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Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The followinp diaprams illustrate the method: Les cartes, piannhes, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux da rMuction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film* d partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n*cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^OVA SCOTI4 ^k PROVINCE HOUSE T H K m «i&% !i A T M : ■JI! By Eei .Ell'. *°»»*#i?»#i "^If i'jL*<«*> f I liiMiiiiaiiMM Sh^ ^aWratfi : MORAL and POSITIVE INSTITUTION. BEING TWO SERMONS jpueached in the granville street baptist church, halifax^ November 25 and Decemreb 2, 1860, By the Pastor, Rev. W. H. HUMPHREY, # {^Publisfied by requesii\ HALIFAX, N. S> ^^CHRlSTlAN MESSENGER" OFFICE, 1860. / / I mmsm i-'A- muMm I H> -H- ^aH^es^jrandance. MMalifax, M9ec. 3, 1860r Rev. W. II. Humphrey, Dear Sir, Tt was with much satisfaction we heard yoir cxLcllcnt Sermons o*^ the Sabbath, preached on the two past Lord's D'^ys. We arc of opin- ion that if published, they would be useful aud instructive to many others besides those who had the pleasure of hearing them. We shali be glad, therefore, if you will favor us with a copy for publication. We are Dear Sir, yours very truly. J. W. Nutting. J. W. Johnston. Charles Twining, w. ackhuust. 1). Mc N. Paukior. John Whitman. S. Selden. MMalifax, MBce. 4, 1860. Gentlemen, Although the " Sermons on tl-c Sabbath," were prepared as you aro aware, in the ordinary routine of pastoral labor— and with reference only to your hearing — still, if their being published, will in your judg- ment, further the cause of Truth and Christian Righteousness, I accede with pleasure to your request. The Manuscripts are at your disposal : — and I remain, Yours &c., W. H. HUMPHREV. To J. W. Nutting, Esq.; Hon. J W.Johnston; Charles Twining, Esq. ; W. Ackhurst, Esq. ; D. McN. Parker, M. D. ; J. Whitman, and S. Selden, Esqrs. I 1 1 % r ^~6^ / I I % ^t MM\ : R Panil |Etitutioii HERMO]V ISTo. 1.. ExoDi-s XX. a-11.— "Romcmber the Sa])bath-day to keep it holy. •Six (l;iys .-halt thou labor and do all tliy work, but the i^evcnth day i- thc Sabbath of the Lord thy God ; in it thou .'^halt not do any work, ihoji, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy imM- servum, noi thy cattle, nor thy .«trangor that i.s within thy gates. For in six daya the Lord made heaven and the earth, the sea and all thai in iliem is, and -ested the seventh day ; wherefore the Lord blessed tin .«oven'!i day, .md >taIlowed it." I. 'li-coursed last Lords-day upon the Law — the rnoral law, a.s ii L sometimes called ; though it matters little as to the JKime. The thing meant is the law of God's rightful and proper government over his moral creatures. In the morn- ing it was shown, that this law is "holy, and just, and good,"" — in the evening, that it must be fulfilled — either by its entire obedience, or by its penalties, borne by the transgressor himself, — or, in the case of mankind, by his divinely appointed substitute, who " hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." The enactment of this law was in "the beginning of the creation of God," implied — nay, expressed — written — in the constitution and consciousness of all moral beings, angelic and human, " so that they are without excuse." It is founded in the nature and fitness of things — grows out of the relations and obligations which all rational creatures sustain to the Creator and to one another, aitd must therefore remain, so long as those relations remain ; in other words, must, in the present constitution of affairs, be perpetual and unchangeable. m .#:I « rftmmfiimmm md J 4 THE SADBATU .* T'le following ani, whore this funtliimentul law of nature — (for nafural it is. as well a? moral — the natural law of moral beings) — is recognized and defined in its relation to man. •'For when tlic Oentilc*, which have not tlic law, do by nature tlic thinj^s contained in tho hiw, tlieno, hnving not tlie law, an; a law unto thcinsclvos : which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also hciiriii,!; witness, iind their tlujii^'htH the mean- while aecu.siii;^, or else cxcu.siuii: one another." — Uomans ii. 11, 15. " Wherefore the law is holy, i.iiil tho eommandnient holy and just and good."...." I dclii^ht in the law oi' God ai'ter the inward man,".... "So then, with the mind I niyselt' servo the law of God, but witli the liesh the law of sin." — Romans vii. 12, 22, ']6. "Thou Shalt love the l/>nl thy Cod with all thy lie;n-t and witludi thy soul, and with all thy niiml. Tliis is the fu'st and gny.it comm nidment. And tlic second is like ur.to it: Thou shalt love thy ncighboras thyself. On these two ctsmmandnients han;^' all the l.iw and the proi)Iiets."— Matthkw xxii. H7-40. The Decjilogue, or Ten Commandinenis of Moses, (the spirit of which our k^aviour meant to indicate in the text last cited) have been usually rogaided as a special divinely- revealed epitome, or digest, or brief formal statement of this law, in its various points of application to mankind. But there arc those, I need not inform you, v.ho think they ind here an exception ! While all the other nine articles of the decalogue are plainly seen, and have to be adnjitted to be clear, positive, definite enunciations of those great first princi- ples of duty to God and man, arising from our relations and the fitness of things, — one, it seems, is challenged ! That commonly known as the Fourth Commandment or the Sabbath- law, is, by some, virtually expunged or annulled — it being transferred from the table or code, where God, "with his own finger," wrote it, for an everlasting statute, to another that has been altogether abrogated — by general consent done away ! Is there not here, my brethren, a serious wrong — a wresting of the Scriptures — a " takinrj away from the words of The Bor!: " ? I mm ,-/«•• HiMiliiMHnMii A MOIIAL IKSTTTUTION. It will be my object, {\\U inoniiiig, to show tbut the Subb.itli-law, like 'ho others of the (iecalogue, is iii'h ed a moral i'.iw — oik; of the "holy and just and {rood " lawa of our natural being, and hence, like the other.=*, froui the nature of the case, perpetual and univurwlly binding on mankind, under whatsver dispensation.s or forms of religions they may live. Let me say, however, at tiio outact, that, in doing so, it is not nf thin great duty, viz., Divino Won^iip. Spirit and form— ••^oul and body go together in thi.s world— have to be provided for together, and here i.s dancer ! Even though niankind were not a.s now,— naturally sinfal, selfish, worldly, — tl-ough a.s pure and upright as were the first pair in Eden, yet clothed with a njaterial bo nd all that in them is, and rested the seventh dtiy ; wb ..'