by John Charles Ryle
INTRODUCTION
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
There is a matter today that demands the serious attention of all who profess to be Christians. That matter is the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day.
This is a matter that calls for our attention. The minds of many are troubled by questions arising from it: “Is the observance of a day of rest obligatory for Christians? Do we have the right to tell a man that opening his business or seeking his pleasure on Sunday is a sin? Is it lawful to open places of public amusement on the Lord’s Day?” These are all questions that are continually asked. They are questions to which we must be able to give a decisive answer.
Regarding this matter, there abounds “diverse and strange doctrines.” Statements about Sunday are continually being made that simple readers of the Bible find impossible to reconcile with the Word of God. If these statements came only from the irreligious and ignorant part of the world, defenders of the Sabbath would have reason not to be surprised. But they may well be astonished when they find educated and religious people among their opponents. It is a sad truth that in some places the Sabbath is undermined by those who ought to be its best friends.
The matter is of immense importance. It is not too much to say that the prosperity or decline of organized Christianity depends on the maintenance of the Christian Sabbath. Let the fence that now surrounds Sunday be torn down, and our Sunday schools will soon come to an end. Let the flood of worldliness and pursuit of pleasure enter the Lord’s Day unimpeded, and our congregations will soon dwindle away to nothing. There is already too little religion in society. Destroy the sanctity of the Sabbath, and there will soon be much less. Nothing, in short, I believe, would so thoroughly advance the kingdom of Satan as the removal of the legal protection of the Lord’s Day. It would be a cause for rejoicing for the unbeliever, but it would be an insult and transgression against God.
I ask the attention of all who profess to be Christians as I attempt to say a few simple words on the matter of the Sabbath. As a minister of Christ, a father, and a lover of my country, I feel compelled to intercede on behalf of the old Christian Sunday. My statement is emphasized by the purpose of the words of Scripture: “to keep it holy.” My counsel to all Christians is to contend earnestly for the entire day against all enemies, both from without and within. It is a cause worth fighting for.
There are four points regarding the Sabbath that require examination. On each of these, I wish to offer a few comments.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE SABBATH
Let me first consider the authority on which the Sabbath rests.
I consider it of paramount importance that this point be clearly established in our minds. Here we have the very rock on which many of the enemies of the Sabbath shipwreck. They tell us that the day is “a mere Jewish ordinance,” and that we are no more obligated to keep it holy than to offer sacrifices. They proclaim to the world that the observance of the Lord’s Day rests only on the authority of the Church, and that it cannot be proven by the Word of God.
Now, I believe that those who say such things are entirely mistaken.
My own firm conviction is that the observance of a day of rest is part of God’s eternal Law. It is not a mere Jewish ordinance for a time. It is not a priestly institution made by man. It is not an unauthorized imposition of the Church. It is one of the eternal rules that God has revealed for the guidance of all humanity. It is a rule that many nations without the Bible have lost sight of and buried, like other rules, under the debris of superstition and paganism. But it was a rule intended to engage all the children of Adam.
What does Scripture say? After all, this is the most important point. What public opinion says, or what journalists think, matters nothing. We will not stand before the judgment of men when we die. The one who judges us is the Lord God of the Bible. What does the Lord say?
(a) I turn to the history of creation. There I read that “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:3). I find the Sabbath mentioned at the very beginning of all things.
There are five things that were given to the father of the human race on the day he was formed. God gave him a home, a work to do, a command to obey, a suitable helper to be his companion, and a Sabbath day to keep. I am utterly unable to believe that it was in God’s mind that there would be a time when the children of Adam should not keep a day of rest.
(b) I turn to the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. There I read a whole commandment among the Ten dedicated to the Sabbath, which is the longest, most complete, and most detailed of all (Exodus 20:8–11). I see a clear and broad distinction between these Ten Commandments and any other part of the Mosaic Law. It was the only part spoken aloud to the ears of all the people, and after the Lord had spoken it, the book of Deuteronomy says, “and He added no more” (Deuteronomy 5:22). It was given under circumstances of singular solemnity, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and an earthquake. It was the only part written on tablets of stone by God Himself. It was the only part placed inside the ark. I find the law of the Sabbath alongside the laws against idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and similar matters. I am utterly unable to believe that it was intended to be the only one obligatory for a limited time. *See Note A, at the end.*
(c) I turn to the Scriptures of the Prophets of the Old Testament. I find them repeatedly speaking of the breaking of the Sabbath alongside the most heinous transgressions of the moral Law (Ezekiel 20:13,16,24; 22:8,26). I find them speaking of it as one of the great sins that brought judgment on Israel and led the Jews into captivity (Nehemiah 13:18; Jeremiah 17:19–27). It seems clear to me that the Sabbath, in their judgment, is something far higher than the washings and purifications of the ceremonial Law. I am utterly unable to believe, when I read their language, that the Fourth Commandment was one of those things that would one day disappear.
