THE PERPETUITY and CHANGE OF THE SABBATH
by Jonathan Edwards, an
edited excerpt from Works, 2.93–103
Part 2 of 2
The Sabbath is Now on
The First Day of the Week
Proposition: That it is the will of God that under the gospel
dispensation, or in the Christian church, this day should be the first day of
the week.
In order to the confirmation of this, let the following things be considered.
The Fourth Commandment does Not indicate
which day of the week should be the Sabbath
First, the words
of the Fourth Commandment afford no objections against this being the day that
should be the Sabbath, any more than against any other day. That this day,
which according to the Jewish reckoning, is the first of the week, should be
kept as a Sabbath, is no more opposite to any sentence or word of the fourth
command, than that the seventh of the week should be the day. The words of the
fourth command do not determine which day of the week we should keep as a
Sabbath. They merely determine, that we should rest and keep as a Sabbath every
seventh day, or one day after every six. It says, “Six days thou shalt labour,
and the seventh thou shalt rest”; which implies no more, than that after six
days of labour, we shall upon the next to the sixth, rest and keep it holy. And
this we are obliged to do forever. But the words no way determine where those
six days shall begin, and so where the rest or Sabbath shall fall. There is no
direction in the fourth command how to reckon the time, i.e., where to begin
and end it. But that is supposed to be determined otherwise.
The Jews did not know, by the fourth command, where to begin their six days,
and on which particular day to rest: this was determined by another precept.
The fourth command does indeed suppose a particular day appointed; but it does
not appoint any. It requires us to rest and keep holy a seventh day, one after
every six of labour, which particular day God either had or should appoint. The
particular day was determined for that nation in another place, viz.,
in Exodus 16:23–26, “And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath
said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which
ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth
over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning.… And Moses said, Eat that to
day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the
field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the
sabbath, in it there shall be none.” This is the first place where we have any
mention made of the Sabbath, from the first Sabbath on which God rested.
It seems that the Israelites, in the time of their bondage in Egypt, had lost
the true reckoning of time by the days of the week, reckoning from the first
day of the creation. They were slaves and in cruel bondage and had in a great
measure forgotten the true religion. For we are told that they served the gods
of Egypt.
And it is not to be supposed that the Egyptians would suffer their slaves to
rest from their work every seventh day. Now, they, having remained in bondage
for so long a time, had probably lost the weekly reckoning. Therefore, when God
had brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness, He made known to them the
Sabbath, on the occasion and in the manner recorded in the text just now
quoted. Hence, we read in Nehemiah that when God had led the children of Israel
out of Egypt, etc., He made known unto them His holy Sabbath, Nehemiah 9:14,
“And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath.” To the same effect, we read in
Ezekiel 20:10, 12, “Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of
Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. Moreover also I gave them my
sabbaths.”
But they never would have known where the particular day would have fallen by
the fourth command. Indeed, the fourth command, as it was spoken to the Jews,
did refer to their Jewish Sabbath. But that does not prove that the day was
determined and appointed by it. The precept in the fourth command is to be
taken generally of such a seventh day as God should appoint, or had appointed.
And because such a particular day had been already appointed for the Jewish
church, therefore, as it was spoken to them, it did refer to that particular
day. But this does not prove, but the same words refer to another appointed
seventh day, now in the Christian church. The words of the fourth command may
oblige the church, under different dispensations, to observe different
appointed seventh days, as well as the fifth command may oblige different
persons to honour different fathers and mothers.
The Christian Sabbath, in the sense of the fourth command, is as much the
seventh day as the Jewish Sabbath, because it is kept after six days of labour
as well as that. It is the seventh reckoning from the beginning of our first
working-day, as well as that was the seventh from the beginning of their first
working day. All the difference is that the seven days formerly began from the
day after God’s rest from the creation, and now they begin the day after that.
It is no matter by what names the days are called: if our nation had, for
instance, called Wednesday the first day of the week, it would have been all
one as to this argument.