.<>re the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it." -as II. I remark again, that further eaden'^-^ of the moral and constitutional law of Ihe Sabbath, is to be found in its effects — its moral, mental and physical efieets, upon individuals and society at large. The strikin^i; eftbcts of the Sabbath on man, as a day of relaxation and rest — of needi^d abstinence from physical exertion and worldly care, seem to point us most significantly to an organic law demanding it. We know there are laws of our being, M'hose very existence has become known and established only in ^'^'s way, i. e., by the benefits of their observance and the pcniiltios of their violation ! And just so might it not have been also, had it been deemed wisest and best, in regard to this? Indeed there have not been wanting men — sharp observers — close calculators — studious investiga- tors of fr.cts and their causes in relation to this subject, who have been compelled — and many of them contrary o apparent self-interest ' "d their religious prejudices — to recognize and s THE SABBATH admit the traces hero of a deep fundamental law, written, as it were, in our very str-ictiiro ! ♦ in the year 1832 the British House of Commons appoint- / ed a Ccnimittee to investigate the effects of laboring seven days in a week, compared with those of laboring o'niy fix days and resting one." That Committee consisted of Sir Andrew Agnow, Sir llobert Peel, Sir Eobert Inglis, Sir Thomas Baring and twcnty-five other members of Parliament. Among the large number of witnesses of different professions and employments, examined, was Dr. John Richard i^arre, of London, whom the Committee commend as "an acute and experienced physician." "I have practised as a physician," testifies Dr. Farre," ^ " between thirty and forty years. ^- * * I have been in the / habit, during a great- many years, of considering the uses of the Sabbath, and of observing its abuses." * * * As a day of rest, I view it as a day of compensation for the inadequate restorative power of the body under continual labor and excitement. A physician always has respect to the preserva- tion of the restorative power, because if once this be lost, his healing office is at an end. A physician is anxious to preserve the balance of circulation, as necessary to the restorative povjreF of the body. The ordinary exertions of man run down . the circulation every day of his life ; and the first general law of nature, by which God prevents man from destroying him- self, is the alternation of day and night, that repose may succeed action. But, although the night apparently equalizes the circulation, yet it docs not sufficiently restore its balance for the attainment of a long life. Hence, one day in seven, hy the bounty of Frovide?iC€, is thrown in as a day oj compensation, to jjerfect, by its rejme, the animal system.:' "I consider, therelore," Dr. Farre adds, ^' that, in the bountiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the Sabbatical appointment (I speak as a phy. sician) is not, as it has been sometimes theologically viewed, mmm mm A MORAL INSTITDTION. 9 nm.ply a precept, partaking of the nature of a political imti- tution, but that it is to be nuiubcred atnono; the natural duties, if the prcsnrvation of life be admitted to be a duty, :uid the premature destruction of it a suicidal act !" This important testimony of Dr. Farrc has been endorsed as follows : At a regular meetinjx of the New-Haven Medical Associa- tion, Connecticut, composed of twenty-five physici-ins and Medical Professors, the following (questions were submitted for their deci.^ion : — "1. Is the position taken by I)'-. Farre, in his testimony before the Committee of the British House of Commons, in your view, correct ? "2. Will men who labor but six days in a week, be more healthy and live longer, — other things being equal, — than those who labor seven ? " 8„ Will they do more work, and do it in a better man- ner ?" The vote on each of the above questions was unanimously in the afTirmative. Eight physir-ians of Rochester, N. Y., have put forth the following :-- " navinjr mo?t of us lived on the Erie Canal, since its completion, we have uniformly witnessed the same deteriora- ting effects of seven days working, upon the physical consti- tution of both Lian and beasl, as have been so ably depicted by Di. Farre." Again, in 1839 the Pennsylvania Legislature appointed a Cotnmiitee to report on the same question, in relation to their Canal operations. In their report the Committee cite the testimony of certain others on the subject, who " assert, as the result of their experience, that both man and beast can do more work by resting one day in seven, than by working on the whole seven " : — and the Committee then add, ♦' Your 1 T Hi 10 THE SABRATir : Committee feel free to conros?, that their own experience as business men— farmers or legislators— corresponds with the assertion." An experiment like this was tried some years ago in England, upon two tiiousand working men ! They were for a series of years employed seven day.", in a week- -«« receiving double wages for the Sabbath, or eight days' wages for seven days' work." J3ut it was found that they could be kept, neither healthy nor moral ! Things went badly. The course was changed. The workmen were employed but six days in a week. Much more was a;complished than ever before;— which the superintendent attributed to *' two causes, viz., de- moralization of the people under the first system, and ex- haustion of bodily strength— which was visible to the most casual observer !" Hall's " Journal of Health."— a Medical Journal of high authority, has the following : — "The Almighty rested one-seventh of the time of creation, commanding men to observe an equal repose ; and the neglect of this injunction will always, sooner or later, bring mental, moral and physical death. Host is an invariable law of ani.ual life. * * * « It will take about five years to clear them off,' said an observant master of an Ohio Canal boat- alluding to the wearing-out influences of the boatmen who worked on Sundays— almost as destructive as a life of pros- titution, of which four years is the average,— while, as to the boatmen and firemen of the steamers on the ATosterii rivers, which never lay by on Sundays, seven years is the average of life ! The observance, therefore, of the seventh portion of our time for the purposes of rest, is demonstraUy a phijsioloyical nccessihj—a law of our nature /"' So much for the strange physical phenomena attendant on non-S:ibbath observance. Take a W^vf cases r.ow, bearing more directly on the mental and moral aspects of the question. A distinguished merchant, who had, for twenty years, been MMMI m A MORAL INSTITUTION. 