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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..677a61f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67021 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67021) diff --git a/old/67021-0.txt b/old/67021-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7a7ff3a..0000000 --- a/old/67021-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,930 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Sabbath: A Sermon, by William Wood - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Sabbath: A Sermon - - -Author: William Wood - - - -Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67021] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SABBATH: A SERMON*** - - -Transcribed from the 1831 Roake and Varty edition by David Price. Many -thanks to the British Library for making their copy available. - - - - - - THE SABBATH; - A - SERMON. - - - * * * * * - - BY - THE REV. WILLIAM WOOD, B.D. - RECTOR OF COULSDON, AND VICAR OF FULHAM. - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - ROAKE AND VARTY, 31, STRAND. - 1831. - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - ROAKE AND VARTY, PRINTERS, 31, STRAND. - - * * * * * - - TO THE - INHABITANTS OF COULSDON, - THE FOLLOWING - SERMON, - INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN PREACHED IN THEIR CHURCH IN THE - AFTERNOON OF OCTOBER 23rd, - IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, - AND PRINTED FOR THEIR INSTRUCTION, - BY THEIR FAITHFUL PASTOR. - - * * * * * - - - - -NOTICE TO THE READER. - - -THE Sermon here presented to the Public is below all criticism. It makes -no pretensions to novelty, or to merit of any kind; it is only one of the -thousands which are preached every week by men, who, in the midst of evil -report, labour, nevertheless, with an anxious zeal for the salvation of -souls. It was composed in haste, with no intention of printing it, for a -sequestered parish, where much remains of ancient simplicity; but where -the author lamented to see, as he thought, a neglect of public worship, -not occasioned by infidelity, or by profligacy, as in great towns, but by -ignorance of the subject, or thoughtlessness of conduct. - -The inclemency of the weather having prevented him from preaching it at -the time intended, and no other opportunity being likely to occur for -many months, he determined to print it at once for the use of his -parishioners; but some other little tracts of his, with the same limited -object, having been called for by persons desirous of doing good in their -several spheres, and on a larger scale, he thinks it possible that they -may wish to have _this_ also, and therefore he publishes it. - -The subject of the sermon, in these days especially, is a momentous one. -May God bless it, for the sake of the subject, to his own glory, and to -the benefit of men! The author has no other wish. - - - - -THE SABBATH. - - - Exod. xx. 8. - - “_Remember the Sabbath-day_, _to keep it holy_.” - -THIS command, to remember the Sabbath-day, in order to keep it holy, was -given by Almighty God himself to the Jews. I say, it was given by -himself. He did not order any prophet, or other holy man, to give it in -_his_ name; He gave it himself in his own person; He spoke it aloud, in -the ears of all the people, with his own voice. And this voice, as we -are told, was so terrible, that the hearers of it were smitten with -intolerable fear and trembling, and began to entreat, with the most -humble and urgent supplications, that God would vouchsafe, in future, to -make known his will to them by the voice of Moses rather than by his own. - -No doubt, _we_ also, who are assembled here, should think it a very awful -thing, and should tremble in our whole frame, if we were to hear the -voice of the great God of heaven and earth speaking to us from a cloud, -or from a mountain-top; and we should naturally desire to hear the -gentler, the more familiar voice of a man, like one of ourselves; to whom -also we might listen, and with whom we might talk and reason, without any -dismay, or even alarm. However, in this case, we may presume, the mighty -terror of God’s voice was increased tenfold to those who heard it, by the -accompanying hoarse blast of the brazen trumpet, waxing louder and -louder; by the continual crash of tremendous thunderings; and by the red, -fiery flashes of direful lightnings, which burst around them, whilst God -was speaking, out of the thick, dark smoke that covered the top of the -mountain “where God was;” the whole mountain itself, too, shook from its -very foundations, and seemed to be all in a flame, burning with fire. - -Now, what was the reason of this unusual manifestation of the Divine -Majesty, but that God wished to give the command in the most striking, -impressive manner, so that it should never be forgotten by _that_ -generation of men; and to show them a terrific instance of his power -also, that they might tremble at the very thought of disobeying him, and -of profaning, or neglecting, the Sabbath-day, which he _thus_ commanded -them to remember, to keep it holy. - -But this was not all. God was not satisfied that He had done enough, -even when He had uttered this command with his own voice, and with all -that show of his terrible power and majesty; He wrote it also on a tablet -of stone with his own finger; and He ordered the sacred tablet to be -preserved with the utmost care, in the most sacred place—in the very ark -where his whole covenant with his chosen people was preserved also. One -generation alone could have heard that voice, and have seen those -miraculous signs; but many succeeding generations, to remote times, might -see the tablet of stone, and read the writing of God’s finger, and learn -the Divine will for themselves with a more reverential awe; whilst every -other supernatural circumstance of the history was taught by one -generation to another, and was handed down from father to son through -_all_ generations. - -You may readily now understand, then, of what vast importance this -command must be in the eye of God, and how necessary the observance of it -is for the welfare and happiness of man. For, if this were not so—if it -made no difference, either to God’s own glory, or to _our_ welfare and -happiness, whether the Sabbath-day were remembered to keep it holy or -not; it is difficult to conceive that God should have taken so much -pains, as it were, to establish a Sabbath-day at all; by descending, as -He did, from heaven upon the Mount, in the midst of lightnings, and -thunderings, and an earthquake; by proclaiming it to the astonished, -trembling multitude with his own voice; by writing it, besides, with his -own finger; and by ordering it to be laid up in the ark as a divine -ordinance for ever. - -But how does all this apply to other nations, and to _us_, of _this_ -nation, and of _this_ age? God gave the command in this miraculous -manner to the Jews only; how do _we_ know that He intended that _we_, and -all mankind, should observe it to the end of time? - -This is a very reasonable question, and it may have a very satisfactory -answer; namely, that the same causes for a Sabbath-day, and for -remembering it, to keep it holy for ever, concern alike all the rest of -mankind as well as the Jews; and that _we_ Christians, above others, have -especial cause for hallowing our own Sabbath-day; such as neither the -Jews, nor the rest of mankind, until they become Christians, _can_ have -for hallowing their’s. If it were _their_ bounden duty to hallow -Saturday, or any other day, much more is it _ours_ to hallow Sunday. - -In truth, the ordinance of a Sabbath, to be kept holy to the Lord, is of -the same age and antiquity with the creation of the world itself. It was -not first established amongst the Jews; it was only renewed and -re-established amongst _them_, when they themselves, like the heathens, -had forgotten, or neglected it. It was established as early as with -Adam, the first man, even in Paradise; and, therefore, all the sons of -Adam—that is, the whole race of mankind, and not the Jews only, are -equally bound to keep it. By proclaiming it to the Jews, as He did, God -shows to us how awfully we ought to think of it; but all the nations of -the world, which existed before, were bound by it before; and all which -have existed since, and exist now, _have_ been, and _are_, bound by it, -in consequence of their common descent from