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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:41:02 GMT -5
Sabbath Typology and Eschatological Rest
JON ENGLISH LEE
Founders ministry
*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: Paul and the Sabbath, Jesus and the Sabbath, The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the OT, a look at God’s Rest as Prescriptive, an examination of the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.
Now that a brief survey of Sabbath throughout the canon has been made, a word may be said regarding typology. Many anti-sabbatarians want to argue that the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ, and is thus no longer binding. However, I want to argue that the Sabbath is typological of a future rest to come, and thus is still valuable today for its typological significance.
It is clear from scripture that the Sabbath was typological of the rest that is found in Jesus (Hebrews 3-4). However, the Sabbath was a picture of several other rests in scripture as well. The rest was a reminder of God’s rest after creation. The Sabbath rest symbolized the promised land that was to be given to Israel. The Sabbath rest is also typological of the future rest of all believers in the new heavens and new earth. Turretin describes the Sabbath as, “A type of the eternal Sabbath to be spent in Heaven; in which the saints, happy in souls and body, will rest in God from the sins, calamities, and miseries of this life.”[1]This is taught in Hebrews as well: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (4:9), a rest upon which the hope of believers today is built.
The Sabbath certainly looked forward to the coming rest found in Christ alone; but the type also is a foretaste of the future rest to come. Ryken puts it well: “We no longer look back to the old exodus for our salvation’ we look to Jesus Christ, who accomplished a greater exodus by dying for our sins and rising again.”[2] We also look forward to the future exodus, when our bodies are renewed threw the waters of death, and we can walk on dry ground into our glorified promised land. This is picture, along with Christ’s rest, are what is typified by Sabbath keeping today.
Geerhardus Vos
Vos captures well the role of the Sabbath, particularly its eschatological impact, in the lives of believers:
The Sabbath brings this principle of the eschatological structure of history to bear upon the mind of man after a symbolical and typical fashion. It teaches its lesson through the rhythmical succession of six days of labour and one ensuing day of rest in each successive week. Man is reminded in this way that life is not an aimless existence, that a goal lies beyond. That was true before, and apart from redemption. The eschatological is an older strand in revelation than the soteric.[3]
The Sabbath served, and serves, believers by pointing out the eschatological orientation of creation. This orientation was present from the beginning, and will continue until the ultimate consummation of history.
Those who object by saying that the type cannot extend past Christ are left with a puzzle. If all types end in Christ, how do they make sense of other types that scripture teaches are still ongoing (e.g., marriage, future promised land). While it is tempting to make the statement that all types end in Christ and then blame inconsistencies on inaugurated eschatology, the biblical picture of types extends also beyond Christ, to the ultimate conclusion of His purposes: eternal rest found in a glorified promised land.
In the coming posts I plan to take a look at the theological implications of accepting or denying the abiding sabbath principle found in scripture, plus a few historical teachings on the sabbath (including a prominent Southern Baptist!).
[1] Francis Turretin, Eighteenth through Twentieth Topics, vol. 3 of Institutes of Elenctic Theology (New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 1997), 616.
[2] Ryken, Written in Stone, 110.
[3]Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 140.
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:43:04 GMT -5
The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the Old Testament
JON ENGLISH LEE
Today we continue our series on the Sabbath. Previously I have discussed the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance and the prescriptive nature of God’s rest in Genesis 2. Now I want to discuss if it is proper to dismiss the 4th commandment as ‘ceremonial law.’
1. The Unity of the Decalogue
Some want to claim that the Sabbath command is a ceremonial law that is no longer binding. However, no one would doubt the continuing validity of the other nine commandments. John Murray shows the flawed logic found in arguing that only nine of the Ten Commandments are still binding:
“If we say the fourth commandment is abrogated and the other nine are not, we must understand what we are saying. It would indeed be an amazing phenomenon that in the heart of the decalogue there should be one commandment — and one given such prominence and meticulous elaboration — that is totally different from the others in this regard that they are permanent and it is not. Surely no one will dispute that in the Old Testament the ten commandments constitute a well-rounded and compact unit. And surely no one will dispute that the Old Testament is itself throughout conscious of that fact. If the ten commandments were a loose and disjointed collection of precepts, there would be nothing very extraordinary about the supposition we are now discussing. But that is precisely what the decalogue is not. And so to establish this supposition that the fourth commandment is abrogated, when the other nine are not, would require the most explicit and conclusive evidence.
As we read the Old Testament we do not find any warrant for discrimination between the fourth and the other nine. Nor indeed do we find any intimation in the Old Testament that in the Messianic age the Sabbath law would cease. If any commandment is emphasized it is the fourth.”[1]
The unity of the decalogue makes the abrogation of a single command seem very strange indeed. Some want to mix together the Sabbath command and the ‘judgments,’ commands given by God after the Ten commandments that were based upon the moral commands. This mixing of categories is unjustified because of the uniqueness of the Decalogue.
2. The Uniqueness of the Decalogue
While the Israelites were at Sinai, God gave many laws. However, the moral commands of God had a certain primacy over the other ‘judgments.’ First, the Ten Words were the only laws written by the finger of God himself. Second, unlike the rest of the laws that were spoken, the Ten Commandments were carved into tablets of stone. Third, none of the other laws were placed in the Ark of the Covenant; rather, the Ten Words were placed in the Ark at the metaphorical ‘feet’ of the Almighty himself. Fourth, the “literary shape” of their delivery demonstrates a distinction between the “Ten Commandments” and the “Judgments.”
Peter Gentry explains that the headings of the two distinct passages (Ten Words, Ex. 20; and The Judgments, Ex. 21-23) and the use of specific terms indicates, “the broad outline and shape of the text.”[2] Furthermore, the difference in sentence construction distinguishes the different sections. He explains, “The Ten Words are presented as absolute commands or prohibitions, usually in the second person singular. They are general injunctions not related to a specific social situation…By contrast, the Judgements are presented as case laws. These are presented as if they were court decisions functioning as precedents.”[3] Clearly these examples are indications of some internal distinctions within the law of the Lord. The perpetual moral standards behind the Ten Words are given primacy over the other ‘judgments,’ which would eventually prove to be temporary.
3. Old Testament expectation of the Decalogue’s Perpetuity
The Decalogue was never shown to be made up of laws of varying application and duration. The Sabbath command in the Ten Commandments is merely an official codification of the creation ordinance. The moral imperative may have been given ceremonial and civil accouterments, but the moral imperative remained (and remains) unchanged. Murray concludes,
“If there had been in the Old Testament some evidence that would create a presumption in favour of discrimination, if there had been even something that would justify a strong suspicion that in the Messianic age the Sabbath law would no longer bind, then, of course, even slight confirmation from the New Testament might clinch that suspicion and warrant the inference that the fourth commandment had been abrogated. But no such suspicion is created and the evidence is altogether against such a supposition.”[4]
Nothing in the Old Testament gives us an indication that the Sabbath Command was a temporary command peculiar to the Jews.
In coming posts in this series on the Sabbath I will examine, among other things, Jesus’s view on the Sabbath, whether the New Testament abrogates the Sabbath command, plus some implications of the doctrine of the Sabbath on ecclesiology.
[1] John Murray, The Fourth Commandment According to Westminster Standards, www.the-highway.com/sabbath1_Murray.html (Accessed 4/30/2013).
[2] Peter John Gentry and Stephen Wellum, Kingdom Through Covenant: a Biblical-theological Understanding of the Covenants (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2012), 305. Although Gentry and Wellum do reject the tri-fold categories of ceremonial, moral, and civil law, it is interesting that they clearly see and teach the textual evidences of the uniqueness of the decalogue from the judgments.
[3] Ibid., 306.[4] John Murray, The Fourth Commandment According to Westminster Standards, www.the-highway.com/sabbath1_Murray.html (Accessed 4/30/2013).
OLD TESTAMENT, SABBATH, SABBATH LAW, SABBATH REST, TEN COMMANDMENTS |
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:44:32 GMT -5
The Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance
JON ENGLISH LEE
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but theseventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” – Ex. 20:8-11 (ESV)
It is of no small importance that Exodus grounds the Fourth Commandment upon God’s example in creation.[1] Chantry offers this reason for referring back to creation: “God’s written fourth commandment recalls the first historic observance of the Sabbath in order to stir up our own compliance with Sabbath-keeping.”
Using the text of Genesis 2 as a guide, this post will examine three creation narrative observations, followed by a discussion of whether God’s rest should be viewed as descriptive or prescriptive.
Sabbath as Imitation of God
First, six days of work followed by a Sabbath day of rest imitates God’s own pattern (Gen. 2:2). Ryken puts it simply: “We are called to work and rest because we serve a working and resting God.”[2] Frame, borrowing from Meredith Kline’s work, offers three categories in which to classify the rest of God: consummation, enthronement, and consecration.[3]
God’s rest on the seventh day is the consummation of His creative work: “As a celebration of the finishing of the world-temple, the Sabbath proclaims the name of the creator to be Consummator.”[4]
The Sabbath rest of God, foreshadowing Christ’s future rest at the Father’s right hand, also demonstrates Divine enthronement: “God created the heaven and the earth to be his cosmic palace and accordingly his resting is an occupying of his palace, a royal session. The dawning of the Sabbath witnesses a new enthronement of Elohim.”[5] Christ has always reigned as Lord, but now He has new territory over which to rule.