11 extensively engaged in his line of biisinevSS, once remarked ; •' Had it not been for the Sabbath, 1 have no doubt I should have been a maniac long ago !" The remark being repeated in a company of merchants, it was af^sented to, and the case of one of their heaviest importers cited, who was accustomed to regard the Sabbath as the best day in the week to plan successful voyages, — but who had been in the Insane Asylum lor years ! Cases of this kind are so numerous, that a writer remarks ; " We never knew a man work seven days in the week, who did not kill himself or kill his mind !"' " O what a blessed day is the SabbaLh," exclaims Wilber- force, ihe extent of whose arduous mental labours and cares, for so many years, all perhaps are aware of — " O what a blessed day is the Sabbath, which allows us a precious interval wherein to pause ; to come out from the thickets of worldly (concerns, and give ourselves up to heavenly and spiritual objects ! Observation and my own experience have convinced me, that there is a special blessing on a right employment of these intervals. * * * I can truly declare, that to me the Sabbath has been invaluable !" llev. D. Huell, twenty-eight years chaplain of London prisons, who had had the spiritual charge, during that time, of more than one hundred thousand priconers, and had taken special pains to ascertain the causes of their crimes, affirmed, that he did not recollect a single, case of capital oSence, where the party had not been a Sabbath-breaker ! Of the one thousand two hundred and thirty-two convicts, of the New York State Prison, prior to 18^8, only twcnty-s:x !iad kept the Sabbath ! Of the one hundred sentenced to the Massachusetts State Prison in one year, ■ ":^hty-niue had lived in the habitual vio- lation of the Sabbath ! These testimonies, already too extended perhaps, let me conclude with that of Dr. Thomas Sewall, Prof, of Pathology 7 fmmmmm* -Mfififidd 12 THE SABBATH : and Medicine, Columbia College, Was^h:ngton. Keniarking on the cflects of the Sabb-.th on man. Dr. S. J^ays,— " I have fong held Ihe opinion that one of its chief bcneats has relerence to his physical and mental coKntUuiion, * * * 1 have no hesi- tation in declaring it aii nij opinion, that if tiie Sabbath were universally observed as a day of devotion and of rest from secular occupations, far more work of body and mind would be accomplished— uiore health would be enj()yee stght or approach even of the people, so extremely saered ItltlT^^t '^•^"••'- ^^'"«^'"'-«' ^--■■-■ Again, how often do we 6nd Sabbath-kceping imerted amo,ig moral duties and made to appear the test and es- senee of practical holiness, as Is. Ivi. 2,0; Iviii. 13, 14 i And with what e,nphasis, plainly, arc sueh words as "pollate,- "profane," ..defile," oflen coupled with it!-«. Who his not been struck with the glowing representations of national .tabd,^, prosperity and glory hinged on it. observance, asjer xv„. 24-26,-and with the severe admonitions and national calamities uttered against its desecration, as Jer. xvii. 21 22 T A MORAL INSTITUTION. 15 27 ! And how signally, for that sin prominently among others, were those calamities more than once realized in national de- feat, overthrow and captivity ! Head for example, Jer. Hi. Thus we find it throughout the i dd dispensation ! Next to the First Commandment God seems ever to regard the Fourth I No mere ceremonial is so hallowed ! Next to his own " Great Name" is he jealous Jor his Sabbath ! For reason.", my hearers, sjch as those I have briefly indi- cated this morning, I have to regard the Fourth Command- ment or the Sabbath precept of the DQQiAogwQamorai ^recept, and as all moral precepts are in the nature of things permanerit and universally binding on mankind, it follows, that in my view, the Sabbath precept is so likewise. But I cannot fur- ther pursue the subject this morning. I here suspend the dis- cussion, promising to renew it, if permitted next Lord's Day morning. Meanwhile let us " Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy !" Let us remember it — to prize it more highly — improve it more faithfully, and labor more prayerfully to extend it with its many accompanying blessings throughout the earth ! Of all the rich unspeakable gilts, next to Christ and the Holy Spirit, for which we have cause for unceasing gratitude and thanksgiving to the Father of all mercies, for none have we so much cause — as for an open Bible — a closed Sabbath and uninterrupted freedom to worship God ! May God oless us, that we prove ourselves not unworthy of these precious gifts! T »»» i wwwpwinainiiiu!niw i|»fjBai^|| * i* ^11 Ml ^t Safikitlj : !t |1osilii)c |nsiitiiliBir. SEKMON^ No. 2. QuNKsisii. 3, 4.— "And on the seventh day God ended his work which ho hiid niudo ; and lie rested on the seventh day from ail his worlt wiiioJj he had made. And God I)Ie.«sea the seventh day and snnc- tified it ; l)ccaii«c tliat in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." On resuming the consideration of the Sabbath Question, this morning, it is proper to state briefly the positions already tak- en. In the first discourse the so-called moral laiv was dcfin- ed to be the law of God's rightful and proper government over his moral creatures, — a law growing naturally — necessarily out of their relations, obligations, and the fitness of things; hence always existing— always linding— so long as those °re. lationd, &o. exist. The Decalogue or Ten Commandments were considered an express formal revelation of that law in its various applications to man. But while nine precepts of the decalogue are seen to cm- body those natural— first principles of duty to God and man, arising from our relations and the fitness of things. One— the Sabbath precept, strange to say— is disputed and virtually ex- pungcd, or transfered from that code, where Jehovah with hia own finger wrote it, for aa everlasting statute, to another in its nature and design temporary, and long ere this entirely abro- gated ! The objcc^t of that discourse, thereforu, was to show, that the SabbatK-iaw, like the rest of the decalogue, is a moral law, T ]li0ii I his work "om all hia and sniic- kvliidi God tion, this 3ady tak- ras defin- lent over ssarily — ': things; those re- dercd an ilicatioris n to cm- nd man, hie — the lally ex- with his ler in its i\y abro- )W, that ral laWf niE SAUHATH : A POSITIVE INSTITUTION. 