t Jk. .afr, tk .A, ^ jkn jtHk ^ *** .nlu .ik, A .ik jJl jik .*. i^ 
 
 CATECHETICAL 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 prtriartfjal, SfttoisI), & Christian 
 
 SABBATH ; 
 
 WITH A VIEW TO ENFORCE, 
 
 FROM SCRIPTURE AUTHORITY, 
 THE MO. ERVANCE OF 
 
 f 
 
 LORD'S DAY. 
 
 By THOMAS WtfMYSS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF BIBLICAL GLEANINGS, &C. 
 
 INBURGH: 
 
 RTSON, PARLIAMENT SQL' VllE,j&- 
 I> ADAM, JUNIOR. DUKFIBM- &. 
 
 AND SOX3, YOUK ; A 
 NCAV AND COCHRAN, 
 LONDON. f^r 
 
 1816. 
 
 C»d. in boards. 
 
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CATECHETICAL 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 $atriard)al, SfrtotsI), k Cljrfetian 
 
 SABBATH ; 
 
 WITH A VIEW TO ENFORCE, 
 
 FROM SCRIPTURE AUTHORITY, 
 THE MORE CAREFUL OBSERVANCE OF 
 
 THE 
 
 LORD'S DAY. 
 
 7~ 
 By THOMAS WEMYSS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF BIBLICAL GLEANINGS, &C 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JAS. ROBERTSON, 
 
 PARLIAMENT SQUARE, EDINBURGH ; DAVID ADAM, 
 
 JUNIOR, DUNFERMLINE; 
 
 WILSON AND SONS, YORK ; AND OGLES, DUNCAN, 
 
 AND COCHRAN, LON- S". 
 
 1816. 
 
Edinburgh, 
 
 Printed by William Blair, 
 
 James' Court. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 That the Lord's day has, for many 
 years past, been most openly and wilfully 
 profaned, has been long no less a matter 
 of notoriety than a subject of lamentation 
 among all serious persons. — But this is 
 not all. It has of late unhappily be- 
 come a matter of doubt with Christian 
 men themselves, whether the observance 
 of the first day of the week be obligato- 
 ry on them, or can be proved to be so 
 from Scripture. To the infidel violaters 
 of Divine institutions, it would be, for 
 most part, in vain to address any rea- 
 
sonings on the subject of their irreli- 
 gious conduct. But we have some 
 ground to hope, that those who profess 
 faith in Revelation, and an adherence 
 to the dictates of the Spirit of God, will 
 be disposed to listen to arguments drawn 
 from Scripture, in behalf of the devout 
 observance of one day in seven, as a 
 day of abstraction from the world, and 
 especial consecration to God. To such 
 persons the following remarks are re- 
 spectfully submitted. 
 
 Many object to the observance of the 
 LoixTsDay, merely to colour their weari- 
 ness of it. Men in general seem to be tired 
 of the just and holy ways of God, and of 
 that exactness in walking according to his 
 institutions, which it will be one day 
 known that he requires. The way to 
 put a stop to this declension, is, not to 
 
accommodate the laws of God to the 
 corrupt courses of men. The truths of 
 God, and the holiness of his precepts, 
 must be pleaded and defended, though 
 men dislike them here, and perish here- 
 after. 
 
 On a subject so often handled, it 
 would be unreasonable to look for no- 
 velty. Indeed novelty in religion must 
 be nearly allied to error ; since the most 
 certain and valuable truths, whether of 
 a doctrinal or practical nature,, are also 
 the most ancient. 
 
 If, in the course of perusal, several 
 repetitions should appear, let it be un- 
 derstood, that they are rather designed 
 than accidental ; some things requiring to 
 be repeated and impressed upon themind, 
 in proportion both to their importance, 
 and to our unwillingness to retain them. 
 
6 
 
 If the expressions of other authors 
 should be discovered here and there 
 without acknowledgment, the reason is, 
 their language was equally or more per- 
 spicuous than any the Author could 
 have used ; and it is always of less con- 
 sequence who wrote 9 than what is writ- 
 ten, The writer once thought of giving 
 a list of authors who have published 
 Treatises on the institution of the Sab- 
 baths ; but, on reflection, he thought 
 it better to present his readers with a 
 list of Scripture passages referring to 
 that subject ; it being desirable that our 
 faith " should stand, not in the wisdom 
 of men, but in the power of God," 
 
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES, 
 
 Which have more or less reference to a Day of 
 Rest. 
 
 SABBATH. 
 
 Exod. xvi. 23, 25, 29. 
 xx. 10. 
 
 xxxi. 14, 15, 16. 
 xxxv. 2. 
 
 Levit xvi. 3". 
 
 xxiii. 3, 11, 15,16, 
 24, 32, 39. 
 
 xxiv. 8. 
 
 xxv. 2, 4, 6. 
 Num. xxviii. 10. 
 2 Kings iv. 23. 
 
 xi. 5, 7. 
 
 xvi. 18. 
 
 1 Chr. ix. 32. 
 
 2 Chr. xxiii. 8. 
 
 xxxvi. 21. 
 
 Neh. ix. 14. 
 x. 31. 
 xiih 15,16,18, 19, 
 
 21. 
 Isaiah lvi. 2, 6. 
 
 lviii. 13. 
 
 lxvi. 23. 
 Ezek. xlvi. 1. 
 Amos viii. 5. 
 
 Mat. xxviii. 1. 
 Mark ii. 27, 28. 
 
 xvi. I. 
 Luke vi. 1, 5. 
 
8 
 
 Luke xiii. 10, 15. 
 
 xxiii. 54. 
 John v. 18. 
 Act3 xiii. 42. 
 
 Actsxvi. 13. 
 xviii. 4. 
 Heb. iv. 9. 
 Greek. 
 
 See the 
 
 SABBATH DAY. 
 
 Exod. xvL 26. 
 
 xx. 8, 10, 11. 
 
 xxxi. 15. 
 
 xxxv. 3. 
 Num. xv. 32. 
 
 xxviii. 9. 
 Deut. v. 12, 15. 
 Neh. x. 31. 
 
 xiii. 15,17,19,22. 
 Jerem. xvii. 21, 22. 
 Ezek. xlvi. 4. 
 
 Mat. xii. 1, 8, 11. 
 
 Mat. xxiv. 20. 
 Mark ii. 23, 24. 
 
 iii. 2. 
 
 vi. 2. 
 Luke vi. 7. 
 
 iv. 16. 
 
 xiii. 16. 
 
 xiv. 1, 5. 
 
 xxiii. 56. 
 John v. 10, 16. 
 
 vii. 22. 
 
 ix. 14. 
 
 xix. 31. 
 Acts xiii. 14, 27, 44. 
 
 xv. 21. 
 
SABBATH DAYS. 
 
 Mat. xii. 5, 10, 12. 
 Mark iii. 1. 
 Luke iv. 31. 
 
 Luke vi. 2, 9. 
 Acts xvii. 2. 
 Colos. ii. 16. 
 
 SABBATHS. 
 
 Exod. xx xi. 13. 
 Lev. xix. 3, 30. 
 
 xxvi. 2, 34, 35, 43. 
 
 soil 15, 38. 
 
 xxv. 8. 
 
 1 Chron. xxiii. 31. 
 
 2 Chron. ii. 4. 
 
 viii. 13. 
 xxxi. 3. 
 xxxvi. 21. 
 Nehem. x. 33. 
 
 Isaiah i. 13. 
 
 lvi. 4. 
 Lam. i. 7. 
 
 ii. 6. 
 Ezek. xx. 12, 13, 16, 24. 
 
 xxii. 8, 26. 
 
 xx ; ii. 38. 
 
 xliv. 24. 
 
 xlv. 17. 
 
 xlvi. 3. 
 Hosca ii. 11. 
 
 SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 Gen. ii. 2, 3. 
 Exod. xii. 15, 16. 
 
 xiii. 6. 
 
 xvi. 26, 27, 29. 
 
 Exod. xx. 11. 
 xxiv. 16. 
 xxxi. 17. 
 xxxiv. 21. 
 
10 
 
 Exod. xxxv. 2. Josh. vi. 4, 15. 
 
 Lev. xxiii. 3, 8. Judges xiv. 15, 17. 
 
 Num. xxviii. 15. 
 
 Deut. xvi. 8. Heb. iv. 4. 
 
 FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. 
 
 Mat. xxviii. 1. John xx. 1, 19, 26. 
 
 Mark. xvi. 2, 9. Act6 xx. 7. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 1. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 
 
 THE LORD'S DAY. 
 Rev. i. 10. 
 

 THE PATRIARCHAL SABBATH. 
 
 Q. Which is the earliest intimation 
 in Scripture respecting the Sabbath ? 
 
 A. In the second chapter of the book 
 of Genesis. 
 
 Q. What is there said on the subject ? 
 
 A. That on the seventh day God 
 ceased from his work of creation ; and 
 blessed the seventh day and sanctified 
 it. 
 
 Q. What is meant by sanctified it ? 
 
 A. He set it apart for holy purposes ; 
 for such is the meaning of the word 
 
12 
 
 sanctified in the Old Testament, when 
 applied to inanimate things, or to per- 
 sons with relation to any office or func- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. If the day was thus set apart for 
 holy purposes, by whom was it first ob- 
 served ? 
 
 A. By man, in his state of primeval 
 purity. 
 
 Q. Had man at that time need of a 
 day of rest from labour ? 
 
 A. Apparently not so much so as at 
 an after period, when the earth had re- 
 ceived the curse, which caused man 
 " to eat bread in the sweat of his brow." 
 
