M ■'^H\ .# .§= m -it ^ a. CD JO IE CL 5 cr; . a; i ■< ^-^' 1 o >. . i ' rH 0) l^ 4-i J ^H d '«^ (1) 'J 5-J 00 •^■j > ^ tH -n rh m J PEIHCETOH REC. APRi«ai Seclien. No, BRIEF REMARKS HISTORY, AUTHORITY, AND USE, SABBATH. JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY. Dominicurn servasti ? Christianus sum ; intermittere non possum. Hast thou kept the Lord's day ! I am a Christian ; I cannot dispense with keeping it. Jicts of the Martyrs. WITH NOTES BY M. STUART. ANDOVER PLAGG, GOULD AKO HeWMAN 1833. [From the 2d London edition.] Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, BY FLAGG, GOULD, AND NEWMAN, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. ,cC. NOV TO THP3fi«i»fciS^6^moN. The Sabbath was made for Man. So said the Son of ]Man, wIjo is Lord of the Sabbadi, and who kuoAvs its v^ahie and importance to those for whom it was made. But if this holy day is a- dapted by infinite wisdom and goodness, to pro- mote the highest moral and spiritual interests of the human race, (and thus much seems to be in- volved in the Saviour's declaration), then does it plainly follow, that the keeping of the Sabbath i» not to be dispensed with. That which serves in a peculiar manner to promote the eternal in- terests of man, which " was made for him," is important to him in all ages and in all circum- stances. tn this way do I satisfy my own mind, that the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation ; and that it has been so, from the beginning of the world. When God rested from his work of creation, and sanctified the seventh day and blessed it, his de- sign evidently was, to consecrate it as a day of rest and spiritual improvement for man, whom he had created in his own image. The fourth commandment appears to be only a republica- tion of his original and immutable law, under peculiar circumstances, and with special addi- tions which would secure its observance. The es- sence of the sabbatical precept seems to be as im- IV PREFACE TO THE mutable as the nature of God, and the nature of man, and the relation which subsists between them. The time never has been, and never can be, when man did not, and will not, owe homage and spiritual worship to his Maker. Equally cer- tain is it, that unless there is a specific time assign- ed, when his homage and worship shall be their exclusive business, men will cease to render them. The hardness and unbelief of the human heart, and its estrangement from God, make this quite plain. Shew me a laud where no Sabbath is kept, and I will shew you one where there is no religion. Malicious design against the highest and best interests of true religion, never develop- ed more of the cunning of the old Serpent, than when the Sabbath was abolished in France and converted into a Decade devoted to sensual pleas- ure. Men never can be inactive. If they are not engaged in the service of their rightful Lord and Master, they will be the devoted slaves of him, who holds them in a bondage that is con- cealed from their present view, but which will issue in endless death. We reason rightly, when we say that the fourth commandment is obligatory upon all man- kind, because it is founded on the respective at- tributes and relations of God and man, and is as unchangeable as those. We need not under- take to prove the perpetuity of the Sabbath, from the fact that the fourth commandment was wi'it- ten on a table of stone, and was associated with other moral and spiritual commands. The fourth and fifth commandments are both modifi- ed in some particulars, by a respect to the con- dition and state of the Jewish nation. Their es- AMERICAN EDITION. V sence, however, remains as immutable as the re- lations in which it is founded ; but the costume of both has occasionally been modified by time and circumstances. The reader who takes such a view of this deeply interesting subject, will peruse the follow- ing sheets with great satisfaction. The writer has evidently chosen for substance the same stand-point ; and from it he has surveyed all parts of his subject, with a scrutinizing eye. I re- gard with much ap[)robation the course in gen- eral which he has taken ; and even in minute particulars, I scarcely see any good reason to dis- sent from him, except in a very few cases, where I have expressed my dissent either in a note or in the appendix. Mr Gurney will be the last man to complain of this ; for a lover of truth, so sincere and enlightened as himself, will rejoice at every effort to disclose any thing which really pertains to the investigation of it. The reader will be interested to know, that the author of the following sheets belongs to the Society of Friends in England. He has pub- lished several books on the subject of religion. In particular he published, sometime since, a volume of Essays on various religious topics; among which the Divinity of Christ and the Atonement made by his Death, stand conspicu- ous. " That work," says the Christian Observer of London in a review of it, " elevated him a- bove the peculiarities of the religious body to which he belongs, and ranked him among the ablest defenders of our common Christianity, and of the great truths of which our Revelation con- sists." Subsequently, Mr Gurney pubhshed his VI TREFACE TO THE Biblical JVoies and Dissertations^ chiefly intended to confirm and illustrate the doctrine of the Deity of Christ. Of this volume the Chris- tian Ohserver says: "It is an admirahle work. ... It fixes on an important subject, pursues it with clearness of argument, depth of sound criti- cal knowledge, and sobriety, and discretion." It also characterizes the aiUhor, as 'having raised himself to a high rank among solid, able, and learned theologians.' The reader may see a specimen of this last named book, in the extract republished in No. VII. Art. I. of the Bibhcal Repository. The author apologizes for publishing the pres-- ent volume, after the excellent discourses of the Rev. Daniel Wilson had just been published. But the plan and the execution are, in many re- spects, so different from Mr Wilson's, that no apology was needed in England ; and for the same reason, none is now needed in America. Mr Gurney's book has the distinguished advantage of being short, pithy, argumentative, and perspic- uous. And although he has interwoven so much solid learning with it, he has made it intelligible, for the most part, to the great mass of the com- munity. On all these accounts it deserves a re- publication in this country. It is proper that I should state what I have done to the book, in preparing it for an Ameri- can edition. I have revised the sheets, and made some changes in the punctuation, where some error of the press existed, or where our present mode of pnblishingin this country seem- ed to render some change expedient. Now and then I have struck out some unimportant word ; AMERICAN EDITION. VII and in two or three instances I have introrliiced a word which would not be equivocal, for one which would be so in this country, although it might not be in England. For example ; Mr G. speaks, more than once, of congregational wor- ship, which I have changed to social ivorship, because congregational would here be equivocal to many readere, inasmuch as most of the New England Churches are Congregational. But in no case have I knowingly altered or cut short the sense of the author. Where I differ from him, in a matter that I deem to be of any importance, I have stated my reasons, in the manner already intimated. In a word, I have merely "done as I would be done by," in all the changes or ad- ditions that I have made. Mr Gurney may be assured that nothing but the high respect which I cherish for him and his vv^ork, would have in- duced me to perform the part of an editor in this case. His book is an excellent one, with- out any aid of mine ; but if I can in any way make some contribution toward strengthening the impression which it is adapted to make, Mr Gurney will, if I rightly understand his charac- ter, be very far from finding fault with me for so doing. In this case he is the author, and takes all the praise which is due for so solid and excellent a performance ; I perform only tlie humble, but (1 would hope) useful, office of an occasional commentator. To God and the churches of this country would I commend this little work. I have a full persuasion, tliat the question whether we shall continue strictly to observe the Sabbath, is the question whether religion in its purity shall Till PREFACE. exist among us. The tendency among the jnore polished classes of society in our cities and great towns, is to convert this holy day into a day of social visiting and enjoyment. Even among some professed Christians, this is lamentably the case. If the perusal of the follow^ing sheets should serve to awaken in any a deeper sense of the sacredness of this day, and our obligation to keep it holy, the end of its publication will be answered. It is encouraging to those who truly revere the Sabbath, to see such men as Mr Gurney, ris- ing up among the Society of Friends. This de- nomination of Christians, it is devoutly to be hoped, will at least lend a listening ear, while one of their own number so ably pleads the cause of the holy Sabbath. To them would I most earn- estly recommend this little work of their highly gifted friend, hoping and praying that they may all be persuaded by it to embrace the sentiments which it elucidates and defends. May the great Lord of the Sabbath bless this attempt to defend one of his own institutions ! May all who aspire to that rest ivhich remaineth for the people of God in another world, seek to obtain a foretaste of it here, by remembering MOSES STUART. Theol. Feminary, Andover, March, 1833. ADVERTISEIMENT. In presenting- to the public tlie following re- marks on the history, authority, and use, of the Sabbath, I feel that some apology is due from me in consequence of the late publication, on the same subject, of some excellent discourses by my worthy friend, Daniel Wilson, of Isling- ton. Such an apology is the more necessary, because our views on the subject very much correspond, and we have treated it on nearly the same plan. The fact is, however, that my own opinions respecting the Sabbath had been long previously formed ; and I had arranged the order of the present litde work, before I had the opportunity of perusing his useful volume. While, there- fore, I sincerely thank him for some valuable information, which was not before equally fami- liar to mCj I consider it right to persevere in presenting to my fellow Christians, of every name, this humble effort for their good. Persons who are desirous of promoting the religious welfare of the community, occupy in the present day a variety of stations, and their 1* X ADVERTISEMENT. influence extends itself in very different direc- tions. How important then that each should perform his own part faithfully, and thus that all should be labouring in the common cause of righteousness and truth ! Among the early Christians, the first day of the week was almost universally called the Lord's day — an appellation for which we have apostolic authority, in the book of Revelation. Since, however, this title includes the sacred name, the familiar use of it appears to be unde- sirable ; and I have therefore more usually adopted the term Sabhath day. In applying to the Christian's day of rest and worship, the name of Sabbath, I consider that I am fully justified, both by the simple meaning of the word, and by the express language of the fourth commandment. Should the evidences, which I am about to adduce, be the means of convincing any doubt- ful mind of the divine authority of this institu- tion, or of quickening the diligence of any of my readers in the observance of its duties, I shall regard it as a fresh call for gratitude to that Being, without whose blessing no labour of Christian love can ever prosper. PRIITCBTOH REC, NOV ,1880. THBOLOGIG:SlL BME^ REMARKS, CHAPTER I. ON THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. The moral, and therefore permanent, nature of that divine institution which devotes every seventh day to a holy rest, may be fairly de- duced from the earliest record relating to the subject. The history of the glorious works which occupied, in succession, the six days of creation, is completed by the following de- scription of the FIRST SABBATH.* " Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sancti- * The name Sabhath, (as I presume most of my read- ers are aware), properly signifies rest. The Hebrew substantive r:r"i, is obviously from a root formed of the same consonants, and signifying to cease from la- bour. See Heb. Lexicon. 12 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. fied it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and ma^e ;" Gen. 2: 1—3. There are two points in this passage, which mark the moral and spiritual character of the Sabbath. The first is, that God blessed and sarictified the seventh day. He bestowed upon it a blessing above that of other days ; and therefore, in all generations, those who rightly observed it v/ere to be blessed in the use of it. He also sanctified it ; by which we are to understand, thai he set it apart, or con- secrated it, to religious purposes. The Jewish Talmudists pretend, that this consecration of the seventh day was simply prospective ; and that the mention of it, in this passage, is nothing more than an allusion to a law, which was long afterwards to be enacted for the benefit of the Israelites alone. The currency of such an opinion among these doc- tors, is easily explained ; for the Jews have ever been jealous of admitting the Gentiles to a participation in their religious polity. Had they allowed that the Sabbath was instituted in the first age of the world, they could not liave denied that it was a provision of divine wisdom and mercy for the use of all mankind ; but by fixing its earliest origin at the time of the Exodus, they restricted this ordinance to themselves. Accordingly, the observance of the Sabbath was forbidden to the proseli/tcs of the gate; as those Gentiles were called, who believed in the truth of the Iraelitish the- ology, but did not (as it were) make themselves THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 13 Jews by adopting all the Mosaic ceremonies. The Talmudists decided that no Gentiles were authorized to observe that holy day, except the proselytes of justice, i. e. persons who conform- ed, in every other respect, to the ritual of Ju- daism.* Now although the opinion of the Talmu- dists, respecting this passage, has been adopt- ed by some learned men who were much ac- customed \o the perusal of their works, (for in- stance, John Selden and Dr. Gill), it appears to rest on a very weak foundation. Every plain reader of Scripture, I think, must under- stand from these verses, that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day immediately after the creation ; and, if he then blessed and sanc- tified it, common sense forbids our supposing that no effect was to be produced by his doing so, except on one small division of mankind, after the lapse of two thousand five hundred years. We may surely rather conclude from our premises, that the Creator at once set the day apart for holy uses, and graciously bestow- ed the blessing of the sabbatical institution on the whole human race. There is, however, a second reason suggest- ed by this passage of Scripture, for our regard- ing the Sabbath as a moral and spiritual insti- tution, namely, that it was founded on a divine pattern — on the example of God himself God sanctified the seventh day, or set it apart for holy uses, because in it he had rested from * See Selden deJureJVat. et Gent.juxta Disciplinam EhrcEorum, Lib. 3, cap. 9, 10. 14 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. all his work which God created and made ; Gen. 2 : 3. Again, we read in Exod. 20: 11, For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is^ and rested the seventh day ; ^YIIEREFORE the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. God' created man in his *' own image," after his " likeness," Gen. 1: 26 ; from which ex- pressions it may be inferred, that man, in a variety of respects and in a certain degree, was to be conformed tf> the attributes of God. Endued with the facuUy of reason, w^ith pow- er over all inferior animals, with an immortal soul, and above all with moral virtues, he was destined to afford an infinitely diminished, yet lively, representation of the Author of his be- ing. Now the keeping of the Sabbath was one of those particulars of conduct, by the ob- servance of which man was to be characteri- zed, after the model of his Creator. It cannot be conceived, I think, that a duty required of us on this peculiar ground — a duty so plainly contributing to the maintenance in man of the image of God — can be otherwise than of uni- versal and permanent obligation. We cannot, indeed, form any just notion of the Sabbath of Jehovah, i. e. what was the na- ture of the rest of God, or what the period through which it might extend. Yet this rest, as a. model, is presented to our notice in an in- telligible shape, and man is commanded to cease from labour every seventh day, after the example of his iVIaker. And further, although we are not aware what relation the Sabbath of THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 15 Jehovah might have to his moral attributes, it is unquestionably true, that the observance of the Sabbath is required of man, as a moral and spiritual being — one who is accountable for all his actions, and who has eternal interests at stake. In order to form a just view of the moral im- portance of the institution, we need only call to mind, that man, in his present state of pro- bation, is encompassed with things which are temporal in their nature, and which meet his senses and engross his attention ; that he has within him, nevertheless, an immortal part, which, amidst all these perishing scenes, is here to be prepared for an invisible and eter- nal world. How evident is it, therefore, in the very nature of things, that a proportion of our time must be set apart for this object ! Not only should every day bring with it its hour of private devotion ; not only should a spirit of piety pervade the whole business of life ; but at some frequently recurring period, our tempo- ral engagements should entirely cease, and opportunity be given to the soul to commune at leisure with its Creator, and to deal delibe- rately with the eternal future. The Jews themselves were well aware, that the bodily rest ordained on the Sabbath was essential to the strength and refreshment of the mind, which, thus invigorated, was to apply its undi- vided powers to holy things. " This," says one of their doctors, '* is the sanctification of the Sabbath, that on that day the human mind 16 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. should fix itself on no worldly business, but only on things divine."* It may be objected, that these remarks are applicable only to persons who enjoy the light of revelation ; because merely natural religion does not, with clearness, teach us the doctrine of our immortality, and therefore makes no demand on our reason for the observances of a Sabbath. To this objection it is a sutficient answer, that God did reveal his truth to our first parents and their immediate descendants ; that although, therefore, our fallen race soon sunk into a state of corruption and ignorance of their Creator, pure religion and its accom- panying Sabbath were nevertheless intended for all mankind. They are, and ever were, of universal applicability to our species. Innocent and at peace with God, as our first parents were before the fall, we may still con- clude, that even for them the dedication of every seventh day to a holy rest, was both a du- ty and a privilege. They must surely have de- lighted in the frequent recurrence of an inter- val, which was to be devoted to uninterrupt- ed communion with God, and to the joyful re- membrance of their own immortality. But for man in the fall, who must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow ; whose affections naturally tend only to earthly and sensual things ; who is laden with innumerable infir- mities and is corrupt at core ; whose passage to the eternal world lies through death — for * Aben Ezra, apud Selden de Jure A^it. et Gent. Lib. 3. c. 13. THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 17 such a being under such circumstances — a weekly Sabbath of rest and devotion may well be deemed indispensable. This, like every other part of the moral law of God is precisely adapted to our need, and the observance of it is essential to our virtue and happiness. There is another point of view, in which the keeping of the Sabbath must be regarded as a sacrifice well pleasing to God, and as ne- cessary to the formation in man of the religious character. It is an act of faith in Jehovah, i. e. of trust that he will be sure to provide for the temporal as well as spiritual wants of those who serve him. Man is required to cease from his labour every seventh day ; and thus is he made to feel, that even for the supply of his bodily need he may not depend exclusive- ly on his own exertions. By the silent admo- nition of a weekly Sabbath, he is taught to place a calm reliance on that glorious Being, who of his own free bounty feeds the sparrow and provides for man. The scriptural record, that God, after finish- ing the work of creation, set apart the seventh day for holy uses, together with the reasona- bleness and necessity of the service, affords a strong presumption, that amidst the general corruption of mankind this institution contin- ued to be observed, both before and after the flood, by the patriarchal church. Of the ex- istence of such a church from the date of the creation to that of Moses, various hints are scattered over the book of Genesis. Brief and undetailed (for the most part) as is this 18 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. inspired history, it contains many incidental allusions to a system of worship, to a priest- hood, to places for worship, altars, sacrifices, prayers, and peculiar religious rites.