Longing for God's Presence

John Wells, The Practical Sabbatarian, p. 386:

Let us long for God's presence. God loves affectionate proselytes. A longing David shall see a loving God, Psal. 63.1,2. The Spouse is restless after her Beloved, and thus she meets him, Cant. 3.1-4. The thirsting soul shall be fed with milk and wine, Isa. 55.1. Grace and Righteousness shall satisfy the hungry, Matt. 5.6. The Psalmist follows hard after God, Psalm 63.8. God meets with our pursuits, we shall then satisfy ourselves in God, when nothing but God can satisfy us. Cold suitors shall not meet with Christ in his espousals. When the wife longs, the husband endeavors after the thing longed for. Mary Magdalen bemoaned the taking away of her Lord, John 20.2. We may expect to meet with God, when his absence is our greatest moan, and his presence is our sweetest music. [edited for style]

The Business of God's Day

Joseph Hall, "the first man in England to publish letters in English" (Frank Livingstone Huntley, Bishop Joseph Hall and Protestant Meditation in Seventeenth-Century England, p. 17), wrote a memorable letter to Edward Denny in which he described how he spent his days at Waltham Abbey, England, which is where began his famous 22-year project which was published as Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments. This letter is very much a model of how I personally wish to live my days to the Lord. In it he describes how "every day is a little life" and how therefore he practically lived out this maxim written earlier in Three Centuries of Meditations and Vowes, Divine and Morall (1606):

Each day is a new life, and an abridgment of the whole. I will so live, as if I counted every day my first, and my last; as if I began to live but then, and should live no more afterwards.

At the conclusion of this letter, he gives a brief summation of how he aimed to spend each Christian Sabbath, which I commend to the edification of our souls on this Lord's Day.

Joseph Hall, Ep. 2 Dec. 6, Epistles, in Six Decades (1608, 1611), Works, Vol. 6, pp. 282-283:

Such are my common days. But God's day calls for another respect. The same sun arises on this day, and enlightens it; yet, because that Sun of Righteousness arose upon it, and gave a new life unto the world in it, and drew the strength of God's moral precept unto it, therefore justly do we sing with the Psalmist, This is the day which the Lord hath made. Now I forget the world, and in a sort myself; and deal with my wonted thoughts, as great men use, who, at some times of their privacy, forbid the access of all suitors. Prayer, meditation, reading, hearing, preaching, singing, good conference, are the business of this day; which I dare not bestow on any work or pleasure but heavenly. I hate superstition on the one side, and looseness on the other: but I find it hard to offend in too much devotion; easy, in profaneness. The whole week is sanctified by this day; and, according to my care of this, is my blessing on the rest.

I show your lordship what I would do, and what I ought: I commit my desires to the imitation of the weak; my actions to the censures of the wise and holy; my weaknesses, to the pardon and redress of my merciful God.

The Sum is Greater Than the Parts

John Wells, The Practical Sabbatarian, pp. 97-98 (spelling edited):

Thirdly, We must converse with the Saints of God on his holy day; then God's people must gather together, and pursue a joint interest. Public assemblies adorn the Sabbath. Grapes are best in clusters. There are many strings to the Lute, which is the sweetest Instrument. Flocks are most pleasant when gathered together in one company; and Armies most puissant [powerful], when kept in a body, their dissipation is both their route and ruin. Christ's sheep must flock together on Christ's holy day: [David] Pareus gives us four solid Reasons for it, which I shall mention for their substantial worth.

First, The Congregating of God's people (especially on the Lord's day) is the soder of unity; like many stones so artificially laid, that they appear all but one stone. Every Congregation is a little body, whereof Christ is the head: Unity is the strength and beauty of the Saints; nothing so preserves it, as frequent and holy Assemblings.

Secondly, It is the preservative of love. Many sticks put together kindle a flame, and make a blaze. Frequent visits multiply friendships. In Heaven, where all the glorified Saints meet together, how ardent is their love! Absence, and seldom associations beget strangeness, as between God and us, so between one another. To meet to worship the same God, is the best way to attain to the same heart; like the Primitive Saints, who were all of one company, and all of one mind, Acts 2.46.

Thirdly, God hath made his promises to the Assemblies of his Saints, Matt. 18.20; 2 Cor. 6.16. He will not neglect a weeping Hannah, who prays and sobs alone, 1 Sam. 1.13, but will give her not only a Child, but a Samuel: But yet God will create upon the Assemblies of his people a cloud, which was the sign of his presence, Isa. 4.5. And

Fourthly, The prayers of the faithful Congregation receive strength from their union. When all Nineveh entreated the Lord, and put on sack-cloth, God repents himself of that intended and threatened evil, and puts his Sword into the scabbard, though drawn by an open denunciation of Judgment, Jon. 2.7-10. Prayer is the souls battery of Heaven; and when these petitions are the common breathings of the whole Assembly, the force must needs be the stronger, and the answer must needs be the surer. Though a file of Soldiers cannot take the City, an Army may.

Our Employment Lies In Heaven

John Eliot, in Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, The Ecclesiastical History of New England, Vol. 1, p. 535:

Behold, the ancient and excellent character of a true Christian; 'tis that which Peter calls 'holiness in all manner of conversation;' you shall not find a Christian out of the way of godly conversation. For, first, a seventh part of our time is all spent in heaven, when we are duly zealous for, and zealous on the Sabbath of God. Besides, God has written on the head of the Sabbath, REMEMBER, which looks both forwards and backwards, and thus a good part of the week will be spent in sabbatizing. Well, but for the rest of our time! Why, we shall have that spent in heaven, ere we have done. For, secondly, we have many days for both fasting and thanksgiving in our pilgrimage; and here are so many Sabbaths more. Moreover, thirdly, we have our lectures every week; and pious people won't miss them, if they can help it. Furthermore, fourthly, we have our private meetings, wherein we pray, and sing, and repeat sermons, and confer together about the things of God; and being now come thus far, we are in heaven almost every day. But a little farther, fifthly, we perform family-duties every day; we have our morning and evening sacrifices, wherein having read the Scriptures to our families, we call upon the name of God, and ever now and then carefully catechise those that are under our charge. Sixthly, we shall also have our daily devotions in our closets; wherein unto supplication before the Lord, we shall add some serious meditation upon his word: a David will be at this work no less than thrice a day. Seventhly, we have likewise many scores of ejaculations in a day; and these we have, like Nehemiah, in whatever place we come into. Eighthly we have our occasional thoughts and our occasional talks upon spiritual matters; and we have our occasional acts of charity, wherein we do like the inhabitants of heaven every day. Ninthly, in our callings, in our civil callings, we keep up heavenly frames; we buy and sell, and toil; yea, we eat and drink, with some eye both to the command and honour of God in all. Behold, I have not now left an inch of time to be carnal; it is all engrossed for heaven. And yet, lest here should not be enough, lastly, we have our spiritual warfare. We are always encountring the enemies of our souls, which continually raises our hearts unto our Helper and Leader in the heavens. Let no man say, ''Tis impossible to live at this rate;' for we have known some live thus; and others that have written of such a life have but spun a web out of their own blessed experiences. New-England has example of this life: though, alas! 'tis to be lamented that the distractions of the world, in too many professors, do beecloud the beauty of an heavenly conversation. In fine, our employment lies in heaven. In the morning, if we ask, 'Where am I to be to day?' our souls must answer, 'In heaven.' In the evening, if we ask, 'Where have I been to-day?' our souls may answer, 'In heaven.' If thou art a believer, thou art no stranger to heaven while thou livest; and when thou diest, heaven will be no strange place to thee; no, thou hast been there a thousand times before.

Sabbath Reflections

Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 3, pp. 146-147:

Reflection is also needful to preserve the sabbath disposition and blessing. First, this consists in reflecting upon how the day was spent publicly and privately, and upon the sins which one has committed; that is, laxity, listlessness, lack of spirituality, and the failure to abhor these. Confess this with sorrow before the Lord, and seek forgiveness through Christ.

Secondly, it consists in reflecting upon the good we have performed on this day, upon the upright objective to hallow the sabbath, and the efforts to do everything in such a manner as is pleasing to God. It furthermore consists in reflecting upon the blessings, refreshments, comforts, illumination, and quickening we enjoyed from the Spirit of the Lord. One must acknowledge this and rejoice in this, even if it were ever so little. Even if the insatiable desire of our soul has not been satisfied, we should yet thank the Lord for the good we received.

Thirdly, it consists in the acknowledgment of God‘s goodness to His church in giving her the sabbath, enabling her to gather publicly and conduct all her public worship services, and for the privilege to enjoy a holy rest.

Fourthly, it consists in yearning and longing for the rest which remains for the people of God (Heb 4:9), in rejoicing in this hope, in forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Blessed is he who thus begins, observes, and ends the sabbath.

