American Presbyterians and Sunday Mail

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In recent news, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service who was forced to resign over his refusal to work (deliver mail) on the Lord’s Day and, subsequently, filed suit against the agency for its denial of an accommodation of his religious belief in keeping the Lord’s Day holy, and thereby violating his civil rights. Gerald Groff, the postal employee in question, had worked at the Post Office since 2012, but a 2013 arrangement between the U.S. Post Office and Amazon led to a requirement that mail be delivered on the Lord’s Day, a duty which Mr. Groff was initially able to avoid until the issue was pressed upon him, leading to his resignation for conscience’ sake. The Supreme Court’s ruling was welcomed by many who have been concerned about the encroachment of business on the Christian Sabbath, especially non-essential labor that is mandated by the federal government of its employees.

It should be noted, though, that the 2013 Post Office-Amazon arrangement which led to Mr. Groff’s trial of conscience is not the first time this particular issue has been confronted in American history. This very issue, in fact, was of immense concern to 19th century Presbyterians.

As far back as 1808, Postmaster General Gideon Granger directed that post offices be opened on the Lord’s Day for the sorting of mail. One particular local postmaster in Washington, Pennsylvania, Hugh Wylie — who was also a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church — began to open his post office on the Lord’s Day not only for sorting of mail, but also for the distribution of mail. Eventually, the distribution of the mail began encroached upon the time of worship services, and complaints were made about the propriety of this sort of work occurring on this day of the week. Although the Post Office supported Wylie in his efforts to maintain the flow of mail, the Synod of Pittsburgh condemned Wylie and barred him from communion, and suspended him from the eldership. He appealed unsuccessfully to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.

Meanwhile, in 1810, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring postmasters to open their offices on the Lord’s Day. In the context of the approaching War of 1812, the argument of necessity held sway in the public mind given that need for expedited communication during wartime carried plausible weight. But the opposing argument that the nation itself was involved in a sinful course of action by diverting federal employees and citizens from the duties of the Sabbath by maintaining a regular course of business on that day also began to carry weight in the minds of Christian citizens. Petitions were sent from the PCUSA General Assembly in 1812 and 1815 to Congress urging repeal of the 1810 legislation. Although these and other petitions went unheeded by Congress, the 1819 PCUSA General Assembly ruled concerning its members that engaging in business or commerce — in particular, in relation to Sabbath mail delivery — on the Lord’s Day was a bar to communion (Baird’s Digest [1856], p. 33).

In the mid-1820s and early 1830s, a renewed effort was made by Christians of various denominations to pressure Congress to repeal its legalization of mail delivery on the Lord’s Day. Lyman Beecher helped to found the General Union for the Promotion of the Christian Sabbath in 1828, and his 1829 sermon on the Pre-Eminent Importance of the Christian Sabbath zeroed in the Sabbath desecration caused by thousands of federal employees being pulled away from public worship to transport and deliver the mail, arguing at one point: “the petitions are, not that Congress will do any thing for religion, but, simply, that by legislation they will do nothing against religion - simply that they will not, with the people's money, hire their twenty-six thousand Mail-carriers, Post-masters and assistants, to unite with the wicked in prostrating the holy Sabbath! We ask for no union of church and state: but, simply, that the moral influence of the Sabbath may not be thus bartered away for secular gain.”

In 1829, Senator Richard M. Johnson, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads and a devout Baptist, issued a report which shot down the petitions sitting before Congress to repeal the 1810 law, stating that “The transportation of the mails on the first day of the week, it is believed, does not interfere with rights of conscience” (Richard C. Wylie, Sabbath Laws in the United States [1905], p. 181). Stuart Robinson notes that “Colonel Johnson was by education and prejudice a Seventh Day Baptist, and the opinion gained general currency that his report was inspired, if not prepared, by a Seventh-Day Baptist preacher” (Sabbath Laws in the United States [1879]).

The controversy was not limited to the halls of Congress or the ecclesiastical courts, but spilled over into the press. Charles Hodge addressed the matter in The Biblical Repertory and Theological Review with his article The American Quarterly Review on Sunday Mails (1831). He objected to the manner in which this respectable journal portrayed the ongoing debate, and used the opportunity to articulate a clear understanding of the obligations of the Sabbath day for all Christians, and further argued that necessity was not at stake in the question of the propriety of mail delivery.

