(4.) That the rest in God and with God, which we now seek after, enter into, and celebrate the pledge of, using the means for the further enjoyment of it in the observation of this day, ts a rest by a recovery, by a reparation in Jesus Christ. There is now a new rest of God, and a new rest for us in God. God now rests and is . refreshed in Christ, in his person, in his works, in his law, in the covenant of grace in him; in all these things is his soul well pleased.
SECT. 10.] OF THE LORD’S DAY. 449
He is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,” making a far more glorious representation of him than did the works of creation of old; which yet he had left such impressions of his goodness, power, and wisdom upon, as that he rested in them, was refreshed with them, and appointed a day for man to rest in his approbation of them, and giving glory to him for them. How much more is it so with him, with respect unto this glorious image of the invisible God! ‘This he now dealeth with usin. For as of old he commanded light to shine out of darkness, whereby we might see and behold his glory, which he had implanted and was implanting on the work of his hands; so now he “shineth in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ,” 2 Cor. iv. 6,—that is, enableth us to behold all the excellencies of his nature, made manifest in the person. and works of Jesus Christ. The way, also, of bringing them ‘unto him, through Christ, who had by sin come short of his glory, is that which he approveth of, is de- lighted with, and resteth in, giving us a pledge thereof in this day of rest. Herein lies the principal duty of this day’s observances,— namely, to admire this retrieval of a rest with God, and of a rest for God inus. This is the fruit of eternal wisdom, grace, and goodness, love, and bounty. This, I say, belongs unto the sanctification of this day, and this ought to be our principal design therein,—namely, in it to give glory unto God for the wonderful recovery of a rest for us with himself, and to endeavour to enter by faith and obedience into that rest, And for these ends and purposes are we to make use of all the sacred ordinances of worship wherein and whereby this day is sanctified unto the Lord.
(5.) That in the observation of the Lord’s day, which is the first day of the week, we subject our consciences immediately to the authority of Jesus Christ, the mediator, whose day of rest origt- nally it was, and which thereby and for that reason is made ours. And hereby, in the observation of this day, have we fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Of old there was nothing appeared in the day, whilst the seventh day was in force, but the rest of God the creator, and his sovereign authority, intimated unto us thereby, for the observing of a holy rest unto him, according to the tenor of the first covenant. But now the immediate foundation of our rest on the Lord’s day is the Lord’s rest, the rest of Christ, when, upon his resurrection, he ceased from his works, as God did from his own. This gives great direction and encouragement in the duty of observing this day aright. Faith truly exercised in bringing the soul into an actual subjection unto the authority of Christ in the observance of this day, and directing the thoughts unto a con- templation of the rest that he entered into after his works, with the
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450 PRACTICAL OBSERVANCE [EXERC. VI.
rest that he hath procured for us to enter into with him, doth more thereby towards the true sanctification of this day than all outward duties can do, performed with a legal spirit, when men are in bond- age unto the command as taught to them, and dare not do otherwise. God in several places instructs the Israelites what account they shall give unto their children concerning their observation of sundry rites and ceremonies that he had instituted in his worship: Exod. xiii. 14, “ And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lorp brought. us out from Egypt,” etc. It was im remem- brance of such works of God amongst them, whereof those rites were a token and representation. And we have here a special observance in the worship of God. What account can we give unto ourselves and our children concerning our observation of this day holy unto the Lord? Must we not say, nay, ‘may we not do so with joy and rejoicing, that whereas we were lost and undone by sin, excluded out of the rest of God, so far as that the law of the observation of the outward pledge of it, being attended with the curse, was a bur- den, and no relief unto us, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, undertook a great work to make peace for us, to redeem and save us; and when he had so done, and finished his work, even the erect- ing of the “new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- ness,” he entered into his rest, and thereby made known unto us that we should keep this day as a day of holy rest unto him, and as a pledge that we have again given unto us an entrance into rest with God ?