The Earthly Sabbath a Type of the Heavenly

Thomas Downie, "The Earthly Sabbath a Type of the Heavenly," in The Believer on Pisgah: Sabbath Evening Meditations on Heaven, pp. 7-8:

What renders the Sabbath in an especial manner precious to the believer is, that it is a type of the eternal Sabbath which he hopes to spend with the Redeemer in the mansions of bliss. Like John in Patmos, when he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, he obtains visions of celestial glory, which stimulate him to increased diligence in preparing for the high destiny that awaits him.

The earthly Sabbath is a type of the heavenly as regards the rest which it provides for man. The Sabbath is a day of rest: 'In it thou shalt not do any work' (Ex. xx. 10). For the comfort and refreshment of man the Sabbath was appointed. To the sons of toil, oppressed by labour and hardship during the week, how welcome is the return of the Sabbath! When Saturday evening comes, what gladness fills their hearts as they can. take up the language of Moses, and say, 'To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord!' To the merchant, whose mind has been oppressed with worldly care, what a load is lifted from his spirits as the morning of the Sabbath dawns upon him, and he has the prospect of devoting one day to the attention of matters higher than those of time. Nor is it only during the hours of the Sabbath that its advantages as a season of rest are enjoyed: the prospect of its return, amid the toil and bustle of the week, is as water to the weary and thirsty traveller.

Viewing the earthly Sabbath as a day of rest, how appropriately is it an emblem of the heavenly Sabbath—the rest that remaineth for the people of God. In his eternal home, the believer enters into repose, which no storm will ever arise to disturb. The careworn labourer, when he reaches the Saturday evening of life and falls asleep in Christ, awakes in a world on whose horizon no cloud of care or sorrow shall ever be seen. There will be rest from every calamity that on earth harasses and grieves the people of God. Disease, which in this vale of tears often causes its victims months or years of suffering, will never invade the eternal home of the redeemed. Crosses and disappointments, which here below frequently wring the heart with anguish, will be unknown there. Bereavement, which so often enters the household on earth, and leaves desolation and woe behind, will never be experienced in our Father's house of many mansions. There will be rest from sin, with all the misery which it entails. The moment the believer enters upon the possession of his heavenly inheritance, his nature will be made perfectly holy, and never again will he have to contend with the storms of temptation from without, or the workings of unbelief from within. Satan will not enter the regions of bliss to disturb his peace; he shall for ever be beyond the reach of the ungodly influence with which on earth he had daily to contend; with his warfare ended, he shall wear the diadem of victory, and repose in safety in the arms of infinite love. Time's week of labour has ended, and the eternal Sabbath of rest and enjoyment has begun.

Sabbath Wish

An extract from John Stuart Blackie, "A Sabbath Meditation," in Songs of Religion and Life, pp. 42-43:

O may this Sabbath, with its gentle dews
Shed by thy Spirit on my chastened soul,
Restore my blighted bud of thought, and lift
This low-crushed life into a mighty tree,
Branchy, and blooming with fair summer fruits
Exuberant-clustered! -- May all Sabbaths be
A ripe and mellow season to my heart,
Lovely as golden autumn's purple eve,
Genial as sleep, whence the tired limb refreshed
Leaps to new action, and appointed toil,
With steady hope, sure faith, and sober joy.

A Ross-Shire Sabbath

John Kennedy of Dingwall, The Days of the Fathers in Ross-Shire, chap. IV, on a Ross-Shire Sabbath:

On Sabbath they all meet in the house of God. The Lord himself is in the midst of them; the word is rightly divided; hungry souls are fed with "the finest of the wheat;" some of "the whole" are wounded; and some of the wounded ones are healed. The public service over, the people return to their homes; and by the way, they form into companies around some of the Lord's people, who are speaking of the sermon, and bring again, before themselves and others, the precious lessons which it furnished. In the evening district meetings are held, each presided over by an elder, or by some man of repute for godliness. After prayer and praise, and the reading of a portion of Scripture, a certain number of the questions of the Shorter Catechism are asked and answered, and notes of the sermons, heard during the day, are repeated. Time is allowed for family duties, and in many a household, the incense of prayer and praise ascends from the family altar to God. Such was an ordinary Ross-shire Sabbath in the good days of the Fathers.

Peter Martyr on the Lord's Day

Peter Martyr, in his commentary on 1 Corinthinians 16.2 (1551), writes:

As by the appointment of the Law, the Sabbath was celebrated to keepe fresh in memory the making of the world: So now is the LORDS-day for use, to keep fresh the memoriall of Christ his resurrection; and therefore also to confirme the hope of our owne resurrection. But, when this change was made, we have it not expressely set downe in the holy Scriptures: Notwithstanding in the Revelation of S. John there is expresse mention made of the LORDS-day. Cap. 1.10.

Midnight to Midnight - Part 2

To conclude this short series of quotes from Puritan and Reformed divines affirming the reckoning of midnight-to-midnight observance of the Christian Sabbath or Lord's Day, consider the following.

John Brown of Haddington, Systematic Theology, Book VI, Chap. 1, p. 475:

The Christian Sabbath begins in the morning after midnight. 1. Christ rose early in the morning, Matt 28:1; Mark 16:2,9. 2. It begins where the Jewish sabbath ended, which was when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, Matt 28:1,3. 3. The evening which follows the day of our sabbath pertained to it, John 20:19.

Lewis Bayly, The Practice of Piety, pp. 163-164:

The Jews kept the last day of the week, beginning their Sabbath with the night (Gen 2:2; Lev 23:32; Neh 13:19), when God rested; but Christians honour the Lord better, on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1), beginning the Sabbath with the day when the Lord arose (Acts 20:7,11) They kept their Sabbath in remembrance of the world's creation; but Christians celebrate it in memorial of the world's redemption; yea, the Lord's day being the first of the creation and redemption, puts us in mind, both of the making of the old, and redeeming of the new world.

John Willison, A Treatise Concerning the Sanctification of the Lord's Day, pp. 78-79:

But all these things being absurd, I do upon solid ground, assert, that the whole natural day, consisting of twenty-four hours, is to be set apart for the Sabbath day; and that we ought to measure this day, and begin and end it, as we do other days, that is, from midnight to midnight; during which time we are abstain from our own works, and sanctify the Lord's Sabbath: For the fourth command binds us to consecrate the seventh part of every week to the Lord, who challengeth a special property in one of seven, and asserts his just title thereto, saying, "The seventh day is the Lord's:" And also Isa. lvii.13 he expressly calls it, "My holy day." It is all holy; and therefore no part must be profaned or applied to common uses. It is all the Lord': and so it is unlawful for us to rob him of any part of it, and alienate it to our private use.

John Willison, An Example of Plain Catechising Upon the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, p. 188:

Q. How much of the day appointed for the sabbath is to be kept holy to the Lord?

A. One whole day in seven; a whole natural day, consisting of twenty-four hours, commencing from midnight to midnight, ought to be dedicated unto the Lord, seeing he claims a seventh part of our time. It is true, time for eating and sleeping must be allowed upon the sabbath as well as on other days, being works of necessity, seeing without these we cannot perform the duties of the sabbath.

Thomas Boston, An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion, With Respect to the Faith and Practice, Upon the Plan of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, Comprehending a Complete Body of Divinity, Vol. 2, p. 470 (Commentary on the Shorter Catechism, 1993 SWRB ed., pp. 189-190:

Thirdly, The day to be kept holy is one whole day. Not a few hours while the public worship lasts, but a whole day. There is an artificial day betwixt sun-rising and sun-setting, John xi.9; and a natural day of twenty-four hours, Gen. i. which is the day here meant. This day we begin in the morning immediately after midnight; and so does the sabbath begin, and not in the evening, as is clear, if ye consider,

1. John xx.19. The same day at evening, being the first day of the week: where ye see that the evening following, not going before this first day of the week, is called the evening of the first day.

2. Our sabbath begins where the Jewish sabbath ended; but the Jewish sabbath did not end towards the evening, but towards the morning, Matth. xxviii.1. In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, &c.

3. Our sabbath is held in memory of Christ's resurrection, and it is certain that Christ rose early in the morning of the first day of the week.

Let us therefore take the utmost care to give God the whole day, spending it in the manner he has appointed, and not look on all the time besides what is spent in public worship, as our own; which is too much the case in these degenerate times wherein we live.

Alexander McLeod, The Ecclesiastical Catechism; Being a Series of Questions, Relative to the Christian Church, Stated and Answered, With the Scripture Proofs:

140. At what period of the twenty-four hours does the Lord’s day or sabbath commence?

Our Lord arose from the dead on the morning of the first day of the week [a]: it is more conducive to solemnity to observe one whole day, than parts of two labouring days [b]: the fourth commandment requires not a part of two days, but one whole day [c]; and the evening after Christ’s resurrection, upon which he appeared in the midst of his worshipping disciples, is called, in scripture, the evening of the same day [d]: the christian sabbath comprehends twenty four hours, from midnight to midnight.