 Q. If a day was appointed for man 
 in his state of innocence, whereon to ob- 
 tain a sacred rest ; is such a day less 
 necessary to be set apart now by fallen 
 man? 
 
13 
 
 A. Our minds must certainly more 
 require such a season for religious cul- 
 tivation now, than before they became 
 distracted by corrupt affections. 
 
 Q. Was not the original institution 
 of the Sabbath intended to commemo- 
 rate the work of creation ? 
 
 A. It was. 
 
 Q. Does not the stupendous work of 
 redemption also deserve to be comme- 
 morated ? 
 
 A. It surely does, and that with the 
 same solemnity, and for the same length 
 of time ; namely, by devoting an entire 
 day to the commemoration. 
 
 Q. Is not Adam, in this original state, 
 considered as the representative of his 
 posterity, and acting for them ? 
 
 A. He is so considered by most inter- 
 preters of Scripture. 
 
u 
 
 Q. Does not a general command, gi- 
 ven to him as such, continue in force 
 for ever, unless abrogated by the same 
 authority by which it is enacted ? 
 
 A. It is reasonable to conclude so. 
 
 Q. Does any abrogation of this com- 
 mand occur afterwards in Scripture? 
 
 A. None can be discovered. 
 
 Q. I sit probable that man in innocence 
 should be required to devote a seventh 
 part of his time to particular exercises 
 of religion, and yet that we should be 
 left to follow our own ways, on a day 
 originally so set apart ? 
 
 A. It is highly improbable. 
 
 Q. Does not the Sabbath, then, ap- 
 pear to have been instituted when man- 
 kind stood the least in need of that in- 
 stitution ? 
 
15 
 
 A. It certainly appears so. 
 
 Q. If the Sabbath began nearly with 
 the world itself, is it not probable that 
 it has some affinity to the world's exist- 
 ence, and the ends of it, and therefore 
 must be commensurate with its duration ? 
 
 A. It is no unnatural supposition. 
 
 Q. Do not some, however, say, that 
 in Gen. ii. 2. the Sabbath is spoken of 
 by way of prolepsis or anticipation. 
 
 A. They do so ; but very absurdly. 
 It would be a strange and unusual pro- 
 lepsis to say, " That God rested on the 
 seventh day from all his works of crea- 
 tion, that is, the next day after finish- 
 ing these works , wherefore, 2400 years 
 after, God blessed and sanctified the 
 seventh day ; not that seventh day 
 whereon he rested, with those that suc- 
 ceeded in the like revolution of time ; 
 
16 
 
 but a seventh day that happened so 
 long after, which was not blessed nor 
 sanctified before. 
 
 Q. Is not this reasoning about apro- 
 lepsis contradicted in the New Testa- 
 ment, Heb. iv. 8, 4. ? 
 
 A. It is. The Apostle, having occa- 
 sion to mention different rests, begins 
 with naming that in Genesis, chap. ii. ; 
 and shews, that it could not be that 
 to which David, in Psalm xcv. alluded ; 
 because that rest began from the foun- 
 dation of the world. This the Apostle 
 has no concern with ; for he is not 
 treating of a rest of God, but a rest 
 such as men, by faith and obedience, 
 might enter into. Such was that in the 
 land of Canaan ; and that now propo- 
 sed to them in the promise of the gos- 
 pel. 
 
17 
 
 Q. Are there no other traces of the 
 Sabbath during the patriarchal times ? 
 
 A. None but what are obscure. It 
 is rather remarkable that Noah observed 
 the Septenary revolution of days, in 
 sending forth the dove out of the ark, as 
 twice noted in Genesis, chap. viii. That 
 this was done casually is not to be ima- 
 gined. Might not Noah send out the 
 dove the next day after the Sabbath, to 
 see, as it were, whether God had re- 
 turned again to rest in the works of his 
 hands ? In Gen. xxix. 27. a week is 
 spoken of as a known account of time ; 
 " fulfil her week," i. e. of days in the 
 festival of his marriage with Leah ; for 
 the celebration of a marriage-feast last- 
 ed seven days, as we learn from Judg. 
 xiv. 12, 15, 17. 
 
 Q. Is it not possible, or rather like- 
 
18 
 
 ly, that the moral law, though not of- 
 ficially and formally promulgated, as on 
 Sinai, was before that period made 
 known to men in all its requisitions; 
 and, if so, the Sabbath was enjoined 
 among the rest ? 
 
 A. The only objection to this suppo- 
 sition is the silence of Scripture on the 
 subject ; a silence which seems scarcely 
 sufficient to ground an objection on, 
 when we consider the necessity of the 
 case, namely, that men should have 
 some such moral code published to them. 
 Q. But if the law of the Sabbath 
 was given from the beginning, to man- 
 kind in general, that is, to the Gentiles, 
 and not to the Jews only, how happens 
 it that God, who blames the Jews, ne- 
 ver blames the Gentiles for their viola- 
 tion of it ? 
 
19 
 
 A. God himself says by Paul, " that 
 he suffered the Gentiles to walk in their 
 own ways, and winked at their igno- 
 rance." Besides, they were not in cove- 
 nant with God, as the Jews were. And 
 farther, having corrupted themselves in 
 worshipping false deities, it was not to 
 be expected they should retain the ob- 
 servance which belonged to the worship 
 of the true God. It may as well be 
 asked, why the Gentiles are not blamed 
 for the breach of others of the ten com- 
 mandments. 
 
 Q. We find that Nehemiah, when 
 anxious to preserve the Sabbath from 
 profanation, reproved the Jews, who 
 trafficked on it; but not the men of Tyre. 
 AVhy was this ? 
 
 A. The plain reason is, that Nehe- 
 miah was at that time governor of the 
 
20 
 
 Jews, and had a right to enjoin things 
 on them, according to God's appoint- 
 ment ; whereas, he had nO jurisdiction 
 over the Tyrians, nor any intercourse 
 with them, except according to the law 
 of nations. The one, therefore, he char- 
 ges with moral evil; the other he simply 
 threatens for disturbing his government 
 
THE JEWISH SABBATH. 
 
 Q. Does the command to sanctify the 
 Sabbath form any part of the moral law ? 
 
 A. Yes — The fourth commandment 
 enforces the duty of observing this first 
 institution of God to man. 
 
 Q. Is there nothing said respecting the 
 Sabbath from the first mention of it in 
 Genesis, till the promulgation of the law 
 on Sinai ? 
 
 A. Nothing — Except what is set down 
 in Exodus, chap. xvi. verses 23 — 30; 
 where it is evidently mentioned not as a 
 ncic institution, but as one with which 
 they were acquainted. 
 
22 
 
 Q. Is the silence of Scripture in other 
 respects any argument against the know- 
 ledge and observance of the Sabbath, 
 during the times of the patriarchs ? 
 
 A. No, by no means — an argument 
 drawn from this silence would prove too 
 much, since many things must have 
 existed during this period; of which, 
 notwithstanding, no mention is made, 
 the sacred historian having something 
 more important in view. 
 
 Q. What does the fourth command- 
 ment require ? 
 
 A. It requires abstinence from those 
 labours and employments on the seventh 
 day, which it is a duty to pursue on the 
 other six days with diligence. 
 
 Q. Does it require any thing further ? 
 
 A. It commands us to use our en- 
 deavours, that this day be sanctified by 
 
23 
 
 all over whom we have authority or in- 
 fluence. We are not, therefore, to per- 
 mit the works of our ordinary worldly 
 occupation to be carried on by others on 
 our behalf. 
 
 Q. Does any account of the duties of 
 the Sabbath, occur in the writings of 
 the prophets ? 
 
 A. Yes — Isaiah in his 58th chapter 
 has given a very ample account, both of 
 the duties of the day, and of the temper 
 of mind with which they are to be per- 
 formed. 
 
 Q. What is the substance of the pro- 
 phet's expostulation ? 
 
 A. He arranges the command under 
 three heads. 1st, We are not to do 
 our own ways, that is to attend to our 
 worldly business, or ordinary secular 
 pursuits. 2d, We are not to find our 
 
24 
 
 own pleasure on the Sabbath, that is, it 
 is not to be a day of merriment, of sports 
 and pastimes, or of mere amusement. It 
 is to be a day of rest from bodily la- 
 bour ; but not a season of mere animal 
 recreation. 3d, We are forbidden to 
 speak our own words; that is, the con- 
 versation ought to be suited to the sacred 
 offices of the day. As we are prohibit- 
 ed from pursuing our ordinary labours, 
 so are we prohibited from making them 
 the subjects of our discourse. We 
 ought to confine our conversation to re- 
 ligious or moral subjects ; to the instruc- 
 tion of our dependents, or to edifying 
 communication with our equals. 
 
 Q. Do you observe any thing else in 
 the prophet's language ? 
 
 A. He points out what ought to be 
 the temper of our minds in these holy 
 
25 
 
 exercises. Far from being weary of the 
 spiritual employments of the Sabbath, 
 we ought to account them our pleasure, 
 and call the Sabbath a delight. 
 
 Q Was not the violation of the Sab- 
 bath a capital offence among the Jews ? 
 
 A. Yes — Inasmuch as the Jews lived 
 under a theocracy ; and this, with other 
 moral precepts, was incorporated into 
 their civil laws. See Exodus, xxxi. 14. 
 
 Q. Does the same penalty then re^ 
 main in force against Christians ? 
 
 J. It cannot be supposed — for this 
 being a part of the covenant of peculir 
 arity, vanished with its abolition. As 
 the promises of that covenant were 
 chiefly of a temporal nature, so also 
 were its punishments. 
 
