Sanctification of the Sabbath Day

The Sanctification of the Sabbath

Thomas Boston

Excerpts from An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion, with Respect to Faith and Practice, upon the Plan of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, Comprehending a Complete Body of Divinity, published posthumously in 1773.

I come now to show you how the Sabbath is to be sanctified. The Catechism tells us, "It is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy."

Here I shall show, what it is to sanctify the Sabbath, and what are the parts of the sanctification of it.

First, I am to show, what it is to sanctify the Sabbath. The Sabbath day is not capable of any sanctity or holiness, but what is relative; that is, in respect of its use for holy rest or exercise. So, (1.) God has sanctified that day, by setting it apart for holy uses, designing and appointing it in a special manner for his own worship and service. (2.) Men must sanctify it by keeping it holy, spending that day in God's worship and service for which God has set it apart; using it only for the uses that God has consecrated it unto.

Secondly, I come to show what are the parts of the sanctification of the Sabbath. They are two; holy rest, and holy exercise.

First, the Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy rest. Therefore it is called a sabbath, i.e. a rest.

1. What are we to rest from? On the Sabbath we must rest.

1st, from our worldly employments. God has given us six days for these; but His day must be kept free from them: "In it thou shalt not do any work." The works of our worldly calling have six days, those of our heavenly calling but one. We must rest from the former, that we may apply ourselves to the latter. Now, such works are to be accounted, (1.) All handy [manual] labor or servile employments tending to our worldly gain, as on other days of the week, as ploughing and sowing, bearing of burdens, etc., Neh. 13:15, driving of beasts to market, or exercising any part of one's calling. (2.) All study of liberal arts and sciences. The Sabbath is not a day for such exercises, as the reading of history, the studying of sciences, etc., Isa. 58:13. (3.) All civil works, such as making bargains, unnecessary journeying, traveling to Monday markets on the Lord's Day, though people wait on sermons, or take them by the way. It is indeed the sin of those that do not change their market days when they so fall out, and a sin in the government to suffer it: but that will not justify those who comply with the temptation, seeing God has given us other days of the week. If they cannot overtake their market after the Sabbath, they should go away before, that they may rest on the Sabbath, wherever they are, Exod. 16:29.

2dly, from all worldly recreations, though lawful on other days. It is not a day for carnal pleasures of any sort, more than it is for worldly employments. Our delights should be heavenly this day, not to please the flesh but the spirit; and sports, plays, and pastimes are a gross profanation of the Sabbath, Isa. 58:13-14.

Now this rest of the Sabbath from these must be, (1.) A rest of the hands from them. The hands must rest, that the heart may be duly exercised. (2.) A rest of the tongue. People should not give their orders for the week's work on the Lord's Day, nor converse about their worldly business. (3.) A rest of the head from thinking of it, and forming plans and contrivances about worldly affairs.

But here are excepted works of two sorts:

1. Works of necessity, as to quench a house on fire, etc. 2. Works of mercy, as to save the live of a beast; see Matthew 12. Under which may be comprehended, (1.) Good works, such as visiting the sick, relieving the poor, etc. (2.) Works of decency, such as dressing the body with comely attire. (3.) Works of common honesty and humanity, as saluting one another, I Pet. 3:8. (4.) Works of necessary refreshment, as dressing and taking of meat. (5.) Works having a necessary connection with and tendency to the worship of God, as traveling on the Lord's Day to sermons, II Kings 4:23.

But in all these things it should be regarded, that the necessity be real, and not pretended: for it is not enough that the work cannot be done to such advantage on another day; for that might let out people on the Sabbath, if it be a windy day or so, to cut down their corn, which God has in a special manner provided against, Exod. 34:21; and that would have justified the sellers of fish, whom Nehemiah discharged, Neh. 13:16-17. And therefore I cannot think that the making of cheese on the Lord's day can be counted a work of necessity, lawful on that day: for as much might be said in the other cases as can be said in this, viz. that the corn may shake, the fishes spoil, etc. Besides, people should take heed that they bring not that necessity on themselves, by timeously [in a timely manner] providing against it. And when works of real necessity and mercy are to be done, they should be done, not with a work day's, but a Sabbath day's frame.

2. Who are to rest? The command is very particular.

(1.) Men. [1.] The heads of the family, the heads of the state, master and mistress, are to give example to others. [2.] The children, son, daughter; they must not have their liberty to profane the Sabbath by playing more than working. [3.] Servants, whose toil all the week may tempt them to misspend the Lord's Day; they must not be bidden profane the Sabbath; and if they be, they must obey God rather than man. [4.] The stranger must not be allowed his liberty: we must not compliment away the honor of the Sabbath.

(2.) Beasts; they must rest; not that the law reaches them for themselves, but for their owners; either because they require attendance at work, or put the case they did not, yet it is the work which must not be done. This lets us see, that where even their work may be carried on, on the Lord's Day without attendance on them, yet it is not to be done.

3. What makes the rest holy? Respect to the command of God.

Secondly, the Sabbath is to be sanctified by holy exercise.

1. Public exercise; of God's worship, Isa. 66:23; as hearing sermons, Luke 4:16; prayer, Acts 16:13-14; receiving of the sacraments, where there is occasion, Acts 20:7; singing of psalms, Psalm 92, title. 2. Private exercises of worship, alone and in our families, Lev. 23:3. Neither of these must justle out the other. God has joined them; let us not put them asunder.

And these duties are to be done with a special elevation of heart on the Sabbath day; they ought to be performed with a frame suiting the Sabbath, Isa. 58:13.

1st, Grace must be stirred up to exercise, otherwise the Sabbath will be a burden. Grace will be at its height in heaven, and the Sabbath is an emblem of heaven, Rev. 1:10). 2dly, The heart should be withdrawn from all earthly things, and intent upon the duty of the day. We must leave the ass at the foot of the mount, that we may converse with God. 3dly, Love and admiration are special ingredients here. The two great works of creation and redemption, which we are particularly called to mind on the Lord's Day, are calculated to excite our love and admiration. 4thly, We should have a peculiar delight in the day, and the duties of it, exchanging our lawful pleasures on other days with spiritual pleasures on this.