In his controversial 1832 discourse, Prince Messiah's Claims to Dominion Over All Governments; and the Disregard of His Authority by the United States, in the Federal Constitution, Reformed Presbyterian minister James R. Willson continued the argument against Sabbath mail delivery: “The Sabbath is very grossly and scandalously violated in all parts of the United States. It is true, the federal and state legislatures, and the courts of justice, do yet adjourn, on the Lord's holy day. But how do the officers of government spend their Sabbaths? Which of them reads the Holy Scriptures, ‘spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of religion?’ — The transportation of the mails — the opening of the post-offices, and the diffusion of political and other secular intelligence, profane the Sabbath, and corrupt the public mind.”

Stonewall Jackson is known to have been very particular about doing anything that would contribute to the delivery of mail on the Sabbath. Robert L. Dabney had this to say about it: “His convictions of the sin committed by the Government of the United States, in the unnecessary transmission of mails, and the consequent imposition of secular labor on the Sabbath day, upon a multitude of persons, were singularly strong. His position was, that if no one would avail himself of these Sunday mails, save in cases of true and unavoidable necessity, the letters carried would be so few that the sinful custom would speedily be arrested, and the guilt and mischief prevented. Hence, he argued, that as every man is bound to do whatever is practicable and lawful for him to do, to prevent the commission of sin, he who posted or received letters on the Sabbath day, or even sent a letter which would occupy that day in travelling, was responsible for a part of the guilt. It was of no avail to reply to him, that this self-denial on the part of one Christian would not close a single post-office, nor arrest a single mail-coach in the whole country. His answer was, that unless some Christians would begin singly to practise their exact duty, and thus set the proper example, the reform would never be begun; that his responsibility was to see to it that he, at least, was not particeps criminis; and that whether others would co-operate, was their concern, not his” (Life and Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson) [1866], p. 88).

As late as 1889, Thomas P. Stevenson testified on behalf of the National Reform Association before the U.S. Senate in favor of a Sunday Rest Bill, submitting on that occasion a report on The National Mail Service and the Sabbath. Towards the end of his report he made this striking claim: “The action of the Government in this matter involves the whole nation in guilt and exposes the whole people to the righteous judgments of God. No man can say, ‘I never used the mails on the Sabbath; I am therefore not responsible.’ When irreligion and vice unsettle the foundations of social welfare, no man can assure himself that his personal or domestic interests will not be imperiled. When Israel went into captivity ‘that this land might enjoy her Sabbaths,’ the whole people suffered. A nation is justly held responsible for the action of its Government, because the nation is greater than the Government, and can reform it at pleasure. The violation of the Sabbath by the mail service involves in guilt not merely the officials in charge of the Post-Office Department, but the American people. The people have direct, legitimate, and, in some sense, authoritative access to the Government. Those who desire or would insist on the continuance of the Sabbath mail service, in the face of such considerations as we have urged, are a small minority of the population. It is only necessary for the people to speak; the Government will obey their voice.”

Eventually, in 1912, Congress finally acted to bar mail delivery on the Lord’s Day. It was to the great relief and acclaim of many Christians, but the greatest impetus for this change of heart on the part of the federal government was not the petitions of Sabbath-keepers, but the arguments of organized labor who emphasized the need of workers for a day of temporal and secular rest. Thus matters stood until the 2013 Amazon deal, and now in 2023, the highest court in the land has taken the part of a federal worker with a conscience about keeping the Lord’s Day holy. America’s controversy with the Lord, however, is far from resolved. The obligation upon all to uphold the Christian Sabbath, as stated in the Fourth Commandment, endures. Those who seek to witness to this truth rejoice with Gerald Groff, having won his day in court, and yet, as has been said in another context, “The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form.”

For further reading on this topic, with additional details, see this 2020 article by Barry Waugh, “Mail Carrying on Sunday.”

Balch on the Poetical Aspects of the Sabbath

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In Northern Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, T.B. Balch often wrote for Richmond-based periodicals from his manse at Ringwood Cottage. His prose literary productions were often poetical in nature and his knowledge of the poets, contemporary and classical, permeated his writing.

As an example of this, today we highlight his essay titled “The Sabbath in Its Poetical Aspects,” published in the April 1849 issue of The Southern Literary Messenger.

