(1)To show that His work is the result of a deliberate purpose.

(2)That His work might be instructive to others.

II. THAT THE SEVENTH DAY WAS THE FIRST SABBATH.

(1)Divine rest.

(2)Divine benediction.

(3)Divine hallowing.

(A. McAuslane, D. D.)

2. A pillar of testimony to God as Creator.

3. A proclamation of rest.

4. A type of coming rest.

(H. Bonar.)

II. THE REASON ASSIGNED. He rested, etc.

III. THE END IN VIEW.

(W. Burrows, M. A.)

I. THE CONSECRATION OF THE SABBATH. Fenced off by God as His own peculiar property. "Holiness to the Lord" is written upon it by the finger of our Creator. And the consecration of the Sabbath must be for such purposes as these.

1. Primarily and preeminently, for the consideration of the wondrous work of creation; that man, the intelligent creature, may behold, in the glorious workmanship of God, traces of the Divine power, and wisdom, and love, and that he may render to his Creator the homage that is due to Him.

2. It was further consecrated for services fitted to increase the holiness of man while he remained in innocency, and to restore fallen man to the holiness which he had lost. It was intended, therefore, for man not less than for God.

II. THE PERPETUITY OF THE SABBATH. Instituted long before Judaism, long before Abraham's time even; therefore, of perpetual obligation. God has appointed a holy rest for His people in every age, and though the day may be changed, yet the institution remains the same.

III. THE BLESSINGS OF THE SABBATH.

1. God designed it as a blessing to man.

2. God annexed a special blessing to the day.

(H. Stowell, M. A.)

I. THE OBLIGATION OF THE SABBATH. First, I say that the fourth commandment is absolutely obligatory on Christian men. If not, one or other of these alternatives must be adopted: either the whole of the ten commandments are abrogated and abolished, or the fourth is an exception out of the ten. There is no escape from one or other of these alternatives. But now suppose for a moment, for argument's sake, you were to allow that the fourth commandment, as far as it is found in the Mosaic economy, is abrogated. What then? Is the law of the Sabbath destroyed? Now, here is the proper argument for the Sabbath. "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 His work which He had made." What has that to do with the Mosaic economy? Why, here is the institution of the Sabbath more than two thousand years before the Mosaic economy is introduced! Suppose you allow all the Mosaic law to be abrogated, here stands the original institution. And if any man says, "But that refers to Eden," I grant it, Was it abolished when our first parents were cast out of Eden? Then I will give you a proof for once to the contrary, in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, the twenty-third and twenty-ninth verses. Listen to these words. "And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake," and so forth. Again, in the twenty-ninth verse: "See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath." This is the sixteenth chapter of Exodus. How did they come to have the Sabbath day here? You know the law was not given till some considerable time after this: yet here you have the observance of the Sabbath, not based on the tea commandments at all — it is before they are uttered: here you have God recognizing the same thing. But now notice another remarkable fact. Why does the fourth commandment begin with the word, "Remember"? There is not another of the commandments that begins with the word "Remember." They are all positive institutions at that very time. But here is the fourth commandment notably commencing with the word "Remember." Why? Because it was an original institution, and the word points back to that. Another very remarkable fact in regard to the institution of the Sabbath, so far as it is connected With the Mosaic economy, is, that God institutes it in connection with the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. In the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, at the fourteenth verse, it is said — "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," and so on. Now observe. "Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore" — I beseech you to notice this — "therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." You observe, that the reason why God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath there is because they were brought out of the land of Egypt; but when God gave the fourth commandment in connection with the ten from Sinai, evidently intending it to have a general application, He makes no mention of this particular deliverance, but merely states the reason we find in the second chapter of Genesis — because God had rested Himself on the seventh day. So that if we admit, as I will do, that there was a peculiarity in the reason for the institution of the Sabbath in connection with the Israelites, yet God marks a distinction between that peculiarity and the general application in the passages I have referred to: giving as the peculiarity in their case the deliverance from Egypt, but in the other case giving as a reason that He Himself rested from His work, that the institution might be known to be applicable to all men. One further proof let us for a moment notice. The object of the Sabbath — let us see what that involves. There is a two-fold object alluded to in my text — with reference to God, and with reference to man. First, with reference to God. God rested on the seventh day, in commemoration of the finishing of His work. Now, whatever that may involve, I suppose it will be admitted that it is applicable to all men, and that it does not apply to the Jews or to one age only. If God thought fit to commemorate the fact of His resting from His labours by setting apart one day in seven, you and I are as much concerned in it as the Israelite was. But this will be still further enforced, when we come to consider the reason for which the Sabbath was instituted with reference to man. This was a two-fold reason. It was in order to his physical rest, and in order to his spiritual profit; the one subservient to the other. His physical rest: is not that equally necessary at all times? What gave rise to this reason for the institution of the Sabbath? On what ground was it necessary that there should be one day in seven set apart? I tell you: the law of rest was based on the law of labour. That was true in Eden. In Eden man was to till the ground; and even in Eden, in his unfallen state, there was a day of rest appointed. If that was true in man's perfect state, before his physical ability became deteriorated and broken down through sin, as it has been, how much more is it necessary in his fallen state! Again, let me ask this: If it was needful to Israel that they should have a day of rest, on the ground of the physical system being liable to exhaustion, and on the ground of the law of labour not being remitted, will any man pretend to argue that the law of rest shall be abolished and abrogated while the law of labour still remains? Or again: look at the spiritual purpose of the Sabbath. It is instituted in order to give man an opportunity — by resting from labour and the ordinary transactions of secular concerns, to have an opportunity of cultivating a holy and heavenly taste, and becoming fit for heaven. Now, I ask this question: Do your secular avocations, the cares and anxieties with which you are conversant every day, produce the same general results that they did in Israel's days, or do they not? Do you find, or do you not find, when you go about your ordinary business six days in the week, that you have immense difficulty to keep your hearts and affections separated from these things, and give them to God? Do you find that you could afford to be without one day in the week, on which to meet in God's house, and have an opportunity of reading your Bible and meditating at home, feeling it to be so easy in your worldly vocation to separate your hearts for communion with Him? It is monstrous to suppose such a thing. But again. That the Sabbath is an eternal Sabbath is clear from this: that in the Hebrews the apostle says, "There remaineth a rest." I need not tell you that the word there translated "rest" is "Sabbath" — "There remaineth a rest," a Sabbath "for the people of God." "A Sabbath!" What is the present Sabbath? What was the original Sabbath? Without controversy, a type of the coming Sabbath. "There remaineth a Sabbath." And yet God gave a Sabbath from the beginning! The Sabbath God gave was of course a type of the eternal Sabbath. Now, do you conceive that Israel should enjoy the type of the heavenly Sabbath, and yet that you and I, who live so much nearer to the time of the end, and are supposed to be, by virtue of the pouring out of the Holy Ghost and a knowledge of Christ, so much more holy in heart, are not to enjoy that type? But a type is in force till it is fulfilled. When will that type be done away? Never, unquestionably, till it resolves itself into the eternal Sabbath.

