Sab- 
 bath as the happiest of their days. He sits 
 
138 A weU'Spent Sabhath-daij. 
 
 among them as a patriarch, and as the centre 
 of all their delightful intercourse. After in- 
 quiring about their health, and some general 
 hints, the conversation naturally glides into 
 something interesting and spiritual. His en- 
 larged acquaintance with the scriptures, his 
 fund of religious anecdote, his wise observa- 
 tions, and his frank manner, all beget and ar- 
 rest their attention. Here is no affectation, no 
 bye-ends to serve, no laboured discourse, but 
 enlightened, free, and delightful intercourse, 
 which animates while it instructs, and engages 
 without any restraint. The worship of God in 
 the family is then devoutly performed ; the 
 servants enter the chamber as if Fidelio was 
 their father, and the devotion proceeds, in all 
 its parts, with decorum and singular interest. 
 How sweetly they sing! how seriously he reads, 
 and they listen ! and how powerfully he pleads 
 with God for himself, for his family, and for 
 the church ! He seems to feel all their neces- 
 sities, and to express all their thoughts with 
 his ardent lips. Preparation for serving God 
 in public, follows the devotions of the family. 
 The business of dressing is soon dispatched. 
 Religious books are read, or some miscellaneous 
 
A well-speiit Sabbath-day, 139 
 
 conversation takes place, till the hour arrives 
 which calls them to the house of God. 
 
 Fidelio, with his family, unless when neces- 
 sarily detained, is always early in the church. 
 The minister, v.hen he enters the assembly, 
 never fails to see Fidelio, and his family seated, 
 as if eager to join in the praises of God — the 
 most delightful part of divine worship. Their 
 posture is decent, their attention during the 
 service is such as edifies the church, gratifies 
 the pastor, and indicates the interest they take 
 in the truths delivered, and in the worship of 
 God, their Friend and Father. God alone is 
 Judge of the workings of the mind, of the ex- 
 ercise of faith, of gracious desires after com- 
 munion with himself, of the conflicts with sin 
 and temptation in a renewed heart, of the en- 
 trance and operations of spiritual light, of the 
 delightful influence of the gospel in subduing 
 the will to the obedience of faith, and of the 
 real progress of sanctification in the soul ; but 
 if an absorbed attention be an index of these 
 gracious principles, Fidelio possesses them in a 
 high degree. He hears God speaking by his 
 servants ; he receives the truth in the love of 
 it ; the truth exerts its energy ur>on his heart 
 and life j and he sits, not at ease, like a cold- 
 N 
 
140 A well-spent Sabbath-day. 
 
 blooded critic, weighing words and measuring 
 sentences, bat as a humble disciple of Jesus, 
 eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, and 
 dealing with God about the life of his soul ! In 
 the interval, a slight repast satisfies the body, 
 and the mind is refreshed by conversation about 
 divine things. Fidelio bends before the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, implor- 
 ing his blessing upon the truths which they 
 heard, and craving a blessing upon what is 
 preparing for them in the afternoon. He 
 knows, that without God he can do nothing, 
 and enjoy nothing, and is therefore dependent 
 upon him for his blessing upon his servants, 
 his people, his ordinances, and upon himself. 
 
 But the evenings of the Lord's day are to 
 Fidelio the seasons of the greatest delight. 
 He is then in his element ; his heart being 
 warmed, and his mind being enlarged, by the 
 truths he heard, and the devotional exercises 
 of the day, his face shines in the midst of his 
 family, and he seems to say to them. Be ye 
 also warmed, instructed, and enlarged ! The 
 family catches his spirit ; devotion recommen- 
 ces ; the scriptures and other good books are 
 read ; a conversation, generally animated, al- 
 ways relating to the proper business of the day. 
 
A well-spent Sabbath-day. 141 
 
 and growing out of sermons they heard, or 
 books they read, succeeds, and gives a zest to 
 the labours of love in which they are engaged. 
 As religion is diffusive, Fidelio is anxious to 
 diffuse his knowledge and spirit to all his fa- 
 mily. His servants and children are carefully 
 instructed in the first principles of the oracles 
 of God. He gives them line upon line, here a 
 little and there a little, and thus lays a founda- 
 tion for their present and future advantage. 
 
 Such is Fidelio in his family on the Lord's 
 day, and such should all the professed friends 
 of Christ be. Here is nothing imaginary, no- 
 thing overcharged, and nothing gloomy or re* 
 pulsive. Here is an engaging commentary 
 upon, and exemplification of, the spirit and let- 
 ter of the fourth commandment. The worldly 
 prosperity of Fidelio suffers no detriment by 
 the strictness of his religion ; on the contrary, 
 his name is respectable, his wealth is increasing, 
 his influence is widening, his usefulness is ex- 
 tending, his word is credited, his opinions ve- 
 nerated, and he is generally reckoned to be a 
 blessing to the city where he lives. — Go ye and 
 do likewise ! 
 
142 
 
 SERIOUS ADDRESS IN RELATION TO 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S 
 DAY. 
 