A spring morning had come. It ushered in the day of rest and Ringwood had never looked as quiet or as handsome before. The kirks round about were all closed, a thing which sometimes happens in the country when our pastors are away. As the hours into which day is divided were chasing each other off, the writer got to ruminating upon what the Sabbath had done for poetry and what poetry had done for the Sabbath. The Sabbath presents itself periodically to the poet, and invites his eye on a range among its tints, whilst some of the poets, grateful for the materials it gives, have sung its sweet repose.

Sketch of Ringwood manse.

After ruminating in this way, about twilight, my Ringwood grounds looked very sweet, dressed out in the bloom of apple and peach tree orchards. The sight recalled to mind the descriptive poetry of Mrs. [Felicia] Hemans and the fact that this noble woman always like the Sabbath. Among the bold mountains of Wales she sung the sacred day; and when dying among the shamrocks of the Emerald Isle, she indited to her amanuensis the lines with which we shall conclude —

How many groups this hour are bending
Through England’s primrose meadow-paths their way
Tow’rds spire and tower, midst shadowy elms ascending,
Whence the sweet chimes proclaim the hallowed day.

I may not tread

With them those pathways — to the feverish bed
Of sickness bound — yet O my God I bless
Thy mercy that with Sabbath peace hath filled
My chastened heart.

His essay expresses appreciation of the silence of the day as he experienced it in the rural Northern Virginia horse country when labor was reduced to a minimum, deplores the sound of war heard elsewhere around the world on the Lord’s Day, and yet wistfully longs for the sound of the chimes of church bells. It is a poetic rumination that wanders over the countryside and through the human heart with a spiritual gaze as immense as the view of the Virginia piedmont from Hazel Mountain.

If in search of inspiration from some thoughtful Sabbath reading, pause for a moment at Ringwood manse, read over his brief essay, and consider the blessed poetical aspects of the Lord’s Day.

Not "Super Bowl Sunday," But the Lord's Day, or the Christian Sabbath

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What the world refers to as “Super Bowl Sunday” is not a designation that would have been countenanced by most 19th century Presbyterians. American football began in 1869, while professional football dates to 1920. So, of course, there was no Super Bowl around until well into the 20th century, but the issues of recreation, secularism and commercialism intruding into the Lord’s Day were well-known and widely addressed by Christians in the past.

American Presbyterians, who held to the understanding of the Fourth Commandment articulated in the Westminster Standards, believed that the whole day — that is, the first day of the week — should be devoted to the worship of God, which involves works of piety, necessity and mercy— to the exclusion of “worldly employments and recreations” (Westminster Confession of Faith 21:6-7).

That understanding is important to today’s article, but even beyond that, when considering what is widely known today as “Super Bowl Sunday,” besides the question of the lawfulness of attending to such recreation, another point of discussion centers on the terminology involved.

If words mean something — think of the words homoousios (“of the same substance” or “of the same essence”) and homoiousios (“of like essence”) and their meaning in the context of the great Arian controversy of the 4th century AD — then as Christians who are to take “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5), we may wish to consider the voices of those in the past who have argued that the term “Sunday” is not a desirable or Biblical designation for the first day of week, much less “Super Bowl Sunday.”

First, let us hear Samuel Miller, the great defender of historic Presbyterianism from Princeton, who authored an 1836 article titled “The Most Suitable Name For the Christian Sabbath.” After addressing the objection of Quakers to the word “Sunday” (they believed the fourth commandment was abrogated and preferred to use the phrase “the first day of the week”), Miller turned his attention to the pagan origin of the term “Sunday.” After discussion of the history of the Christian observance of the first day of the week and its relationship to the Jewish Sabbath and the pagan Sunday, Miller sums up his position in a few succinct paragraphs:

We are now prepared to answer the question, “What name ought to be given to this weekly season of sacred rest, by us, at the present day?”

Sunday, we think, is not the most suitable name. It is, confessedly, of Pagan origin. This, however, alone, would not be sufficient to support our opinion. All the other days of the week are equally Pagan, and we are not prepared to plead any conscientious scruples about their use. Still it seems to be in itself desirable that not only a significant, but a scriptural name should be attached to that day which is divinely appointed; which is so important for keeping religion alive in our world; and which holds so conspicuous a place in the language of the Church of God. Besides, we have seen that the early Christians preferred a scriptural name, and seldom or never used the title of Sunday, excepting when they were addressing the heathen, who knew the day by no other name. For these reasons we regret that the name Sunday has ever obtained so much currency in the nomenclature of Christians, and would discourage its popular use as far as possible.