(d) I turn to the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ when He was on Earth. I cannot find that our Savior ever uttered a single word to discredit any of the Ten Commandments. On the contrary, I find Him declaring at the beginning of His ministry that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and the context of the passage where He uses these words gives me confidence that He was speaking not of the ceremonial Law, but of the moral Law (Matthew 5:17). I find Him speaking of the Ten Commandments as a recognized standard of right and wrong: “You know the commandments” (Mark 10:19). I find Him speaking eleven times on the matter of the Sabbath, but always to correct the superstitious additions that the Pharisees had made to the Mosaic Law regarding its observance, and never to deny the sanctity of the day. He does not abolish the Sabbath any more than a man destroys a house when he removes moss or weeds from its roof. Above all, I find our Savior assuming the continuation of the Sabbath when He predicts the destruction of Jerusalem: “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20). I am utterly unable to believe, when I see all this, that our Lord did not consider the Fourth Commandment as binding on Christians as the other nine.
(e) I turn to the writings of the apostles. There I find clear language about the transitory nature of the ceremonial Law and its sacrifices and ordinances. I see that they are called “fleshly” and “weak.” I am told that they are “a shadow of the good things to come,” a “tutor [to lead us] to Christ,” and ordained “until the time of reformation.” But I cannot find a single syllable in their writings teaching that any of the Ten Commandments has been discarded. On the contrary, I see St. Paul speaking of the moral Law in the most respectful manner, though he vigorously teaches that it cannot justify us before God. When he teaches the Ephesians about the duty of children toward their parents, he simply cites the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with promise” (Romans 17:12; 13:8; Ephesians 6:2; 1 Timothy 1:8). I see James and St. John acknowledging the moral Law as an established rule among those to whom they wrote (James 2:10; 1 John 3:4). Again, I say that I am utterly unable to believe that when the apostles spoke of the Law, they were referring only to nine commandments and not ten.
(f) I turn to the practice of the apostles, when they were engaged in founding the Church of Christ. I find a special mention of their observance of one day of the week as a holy day (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). I find that one of them speaks of the day as “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). Undoubtedly, the day was changed: it became the first day of the week in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord, instead of the seventh; but I believe the apostles were divinely inspired to make this change, and at the same time wisely guided not to make a public decree about it. A decree would only have stirred agitation in the Jewish mind and caused needless offense: it was better that the change be effected gradually, and not imposed upon the consciences of weaker brethren. The spirit of the Fourth Commandment was not interfered with by the change in the least: the Lord’s Day, on the first day of the week, was exactly the same as a day of rest after six days of work, as the Sabbath on the seventh day had been. But why we are spoken to so significantly about the “first day of the week” and “the Lord’s Day,” if the apostles did not keep any day holier than another, is, in my view, entirely inexplicable.
(g) Lastly, I turn to the pages of unfulfilled prophecy. There I find a simple prediction that in the last days, when the knowledge of the Lord fills the Earth, there will still be a day of rest. “From one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD” (Isaiah 66:23). The matter of this prophecy is undoubtedly profound. I do not pretend to fathom all its parts; but one thing is very certain to me, and that is that in the glorious days to come upon the Earth, there will be a day of rest, and a day of rest not for the Jews only, but for “all flesh.” And when I see this, I am utterly unable to believe that God intended the Sabbath to cease between the first coming of Christ and the second. I believe He intended it to be an eternal ordinance in His Church.
I ask that serious attention be given to these arguments from Scripture. In my own understanding, it seems very clear that wherever God has had a Church in biblical times, God has also had a day of rest. My firm conviction is that a Church without a day of rest would not be a Church according to the pattern of Scripture. *See Note B, at the end.*
Let me conclude this part of the matter by offering two warnings, which I consider especially required by the mindset of our time.