 Men, brethren, and fathers, friends and 
 countrymen ! allow us to speak a word in God's 
 behalf, and in behalf of his holy day. We are 
 utterly unworthy to speak in his name, or to 
 plead for the honour of his Sabbaths ; but, as 
 he employs weak instruments in his magnificent 
 operations, we shall humbly attempt to call 
 your attention to this important subject ; and 
 if any thing we write shall be useful to you, let 
 him have all the glory ! — It requires but little 
 attention to observe, that this holy day is greatly 
 profaned over all the Christian world ; and the 
 evil is increasing so fast, that it is becoming 
 every day more alarming to serious minds. 
 How far this evil shall extend, it is impossible 
 for beings like us, who are but of yesterday, 
 and who may not be to-morrow, to predict* 
 By the progress of this evil, God is infinitely 
 dishonoured, the credit of Christianity is de- 
 preciated, the souls of men are injured, and 
 national afflictions are hastening on apace. The 
 
Serious Address, ^r. 14S 
 
 Supreme Governor of the world, who is also 
 the Lord of the Sabbath, incessantly inspects 
 the affairs of men, is still jealous of his holy 
 law, and will not allow his Sabbaths to be pro- 
 faned with impunity. Custom may familiarize 
 sin to us, and the fashions of the times may 
 tend to hide its deformity ; but it is still that 
 abominable thing which he hateth. God, who 
 is infinite in patience, may long defer his an- 
 ger ; he may frequently turn away his wrath 
 from a sinful people ; in his providence, awful- 
 ly mysterious, he may smile upon them dur- 
 ing the increase of their crimes ; but, notwith- 
 standing all these, things are hastening to an 
 issue with nations, and with individuals. In 
 that issue it shall be distinctly seen, how holy 
 God is, how great are the privileges which men 
 have abused, and that to whom much has been 
 given, of them much shall be required. In a 
 land like ours, blessed with the light of the 
 gospel and with political liberty, a land more 
 highly favoured than any ever was since man 
 was on the earth, the contempt of his Sabbaths 
 becomes singularly wicked and inexcuseable. 
 In a time like this of universal depravity, when 
 sin marches through our land with awful strides 
 and unblushing face, it becomes good men of 
 
144 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 every name to stand in the gap, to be zealous 
 for the Lord of hosts, and for his institutions, 
 and to be eminently holy in an evil time. 
 " They should sigh and cry for all the abomi- 
 nations done in the land. Their righteous 
 souls should be vexed with the unlawful deeds 
 of the wicked, in seeing and hearing them from 
 day to day." This temper of mind, and these 
 exertions for the honour of the Lord's day, will 
 discover supreme love to God and his law, a 
 truly noble and patriotic spirit, a generous con- 
 cern for their country and the souls of men. 
 If they use every means appointed by God for 
 resisting the torrent of profaneness that threat- 
 ens to deluge their native land ; if, in their 
 lives and profession, they enter a solemn pro- 
 test against the evils of the time, and boldly 
 oppose iniquity, though it were decreed by a 
 law ; a mark shall be set upon them in the 
 time of danger, a mark which distinguishes the 
 righteous from the wicked, a token of peculiar 
 favour and of providential interposition. "If 
 the saints keep God's Sabbath, and choose the 
 things that please him, and take hold of his 
 covenant, he will give them an everlasting 
 name, never to be cut off, and bring them to 
 his holy mountain, and make them joyful in 
 
Sancii/ication o/t/ie Lord^s Day. 145 
 
 his house of prayer," Mai. iii. 16 — 18. Isa. 
 Ivi. 4 — 8. Through infinite mercy, flowing 
 in the blood of atonement, those men who now 
 please God in honouring his institutions, shall 
 have boldness in theday of judgment, and at that 
 tribunal where courage dares not shew its face, 
 nor eloquence open its mouth ; where majesty 
 has no respect, and greatness no favour ! Let 
 us, my brethren, consider farther, that the wel- 
 fare or the ruin of our country is intimately 
 connected with our regard to the Sabbath, or 
 the profanation of it; see Jer. xvii. 22 — 27. 
 These affecting words extend their influence 
 through all time, and are an admonition to 
 churches and individuals to the end of the 
 world. If we sanctify the Sabbath, we pro- 
 mote the essential welfare of the land where we 
 dwell ; but if we be conformed to the world in 
 violating that holy day, we must perish with 
 the world ; if we partake of national sins, how 
 can we escape national plagues ? If we, who 
 profess to do more than others, encourage the 
 profane to dishonour the Lord's day by our 
 loose and disorderly behaviour, there is every 
 reason to fear, that in the wreck of nations, or 
 when divine judgments are abroad in the earth, 
 we shall be the first victims of their furv, and 
 
146 Seriotis Address in relation to the 
 
 fall undistinguished and forgotten. See Amos 
 vi. 7—9. 
 
