( PARTII

The Example of
the Puritans
J
world to the resurrection of
Christ, was the last day of
the week; and, from the
resurrection of Christ, was
The Puritans emphasized
the importance of the heart
in the observance of the
Sabbath, and they provide
an excellent demonstration
of the practical outworking
of such a belief.
Puritan Understanding
changed into the first day of
the week, which, in
Scripture, is called the Lord's
Day, and is to be continued
to the end of the world, as
the Christian Sabbath."
(WCF, 21 :7)18
Puritan Attitude
Toward the Sabbath
for the glory of C;od.
19
This
earnest desire can be seen in
Matthew Henry's
observations on Isaiah
58:13:
"Nothing must be done
that puts contempt upon the
Sabbath day, or looks like
having mean thoughts of it,
when C;od has so highly
dignified it....Everything
must be done that puts an
honour on the day and is
expressive of our high
.--___________ .:.-._--. thoughts of it.
The Puritans THE QUEEN OF n A 'yn We must call it a
of the Sabbath
staunchly believed delight, not a task
that the Sabbath Ob"ervl'"ng the and a burden; we
was an abiding I' must delight
moral ordinance ftabbath....... ..... ourselves in it, in
and were convinced ..... ..... the restraints it
of its importance, L-_______________ .J lays upon us and
because it was clearly the services it obliges us
demonstrated in Scripture. With their understanding to: 20
The Westminster of its importance, the
Puritans recognized that a
Confession gave a concise
statement of the Puritan proper attitude toward the
view of the Sabbath: Sabbath was necessary in
"As it is the law of
nature, that, in general, a
due proportion of time be set
apart for the worship of
C;od
l
so, in His Word, by a
positive, moral, and
perpetual commandment
binding all men in all ages,
He has particularly
appOinted one day in seven,
for a Sabbath, to be kept
holy unto Him: which,
from the beginning of the
order to truly honor His
day. Their reverent attitude
toward the Sabbath
affected everything they
did, said, and thought. In
the midst of all their strict
rules, they characteristically
rejoiced in the day with
great delight. For them
Sabbath observance was
not a burden, for they
recognized the blessed
nature of the Sabbath and
were anxious to honor it
Thomas Watson believed
that the Sabbath should be
looked upon as "the best day
in the week." He believed
that !'what the sun is among
planets, the Lord's-day is
among other days," for "Cfod
has made all the days, but
he has blessed this."21 His
concern for the proper
disposition of the heart in
worship is seen in his
outlining of a method of .
preparation for worship in
the morning.
22
First, he encouraged his
readers to study C;od's word:
July/August, 1996 l' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 25
'The word is a great means
to sanctify the heart, and
bring it into a
Sabbath-frame .. .. By reading
the word aright, our hearts,
when dull, are qUickened;
when hard, are mollified;
when cold and frozen are
inflamed; and we can say as
the disciples, "Did not our
hearts bum within usl"J!3
Next, he suggested
meditation upon fOUT things.
Considering the grandeur of
creation would move us to
"admire Ood and praise
him."24 Reflecting upon the
holiness of the Lord "would
work in us such a frame of
heart as is suitable to a holy
Oad; it would make us
reverence his name and
haUow his day."25 Dwelling
upon the love of Christ would
remind us of His redeeming
work which "exceeds
creation."26 And lastly,
meditating on heaven would
"make us heavenly in our
Sabbath exercises."27 AU of
these things, he believed,
were worthy to contemplate
on the Sabbath in order to
bring us into a right state of
mind to worship Ood and
observe His day Tightly.
The final step in the
preparation of the heart was
prayer, for "prayer sanctifies a
Sabbath. "28
The Westminster
Standards as well reflected the
Puritan concern for the heart
and their understanding of its
vital relation to works and
words in the worthy
observance of the Sabbath.
Question 117 of the Larger
Catechism stated that,
'The Sabbath or Lord's day
is to be sanctified by an holy
resting aU the day, ... and
making it our delight to spend
the whole time ... in the public
and private exercises of Ood's
worship: and, to that end,
we are to prepare our
hearts ... " (emphasis mine)
Some of the "sins forbidden
in the fourth commandment,"
as outlined in question 119,
were " all careless, negligent,
and unprofitable perfonning"
of the" duties required," and
"being weary of them."
According to the
Westminster Confession of
Faith,
This Sabbath is then 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, aU 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,
26 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t July/August , 1996
and in the duties of necessity
and mercy: (WCF, 21 :8,
emphasis mine)
The Danger of
Neglecting the Heart
. Christians tend to think
that they observe the
Sabbath properly when they
attend church and refrain
from or do certain actions ..
The attitude of the heart,
which so strongly affects our
actions and words, is often
neglected. But Ood "knows
the secrets of the heart" (ps.
44:21)' and He will not
tolerate a wayward heart.
Sabbath observance is
more involved, therefore,
than many realize!
Christians must recognize
that unless we honor Ood
first and foremost in our
hearts, we will not be
properly honoring Him in
anything that we do.
We can observe the
seriousness of neglecting the
heart from examples in
history. The Pharisees
stressed outward actions in
the keeping of the Sabbath
(Luke 6:7; 13:14), but it is
plain that their hearts were
not right toward Ood or His
day. Outwardly they
appeared righteous, but in
their hearts they loved
lawlessness (Matt.