II. THE MODE OF OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. If God has given us the Sabbath, and we are to keep it on the Lord's day, every right-minded man will ask, How are we to keep it? Now, it is very remarkable and important, that in the passages where God teaches us how the Sabbath day is to be kept, He deals with the subject as a general subject. It is not spoken of in the passages I will refer to in reference to any peculiarities connected with Judaism; but there are such declarations and instructions as would be applicable to all men, and all Christian men, to the end of time. There is the fourth commandment and the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. The fourth commandment we know. Here is the passage I quote from the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah: at the thirteenth verse — "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." If you take the fourth commandment in connection with that verse, you will find that you have instruction as to the spiritual and physical obligation of the Lord's day. The fourth commandment instructs us in regard to our rest from all labour; this passage instructs us in regard to the object for which that physical rest is to be enjoyed, as subservient to our spiritual advantage.

(C. Molyneux, M. A.)

1. The Sabbath was made for man in Paradise.

2. The Sabbath was revived in the wilderness.

3. The Sabbath was established by an express commandment.

4. The Sabbath was confirmed by the practice of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles. The change of day, from the seventh to the first of the week, makes no alteration in the proportion of our time which God has "sanctified" and "blessed."

5. The Sabbath has been observed by the Church of Christ in general.

II. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE SABBATH. A "blessed" day.

1. Its temporal advantages.

(1)The curse of toil is for a while suspended.

(2)The mind and body are invigorated for fresh exertion.

(3)Sabbath observance has the reward of prosperity ordinarily attached to it.

2. Its spiritual advantages.

(1)Finished redemption is then celebrated.

(2)The means of grace are enjoyed.

(3)The heavenly rest is anticipated.

(W. Conway, M. A.)

II. THE CONTINUATION OF THE INSTITUTION (Exodus 20). Though the appointing one day out of seven was a moral command, yet it was also positive: it was arranged in the garden of Eden before Satan tempted man to fall. Therefore it had its truth, not in Mount Sinai, not because Moses gave it, but from the living God Himself. And there it stands at an amazing distance from all ceremonies and all shadows. It sets forth a great truth, I allow — our rest in Jesus: but the setting apart a day of rest was no shadow; it was God's claim on His people. "Your bodies are Mine, your souls are Mine, and you shall give what you owe to Me."

