Hence St. Paul recommended the first day of the week especially for acts of charity, concerning the collection for the Saints.1 Hence it is by St. John called "The Lord's Day." Hence the whole Christian Church from the age of the Apostles has observed it: and, though for many hundred years it does not appear to have been called the Sabbath, it was a day of rest from the common business of life, and devoted to the worship of God, and study of his word.3

1 1 Cor. xvi. 1.

2 Rev. i. 10.

3 Of the duties enjoined by the commandments, a division is sometimes made into those of moral, and those of positive obligation; the former class consisting of such as appear to have an intrinsic antecedent virtue in themselves, as charity, honesty, or reverence for God; the latter of such as are to be observed, not for any seeming value of their own, but only because they are commanded by the Almighty. Of these last few instances occur in either table: but in the fourth commandment the positive obligation is united with the moral, though plainly distinct from it. That a convenient portion of our time is due to the worship and immediate

In the Jewish ritual there was a peculiar sacrifice for the Sabbath: there was a peculiar Psalm, the xcii. appointed for it it was the day of holy convocations: it was the day, on which in earlier times men resorted to the prophets for instruc

And,

service of God who made us, seems to be one of those eternal principles of right, which a little reflection must induce every man's reason to acknowledge, when proposed to him: but that the precise portion of time to be devoted should be every seventh day, seems to depend, not so much upon any inherent aptitude of that division of time, as upon the mere commandment of the Creator. perhaps, the word "Remember" is therefore prefixed to this commandment, because the special day to be observed could not be suggested by natural reason, but was defined by the dictate of revelation. We can readily discover the advantage of divine authority to determine the season of rest and general devotion; and God has vouchsafed to intimate, why he appointed the seventh day in preference to any other at the beginning, and the incidental occurrences of it render it the most fit day to be observed: but this aptitude is altogether independent of any intrinsic antecedent quality in the day itself, that reason should discover virtue in observing it.

1 Numb. xxviii. 9, 10.

2 Levit. xxiii. 3.

tion and in later times the law was read and preached in the synagogues every Sabbath Day. This indicates the duties of the day of rest to the Christian; that it is to be a religious rest. On the Sabbath, Paul and the disciples went out of Philippi by a river's side, where prayer was wont to be made : and they sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And so it is the day on which we should attend the house of

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prayer, and public service of God. It is the day on which we should hear his word preached, and seek the counsel of the minister of religion. It is the day on which we should receive the holy communion of the Lord's Supper. It is the day on which all our reading, our meditations, and pursuits, should be in harmony with our formal devotions, and the service of

the sanctuary. "It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day," saith our Lord: and works of charity, and what will

1 2 Kings, iv. 23. 2 Acts, xv. 21. 3 Acts, xvi. 13.

improve our own piety, and that of others, are allowed on the day of rest. Nay! works of necessity, that cannot well be deferred, are permitted to us: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." But the pursuit of gain, diversions, and entertainments, that are inconsistent with religious exercises, and a devout frame of mind; the feasts of dissipation, the excitements of reckless intemperance, the wantonness of profane and flippant conversation, the all-absorbing speculations of trade, or anxieties of ambition; in a word, all the immediate service of that Mammon who is opposed to God, must be a cessation and abolition of the remembrance of God, and therefore, from its own nature, in direct conflict with the object, and prohibited by the institution of the Lord's Day.

Another duty this commandment especially enjoins, as being especially connected with its object. It is not enough that you should do no manner of work

yourself alone: it is not enough that you should hallow the day of rest, and resort to your place of prayer and holy meditation yourself only: "Thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates." The children's devout remembrance of God depends much upon their parents. The devoutness of the dependent is much under the influence of his master's example. The religion of the stranger, and the heathen that resort to you, may be based and built up upon your open profession of earnest faith, and sincere obedience to God. Hence the religious responsibility of station, wealth, and parental authority. The father has to answer, not only for maintaining a lively sense of God and the divine goodness in his own mind, but also for planting and nourishing it in that of his children. The master of a family has to answer, not only for making the Sabbath a day of rest to himself, but for