ON THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.
What Day ought Christians to sanctify.
Q. What is the third commandment? A. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day: six days shalt thou labor, and shalt do all thy work; but on the seventh day, is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates, &c. Ex. xx, 8, &c. Q. Why does God commence this commandment by the words, "Remember, &c.?" A. To remind the Jews that this commandment is only a confirmation of one that had been always observed, by his order, since the beginning of the world. Gen. ii, 3; Ex. xvi, 23. Q. What does God ordain by this commandment? A. He ordains that we sanctify, in a special manner, this day, on which he rested from the labor of creation. Q. What is this day of rest? A. The seventh day of the week, or Saturday, for he employed six days in creation, and rested on the seventh. Gen. ii, 2; Heb. iv, 1, &c. Q. Is it then Saturday we should sanctify, in order to obey the ordinance of God? A. During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so we now sanctify the first and not the seventh day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord. Q. Had the church power to make such change? A. Certainly, since the Spirit of God is her guide, the change is inspired by that holy Spirit. The uniform, universal, and perpetual tradition of all ages and nations, attest the antiquity of, and consequently the Divine assent to, this change; even the bitterest enemies of God's church admit and adopt it. Q. Why did the church make this change? A. Because Christ rose from the dead upon Sunday, and rested from the great work of Redemption; and because, on this day, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and on the church.