[a] John 20. 1. "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark—and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." [b] Deut. 5. 14. "The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord—in it thou shalt not do any work." [c] Exod. 20. 8. "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." [d] John 20. 19. "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week—came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

John Wallis, A Defense of the Christian Sabbath, p. 28:

I have insisted the longer on this, because I find him afterward moving another question about what time the Sabbath is to begin and end, and lays great stress upon it, as we shall see anon.

Of which I think we need not be further solicitous than to begin and end this day, according as other days are accounted to begin and end in the places where we live....

...I take it to be very plain from what I have said, that at the time of Christs Death and Resurrection, it [the Christian Sabbath] was accounted to begin very early in the morning, while it was dark, and continue till very late at night, according as we now account our days, from Mid-night to Mid-night.

Alexander Smith Paterson, A Concise System of Theology: Being the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Analyzed and Explained, p. 221:

Obs. 220. -- The Fourth Commandment requireth us to sanctify one whole day in seven, which God hath expressly appointed to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

By one whole day, as the stated time of worshipping God, we are to understand the same that we are to understand by any other whole day -- namely, a period consisting of twenty-four hours, or what is commonly called a natural day. And this day we should begin and end at the same time that we begin and end any other day, -- namely, at midnight.

William Plumer, The Law of God, as Contained in the Ten Commandments, Explained and Enforced, pp.309-310:

When does the Sabbath begin?

There is some diversity in the Christian world respecting the time, at which the Sabbath begins. Some date it from sunset on Saturday till sunset on Sabbath. When asked for their authority, they refer to a phrase which occurs several times in the first chapter of Genesis: "And the evening and the morning were the first day." This has not been considered sufficient proof by the great mass of the Christian world. Nor ought it to be, as all the world knows that no day of creation began in the evening; but all of them began in the morning. That saying of Moses therefore only declares that the day was made up of two parts, the after part, and the fore part. Indeed the evidence in the New Testament seems to be clearly against this view. "Our Sabbath begins where the Jewish Sabbath ended; but the Jewish Sabbath did not end towards the evening, but towards the morning. Matt. 28:1. ‘In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week,’ etc. In the New Testament, the evening following, and not going before this first day of the week, is called the evening of the first day, John 20:19. ‘The same day, at evening, being the first day of the week,’ etc. Our Sabbath is held in memory of Christ’s resurrection, and it is certain that Christ rose early in the morning of the first day of the week."

Brian Schwertley, The Christian Sabbath: Examined, Proved, Applied:

5. The time of the Lord’s day
The sabbath law teaches that man is to sanctify to the Lord one whole day in seven. A question that needs to be answered is: “When does the Christian sabbath begin?” Some argue that the Christian sabbath begins on Saturday evening, while others argue that it runs from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday. Those who argue that it runs from evening to evening point to the Jewish ceremonial sabbaths for support: “On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover” (Lev. 23:5). The Hebrew word translated “twilight” (NKJV, NASB, NIV, NTHSMT [114]) or “evening” (RSV) literally means “between the evenings.” “The meaning of the phrase is much discussed. Most commentators think it means ‘in the evening’ (cf. Deut. 16:6, ‘at sunset’), or more precisely, the period between sunset and complete darkness. The orthodox Jewish view is that it means ‘between midday and sunset,’ and this is supported...on the grounds that it would have been impossible to kill all the passover lambs in the temple between sunset and darkness. In NT times the passover sacrifice began about 3 p.m.” [115] The evidence for an old covenant evening-to-evening sabbath is quite strong (cf. Lev. 23:32; Ex. 12:6, 30:8). Hendriksen believes that the Jewish sabbath began at 6 o’clock Friday evening: “According to the ancient Hebrew way of speaking, there were ‘two evenings’ (cf. Exod. 12:6 in the original). The first ‘evening’ which we would call ‘afternoon’ began at 3 p.m., the second at 6 p.m. Something of this is probably reflected in the phrase ‘When evening fell,’ for we cannot imagine that Joseph of Arimathea, a Jew, would have approached Pilate on Friday, 6 p.m., asking for the body of Jesus when the sabbath was beginning.” [116]

Although the Jewish sabbath was probably from evening to evening (or sunset to sunset), the passages in the New Testament which discuss the Lord’s day (the new covenant sabbath) point to a midnight-to-midnight observance. A passage which indicates that the inspired apostles no longer held to the old covenant system of a sunset-to-sunset sabbath is John 20:19: “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, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” John is very specific in noting that this event took place on the first day of the week. “‘On that day’ would be enough, yet John adds, ‘the first one of the week.’” [117] “It was evening. In light of Luke 24:29, 33, 36 we have a right to conclude that it was no longer early in the evening when the great event recorded in the present paragraph took place. As the Jews compute the days, it was no longer the first day of the week. But John, though a Jew, is writing much later than Matthew and Mark, and does not seem to concern himself with Jewish time-reckoning.” [118] It is very significant that John emphasizes that the disciples gathered on the first day of the week, yet also records that it was evening, for if the apostolic church had maintained a sunset-to-sunset sabbath, then John would not have regarded it as the first day, but as the second. There then would be no reason at all for John to emphasize the time, for while the New Testament often emphasizes and singles out the first day (Mt. 28:1; Mk. 16:2; Lk. 24:1; Jn. 20:1, 19, 26; Ac. 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10), the second day holds no significance at all.

Another passage which indicates that the apostolic church had forsaken the sunset-to-sunset sabbath for a midnight-to-midnight [119] sabbath is Acts 20:7: “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” Luke describes a church service that occurred on the first day of the week, yet says very specifically that Paul did not finish his message until midnight. If the Christian church had followed the Jewish synagogue practice, Paul would have concluded his message before sunset on Sunday, and not late at night. [120] “Certainly, one would almost expect the midnight-to-midnight demarcation, not only in the light of the particulars surrounding Resurrection Sunday, but especially considering that Troas was a Roman colony possessing the Jus Italicum and which therefore certainly followed the Roman midnight demarcation as a colony. It is clear that the congregation at Troas met for worship at night well after sunset, for ‘there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together’ (Acts 20:8). Seeing that ‘the disciples came together to break bread’ in ‘the upper chamber,’ and seeing that there is no instance whatsoever in Scripture of religious meetings on Saturday night after sunset, it is reasonably certain that the disciples at Troas gathered on Sunday nights perhaps even before and certainly after sunset, even as their risen Lord had appeared to His Emmaus disciples on Resurrection Sunday and broken bread with them in the late afternoon, and long after the sunset of ‘the same day at evening, (still) being the first day of the week,’ had congregated with the Jerusalem disciples in the upper room.” [121]

Furthermore, it is recorded that Paul departed at daybreak, or the break of the next day. If Luke had been following the sunset-to-sunset day demarcation system of the Jews, Paul would be described as leaving “later on the same first day of the week.” [122] But Luke says of Paul on Sunday evening that he was “ready to depart the next day” (i.e., early Monday morning at daybreak). Thus there is considerable evidence that the inspired apostles abandoned the Jewish method of day demarcation for a midnight-to-midnight system. Although the matter of sabbath day demarcation may seem trivial, it is important that the church and society follow the inspired apostles’ example for the sake of uniformity, determining when church discipline is appropriate, preparing properly for the Sabbath, and refuting heretics (such as Seventh-day Adventists). “The Jews are supposed to begin every day, and consequently their sabbaths, at the evening, in remembrance of the creation, Gen. i. 5, as Christians generally begin their days and sabbaths with the morning, in memory of Christ’s resurrection.” [123]

Francis Nigel Lee, The Covenantal Sabbath: The Weekly Sabbath Scripturally and Historically Considered, pp. 273, 327:

Counting the ‘three days’ as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it is clear that Christ must have been in ‘the heart of the earth’ on part of Friday as well as on part of Sunday. But as He was not buried until Friday evening (Mt. 27:57-60), it seems clear that the end of each of the three days does not run from evening to evening (as Jews and Seventh-day Adventists allege), but from a point between evening and dawn—probably midnight—to the corresponding point twenty-four hours later. The ‘three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ of Matt. 12:40 etc. would then be: sunset on Friday to midnight after Friday = the first ‘day and night;’ the midnight after Friday to the midnight after Saturday = the second ‘day and night;’ the midnight after Saturday to the sunrise on Sunday = the third ‘day and night;’ and the whole period in the grave from sunset on Friday to before dawn on Sunday morning = ‘three days and three nights,’ which expression is an idiom denoting a period of exactly three days and three nights (seventy-two hours) OR denoting any consecutive shorter parts thereof, such as the approximately thirty to thirty-six hours during which Christ was in the tomb.
The answer to the fourth sub-query: "When was Sunday first observed, and how?", must be that Christ and His Spirit progressively taught its observance in the hearts of God’s children by example rather than by precept particularly from Resurrection Sunday onwards. And in so teaching, They then probably indicated that, like the Adamic sabbath before the fall and like the Resurrection Sunday of Christ the Second Adam, the New Testament Sunday observance was to run from midnight to midnight (Matt. 28:1,6,13; Mark 16:1-2,9; Luke 24:1, 13, 24-36; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:6-7, 11 cf. Ex. 11:4; 12:6, 12-16, 27-29, 42 cf. Gen. 1:3-5, 31; 2:1-3);...