Therefore, by the institution of the Christian Sabbath, there is no change from
the fourth command; but the change is from another law, which determined the
beginning and ending of their working days. So that those words of the fourth
command, viz., “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Ex 20:11) These words are not made
insignificant to Christians, by the institution of the Christian Sabbath. They
still remain in their full force as to that which is principally intended by
them. They were designed to give us a reason why we are to work but six days at
a time, and then rest on the seventh, because God has set us the example. And
taken so, they remain still in as much force as ever they were. This is the
reason still, as much as ever it was, why we may work but six days at a time.
What is the reason that Christians rest every seventh, and not every eighth, or
every ninth, or tenth day? It is because God worked six days and rested the
seventh.
It is true, these words did carry something further in their meaning, as they
were spoken to the Jews, and to the church before the coming of Christ. It was
then also intended by them that the seventh day was to be kept in commemoration
of the work of creation. But this is no objection to the supposition that the
words, as they relate to us, do not import all that they did, as they related
to the Jews. For there are other words which were written upon those tables of
stone with the ten commandments, which are known and allowed not to be of the
same import, as they relate to us, and as they related to the Jews, viz.,
these words, in the preface to the ten commandments, “I am the LORD thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage.”—These words were written on the tables of stone with the rest, and
are spoken to us, as well as to the Jews. They are spoken to all to whom the
commandments themselves are spoken, for they are spoken as an enforcement of
the commandments. But they do not now remain in all the signification which
they had, as they respected the Jews. For we never were brought out of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage, except in a mystical sense.—The same may be said
of those words which are inserted in the commandments themselves, Deuteronomy
5:15, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the
LORD thy God commanded thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched
out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.”
So that all the arguments of those who are against the Christian Sabbath, drawn
from the fourth command, which are all their strength, come to nothing.
As OT Church Commemorated Old Creation,
so NT Church Commemorates New Creation
Second, that the
ancient church was commanded to keep a seventh day in commemoration of the work
of creation, is an argument for the keeping of a weekly Sabbath in
commemoration of the work of redemption, and not any reason against it.
We read in Scripture of two creations, the old and the new, and these words of
the fourth command are to be taken as of the same force to those who belong to
the new creation, with respect to that new creation; as they were to those who
belonged to the old creation, with respect to that. We read that “in the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the church of old were to
commemorate that work. But when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, those
that belong to this new heaven and new earth, by a like reason, are to
commemorate the creation of their heaven and earth.
The Scriptures teach us to look upon the old creation as destroyed, and as it
were annihilated by sin; or, as being reduced to a chaos again, without form
and void, as it was at first. Jeremiah 4:22, 23, “They are wise to do evil, but
to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without
form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light”! i.e., were reduced to
the same state in which they were at first; the earth was without form and
void, and there was no light, but darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption,
a creation of a new heaven and a new earth; Isaiah 65:17, 18, “For, behold, I
create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for,
behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.” And Isaiah
51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of
the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.” And Isaiah 66:22, “For as
the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make,” etc.—In these places we
are not only told a new creation, or new heavens and a new earth, but we are
told what is meant by it,viz., the gospel renovation, the making of
Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, saying unto Zion, “Thou art my
people,” etc. The prophet, in all these places, is prophesying of the
gospel-redemption.
The gospel-state is everywhere spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein
old things are passed away, and all things become new: we are said to be
created unto Christ Jesus unto good works. All things are restored and
reconciled whether in heaven or in earth, and God has caused light to shine out
of darkness, as He did at the beginning. And the dissolution of the Jewish
state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world.—But we
who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation. Therefore there
seems to be at least as much reason that we should commemorate the work of this
creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate
the work of the old creation.
The Sabbath-Rest Remaining Points to
the Rest of Christ from His Redemptive Work
Third, there is
another thing which confirms it (that the fourth command teaches God’s resting
from the new creation, as well as from the old), which is that the Scriptures
expressly speak of the one as parallel with the other: i.e., Christ’s resting
from the work of redemption is expressly spoken of as being parallel with God’s
resting from the work of creation. Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into
his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
Now Christ rested from His works when He rose from the dead, on the first day
of the week. When He rose from the dead, then He finished His work of
redemption. His humiliation was then at an end: He then rested and was
refreshed.—When it is said, “There remaineth a rest to the people of God”; in
the original, it is, asabbatism, or the keeping of a
Sabbath: and this reason is given for it, “For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”—These three
things at least we are taught by these words:
1. To look upon Christ’s rest from His work of redemption, as parallel with
God’s rest from the work of creation. For they are expressly compared together,
as parallel one with the other.