On the one hand, let us be careful not to undervalue the Old Testament. In recent years, an unfortunate tendency has arisen to disdain and despise any religious argument drawn from an Old Testament source, and to consider the person who uses it as obscurantist, outdated, and antiquated. We would do well to remember that the Old Testament is just as inspired as the New, and that the religion of both Testaments is, in its essence and in its root, one and the same. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud; the New Testament is the Gospel in bloom. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the leaf; the New Testament is the Gospel in full grain. The saints of the Old Testament saw many things obscurely, as through a mirror; yet they looked to the same Christ by faith and were guided by the same Spirit as we are. Let us therefore not listen to those who mock arguments from the Old Testament. Much unbelief begins with an ignorant contempt for the Old Testament.
On the other hand, let us be careful not to despise the law of the Ten Commandments. It grieves me to observe how light and unhealthy the opinions of many men are on this matter. I have been astonished at the coldness with which clergy sometimes speak of them, as if they were a part of Judaism, to be placed in the same category as sacrifices and circumcision. I wonder how such men can read them to their congregations each week! For my part, I believe that the coming of the Gospel of Christ did not alter the position of the Ten Commandments in the slightest. If anything, it rather exalted them and elevated their authority. I believe that, in their due proportion and place, it is just as important to explain and enforce them as to preach Christ crucified. Through them comes the knowledge of sin. Through them, the Spirit teaches men their need for a Savior. Through them, the Lord Jesus teaches His people how to walk and please God. I think it would be good for the Church if the Ten Commandments were more frequently expounded from the pulpit than they are. In any case, I fear that much of the present ignorance regarding the Sabbath question is attributable to erroneous ideas about the Fourth Commandment.
THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH
The second point I propose to examine is the purpose for which the Sabbath was established.
I feel it is urgently necessary to say something on this point. There is no part of the Sabbath question about which so many ridiculous statements are made. Many raise a clamor today, as if we were inflicting great harm by exhorting them to keep the Sabbath holy. They speak as if the observance of the day were a heavy yoke, like circumcision and the washings and purifications of the ceremonial Law.
But the Sabbath is the merciful command of God for the common benefit of all humanity. It was “made for man” (Mark 2:27). It was given for the good of all classes, both laity and clergy. It is not a yoke, but a blessing. It is not a burden, but something merciful. It is not a harsh and tiresome requirement, but a great public benefit. It is not an ordinance that man is to use in faith without knowing why he uses it. It is an ordinance that carries its own reward. It is good for the body and the mind of man. It is good for nations. Above all, it is good for souls.
(a) The Sabbath is good for the body of man. Everyone needs a day of rest. On this point, at any rate, all physicians agree. Although the human body is strong and wonderfully made, it cannot endure incessant labor without regular intervals of rest. The early gold seekers in California discovered this soon enough! Reckless and profane as many of them probably were, pressed as they certainly were by the powerful influence of the hope of gain, they still found that a seventh day of rest was absolutely necessary to stay alive. Without it, they discovered that in digging for gold, they were only digging their own graves. I firmly believe that one reason the health of working clergy so frequently suffers is the great difficulty they find in obtaining a day of rest. I am sure that if the body could tell us what it wants, it would cry out loudly: “Remember the Sabbath day.”
(b) The Sabbath is good for the mind of man. The mind needs rest as much as the body; it cannot endure uninterrupted strain on its faculties; it must have its intervals to relax and regain its strength. Without it, it will wear out prematurely, or snap suddenly, like a broken bow.
The testimony of the famous philanthropist Wilberforce on this point is very striking. He declared that he could only attribute his own capacity for endurance to his regular observance of the Sabbath. He recalled observing how some of the greatest intellects among his contemporaries ultimately failed suddenly, and how their owners met a sad end; and he was satisfied that in every case of mental shipwreck, the true cause was the neglect of the Fourth Commandment.