Finally, the Sabbath is tied to consecration: “Consecration here means, then, that all creation recognizes, affirms, and honors God’s lordship and behaves accordingly.”[6] Man is present for the very first Sabbath day, and he is not without a role: “All the creation of the six days is consecrated to man as the one set over all the works of God’s hand, as the hierarchical structure of Genesis 1 shows, but man himself in turn is consecrated to the One who set all things under his feet.”[7]
God Blessed the Sabbath
A second creation-based reason to keep the Sabbath commandment is because the Lord Himself “blessed the Sabbath day” (Gen. 2:3a). Chantry ties this to a blessing that falls on those who enter into God’s rest with him.[8] Regardless of whether or not this refers to blessings being bestowed upon Sabbath keepers, the language of the passage does point toward a perpetual Sabbath pattern. In Genesis 1, God’s blessing is given over the fish in the sea, the fowl of the air, and of humans. This blessing is for the ongoing production and multiplication of each group. God likewise blesses the Sabbath day, setting it apart for ongoing observance.
God Sanctified the Sabbath
A third creation-based reason for seeing the Sabbath as a creation ordinance is that God made the Sabbath holy (Gen. 2:3a). This should give us even more reason to strengthen our resolve to keep the Sabbath. “He who is king over all the earth has, by his sovereign right, made the day holy. He devoted one day in each seven to his worship and service. He does not advise or request but decrees that it is so. He who is eternal divided our time and legislated that we give him a day of worship each week.”[9] Because the Lord himself has sanctified, or set apart, one day a week for reflection upon His work, it would be foolish to carelessly disregard such a pattern.
We should follow the Sabbath pattern set forth by our Creator. That claim is not without its detractors; so, in subsequent posts, I plan to defend God’s Sabbath rest as prescriptive for us, rather than merely descriptive.
____________________
[1] See also David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: An Exposition of Chapter 14:1-17 : Liberty and Conscience (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 2003), 81ff.
[2] Ryken, Written in Stone, 107.
[3] Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 529.
[4] Meredith Kline, Kingdom Prologue, as quoted in Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 529.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid., 530
[7] Kline, Kingdom Prologue, in Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 530.
[8] Chantry, Call the Sabbath a Delight, 27.
[9] Chantry, Call the Sabbath a Delight, 28.
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:46:40 GMT -5
Jesus and the Sabbath
JON ENGLISH LEE
*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the OT, a look at God’s Rest as Prescriptive, and an examination of the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.
Jesus and the Sabbath
There exists a lot of interpretive controversy around the Sabbath claims in the New Testament. Much of that controversy is centered upon a select number of texts that could indicate the abrogation of the Sabbath command. Therefore the next few posts will look at how Jesus and Paul handled the Sabbath, and how the Sabbath plays a role in biblical typology.
Several comments can be made regarding the way Jesus handled the Sabbath in Mk 2:27-28. First, it is noteworthy that Jesus takes the Sabbath back to creation, not to Sinai;[1] this is another evidence of the Sabbath as a creation ordinance. Second, Jesus’ claim of Lordship over the Sabbath gives us an expectation that the Sabbath will continue in the New Covenant. John Murray explains:
What the Lord is affirming is that the Sabbath has its place within the sphere of his messianic lordship and that he exercises lordship over the Sabbath because the Sabbath was made for man. Since he is Lord of the Sabbath it is his to guard it against those distortions and perversions with which Pharisaism had surrounded it and by which its truly beneficent purpose has been defeated. But he is also its Lord to guard and vindicate its permanent place within that messianic lordship which he exercises over all things- he is Lord of the Sabbath, too. And he is Lord of it, not for the purpose of depriving men of that inestimable benefit which the Sabbath bestows, but for the purpose of bringing to the fullest realization on behalf of men that beneficent design for which the Sabbath was instituted. If the Sabbath was made for man, and if Jesus is the Son of man to save man, surely the lordship which he exercises to that end is not to deprive man of that which was made for his good, but to seal to man of that which the Sabbath institution involves. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath- we dare not tamper with his authority and we dare not misconstrue the intent of his words.[2]
Jesus is not abrogating the Sabbath when he claims his authority over it. Rather, by giving a divine interpretation of the Sabbath command, Jesus displays His own authority over His creation. Regarding our Lord’s authority over the Sabbath, Warfield comments, “It is in the power of no man to unmake the Sabbath, or to remake it—diverting it from, or, as we might fondly hope, adjusting it better to, its divinely appointed function.”[3]
Similarly, Jesus in Matthew 12:1-14 did not abrogate the Sabbath, and He certainly did not break any Sabbath command. Rather, Jesus gives the proper interpretation of the Sabbath command, over and against the interpretation of the Pharisees: He advocated works of necessity (Matt 12:1-8; Mk 2:23-28; Lk 6:1-5), mercy (Matt 12:9-14; Lk 4:31-41; 6:6-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; Jn 5:8-10; 7:23; 9:13-16), and piety (Matt 12:9; Mk 6:2; Lk 4:16; 6:6; Jn 7:22-23). Christ never explains or intimates that the Sabbath would not be ongoing. Rather, by him claiming Lordship over the Sabbath, Christ not only demonstrates the Sabbath was currently under his reign, but that also, “as Son of man at the Father’s right hand he retains that same lordship. And Jesus’ lordship was shown in his declaring the full meaning and intent of the Sabbath—not in abrogating it.”[4]
The coming posts will examine how Paul viewed the Sabbath, the nature of Sabbath typology, and practical implications for the Sabbath and ecclesiology.
[1] Both the Sabbath and Man are singular and articular. Barcellos argues, “Jesus did not say ‘The Sabbath was made for the Jews’ or ‘the Sabbaths were made for the Jews.’ He said ‘the Sabbath’ was made for ‘the man.’ ‘The man’ refers either to Adam as the head of the human race or, more likely, to mankind. Either way, Christ goes back to the creation account and sees both man and the Sabbath as being made then.”Barcellos, The Old Testament Theology of the Sabbath, RBTR, Vol 3, No 2, 33.
[2] John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 1:208.
[3] B.B. Warfield, The Foundations of the Sabbath in the Word of God, www.the-highway.com/Sabbath_Warfield.html. (Accessed 4/30/2013).
[4] “Report of the Committee on Sabbath Matters,” Minutes of the Fortieth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (1973), available at www.opc.org/GA/sabbath.html (Accessed 5/2/2013). |
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:49:25 GMT -5
Paul and the Sabbath
JON ENGLISH LEE
*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: Jesus and the Sabbath, The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the OT, a look at God’s Rest as Prescriptive, an examination of the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.
Throughout the New Testament the Sabbath principle retains its binding status. However, Romans 14:5-6, Galatians 4:9-11, and Colossians 2:16-17 are all often cited as evidence that the Sabbath is no longer binding. These texts pose perhaps the most persuasive arguments against the Sabbatarian position, therefore several brief points need to be made regarding their interpretation. While a full Pauline theology of the Law and Sabbath is well beyond the capabilities of a single blog post, I do hope to show that these passages are not as iron-clad as the anti-sabbatarians might argue.
Romans 14
Romans 14:5-6 is in the middle of an argument Paul is building against passing judgment upon weaker brothers, specifically regarding Jewish ceremonial laws. Lloyd-Jones explains regarding these ‘Sabbath days’:
“Jewish religious authorities themselves decided that when a certain great festival was coming, it would be good if the people prepared for it. So they appointed a ‘sabbath’, the day before the festival, as a means of preparation. So quite literally, from their standpoint, they did have Sabbath ‘days’; not only the seventh day of every week, but other holy days that they themselves had introduced in order that their observance of the fast or the festival might be more effective.”[1]
Paul is dealing with the ceremonial and cultic attachments to certain days; he is not abrogating the Sabbath command. Just as people today attach significance to certain days (e.g., Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Lent…), these believers were doing the same. Paul is addressing, “not the Sabbath as such, but certain fast days, certain feast days, certain festival days, that had now become a part of the life of the Jews.”[2] Paul concludes regarding these matters, “each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom 14:5b). Regarding the observance of special days, there is to be charity shown in discussing diverse views. But regarding the ongoing Sabbath command, Paul is not here speaking.
Galatians 4
In Galatians 4:9-11, Paul is writing against the keeping of days as a necessity for justification. The entire letter is an argument not to return to Jewish practices, namely circumcision, as a means necessary for salvation. Even though the letter speaks of those who “observe days, months, seasons, and years” (v 10), because of the context of the passage and the letter this does not constitute an argument against keeping a Sabbath for non-salvific purposes.