The rest without holy exercise is not sufficient.

1. The Sabbath rest resembles that of heaven, which is a rest without a rest, wherein the soul is most busy and active, serving the Lord without weariness. 2. If it were enough, we were obliged to sanctify the Sabbath no more than beasts, who only rest that day. 3. The rest enjoined is not commanded for itself, but for the holy exercises of the day.

Now, it is the whole day that is thus to be spent; i.e. the natural day. Not that people are bound to be in these exercises without intermission all the twenty-four hours; for God has not made the Sabbath to be a burden to man, but that we should continue God's work as we do our own on other days, where we are allowed necessary rest and refreshment by sleep in the night.

Use. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This note is put upon it.

1. Because of the great weight of the thing, the Sabbath being the bond of all religion. It is God's deal-day, wherein his people may expect furniture for all the week.

2. Because we are very apt to forget it, Ezek. 22:26). There is less light of nature for this than other commands. It restrains our liberty in those things that we do all the week. And Satan, knowing the importance of it for our souls, that it is a day of blessing, sets on us to forget it. If you would then sanctify the Sabbath, (1.) Remember it before it come; on the last day of the week, on the Saturday's evening, laying by work timeously [in a timely manner] to prepare for it, Luke 23:54. (2.) Remember it when it is come; rise early on the Sabbath morning, Ps. 92:2. The morning hath enough ado: worship God secretly and privately: prepare yourselves for ordinances, wrestle with God for His presence thereto, that He may graciously assist the minister in preaching, and you in hearing, and may bless the word to you. Remember it while it is going on, that it is God's day, a day of blessing, and ply diligently the work of the day, not only in time of the public work, but after, till the day be finished. (3.) Remember it when it is over, to see what good you have got by it; to bless Him for any smiles of His face, or manifestations of His grace; and to mourn over your failures, and apply to the blood of Christ for pardon and cleansing.

I proceed to show, what is forbidden in the fourth commandment. We are told in the Catechism, that is "forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations."

There are five ways in which this commandment is broken.

First, By omission of the duties required on this day, whether in whole or in part. Many of the Sabbath duties are the duties of every day; but the omission of them, which is always criminal, is more so on this day, because on it we are specially called to them. We sin against this command, then, when we neglect the public or private exercises of God's worship.

1. Not remembering the Sabbath, before it come, to prepare for it; entertaining a carnal, worldly frame of spirit on the night before, not laying aside work betimes, and composing our hearts for the approaching Sabbath; far more when people continue at their work later that night than ordinary, getting as near the borders of the Sabbath as they can.

2. Neglecting the duties of the Sabbath morning; particularly, (1.) The duty of meditation. Those that are in the spirit on the Lord's Day, their spirits will be busy, elevated to heavenly things, and conversing with heaven. The two great works of creation and redemption require our thoughts particularly on that day, Ps. 92:5; and we must needs be guilty, when, while God has set these great marks before us, we do not aim to hit them. Has not God made it a day of blessing? should not we then consider our wants, miseries, and needs, and sharpen our appetites after that food that is set before us in ordinances on that day? (2.) Secret prayer. The Sabbath morning is a special time for wrestling with God, confessing, petitioning, and giving thanks. Then there should be wrestling for the blessing on the day of blessing. And the neglect of it is a very bad beginning for that good day. When will they come to God's door who will not come then? Ps. 92:1-2. (3.) Family exercise. This command has a special respect to family religion. As God will have the family to mind and see to their own work on the six days, so he calls them to mind his together on the Sabbath. Every family is to be a church, especially on the Lord's Day. And if people came with their hearts warmed from family duties to the public, they would speed.

3. Neglect of the public exercises of God's worship, Heb. 10:25. By this neglect the Sabbath is profaned. The public ordinances on the Lord's Day, whatever they do else, they keep up a standard for Christ in the world; and to slight them is the way to fill the world with atheism and profaneness. As it would be the sin of ministers not to administer them, so it is the sin of people not to attend on them. But O how does this profanation abound, by unnecessary absenting from public ordinances! It is not enough to spend the time in private. God requires both; and the one must not justle out the other. Nothing should be admitted as an excuse in this, but what will bear weight when the conscience is sisted before God.

4. Neglecting the duties of the day when the public work is over. The Sabbath is not over when the public work is over. When we go home to our houses, we must keep the Sabbath there too, Lev. 23:3. It ought not to be an idle time. You ought to retire by yourselves, and meditate on what you have heard, on your behavior at the public ordinances, and be humbled for your failings; confer together about the word, renew your calling on God in secret, and in your families, and with variety of holy exercises spend what remains of the day.

Secondly, The Sabbath is profaned be a careless performance of the duties required. Though we perform the duties themselves, we may profane the Sabbath by the way of managing them. Now, it is a careless performance to perform them: 1. Hypocritically, Matt. 15:7, while the body is exercised in Sabbath's work, but the heart goes not along with it. 2. Carnally, in an earthly frame of spirit, the heart nothing savoring of heaven, but still of the world. Hence are so many distracting thoughts about worldly things, that the heart cannot be intent on the duty of the day, Amos 8:5. 3. Heartlessly and coldly. The Sabbath should be called a delight; a special vigor and alacrity is required to Sabbath duties. But O how flat, heartless, dead, and dull are we for the most part! so that many are quite out of their element on the Lord's Day, and never come to themselves, or any alacrity of spirit, till the Sabbath be over, and they return to their business. 4. To perform them with a weariness of them, or in them, Mal. 1:13. Alas! is not the Sabbath the most wearisome day of all the week to many? The rest of the Sabbath is more burdensome then the toil of other days. How will such take with heaven, where there is an eternal rest, an everlasting Sabbath? This is a contempt of God and of his day.