* There were preachers also in those early days. The apostle Peter speaks of our Saviour's preach- ing by his spirit to the world before the flood, 1 Pet. 3: 19 ; and who can doubt that this was through the instrumentality of his appoint- ed ministers ? Accordingly, the same apostle elsewhere calls Noah a preacher of righteous- ness ; 2 Pet. 2: 5. Now for the maintenance of such a system of worship, a Sabbath would appear to have been essential ; nor does the absence, in the history of the Patriarchs, of any express men- tion of its observance, materially weaken the probability that, under these circumstances, it v)as actually observed. It is always to be re- membered, that the records of the Old Testa- ment are in many parts extremely abridged, and that the silence of these narratives respect- ing any supposed fact which collateral evi- dence renders probable, affords scarcely any degree of evidence that such a fact was not real. We know that after the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, the law of Moses, and the Sabbath as forming a part of it, were publicly recognized and in full force; yet no mention is made of the Sabbath in the book of Judges, the two books of Samuel, and * Ample evidences on this subject are adduced by J. J. Blunt, in his useful little work, Gii ike Veracity of the Five Books of Moses. THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 19 the first book of Kings, which comprise a pe- riod of five hundred years. Ahhough circum- cision was a ceremony of marked importance during the continuance of the Mosaic dispen- sation, no mention is made of that rite in the whole history of the Bible, from the days of Joshua to those of John the Baptist. The patriarchal history does, however, con- tain an account of some circumstances, which afford us no insignificant hints that the Sab- bath was observed, Cain and Abel are de- scribed, as offering their sacrifices to the Lord in process of time, as our version has it ; but, as in the margin of that version and in the Hebrew, at the end of days* Now the only period of days before alluded to, is that of the week ; and it is highly probable that this form of expression indicates nothing more, than that they made their offerings on the day which terminates the week, i.e. on the Sab- bath. Of the division of time into weelcs, we have a plain hint or two in the history of Noah. Jehovah says to Noah : " For yet seven days^ (or yet a week), and I will cause it to rain upon the earth, etc.," Gen. 7:4. Again, when Noah's dove, after finding no rest for the sole of her foot, had been restored to the ark, we are informed that ' Noah stayed yet other seven days, and then sent her forth ;' and, on her return with the olive branch, he again waited for the same recognized period : * Gen. 4: 3, Q^W^rr vr^a 20 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. *' And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more/' Gen, 8: 10 — 12. It appears, then, that, Noah reckoned his time by tceeks ; and also, that the seventh day of the week was to him, as well as to Cain and Abel, the end of days. Such a division of time must surely have been founded on the tradition of the six days of creation, ending with a day of rest. Now since this tradition had passed down to Noah through a very small number of forefathers, who probably were all worshippers of Jehovah, it seems incredible that he could be unacquainted with the fact, that the seventh day was hallowed ; and equal- ly so, that being acquainted with it, this " preacher of righteousness" should himself neglect the observance of that day. The same practice would necessarily de- scend with the worship of the true God, in that line of Noah's posterity in which God was pleased to preserve a visible church. We read of Abraham, that he obeyed the voice of God, and kept his charge^ his commandments, his statutes, and his laws. Gen. 26: 5. No wonder that Manasseh Ben Israel, a learned Dutch Jew, should infer from this passage, that Abraham observed the Sabbath ;* for which of the charges, statutes, commandments, or laws of God was such a man more likely to reverence and obey ? t In a Jewish book called Bereshith liabha, it is asserted^ that * Lib, de Creatlone, in Selden. t Vide Selden, Dc Jure, Lib. 3. c. 13, THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 21 the Sabbath was kept by Jacob.* The same thing is also said by one of the Rabbins, of Joseph ;t and the probability of these asser- tions appears not only from the plain reason of the 6ase, but from the indications afforded in Scripture, that both these patriarchs were ac- quainted with the division of time into weeks. Jacob twice served Laban for Rachel a loeek of years; a period, of which the reckoning was doubtless borrowed from that of the week of days, Gen. 29: 20—27. And Joseph de- voted seven days, or in other words, a whole weck^ to a public mourning for his father, Gen. 50: 10. Aben Ezra, another learned Jew, presumes that Job kept the Sabbath, be- cause he offered sacrifice at the end of seven days, Job 1: 5. And is there not good rea- son to suppose, that the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before ike Lord, was the day consecrated to worship, i. e. the day of the Sabbath ? Job. 1:6. 2: 11. The original use of the Sabbath, and its au- thority, independently of the Jewish law, are however yet more clearly proved, by a distinct and most emphatic recognition of it, some time before the delivery of the law from Mount Sinai. Very soon after the Israelites had commenced their journey through the wilder- ness, they were provided with the manna, which they gathered every morning. " And it came to pass that on the sixth day they ga- thered twice as much bread, two omers for * Parash. 79, in Selden. t Bechai, ad Bereshith, fob 37. col. 4, in Selden. 22 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. one man ; and all the rulers of the congrega- tion came and told Moses. And he said un- to them : This is that tohich the Lord hath said, to-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath mito the Lord and they laid it up till the morning as Moses bade : and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said : Eat that to-day ; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord ; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall ga- ther it ; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath^ there shall be none See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days : abide ye every man in his place ; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the sev- enth day," Ex. 16: 22—30. There is a plain accordance between the declaration of Gen. 2: 3, that God sanctified the seventh day, and the remarkable fact that the manna — the miraculous gift of God — was doubled on the sixth day, and stayed on the seventh. This fact, and the explanation given of it by Moses, were obviously intended to re- vive, in the remembrance of the people, an al- ready existing institution — to remind them of a religious duty, which, although (possibly) for- gotten during the period of their Egyptian bondage, had been cherished by their ances- tors, and had always formed a part of the sys- tem of true worship.* * The Talmndists parry this argument, by pretend- ing that the first institution of the Sabbath is alluded THE PATRIAUCIIAL SABBATH. 23 The division of time into weeks was famil- iar to the ancient Greeks and Romans ; and they were accustomed to distinguish the sev.- en days, by the names of their deities, viz., the Sun, tlie Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. J^usebius has selected from the works of Porphyry, (one of- the early enemies of Christianity), a very old Greek oracle, quoted by that writer, in which there is a distinct reference to this division and no- menclature. It is as follows : Invoke Mercury on his day ; And in like manner, the Sun on Sun-day ; The 3Ioon also, ivhen her day arrives ; And Saturn and Venus, each in their or- der* A similar custom is supposed to have been of great antiquity among the nations of the North of Europe, namely, the Goths, Celts, and Sclavonians. These nations probably de- rived this practice, (as they did many others, and much of their language), from the East ; for there is reason to believe that the reckon- to in the preceding' chapter; where after describing the sweetening of the waters at Marah, Moses savs : And tlicre he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them., Exod. 15; 25. It is obvious, however, that if the Sabbath had been so very lately instituted, the rulers would have required no explan- ation of the doubling of the manna on the sixth day, and of the cessation of it on the seventh. * Kh]i^.siv '^BQai^v, ?j§^ 'ILOuov y.ard ravra 'Huf^7j 'IltXi'ovj fjn'ivijv S^ ors Tfjg Se araQsi'tj Euseb. Pnep. Evang. liib. 5. cap. 14. 24 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. ing of time by weeks, and an idolatrous no- menclature of the days, were prevalent in very ancient times, in that quarter of the globe ; especially in Chaldca and Egypt. Di- on the Roman historian says, that the custom in question originated in Egypt ; and from thence, at a more modern date, it pervaded the whole world.* Grotius confirms its an- cient origin in Egypt, by reference to Herod- otus.t Since this peculiar division of time agrees with no astronomical sign — certainly not with the changes in the appearance of the moon ; and since it is improbable that the Egyptians, or any other nation of antiquity, should bor- row it from so despised a people as the Is- raelites ; we may conclude, that it was founded on a tradition respecting the original seven days.\ On this ground, it affords a collateral evidence of the facts recorded in the Mosaic history of the creation, and, among other facts, of the hallowing of the seventh clay. That this circumstance, indeed, formed one feature of the tradition in question, is confirmed by a variety of evidence bearing expressly on the point. EusebiuSj in his Evangelical Preparations^ * Lib. 36. Selden De Jure, Lib. iii. c. 19. t Herod. Lib. ii. Grotius De Verit. Lib. i. t Sir Isaac Newton supposes, that if the Egyptians borrowed their learning from the Edomites, the course of this tradition may be directly traced through Esau to the Patriarchs; Chronology of King- doms, p. 208. THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 25 has extracted a long passage from a work ad- dressed by Aristobulus, a Jewish Platonic phi- losopher, to one of the Ptolemies of Egypt, about 150 years before Christ.* The object of the Jew, is to exalt the traditions and prac- tice of his own nation, and to show that even the heathen held them sacred. After some allusion to the work of creation, he speaks of the authority and use of the seventh day. This he calls "the day of light and wisdom, in which the complete order of nature is con- templated ;" a day bestowed upon man for the purpose of "divine philosopliy." He then proceeds to cite passages from the vv'orks of Homer and Hesiod, in which the seventh day is described as sacred. Sacred, in thejirst place, is the day of the new moon ; * sacred, also, are the fourth, and the seventh days. Again came the seventh day, the illustrious light of the sun.f The seventh day then arrived — a sacred day.\ * Evang. Prsep. Lib. 13: c. 12. t ITtjioTov i'v7]j TSTQug rs y.ai l^doLtT]^ liQov ijf.vu.Q- Hesiod. X '^El^oofidrrj (3" ijrrsiTa hut /jlv O'er ^ isQov i)urf.Q. Homer. [(a) It seems to me, that the learned writer has here mistaken the exact sense of his author ; which appears to be this : In the first place, the third day [of the month], the fourth, and the seventh, is a sacred day ; the seventh again [is sacred], the splendid light of the sun. "Enj means, the daij after the morroiv or the third day of the month. Observe, that it is only the seventh day which is sacred a second time. M. S.] 2 26 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. "Whether these passages arc really to the point, is somewhat doubtful. Hesiod, it ap- pears, classes the [third,] fourth and seventh days together ; and he also mentions the day of the nciD moon,^ he may perhaps be here speak- ing of the days of the month ; for the fourth day of every month is said to have been sacred to Mercury, and the seventh to Apollo.* With regard to Homer, there are many passages in his works, which indicate that in his view every passing day -and night was sacred. The epi- thet sacred {h(j6g) is one which he was accus- tomed to lavish with a free and poetic license. From Linus, another ancient Greek poet, Aris- tobulus quotes some verses which are more applicable to his purpose : All things in the starry heaven, are made in sevens, appearing in circles, as the years arise. t It appears irom this passage, tliat his notion is that of a jjcrpetuol rotation in sevens; and we may therefore conclude, that he refers to each recur- ring seventh (lay, when he writes as follows: The sevaith [day] is among good things ; The seventh is the birth [day] ; The seventh is among chief things ; The siventh is perfect.^ * Selden, De Jure, etc. Lib. 3. cap. 17. i 'Ettto. ct TTO.pra TiTrxrai fv oiQUVoi aoT6(joh'Tij ^feV Y.inlotai (favlvr tTiiTiXlo/iiivois iviavrolg. \ ^E^S6/Li7j 60' clyad-o7g, yuu t^SojLi't] tori ysn^d^Xr/j 'E^Svfi7] iv TTQukoiotj y.ai f/?(3'(;^?; iori nkeiTj. [ (b) So 1 do not construe ivt]_, but as meaning t'le third day of the month. It f. Hows, of course, that the author is speaking of the c^ays of tlie monih. 13ut why is the soveatii day iic'u e sacred ? M. S.] THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 27 According to Clement of Alexandria, who repeats the argument of Aristobulus, much was said in Solon's elegies, (a work no longer extant), respecting the divine character of the Kcventii day. Strom. Lib. V. Lucian (\n Pseudologist), and Aulus Gelli- us (Lib. XX. 11), speak of the seventh day as one on which boys exchange their books for play. Suetonius mentions the Sahhath, as se- lected by Diogenes the grammarian, at Rome, for his public disputations; in Nerone, 32. Tibullus describes the day of Saturn, i. e. the seventh day of the week, as sacred: Sa' turni aut sacram me ieniiisse diem. Elecf. III. 18. 'I'he title of Birth, or Birth-day, applied to the seventh day by Linus, (or, according to Clement, by Callimachus), implies that it was the day on which the birth of the world was celebrated. Similar terms are used on the same subject by Philo, a Jewish Platonic phi- losopher, who lived in Egypt, and was contem- porary with our Saviour. "Wlien the whole world was completely formed," says this au- thor, "according to the perfect nature of the number six, the Father glorified the succeed- ing day, being the seventh, praising it and call- ing it holy. For it is a holy day, not of one city or place only, but of all the world ; a ho- ly day which alone can be described as uni- versal ; the birth-day of the world.* Whatev- * E'rru 6^ 6 oi'jurrag xva/uog ^TsXeuod'rj xarrl ri)v S^d- (%? a.Qtd'fiov xt'kdav (pvoiv, tijV ^TTiovGav if-UQav k^. bo^Tlv hQlf-LVvviv naxiiQ iTtaivioacj xal dyi'av nqooei- 23 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. er allowance we may be disposed to make for the bombast or exaggeration of this writer, we cannot suppose that his statement respecting the acknowledged sanctity of the seventh day among the heathen nations, was without some foundation. That statement is moreover con- firmed by the positive assertion of Josephus. " Great zeal has long been displayed by mul- titudes in the imitation of our worship ; neither is there any city of the Greeks or among fo- reigners — not even one nation — into which the custom of observing the seventh day, on tvhich we rest, has not found its way."* Some of the earliest Christian fathers give a similar testimony. Theophilus of Antioch, (a. d. 1G8), speaks of the seventh day of the week as the day which all men celebrate.f Clement of Alexandria (a. d. 199) says, that " the Greeks as well as the Hebrews, consid- ered as sacred the seventh day, according to the recurrence of which, there is a rotation of ail things living and growing."! TertuUian TTCOV tooTi) yaQ ov jiiiag rruXsojg 7} yoJQng toriVy akld rov TCaVTug (scil. hoo/j-ov), }}v y.vQiojg a^iov y.al fiovi^v cvdvSrji^wv 6i'0/iiu^_£iVj xal rov y.uajuov yavtd'Xt.ov. De Miiitdi Opificio,ed. Mangeii, Tom. I. p. 21. * Ov u)]i> a/Ml aal 7r?y/&iGiv I'/di] •ytolvg LtjXog ytyo- Vfj' ly. /xay.QOv ryg ijfieriQag ivos^^e/ag ■ otS' I'ariv ov Ttohg "Elh'ivojv oidr/Tiaovv, oiSs ^aQ^aQog^ ovSs tv ed'rog, I'r&a i.n) to ryg t^Sofiddog i]v UQyovfier t'/fit7?, TO ilhg ov §ia7ri(f0i'T)jX£. Contra Jipion. Lib. ii. § 39. t ^^Hv TrdvTsg av&QCorcoL ofo/tid-ovat. Lib. ii. cap. 12. t Kad^ 7/V 6 Trdg yjauog y.vxluTat rcor Liooyovovftl- yojv y.ai cpvoiiivojv. Strom. Lib. v. THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 29 (a. d. 200) says, that it was tlie custom among the Gentiles, to devote Saturday to ease and feasting.* We appear, then, to be in possession of suffi- cient evidence, that the reckoning of time by weeks, among the heathen — -a practice of which the antiquity is beyond tracing — was accompanied by a notion more or less distinct, that the seventh day was huhj. Now such a notion, as well as the weekly division itself, is surely to be ascribed rather to an original tra- dition, than to the example of the Jews ; a people who before their dispersion were so little known, and after it so little honoured. That the sabbatical institution, therefore, forms part of the law of God, as it was origi- nally revealed to mankind, we may conclude, for the following reasons : 1. Because the sacred historian, imme- diately after describing the six days' work of creation, and the resting of the Creator on the seventh day, expressly declares, that God bless- ed the seventh day and sanctijicd it, that is, devoted it to holy purposes. 2. Because the institution is founded on a divine pattern — on the recorded exan)ple of the Almighty himself 3. Because in the very nature of things, such an institution is necessary for the due and orderly worship of our Creator, and for the effectual culture of our immortal part; and * Diem Saturni otio et victui decernunt ; Jpolog. cap. 16. so THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. thus, like that pure theology from which it is inseparable, it is applicable to the moral wants of all mankind in all ages. 4. Because it involves an acceptable exer- cise of faith in God, who is pleased to provide for the wants of his children, without requir- ing either from themselves, or from the infe- rior creatures over which they rule, a perpet- ual succession of days of labour. 5. Because from a variety of hints contain- ed in the history of the patriarchs, as well as from the fact that the observance of the Sab- bath was enjoined on the Israelities as a cus- tom already recognized, it may be inferred, that, previously to the Jewish law, this institu- tion was observed by the servants of Jehovah both before and after the flood. 