Colossians 2
Colossians 2:16-17 is the more difficult passage of the three because it actually contains the word “Sabbath” (v 16). In the letter Paul is urging the Colossians not to be led astray by those who are ‘judging’ their salvation based on their observances of dietary restrictions and special days. The dietary restrictions can be understood, “in light of both the discussion of ethnic identity of Jewish Christians and the preparatory rites for visionary experiences.”[3] This combination of abrogated Mosaic ceremonial law plus a Jewish cultism was leading the Colossians astray. The reference to a “festival, new moon, or a Sabbath,” clearly indicates some Jewish background to this heresy. These terms are found together in several Old Testament passages.[4] Significantly, “when these terms are listed together in the OT, it often refers to cultic rituals linked with these festal days. If so, Paul is not opposed to the Jewish calendar per se but to the imposition of practices related to these feasts”[5] Similar to the Romans passage discussed above, Paul is not removing the command for one Sabbath day of rest per week. He is addressing the ceremonial and cultic patterns that the Colossians were using to “pass judgment” upon believers.
Conclusion
While a full exploration of Paul’s theology of the Law and the Sabbath is way beyond what a blog post could attempt to accomplish, I hope to have shown some introductory arguments to defend against anti-sabbatarians, many of whom like to cite these verses as the final word against any New Covenant sabbatarian notions.
In the coming posts I hope to look at the typology of the Sabbath, historical teachings on the Sabbath, and the impact of Sabbath rest upon theology, particularly on ecclesiology.
[1] David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: An Exposition of Chapter 14:1-17 : Liberty and Conscience (Edinburgh; Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 2003), 88.
[2] Ibid.
[3]David W. Pao, Colossians & Philemon: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series on the New Testament, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament v. 12 (2012), 185.
[4] E.g., 1 Chr 23:31; 2 Chr 2:4; 31:3; Ezek 45:17; cf. 2 Kgs 4:23; Neh 10:33; Isa 66:23; Ezek 46:1; Amos 8:5.
[5] Pao, Colossians, 185. See also: H. Ross Cole, “The Christian and Time-Keeping in Colossians 2:16 and Galatians 4:10,” AUSS 39 (2001): 273-82.
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2023 23:50:46 GMT -5
founders.org/articles/gods-rest-as-prescriptive/
God's Rest as Prescriptive
Jon English Lee
JON ENGLISH LEE
Last time I looked at evidences for the Sabbath rest rooted in creation. But does the fact that God rested mean that Adam, and all humanity, should keep the Sabbath? Not all think so.[1] Frame offers four compelling arguments, of increasing persuasiveness, for man to imitate God by resting on the Sabbath: (1) man as God’s image, (2) the work/rest pattern, (3) Mosaic authorship of Genesis, and (4) the fourth commandment itself.[2]God creating man in His own image means that man should usually imitate his Maker. There are times when this is obviously not the case (e.g., killing the firstborn of Egypt), but “there does not seem to be any metaphysical, ethical, or historical reason why we should not imitate God’s cycle of work or rest.”[3]
Secondly, the cycle of 6 days of work followed by 1 day of rest would be difficult to understand if God had not made it for the benefit of his creatures. Because God never needs rest Himself, why would God take a day off if not to set a pattern for His people? Third, Frame points out that Moses was the primary author of Genesis. The Jews were already out of Egypt and under the Covenant. “A Jewish reader of Genesis during the wilderness period would see Genesis 2:2-3 as the beginning of the Sabbath observance, the background of the fourth commandment…The Jewish reader would see that, as in the fourth commandment, God in Genesis 2 institutes a day of rest, which he blesses and makes holy.”[4]
And finally, the most compelling argument for the Sabbath as a creation ordinance is the fourth commandment itself: Israel should keep the Sabbath because, “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made it holy” (Ex 20:11). God rested,
“From his creative labors and rested on the seventh day, which he hallowed and blessed, he also hallowed and blessed a human Sabbath, a Sabbath for man (Mark 2:27). In other words, when God blessed his own Sabbath rest in Genesis 2:3, he blessed it as a model for human imitation. So Israel is to keep the Sabbath, because…God hallowed and blessed man’s Sabbath as well as his own.”[5]
Would not the claim of our Lord, that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” be applicable to Adam preeminently? He was the only man present when the Sabbath was made! The Sabbath was a gift given to man at the end of the creative week.[6] This gift, a gift that sinners like to forsake, was meant to be a perpetual reminder of God’s masterful work in creation. Because man is made in God’s image and should therefore imitate Him, because of the pattern of 6 work days and 1 day of rest, because of Mosaic authorship, and because of the fourth commandment itself, the Sabbath is established as a prescriptive creation ordinance along with work and marriage.
Additionally, Chantry argues that because Exodus grounds the command primarily in creation[7], the Sabbath is not then “rooted in anything unique to the Jewish experience;”[8] Rather, Sabbath is a creation reality (See Ex. 20:11; 31:17; Heb. 4:4, 10). Furthermore, if the Sabbath is not a particularly Jewish reality, it is not then limited to the Jewish Covenant (Old Covenant). In this sense then, the Sabbath command is ‘above’ Mosaic Covenant because it was set in place prior to Sinai, even though it was part of the Mosaic commands.
That the Sabbath is a creation reality is also clear because unlike the other commandments, the fourth begins with “remember.” The command to remember is telling for two reasons: (1) this is not a new command, and (2) some were already guilty of not keeping the Sabbath, as is the sinful tendency of all mankind. As William Perkins wrote: “This clause doth insinuate, that in times past there was great neglect in the observation of the Sabbath.” [9] The call to remember raises another question: to whom or what are the Jews pointed when being reminded to remember? It was not to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. It was to the very beginning; specifically, the Lord’s rest at the end of His creative week. The Jews would already be aware of the pattern of work and rest that God has built into creation.[10]While the Mosaic Law would bring peculiarly Jewish ceremonial and civil laws built off of the Sabbath commandment, the core of the moral law was derivative off of God’s example in creation.
[1] E.g., see DA Carson, From Sabbath to Lord’s Day.
[2] Doctrine of the Christian Life, 531ff.
[3] Ibid.
[4]Ibid., 532.
[5]Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 532.
[6]Richard Barcellos states that it would be ‘clumsy’ to separate the creation of man from the creation of the Sabbath by thousands of years (Eden and Sinai). He argues, “Since we know that man was created…in the Garden of Eden, Christ would have us to conclude that the Sabbath…was made at the same time and place. This corresponds to what we saw in Exod. 20:11.” The Old Testament Theology of the Sabbath in RBTR, Vol 3, No 2. July 2006.
[7] I say ‘primarily’ because the Deuteronomic recount of the commands recalls the Israelite deliverance from Egypt as a reason for Sabbath (Dt. 5:15). The Sabbath, as will be argued below, is not merely retrospective, but prospective: retrospective by looking back to creation and redemption; prospective by looking forward to Christ’s work and to the Promised Land (and ultimately the New Creation). The different motives for Sabbath obedience are not competing; nor does the second (redemption) nullify the first (creation). Regarding the different motives given for the Israelites to obey the 4th commandment, Frame explains, “Creation and redemption are not antagonistic. Redemption is the work of the Creator. Creation and redemption do not generate two different ethics, but rather the same one” (Doctrine of the Christian Life, 514).
[8]Chantry, Call the Sabbath a Delight, 24.
[9]William Perkins. A Golden Chain: or, the description of theologie : containing the order of the causes of salvation and damnation, according to Gods word, Printed by John Legate (Cambridge, 1600), 61. Found at archive.org/stream/goldenchaineorde00perk#page/n1/mode/2up(Accessed May 2, 2013).
[10] Chantry cites Cain and Abel bringing their sacrifices ‘at the end of days,’ which he takes to mean they understood one day a week was devoted to worship. He also mentions that, “Noah gave great attention to the seven day cycle of time,” and that the Jews in the wilderness were to respect the Sabbath when the manna was given. Call the Sabbath a Delight, 26.
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Post by Admin on Apr 23, 2023 14:42:33 GMT -5
founders.org/articles/where-is-the-sabbath-in-the-early-church-part-3/?fbclid=IwAR36S9uLAvS2YS75dPOp4Vr-eJtYiVX
Where Is The Sabbath In The Early Church? (Part 3)
JON ENGLISH LEE
Where Is The Sabbath In The Early Church? (Part 3)
*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church? (Part 2), Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church? (Part 1), Ecclesiological Implications of the Sabbath (Part 2), Ecclesiological Implications of the Sabbath (part 1), Sabbath Typology and Eschatological Rest, Paul and the Sabbath, Jesus and the Sabbath, The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the OT, a look at God’s Rest as Prescriptive, an examination of the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.
Continuing our series on the Sabbath, this post will look at the thought of the early church father Justin Martyr to see what he thought concerning the Sabbath/Lord’s Day debate.