The Lord’s day, is a title which we would greatly prefer to every other. It is a name expressly given to the day by an inspired apostle. It is more expressive than any other title of its divine appointment; of the Lord’s propriety in it; and of its reference to his resurrection, his triumph, and the glory of his kingdom. And, what is in no small degree interesting, we know that this was the favourite title of early Christians; the title which has been habitually used, for a number of centuries, by the great majority both of the Romish and Protestant communions. Would that its restoration to the Christian Church, and to all Christian intercourse, could be universal!

The Sabbath, is the last title of which we shall speak. The objections made to this title by the early Christians no longer exist. We are no longer in danger of confounding the observance of the first day of the week with that of the seventh. Nor are we any longer in danger of being carried away by a fondness for Jewish rigour, in our plan for its sanctification. The fourth commandment still makes a part of the Decalogue. We teach it to our children as a rule still in force. It requires nothing austere, punctilious, or excessive; only that we, and all “within our gates,” abstain from servile labour, and consider the day as “hallowed,” or devoted to God. Whoever scrutinizes its contents will find no requisition in which all Christians are not substantially agreed; and no reason assigned for its observance which does not apply to Gentiles as well as Jews. As the first sabbath was so named as a memorial of God’s “rest” from the work of creation; so we may consider the Christian Sabbath as a memorial of the Saviour’s rest (if the expression may be allowed) from the labours, the sufferings, and the humiliation of the work of redemption. And, what is no less interesting, the apostle, in writing to the Hebrews, considers the Sabbath as an emblem and memorial of that eternal Sabbatism, or “rest which remaineth for the people of God.” Surely the name is a most appropriate and endeared one when we regard it in this connection! Surely when we bring this name to the test of either philological or theological principles, it is as suitable now, as it could have been under the old dispensation.

We have said, that we prefer “the Lord’s day” to any other title. We are aware, that this can never be the name employed by the mass of the community. There is something about this title which will forever prevent it from being familiar on the popular lip. The title “the Sabbath” is connected with no such difficulty. It is scriptural, expressive, convenient, the term employed in a commandment which is weekly repeated by millions, and so far familiar to all who live in Christian lands, that no consideration occurs why it may not become universal. “The Lord’s day” may, and, perhaps, ought ever to be, the language of the pulpit, and of all public or social religious exercises; meanwhile, if the phrase “the Sabbath” could be generally naturalized in worldly circles, and in common parlance, it would be gaining a desirable object.

A later Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) minister, Thomas M. Slater, covered much of the same ground in a tract titled “Nicknaming the Sabbath: A Protest Against Using Other Than Scriptural Names For the Lord's Day.” He too addressed the pagan nature of the term “Sunday” and argues that its usage is an affront to the Lord who set his name upon the first day of the week. For Slater, too, there was significance in the choice of terminology which ought not to be overlooked.

We grant that many sincere Christians have always called the Lord's day “Sunday,” not because they deliberately adopted that name for the Sabbath, but because they have always heard it so called, and never knew any serious objection to its use. But if such persons will reflect that “Sunday” is not the name by which God calls His day; that we have been given no authority to set aside His prescription; that this nickname originated among the foes of the Lord's day; that it was not adopted by Christians at all until pagan ideals invaded Christianity; that it has always been repudiated by a witnessing remnant of the friends of the Sabbath; and been favored by advocates of a secular day -- if a Christian who has a sincere desire to please God candidly weighs all that “Sunday” stands for, over against that all that the Scriptural names stand for, he will without question choose to call the Holy Day by its holy name, to the exclusion of all others. For “speech is the correlate of thought.”

Slater, like Miller, in the vein of Puritans before them who were sometimes known derisively as “Precisionists,” argued for expressions of thought grounded in Biblical principle, especially in a matter which Presbyterians of an earlier time viewed the importance of the Sabbath in its relation to both to the church and to civil society. It was not long before the first “Super Bowl Sunday” was held in 1967 that the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) issued this relevant warning:

Let us beware brethren: As goes the Sabbath, so goes the church, as goes the church, so goes the nation [emphasis added]. Any people who neglect the duties and privileges of the Sabbath day soon lose the knowledge of true religion and become pagan. If men refuse to retain God in their knowledge; God declares that He will give them over to a reprobate mind. Both history and experience confirm this truth” (Minutes of the Sixty-First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, A.D. 1948, p. 183).