 Consider also, my friends, that the Sabbath 
 is a peculiar blessing to the world, a day of 
 rest to the bodies and souls of men, and to the 
 brute creation employed in your service ; the 
 day which, by way of eminence, the great 
 Lord of heaven and earth hath made, blessed and 
 hallowed, for the most beneficent purposes ; a 
 day on which the glory of Jehovah shineth in 
 the churches, in all the means of grace, and in 
 the face of our Immanuel by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost. On the Lord's day, how many 
 gracioirs visits hath God paid to the souls of 
 men ! Heaven descended to earth on that day, 
 and earth was elevated to heaven. Trophies to 
 the praise of divine love and power have been 
 erected on the Sabbath-day, and that without 
 number. This is the day God made for the 
 bestowment of his precious benefits : on that 
 day especially, the sweetest fellowship hath ob- 
 tained between him and his saints, and the 
 liveliest anticipation of heaven been communi- 
 cated and enjoyed. How many minds have 
 been enlightened, wills subdued, and hearts 
 comforted, on that blessed day ! The Redeemer 
 girds his sword on his thigh, he goes forth con- 
 
Sanctijication of tfw Lord's datj. M7 
 
 quering and to conquer, — his word runs and is 
 glorified on the day he hath made. The gospel is 
 then eminently the power of God unto salva- 
 tion; Satan and his auxiliaries are overcome and 
 put to silence. Are not these high privileges 
 which are conferred upon the church } Is it not 
 a divine pleasure to sanctify that day on which 
 they are conferred? Is it not a festival to the 
 children of God, when his table is covered, 
 his fat things, his wines on the lees exhibited, 
 his maidens sent forth, his kind heart opened, 
 his liberal hand stretched forth with all the 
 blessings of salvation, and his enemies and 
 friends invited to receive freely ? Then he sits 
 at his own table, and the spikenard of his 
 church giveth the smell thereof; the gospel 
 trumpet is blown, the still small voice of the 
 gospel is heard, the high praises of our Saviour 
 are sounded at once from thousands of assem- 
 blies of saints, and earth becomes on that day 
 a lively emblem of the sanctuary above. These 
 and other things innumerable conspire to recom- 
 mend the keeping of this day holy to the Lord. 
 This is indeed a spiritual view of the subject, 
 and cannot be supposed to engage the attention 
 of carnal men ; but when their eyes are opened 
 by the grace of God, when their sentiments 
 
148 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 are changed by the power of the Spirit, they 
 will acknowledge that every other view of the 
 Sabbath is jejune and uninteresting. Surely, 
 my brethren, they are ungrateful to God for 
 the hopes of the gospel, — for what alleviates 
 affliction, sweetens the cares of life, ennobles 
 its relations, — for what diffuses a blessing 
 through the labours of the week, and renders the 
 thoughts of death and eternity comfortable,— 
 who refuse to devote the Sabbath to the Lord. 
 Consecrate, therefore, my countrymen, the first 
 day of the week to God, and his blessing shall 
 really, though secretly, follow you through the 
 remainder of it, in all the works of your hands. 
 Common enjoyments shall become precious, 
 bitter things sweet, disappointments only slight 
 inconveniences, bereavements and losses shall 
 be converted into blessings, and every thing 
 you meet with shall work for your good. Do 
 not, O do not, defraud our gracious God of his 
 due, nor grudge to give the Sabbath to him 
 who giveth you all things richly to enjoy ! Do 
 not thrust your religion into a corner of the 
 day, or of the week, but be consistently and 
 universally holy. Be in the fear of the Lord 
 every day, and thus your Sabbaths shall be 
 pleasant in their return, and delightfully inter- 
 
Sanctijication of the Lord's day. 149 
 
 esting as they pass. Every ordinary day sliall 
 be an emljlem of the Sabbath, and every Sab- 
 bath an emblem of the rest that remaineth for 
 the people of God. 
 
 Remember also, brethren, that the welfare 
 of the next generation shall be a result of your 
 endeavours to sanctify the Sabbath. We are 
 fearfully and wonderfully situated in this world. 
 The consequences of our actions have a great 
 influence upon posterity, in forming their cha- 
 racter, and in promoting their good or evil. 
 If we sport with the Lord's day, our offspring 
 and contemporaries are encouraged to do so 
 likewise ; thus the evil is propagated from age 
 to age, till society be polluted and destroyed. 
 How wicked is that person who entails such 
 mischief upon future generations ! These gene- 
 rations shall rise up and call us cursed, for 
 being the authors of such ruin and calamity. 
 All good men sedulously endeavour to prevent 
 the transmission of sin, and to propagate good. 
 How grateful shall it be to us of the present 
 age, if we are instrumental in doing good to 
 men yet unborn, if we honour God in our 
 generation, call his Sabbaths a delight while 
 we live on earth, and honour him after our 
 death, by having done worthily in our stations. 
 
150 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 lived a holy life, instructed our families in the 
 knowledge of God, taught them his testimony 
 and law, venerated his ordinances, and adorn- 
 ed the doctrine of God in all things. By these 
 things, though dead, we shall speak to other 
 ages, and, as it were, enjoy a posthumous fame. 
 Thus, also, you will contribute your endea- 
 vours to perpetuate the name of Jesus, and the 
 spirit of Christianity, in the world, while it 
 continues. " His name shall endure for ever, 
 his name shall be continued as long as the sun." 
 It is truly an unspeakable honour to be em- 
 ployed by God to support the credit of such an 
 illustrious name in the world. To drive a pin 
 or to fasten a cord, in the sanctuary of God ; 
 to hold the lowest office, and to do the meanest 
 work, in the church, is more honourable em- 
 ployment than to erect pyramids, command 
 armies, or to circumnavigate the globe. The 
 names of the great and honourable in the 
 world, whose fame was borrowed from the 
 breath of men, shall soon be written in the 
 earth, and the splendour of their actions be 
 eclipsed or forgotten ; but the cause of religion 
 is in a state of continual progress towards per- 
 fection, and the instruments of its progress are 
 truly blessed. In the future and more glorious 
 
