I. THE NATURE AND OBJECT OF THE SABBATH.

1. The Sabbath provides a season of rest for both man and beast. "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 thy stranger that is within thy gates."

2. It is a religious institution. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, that is, religiously,

3. The Sabbath is a festival memorising creation. "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

II. THE SABBATH FROM CREATION TO THE GIVING OF THE LAW. The first chapter of Genesis contains an account of the six days' work of creation, and the second opens thus: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, end sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had made." (Genesis ii. 1-3.) Here we see the first seventh day of time consecrated as a season of rest: 1. By the action of Jehovah. 2. By his blessing it (speaking well of it) as a season of rest, for so had

1 This article is inserted at the request of the writer, that our readers may have a statement of the peculiar views of our Seventh-Day Baptist brethren, as presented by one of themselves.

he employed it. 3. By sanctifying it, that is, setting it apart. Here we have, in these seven days, not only the first week of time, but also time arranged and organized for the use of man. The earth is now fitted up for the abode of man, and put under his control. It is impossible to conceive of properly organized and toiling humanity without a season of rest. Unceasing toil would be unendurable. Rest is a necessity. But let it be remembered, that now humanity is organized for all coming time, and its wants provided for. Let it be remembered, also, that the honor of God, as the architect of the universe, was concerned in the Sabbath, because man, his imitator, was not only to work six days, but to rest on the seventh, and rest on the seventh with direct reference to God's rest, which rest of God had reference to his previous six days of work; and hence the keeping of the Sabbath honors God as the creator. The week, with its six days for toil and the seventh for rest, is the type of the Creator's work and rest; and the Sabbath, as the head or chief day, because it declares the triumph of the wisdom and power of God over chaos, reducing it to order, is the world's jubilee, and a standing witness for God against atheism and every form of idolatry. Here, then, we take our stand in defence of the Sabbath at the birth of the world, and date it from the beginning. "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day in this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works." (Hebrews iv. 4.)

From Genesis, chapter ii. to Exodus, chapter xvi. the Sabbath is not formally mentioned; but the division of time into weeks of seven days, and the observance of that division in the arrangement of society, is mentioned. God, in arranging for the sending of the flood observes this order. "For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain on the earth.” (Genesis vii. 4.) "And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth." (Genesis vii. 10.) It will be seen, in the eighth chapter of Genesis, that Noah, in sending forth the raven and dove, thrice observes this order of seven days. In the transaction between Laban and Jacob, recorded in Genesis xxix. 21-30, the week is distinctly mentioned, and in Judges xiv. 12, we find a nuptial week to consist of seven days. It is clear, then, that the week, as a divinely appointed arrangement of time, was providentially preserved amidst the general wreck of the times. Now is it reasonable to suppose, that the week was thus remembered and employed, and the character of its chief day, the one upon which God had especially set his seal, forgotten? But if, under the circumstances, reason decides that the peculiar character of the seventh day of the week was remembered, then we are bound so to decide, and this settles the question in favor of the continuance of the Sabbath thus far, and if thus far, then always.

We come now to great and mighty changes in the social and political condition of the world, culminating in the exode of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. But let it be premised, that in the midst of universal apostacy from God, when every nationality was founded in idolatry, he organized the Jewish commonwealth, to be his peculiar people. To them he gave the true religion-that religion which revealed him as

the Infinite One, the creator and sustainer of all things, the redeemer and head of his people. And now, in teaching this infant colony of emancipated ones their first lesson-that of trusting in him as the possessor of all power and possible resources-he couples the observance of the Sabbath with the miraculous supply of their daily food, in such a way as to show them that the Sabbath and their food came from a common source, and that he who in the beginning wrought six days, and rested on the seventh, now gives them manna from heaven six days, and rests now, as then, on the seventh day, and bids them also to rest, having prepared them for it by giving their supply of bread for this day in the double quantity of the sixth day. Still further: When the rulers came to Moses and inquired concerning the double quantity of manna which fell on the sixth day, he replied, "This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Now, is not the connection of this most natural with the account of God's resting on the seventh day, and sanctifying it? (Genesis ii. 2, 3.

But a little later the Israelites stood before Mount Sinai, in the presence of Jehovah, to receive from him the Ten Commandments, that matchless code of laws, in the midst of which he placed the Sabbath. This code is in two parts, the first guarding the honor of God, and the second the rights of men. The first three commandments in the first table are negative in their character, guarding the honor of God, telling us what we must not do. The fourth is affirmative, and the only one containing the worship element, and is in these words: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Let this commandment be stricken from the Decalogue, and we should not only have no Decalogue, but the instrument would be imperfect and without meaning. If the writing of the other nine upon tables of stone was prophetic of their enduring nature, was it not equally so of this? If the Sabbath was a mere Jewish rite, one of the ceremonial laws, which was to pass away at the death of Christ, and thus unlike the others of that code, why was it written with the immortal nine?