6. Because the division of time into weeks, prevailing among the heathen, especially among eastern nations, (connected as it was with a notion that the seventh day of the week was holy), confirms the antiquity and original au- tlwrity of the Sabbath. In conclusion, it is necessary for us plainly to distinguish between the dictates of true re-* ligion and those of superstition, in reference to our present subject. I would suggest that it is unscriptural, and therefore superstitious, to imagine that a superior sanctity actually at- taches to any one day of the revolving week, over others. As with Homer of old, every passing day and night was sacred ; much more must it be so to the Christian, who knows that the presence of the God whom he wor- THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 31 ships, pervades all space, and his providence, all time. Neither is it possible for us to deter- mine the question, whether the Sabbath day, which we may presume was observed by the patriarchs, was in fact the seventh day of the week, as reckoned from the beginning of the world. It is obvious, that in the course of ages, circumstances might easily occur which would disturb the reckoning ; and equally so, that this question is of no practical importance. We must not indeed forget, that from the very revolution of the earth on its axis, it is impos- sible for all men to keep their Sabbath-day at the same time. All that we can infer from God's hallowing the seventh day, and from his instituting a Sabbath for men after the model of his own ; all that we can gather from the nature and reason of the case or from the example of the Lord's servants in every ago, is this, viz. that in the march of time, God claims every recur- ring seventh day as peculiarly his own. In that perfect wisdom with which he adjusts all the claims of human duty in even balances, he has ordained that this proportion of our time should be devoted, tvithoiit interruption from our temporal callings, to religious pur- poses. In that pure benevolence with which he seeks the happiness of mankind, and even of inferior animals, he has made (as I believe) a perpetual decree, that every six days of LABOUR, shall he succeeded by a seventh day OF rest. CHAPTER II. ON THE MOSAIC SABBATH. When amidst the general corruption of mankind, God was pleased to select a single nation through whom he might preserve in the world a knowledge of his truth, he renew- ed that external revelation of his law, which had doubtless been bestowed on our first pa- rents. It is probable that the Israelites, dur- ing their long continued bondage in a foreign land, had forgotten many of their most sacred traditions, and had become involved in much ignorance and darkness. The miracles, there- fore, which preceded their departure from Egypt, and more especially that preeminent one wrought at the Red Sea, were very impor- tant, not only as the means of their deliver- ance, but as fresh proofs of the truth of their paternal religion. When thus brought, as it were, into contact with the Moral Governor of the universe, and humbled under the man- ifestations of his power, they were prepared to receive those verbal and written communica- tions of his will, by which their future conduct was to be regulated. It is a remarkable fact, that the observance of the Sabbath was the first moral duty which THE MOSAIC SaBRAJH. 33 was then pnioined upon tlieni. We have al- ready found occasion to remirk, that when the manna was given in double quantity on tlie sixth day of tlie week, and ceased to fall on the seventh, this institution was afresh brought to their remembrance ; and it was clearly manifested to them, t!iat every recurring sev- enth day was thenceforth to be dedicated to a holy rest, and to the worship of God. Afterwards, when the moral law was deliv- ered from Mount Sinai, in the audible voice of Jehovah himself, the keepinij of the Sabbath was commanded as one of its essential parts, and was introduced by the term remember: ** Remember the Sahbcith day to hep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, hut the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : in it thou siialt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it," Ex. 20:8— 11. Nothing can be more palpable than the dis- tinction maintained in Scripture, between the ten commandments (thus delivered from Mount Sinai) and the civil and ceremonial in- stitutions of the Mosaic code. The former were laws as old as the world itself, applicable to all men, and essential to the maintenance of a true theology and of a righteous life. The 34 THE MOSAIC SABBATH, latter, though mixed up with much that was moral, (or derived from these laws), were in- tended for the national welfare, and adapted exclusively to the peculiar relictions circum- stances of the Hebrews. Accordingly, the former were pronounced by Jehovah himself, during a visible and awful display of his glo- ry ; whereas the latter were communicated to the people, only through the intervention of a human lawgiver. On the same ground, while the civil part of the law of Moses was committed to the magistrate, and the ceremo- nial part to the priest ; and each was sted- fastly maintained as important for its particu- lar purpose ; it was the mural part of that law, it was the ten commandments both in their principles and in their detail, on which the preachers of righteousness ever delighted to dwell. These were the constant theme of the rebukes, the entreaties, and the exhorta- tions of the prophets. In taking this view of the subject, it seems impossible to separate the fourth command- ment from those which precede and follow it. It was delivered with the same solemnity as its fellows, and was written on the table of the co- venant by the same finger. It is moreover important to observe, that it fitly concludes the first table of the covenant, and as fitly in- troduces the second. The first table relates to the worship of the true God. It proclaims his unity, and the sanctity of his name, and forbids all idolatry. How could it be better concluded than bv the law of the Sabbath, I THE MOSAfC SABBATH. 35 wliich renders the regular worship of God practicable, by breaking the train of our tem- poral pursuits, and by setting apart one day in seven for this express purpose? So also the strength of the second table, which unfolds the moral obligations of man to man, will ever be found to lie in the remembrance of the Creator of the universe; because on his will alone are tiiese obligations founded. Now the Sabbath was the appointed means of perpetu- ally reminding man, that he is himself a crea- ture, and that God is iiis Creator and sove- reign. It was a current saying among the Taimudists : " He that denies the Sabbath, is like to him who denies the whole law." Rab- bi Levi of Barcelona says, that the object of the Sabbath of the Israelites was, "that hav- ing no other business, they might fasten on their minds that the world had a beginning ; which is a thread that draws after it all the foundations of the law.* Accordingly we find, that while most of the ccranwnial law was instituted by Moses pi-osptciivch/, with a view of its being put into practice after the Israelites had settled in the land of Canaan, the Sabbath was strictly observed, even during their journey in the wilderness ; Ex. xvi. There is another respect, in which the Sab- bath was considered, by the ancient Jewish doctors, to be of high practical importance. Although it has been questioned whether, in the time of Moses, the Israelites had any dis- * See Patrick, on Exod. 20, 9—12 ; and Numb. 15: 35. 15: 32. 36 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. tinct views of the doctrine o^ immorialitij , yet there can be no doubt, that, as they advanced in religious knowledge, they were taught to look forward to a future state, in which the righteous should be rewarded according to their works. Now the Sabbath was regarded as giving weight to the whole law of God, by iypicaUy reniinc/i?\a- the people of their eter- nal rest. *' The Sabbath," say the Rabbins, '* was given to be a type of a future eternity,"* " The precept concerning the Sabbath," says Abarbanel, " not only designates that funda- mental article of the creation of the world, but points to a spiritual world, wherein will be a true rest and a substantial inheritance. There ►shall be our true cessation from corporeal cares and labours ;" on Ex, 81: 13. As the law of the Sabbath was inseparably connected with the remainder of the deca- logue, so, like the other moral laws of God, it formed a leading subject of prophetic exhorta- tion. Isaiah appears to place keeping the Sab- bath, and keeping judgment, on the same level, Is. 50: 2 ; and soon afterwards, he mentions the former in immediate connexion with tak- ing hold of God's covenant ; Is. 56: 6. Again, through the same prophet Jehovah says : " If thou turn away thy foot from the Sab- bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the hofy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking (thine ov.n) ^ Vid. Bijxtorf, Florileg. Htb. 2L>9. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 37 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," Is. 58: 13, 14. With this beautiful passage may be compared the words of Jeremiah : " And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently harken un- to me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath- day, but hallow the Sabbath-day, to do no work therein ; then shall there enter into the gates of this city, kiugs and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariets and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall remain for ever; Jer. 17: The principle advocated in tliese passages is plainly this, viz. that the seventh day was claimed by Jehovah as peculiarly his own ; that its hours were to be devoted to rest and religion ; and that it might not be diverted from its right use, for the sake either of amuse- ment or of business. The carrying of bur- dens through the gates of Jerusalem, was a circumstance connected with the regular course of trade ; and persons who contitiued this practice during the Sabbath-day, set the law of God at defiance, by applying that peri- od of time which he had set apart for himself, to the pursuit of temporal gain. They at once renounced their faith in Jehovah, and their obedience to his revealed will. 38 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. This part of the subject is illustrated by a passage in the history of Neherniah, who was zealous for the whole law of God, and espe- cially for the Sabbatical institution. " In these days, saw I in Judah some tread- ing wine presses on the Sabbath, and bring- ing in sheaves and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day ; and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the no- bles of Judah, and said unto them : What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath-day? Did not your fathers thus? And did not our God bring all tiiis evil upon us and upon this city ? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel, by profaning the Sabbath. And it came to pass that lohen the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark, before the Sab- bath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath ; and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sab- bath-day. So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem, once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said unto them : Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands upon you. From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath :" Neh. 13: lo— 21. THE MOSAIC SABBATir. 39 We ought not to pass over this remarkable passage, without observing that Nehemiah, the chief magistrate of the people, acted on this occasion not merely as a Jew. but in the more comprehensive character of a servant of God. He was endeavouring to maintain a divine law long anterior in date to the Mosaic code, and essential to the civil as well as reli- gious welfare of mankind. But the duties of the Sabbath were not merely negative. The Israelites were requir- ed, on that day especially, to delight themselves in the Lord. It was because of its being de- dicated to the salutary and joyful purpose of worship, that they were to call that sacred day a delight and honourable. That the Jews, af- ter their return from captivity, were accus- tomed to assemble in their synagogues on the Sabbath-day, for the purpose of public vvor- ship, is a flict familiar to every reader of the New Testament. But, even from the first promulgation of their law, the duty of social worship was understood to be inseparably con- nected with the Sabbath. Like the high days of their great festivals, each recurring seventh day was to be a holy convocation. The peo- ple were to meet in a large assembly ; not surely, as some persons have imagined, for the mere purpose of feasting, but for the holier one of prayer and praise and listening to the words of the law. " Speak unto the children of Israel," said the Lord to Moses, ..." con- cerning the feasts of the Lord which ye shall proclaim to be lioly convocations, even these 40 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. are my feasts. Six days shall work be done ; but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation;'' Lev. 23: 3. That on these solemn occasions the law was publicly read, appears probable from the testimony of James (the brother of our Lord), who, in addressing the church at Jerusalem, said : For Moses of OLD TIME hath in every city them that preach hirn, being read in the synagogues EVERY SABBATH-DAY ;" Acts 15: 21. The phrase rendered of old time, signifies from THE ANCIEXT GENERATIONS,* and dcilOteS the great antiquity of the practice in question. Accordingly Josephus declares, that '' Moses commanded the people to remit their other employments every seventh day, and to gather together for the purpose of hearing the law read, and of accurately learning it." f A sim- ilar assertion is made by Philo.| In the sec- ond book of Kings, we read oUhe covert for the Sabbath, ivhich they had built in the house. This covert is generally supposed to have been a splendid awning, erected in connex- ion with the temple, under which the king sat during the time of public and social wor- ship. || It appears then, that the ancient Israelites * ^ Ano ysvsMV aqyaioiv. \ 'Endort]? r-^Sdoy-dSoc; run' aVjov I'^ycov dcf.syivovg, tTtl xi)v d-A^oaow Tov voaov txthvos ovlXtyead'aij not TOiTOV dy.otl^ajg tn^avO'dvsiv. Contra Apion. 2: 17. t De Vita Mosis, Lib. 3. Jennings' Jeicish Ant. 2, 160. 11 Chap. IG: 18. vid. Gill in loc. THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 41 were fully aware, that the religious observance of every seventh day formed a part of that higher class of their duties, which was distin- guished, in the very nature of things, from every thing merely civil or ceremonial. The Sabbath was ordained for their spiritual wel- fare ; it was enforced by the most awful sanc- tions ; it was inscribed on the tables of their covenant; it was i)resented to them as an es- sential part of the moral law of God. While this point is so plain that it can scarcely fail to be conceded by the impartial examiner of Scripture, we ought not to forget that the Sabbath, under the Mosaic economy, served certain purposes, and was marked by certain characteristics, ichicli had no relation except to that economy. This article of the decalogue was applied to the Israelites on a national, as well as on a more general princi- ple ; and in such a form or manner, as suited the peculiar circumstances under which they were placed. 1. The Mosaic Sabbath was intended for a sign, by which the Israelites might be dis- tinguished from all the idolatrous nations which surrounded them. It was a visible and intelligible badge of their loyalty to the King of kings ; a public testimony, borne amidst all the heathen, to the authority of Je- hovah. '•' Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep," said the Lord by Moses, " for it is a sign be- tween me and you throughout your genera- tions, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth SANCTIFY you .... Wherefore the 42 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their genera- tions, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever," Ex. 31: 12—17. So again in the book of Ezekiel, Jehovah says ; " And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judg- ments. Moreover, also, I gave them my Sab- baths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that SANCTIFY them," Ezek. 20: 11—12. 2. As the Sabbath was a means of distin- guishing the Israelites as the worshippers of the true God, so it was intended to remind them of the national redemption which Jeho- vah had wrought for them. As the creation of the world was the frst, so the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, was the second event of which it was the appointed memorial. In the repetition made by Moses of the ten commandments, this latter event is alone al- luded to in connexion with the Sabbath : " Remember that 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 a stretched-out arm. I'herc" fore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day," Deut. 5: 15. 3. When Jehovah enjoined on the Isra- elites in the wilderness, the keeping of the Sabbath, he appointed a particular day for the purpose, and distinguished it from other days, by a cessation of the manna, Ex. IG: 23. Since this event took place within a few weeks THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 43 of the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and since that was the national eveni, which the Sabbath was intended to commem- orate, we may reasonably conclude with Pat- rick, Mede,* and other learned writers, that the day of the week thus selected for 'the Sabbath, was the day of the passage of the Red Sea. Whether this day corresponded with that of the patriarchal Sabbath, is a question in- volved in great doubt. On the one hand, it is remarked, that the seventh day of the He- brew week was also the seventh — the Saturni sacra dies — of the Greek and Roman week, at the Christian era ; a circumstance from which it may be inferred, that the Sabbath of the Jews agreed, as to its day, with that of the patriarchs. On the other hand it is argued, that there might not be the same correspon- dence between the Hebrew and heathen weeks in more ancient times ; and the history of the Israelites in the wilderness, is considered as contairiing internal evidence, that a new day v.'as appointed for their Sabbath. From Exo- dus IG: 1 it appears, that the seventh day preceding that on which the manna ceased to fall, was occupied, not by a holy rest, but by a wearisome journey in the wilderness of Sin. Now although the Israelites migiit have for- gotten the Sabbatical institution, yet as their journeys were under the direct command of Jehovah, it is presumed that a day thus spent * See Patrick, Ex. IG. Mode's Works.B. I. disc, 15. 44 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. could not have been that of the original Sab- bath. Whatever decision, however, may be form- ed on this question, it is sufficiently clear, that the selection of this particular day for the Sabbath of the Israelites, belonged to their national history, and was in itself a non-essen- tial circumstance. 4. As the Israel itish Sabbath-day was the seventh of the week, and as the Hebrews reckoned their days from evening to evening, Lev. 23: 32, it followed that their Sabbath began on what ine should call the evening oJ" the siith day, and continued until the same hour on the day following. According to the Rabbins, it commenced and terminated with the appearance of the stars. One peculiarity which arose out of this circumstance, was, that the afternoon of the sixth day was occupied by the duties of pre- paration. The Sabbath was a joyful feast, and a greater supply of food was required on that day than on any other ; but since the law forbade the cooking of victuals on the day itself, the last ^aw hours of the preceding one were allotted to this object. Although no mention is made in the Mosaic law of the preparation, the provisions of that law render- ed it needful ; and the practice of thus observ- ing the sixth day afternoon, of which there is a plain notice in the Gospels, was probably of very ancient date. See Matt. 27: 62. Mark 15: 42, etc. 5. The Sabbath of the Hebrews was distin- THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 45 gLiished by the performance, in the temple, of a double ceremonial. " And on the Sabbath- day [thou shalt offer] two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, minsjled with oil, and the drink offering thereof This is the burnt offer- ing of every Sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering," Num. 28: 9, 10. This double service may be re- garded as a figurative indication, that the Sabbath-day has a double claim upon us for the duties of worship. The figure is Jewish ; but the lesson derived from it is applicable to the Christian. Our Saviour, when conversing with the Jews, spoke of the priests' being permitted by the law to profane the Sabbath (or break the rest of it) in the temple, Matt. 12: 5. His al- lusion was probably to these double sacrifices, which entailed considerable labour on the priests and Levites; especially the slaying, flaying, and cutting in pieces, of the victim, the arrangement of the wood, and the light- ing of a fire. The preparation and setting in order of the shcic-bread, was another of the sacerdotal offices which was performed every Sabbath-day, Lev. 24: 8. 