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The first day of the week proved to be holy time, and set apart by
Christ to be a weekly Sabbath to the end of the world.
ACTS xx. 7.
_And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together
to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the
morrow, and continued his speech until midnight._--
There is no part of the Christian Religion, but has had, in one age
and another, its enemies. There is no duty of it, however plain or
important, but first or last, objections have been made against it,
by those who were disinclined to perform it. Neither is there any one
of all the Virtues of morality, taken in its true meaning and just
extent, which has not been opposed by perverse and wicked men, whose
vicious lives, or whose loose principles, made it their supposed
interest to dispute or deny its obligation.
We are not, therefore, to be surprised, when we find so plain a point
as our obligation to sanctify, and observe as holy time, the first
day of the week under the Gospel-dispensation, denied, or reproached
as a human invention. For there is indeed nothing, in the Christian
Religion, either so obvious, or so excellent in its nature, that has
wholly escaped censure. This being the case, it becomes us carefully
to examine the holy scriptures, to see what they enjoin upon us
respecting all parts of our duty to God, as well as to man and to
self.----In the present discourse, I shall, in dependence on divine
help, make it my business to state, and to dwell upon the evidence
from scripture, to prove that the first day of the week is holy time,
and set apart by Christ, to be a weekly Sabbath to the end of the
world.--
In the arguments, which may be adduced and illustrated, the divine
authority of the writings of the Old and New Testament, will be taken
for granted. Such only as believe in them, it is expected, will yield
to the force of arguments drawn from them.--It is proper, likewise,
just to remark here, before we enter upon the proposed proof, that if
we reject the Old Testament, we may as well, and must if
self-consistent, reject the New. For if one be divinely inspired, the
other must be also. If one be false, or spurious, the other is also.
Both, therefore, must stand or fall together, because they are
intimately connected:--and so intimately connected, that both are
either true or false. This every one will allow, who has carefully
and diligently read and compared them, or taken proper pains to see
their connexion. This connexion has been evinced by several very able
and judicious writers.--Let it be further remembered, that nothing in
the Old Testament is done away, but the positive or ceremonial
part:--The moral part is as much in force, now, as ever. It never
indeed can be repealed.--We have our Lord's own words to bear us out
in this assertion. He tells us most expressly, that _he came not to
destroy the law and prophets but to fulfil them_--or to confirm them.
As the subject before us has been a good deal debated in the world,
and is of a most important and interesting nature, it is hoped the
hearer will give not only a candid, but a critical attention. The
more critical, the better; for I am persuaded, that no part of truth
or Religion will suffer by the closest inspection, or most severely
critical examination.--We want and wish for no assistance from
superstition to befriend the glorious cause of the christian
religion. If it cannot stand upon its own broad basis, and do not
recommend itself, by its own superlative excellence and
reasonableness, let it fall; and let its enemies triumph.--We invite
them to examine:--We urge them to a free and fair enquiry.--
In the words now read, St. Luke, the writer of the history of the
Acts of the Apostles, gives us an account of public worship, as
conducted by the inspired Apostles; the time when it was attended
upon, and the different exercises of which it was composed. The time
when, was the first day of the week, or what has generally been
called, the Christian Sabbath. The Preacher, who was the apostle
Paul, delivered a discourse to the professing Christians, who had
assembled together to keep as holy time, the first day of the week.
The Lord's Supper was celebrated as a divine ordinance. They broke
bread sacramentally. St. Paul administered the sacramental supper.
And they had such comfort and sweet experience of God's presence and
blessing, that the exercises of public worship were protracted to an
unusual length.--_Here_ we have the example of the Apostles, and
their converts to the Gospel, for keeping as holy time, the first day
of the week.--The first day of the week appears from these words to
have been the common time for public worship. For the historian
speaks of their coming together, not as an occasional, but _stated_
assembling. The very manner, in which he speaks of their meeting for
public worship, must satisfy every candid mind, that it was a
_stated_ or _common_ time. And most certainly the Apostles would not
have ventured of themselves, or from their own power, to set apart,
and to observe as sacred, a day for public worship. For this, they
had a special order from him, who is head over all things to the
Church. Their example in observing, as sacred time, and for public
worship, the first day of the week is as binding upon us, as an
express precept.