Thirdly, The Sabbath is profaned by idleness. God has made the Sabbath a rest, but not a mere rest. He never allows idleness: on the week days we must not be idle, or we misspend our own time. On the Lord's Day we must not be idle, or we misspend and profane God's time. Thus the Sabbath is idled away and profaned. 1. By unnecessary, unseasonable sleeping in that day; lying long in the Sabbath morning, going soon to bed that night, to cut God's day as short as may be; and much more sleeping in any other time of the day, to put off the time. 2. By vain gadding abroad on the Lord's Day, through the fields, or gathering together about the doors, to idle away the time in company. It is very necessary that people keep indoors on the Lord's Day as much as may be; and if necessity or conveniency call them forth, that they carry their Sabbath's work with them. 3. By vain and idle discourse or thoughts. We must give an account of every idle work spoken on any day, far more for those spoken on the Lord's Day, which are doubly sinful.

Fourthly, The Sabbath is profaned by doing that which is in itself sinful. To do those things on the Lord's Day that ought not to be done any day, is a sin highly aggravated. Thus the Sabbath is profaned by people's discouraging others from attending ordinances, instead of attending themselves; swearing or cursing on that day, instead of praising God. The better the day, the worse is the deed. How fearful must their doom be who wait that time for their wicked pranks, as some dishonest servants, and other naughty persons, who choose the time that others are at church for their hidden works of dishonesty; because then they get most secrecy? And indeed the devil is very busy that way, and has brought some on to commit such things on the Sabbath day as have brought them to an ill end.

Lastly, By unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations. The Sabbath is profaned, 1. By carnal recreations, nowise necessary nor suitable to the work of the Sabbath; such as, all carnal pleasures, sports, plays, and pastimes, Isa. 58:13. 2. By following of worldly employments on that day, working or going about ordinary business, except in cases of necessity and mercy, Matt. 24:20. Though, where real necessity or mercy is, it is an abuse of that day to forbear such things, as sometimes the Jews did, who being attacked on the Lord's Day, would not defend themselves. 3. By unnecessary thoughts or discourse about them; for that day is a day of rest for them every way; and we should neither think of nor talk about them.

O let us be deeply humbled before the Lord under the sense of our profanations of the Sabbath! for who can plead innocent here? We are all guilty in some shape or other, and had need to flee to the atoning blood of Jesus for the expiation of this and all our other sins.

I come now to consider the reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment. And these, according to the Catechism, are, "God's allowing us six days of the week for our own employments; his challenging a special propriety in the seventh; his own example; and his blessing the Sabbath day."

This command God has enforced by four reasons,

1. The first reason is taken from the equity of this command. God has allowed us six days of seven for our own business, and has reserved but one for himself. In dividing our time betwixt himself and us, He has made our share great, six for one. Consider the force of this reason. 1st, We have time enough to serve ourselves in the six days, and shall we not serve God on the seventh? They that will not be satisfied with six, would as little be satisfied with sixteen. But carnal hearts are like a sand bed to devour that which is holy. Nay, 2dly, We have time enough to tire ourselves on the six days in our own employments; it is a kindness that we are obliged to rest on the Lord's Day. Our interest is our duty, and our duty is our interest. It is a kindness to our bodies and souls too. And shall we not be engaged by it to sanctify the Sabbath? 3dly, There is time enough to raise the appetite for the Sabbath. It comes so seldom, though so sweet to the exercised soul, that we may long for it, and rejoice at the return of it. It is sad if six days' interval cannot beget in us spiritual appetite. 4thly, God might have allowed us but one day, and taken six to Himself. Who could have quarreled the Lord of time? Has he reserved but one for six, and shall we grudge it him? The sentence of David in the parable against the rich man that took away the poor man's ewe lamb, is applicable here: "The man that hath done this thing shall surely die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold," etc., II Sam. 12.

2. The second reason is taken from God's challenging a special propriety in the Sabbath day; "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God". All days are his; but this is his in a peculiar manner, Rev. 1:10. He has set a mark on it for himself, to be reserved for himself to himself. Consider the force of this reason. 1st, If we have a God, it is reasonable that God should have a time set apart for His service, "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God". The heathen had days set apart for the honor of their idols; though the dumb idols could not demand them, yet they gave them. Papists have days set apart for saints, who are to them a sort of gods, though some of them, as Paul, have forbidden it. And will you not keep holy the Sabbath of the Lord thy God? 2dly, It is sacrilege, the worst of theft, to profane the Sabbath day. It is a robbing of God, a stealing from him that is consecrated to him, and that is dangerous, Prov. 20:25. We justly blame the churches of Rome and England, for robbing the people of a great many days which God has given us; but how may we blame ourselves for robbing God of the day he has kept from us, and taken to himself? Alas! our zeal for God is far below our zeal for ourselves. They stick to their saints' days, but how weary are we of God's days? Mal. 3:8.

3. The third reason is taken from God's example, who, though he could have perfected the world in a moment, yet, spent six days in it, and but six days, resting the seventh, taking a complacency in the work of his own hand; and this is an example to be imitated by us. Consider the force of this reason. 1st, God's example proposed for imitation is a most binding rule, Eph. 5:1. "Be ye followers of God." What God does is best done, and we must labor to write after his copy. 2dly, The profaning of the Sabbath is most eminent and signal contempt of God and of his works. Did God rest on the Sabbath, taking a complacency in the six days' works? Our not doing so is an undervaluing of what God so highly esteemed, slighting of what He so much prized, and consequently a contempt of Himself and His works too.

4. The fourth reason is taken from His blessing the Sabbath day. His blessing of that day is His blessing it as a mean of blessing us in the keeping of it. It imports,

1st, The Lord's putting a peculiar honor on it beyond all other days. It is the "holy of the Lord and honorable". The King of heaven has make it the queen of days. Therefore it should be our question, What shall be done to that day the King delighteth to honor? Let us beware of leveling that with common things which God has advanced so far above them.