III. THE GREAT END AND OBJECT OF THE SABBATH (Hebrews 4:11). Just as the Creator did rest from His work, and did command His creatures to rest as He rested, giving themselves up to the contemplation of Himself: so in the Christian Sabbath we are led by Eternal Spirit to seek our rest, and to find our rest, in the Lord Jesus Christ.

IV. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THAT OBEDIENCE WHICH OUGHT TO BE GIVEN TO IT BY CHRISTIANS? Let him beware of Jewish legality, of the spirit of bondage — of that principle which, while it seemeth as if it honoured God in strictness, strains at a gnat and swallows a camel. You and I, to obey one single principle aright, must have a right principle. It is in vain the command comes to us: it can work on us by authority and by terror: but we must have a higher principle to influence the inner man. The nature of the obedience is at once unfolded in the nature of the institution. Whatever has a tendency to promote my entering into that rest, to promote my spiritual acquaintance with that rest, enters of necessity into the consideration of the Christian Sabbath. Whatever has a tendency to hinder it, whatever has a tendency to prevent it, whatever has a tendency to chain me down to this earth, is to be avoided by a Christian man.

(J. H. Evans, M. A.)

1. Cessation of the creative process.

2. The Creator's resting.

3. Sanctification of the Sabbath day.(1) Seven the Scriptural number (Genesis 7:2-4; Genesis 8:8-12; Genesis 19:18-28; Genesis 41; Numbers 23:1, 2; Leviticus 23:1; Joshua 6:1; 2 Kings 5:9; Daniel 4:1; Isaiah 30:26; Matthew 18:22; Acts 6:1.(2) The seventh day sanctified. Seventh day of the creative week still continues. Although thousands of years have swept by since God ended His work of creation, it is still His Sabbath, or rest day. Works of necessity — i.e., works of providence and mercy — He still carries on: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17). But creation is not a work of necessity. That work He ended at the close of the far-off sixth day, and ever since has rested.

II. CHRIST'S DOCTRINE OF THE SABBATH.

1. Man himself is the basis of the Sabbath.

(1)Man needs the Sabbath for his secular nature.

(2)Man needs the Sabbath for his religious nature.A day of conscious, formal, stately acknowledgment of the Divine supremacy. A day on which to dismiss worldly cares, and look through unobstructed vistas into the opening heavens. An English gentleman was once inspecting a house in Newcastle, with a view of buying it. The landlord, after having shown him the premises, took him to an upper window, and remarked: "You can see Durham Cathedral from this window on Sundays." "How is this?" asked the visitor. "Because on Sundays there is no smoke from the factory chimneys." Ah, man must have a day in which he can retire to some solitude, where his spirit —With her best nurse, Contemplation,
May plume her feathers, and let grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impaired.

2. Man greater than the Sabbath. Man, as God's son and image and representative, is the end, and the Sabbath, like every other "ordinance," is a means. An immortal being, outliving institutions, economies, aeons — capable of carrying a heaven within him — God's own image and son: man is more sacred than ordinances. Jesus Christ did not die for ordinances: Jesus Christ died for man. The Sabbath is sacred, not in itself, but because man is sacred. Hence the Sabbath is his servant — not his master. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. And in accordance with this principle Jesus Christ Himself ever acted.

3. The true method of keeping the Sabbath. Being made for man, the Sabbath must be used religiously: for the capacity for religion is man's chief definition. The Sabbath must be kept in homage of God, in the study of His Word and character and will, in the spirit of worship, private and public. But full unfolding of man's spiritual nature is possible only in the sphere of edification, or society building. The Sabbath summons man to conjugate life in a new mood and tense; but still in the active voice. And here the Son of Man is our Teacher and blessed Model. How many of His healings and works of mercy were wrought on the Sabbath day! And what is man's office in this fallen, sorrowful world, but a ministry of healing? And healing, or edification, is the highest form of worship. Nothing can take the place of it.

4. Objections.(1) "This view of the Sabbath allows too much liberty." My answer is two fold. First: there are two ways of treating men, either as infants, incapable of guiding themselves, or as men, capable of reasoning, and so of self-guidance. The first was the Mosaic way, the Church being a minor, under tutors and governors, and the law being a letter, graven on tablets of stone: the second is the Christly way, the Church having come into the possession of the privileges of majority, and the law being a spirit, graven on tablets of heart (Galatians 4:1-7; 2 Corinthians 3:3). But, secondly: Liberty is itself responsibility. The slave cannot understand, in any thorough, just sense, the meaning of the august word Responsibility; none but the freeman can understand it. And just because the New Testament gives me liberty in the matter of the Sabbath, I am bound to be more conscientious about it than was the Old Testament Jew. It is easier to be a Hebrew than a Christian.(2) But I hear a second objection: "Your view of the Sabbath is dangerous: men will pervert it, perhaps to their own perdition." Of course they may. It is one of the prerogatives of truth to be perverted.