Adam, to whom it was declared -in the beginning, and made a law to his whole posterity for ever. - -Nevertheless, if God himself had said nothing about it, it would have -been the duty of man, the rational creature of God, and indebted to God -for so many blessings—for so many noble powers and faculties, to have set -apart some portion of the time which God gave him to the especial honour -of the bountiful Giver—to have employed that time solely in thanking him -for his precious gifts and his gracious providence—in meditating upon his -glorious perfections and his marvellous works—and in serving and -worshipping him by all other means, with such peculiar, extraordinary -tokens of love, and gratitude, and veneration, as would not have been -possible, or not suitable, at every time, and in every place; but only at -the appointed time, and in some appointed place. - -This, I say, would have been the duty of man, if left entirely to the use -of his own reason. But no individual _could_ have determined for -himself, and still less were all men likely to agree with each other, -what the portion of time to be set apart for this purpose should be; how -much the beneficent Author of their being, and of all their enjoyments, -would expect of them to consecrate to him; and how often the consecrated -time should return, so as to please God, and draw down from above his -further blessings upon them. - -This, then, which _we_ should have been quite unable to decide for -ourselves, God has decided for us. He has himself, in his infinite -wisdom, determined what is fit and proper both for _us_ and for _him_. -He has not put us under the necessity of reasoning upon so important a -matter at all; from the very beginning He appointed it for an everlasting -law, that the portion of time to be dedicated to his especial service and -worship should be one day out of every seven days: that six successive -days should be _ours_ for labour of body and of mind, and for all the -needful business of this present life; that the seventh day should be -_his_, for a holy rest unto the Lord—for celebrating his wondrous -works—and for a more quiet, undisturbed consideration of our own immortal -concerns, and all the spiritual business of the life which is to come -hereafter. - -But the seventh day, then, if we will use it thus, is _ours_ as well as -_his_; it is _ours_ more than all the six which go before: it is _ours_ -in its own sublime, peculiar sense, to give us a foretaste of eternity by -withdrawing us from temporal things; in short, it is one of the best -gifts of God to man. O taste and see how gracious the Lord is! The -Sabbath is to his own glory; but what would man be without it? The most -wretched of beings in every way; worn out before his usual allotted time -with unintermitted toils; brought down to the grave by a premature old -age and decay; and, what is still worse for him, with diminished hopes of -happiness in another and a better world. The Sabbath, thanks be to God! -brings with it, if we will, a sweet, a tranquil, a refreshing rest: it -repairs and renews the languishing, the broken powers of body and of -mind; it sends us forth again to our duties on the following day with new -strength, and a new spirit, more adequate to the performance of them; -cheerfulness sits upon our brow, instead of a perpetual gloom; health, -instead of the sad hue of a thousand maladies, which never-ending, -never-pausing labour must have necessarily produced. And if the Sabbath -has been spent as God intends that it should be spent, no small advance -has been made towards some happy mansion in our eternal abode. We have -heard, we have read, we have thought much about our blessed -Redeemer—about our own salvation—about the bliss and glory of heaven. We -have put ourselves into every way, private and public, of receiving every -grace of which we stand in need, and which God, through Christ, has -promised to bestow. We have prayed more at home than the business of the -world will permit us to do on any other day; we have assembled in the -church, as often as the church was open, to receive the mercies to which -we are entitled, by God’s gift, only as we are members of the church; we -have confessed our sins there with bended knees and a penitent heart; we -have said with heartfelt thankfulness, “Amen,” to the covenanted pardon -of God announced by the minister of Christ; we have partaken of all the -divine ordinances blameless; if the holy table was decked, we have -feasted upon the heavenly banquet of our great Saviour’s body and blood. -These have been the holy deeds of the well-spent day; and holy deeds like -these will qualify us for the rewards of eternity, if, under the -continued influence of the Holy Spirit, encouraging, strengthening, and -sanctifying us, we persevere unshaken in the same course to the end. The -Sabbath-day, then, is ours more especially; God, in consecrating and -hallowing it to himself, has done so to _our_ present and eternal profit. -By means of it we perform the better all the business of men, all the -business of Christians, all the business of those who aspire to heaven. - -Now, there can be no doubt, but that God, being infinitely wise, and also -most intimately acquainted with the peculiar wants and infirmities, and -with the whole nature of man, whom he himself created, and upon whom he -bestowed what nature he pleased, foreknew, and therefore decided from the -very first, that one-seventh of man’s time was _necessary_ to be, and -consequently _should_ be, released from labour, and devoted to a holy -rest. But the way which he took to show this to _us_, and to give us, at -the same time, an awful and striking sense of it, is perhaps one of the -most wonderful instances of all the wonders of his providential care of -us. He himself, in his mighty work of the creation of this world, tasked -himself to a six-days’ labour, and rested on the seventh day, in order -that man, following _his_ example, might use the same proportion of -labour and rest. - -And this He has told us in his holy word; He has not left it to _us_ to -find it out by our own reason; He has informed us himself. It had been -easy for _him_, for Omnipotence, surely, to have made the world, and all -the creatures that fill, diversify, and adorn it, in a single day; nay, -in a single hour; yes, truly, in a single minute. As He said, “let there -be light, and there was light;” so He had only to say, “let there be a -world,” and there would have been a world. In a single instant of time, -in the very twinkling of an eye, all the miracles of creation that are -visible to _us_, and all that are invisible, beyond the ken even of our -imagination, at the Divine fiat, at the simple sound of the omnific word, -would have sprung into existence at once, and into all the well-being, -order, and harmony, by which all things will consist, in the same beauty -and perfection, unto the end. But then there would have been nothing in -such a proceeding for the moral instruction, or for the temporal and -eternal benefit of men. He set bounds, therefore, to his own boundless -power; He reduced infinite down to finite; He controlled his own almighty -energies, and ordered his work, a whole world, so as to finish it in six -days; He knew that a seventh day of rest was needful for man; and, -therefore, He bestowed it upon him as a merciful boon, secured to him -indefeasibly for ever by the express pattern of his own doings, and by -the positive command to copy that pattern throughout all ages. - -Now let us see, then, how we stand as Christians. Do you think it -likely, however, that so merciful a religion, as that of Christ, should -take this merciful ordinance of the Sabbath from us? Do you think it -likely that the same God, who, under the law, ordained a Sabbath, even -for the miserable brute creation, that the poor cattle might rest from -their labours as well as their rich owners, should abolish it under the -gospel? Of all incredible things this would be the most incredible, that -God should care so much for beasts, which perish, as to provide _them_ a -temporary repose from bodily toil, and none for man, who has an immortal -soul to be saved, or lost, for ever; after having redeemed him, too, by -the most astonishing method of the sacrifice of his own beloved Son. O -they of little faith, who reason thus! But, blessed be God! it is not -so. As Christians, we are still the posterity of Adam; and, if we -partake, alas! of all the evils that sprung from Adam, at least we -partake of this one benefit. Sin has not deprived us of it, but made it -the more necessary for us. Again, as Christians, we are not indeed the -posterity of Abraham, according to the flesh; and, therefore, we are not -necessarily under any part of the law given to the Jews; except it might -have pleased the Author and Finisher of our faith to adopt any part of it -into his gospel. But this he most clearly did with respect to the ten -commandments, of which the hallowing of the Sabbath is one. He fulfilled -and abolished every thing ceremonial, which concerned the Jews only; he -retained, and gave a new force and sanctity to every thing moral, which -concerns all mankind; and, without doubt, it is in every view a moral -duty, that the thing made should worship the great Maker, on solemn days, -which shall often return—that they should return, as they do, on every -seventh day, we owe to God’s gracious providence. “The Sabbath,” as our -Lord beautifully and mercifully said, “was made for man;” and, -consequently, whilst man remains upon this earth, a stranger and a -pilgrim, travelling along a weary, rugged road, towards some better -country in the distant prospect before him, the Sabbath too remains; on -the authority of our blessed Saviour it remains, to refresh us all on our -journey; to support and comfort us under the fatigue of it; and to cheer -us with the thought of the everlasting Sabbath in heaven, of which it is -the type and the shadow. - -And this it does the more effectually, because _we_ Christians keep _our_ -Sabbath on our own Lord’s day. The Jews keep _theirs_ on the day of -their wonderful deliverance from bondage in Egypt; and very properly. -But _their_ deliverance from bondage in Egypt was the type and shadow of -_our_ grander deliverance from the bondage of sin and death; which -deliverance was then most evidently and undeniably accomplished, when our -Saviour triumphed openly over both, by rising from the grave, alive and -victorious. Well do we call the first day of the week, the revered day -on which he did it, the Lord’s day; and well have all Christians ever -since, assured of their redemption by his resurrection on that day, -consecrated and hallowed it for _their_ Sabbath for ever. So that now -all the reasons which could ever have operated amongst mankind for the -keeping of a Sabbath, and still more reasons, operate upon _us_ -Christians. We keep one day in seven in memory of the creation, as the -rest of men should do; but we keep _that_ day, in preference to all -others, which reminds us, more forcibly than any other, of our second -creation; of our being begotten again to a new life; of our more -interesting creation in true righteousness and holiness, after having -fallen from the divine image of the holy Creator himself. And, as _our_ -sacred religion is founded upon the religion of the Jews, and was -shadowed out and prefigured by it, we are naturally led from the antitype -to the type; from the thing prefigured and shadowed out to the thing -prefiguring and shadowing it; and we look back with reverence to the -Jewish Sabbath, so awfully and terrifically appointed, which commemorated -on a chosen day a great temporal deliverance of _theirs_, prefiguring a -still greater spiritual deliverance of _ours_. - -What shall we now say, then, my beloved, Christian brethren? Shall we -not remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy? And how shall we keep it -holy, if we employ ourselves on _that_, as on other days? “The Sabbath -was made for man;” but how was it made for him, if he labours, as on the -other six days; if he pursues the same worldly objects, and torments -himself with the same anxious cares; if he chooses this very day for his -journies; for his pleasures; nay, even for his vices; and aggravates -every sin by the abuse of _that_ which was intended to heal it; to give -him time and repose for self-examination; and to enable him the better to -make up the solemn account of every action, word, and thought, between -himself and God? - -God blessed the Sabbath-day, and sanctified it for his own glory; but how -does it promote his glory, whilst the generality of his faithless, -ungrateful people, even in this Christian nation, never enter his sacred -courts on that day, to give him the honour due unto his name in the -presence of their fellow-men. And “shall I not visit for this, saith the -Lord?” Much, indeed, very much is it to be feared, that he _will_ visit, -with some terrible calamity too, and soon also, this country of ours, so -dear to us all, so much our boast and pride, which he has hitherto -guarded with an extraordinary protection, and exalted above other nations -with unparalleled renown and power. The breach, the dishonouring of his -Sabbaths, he will keenly resent, and unsparingly avenge. What he -denounced to the Jews should perpetually sound in our ears—“Verily my -Sabbaths shall ye keep for a perpetual covenant; they are a sign between -_me_ and _you_ throughout your generations for ever; that ye may know -that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. They are holy unto you; every -one that defileth them shall surely be put to death.” It is a despite -done to God himself, directly and personally; it is a scorn both of his -majesty and his goodness, which cannot but provoke him to consume the -guilty in his wrath. - -Already, indeed, do we feel his wrath in part executed upon us, and in -part behold it with terror suspended over us. The nightly incendiary, -who prowls about in darkness (but God sees him) and destroys the fruits -of the earth, which should have been for the food of man; the open -rioter, who, in broad day-light, levels with the ground the temple of -God, the marts of commerce, the mansions of the great, and puts to the -hazard even the life of his beneficent neighbour; the wide-wasting -pestilence, which, with havoc and death in its train, has reached the -opposite shores, and now only waits the signal to cross the sea to ours; -all these are the avenging emissaries of God; but the last more -apparently; and I pray God, as King David did, that _we_ may fall into -_his_ hands rather than into the hands of men—yet He, who stilleth the -fury of the warring elements, can also still “the madness of the people.” - -But the great question for _you_, and which you should lay your hands -upon your hearts, and answer conscientiously, is this; how much _you_ -yourselves, individually, have contributed to increase the mass of the -national guilt in this particular, of which God is so jealous. As my -sacred office compels me to speak the truth, and forbids every kind of -flattery and dissimulation; as I cannot otherwise be useful to any of -you, or assist you in working out your salvation, but by bearing witness -to the truth; as I am, moreover, now about to leave you for a while, and -therefore wish to give you some departing, farewell advice of the most -momentous importance; I say it, I confess, with deep sorrow, and with a -painful alarm on _your_ account, that, even in this otherwise -well-disposed and well-ordered parish, there is a too evident, and a too -great, neglect of the Sabbath. In the true spirit of pastoral affection, -but in the plain, manly, authoritative language of an Apostle, I say, “I -cannot praise you in this.” - -Alas! alas! what correct idea, or right devout feeling of God’s sabbaths, -can _they_ have, who are always absent from God’s house, and who, -perhaps, profane these sacred days, besides, by drunkenness, or gaming, -or some other revelry? None, undoubtedly. But all _our_ remonstrances -from this sacred place must, of necessity, be useless to _them_; they -need them most, but are never present to hear them. Of the rest, how few -come here with so much regularity as to show that it is an essential part -of their system of life—an established principle of conduct never to be -departed from but upon the most urgent, extraordinary occasions! And how -will God judge of _them_, who think that they do sufficient honour to his -Sabbath by coming once only, and forget that God may construe their -coming but once as a proud assumption on their parts, that they want no -more of his sanctifying grace than once a day may be likely to bestow! -If the help of the Holy Spirit alone can fit them for salvation, and this -help is chiefly given by the ministry of the church, how can they be -perfectly satisfied with themselves, and think that they have done -enough, when they neglect, once a day, an opportunity of partaking of the -spirit, which the church is the instrument to convey? I am not unaware -of the circumstances of this parish, which render more sometimes -impossible; but how few, how very few, perhaps two or three individuals, -lament those circumstances, and the consequent loss of additional means -of grace! - -But how will God judge even of the most exemplary in any congregation, -who never forsake his house, either for pleasure, or for business, or for -any of those plausible reasons by which men are too willing to delude -themselves to their own ruin; if they spend the rest of the day, -nevertheless, as they spend the other days of the week, and do not -remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy throughout; if they do not devote -the whole of it with a sober, religious awe to God; if they do not send -their children and servants to church with the same punctuality as they -go themselves; if they do not shun all the resorts of sensuality and -gaiety abroad, or admit such inmates at home; if they do not study the -Holy Scriptures, and put aside all other books but such as may tend to -build them up in faith and piety; and, in short, if they do not live on -this one day, in conformity with the sacred nature of the day, so -uniformly and so universally, as to throw a sanctity around the lawful -business and the lawful pleasures of every other day, and gradually to -make their whole life truly Christian, truly divine, and fit, indeed, for -heaven. - -Now, if they do not accomplish all this, whatever else they do, they fall -short of a due observance of the Sabbath; and who is there, even amongst -the most exemplary, alas! who ever thinks of accomplishing so much? -Alas, alas! who is there amongst any of us, who, in some way or other, -does not absolutely break the Sabbath, or even profane it? And what -wonder, then, that there should be so much looseness, licentiousness, and -depravity of manners in our nation; and that so many evils assail us, so -many impend over our heads, and threaten us with some mighty ruin? -Sabbath-breaking has led to the temporal and eternal ruin of thousand and -tens of thousands; it cannot but lead to the deeper corruption of all; to -the gradual undermining and ultimate extinction of all religious -principle in the heart of man. When a people cast off their respect for -God’s Sabbaths, they are prepared to run the full career of irreligion, -and of profligacy, and of all the atrocities which scourge and afflict -mankind. - -There are persons in this congregation old enough to remember, as I do, a -whole powerful nation, our nearest neighbours, casting it off, as it -appeared, with one consent, and, by cruelties almost unheard of before, -compelling their spiritual pastors and ministers to fly into exile; -neither religion, nor the semblance of religion being tolerated any -longer among them. And what was the issue? This amazing apostacy was -followed immediately by such deeds of horror, by such tragical excesses, -as will never be blotted out of the annals of time. But the same impious -means have been industriously used to produce the same subversion of -principle here amongst _us_ at home; and, God knows, they have but too -well succeeded with too many; so that we can scarcely exult any longer -with our former honourable pride, that our country is as renowned for -religion, for piety and virtue, for good order and submission to -authority, and for the deep abhorrence of all atrocities, as she is for -freedom, for wealth, for victory, and for power. - -Finally, then, in bidding you farewell, I earnestly beseech you all, and -through _you_ I beseech the rest who are under my spiritual charge, to -ponder most deeply and seriously, and to lay to heart also, what God -himself spoke with such terrible signs of his power, and what his divine -finger wrote for an everlasting memorial; what He decreed in the -beginning of time when He rested from his marvellous works, and -pronounced them good; and what our blessed Saviour, the fulfiller of all -righteousness, obeyed in the true spirit of the command, and set the -pattern to every succeeding generation of Christians; I earnestly beseech -you all to “remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy.” And let the -first proof of your remembrance of it, and the first act of keeping it -holy, be your constant attendance here in God’s house—a practice which -will lead you on step by step to every other good work. Let your -ministers lament no more the thin attendance of their hearers, in the -afternoons especially. Come as often as you may, you will scarcely -return without being the better and the wiser for it. I speak not of -worldly wisdom, but of the wisdom which will save your souls. What -blessing is there, of which you stand in need? Come here, and pray for -it in concert with the whole assembly—your united prayers, with one mind -and heart, ascending to God, will fetch every blessing down. Is there -any blessing of which you feel the enjoyment? Come here, and thank God -for it before your fellow-men. Are you ignorant of any of the great -gospel-doctrines which are necessary to be known? Come here, and they -will be explained, each in its proper season, and you will be instructed -to have a due and awful sense of their importance. Have you been seduced -into sin; do your devotions become languid; do you neglect any duty; is -your benevolence cold? Come to God’s house, and you will hear -discourses, it is to be hoped, as well as striking passages of scripture, -which will awaken and arouse you; keep heaven always in your sight; fill -you with heavenly affections; and prepare you to dwell in some heavenly -mansion with the blessed saints of God. _We_, your ministers, I trust, -amidst all the discouragements with which we are surrounded, the entire -absence of so many, the apparent lukewarmness of others, preach, -nevertheless, with the same zeal as if we preached to multitudes athirst -for the word of God, and do not abate one tittle in our fervent desire -for _your_ everlasting salvation. The more, indeed, men neglect -themselves, the more should the ministers of Christ care for them, and -stir up every faculty which they have to rescue them from their dream of -false security. Let not this labour of _ours_ be in vain! Labour for -yourselves as _we_ labour for you; all of us alike, however, trusting to -a greater strength than our own. And I pray God, that, under the -influence of the Divine strength, and guided by his Holy Spirit, _you_ -may become the crown of _our_ labours, and enable us to give up the -account of our stewardship over you with joy. - - * * * * * - - THE END. - - * * * * * - - LONDON: - ROAKE AND VARTY, PRINTERS, 31, STRAND. - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SABBATH: A SERMON*** - - -******* This file should be named 67021-0.txt or 67021-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/7/0/2/67021 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Sabbath: A Sermon - - -Author: William Wood - - - -Release Date: December 27, 2021 [eBook #67021] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SABBATH: A SERMON*** -</pre> -<p>Transcribed from the 1831 Roake and Varty edition by David -Price. Many thanks to the British Library for making their -copy available.</p> -<h1>THE SABBATH;<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">A</span><br /> -SERMON.</h1> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY</span><br -/> -THE REV. WILLIAM WOOD, B.D.<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">RECTOR OF COULSDON, AND VICAR OF -FULHAM.</span></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> - -<div class="gapshortline"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> -ROAKE AND VARTY, 31, STRAND.<br /> -1831.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page4"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 4</span>LONDON:<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">ROAKE AND VARTY, PRINTERS, 31, -STRAND.</span></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page5"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 5</span><span class="GutSmall">TO -THE</span><br /> -INHABITANTS OF COULSDON,<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE FOLLOWING</span><br /> -SERMON,<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN PREACHED IN THEIR -CHURCH IN THE</span><br /> -AFTERNOON OF OCTOBER 23rd,<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,</span><br /> -<span class="GutSmall">AND PRINTED FOR THEIR -INSTRUCTION,</span><br /> -BY THEIR FAITHFUL PASTOR.