Is the Fourth Commandment of the Same Nature of the Other Nine?
By Roswell F. Cottrell
SUPPOSE it is not; it is a commandment of God; and who has a right to disobey or evade it? Sinful nature is apt at excuses; and to say that that part of the law of God which we would excuse ourselves from obeying is of a ceremonial, and not of a moral nature, is thought to be a good excuse. But it is thought that men would know naturally, that is, without a revelation, that the ten commandments, except the fourth, are binding on men. But those who have not the light of revelation do not seem to know their duty in respect to the nine. They are more apt to worship false gods than the true and living God. A revelation was needed; and therefore it was given; and that revelation being our guide, each commandment of the moral law has equal claims with the others. Since it is revealed that there is but one living and true God, it is a moral duty to acknowledge and worship him, and no others; and since it is revealed that the Maker of the heavens and the earth has reserved the seventh day to himself, it becomes a moral duty to give him his own. God did not make a mistake, when with his own finger he placed the Sabbath commandment in the midst of his moral law. He has made no difference in the nature and obligation of the ten commandments. Who will presume to teach him that the fourth commandment differs in its nature from the other nine, and therefore is not binding upon men just as it reads? that it may be tampered with, changed, or wholly disregarded? It would be better to acknowledge that God knew best how to classify in regard to his law, and to know that what God has joined together, it ill becomes ignorant, sinful man to put asunder.