III. THE CHANCE FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY. Here is a venerable, sacred institution — hallowed by the Creator's own example in Eden, solemnly enjoined amid the thunders of Sinai, distinctly set apart as one of the chief signs that Israel was God's chosen, covenanted people, majestically buttressed by loftiest promises in case of observance, and by direst threats in case of non-observance, freighted with the solemn weight of fifteen centuries of sacred associations and scrupulous observance — suddenly falling into disuse, and presently supplanted by another day, which to this year of grace has held its own amid the throes of eighteen centuries. How, then, will you account for this stupendous revolution? It is a fair question for the philosophical historian to ask. And the philosophical historian knows the answer. Jesus the Nazarene had been crucified. All through the seventh day or Hebrew Sabbath He had lain in Joseph's tomb. In that tomb, amid solitude and darkness and grave-clothes, He had grappled in mortal duel with the king of death, and had thrown him, and shivered his sceptre. At the close of that awful Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1), He had risen triumphant from the dead. And by and in the very fact of that triumphant rising, He had henceforth and for evermore emblazoned the first day of the week as His own royal, supernal day, even time's first, true Sabbath.

IV. JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS OUR SABBATH, alike its origin, its meaning, and its end. In fact the final cause of the Sabbath is to sabbatize each day and make all life sacramental. And Jesus Christ being our true Sabbath, Jesus Christ is also our true rest — even the spirit's everlasting Eden.

(G. D. Boardman.)

(G. D. Boardman.)

II. THE PERIODICAL SABBATH. Made for man. A sign of God's care for man; and a memorial of the holy rest which man should seek to obtain.

III. THE PERFECT SABBATH. The future rest in heaven. Unending joy and refreshment. Perfectly holy, perfectly happy; all things "very good."

(W. S. Smith, B. D.)

(H. W. Beecher.)

(J. Spencer.)

II. SABBATH OCCUPATION. It may seem a strange transition to pass from the thought of Sabbath rest to that of Sabbath occupation; but the rest of saints is not an idle rest, it is not a rest which excludes the idea of employment or of service. Even in the description of the eternal and heavenly Jerusalem we have the words, "His servants shall serve Him," as well as, "They shall see His face"; and how much more then shall the Sabbath of earth be spent in doing the will of God! Sabbath rest is found in beholding the face of God. Sabbath occupation is found in serving Him. All Sabbath occupation is lawful which does not break in upon and disturb Sabbath rest. If the employment in which we engage does not hinder, but rather promotes our enjoyment of that spirit rest which I have already spoken of, then may we be sure we are right in pursuing it.

1. First, then, as a lawful Sabbath occupation I would put self-study, for there is something in the quiet and leisure of the day of rest which seems peculiarly to favour it. God hath said, "Commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still"; and he who is in the Spirit on the Lord's day will find it good and right so to do.

2. Next in order as a Sabbath occupation I would mention Bible study. I do not by that expression mean Bible reading, but that earnest, patient investigation of the Divine Word which requires time, and thought, and prayer.

3. As another Sabbath occupation I would name creation study. God has in so wonderful a manner linked together the visible and the invisible, the tangible with the things that cannot be touched, that we cannot go forth in our glorious world without seeing traced on almost every object the hieroglyphics which tell of the higher mysteries of an inner life. Those who are instructed in the emblematic glory of the things which are can walk with Christ amidst creation's beauties, and understand His parables. To them He speaketh still of the sower and the seed; the tares and the wheat; the lilies of the field, in their more than royal glory: and many a precious lesson is taught them, as they study the manner in which God is daily bringing about those results which preserve the frame of nature in its order and beauty.

4. I would next suggest as a fitting occupation for the Lord's day the ministration of good.

5. As another Sabbath occupation, I would mention, writing on sacred subjects: it may be original composition or otherwise.

6. Another precious Sabbath occupation will be found in Christian converse.

7. Christian correspondence.

8. Sacred music. Blessed, beautiful gift! which God has preserved to this disordered and disruptured world — the harmony of sound. David, in Scripture times, and Luther in more modern days, are instances of those who have appreciated its powers. There is something peculiarly soothing and healing (if I may use the latter word) in the effect of the higher cast of music upon the mind; it will sometimes bring tears to eyes whose fount has long been dried. And on the Sabbath day I know no more blessed relief to the mind, when it has been kept in a high state of tension for, many hours engaged in earnest thought and study, than that which is afforded by, the strains of sacred song.