 Q. But is there not a degree of strict- 
 ness in the observance of the Jewish 
 c 
 
26 
 
 Sabbath, which can never be transferred 
 to the observance of the Christian rest, 
 or be binding on Christians ? I refer 
 especially to the kindling of a fire on 
 the Sabbath day, which was prohibited 
 to the Jews. See Exodus xxxv. 3. 
 
 A. If this were a fire for common 
 comfort or convenience, one would be 
 apt to think it a hard law, in a country 
 where the inhabitants said « who is 
 able to abide his frosts ?" But, whoever 
 compares the context will find, that it 
 relates only to fires made for the pur- 
 poses of labour. He who vindicated his 
 disciples, when blamed for plucking 
 corn to satisfy hunger, would scarcely 
 forbid the use of fire, for the necessary 
 preparation of food. We may con- 
 clude, therefore, that the kindling of a 
 
27 
 
 fire for the refreshment of the body, was 
 not contrary to the Jewish law. 
 
 Q. Is there any tiling then in the 
 duties of the Sabbath, as subsistingunder 
 the Jewish dispensation, contrary to a 
 rational and spiritual service ? 
 
 A. It is not easy to discover any 
 thing ; for the making the breach of it a 
 capital offence, was a circumstance be* 
 longing to the policy, rather than to the 
 religion of the*Jews. 
 
 Q. What do you take to be the general 
 character of the decalogue ? 
 
 A. Considered in itself, it is abso- 
 lutely moral, and universally and perpe- 
 tually binding ; though as given to the 
 Israelites, it seems to have had apolitical 
 use, as having a place in the economy of 
 the covenant which that church was 
 brought under. 
 
 Q. But are not some of the precepts 
 
28 
 
 different from others, not merely in 
 meaning, but in form and character, as 
 applicable to that dispensation ? 
 
 A. The first, fourth, and fifth have 
 prefaces, enlargements, or additions, 
 which belonged more particularly to the 
 state of the Jewish Church at that time, 
 and afterwards. But these special ap- 
 plications of them change not their 
 moral nature. 
 
 Q. Is the fourth commandment on 
 a footing with the others in all respects ? 
 A. Yes — 1st, It was spoken immedi- 
 ately by the voice of God, and not af- 
 terwards through the medium of Moses, 
 as the laws merely ceremonial were. 
 
 9,d, It was written twice by the finger 
 of God in tables of stone — an emblem 
 of the spiritual writing of his law in the 
 hearts of his people. 
 
29 
 
 M, Like the rest, it was reserved in 
 the ark ; whereas the law of ordinances 
 was placed in a book written by Moses 
 on the side of the ark, from whence it 
 might be removed. 
 
 4th, God himself separates the fourth 
 commandment from those which were 
 merely ceremonial, when he calls the 
 system of precepts contained in the two 
 tables, by the name of the ten words or 
 commandments. See Deut. x. 4. 
 
 5th> The Sabbath is never ranked with 
 mere ceremonies in the Old Testament, 
 when there is any opposition made be- 
 tween moral obedience, and observance 
 of ordinances. In Isaiah i. 13. where 
 the Sabbath is joined with new moons, 
 it plainly refers to the annual feasts or 
 Sabbaths, not to the seventh-dag rest. 
 
 (kh, Theobservationof the Sabbath is 
 
30 
 
 pressed on the Jewish church on the 
 same grounds, and with the same pro- 
 mises, as the greatest and most indispen- 
 sable moral duties. See Isaiah lviii, 
 6, 14. 
 
 Q. Was not the Sabbath of a typical 
 nature, like other ceremonial institu- 
 tions ? That the same thing should be 
 both typical and moral seems a contra- 
 diction. 
 
 A. That the rest of God after the 
 work of creation, has a something cor- 
 respondent with it in the rest of the Son 
 of God, after laying the foundation of 
 the new heavens and earth in his resur- 
 rection, cannot be denied. That the 
 one was intended to be typical of the 
 other seems to be no where affirmed, and 
 cannot be proved. But even admitting 
 it had something typical in its nature. 
 
31 
 
 why should this hinder it from being a 
 moral duty ? Was there nothing moral 
 in the nature of sacrifices ? or rather 
 can any service be performed to God, 
 or by his command, that has not some- 
 thing moral in it, though it may be ce- 
 remonial in form ? Besides, the original 
 law of the Sabbath was given before tJie 
 fall, during the state of innocence, and 
 hence could have no respect to a system 
 of things that had then no existence. 
 
 Q. Is it not said in Ezekiel xx. 10. &c. 
 that God gave the Jews his Sabbath in 
 the wilderness, to be a sign between him 
 and them. And inNehem. ix. 14. that 
 he made known unto them his holy 
 Sabbath ? 
 
 A. It is so said — and it is no uncom- 
 mon nor implausible opinion, that gave 
 here means restored, i. e. restored the 
 
32 
 knowledge of the Sabbath araonsf them, 
 
 © 3 5 
 
 the memory of which they had almost 
 lost. But not to insist on this, let it be 
 observed, that the language is not he 
 gave his Sabbath absolutely, or for the 
 Jirst time to mankind at large; but re- 
 strictively, he gave his Sabbaths to the 
 Jews, as a separate people, a people in 
 covenant with God, for a sign between 
 him and them. Or, as it is elsewhere 
 expressed, (Exod. xxxi. 13.) " that ye 
 may know that I am the Lord that doth 
 sanctify you.*" 
 
 Q. Does it not appear from the ex- 
 amples of a Patriarchal, a Jewish, and a 
 Christian Sabbath, that a Sabbath or 
 holy rest is a constituent part of, or be- 
 longs to, every covenant betwixt God 
 and man ? 
 
 A. Yes — with this condition or limi- 
 
33 
 
 tation, that the change of the covenant 
 (or dispensation), introduces some 
 change in the rest annexed to it. 
 
 Q. Do not the Jews abstain from 
 preparing meats on the Sabbath. 
 A. They do. 
 
 Q. On what is their practice founded? 
 A. On a mistaken view of Exod. xvi. 
 23. Whereas the words there have re- 
 spect merely to the manna that was to be 
 preserved, and not to ordinary meats. 
 
 Q. Are they not scrupulous also 
 about motions or removals on the Sab- 
 bath ? 
 
 A. They are, and for a similar rea- 
 son, that is, from an erroneous applica- 
 tion of verse 29th in the same chapter, 
 though the injunction refers solely to 
 their <join£ i n to the fields to look for 
 manna on that day ; which was both su- 
 
34 
 
 perfluous and improper, God having 
 given them a double portion the day 
 before, and none on that day. 
 
 Q. Are not the expressions in Exo- 
 dus xxxi. 13, &c. respecting the Sabbath, 
 significant of something peculiar to Ju- 
 daism ? 
 
 A. Yes — it is called a sign (as before 
 mentioned), and it was so in several 
 respects. 1 . On the part of the people, 
 since their assembling on that day, and 
 worshipping him as the true God, was 
 a sign or express acknowledgment that 
 they were the Lord^s people. 2. On 
 ilie part of God, that it was he that 
 sanctified them ; for by this observance 
 they had a visible pledge that God had 
 separated them to himself, and had 
 given them his word and ordinances. 
 Farther, it is said to be observed by the 
 
35 
 
 Jews in ihe'ir generations, i. c. as a 
 church-state, or peculiar people ; there- 
 fore, when this church-state was dissol- 
 ved, by the intervention of providence, 
 at the destruction of Jerusalem, or by 
 the introduction of the gospel dispensa- 
 tion prior to that event, the Jewish Sab- 
 bath might be said to be virtually and 
 truly abrogated, and a new Sabbatical 
 rest enjoined. Again, it is said to be ap- 
 pointed for ever, i. e. in the same sense 
 in which the Jewish covenant is called 
 perpetual or everlasting, viz. because it 
 was to be so to them, since God would 
 never make any other peculiar covenant 
 with them as a nation. 
 
 Q. Is there not a particular restric- 
 tion respecting the Sabbath in Exodus 
 xxxiv. 21. ? 
 
 A. There is— It is said, " in earing 
 
36 
 
 time, and in harvest, thou shalt rest.* 
 Earing time and harvest are the seasons 
 in which husbandmen are most intent 
 on their operations, and with difficulty 
 bear any interruption, because it may be 
 greatly to their damage. Not that this 
 should be interpreted rigorously, at least 
 if one may judge from our Lord^ con- 
 duct, so that had the product of their 
 fields been in danger from the elements, 
 one would think they might lawfully 
 have endeavoured to save their property 
 on that day. 
 
 Q. Are there any other matters ob- 
 servable in Scripture respecting the Jew- 
 ish Sabbath? 
 
 A. One may notice several things — 
 such as, that any young clean beast 
 that was to be offered in sacrifice, must 
 continue seven days with the dam, and 
 
n 
 
 not be offered until the eighth, "Levit 
 xxii. 27. That a child was not to be 
 circumcised until the eighth day, that (as 
 the Jews say)there might be an interpo- 
 sition of a Sabbath for their benediction. 
 And it is not unlikely that the eighth 
 day was also signalized hereby, as that 
 which was to succeed in the room of the 
 seventh, in a dispensation then future. 
 
 Q. Were the Jews scrupulous about 
 war! are on the Sabbath ? 
 
 A. Very much so. It appears from 
 history that they suffered much on many 
 occasions, by not daring to fight on that 
 day. In the time of the Maccabees, a 
 g r e a t slaughter was made of them on 
 the Sabbach, because they thought it 
 unlawful to defend themselves. On 
 which they passed a decree, that for the 
 time to come, if they were attacked on 
 u 
 
38 
 
 that day, they would not suffer them- 
 selves to be destroyed. They agreed in 
 future to fight on that day, at least so 
 far as to defend their lives. 
 