Midnight to Midnight - Part 1

The first table of the Decalogue has been nicely summarized in this way by Thomas Vincent in his Exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

The first commandment hath a respect unto the object of worship; the second commandment hath a respect unto the means of worship; the third commandment hath a respect unto the manner of worship; but this fourth commandment hath a respect unto the time of worship.

God alone regulates whom, how and by what means, and when we are are to worship him. With respect to time, although we are the recipient of daily mercies and he is to be worshiped privately and in families daily, he particularly in the fourth commandment appointed one day in seven, the Christian Sabbath or the Lord's Day, to be devoted to his worship in a special way. Christians acknowledge that Christ changed the Sabbath day from the last day of the week to the first, by example, if not explicit precept in the Word. Most Christians also believe that the reckoning of the Sabbath day was also changed from the Jewish manner (sundown to sundown) to the Roman (Gentile) manner (midnight to midnight), and on the same basis as the change of day itself, that is, by the example of when Christ arose from the dead, although practically speaking, in the modern church, Sabbath observance is largely assumed to be a matter of personal preference, rather than an objectively-measured standard. It is this question which I aim to explore in this post.

God has commanded that the whole Sabbath day is to be consecrated to him, not just a portion, although in his mercy he allows us time for food, sleep and other necessities. But since the whole day belongs to him, it behooves us to consider whether we are recognizing his authority over the whole day of his appointment. Far from being legalistic or an instance of vain sophistry, the question of when the Lord's Day begins and ends is, or ought to be, an example of commendable scrupulousness, when it aims to honor the Lord during the time of his appointment. For example, when the Sabbath is reckoned has a bearing on what activities may be lawful on a Saturday evening or the Lord's Day evening. Things that are lawful during the week may not be lawful on the Sabbath. How the Sabbath is to be reckoned is a question that many divines have addressed and I have here compiled some of their wisdom (in the Puritan era, Robert Cleaver, wrote a whole treatise defending midnight-to-midnight Sabbath observance, and in modern times, Greg Price has also done so here, but my extracts, though they make for a long double blog post, are much shorter). Some, such as the New England Puritans, have observed a Sabbath that runs from sundown on the seventh day of the week (Saturday) to sundown on the first day of the week (the Lord's Day). Thomas Shepard and John Cotton, for instance, have written able -- though I believe, erroneous -- treatises defending this view. Below are some Puritans and others who take the majority Christian position that the Christian Sabbath ought to be reckoned as we reckon other days, that is, from midnight to midnight, for midnight is when the morning begins.

Thomas Vincent, The Shorter Catechism Explained From Scripture, pp. 139-141:

Q. 6. When doth this holy day or Sabbath begin, in the evening before, or that morning from midnight?

A. In the evening before, by virtue of that word, "Remember to keep holy the seventh day," we ought to begin to prepare for the Sabbath; but the Sabbath itself doth not begin until the evening is spent, and midnight thereof over, and the morning after twelve of the clock beginneth.

Q. 7. Doth not the Scriptures require us to begin the Sabbath in the evening, when it is said, "The evening and the morning were the first day" (Gen. 1:5); and, "From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath?"— Lev. 33:32.

A. 1. It doth not follow that the evening of the first day was before the morning, though it be first spoken of; no more than that Shem and Ham were elder than Japheth, because they are reckoned up in order before him. "The sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen. 10:1); and yet Japheth is called the elder brother. — Verse 21. But Moses, reckoning up the works of God on the first day, retires back from the evening to the morning, and saith, they both make up the first day. Surely in the account of all nations, and in Scripture account too, the morning is before the evening. "The same day at evening, being the first day of the week, came Jesus," &c. (John 20:10), where the evening following this day, and on the evening before the day, is called the evening of the same day. 2. That place in Leviticus, concerning the celebration of the Sabbath from evening to evening, hath a reference only unto a ceremonial Sabbath, or day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month, wherein the Israelites were to afflict their souls; but it hath not a reference unto the weekly Sabbath.

Q. 8. How do you prove by the Scripture that the weekly Sabbath doth begin in the morning?

A. That the weekly Sabbath is to begin in the morning, is evident— 1. by Exod. 16:23: "This is that which the Lord hath said, to-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." If the Sabbath had begun in the evening, Moses would have said, This evening doth begin the rest of the Sabbath; but he saith, To-morrow is the rest of the Sabbath. 2. Most evidently it doth appear that the Sabbath doth begin in the morning, and not in the evening, by Matt. 28:1: "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre." If the end of the Jewish Sabbath were not in the evening, when it began to grow dark towards the night, but when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, which must needs be towards the morning, and in no rational sense can be interpreted of the evening, then the Sabbath did also begin in the morning, and not in the evening, for the beginning and ending must needs be about the same time. But the former is evident from this place, concerning the Jewish Sabbath's ending; and therefore, consequently concerning its beginning. 3. Further, it is also said in this place, that the first day, which is the Christian Sabbath, did begin towards the dawning, as it grew on towards light, and not as it grew on towards darkness; therefore the Christian Sabbath doth begin in the morning. 4. Moreover, the resurrection of Christ, in commemoration of which the Christian Sabbath is observed, was not in the evening, but early in the morning ("Now when Jesus was risen early, the first day of the week "— Mark 16:9); therefore the Sabbath is to begin in the morning. 5. If the Sabbath did begin in the evening before, it would end in the evening after; and it would be lawful for men to work in their callings, or to go to their recreations, on the evening of the Sabbath, which surely would be very unsuitable after the holy employments of that day.

William Gouge, The Sabbath's Sanctification:

Question 48. When begins the Lord's Day?
Ans. In the morning, Acts 20:7.
When Paul came to the Church at Troas, he had a mind to spend a Lord's day with them, though he was in great haste to depart so soon as he could. He came, therefore, to their assembly at the time that they came together according to their custom; but he kept them till the end of the day (for he would not travel on the Lord's day); and having dismissed the assembly, he departed. Now it said that he continued his speech "till midnight" (Acts 20:7), even "till break of day" (verse 11), and then departed; which departure of his is said to be "on the morrow." By this punctual expression of the time, it appears that the first day of the week, the Lord's day, ended at midnight, and that then the morrow began. Now to make a natural day, which consisteth of twenty four hours, it must begin and end at the same time; for the end of one day is the beginning of another. There is not a minute betwixt them. As, therefore, the Lord's day ended at midnight, so it must begin at midnight, when we count the morning to begin. Which is yet more evident by this phrase, Matt. 28:1, "In the end of the Sabbath" (namely, of the week before which was the former Sabbath) "as it began to dawn" (namely, on the next day, which was the Lord's day). Or, as John 20:1, "when it was yet dark" there came divers to anoint the body of Jesus, but they found him not in the grave. He was risen before; so as Christ rose before the sun.

Question 49. What reasons may be given of the Lord's day beginning in the morning?
Ans. Other days then begin.
That they do so with us is evident by the account of our hours. For midnight ended, we begin with one o'clock; then the first hour of the day beginneth. And it appears to be so among the Jews; for when Aaron proclaimed, Exod. 32:5, 6, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord," "they rose up early on the morrow." I deny not but that sundry of the Jewish feasts began in the evening, as the Passover (Exod. 12:6). But it cannot be proved that their weekly Sabbath so began. There were special reasons for the beginning of those feasts in the evening, which did then begin. As for the supposed beginnings of the first days gathered out of this phrase: "the evening and the morning were the first day;" they cannot be necessarily concluded to be at the evening. For the evening and the morning there importeth the moment of the evening and morning parting from one another, and the return to the same period; which moment is rather at the beginning of the morning than of the evening. The evening useth to be referred to the end of the day and the morning to the beginning, as Exod. 29:38, 29; 1 Sam. 17:16; John 20:19.

Question 50. What other reason is there of the Lord's day beginning in the morning.
Ans. Christ then rose, Mark 16:2, 9.
Of Christ's rising in the morning, no question can be made; all the evangelists agree in the narration thereof. Now the Lord's day being a memorial of Christ's resurrection, if it should begin in the evening, the memorial would be before the thing itself, wihch is absurd to imagine. As all God's works were finished before the first Sabbath, so all Christ's sufferings before the Lord's day. His lying dead in the grave was a part of his suffering. Therefore, by his resurrection was all ended. With his resurrection, therefore, must the Lord's day begin.