III. SABBATH WORSHIP. In spirit and in truth we must worship that God, who is a Spirit, with our whole understanding, and soul, and strength; with our lamps burning and our armour bright, as a peculiar people, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood we must do Him service.

(The Protoplast.)

(H. W. Beecher.)

1. That the Decalogue or Law is no longer binding; or at least that one out of the ten commandments is no longer binding.

2. That Christ came to diminish our store of blessings during the present dispensation; that He has narrowed instead of enlarged our privileges.

3. If they shrink from this, then they must maintain that the Sabbath is not a blessing; that it is an unwholesome, unnatural, in. tolerable restraint; a weariness, a bondage, a curse.

4. That the Sabbath was a Jewish institution exclusively, and therefore fell when Judaism fell.

(H. Bonar, D. D.)

1. It marks a stage in the process of creation. The earth is rendered habitable. Every portion of the creation has been pronounced good in itself; now the whole is regarded by God with satisfaction. "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." God "rested from all His work which He had made."

2. The image of God's rest emphasizes the relation of man to the terrestrial creation. We rest when our purpose is complete. The plan of God was wrought out when man was formed.

3. There is a rest for the affections as well as for the purposes; a repose of the heart as well as of the planning intellect and the active will. A father who expects his children home, and prepares for their reception, does not rest until he sees them; in his welcome of them there is repose. It is not that he wilt have nothing more to do, that he abates his labour for them or relaxes his care. His heart is full of tranquillity; the excitement of preparation has given way to peace.

4. And yet once more — consider to what a history this creation legend is the introduction. The narrative only pauses a moment; and then begins a story of sin and chastisement, of strife and shame and struggle. It is the prologue of a long drama of passion, weariness, and woe.

(A. Mackennal, D. D.)

II. THE JUST INFERENCES to be drawn from them as to the glory and dignity of the Sabbath.

1. We learn from them, first, its essential necessity to man as man.

2. Consider, further, that it was the first command given by God to Adam, as soon as ever the work of creation was finished. Man never was without a Sabbath.

3. Observe, further, that this command was not merely made known to man, in some of those ways in which his Maker afterwards communicated His will, but it was placed, as it were, on the footing of creation itself. By the Almighty Hand all nature might have been called into being in an instant. The distribution of the work over six days, followed by the repose on the seventh, was to infix this grand principle in the mind of every human being, that after six days' labour one day of religious rest should follow.

4. We learn also from this order of creation that man was made, not for constant and unrelieved employment or for earthly pursuits chiefly, but for labour with intervals of repose, and in subordination to the glory of his God; man was formed not for seven days' toil, but for six — man was formed not for secular and terrestrial pursuits merely, but for the high purpose of honouring God, meditating on His works, and preparing for the enjoyment of Him forever.

III. Let us next show that THERE ARE TRACES OF THE OBSERVATION OF A WEEKLY REST DURING THE PATRIARCHAL AGES. The very first act of Divine worship after the Fall affords indications of a day of religion. Cain and Abel brought their offerings "in process of time," as the common reading has it, but literally, and as it is in the margin, "at the end of the days." Thus we have in the sacred narrative, the priest, altar, matter of sacrifice, motive, atonement made and accented, and appointed time — indications these entirely consistent with the supposition of a previous sabbatical institution, and indeed proceeding upon it — for that is the meaning of the expression, "at the end of the days." But one division of days had been yet mentioned, and that was of the days of the week, the Sabbath being the last or seventh day — we may, therefore, reasonably suppose that holy season to be here termed "the end of the days." Again, we read that "men," in the days of Seth (two hundred years, perhaps, after Abel's sacrifice), "began to call upon the name of the Lord," or, "to call themselves by the name of the Lord"; and four hundred years later, that "Enoch walked with God," — terms of large import, and which, when illustrated by the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, where the faith of the patriarchs in the Divine order of creation is so extolled, are, to say the least, entirely consistent with the observation of a day of religious worship. We come to the flood. Sixteen centuries have elapsed since the institution of the weekly rest. And now we find the reckoning by weeks familiarly referred to as the ordinary division of time. The Lord said unto Noah, "Yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth." And again, "It came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the food were upon the earth." These passages occur in the seventh chapter. Nothing can be more certain than that the return of seven days brought something peculiar with it; and we judge it probable, from the institution of the Sabbath, that that peculiarity was the day of sacred rest. Accordingly after the flood, the tradition of that division of time spread over all the eastern world — Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, Persians, unite with the Israelites in retaining vestiges of it. In the earliest remains of the heathen writers, Hesiod, Homer, Callimachus — the sanctity of the seventh day is referred to as a matter of notoriety. Philo, the Jew, declares that there was no nation under heaven where the opinion had not reached. But we come to the history of Abraham. Here it is deserving notice, as we pass, that the rite of circumcision was to be performed after the lapse of seven days from the birth; but the commendation of Abraham's example, "That he commanded his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment," implies that there was a way prescribed by the Almighty, and certain observances in which consisted justice and judgment, amongst which the Sabbath was probably the chief. But in the more fall declaration afterwards made concerning him to Isaac; "That Abraham obeyed His voice, and kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes, and His laws"; the terms employed are so various as to be by no means naturally interpreted of the ordinances of circumcision and sacrifice only, but to include, as much as if it were named, the charge and law of the Sabbath. We come to Jacob; and few, I think, can doubt that when he uttered the devout exclamation, "This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven"; and then vowed that the "stone should be God's house" — he alluded to what was customary with the pious patriarchs, the worship of God in a stated place, and on a stated time — the Sabbath; without which a house of God would be a term of little meaning; but with which it would indeed be the pledge and anticipation of heaven. Even Laban seems to have had the notion of a weekly division of time, "Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also." But I will not dwell on more particulars. The numerous, the almost perpetual notices of places, of altars, of sacrifices, of the worship of God, of solemn titles given to particular spots, all confirm the supposition, which is the only reasonable one, that the sabbatical institution was not unknown to the patriarchs. We may notice the case of holy Job, as confirming this, who, remote as was the place of his abode, more than once reminds us of "a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord."