2. They are spoken of as parallel, particularly in this respect, viz.,
the relation which they both have to the keeping of a Sabbath among God’s
people, or with respect to the influence which these two rests have as to
sabbatising in the church of God. For it is expressly with respect to this that
they are compared together. Here is an evident reference to God’s blessing and
hallowing the day of His rest from the creation to be a Sabbath, and appointing
a Sabbath of rest in imitation of Him. For the Apostle is speaking of this,
verse 4, “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And
God did rest the seventh day from all his works.” Thus far is evident, whatever
the Apostle has respect to by this keeping of a Sabbath by the people of God:
whether it be a weekly sabbatising on earth or a sabbatising in heaven.
3. It is evident in these words that the preference is given to the latter
rest, viz., the rest of our Saviour from His works, with respect to
the influence it should have or relation it bears, to the sabbatising of the
people of God, now under the gospel, evidently implied in the expression,
“There remaineth therefore asabbatism to the people of God. For he
that entered into his rest,” etc. For in this, the sabbatism appointed in
remembrance of God’s rest from the work of creation, does not remain, but
ceases; and that this new rest, in commemoration of Christ’s resting from His
works, remains in the room of it.
Redemption from Egypt is a Type
of Redemption from Sin
Fourth, it is no
more than just to suppose that God intended to intimate to us that the Sabbath
ought by Christians to be kept in commemoration of Christ’s redemption, in that
the Israelites were commanded to keep it in remembrance of their deliverance
out of Egypt (Deut 5:15), because that deliverance out of Egypt is an evident,
known, and allowed type of it. It was ordered of God, on purpose to represent
it. Everything about that deliverance was typical of this redemption, and much
is made of it, principally for this reason: because it is so remarkable a type
of Christ’s redemption. And it was but a shadow, the work in itself was nothing
in comparison with the work of redemption. What is a petty redemption of one
nation from a temporal bondage, to the eternal salvation of the whole church of
the elect in all ages and nations, from eternal damnation; and the introduction
of them, not into a temporal Canaan, but into heaven: into eternal glory and
blessedness? Was that shadow so much to be commemorated as that a day once a
week was to be kept on the account of it, and shall not we much more
commemorate that great and glorious work of which it was designed on purpose to
be a shadow?
Besides, the words in the Fourth Commandment, which speak of the deliverance
out of Egypt, can be of no significance unto us, unless they are to be
interpreted of the gospel-redemption. But the words of the decalogue are spoken
to all nations and ages. Therefore, as the words were spoken to the Jews, they
referred to the type or shadow. As they are spoken to us, they are to be
interpreted of the antitype and substance. For the Egypt from which we under
the gospel are redeemed, is the spiritual Egypt; the house of bondage from
which we are redeemed, is a state of spiritual bondage.—Therefore the words, as
spoken to us, are to be thus interpreted, “Remember, thou was a servant to sin
and Satan, and the Lord thy God delivered thee from this bondage, with a mighty
hand and outstretched arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep
the Sabbath day.”
As the words in the preface to the ten commandments, about the bringing of the
children of Israel out of Egypt, are interpreted in our catechism (and as they
have respect to us): [they] must be interpreted [as being] of our spiritual
redemption. So, by an exact identity of reason, must these words in
Deuteronomy, annexed to the fourth command, be interpreted [as] of the same
gospel redemption.