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<h2><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>NOTICE -TO THE READER.</h2> -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Sermon here presented to the -Public is below all criticism. It makes no pretensions to -novelty, or to merit of any kind; it is only one of the thousands -which are preached every week by men, who, in the midst of evil -report, labour, nevertheless, with an anxious zeal for the -salvation of souls. It was composed in haste, with no -intention of printing it, for a sequestered parish, where much -remains of ancient simplicity; but where the author lamented to -see, as he thought, a neglect of public worship, not occasioned -by infidelity, or by profligacy, as in great towns, but by -ignorance of the subject, or thoughtlessness of conduct.</p> -<p>The inclemency of the weather having prevented him from -preaching it at the time intended, and no other opportunity being -likely to occur for many months, he determined to print it at <a -name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>once for the -use of his parishioners; but some other little tracts of his, -with the same limited object, having been called for by persons -desirous of doing good in their several spheres, and on a larger -scale, he thinks it possible that they may wish to have -<i>this</i> also, and therefore he publishes it.</p> -<p>The subject of the sermon, in these days especially, is a -momentous one. May God bless it, for the sake of the -subject, to his own glory, and to the benefit of men! The -author has no other wish.</p> -<h2><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>THE -SABBATH.</h2> -<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">Exod. xx. 8.</p> -<p style="text-align: center">“<i>Remember the -Sabbath-day</i>, <i>to keep it holy</i>.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p><span class="smcap">This</span> command, to remember the -Sabbath-day, in order to keep it holy, was given by Almighty God -himself to the Jews. I say, it was given by himself. -He did not order any prophet, or other holy man, to give it in -<i>his</i> name; He gave it himself in his own person; He spoke -it aloud, in the ears of all the people, with his own -voice. And this voice, as we are told, was so terrible, -that the hearers of it were smitten with intolerable fear and -trembling, and began to entreat, with the most humble and urgent -supplications, that God would vouchsafe, in future, to make known -his will to them by the voice of Moses rather than by his -own.</p> -<p><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>No -doubt, <i>we</i> also, who are assembled here, should think it a -very awful thing, and should tremble in our whole frame, if we -were to hear the voice of the great God of heaven and earth -speaking to us from a cloud, or from a mountain-top; and we -should naturally desire to hear the gentler, the more familiar -voice of a man, like one of ourselves; to whom also we might -listen, and with whom we might talk and reason, without any -dismay, or even alarm. However, in this case, we may -presume, the mighty terror of God’s voice was increased -tenfold to those who heard it, by the accompanying hoarse blast -of the brazen trumpet, waxing louder and louder; by the continual -crash of tremendous thunderings; and by the red, fiery flashes of -direful lightnings, which burst around them, whilst God was -speaking, out of the thick, dark smoke that covered the top of -the mountain “where God was;” the whole mountain -itself, too, shook from its very foundations, and seemed to be -all in a flame, burning with fire.</p> -<p>Now, what was the reason of this unusual manifestation of the -Divine Majesty, but that God wished to give the command in the -most striking, impressive manner, so that it should never be -forgotten by <i>that</i> generation of men; and to show <a -name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>them a -terrific instance of his power also, that they might tremble at -the very thought of disobeying him, and of profaning, or -neglecting, the Sabbath-day, which he <i>thus</i> commanded them -to remember, to keep it holy.</p> -<p>But this was not all. God was not satisfied that He had -done enough, even when He had uttered this command with his own -voice, and with all that show of his terrible power and majesty; -He wrote it also on a tablet of stone with his own finger; and He -ordered the sacred tablet to be preserved with the utmost care, -in the most sacred place—in the very ark where his whole -covenant with his chosen people was preserved also. One -generation alone could have heard that voice, and have seen those -miraculous signs; but many succeeding generations, to remote -times, might see the tablet of stone, and read the writing of -God’s finger, and learn the Divine will for themselves with -a more reverential awe; whilst every other supernatural -circumstance of the history was taught by one generation to -another, and was handed down from father to son through -<i>all</i> generations.</p> -<p>You may readily now understand, then, of what vast importance -this command must be in the eye of God, and how necessary the -observance of it is <a name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -12</span>for the welfare and happiness of man. For, if this -were not so—if it made no difference, either to God’s -own glory, or to <i>our</i> welfare and happiness, whether the -Sabbath-day were remembered to keep it holy or not; it is -difficult to conceive that God should have taken so much pains, -as it were, to establish a Sabbath-day at all; by descending, as -He did, from heaven upon the Mount, in the midst of lightnings, -and thunderings, and an earthquake; by proclaiming it to the -astonished, trembling multitude with his own voice; by writing -it, besides, with his own finger; and by ordering it to be laid -up in the ark as a divine ordinance for ever.</p> -<p>But how does all this apply to other nations, and to -<i>us</i>, of <i>this</i> nation, and of <i>this</i> age? -God gave the command in this miraculous manner to the Jews only; -how do <i>we</i> know that He intended that <i>we</i>, and all -mankind, should observe it to the end of time?</p> -<p>This is a very reasonable question, and it may have a very -satisfactory answer; namely, that the same causes for a -Sabbath-day, and for remembering it, to keep it holy for ever, -concern alike all the rest of mankind as well as the Jews; and -that <i>we</i> Christians, above others, have especial cause for -hallowing our own Sabbath-day; such as neither <a -name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>the Jews, nor -the rest of mankind, until they become Christians, <i>can</i> -have for hallowing their’s. If it were <i>their</i> -bounden duty to hallow Saturday, or any other day, much more is -it <i>ours</i> to hallow Sunday.</p> -<p>In truth, the ordinance of a Sabbath, to be kept holy to the -Lord, is of the same age and antiquity with the creation of the -world itself. It was not first established amongst the -Jews; it was only renewed and re-established amongst <i>them</i>, -when they themselves, like the heathens, had forgotten, or -neglected it. It was established as early as with Adam, the -first man, even in Paradise; and, therefore, all the sons of -Adam—that is, the whole race of mankind, and not the Jews -only, are equally bound to keep it. By proclaiming it to -the Jews, as He did, God shows to us how awfully we ought to -think of it; but all the nations of the world, which existed -before, were bound by it before; and all which have existed -since, and exist now, <i>have</i> been, and <i>are</i>, bound by -it, in consequence of their common descent from Adam, to whom it -was declared in the beginning, and made a law to his whole -posterity for ever.