relating to the guidance and regulation of the church, were directed by divine inspiration, their practice in regard to matters connected with the well-being of their infant society must have been agreeable to the divine will. Influenced by a piety the most profound, and guided by a celestial monitor, they would never authorize by their example any religious ordinance of merely human invention. Whatever was sanctioned by their practice must be allowed to be sanctioned by the Holy Spirit, under whose influence they acted. The only doubt that can reasonably be indulged is, whether it might not be of a temporary nature, necessary to the then state of Christianity, but to be dispensed with after the complete establishment of the gospel. The apostles, as appears from the sacred history, far from exhibiting an unbending severity of manners, accommodated themselves to the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed; they were made all things to all men that they might by all means save some'; but in these cases their practices evidently appear to be so conformed. Thus they consulted the infirmities of their weaker brethren by teaching such doctrines alone as they were able to bear it'; they sometimes complied with the Levitical ceremo

• 1 Cor. ix. 22.

1 Cor. iii. 2.

nies relating to vows"; and to purification*; they sometimes adhered to the rite of circumcision; they privately assembled for divine worship; and sometimes yielded to the prejudices of others respecting meats: all which, it is clear beyond contradiction arose from a compliance with temporary circumstances".

This compliance seems to have been their invariable custom, as far as it could be carried without compromising the essential principles of the gospel; and, being the suggestion of the Spirit, is to be followed by all who are similarly circumstanced. No example can be more worthy of imitation than that of men illuminated with celestial light; at the same time this is required by common sense to be limited to cases strictly parallel. Nothing is more absurd than the application of what was meant for one age to a totally

b The apostolical decree sent from Jerusalem to the converts at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, (Acts xv. 1, et seq.) cannot be cited as an instance of such compliance, for there is considerable doubt whether it was designed to be temporary or permanent; a doubt which must remain till it be shewn satisfactorily who are meant by the brethren of the Gentiles to whom it was addressed, which is a difficult, if not impossible task.

?

different state of society and manners. But the apostolical practice in things, neither specially adapted to existing circumstances, nor in their own nature temporary, nor declared to be so in the sacred writings, is the very strongest evidence of their propriety and obligation. If the gospel contained no exhortation to charity, the example of the apostles in contributing to the relief of the poor would be sufficient to recommend the duty of pecuniary benevolence; and, by parity of reason, their practice of religious rites and ordinances, if not originating in local circumstances, is just as strong evidence of their being suggested by the Holy Spirit, as their being expressly appointed in the Holy Scriptures.

Applying these observations to the sabbath, its permanent obligation must be allowed if the apostles have sanctioned it by their authority and example. In proof of this, it is not enough to shew that they have observed it, for they occasionally adopted some transitory rites; but it must likewise be shewn that there is nothing either in its own nature, or in the sacred Scriptures, designating it to be a transitory institution. They might keep one day in seven as a solemn festival out of deference to Jewish prejudices, or to the opinions and habits of those nations among

C

Rom. xv. 26. Gal. ii. 10. Acts vi. 1-4.

whom they preached the gospel; and they might consider it only as a valuable means of furthering the establishment of a new religion in the world. It is therefore requisite to evince that the contrary is the fact; that, in its adoption, they neither acted in compliance with the manners, rites, and customs of Jews or heathens; and that they were not actuated by any considerations of local interest and expediency.

Now for this purpose it may, perhaps, be only necessary to allege the manifold benefits of the sabbatical institution, which have been before stated, and which are of such a kind as are not more advantageous to the nascent church, than to every succeeding age. But it is further to be considered, that it contains nothing in its nature and object which points it out as an accommodation to peculiar circumstances, or as designed for only a temporary continuance. It could not be adopted in compliance with Jewish notions and prejudices, since these were opposed and thwarted by the appointment of a different day in the week from the Jewish sabbath; neither could it be out of deference to the feelings of pagans, all whose prepossessions were inveterately hostile to every thing that bore the stamp of Hebrew usages. Alike beneficial in the end and in the means, and not more useful to ancient than to modern nations, it bears all the characters of an institution

intended for perpetuity; and if the first disciples of Christ had not regarded it in that light, they would, we may suppose, either have told us so, or dropt some expressions from which their sentiments might be collected. Not the slightest intimation to this effect, however, is to be found in the whole Christian Scriptures; and, consequently, if the Apostles really observed a weekly festival, not as a local and temporary, but permanent institution, its sacred obligation is demonstrated, inasmuch as their sanction, under these circumstances, is the sanction of inspiration.

That the first teachers of Christianity were accustomed to appropriate a septenary day to religious services, is evinced by several unanswerable testimonies. In the gospel of St. John we read that 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;" and also in a subsequent verse, "after (uerà) eight days again his disciples were within, &c." Before proceeding farther it is necessary to remove an objection advanced by Heylin and others, namely, that the Evangelist's expressions should

• John xx. 19, 26.