(d) The Sabbath is good for nations. It has a tremendous effect on both the character and the temporal prosperity of a people. I firmly believe that a people who regularly rest one day in seven will work more and do better work in a year than a people who never rest at all. Their hands will be stronger; their minds will be clearer; their power of attention, application, and steady perseverance will be much greater. *See Note C, at the end.*
(e) Finally, but not least, the Sabbath is pure good for the soul of man. The soul has its needs just as much as the mind and body. It exists in the midst of a hurried, bustling world, where its interests are constantly at risk of being pushed aside. To attend properly to these interests, there must be a special day set apart from the others; there must be regular time to examine the state of our souls; there must be a day to test and see whether we are prepared for an eternal Heaven. If we take away a man’s Sabbath, his religion will soon amount to nothing. As a rule, there is a regular progression of steps from “no Sabbath” to “no God.”
I am well aware that many say, “Religion does not consist in keeping days and seasons.” I agree with them. I am fully conscious that more than the observance of the Sabbath is needed to save our souls. But I would like such people simply to tell us what kind of religion teaches men not to keep holy days at all. I know well that there are some good people who argue that “every day should be holy” for the true Christian, and on this basis disapprove of the special sanctification of the first day of the week. I respect the convictions that such people hold in conscience. I would go as far as anyone in contending for “a religion of every day,” and in protesting against a Christianity of mere Sabbath observance; but I am satisfied that the theory is unsound and unbiblical. I am convinced that, taking human nature as it is, the attempt to observe every day as a Lord’s Day would result in having no Lord’s Day at all. No one but a complete fanatic, I imagine, would say it is wrong to have appointed times for private prayer on the ground that we must “pray always”; and few, I am convinced, who look at the world with the eyes of common sense, will fail to see that for religion to have full effect upon men, there must be one day in the week set apart for this purpose.
Whether we know it or not, our Sabbath is one of our richest possessions. It is good for our bodies, our minds, and our souls. Of it, the famous words may truly be said: that “it is the cheap defense of a nation.”
HOW THE SABBATH SHOULD BE KEPT
Thirdly, I propose to show the manner in which the Sabbath should be kept.
This is an aspect of the matter on which there is great difference of opinion; even friends of the Sabbath are not entirely in agreement. Many, I believe, would contend as strongly as I do for a Sabbath, but not for the Sabbath for which I contend. My desire is simply to affirm what seems to be in God’s mind as revealed in Holy Scripture.
Once and for all, I must simply say that I cannot fully agree with those who tell us they do not want a Jewish Sabbath, but a Christian one. I doubt that such people clearly know what they mean. If they object to the Pharisaic Sabbath, I agree with them; if they object to a Mosaic Sabbath, I would have them carefully consider what they are saying. I cannot find clear evidence that the Sabbath of the Old Testament was intended by Moses to be observed more strictly than the Christian Sunday.
What then seems to be God’s will regarding the manner of observing the Sabbath? There are two general rules established for our guidance in the Fourth Commandment, and by them, all questions must be decided.
A simple rule regarding the Sabbath is that it must be kept as a day of rest. All work of any kind should cease as far as possible, both of body and mind. “You shall do no work [on it], you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates.” Works of necessity and mercy may be done. Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us this, and also teaches that such works were permissible in the times of the Old Testament. “Have you not read what David did […] Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?” (Matthew 12:3–5). In short, anything that is necessary to preserve and sustain one’s own life, or the lives of creatures, or to do good to the souls of men, may be done on the Sabbath without sin.
The other great rule regarding the Sabbath is that it must be kept holy. It is not to be a sensual, carnal rest, like that of the worshipers of the golden calf, who “sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (Exodus 32:6). It is vital that it be a holy rest.
It must be a rest in which, as far as possible, the affairs of the soul are attended to, the matters of the other world considered, and communion with God and Christ maintained. In short, it must never be forgotten that it is “a Sabbath to the LORD your God” (Exodus 20:10).
I ask attention to these two general rules; I believe that all questions concerning the Sabbath can be safely tested by them. I believe that within the limits of these rules, every lawful and reasonable need of human nature is covered, and that anything which violates these limits is sin.
I am not a Pharisee. No worker who has been confined to a room for six days should suppose that I oppose taking any lawful relaxation for the body on the Lord’s Day. I see no harm in a quiet walk on Sunday, so long as it does not replace attendance at public worship, and is truly peaceful, like that of Isaac (Genesis 24:63). I read of our Lord and His disciples walking among the fields on the Sabbath. The only thing I say is: beware of turning liberty into licentiousness; beware of harming the souls of others in seeking relaxation for yourself; and beware to never forget that you have a soul as well as a body.