Justin Martyr
Justin was a second-century writer and itinerant evangelist, but he is most well known as an apologist. He has also been called “a ‘philosopher’ at least since the time of Tertullian.”[1] Justin wrote often against “all enemies of truth, Jews, Gentiles, and heretics.” Sadly, Justin was beheaded in Rome between 163 and 168 AD along with six other Christians.[2]
Two of Justin’s texts will be examined here. The first, Apology, was a defense of the Christian faith against persecution. It was addressed to Emperor Antonius Pius, Verissimus, and Lucius.[3] This Apology, along with the Second Apology, have been seen as some of the earliest examples of Christian apologetics. Indeed, some historians have given Justin credit for creating the genre of Christian apology.[4]
The second work to be examined is Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho. More than twice as long as the two Apologies, the Dialogue is a defense of Christianity against the most common objections of the Jews. The work is an account of a two-day discussion between Trypho and Justin.[5]
Text– Apology 1.67. “And on the day that is called Sunday all who live in the Cities or in Rural areas gather together in one place, and memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read for as long as time allows.” Justin goes on to state for the Emperor the reasons for this worship: “But Sunday is the day on which we hold our common assembly since this day is the first day on which God, changing darkness and matter, created the world; it was on this very day that Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.”[6]
Interpretation. Unlike Ignatius who wrote to a body of believers, Justin is writing to the Emperor in order to explain and defend Christian beliefs and practices. The first half of the quote simply explains the Christian practice of gathering on Sundays.[7] He also gives a brief description of what believers did at the gathering. Justin knew that he Emperor had probably heard reports about questionable Christian practices, and this seemingly simple account would hopefully serve to quell some of the Emperor’s suspicions.
The latter half of the quote shows Justin trying to give justification(s) for this weekly pattern: creation and resurrection.
Significance. Justin’s references to the Lord’s Day in his Apology are significant for several reasons. First, his Apology is one of the first defenses of the faith given by the church. Notably, the weekly gathering pattern is part of that defense. By explaining exactly what the Christian gatherings entailed, Justin would be able to correct any rumors that the Emperor had heard about Christian immorality.[8] Furthermore, Justin would be able both to explain Christian practices and to defend these practices over and against the Roman pagan practices and Jewish traditions of the day. Justin defends Christian practices by showing that no moral impropriety occurs, and yet shows discontinuity with surrounding customs because of the motivation for their gatherings.
This motivation for gathering on the Lord’s Day is also significant. Justin gives weekly Lord’s Day worship a theological foundation: God’s work of creation and re-creation. For Justin, it is proper for the church to worship on Sunday, rather than Saturday, because this commemorates both God’s creative work in the first week and God’s resurrecting work done on Easter Sunday. The latter reason is in alignment with Ignatius’ theological reasoning for Lord’s Day worship. However, by making the creation week an additional reason for on-going weekly worship gathering, Justin has broadened the theological foundation for Lord’s Day worship.
Interestingly, unlike those who argue for a perpetually binding sabbath creation ordinance, Justin does not ground Lord’s Day worship in God’s rest. Rather, he grounds weekly worship in God’s activity, specifically the first day. This is significant for two reasons: (1) he can keep the creation week as a prescription for weekly worship while simultaneously (2) distancing himself from the Jewish custom of weekly sabbath worship, which was also based on the creation week. By grounding weekly Lord’s Day worship within both creation and re-creation, Justin has successfully shown continuity with other Fathers (e.g., Ignatius) while also demonstrating to the Emperor that Christians do not carry the same traditions of the Jews.
Text and Interpretation- Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. Writing specifically to defend Christianity as the proper interpretation of the Old Testament and to show that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, Justin naturally has to deal with issues regarding the Jewish law. Specifically, the question of sabbath observance is addressed multiple times. For Justin, the issue of the sabbath is tied to a proper understanding of the fulfillment of Old Covenant law and to the proper interpretation of New Covenant law. While a full treatment of Justin’s theology of the law is worthy of further treatment elsewhere, it will be sufficient here to make a few observations that specifically relate to our study: (1) For Justin, Jews never properly understood Old Covenant law and do not understand how the New Law relates to it; (2) the sabbath was not a perpetually binding obligation for Old Testament believers, therefore it is not inconceivable for the command to be removed in the New Covenant; (3) in the New Law, obedience to the sabbath command is perpetual, not weekly; and (4) circumcision, along with the rest of the Old Covenant law, pointed to and has been fulfilled in Christ. This fulfillment, along with Christ’s resurrection, combines to give typological resolution to Old Testament patterns and gives the foundation for New Covenant worship on Sundays, the eighth day.
First, Justin claims that the Jews understand neither the Old Covenant law nor the New Covenant. After explaining that the Mosaic Law is old and belongs only to the Jews, Justin argues that a new law has been placed and has “abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one.” Furthermore, this new law is an “eternal and final law–namely, Christ– [which] has been given to us.”[9] Christ himself is the new law, and he has personally fulfilled and abrogated the Old Covenant commands, including the sabbaths.
Second, regarding the perpetual nature of the sabbath command, Justin argues that the Jews have wrongly understood the universality of the command. Consider Justin’s observation in chapter XIX:
Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses… And you [fleshly Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, “That you may know that I am God who redeemed you.”[10]
Furthermore, “if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of the observance of Sabbaths…before Moses; no more need is there of them now.”[11] According to Justin, because the sabbath command was not observed before the Mosaic Law was given, it is proper to conclude that the sabbath was neither an eternal command nor was universal in its application. Rather, for Justin, the sabbath commands were given to a specific people, the Jews, for a specific purpose: “God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath…on account of your unrighteousness, and that of your fathers.”[12]
Third, regarding the Jewish observance of the law, in chapter 12 Justin accuses the Jews of having an improper understanding of what it meant to obey the sabbath commands:
This same law [New Covenant Law, or Christ] you have despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. ‘For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and your heart is hardened,’ Jeremiah has cried; yet not even then do you listen…You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you…The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to do so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God.[13]
The New Law brings with it the command to observe a perpetual sabbath. In other words, New Covenant believers should be constantly “resting” in Christ. This “rest” is only attained by repenting from and avoiding sin.
Fourth, and most important to our study, Justin explains that the sabbath observance as a day of rest and worship has been replaced by the eighth day. Dialogue with Trypho 24 explains regarding the nature of the eighth day:
It is possible for us to show how the eighth day possessed a certain mysterious import, which the seventh day did not possess, and which was promulgated by God through these rites. But lest I appear now to diverge to other subjects, understand what I say: the blood of that circumcision is obsolete, and we trust in the blood of salvation; there is now another covenant, and another law has gone forth from Zion.[14]
Additionally, in Chapter 41, Justin writes:
Furthermore, the command to circumcise, requiring that children are always to be circumcised on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision by which we are circumcised from error and iniquity through our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath. This day, the day that is the first day of the week, is called the eighth day according to the cycle of all the days of the week, and yet it remains the first day.[15]
For Justin, the sabbath and circumcision commands of the Old Covenant served as typological forerunners that have been fulfilled by Christ. The eighth-day circumcision of Jewish boys has been replaced by the circumcision of Christ on the cross.[16] Eighth-day (i.e., Sunday) corporate worship gathering now stands as a weekly reminder of Christ’s resurrection on that sacred eighth day.
Significance. Justin shows continuity with Ignatius on several points. First, he defends Lord’s Day worship and condemns weekly sabbath day observance. Also like Ignatius, Justin argues that the sabbath commands of the Old Testament were for the Jews, not for everyone.
However, Justin shows discontinuity with previous authors regarding his theological foundation for Lord’s Day worship. Justin grounds his Lord’s Day observance upon typological promise and fulfillment themes. Christ as the true circumcision and the New Law is the reason why believers meet on Sundays.
It is worth noting that Justin does argue that Lord’s Day worship is grounded in creation (First Apology 67), but that the sabbath command is not (Dialogue with Trypho, 19), contra Exodus 20. This disparity could be explained by the different audiences of the two works (Gentiles and Jews, respectively), or perhaps an evolution in his theological framework. Either way, Justin does see some sort of creation week based theological underpinning for New Covenant Lord’s Day worship.
[1]Denis Minns and Paul Parvis, eds., Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies, Oxford early Christian texts (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 59.
[2]Minns and Parvis, Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, 32.
[3]Minns and Parvis, Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, 34.
[4]Paul Parvis, “Justin Martyr,” The Expository Times 120, no. 2 (November, 2008): 59. See also: Sara Parvis, “Justin Martyr and the Apologetic Tradition”, in Justin Martyr and His Worlds (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 115–27.
[5]Johnson, Worship in the Early Church, 69.
[6]Johnson, Worship in the Early Church, 68.
[7]Regarding the gathering of believers, Minns and Parvis argue that, “It is highly improbable that large numbers of Christians gathered, even in the one city, for the Sunday eucharist, and even more unlikely that they travelled from rural areas to attend a eucharist with city-dwelling Christians,” in Justin, Minns, and Parvis, Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies, Oxford early Christian texts (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 259n3. The physical location of the gatherings is not of primary interest in this paper; instead, the weekly pattern of gathering is of concern.
[8]E.g., Christians were charged with cannibalism because of language about eating Christ’s “flesh” and drinking His “blood.” See: Andrew McGowan, “Eating People: Accusations of Cannibalism Against Christians in the Second Century,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 2, no. 4 (1994): 413–42. Justin also mentions this slanderous charge in Dialogue with Trypho 10.
[9]Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 10, Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds., Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 1:200. All subsequent citations to the Ante-Nicene Fathers will be indicated as ANF.
[10]Dialogue with Trypho 19, ANF, 1:205. Emphasis added.
[11]Dialogue with Trypho 23, ANF, 1:206.
[12]Dialogue with Trypho 21, ANF, 1:204.
[13]Dialogue with Trypho 12, ANF, 1:200.