17 <3r one of the natural hiws of our moral being, and henco like the rest, in the nature of the case, permanent and essentially nnehangfcahle in the present constitution of affairs. It ap[K;ared a moral law, I. It being, like the rest^ authoriz:dby our natural obliga- tions to God — made proper and binding on us by the inherent fitness of things, — apprehended, in the main, and approved by our natural sense of right and wrong. II. By its effects — its happy, physical, mental, and moral 'offocts upon man — thereby showing that it " was m'jde for man." — that it is but a transcript or copy of a • respondinoj law of his nature, demanding its obs<^rvance and severely punishing its violation — as is tine also of such violations as those of intemperana;, gluttony, licentiousness, and the like. All such violations of natural law, under God's moral govern- ment, were shown to be moral violations as well: and the penalties or evils suffered therefrom to be intended to inform us of the existence and sanctity of such laws, and to warn us against their infraction. Non-Sabbath observance is found to operate badly, physically, mentally, morally. There must be a physical mental and moral law, therefore, re(|uiring the Sabbath. III. Finally, prominent facts of Scripture were adverted to, as fur'.her indicating the Sabbath to be a moral — not a ceremonial institution. Such, briefly stated, my hearers, were the main points urged last Sabbath morning, I now resume the discussion. Let it be, however, from a somewhat different stand-point. The ultimate aim then was, to establish the perpetuity and uni- versal obligation of the Sabbath, by shewing it a Morai Insti- tution, which, ia the nature of t'llngs, must be perpetual and aniversally obligatory. I shall se«k this morning to establish the same conclusion for the Sabbath, by shewing it a Positive Institution also — 18 THE SAnnATir I If and of such terms as to render it perpetual and univeraalfj obligatory. The difference between a moral institution^ or precept, or obligation, and a positive one is marked, and will at once appear. " Thor. shult not kill " — is a moral obligation or precept, because it is in itself wroug to kill. Our relations to (Jod and man are such that it can nercr be moral or right to ;uurder, even though no law had ever been given forbidding it. The same is true also of such commands as " Thou shrlt not steal," — "Thou shalt not bear false witnes*," — "Thou shalt have no other (Jods before mo"--" Thou shalt not take the name oi the Lord thy Go a in vain." — " llemember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." All these and others are moral oblii^ations or precepts, inasmuch as they are transparently right, ai>d just, and good in themselves, and hence would havp been duty, had ihey never ieen jormalhj commanded^ obviously arising, as they do, from our natural relations^ obligations, and the proprie- ty of things. But with positive precepts or obligations, on the other hand, such is not necessarily the case. God's conjmand to Abraham to offer up his son — to the Jews to circumcise — to believer^ in Christ to be baptized, — to ob8er\»e the Lord's Supper, all such as these are positive precepts, — the yround of their obli- gation not being that they are right, and just and proper in themselves, — (it may not be so) — but in this, that they are commanded. They are positively commandad, and must be obeyed therefore, — simply because commanded. They have been made known as the will of God, and are to be obeyed by those addressed, because knoum to be His will. I Now here, my brethren, is another of the pillars — another of the chief corner-stones of the Sabbath instituticm ! 'Tis- a positive institution as well as a moral one ! it has been expressly made kyiown as th < will of God, and as such ie to be regarded.. T T" iku nivuraalfj ecept, or I at once gation or ilations t»> r right to )i(Jdinff it, shrlt not hou shalt J the name itli-day to jations or aixl just, Jut J, had rising, as proprie- her hand, Abrahana ?lieverg Id ,. all such leir obli- proper i7i they are must be hey have ►beyed by —another >n ! 'Tia has beeo sucb ig to> -M-. J») ' ^ t ^ lfjffll^^Wf^ i A POSITIVE INSTITUTION. 19 \t the close of Creation, when od In ^^ix days had ended the great work ho had made, we are told, " he blessed the seventh day nml sanctijipd it," — i, e., set it apart ! He set it apart from common to sacred purposes, to holy usea I And for whom ? Was it for Ilimsolt— and for the holy inhabitants of Heaven that they might from ho^iceforth " keep it holy" — ap- propriate It to holy uses ? Was it ^br one little tribe or 'people ot the earth, then inore thati two tliousand years in the future! At that early pu'rlod, I ask was the Sabbath set apart — and by Jehovah's own example, hallowed and consecrated for the Jewish nation alone ? Was it not rather ''for viaii'' — tor man as man — the race of man, in whatever nation, country, or age of the world thereafter to be found I 3Iany are the vestiges of this original appointment, in the early history of the race — sacred iiid profane. The offerings of Cain and Abel are said to have been made " in process of .'me" — or, as the Hebrew has it, " at the end of days" — most natur- ally of the week, hence the Sabbath Repeated allusions to periods of •' seven days" are found \\\ the history of Noah and the flood — of Jacob and Laban. The three friends of .Job " sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights." (Job was probably cotemporaneous with the Patriarchs) — The number Seven, early became a sacred and complete number, nor was it altogether peculiar to the Jews. Why was this? And notice particularly the decalogue, iny hearers. Mark how unlike all the others is the Sabbath precept there intro- duced — " Reimmher the Sabbath day !" Mark other pecu- liarities. " Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath," : not shall he a Sabbath, as would have been natural, on instituting a neiv or before Huknowi observance. A.nd mark especially the reason there assigned for its obligation and observance, — " 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 hallowej it" I y BgansaiBap mtrntfrni""^* •«MCA>1 20 THE BAIIKATII : Moro remarkable stilly in some particulars, as will be soon, are the still earlier Sabbath allusions, IouikI rocordeil in