I am not an extremist. I do not want any weary worker to misunderstand what I mean. I invite them to keep the Sabbath holy. I do not tell anyone that they must pray all day, or read their Bible all day, or go to church all day, or meditate all day without pause or rest on Sunday. The only thing I say is that Sunday’s rest should be a holy rest. God must be considered; the Word of God must be studied; the house of God must be attended; the affairs of the soul must be given special attention; and I say that anything that prevents the day from being kept holy in this way should be avoided as far as possible.
I am not an admirer of a gloomy religion. Let no one suppose that I want Sunday to be a day of sadness and unhappiness. I want every Christian to be a happy person; I desire that they have “joy and peace in believing” and rejoice “in the hope of the glory of God.” I want all to consider Sunday the brightest and most joyful of all seven days; and I tell anyone who regards Sunday as a tiresome day that there is something sadly wrong with the state of their heart. I say plainly that if they cannot enjoy a “holy” Sunday, the fault is not in the day, but in their own soul.
I can easily believe that many will think I set the standard for Sabbath observance too high. The thoughtless and worldly, lovers of money and lovers of pleasure, all exclaim that what I require is impossible. Such assertions are easy to make. The only question for a Christian should be: “What does the Bible teach?” The measure of God regarding what is right should certainly not be lowered to the measure of man; rather, the measure of man should be conformed to the measure of God.
I uphold no other standard of Sabbath observance than that which all the best and most holy Christians of every Church and nation have upheld almost without exception. It is remarkable to observe the harmony among them on this point. They have differed widely on other matters of religion—even dissenting regarding the basis on which to defend the sanctification of the Sabbath—but as soon as we confront the practical question of “how the Lord’s Day should be observed,” the unity among them is truly astonishing.
Lastly, but not least, I want no other standard of Sabbath observance than that which leads every temperate person to calm and rational reflection on the things yet to come. Are we truly going to die one day and leave this world? Are we about to appear before God in another state of existence? Are these things so or not? Undoubtedly, if they are, it is not too much to ask of men to give one day in seven to God; it is not too much to require them to test their own fitness for the other world by spending the Sabbath in special preparation for it. Common sense, reason, and conscience will, I think, combine to say that if we cannot reserve one day a week for God, we cannot live as those who one day must die ought to live.
THE WAYS IN WHICH IT IS PROFANED
The last thing I propose to do is to show some of the ways in which the Sabbath is profaned.
There are two types of Sabbath profanation that must be noted. One is the more private kind, of which thousands of people are continually guilty, and which can only be restrained by awakening the consciences of men. The other is the more public kind, which can only be remedied by the pressure of public opinion and the strong arm of the Law.
When I speak of the private profanation of the Sabbath, I refer to that reckless and thoughtless secular way of spending Sunday which anyone who looks around knows to be so. How many make the Lord’s Day a day for feasting; a day for reviewing their accounts and updating their books; a day for making unnecessary journeys and quietly attending to worldly business; a day for reading newspapers or novels; a day for talking about politics and idle gossip; in short, a day for anything rather than the things of God.
Now, all these things are wrong, clearly wrong. I firmly believe that thousands of people never reflect even a little on this matter; they sin through ignorance and thoughtlessness. They simply do as others do; they spend Sunday as their parents and grandparents did before them; but this does not alter the argument. It is entirely impossible to say that spending Sunday as I have described is to “keep” the day holy: it is a clear breach of the Fourth Commandment, both in letter and in spirit. It is impossible to argue necessity or mercy in one case out of a thousand. And, small and trivial as these Sabbath violations may seem, they are precisely the kinds of things that prevent men from having communion with God and obtaining the benefit of His Day.
When I speak of the public profanation of the Sabbath, I refer to those open and blatant practices that are visible on Sundays in the neighborhoods of large cities. I mean the practice of keeping shops open, and buying and selling on Sundays. I refer especially to Sunday pleasure excursions using public transport and the opening of public entertainment venues; and to the bold efforts that many now make to profane the Lord’s Day, without regard for its divine authority. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
I feel not the slightest doubt in my own mind regarding all these points. All these ways of spending the Sabbath are wrong, undeniably wrong. As long as the Bible is the Bible, and the Fourth Commandment the Fourth Commandment, I do not dare to reach any other conclusion. They are all wrong.