1 Chron. 9: 32. On that day, also, the courses of the priests and Levites underwent their weekly change.* The obvious ground of these provisions was, that the work performed in the temple coin- cided with the main purpose of the Sabbath, * Vide Maimonides, in Gill on Luke 1: 5. 46 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. viz. the honour and worship of God — and therefore, although a literal exception to the fourth commandment, involved no breach of its intention and spirit. 6. Under the Mosaic economy, the Sabbati- cal principle took a wider range than appears to have been enjoined, or authorized, by the original law. Not only was every seventh day to be a day of rest, but during the whole of every seventh year, (reckoned, as is sup- posed, from the month Tizri or September), the Israelites were to cease from agricultural labour. They and their land were to keep holy day ; and the natural productions of their fields were to be the portion only of the poor. At the same period, every debtulis to be can- celled, and every Hebrew slave restored to freedom ; and the whole population was to unite in praising and blessing God. The ob- servance of the Sabbatical year, was insepara- bly connected with the peculiar dispensation under which the Israelites lived. Th^t dis- pensation was one of miracles. It was also one of temporal rewards and punishments. By a miracle of regular recurrence, every sixth year was to be made doubly fruitful ; and on condition of obedience to this com- mand, the Israelites were to be blessed with great temporal prosperity. This was a point, however, respecting which their faith failed them ; and, during a long period of their his- tory, they utterly neglected their Sabbatical year. The consequence was, that they were punished with banishment into the land of THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 47 their enemies, and their own land was left to enjoy her Sabbaths, in a state of ruin and des- olation ; See Lev. 26: 34, 35, 43. 2 Chron. 36: 21. Another extension of the Sabbatical princi- ple under the law of Moses, was the appoint- ment of one day or more of holy rest, durin^j each of their great festivals, the passover, and the feasts of weeks, trumpets, and tabernacles. On these high days, there was held, as well as on the usual Sabbath, a holy convocation ; and no servile work was permitted to be done in them. This prohibition did not exclude the preparation of food. But on the great day of atonement — the tenth of the seventh month — no work at all was allowed, and the Sab- bath was kepi fill h/, Lev. 23: 31. It was probably in allusion to these well known holy days, that the Jewish festivals were sometimes designated by the general name o( Sabbaths. 7. Lastly, the Sabbath-day, under the law of Moses, was required to be observed with a strictness, and the breach of it was punished with a severity, which may fairly be regarded as appertaining solely to the dispensation then in force. The commandment, " In it thou shalt not do any work, etc.," as interpreted by the Law, was far more rigid and compre- hensive, than it is possible for us to regard it, as it is interpreted by the Gospel. Although our Saviour, the Lord of the Sabbath, made a clear exception in favour of works of mercy and necessity, it may be questioned, whether such an exception (unless within narrow lim- 48 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. its) was either contemplated by Moses, or maintained by his followers. The strictness of the institution among the ancient Hebrews, is marked by some particu- lar injunctions contained in the Pentateuch. One of these accompanied the earliest recog- nition of the Sabbath, after the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. " Abide ye every man in his place : let no man go out of his place on the Sabbath-day," Ex. 16: 29. In their interpretation of this precept, the Rab- bins made allowance for the distance which an Israelite would be required to pass over, in walking from the extremity of the camp to the tabernacle of the congregation ; but they determined, that no Jew might move from his house on the Sabbath-day, more than the space which they conceived to have been ne- cessary for this purpose. This they presumed to be tico thousand cubits — a space which was afterwards familiarly known by the name of a Sabbath daifs journey, Acts 1: 12. In the Chaldee Targum on Ruth, we read thus : *' Naomi said unto Ruth, we are commanded to keep the Sabbath, and good days, and not to go above two thousand cubits;" Targ. on Ruth 1: 16. When our Saviour commanded his disciples, to pray that their flight from Jerusalem might not be on the Sabbath-day, Matt. 24: 20, he appears to have glanced at the probability, that a rigorous application of the Sabbatical law might prevent their fleeing on that day more than a single mile, even for THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 49 the purpose of escaping from their enemies ; see Gill in loc. Another injunction was: " Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations, on the sev- enth day," Ex. 35: 3. The principal mean- ing of this command might probably be, that no food should be dressed on the Sabbath ; yet the Law gave no authority for the distinc- tion which was afterwards made among the Jews, that a fire might be lighted on the Sab- bath, for the purpose of warmth, though not for that of cooking ; see Gill in loc. A striking instance is recorded in the Mo- saic history, of the severity with which a breach of this part of the sabbatical law was punished. *' And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day. And they that found him gathering sticks, brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. 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 ; all the congregation shall stone him with stones with- out the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died ; as the Lord com- manded Moses," Num. 15: 32—36. The doubt evinced on this occasion by Moses and Aaron, is supposed to have had relation only to the mode of this transgressor's death ; for the law which enacted capital punishment for the crime of Sabbath-breaking, had already 3 50 THE MOSAIC SABBATH. been pronounced with reiterated solemnity : *' Ye shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy unto you : every one that defileth it shall surely he put to death ; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people," Exod. 31: 14. ** Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day, there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord ; whosoev- er doeth work therein, shall be put to dcath^*^ Ex, 35; 2. It appears to have been a principle main- taiiied under the Mosaic dispensation, that every breach of the law, being a sin against God, deserved the punishment of death. Ve- nial and ceremonial transgressions were purg- ed by sacrifice, and the appointed victim bled in the room of the offender, But crimes of a deeper dye, and especially those which involv- ed deliberate rebellion against God, were ac- tually punished with death. Num. 15 : 30. The man who gathered sticks on the Sab- bath, appears to have been regarded as a presumptuous offender, who by a significant act denied the authority of his Creator. He was accordingly punished with the same death, which was inflicted on blasphemers a- gainst Jehovah, Lev. 24: l(>. Now, while the severity thus exercised in the punishment of a deliberate breach of the Sabbath, affords a fresh proof of the moral end spiritual nature of that institution, every one must perceive, that this severity itself formg jio part of God's unchanging law, but THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 51 belonged exclusively to the Mosaic dispensa- tion. It appertained to the peculiar character of the " letter which killeth," 2 Cor. 3: 6. On a general review of this branch of our subject, the reader will observe, (1.) That the Sabbath, after having been enjoined on the Israelites in the wilderness, was again brought to their remembrance, in the fourth command- ment, as an essential article of their moral law ; that it was inseparably connected both with the first and with the second table of their covenant ; that it gave the whole law a peculiar sanction, by reminding them of eter- nity to come ; that like the rest of the ten commandments, and even above the rest, it was the subject of the emphatic and fervid ministry of their prophets ; and lastly, that it was broadly marked by a cessation from tem- poral concerns, and by the delightful practice of social worship. (2.) That this institution nevertheless served peculiar purposes, and was distinguished by peculiar marks, under the Mosaic economy. It was a sign to separate the Israelites from all other nations. It was a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt. It was fixed, for this particular reason, on the seventh day of the week. It commenced and terminated with the evening hour, and was preceded by a stated period of preparation. It was distin- guished by a double ceremonial of sacrifice. Its principle was extended to every seventh year, and to all the Jewish festivals. Lastly, 52 THE MOSAIC SABBATH, it was required to be observed with a legal strictness, and the breach of it was punished with a legal severity. I conceive that the distinction between these two branches of the Mosaic sabbati- cal code, is clear and palpable ; the former branch contains a law which has been bind- ing on man in all ages, and under the influ- ence of the gospel it must flourish with fresh vigour : the latter branch was in its nature temporary, and under the same influence it has withered away for ever. CHAPTER III. ON THE JEWISH SABBATH AT THE CHRIS- TIAN ERA. The law of God is declared by the apostle Paul to be spiritual, Rom. 7: 14 ; by which term we may understand, that it is intended to regulate not the outward conduct only, but the condition of the heart and the motives for action. The word spiritual, in this point of view, applies to the fourth with the same pro- priety as to the other nine commandments. The law of the Sabbath, in its true intention, demands not merely the external practices of ceasing from labour, and of assembling for public worship, but a disentanglement of the mind from temporal objects, a devotion of the soul to God, and a cordial pursuit of heav- enly and eternal things. Thus alone can we keep the Sabbath holy, Ex. 20: 8 ; and thus alone can we ourselves be sanctified in the use of it, Ex. 31: 13. Hence it follows, that the fourth commandment might at once be rigidly observed as to its letter, and grievous- 54 THE JEWISH SABBATH \y infringed as to its spirit ; and this appears to have been the case among the Jews, at the Christain era. A remarkable revolution had taken place in the character of that people, since their re- turn from captivity in Babylon. Idolatry was no longer their temptation, but they prided themselves in the superiority of their religion to that of other nations. The worship of one God was their boast, although their hearts were far from him ; and while they were ex- act in maintaining the outward frame-work of that worship, they became in their conduct remarkably degenerate and corrupt. While vice abounded, superstition increased ; and to the law of God were added a multitude of un- authorized traditions. The scribes and Pha- risees, especially, gave tithes of mint and an- ise and cummin, while they omitted the weightier matters of the law, mercy, judg- ment, and faith. Matt. 23: 23. They were like whited sepulchres, fair on the outside, but within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Matt. 23: 27. It was easy for such persons, and it very well served their purpose, to keep the Sabbath w^ith great outward strictness ; and from vari- ous passages in the New Testament it may be inferred, that there was no part of the Mo- saic code on which it was more their custom to insist. Neither was there any which had become more mixed up with their own tradi- tions. From the history of the Maccabees it ap- AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 55 pears, that long before the coming of Christ, the Sabbath was observed with a supersti- tious severity. When Antiochus Epiphanes (B. C, 168) oppressed and defiled Jerusalem, a thousand Jews who refused to comply with his wicked designs, fled from the city into the wilderness, and there they suffered themselves to be cut to pieces without the slightest re- sistance, solely because their enemies attacked them on the Sabbath-day, 1 Mace. -2: 34—38. After this event, Mattathias and his followers determined that self-defence on the Sabbath- day should be considered lawful ; a princi- ple which was acted on with success by Judas MaccabfEus. Nevertheless, since no efforts even to resist an enemy were allowed on that day, except in case of an actual at- tack, nothing might be done on the Sabbath to impede the enemy's works. When Pom- pey, the Roman general, besieged Jerusalem, he availed himself of this superstition, and took care to occupy the Sabbath-day, not by any attack on the Jews, but solely in the erec- tion of his works. Having, in consequence, completed these without interruption, he after- wards had little difficulty in storming the sa- cred city.* The following is a brief account of the manner in which the early Jews observed the Sabbath. The preparation^ which began on the sixth day of the week, after the evening sacrifice, * Josephus, Antiq. Lib. xiv. c. 4. sec. 2 — 4. 56 THE JEWISH SABBATH (i. e. about three o'clock in the afternoon), was ushered in by two soundings of horns or trumpets ; the one to distinguish the common day from the holy day which was now ap- proaching, and t!ie other to give notice to the people that their usual employments were to cease. Tailors and shoemakers, indeed, were allowed to pursue their callings during half the hours of the preparation, and so also were the scribes; the two former that they might dress the bodies, and the last that they might the better instruct the minds, of their brethren, on the Sabbath. With this excep- tion all work was now suspended but tliat of p?'eparatiou ; which consisted partly in clean- ing their houses and washing their persons, that they might meet the Sabbath with decency, and partly in preparing the excellent meals on which they were to regale during the sacred day. In these pious labours (as they were esteemed), all hands were employed, and it became the joint task of master and servant, mistress and handmaid, parent and child, to sweep the floors, cleave the wood, light the fires, chop the herbs, and prepare the viands During the same afternoon, no journey might be undertaken which would not terminate be- fore sunset ; and all proceedings affecting life and death were suspended in the courts of justice.* * By a decree of Augustus, the Roman emperor, the Jews were exempt from summons into any court of justice, from three o'clock on the sixth day after- noon, until the Sabbath was over. Lewis, Origines J^ei*. Vol. 2. p. 577. AT TOE CHRISTIAN ERA. O/ About six o'clock in the evening, when the sun was near setting, the Sabbath commenc- ed, and the trumpets were blown from that covered place by the temple where the king sat in the congregations, 2 Kings 16: 18. This was the signal for lighting the sabbati- cal lamps in their houses ; an office which de- volved on the women of every family, who were also required to keep the lamps burning during the whole Sabbath. The practice of lighting and keeping alive the sabbatical lamps, was enjoined upon all the Jews ; on the poor who were obliged to beg for oil, as well as on the rich who possessed it in abundance : and no wonder ; lor tliis, accord- ing to their notions, was the proper method of fulfilling the precept, *' Thou shalt call the sabbath a delight and honourable," Is. 58: 13. On a similar principle they considered, that they fulfilled the command to hallow the Sabbath-day, by pronouncing at their first sabbatical meal (eaten at the commencement of the Sabbath) a form of words, which they called kiddush or sanrfijication. They al- ways partook of three meals on the Sabbath, and thought themselves obliged to do so in honour of the day. Even the poor who lived upon alms, were bound to eat three times, and the rich feasted deliciously. All were dressed in the best clothes which they could command, and these were called sabbatical garments. The first duty of the morning was to at- tend on public prayer in the synagogues ; nf- ter which service they ate their second meal. 3* 53 THE JEWISH SABBATH When this meal was concluded, they frequent- ly occupied themselves with going to hear a discourse on divinity, from some one of their scribes or doctors. In the afternoon the fes- tive board was again spread, and they contin- ued eating and drinking, until three stars of CDUsiderable magnitude became visible in the firmament. This was the established sign of the departure of the Sabbath. Spices were then prepared in each family, for the refresh- ment of those who might faint for sorrow at the termination of so joyful a day ; and over these spices the master of every house pro- nounced what they called habdalah, i. e. the blessing of separation. Thus the ceremonies of the day were concluded.* We have already remarked that in the tem- ple, a double service of sacrifice was required on the Sabbath. This service was accompa- nied, morning and evening, by three blasts of the trumpet beyond what was usual on other days ; and in the morning the priests sung the song of Moses in Deuteronomy xxxii. — a sixth part every week ; • in the evening, the the song of Moses in Exodus xv. With respect to the command which forbad all manner of work on the Sabbath-day, the Jews, under the influence of their traditions, were exceedingly punctilious in the obser- vance of it ; and some of the decrees of the rabbinical doctors in reference to this subject, are frivolous in the extreme. They advan- * See Lewis' Orisines Hcbr. B. 4. ch. 16. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 59 ced as many as thirty-nine negative precepts, re- specting things which might not be done on the Sabbath ; and these precepts severally branched out into various minor details. For example ; a man might not thresh on the Sab- bath ; neither might he walk on the grass, so as to bruise it, which w-as a kind of threshing. Again, a man might not hunt on the Sabbath ; neither might he catch a flea while it hops about, which is a kind of hunting.* Our Saviour asked the Jews which of them would not on the Sabbath-day lead his ox or his ass to the watering, or pull out his sheep from a pit into which it might have fallen ? Luke 13: 15. Matt. 12: 11. From these questions we may conclude, that whatever the Jews might profess, they did not in prac- tice hesitate to perform works of necessity on the Sabbath for the sake of their own advan- tage. The Rabbins, however, have institu- ted some curious distinctions in reference to these points. According to them, a man might fill a trough with water on the Sabbath, that his beasts might come and drink, but he might not convey it to the place where the ani- mals were standing.! So also, if a beast fell into a ditch or pool of water on the Sabbath, a man might feed it there, in order to save its life ; and if it was so placed as not to be able to feed, he might put bolsters under it, that if * See Jennings' Jewish Antiq. B. 3. c. 3. Vol. 2. p. 157. t Tract. Ral. Erubin, fol. 202. Gill on Luke 13. 