The Jewish Sabbath was kept on the day that the children of Israel came up out
of the Red sea. For we are told in Deuteronomy 5:15, that this holy rest of the
Sabbath was appointed in commemoration of their coming up out of Egypt. But the
day of their going through the Red sea was the day of their coming up out of
Egypt. For till then they were in the land of Egypt. The Red sea was the
boundary of the land of Egypt.—The Scripture itself tells us that the day on
which they sung the song of Moses, was the day of their coming up out of the
land of Egypt; Hosea 2:15, “And she shall sing there, as in the days of her
youth, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt;” referring
plainly to that triumphant song which Moses and the children of Israel sang
when they came up out of the Red sea.
The Scripture tells us that God appointed the Jewish Sabbath in commemoration
of the deliverance of the children of Israel from their task-masters, the
Egyptians, and of their rest from their hard bondage and slavery under them;
Deuteronomy 5:14, 15, “That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as
well as thou. And 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 the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the
sabbath day.” But the day that the children of Israel were delivered from their
task-masters and had rest from them, was the day when the children of Israel
came up out of the Red Sea. They had no rest from them till then. For though
they were before come forth on their journey to go out of the land of Egypt,
yet they were pursued by the Egyptians and were exceedingly perplexed and
distressed. But on the morning that they came up out of the Red sea, they had
complete and final deliverance. Then they had full rest from their taskmasters.
Then God said to them, “The Egyptians whom ye have seen this day, ye shall see
no more for ever” (Ex 14:13). Then they enjoyed a joyful day of rest, a day of
refreshment. Then they sang the song of Moses, and on that day was their
Sabbath of rest.
But this coming up of the children of Israel out of the Red sea, was only a
type of the resurrection of Christ. That people was the mystical body of
Christ, and Moses was a great type of Christ Himself. And besides, on that day
Christ went before the children of Israel in the pillar of cloud and of fire,
as their Saviour and Redeemer. On that morning Christ, in this pillar of cloud
and fire, rose out of the Red sea, as out of great waters, which was a type of
Christ’s rising from a state of death and from that great humiliation which He
suffered in death. The resurrection of Christ from the dead, is in Scripture
represented by His coming up out of deep waters. So it is in Christ’s
resurrection, as represented by Jonah’s coming out of the sea (Mt 12:40). It is
also compared to a deliverance out of deep waters (Ps 69:1–3, 14, and 15).
These things are spoken of Christ, as is evident from this, that many things in
this Psalm are in the New Testament expressly applied to Christ. [Compare verse
4 with John 15:25, verse 9 with John 2:17; and verse 21 with Matthew 27:34, 48;
Mark 15:23; John 19:29; and verse 22 with Romans 11:9, 10; and verse 25 with
Acts 1:20.] Therefore, as the Jewish Sabbath was appointed on the day on which
the pillar of cloud and fire rose out of the Red sea, and on which Moses and
the church, the mystical body of Christ, came up out of the same sea, which is
a type of the resurrection of Christ—it is a great confirmation that the
Christian Sabbath should be kept on the day of the rising of the real body of
Christ from the grave, which is the antitype. For surely the Scriptures have
taught us that the type should give way to the antitype, and that the shadow
should give way to the substance.
The Rejected Stone became Head cornerstone
with the Resurrection of Christ
Fifth, I argue
the same thing from Psalm 118:22–24. There we are taught that the day of
Christ’s resurrection is to be celebrated with holy joy by the church. “The
stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This
is the LORD’s doing, it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the
LORD hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The stone spoken of is
Christ: He was refused and rejected by the builders, especially when He was put
to death. That making Him the head of the corner, which is the Lord’s doing and
so marvellous in our eyes, is Christ’s exaltation, which began with His
resurrection. While Christ lay in the grave, He lay as a stone cast away by the
builders. But when God raised Him from the dead, then He became the head of the
corner. Thus it is evident the Apostle interprets it, Acts 4:10, 11, “Be it
known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,”
etc.—“This is the stone which was set at nought by you builders, which is
become the head of the corner.” And the day on which this was done, we are here
taught, God has made to be the day of the rejoicing of the church.
