The observation of the Sabbath HONORS ALMIGHTY GOD, AND We have pleaded for the Sabbath because it is ▲ MEANS TO Because of the UNSPEAKABLE VALUE OF THE SOUL OF MAN, 207 Because it appeals to THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE, PASTORAL ADDRESS.* My dear Friends, ALLOW me to offer you the following Discourses as a new year's token of my sincere regard for your welfare. It is with no feigned language that I wish you all the blessings of the season of Christmas. From the bottom of my heart do I desire and pray, that the Nativity of our Lord may be the source of joy to every one of you all. The incarnation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian religion; and I trust it is, and will be, the main object of my life and labors amongst you, to bring you, by the grace and blessing of God, to a practical obedience to this divine Savior. I seize therefore, with eagerness, every fit opportunity of addressing you both in public, and by the more familiar means of a pastoral letter. If I had health and time, I should rejoice to visit you more than I do, in the retirement of your families, and to enlarge that personal and friendly acquaintance, which an experience of your kindness for nearly seven years, has encouraged me to imprové. But I must resign myself to the will of my heavenly Master, who gives strength and opportunity to his servants as he deems meet. It is a consolation to me to reflect, that my labors are now divided amongst so many able and devoted clergymen, who delight to minister to A few things in the Address not so particularly suited to the circumstances of America are omitted; also a few words and phrases and some of the minor notes in the sermons. you in the gospel. And I desire to be grateful for that measure of health, which enables me in general to take a share in the public duties of the church, and to devote myself still in various ways to your service. The subject to which I now would request your attention is, as you are aware, the divine origin and perpetual obligation of the Lord's day-a topic so important in itself, and standing connected so intimately with the application of all the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, to ourselves and our families, that I trust you will permit me, after I have explained the occasion and plan of the work, to suggest some thoughts on THE AUTHORITY OF revealed TRUTH, as involved in it. The substance of these sermons was delivered in the autumn of 1827. A new and more favorable occasion of treating the question occurred last spring. The Lord Bishop of London addressed a most able and impressive letter on the neglect of the Lord's day, to the clergy and inhabitants of the diocese. Public attention was instantly awakened. I lost no time in bringing this communication before you. The authority of the divine institution was urged, as you will remember, on the same Sunday, from all our pulpits; and you speedily formed an association for the better observance of the Christian Sabbath. The rules and regulations, after having received the Lord Bishop's approval, were signed by nearly four hundred of the most respectable inhabitant housekeepers; and the committee and officers are now carrying into effect, in every kind and prudent method, consistent with the laws of our country, the great design. Encouraged by the prospect of these effective measures, I was induced to examine the whole subject more thoroughly than I had previously done. It grew upon my mind. I discerned more and more its immense importance, if we would honor God, preserve religion in the world, or save our own souls, and those of our family and neighborhood. I discovered also, as I thought, the sources of the more current objections; and at the same time their fallacy, when once the whole bearing of the argument from Scripture was understood. Thus I was led on to treat the question in detail. I delivered seven discourses in the months of last July and August. I was then so earnestly entreated to commit them to the press, that I have given almost all my retired time to this duty since. I have consulted our chief writers; have weighed again and again the difficulties which are alleged: and I hope I have succeeded in showing that, from the creation of man through all succeeding periods, one day in seven was appointed by Almighty God, as the season of special religious repose, and of public and private worship. I hope I have succeeded in showing that this appointment is essentially moral and immutable in its obligation, though, from the nature of the case, with so much of a positive character, as the determining of the exact proportion of time demanded. I hope I have succeeded in showing, that our Lord never relaxed, nor meant to relax, the law of creation or of the fourth commandment, but only to vindicate it from the false comments of the Jewish doctors, and leave it in more than its original dignity and force. I hope I have succeeded in showing, that the day of the observation of the Sabbath, under the gospel, was authoritatively changed by our Lord and his apostles, to honor the resurrection; and was in entire consistence with the original bearing of the institution, and the subsequent manifestation of the divine will concerning it. I was for some time doubtful, whether the argumentative air of the first four sermons, in which these points are established, was likely to be generally useful to you. I thought that perhaps the objections had not spread far in our neighborhood; and that the devout inculcation of the practical duties of the Lord's day was the safer course. And indeed, in general, this is our best wisdom: not one in a thousand of our population ever heard of Paley's objections. Creation the fourth commandment-the exhortation of the prophets the custom and doctrine of our Savior and his apostles-the practice of the whole Christian church-their own sense of gratitude for the spiritual blessings conveyedthe obvious state and wants of man-the prospect of an eternal Sabbath in heaven, are plain, common-sense arguments to every pious mind; or rather, matters of fact, which no plausible theories can overthrow. But on further reflection, I conceived that a discussion of the main objections might not be unimportant to you. We live in a reading age: we adjoin an immense metropolis. The temper of the times inclines rather to intellect |