the lOtU chap, of Exodus. " And Moses Kaid unto th«n?, This is that which the Lord hiith said. To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath^^ not something yet to be created or put into es:i"t.'j:ce — hut somo'ning that wm in, existence already and was ojciu- thnrity to them, 'A\i\\ow^\ the deeuloguu was not then given ! '• Six days ye shall gather it [manna] but on the seveiUh day lohich is the Sabbath, (observe the tense) in it there shall be none ! " There went out sonje of the peoj)lo on the seventh day for to gather," how>'ver, whieh provoked the Jiord ; and murk His rebuke — •' How lonjj refuse ye to keep my cou)- mandmcnts and my laws" ! What "• Commandments ?'' What " laws" ? Now, do not these early Sabbath allusions most clear- ly demonstrate the following points — 1, that the Sabbath was in existence prior to the Mosaic law 'i, th..l it was of fbrct to the Jews prior to that law and 3, that i/i that law itself, iis injunction and grounds of obligation are based on the original institution or appointment ! And that that original institution or appointment was dcsi^jned for the race — not for the Jews alone — does not conjmon sense as well as revclaticn abundantly testify I And does not common history also, loudly testify of the same fact, in those striking traces of that original institution whicii it declares to be almost everywhere observable among the nations, to this day ! The learruu Tliomr.s Hartwell Home's remark ..i this point, is but the ^' ■♦"•.. >ii of all leaned historians. "One of the most striking confirmations of the Mosaic history of the creation, from heathen sources," eays Home, " io the general adoption of the division of time into weeks, which extends froni Europe to Hindostan— and has equall , prevailed among the Hebrews, Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and jNorthern barbari- ans ! The other divisions of time arise from natural causes, i'espccting the sun and moon. The division into weekSyQw the d LMMUilii II be socn, ieJ ill the in, This iH yf the holy ei:i"t .r.ce vas of aw eii givoti ! vonth (lay •0 shuU be lO seventh ord ; a lid my com- rr What lost clear- ! Sabbath „l it was lUt iiL thai gat ion are It ! And 5 dcsi2;no(l 0!i scn.se as )t coinnion pe striking I be ahnost lay ! The (int, is but the most e creation, d adoption >ni Europe ; Hebrews, 'n barbari- •al causes, eks^ on the A I'OSrnVK INSTITUTION. 21 contrary, seems perfectly irbitrary, and to have been derived from Moiiie remote tradition, (as that of the creation) which Wiifl never totally obliterated from the memory of the (lentiles." My hrethren, these testimonies of history — of reason — above nil, of Divine revelation, I heartily accept — and conclude, that, as " the Sal)bath was made for ik-an" — was origii>nlly set apart and div'ncly hallowed for man— /f>r nmn that divine beneficent institution still exist t, and in its criminal desirn and o'itjation at least, will continue to exist, so long as man ex- ists ! That it was subsequently reajf'^vicd and with God's own hand recorded in the decalogue, which thereby became a code of positive laws, as well as moral ones — for the race, for all time, "till heaven and earth pass away," this alsf t I acce{)t, of course, however othei-s may trjat that sacred instrument, — l^t that that in (trumont after all is absolutelv necessary, in order to create authority for, or give durabUity to the Sabbath, i do not accept. In this only sure Word of I'esti.nony I do iut find it, that the Sabbath cither he(/an with Moses or end^d with Moses ; but that " in the bcijinninor" of all earthly affairs it begun ; and only with the end of the same is it to end — *' not of Moses — nor of the fathcis'' of Moses — but the first hallowed gift to the race, of the Great Common Father of us all--" from whom comcthdown every good gift and every perfect gift — with whom is :io variableness neither shadow of turning!'' ^yit\\ t!ie inattor of " chauije of time" — as it is sometimes eallod, and of which so much is made by some, you will bear me record, my hearers, that, in my present views, I have very little to do ! That there has been in reality a cha'tye from t.Ke orUjinaJ intejH remains yet to be demonstrated ! All that can be certainly shown from the Word, is that God worked six days — then rested and consecrated one — and was pleased to institute the same order of things for main's observance on the ftarth. ^' Six days shall thou labor and do al) thy work ; (from 22 THE SABBATH ^ what (late or starting point is not prescribed) but the secenlh day is the Sabbath of the Lord i\\^ God." And how improbable, — unlike Inlin'te Wisdom to appoint a universal observance — an observance for the whole world with any other terms ! How inconsiderate, absurd, to talk of a Sabbath at any one and the same time, the world over ! AVith Jatitudes and longitudes time varies ! — days and nights vary! Suppose the "seventh day," that first dawned on Eden, had been universally observed as Sabbath from that time to this, how far think you, from "the first day of the week," Eden time, would now be the Sabbath in China, Burmah, India, Turkey and the neighboring parts ! On the supposition that there has been a change of just one day or 24 hours, how nearly are our brethren :n those countries — those dear missionary brethren and their little churches of heathen converts, to-day loorshippiny God on the very identical Eden Sdhbath ! and don't we almost envy them their happiness ? Not at all ! We need not do it ! For our merciful Heavenly Father, as wc may believe, has taken pains to put us a 1 on equal footing in this respect !— has taken pains not to privilege one nation of hiir' people to worship Kim — keep holy time — dwell in the light of his special presence on his own specially consecrated hours, more literally or more fully than another ! In short, 'tis not, I am positive, so much a particular portion, as joroportion of time for the Sabbath that is required, oil her by the divine precept itself— by the constitution and necessities of our being — or by reason and the fitness of things ! 3:Jut then, to take another .iow of the matter — suppose a change of time, in some sort, has been allowed to take place, in the letter or custom of the original institution, — suppose there was a day allowed to be lost — blotted out apparcntlv irom the regular Calender of time, amid those zrregular oc- currences that marked the dissolution of the Old Dispensation — above all the dissolution of God's own well-bcloved Son. m. r ^i eig item le seiienlh appoint a corld with talk of a rid over ! ind iiii;l)ts uwned on iroiri that first day in China, ! On the day or 24 ies — those f heathen kal Eden ess? Not Heavenly . us a I on privilege y time — I specially another ! r portion y 3d, ciiher lecessities ■lupposo a ke place, —suppose pparcntly igular 00- pensation )ved yon. A POSITIVE INSTITrXION. 