To make the evening before the Lord's day a time of preparation thereunto is a point of piety and prudence; but to make it a part of the Lord's day is erroneous, and in many respects very inconvenient.

William Perkins, Cases of Conscience, in Works, Vol. 2, p. 111-112:

When doth the Sabbath begin?

To this some doe answer, in the evening, and some in the morning. My answer is this, that the Sabbath of the new Testament amongst us is to begin in the morning, and so to continue till the next morrow, and not in the evening till the evening.

The reasons be these. 1. The Sabbath is to begin when other ordinarie dayes begin, according to the order and account of the Church wherein we live. 2. It was the practice of Christ and the Apostles. For Christ (as it hath beene thought of ancient times) consecrated the Sabbath, in that hee rose from the dead early in the morning, when the first day of the weeke began to dawne, Matth. 28.1. and therefore it is fit that the Sabbath day should then begin when he rose, for as much as it is kept in remembrance of his resurrection. The same was the practice of the Apostles. For Acts 20.7. the first day of the weeke the Jewes came together at Troas in the morning, and there Paul preached from that time till midnight; being the next morning to depart, having stayed there, as is plaine out of the sixth verse, seven daies. In that text I note two things. First, that the night there mentioned was a part of the seventh day of Pauls abode at Troas. For if it were not so, then he had stayed at least a night longer, and so more than seven days, because he should have stayed part of another day. Secondly, that this night was a part of the Sabbath which they then kept. For the apostle keeps it in manner of a Sabbath, in the exercises of piety and divine worship, and namely in preaching. Yea further, he continues there till the rest was fully ended: he communed with them till the dawning of the day, and so departed, verse 11. Besides this text, David saith in his Psalm of the Sabbath, that he will declare God’s loving kindness in the morning, and his truth in the night, Ps. 92:2, making the night following a part of the Sabbath.

Against this doctrine it is alleaged, first, that the Sabbath is to begin in the evening, because in the first of Genesis, it is said, six severall times, the evening and the morning made the first day, and so the second, and third, &c.

Answ. First, in that text when it is said, the evening and the morning made such and such daye, by the evening is understood the night, and by the morning the day, and the evening was the end of the day, and the morning the end of the night. This exposition is ancient, and yet in Scripture wee finde not one place where the evening is put for the night. Secondly, I answer, that the collection from that place is of no force: for thus the reason must needs be framed. That which God did in appointing of daies, the same must we doe in using of them: But in appointing of dayes, began the day at evening, Erg. &c. The consequent is false. For the case is otherwise in the constitution of time, than it is in the use of time constituted: and there is not the same reason of things in doing, as there is of the same things in being and use. Thirdly, this did not bind the Jewes. For they in all likelihood began their Sabbaths in the morning. Indeed their solemne feasts, as the Passover and such like, began and were kept from evening to morning, as wee may read, Levit. 23.5. But their ordinarie Sabbath was kept from morning to morning. Whence it is, that S. Matthew cals the dawning of the first day of the weeke, the end of the Sabbath of the Jewes, Mat. 28.1. and there is nothing (I take it) that can be brought to the contrarie.

It is objected that Moses saith, Lev. 23.32. From even to even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath. Answ. The words must be understood of the feast of reconciliation, being the tenth day of the seventh moneth, which was solemnized and kept from even to even. And it is called a Sabbath, because it was by special commandement appointed to bee kept as the Sabbath day, and that in two respects. First, because it was to be kept holy by the Jewes, in humbling themselves and offering sacrifices, vers. 37. Secondly, because upon that day it was not lawfull to doe any servile worke upon paine of death, vers. 25. 30.

Againe, it is alleaged that Ioseph of Arimathea could not embalme Christ, by reason that the Sabbath was at hand, and this was the evening. I answer, that the Jewes Sabbath there meant concurred with the day of their Passover, and hence it was that their Sabbath began in the evening.

By this that hath beene said, the answer to the third Question is plaine, to wit, that in the new Testament the Sabbath is to begin at the morning, and so to continue to the next morning, and not as some suppose, to begin at the even and continue till the next even.

James Ussher, A Body of Divinitie, p. 244-245:

Why doth our Sabbath begin at the dawning of the day?

Because Christ rose in the dawning; and to put a difference between the Jewish, and the true Christian Sabbath. For as the Jewes begun their Sabbath in that part of the day, in which the Creation of the world was ended, and consequently in the Evening: so the celebration of the memory of Christs Resurrection, and therein of his rest from his special labours and the renewing of the world, being the ground of the change of that day into this; it is also, by the same proportion of reason, to begin when the Resurrection began, which was in the morning.

Can you see this by example?

Yea. Paul being at Troas, after he had preached a whole day, until midnight, celebrated the supper of the Lord the same night, which was a Sabbath dayes exercise: and therefore that night following the day was apart of the Sabbath. For in the morning he departed, having staid there seven dayes: by which it is evident, that that which was done, was done upon the Lords day. Acts 20.7.--10.

William Ames, The Marrow of Theology, pp. 297-298:

35. Just as the beginning of the old sabbath occurred in the evening because the creation also began in the evening (the formless earth being created before the light) and the cessation of the work of creation also began at evening, so also the beginning of the Lord's Day appears to begin in the morning because the resurrection of Christ was in the early morning, Mark 16:2; John 20:1.

William Fenner, Treatise of the Sabbath:

Another reason is this: God rested the seventh day: now looke what time God rested, that time we must sanctifie: now God rested the seventh day, all of it, he left none of the creation to do upon the seventh day; he had finished the creation in six days, and rested all the seventh day, therefore we must keep the whole day. Thirdly, because this is the nature of a Sabbath to bee 24 houres, not to be an artificiall day, but to be a naturall day, 24 houres together, as you may see Lev. 23.32 you shall keep the Sabbath from evening to evening; then the days were reckoned from evening to evening from the creation; though now under the gospel, because Christ arose in the morning, they are reckoned from morning to morning.

John Flavel, An Exposition of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, re: Q. 57-59:

Q. 6. When doth the Christian Sabbath begin?

A. It appears that this day is not to be reckoned from evening to evening, but from morning to morning; because the Christian Sabbath must begin when the Jewish Sabbath ended, but that ended towards the morning, Matthew 28:1. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.

Fisher's Catechism, Q. 58:

Q. 1. To what about the Worship of God has this command a reference?

A. It refers to the special TIME of God's worship.

Q. 2. Is the TIME of God's worship left arbitrary to the will of man?

A. No; we are to keep holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word.
***
Q. 7. What is the special and stated time, which God has expressly, appointed in his word, to be kept holy?

A. One whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

Q. 8. What is meant by a whole day?

A. A whole natural day, consisting of twenty-four hours.

Q. 9 What do you understand by one whole day in seven?

A. A seventh part of our weekly time; or one complete day, either, after or before six days' labour.

Q. 10. When should we begin and end this day?

A. We should measure it just as we do other days, from midnight to midnight, without alienating any part of it to our own works.

George Swinnock, The Works of George Swinnock, Vol. 1, pp. 245-246:

Observe how exact God is in expressing a whole natural day: "From evening to evening you shall keep the Sabbath," Lev 23:32. Their days were reckoned from evening to evening, from the creation; but ours, because Christ rose in the morning, from morning to morning.

Matthew Poole, Annotations Upon the Holy Bible, Vol. I, p. 249, re Lev. 23.32:

The Jews are supposed to begin every day, and consequently their sabbaths, at the evening, in remembrance of the creation, Gen. i. 5, as Christians generally begin their days and sabbaths with the morning, in memory of Christ’s resurrection.

Thomas Ridgley, A Body of Divinity, Vol. 3, pp. 495-497:

IV. The proportion of time that is to be observed as a weekly Sabbath. Thus it is said in this answer, we are to keep holy to God, one whole day in seven. A day is either artificial or natural. The former is the space of time from the sun's rising, to it's setting; the latter contains in it the space of twenty four hours. Now the Lord's day must be supposed to continue longer than the measure of an artificial day; otherwise it would fall short of a seventh part of time. But this has not so many difficulties attending it, as that has which relates to the time of the day when it begins. Nevertheless, we have some direction, as to this matter, from the intimation given us, that Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, while it was yet dark, John xx.1. Luke xxiv.1. Therefore the Lord's day begins in the morning, before sun rising; or, according to our usual way of reckoning, we may conclude, that it begins immediately after midnight, and continues till mid-night following; which is our common method of computing time, beginning the day with the morning, and ending it with the evening; and it is agreeable to the Psalmist's observation; Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labour in the morning, until the evening, Psal. civ.23. Rest, in the order of nature, follows after labour; therefore the night follows the day; and consequently the Lord's day evening follows the day, on which account it must be supposed to begin in the morning.