Christ Honoured the First Day of the Week
by His Post-Resurrection Appearances
Sixth, Christ has
evidently, on purpose and design, peculiarly honoured the first day of the
week, the day on which He rose from the dead, by taking it from time to time to
appear to the Apostles, and He chose this day to pour out the Holy Ghost on the
Apostles, which we read of in the second chapter of Acts. For this was on
Pentecost, which was on the first day of the week, as you may see by Leviticus
23:15–16. And He honoured this day by pouring out His Spirit on the Apostle
John, and giving him His visions, Revelation 1:10, “I was in the Spirit on the
Lord’s day,” etc.—Now doubtless Christ had His meaning in thus distinguishingly
honouring this day.
The Apostolic Congregations Gathered
on the First Day of the Week
Seventh, it is
evident by the New Testament that this was especially the day of the public
worship of the primitive church, by the direction of the Apostles. We are told
that this was the day that they were wont to come together to break bread. And
this they evidently did with the approbation of the Apostles, inasmuch as they
preached to them on that day, and therefore doubtless they assembled together
by the direction of the Apostles. Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the
week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto
them.” So the Holy Ghost was careful that the public contributions should be on
this day, in all the churches, rather than on any other day, as appears by our
text.
The First Day of the Week was Called
the Lord’s Day
Eighth, this
first day of the week is in the New Testament called the Lord’s day;
see Revelation 1:10.—Some say, how do we know that this was the first day of
the week? Every day is the Lord’s day. But it is the design of John to tell uswhen he
had those visions. And if by the Lord’s day is meant any day, how does that
inform us when that event took place?
But what is meant by this expression we know, just in the same way as we know
what is the meaning of any word in the original of the New Testament, or the
meaning of any expression in an ancient language, viz., By what we
find to be the universal signification of the expression in ancient times. This
expression, the Lord’s day, is found by the ancient use of the
whole Christian church, by what appears in all the writings of ancient times,
even from the Apostles’ days, to signify the first day of the week.
And the expression implies in it the holiness of the day. For doubtless the day
is called the Lord’s day, as the sacred supper is called the
Lord’s supper, which is so called, because it is a holy supper—which
is so called because it is a holysupper, to be celebrated in
remembrance of the Lord Christ and of His redemption. So this is a holy day, to
be kept in remembrance of the Lord Christ and His redemption.
The first day of the week being in Scripture called the Lord’s day,
sufficiently makes it out to be the day of the week that is to be kept holy
unto God. For God has been pleased to call it by His own name. When anything is
called by the name of God in Scripture, this denotes the appropriation of it to
God.—Thus God put His name upon His people Israel of old; Numbers 6:27, “And
they shall put my name upon the children of Israel.” They were called by the
name of God, as it is said, 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called
by my name,” etc., i.e., they were called God’s people, or the Lord’s people.
This denoted that they were a holy peculiar people above all others.
Deuteronomy 7:6, “Thou art a holy people unto the LORD”; and so in verse 14,
and many other places.
So the city Jerusalem was called by God’s name; Jeremiah 25:29, “On the city
which is called by my name.” Daniel 9:18, 19, “And the city which is called by
thy name,” etc. This denoted that it was a holy city, a city chosen of God
above all other cities for holy uses, as it is often called the holy
city, as in Nehemiah 11:1, “To dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city;” and
in many other places.
So the temple is said to be a house called by God’s name; 1 Kings 8:43, “This
house, which… is called by thy name.” And often elsewhere. That is, it was
called God’s house, or the Lord’s house. This denoted that it was called a holy
place, a house devoted to holy uses, above all others.
So also we find that the first day of the week is called by God’s name, being
called in Scripture God’s day, or the Lord’s day, which denotes
that it is a holy day, a day appropriated to holy uses, above all others in the
week.
The Church Has Worshipped on the First Day
Since the Days of the Apostles
Ninth, the
tradition of the church from age to age, though it be no rule, yet may be a
great confirmation of the truth in such a case as this is. We find by all
accounts that it has been the universal custom of the Christian church, in all
ages, even from the age of the Apostles, to keep the first day of the week. We
read in the writings which remain of the first, second, and third centuries, of
the Christians keeping the Lord’s day (and so in all succeeding ages), and
there are no accounts that contradict them.—This day has all along been kept by
Christians, in all countries throughout the world, and by almost all that have
borne the name of Christians, of all denominations, however different in their
opinions as to other things.