[14]Dialogue with Trypho 24, ANF, 1:206.
[15]Dialogue with Trypho 41, in Johnson, Worship in the Early Church, 1:69.
[16]Justin also sees the eighth day signified by the eight people saved on Noah’s ark: “For righteous Noah, along wit the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in power,” Dialogue with Trypho 138, ANF, 1:268.
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Post by Admin on May 11, 2023 22:56:27 GMT -5
Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? (Part 3)- Martin Bucer
JON ENGLISH LEE
Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? (Part 3)- Martin Bucer
*This post is the latest in a series looking at the Sabbath. Previous posts include: Pre-Puritan Sabbatarins? (Part 2), Pre-Puritan Sabbatarians? Henry Bullinger on the Sabbath (Part 1), Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church (Part 3), Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church? (Part 2), Where is the Sabbath in the Early Church? (Part 1), Ecclesiological Implications of the Sabbath (Part 2), Ecclesiological Implications of the Sabbath (part 1), Sabbath Typology and Eschatological Rest, Paul and the Sabbath, Jesus and the Sabbath, The Sabbath and the Decalogue in the OT, a look at God’s Rest as Prescriptive, an examination of the Sabbath as a Creation Ordinance.
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer (1491–1551) was a Strasbourg-based Reformer whose teachings had major influence on early English Puritan thought. At the request of Thomas Cramner, Bucer arrived in England in April 1549, thereafter to assume the post of Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge.[1] From that post Bucer influenced many English Protestants until his death in 1551; indeed, Collinson claims that Bucer’s thoughts on the Sabbath were “seminal.”[2] Indeed, it is to the sabbatarian thought of this internationally influential reformer that we will now turn.
Bucer was a very practical theologian, especially when it came to sabbatarian practice; he did not delve deeply into the theology behind his sabbatarianism. Nevertheless, there are many similarities between his thought and the sabbatarian thought of Bullinger. To demonstrate the sabbatarian thought of Bucer we will examine his Commonplaces and De Regno Christi.
Commonplaces
Bucer’s Commonplaces is a collection of excursuses that are usually at the beginning or the end of one of his commentaries as loci communes, or “common places.”[3] The two sections related to our study are “A Brief Summary of Christian Doctrine” and his article on “The Church.” We will survey each in turn.
First, Bucer’s article summarizing Christian doctrine speaks to the antiquity of Christians’ observing the Sabbath: “Since it has been the practice of the Churches of Christ from the times of the apostles to observe on the first day of the week.” This change to Sunday, which signifies the resurrection of Christ, should be consecrated “to God and celebrate[d]…with spontaneous piety and no less zeal than was demanded of the ancients in their sanctification of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath is to be observed by abstaining from “all temporal occupations and business which can possibly be deferred.” However, the mere cessation of activity is not what the Sabbath demands. Rather, believers are to attend divine assemblies, hear the word proclaimed, join in congregational prayer and thanksgiving, give charitable gifts to the poor, and receive the holy sacraments. The sacred nature of this divinely chosen day necessitates that “these godly exercises should be performed and engaged in with more solemnity than at other times.” Furthermore, the whole day is to be spent “in the pursuit of piety, as the Lord has commanded in his holy prophets.”[4]
Secondly, Bucer’s article on the Church sheds further light on his sabbatarian understandings. In a section in which he refutes the idea that the church has the power to alter scripture because it has changed the day, Bucer responds that the setting apart of “a fixed day (i.e., Jewish Sabbath)…has been abolished.” However, he further explains that there is “the inward and spiritual purpose of the commandment itself” that will never change. Indeed, “there was no necessity for the same day to be invariably observed;” therefore, the Apostles worshiped on Sunday in order to commemorate the Lord’s resurrection.[5] This argument, that there is both a ceremonial and moral component within the fourth commandment, is very similar to Bullinger’s and many future English Puritans.
So how is the church to sanctify the Sabbath? Bucer explains that the “true hallowing” of a holy day consists in the “abandonment of every carnal pursuit, in meting together for sacred assembly, in partaking of the word, the sacraments and discipline, and in giving alms.”[6] Thus, in Bucer’s Commonplaces, both his prescription for sanctifying the Sabbath day and his rationale for the change in the day of worship are very similar to Bullinger’s.
In the next post I will look at Bucer’s De Regno Christi to see how his practical sabbatarian principles were similar to what the later English Puritans would prescribe.
*Note: This post is adapted from Jon English Lee, “An Examination of the Origins of English Puritan Sabbatarianism”, Puritan Reformed Journal.
[1]Edward Martin Allen, “Nicholas Bownde and the Context of Sunday Sabbatarianism” (PhD Dissertation, Fuller Theologial Seminary, 2008), 198.
[2]Patrick Collinson, “The Beginnings of English Sabbatarianism,” in Studies in Church History, vol. 1 (London: Nelson, 1964), 212.
[3]Martin Bucer, Common Places of Martin Bucer, trans. David F Wright (Abingdon, England: Sutton Courtenay Press, 1972), 11.
[4]Ibid., 90.
[5]Ibid., 217.
[6]Ibid., 225.
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Post by Admin on May 26, 2023 17:54:22 GMT -5
Hugh Martin on the Sabbath being made for man
Posted July 31, 2022 by reformedcovenanter
Categories: Anthropology, Free Church of Scotland, Hugh Martin, Lex Triplex, Natural and Moral Law, Sabbath
Hugh MartinMan is first created; and because for his good, it is necessary, “the Sabbath is,” subsequently, “made for man.” The being whom God has created must have his best interests provided for at whatever cost. The earth not only must bring forth to him fruit for food, tree whose seed is in his kind, and all manner of herb; but the heavens, with their glorious and gigantic host, must be subjected to the law which demands man’s best and highest happiness; and their myriad orbs must circle onwards in an ever-moving order, regulated to his necessity, marking off to him his times and his seasons, and bringing round to him; at its proper, and heaven-appointed interval, this holy day of rest. And thus it is that, in evidence of God’s love to man, “the Sabbath is made for him.”
How beautifully is the spirit of the gospel seen reigning here, changing the law of bondage into the “perfect law of liberty!” (James i. 25.) And how ought this to infuse a spirit of love and joy into all our Sabbath observance! Had it been otherwise – had we been introduced into a series of arrangements completed without respect to, or without thought of us, and for the farther perfecting of which we derived our being and our place in God’s universe – we would have been under the strictest law to God, not to frustrate this object of our creation; and the Sabbath would have demanded from us the most strict and holy observance, as containing in itself the very cause and reason of our existence; and Sabbath desecration would have been the most audacious rebellion against the Lord of the Sabbath, who had shown his regard for the day of rest, making mand for the Sabbath.
But, oh! With how much greater force does the command to sanctify the holy day come upon us, when we are told that in love to us it was designedly instituted. And how should it come to us, not so much as the utterance of a lawgiver demanding acknowledgment of his own authority and glory, as the kindly request of a loving parent, entreating us to take advantage of a plan he had devised, for perfecting our own highest happiness and interest!
Oh! If fear and subjection would, in the one case, have produced a full and perfect compliance, how much more ought this to be accomplished now by responsive gratitude and love; and remembering at how tremendous an expense of wisdom and of power he hath caused the heavenly emblems of his omnipotence to bring round to us the day of rest, the Sabbath, made for our good, ought we not to be prepared to meet, in a responsive spirit of love, the command, “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.”
Hugh Martin, The Sabbath made for Man: A Sermon Preached in the Free Church, Panbride, on February 2, 1845. In accordance with the Recommendation of the General Assembly (Dundee: McCosh, 1845), pp 9-10.
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Post by Admin on May 26, 2023 18:01:18 GMT -5
Benjamin Colman on the weekly Sabbath as a sign that God is our sanctifier
Posted July 10, 2022 by reformedcovenanter
Categories: American Congregationalists, Benjamin Colman, Covenant of Grace, Divine Sovereignty, Doctrine of God, Doctrine of the Covenants, Effectual Calling, Holiness of God, Lex Triplex, Natural and Moral Law, Predestination, Election, and Reprobation, Resurrection, Sabbath, Sanctification, Soteriology, The Work of Christ
THAT the Lord’s-day, or weekly Sabbath, is a Sign between God and us, that he is the Lord our Sanctifier.
IT is great Condescension and Grace in God to us, to annex a reason unto any of his Commandments. His Sovereign will is the highest reason.— Yet is there much of Majesty and much Grace in this Reason, It is a Sign between me and you. And will God in very deed give us such a Sign and Token between Himself and us? will he in very deed deal so with Man upon the Earth? And give a standing Sign too, throughout all the Generations of men on earth? O the favour and Grace to dust and ashes! while He humbleth himself to behold the things that are above!
BUT what is the Lord’s Sabbaths a Sign of thro’ all the Generations of men? Why they signify and let us know, 1. That he is the Lord and our Lord: Lord of the world, and Lord of our time and lives. The great Proprietor and absolute Disposer of them. 2. That he is the Lord our Sanctifier. This is that Glory wherein he delights to appear unto his Creatures, and for which to be adored by them. So the Seraphims worship him above, and cover their faces, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts. And so we worship the Lord in the Beauties of Holiness on earth; His Sabbaths being unto us the sign, and his Ordinances the blessed means of holiness and Sanctification.
