that St. John would especially delight to associate this day with his Master, and with those days of the Son of Man' upon earth, which had so long been the constant subject of his teaching and his thoughts. But there is also in this name -' the Lord's Day'-an evident reference to the truth, which was thus stated by our Lord Himself when He said, 'The Son of man. is Lord also of the Sabbath.'

A similar claim had already been made upon two occasions,—the most important and memorable recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. The first is that which is described in the second chapter of Genesis, where we read, that immediately after the work of Creation was finished, 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,' setting it apart for a special and sacred purpose, as the Sabbath or Day of Rest, 'because that in it He had rested from all His work, which God created and made.' It has been observed, that there is not, in connexion with the

seventh day, any mention of 'the evening and morning,' since it was typical of the eternal Sabbath, the Rest, which has no evening, 'for the Lord shall be its everlasting Light, and the days of mourning shall be ended.' There was also something prophetic in the fact, that, as that first Sabbath dawned upon a sinless and as yet a solitary world, it was the first complete day, which Adam spent in Paradise. It was, therefore, in this sense to him, as the representative of the human race, the first day of the week, as well as of his life upon earth.

The claim, upon the part of God to a special property in this sacred day, was renewed at the giving of the Law upon Mount Sinai. It was again—in the Fourth Commandment-solemnly consecrated by the Creator for the benefit of His creatures, and its observance, as a day of weekly and hallowed rest, was enjoined upon man chiefly for this reason: 'It is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.' During

the ministry of our Lord and Saviour He frequently, and in various ways, referred to this part of that moral law which He came 'not to destroy, but to fulfil.'* The repeated instruction given by the Lord Jesus upon this subject was evidently intended to clear away those errors, and superstitions, and traditions, which prevented the fulfilment of the great purpose expressed in His own words: 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.' He thus prepared the way for the time when it could be more truly

* In an able tract on this subject by the Right Hon. W. Brooke, he asks, 'What legislator, intending to abrogate a law, would take such pains to explain it, to make known its spirit, its limits, its true use, and all the while express no word of disapprobation or intended abolition? Can those who allege that we are not bound by the Fourth Commandment explain the facts above stated, remembering at the same time that no express abrogation of that law is pronounced by the Lord or His apostles?'-The Lord's Day in the Light of the New Testament.

called, from its connexion with the Redeemer's finished work and Resurrection triumph, 'the Lord's Day.' As in resting from the work of Creation, God sanctified the seventh day, so in resting from the greater work of Redemption, He, who is at once in His own Person God and man, hallowed as the Christian Sabbath the first day, but still the seventh part of each week. Ever since-the fact and the circumstances of the Saviour's glorious resurrection have been connected with each succeeding Lord's Day. Thus, upon that first Easter morning, in the garden of the Sepulchre, from which the Lord had risen, the barriers which had hitherto separated this sinful world from other parts of the universe were, for a time at least, removed. Angels, who adored, and obeyed, and served the same Lord, mingled familiarly with the disciples of Christ. They brought near thereby that world to come, where the redeemed shall be restored to still closer

fellowship with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.' There in that 'rest which remaineth' the full meaning of those words, addressed by one of them to Mary Magdalene, shall be understood, when the tears of our earthly tribulation are at length wiped away, 'Woman, why weepest thou?' They also told of life and immortality brought to light by the risen Redeemer, saying, 'Why seek ye the living amongst the dead? He is not here, for he is risen, as he said; come, see the place where the Lord lay.' Upon the same day at evening, and also upon the Lord's Day which followed, the Saviour hallowed the united worship of His disciples then, and of His Church ever after, by appearing to them and saying, 'Peace be unto you.' 'Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.' Again, the first day of the week was the Christian Pentecost, when, as the disciples in Jerusalem were met together in one place,' the