 Q. How comes it to pass that the 
 Jews, before the Babylonish captivity, 
 were so prone to idolatry, and so averse 
 from it afterwards ? 
 
 A. This was probably the reason — 
 before the captivity they had few, if any 
 synagogues for public worship, for want 
 of which they grew ignorant, and were 
 easily seduced into idolatry ; but after 
 their return from captivity, synagogues 
 were erected in every city, to which they 
 constantly resorted on the Sabbath-days 
 for public worship, and where they had 
 the Scriptures read and expounded to 
 them. By this method they acqui- 
 
39 
 
 red and retained a knowledge of their 
 religion. 
 
 Q. Was the Sabbath distinguished 
 by any additional sacrifice ? 
 
 A. Yes ; by the additional sacrifice 
 of two lambs, besides the daily burnt 
 offering. Num. xxviii. 9- 
 
 Q. Is any of the Psalms considered 
 peculiar to the Sabbath ? 
 
 A. The 92d Psalm is entitled, « A 
 Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day, 1 ' 
 and was probably composed, in order to 
 be sung in the temple-service of that day. 
 
 Q. Whither did the Jews of old 
 times resort on the Sabbath ? 
 
 A. In early times, as we learn from 
 2. Kings iv. 23. it appears to have been 
 customary with the Jews to resort to 
 their prophets on the Sabbath day, and 
 also on the new moons , and then, not 
 
40 
 
 improbably, the prophets and other per- 
 sons learned in their law, were used to 
 explain it to the people. 
 
 Q. Do we find any thing in the New 
 Testament equivalent to an injunction 
 on the Gentile Christians, who were not 
 previously accustomed to any day of 
 rest, to observe the Jewish Sabbath ? 
 
 A. Nothing of the kind ; but it is 
 plain, from the instance of those at 
 Troas, Acts xx. 6, 7. that Gentile 
 Christians were accustomed from the 
 beginning to observe the Lord's day. 
 
41 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 
 
 Q. Did not the command to appro- 
 priate one day in seven to the worship of 
 God, and to religious exercises, become 
 void when the Jewish law ceased to be 
 in force ? 
 
 J. No ; the command to sanctify 
 the Sabbath is a branch of the moral 
 law, as summed up in the ten command- 
 ments ; and that law being confessedly, 
 with respect to nine of them, of uni- 
 versal and perpetual obligation, there is 
 no reason for supposing that the sanc- 
 tification of one day in seven, was a 
 
4& 
 
 mere peculiarity of the Jewish code, but 
 rather, like its fellow precepts, binding 
 on men at large, in every age of the 
 world. 
 
 Q. But is there not something cere* 
 menial in this commandment more than 
 in the other nine ? 
 
 A. All that is ceremonial in it is, the 
 appointment of a particular day; in 
 other respects, it is a moral precept, en- 
 joining the appropriation of a seventh 
 part of our time, to the special service 
 of Him who is Lord of all our time. 
 We may as well contend, that the fifth 
 commandment, " to honourourparents," 
 has something ceremonial in it because 
 it is the ftrst and the only command- 
 ment with a promise annexed to it, and 
 that a temporal promise too ; quite in 
 the spirit of the Jewish dispensation. 
 
43 
 
 Yet, who will say that this precept was 
 abrogated with the rest of the Mosaic 
 institutions ? 
 
 Q. Did our Lord declare it to be his 
 intention to abrogate any part of the 
 moral law ? 
 
 A. Quite otherwise ; in his sermon 
 on the Mount, he assures us that he 
 came, not to subvert or abrogate, but to 
 ratify. 
 
 Q. But was & the moral law he was 
 here speakim^io? ? 
 
 A. Undoubtedly ; since immediately 
 after, he proceeds to expound the sixth, 
 seventh, and third commandments, as 
 parts of the law of which he was dis- 
 coursing — denounces a curse on those 
 who should set it aside, Mat. v. 19. 
 and points out its spiritual nature and 
 extent. 
 
44 
 
 Q. But is not the appointment of th# 
 first day of the week, for the public 
 religious exercises of Christians, a tacit 
 abrogation of the fourth commandment, 
 which appoints the seventh day for the 
 celebration of the Sabbath ? 
 
 A. It is obvious that the change is 
 merely circumstantial, and does not in- 
 terfere with the essence of the command. 
 
 Q. Is it no interference to change the 
 dayf 
 
 A. Though the last df,y of the week 
 was undoubtedly appropriated by the 
 fourth commandment, it is remarkable, 
 that the words may be applied to any 
 day in the seven. The words are, 
 " remember the Sabbath day, (not the 
 seventh), to keep it holy ; and the Lord 
 blessed the Sabbath day, (not the 
 seventh), and sanctified it" We are 
 
45 
 
 enjoined to pursue our ordinary labours 
 during »m? days, and on every seventh 
 day to rest. Tins injui ction i fulfilled, 
 whatever day of the seven be the clay 
 of rest. Though it was on the seventh 
 day that God ceased from creating, our 
 regards are not diverted from a due con- 
 sideration of God's love in creating us, 
 by the alteration of the day appropria- 
 ted to the Sabbath ; though we are 
 thereby directed to the celebration of a 
 blessing superior to that of creation. 
 
 Q. Is there any other instance in 
 Scripture of the motive for observing 
 the Sabbath being changed, without any 
 change in the commandment itself? 
 
 A. Yes ; in Deut. v. 15. Israels" 
 being a servant in the land of Israel is 
 mentioned as the reason for observing 
 a Sabbatical rest. 
 
46 
 
 Q. Those who sail round the world 
 by the east, gain a day ; and those who 
 sail the contrary way, lose one — will 
 not such, therefore, come to observe a 
 different Sabbath ? 
 
 A. This is a triffling question ; the 
 main consideration in the law of the 
 Sabbath is not that the observance of 
 it should begin and end all over the 
 world at the same instant; but that 
 men should devote a seventh portion of 
 their time to the remembrance of God's 
 rest, and the other ends for which the 
 Sabbath was appointed. 
 
 Q. If it could be proved, that the 
 apostles, and not their Master, fixed 
 on the first day of the week, whereon 
 to observe the Christian Sabbath, would 
 it make any material difference in the 
 general argument ? 
 
47 
 
 A. None at all ; since it is not to be 
 imagined that the apostles would fix on 
 any day, without immediate direction 
 from the Lord Christ. 
 
 Q. Do not some affirm, that the con- 
 tinuance of a weekly Sabbatical rest, 
 and the particular appointment of the 
 first day of the week, arose among the 
 first Christians, not from any command 
 of God, but from a voluntary agree- 
 ment in the churches, for the sake of 
 order and decorum ? 
 
 A. This is a strange affirmation, if 
 any do make it; since every careful 
 reader of Scripture will soon discover, 
 that whatever the primitive churches 
 might do for the sake of good order, 
 they durst not, and did not, interfere 
 with divine institutions. Besides, where 
 
48 
 
 is the record and proof of such agree* 
 merit ? - 
 
 Q Is there any evidence of an inter- 
 val elapsing between the first churches 
 desisting from the observance of the se- 
 venth day, and attending to the obser- 
 vance of the first day ? 
 
 A. No such thing appears ; let them 
 produce it that can. 
 
 Q. Do not some say, that the mora- 
 lity of the fourth commandment, con- 
 sists in this, " that we should look after, 
 and take up our spiritual rest in God?" 
 
 A. They do so, but without war- 
 rant ; for this is no distinct or peculiar 
 morality of the fourth commandment, 
 but rather belongs to the whole deca- 
 logue ; and if any commandment is to 
 be singled out as having this meaning, 
 it is rather the first than the fourth. 
 
49 
 
 Q. On what foundation, then, may 
 we place the observance of the Lord's 
 day? 
 
 A. On the following : 
 
 1st, There is a new work of creation 
 undertaken and completed. See Isaiah 
 lxv. 17—66. xxii. 23. Rev. xxi. 1. Rom. 
 viii. 19, 20. % Cor. v. 17. Galat. vi. 15. 
 
 9.d, This new creation is accompanied 
 with a new law, and a new covenant. 
 Rom. hi. 27. viii. 2,3, 4. Jerem. xxxi. 
 32, &c. Hcb. viii. 8, &c. 
 
 3c/, To this law and covenant, a day 
 of holy rest to the Lord belongs, which 
 cannot be the same day with the former, 
 any more than it is the same law. 
 
 4>th, This day was limited to the first 
 day of the week, by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 Q. Why should the first day of the 
 week be selected for the observance of 
 the Christian Sabbath ? 
 
 A. Because, 1st, On this day Christ 
 rested from his works, by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, after having laid 
 the foundation of the new heavens and 
 new earth. 
 
 Qd, On this same day he first appear- 
 ed to his disciples, in proof of his re- 
 surrection. 
 
 3d, On the same day, a week after, 
 and not in the interval, he shewed him- 
 self to the incredulous apostle Thomas. 
 4>th, On the first day of the week, 
 our Lord sent the Holy Ghost, with his 
 miraculous gifts, upon the apostles. 
 They were then assembled, with one 
 accord, in the observance of the day 
 signalized by his resurrection, as one 
 
51 
 
 may justly suppose; and their obe- 
 dience in this respect received a blessed 
 confirmation, as well as their persons a 
 glorious endowment. 
 
