66 6 Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'* "Again, in the Gospel of St. Luke xvi. 17, the Saviour, with divine emphasis declares, that 'It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.' "the "We read also in Isaiah this distinct affirmation by Jehovah himself: The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.'+ "In fact, my dear sir," continued Mr. Gracelove, moral law, so far from being abrogated or even relaxed in its vital energy, and in its discipline over the human heart, which you would seem to infer, is much more stringent and severe under the Christian than under the Mosaic dispensation. "Pray permit me to call your attention to the following passages, which are taken from the chapter just cited, and irresistibly prove the truth of my statement; attesting by infallible sanctions, because divine, the purer and more extended spirituality of the law of Christ than what existed in the days of the ancient Israelites. The better law of the Gospel is inthoughts and intents of the heart,' deed a discerner of the which we look for in vain, at least as regards proportion and degree, in the Hebrew, as compared with the Christian, code of ethics. "Listen, then, to the words of our blessed Lord, from the 5th chapter of St. Matthew :- "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment : "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his * Matt. v. 17-19. ↑ Isa. xlii. 21. brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.' 'Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; "Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.'* "But, in the first epistle of St. John, the spirituality of the Christian law is still more energetically expressed; for it is there said, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.' † Again, in the 27th and 28th verses of the 5th of St. Matthew, does the same Divine Lawgiver thus solemnly announce the searching principle of his spiritual government over the very thoughts and hearts of his creatures. 66 66 6 'Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 666 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' Again, in the 43rd and two following verses, it is thus solemnly enjoined by Him who is the first-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth;'— ""Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 66 6 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' "With your kind indulgence," continued the worthy host * Matt. v. 21-24. 1 John iii. 15. of Derwent Cottage, "I will add one more quotation, from the epistle to the Hebrews, in order to prove from the New Testament, the Gospel of the adorable Saviour,—the all-pervading essence of the moral law; and that one jot, or tittle,' from ancient days to the present moment, hath NOT passed from the law,' and as our blessed Lord declares, no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.' shall in and "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.'* "I think now, my dear sir," continued the master of the house, "you can no longer believe that the moral law has been abolished, nor doubt that you are bound at the peril of your soul scrupulously to fulfil it. Neither can you doubt as to the comparative purity and depth of the two codes of law we have been considering; nor that the law which came forth from Mount Zion is even more holy, more penetrating, more pervading, more spiritual, than that which was given to the terrified descendants of Abraham, amid the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai." "But granting, for argument's sake," said Mr. Stately,— feeling how unanswerable the testimony was against his view of the case, and wishing to avoid a direct notice of it," granting, for the moment, that the law of Mount Sinai was not done away with at the time that the ceremonial observances. became a dead letter, yet I have what I consider a fatal objection still to make to your reasoning on this subject, in the circumstance of the sabbath-day itself having been abolished, or set aside, or changed, whichever you please to call it. * Heb. iv. 12, 13. "The day now set apart for public worship is not the day appointed by the Creator of the world for his peculiar service. The fourth commandment says, the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.' But we have made the first day of the week the Sabbath-day. Saturday both was, and still is, the Jewish Sabbath as originally constituted; while we have presumed, without any authority whatever, to alter the divine appointment and to consider what we call Sunday as the day of rest. "Now I maintain," continued the chairman of the quarter sessions, "that inasmuch as the commandment was given for the observance of the seventh day it does not apply to the first; and that we have nullified the law,-virtually rendered it inoperative, by changing the order of public worship. Where is there any positive command in the Scriptures of the New Testament enjoining the religious observance of the Lord's day?" Mr. Davies now took up the argument, and observed, “ that he could very satisfactorily prove, that the change of the day objected to by Mr. Stately was not only most fully justified, but, in strict truth, divinely sanctioned and consecrated by the circumstances to which he should now direct his attention. 66 "You will doubtless remember, my dear sir," he remarked, that our blessed Lord rose from the grave on the first day of the week, which is our Sunday; and thereby sanctified the day, as the most holy of all the days that have elapsed since the creation of the world. For on that day the Saviour accomplished the all-glorious design of man's salvation; the most stupendous work of grace and mercy that was ever developed by the Almighty Ruler of the universe towards his fallen creatures. It would appear, therefore, that if the less beneficent work of God's creation of man was accompanied by an appointed day for the public worshipping of our Maker, the still more glorious work of our redemption from everlasting death, and that by the sacrifice of the Son of God himself, should be more peculiarly marked as the holiest of all. And how could this be better done than by having the ordinances of the Sabbath transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, on which to lift up our adoring hearts to the Almighty for such an unspeakable gift of saving mercy? "I humbly contend, therefore," continued the pious clergyman, "that this marvellous act of grace consecrated the first day of the week as the future Sabbath of the Christian, irrespective of all other considerations. Nevertheless, this change of the day had, in addition, the heavenly sanction of God the Father, in the person of his beloved Son. For it must never be forgotten that Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath;'* and his own acts and deeds, after He had risen from the dead, clearly evidence that the change from the seventh to the first day of the week was his own sovereign appointment. Thus the Christian Sabbath is hallowed and recognized by the authority and example of Christ himself, as well as by that of all the apostles. "In order to give a divine sanction to this important change, the Saviour honoured his disciples with repeated visits on that day after his resurrection from the dead. He administered to his two disciples at Emmaus, on the first day of the week, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It was on that day that our Lord poured out upon the apostles the marvellous gifts of the Holy Ghost. It was on that day that the disciples assembled themselves together to partake of the Holy Sacrament—to make collections for the saints, and for other pious objects.§ * Mark ii. 28. Acts ii. 1-4. + Luke xxiv. 13-35. It |