</p> -<p>Nevertheless, if God himself had said nothing about it, it -would have been the duty of man, the <a name="page14"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 14</span>rational creature of God, and -indebted to God for so many blessings—for so many noble -powers and faculties, to have set apart some portion of the time -which God gave him to the especial honour of the bountiful -Giver—to have employed that time solely in thanking him for -his precious gifts and his gracious providence—in -meditating upon his glorious perfections and his marvellous -works—and in serving and worshipping him by all other -means, with such peculiar, extraordinary tokens of love, and -gratitude, and veneration, as would not have been possible, or -not suitable, at every time, and in every place; but only at the -appointed time, and in some appointed place.</p> -<p>This, I say, would have been the duty of man, if left entirely -to the use of his own reason. But no individual -<i>could</i> have determined for himself, and still less were all -men likely to agree with each other, what the portion of time to -be set apart for this purpose should be; how much the beneficent -Author of their being, and of all their enjoyments, would expect -of them to consecrate to him; and how often the consecrated time -should return, so as to please God, and draw down from above his -further blessings upon them.</p> -<p>This, then, which <i>we</i> should have been quite unable to -decide for ourselves, God has decided <a name="page15"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 15</span>for us. He has himself, in his -infinite wisdom, determined what is fit and proper both for -<i>us</i> and for <i>him</i>. He has not put us under the -necessity of reasoning upon so important a matter at all; from -the very beginning He appointed it for an everlasting law, that -the portion of time to be dedicated to his especial service and -worship should be one day out of every seven days: that six -successive days should be <i>ours</i> for labour of body and of -mind, and for all the needful business of this present life; that -the seventh day should be <i>his</i>, for a holy rest unto the -Lord—for celebrating his wondrous works—and for a -more quiet, undisturbed consideration of our own immortal -concerns, and all the spiritual business of the life which is to -come hereafter.</p> -<p>But the seventh day, then, if we will use it thus, is -<i>ours</i> as well as <i>his</i>; it is <i>ours</i> more than -all the six which go before: it is <i>ours</i> in its own -sublime, peculiar sense, to give us a foretaste of eternity by -withdrawing us from temporal things; in short, it is one of the -best gifts of God to man. O taste and see how gracious the -Lord is! The Sabbath is to his own glory; but what would -man be without it? The most wretched of beings in every -way; worn out before his usual allotted time with unintermitted -toils; brought <a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -16</span>down to the grave by a premature old age and decay; and, -what is still worse for him, with diminished hopes of happiness -in another and a better world. The Sabbath, thanks be to -God! brings with it, if we will, a sweet, a tranquil, a -refreshing rest: it repairs and renews the languishing, the -broken powers of body and of mind; it sends us forth again to our -duties on the following day with new strength, and a new spirit, -more adequate to the performance of them; cheerfulness sits upon -our brow, instead of a perpetual gloom; health, instead of the -sad hue of a thousand maladies, which never-ending, never-pausing -labour must have necessarily produced. And if the Sabbath -has been spent as God intends that it should be spent, no small -advance has been made towards some happy mansion in our eternal -abode. We have heard, we have read, we have thought much -about our blessed Redeemer—about our own -salvation—about the bliss and glory of heaven. We -have put ourselves into every way, private and public, of -receiving every grace of which we stand in need, and which God, -through Christ, has promised to bestow. We have prayed more -at home than the business of the world will permit us to do on -any other day; we have assembled in the church, as often as the -church was open, to receive <a name="page17"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 17</span>the mercies to which we are entitled, -by God’s gift, only as we are members of the church; we -have confessed our sins there with bended knees and a penitent -heart; we have said with heartfelt thankfulness, -“Amen,” to the covenanted pardon of God announced by -the minister of Christ; we have partaken of all the divine -ordinances blameless; if the holy table was decked, we have -feasted upon the heavenly banquet of our great Saviour’s -body and blood. These have been the holy deeds of the -well-spent day; and holy deeds like these will qualify us for the -rewards of eternity, if, under the continued influence of the -Holy Spirit, encouraging, strengthening, and sanctifying us, we -persevere unshaken in the same course to the end. The -Sabbath-day, then, is ours more especially; God, in consecrating -and hallowing it to himself, has done so to <i>our</i> present -and eternal profit. By means of it we perform the better -all the business of men, all the business of Christians, all the -business of those who aspire to heaven.</p> -<p>Now, there can be no doubt, but that God, being infinitely -wise, and also most intimately acquainted with the peculiar wants -and infirmities, and with the whole nature of man, whom he -himself created, and upon whom he bestowed what nature he -pleased, foreknew, and therefore decided <a -name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>from the very -first, that one-seventh of man’s time was <i>necessary</i> -to be, and consequently <i>should</i> be, released from labour, -and devoted to a holy rest. But the way which he took to -show this to <i>us</i>, and to give us, at the same time, an -awful and striking sense of it, is perhaps one of the most -wonderful instances of all the wonders of his providential care -of us. He himself, in his mighty work of the creation of -this world, tasked himself to a six-days’ labour, and -rested on the seventh day, in order that man, following -<i>his</i> example, might use the same proportion of labour and -rest.</p> -<p>And this He has told us in his holy word; He has not left it -to <i>us</i> to find it out by our own reason; He has informed us -himself. It had been easy for <i>him</i>, for Omnipotence, -surely, to have made the world, and all the creatures that fill, -diversify, and adorn it, in a single day; nay, in a single hour; -yes, truly, in a single minute. As He said, “let -there be light, and there was light;” so He had only to -say, “let there be a world,” and there would have -been a world. In a single instant of time, in the very -twinkling of an eye, all the miracles of creation that are -visible to <i>us</i>, and all that are invisible, beyond the ken -even of our imagination, at the Divine fiat, at the simple sound -of the omnific word, would have <a name="page19"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 19</span>sprung into existence at once, and -into all the well-being, order, and harmony, by which all things -will consist, in the same beauty and perfection, unto the -end. But then there would have been nothing in such a -proceeding for the moral instruction, or for the temporal and -eternal benefit of men. He set bounds, therefore, to his -own boundless power; He reduced infinite down to finite; He -controlled his own almighty energies, and ordered his work, a -whole world, so as to finish it in six days; He knew that a -seventh day of rest was needful for man; and, therefore, He -bestowed it upon him as a merciful boon, secured to him -indefeasibly for ever by the express pattern of his own doings, -and by the positive command to copy that pattern throughout all -ages.