 5th, The practice of the apostles, and 
 apostolic churches, owned the authority 
 of Christ in the observance of this day, 
 as appears from Acts xx. 6, 7. 
 
 6th, The time for collecting a com- 
 mon stock, for the relief of the Christian 
 poor, is expressly limited to the fir at 
 day of the week, 1 Cor. xvi. 2. 
 
 1th, John, in the book which closes 
 the canon of Scripture, calls it the 
 Lord's day ; not surprising the churches 
 with a new name, but denoting the time 
 of his visions by the name of a day well 
 known to them. And John would not 
 have ventured to call it so, had not the 
 day owed its observation to the Lords 
 
52 
 
 institution and authority. It is called 
 the Lord's day, in the same manner as 
 the ordinance commemorative of Christ's 
 death is called the Lord's Supper, and 
 we know that Christ instituted that. 
 
 8th, There is no appearance, in the 
 history of primitive Christianity, of any 
 other day having been observed among 
 the followers of Jesus, as a day of re- 
 ligious rest. 
 
 Q. But did not the apostles go fre- 
 quently into the Jewish synagogues on 
 the seventh day ? 
 
 A. There is no doubt they did ; and 
 their reason for so doing is evident : — 
 their ministry, for a time, had a pecu- 
 liar regard to the Jews, for the conver- 
 sion of the remnant among them ; and 
 they therefore seized the opportunity 
 #f their assemblies, that they might 
 
53 
 
 preach to the greater numbers of them, 
 and that at a time when they were pre- 
 pared to attend to sacred tilings. But 
 we nowhere read, that they assembled 
 the disciples of Christ on that day for 
 the worship of God. 
 
 Q. If then, no one denies, or well 
 can deny, that the apostles and primi- 
 tive Christians held their meetings sta- 
 tedly on the first day of the week, must 
 we not consider the keeping of this day 
 a matter of divine institution ? 
 
 A. Our doing so is unavoidable ; for 
 neither our Lord nor his apostles would 
 countenance the observance of human 
 inventions. Their practice and patron- 
 age clearly implies the precept, and ex- 
 plains the law, as to this matter. 
 
 Q. Does not its being called the 
 
54 
 
 Lord's day denote some peculiarity is 
 it? 
 
 A. Its being called the Lord's day, 
 shews, that the Lord Jesus claims a spe- 
 cial property in it, and hath set it apart 
 for himself, to be spent by his disciples, 
 in his service, and for keeping up the re- 
 membrance of his memorable work. 
 Whenever we find the Lord claiming 
 any thing in a peculiar manner as his 
 own, from among a number of things 
 of the same kind, it imports his setting 
 it apart from a common to a holy and 
 religious purpose ; and to put such hal- 
 lowed things to a common use, is to 
 profane them, to disobey the Lord, and 
 rob him of his due. When God se- 
 parated Israel, he tells them, " all the 
 earth is mine tf but to them he says, 
 " Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto 
 
S5 
 
 me, above all people." Exod. xix. 5. 
 Hence they are called the LorcVs people 
 in distinction from all others. So all 
 the days of the week arc in a sense the 
 Lord's days ; but this is called the 
 Lord's day in a peculiar sense, and as 
 distinguished from all the other six, 
 even as the seventh day was called the 
 Sabbath of the Lord, in distinction from 
 the other six in which they were to la- 
 bour, Exod. xx. 10. It is called the 
 LorcCs day, (as mentioned above), in 
 the same sense as the breaking of bread 
 is called the Lord's Supper. And if 
 this would be profaned by using it as 
 a common meal, so the Lord's day must 
 be, when any part of it is spent in our 
 common worldly employments. 
 
 Q. Have we any proof in Scripture, 
 
56 
 
 that the first disciples observed the whole 
 of the Lord's day ? 
 
 A. That they met on the evening of 
 that day, appears pretty plain from 
 John xx. 19. John xx. 26. Actsxx. 7, 
 8. 1 Cor. xi. 20. ; — that they met on the 
 morning of that day also, is evident 
 from the memorable account in Acts, 
 chap. ii. where we find that, on the day 
 of Pentecost, the 120 disciples were all 
 with one accord, in one place, and that 
 before the third hour of the day, or 
 nine o'clock in the morning. That Pen- 
 tecost fell on the first day of the week 
 that year, has been often proved. This 
 was no partial meeting — they were all 
 there ; it was no accidental or occasional 
 meeting — they were there with one ac- 
 cord, or with unanimous consent; so 
 that it was a fixed, concerted, meeting. 
 
57 
 
 That the disciples, by this time, were 
 instructed in the reasons for observing 
 that day, is more than probable. 
 
 Q. But pe haps the disciples were 
 every day engaged in such exercises ? 
 
 A. No d. ubt they were, for some 
 time ; but not to the disparagement or 
 neglect of the first day of the week ; at 
 least we have no instance of it. 
 
 Q. Probably they assembled merely 
 to observe the Jewish worship ? 
 
 A. That they went to the temple at 
 the hour of prayer, both to perform 
 their devotions, and to have an oppor- 
 tunity of preaching to the people, is 
 granted ; but when do we find them as- 
 sembled as a church, on the Lord's day, 
 to perform Jewish worship in the tem- 
 ple ? 
 
58 
 
 Q. But how could they employ the 
 whole of the first day of the week ? 
 
 A. They were enjoined to observe a 
 variety of institutions, or branches of 
 worship, as we may learn from Acts ii. 
 42. which must occupy a great part of 
 the day, unless they are very formally 
 and superficially observed. 
 
 Q. What does the apostle Paul say 
 on the subject of the Sabbath, in his 
 epistle to the Colossians ? 
 
 A. He warns the Colossian Chris- 
 tians not to be seduced by those who 
 would compel them to be circum- 
 cised, and to keep the law. He after- 
 wards says, 6i Let no man, therefore, 
 judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect 
 of an holyday, or of the new moons, 
 or of the sabbath days, which are a 
 shadow of things to come, but the bo- 
 
59 
 
 dy is of Christ." From which we learn, 
 that a Christian was not to be censured, 
 ifhc observed no distinction in meat or 
 drink, no new moons, no Jewish feasts 
 and Sabbaths, and the like. That these 
 were ceremonial ordinances against us, 
 and contrary to us, which Christ abo- 
 lished. 
 
60 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CONDUCT OF JESUS, 
 
 In respect to the Sabbath. 
 
 Q. Did Jesus, while on earth, make 
 any alterations in the law of the Sab- 
 bath? 
 
 A. None appear in the. sacred re- 
 cords. 
 
 Q. When he taught that acts of mer- 
 cy were suitable to the Sabbath, did he 
 introduce any new doctrine ? 
 
 A. None. He appealed to the Jews, 
 whether it was lawful, or not, " to heal 
 
61 
 
 on the Sabbath day ;" and they held 
 their peace. Their silence was acqui- 
 escence, Luke xiv. 3. 
 
 Q. Did our Lord consider as viola- 
 tions of the Sabbath, those proper du- 
 ties which are indispensable, and which 
 the Sabbath itself requires ? 
 
 A. On the contrary, he appealed to 
 the law of Moses on this head, Matth. 
 xii. 5. 
 
 Q. Does our Lord teach, that a due 
 care of the brute creation on the Sab- 
 bath, is consonant to the law of God ? 
 
 A. Yes; he reproves some who seemed 
 to insinuate the contrary, Luke xiii. 15. 
 and indeed the terms of the fourth com- 
 mandment respecting cattle* imply a 
 regard to the comfort of animals, and 
 their repose on that day. 
 
62 
 
 Q. But did not our Lord violate the 
 Sabbath, and shew his contempt for it, 
 when he commanded the man at the 
 pool of Bethesda, to take up his bed and 
 walk, since God had commanded the 
 people to bear no burden on the Sab- 
 bath day? John y. 8. Jerem. xvii. 21. 
 
 A. This could not be ; our Lord un- 
 derstood the law too well, and regarded 
 it too highly, to violate it wantonly. 
 And those who consult with care the fol- 
 lowing Scriptures, will find, that the 
 prohibited burdens were such as related 
 to the carrying on trade or ordinary 
 labour. See Jer. xvii- 24. !Neh. xiii. 
 15. A spirit of humanity, and a de- 
 sire to shew the completeness of the 
 cure, prompted our Lord, most proba- 
 bly, to give the man this order. 
 
63 
 
 Q. Docs not Jesus affirm that he is 
 Lord of the Sabbath? Mark ii. 28. 
 
 A. He does ; and perhaps when he 
 affirmed this, lie alluded to a future 
 change in the day of the week, to take 
 place in consequence of his private in- 
 junctions to his apostles. 
 
 Q. Do you not rather think, that by 
 declaring himself Lord of the Sabbath, 
 he pointed at its abolition by his autho- 
 rity ? 
 
 A. By no means ; the argument 
 would not be of a piece were this to be 
 admitted. Our Lord had said, " the 
 Sabbath was made for man," i. e. for 
 man's benefit; and this interpretation 
 would make him say, " I, as Lord of 
 the Sabbath, by speedily abolishing 
 that institution, am going to deprive 
 you of this beneflt. ,, The words of 
 
64 
 
 «ur Lord must then have another im- 
 port, namely, to point indirectly to the 
 regulation of the day of observance, so 
 as to direct the attention of his disciples 
 to the greatest of all mercies, the com- 
 pletion of his labours for their eternal 
 redemption. 
 