THE Lord our Sanctifier. It speaks the utmost favour, grace and mercy to us, and the utmost holiness in the Lord our God. He is the Sanctifier of all whom he saves. His Elect are chosen unto Salvation thro’ sanctification of the Spirit. And he has appointed his Holy Sabbath and all the Ordinances of his worship, under the blessing of his Spirit, to be the season and means of the Regeneration and Sanctification of souls, and of their growth and increase in Holiness.
GOD’s Sabbaths were from the beginning of the world given for a Sign and a Memorial. They are a Sign that in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth— Our Lord’s days are now a Sign of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. And in short, both the Jewish and Christian Sabbath are a Sign to fallen man, of a Covenant of Grace and Salvation granted to him thro’ Jesus Christ; the promised seed of the Woman, but the Only Begotten of the Eternal Father.
TO be sure, The Observation of a weekly Sabbath is a very public and open thing; a thing of much Solemnity and Significancy. It is a perpetual and universal Memorial of something very great and important between God and man.— Every child is ready to ask, What meaneth this Service? what signifies such a weekly Solemnity? —God answers in my Text, It is a sign between Me and you. Surely then a sign of something very great and good on God’s part, and worthy of his blessed and glorious Name, and of something very good and great, beneficial and necessary to us! Yes truly: the work and grace is great on God’s part, to be our Sanctifier! the benefit and mercy vast to us, our Sanctification!— This, this is signified by the weekly Sabbath. What more worthy of the Holy God? what more important to polluted, guilty and perishing Sinners? Of his mercy he thus saves us.
Benjamin Colman, The doctrine and law of the Holy Sabbath: in the order wherein it lies through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. In two sermons, preached at the lecture in Boston, October 15. and December 10. 1724 (Boston: Thomas Hancock, 1725), pp 31-35.
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Post by Admin on Jun 2, 2023 8:55:13 GMT -5
Wilhelmus à Brakel on the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment
Wilhelmus a BrakelThe sins which are prohibited can be enumerated as follows: First, we sin when we do not, with joyous approbation, set the sabbath apart from the other days, and when we fail to acknowledge that this day has been set apart by God by virtue of His example and command, having appointed it to be a day of rest, refreshment, and glorification of God. This sin consists in disobedience and a despising of privileges.
Secondly, we sin when we make a workday out of this day — if we occupy ourselves with the work of our profession; that is, to be engaged as brewers, bakers, laundry men, cooks, tailors, and shoemakers. Furthermore, we sin if, in order to finish remaining work, we then bring work home, even if it is toward noon. This also applies to barbers, those who load and unload ships, those who labour upon ferries, luggage porters, and garbage men; it pertains to all the labour whereby one earns a living. To this also belong miscellaneous activities which one postpones to the day of rest or does on this day to be prepared for the next day; such as mending, washing of children, to either prepare wash, send it to the laundry, or receive it at home, writing out bills, and going shopping — in one word, all that by which one gains money and time. On this day God wants universal cessation of activity upon the entire face of the earth. This is evident from the commandment itself.
Thirdly, we sin when we transform this day into a market day. This pertains to buying and selling by merchants, store owners, sellers of fruit, vendors of all sorts of edible material, sellers of fish, etc. (cf. Neh 13:15-16, 19-21).
Fourthly, we sin when we make this day into a day of worldly pleasure. The sabbath is a delight — however, a delighting in the Lord. It is a dreadful desecration of this day, however, when we abuse it by delighting ourselves in worldly things and in the lusts of the flesh. This pertains to sailing, horse-riding, fishing, bird-hunting, playing tennis, playing ball, or to the entertaining of one’s self with such things that are lawful at the appropriate time and place, in the appropriate company, and with the appropriate objective. This pertains even more to games of chance, playing cards, and playing with dice (cf. Isa 58:13-14). However, strolling in the fields or in gardens (be it alone or with others) does not belong to the forbidden sins, if we do so for the purpose of observing the works of God, to glorify Him thereby, and to be refreshed according to soul and body. Even if the world does this in a sinful manner, this cannot prevent the believer from doing it in a spiritual manner.
Fifthly, we sin when we make this day into a day of sin, attiring ourselves with all manner of hideous, worldly garb, and even daring to come thus to church and thereby before God‘s countenance. This pertains to drinking in bars and inns, where one can hear the violin, the vain chatter and jeering of drunkards, and the playing of drums. This pertains to having cold buffets in one’s yard, elaborate meals in the home, and being engaged in all manner of foolish talk and gossip. This pertains to going courting — as young men and women are accustomed to do in many villages. In one word, we sin if we spend this day in all manner of looseness and licentiousness. Such sins are double in measure — yes, they provoke God in an extraordinary manner.
Sixthly, we sin by making this a day of idleness, spending the entire day in a lazy and slothful manner, sleeping the major part of the morning. Having nothing to do, one can then catch up on sleep. Thus, there are many who sleep away the morning service, eat during the afternoon service, and walk away the evening service. Even if one has attended the worship services once or twice, he may possibly have slept there or have been occupied with other thoughts, and thus derived no more benefit from this than a donkey would. Such persons nevertheless imagine that they have spent the sabbath well, for they have rested and have been to church.
Seventhly, we sin when we reject and speak against the sabbath; draw others away from hallowing this day and give them liberty to do so; ridicule those who conscientiously hallow the sabbath according to God‘s command, railing at them by calling them ignorant, hair-splitters, and hypocrites (how abominable!); are unwilling to hallow the sabbath ourselves; draw others away from doing so; and mock with those who sanctify this day.
Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (1700; Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992), 3: 143-45.
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Post by Admin on Jun 2, 2023 8:56:03 GMT -5
Wilhelmus à Brakel: What is Sabbath observance?
Wilhelmus a BrakelObservation not only consists in resting — as if that were the whole or part of its observance. It also does not consist in serving God in a more spiritual manner than on other days. Neither does it consist in a narrow-minded “touch not and taste not,” nor in asking, “May I do this or may I do that?” The sabbath is not a snare, but rather a day of delight — not, however, for sinful flesh. Those who are spiritually minded will almost always know what either favours or impedes the spirituality of the sabbath and the hallowing of this day. Sabbath observance consists, first of all, in focusing upon the commandment and example of God which are held before us to be followed. This must be accompanied by obedient subjection and a love to imitate this.
Secondly, it consists in spending this day in holy resting and being completely withdrawn from the world, in being elated and joyful in God, and in holy jubilation.
Thirdly, it consists in occupying one‘s self in beholding the works of God in creation, preservation, and government. It furthermore consists in meditating upon the great work of redemption through Christ, in all this acknowledging and rejoicing in God’s goodness, wisdom, power, truth, omnipotence (and of all that is revealed of God of this in our hearts), and thus glorifying and praising God. It is to be occupied with that sweet work of angels!
Fourthly, it consists in attending the public gatherings of God’s people, as well as in rejoicing in the fact that one may be among them and with them, appear together before God’s countenance, sing His praises, worship Him, hear the voice of the Lord come to our ears and hearts, and receive the benediction.
Fifthly, it consists in visiting the sick and the destitute, to bestow something of which they are deprived, to read something out of God’s Word, and furthermore if they are unconverted, to convince them of sin and judgment and make them acquainted with the Lord Jesus. It also consists in comforting the converted and in stirring them up to be patient.
Sixthly, it consists in exercising the communion of saints; that is, in having sweet fellowship with godly acquaintances in private gatherings where they occupy themselves with the reading of God’s Word, the singing of psalms and spiritual songs, and in mutual conversations, exhorting and comforting each other.
Seventhly, it consists in contributing, with a joyful and compassionate heart, something of one’s profit — earned in the previous workdays (or else something of one’s belongings) — to the poor, the common fund of the deacons, individuals with whom one is acquainted, and others whom the Lord causes us to encounter.
Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (1700; Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992), 3: 145-46.
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Wilhelmus à Brakel on incentives to Sabbath observance
Wilhelmus a BrakelThe third matter to be noted in this [fourth] commandment is the added incentives. These are three in number.
(1) There is the example of God. God has created man after His image. This holy disposition of soul must also be manifested by man‘s deeds, and when he is thus active, he must be engaged in harmony with both God‘s commandment as well as His example. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children” (Eph 5:1). God, after being engaged in the work of creation for six days, rested upon the seventh day, and by so doing has designated this as an example to be followed. Man must be motivated by this to do likewise.
(2) The second incentive is taken from that which is to our benefit. “Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day.” This does not imply that inherent efficacy was bestowed upon this day in order to render it profitable to man. Rather, it is a promise of blessing made to the conscientious observers of that day; that is, the receipt of comfort, joy, and holiness for the soul, and to render the physical labour of the six workdays to be more prosperous and profitable. For everything is dependent upon the blessing of the Lord, and without this all our labour is in vain (Ps 127:1-2).