Many excellent and pious books have been written upon the
sanctification of the Sabbath--the manner in which it is to be
sanctified has been often well described--directions how to do it
have been given--motives to induce people to keep it holy unto the
Lord have been enlarged upon--and the change of the Jewish into the
Christian, the seventh into the first day Sabbath has been, by
learned Divines, clearly proved.--Much indeed hath been said and
written concerning the Sabbath; and well said and well written. But
the enquiry we propose now to consider, is whether it be the _mind_
and _will_ of God, that under the Gospel-dispensation there should be
any _distinction_ of days, or any time set apart as _holy_? This is
seldom discoursed upon. It is however a very interesting question,
and worthy of a careful attention.--When I cast my eye upon some few
writers, who have employed their time and abilities to disprove the
morality of the Sabbath, and to diminish the regards of Christians to
it, I feel a deep sorrow. How unhappy that the mind should be puzzled
and confounded by such writings! And how hurtful to religion is every
attempt to dissuade people from esteeming the Lord's day, as _holy_
time. For if the Sabbath be once generally looked upon, as a human
device, it will of course be neglected.--One writer, in a system of
moral philosophy, which he saw fit to publish, has laboured to make
it appear, that the Sabbath is not a divine institution. This single
thing will tend much to injure the Churches, and to corrupt the
public morals.----
In order to do justice, as far as we are able, to the subject before
us:--we will begin our enquiry with the original institution of a
Sabbath, or a seventh proportion of time, set apart from the common
concerns of life, to religious purposes.
1stly. A sabbath is a day of sacred rest. The meaning of the word is
rest; and it necessarily presupposes labour and toil as preceding it.
A Sabbath day is a day of rest--a rest in God, or devoted to him, to
his fear and service. The great question is when was such a day
_first appointed_? Reason teaches us that we ought publicly to
worship and serve God, the fountain of life and being. If it teach us
this, it will teach us that some particular time, or day should be
appointed to the important duty. It cannot inform us what portion of
time, or what day. After we are told that God has set apart a seventh
proportion of time, it consents to such a portion or part of time as
altogether suitable. We cannot suppose that when God made man, that
he would leave him without any assistance or direction about the
time, when, he should worship and serve him. As he made him a
rational being, so he would take care to favour him with all
necessary guidance and instruction about his duty to him. And we
accordingly find he was particularly attentive to him, to fix his
duty, and point him to his only happiness. For man is only happy,
when intent upon duty. If we turn to the Book of Genesis, ii. 1, 2,
3. We shall find that the Sabbath was appointed immediately upon
finishing the great work of creation. As soon as God had made the
heavens and earth, and had formed man in his own image, he instituted
the Sabbath, not for his own, but for man's benefit. _Thus the
heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them. And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made: and
God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it,
he had rested from all his work, which God created and made._ There
are three words here used respecting the seventh day. God _rested_ on
the seventh day: he _blessed_ it, and _sanctified_ it. No one can be
so absurd and foolish as to imagine that the Supreme Jehovah wanted
rest, because fatigued with the labour of Creation. With infinite
ease, did he speak the whole Universe into existence. And it might
have been instantly done, or all in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, as well as in six days, if it had been the divine pleasure. He
had important ends in view, in employing six days in the formation of
the heavens and earth, as he hath in all his conduct. _The
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth
fainteth not, nor is weary._ As therefore he was not fatigued or
worried with labour, he needed no _rest_ as to himself. The word
_rest_ here cannot mean eternal rest, or his own divine happiness,
because in this sense of the word God always rested; for he was
completely blessed from all Eternity. His happiness is the same from
everlasting to everlasting. The meaning of his _resting_ on the
seventh day--_blessing_ it--and _sanctifying_ it, is setting it apart
to religious uses, as a day in which his blessing may be hoped for
eminently. To sanctify a day, is to distinguish it from others--to
consecrate it to holy purposes. And his resting on the seventh day is
an example to man, after six days of labour, to set apart to
religious uses, the seventh. There are some circumstances respecting
the original institution of the Sabbath worthy of notice. It was
appointed as soon as God had ended the work of creation. It is the
very _first institution_ or _express_ law of God. As soon as he had
formed man, he gave him the law of the Sabbath: and he gave it to him
because he had finished the work of creation. This is particularly
expressed. The very institution of the day pointed out the use of
it:--it was to lead man's thoughts to the author of nature, to
remember with gratitude and reverence the works of creation--to fix
his mind upon God as the only object of religious homage and
praise--and to keep him from Idolatry, and impiety. It was necessary
that man should have a TIME ordained for worshipping and particularly
glorifying his Maker. He was planted in Paradise. And Creation was
filled with the glory of the Lord. It spake forth in silent language
his praise. But man was not to be an idle spectator of the wonders of
the divine workmanship. His business was to adore and rejoice in the
fulness of his portion: to eye with rapturous delight the power that
formed him, and spread around him in such rich profusion the beauties
of nature. The Sabbath was ordained to furnish him with the _stated_
opportunity, and to remind him of the duty of worshipping his
Creator. God saw that he needed such an institution, though perfectly
innocent; and though brought into existence in a state of complete
maturity of reason and judgment. The Sabbath was appointed before sin
had entered the world, and defaced the divine image in man. If man,
in his primitive state of rectitude, and when sin had found no place
in his heart, needed a day of rest in God--or a seventh part of time
to be consecrated to the great exercises of religious homage, how
much more does he now, in his fallen state?