2dly, That the Lord has set it apart for a spiritual blessing to his people, so that in the sanctification of that day we may look for a blessing, Isa. 56:6-7; nay, that the Lord will multiply his blessings on that day more on his people than any other days wherein they seek it. So that, as the Lord requires more on that day than on any other days, He also gives more.

3dly, That the Lord will make it even a spring of temporal blessings. He will not let the day of blessing to be a curse to people in their temporal affairs. They shall be at no loss in their worldly things by the Sabbath rest, Lev. 25:20, 22. Conscientious keepers of the Sabbath will be found to thrive as well otherwise as those who are not. The force of this reason is, (1.) God's honor by keeping that day, that we may get his blessings on it showered down upon us. So that the profanation of the Sabbath is like profane Esau's rejecting the blessing. (2.) Our own interest. Is it a special day for blessing, and shall we not observe it? It is an unworthy mistake to look upon the Sabbath as so much lost time. No time is so gainful as a Sabbath holily observed. And indeed the great reason of the profaning of the Sabbath may be found to lie, [1.] In carnality and worldly mindedness. The Sabbath is no delight to many. Why? Because heaven would be no heaven for them, for they savor not the things of God. The heart that is drowned in the cares or pleasures of the world, all the week over, is as hard to get in a Sabbath frame, as wet wood to take fire. [2.] Insensibleness of their need of spiritual blessings. They are not sensible of their wants, and hence they despise the blessing. He that has nothing to buy or sell can stay at home on the market day, and the full soul cares not for God's day. [3.] The not believing of the blessing of that day. They that think they may come as good speed any day in the duties of the day as on the Lord's Day, no wonder that they count God's day, and the duties of it, as common.

Use. Let me exhort you then to beware of profaning the Sabbath. Learn to keep it holy. And therefore I would call you here to several duties.

1. Remember the Sabbath day, before it come, to prepare for it, and let your eye be on it before the week be done. Timeously [in a timely manner] lay by your worldly employment, and go not near the borders of the Lord's day, and strive to get your hearts in a frame suitable to the exercises of this holy day.

2. Make conscience of attending the public ordinances, and waiting on God in his own house on his own day. Loiter not away the Lord's day at home unnecessarily, seeing the Lord trusts to meet his people there. This will bring leanness to your own souls, and grief of heart to him that bears the Lord's message to you.

3. Before you come to the public, spend the morning in secret and private exercises, particularly in prayer, reading, and meditation; remembering how much your success depends upon suitable preparation. Put off your shoes before ye tread the holy ground.

4. Make not your attendance on the public ordinances a by-hand work, and a mean for carrying on your worldly affairs. If ye come to the church to meet with some body, and to discourse or make appointments about your worldly business, it will be a wonder if ye meet with the Lord. If ye travel on the Lord's Day, and take a preaching by the way, it may well cheat your blinded consciences; it will not be pleasing to God, for it makes his service to stand but in the second room, while your main end is what concerns your temporal affairs. Among the Jews no man might make the mountain of the house, or a synagogue, a thoroughfare. And beware of common discourse between sermons, which is too much practiced among professors.

5. When ye come home from the public ordinances, let it be your care, both by the way and at home, to meditate or converse about spiritual things, and what ye have heard. Retire and examine yourselves as to what ye have gained, and be not as the unclean beasts, who chew not the cud. Let masters of families take account of their children and servants how they have profited, catechise and instruct them in the principles of religion, and exhort them to piety.

6. When ye are necessarily detained from the public ordinances, let your hearts be there, Ps. 63:1-2; and do not turn that to sin which in itself is not your sin. And strive to spend the Lord's Day in private and secret worship, looking to the Lord for the upmaking of your wants. As for those that tie themselves to men's service, without a due regard to their having opportunities to hear the Lord's word, their wages are dear bought, and they have little respect to God or their own souls; and I think tender Christians will be loath to engage so. But, alas! few masters or servants look further than the work or wages in their engaging together! A sad argument that religion is at a low ebb.

7. Do not cut the Sabbath short. The Church of Rome has half holidays; God never appointed any such; it is one whole day. Alas! it is a sad thing to see how the Lord's Day is so consumed, as if people would make up the loss of a day out of Saturday's night and Monday's morning, which they do by cutting short the Lord's Day.

8. Lastly, Labour to be in a Sabbath day's frame. Let the thoughts of worldly business, far more worldly words and works be far from you. To press this, consider, (1.) It is God's command, whereby he tries your love to him. This day is as the forbidden fruit. Who does not condemn Adam and Eve for eating it? O do not profane it any manner of way! (2.) Heaven will be an everlasting Sabbath, and our conversation should be heaven-like. If we grudge the Lord one day in seven, how will we relish eternity? We are ready to complain that we are toiled with the world: why then do we not enter into his rest? (3.) The great advantage of sanctifying the Lord's Day. He has made it a day of blessing. It is God's deal-day; and keeps up the heart of many through the week while they think of its approach. (4.) Lastly, Ye will bring wrath on you if ye do not sanctify the Sabbath. God may plague you with temporal, spiritual, and eternal plagues. Many begin with this sin of profaning the Lord's Day, and it brings upon them the wrath of God, both in this world and that which is to come.

Authority of the Sabbath

I hold it to be of primary importance to have this point clearly settled in our minds. Here is the very rock on which many of the enemies of the Sabbath make shipwreck. They tell us that the day is "a mere Jewish ordinance," and that we are no more bound to keep it holy than to offer sacrifice. They proclaim to the world that the observance of the Lord's Day rests upon nothing but Church authority, and cannot be proved by the Word of God.

Now I believe that those who say such things are entirely mistaken.