(3) The third incentive is derived from God’s command and the appropriateness of obedience to it. He hallowed it. The Lord has set this day apart for sacred usage in order that man may solemnly and uniformly glorify and serve Him with a holy rest. No one may therefore make this day a common day by using it as other days and spending it by working. Rather, according to God’s command, we must acknowledge it as having been set apart and spend it in a fashion which is consistent with the purpose for which God has set it apart and designated it.
Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, trans. Bartel Elshout, ed. Joel R. Beeke (1700; Grand Rapids MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992), 3: 142-43.
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Post by Admin on Jun 20, 2023 22:18:39 GMT -5
JESUS CHANGED THE SABBATH DAY FROM THE 7TH TO THE 1ST DAY OF THE WEEK
As the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus fulfills the Sabbath, creating the perfect rest by His atoning death and resurrection. That the Sabbath is now fulfilled Jesus shows by changing the Sabbath Day from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week. Not the Church, but the Lord Jesus set the first day of the week apart as the day of rest for the New Testament people of God. The Church has no authority to change the Sabbath Day or to require believers to observe the first day of the week. The Church does not make laws; she only proclaims the will of her sovereign Lord, as that will is revealed in Holy Scripture. The Lord of the Sabbath Himself ordained the first day of the week as the day of rest for the Church come of age. He did this by rising from the dead on the first day (Luke 24:1); by meeting with His disciples on the first day, prior to the Ascension (John 20:19; John 20:26); by coming back to the Church in the Holy Spirit on the first day (Pentecost was a Sunday); and by directing the apostles and the Apostolic Church to gather for worship on the first day (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1,2).
Therefore, the Spirit of Jesus Christ calls the first day of the week, "the Lord's Day," in Revelation 1:10: "I (John) was in the Spirit on the Lord's day..." This one, brief text is a mighty, a conclusive, Word of God for the whole Sabbath-question. All by itself, it utterly refutes the position of Seventh Day Adventism regarding the day of rest and worship for the New Testament Church. What is of greater importance to us is that it clearly teaches that one day of the week, the day on which Jesus arose in glory, is a special day and must be specially observed by those who love the risen Lord. Even though it is certainly true that all the days of the week belong to Christ; nevertheless, it is also certainly true that one of them is "the Lord's day" in a unique sense. ---Prof. David Engelsma
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Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2023 19:10:00 GMT -5
Thomas Boston on the fourth commandment;
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
EXOD. 20:8, 9, 10, 11.—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 manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the 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 hallowedit.
THIS command respects the time of worship, and is the last of the
first table, set to join both together, the Sabbath being the bond of all
religion. In the words we have,
1. The command. It is delivered two ways.
1st, Positively, Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Sabbath
signifies rest or cessation from labour. There is a threefold rest or
Sabbath spoken of in scripture.
(1.) Temporal.
(2.) Spiritual, which is an internal soul-rest, in ceasing from sin, Heb. 4:3.
(3.) Eternal, Heb.4:9, 11 celebrated in heaven, where the saints rest from their labours.
It is the first of these, the weekly Sabbath that is here meant. Observe
here,
(1.) Our duty with respect to the Sabbath. It is to keep it holy. God
has made it holy, set it apart for holy exercises, and we must keep it
holy, spending it in holy exercises.
(2.) The quantity of time to be observed as a Sabbath of rest, a day, a
whole day of twenty-four hours; and the one day in seven. They must
observe a seventh day after six days' labour, wherein all our work
must be done, put by hand, so as nothing of it may remain to be done
on the Sabbath.
(3.) A note of remembrance put upon it; which imports, that this
precept should be diligently observed, special regard paid to it, and
due honour put upon this sacred day.
2dly, Negatively. Where observe,
(1.) What is forbidden here; the doing of any work that may hinder the sanctifying of this day.
(2.) To whom the command is directed, and who must observe it;
magistrates, to whom belong the gates of the city; and masters of
families, to whom belong the gates of the house. They must observe
it themselves, and cause others to observe it.
2. The reasons annexed to this command. None of the commands are
thus delivered, both positively and negatively, as this is. And that
imports,
1st, God is in a special manner concerned for the keeping of the
Sabbath, it being that on which all religion depends. Accordingly, as
it is observed or disregarded, so it readily goes with the other parts of
religion.
2dly, People are most ready to halve the service of this day, either to
look on resting from labour as sufficient, or to look on the work of
the day as over when the public work is over.
3dly There is less light of nature for this command than the rest: for
though it is naturally moral that there should be a Sabbath; yet it is
but positively moral that this should be one day in seven, depending
entirely on the will of God.
In discoursing from this subject, I shall shew,
I. What is required in the fourth commandment.
1I. Which day of the seven God hath appointed to be the weekly
Sabbath.
III. How the Sabbath is to be sanctified.
IV. What is forbidden in this command.
V. The reasons annexed to it.
VI. Make improvement.
I. I am to shew what is required in the fourth commandment. This command according to our Catechism, requireth 'the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven to be a holy Sabbath to himself.' Here I shall shew,
1. That this command requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word.
2. That it requires one day in seven to be kept as a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
3. That the day to be kept holy is one whole day.
First, I am to shew, that this command requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word.
The Jews under the old Testament had several days beside the weekly Sabbath, that by divine appointment were to be kept as holy days, and by virtue of this command they were to observe them, even as by virtue of the second they were to observe the sacrifices and other parts of the Old Testament instituted worship. But these days are taken away under the gospel by the coming of Christ.
But that which this command in the first place requires, is the keeping holy of a Sabbath to God; whatever be the day God determines for it; whether the seventh in order from the creation, as under the Old Testament, or the first, as under the New. And so the command is, Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy; not Remember the seventh day. Thus the keeping of a Sabbath is a moral duty binding all persons in all places of the world.
For it is a moral duty, and by the natural law required, that as God is to be worshipped, not only internally, but externally, not only privately, but publicly; so there must be some special time designed and set apart for this, without which it cannot be done. And so the very Pagans had their sabbaths and holidays. This is the fret thing
imported here, That a Sabbath is to be kept.
Another thing imported here hi, That it belongs to God to determine the Sabbath, or what day or days he will have to be kept holy. He says not, Remember to keep holy a Sabbath-day, or a day of rest, leaving it to men what days should be holy, and what not; but, Remember the Sabbath-day, &c. supposing the day to be already determined by himself. So that we are bound to set time appointed in his word.
And this condemns men's taking on themselves, whether churches or states, to appoint holidays to be kept, which God has not appointed in his word. Consider,
1. This command puts a peculiar honor on the Sabbath above all other days Remember the Sabbath-day, &c. But when men make holidays of their own to be kept holy, the day appointed of God is spoiled of its peculiar honor, and there is no peculiar honor left to it, Ezek. 43:8. Yea, in practice they go before it; for men's holidays where they are regarded, are more regarded than God's day.
2. This command says, Six days shalt thou labor. Formalists say, There are many of these six days thou shalt not labor, for they are holy days. If these words contain a command, who can countermand it? if but a permission, who can take away that liberty which God has left us? As for fast-days or thanksgiving days occasionally appointed,
that are not holy days; the worship is not made to wait on the days,as on Sabbaths and holidays, but the days on the worship which God by his providence requires; and consequently there must be a time for performing these exercises.
3. It belongs only to God to make a holy day; for who can sanctify a creature but the Creator, or time but the Lord of time; he only can give the blessing: why should they then sanctify a day that cannot bless it? The Lord abhors holy days devised out of men's own hearts, 1 Kings 12:33.
4. Lastly, What reason is there to think that when God has taken away from the church's neck a great many holy days appointed by himself, he has left the gospel-church to be burdened with as many, nay, and more of men's invention than he himself had appointed?
Secondly, This command requires one day in seven to be kept as a holy Sabbath unto the Lord: Six days shall thou labor and do all thy work: but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Thus the Lord determines the quantity of time that is to be his own, in a peculiar manner, that is, the seventh part of our time. After six days
working, a seventh is to be a Sabbath. This is moral, binding all persons in all ages, and not a ceremony abrogated by Christ.
1. This command of appointing one day in seven for a Sabbath is one of the commands of that law, consisting of ten commands, which cannot be made out without this was written on tables of stone, to shew the perpetuity of it; and of which Christ says, Matth. 5:17, 18, 19. 'Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'
2. It was appointed and given of God to Adam in innocency, before there was any ceremony to be taken away by the coming of Christ,Gen. 2:3.
3. All the reasons annexed to this command are moral, respecting all men, as well as the Jews, to whom the ceremonial law was given. And we find strangers obliged to the observation of it, as well as the Jews; but they were not so to ceremonial laws.
4. Lastly, Jesus Christ speaks of it as a thing perpetually to endure, even after the Jewish Sabbath was over and gone, Matth. 24:20. And so, although the Sabbath of the seventh day in order from the creation was changed into the first day, yet still it was kept a seventh day.
Thirdly, The day to be kept holy, is one whole day. Not a few hours, while the public worship lasts, but a whole day. There is an artificial day betwixt sun-rising and sun-setting, John 11:9 and a natural day of twenty-four hours, Gen. 1 which is the day here meant. This day we begin in the morning immediately after midnight; and so does the Sabbath begin, and not in the evening; as is clear, if ye consider,
1. John. 20:19. 'The same day at evening, being the first day of the week:' where ye see that the evening following, not going before this first day of the week, is called the evening of the first day.