IV. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SABBATH WAS REVIVED AND RE-ESTABLISHED BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE MOSAICAL ECONOMY, proves that it was a previous institution, which had never been entirely lost; and therefore confirms all we stated of its origin in Paradise and its continuance during the patriarchal ages.

1. Let us, then, first, in applying this part of our subject, observe, the extreme violence which is done to the Christian faith, when any important fact in the Scriptures, such as the institution of the Sabbath in Paradise, is attempted to be explained away by the fancy of man.

2. Yes, come with me before we close this discourse and let us adore and praise the Almighty Father of all for the distinct glories shed upon the day of religious repose. Come and praise Him for condescending to imprint its first enactment, and the reasons on which it is grounded, on the six days' creative wonders. Come, glorify your God and Father. He bids you rest, but it is after His own example. He bids you labour, but it is after His pattern. Imitate the Supreme Architect. Work in the order in which He worked, cease when He was pleased to cease. Let the day of religion, after each six days' toil, be to you a blessed and a sanctified season. Plead the promise attached to the Sabbath: it is blessed of God, it is sanctified of God, it is hallowed of God. Implore forgiveness of your past neglect. Let no Sabbath henceforth leave you without having sought the blessing promised and performed the duties to which it is dedicated. Let your devout meditation on the glories of creation swell the choir of your Maker's praise. Join "the sons of God" in their joys and songs at the birth of the universe.

(D. Wilson, M. A.)

2. Dispose of your earthly affairs wisely in the foregoing week, so that if possible you may not have the Lord's day, which is a day of rest and worship, invaded and intrenched upon by the cares and business of this world.

3. Think of the promises which are made to these who with a religious care serve and worship God upon His appointed day.

4. Whatsoever spiritual advantages or improvements you obtain on God's own day, take care that you do not lose them again amidst the labours or the pleasures of the following week.

5. Take notice what relish and satisfaction you find in the duties or services of the Lord's day, and let that be a test whereby you may judge of the sanctification of your souls and your preparation for heaven.

6. Let every Lord's day, every Christian Sabbath, lead your meditations, your faith, and hope onward to the eternal rest in heaven.

( Isaac Watts, D. D.)

II. ITS PERPETUITY.

1. It was enjoined upon Adam, as the federal head and common parent of all mankind, and not given to Abraham, as the father of the Jewish nation.

2. It was introduced and enforced in the decalogue as a moral precept, and not a mere ceremonial institution.

3. The same, and even stronger reasons, may be assigned for the perpetuity of the Sabbath, than those expressed as the design of its original appointment. There is the same God to adore; there are the same works to contemplate; and we are the same dependent creatures as were our first parents, with this great disadvantage on our parts, that we are ever prone to forget the Almighty, and require more means to keep us in remembrance of the Lord than ever Adam needed in primeval innocence.

4. When the Gentiles were brought into the Church of Christ by the preaching of the gospel, their observance of the Sabbath is mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, as positive proof of their conversion to God (chap. Isaiah 56:6, 8). By this they testified their faith, affection, and obedience, in the great cause which they had espoused; they thus observed the command, exalted the goodness, and magnified the grace of that Supreme Being, whose name they were destined to profess and to honour in the world.