Again, if the Sabbath begins in the evening, religious worship ought to be performed sometime, at least, in the evening; and then, soon after it is begun, it will be interrupted by the succeeding night, and then it must be revived again in the following day. And, as to the end of the Sabbath, it seems not so agreeable, that, when we have been engaged in the worship of God in the day, we should spend the evening in secular employments; which cannot be judged unlawful, if the Sabbath be then at an end. Therefore, it is much more expedient, that the whole work of the day should be continued as along our worldly employments are on other days; and our beginning and ending the performance of religious duties, should in some measure, be agreeable thereunto. Again, this may be proved from what is said in Exod. xvi.23. To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Whereas, if the Sabbath had begun in the evening, it would rather have been said, this evening begins the rest of the holy Sabbath.

Another scripture generally thought to prove this argument, is in John xx.19. 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 said unto them, Peace be unto you; it is called the evening of the same day; so that the worship which was performed that day, was continued in the evening thereof. This is not called the evening of the next day, but of the same day in which Christ rose from the dead; which was the first Christian Sabbath.

Object. To this it is objected, that the ceremonial Sabbaths under the law, began at evening. Thus it is said, in Lev. xxiii.5. In the fourteenth day of the first month, at even, is the Lord's passover; and ver. 32. speaking concerning the feast of expiation, which was on the tenth day of seventh month, it is said, It shall be unto a Sabbath of rest; and ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month, at even; From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.

Answ. To this it may be answered; that the beginning of sacred days is to be at the same time with that of civil; and this was governed by the custom of nations. The Jews' civil day began at evening; and therefore it was ordained that from evening to evening, should be the measure of their sacred days. Our days have another beginning and ending, which difference is only circumstantial. Whereas, the principal thing enjoined, is, that one whole day in seven, be observed as a Sabbath to the Lord.

Roasting Venison

William Bridge, Sermon 8: "The Work and Way of Meditation," in Works, Vol. 3, pp. 147-148:

The sabbath day is our market day; and then after we have bought our market on the sabbath, we should roast it by meditation on the week. We do not go to the market on the market day, to buy meat into the house only for the market day, but for all the time until the market day comes about again. Indeed Solomon saith of the sluggard, that he is so sluggish and slothful, that "he doth not roast what he hath taken in hunting." The sabbath day is the hunting day for souls wherein the venison is taken: on the week day we are to roast it, and to live upon it by meditation, and otherwise. And what is the reason that many do not live upon their venison, that they have taken on the Lord's day? but because they do not roast it by meditation on the week day, and so are in the number of Solomon's sluggards: the sluggard roasteth not the venison that he hath taken in hunting. I am sure that David in the cxixth Psalm saith, that his meditation was at work all the day long: "It is my meditation all the day;" not a piece of it, it is every day's work, it is all the day's work. Yea in Psalm i. he takes in the night too. "He delighteth in the law of the Lord, and therein doth he meditate day and night." So that that is the second thing, meditation work is every day's work. As it is every man's work, so it is every day's work.

North Sea Cross-Pollination

James Gilfillan, writing in The Sabbath Viewed in the Light of Reason, Revelation, and History with Sketches of its Literature (1862), pp. 114-117, notes a fascinating connection between the Sabbatarian views of Scottish Presbyterians and those of the Dutch Nadere Reformatie. He points out that some of the largest and unrefuted treatises on the Sabbath originated on both sides of the North Sea.

First, the massive treatise of John Brown of Wamphray (c. 1610-1679), De Causa Dei contra Anti-Sabbatarios Tractatus, or Treatise in the Cause of God against the Anti-Sabbatarians (Rotterdam, 1674-1676). Brown was a Scottish Covenanter who fled his motherland due to persecution, and ended in spending his last days in Holland, residing in Rotterdam and Utrecht. Gilfillan writes that this treatise was his "principal, though least popular work, and we should suppose, the largest ever published on the subject." James Walker writes that Brown's magnum opus is "larger than all the published works of Dr. [William] Cunningham put together" and this treatise of "our Scottish doctrine of the Sabbath...belongs, among books, to the order of the mighties: it is great in length, great in learning, great in patient sifting of the subject and in meeting of assertions and marshalling of arguments," The Theology and Theologians of Scotland: Chiefly of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, p. 25). Written in Latin, much of it remains untranslated into English today, although, thankfully, a select portion of this work representing representing perhaps the earliest Scottish Covenanter defense of exclusive psalmody has been translated in two parts appearing in The Confessional Presbyterian Journal (part one translated by N.E. Barry Hofstetter in 2007, and part two by my pastor, Dr. Steven Dilday, in 2009). This translation effort is most valuable, and it is to be hoped that the remainder of this worthy translation project will be taken up sooner rather than later.

Second, the compilation of two works on the Sabbath published in 1685 by Jacobus Koelman (1632-1695), the Dutch Puritan divine, entitled Het dispuit, en de historie, mitsgaders de praktijke van den sabbath, en's Heeren-dag (The Argument, History, and Practice of the Sabbath and the Lord's Day). Gilfillan describes it thus: "The work is second in magnitude only to that of Brown, and, like it, is a complete thesaurus on its subject. The arrangement of topics, which is indicated by the title, is happy, and each of them receives its distinct and proportionate attention. It has a novel feature of peculiar interest in the historical account which it supplies of opinions on the Sabbath, and of Sabbatic controversies in England and the Netherlands." Koelman and Brown were close friends, and in fact, Koelman translated certain works by Brown into Dutch.

Finally, Matthew Crawford (c. 1640-1700), a Scottish Presbyterian minister, wrote Exercitatio Apologetica, pro doctrina (de perpetua obligatione quarti precepti de Sabbato) ab Ecclesus Reformatis Communites recepta, adversus Socinianos, Anabaptistas, Libertinos, Pontificiodo quosdam Lutheranos, Enthusiastas, & quosdum Viros Doctos in Ecclesiis Reformatis (Utrecht, 1669) and dedicated it to Gisbertus Voetius. He was drawn to the Continent "having been captivated with the writings of the Belgic divines, on account of their signal erudition, and complete agreement in doctrine with his own Church and the Westminster Assembly." His grief at seeing the profanation of the Lord's Day there led to the eventual publication of this treatise, which Jacobus Koelman said in 1685 had never been answered.

These powerful works upholding the Christian Lord's Day reflect the "cross-pollination" that occurred between the the Puritans and Covenanters of the British isles and the Nadere Reformatie of the Netherlands. Though they represent perhaps the high-watermark of Puritan Sabbatarianism in the seventeenth century, it would be consistent with the aims of those divines on both sides of the North Sea, and desirable for us, to have each of these Latin and Dutch works fully available in the English and Dutch languages in the twenty-first century. It is my hope and prayer that, in the Lord's providence, this will come to pass.

Saturday Recreation

While Saturday evening is most properly spent in preparation for the Lord's Day ("To make the evening before the Lord's day a time of preparation thereunto is a point of piety and prudence," William Gouge, The Sabbath's Sanctification), it is lawful and useful to find time for recreation during the day on Saturday when one's responsibilities permit. The world likes to make the first day of the week its play-day, but the example of Robert Harris, Westminster Divine (1581-1658), shows how recreation has its place on our own time, and not the Lord's. It might even be said, in his case, that Saturday recreation better enabled Sabbath-keeping.

James Reid, Memoirs of the Lives and Writings of those Eminent Divines, who convened in the famous Assembly at Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. 1, p. 17:

Dr Harris was eminently distinguished by his prudent government of himself and his family, as well as of his college and of his flock. His government of himself was very remarkable. He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. But the prudent subject of this memoir had much rule over his own spirit, and was like the standing city, having strong walls. He was most exactly temperate in the use of all things, confining himself strictly to hours for food, sleep, labour, and recreation. He ate sparingly and seasonably, which had a strong tendency to preserve in him much vigour, even to a great age. His principal time for recreation was the afternoon of Saturday, when he would unbend his mind, and allow himself some harmless recreation, in order that he might be more vigorous for the important and deeply interesting work of the Lord's day.