 Q. What does our Lord mean when 
 he says, " pray that your flight be not 
 on the Sabbath day ?" Mat. xxiv. 20. 
 
 A. He evidently declares the conti- 
 nued obligation of the law of the Sab- 
 bath, as a moral precept upon all. Some 
 indeed, affirm, that it is the Jewish Sab- 
 bath alone that is intended; but this can- 
 not be ; for, 1st, All obligation to Jewish 
 institutions was taken away at that 
 period our Lord alluded to. %d, His 
 disciples were sufficiently instructed doc- 
 irinally in the dissolution of all obli» 
 
65 
 
 •ration to ceremonial institutions. c 6d, 
 Even the Jews, at that time, counted 
 themselves absolved from the law of the 
 Sabbath, on occasion of imminent dan- 
 ger, so that they might either jiglit or 
 fy, as appears from the decree made by 
 them under the Asmonaeans. Others 
 say, that our Lord had respect, not to 
 the consciences of his disciples, but to 
 their trouble ; and therefore, joins the 
 Sabbath day and the winter together, 
 directing them to pray for an ease and 
 accomodation in that flight which was 
 inevitable. For, as the winter is un- 
 seasonable for such an occasion, so the 
 law concerning the Sabbath was such, 
 that if any one travelled on that day, 
 further than a commonly allowed Sab- 
 bath day's journey, he was to be put 
 to death, But there is no foundation 
 
66 
 
 for this pretence, for 1st, The power of 
 capital punishments was, by this time, 
 taken from the Jews. 2cZ, The times 
 alluded to by our Lord were the times 
 of warfare and rapine, when the national 
 law could not be enforced. It is, there- 
 fore, most probable, that our Lord 
 speaks to his disciples, upon a suppo- 
 sition of the perpetual obligation of the 
 law of the Sabbath, that they should 
 pray to be delivered from the necessity 
 of a flight on the day whereon the 
 duties of it were to be observed, lest 
 falling out otherwise it should prove a 
 great aggravation of their distress. 
 
 Q. When the Jews find fault with 
 the disciples, respecting the plucking 
 ears of corn on the Sabbath, what does 
 our Lord say ? 
 
 A. His arguments are these : 1st. He 
 
67 
 
 points them to the case of David, who 
 ate the shcic-brcad. If his hunger ex- 
 cused the breach of one ritual law, the 
 hunger of his disciples might excuse the 
 breach of another. 2d, The priests, in 
 offering up datfy sacrifices profane the 
 Sabbath ; therefore, the prohibition of 
 working on that day admits of excep- 
 tions. 3d, His presence, as Lord of 
 the Sabbath, and engaged in a divine 
 mission, authorised and privileged his 
 disciples in what they did. 4th, God 
 prefers mercy to sacrifice. 5th, The 
 Sabbath was a merciful institution, for 
 man's benefit, and not a burden. 
 
 Q. What does our Lord mean when 
 he says, " my Father worketh hitherto, 
 and I work?" John v. 17. 
 
 A. He means to say, " you have a 
 wrong notion of the Sabbatic law. You 
 
68 
 
 read that God rested on the seventh 
 day ; he rests indeed from his work of 
 the visible creation, but in the govern- 
 ment or preservation of the things which 
 he has made he worketh hitherto, and 
 will ever work, doing good to his crea- 
 tures at all times. In these instances, 
 and in imitation of him, I also work 
 continually, doing acts of mercy on 
 the Sabbath day, as well as on other 
 days." 
 
 Q. Wherein then, lay the main dis- 
 pute between our Lord and the Jews ? 
 
 A. The dispute between them was, 
 whether it were lawful to do works of 
 mercy and necessity on that day, which 
 they denied, and he affirmed and pro- 
 ved. 
 
69 
 
 Uses of the Day of Rest. 
 
 1. As it is necessary, in the first foun- 
 dation of religion, that we know dis- 
 tinctly whom we are to worship, and in 
 what manner, so it is likewise necessary 
 that some portion oft'tme be allowed for 
 instructing ourselves in the knowledge 
 of our duty ; and for the practice pe- 
 culiarly of that special part of it, which 
 consists in the public acknowledgement 
 and solemn worship of God. This 
 serves as an antidote to atheism. 
 
 2. The Sabbath was originally insti- 
 tuted, that men might continually com- 
 memorate the works of creation, and 
 
70 
 
 acknowledge the one true God, the Au- 
 thor of all things ; and might praise 
 him perpetually for the things that he 
 has made. Gen. ii. 3. Rev. iv. 11. 
 This serves as an antidote to polytheism, 
 and to planet worship. Deut iv. 19. 
 Job xxxi. 26. This reason for obser- 
 ving the Sabbath, from its very nature, is 
 of eternal and unchangeable obligation. 
 3. A reason of the institution peculiar 
 to the Jews was, that they might com- 
 memorate th eir deli verance ou t of the Ian d 
 of Egypt; which, to tlmt people, was, as it 
 were, a new creation. Deut. v. 15. and the 
 despising of the Sabbath of which any 
 Jew was guilty, was a manifest con- 
 tempt of that great deliverance, there- 
 fore highly aggravated. Hence, per- 
 haps, the capital punishment inflicted 
 
71 
 
 on tlie man who gathered sticks on the 
 Sabbath day. Num. xv. 35. 
 
 4. Another reason of the Sabbathbcing 
 instituted Mas, that servants and cattle 
 might have a time of rest. See the 
 fourth commandment, and Exod. xxiii. 
 12. So far as this was a memorial of 
 their bondage in Egypt, it was peculiar 
 to the Jews, and of a ritual nature. 
 But so far as it is founded in general Jnc- 
 iii unity, it is of perpetual obligation. 
 
 5. So far as the Sabbath contains 
 any thing merely ritual, that may be 
 viewed as abolished by the Gospel ; but 
 instead of the Jewish Sabbath, and its 
 peculiarities, there is now instituted, by 
 the appointment and practice of the 
 apostles, (no doubt authorised by our 
 Lord himself), the observance of the 
 
72 
 
 first day of the week, called the LonVs 
 day. 
 
 6. Its use now is, in addition to what 
 is already mentioned, to commemorate 
 the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 from the dead, and to celebrate the great 
 events connected with it, as well as the 
 beneficial results flowing from it to man- 
 kind. 
 
 7. Weak and frail creatures, such 
 as we are, liable to strong temptations, 
 apt to be engrossed by the cares of this 
 life, and to forget the concerns of a 
 better, need to be reminded of those 
 things from which we turn away our 
 thoughts, to be excited to our respec- 
 tive duties, and to be continually ex- 
 horted, lest we be hardened through 
 the deceitfulness of sin. 
 
73 
 
 8. No duty is more frequently incul- 
 cated in the Gospel than benevolence 
 and brotherly love. Now, there is no- 
 thing which seems more proper to pro- 
 mote and preserve union and friendship 
 among Christians, than the associating 
 together for the public worship of God 
 at stated times. 
 
74 
 
 On the Name of the Day of Rest. 
 
 Q. What is the most ancient name 
 of the day of rest ? 
 
 A. The seventh day, Gen. ii. 3. 
 
 Q. What are its more modern names ? 
 
 A. The Sabbath, the first day of the 
 week, the Lord's day, Sunday. 
 
 Q. Is the name of importance ? 
 
 A. No farther than for distinction's 
 sake. 
 
 Q. What is the reason why some re- 
 fuse to employ the term " Sunday f* 
 
 A, Because it is of heathen origin. 
 
75 
 
 < v >. Did tlie ancient Christians use 
 that name ? 
 
 A. Justin Martyr and others do. 
 particularly in reasoning with the hea- 
 then of their time, to whom any other 
 name would probably have been unin- 
 telligible. 
 
 Q. Is there any thing in Scripture 
 that seems to forbid the use of such 
 names ? 
 
 A. Yes; in Exod. xxiii. 13. and Josh, 
 xxiii. 7. and elsewhere, the Jews were 
 forbid to mention the names of the 
 julsc gods. 
 
 Q. On the other hand, is there any 
 apology now for those who use such 
 terms? 
 
 A. There is this, that the origin of 
 these names is now unknown, except to 
 the learned ; and therefore the multi- 
 
76 
 
 tude use them, without knowing or ad* 
 verting to their idolatrous derivation. 
 
 Q. But does not the use of them 
 serve to perpetuate the remembrance of 
 these false gods ? 
 
 A. If there were no other means of 
 perpetuating it, this might be alleged ; 
 but, so long as the ancient Greek and 
 Roman writers are read and studied, 
 and so long as the Scandinavian mytho- 
 logy is at all attended to, as furnishing 
 materials for romantic poetry, these 
 names will be familiar to the minds of 
 civilized men. Nor does the retention 
 of the name serve to perpetuate the sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Q. What may be accounted the best 
 name for the day of rest ? 
 
 A. The Lord's day ; because it is a 
 Scripture name, and because it reminds 
 
77 
 
 us of the day being his ; otherwise, the 
 title of " Christian Sabbath 11 seems 
 neither unsuitable nor unscriptural, in- 
 asmuch as the general notion of a Sab- 
 batical rest is still included in the ob- 
 servance of it. 
 
78 
 TRACES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manner in which the Christian Sabbatic 
 was observed in early times. 
 
 Q. How did the primitive Christians 
 observe the day of rest ? 
 
 A. We learn from Justin Martyr, 
 that they met together every Sunday ; 
 at which time portions of Scripture from 
 the Old and New Testament were read, 
 and discourses were made to exhort 
 them to piety; then they joined in 
 prayer, afterwards they partook of the 
 
79 
 
 lioly communion, and lastly, they 
 made collections for the poor. 
 