Saiictijicatiou of the Lords Day. 151 
 
 days of the church, which the scriptures war- 
 rant us to expect, the Christian Sabbath shall 
 be highly venerated and respected all over the 
 church ; and should not you now endeavour to 
 introduce that glorious aera, and pave a way 
 for our God ? If religion shall ever be revived, 
 if the honour of the Sabbath shall ever be re- 
 trieved, it shall be by the divine blessing upon 
 the use of means. These means you may now 
 improve, and who knows but that, in your own 
 days, you may witness a revival of the work of 
 God? The flame kindled by you may be 
 spread to another, till a little one become a 
 thousand, and a small one a strong nation. 
 The earth may bring forth in one day, and a 
 nation be born at once ! Thus you may con- 
 tribute remotely, by your prayers and your ex- 
 ample, towards these astonishing events. The 
 Lord hasten them in his time, and the Lord 
 bless you in the use of means to bring them to 
 pass ! 
 
 In conclusion, we may be allowed to address 
 ourselves to various classes of men, in relation 
 to their duly on the Lord's day. Our address 
 shall not be long ; and, if possible, we will 
 frame it in the spirit of our holy religion. 
 " The wrath of man worketh not the righteous- 
 O 
 
152 Serious Address in relatimi to the 
 
 ness of God." The cause we are pleading is 
 the cause of God ; our design in pleading it, 
 we trust, is to promote the honour of the Lord 
 of the Sabbath, and the best interests of men. 
 In beins: advocates for the holiness of the Sab- 
 bath, we may be allowed to speak boldly, firm- 
 ly, and warmly. The subject requires to be 
 supported by argument, to be recommended 
 by motives, and to be brought home by serious 
 expostulation. If those who violate the Sab- 
 bath would listen to considerations founded on 
 their relation to God, to Christ, to the Holy 
 Spirit, or founded on their connections with 
 the church, with their families, or with society, 
 or those which grow out of their present state 
 and future hopes, it might not be difficult to 
 shew them their error, and recall them to their 
 duty; but the most of them are not only 
 thoughtless, but obstinate in their determina- 
 tion not to honour the Sabbath. Let such 
 persons, when they are alienating the Sabbath 
 from its original design, consider who appoint- 
 ed it. Was it not instituted by the great God 
 who made them and all things ? Was it not 
 appointed to be a standing memorial of his hav- 
 ing created the world in six days, and rested 
 on that day as an example to us ? Is it not to 
 
Sanctification oftlui Lord's Day. 153 
 
 be celebrated by all rational beings in this 
 world for that end ? When you take idle walks 
 on the Sabbath, wherein do you resemble your 
 Creator ? He rested from his work on that day, 
 and commanded man and beast to rest also: 
 But you will not rest yourself, nor will you 
 permit your beasts to be refreshed on the Sab- 
 bath-day ! If ye loiter on your beds ; if ye 
 spend your time in an ale-house ; if ye arrange 
 your temporal concerns ; if ye go to convivial 
 entertainments; if you undertake a journey of 
 business or pleasure on the Sabbath ; we ask. 
 Where is your obedience, your homage, your 
 gratitude, to the Creator of the world, and the 
 Author of your comforts ? Again, on the score 
 of justice, we ask. Is it just, or reasonable, or 
 becoming, in you to refuse the tribute of but 
 one day in seven to the service of God ? Will 
 a man rob God ? Yea, you rob him of his due 
 every Sabbath you exist. How dare you look 
 upon any of his works in the world around you 
 on Sabbath? They serve, they praise God, 
 they keep the order appointed them in the be- 
 ginning ; but you dishonour him, you have 
 transgressed his law, you do not rest according 
 to the commandment! — What do you think of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ ? Do you not acknow- 
 
154 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 ledge by your profession, that you are under 
 infinite obligations to him for giving his life a 
 ransom for you, and for what he is still doing 
 for you in heaven ? You bear his name, you 
 profess subjection to his will, you occasionally 
 worship with his people, and you add his name 
 to your prayers. You profess your belief in 
 his resurrection, and how can you consistently 
 violate that day which commemorates that glo- 
 rious event ? The very name it bears is vene- 
 rable, and frowns upon you for your irreverent 
 words, frivolous thoughts, and unworthy ac- 
 tions upon it ! It commemorates a work infi- 
 nitely interesting to the sons of men ; and as 
 an evidence you despise his atonement, which 
 was declared to be perfect on the Lord's day, 
 you despise that sacred season. Is it not an 
 easy, a reasonable requisition made by our 
 great Benefactor, that we should only keep one 
 day in seven as a memorial of his astonishing 
 love, his victorious death, and triumphant re- 
 surrection ! O the ingratitude, the baseness, 
 the perverseness of men, of professed Chris- 
 tians! — We might argue with sabbath- breakers, 
 from the despite they do to the Spirit of all 
 grace, who dwells in the church and in believ- 
 ers, who was given on the first day of th& 
 