5. The last book of the inspired volume emphatically terms it, "the Lord's day."

III. ITS SCRIPTURAL OBSERVANCE.

1. A complete cessation of our secular employments.

2. Holy meditation of the Divine Being and works.

3. Fervent prayer.

4. A close attention to the Word of God.

5. Public worship.CONCLUSION:

1. Regard the Sabbath as a merciful appointment.

2. Lament the abuse of the Sabbath amongst us.

3. Observe the day thus blessed and sanctified.

(Thomas Wood.)

II. GOD MAKES GREAT ACCOUNT OF THE SANCTIFYING OF HIS SABBATHS.

1. As serving for a public and notorious badge of our profession (Ezekiel 20:12).

2. An especial means of preserving and increasing of religion, being, as it were, the mart day for the soul, wherein we have commerce in a sort wholly with God in spiritual things, tendering unto Him, and pouring out before Him the affections of our souls in prayers and praises; and God pouring out grace and comfort upon our spirits in the use of His holy ordinances.

III. THE SABBATH DAY SANCTIFIED AS IT OUGHT IS A DAY OF BLESSINGS.

IV. THE SABBATH IS A DAY OF REST CONSECRATED BY GOD HIMSELF, AND SET APART FROM A COMMON TO A HOLY USE.

V. THE LAW GIVEN BY GOD FOR THE OBSERVATION OF THE SABBATH DAY IS A LAW UNIVERSAL AND PERPETUAL.

VI. MEDITATION ON GOD'S WORKS, THAT OUR HEARTS MAY BE RAISED UP TO A HOLY REJOICING IN HIM, IS, AND OUGHT TO BE, A CHRISTIAN'S CHIEF EXERCISE FOR THE RIGHT SANCTIFYING OF THE SABBATH DAY.

(J. White, M. A.)

(A. W. Hare.)

(H. Stowell, M. A.)

     4612   birds

Genesis 2:4-23

     4468   horticulture

Genesis 2:8-25

     4241   Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:15-24

     5002   human race, and creation

Genesis 2:18-24

     5735   sexuality
     6238   homosexuality

Genesis 2:19-20

     1194   glory, divine and human
     4604   animals, nature of

Genesis 2:20-22

     5218   authority, in home

Genesis 2:20-24

     5702   husband
     5707   male and female
     5709   marriage, purpose
     5744   wife
     5745   women

Of the First Covenant.
Gal. iii. 12.--"The law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them."--Gen. ii. 17.--"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The Lord made all things for himself, to show forth the glory of his name; and man in a more eminent and special manner, for more eminent manifestations of himself; therefore all his dealings towards men, whether righteous or sinful, do declare the glory …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Disciple, -- Sometimes this Question is Asked, "Since God is Fully Aware of Our...
The Disciple,--Sometimes this question is asked, "Since God is fully aware of our needs, and knows how to supply them in the best way, not for the good only but for the evil, how should we pray to Him about them? Whether our necessities be temporal or spiritual, can we by our prayers alter the will of God?" The Master,--1. Those who ask such a question show clearly that they do not know what prayer is. They have not lived a prayerful life, or they would know that prayer to God is not a form of begging. …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Paradise of God
T. P. Gen. ii. 18; Eph. v. 32 In the Paradise of glory Is the Man Divine; There my heart, O God, is tasting Fellowship with Thine. Called to share Thy joy unmeasured, Now is heaven begun; I rejoice with Thee, O Father, In Thy glorious Son. Where the heart of God is resting, I have found my rest; Christ who found me in the desert, Laid me on His breast. There in deep unhindered fulness Doth my joy flow free-- On through everlasting ages, Lord, beholding Thee. Round me is creation groaning, Death, …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Forasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race...
1. Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Turn Away Thine Eyes from Me, Because they have Made Me to Flee Away; Thy Hair is as a Flock of Goats that Appear from Gilead.
It is impossible to conceive the delicacy of the love of God, and the extremity of purity which He requires of souls that are to be His Brides; the perfection of one state is the imperfection of another. Heretofore the Bridegroom rejoiced infinitely that His Spouse never turned her eyes away from Him; now, He desires her not to look at Him; He tells her that her eyes have made Him to flee away. When once the soul has begun to flow into her God, as a river into its original source, she must be wholly …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Epistle xiv. To the Count Narses .
To the Count Narses [1642] . Gregory to Narses, &c. Your Charity, being anxious to learn our opinion, has been at the pains of writing to us to ask what we think of the book against the presbyter Athanasius which was sent to us. Having thoroughly perused some parts of it, we find that he has fallen into the dogma of Manichæus. But he who has noted some places as heretical by a mark set against them slips also himself into Pelagian heresy; for he has marked certain places as heretical which …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle xxxiv. To Eulogius, Bishop.
To Eulogius, Bishop. Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch [1717] . The charity wherewith I am greatly bound to you allows me by no means to keep silence, that your Holiness may know all that is going on among us, and, deceived by no false rumours, may keep more perfectly the way of your justice and rectitude, as you have perfectly begun to do. Now the representatives (responsales) of our brother and fellow-bishop Cyriacus came to me, bringing me his synodical …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Interpretation of the Early Narratives of the Old Testament
[Sidenote: Importance of regarding each story as a unit] Of all the different groups of writings in the Old Testament, undoubtedly the early narratives found in the first seven books present the most perplexing problems. This is primarily due to the fact that they have been subject to a long process of editorial revision by which stories, some very old and others very late and written from a very different point of view, have been closely joined together. While there is a distinct aim and unity …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall. [182] All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to the first Adam, or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead; deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God; and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent, which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted estate; from whence it comes, that not only their words and deeds, but all their imaginations, are …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Though Ye Know Him Not
"I have known cases of young ministers dissuaded from facing the missionary call by those who posed as friends of Foreign Missions, and yet presumed to argue: 'Your spiritual power and intellectual attainments are needed by the Church at home; they would be wasted in the Foreign Field.' 'Spiritual power wasted' in a land like India! Where is it so sorely needed as in a continent where Satan has constructed his strongest fortresses and displayed the choicest masterpieces of his skill? 'Intellectual …
Amy Wilson-Carmichael—Things as They Are