III. THE SABBATH FROM THE GIVING OF THE LAW TO CHRIST. That the Sabbath, during this period occupies a most important position, is known to every student of the Bible. No merely ceremonial regulation presents such a character. In no instance has the Divine One called the annual Sabbaths his holy days, and pronounced special benedictions upon those who observe them. Remissness in their observance called forth no severe maledictions, nor is sin charged upon the people for any such neglect. But that the violation of the weekly Sabbath was treated as a sin, and a grievous sin too, is a fact too notorious to need

proof. That there was something about the Sabbath making it fundamental, is seen by every reader of the Bible. And now I ask why was this honor bestowed upon the Sabbath? Why did God set upon it such a high value? Because it was the institution, above all others, that witnessed for him and against idolatry; and hence, as the Jews were his witnesses, it was essential to their testimony that they observe his holy day.

IV. THE TEACHING OF CHRIST CONCERNING THE SABBATH.

Christ opens his ministry by emphatically declaring that he came not to destroy the law, and that one jot or tittle should not pass from it till all should be fulfilled. That at the death of Christ the ceremonial law had fulfilled its mission, and so passed away, is clearly taught. But had the Sabbath fulfilled its mission? It was not a type of Christ. The Sabbath existed before sin entered into the world, and therefore before a Saviour was revealed, and hence it was no part of the ceremonial law. In the twenty-second chapter of Matthew, Jesus sums up the first table of the law in one sentence, love to God; and one of the precepts of that law was the Sabbath commandment. If any one should deny this, my reply is, that with equal propriety he might deny that either of the other commandments was covered by this saying. Nothing is plainer than that Jesus here has reference to the Ten Commandments, in the phrase love to God and love to men. (See Deuteronomy vi. 5, seq.; Romans xiii. 9, seq.) But another and most significant feature of Christ's teachings concerning the Sabbath, is his constant effort to free it from the embarrassments thrown around it by the false interpretations of the Jews. They had made the Sabbath a burden instead of a blessing-against man instead of for him. Against this Christ throws the whole weight of his authority, and supports his conduct by pleading his divinity and his lordship over the Sabbath, from which I infer that he was its author. Christ never taught the abrogation of the Sabbath, but rather its perpetuity, by freeing it from Jewish errors, and so restoring its true character as an institution in the interest of humanity. The Sabbath was made for man. Christ as much died in the interest of the Sabbath as of either of the other precepts of the Decalogue. Why not?

V. THE SABBATH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS.

This book gives us an account of the principal doings of the leaders of the church down to about the years sixty-two or sixty-three, and during this period the Sabbath is frequently mentioned, and always by its own proper name, "The Sabbath day." It evidently had not lost its authority, nor was there even a hint that it had been abrogated or superseded. On the other hand, the writer proceeds in the most artless manner, and whenever he has occasion to refer to this day, does it as if it were still the Sabbath. Thus we trace this institution for some thirty years after the death of Christ.

VI. THE SABBATH IN THE EPISTLES.

The weekly Sabbath is not mentioned in any of the epistles, except in

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Hebrews iv. 4. I am aware that Romans xiv. 5, seq.; Galatians iv. 10, and Colossians ii. 16, seq., are quoted as referring to the Sabbath, and they will be noticed hereafter. That they refer to the annual Sabbaths, none will dispute; but that the weekly Sabbath is included with the annual Sabbaths is assumed not proved. That, however, the epistles everywhere recognize and enforce the doctrine that the law of God is the rule of conduct for believers, is accepted by all sound interpreters. Still further, that it is the mission of the gospel to work in the hearts and lives of men conformity to the spirit and letter of God's holy law, is manifest. In this way only is the sinner fitted for heaven.

VII. THE SABBATH IN THE APOCALYPSE.

The Sabbath is possibly referred to in Revelations i. 10, and probably so whenever the commandments are mentioned.

VIII. THE CHANGE OF THE SABBATH.

The change of the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. The keeping of any other day than the seventh is not mentioned. That the practice of neglecting the observance of the seventh day, and the observance of the first day of the week, has obtained in the Christian Church, all know. I am also aware that arguments are offered to show that the Scriptures authorize this custom. To an examination of some of these arguments, the remainder of this article will be devoted.

The proposition upon which the argument for a change of the Sabbath is based, I conclude is fairly stated thus: "The work of redemption is greater than the work of creation. The work of creation was finished upon the seventh day of the week. The work of redemption was finished by the resurrection of Christ upon the first day of the week. Now, God appointed the seventh day to commemorate the work of creation, so has he ordained the keeping of the first day to commemorate the work of redemption."

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That the seventh day was appointed as a memorial of creation, all know, for the Scriptures so declare; but they nowhere say that the work of redemption is greater than the work of creation, nor that it was finished by Christ's resurrection, nor that he rose upon the first day of the week, nor that the work of redemption is to be celebrated by keeping the day of Christ's resurrection, nor any other day, whether of the week, month, or year. That the work of redemption centers in the death and resurrection of Christ, especially in the former, is fully believed. The work of expiation was effected by the sufferings of Christ, as taught by the system of sacrifices under the law, everywhere in the New Testament, and most emphatically by Christ on the cross, when he said, "It is finished." (John xix. 30.) But the work of redemption is not left without a witness, as the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper testify. As the death and resurrection of Christ go together in redemption, so do Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as symbols both of the facts involved, and the doctrines taught. These ordinances cover the whole ground; and how beautifully they do it! Reader, can you think of a single fact stated, or doctrine taught, concerning redemption, which is not symbol