 Q. Did the Christians act thus in 
 peaceable times only, or also in times 
 of persecution ? 
 
 A. They were so persuaded that this 
 was an indispensable duty, that they 
 observed the Lord's day, not only in 
 peaceable times, when they were per- 
 mitted to make open profession of their 
 faith, but in times of persecution, and 
 at the hazard of their lives. The cru- 
 elty of princes and magistrates could 
 not make them neglect it ; for we find, 
 by their writings, that they used to come 
 together before break of day, and in 
 small companies, and different places, 
 when they could not meet openly, and 
 in great numbers. 
 
80 
 
 Q. To what authority do you refer, in 
 confirmation of this account of their 
 meetings ? 
 
 A. To the celebrated letter of Pliny 
 to Trajan, Epist. lib. x. 97. where that 
 author says, " They, i.e. the Christians, 
 affirmed, the whole of their guilt or their 
 error was, that tlieyinet on a certain stated 
 day, before it was light, and addressed 
 themselves in a form of prayer to Christ 
 as to some god,'' &c. These meetings 
 were rather before light than during 
 night ; and therefore, by equitable con- 
 struction, did not violate the Roman 
 laws against nocturnal assemblies. Nor, 
 indeed, was it possible for poor labour- 
 ing people to sit up whole nights at their 
 religious assemblies, and to follow their 
 
 several occupations in the day time. 
 
81 
 
 <5. Can you mention any other refe- 
 rences to this day in the writings of the 
 early Christians ? 
 
 A, Those that follow may be noted, 
 not as authorities on this subject, for 
 the Scriptures only are our authority in 
 things sacred, but as evidences of the 
 fact: 
 A. D. 50. Barnabas, " We keep the 
 
 eight day with gladness/' 
 A. D. 105. Ignatius, "Weobserve the 
 
 Lord's day. r> 
 A. D. 105. Ignatius says again, " Let 
 ns no longer sabbatize, but keep the 
 Lord's day, on which our life arose/' 1 
 A. D- 110. Pliny, already quoted, says, 
 " The Christians met on an appoint- 
 ed day, to sing praises to Christ as 
 to a god, and to bind themselves by 
 a sacrament/ 1 
 
82 
 
 A. D. 155. The words of Justin Mar- 
 tyr, already alluded to, are, " On 
 the day that is called Sunday, all, 
 both of the city and country, assem- 
 ble together, where we preach and 
 pray, and discharge all the other 
 usual parts of divine worship.'" 
 
 A. D. 172. Dionysms, bishop of Co- 
 rinth, says, " To-day, being the 
 Lord's day, we keep it holy. On it 
 we have read your epistle, as also 
 the first epistle of Clemens.'" 
 
 A. D. 200. Teriullian styles the parts 
 of public worship, " the Lord's 
 day's solemnities. r> 
 
 A. D. 200. Tertullian says, " On Sun- 
 day we give ourselves to joy."" 
 
 A. D. 204. Clemens Aleocandrinus calls 
 it " the chief of days — our rest in- 
 deed/' 
 
A. D. 230. Mknucws Felix mentions 
 the Christians as assembling to eat 
 on a solemn day. 
 
 A. D. 230. Origen advises to pray to 
 God, " especially on the Lord's day, 
 which is a commemoration of Christ's 
 passion ; for the resurrection of Christ 
 is not only celebrated once a-ycar, 
 but every seven days." 
 
 A. D. 253. Aurelius, a reader in the 
 church, is described by Cyprian as 
 reading on the Lord's day. 
 
 A. D. 290. Victoriniis represents this 
 day, as an usual time wherein they 
 received the Lord's Supper. 
 Q. Were the Christian's equally strict 
 
 in the time of the emperor Constantine ? 
 A. No ; a law was then enacted, that 
 
 judges, artisans, and others, should rest 
 
 on Sunday ; but that husbandmen were 
 
84 
 
 at full liberty to work, since it frequent- 
 ly happened that the weather was un- 
 suitable for agricultural operations on 
 another day, and the bounty of Provi- 
 dence should not be thus left at hazard. 
 
 Q. Was this law ever repealed ? 
 
 A. Yes, and a stricter one published 
 by the emperor Leo ; but none of these 
 are of authority sufficient to regulate 
 our practice* 
 
85 
 
 On the Mode of observing the Lord's 
 Day. 
 
 Q. Will you favour me with your 
 sentiments on this part of the subject ? 
 
 A. This is perhaps the most impor- 
 tant part of the subject, and therefore 
 requires a distinct consideration. 
 
 Some viewing the first day of the 
 week, as a day to be observed in a 
 manner wholly Judaical, have prescri- 
 bed a very rigorous observance of it ; 
 others have collected whatever they 
 couiv think of, that is " lovely and of 
 good report" in the practice of religion, 
 
 H 
 
86 
 
 and enjoined the whole as necessary to 
 the right sanctification of the Christian 
 Sabbath. It has been the mistake of 
 both parties, that they have been more 
 anxious to multiply duties, and give 
 them out by tale or number, than to 
 direct the mind, or inward man, to a 
 due peribrmance of the duties of the 
 day, according to the spirit and genius 
 of gospel obedience. 
 
 As to the time to be allotted to the 
 day of sacred rest, it ought surely to be 
 equivalent to the time allotted to a day 
 of ivorldly labour ; and this is perhaps 
 the best and most reasonable method of 
 measuring it. Besides, Christ rose in 
 the morning of the first day of the week, 
 and appeared to his disciples in the 
 evening. This seems sufficiently to fix 
 the interval. Let,- us beware either of 
 
87 
 
 Jewish scrupulosity in this matter, e>r 
 of irreligious licentious] 
 
 The duties of the day are to be per- 
 formed, according as our natural 
 strength will enable us. As in the old 
 law, he that could not offer a bullock 
 might offer a dove, so here there is an 
 allowance for the natural temperaments 
 and conditions of men. God requires 
 and accepts according to what we have, 
 and not according to what we have not. 
 No one is bound by the prescription of 
 his neighbour, but by his own strength 
 conscientiously estimated. 
 
 Thejratne of mind of those who ob- 
 serve the day, must be suitable to the 
 nature of the gospel dispensation. 13' 
 freed from the bondage of the law, we 
 are to serve God with a spirit, of pa 
 liberty, delight, and joy. Those who 
 
88 
 
 thus serve God, and seek for communion 
 with him in his worship, are a better 
 rule to themselves in regard to words 
 and actions on that day, than those are 
 who reckon over all they say or do, in 
 a manner more becoming a Jewish 
 sabbath than the Christian rest. 
 
 Men should bring right principles 
 to the observance of the day, such as, 
 
 1. Remember, we have had a week 
 for our own purposes, and now God 
 demands a day for his. And thus we 
 own his sovereignty over all our time. 
 
 % Remember it is a day of spiritual 
 and holy rest, reminding us that we 
 should seek for rest in God here, and 
 eternal enjoyment of him hereafter. 
 
 3. Remember, that we lost our ori- 
 ginal rest in God, by transgression ; of 
 
89 
 
 which rest the original seventh-day Sab- 
 bath in paradise was a pledge. 
 
 4. Remember, that the rest we now 
 seek after, is a rest procured lor us by 
 Jesus Christ, into which we can only 
 enter by faith and obedience ; and that 
 much of the employment of the day 
 consists in admiring the recovery of a 
 rest, by the grace of God, manifested 
 through his Son. 
 
 5. Remember, that in the right ob- 
 servance of this day, we subject our con- 
 sciences to the authority of Jesus Christ, 
 as the one mediator between God and 
 man. 
 
 6. Remember, that this weekly rest 
 of Christians, in the worship and con- 
 templation of God, according to the 
 gospel, is a pledge of the more glorious 
 
90 
 
 rest, and more perfect worship to be en- 
 joyed, when time shall have an end. 
 
 In order to more complete abstraction 
 from worldly anxieties and business, 
 and a more solemn and reverential ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath', it would be at 
 least prudent to set apart some short 
 time in the way of preparation for it ; 
 both on account of the greatness and 
 holiness of God, with whom we have 
 more especially to do in attending to 
 the duties of the day ; and also, on ac- 
 count of our being so liable to distrac- 
 tion and entanglement from worldly 
 concerns. We all know how much 
 secular employments, let them be ever 
 » lawful, fill and occupy the mind of 
 e who are ordinarily engaged in 
 ; and that the mind needs to be 
 :/, as it were, and purified of 
 
91 
 
 earthly projects and dependencies. This 
 suggestion about preparing for the Sab- 
 bath, is not intended as a matter bound 
 on the conscience of any, but rather as 
 a matter of prudence, and as auxiliary 
 to the main end of the Sabbath, viz. 
 spiritual edification, and devout waiting 
 upon God. 
 
 Let the day be partly employed in 
 meditation, 1st, On God — 2c7, On the 
 privileges of the day itself, and the ends 
 of its observance. Let it be also em- 
 ployed in supplication. 1. For grace 
 from God to bless the day to our use 
 and enjoyment. 2. For a removal of 
 such evils, hindrances, and temptations, 
 as might prevent our benefiting by its' 
 observance. Let the day be also em- 
 ployed in instruction. * I know Abra- 
 ham, (says God, Gen. xviii, 19) that 
 
92 
 
 lie will command his children, and his 
 household after him ; and they shall 
 keep the way of the Lord, to do jus- 
 tice and judgment,'" &c. This is incum- 
 bent on fathers with respect to their 
 offspring ; masters with respect to their 
 servants ; teachers with respect to their 
 pupils ; and in general on all superiors, 
 who have others under their care or 
 charge. 
 