Sanctification of the Lord's Day, 155 
 
 week, and who eminently glorifies Christ on 
 that day. If there be any fellowship of the 
 Spirit, any comfort from the Holy Ghost, 
 ought not men to honour that season when he 
 especially bestows these comforts, and those 
 ordinances by which he works on the souls of 
 men ? We might remind such persons, that in 
 breaking the Sabbath, they sin against their 
 own souls, and reject that benefit which it was 
 designed to confer upon communities and indi- 
 viduals. The Sabbath was made for man, that 
 is, for his real advantage ; and it is mentioned 
 as one of the special favours God shewed to 
 his ancient people, that he made known to 
 them his holy Sabbath, Neh. ix. I9. If the 
 ancient Sabbath was such a blessing, what must 
 the one we enjoy be, when we live under the 
 ministration of the Spirit, which is glorious ! 
 Can any institution be more calculated than 
 the Sabbath, to bring near the things of eter- 
 nity ; to reconcile the saints to leave this vain 
 world ; to enable them to form a sober esti- 
 mate of their connections with time ; and to 
 solemnize the mind while meditating on the 
 great and notable day of the Lord ? In one 
 word, let us enquire, whither these violations 
 of the Sabbath tend ? It is impossible to con- 
 
156 Serious Address in relatiofi to the 
 
 ceive that they tend to the advantage of nations^ 
 or of individuals. But that they tend to the 
 essential injury of the church and the world, is 
 clearer than the unclouded sun. They do infi- 
 nite disservice to the cause of Christianity ; 
 they stain its beauty ; they tend to obstruct its 
 progress in the world, and to remove that sa» 
 cred pale which stands around the church. 
 Hereby a gap is opened to bring in an inunda- 
 tion of wickedness upon churches and societies ; 
 for they who habitually confound the Sabbath 
 with the other days of the week, will soon lose 
 a veneration for the Bible, which commands 
 men to sanctify the Sabbath, and soon learn 
 to trifle with every divine institution. Pause, 
 therefore, O Sabbath breakers ! before you pro- 
 ceed further, consider your ways and be wise. 
 Ye magistrates and men of influence, hear 
 the word of exhortation. God, the Governor 
 among the nations, hath given you power, and 
 raised you in his providence to your exalted 
 stations. " He standeth in the congregation of 
 the mighty, hejudgeth among the gods." The 
 offices you hold, the sceptres you wield, are to 
 be employed in his service, and to promote his 
 honour. *' Serve the Lord with fear, and re- 
 joice with trembling. Kiss the Son of God, 
 
Sunctijicativn of the Lord's day. 15t 
 
 reverence his Sabbaths, and his sanctuary. His 
 work is honourable and glorious : them that 
 honour him he will honour ; but they that de- 
 spise him shall be lightly esteemed. Ye must 
 one day die like other men, and fall as one of 
 the princes." The authority with which you 
 are invested, shall be devolved upon others. 
 The sceptre must fall from your hands, and the 
 worms of destruction shall pronounce you to 
 be on a level with the most abject of mankind. 
 In the prospect of such scenes, venerate divine 
 institutions, call into energy salutary laws, and 
 prefer the honour of God to your own interest, 
 or ease, or reputation. The Sabbath is the 
 day of God, and ought not to be alienated by 
 any man to any purpose besides its original 
 design. The elevation of your station, the 
 gravity of your office, and the holiness of your 
 conduct on the Lord's day, shall tend to pro- 
 mote the credit of that consecrated season, as 
 well as to deter your inferiors from profaning it 
 as they generally do. While you officially at- 
 tend the ordinances of God, you ought also to 
 display the spirit of Christianity in all your in- 
 tercourse with your families, and with society. 
 If this small tract shall ever reach any of those 
 great men who violate the Sabbath, by visiting, 
 
158 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 travelling, feasting, playing at cards, and con- 
 versing about politics ; we earnestly pray that it 
 may transfix an arrow into their hearts which 
 no human means can remove. If you who are 
 magistrates wink at profanations of the Sab- 
 bath, or be yourselves foremost in committing 
 this sin, this neglect of your duty and abuse of 
 your power shall, when your spirits are placed 
 under the glorious eye of the Judge of all, bite 
 as a serpent and sting as an adder. — The minis- 
 ters of religion should be of all men the most 
 exemplary and circumspect on the Sabbath- 
 day. The eyes of the church and of the world 
 are directed to them in order to contemplate 
 in them, as far as is compatible with the imper- 
 fections of our present state, a living exposition 
 of the divine law ; and if they behold them act 
 unworthily of their office and character, how 
 great disgrace is reflected upon the doctrines 
 they teach ! Their respectability in other re- 
 spects, their learning, or their eloquence in the 
 pulpit, cannot screen them from merited con- 
 tempt, if they have a loose and unhallowed 
 conversation on the Lord's day. They cannot 
 consistently exhort and rebuke with all autho- 
 rity, if they are not what they wish other men 
 io be. If they join in the chit-chat of tiie 
 