60 THE JEWISH SABBATH it could come out, it might do so of its own accord ; but he might not pull it out icith his hand* Another rabbinical precept was aim- ed against all attempts, on the Sabbath, to cure chronic complaints. A man afflicted with a diseased eye, might plaister it on the Sabbath, for the sake of ease and pleasure, but not for the purpose of healing.t Such was the Jewish Sabbath, and such the superstitions with which it was encumber- ed. There is reason to believe that the reli- gious opinions of the Jews underwent scarce- ly any change during several centuries after the Christian era. Although, therefore, a few of these superstitions probably arose among the Rabbins in later times, the general ac- count now given may be considered as apply- ing to the period when Jesus Christ was upon earth. The substance of the statement is in- deed amply confirmed by the evidence of the Evangelists themselves. In the midst of a deep national corruption, and while true piety and virtue were at a low ebb, the forms of re- ligion were multiplied, and were observed with a studious exactness. Such a scene ought not to be contemplated without instruc- tion. It may remind us of the ever watchful craft of our soul's adversary, who leaves no stone unturned to bring us under his power. Behold the Israelites, during one period of * Maimonides, Hilchot Sab. c. 25. sec. 26. Lightfoot and Gill, on Matt. 12. f Piske Tosephat Sab. art. 67. Gill on John 9: IG. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 61 their history, neglecting the peculiarities of their ritual worship, despising their Sabbath, and plunging into idolatry. Behold them, at another period, strict in the performance of all their ceremonies ; caricaturing their Sab- bath by the superstitious observance of it ; boasting of their faith in the unity of God, yet destitute of the life of religion, and sunk in immorality. We have now to enter upon a question of vital importance to our subject. What were the principles in relation to the Sabbath, which Jesus Christ maintained in his own conduct and doctrine 1 In pursuing this inquiry, we must of course keep in view the circumstances which have now been detailed, and especially the con- dition of the Jewish mind with regard to this institution, at the time when our Saviour was on earth. We must not expect to find him insisting on an external duty, which the peo- ple amongst whom he lived were already in the habit of punctiliously observing. We might rather presume, that he would be found rebuking them for their dependance on the mere forms of religion, directing their at- tention to its substance, and declaring, *' I will have mercy and not sacrifice." Such, we know, was the fact. But while our blessed Lord discountenanced all supersti- tious notions respecting the Sabbath, and even relaxed that legal strictness which hung about the fourth commandment under the Mo- 62 THE JEWISH SABBATH saic dispensation, he maintained the substance of that commandment in all its integrity. Every one who is familiar with the ministry of Jesus as recorded by the Evangelists, must be aware how carefully he guarded the whole moral law of God. There can be no question that he was speaking of this law, contained as it was in the ten commandments, and in- scribed on the tables of the covenant, when he said: "Till heaven and earth pass, owe jot or one tittle shall not pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven ; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven," Matt. 5: 18, 19. Again, " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail," Luke 16: 17. It seems impossible to avoid concluding from these passages, that the whole moral code, as it had been revealed to the Israelites, was to remain in unimpaired authority to the end of time ; nor does there appear to be any good reason, why the principle here laid down by our Saviour should not apply to the fourth, as well as to the other nine commandments. When the ruler asked him: What shall I do to inherit eternal life ? our Lord referred him to the commandments ; and although he then spoke of the second table only, he virtually sanctioned them all.* This also was the ■^ Luke 16: 20. Comp. Matt. 19: 16. Mark 10: 17. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 63 case when the scribe came to him and inquir- ed : Which is the first commandment of all ? Mark 12: 28. Who can doubt that our Lord intended to comprehend the whole of the two tables of the covenant, when he stated the great commandments of love to God and love to our neighbour ? The neglect of the Sab- bath would break the first of these command- ments ; just as theft or adultery would break the second. And when the scribe distinguish- ed these moral duties from all things merely ceremonial, from all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, Jesus perceived that " he answered discreetly" (i/ovv^xcog), and said, " Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."* As our blessed Lord, in his doctrine, main- tained the integrity of the moral law, so in his life and conversation, he fulfilled all righteous- ness. In order to this end, he submitted even to the ceremonial ordinances which were then in force Matt. 3: 15 ; and who will dare to question his having kept the whole of the ten commandments, according to their true mean- ing and spirit, absolutely inviolate ? Of his fulfilment of the chief duty of I the Sabbath, we have abundant evidence ; for various oc- casions are mentioned by the Evangelists, on which he attended the worship of God in the synagogues ; and from a statement made by Luke, we learn that this was his regular hab- • That the apostles, after the example of their Master, maintained the authority of the moral law as contained in the ten commandments, is evident from Rom. 13: 9. Eph. C: 2. Gal. 5: 14. James 2: 10, «&c. 64 THE JEWISH SABBATH it. " And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and, as his custom WAS, he went into the synagogue on the Sab- bath-day, and stood up for to read," Luke 4: ^Q, comp. V. 31. Neither did our Saviour refuse to participate in those sabbatical meals, which were then customary among the Jews ; the Sabbath being, by divine authority, one of their feasts. He was eating bread in the Phar- isee's house, on the Sabbath-day, when he healed the man who was afflicted with the dropsy, Luke 14: 1 — 6. Many of his most remarkable miracles were performed on the Sabbath ; e. g. the healing of Peter's wife's mother, Luke 4: 38 — 41 ; the cure of the impotent man at the pool of Be- thesda, John v. ; the gift of sight to a man born blind, John ix. ; the restoration of the withered hand. Matt. 12: 13 ; and lastly, the instantaneous recovery of the woman who had been bowed together with infirmity for eigh- teen years, Luke 13: 10 — 13. Li selecting the Sabbath and its solemn occasions of wor- ship for these acts, our Saviour may well be deemed to have had a double object in view ; first, to refute the idle notion of the Jews, that it was not lawful to heal the sick on the Sab- bath-day,* and to establish the principle, that * No Christian will, I presume, question the law- fulness of healing the sick on the Sabbath-day. Yet the viedical practitioner who pursues his calling dur- ing the whole of that day, and habitually neglects the duty of divine worship, must surely be regarded as a breaker of the Sabbath. He will find nothing to justify his conduct, in liie example or in the precepts of the Saviour of men. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 65 to do good is always lawful ; secondly, to cel- ebrate the day and do it honour, by these glo- rious exertions of his benevolence and power. All these histories are full of interest and instruction ; but in order to obtain a correct view of our Saviour's deportment and doc- trine on such occasions, it may suffice to se- lect two of them for more detailed observation. The man who lay at the pool of Bethesda amidst a great multitude of impotent folk, blind, halt and withered, had been afflicted with an infirmity for thirty and eight years. His cure was public and immediate. " Je- sus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk ; and immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked : and on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured : It is the Sabbath day ; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. Ke answered them, he that made me whole, the same said unto me take up thy bed and walk, John 5: 5 — 11. Between that carrying of burdens which be- longed to the course of trade, and which was so severely reprobated by the prophets as a breach of the Sabbath, and the bearing Tiway of the mattress on which this poor man was lying, and which might otherwise have been lost to him, the distinction is too obvi- ous to need discussion.* Still, the deed was a breach of the law of Moses, according to * We are informed by modern travellers, that the beds used in the East, are ligiit and portable, often consisting of ^ inattj-ess laid on the floor with a single 66 THE JEWISH SABBATH. its literal exactness, and was, as well as the act of healing a chronic disease, directly op- posed to the notions then prevalent amon/r the Jews. " And therefore did the Jews per- secute Jesus and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath-day," John 5: 16. The answer of Jesus is sublime indeed. He condescends not to rebut the charge that he had broken the Sabbath — a charge depending on a rigorous interpretation of the letter of the law — but cuts the whole matter short by an expressive allusion to his own divinity : " My Father worketh hither- to, and 1 WORK," John 5: 17. As God the Father, who rested on the seventh day after the original creation, is perpetually at work in the maintenance and reproduction of all things natural, and in conducting the scheme of providence ; so the Son also, in the pleni- tude of his power and goodness, is ever acting for the benefit of mankind, and for the heal- ing and protection of his believing children. No wonder that '' the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that, God was his Fa- covoring. These, during the day, are rolled up, and placed in a cupboard. The poor mendicant prob- ably would find his wretched pallet a very easy load. See Harmer's Observ. vol. 2, p. 66. It is evident however, that notwithstanding this distinction, the Jews, on tfiis occasion, considered the Sabbath to be broken. jAccordingly, in the Mishnaweread : " He that rolls up a bed of the braziers or tinkers on the Sabbath-day, is bound in a sin offering." Sabbat. cap. 10, sec. 3. Gill in loc. AT THE CHRISTIAxV ERA. 67 ther, making himself equal with God," John 5: 18. Still greater light however is thrown on this subject, by the circumstances of another Sab- bath-day in our Lord's history. He and his disciples were passing through a corn field, and his disciples began to pluck the ears of corn, to rub them in their hands, and to eat. The Pharisees saw it and said : " Behold they disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath-day." According to their notions, to eat on that day was of course law- ful ; but to pluck the ears of corn and to rub them, was unlawful ; nor was their objection without some foundation in the law of Moses, which is universally understood to have for- bidden the preparation of food on the Sab- bath.* On this occasion as on the former, our Lord made an appeal to his own divine authority : " Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered and they that were with him, how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew bread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests ? Or have ye not read in the law, hov/ that on the Sabbath-days the priests in the temple pro- fane the Sabbath and are blameless. But I * See Exod. 35:3. The distinction between those holy days in which no servile work might he done, ami the weekly Sabbaths and great day of atonement, in which a man might do wo manner of work, was chief- ly that in the former, food might be prepared ; in the latter it might not. 68 THE JEWISH SABBATH say unto you, that in this place is One greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sac- rifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless; for the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabhath-day;' Matt. 12: 1—8. The disciples, when they plucked and rub- bed the ears of corn, were as guiltless in the sight of God, as David was when he ate the shew-bread with his companions ; and as the priests were who wrought in the temple dur- ing the Sabbath-day. David was excused for a breach of the letter of the law, by the necessity of his case, and by the peculiar providence which guided and protected him.* The priests were justified by the religious nature of their calling, as well as by the plain directions of the law itself On behalf of the disciples it might have been pleaded, that the manner in which they prepared their food, could scarcely be said to involve any work ; but it sufficed for them, that they acted with the sanction of their Master, who in his divine nature was "greater than the temple" — far exalted above the whole system of Jewish worship — and Lord even of the Sabbath- day. * At first sight, it appears remarkable that David's eating the shcio bread, s\io\i\di he inenlionQd in refer- ence to a question respecting l.he Sabbath. On exam- ination, however, it appears that the transaction took place on the Sabbath-day ; for the loaves which Ahimeleoh gave to David, were the old ones, which he was then exchanging for bread newly made. Now this chancre took place on the Sabbath. See 1 Sam- uel 21: 6. Comp. Levit.24:8. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 69 In Him there dwelt an authority, which sufficed not merely for the lenient and merciful interpretation of the sabbatical law, or for the relaxing of its literal rigour, but even, should he see meet, for its total abolition. But while Jesus demanded mercy and not sacrifice, he maintained the law of God in all its spiritual intent — in all its genuine vigour. There is nothing in this transaction, or in any similar one recoi'ded in the New Testament, which weakens the fourth commandment as reasonably interpreted, and as forming a con- stituent part of the " perfect law of liberty," ^ames 1: 25. This observation is confirmed by the remainder of the narrative : " And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue ; and behold there was a man which had his hand withered ; and they ask- ed him saying. Is it lawful to heal on the Sab- bath-days ? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep 1 Where- fore it is Imofid to do well on the Sabbath- days. Then said he to the man, stretch forth thine hand ; and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole like the other," Matt. 12: 9: 13. Here it is evident, that while our Lord makes an allowance for works of necessity ^ and by his glorious example invites to works oi mercy, on the Sabbath-day ; he places both on the simple ground of their lawfulness, and thus maintains the law inviolate. /U THE JEWISH SABBATH It appears then, 1. That at the time when our Saviour was on earth, the Jews were no longer prone to the neglect of any outward rite, but were strong in the forms of religion, though not in its power. 2. That in this spirit they punctiliously ob- served the Sabbath, with a variety of curious ceremonies, and under many superstitious no- tions. 3. That while our Saviour rebuked their formality, contradicted their superstitions, and even relaxed the literal rigour of their law, he maintained that law in its substance and spi- rit, by his support of the ten commandments in general, by his customary attendance of the synagogue worship, and by a frequently impli- ed acknowledgement of the obligation of the Sabbath, within its true scope. The evangelist Mark has recorded another of our Lord's sayings, a brief view of which may fitly conclude the discussion of this branch of our subject. " The sabbath," said Jesus, *' W^AS made for man, and not MAxV FOR THE SABBATH," Mark 2: 27. When the Jews gave their chief attention to the literal and outuard fulfilment of the sabbatical law ; when they added to that law very numerous traditions of their own ; when they carried their superstitions on the subject into frivolous and childish absurdities ; when they strained at the gnat in this matter, while in others they were swallowing the camel ; they acted as i^man was made for the Sabbath. AT THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 71 But their error was radical ; tliey mistook the very nature and principle of the divine com- mandments. The Sabbath, like every other part of the moral law of God, was made for man — not for the Jew alone, but /br our spe- cies. It is a gift bestowed upon us, in per- fect wisdom and pure benevolence, for the re- freshment of our bodies and for the improve- ment of our souls; for enabling us to com- mune at leisure with our God and Father ; for promoting our piety, our virtue, and our happiness. CHAPTER IV. ON THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. Sufficient proof, I trust, has now been ad- duced, that a weekly Sabbath was ordain- ed from the beginning of the world for the wel- fare of mankind ; that among the ancient Is- raelites this general law was carefully main- tained, with the addition of some peculiar pro- visions ; and that although our Saviour re- buked the folly of Jewish superstition, in rela- tion to the Sabbath, and even relaxed the strict- ness of the Mosaic precept, he gave his clear sanction to the institution itself. How then are we to observe the Sabbath under the Christian dispensation ? Not as a rite, accompanied with Jewish ceremonies, and guarded with a legal severity ; but in its original simplicity, and in Christian liberty ; in such a manner as will best remind us of the blessings bestowed on man, through the coming of our Redeemer. Within half a century of the death of Christ, the national polity of the Jews was brought to its termination. Their city and temple were destroyed, their priesthood abro- gated ; and the people, though destined in all ages to be marked and separate, were scatter- ed among Gentile nations, over the face of the THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 73 earth. This therefore was the end of their civil law. With respect to their ceremonial law, all Christians allow that the whole of it was virtually abolished, when the great Anti- type had offered up himself on the cross, as an atonement for the sins of the world. Now the laiv of the Sabbath was differently circum- stanced from any other part of the Mosaic in- stitutions. It assumed a mixed character. In its main features, it belonged to an unal- terable moral code. In other particulars, it bore a merely Jewish and ceremonial charac- ter. In the ibrmer respect therefore it contin- ues unchanged ; in the latter, its authority died away with the peculiar dispensation to which it belonged. Although these conclusions are derived from clear premises, yet in point of fact the change from the Mosaic to the Christian Sab- bath, was a gradual work. The Jews who be- lieved in Christ, were very slov; to give up the practices of their ancestors, and under their influence, even the Gentile believers were prone to forsake the true ground of the Christian's hope, and to place their depen- dence on the ceremonies of an obsolete law. It was by degrees only, as the light of the gos- pel more and more abounded, that the primi- tive Christians escaped from all the shackles of Judaism, and rejoiced in the liberty where- with Christ had made them free. As a matter of course, therefore, the Jewish believers in the earliest age of Christianity, continued (as Ignatius expresses it) to sab- 4 74 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. hatize;^ and it is probable, that many of their Gentile brethren were accustomed to the same practice. Whatsoever religious service any other day of the week might bring with it, they kept the seventh day as their Sabbath, and observed it with those ceremonial forms and that legal strictness which distinguished the Mosaic dispensation. In the mean time, however, tiie Christian Sabbath was arising from a sure foundation, lifting up its head by degrees above the Jewish ritual, and putting in an irresistible claim, on the regard and at- tention of all believers in Jesus. Our Lord, with a criminal on either side of him, was crucified on the sixth day of the week ; and at the time of his death, the prepa- ration for the ensuing Sabbath was just com- mencing. Under these circumstances the Jews, who, in tlie very depth of the most fla- grant national crime, were zealous for the let- ter of the law, besought Pilate that the legs of the sufferers might be broken, and their bod- ies removed from the cross, much more speed- ily than was customary among the Romans. They were full of anxiety lest the Sabbath should be polluted. Even Mary Magdalen and her two friends, who had prepared sweet spices to anoint the body of their Lord, duti- fully observed the Sabbath, and kept back their tribute of pious affection until the follow- ing morning, Mark J 6: 1, seq. That Sab- bath-day was indeed one of no common dig- nity ; for it occurred during the passover-week, *jEp. ad Magncs. c. 9. