THE SABBATH [1737]
[1737] See outlines on Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 56:6; and Dr. Barnes’ Commentary in loco.
Isaiah 58:13-14. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, &c.
The first religious ordinance instituted by God in this new created earth was the Sabbath; the day of rest after six days work. Most remarkable was the manner of the institution—by the example of Almighty God Himself (Genesis 2:1-3). Instituted by God between two and three thousand years before the law was given upon Mount Sinai as an ordinance for the Jews, it was designed to promote man’s temporal as well as his spiritual good; on its due observance man’s welfare, both here and hereafter, very mainly depends; by its neglect God is dishonoured, and man is wounded and hurt.
I. How THE LORD’S DAY IS TO BE SANCTIFIED.
1. By public worship. On that day especially we are to pay unto Him the worship due unto His name. Public worship is a debt we owe to God (Psalms 29:2; Psalms 96:8); and we should be as careful to pay it as we are the debts we owe our fellow-men.
2. By private meditation and prayer. We are to regard it as a day of rest and cessation from the common business and occupation of life, as a season dedicated to God. Our conversation and our thoughts are to be directed, not to temporal, but to spiritual concerns. Let us reflect upon the things of which it reminds us—the creation of the world, the resurrection of Christ; and of that which it foreshadows—the everlasting rest which remaineth for the people of God.
II. THE BLESSINGS WHICH FOLLOW UPON A DUE OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD’S DAY.
1. We shall grow in wisdom and grace.
2. Even in this imperfect and troublesome world, we shall learn to delight ourselves in the Lord.
3. When the number of earthly Sabbaths is complete, we shall be found, by God’s grace, meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.
III. THE EVIL EFFECTS WHICH ALWAYS FOLLOW PROFANED AND NEGLECTED SABBATHS.
1. The world, with its drying, withering influence, will take entire possession of the heart. Even when the Lord’s Day is only occasionally neglected, the natural result does not fail to follow—religion is at a stand-still. But where it is habitually profaned, irreligion, hardness of heart, utter indifference and carelessness about the soul, about God, and about eternity, inevitably ensue.
2. The natural faults and corruptions of our nature, being never checked by the wholesome bridle of God’s Word, will run away with us, and never stop until they have urged us into perdition. Sabbaths spent in idleness and bad company have often to young men and women, in the highest as well as the lowest walks of life, been the first links of a chain, of which the middle were vice, crime, shame, death; and the last link, the tormenting flame!
3. We shall find unbroken toil a sore burden.
4. Death, instead of bringing us rest, will increase our burden a thousandfold in the kingdom of darkness.—Bishop Hervey: Sermons for the Sundays and Principal Holydays throughout the Year, vol. i. 122–133.
The law of the Sabbath, as instituted at the creation, and subsequently inserted in the Decalogue, instead of being repealed, retains its full authority. The sacredness of the obligation of its observance is now transferred, with undiminished force, from the seventh day of the week to the first. The sanctification of the Sabbath is still required on the same principles, in the same spirit, and for the same purposes. The only difference is, that the motives which impel to its due observance have acquired an accession of strength. Most important, therefore, is the inquiry on which we are now about to enter: In what manner should the Sabbath be observed?
The due sanctification of the Sabbath requires,—
I. A cessation from the ordinary labours and occupations of life.
II. A consecration of the entire day to the spiritual engagements and delights which peculiarly belong to it. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;” that is, let the entire day be separated from the occupations of other days, and consecrated to the service and enjoyment of God.
III. The public acknowledgment and adoration of our God and Saviour, in acts of social worship.
IV. The conscientious and diligent discharge of the domestic duties of religion. With much prayer, tenderness, perseverance, and ingenuity, let Sabbath opportunities be used for the purposes of Christian education (H. E. I., 803–806). Let not your servants be neglected. They have many claims on your Christian regard. Let them have reason to bless God for entering your family. Consult and adopt the best means of promoting their eternal interests.
V. The performance of the works of charity and mercy.—H. P. Burder, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 426–448.
I. Our first object must be to see what God’s Word tells us respecting the origin, meaning, and importance of the primitive Sabbath. I. How far do these things apply to us? Is it God’s will that we should still set apart one day in seven as a season of holy rest? III. What are some of the purposes of the institution of the Lord’s Day?—C. J. Vaughan, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 255–291.
I. The true Sabbath. II. Its obligation. III. Advantage.
I. In what light we should regard the Sabbath. II. How we should employ it. III. The benefits arising from its proper observance.
I. The proper observance of the Sabbath. Its rest, pleasures, occupations, conversation. II. The consequent blessings.
1. Delight in the Lord.
2. Exaltation—victory over enemies, freedom from all false systems of worship (2 Chronicles 34:3; Ephesians 6:12).
3. Prosperity—abundance of spiritual food (Deuteronomy 32:13-14; Isaiah 49:9); assurance of final security (Psalms 28:9). III. The confirmation. God is faithful, cannot deceive; He will do as He has said (Numbers 23:19; Psalms 22:5; Job 23:13).—J. Lyth, D.D.