Pastor and Prelate on the Fourth Commandment

David Calderwood, The Pastor and the Prelate, pp. 29-31:

15. THE PASTOR thinketh it no Judaism nor superstition, but a moral duty to observe the Sabbath.[1] Because, first, the observation of one day of seven, albeit it be positively divine, yet it is not ceremonial nor for a time, but unchangeable, and obligeth perpetually, as is manifest by the time when it was appointed before the fall, when there was no type of redemption by Christ, and by numbering it among the ten precepts of the moral law, written by the finger and proclaimed by the voice of God, which cannot be said of any changeable law. Neither can it be called perpetual and moral in this sense, that a certain time is to be allotted to divine worship; for then the building of the tabernacle and temple, the new moons, and other legal festivities, containing in them a general equity, might as well be accounted moral. Secondly, the change of the Sabbath from the last to the first day of the week is by divine authority, from Christ himself, from whom it is called the Lord's day, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, who did institute the worship of the day, and rested from his labours that day, whereon all things were made new by his resurrection, and sanctified it, even as in the beginning God rested from all his works on the seventh day, and blessed it. He thinketh it no more contrary to Christian liberty than it was to Adam, in his innocence, to keep one of the seven, and therefore he laboureth to make the Sabbath his delight, -- observeth it himself -- and by his doctrine, example and discipline, teacheth others to do the like; and to cease not only from all servile works which require great labour of the body, but from all our own works whatsoever, drawing our minds from the exercises of religion, and serving our own gain and commodity, except in the cases of necessity, caused by divine providence. He would have it well considered wherein the Jews were more strictly obliged than Christians, and what liberty we have that they had not. Beside the Sabbath he can admit no ordinary holidays appointed by man, whether in respect of any mystery, or of difference of one day from another, as being warranted by mere tradition, against the doctrine of Christ and his apostles, but accounteth the solemn fasts and humiliations unto which the Lord calleth, to be extraordinary sabbaths, warranted by God himself.

THE PRELATE, by his doctrine, practice, example, and neglect of discipline, declareth that he hath no such reverend estimation of the Sabbath. He doteth so upon the observation of Pasche [Easter], Yule [Christmas], and festival days appointed by men, that he prefereth them to the Sabbath, and hath turned to nothing our solemn fasts and blessed humiliations.

[1] Gen. ii.2, 3; Exod. xx.; Deut. v.; Numb. xv.32; Neh. xiii.15; Isa. lvi.2; lviii.13; Joel i.14; Psal. cx.3; John xx.16, 26; Acts ii.1; xx.7; 1 Cor. xvi.1; Gal. iv.9,10; Col. ii.16, 17; Rev. i.10.

The Pilgrims' First Sabbath on Shore

J.S. Clark, "The Pilgrims' First Sabbath on Shore," in The Illustrated Pilgrim Memorial (1872), p. 8:

Why has no painter immortalized his name by transferring to canvass this Sabbath scene [on Clark's Island], the first ever witnessed on the shores of New England? As an illustration of the true Pilgrim spirit, nothing can exceed it. We see them now, in imagination, grouped in devout posture around a forest fire, while "Deacon Carver," the newly elected governor, reads from his pocket Bible an appropriate chapter, and "lines" a favorite psalm, which gives vent to full-hearted and high-sounding praise. We hear the fervent prayers and earnest prophesyings of Bradford and Winslow, who, though yet young, are much experienced in these exercises. We behold the solemnity that rests even on the sailor's countenance, as, silently musing on perils recently passed, he participates in the service, while not a rising cloud, nor breaking wave, nor frightened sea-gull escapes his ever watchful eye.

But why are they there, under the open canopy of heaven, on that raw December day? Because it was just there that the Sabbath overtook them, while searching to find a place of settlement for themselves and their little ones, whom they left four days ago at the end of Cape Cod, on board the May-Flower, in charge of a captain who begins to talk of setting them all ashore on the sand, unless they find a place soon.* But how is it that, under such a pressing necessity they can spare the time for so much psalm-singing, and prayer, and prophesying? Do they not know that works of "necessity and mercy" are lawful on that day? Yes, but they do not believe that their present necessities are sufficient to justify a suspense of the Sabbath law in the sight of God. They are even more scrupulous than that; rather than approach the Lord's Day under such bodily exhaustion as will unfit them for religious worship (an essential part of their Sabbath observance), they would spend the whole of Saturday in recovering tired nature from extra fatigue, and in preparing for the Sabbath, — as they actually did.

Here we have the Pilgrim Sabbath, not as discussed in a learned treatise, not as explained in a catechism; not as enforced in a sermon, but as actually kept, and that, too, under circumstances which exclude all suspicion of any sham observance — any mere pretence of religious strictness.

* In Bradford's Journal, lately discovered in the Fallhane library, England, and printed by the Massachusetts Historical Society, the account is given thus, immediately after the record of their perilous escape to Clark's Island on that stormy Friday night. "But though this had been a day and night of much trouble and danger unto them, yet God gave them a morning of comfort and refreshing (as usually he doth to his children), for the next day was a fair sunshining day, and they found themselves to be on an island secure from the Indians, where they might dry their stuff, fix their pieces and rest themselves, and give God thanks for his mercies m their manifold deliverances. And this being the last day of the week, they prepared to keep the Sabbath."

When Begins the Lord's Day?

William Gouge, The Sabbath's Sanctification:

Question 48. When begins the Lord's Day?

Ans. In the morning, Acts 20:7.

When Paul came to the Church at Troas, he had a mind to spend a Lord's day with them, though he was in great haste to depart so soon as he could. He came, therefore, to their assembly at the time that they came together according to their custom; but he kept them till the end of the day (for he would not travel on the Lord's day); and having dismissed the assembly, he departed. Now it said that he continued his speech "till midnight" (Acts 20:7), even "till break of day" (verse 11), and then departed; which departure of his is said to be "on the morrow." By this punctual expression of the time, it appears that the first day of the week, the Lord's day, ended at midnight, and that then the morrow began. Now to make a natural day, which consisteth of twenty four hours, it must begin and end at the same time; for the end of one day is the beginning of another. There is not a minute betwixt them. As, therefore, the Lord's day ended at midnight, so it must begin at midnight, when we count the morning to begin. Which is yet more evident by this phrase, Matt. 28:1, "In the end of the Sabbath" (namely, of the week before which was the former Sabbath) "as it began to dawn" (namely, on the next day, which was the Lord's day). Or, as John 20:1, "when it was yet dark" there came divers to anoint the body of Jesus, but they found him not in the grave. He was risen before; so as Christ rose before the sun.

Question 49. What reasons may be given of the Lord's day beginning in the morning?

Ans. Other days then begin.

That they do so with us is evident by the account of our hours. For midnight ended, we begin with one o'clock; then the first hour of the day beginneth. And it appears to be so among the Jews; for when Aaron proclaimed, Exod. 32:5, 6, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord," "they rose up early on the morrow." I deny not but that sundry of the Jewish feasts began in the evening, as the Passover (Exod. 12:6). But it cannot be proved that their weekly Sabbath so began. There were special reasons for the beginning of those feasts in the evening, which did then begin. As for the supposed beginnings of the first days gathered out of this phrase: "the evening and the morning were the first day;" they cannot be necessarily concluded to be at the evening. For the evening and the morning there importeth the moment of the evening and morning parting from one another, and the return to the same period; which moment is rather at the beginning of the morning than of the evening. The evening useth to be referred to the end of the day and the morning to the beginning, as Exod. 29:38, 29; 1 Sam. 17:16; John 20:19.

Question 50. What other reason is there of the Lord's day beginning in the morning.

Ans. Christ then rose, Mark 16:2, 9.

Of Christ's rising in the morning, no question can be made; all the evangelists agree in the narration thereof. Now the Lord's day being a memorial of Christ's resurrection, if it should begin in the evening, the memorial would be before the thing itself, wihch is absurd to imagine. As all God's works were finished before the first Sabbath, so all Christ's sufferings before the Lord's day. His lying dead in the grave was a part of his suffering. Therefore, by his resurrection was all ended. With his resurrection, therefore, must the Lord's day begin.

To make the evening before the Lord's day a time of preparation thereunto is a point of piety and prudence; but to make it a part of the Lord's day is erroneous, and in many respects very inconvenient.

The Whole Day

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chap. 21:

VIII. This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

John Willison, A Treatise Concerning the Sanctification of the Lord's Day, p. 77-79:

Quest. VI. What is that proportion of time which is to be sequestrated and allowed for the Sabbath day? and when doth it begin and end.

Ans. The fourth command requires one day in every seven; by which we are not to understand only the artificial day from sun-rising to sun-setting, or from the break of day until the darkness of the night comes on, and think then the Sabbath is over, and that we are no longer bound to abstain from our own works; and far less are we to think that the Sabbath is no longer than the time of public worship doth last, and that we are at freedom from the work and duties of the Sabbath when that is over. This some say in words, and many more in their practice.

But, consider what absurdities would follow hereupon: For, if no more time be allowed for the Sabbath, but the time of public worship; then it would follow, that God requires no private or secret duties from us on that day, since these will need some more time: but that cannot be; for, if private and secret duties be required of us on week days, then much more on the Sabbath day.

Again, it would follow, that some must keep longer Sabbaths, and others shorter; nay, the Sabbath or many shall not be above an hour or two of the day; for there are ministers and people who are scarce so long at public worship. But the whole day is the Lord's, and not a part only. You will have your servants to work the whole six week days, for you, from morning to night, and not be contented with their working an hour or two only of these days: so neither should you yield less to God than you require for yourselves. Nay, if attendance on public worship were all that is requisite this day, by virtue of the command, it would follow, that a man would be loosed from the obligation of the command, if he were in a place of the world where God is not publicly worshipped.