Now, although this be not sufficient of itself without a foundation in
Scripture, yet it may be a confirmation of it, because here is really a matter
of conviction in it to our reason. Reason may greatly confirm truths revealed
in the Scriptures. The universality of the custom throughout all Christian
counties, in all ages, by what account we have of them, is a good argument that
the Church had it from the Apostles. And it is difficult to conceive how all
should come to agree to set up such a custom through the world, of different
sects and opinions, and we have no account of any such thing.
There are Good Reasons why the change in Day
was not Explicitly Taught
Tenth, it is no
way weakening to these arguments, that there is nothing more plainly said about
it in the New Testament, till John wrote his Revelation, because
there is a sufficient reason to be given for it. In all probability it was
purposely avoided by the Holy Spirit, in the first settling of the Christian
churches in the world, both among the heathen and among the Jews, but
especially for the sake of the Jews, and out of tenderness to the Jewish
Christians. For it is evident that Christ and the Apostles declared one thing
after another to them gradually as they could bear it.
The Jews had a regard for their Sabbath above almost anything in the laws of
Moses, and there was that in the Old Testament which tended to uphold them in
the observance of this, much more strongly than anything else that was Jewish.
God had made so much of it, had so solemnly, frequently, and carefully
commanded it, and had often so dreadfully punished the breach of it, that there
was more colour for their retaining this custom than almost any other.
Therefore Christ dealt very tenderly with them in this point. Other things of
this nature we find very gradually revealed. Christ had many things to say, as
we are informed, which yet He said not, because they could not as yet bear
them, and gave this reason for it: that it was like putting new wine into old
bottles. They were so contrary to their old customs, that Christ was gradual in
revealing them. He gave here a little and there a little, as they could bear;
and it was a long time before He told them plainly the principal doctrines of
the kingdom of heaven.—He took the most favourable opportunities to tell them
of His sufferings and death, especially when they were full of admiration at
some signal miracle, and were confirmed in it, that He was the Messiah.
He told them many things much more plainly after His resurrection than before.
But even then, He did not tell them all, but left more to be revealed by the
Holy Ghost at Pentecost. They therefore were much more enlightened after that
than before. However, as yet He did not reveal all. The abolition of the
ceremonial law about meats and drinks was not fully known till after this.
The Apostles were in the same manner careful and tender of those to whom they
preached and wrote. It was very gradually that they ventured to teach them the
cessation of the ceremonial laws of circumcision and abstinence from unclean
meats. How tender is the Apostle Paul with such as scrupled in, in the
fourteenth chapter of Romans! He directs those who had knowledge, to keep it to
themselves, for the sake of their weak brethren (Rom 14:22)—But I need say no more
to evince this.
However, I will say this, that it is very possible that the Apostles themselves
at first might not have this change of the day of the Sabbath fully revealed to
them. The Holy Ghost, at His descent, revealed much to them, yet after that,
they were ignorant of much of gospel-doctrine. Yea, they were so, a great while
after they acted the part of Apostles in preaching, baptising, and governing
the church. Peter was surprised when he was commanded to eat meats legally
unclean, and so were the Apostles in general, when Peter was commanded to go to
the Gentiles, to preach to them.
Thus tender was Christ of the Church while an infant. He did not feed them with
strong meat, but was careful to bring in the observance of the Lord’s day by
degrees, and therefore took all occasions to honour it: by appearing from time
to time of choice on that day, by sending down His Spirit on that day in that
remarkable manner at Pentecost, by ordering Christians to meet in order to
break bread on that day, and by ordering their contributions and other duties
of worships to be holden on it—thus introducing the observance of it by
degrees. And though as yet the Holy Ghost did not speak very plainly about it,
yet God took special care that there should be sufficient evidences of His
will, to be found out by the Christian church, when it should be more
established and settled, and should have come to the strength of a man.
Thus I leave it with everyone to judge, whether there be not sufficient
evidence, that it is the mind and will of God, that the first day of the week
should be kept by the Christian church as a Sabbath?