Sanctijlcution of the Lord's Day. 159 
 
 country, if they visit, and gossip, and feast on 
 the Sabbath, what can their exhortations to the 
 contrary avail ? The proverb originally deli- 
 vered by our Lord himself, applies with dread- 
 ful effect to ministers of this class, — " Physi- 
 cian, heal thyself." They should preach in 
 honour of the Sabbath, — should make their 
 own lives an epitome of their doctrines ; their 
 families ought to be models to all around them 
 of the beauties of Sabbath-sanctification. The 
 censures of the church should be executed up- 
 on Sabbath-breakers, and they should co-ope- 
 rate with the civil magistrate in removing pub- 
 lic nuisances, and in preventing public outrages 
 upon the sanctity of the Sabbath. It becomes 
 them, in one word, to hasten from their pulpits 
 to their closets on the Lord's day, and to re- 
 sist with that fortitude which faith in God in- 
 spires, and with that modesty which is identi- 
 fied with the christian character, every invita- 
 tion to spend the Sabbath otherwise than the 
 law of God allows ; to enter no house on that 
 day, but where they can display the spirit of 
 their office, communicate instruction, or be 
 spectators of the devotions of a pious family. 
 A visit of this kind by a minister is like the 
 entrance of a messenger from heaven, who fills 
 
160 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 the house with the fragrance of eternity, and 
 with the splendours of holiness ! 
 
 Allow us, dear brethren, to finish our essay, 
 with a few words addressed to parents and 
 children, to all who have authority over youth, 
 and to those v,^ho should be in habits of sub- 
 jection to well-directed influence. The force 
 of example upon young and ductile minds is so 
 powerful, that it generally retains the subjects 
 of it through life. As we are naturally prone 
 to evil, and averse to good, an evil example 
 has a greater force than a good one. Expe- 
 rience proves the truth of this assertion, and 
 puts it beyond dispute. But as men are, their 
 regard for their offspring has no relation to 
 their own moral character ; for though they be 
 wicked themselves, they cannot endure to see 
 their own vices transcribed into the lives of 
 their children. Parents, therefore, should 
 watch over their conduct with unceasing soli- 
 citude on every day, but especially on Sabbath, 
 that their children may not be encouraged, by 
 their indiflPerence to religion, their indolence or 
 their profaneness, to trifle with the day devoted 
 to God, It is not in the power of any man to 
 mould the temper of his children according to 
 the spirit of the gospel, for this is the pro- 
 
Samtification of the Lord's day. 1 6 1 
 
 vince of divine f^race alone; but it is in his 
 power, as the head of a family, and a christian 
 parent, to restrain his offspring from taking un- 
 warrantable liberties on the Lord's day. He 
 can command them to remain in the house, to 
 return from the streets and fields whither they 
 have wandered; he can take them to the 
 church with him, bring them home with him in 
 the intervals and evenings of the Sabbath, can 
 prevent their wandering at large or joining in 
 bad company ; he can bring them into habits of 
 subjection, and he can exhibit an undeviating 
 attention to the exercises of religion before their 
 eyes. If he begin early to form them in his 
 own likeness, if he persevere in his endeavours, 
 and if he confirm his precepts by his own ex- 
 ample ; he generally prevails over their re- 
 luctance, and overcomes their prejudices. Diffi- 
 culties on his part become less and less formida- 
 ble ; order and subjection are established in the 
 family, and the good man beholds his exertions 
 generally crowned with success. He sees him- 
 self honoured in forming a race for filling the 
 church with useful members, and society with 
 virtuous citizens. Those principles which by 
 the grace of God he instilled into their minds, 
 ripen into integi'ity of conduct, propriety of 
 
162 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 behaviour, a clue sense of honour, a conscien- 
 tious discharge of duty, a true patriotism, an 
 abhorrence of vice, and a profound veneration for 
 the institutions of heaven. Parents, with such 
 prospects before you, and animated by love to 
 God and his Sabbath, and your children, perse- 
 vere in your exertions, and you shall find that 
 in keeping of his commandments there is a 
 great reward. But if ye profane the Sabbath 
 yourselves, if ye suffer your children to follow 
 their own inclinations, or to go whither they 
 please on the Lord's day ; if they make them- 
 selves vile, and ye restrain them not : nay, if 
 ye indulge them to their destruction, and are 
 prepared to apologize for their conduct when 
 they violate the Sabbath ; there is no term in 
 the languages of men sufficiently energetic to 
 stigmatize your wickedness. Ye are cruel, un- 
 natural, perfidious, and irreligious persons. The 
 ostrich of Lybia is kind compared to you. The 
 wrath of God hangs over your habitations, 
 and will light, if ye repent not, with awful 
 vengeance upon you and your families. 
 
 Our Youth may be exhorted to remember the 
 Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Whether you 
 have religious parents or not, whether you are 
 at home or abroad, the commandment is to you. 
 
Samti/icatlon of the Lord's Day, 163 
 
 Youth is the best season of human life. If 
 you then fear God, your future life shall like- 
 ly be uniformly holy j but if then you learn to 
 follow a multitude to do evil, a train of mise- 
 ries is in reserve for you through life. Whe- 
 ther you are in the country or in great cities, 
 in a high or low station, remember that the 
 eye of God, and the authority of his holy law, 
 are there. Cultivate reverence for God, read 
 his word, acknowledge him in all your ways. 
 Reckon secret devotion a privilege of a high 
 kind; wait on the worship of God in the fami- 
 lies where you are ; be conscientious in attend- 
 ing on the ordinances of God in public ; listen 
 not to the voice of those who would seduce 
 you to a tavern, or to a walk of pleasure, on the 
 Lord's day ; bless God for the restraints which 
 pious parents, faithful masters, holy ministers 
 and vigilant rulers, impose upon you. These 
 are salutary in the mean time, and may extend 
 their advantage through life. If you are pre- 
 paring to act a part in the army, or navy, or 
 learned professions, or in the mercantile world ; 
 if you are to follow the plough, or to be menial 
 servants ; the observance of the Sabbath will 
 shed a lustre upon your paths in all these 
 departments. If you intend leaving your na- 
 p 
 