23 What, I ask, more natural I What more in keeping with the rest ! W^as it a time — a scene — an event that convulsed Nature — that shook the earth — eclipsed the Sun — aroused the sleeping •'aints from their long quiet rest ! — and was it an unbefUtiny memorial of the whole, that the Sabbath of our Lord's deepest humiliation and subjugation to the powers of sin and death should be thus signally strkken out from the records of Holy Time — to be joyfully restored again to the world, on the bright morning of his glorious resurrection and triumph! With ref- ference to a certiin day of his life, another, in the bitterness of his humiliation and sorrow, has said, — " Let that day be dark- ness — let not Go'i regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it ! As for that night let darkness seize upon it — let it not be joined unto the days of the year — let it not come into the number of the months !" — Job. iii. 4, 6 Again how frequently and emphatically are we refcred in the Scriptures to two creations, the old — the new — the one of God — the other of Christ! The gospel dispensation is everywhere spoken of as a renewed state of things — wherein •" old thinjs are passed away, behold all things are become new" ! Mankind " dead in trespasses and sms" are said to be " raised up together with Christ" ! " created in Christ Jesus !" " renewed in knowledge after ihe image of Him that created him!" In short, many and joyful are the assurances given us tiiat the world is to be more than r€-created — more than restored or brought back again to its first perfection and glory by the Lord Jesus Christ ! But when God finished the great work of the first creation, he '' rested" and " hallowed" the following day ; and in com- memoration of that work and that rost it was, especially, that the original Sabbath was. observed ! So, when our Saviour finished that great fundamental work of the new creation, and triumphed over all tho hosts of sin, satan, death and the grave, and " entered into his rest" on the first day of the week ; how appropriate, beloved, that thai day — that work and that tri- T >»>^ 24 THE SABFATIl Z ■umyh shcultl be fore\ermore commemorated in hrs own re- deemed world, by observing it as the Christian Sabbath,— the first not being abrogated thereby, nor in spirit changed— but outNiardly mci-gcd in the second! "Behold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remem- h'red nor come into mind. But be ye g'ad and rejoice forever, in that which I create: For Mold 1 create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a jmf !— Isa. Ixv, 17, 18. But whether, after all, my hearers, the explanations or sug- gestionr, I have now named, one— all— or none of them are the correct ones, may be uncertain, and little moment is it, in my esteem, if they are so. Neverthekss, one thimj is certain, "our (Sabbath) enemies themselves being judges !"— one thing there is that may be relied on as fact undisputed and indisjju- table ! viz :— that the first day of the week teas observed by the primitive church, from Christ to the last of the Apostles, and thence by the universal church, down through the 2nd, 3rd,, 4th, all the centuries, indeed, to the present ! And how came this about : How is this to be accounted for ! Here is a question, my hearers, more difficult of solution, than the other —except on one hypothesis ! We know the apostles went forth Jrom Christ to Ihe churches, " teaching Ihtm to observe oil things whatsoever i/e h.-'d commanded them", with the pro- mise, furthermore, that the Holy Spirit should " teach" them, "guide" them — '• take of hs and show it unto them,'' " brinlain and imverotiisp ' i\u\\ ^;. "\""^J' as Christians, is matter where or Zw u..Zf r ^''^'P'^ '" ^* ^^■^^. ^ - Pressly or mpLuT k'"^"' directly or indirectly/ex. of ^^ n^;^^::i^J'^^^--^^^^, orb/ those are alik. valid oliAtorv^^ ^ "''^''u^ niossengeis ; all any diifu to k- mrfnr,mul ,..« i I ^°^ concerning cnjohHijcrit The /S,„„„. ' , !>' "'?o mi"}- express teims <-'"-„.,y,,|„iX ,e, '°''™',""'^ " >' be so .poke,, that rta« "tliw ilii,,,., „i,i„i, ,„, J, ■""' y*"''' "• by sajing several ...paH, ,,, j;:l: ;^;;:. »^^^^ ..ay. .y «'irf fio' °"^ -'^"-•'-'. » seventh of time as Sabbath a,,dl,T,^^'^ , '" ""^ 'b'rd, i-^ shown to be the wi of ('hrist !f h^' ^'^ ''"^ °' "" "'■">'' tie. a„a the primitive ehuih " P"''"^'"'' "' """^ »P°=- I [ A POSITIVE INSTITUTION. 27 ristians, is i's. There , however luxury of blipration Will, I , ■ectly, ex- I' by those igers ; all 3 cheerful pretcr of oncerning ed in his ess tei ms to which ihat that reign, as fpeak it ? several by # provided hedieiice, f revcla- \ express es, that gation ? Acts ii ; i are of bath, is iiistitu- In the '■ moral K s as lations, of the third, ? xceeh, - apos- 3 may * Until these laws are done away, abrogated, there will bo required ut mankind, " the rest of the Holy iSabbath unto the Lord," Ex. xvi; 23. Have they been so abrogated? Where is the record? Have prophets predicted it? Did Christ authorize it? Did his first messengers to the world proclaim and leave record ot any such abrogation ? Eiyht apostles and disciples were inspired to write the New Testument, — make known therein, as far as needful, the will of God additional to its revelation in the Old Testament, — " that the n.an of God may bo thoroughly furnished," with all that is " profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righte- ousness ;" but where in all their communications, have those eight inspired penmen, so much as alluded to such an abroga- tion ! And how should their silence be construed ? By all analogy, is it not one of the strongest possible proofs that no such act had taken place at the time of their writing ! True, from the peculiar circumstances of the persons im- mediately addressed, one of the eight has so written, in a few in- stances as to seem, on a superficial view, to indicate disregard for the Sabbath. But i". it so in reality ? Can so serious a charge de sul/stantiaiid against him ? To the Colossians, ii. IG, St. Paul writes, " Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or m drink, or in respect of a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Hiihh'Aih-days." Why are all the