My own Firm conviction is, that the observance of a Sabbath Day is part of the Eternal Law of God. It is not a mere temporary Jewish ordinance. It is not a man-made institution of priest-craft. It is not an unauthorized imposition of the Church. It is one of the everlasting rules which God has revealed for the guidance of all mankind. It is a rule that many nations without the Bible have lost sight of, and buried, like other rules, under the rubbish of superstition and heathenism. But it was a rule intended to be binding on all the children of Adam.

What saith the Scripture? This is the grand point after all. What public opinion says, or newspaper writers think, matters nothing. We are not going to stand at the bar of man when we die. He that judgeth us is the Lord God of the Bible. What saith the Lord?

(a) I turn to the history of Creation. I there read that "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it" (Gen. 2:3). I find the Sabbath mentioned in the very beginning of all things. There are five things which were given to the father of the human race, in the day that he was made. God gave him a dwelling-place, a work to do, a command to observe, a helpmeet to be his companion, and a Sabbath Day to keep. I am utterly unable to believe that it was in the mind of God that there ever should be a time when Adam's children should keep no Sabbath.

(b) I turn to the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. I there read one whole commandment out of ten devoted to the Sabbath Day, and that the longest, fullest, and most detailed of all (Exod. 20:8-11). I see a broad, plain distinction between these Ten Commandments and any other part of the Law of Moses. It was the only part spoken in the hearing of all the people, arid after the Lord had spoken it, the Book of Deuteronomy expressly says, "He added no more" (Deut. 5:22). It was delivered under circumstances of singular solemnity, and accompanied by thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. It was the only part written on tables of stone by God Himself. It was the only part put inside the ark. I find the law of the Sabbath side by side with the law about idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and the like. I am utterly unable to believe that it was meant to be only of temporaryobligation.1

(c) I turn to the writings of the Old Testament Prophets. I find them repeatedly speaking of the breach of the Sabbath, side by side with the most heinous transgressions of the moral law (Ezek. 20:13, 16, 24; 22:8, 26). I find them speaking of it as one of the great sins which brought judgments on Israel and carried the Jews into captivity (Neh. 13:18; Jer. 17:19-27). It seems clear to me that the Sabbath, in their judgment, is something far higher than the washings and cleansings of the ceremonial law. I am utterly unable to believe, when I read their language, that the Fourth Commandment was one of the things one day to pass away.

(d) I turn to the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ when He was upon earth. I cannot discover that our Savior ever let fall a word in discredit of any one of the Ten Commandments. On the contrary, I find Him declaring at the outset of His ministry, "that He came not to destroy the law but to fulfil," and the context of the passage where He uses these words, satisfies me that He was not speaking of the ceremonial law, but the moral (Matt. 5:17). I find Him speaking of the Ten Commandments as a recognized standard of moral right and wrong: "Thou knowest the Commandments" (Mark 10:19). I find Him speaking eleven times on the subject of the Sabbath, but it is always to correct the superstitious additions which the Pharisees had made to the Law of Moses about observing it, and never to deny the holiness of the day. He no more abolishes the Sabbath, than a man destroys a house when he cleans off the moss or weeds from its roof. Above all, I find our Savior taking for granted the continuance of the Sabbath, when He foretells the destruction of Jerusalem. "Pray ye," He says to the disciples, "that your flight be not on the Sabbath Day" (Matt. 24:20). I am utterly unable to believe, when I see all this, that our Lord did not mean the Fourth Commandment to be as binding on Christians as the other nine.

(e) I turn to the writings of the Apostles. I there find plain speaking about the temporary nature of the ceremonial law and its sacrifices and ordinances. I see them called "carnal" and "weak." I am told they are a "shadow of things to come," -- "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ,' and "ordained till the time of reformation." But I cannot find a syllable in their writings which teaches that any one of the Ten Commandments is done away. On the contrary, I see St. Paul speaking of the moral law in the most respectful manner, though he teaches strongly that it cannot justify us before God. When he teaches the Ephesians the duty of children to parents, he simply quotes the Fifth Commandment: "Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise" (Rom. 7:12; 13:8; Eph. 6:2; 1 Tim. 1:8). I see St. James and St. John recognizing the moral law, as a rule acknowledged and accredited among those to whom they wrote (James 2:10; 1 John 3:4). Again I say that I am utterly unable to believe that when the Apostles spoke of the law, they only meant nine commandments, and not ten.'

(f) I turn to the practice of the Apostles, when they were engaged in planting the Church of Christ. I find distinct mention of their keeping one day of the week as a holy day (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). I find the day spoken of by one of them as "the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10). Undoubtedly the day was changed: -- it was made the first day of the week in memory of 'our Lord's resurrection, instead of the seventh: -- but I believe the Apostles were divinely inspired to make that change, and at the same time wisely directed to make no public decree about it. The decree would only have raised a ferment in the Jewish mind, and caused needless offence: the change was one which it was better to effect gradually, and not to force on the consciences of weak brethren. The spirit of the Fourth Commandment was not interfered with by the change in the smallest degree: the Lord's Day, on the first day of the week, was just as much a day of rest after six days' labor, as the seventh-day Sabbath had been. But why we are told so pointedly about the "first day of the week" and "the Lord's Day," if the Apostles kept no one day more holy than another, is to my mind whole inexplicable.

(g) I turn, in the last place, to the pages of unfulfilled prophecy. I find there a plain prediction that in the last days, when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, there shall still be a Sabbath. "From one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord" (Isa. 66:23). The subject of this prophecy no doubt is deep. I do not pretend to say that I can fathom all its parts: but one thing is very certain to me -- and that is that in the glorious days to come on the earth there is to be a Sabbath, and a Sabbath not for the Jews only, but for "all flesh." And when I see this I am utterly unable to believe that God meant the Sabbath to cease between the first coming of Christ and the second. I believe He meant it to be an everlasting ordinance in His Church.