2. Our Sabbath begins where the Jewish Sabbath ended; but the Jewish Sabbath did not end towards the evening, but towards the morning, Matth. 28:1. 'In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,' &c.
3. Our Sabbath is held in memory of Christ's resurrection, and it is certain that Christ rose early in the morning of the first day of the week. Let us therefore take the utmost care to give God the whole day, spending it in the manner he has appointed, and not look on all the time, besides what is spent in public worship, as our own; which is too much the case in these degenerate times wherein we live.
II. I come now to shew which day of the seven God hath appointed to be the weekly Sabbath. According to our Catechism, 'From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which
is the Christian Sabbath.'
We have heard that this command requires a Sabbath to be kept, and that one whole day in seven; we are now to consider what day that is.
The scripture teaches us, that there are two days which have by divine appointment had this honour, the seventh day, and the first day of the week.
First, As to the seventh day, it is acknowledged by all, that that was
the Jewish Sabbath. And concerning it, consider,
1. Who appointed the seventh day to be the Sabbath. It was God himself that appointed the seventh, which is the last day of the week, by us called Saturday, to be the Sabbath; The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. He that was the Lord of time made this designation of the time at first.
2. Wherefore did God at first appoint the seventh? The reason of this was, that as God rested that day from all his works of creation, men might, after his example, rest on that day from their own works, that they might remember his, and celebrate the praises of the Creator. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,—and rested the
seventh day. The work of creation was performed in the six days, andnothing was made on the seventh day; so that the first new day that
man saw was a holy day, a Sabbath, that he might know the great end
of his creation was to serve the Lord.
3. How long did that appointment of the seventh day last? To the
resurrection of Christ. This was its last period, at which time it was to
give place to a new institution, as will afterwards appear. The day of Christ's resurrection was the day of the finishing of the new creation, the restoration of a marred world.
4. When was the Sabbath of the seventh day appointed first? Some who detract from the honor of the Sabbath, contend that it was not appointed till the promulgating of the law on mount Sinai, and that its first institution was in the wilderness. We hold that it was appointed from the beginning of the world. For proof whereof consider,
1.) Moses tells us plainly, that God, immediately after perfecting the works of creation, blessed and hallowed the seventh day, Gen. 2:2, 3. Now, how could it be blessed and hallowed but by an appointing of it to be the Sabbath, setting it apart from common works, to the work of God's solemn worship? The words run on in a continued history,
without the least shadow of anticipating, upwards of two thousand years, as some would have it.
(2.) The Sabbath of the seventh day was observed before the promulgation of the law from Sinai, and is spoken of Exod. 16 not as a new, but an ancient institution. So, ver. 5 preparation for the Sabbath is called for, before any mention of it is made, clearly importing that it was known before. See ver. 23 where the Sabbath is given for a reason why they should prepare the double quantity of manna on the sixth day; which says that solemn day had not its
institution then first. And the breach of the Sabbath is, ver. 28
exposed as the violating of a law formerly given.
(3.) In the fourth command they are called to remember the Sabbath-day, as a day that was not then first appointed but had been appointed before, although it had gone out of use, and had been much forgotten when they were in Egypt. Besides, the reasons of this command, God's resting the seventh day, and blessing and hallowing it, being from the beginning of the world, say, that the law had then place when the reason of the law took place,
(4.) This is evident from Heb. 4:3–9. The apostle there proves, that there remains a Sabbath, or rest to the people of God, into which they are to enter by faith, from this, that the scripture speaks only of three sabbatisms or rests; one after the works of creation,another after the coming into Canaan; and David's words cannot be understood of the first, for that was over, ver. 3 and so was the other; therefore there remaineth a rest for the people of God, ver. 9. Some allege against this, that the patriarchs did not observe the Sabbath, because there was no mention made of it in the scriptures.
But this is no just prejudice; for at that rate we might as well conclude it was not observed all the time of the judges, Samuel and Saul; for it is no where recorded in that history that they did. Yea, though the patriarchs had not obeyed it, yet that could no more militate against the first institution, than polygamy against the first
institution of marriage. But as from the patriarchs sacrificing, we infer the divine appointment of sacrifice, so from the institution of the Sabbath, we may infer their keeping it. And their counting by weeks, as Noah did, Gen. 8:10, 12; and Laban with Jacob, Gen. 19:27,28. doth not obscurely shew it; for to what end did they use this
computation, but that the Sabbath might be distinguished from other days? And the piety of the patriarchs persuades us, that they observed that solemn day for worship; and if any day, what but that designed of God?
Secondly, As to the Sabbath of the first day of the week,
1. Consider the date of it, which was from the resurrection of Christ, to continue to the end of the world; for the days of the gospel are the last days.
2. How the Sabbath could be changed from the seventh to the first day of the week. The fourth command holds out a Sabbath to be kept, and that one in seven. As for the designation of the day, he that designed one could design another; and the substituting of a new day is the repealing of the old.
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Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2023 19:19:39 GMT -5
3. Wherefore this change was made. Upon the account of the resurrection of Christ, wherein the work of man's redemption was completed.
4. By what authority it was changed into the first day. The Sabbath was by divine authority changed from the seventh to the first day of the week; so that the Lord's day is now by divine appointment the Christian Sabbath.
(1.) The Sabbath of the first day of the week is prophesied of under the Old Testament, Psal. 118:24. 'This is the day which the Lord hath made,' viz. the day of Christ's resurrection, when the stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. 'We will rejoice and be glad in it;' that is, we will celebrate it as a day of rejoicing and thankfulness for the work of redemption. Compare Acts 4:10, 11. 'Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.' Hereto possibly may that passage be referred, Ezek. 43:27. 'And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the EIGHTH DAY, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt-offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord.' And it may be called the eighth day, because the first day of the week now is the eighth in order from the creation. As also Isa. 11:10. 'His rest shall be glorious.' As the Father's rest from the work of the creation was glorious by the
seven day's rest, so the rest of the Son from the work of redemption was glorious by the first day's rest. On this day it was that the light was formed; so on this day did Christ the Son of righteousness, the true light, arise from the dark mansions of the grave with resplendent glory.
(2.) This day is called 'the Lord's day,' Rev. 1:10. That this Lord's day is the first day of the week, is clear, if ye consider, that John speaks of this day as a known day among Christians by that name. It could not be the Jewish Sabbath, for that is always called the Sabbath, and the Jewish Sabbaths were then repealed, Col. 2:16. Neither could it mean any other day of the week, wherein Christ specially manifested himself, for that would determine no day at all. And that this phrase infers a divine institution, is evident from the like phrase of the sacrament called the Lord's supper.
(3.) It is evident there ought to be a Sabbath, and that from the creation till Christ's resurrection the seventh day in order was appointed by God himself. It is no less evident, that the Sabbath is changed to the first day of the week, and that lawfully, because the Jewish Sabbath is repealed. Now, who could lawfully make this change but one who had divine authority? who therefore is called Lord of the Sabbath? Mark 2:28.
(4.) It was the practice of the apostles and primitive Christians to observe the first day of the week for the Sabbath, John 20:19. Acts 20:1. On this day the collection for the poor was made, 1 Cor. 16:2 and you know the apostles had from Christ what they delivered to the churches as to ordinances, 1 Cor. 11:23.
5. Lastly, The Lord, by glorious displays of his grace and Spirit, has remarkably honored this day, in all ages of the church; and by signal strokes from heaven has vindicated the honor of this day on the profaners of it. Of this, remarkable instances may be seen in history both at home and abroad.
Let us therefore sanctify this day, as the day which God hath appointed, and blessed as a day of sacred rest in the Christian church.
III. 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 privatee xercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
Here I shall shew, what it is to sanctify the Sabbath, and what are the parts of the sanctification of it.
FIRST, I am to shew, what it is to sanctify the Sabbath. The Sabbathday 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 shew 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 most 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-labor or servile employments tending to our worldly gain, as on other days of the week, as ploughing and sowing, bearing of burdens, &c. 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, &c.Isa. 58:13.
(3.) All civil works, such as making bargains, unnecessary journeying travelling 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 hath 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 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. 57:13, 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 theweek'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, &c.
2. Works of mercy, as to save the life of a beast; see Matth. 12. Under which may be comprehended,
(1.) Good works, such as visiting the sick, relieving the poor, &c.
(2.) Works of decency, such as dressing the body with comely attire.
(3.) Works of common honesty andhumanity, as saluting one another, 1 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 travelling on the Lord's day to sermons, 2 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, whom yet 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, &c. Besides, people should take heed that they bring not that necessity on themselves, by timeously 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 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
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, Psal. 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 as 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. 57:13.
1st, Grace most 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 th 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 ye 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 to prepare for it, Luke 23:54.
(2.) Remember it when it is come; rise early on the Sabbath morning, Psa. 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.
IV. I proceed to shew, what is forbidden in the fourth commandment. We are told in the Catechism, that it '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 how 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, Psal. 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 should there 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 that will not come then? Psal. 91:1, 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 at 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 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 jostle 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. Ye ought to retire by yourselves, and meditate on what ye 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 by 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, Matth. 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 vigour 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 than 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.
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