23:25-28), and Christ often
found reilson to condemn
them. Delighting in the Lord Ciod also promises that
Sadly, the descendants of Ciod promises that if we
He will cause us to "ride on
the Puritans furnish another properly observe His
the heights of the earth."
example. The high esteem Sabbath we will take delight
The language used,
of the early Puritans for the in Him. This is a great,
Matthew Henry said,
Sabbath was lost by many blessed promise. If we
"denotes not only a great
of their descendants; this is spend the Sabbath in the
security .. . , but great dignity
evident in their actions. A worship of Ciod rather than
and advancement .... Those
1679 report in the pursuit of our own
that honor Ciod and his
Massachusetts revealed that
pleasures, we will grow ever
Sabbath he will thus
honor. "34 What a
the number of violations of
closer to our Lord! "Draw
the Sabbath, among other near to Ciod, " James
tremendous promise from a
faithful Ciod! Certainly the
evils, was steadily
promises, "and He will
church has not benefited
increasing.9 By the end of
draw near to you" Uam.
from her apathy toward her
the 1700's, "religious apathy
4:8).
Lord's day. Ciod calls His
was plainly evident."30 The
The Puritans took such a
church instead to a faithful
heart had wandered, and
promise seriously. Thomas
promotion of the honor of
Sabbath observance was
Watson judged this promise
the Sabbath, promising to
greatly affected.
to be one of joy for the
greatly honor His people in
The Rewards of
"strict observers of this
return.
a Worthy Observance
day."31 Matthew Henry
Receiving the
Ciod will bless those who
believed that the Lord "will
Heritage of Jacob
observe the Sabbath as He
more and more manifest .
Ciod lastly promises, '"
himself to us as the
has commanded, honoring
delightful subject of our
will feed you with the
it not only in their actions
heritage of Jacob your
thoughts and meditations
and words, but in their
father. " According to
and the delightful object of
hearts. After Ciod describes
Matthew Henry, this speaks
our best affections."3
the proper honoring of His
Faithful observance coupled
of heaven for believers, of
Sabbath in Isaiah 58:13, He
which Canaan had been a
goes on to list three rewards
with a willing attitude
type, and the
for such a worthy
would result in great
"hopes .. . earnests and
observance: 'Then you will
happiness: 'The more
foretastes of it," which we
take delight in the Lord, and
pleasure we take in serving
are "fed with now."35
I will make you ride on the
Ciod the more pleasure we
Thomas Watson likewise
heights of the earth; and I
shall find in it. If we go
believed that Ciod was
will feed you with the
about duty with
promising blessings both
heritage of Jacob your father,
cheerfulness, we shall go
upon the earth and in
for the mouth of the Lord
from it with satisfaction. "33
heaven.
36
has spoken."
Riding on the
Indeed, Jacob, like
Heights of the Earth
Abraham, never saw the
July/August, 1996 f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon . 27
,
promise of the land of
Canaan fulfilled, but he knew
that there awaited him "a
better country, that is a
heavenly one" (Heb. 11 :16).
likewise, as believers, we
know that we will have an
even greater and more blessed
communion with our Lord in
heaven.
Conclusion
liThe Westminster
Confession of Faith version I wlU
be using is found In j<Jmes E.
Bordwine. A quide to the
Westminsfer Catechism of Faith
and Larger Catechism (Jefferson,
Md.: The Trinity Foundation,
1991).
1f A gO(ld, concise treatment
of the Puritan attitude toward the
Sabbath, as welt as their belief
concerning it, is provided in
Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints:
The Puritans as They Really
Were [Crand Rapids: Academie
Books, 1986), 128-132.
iDHenry, Commentary,
4:341-34.2.
t lWatson, Ten
Commandments, 71.
lSI/bid" 75-79.
n lbid., 75.
ft lbid,,76.
ulbid.
161bid.
n lbid., 78.
II lbid.
19Emil Oberho(zE;r, )r.,
Delinquent Saints: Disciplinary
Action in the Early
Congregational Churches. of
Massachusetts (New York:
Columbia University Press,
1956). 35.
239240.
31Watson, Ten
Commandments, 90.
lIHenry, Commentary,
4:342.
)llbid.

lilbid.
16Watson, Ten
Commandments, 90.
Therefore, we learn from
Ciod's word that the scope of
Sabbath observance is not
limited to words and deeds
alone but necessarily
includes the attitude of our
heart. Moreover, our
attitude toward the Sabbath
is the well from which our
entire observance springs. It
is a vital element of Sabbath
observance and one which
should never be ignored or
forgotten. As Ciod's people,
we must remember that He
takes no delight in our
worship when our hearts are
not right toward Him and
His holy day. We must
always be zealous to honor
the Sabbath as it truly is,
the queen of days! n
Biblically Correct (B.C), Not Politically Correct (P'C)
Orrist College
and
The Patrick Henry Institute
The Bahnsen Institute for
Biblical Law and Ethics (B.I.B.L.E.)
New historic and stately
home of Christ College,
The Patrick Henry Institute,
and B.I.B.L.E., in l ynchburg,
in the heart of historic
Virginia and In the foothills
of the malestic Blue Ridge
Mountains.
New campus in historic lynchburg, Virginia
New correspondence program beginning Fall, 1996
New one-year certificate program in Biblical
Worldview
New faculty to enhance teaching
Partnership with The Patrick Henry Institute and
affiliated Bahnsen Institute for Biblical Law and Ethics
(B.I.B.LE.), dedicated to the application 01 Biblical
socio-political ethics to public policy
Continued emphasis on Reformed/Calvinist
Theology, Christian Worldview, and "Great Books"
component. No majors. Four-year and two-year
degrees
Additional courses at evangelical Uberty University,
largest Christian in America (5000+ students)
Christ College, The Patrick Henry Institute and B.I.B.LE.
Mailing address: P.O. Box 11135, Lynchburg, VA 24506
Street address: 434 Rivermont Ave., Lynchburg, VA 24504
Phone: 804/528-9552
NeMer Christ CoI1ege nor the Patridc Henry fnstitute discriminates on the basis of race, color, ethnic Of nationoI origin.
28 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t July/August, 1996