These ways of spending Sunday are none of the works of necessity or works of mercy. There is not the slightest resemblance between them and any of the things that the Lord Jesus explains as lawful on the Sabbath. Healing a sick person, or pulling an ox or a donkey out of a pit, is one thing; traveling by excursion trains, or going to concerts, theaters, dances, and cinemas, is something entirely different. The difference is as great as that between light and darkness.
None of these ways of spending Sunday have a holy tendency, or are intended to help us on the way to Heaven. Certainly not! All experience teaches that something more than the beauties of art and nature is needed to teach man the way to Heaven.
These ways of spending Sunday have never conferred any moral or spiritual good wherever they have been practiced. They have been practiced for centuries in Italy, Germany, and France. Sunday amusements and sports have long been common in the cities of Europe. But what benefit have they produced that we should wish to imitate them? What advantage would we gain by making a Sunday in London like a Sunday in Paris or other cities of Europe? It would be a change for the worse, not for the better.
Lastly, but by no means least, the way Sunday is spent inflicts cruel harm on the souls of countless people. Public transportation cannot operate on Sundays without employing thousands of people if people make Sunday a day for travel and excursions. Public entertainment venues cannot open on Sundays without employing many to provide for those who use them. And do all these unfortunate people not have immortal souls? Do they not all need a day of rest as much as anyone else? Undoubtedly they do. But Sunday is not a Sunday for them as long as these public profanations of the Sabbath are allowed. Their lives become a long chain of work, unbroken labor; in short, what is recreation for others becomes death for them.
Let us discard the idea that a European hedonistic Sabbath is a mercy to anyone! It is nothing less than a huge fallacy to call it so. Such a Sabbath is not truly a mercy for anyone, and is a real burden for some.
I write these things with sorrow. I know well how many of my countrymen they apply to. I have spent many Sundays in large cities. I have seen with my own eyes how the Lord’s Day is turned by the crowds into a day of worldliness, a day of impiety, a day of carnal pleasure, and, all too often, a day of sin. But the extent of the disease must not prevent us from denouncing it: the truth must be told.
There is a general conclusion to be drawn from the conduct of those who publicly profane the Sabbath in the manner I have described. They clearly show that they are currently “without God in the world.” They are like those in ancient times who said, “When will the Sabbath be past…?” “Oh, what a weariness!” (Amos 8:5; Malachi 1:13). It is a dreadful conclusion, but it is impossible to avoid. Scripture, History, and experience all combine to teach us that delighting in the Word of the Lord, in the service of the Lord, in the people of the Lord, and in the Lord’s Day always go together. Sunday hedonists are their own witnesses. Every week they are practically declaring: “We do not want God; we do not want Him to reign over us.”
It constitutes no slightest argument, in response to what I have said, that many great and learned men see no harm in amusement, sport, and pleasure on Sunday. Nothing matters in religious matters who does a thing: the only point to examine is “whether it is right.”
Let us take our stand on the Bible, and hold fast to its teaching. Whatever others may think lawful, let our judgment always be that one day in seven, a whole day, must be kept holy to God.
A FINAL APPEAL
And now I wish to offer a parting word to several kinds of people who may read these pages. I write as a friend. I ask for patient and fair attention.
(1) I make an appeal, first of all, to all who have the habit of breaking the Sabbath. Whether you break it in public or in private, whether you break it in company or alone, I have something to say to you.
I ask you to consider seriously how you will answer for your present conduct on the Day of Judgment. I leave it solemnly to your conscience. I ask you to think calmly and serenely how utterly incapacitated you are to appear before God. You cannot live forever: one day you must lie dead. You cannot escape the great judgment in the world to come: you must appear before the great white throne and give an account of all your works.
These are great realities, and I repeat it deliberately: unless you are prepared to take some fable of human invention, and be that poor credulous creature, a sceptic, you know that these things are true.
Where is your preparation to meet God and give an account to Him? Where is your preparation for an eternity in His company, and in the society of saints and angels? Yes! I may well ask: **Where?** You cannot give an answer. You cannot give God one day in seven! You are tired of spending a seventh part of your time trying to know more of Him before whose tribunal you will one day appear!