I ask serious attention to these arguments from Scripture. To my own mind it appears very plain that wherever God has had a Church in Bible times, God has also had a Sabbath Day. My own firm conviction is, that a Church without a Sabbath would not be a Church on the model of Scripture.2

Let me close this part of the subject by offering two cautions, which I consider are eminently squired by the temper of the times.

For one thing, let us beware of under-valuing the Old Testament. There has arisen of late years a most unhappy tendency to slight and despise any religious argument which is drawn from an Old Testament source, and to regard the man who uses it as a dark, benighted, and old-fashioned person. We shall do well to remember that the Old Testament is just as much inspired as the New, and that the religion of both Testaments is in the main, and at the root, one and the same. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud; the New Testament is the Gospel in full flower. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the blade: the New Testament is the Gospel in full ear. The Old Testament saints saw many things through a glass darkly: but they looked to the same Christ by faith and were led by the same Spirit as ourselves. Let us, therefore, never listen to those who sneer at Old Testament arguments. Much infidelity begins with an ignorant contempt of the Old Testament.

For another thing, let us beware of despising the law of the Ten Commandments. I grieve to observe how exceedingly loose and unsound the opinions of many men are upon this subject. I have been astonished at the coolness with which even clergymen sometimes speak of them as a part of Judaism, which may be classed with sacrifices and circumcision. I wonder how such men can read them to their congregations every week! For my own part, I believe that the coming of Christ's Gospel did not alter the position of the Ten Commandments one hair's breadth. If anything, it rather exalted and raised their authority. I believe, that in due place and proportion, it is just as important to expound and enforce them, as to preach Christ crucified. By them is the knowledge of sin. By them the Spirit teaches men their need of a Savior. By them the Lord Jesus teaches His people how to walk and please God. I suspect it would be well for the Church if the Ten Commandments were more frequently expounded in the pulpit than they are. At all events, I fear that much of the present ignorance on the Sabbath question is attributable to erroneous views about the Fourth Commandment.

Sabbath Desecration

There are two kinds of Sabbath desecration which require to be noticed. One is that more private kind of which thousands are continually guilty, and which can only be checked by awakening men's consciences. The other is that more public kind, which can only be remedied by the pressure of public opinion, and the strong arm of the law.

When I speak of private Sabbath desecration, I mean that reckless, thoughtless, secular way of spending Sunday, which everyone who looks round him must know is common. How many make the Lord's Day a day for giving dinner parties -- a day for looking over their accounts and making up their books -- a day for going unnecessary journeys and quietly transacting worldly business -- a day for reading newspapers or novels -- a day for talking politics and idle gossip -- a day, in short, for anything rather than the things of God.

Now all this sort of thing is wrong, decidedly wrong. Thousands, I firmly believe, never give the subject a thought: they sin from ignorance and inconsideration. They only do as others; they only spend Sunday as their fathers and grandfathers did before them: but this does not alter the case. It is utterly impossible to say that to spend Sunday as I have described is to "keep the day holy": it is a plain breach of the Fourth Commandment, both in the letter and in the spirit. It is impossible to plead necessity or mercy in one instance of a thousand. And small and trifling as these breaches of the Sabbath may seem to be, they are exactly the sort of things that prevent men communing with God and getting good from His Day.

When I speak of public desecration of the Sabbath, I mean those many open, unblushing practices, which meet the eye on Sundays in the neighborhood of large towns. I refer to the practice of keeping shops open, and buying and selling on Sundays. I refer especially to Sunday pleasure excursions by public transport and the opening of places of public amusement; and to the daring efforts which many are making in the present day to desecrate the Lord's Day, regardless of its Divine authority. "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy."

On all these points I feel not the smallest doubt in my own mind. These ways of spending the Sabbath are all wrong, decidedly wrong. So long as the Bible is the Bible, and the Fourth Commandment the Fourth Commandment, I dare not come to any other conclusion. They are all wrong. These ways of spending Sunday are none of them works of necessity or works of mercy. There is not the slightest likeness between them and any of the things which the Lord Jesus explains to be lawful on the Sabbath Day. To heal a sick person, or pull an ox or ass out of a pit, is one thing: to travel in excursion trains, or go to concerts, theatres, dances and cinemas, is quite another. The difference is as great as between light and darkness. These ways of spending Sunday are none of them of u holy tendency, or calculated to help us heavenward. No, indeed! all experience teaches that it needs something . more than the beauties of art and nature to teach man the way to heaven.

These ways of spending Sunday have never yet conferred moral or spiritual good in any place where they have been tried. They have been tried for hundreds of years in Italy, in Germany and in France. Sunday amusements and sport have been long tried in Continental cities. But what benefiit have they derived that we should wish to imitate them? What advantages have we to gain by making a London Sunday like a Sunday in Paris or other continental cities. It would be a change for the worse, and not for the better.

Last, but not least, these ways of spending Sunday inflict a cruel injury on the souls of multitudes of people, Public transport cannot be run on Sundays without employing thousands of persons if people will make Sunday a day for traveling and excursions. Entertainments cannot be opened on Sundays without the employment of many to cater for those who patronize them. And have not all these unfortunate persons immortal souls? Do they not all need a, day of rest as much as anyone else? Beyond doubt they do. But Sunday is no Sunday to them, so long as these public desecrations of the Sabbath are permitted. Their life becomes a long unbroken chain of work, work, unceasing work: in short, what is play to others becomes death to them. Away with the idea that a pleasure-seeking, Continental Sabbath is mercy to anyone! It is nothing less than an enormous fallacy to call it so. Such a Sabbath is real mercy to nobody, and is positive sacrifice to some.

I write these things with sorrow. I know well, to how many of my fellow-countrymen they apply. I have spent many a Sunday in large towns. I have seen with my own eyes how the day of the Lord is made by multitudes a day of worldliness, a day of ungodliness, a day of carnal mirth, and too often a day of sin. But the extent of the disease must not prevent us exposing it: the truth must be told.