There is but one objection that was ever raised, against the belief
that the Sabbath was appointed at the close of creation, before man
apostatised, and that is the account here in Genesis ii. 1, 2, 3 of
the very appointment of the Sabbath, was inserted by way of
anticipation; or that Moses mentions it in his narrative too soon.
This is the same thing as to charge the sacred historian with
inaccuracy. It is to say, he was incorrect, and made an unhappy
mistake. And if the Sabbath was not instituted in Paradise, he indeed
is extremely incorrect, and injudicious to mention the appointment of
it more than two thousand years before it took place; as he did, if
it were not instituted till the Children of Israel came out of Egypt,
as is alledged by some. The only reason they offer for supposing the
Sabbath is _here_ spoken of, by way of anticipation, is the silence
of the Scripture upon the subject, till we come down to the departure
of the Children of Israel out of Egypt. They pretend not that it was
unnecessary. That man needed it not.--Besides, whoever duly attends
to the manner, in which the fourth Commandment is worded, will be
compelled to admit that it refers to this original paradisaical
institution of the Sabbath. The reference is very obvious. _Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do
all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the
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._ In these words, Moses refers us back, in the plainest manner
possible, to the _original_ appointment of the Sabbath, at the
finishing of the work of creation.--It is true that we find no
_express_ mention of a Sabbath observed from Adam to Moses, a space
of two thousand and five hundred years. But that there was one
observed is probable. For it is not likely, that a merciful and
gracious God would leave man for so long a period without setting
apart some stated time for his worship, by his express authority. He
revealed his will, in small degrees, from period to period, in the
early ages of the world. There were pious people THEN to serve him.
For he always had a seed to serve him, in the world, and to bear
testimony to the truth. They undoubtedly maintained public worship.
And they had stated times and seasons for it. For we read, _then
began men to call on the name of the Lord._
The account given us of the patriarchs is very short. But there are
several things, which make it appear altogether probable, that they
observed a day of sacred rest. It is said, Noah sent the dove out of
the Ark at the end of _seven days_: and again at the end of other
_seven days._ This intimates at least that he measured time by weeks;
and that the end of each week was regarded by him, with some peculiar
solemnity. Cain and Abel offered their sacrifice in _process of
time_: the original is, in the _end of days._ While the Children of
Israel were in Egypt, and _there,_ for the first time, observed the
passover, Moses commanded that, on the first day of unleavened bread,
there should be a _holy convocation,_ a day in which they were to do
no manner of work, and were to convene to worship God. And this holy
convocation, is called elsewhere the _Sabbath_ Lev. xxiii. 24, 32,
39. Moses speaks of this _holy convocation,_ as if they knew what it
meant; and had been accustomed, in the house of their bondage, to
observe it. About a month after giving the law from Mount Sinai, the
Manna fell, as heavenly support to them, in the wilderness; and on
the sixth day there fell double the quantity, as on other days. The
people were surprised at this event, and could not account for the
reason of it. Moses explains it to them, in these words, _This is
that which the Lord hath said; to-morrow is the rest of the holy
Sabbath unto the Lord._ We know not that God had spoken to them of
the Sabbath, but when he had completed the work of creation. Moses
addresses them, reasons with them, and reproves them, as if they were
well acquainted with the Sabbath. Some have doubted whether they
observed any Sabbath in Egypt. Their tyrannical Masters it is true
greatly oppressed them. And most likely, forbid them to rest on every
returning _seventh_ day. The long time they were in bondage, had
mostly destroyed no doubt the remembrance of the Sabbath. But some of
them kept it, it is natural to suppose, as well as they could. God in
a very solemn manner, renews the appointment of the Sabbath, in the
fourth commandment.--It may be of weight here to ask, how the nations
in general, in the first ages, and so down through all generations,
come to divide and measure their days by _sevens,_ or by _weeks_?
