called the eighth day, because the first day of the week now is the eighth day from the creation. 2. After his resurrection, Christ repeatedly met with his disciples on the first day of the week. See John xx. 19, 26. Though Christ appeared to several of the disciples on other days, yet it is only expressly recorded that on the first day of the week he met with them when assembled together. From this we may conclude that the disciples had already begun to assemble on the first day of the week, and that Christ approved of the practice. Many are of opinion that he continued to meet with them upon that day of the week till his ascension, "speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Acts i. 3. 3. The apostles and primitive Christians statedly met on that day for the celebration of divine ordinances. We read (Acts xx. 7), that "upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them;" where their meeting together on that day is not spoken of as a thing extraordinary, or merely occasional, but as a stated ordinary practice. From 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, it appears that the primitive Christians, on the first day of the week, contributed for the relief of their needy brethren, and this by an express apostolical injunction. Thus the collection for the poor, which was made in the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath, seems to have been transferred, by apostolical authority, to the first day of the week among Christians. 4. In early times the Christian Sabbath was well-known by the distinguishing title of " the Lord's-day," (Rev. i. 10,) the day which Jesus Christ peculiarly claimed as his own, and which was consecrated to his honour. 5. The first day of the week has been uniformly observed as the Christian Sabbath, from the apostolic age down to the present time; and God has remarkably honoured that day by conferring precious blessings on his people, when employed in the religious observance of it. There is an adequate reason for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. As the seventh day was kept holy from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, in commemoration of the work of creation, so it is reasonable that, since the resurrection of Christ, the first day of the week should be sanctified, in commemoration of the greater and more glorious work of redemption. And as there will be no new work of the Al mighty of superior or equal importance, it is fit that this day should continue to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath. SECTION VIII.-This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations;38 but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy,39 28 Exod. xx. 8; xvi. 23, 25, 26, 29, 30; 39 Isa. Iviii. 13. Matt. xii. 1-13. xxxi. 15-17. Isa. lviii. 13. Neh. xiii. 15-19, 21, 22. EXPOSITION. This section points out what is requisite to the proper sanctification of the Sabbath. After due preparation beforehand, the Sabbath is to be kept holy, by resting from all worldly employments and recreations; by spending the whole time in holy exercises, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. 1. Persons should endeavour so to dispose of their common affairs beforehand, that the Sabbath may not be entrenched upon by the cares and business of this world, and to prepare their hearts for engaging in the exercises appropriate to the Lord's-day. 2. As the Sabbath is a day of holy rest, persons ought to abstain, during the whole day, from their worldly employ. ments; from all manual labour, and also from the labours of the mind about secular studies, and from all unnecessary words and thoughts about such subjects. They are also required to abstain from those innocent recreations which are lawful on other days, because these would engross a portion of the time which is sacred to other purposes, and would indispose them for the proper duties of the Sabbath. To engage on that day in such recreations or amusements as are in themselves sinful, must be attended with highly aggravated guilt. 3. Persons ought to spend the whole time of the Sabbath, when they are awake, in holy exercises; in prayer, in re ligious reading, and meditation; in the instruction of their families, and pious conversation with them; and in attendance upon the public ordinances of grace. It is very wrong to appropriate a few hours of the Sabbath to religious exercises, and to employ all the rest in a worldly manner. A Sabbath-day is of the same duration as the other six days of the week, and the same proportion of time that we spend in our own works on the other days should be devoted on Sabbath to the public or private exercises of God's worship. 4. Works of necessity and mercy are allowed on the Sabbath. By the former are meant works which could not have been done on the preceding day, and cannot be delayed till the day following. By the latter are meant those works which are performed from compassion to our fellow-creatures. Under these heads are included such works as these; travelling to and from the house of God; defending a town or city that is invaded by enemies; working a vessel at sea; quenching a fire, and removing goods which would be destroyed by it, or by a sudden inundation; feeding cattle, and preserving their lives from danger; visiting the sick, and ministering to their comfort and necessities; and taking care of children. In short, there is nothing of this kind forbidden, though it may, in a great measure, sometimes hinder the proper work of the day; for "God will have mercy and not sacrifice." Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath-day, and his disciples rubbed out the corn from the ears, when they were hungry; and though the Pharisees reproved them, yet the Lord pronounced them blameless. "The Sabbath was made for man." It is not an arbitrary, appointment, but a most benevolent institution, designed for the benefit and advantage of man. Viewed merely as a day of cessation from labour, it must be regarded as a merciful and beneficial institution. It is intended to give to the laborious classes of mankind an opportunity of resting from toil; and the return of the hebdomadal rest is found to be absolutely necessary for the preservation of health and strength. Every member of the community ought to be secured in the full enjoyment of that day of rest which God in his goodness, and by his authority, has allowed him. But the Sabbath is not merely a season of rest from the fatigues and anxieties of secular business; it is a cessation from ordinary labour, that we may attend with greater diligence to the duties of religion. And surely one whole day in seven is not too much for the immediate service of God, for the improvement of our souls, and for preparation for eternity. The proper observation of the Sabbath is a principal means of promoting the temporal welfare of individuals and of nations, of elevating the tone of public morals, of advancing the interests of religion, and of drawing down the divine favour and blessing. The desecration of the Sabbath, on the other hand, is detrimental to the temporal interests of men; demoralizes the community, lays waste religion, and calls down the displeasure and judgments of God upon a nation. Every one, therefore, should exert all his influence to arrest the progress of this increasing evil, and should resolve that, whatever others do, he will " keep the Sabbath from polluting it." They who honour God by a strict and diligent observation of that day which he claims as his special property, shall obtain the blessing of the Lord, according to that comprehensive promise, (Isa. lviii. 13, 14): "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thin own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." CHAPTER XXII. OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS. SECTION I.-A lawful oath is a part of religious worship; wherein, upon just occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth.2 1 Deut. x. 20. 2 Exod. xx. 7. Lev. xix. 12. 2 Cor. i. 23. 2 Chron. vi. 22, 23. SECTION II.-The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence:3 therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred. Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the word of God under the New Testament as well as under the Old;" so a lawful oath being imposed by a lawful authority, in such matters, ought to be taken.o SECTION III. Whosoever taketh an oath, ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the truth." Neither may any man bind himself by oath to any thing but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching anything that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority.9 SECTION IV.-An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation.10 It cannot oblige to sin; but in anything not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt;" nor is it to be violated, although made to heretics or infidels.12 3 Deut. vi. 13. 4 Exod. xx. 7. Jer. v. 7. Matt. v. 34, 37. James v. 12. Heb. vi. 16. 2 Cor. i. 23. Isa. lxv. 16. 61 Kings viii. 31. Neh. xiii. 25. Ezra x. 5, 1 Exod. xx. 7. Jer. iv. 2. 8 Gen. xxiv. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. 9 Numb. v. 19, 21. Neh. v. 12. Exod. xxii. 7-11. 10 Jer. iv. 2. Ps. xxiv. 4. 11 1 Sam. xxv. 22. 32-34. Ps. xv. 4. EXPOSITION. These sections embrace the following points: first, The nature of a lawful oath; secondly, By whose name men ought to swear; thirdly, The warrantableness of taking an oath; fourthly, The manner in which an oath ought to be taken; and, fifthly, The binding obligation of an oath. 1. An oath is a solemn act of religious worship, in which the person swearing calls God to witness his sincerity in |