Jewish observances here specified, put in the singular number, except the lat.t, — '' the sabbath-c/'fl'2/'.";^ W'hy if the covimon Sabbath is refered to, VA that alone in the plural, when the ordinary manner of writing it and speaking it was in the singular, — the iSabbath, (to Sabba- ton), not the Sabbaths, (ta Sabbata) which more often refered to other sacred days of the Jews ! Does not the choice of his language here seem to show, that the apostle meant not to be misunderstood? Compare Isa, i. 13,14. Hos. ii. 11. Or, admitting that the reference is to the common Jewish Sabbath, as claimed, is the apostle's renouncement and di' -e- gard of that anything ihconsistent or remarkable ? Is it not in harmony with his admonitions and instructions to the Gentile churches everywhere ? The Christian Sabbath, or the first day of the week seems never, at that age, to have been called the Sabbath, but " the Lord's day^'' as it, while associating " ti- mately with their Lord, to separate it as far as possible from AX connection with Judaism, that fruitful source of error and trou- ble. To observe that was enough. But Judaizing teachers ,«♦' 28 THE SABBATH " unriwjiro.s cropt in" were for over uroing the obsorvanco o^ all their .sul)))atlis sacred days and seasons of feasting, fasting, cVe. Paid as vigilantly opposed them. He tells the Colossians to make no account of these things. Let no man judge them in respect of such observances. They were not essential to Christians — oftentimes were positively injurious ! Hence his language also to the (Jahitians, iv. 10, 11. — "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you hibor in vain." — They were being carried away with Judaism. The same remarks account for his language to the Romans, xiv. 5, G. " One man esteemeth one day, ttc." i. e., the sacred days of Jewish feasts, fasts, &c., — as is evident from the allu- sions in the context and throughout the chapter to " eating," " drinking," " meat and drbik," " things esteemed unclean,' kc. — JiCt tlie chapter be read. The observance of tJie Lord's day seems never to have been in question, among the Primi- tive Churches. All agreed in that, so far as appears, Jews and Gentiles — (The church at Roni>. was ccnipcsed of both.) hue must ofhei- days be observed? This was the great ques- tion — and was answered ."omewhat according to circumstances. To the Konians, in view of their mixed character, the apostle counsels charity, forbearance, liberty of conscience. They umst, " every man be fully persuaded" — must " walk charita- bly"— "not judge one anotiier," — but " follow afte- the things which make for peace," If one regarded the day (of his for- mer observance, Subbiith or otherwise) let him regnrd \i unto the Lord, and if one regarded it not, to the Lord let him not regard it — all things being done with supreme reference to what was conceived to be 'he will, honor, pleasure of the Lord and the best interests of His cause. Anotlier has well said, — " If any man is dispose^l to plead this passafie as an excuse for violating the Sabbath and devoting it to pleasure or (jaiii, let him (juote it just as it is, i. e., kt him negicct the iSabbath from a conscientious desire to honor Jesus Christ. Unless this is his motive the passage cannot avail him. But this motive never yet infiuencd a Sabbath-breaker." In conclusion, — as last Lord's day, an argument for the Sab- bath was found in its natural ejfecfs or benefits ; so this morning (to meet more directly the peculiar considerations in encouragement of Sabbuth-desecration, to which this com- ■*«••■ •H A POSITIVli INSTITUTfO??. 19 miin,ty has of late been so publicly ouUo,]) 1 maj adduce aa d/.ne authority for the Sabbath, a..d that th. first d,yoJ the week,-x\,o .narked Providential benefits or f>lnmujs attenditia Its conscientious observance. ° And here I am well aware I tread on uncertain around. I; i.^ ever to be remembered, that in this confused, incomplete pro'- bationary state, not always and with entire certai.ay, is the gracious will and approbation o( IJeaven to be detennined in this way ; yctin this n:atter. strange to say, facts are so abur.- ant and s,gn:heant~3o forcibly suggestive and almost entire^ ly in one direction, that minds, greatest and smallest, wisest and best, as well as worst, have alike been constrained to yield to the convictions those factH seem intended to carry '• It IS a little remarkable"-saysCaptainycoresl'K;, of his cc^ lebrated voyage ,n the Greenland .Sea.-'' that during the whole of this voyage, no circumstance ever occurred to m-event u^ engaging m public worship on the Sabbath-day ' # * * .\,^^^\ It IS worthy of observation, that in no instance, when on fish- ing stauons, was our refraining from the ordinary duties of our piofessio.i on the Sunday, even supposei eventm.lly to have been a loss to us! for we in general found, that il other., who ve.e less regardful, or had not the same view of the oblb^atory nature of tne command respecting the Sabbath-day, succeeded in heir endeavours to promote the success of the voya'^o Vc se ldo,„ Jailed to procure a decided advantage in the suceeedin, W 'i^ ij iV « — ' Captain Brown, who went out in a brig from Ilhode Island coast VT\ 1 "''''" ™'^^"' °" " ^^^'"8 ^'^>'^g« «'^"g the the LI ^f"'"^''.:, "? «^"'P^"J ^'-tt^ three other vessels from vol r 1 \ T- '* ^''°'' '''^''' ^^^'•'"«' tl^Ht, '. during the u°?M ° ;k " '''^'^ ^''"'"''"^^y regarded the SabbSth.'^ ihe other crews prosecuted their employment on that day the same as on others." But, .' he and his men succeeded i'f ge ! tng 'a full voyage -cured their fish and sold it, some fbur tvetks sooner-making more profits to a share in less time, than those who profaned the Sabbath and wore theii,selves out Dy laboring hard seven days in the week !" Again some years ago, a gentleman, writing from a fishing town, where more than two hundred vessels are^ent out annu'^ ally, remarks-" The vessel who.e earnings were the highest last year and the year before, was one on board of which, the teaboath was kept by refraining fr.m labor and by religious mmmmm tm^-jm. 30 THE SABBATIl : worship. There is one firm which has had eight vessels in its ctnploy this season — seven have fished on the Sabbath and one has not. That one has earned seven hundred dol hi rs more than the most successful ot the six ! There are two other firms employing each three vessels. Two out oi the three in each case, have kept the Sabbath, and in each case, have earned more than two-thirds of the profits !" Another mnn who was hiiiiselfin the business