That they do, and have done, all history declares. But no planet or
heavenly body directed them to this, or suggested the hint. The
celestial bodies measure out years, months, and days; but not weeks.
Is not this a circumstance strongly indicative of the original
Institution of the Sabbath--and division of time by weeks; that after
six days of labour, a day of rest is to be observed?----The learned
Grotius tells us, that two of the most ancient writers now extant,
speak of the seventh day as sacred. And it is certain that one day in
seven has been distinguished among many heathen nations, ancient and
modern, with religious ceremonies and festivals. But how comes this?
Must it not be conveyed down, from generation to generation, by
tradition? Does it not then lead us to a belief, that there was a
Sabbath appointed, when the world was made? And can we suppose that
pious people, from the creation to the flood, and from the flood to
the time of Moses, had no _fixed_ day to assemble together for
publicly serving and worshipping the Deity? Is this reasonable? Is it
probable?--It appears then that the Sabbath was instituted, when God
had finished the work of Creation, and was observed, in the world,
from Adam to Moses.
Here it is proper to remark, that there is nothing in the fourth
Commandment to militate against observing as holy time, the first day
of the week. It directs us to keep as holy time, every seventh day.
_Six days shall thou labour, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the
Lord thy God._ The seventh part of time is here consecrated to God.
_The seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,_ a day to be kept
holy to God, different from all other days. Every day indeed we ought
to remember him who is the source of all good. But the seventh after
six working days is, in a particular manner, to be kept holy unto
God. _Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy._ We never could know
from the fourth commandment, where to begin the Sabbath, or where to
end the six working days; or when to begin to work or to rest. All
that this commandment does, is to appoint for holy uses, the seventh
part of time, or one day in seven. And so far, it is moral and not
positive. There is a fitness, in the reason of things, that some part
of our time, or days should be especially devoted to God, and
religious worship; how great a part, or when to begin, or end our day
of sacred rest, is left for God to decide by his own appointment; and
accordingly is _positive._ It will then be asked, how the Jews could
know, what day to keep as the Sabbath day, or when to begin, or to
end their six days of labour? There was another precept pointing out
the precise day. Exo. xvi. 23, 25, 26. _And he said this is that
which the Lord hath said, to morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath
unto the Lord._ This is the first place that we have any mention of
the Sabbath, from its institution at the close of creation, which is
_express,_ though there are some intimations of it, as before
observed. The people, three days after they left the banks of the red
Sea, where God so gloriously wrought for them, murmured at Marah,
because of their thirst. They then came to ELIM, and thence to SIN,
on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of
the land of Egypt. And here they murmured again, for the want of
bread; concluding that they were all to perish with hunger. God,
again, by a standing miracle supplied them with food--he rained bread
from heaven.--On the sixth day, there were to gather twice as much as
on other days, as a supply for the seventh--which was the
Sabbath.--Here the day was fixed, _when_ to begin their
Sabbath.--When, they had reached Sinai; the moral law was given to
them in awful solemnity:--and one part of it, contained the due
observation of a seventh part of time. It is then, as fully proved as
any thing can be, that the christian Sabbath is, according to the
fourth commandment, as much the seventh day, as the Jewish Sabbath.
It is observed every seventh day, the seventh from our first working
day, as well as theirs. When, therefore, we keep the first day of the
week, as holy time, we do, in no sense, go counter to the fourth
commandment. To object against the first day Sabbath, as a departure
from this commandment, bespeaks great ignorance.--And Christ, when he
instituted the first-day Sabbath, did not abolish, weaken, or destroy
the fourth commandment.--I have dwelt the longer upon the original
institution of the Sabbath, in Paradise, because if we can prove that
God hath actually set apart a seventh portion of time, from the
beginning, it will happily open the way, to establish, beyond all
contradiction, that under the New-Testament-dispensation, we have a
Sabbath: and if we have, it must be the _first_ day of the week, as
will be evinced from other arguments.