O transgressor of the Lord’s Day, consider your ways and be wise! What harm has Sunday done to the world that you should hate it so much? What harm has God done to you that you should stubbornly turn your back on His laws? What offense has the Christian faith committed against mankind that you should fear having too much of it? Look at that body of yours and think how soon it will be dust and ashes. Look at the ground beneath your feet and think how soon you will be two meters under its surface. Look at the heavens above, and think of the mighty Being who is the eternal God. Look into your own heart and consider how much better it is to be a friend of God than His enemy. If you truly wish to lie on your deathbed comforted, if you truly wish to leave this world with a good hope, break off from profaning the Lord’s Day and sin no more. Let the past suffice for having robbed God of His day. Give God what is His in the days to come.
Go to the house of God, and hear the Gospel preached. Confess your past sin before the Throne of Grace, and seek forgiveness through that blood which “cleanses from all sin.” Arrange your Sunday so that you have free time to meditate quietly and calmly on eternal matters. Avoid the company that leads you to speak only of this world. Take up the Bible which you have neglected for so long, and study its pages. Do it—do not delay it even a single week! It may be hard at first, but the struggle is worth it. Do it, and it will be good for you both in time and in eternity.
(2) I make an appeal next to all who belong to the industrial community, or profess to take an interest in its condition.
I ask you, therefore, never to allow yourself to be caught or deceived by those who wish the sanctity of the Lord’s Day to be more publicly invaded than it already is, and who nevertheless tell you that they are “friends of the working classes.” Believe me, they are in reality their worst enemies: they are taking the surest course to make their burdens heavier. They probably do not do it intentionally, but in fact they inflict upon them a cruel injury.
Be assured that if our Sundays ever become days of play and amusement, they will soon turn into days of labor and work. It is vain to suppose that this can be avoided: it never has been in other countries; it never will be in our own.
I am confident that all the workers in our country will not be deceived regarding this matter of the Sabbath. Of all the people on Earth, they are the most concerned about it. No one has so much to lose in this matter as they do, and no one has so little to gain.
(3) I make an appeal, next, to all who profess reverence for the Sabbath and do not wish its character to change.
I ask you to consider whether you cannot be more strict in keeping the Sabbath than you have been up to now. Unfortunately, I fear that there is much laxity in many places on this point. I fear that many who would not dream of breaking the Fourth Commandment are culpably thoughtless and negligent regarding how they obey its precepts. I fear that the world intrudes far more than it should into the Sundays of many respectable families who attend church. I fear that many keep the Sabbath themselves, but never give others the opportunity to sanctify it. I fear that many who observe the Lord’s Day with great outward decorum at home are frequently wicked transgressors of the Sabbath when abroad. I fear that hundreds of British travelers do on Sundays in Europe what they would never do in their own country.
This is a painful evil; if we truly love the Lord’s Day, let us show our love by the way we use it. Wherever we are—whether in our own country or abroad, whether in Protestant or Roman Catholic lands—let our conduct on Sunday be appropriate for that day. Let us never forget that the eyes of the Lord are everywhere and that the Fourth Commandment is equally binding on us in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, or France as it is in our own country. Finally, though not of lesser importance, let us remember that the Fourth Commandment speaks of our “servant” and our “maid” just as much as of ourselves.
(4) I make a final appeal to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with an incorruptible love, and who are zealous for His cause.
I therefore ask you to consider whether it is not the solemn duty of all true Christians to take far more effective measures than hitherto to preserve the sanctity of the Lord’s Day.
We form societies to defend the Lord’s Day, and we propose measure after measure in Parliament to stop Sunday trade. But is that enough? No; it is not!
The truth must be spoken: we must begin from the bottom. We cannot make people religious by parliamentary laws alone. We must teach what is right as well as forbid what is wrong; we must seek to prevent evil as well as repress it. We must strike at the root of the evils we deplore. We must strive to evangelize the masses of men and women who now break their Sabbaths each week. We must show them a better way. We must divert this source of Sabbath-breaking into different channels, and not be content merely to dam its waters when they overflow.
I commend these matters to the attention of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love. Let the great cities be fully evangelized, and thus a mortal blow will be dealt to the root of all Sabbath-breaking.
