Vers. 19-2i.-The sa1Jb11th. As Gentiles we were never under the specie.I regulations of the Jewish Le.w, and as Christians we are free from all formal laws of" ordinances," and called to free spiritual obedience. Like St. Paul, we may be able to see tlrn.t no one day is more sacred than other days (Rom. xiv. 5); and if we arG unable: to "0 so far as this, we must admit that there is, in the New Testament, no direct comma;d to Christians to observe the first day of the week just as the Jews observed the seventh. Still, to him who is in sympathy with the tho-ughts of God and desires to do the will of God rather than to seize excuses for liberty only to exercise his own self-will there is much in the Old Testament sabbath requirements which must command th~ reverence of his conscience as springing out of Eternal Di vine counsels, and represcntinu0 what is inherently good and profitable. I. CONSIDER IN WHAT THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH CONSISTED, 1. Rest. "Bear no burden." Work is holy, but so also is rest, and if work usurp the place.of rest it becomes unholy, as anything does which is in the wrong place. Men bear burdens on their minds. If the shop is shut but the mind of the tradesman continues devoted to business cares on the Sunday, he is making no more sabbath of the day than if he were openly buying and selling. The rest needed for refreshment is rest from the-toils and anxieties of the mind, quite as much as a cessation of manual labour. 2. Hallowing the day. The Jew treated the sabbath day as essentially holy. We may have freer notions. But we, too, can hallow the day if we devote it to sacred .uses. We should remember that it is not the day that hallows the conduct, but the conduct that hallows the day. Sacred days, like sacred places, are not endowed with a mystical consecration, which transfers its grace to whatever is done in them, but they are simply made sacred by the acts of goodness to which they are devoted. 3. Personal can,e to-observe the rest and sanctity of the day. "Take heed in your souls;"" diligently hearken." The· observance of the sabbath was to the Jew a duty to be personally regarded o.nd con- scientiously executed. If we feel any corresponding duty, the example oftlie more lax conduct of others should not affect us, nor should we be content with the outwafd decorum which satisfies the world. II. CoNSIDER THE OBLIGATION TO KEEP THE SABBATH. 1. The Sabbath was instituted by the comm,and qf God. It was required by one of the ten commandments, and thus exalted to a position of peculiar sanctity. To the Jew who felt that this law of God ,vas binding on him, the duty of implicit obedience was imperative. When once we know God's will no valid excuse can be found for neglecting it. 'rhough the· letter of, the Mosaic Law was limited and temporal. the spirit of it.s obligations is eternal, since they spring from the changeless character of God. It is for us to .discover. the. eternal Divine priociple which led to the institution of the sabbath, and see that this is obeyed. 2. It correspond,ed. to the. constitution of nature. Changes in nature. aro recurrent. Rest and labour alternate in tbe physical world. 3. It was designed to Lene.fit men. (Mark ii. 2i.) The wealthy might not have felt tho requirement, but tho burden-bearers and hand-labourers did, and must have enjoyed the repose it afforded them. Do we need this? If in quieter times such a rest was necessary, is it needless in the rush and roar of our wearing modern life? If seasons set apart for religious observances were ever profitable, are they useless amid the pressing claims and innu- tnerable distractions of the age we live in ? III. CONSIDER THE BLESSEDNESS OF OBSERVING THE SABBATH. The Jews.had promises of blessinrrs 0 to the court, the city, the country, and the Church (see Matthew Henry, in Zoe.). 1. This might be expected as t~e rew_ar_d of obed~ce. It is a~way_s blessed to do the will of God, though the first domg of 1t 1s often pamful. 2. This might also be expected, because the 11abbath was made/or man. It was a beneficent institution. It is found by experience that the observance. of a weekly day of rest is conducive to the prosperity of a people. 3. Accordingly, the neglect of the sabbath might be expected to bring disaster (ver. 27), This was the ca~e ~ith th~ Jew, not ?ecause _of tho iuherent sauctity of the day or of the essential immorality of work1ug on 1t, .but because the breach of tue sabbath was a breach of the Law, an act of overt rebellion against God. If we disobey what we believe to be the will of God, this must be to c,nr own hurt. 4. The biessedness of the observance of the Jewish sabbath teaches us all to avoicl treating the day of rest as a gloomy d<ty, and making children and dependants dislike it on account of the formalism or harshness of our behaviour. The day of rest CH. xvn. l-27.J 'l'llE llOOK OF THE PROPHE1.' JEP.E:MIAH. 423
should be the 'brightest d11y of the week. To the Christian, Sunday is "the Lord's day," the.day of Easter gladness, comm_omorating the joy of the Resurrection.