There is one general conclusion to be drawn from the conduct of those who publicly desecrate the Sabbath in the way I have described. They show plainly that they are at present "without God" in the world. They are like those of old who said, "When will the Sabbath be gone?" -- "What a weariness it is!" (Amos 8:5; Mal. 1:13). It is an awful conclusion, but it is impossible to avoid it. Scripture, history, and experience all combine to teach us, that delight in the Lord's Word, the Lord's service, the Lord's people, and the Lord's Day, will always go together. Sunday pleasure-seekers are their own witnesses. They are every week practically declaring, "We do not like God -- we do not want Him to reign over us.

It is not the slightest argument, in reply to what I have said, that many great and learned men see no harm in Sunday entertainment, sport and pleasure. It matters nothing in religious questions, who does a thing:" the only point to be ascertained is, "whether it be right."

Let us take our stand on the Bible, and hold fast its teaching. Whatever others may think lawful, let our sentence ever be that one day in seven, and one whole day, ought to be kept holy to God.

Sabbath Observance

1. Let the whole day be consecrated to the service of God, especially in acts of worship, public and private. This weekly recess from worldly cares and avocations, affords a precious opportunity for the study of God's word, and for the examination of our own hearts. Rise early, and let your first thoughts and aspirations be directed to heaven. Meditate much and profoundly on divine things, and endeavour to acquire a degree of spirituality on this day which will abide with you through the whole week.

2. Consider the Lord's Day an honour and delight. Let your heart be elevated in holy joy, and your lips be employed in the high praises of God. This day more resembles heaven, than any other portion of our time; and we should endeavour to imitate the worship of heaven, according to that petition of the Lord's prayer -- "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Never permit the idea to enter your mind, that the Sabbath is a burden. It is a sad case, when professing Christians are weary of this sacred rest, and say, like some of old, "When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may sell corn, and set forth wheat?" As you improve this day, so probably will you be prospered all the week.

3. Avoid undue rigour, and Pharisaic scrupulosity, for nothing renders the Lord's Day more odious. Still keep in view the great end of its institution; and remember that the Sabbath was instituted for the benefit of man, and not to be a galling yoke. The cessation from worldly business and labour is not for its own sake, as if there was any thing morally good in inaction, but we are called off from secular pursuits on this day, that we may have a portion of our time to devote uninterruptedly to the worship of God. Let every thing then be so arranged in your household, beforehand, that there may be no interruption to religious duties, and to attendance on the means of grace.

As divine knowledge is the richest acquisition within our reach, and as this knowledge is to be found in the word of God, let us value this day, as affording all persons an opportunity of hearing and reading the word. And as the fourth commandment requires the heads of families to cause the Sabbath to be observed by all under their control, or within their gates, it is very important that domestic and culinary arrangements should be so ordered, that no one be deprived of the opportunity of attending on the word and worship of God which this day affords. If we possess any measure of the true spirit of devotion, this sacred day will be most welcome to our hearts; and we will rejoice when they say, "Let us go unto the house of the Lord." To such a soul, the opportunity of enjoying spiritual communion with God will be valued above all price, and be esteemed as the richest privilege which creatures can enjoy on earth.

4. Whilst you conscientiously follow your own sense of duty in the observance of the rest of the Sabbath, be not ready to censure all who may differ from you in regard to minute particulars, which are not prescribed or commended in the word of God. Beware of indulging yourself in any practice which may have the effect of leading others to disregard the rest and sanctity of the Sabbath. Let not your liberty in regard to what you think may be done, be a stumbling block to cause weaker brethren to offend, or unnecessarily to give them pain, or to lead them to entertain an unfavourable opinion of your piety.

5. As, undoubtedly, the celebration of public worship and gaining divine instruction from the divine oracles, is the main object of the institution of the Christian Sabbath, let all be careful to attend on the services of the sanctuary on this day. And let the heart be prepared by previous prayer and meditation for a participation in public worship, and while in the more immediate presence of the Divine Majesty, let all the people fear before him, and with reverence adore and praise his holy name. Let all vanity, and curious gazing, and slothfulness, be banished from the house of God. Let every heart be lifted up on entering the sanctuary, and let the thoughts be carefully restrained from wandering on foolish or worldly objects, and resolutely recalled when they have begun to go astray. Let brotherly love be cherished, when joining with others in the worship of God. The hearts of all the church should be united in worship, as the heart of one man. Thus, will the worship of the sanctuary below, be a preparation for the purer, sublimer worship in the temple above.    A . Alexander

Sabbath of Rest

#1001     L.M.    John Newton
    The Sabbath of Rest. Exod. 31. 15; 35. 2
    1    How welcome to the saints, when pressed
        With six days’ noise, and care, and toil,
        Is the returning day of rest,
        Which hides them from the world awhile!

    2    Now, from the throng withdrawn away,
        They seem to breathe a different air;
        Composed and softened by the day,
        All things another aspect wear.

    3    How happy if their lot is cast
        Where statedly the gospel sounds!
        The word is honey to their taste,
        Renews their strength and heals their wounds.

    4    With joy they hasten to the place
        Where they their Saviour oft have met;
        And while they feast upon his grace,
        Their burdens and their griefs forget.

    5    This favoured lot, my friends, is ours;
        May we the privilege highly prize,
        And find these consecrated hours
        Sweet earnests of immortal joys.

    1002     C.M.    J. Montgomery

Conduct

The conduct of men with reference to the Lord’s Day most clearly discovers either their love or their hatred, their loyalty or their rooted enmity to Jehovah, their sovereign Lord. In proportion as nations, churches, or individuals increase in spirituality and morality, they venerate and improve this holy day; and to the degree in which they decline from the love of God and belief of His truth, they despise and pollute it. The whole of human history forcibly illustrates that fact.