2dly. When God set apart the people of Israel to be a peculiar people
unto himself, he directed them to devote, one day in seven, to him as
holy time. In giving them the moral law, as an epitome of all their
duty, he took care to insert the law of the Sabbath. _Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy._ The due observation of the Sabbath is
placed among the great and essential points of morality. God blessed
the Sabbath day and hallowed it. The people were told it was the
Sabbath of the Lord their God. It was his day. He had a special
interest in it; a peculiar property. It was a day, in which he was to
be honoured, the work of Creation commemorated, and their deliverance
from a cruel servitude duly noticed. It is prefaced thus, _I am the
Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt and house of
bondage._ It was a day to be observed by them to distinguish them
from other nations, as worshippers of the true God, and to preserve
them from Idolatry. The most rigid rules were prescribed for
sanctifying it. The most severe penalties were annexed to the breach
of it. A Sabbath-breaker was among the most vile and abominable
characters. The whole day was to be devoted to God and Religion. When
they kept the day as holy, they were prospered. Calamities and
judgments were inflicted upon them, when as a nation, they neglected
God's holy Sabbath. All the prophets who were raised up, one
after another, called them to observe the Sabbath, warned them
against any contempt of it, and placed the sanctification of the
Sabbath upon a footing of equality with the moral Virtues. As the
priests were the guardians of the ceremonies and rites of their
religion, so the prophets were the restorers, and guardians of moral
duty. Their placing the due observation of the Sabbath so high, as a
moral duty, is a full proof how they viewed it, and how God viewed
it. A violation or profanation of the day was to be punished with
awful severity. We find that God's giving them the Sabbath, is
enumerated among his great and signal mercies to them; the wonders of
his Goodness, Nehemiah ix. 14. _And madeth known unto them thy holy
Sabbath._ If a mere ceremonial rite, would it be called _God's holy
Sabbath?_ God's giving it unto them, or instituting it, is spoken of,
as an instance of his distinguishing kindness. The prophet Ezekiel
represents it under the notion of a _sign_ between God and his
people. Ezek. xx. 12, 13. _Moreover also, I gave them my Sabbaths to
be a sign between me, and them, that they might know that I am the
Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me
in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised
my judgments, which if a man do he shall live in them: and my sabbath
they greatly polluted._ Here the Sabbath is spoken of, as God's
Sabbath, and a sign between him and his people: as a mean of their
religious and moral improvement; of their sanctification. The sin of
profaning or neglecting it, is represented as most heinous; and as
calling down upon the people the heavy displeasure of the Almighty.
Sabbath-breakers were a class of transgressors peculiarly odious to
him. See, in what terms of profound respect, the prophet Isaiah
speaks of the Sabbath: and how high, in the scale of duty, he placed
the due sanctification of it. _If thou turn away thy foot from the
Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath
a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shall honour him,
not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words:--Then shalt thou delight thyself in the
Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the
earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it._ Do the prophets ever speak of mere
ceremonial laws or observances in this manner? I appeal to every
person, who knows any thing at all about the scriptures. Be pleased
only to remark a moment. The people are called upon not to trample
under foot the Sabbath--not to find their own pleasure upon it--not
to speak their own words, that is, converse about worldly subjects as
on other days, not to do their own ways. It is spoken of as God's day
by way of eminence, the holy of the Lord and honourable.--Again; the
man who keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, is pronounced
_blessed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that
layeth hold on it: that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it._
Isaiah speaking of Gospel-days says that public worship is to be
weekly attended upon--and on the Sabbath, as the appointed day. _And
it shall come to pass from one new moon to another and from one
Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come before me, saith the Lord._
This is a prophesy of Gospel-days. That it is so, every one will be
satisfied, who reads it in its connexion. And no words can more
_expressly_ declare that there shall be _stated_ public worship under
the Gospel-dispensation; and that it is to be observed _weekly_--and
upon the _Sabbath,_ as the _appointed_ day.--The people of God, then,
under the Jewish dispensation were to keep the Sabbath, as a day of
sacred rest, holy unto the Lord. When they neglected it they were
frowned upon--when they strictly observed it, they were smiled
upon--it was kept during the whole of that dispensation, till the
introduction of christianity.--It was kept from Adam to Moses, and
from Moses to Christ. The great original reason for setting it apart
for holy purposes, in the beginning, was to remember the Creator and
his works: to have a _set_ time to worship and serve him, who is the
author of all our mercies--and to cultivate a holy temper of heart,
and prepare for a holy happiness after death. The superadded reasons
for the people of Israel to keep a sabbath, a weekly day of sacred
rest, were their deliverance from a cruel bondage, by the miraculous
interpositions of Providence, and the distinguishing kindnesses
bestowed upon them--as a people separated to God from the rest of the
world. _And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt,
and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty
hand, and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God
commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day._ These are the particular
reasons why the Jews were to keep the Sabbath day.--The particular
reasons why the Jewish Sabbath was to be kept, have long ago ceased,
even when that dispensation, under which the Jews lived, was
abolished. Therefore the Jewish Sabbath is done away. But there are
particular reasons why Christians, under the Gospel-dispensation,
should keep a weekly Sabbath; as well as why the Jews, under their
dispensation, should keep a weekly Sabbath.