Of Creation
Heb. xi. 3.--"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."--Gen. i. 1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We are come down from the Lord's purposes and decrees to the execution of them, which is partly in the works of creation and partly in the works of providence. The Lord having resolved upon it to manifest his own glory did in that due and predeterminate time apply his …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Revealed in his Names.
At least twenty-five different names are used in the Old and New Testaments in speaking of the Holy Spirit. There is the deepest significance in these names. By the careful study of them, we find a wonderful revelation of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. I. The Spirit. The simplest name by which the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible is that which stands at the head of this paragraph--"The Spirit." This name is also used as the basis of other names, so we begin our study with this. …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

Sin a Power in Reversed Action.
"If ye live after the flesh ye shall die."--Rom. viii. 13. Altho sin is originally and essentially a loss, a lack, and a deprivation, in its working it is a positive evil and a malignant power. This is shown by the apostolic injunction not only to put on the new man, but also to put off the old man with his works. The well-known theologian Maccovius, commenting on this, aptly remarks: "This could not be enjoined if sin were merely a loss of light and life; for a mere lack ceases as soon as it is …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Millennium in Relation to Creation.
The blessings which will be brought to the world upon the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom will not be confined to the human family but will be extended to all creation. As we have shown in earlier chapters, the Curse which was pronounced by God upon the ground in the day of Adam's fall, and which resulted in a creation that has groaned and travailed ever since, is yet to be revoked. Creation is not to remain in bondage for ever. God has set a hope before it, a hope, which like ours, centers …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Unjust Steward - Dives and Lazarus - Jewish Agricultural Notes - Prices of Produce - Writing and Legal Documents - Purple and Fine Linen -
Although widely differing in their object and teaching, the last group of Parables spoken during this part of Christ's Ministry are, at least outwardly, connected by a leading thought. The word by which we would string them together is Righteousness. There are three Parables of the Unrighteous: the Unrighteous Steward, the Unrighteous Owner, and the Unrighteous Dispenser, or Judge. And these are followed by two other Parables of the Self-righteous: Self-righteousness in its Ignorance, and its dangers …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Covenanting Adapted to the Moral Constitution of Man.
The law of God originates in his nature, but the attributes of his creatures are due to his sovereignty. The former is, accordingly, to be viewed as necessarily obligatory on the moral subjects of his government, and the latter--which are all consistent with the holiness of the Divine nature, are to be considered as called into exercise according to his appointment. Hence, also, the law of God is independent of his creatures, though made known on their account; but the operation of their attributes …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Growth of the Old Testament Prophetic Histories
[Sidenote: Analogies between the influences that produced the two Testaments] Very similar influences were at work in producing and shaping both the Old and the New Testaments; only in the history of the older Scriptures still other forces can be distinguished. Moreover, the Old Testament contains a much greater variety of literature. It is also significant that, while some of the New Testament books began to be canonized less than a century after they were written, there is clear evidence that …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Death by Adam, Life by Christ
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. F rom Mr. Handel's acknowledged abilities as a composer, and particularly from what I have heard of his great taste and success in adapting the style of his music to the subject, I judge, that this passage afforded him a fair occasion of displaying his genius and powers. Two ideas, vastly important in themselves, are here represented in the strongest light, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2