in 1S27, tes- tifies, that he and his men took more fish by far than any who were associated with them, though he kept the Sabbath and Ihey did not. It was his invariable practice to rest from Sat- urday till Monday. Though " an unfavorable season for the fisheries, he was so greatly prospered in pvery way, and to such an extent, that many regarded his success as almost miraculous !" Said an old gentleman in Boston, once, with a good deal of emf»hasis. " Men do not gain anything by working on the Sabbath. I can recollect men, who when I was a boy, used to load their vessels down on Long Wharf, and keep their men at work from morning to nigh* on the Sabbath-day. But they have come to notning! Their children have come to nothing ! Depend upon it, men do not gain anything in the end, by working on the Sabbath !" But my hearers, other marked cases of Providence, in fa- vor of Sabbath-keeping, might be cited, besides those relating to fishermen and sailors. The following is the confession of a distinguished mechanic. " i used to work on the Sabbath, and often obtained higher wages than on other days— -but I so often lost during the week, more than all I could gain on the Sabbath, that I gave it up years ago !" It was the remark uf a gentleman merchant, twenty-five years in business in New-York, — " I have particularly observ- ed that those merchants, who have kept their counting-rooms open on the Saobath-day, have failed witnout exception." Another from another place testifies, — " I can recollect more than fifty years, but I cannot recollect a case of a man in this town, who was accustomed to work on the Sabbath, who did not fail or lose his property before he died ;" Dr. Wilson, Pastor of the first Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, who, for a number of years previous to his be- coming a preacher, was an eminent lawyer in the Sti»te of A POSITIVE INSTITUTION. 31 3 S e s il n if Delaware, «« was accustomed when pressed with bupincFs, to iiiake out his briefs and prepare his Monday's pleadin-s on the Nibbath. But he so unifbrn.Iy failed in carrying out his Sun- day plans that it arrested his attention. lie inciuired into the cause of his uniform failure and came to t^o conclusion that It m-ght bo and probably was on account of his violation of the .Sabbath, lirom that time he abandoned the practice of doinjr anything for his clie.its on that day. The difficulty ceased ills etiorts on Monday were as successful as on other days " bir Mathew Hale, furnishes the following, f.^ his '' experi- ence" in the nia..er. - Though my hands and ray rai:id have been as full of secular business, both before and after I was Juuge, as any man's in England, it may be, yet * # * if I had, at any time borrowed from this day a„y time for ray secular employment, I found it did further me less than It i had let It Hone— and therefore, when «ome years' ex- perience, upon a most attentive and vigilant observation, had given me this instruction, I grew peremptorily re.olved never in this kind, to make a breach upon the Lord's-day' which I have now strictly observed for more than thirty years." But instances like these, I need not further multiply as it were easy to do. They arise on almost every hand, aiid not -.x .cw probably, from the personal experience and acquaintance ot us all. The foregoing are sufficient. They have been cited not so much as curious facts, remarkable occurrences, for the purpose of entertainment in themselves, as for the purpose of il- lustrating a principle,— verifying an important truth, viz.,— that (rod puts his seal upon his own Day ! He does not fail even now to signify his pleasure and delight in the Sabbath He takes care to own it, by thus Providentially o vning those who regard it, and as signally frowning upon tnose who make light ot it ;— " Them that honor me I will honor, and they that de- spise me shall be lightly esteemed." We have here, then, additional authority for the Sabbath li IS indicated as the will oj God. The indications of his I'rovidence harmonize with the precepts of his Word in authorizing its sanctification ; and shall we be » slow of heart to believe.'" Let all the facts on this subject be collected, and tu. safest induction made— let all classes of laborers— all branches of industry be summoned to testify fully and truth- i.teaig*ais^*i*'s L.»*i:*MsS.3i- ■!»-»ISi.*(%1l^P«l(#t»:-*««S!S^»6^^. WW s32 THE SAUflATII : A t»OSITlVK INSTITUTION". Fully in the cn^c—and I have no doubt, that the Divine authori- ty tor the Sabbath from this f it is to he leared, who di.^honcr the Lord y)y dishonouring II i« Oay ^' Are we not compelled to the belief, my brethren, that there is among us a vast deal of •Sabbath-breaking, even by those who make professions of better things— thosu who claim to hold themselves di- vinely cbligatod to wicredly observe the Sabbath ,' What numbers cm God's hol^- day, piwiicnadc the streets— recreate i» the suburbs— call socially on their neighbors and friends— visit their shops, offices, eounting-roonif,— inspect their stocks, look t)ver accounts, post books, draft bills, lay out work a!id plans lor the week. &'i. J And what numbers besides, professedly more devout and consistent, who do not scruple to devote the sacred hour.: to reading newspapers and secular books, conduct- ing corr<\sponde»ces, doing small work, indulging in connnon topics of conversation, and it may be in unusual and unre^- quired sleep ; in uU these ways and others, 1 repeat, have we «iot the most indubitable evidence that there is in our midst a lamentable-amount of Sabbath-desecvntion ! My hearers, these things ought not to be so. If the Sabbath is right this l^ III! wrong — all sin .' And ^z^e in the sight of Heaven^ h-fdways " exceeding sinful,"— flZ«m«/s " that abominable thing which God hates," but how much more His owr. ' y day -dur- ing His ownspeciully, •' vsanctitied" and " hallowed" I: . urs .' As iov us, then, let us see to it, as individuals, as families, and as a congregation of worshippers, that we *' Remember the Sabbath- day," to sanctify it in our hearts, in our words, and all our con- cerns ; so sliall the blessing of the Lord our God be upon us. " If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, tae holy of the Jjord, honorable, — and ehalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleosurc, nor speaking thine own words; Then shalt thou delight tl.y- self in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heriiage of Jacob thy father : for the nvouth of the LokI hath spotea it,'"* \ 'iv 'V^^^ft )