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. /D and being the second day of the feast, the IGth of Nisan, was distinguished by the sol- emn wave-offering before the Lord, of the first sheaf of the Jewish harvest, Lev. 33: 10. John 19: 3L But although this was a liigh day, one of peculiar celebrity and joyfulness to the Jews in general — to the disciples of Jesus, it was a day of sorrow, darkness, and dismay. They liad forsaken their master in an hour of ex- treme danger, and were now scattered and hidden. Their expectation of the glorious reign of their Messiah, had been utterly disap- pointed. The proofs which he had displayed of his divine power, had given place, as they imagined, to his defeat and destruction. The Lord of life and glory, whom they had con- fessed to be the Son of God, appeared to have become a prey to his enemies. He had un- dergone a cruel and shameful death. His body was laid in the sepulchre, and all their faith and hope were buried with him. How dark a day in their calender was their Sab- bath day become ! Nor can it be forgotten by Christians, in any age of the church, that it was during the seventh day of the w^eek — the old Sabbath of the Jews — that our glori- ous Head and Saviour continued under the dominion of ckath and the grave. No wonder that this should cease to be the appointed pe- riod for i\w,jestal worship of God's children. But what a glorious morning was that which next dawned on the infant church of Christ — the morning o^ the first day ofttieiceeh ! The women who went at a very early hour to the 76 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. sepulchre, found no dead body there ; but, in the place of it, two angels sitting, clothed in white raiment, who told them that their Lord was risen, John 20: 12. He had broken the bands of death asunder, and had triumphed over the grave. The Sun of righteousness, who had been hidden even from the eye of faith during a dark night of sorrow, was again appearing in his native splendour. As God the Father hallowed the seventh day on which he rested, and marked it for his own, as the birth day of the world ; so the Son of God was now distinguishing with peculiar honour the day of the new creation, on which his lowest humiliation was exchanged for victory, and the atonement made for sin triumphantly confirm- ed, Rom. 4: 25. Four times on that day, he condescended to manifest himself to his followers; first to the women who held him by his feet and worship- ped him. Matt. 28: 9 ; next to Peter, Luke 24: 34 ; then to the two disciples, whose hearts burned within them as he talked with them on the way to Emmaus, and to whom he was re- vealed in the breaking of bread, Luke 24: 18 — 33 ; and lastly to a company of ten of his apostles : " Then the same day in the even- ing, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were as- sembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus unto them again, Peace THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. tl be unto you ; as my Father hath sent me, even so send I yon. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost," John 20: 19 — 22. On this occasion was, for the first time, fulfilled the gracious declaration of Je- sus to his disciples, that where they were gath- ered togetiier in his name, there icould he be in the tftidst of them, Matt. 18: 20. Then also was another of his promises accomplished : 1 tvill sec you again, and your heart shall re- joice, and your joy no man taketh from you, John 16: 22. Thus arose, and thus concluded, the first Christian Sabbath. And when was the sec- ond ? According to the original law, by which every recurring seventh day was hal- lowed, it must of course have taken place on that day se'nnight. Accordingly, it appears that the apostles were then again gathered together in one company. " And after eight days again, his disciples were within, and Thomas with them ; then came Jesus and stood in the midst, the doors being shut, and said, Peace be unto you, John 20: 26. When any circumstance occurred a week after another, the Jews were accustomed to call this interval of time an eight days ; in- cluding in their reckoning, both the days which were the objects of notice. Such par- ticularly was the style of Josephus.* Since * "The phrase fit& i/fit^ag oxroj, signifies after another iceek. So the Jews express a week by eight days. So Josephus, Ant. Lib. 7, c. 9, liaving said i-jTi ?>^fQag oHToj, (every eight days), presently explains 78 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. therefore the first appearance of the risen Je- sus to his disciples was on the first day of one week, it follows that his second appearance is here described as occurring on the same day of the week succeeding. How memorable was the conversation, which on this latter oc- casion took place between the Lord and his apostle Thomas ! " Then saith he to Thom- as, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side ; and "be not faithless but be- lieving. And Thomas answered and said un- to him, My Lord and my God ! Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hiist seen me, thou hast believed ; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20: 29. A third occasion on which the disciples came together after the resurrection of Christ, was that on which the Lord himself assembled with them at Bethany or on Mount Olivet — a meeting which terminated with his glorious ascension, Acts 1: 4 — 12, The period which elapsed between our Lord's resurrection and ascension, is describ- ed ^& forty days, Acts 1: 3. This is a period of which frequent mention is made in the sa- cred history. The flood was forty days upon the earth ; Moses was forty days in the mount; Elijah went forty days in the strength of the it by and aaS^dtov irrl od^^arov (from week to week)." Hammond inloc. So Grotiua, Gill, &.c. In like manner the French call a fortnight, qiiinze jours [fifteen days]. A similar idiom occurs in Luke 9: 28. Comp. Matt. 17: 1, and Mark 9: 2. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 79 meat which the angel provided for him ; Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness. Now as the Hebrews were accustomed to reckon their time by weeks — from Sabbath to Sabbath — it seems very probably that the term forty days denotes a round number, and is in fact a mere synonyme for six Sabbaths or iceeks. If -so, the ascension took place six weeks af- ter the resurrection, and therefore on the first day of the week. This conclusion is in some measure confirmed, by the very fact that the disciples were then assembled ; for not only do we find them meeting together on the first day of the week, twice before this event, but we shall presently see that they maintained the same practice on the very iveek following. How blessed and solemn must have been this last meeting of Jesus with his chosen fol- lowers ! It was then that he gave them his final commission to go and preach the gospel to all nations, cheered them with the promise of his perpetual presence, and declared that they should be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days afterwards. Acts 1: 5 — 8. " And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and re- turned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and bless- ing God,'^ Luke 24: 51—53. The disciples were commanded by their Lord to tarry at Jerusalem until they were *' endued with power from on high." The period during which they had to wait for the promise of *the Father, appears to have been 80 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. exactly one week, and in the course of it they appointed Matthias to the apostleship, in the place of Judas, From the history of that transaction, it appears that the infant church then consisted of one hundred and twenty persons. *' And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they icere all with one accord in one place," Acts 2: ]. Now it is certain, that this renewed assem- bly of the believers took place on the Lord's day — the first of the week — on which, in that year, the Pentecost occurred. The reckon- ing which proves this fact, is very simple. Our Saviour's last paschal supper was on the evening which terminated, or (according to the reckoning of the Jews) succeeded, the fifth day of the week. That fifth day was the 14th of Nisan, on which the Passover was slain.* He was crucified on the sixth day ; and the following seventh day, was, as we have already remarked, the second of the feast and the 16th of Nisan, on which the wave-sheaf was offered to the Lord. Now from the time of this so- lemnity, seven cow^/c^e weeks were to be num- bered ; and the day which followed was the fiftieth day, or the Pentecost, on which was celebrated the feast of the first fruits. *' From the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave- offering, seven Sabbaths (or weeks) shall be complete ;i even unto the morroio after the seventh Sabbath, shall ye uumhev Jifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat-offering unto the Lord," Lev. 23: 15, 16. * Mark 14: 12 ; comp. Levit. 23^ 5. t Heb, C'5s''/Ct}, Sept. olozlr^QOvg. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 81 Since, in the present instance, the wave-of- fering was on the Sabbath-day, the appointed interval did not expire until the termination of that day seven weeks. At six o'clock in the evening, when the seventh Sabbath-day went out, the Pentecost l>egan, and it was " fully come" the next morning, on the first day of the week. It appears to have been about nine o'clock on that memorable morning, that the Holy Ghost descended upon the gathered company of the disciples of Jesus, Acts 2: 15. The gift of prophecy and tongues was then pour- ed forth in abundance ; and amidst the throng of strangers from many different parts of the world, every one heard, in his own tongue, the wonderful works of God. The apostle Peter more especially, being filled with the Holy Ghost, preached with so much effect to the assembled multitude, that about three thousand souls were added, on that single day, to the church of the Redeemer, Acts 2: 41. Thus was the first day of the week again point- ed out, by the divine finger, as the day of Christian worship, and was blessed and hon- oured by the Lord of the sabbath. He who had risen from the dead and had appeared to his disciples on that day, and who, as it oc- curred from week to week, had assembled with their company, now completed the hallow- ing of the Christian Sabbath, by the mission of the Comforter. After the first day of the week had been so yepeatedly distinguished by a display of divine 4* 82 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. power and goodness, it was natural that the disciples should regard it as a day peculiarly the Lord's ; and also that, in the remembrance of his resurrection and ascension and of the gift of the Holy Ghost, they should thence- tbrth make a regular use of it for their solemn assemblies. That the Christian churches, in apostolic times, were in the habit of meeting together at stated periods for the two purposes of wor- ship and brotherly communion, there can be no doubt. In the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, we have a lively description, first, of their meetings for worship, see 11 : 1 — 20. 14: 23 — 40 ; and, secondly, of their love feasts^ 11: 20 — 34, when they broke their bread and drank their wine in solemn commemoration of the death of Jesus. Now that these meet- ings took place on the Jirst day of the w-eek, we are furnished with incidental evidence in the same epistle. Paul commands collections to be made at Corinth, " upon the first day of the' week," for the poor saints at Jerusa- lem ; and he expressly states that he had given the same directions to the churches of Galatia.* It is obvious that this particular *1 Cor. 16, 1,2. '' Now concerning- the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by liim in store, as (God) hath prospered Jiim, {naQ lavTM rc&iroj d'rj- oavQi'iojv 0, TV O.V EvoSojxaijy that there be no gather- ing when I come." As there were to be no gather- ings when the apostle came, it is plain that the col- lections were to be made previously, on the first days THE CHllISTIAN SABBATH. 83 day was fixed for these donations, because the regular meetings of the church would afford the opportunity of their being easily gathered. Accordingly we find from Justin Martyr, that after the social worship of the early Christians on the Lord's day, money was always collect- ed for the benefit of the poor ; Apol. I. 67. Another evidence that the stated meetings of the Christians, during the time of the apos- tles, were held on this day occurs in the his- tory of Paul's travels. It appears that after he left Philippi, he crossed the sea and abode seven days at Troas. During the course ot these seven days, we read of no meeting of the church; but on the last of them, which was the ^^ first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread." Nor was this the only object of their assembling. It appears that they also met for the purpose of worship and Christian instruction ; for we read that " Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech un- til midnight." The religious meeting held on this occasion, appears to have ended with the sudden accident which befel Eutychus, one of the congregation. After this event, when Paul " was come up again and had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while even till breakofdaysohedeparted," Acts20:6~ll. of the week. Every one who contributed on these occasions, is represented by the apostle, as laying up in store a treasure for himself. So in 1 Tim. G: 18, 19, those who are "ready to distribute, willing to communicate," are described as '^layincr up in store for themselves {aTto&ijGavQilovtag) a good foundation against the time to come." 84 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. These passages afford an evidence, that the keeping of the Lord's day had then become a very general practice among the believers in Christ. The day was observed not merely at Jerusalem, where the resurrection of Jesus, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit had taken place, but in distant countries or cities, where the apostles had planted churches — for exam- ple, at Troas, in Galatia, at Corinth. And here we ought to mark the doctrine of the apostle Paul on the subject of the Jewish Sabbaths. When the apostle wrote, Jerusalem was still standing, and these Sabbaths were still regu- larly observed. Now Paul appears to have been convinced, at an earlier date than many of his brethren, that the shadows of the law were no longer binding. While, therefore hedealt very tenderly with the Jewish believ- ers, and forbade not their adherence to the practices of their forefathers, he plainly de- clared that Christians were free to pursue their own course, and that no man might judge them in relation to these ordinances. "Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath-days, (in the Greek, rtoi/ aa(j(3aTMv, the Sabbaths,) which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ." Col. 2: 16, 17. The word Sabbaths has been understood by some commentators as here importing the Jewish festivals in general. But I conceive it points more particularly to the days set apart, under the law, for rest and holy convocations, and more especially to the seventh days of the toeek. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 85 No Christian was any longer bound to observe these Sabbaths, or to practise the ceremonies by which they were distinguished. All that appertained peculiarly to the Mosaic dispensa- tion had now passed away : the shadow was exchanged for the substance ; and the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, had been hallowed by the Lord himself for his own wor- ship, and for the rest and religious edification of his believing children. This day was called among the primitive Christians, as well as generally by the ancient fathers of the church, the Lord's day ; partly because it was appointed as a memorial of his resurrection, and partly because it was pecu- liarly dedicated to his service. It was to- wards the close of the apostolic age, and long after the destruction of Jerusalem, that the apostle John thus designated the Christian Sabbath. When banished in his old age to the Isle of Patmos, aud there separated from communion with his brethren, he appears to have been careftd, even in his solitude, to keep that day holy ; for he informs us that he was in the spirit on the lord's day, when he heard behind him the voice of Christ, and re- ceived the messages which he was afterwards to deliver to the churches, Rev. 1: 10. Doubt- less, it was to the apostle a time of deep re- tirement of mind ; and wonderful indeed were the visions to which on that hallowed occasion his eye of faith was opened. The Lord of the Sabbath was again honouring the day which he had chosen for himself [See Appendix A.] Having stated the whole of the evidence af- 86 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. forded by the New Testament, respecting the rise and establishment of the Christian Sab- bath, I must now proceed to the consideration of uninspired records. Among these must be reckoned the Catho- lic Epistle of Barnabas, ahhough there is strong evidence of its genuineness, and its author was a companion of the apostles.* Barnabas speculates on the coming of the Millennium after seven thousand years (from the creation) of labour and sorrow. *' Where- fore," he adds, " we keep the eighth day [i. e. the first day of the week] as a joyful holy-day, on which day also Jesus rose from the dead. "t Ignatius (a. d. 101) in his epistle to the Magnesians, contrasts the Jewish practice of sabbotizing with living nccording to the Lord's day on which our Life arose."\ These expressions are probably descriptive of a life spent in holiness and virtue, after the likeness of the resurrection of Christ. Nevertheless, they contain a clear allusion to the keeping of the Lord's day, as distinguished from the ob- servance of the Jewish Sabbath. Precisely similar allusions are made by Clement of Alex- andria (a. d. 192), 11 and Origen (a. d. 2.30).§ [* I can hardly agree with the judgment of the author here. That a man by the name of Barnabas wrote tliis epistle, I doubt not ; that the chosen associate of Paul wrote it, I, with many others, must doubt. M.S.] t Jio y.ai ayofiiv tijV t)filQav rr/v oy86r]V tig ii(f()o- oiV7jVj tv ij iial 6 ^I7j00vg avlort] tn rsxQOJV. Epist. Ciith. Ed. Cotelerii, p. 47. t MrjztTi_ Ga^^ariLOvre?y alia zard HVQtata^v 'Coji]v ttxVTtg, iv ij nal lojt) ri^orv avtrtiXs. II Strom.' L\h. vii. c. 12. Ed. Sjlb. p. 744. § Contra Celsum, Lib. viii. c. 82. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 81' Our next witness is Pliny the younger, tlie Roman governor of Bithynia (a. d. 107). In his celebrated letter to the Emperor Trajan, respecting the Christian martyrs, he states that certain persons, who had been induced by the extremity of their sufferings to re- nounce their faith in Jesus, gave the follow- ing account of their former religion : '* That they were accustomed, on a stated day, to meet before daylight, and to repeat among themselves a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by a sacred obligation not to commit any wickedness ; but on the con- trary, to abstain from thefts, robberies, and adulteries ; also not to violate their promise, or deny a pledge ; after which it was their custom to separate and meet again at a promis- cuous harrnless meal."