3dly. There is the same propriety that Christians, under the Gospel,
should keep a day of sacred rest, weekly, to remember the work of
redemption, as the Jews should, to remember their deliverance from
oppression and servitude in Egypt; and much greater, as the former is
infinitely more important than the latter, and as the one was only a
type of the other. The great reason of the original appointment of a
seventh portion of time to be consecrated to religious use, was to
commemorate the work of Creation. That there was a Sabbath appointed,
in the beginning, none can deny, who are capable of understanding the
plainest words, and are not resolved to pervert them; and has also
been satisfactorily evinced, I trust, in another part of this
discourse. To this primitive institution of the Sabbath before the
FALL of man, the best expositors suppose our Lord refers, when he
says, _The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath._--We cannot forbear to remark, here, that, in these words,
our Saviour does not intimate, in the most distant manner, the
abolition of a seventh portion of time to be devoted to pious ends.
He expressly says the Sabbath was made for man, for his comfort and
benefit--that he might have a rest. If it ever were really for the
good of man, that there should be a weekly Sabbath, it is always for
his good--as necessary at one time as another: and under one
dispensation as another. Jesus Christ, our blessed Redeemer, does not
hint to us that the surpassing excellence of his religion would
render a weekly Sabbath needless--or that all days were to be
Sabbaths:--or that his people would be so holy, as to be above
keeping any time as holy.
Besides, it is altogether pertinent to argue, as is always done by
the friends of the Christian Sabbath, that there is such a day to be
kept holy, weekly, to the end of the world, from the _greatness_ of
the work of Redemption. If it were fit to keep a Sabbath, weekly to
remember the work of Creation, it is more fit to keep one in memory
of the work of Redemption. Christ, as God, made all things. By the
word of his Almighty power he spoke the heavens and the earth into
being.--And he appointed a Sabbath to commemorate those works, which
are great and marvellous.--But his work of redemption is still more
marvellous. Its dimensions cannot be measured. We can only exclaim in
devout admiration, O the height, the depth, the length, and breadth
of it. All heavens admire and adore. Men may well stand in pleasing
astonishment. It is so great and wonderful as to be called a new
Creation. And the perfect felicity procured for man by it, is called
new heavens and a new Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. When
Christ, as Creator, rested from the work of the first Creation, he
instituted the Sabbath to commemorate it. When he, as Redeemer,
rested from his work of redemption, he instituted _a day of rest_ to
be kept by all his followers, in memory of it. This is the very
argument of the Apostle, Heb. iv. 10. _For he that entered into his
rest, he hath also rested from his own work: as God did from his._
Christ rested from his work, when he arose from the dead, which was
on the _first day_ of the week. His humiliation was then finished,
and his exaltation begun. _The rest_ which remains for Christ's
followers is a sabbatism or keeping a Sabbath; a Gospel-Sabbath is
then the emblem of the heavenly Sabbath.--God's people of old were to
keep a Sabbath in memory of the work of Creation: And Christians are
to keep a Sabbath in memory of the work of Redemption. Christ, then,
has a Sabbath in his dispensation. For he is the Lord of the Sabbath.
But how could he be the Lord of the Sabbath, if there were none. If,
then, God's antient people of the Jews, were by an express command to
keep the Sabbath as a memorial of their deliverance from Egyptian
bondage; and if that deliverance were a type of our deliverance from
sin, by the work of redemption, it will follow that Christians should
keep a Sabbath, weekly, as a memorial of that work.--This is a common
argument in favour of the reality of a Sabbath, under the
Gospel-dispensation, to be kept to the end of the world; but is as
forcible as common. The enemies of the Christian Sabbath may cavil at
it, but can never, by all their art and sophistry, overthrow
it.--With it, I close the present discourse. Only requesting the
hearer, to weigh all that hath been offered, or that shall be, in the
next discourse, in the balance of cool deliberate reflection and
examination. If the New-Testament hath no Sabbath to be sanctified by
the people of God, too long have we already, been attached to a human
invention. We must bid it vanish.