</p> -<p>Now let us see, then, how we stand as Christians. Do you -think it likely, however, that so merciful a religion, as that of -Christ, should take this merciful ordinance of the Sabbath from -us? Do you think it likely that the same God, who, under -the law, ordained a Sabbath, even for the miserable brute -creation, that the poor cattle might rest from their labours as -well as their rich owners, should abolish it under the -gospel? Of all incredible things this would be the most -incredible, that God should care so much for beasts, <a -name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>which perish, -as to provide <i>them</i> a temporary repose from bodily toil, -and none for man, who has an immortal soul to be saved, or lost, -for ever; after having redeemed him, too, by the most astonishing -method of the sacrifice of his own beloved Son. O they of -little faith, who reason thus! But, blessed be God! it is -not so. As Christians, we are still the posterity of Adam; -and, if we partake, alas! of all the evils that sprung from Adam, -at least we partake of this one benefit. Sin has not -deprived us of it, but made it the more necessary for us. -Again, as Christians, we are not indeed the posterity of Abraham, -according to the flesh; and, therefore, we are not necessarily -under any part of the law given to the Jews; except it might have -pleased the Author and Finisher of our faith to adopt any part of -it into his gospel. But this he most clearly did with -respect to the ten commandments, of which the hallowing of the -Sabbath is one. He fulfilled and abolished every thing -ceremonial, which concerned the Jews only; he retained, and gave -a new force and sanctity to every thing moral, which concerns all -mankind; and, without doubt, it is in every view a moral duty, -that the thing made should worship the great Maker, on solemn -days, which shall often return—that they should return, as -they do, on <a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -21</span>every seventh day, we owe to God’s gracious -providence. “The Sabbath,” as our Lord -beautifully and mercifully said, “was made for man;” -and, consequently, whilst man remains upon this earth, a stranger -and a pilgrim, travelling along a weary, rugged road, towards -some better country in the distant prospect before him, the -Sabbath too remains; on the authority of our blessed Saviour it -remains, to refresh us all on our journey; to support and comfort -us under the fatigue of it; and to cheer us with the thought of -the everlasting Sabbath in heaven, of which it is the type and -the shadow.</p> -<p>And this it does the more effectually, because <i>we</i> -Christians keep <i>our</i> Sabbath on our own Lord’s -day. The Jews keep <i>theirs</i> on the day of their -wonderful deliverance from bondage in Egypt; and very -properly. But <i>their</i> deliverance from bondage in -Egypt was the type and shadow of <i>our</i> grander deliverance -from the bondage of sin and death; which deliverance was then -most evidently and undeniably accomplished, when our Saviour -triumphed openly over both, by rising from the grave, alive and -victorious. Well do we call the first day of the week, the -revered day on which he did it, the Lord’s day; and well -have all Christians ever since, assured of their redemption <a -name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>by his -resurrection on that day, consecrated and hallowed it for -<i>their</i> Sabbath for ever. So that now all the reasons -which could ever have operated amongst mankind for the keeping of -a Sabbath, and still more reasons, operate upon <i>us</i> -Christians. We keep one day in seven in memory of the -creation, as the rest of men should do; but we keep <i>that</i> -day, in preference to all others, which reminds us, more forcibly -than any other, of our second creation; of our being begotten -again to a new life; of our more interesting creation in true -righteousness and holiness, after having fallen from the divine -image of the holy Creator himself. And, as <i>our</i> -sacred religion is founded upon the religion of the Jews, and was -shadowed out and prefigured by it, we are naturally led from the -antitype to the type; from the thing prefigured and shadowed out -to the thing prefiguring and shadowing it; and we look back with -reverence to the Jewish Sabbath, so awfully and terrifically -appointed, which commemorated on a chosen day a great temporal -deliverance of <i>theirs</i>, prefiguring a still greater -spiritual deliverance of <i>ours</i>.</p> -<p>What shall we now say, then, my beloved, Christian -brethren? Shall we not remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it -holy? And how shall we <a name="page23"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 23</span>keep it holy, if we employ ourselves -on <i>that</i>, as on other days? “The Sabbath was -made for man;” but how was it made for him, if he labours, -as on the other six days; if he pursues the same worldly objects, -and torments himself with the same anxious cares; if he chooses -this very day for his journies; for his pleasures; nay, even for -his vices; and aggravates every sin by the abuse of <i>that</i> -which was intended to heal it; to give him time and repose for -self-examination; and to enable him the better to make up the -solemn account of every action, word, and thought, between -himself and God?</p> -<p>God blessed the Sabbath-day, and sanctified it for his own -glory; but how does it promote his glory, whilst the generality -of his faithless, ungrateful people, even in this Christian -nation, never enter his sacred courts on that day, to give him -the honour due unto his name in the presence of their -fellow-men. And “shall I not visit for this, saith -the Lord?” Much, indeed, very much is it to be -feared, that he <i>will</i> visit, with some terrible calamity -too, and soon also, this country of ours, so dear to us all, so -much our boast and pride, which he has hitherto guarded with an -extraordinary protection, and exalted above other nations with -unparalleled renown and power. The <a -name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 24</span>breach, the -dishonouring of his Sabbaths, he will keenly resent, and -unsparingly avenge. What he denounced to the Jews should -perpetually sound in our ears—“Verily my Sabbaths -shall ye keep for a perpetual covenant; they are a sign between -<i>me</i> and <i>you</i> throughout your generations for ever; -that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. -They are holy unto you; every one that defileth them shall surely -be put to death.” It is a despite done to God -himself, directly and personally; it is a scorn both of his -majesty and his goodness, which cannot but provoke him to consume -the guilty in his wrath.</p> -<p>Already, indeed, do we feel his wrath in part executed upon -us, and in part behold it with terror suspended over us. -The nightly incendiary, who prowls about in darkness (but God -sees him) and destroys the fruits of the earth, which should have -been for the food of man; the open rioter, who, in broad -day-light, levels with the ground the temple of God, the marts of -commerce, the mansions of the great, and puts to the hazard even -the life of his beneficent neighbour; the wide-wasting -pestilence, which, with havoc and death in its train, has reached -the opposite shores, and now only waits the signal to cross the -sea to ours; all these are the avenging emissaries of God; but -the last <a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -25</span>more apparently; and I pray God, as King David did, that -<i>we</i> may fall into <i>his</i> hands rather than into the -hands of men—yet He, who stilleth the fury of the warring -elements, can also still “the madness of the -people.”</p> -<p>But the great question for <i>you</i>, and which you should -lay your hands upon your hearts, and answer conscientiously, is -this; how much <i>you</i> yourselves, individually, have -contributed to increase the mass of the national guilt in this -particular, of which God is so jealous. As my sacred office -compels me to speak the truth, and forbids every kind of flattery -and dissimulation; as I cannot otherwise be useful to any of you, -or assist you in working out your salvation, but by bearing -witness to the truth; as I am, moreover, now about to leave you -for a while, and therefore wish to give you some departing, -farewell advice of the most momentous importance; I say it, I -confess, with deep sorrow, and with a painful alarm on -<i>your</i> account, that, even in this otherwise well-disposed -and well-ordered parish, there is a too evident, and a too great, -neglect of the Sabbath. In the true spirit of pastoral -affection, but in the plain, manly, authoritative language of an -Apostle, I say, “I cannot praise you in this.”