* Here evidently were the meeting for worship, and the commemo- rative supper, very much as they were prac- tised by the Corinthian Christians in the days of Paul. But what was the 'stated day, when these things took place '? Clearly the jirst day of the week; as is proved by the very question which it was cus- tomary for the Roman persecutors to address to the martyrs, viz., Dominicum servasti ? * *' Quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem conveni- re ; carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secnm invi- cem ; seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod ob- stringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum ap- pellati abnegarent ; quibus peractis morem sibi dis- cedendi fuisse, rursusque coeundi ad capiendum ci- bum, promiscuum tamen et innoxium." Lib. X. ep. 97. OO THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. Hast thou kept the Lord's day 1 To which the answer usually returned was in substance as follows: Christianus sum, intermittere non possum ; i. e.I am a Ckristian^I cannot omit it* An unquestionable evidence on this point is afforded us by Justin Martyr, who in his Apol- ogy addressed to the Emperor Antoninus (a. D. 147), gives a lively account of the Chris- tian day of worship. " On the day called Sunday,^' he says, " there is a meeting in one place of all the Christians who live either in the towns or in the country, and the Memoirs of the Apostles (supposed to mean the foiir Gospels) or the writings of the prophets, are read to them as long as is suitable. When the reader stops, the president pronounces an ad- monition, and exhorts to the imitation of these noble examples ; after which we all arise and begin to pray."f Justin then describes the encharistical meal^ and the collection made for the poor, and concludes by explaining tohy * Acts of Martyrs, in Bishop Andrews on the Ten Commandments, p. 264. + Apol. I. Cap. 67. 7'// Tov 7/li'ov hyoptvr] fjjuiQu ndi'TOJV aard nolsig ij dy^ovg (xavovrcov eTil to avzo ovvtXsvGig yiverac, y.al rd " ^nopvij/xovei'iiiaTa rcuv, ^A7roGT6}MV, ?] rd GvyyQdf.iiuaTa Tv)v TrQ0(f7jT(jjv dva- yivo'jaaeraij /u/yQig fyxoj(ju- ii'ra navGaixevov rov dva- ya'oJGHOVTogjy 6 TTQosGvojg did loyov n)v vov&SGiav ttal 'jTQ6y.h]Giv Ttjg Tvjv aaXwv rovxinv ^«^«7/'afa»s Tcoietrai* iTtsira di'iGtd/us&a aoivt'j ttui'tscj xal evy^ag nefiiro/iuv. The reader will observe from this passage, that the early Christians, in their public assemblies, prayed standing. It appears irom IrenfEUs and Tertullian, that they had an objection to genu-flexion on the Lord's day, because the upright position alone re- THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 89 this day of the week was chosen for their pub- lic worship. *' We all meet together on the Sunday, because it is ihejirst day — on which God turned the darkness [into light], gave shape to the chaos, and made the world ; and on the same day Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead."* Dyonysius, Bishop of Corinth (a. d. 170), when writing to the Romans, informs them that the epistle of Clement their late bishop, had been read in the church at Corinth, while they were keeping the Lord s holy-day ;t an incidental allusion, which proves that the practice of observing that day was familiar both to the writer, and to those persons whom he was addressing. After the destruction of Jerusalem, and with it of the whole Jewish polity, and during the first two or three centuries of the Chris- tian era, it is probable that the Lord's day was universally recognized as the only Chris- minded them of his risin,ff from the grave. Resp. ad qucRst. 115 ad orthodoxos^Yid. Ben. p. 342. TertuU. de Coron. Mil. cap. 3. * Tiji^ Sa Tov t)).iovriy,t:Qav itotvjj Trdvrsg t7}v GWtXsv- atv Tcoioified'aj iTraiS?) tt^o'ttj eariv I'/ixtQa, iv fj 6 Qsog TO GXvTog Hal rijV vLrjv tqIijiu?^ y.oG/nov ^iroirjOS' xal ^IijGOig XQiarugj o f'/juirsQog GOJTi}(jj rfj avrfj rji^UQa ax rey.QoJp dvf:GT7]. t Tyv Gr'ifiSQov olv itvQiaySjV dyi'av ii/at^av Sir^ydyojusv, h fj dveyi't-r/M/usv v/u.wf t7/V iTCiGTohjv. Vid. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. Lib. 4. c. 23. Clement was one of Paul's companions. His first epistle to the Corinthians is considered to be a genuine production, and is partic- ularly valuable, from the manner in which it authen- ticates the epistles of Paul ; especially those to the Corimhians and to the Hebrews. 90 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. tian Sabbath.* Ignatius, as we have already remarked, contrasts this day with the old Sab- bath of the Jews ; and while abundant evi- dence is afforded by the other authors whom we have now cited, that the first day of the week was kept as a solemn day of worship, no mention is made by any of them of the sev- enth day, as claiming any peculiar honours from Christians. Accordingly Ireneeus, bish- op of Lyons (a. d. 167), expressly asserts that the Lord's day was their Sabbath. "On the Lord's day every one of us Christians keeps the Sabbath, meditating on the law, and rejoicing in the works of God. "t So also Tertullian (a. d, 192), while he makes fre- quent mention of the keeping of the Lord's day, speaks of the Jewish Sabbaths as /bre?^w to believers in Jesus. | Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (a. d.250), takes no notice of the old Sabbath, but repeatedly alludes to the Lord's day, as that which was kept holy among Christians. j| [See App. B.] The witnesses whose testimony we have now adduced, were scattered over various countries, Barnabas, Justin, and Origen, liv- [* This is true ; but it was not the only Sabbath, fi)r many Christians continued to keep the Jewish seventh day also; see Append. A.] M. S. t Quoted by Dwig-ht, Theology, Vol. 4. p. 26. X '' Nobis quibus Sabbata- extranea sunt, et neo- mcnioe et ferice a Deo aliquando dilectce O melior fides, nalionum in suam sectam, quse nullain soletnnitatem Christianorum sibi vindicat, non Do- minicum (lle7)i, non Pentecostem," etc. De Idol. cap. 14. Ed. Semler,Tom. 4. Kw. I! Dc Opere et Elecmos. Ed. Oxon. p. 203. Ep. 38, G3. THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 91 ed in Palestine; Clement of Alexandria, in Egypt ; Pliny (during his proconsulship), in Bithynin; Ignatius, in *S'j/na! ; Dionysius, in Greece ; the persons to whom he wrote, in Italy ; IrenfEus, in Gaul ; Tertullian and Cyprian, in Libya. We may conclude there- fore, that the practice of devoting the first day of the week to religious purposes, became dur- ing the first three centuries after the Christian era, universal in the church of Christ. So re- markable and extensive an uniformity could not have arisen from accident. It must sure- ly have been founded on some common prin- ciple generally understood. Now I conceive that the principle in question could have been no other than the unalterable obligation of the fourth commandment — connected with an un- derstanding (derived from the apostles them- selves) that Christians were to keep that day of the week as their Sabbath, on which Jesus had risen from the dead. In the fourth century, Constantine (a. d. 816), the first of the Roman emperors who embraced Christianity, enjoined the religious observance of the Lord's day on all his own household, and commanded that it should be kept as a day of rest throughout the P^oman empire.* He decreed, moreover, that the Christian soldiers in his armies, should be al- lowed the opportunity of performing their re- ligious duties on that day, without molestation. * z/<6 Tolublic worship is generally allowed ; but the rest of the day, even among Christians, for the most part, is too much like a holi- day. All this only confirms the idea, that where the Pabbath is not strictly kept, there fervent piety, active benevolence, and zeal to spread abroad the knov/led^e of a Saviour, will languish. A comparison of the Continent of Europe, in these respects, with the Engiirih world, will fully confirm what has been said. M. S.] THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 95 agreed in observing the first day of the week, as the most appropriate for this sacred purpose. Nor shall we be deemed presumptuous in as- serting, that He who, on the day of Pentecost, poured forth his Holy Spirit on the infant church, has condescended, in every succeed- ing age, to bl6ss the assemblies of his people with a measure of the same influence. When we call to mind, that a right use of the Christian Sabbath has been the means ap- pointed in the order of Providence, for the conversion and sanctification (as we may ful- ly believe) of a vast multitude of immortal souls, we shall be little disposed to dispute the authority of the institution, or to doubt that the steadfast maintenance of it is consistent with the will of God. It appears then, 1. With respect to the Jeic- ish Sabbath ; that although virtually abolish- ed, as far as regards its peculiar features, by the death of Christ, it continued for many years after that event to be observed by the Jews who believed in Jesus, and even by some of their Gentile brethren ; that the apostle Paul plainly laid down the principle, that Christians were at liberty to disuse it ; that after the destruction of Jerusalem, and during the first three centuries of the history of the church, it probably fell into complete disuse among them;* that although, under the re- newed influence of Judaism, it revived for a [* The testimony in the Fathers, that the seventh day continu- ed to be regarded as holy time by very many Christians, during all this period, seems to be so conclnsivCj that I must think tlie author to be in an error here. M. S.] 9& THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. time in the fourth century, the observance of it was quickly condemned, and has long since utterly disappeared in the church of Christ. 2. With respect to the Christian Sabbath ; it appears that it arose on the very day of our Lord's resurrection ; that it was supported from week to week by the sanction of his presence, in the assemblies of his people ; that it was hallowed, probably, by the glories of his ascension, and certainly by the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost; that during the lives of the apostles, it was the day on which the churches of Christ met for the purposes of worship and communion ; that John called it the Lord's day, and was in the Spirit on it, in the Isle of Patmos ; that in the succeeding age, it was alluded to as a day of religious solemnity by Pliny the younger, and clearly described as such by Justin, Dionysius, IrensBus, Tertuliian, and other ancient fa- thers ; that under the Emperor Constantino, it was observed as a sacre .' 'ay of rest through- out the Roman empire ; that, in the fifth cen- tury, it was yet more distinctly recognized in its Sabbatical character ; that it has since been steadily maintained in every age of the church,* and is still universally acknowledged by Christians ; and finally, that the blessing which has rested on the use of it, affords, in addition to every other proof, a substantial evi- dence of its divine authority. In conclusion let it be remarked, that while the Sabbath of the Sew and that of the Chris- [* See note on p. 94. M. S.] I CONCLUSION. 97 tian serve the same purpose as a memorial of creation^ it is the latter only which records the blessings of rcdempiio?i. The Jew indeed is reminded by his Sabbath of the deliverance of his forefathers from Egypt ; but we are taught by ours, to meditate on a holier free- dom, and to recollect an infinitely greater sal- vation — a freedom from the tyranny of sin and Satan — a salvation from the '' bitter pains of eternal death." While we call to mind the glorious events which marked the origin, and have distinguished the course, of this institu- tion, we can never cease to regard it as sa- cred to God ; to the Father, who creates; to the Son who redeems ; and to the Holy Gho.st who anoints and sanciijies. The more justly, therefore, we appreciate our *' access" through the Son, " in one Spirit, unto the Father," the higher will be our value, and the warmer our affection, for the Christian Sabbath. CONCLUSION. Some persons who entertain a high view of the spirituality of the Gospel, regard the Sab- bath as an outward rite, in its nature figura- tive ; and although they deem it expedient, and their duty because expedient, to assemble on that day for the purpose of public worship, a notion is nevertheless predominant with them, that the institution itself, like every oth- er shadow, is of no authority under the Chris- 5 98 CONCLUSION. tian dispensation. To the candid considera- tion of such persons, I venture to present the evidences contained in the preceding chapters. These, I trust, are sufficient to show that the setting apart of one day in seven, for the pur- poses of rest and worship, is a divine ordinance which was bestowed on our first parents; that this ordinance was observed by the patriarchs ; was delivered to the Israelites as an essential part of their moral code ; was exalted far above their whole ceremonial system; was maintained in its true integrity, by the Sa- viour of men ; and, finally, having been adapt- ed to the peculiar character of the Gospel, has flourished in the Christian church, from its earliest origin to the present day. With regard to the figurative nature of the Sabbath, it may indeed be allowed that 6'72c of its purposes is to typify our heavenly rest ; and like other types, it will cease to every one of us, when its antitype comes. Till then, in the very nature of things, its use and authority continue. In one point of view, indeed, the jxrpetual Sabbath of the Christian may be said to be ah-eady begun ; for his whole life ought to be devoted to the glory of his Crea- tor ; and whafsorvn- he does, should be done in the name of Jesus. Every day, every hour he lives, is the Lord's. But in our present imperfect condition, it would surely be a dan- gerous error so to apply this doctrine, as to disregard the especial claims of the Christian . Sabbath. Any man who should do so, would too probably be found, within a short period CONCLUSION. 99 of time, wlwlJy for the world, instead of wholly for God. It is, indeed, a powerful argument for the divine authority of this institution, that as on the one hand, a conspicuous blessing rests on tlie use of it, so on the other, the neglect or perversion of it never fails to be followed by vice, misery, and confusion. Ungodliness is the worst of all foes to moral virtue and civil order — to the decency, harmony, and happi- ness, of society ; and ungodliness and sabbath- breaking act and react. The former natural- ly leads to the latter, and the latter confirms and aggravates the former. That this effect is produced even on minds devoted to intellectual objects, is unquestion- ably true, but it becomes more notorious among those classes of men whose education is limited, and whose habits are but little re- fined. Every one who is accustomed to com- municate, in our jails and other such places, with the refuse of society — with the most abandoned and profligate of men — must be aware that sabbaih-brealcing is, very common- ly, a first step to every species of crime. Nor was the curse which rests on the neglect and abuse of the Sabbath much less conspicuous, when an attempt was made to remodel the law and to alter its proportions. The sages of the French Flevolution, as the reader is probably well aware, substituted one day of rest in fen, for one in seven. And what was the conse- quence? So great a degree of disorder and wretchedness, that the people were driven by 100 CONCLUSION. mere necessity, speedily to take refuge again in their ancient practice. These remarks naturally lead us to some further inquiry into the duties of the Sabbath, and into the proper method- of keeping the day holy. The first great principle, which ought always to be kept in view in relation to this subject, is, that every seventh day (after six days of work) is the Sabbath of the Lord our God; and is, therefore, in a peculiar manner and de- gree, to be devoted to his service. It is true that we serve God indirectly, while wc are rightly pursuing our temporal avocations; for they are a part of the duty of life. But on the Sabbath-day, the service of our Creator must be at once direct and uninterrupted. In order to this end, it is of great impor- tance that we should habituate ourselves, whenever the Sabbath recurs, and even on its near approach, to break the trains of world- ly thought, and to divest the mind of the cares and interests of business. Vacare Deo, i. e. to he empty for Gocl^ must then be our con- stant motto. Young people would find their religious welfare, and even their worldly hap- piness, greatly promoted by the formation of such a habit. Let no man, however, suppose that he will succeed in this object, unless he cordially embraces and deeply feels the great truths of religion. We must be much with Christ every day of our lives, in order to be fitted to commune with him uninterruptedly on the Sabbath day. Nothing but the love of CONCLUSION. 101 God will ever drive the love of the world out of our hearts. But when we have come (as an able writer expresses it) under " the expul- sive power " of this " new affection," we shall find it comparatively easy, as it will ever be delightful, to lay aside our temporal cares on the arrival of the day of rest, and to present to the influence of holy things, the length and breadth of an undivided mind. Nor shall we fail to be rewarded for such a practice even in our temporal concerns ; for to these we shall afterwards return with our feelings rectified and our understanding cleared — with far greater ability for effectually and rightly con- ducting them, than we should otherwise have possessed. The mind being thus given up, on the Sab- bath, to the service of God and to the pursuit of our heavenly inheritance, will above all things be led into communion with the Crea- tor. Prayer on our own account and inter- cession on account of others, which to the Christian form a part of every day's duty, will often on the Sabbath be more extended than usual, and will sometimes be found to arise from the heart with that increase of holy fer- vour, that renewal of faith and love, which a day devoted to religious purposes is adapted to produce. Nor will the pious Christian, on the day of rest, forget to review the past week, and to enter upon that deliberate and candid examination of himself, which will be sure to lead both to humiliation and devotion. On these occasions of solemn retrospect, a sense 102 CONCLUSION. will sometimes be bestowed on him, both of his own vileness and of the holiness of God ; and the secret language of his heart will he like that of Job, " I have heard of thee with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes," Job 42: 5, 6. The private perusal of Scripture, like private prayer, must be regarded as an important daily duty. Yet when we reflect on the temporal cares with which some persons are surrounded, and especially on the hourly occupation of the labouring classes, we may well rejoice in the weekly recurrence of a day, on which even the most busy persons may read the Bible de- liberately, may compare its corresponding parts, mark its harmony, and drink deeply of its spirit. To a considerable proportion of the community, the Scriptures would be compara- tively of but little use, were it not for the Sab- bath ; and on the other hand, the Sabbath would be far less profitable, if we did not pos- sess the Bible. These precious gifts of God, in combining to promote the welfare of man- kind, most materially enhance the value of each other. But the most important duty of the Sabbath is of a public nature. On this hallowed day, we are bound by a sacred obligation, to mani- fest our allegiance to the King of kings, by publicly assembling in order to worship him. It is through this means especially, that the Sabbath becomes a sign between us and our God, by which we are marked as his children CONCLUSION. 