 The duties of the day may be divi- 
 ded into public and private. With res- 
 pect to both, the following rules may 
 be observed : 
 
 1. That the public worship of God 
 is to be preferred to that which is pri- 
 vate. With prudent management, they 
 need never interfere or entrench on each 
 other ; but when they do, the private 
 must give place to the public. 
 
93 
 
 2. Choice is to be made of those as- 
 semblies for the celebration of public 
 worship, where we may be spiritually 
 most advantaged. 
 
 3. The manner of our attendance 
 should be with reverence, gravity, order, 
 diligence, attention. 
 
 4. No particular duty should be 
 drawn out to such a length as to beget 
 weariness and satiety. Better too short 
 than too long. Better that some be 
 scantily fed, than any overburdened. 
 Remember Senecas' saying of an orator, 
 " we were afraid that he would end/'' 
 
 5. Refreshments useful to nature 
 should not be forborne. Abstinence 
 on that day, farther than it serves a 
 spiritual purpose, is Judaical, and not 
 called for. Only let our refreshments 
 
94 
 
 be seasonable, moderate, and attended 
 with no unnecessary waste of time. 
 
 6. Labour or travel, for advantage to 
 others, in the public worship of God, is 
 no way prohibited. The gospel sets no 
 bounds to a Sabbath day's journey, pro- 
 vided it he for Sabbath day purposes. 
 
 7. Labour in works of charity and 
 sympathy to the poor and sick, is al- 
 lowed by all to be lawful, though toa 
 little attended to. 
 
 8. As for sports and recreations on 
 that day, there can be no doubt in a 
 serious mind, not only of their inu- 
 tility, but of their absolute unseason- 
 ableness and unsuitableness. The 
 same may be affirmed of all music, ex- 
 cept that which any where accompanies 
 the worship of God. 
 
 9. The domestic or personal perusal 
 
95 
 
 of the Scriptures, forms a valuable]; 
 of the private employments of the day. 
 As to the study of mere human wri- 
 tings on that day, it is rather difficult 
 to decide. Perhaps only the Book of 
 God, is suited strictly to the day of God. 
 It is obvious, at any rate, to remark, 
 that those uninspired productions, which 
 are nearest in subject and manner to the 
 Sacred Writings, are the most appro- 
 priate study on the sacred day, if any 
 latitude be allowed in this matter. 
 
 Q. Should not cattle be allowed to 
 rest on the Lord's day ? 
 
 A. Certainly. Therefore, all Sunday 
 travelling on horseback or in vehicles, 
 where cattle are employed is unlawful, 
 and contrary to the fourth command- 
 ment. 
 
96 
 
 Q. Is a spirit of levity allowable on 
 the Lord's day ? 
 
 A. By no means. One important 
 use of a weekly rest, is serious and 
 profitable reflection, in order to the 
 relioious and moral culture of the 
 mind ; it must, therefore be wrong, as 
 evidently interfering with the design of 
 the institution, to give way to levity, 
 or to noisy and riotous mirth. Other- 
 wise, a cheerful rather than an austere 
 manner of spending the day, is favour- 
 able to its proper use. 
 
 Q. Will you particularize what may 
 or may not be done on the Lord's day, 
 in addition to what is already mentioned ? 
 
 -4. It is very difficult to be particu- 
 lar on such a subject, nor is it altogether 
 necessary. A well instructed conscience 
 will readily point out both. Not only 
 
97 
 
 tut secular callings, mere scientific 
 studies, bodily diversions and exercises, 
 seem forbidden, but leasts and revels 
 of every kind are plainly unbecoming, 
 and unlawful. 
 
 As to what may be done, the lan- 
 guage of a heathen, (Sccevola) when 
 consulted what was lawful to be done 
 on holidays, seems appropriate enough, 
 " whatever being omitted would prove 
 injurious." Whatever cannot be done 
 before that day, or after it, without great 
 risk and danger. If instances must be 
 given, let those furnished by Sir Mat- 
 thew Hale, suffice, viz. the stopping of 
 a breach in a sea wall, propping up a 
 fallen edifice, pulling out an ox or other 
 animal fallen into a pit or ditch, setting 
 a broken bone, administering medicine 
 
98 
 
 in imminent diseases, milking of cows, 
 feeding of cattle, and the like. 
 
 Q. Are any cautions necessary re- 
 specting works of necessity ? 
 
 A. 1. That is not a work of neces- 
 sity, which by a little prudent and con- 
 scientious management, might have 
 heew foreseen^ and provided for before 
 the Sabbath. 
 
 2. That is no work of necessity which 
 may be delayed till next day, without 
 material loss or injury. Men often 
 make necessities to serve their own case, 
 and sloth, and fancy, and dislike to the 
 Sabbath. If we were more faithful to 
 God, many of our necessities would 
 vanish into mere imaginations. 
 
 2. Those works of humanity and 
 charity, which are better performed on 
 that day than deferred till another, may 
 
99 
 
 be- lawfully done ; but not so as need- 
 lessly to rob us of our time for the other 
 important purposes of the Sabbath. 
 
 Q. Can you give any other directions 
 respecting the proper observance of the 
 day? 
 
 A. The following hints may be use- 
 ful: Early rising on the Sabbath 
 morning, and private devotional exerci- 
 ses then performed, will conduce much 
 to spiritual advantage through the day. 
 After returning from public worship, it 
 is advisable to retire into a private 
 apartment, and there to note down 
 either the substance of what we heard, 
 or the nature of those impressions and 
 suggestions which arose in our minds 
 during divine service. Let Sunday 
 meals be moderate rather than full. 
 ' are of idle visitors, who might en- 
 
100 
 
 gage one in vain and unsuitable con- 
 versation. See that the other members 
 of the family are properly employed^ 
 especially the younger ones. 
 
101 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 If men should once take the keeping 
 of the Sabbath into their own hands, 
 and deny that they arc bound to ob- 
 serve the first day of the week, the 
 consequence would be, they would find 
 themselves at no small loss what to fix: 
 upon, or wherein to acquiesce in this 
 matter. It must either be left to every 
 individual to act as seems good to him, 
 or the decision of it must be committed 
 to others, to the church or to the civil 
 magistrate. Hence there would be as 
 many determinations about it as there 
 
102 
 
 are distinct ecclesiastical or political 
 rulers. And, according to the preva- 
 lence of superstition or profaneness in 
 the minds of those who had the power 
 of determining the time of worship, so 
 would the arrangement of it be. 
 
 We have an instance of this confu- 
 sion in the case of holydays, which each 
 church and sect appoints and observes, 
 according to pleasure ; the church of 
 Rome observing many ; the church of 
 England not a few ; the dissenters, a 
 very small number, if any, and the 
 Quakers none at all. 
 
 Duties which men are left at liberty 
 to discharge at what time they please, 
 soon come to be utterly neglected. Of 
 all those great numbers who cannot be 
 prevailed on to worship their Creator 
 upon the solemn day set apart for that 
 
103 
 
 purpose, there are few who find it more 
 convenient to do it on any other, 
 
 ^Negligence of the Lord's day is ge- 
 nerally owing to some little call of busi- 
 ness or pleasure, or perhaps to mere 
 indolence, and not to the great respect 
 we have for any superior duties. Such 
 pretend, that God will have mercy 
 rather than sacrifice^ but they give him 
 neither. 
 
 Because it is difficult to specify the 
 particular duties of individuals on the 
 Lord's day, just as it is to say what 
 sum of money each man should give in 
 charity, we are not therefore left at li- 
 berty to act as we may think fit, or 
 rather as we may fancy. Even if the 
 Scriptures were silent — if there were no 
 traces of this custom in the practice of 
 the Apostles, who gave all their time t« 
 
104 
 
 religion, and continued daily, with one 
 accord, in the temple ; one might al- 
 most add, were there no revealed reli- 
 gion upon earth, this day is now, by 
 so many reasons, by so long a prescrip- 
 tion, for such important purposes, ap- 
 propriated and consecrated to God, 
 that it were a sacrilege to profane it. 
 
 Though the places of public worship, 
 on a Lord's day, contain some hypocriti- 
 cal persons, many thoughtless people, 
 no small number of lukewarm christians, 
 and in general, too many wicked persons, 
 of every class, who join no devotion to 
 their prayers, and no holiness to their 
 devotion, yet the good are all there. 
 
 We should be careful not to overva- 
 lue our observance of the Lord's day ; 
 when we have done all, we are unpro- 
 fitable servants. Much more should 
 
105 
 
 we beware of that foolish and illusive 
 imagination, that a decent and regular 
 attendance on public worship, will atone 
 lor habitual offences, and indulged sins ; 
 and that if we give a seventh part of 
 our time to God, we may give the other 
 six to folly and iniquity. 
 
 Unhappily, both the poor and rich 
 are often endangered by having one 
 day every week entirely at their own 
 disposal, but the poor especially are so. 
 Thus every good institution is liable to 
 abuse; and how frequently does the 
 Lord of the Sabbath, by a kind of au- 
 dible providence* interpose to punish 
 on the spot the profanation of his own 
 day. lie would do a service to Chris- 
 tian society who would collect the in- 
 stances of this. How often is it the 
 case, that men brought to the most de- 
 
106 
 
 plorable end, and become an awful 
 spectacle for the benefit of others, have 
 been heard to acknowledge immediately 
 before their exit, that their first engage- 
 ments in iniquity were contracted du- 
 ring their leisure on the LorcTs day ; 
 and thus they were brought to perdition, 
 by the very means which God had mer- 
 cifully appointed for their salvation. 
 
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