thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath-day and hallowed it.

Ex. xx. 8-11.

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

Ex. xxxv. 2: "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death."

Lev. xxiii. 3: Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation: ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

Deut. v. 12: "Keep the sabbath-day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee."

Neh. x. 31: "And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath-day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day."

Neh. xiii. 19-22: "And it came to pass, that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath and some of my servants set I at the

gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath-day. So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites, that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates to sanctify the sabbathday."

Jer. xvii. 21, 22: "Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath-day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbathday, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbathday, as I commanded your fathers.”

Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Gen. ii. 3: "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

After the resurrection of Christ.

John xx. 19: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

Acts xx. 7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul

preached unto them, (ready to depart on the morrow,) and continued his speech until midnight

1 Cor. xvi. 2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."

Rev. i. 10: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." [The first day of the week was universally observed by Christians from this time onward, under the name of "The Lord's day."]

Q. 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified? A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as arc lawful on other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

A holy resting.

Ex. xx. 12: "In it thou shalt not do any work." Deut. v. 14: "That thy man-servant and thy maidservant may rest, as well as thou."

Ex. xxxiv. 21: "On the seventh day thou shalt rest; in earing-time and in harvest thou shalt rest."

Even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days.

Luke xxiii. 56: "And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath-day, according to the commandment."

Isa. lviii. 18: "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 thine own ways,

nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words."

Spending the time in the public and private exercises of God's worship.

Lev. xxiii. 3: "The seventh day is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation."

Isa. lxvi. 23: "From one sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord."

Ps. xcii. [The title, "A psalm, a song for the sabbath-day,”] 1: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High."

Private worship.

Lev. xxiii. 3: "It is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings."

Works of necessity and mercy excepted.

Matt. xii. 1-8: "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath-day through the corn, and his disciples were an-hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath-day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was an-hungered, and they that were with him? how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law how that on the sabbathdays the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath-day." Matt. xii. 10-13: 66 And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-days? that

they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath-days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other." Luke xiii. 14-16: "And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath-day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath-day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath-day?"

Q. 61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works about our worldly employments or

recreations.

Omission or careless performance of the duties required. Ezek. xxii. 26: 'Her priests have violated my law and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."