103 and by whicli it is clearly shown to the world around us, that He is the God who sanctifies us, and wiiom we esteem it our highest privi- lege to serve and adore, Ex. 31: 13. In the punctual performance of this duty we may be encouraged, by calling to mind the holy con- vocations of ancient Israel ; the synagogue worship of a later date, regularly maintained even by a degenarate people ; the mercies of the day of Pentecost ; the uniform practice of the primitive Christians; and above all tha example of our Saviour himself " Let us con- sider one another to provoke unto love and to good works ; not forsaking the assembling OF ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching," Heb. 10:24, 25. On a subject so familiar to the mind of ev- ery Christian as that of public worship, many remarks cannot be necessary. It rnay not however be useless to observe, (I) That this is a duty which demands of us zeal and dili- gence. It is a miserable symptom of a luke- warm spirit, when trifling difficulties detain us from our places of worship, or prevent our attending them, where the opportunity is af- forded twice in the day. We must endeavour to press through these obstructions, in some small measure of that faith which as our Sa- viour declared, is sufficient to remove moun- tains. Matt. 17:20; and above all, we must pray that our chief difficulty — the natural aversion of the heart to all things holy and 104 CONCLUSION. heavenly — may be thoroughly overcome by the love of God. Nor ought we to forget that diligence^ u'hich is necessary in order to our constant attendance on public worship, is equally so for its right performance. On these occasions, the devotional feelings should have their full sway, and the mind be directed, with all its energies, to the performance of our highest duty. The wholt man ought then to be presented, a living sacrifice unto God. (2) Sincerity and spirituality ?iXe qualities of mind, absolutely essential to our public as well as private devotions. Let us ever re- member that " God is not mocked ;" and that it is utterly in vain for us to draw nigh to him with our lips, or to use any other outward form of worship, while our hearts are far from him. Under the dispensation of the Gospel, the heart is the only altar from which can arise with acceptance, the incense of adora- tion. * The hour now is, when the true wor- shippers nmst worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; and it is an animating reflection, that the Father seekcth such to worship him,' Joiin 4: 23. By the gentle influence of his Spirit, he invites and allures his children to draw near to him ; and when they are dismay- ed in the view of their own vileness, and of his perfect holiness, he cheers them with the remembrance, that an access is opened for them, through " the blood of the covenant ;" that it is their duty as well as their privilege, freely to plead the name of that Saviour, who " is the Way, the Truth, and the Life," Joha 14: 6. CONCLUSION. 105 (3) Among the ancient Hebrews, the Sab- bath was a joyful festival ; and it was one of the precepts of the early fathers of the church, that no man should/«5^on the ** Lord's day."* Jlie reflecting Christian will indeed observe on thai dai/, more than usual moderation in his meals, that he may not occasion labour to oth- ers ; but the Sabbath, and especially its ordi- nances of public worship, will be to him a spiritual feast, and will often remind him of tliat ancient promise ; " In this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined," Is. 25: G. In frequent- ing the solemn assemblies of the Lord's peo- ple, we ought to cultivate a joyful and thank- ful spirit; to train our minds to a vivid per- ception of the beauty of holiness ; and to de- light ourselves in the worship of God. Let us ever remember that on these occasions we meet for the purpose of commemorating the glories of creation, the wisdom and goodness of providence, and tlie wonders of redeeming love. Let us rejoice in the presence of that Saviour who is risen from the dead, is en- throned in glory at the right hand of the Fa- ther, is "touched with a feeling of our infir- mities," and *' ever liveth to make interces- sion" for his people. (4.) Immediately connected with the duty * " Die dominino jejnnium nefas ducimus." Teir> tull. de Corona Milit. c. 3. 5* 106 CONCLUSION. of public worship, is the blessing of Christian communion. Ours is not the religion of her- mits. It is distinguished by a social charac- ter. It is enlivened by the influence of that pure love, which cements together all the members of the body of Christ, (whatsoever their name or mode of worship), under one holy Head. Next to the grace of God, there is nothing by which we are so much assisted in our Christian course, as by the " unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace." Now dur- ing the course of their daily temporal engage- ^ments, Christians are of necessity much sep- arated from each other ; and are left to pursue, as God enables them, their individual course of duty. But the Sabbath-day calls them to- gether in companies, " with one accord in one place." And then, for a time, all outward distinctions amongst them are profitably for- gotten. Male and female, parent and child, master and servant, meet before God on com- mon principles. They are animated by the same hope ; they are striving after the same inheritance ; they bow down as unworthy sin- ners, before the same God ; they confide for acceptance in the same precious blood ; and thus are they brought to feel that they are ONE in Christ Jesus. It must, I think, be evident to every one who is acquainted with the course of this v/orld, that were it not for the constant recur- rence of the Sabbath-day, our public worship would be curtailed and frustrated, and our re- ligious communion lamentably marred. In CONCLUSION. 107 such a case there is too much reason to be- lieve, that the church of Christ would soon lose her distinctive marks of devotion and charity, and the strength of her children be scattered and die away.* To the ministers of the gospel, under every name, if they rightly perform their duty, the first day of the week seldom fails to be one of considerable exertion. Like the priests in the temple of Jerusalem who defiled the Sab- bath and were blameless, they are fully justi- fied in pursuing the labour of their calling, by the holiness of the object to which it is di- rected. Nor dare they do otherwise ; for ev- ery man who is truly called into this sacred service, can say with the apostle Paul : Woe IS UNTO ME if I preach not the gospel, I Cor. 9: 16. It ought, however, to be observed that the Sabbath-day has a tendency, in a sub- ordinate point of view, to convert every Chris- tian into a minister of the gospel ; for it 6c- conics us all, if opportunitij he afforded, to de- vote some portion of its hours to the further- ance of the kingdom of Christ. The instruc- tion of children in the Holy Scriptures, is a duty in which great numbers even of young persons, are now engaged on the Sabbath- day ; and who can doubt that these labours of * It is a most desirable practice adopted by many religious so- cieties, to meet for tlie purpose of public woiship at least once in the course of the week, as well as on the f^abbath. Although these assemblies are the means of much edification, they are sel- dom found to serve the purpose of social worship and communion, in their full extent. I l)elieve that the persons who are the most diligent in performing this Christian duty, are precisely those who set the highest value on the Sabbath-day. 108 CONCLUSION. love are abundantly blessed to themselves, as well as to the objects of their care ? Another duty of the same character de- volves peculiarly on heads of families. It is that of collecting their household together for the purpose of reading the Bible to them, and (as far as ability is given) of unfolding to their understanding, and impressing on their hearts, its sacred contents. The social acts of reli- gion and worship ought indeed to find their place in the daily order of every Christian family. But on the evening of the Sabbath, a longer time than usual may often be devot- ed to this object ; nor ought we to hesitate on such occasions to look beyond the limits of our own families, and to seek the company of our poor neighbours. The influence, which during the course of the week we are accus- tomed to exercise over others for temporal purposes, ought on the Sabbath-day to change its direction, and be applied with an honest diligence to their spiritual good. If this rule were universally observed, how extensive would be its effect on the character and con- dition of society ! Having thus considered those duties of the Sabbath, which are properly ranged under the head of worship, I shall proceed to make a few remarks on another branch of our subject. Those who believe that the fourth command- ment is obligatory on every Christian, are bound to acknowledge, that rest as well as devotion is required of us on the Sabbath-day. CONCLUSION. 109 " In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy davghter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is tcithin thy gates." Now although the literal strictness of this precept is materially softened by the influence of the Gos- pel, it must be obvious to every serious observer, that its true meaning and spirit are far too much disregarded in the present day. It is the des- tiny of man that he should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and the Sabbath is gra- ciously bestowed upon him as a relief to that destiny. His mental energy and his bodily strength are to be renewed by its leisure ; and God, who has thus bestowed upon man the substantial blessing of a periodical cessation from toil, has decreed the same privilege even to inferior animals. While, therefore, we make an allowance for temporal exigen- cies, and a still wider one for the calls of de- votion and charity, we ought on the Sabbath day, to exercise great caution not to thwart the benevolent purposes of our Creator, by unnec- essarily breaking the rest either of our servants or of our cattle. The domestic, on that day, should find his business materially lessened ; the labourer should enjoy, as far as possible, an uninterrupted rest ; and the beast, which has served us faithfully during the week, should not be deprived of his share of the general repose. Were the law of a gracious Creator in refer- ence 10 this point more carefully observed, the servants in many families would be spared 110 CONCLUSION. that labour on the Sabbath, which now too of- ten prevents their attending to any religious duty. Nor would our country be any longer disgraced by the very prevalent practice of both private and public travelling, on the day appointed, in the order of Providence, for pub- lic worship and for the needful intermission of work. Many a driver and hostler, who now knows no cessation from his hourly activ- ity, would then be found frequenting his place of worship ; and many a poor animal which now pants under the lash on the Sabbath, would then be permitted to recover strength for the ensuing six days of inevitable labour. To extend our views to a greater distance ; what a shameful rebellion against the law of God, is the denial of a Sabbath to our coloni- al slaves ! And how deep the guilt of that nation, which permits the continuance of so impious a cruelty ! The appointment of every seventh day for repose from labour, is calculated to remind us of the mild and benevolent nature of the sab- batical law. There is indeed no harshness in i(s genuine meaning ; and while every thing, on that day, ought to be avoided, which has any tendency to produce a forgetfulness of its duties, it is nevertheless true, that one of its objects is lawful refreshment. While we re- frain from doing our own pleasure, and turn away our foot from every dissipating amuse- ment, on God's holy day (Is. 67: 13), we may rest satisfied that the hour of relaxation, the rc- iired walk, and the calm contemplation of the CONCLUSION. Ill beauties of nature, are in just accordance with its character and purpose. So long as they interfere with no duty of worship or charity, and are enjoyed in the remembrance of God, they are in themselves desirable, and consist with the true spirit of the law. [See App. C] It is of especial importance that a cheerful view of the Sabbath should be impressed on the minds of children ; and that while the common course both of their studies and their amusements is suspended, they should be taught to regard it as a day of peculiar happi- ness. We must lead them onwards in their Christian course, with a gentle and alluring hand, and avail ourselves of every recurring Sabbath, for imbuing them with a sense of the pleasures of religion. Finally, it will not be irrelevant to remind the fervent and devoted Christian, that the Lord of the Sabbath has not appointed it as a period of arduous toil, even in the pursuit of religion ; but rather as a day of joyful com- memoration, and of happy reviving commu- nion with Himself. Tranquillity and moder- ation in the works of charity are desirable on the Sabbath, as well as diligence ; and wheth- er we are engaged in delivering the message of the Gospel to others, or in receiving those glad tidings, we can then wear no better orna- ment than that of a meek and quiet spirit. While, therefore, we pursue all the duties of the day with zeal and fidelity, let us not for- get to enjoy the privilege of mental repose. Let us cultivate a contemplative mind ; and 112 CONCLUSION. let us pray to be made partakers of the peace of God which pas set h all understanding^ ^ Phii. 4: 7. [See App. D.] Having thus endeavoured to trace the pri- vate, the social, and the public duties of the Sabbath, and having considered the institu- tion in its double character of a day of wor- ship and a day of rest, we may now conclude this little volume by remarking, that in both these respects the Sabbath is a type of heaven. The apostle is evidently speaking of our final inheritance, when after alluding to the rest of God after the creation, and to that of the Is- raelites in the promised land, he adds ; "There remaineth therefore a rest, (in the Greek, the keeping of a Sabbath day, oa^iSaricuog), to the people of God," Heb. 4: 9. The Sabbath is the significant means ap- pointed, in the wisdom of Providence, not only for reminding us of the past mercies of our God, but for keeping alive our expectation of future and never-ending bliss. The more watchful and diligent we are in making a right use of this divine institution, the better we shall be prepared for its fulfilment in the world to come. There shall those who live and die in Jesus, unite with the whole church triumphant in pure and perpetual worship. There shall they cease from their sorrow, their conflict, and their labour ; and there enjoy, in the presence of their God and Saviour, a glo- rious AND ETERNAL REST. APPENDIX. [A] The subject thus introduced by Mr Gurney, deserves a still more attentive consideration, on account of the many objections raised against the strict observance of the Sabbath, by an erroneous interpretation of the pas- sage which lie has cited from the epistle to the Colos- sians, and of another one in Rom. 14: 5. The latter runs thus : " One man esteemetli one day above anoth- er, another esteemeth every day alike ; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." On this I remark, (1) Tiiat the apostle, as appears from the context, is evidently contending- against those who were imbued with Jeunsh superstitions, and with zeal fur the con- tinued observance of the Mosaic law. In the epistle to the Romans, this is perfectly clear ; inasmuch as the context is occupied with the dispute respecting the use of meats, etc. In the epistle to the Colossians it is equally clear ; inasmuch as the things enumerated in the very verse in question, are thinj^s which pertain to the ritual of the Mosaic law. The nature of the clays mentioned, tl)en, is to be judged of in a manner that is accordant with tlie fact just stated. (2) In the apostolic age, there prevailed a distinction between the name of the first day of the week and of the seventh; the former vv-as called Lord's day {ijfxtQa ttvQtax?'/) ; the latter, Sabbath (odf^^arov). So we have it in Rev. 1: 10, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." So Ignatius (Epist. ad Magnes, about A. D. 101) calls the^r^^ day of the week, the Lord's day {ri)v iirQtax7jp), the day consecrated to the resurrection, the queen and ■prince of all days. And again, in the same epistle: *' Let every friend of Christ celebrate the Lord's day (ti}7' xvQiay.)jr)." That all the later Christian fathers made the distiiiction just mentioned, need not be prov- 114 APPENDIX. ed to any one acquainted in any tolerable degree with the ancient writers of the Christian churcli. " It was called the Lord's day, because the Lord arose from the dead on this day," says Chrysostom (and very truly) in his commentary on Ps. CXIX. It v^as not until tiie party in the Christian church had become extinct, or nearly so, who pleaded for the observance of the sev- enth day or Jewish Sabbath, as well as of the Lord's day, that the name Sabbath began to be given to the first day of the week. (3) In the ancient church, even from the first, there was a party who kept the seventh day of the week (i. e. the Jewish Sabbath), as well as the first. Nothing could be more natural than for the Juduizing Chris- tians to insist upon this ; for as they were unwilling to remit even any of the less important prescriptions of the ritual law, how much more would they hold to the sacredness of the Jewish Sabbath ? Theodoret (Hae- ret. Fab. II. 1), speaking of the Ebionites, i. e. a party of the Judaizing Cliristians, says : " They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish Law, a?id sanctify the Lord's day in like manner as tee do. This gives a good historical view of the state of things, in the early ages of the church. More or less of seventh day obser- vance was practised, at length, in nearly all the Greek and Latin churches ; in the former this day was kept as n. festival, in the latter as a fast. As superstition in- creased, matters came at length to such a pass, that the Council of Laodicea (about A. D. 350) were obliged to make a decree, that Christians should not refrain from labour on the seventh day or the Sabbath. Their words are : " It is not proper for Cliristians to Judaize, and to cease from labour on the Sabbath [seventh day] ; but they ought to work on tiiis day ; and to put espe- cial honour (TrQotijuojvreg) upon the Lord's day, by re- fraining from labour as Christians. If any one be found Judaizing, let him be anathematized," etc. Can. 29. See Bingiilim's Ecc. Antiq. V. p. 286, (4) With such fiicts in view, nothing is easier than to explain the passages above quoted from tiie epistles of Paul. The zealots for the law wished the Jezvish Sabbath to be observed, as well as the Lord's day ; for about the latter, there appears never to have been any APPENDIX. 115 question amon^ any class of the early Cliristians, so far as i have been able to discover. Even, the i^bion- iies, as we have seen, kept the Lord's day. But Paul did not believe, that Christians were bound to observe the Jewish Sabbath. Still, he did not wish those to be opposed and contradicted, who were zealous for this us- age. " Let each one be fuliy persuaded in his own mind," said he; i.e. ' Let each one act, in this re- spect, as his own conscience sliall judge best. I do not forbid him to keep the seventh day ; nor can I enjoin upon him to keep it.' Tiiat the early Christians never understood Paul as renouncing the observance of the Christian Sabbatii, is sufficiently manifest from the fact, that one and all of them held thefirstday of the week to be sacred. As Lord's day was the universal appellation of this, in the ear!}' ages, so there was no danger of their misapprehending Paul, (as many in modern times have done), when he spoke of the Snhbatks , tchick arc a sluidoio of things to come. Indeed this last expression sliews that Jetcisk Sabbaths must have been meant; for the things to come are those things which belong to the gospel dispensa- tion, i.e. the things yet future, while the observance of the ritual law was in full force. See Heb. 10: 1. These considerations make it plain, how much the two texts in question have been misinterpreted, when they have been explained as meaning, that under the Christian dispensation the Sabbath is a matter of in- difference, which is wholly left to the private judg- ment of each individual. That such was the case in regard to the Jeivish or seventh-day Snhbaih, is indeed very clear. Moreover, because Paul did not expressly decide against the keeping of this, the practice of it was continued by Christians, who were jealous for the hon- our of the RIosaic law, and finally became, as we have seen, predominant throughout Christendom. It was supposed, at length, that the fourth commandment did require the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, (not merely a seventh part of time) ; and, reasoning as Christians of the present day are wont to do, viz. that all which belonged to the ten commandments was im- mutable and perpetual, the churches in geneial came gradually to regard the seventh-day Sabbath as alto- 116 APPENDIX. gether sacred. But amidst all this mistaken reasoning and usage, wiiich (as we have seen) the Council of La- odicea felt themselves bound to correct, 1 find no traces of a doubt raised, whetlier the Lord's day, i. e. the first day of the week, was to be kept sacred. The testimony of Pliny in A. D. 107, that ' Christians [as those whom he examined, declared] were accustomed to meet to- gether s^rt^o die, on a stated day;' the testimony of Ignatius (A. D. 101), above cited, viz., that " the first day of the week was the Lord's day, resurrection-day {avaoTdoiiiov). the queen and prince of all days;" and also his exiiortation : "Let every friend of Christ cel- ebrate the Lord's day, (^ioQTaCkToj nas (fil6yQioro