164 Serious Address in relation to the 
 
 tive land, and becoming sojourners in our co- 
 lonies or foreign settlements ; remember that 
 the God of Britain is the God of Jamaica and 
 of Calcutta ; that no distance of place, no change 
 of climate, nor fashions hostile to the sanctity 
 of the Sabbath, can alter or annul its obliga- 
 tion. The Romans, while sojourning abroad 
 in their colonies, are said to have remembered 
 the gods of Rome. How strong a contrast does 
 the conduct of many of our British travellers 
 present to this ! They forget the God of Britain, 
 they despise those holy days, v^hen they heard 
 the praises of Jehovah in their native land ; 
 they laugh at the sanctification of the Lord's 
 day, they plunge into the vices of the places to 
 which they go ; and many of them, on crossing 
 the equator, sell themselves to do wickedly ! 
 
 The attachments formed between teachers and 
 their pupils are often very strong. The as- 
 cendency which intelligent and wise instructors 
 have over the minds of youth, is perhaps 
 greater than that of any other superior over 
 his inferiors. While knowledge is power, the 
 person who enlightens the mind, generally 
 carries the key to the heart and the affections. 
 If the knowledge communicated be important 
 to men as immortal beings, and if the interest 
 
Saiictijication of the Lord's Duij. 165 
 
 oi the teacher m the doctrines he delivers be 
 equal to their iraportance, the affections excited 
 are permanent and sublime. Society is deeply 
 indebted to those preceptors who have trained 
 up its youth in every age to that which is ho- 
 nest, grave, virtuous, and of good report. The 
 obligation is increased when those persons train 
 them up for God and eternity. Our semina- 
 ries are Christian seminaries, our schools are 
 Christian schools ; the teachers of these schools, 
 while they should be men of learning and ta- 
 lents, should also be persons of piety. In all 
 the sciences, God is recognized ; in all the lite- 
 rature of our public institutions, there should 
 be a reference to him who animates all nature, 
 and presides in all the affairs of men. If our 
 learned professors would employ that influence 
 which they possess over youth, in directing their 
 attention to objects of infinite importance, and 
 exemplify religion before their eyes in all its 
 attractions, their influence should increase in a 
 tenfold proportion ; a hint from them should 
 be equal to a precept from the pulpit, a refe- 
 rence to a divine subject should be more pro- 
 fitable than a lecture in divinity. — The Sab- 
 bath is a blessing to all men, to the wise and 
 the unwise, to the scholar and the peasant. 
 
166 Serious Address in relatimi to the 
 
 On it, the one rests only from his bodily la- 
 bours, and the other should suspend his scien- 
 tific and literary inquiries. It is equally a 
 blessing in both cases ; its sacred obligations 
 extend to both. If these benefactors to man- 
 kind would exhort their scholars to sanctify the 
 Lord's day, and give energy to their advices 
 by their practice, it might be a benefit to them 
 never to be appreciated. If teachers in our 
 smaller schools would act in a similar manner, 
 the consequences might be most beneficial. 
 While these persons last mentioned are bound 
 to pray with their scholars, and to take an in- 
 terest in their spiritual welfare, they should 
 also warn them against profaning the holy Sab- 
 bath, as a branch of the duty they owe them. 
 Thus the children, from fear, or from some other 
 principle, might be restrained from strolling in 
 the fields or walking through the streets, might 
 be induced to attend public ordinances, or to 
 read good books at home, on the Lord's day. 
 This may be thought by some to be a trifling 
 circumstance, and may be lawfully omitted; but 
 to a serious mind nothing can be trifling that 
 bears upon the present and future welfare of 
 society, and of the church ; and he ill deserves 
 tlie confidence of the public, who does not en- 
 
Sanctification of the Lords Da y. iG7 
 
 deavour by every means in his power to form 
 the minds of youth for the parts they have to 
 act in the world. If persons were delivered 
 by the grace of God from their selfishness, their 
 indolence, and their indifference, to the best 
 interests of men, they would never henceforth 
 omit any thing which is a link in the great 
 chain of providence, and which may extend its 
 influence to the remotest eternity. 
 