The simple truth is that Sabbath-breaking today is but one among many indications of the low state of vital religion. I pray to God that we may all learn wisdom and amend our ways before it is too late. We desire more work for Christ. We desire a return to the ancient paths of the apostles in every branch of the Church; we desire a generation of ministers whose first ambition is to go to every place in their parish and tell the story of the Cross of Christ. Unless our great cities are more fully evangelized, we will never cease the fight to SANCTIFY THE SABBATH DAY.
**NOTES**
Note A
The learned Bishop Andrewes wisely comments that it is dangerous to make the Fourth Commandment ceremonial, and merely obligatory for a time. “The Papists will then want the Second Commandment to be ceremonial as well; and there is no reason why there could not be three as well as two, and thus four and five and all of them.” “We maintain that all ceremonies were finished and abolished by the death of Christ: but not the Sabbath.” — Bishop Andrewes on the Moral Law, 1642.
Note B
The following quotations from distinguished ministers of God are added. In days like these, when we are so frequently told that learned theologians deny the divine authority of the Lord’s Day, it is well to show the reader that there are other theologians—and some eminently learned—who hold an entirely different view.
LET US HEAR WHAT BAXTER SAYS:
“It has been the constant practice of all the churches of Christ throughout the whole world, from the days of the apostles until this day, to assemble for public worship on the Lord’s Day, as a day set apart for that purpose by the apostles. Yes, so universal was this judgment and practice that there is no church, no writer, no heretic that I can recall having read, that can prove to have even dissented from it or contradicted it until recent times.” Baxter on the divine institution of the Lord’s Day, 1680.
LET US NOW HEAR FROM LIGHTFOOT:
“The first day of the week was celebrated everywhere as the Christian Sabbath, and it cannot be overlooked without noticing, insofar as it appears in Scripture, that there is nowhere any dispute about the matter. There was controversy concerning circumcision and other points of the Jewish religion. Whether they were to be retained or not, but nowhere do we read concerning the change of the Sabbath. Certainly, there were some Jews converted to the Gospel who, as in some other things, retained a flavor of their former Judaism, so they did in the observance of days (Romans 14:5; Galatians 4:10), but without rejecting or neglecting the Lord’s Day. They celebrated it and showed no scruple, it seems, regarding it; but they wanted their old feast days also; and they did not dispute at all whether the Lord’s Day was to be celebrated, but whether the Jewish Sabbath was also to be observed.” Lightfoot’s Works, vol. 12, 556. 1670.
The entire matter of the change from the seventh-day Sabbath to the Lord’s Day will be found admirably treated by the reader in the sermons of Bishop Daniel Wilson, *On the Lord’s Day*, which can be obtained from the Society for the Observance of the Lord’s Day.
Note C
“We are not poorer in England, but richer, because for many centuries we have rested from our labor one day in seven. That day is not lost. While industry is at a standstill, while the plow remains in the furrow, while the Stock Exchange is silent, while no smoke rises from the factory, a process is taking place that is as important for the wealth of nations as any process carried out on busier days. Man, the machine among machinery, the machine compared with which all the inventions of Watts and Arkwright are worthless, is repaired and halted, so that he returns to his labor on Monday with clearer intellect, livelier spirits, and renewed bodily vigor.” Macaulay’s Speech on the Ten Hours Bill. *Speeches*, pp. 450, 453, 454.
The famous Blackstone says: “To keep one day in seven holy, as a time of relaxation and refreshment, as well as for public worship, is of admirable service to the State, considered merely as a civil institution.” *Blackstone’s Commentaries*, vol. 4, p. 63.
by Archibald A. Hodge
Different Christian nations and different denominations, and each denomination at different periods of its history, have harbored very diverse sentiments and followed very diverse customs with respect to the observance of the weekly Sabbath, as well as with respect to every other Christian ordinance and practical duty. Despite this fact, however, the entire historic Christian world, both Catholic and Evangelical, has always agreed regarding the truth of the following propositions:
This statement of the historical faith of the entire Church contradicts the following false ideas held by transient and small groups:
The purpose of this essay is simply to declare the foundation upon which the universal faith of the Church rests when, while recognizing the Fourth Commandment as an integral part of the supreme, universal, and unalterable Moral Law, it asserts that the first day of the week—for this purpose and for obvious reasons—has replaced the seventh by the authority of the inspired apostles and, therefore, of Christ Himself.