Keep it Holy

 The arguments to obey this commandment
of keeping holy the Sabbath are,

    [1] From the rationality of it. 'Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work;' as if God had said, I am not a hard master, I do not grudge thee time to look after thy calling, and to get an estate. I have given thee six days, to do all thy work in, and have taken but one day for myself. I might have reserved six days for myself, and allowed thee but one; but I have given thee six days for the works of thy calling, and have taken but one day for my own service. It is just and rational, therefore, that thou shouldest set this day in a special manner apart for my worship.

    [2] The second argument for sanctifying the Sabbath, is taken from the justice of it. 'The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;' as if God had said, The Sabbath-day is my due, I challenge a special right in it, and no other has any claim to it. He who robs me of this day, and puts it to common uses, is a sacrilegious person, he steals from the crown of heaven, and I will in nowise hold him guiltless.

    [3] The third argument for sanctifying the Sabbath, is taken from God's own observance of it. He 'rested the seventh day;' as if the Lord should say, Will you not follow me as a pattern? Having finished all my works of creation, I rested the seventh day; so having done all your secular work on the six days, you should now cease from the labour of your calling, and dedicate the seventh day to me, as a day of holy rest.

    [4] The fourth argument for Sabbath-sanctification, is taken ab utili, from the benefit which redounds from a religious observation of the Sabbath. 'The Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.' God not only appointed the seventh day, but he blessed it. It is not only a day of honour to God, but a day of blessing to us; it is not only a day wherein we give God worship, but a day wherein he gives us grace. On this day a blessing drops down from heaven. God himself is not benefited by it, we cannot add one cubit to his essential glory; but we ourselves are benefited. This day, religiously observed, entails a blessing upon our souls, our estate, and our posterity. Not keeping it, brings a curse. Jer 17: 27. God curses a man's blessings. Mal 2: 2. The bread which he eats is poisoned with a curse; so the conscientious observation of the Sabbath, brings all manner of blessings with it. These are the arguments to induce Sabbath-sanctification.

    The thing I would have you now observe is, that the commandment of keeping the Sabbath was not abrogated with the ceremonial law, but is purely moral, and the observation of it is to be continued to the end of the world. Where can it be shown that God has given us a discharge from keeping one day in seven?

Of all the institutions designed by heavenly mercy to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of mankind , there is no one of such immense importance , and productive of such immense benefits , as the Sabbath . "Wherever the Sabbath is not , there is no worship , no religion , . Man forgets God , and God forsakes man ." Where the Sabbath is not regarded , man degenerates to a brute , a heathen , an infidel or an atheist ; he hastens , with a rapid step , to the scene where he will bear all the character , and all the features of a fiend . Where the Sabbath is loved , venerated , and improved , peace smiles , hope blooms , piety matures and ripens , and the soul hastens on to the period when the Sabbaths of time shall be exchanged for the long Sabbath of eternity             .Samuel Pike

The seventh day God 'blest'. He uttered His mind concerning it , calling it a day of blessing; and in so doing , communicated to it ( as it were ) the power to impart blessing . This then is the primary meaning and object of the Sabbath. It is the day on which God specially blesses man. But more than this . It is added , 'He sanctified it '. He marked it off from all other days , as the tabernacle was marked off from all the tents of Israel. He drew a fence round it , which was not to be broken through. He set it apart for Himself , just as He set six days apart for man. It was to be His day, not man's; just as the altar was His altar , the laver ,His laver , not man's. And when ,or where , or how has God,s claim to a Sabbath been renounced? When has His setting apart been done away? Men speak and act as if this 'blessing' this 'sanctification ' of the day were a yoke not to be borne ; as if the Sabbath were a curse and not a blessing ; as if the Gospel had at length broken fetters forged in Eden by God for man! But no . The Sabbath was set up by God , and by Him only can be taken down. It was set up (1) as a memorial of past labour ; (2) as a pillar of testimony to God as Creator ; (3) as a proclamation of rest ; (4)as a type and earnest of coming rest. These four points in particular contain God's reasons for the institution of the day. All these are still in force; nor has the Gospel blunted the edge of any of them, least of all the last. Till the anti type come , the type must remain . Till the glorious rest arrive ,- better than creation -rest , better than Canaan -rest (Heb. iv), its type must remain. Nor is it easy to understand why some , calling themselves expectants of this coming rest , should be so anxious to set aside the type of it . It is strange also that now , when the resurrection of Christ has added another to the many reasons for observing a day like this , we should be asked to abolish it . BONAR

"A Sabbath well spent, brings a week of content
And strength for the toils of the morrow;
But a Sabbath profaned, whate’er may be gained
Is a certain forerunner of sorrow."

Westminster Confession of Faith . Chapter 21

VII. As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, He hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.

Exod. xx. 8, 10, 11; Isa. lvi. 2, 4, 6, 7; Gen. ii. 2, 3; 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2; Acts xx. 7; Rev. i. 10; Exod. xx. 8, 10 with Matt. v. 17, 18.

VIII. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts. and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments, and recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

Exod. xx. 8; Exod. xvi. 23, 25, 26, 29, 30; Exod. xxxi. 15, 16, 17; Isa. lviii. 13; Neh. xiii. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22; Isa. lviii. 13; Matt. xii. 1 to 13.

The Sabbath

The second chapter of Genesis opens with the words, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” And then the very next thing we read of is the institution of the Sabbath rest. Thus, to appoint and sanctify the Sabbath was God’s first act after the earth had been made fit for human habitation. Nothing could more emphatically press upon us the fundamental importance of this divine ordinance, and the priority of its claims upon us—claims to which every consideration of selfish interests must be strictly subordinated. “The weekly Sabbath, there- fore, is the first institution of God, and bears on its very origin the stamp of a universal and perpetual appointment:

Westminster Shorter Catechism 
Question 57

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Q: Which is the fourth commandment? A: The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, they 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 sabbath-day and hallowed it.1 Exodus 20:8-11.

The 4th Commandment

Westminster Shorter Catechism 
Question 57

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Q: Which is the fourth commandment? A: The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, they 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 sabbath-day and hallowed it.1