</p> -<p><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>Alas! -alas! what correct idea, or right devout feeling of God’s -sabbaths, can <i>they</i> have, who are always absent from -God’s house, and who, perhaps, profane these sacred days, -besides, by drunkenness, or gaming, or some other revelry? -None, undoubtedly. But all <i>our</i> remonstrances from -this sacred place must, of necessity, be useless to <i>them</i>; -they need them most, but are never present to hear them. Of -the rest, how few come here with so much regularity as to show -that it is an essential part of their system of life—an -established principle of conduct never to be departed from but -upon the most urgent, extraordinary occasions! And how will -God judge of <i>them</i>, who think that they do sufficient -honour to his Sabbath by coming once only, and forget that God -may construe their coming but once as a proud assumption on their -parts, that they want no more of his sanctifying grace than once -a day may be likely to bestow! If the help of the Holy -Spirit alone can fit them for salvation, and this help is chiefly -given by the ministry of the church, how can they be perfectly -satisfied with themselves, and think that they have done enough, -when they neglect, once a day, an opportunity of partaking of the -spirit, which the church is the instrument to <a -name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>convey? -I am not unaware of the circumstances of this parish, which -render more sometimes impossible; but how few, how very few, -perhaps two or three individuals, lament those circumstances, and -the consequent loss of additional means of grace!</p> -<p>But how will God judge even of the most exemplary in any -congregation, who never forsake his house, either for pleasure, -or for business, or for any of those plausible reasons by which -men are too willing to delude themselves to their own ruin; if -they spend the rest of the day, nevertheless, as they spend the -other days of the week, and do not remember the Sabbath, to keep -it holy throughout; if they do not devote the whole of it with a -sober, religious awe to God; if they do not send their children -and servants to church with the same punctuality as they go -themselves; if they do not shun all the resorts of sensuality and -gaiety abroad, or admit such inmates at home; if they do not -study the Holy Scriptures, and put aside all other books but such -as may tend to build them up in faith and piety; and, in short, -if they do not live on this one day, in conformity with the -sacred nature of the day, so uniformly and so universally, as to -throw a sanctity around <a name="page28"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 28</span>the lawful business and the lawful -pleasures of every other day, and gradually to make their whole -life truly Christian, truly divine, and fit, indeed, for -heaven.</p> -<p>Now, if they do not accomplish all this, whatever else they -do, they fall short of a due observance of the Sabbath; and who -is there, even amongst the most exemplary, alas! who ever thinks -of accomplishing so much? Alas, alas! who is there amongst -any of us, who, in some way or other, does not absolutely break -the Sabbath, or even profane it? And what wonder, then, -that there should be so much looseness, licentiousness, and -depravity of manners in our nation; and that so many evils assail -us, so many impend over our heads, and threaten us with some -mighty ruin? Sabbath-breaking has led to the temporal and -eternal ruin of thousand and tens of thousands; it cannot but -lead to the deeper corruption of all; to the gradual undermining -and ultimate extinction of all religious principle in the heart -of man. When a people cast off their respect for -God’s Sabbaths, they are prepared to run the full career of -irreligion, and of profligacy, and of all the atrocities which -scourge and afflict mankind.</p> -<p>There are persons in this congregation old <a -name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>enough to -remember, as I do, a whole powerful nation, our nearest -neighbours, casting it off, as it appeared, with one consent, -and, by cruelties almost unheard of before, compelling their -spiritual pastors and ministers to fly into exile; neither -religion, nor the semblance of religion being tolerated any -longer among them. And what was the issue? This -amazing apostacy was followed immediately by such deeds of -horror, by such tragical excesses, as will never be blotted out -of the annals of time. But the same impious means have been -industriously used to produce the same subversion of principle -here amongst <i>us</i> at home; and, God knows, they have but too -well succeeded with too many; so that we can scarcely exult any -longer with our former honourable pride, that our country is as -renowned for religion, for piety and virtue, for good order and -submission to authority, and for the deep abhorrence of all -atrocities, as she is for freedom, for wealth, for victory, and -for power.</p> -<p>Finally, then, in bidding you farewell, I earnestly beseech -you all, and through <i>you</i> I beseech the rest who are under -my spiritual charge, to ponder most deeply and seriously, and to -lay to heart also, what God himself spoke with <a -name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>such terrible -signs of his power, and what his divine finger wrote for an -everlasting memorial; what He decreed in the beginning of time -when He rested from his marvellous works, and pronounced them -good; and what our blessed Saviour, the fulfiller of all -righteousness, obeyed in the true spirit of the command, and set -the pattern to every succeeding generation of Christians; I -earnestly beseech you all to “remember the sabbath-day, to -keep it holy.” And let the first proof of your -remembrance of it, and the first act of keeping it holy, be your -constant attendance here in God’s house—a practice -which will lead you on step by step to every other good -work. Let your ministers lament no more the thin attendance -of their hearers, in the afternoons especially. Come as -often as you may, you will scarcely return without being the -better and the wiser for it. I speak not of worldly wisdom, -but of the wisdom which will save your souls. What blessing -is there, of which you stand in need? Come here, and pray -for it in concert with the whole assembly—your united -prayers, with one mind and heart, ascending to God, will fetch -every blessing down. Is there any blessing of which you -feel the enjoyment? Come here, and thank God for it before -your fellow-men. <a name="page31"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 31</span>Are you ignorant of any of the great -gospel-doctrines which are necessary to be known? Come -here, and they will be explained, each in its proper season, and -you will be instructed to have a due and awful sense of their -importance. Have you been seduced into sin; do your -devotions become languid; do you neglect any duty; is your -benevolence cold? Come to God’s house, and you will -hear discourses, it is to be hoped, as well as striking passages -of scripture, which will awaken and arouse you; keep heaven -always in your sight; fill you with heavenly affections; and -prepare you to dwell in some heavenly mansion with the blessed -saints of God. <i>We</i>, your ministers, I trust, amidst -all the discouragements with which we are surrounded, the entire -absence of so many, the apparent lukewarmness of others, preach, -nevertheless, with the same zeal as if we preached to multitudes -athirst for the word of God, and do not abate one tittle in our -fervent desire for <i>your</i> everlasting salvation. The -more, indeed, men neglect themselves, the more should the -ministers of Christ care for them, and stir up every faculty -which they have to rescue them from their dream of false -security. Let not this labour of <i>ours</i> be in -vain! Labour for yourselves as <i>we</i> labour for you; -all <a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>of us -alike, however, trusting to a greater strength than our -own. And I pray God, that, under the influence of the -Divine strength, and guided by his Holy Spirit, <i>you</i> may -become the crown of <i>our</i> labours, and enable us to give up -the account of our stewardship over you with joy.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">THE END.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">ROAKE AND VARTY, PRINTERS, 31, -STRAND.</span></p> -<pre> - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SABBATH: A SERMON*** - - -***** This file should be named 67021-h.htm or 67021-h.zip****** - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/7/0/2/67021 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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