 Profane men, infidels, and scoffers of religion 
 may be admonished to consider their ways. 
 The providence of the Most High may shine 
 upon your path, and bring into your hands 
 abundantly, (Job xii. 6 — 9.) Your houses 
 may be free from fear, and the rod of God not 
 be upon them ; your prosperity may be con- 
 tinued through life, nay, it may increase with 
 your years. But if from this you infer the pe- 
 culiar favour of God, or the certainty of eter- 
 nal felicity, you argue most illogically, and 
 hope without a reasonable foundation for hope. 
 You are set upon slippery places, are building 
 upon quicksands ; your root is rottenness, and 
 your blossom shall go up as dust ; you hazard 
 your eternal all for a few short-lived gratifica- 
 tions ; you sport with that which nothing can 
 remove or purge away, but the blood of God's 
 
1()B Serious Address, ^r- 
 
 eternal Son, and of which yourselves confess 
 you must repent if ever you be saved. Your 
 consciences must frequently tell you, that to 
 profane the Lord's day shall be bitterness in 
 the latter end, and bring, as its native con- 
 sequences, lamentation, mournings and woe. 
 " But hear and your souls shall live ; wisdom's 
 ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her 
 paths are peace." The Lord of the Sabbath 
 is rich in mercy, and ready to forgive ; he 
 waiteth to be gracious, and is exalted to shew 
 mercy. O taste and see that our God is good ! 
 Whenever you taste of his goodness to your 
 souls, you will henceforth call the Sabbath a 
 delight, holy to the Lord, and honourable. 
 Your progress through life shall be marked by 
 growing conformity to God, and at your death 
 you shall go to that blessed place, where enjoy- 
 ments are unabating, joys without end, and the 
 Sabbath eternal ! 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 k COLLECTION OF SCRIPTURES BEARING UPON THE 
 SUBJECT OF THE PRECEDING ESSAY. 
 
 " KEEP the Sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy 
 God hath commanded thee. Six days shalt thou labour and 
 do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the 
 Lord thy God ; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor 
 thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy 
 maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy 
 cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates ; that thy 
 man-servant and iluj maid-servant may rest as well as thou. 
 And remember thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, 
 and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through 
 a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm : Therefore 
 the Lord God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day." 
 .^Deut. V. 12— IG. 
 
 *' Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanc- 
 taary ; I am the Lord." — Levit. xix. 30. 
 
 " Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the 
 Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no work 
 therein ; it is the Sabbath of the liord in all your dwell- 
 ings." — Levit. xxiii. 3. 
 
 *■'- Six days shalt thou do thy work ; and on the seventh 
 day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, 
 
1 70 Appendix. 
 
 and the son of thine hand-maid, and the stranger, maybe 
 refreshed." — Exodus xxii. 12. 
 
 " Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying. 
 Verily, my Sabbath ye shall keep ; for it is a sign between 
 me and you, throughout your generations ; that ye may 
 know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall 
 keep my Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy unto the Lord. 
 Every one that deSleth it, shall surely be put to death ; for 
 v/hosoever doth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off 
 from his people. Six days may work be done, but in the 
 seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord ; whosoever 
 doth any work on the Sabbath-day, he shall surely be put 
 to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the 
 Sabbath tliroughout their generations, for a perpetual co- 
 venant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel 
 for ever ; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 
 and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed." — 
 Exod. xxxi 13—18. 
 
 " And while the children of Israel were in the wilder- 
 ness, they found a man that gathered sticks on the Sab- 
 bath-day ; and they that found him gathering sticks, 
 brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the con- 
 gregation, and they put him in ward, because it was not 
 declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said 
 unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to death ; and 
 all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the 
 camp. And all the congregation brought him without the 
 camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died ; as the 
 Lord commanded Moses."— Numb. xv. 32 — 36. 
 
 " If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from 
 doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a 
 
Appendix. 171 
 
 delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt ho- 
 nour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine 
 own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ; then shalt 
 thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to 
 ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with 
 the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it." — Isa. Iviii. 13, 14. 
 
 " Moreover also, 1 gave them my Sabbaths, to be a 
 sign between me and them, that they might know that I 
 am the Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel 
 rebelled against me in the wilderness ; they walked not in 
 my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a 
 man do, he shall even live them ; and my Sabbath they 
 greatly polluted : then I said, I would pour out my fury 
 upon them in the wilderness to consume them." — Ezek. 
 XX. 12, 13. 
 
 " Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to 
 the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the liord, 
 to be his servants, every one thatkeepeth the Sabbath from 
 polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant : even them 
 will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful 
 in my house of prayer : Their burnt offerings and their 
 sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for mine house 
 shall be called an house of prayer for all people." — Isa. 
 Ivi. G, 8. 
 
 " Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to 
 make the poor of the land to fail, saying, When will the 
 new moon be gone, that we may sell corn, and the Sab- 
 bath that we may set forth wheat ? making the ephah small 
 and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances of deceit ; 
 that ye may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a 
 
3 72 AppeiuUx, 
 
 pair of shoes ; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat." — 
 Amos viii. 4, C. 
 
 " Then said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the 
 gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Ju- 
 dah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the 
 gates of Jerusalem ; and say unto them, Hear ye the 
 word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and 
 all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that enter in by these 
 gates : Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and 
 bear no burden on the Sabbath-day, nor bring it in by the 
 gates of Jerusalem : Neither carry forth a burden out of 
 your houses on the Sabbath-day, neither do ye any work, 
 but hallow ye the Sabbath-day, as I commanded your 
 fathers," &c Jer. xvii. 19—27. 
 
 " And on the Sabbath, he went out of the city by a 
 river-side, where prayer was wont to be made." — Acts 
 xri. 13. 
 
 *' And on the first day of the week, when the disciples 
 came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, 
 ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech 
 until midnight." — Acts xx. 7- 
 
 '■'• For he that is entering into his reat, also hath ceased 
 from his own works, as God did from his." — Heb. iv. 10. 
 
 " 1 was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." — Rev. i. 10. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
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