But all these things being absurd, I do, upon solid ground assert, that the whole natural day, consisting of twenty-four hours, is to be set apart for the Sabbath day; and that we ought to measure this day, and begin and end it, as we do other days, that is, from midnight to midnight; during which time we are to abstain from our own works, and sanctify the Lord's Sabbath. For the fourth command binds us to consecrate the seventh part of every week to 'the Lord, who challengeth a special property in one day of seven, and asserts his just title thereto, saying, "the seventh day is the Lord's: and also Isa. lviii.13. he expressly calls it, " My holy day." It is all holy; and therefore no part must be profaned or applied to common uses. It is all the Lord's; and so it is unlawful for us to rob him of any part of it, and alienate it to our private use.

Object. But who is able to spend the whole twenty-four hours in religious duties ?

Ans. I do not say that this is to be done without any intermission; for we do not this in following our employments on other days: a due proportion of every day is to be reserved for the natural support of our bodies, and particularly for moderate eating and sleeping, which are works of necessity, and must be allowed on the Sabbath, as well as other days; with this difference only, that whereas they are done on other days to enable us for labour, they are to be done on the Sabbath to strengthen us for holy duties; and so cannot properly be called our own works. Neither can the doing thereof be called a taking of God's time to our own use, since this contributes to our better spending of God's time, and is truly necessary for God's service on the Sabbath. But, besides the time requisite for the works of necessity and mercy, the whole natural day as above described, is holy unto the Lord, and ought to be employed in religious duties; and not a part of the day only. Both Sabbath morning and Sabbath night, should be spent in prayer and praises, as is plain from the 92d Psalm, which is entitled, " A psalm or song for the Sabbath day," ver. 1.; and ver. 2. we are told, that "It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, and shew forth his loving kindness in the morning, and his faithfulness every night." But more of this afterwards, when I come directly to treat of the sanctification of the Sabbath. And, before I do this, I judge it necessary to answer some objections brought, against the morality of the Sabbath, and the change of the day.

Recreation

Far from being killjoys, Puritans aimed to do all to the glory of God, so they not only worked hard but played hard, when it was appropriate to do so. Below is a snapshot of Puritan views on recreation in general and particularly with respect to the Lord's Day.

William Burkitt, A Help and Guide to Christian Families, p. 27:

It being impossible for the mind of man to be always intent upon business, and for the body to be exercised in continual labours, the wisdom of God has therefore adjudged some diversion and recreation (the better to fit both body and mind for the service of their Maker) to be both needful and expedient: such is the constitution of our bodies, and the complexion of our minds, that neither of them can endure a constant toil without some relaxation and delighting diversion. As a bow, if always bent, will prove sluggish and unserviceable; in like manner will a Christian's mind if always intent upon the best things: the arrow of devotion will soon flag, and fly but slowly towards heaven. A wise and good man perhaps could wish that his body needed no such diversion; but finding his body tire and grow weary, he is forced to give way, and choose such recreations as are healthful, short, and proper to refresh both mind and body.

William Perkins, The Order and Causes of Salvation and Damnation in The Works of William Perkins, Vol. 1, pp. 57-58:

Recreation is an exercise joined with the fear of God, conversant with things indifferent, for the preservation of bodily strength and the confirmation of the mind in holiness (Eccl. 2.2; Isa. 5.12; 1 Cor. 10.9; Luke 6.25; Deut. 12.7). To this end hath the Word of God permitted shooting (2 Sam. 1.18); musical consort (Neh. 7.67); putting forth riddles (Judges 14.12); hunting of wild beasts (Cant. 2.15); searching out or the contemplation of the works of God (1 Kings 4.33).

James T. Dennison, Jr., The Market Day of the Soul: The Puritan Doctrine of the Sabbath in England, 1532-1700, Appendix 2: The Puritan Attitude Toward Recreation, pp. 174-176:

Appendix 2

The Puritan Attitude Toward Recreation

The Puritans were not opposed to recreations per se. Lawful ("honest") recreations were encouraged on the other six days of the week. Bownd's remark was typical: "I am not of that minde...to thinke that men should never take delight, and that all recreation were sinfull..."1 However, even honest recreations were to be suspended on the Lord's day because they interfered with the proper sanctification of the Sabbath.2 The Puritans also cited Isaiah 58:13-14 in defense of their position; God had clearly revealed His opposition to taking one's own "pleasure" on the Sabbath.3

Some would counter the Puritan arguments with the observation that recreation was not possible on any day other than Sunday.4 The Puritan reply is significant: "If men will allow seruants recreations, let them allow part of their owne time, and be liberall in that which their owne, and not in that which God hath giuen them no such warrant to bestow on their seruants."5

Labor was not to be exploited. Men were to be allowed honest recreations Monday through Saturday.6 Though the general rule was that Sunday was playday, people did find time for sport on week-days; witness Bridenbaugh's remark: "...young men who would 'endure long and hard labour in so much that after twelve hours hard work they will go in the evening to football, stoole ball, cricket, prison-base, wrestling, cugel throwing, or some such like vehement exercise.'"7

Richard Baxter maintained that the argument from lack of spare time on week-days was a "sad argument to be used by them that by racking of rents do keep them (laboring people) in poverty."8 The Puritan protest against Sabbath profanation was also a protest against overwork on the other six days of the week.

But the truth is, it is not the minds of poor laboring men, that are overworked and tired on week-days, but it is their bodies; and therefore there is no recreation so suitable to them as the ease of the body, and the holy and joyful exercise of the mind, upon their Creator, and their Redeemer, and their everlasting rest.9

1 Bownd, Sabbathum Veteris, p. 271; cf. Dudley Fenner, A Short and Profitable Treatise, of lavvful and unlavvful Recreations; William Perkins, 1558-1602: English Puritanist, ed. by Thomas F. Merrill (Nieuwkoop, 1966), pp. 217-22 with extracts from Perkins' The Whole Treatise of Cases of Conscience, Book 3.
2 Elton, An Exposition of the Ten Commandments, pp. 54-56; George Walker, The Doctrine of the Holy Weekly Sabbath (London, 1641), p. 157; Richard Baxter, The Divine Appointment of the Lord's Day, pp. 440, 444-445.
3 Cf. Nicolas Bifield (Byfield), The Beginning of the Doctrine of Christ, or, A Catalogue of Sinnes (London, 1636), p. 63.
4 For a survey of the relative truth of this point, see Carl Bridenbaugh, Vexed and Troubled Englishmen, 1590-1642 (New York, 1968), pp. 109-118.
5 John Dod and Robert Cleaver, A Plaine and Familiar Exposition of the Ten Commandments (London, 1628), p. 140.
6 Percy Scholes (The Puritans and Music in England and New England (London, 1934), pp. 104-111) mentions the provisions of a bill presented to Parliament in 1647 which allowed every other Tuesday to be designated as a holiday. Scholes' judicious treatment of the Puritan attitude toward recreation is refreshing as well as accurate; cf. also pp. 302-331. Compare Hugh Martin, Puritanism and Richard Baxter (London, 1954), pp. 101-106.
7 Bridenbaugh, Vexed, p. 115.
8 Baxter, Divine Appointment, p. 444.
9 Ibid., p. 445.

A Summer Sabbath Morning

John Willison, "How to Spend the Morning of the Lord's Day," in A Treatise Concerning the Sanctification of the Lord's Day, pp. 170-172:

When you awake on Sabbath morning, rejoice at the approach of this blessed day: As the birds chirp and sing at the dawning of the morning's light, so let believers account the light of this day sweet, as being a day of signal mercies, a day of communion with God, a day wherein the Spirit's dews fall upon the soul. As "Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day," John viii. 56. so ought you this morning, saying with the Psalmist, Psal. cxviii. 24. "This is the day the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."
...
If it is a summer morning, when the sun may be up and shining when thou awakest, then think, Christ the light of the world rose early this morning from the dark grave, wherein he lay buried for my sake. "The Sun of righteousness was up this day before the natural sun." Or, think, this is the day wherein God said, "Let there be light, and it was so." Is the light so sweet and is it so pleasant a thing for the eyes to behold the sun? O how much more to see Christ the bright Morning-Star this day by the eye of faith, to see the Sun of righteousness shining in the firmament of gospel ordinances! Let me rise and prepare for this sight; O that my eyes may be cleared, and the mote taken out of the eye of faith, that I may this day see him, in comparison of whom the sun is but a dark clod of earth! O my soul, rise from the earth this day, get the moon under thy feet, and clothe thyself with the Sun; draw nigh to God in Christ, and set thy affections on things above: thou art capable of communion with God, do not debase thyself in raking always in the dunghill of this world, in licking the dust with the serpent, or feeding on husks with the swine, as if thou hadst no higher end to serve than the world. Why wilt thou lie among the pots, and wallow in the puddle, when crystal streams are so near?