If words really have particular meaning, we would do well to consider the counsel of these voices from the past and take a counter-cultural approach to our choice of terminology as it pertains to the holy day of God’s appointment. The religious devotion of many to “Super Bowl Sunday” does not go unnoticed. Can it be said of Christians that the “Lord’s Day” or the “Christian Sabbath” speaks to their devotion in equally apropos terms?

Samuel Blatchford: Heaven is an Eternal Sabbath

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When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun. — John Newton, “Amazing Grace”

A sermon delivered by Samuel Blatchford (1767-1828) not long before his passing from this life to the next still speaks to a truth of great importance to our own generation almost two centuries later. Preached on November 27, 1825 and published the following year, the sermon was titled The Sanctification of the Sabbath. Among the points made in conclusion (p. 20), we find a powerful argument for adhering to the Fourth Commandment in the recognition that the Christian Sabbath is in fact a foretaste of heaven.

A very great part of the exercises of the Sabbath, duly sanctified on earth, bears a strong resemblance to the employments of the heavenly world. Heaven is an eternal Sabbath. There the spirits of just men made perfect approach with delight the seat of the infinite Jehovah. With adoring praise, they pour forth their lively gratitude. With exquisite pleasure, they contemplate the Author of all things, who governs and actuates the immensity of beings, which occupy the universe of life. The hallelujahs of praise break forth in uninterrupted harmony from every angel, and every redeemed sinner. And, my brethren, in the due sanctification of this holy day on earth; in a general consent to worship God; not to speak our own words, nor to think our own thoughts; to have our meditation of God; to croud [sic] about his altars; to esteem a day spent in the courts of the Lord’s house preferable to a thousand elsewhere: O! this is to congregate with the hosts of glory, and to constitute a heaven upon the earth. Hereby we shall know him who hath sanctified the Sabbath, and be maturing for those enjoyments, where there remaineth a rest, a Sabbatismos, for the people of God.

What a profound thought it is to recall that our exercises of worship on the Lord’s Day are but prelude to joining the heavenly choir itself, to glorify God in heaven even more perfectly forever than we aim to do on earth each week. When we exalt the name of God together from one Sabbath to the next, we begin to taste the delight that awaits us where we will praise Him unceasingly. Read Blatchford’s full sermon on The Sanctification of the Sabbath here, and consider the reward of keeping God’s day holy on earth, which is a but a taste of heaven.

Sabbath Night by J.H. Bocock

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On the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath, it is good to contemplate the comforts that are given to us by our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. After the day’s devotions, which are a taste of heaven, with cognizance of our failures to keep the day holy as we ought, we may nevertheless take refuge in Him who gives rest and peace, not as the world gives, but from above. Consider a poem by John Holmes Bocock (1813-1872) as found in Selections From the Religious and Literary Writings of John H. Bocock, D.D. (1891), pp. 546-547, which highlights such an appreciation of Sabbath blessings and comforts.

Sabbath Night

Rest, weary spirit, rest,
From toil and trouble free;
Lean on the Saviour’s breast
Who giveth rest to thee!

Lie there, ye cares and fears,
I cast you at his feet;
From all my fears and cares
I take this sure retreat.

Beneath his wings I crowd,
Close to his side I press:
None such was e’er allowed
To perish without grace.

O sprinkle me with blood!
My heart would feel the stream
From out thy side that flowed,
Us, sinners, to redeem!

Yet closer still I come!
Reveal thyself to me:
O let me feel that home
Is at thy feet to be.

I calmly seek repose;
Pardon my Sabbath sin,
And to my dreams disclose
That heaven thou dwellest in.

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The Whole Sabbath Day is Holy: J.R. Crews

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An 1879 deliverance from the Presbytery of Roanoke (Virginia, PCUS) speaks to the importance of keeping the entire Lord’s Day holy, in contrast to those who might wish to keep only a part of it.

In the words of James Richard Crews, moderator of the Presbytery, as recorded in the September 17, 1879 issue of The Central Presbyterian:

The Sabbath is an essential bulwark of evangelical Christianity, without which, in its true scriptural sacredness, vital godliness cannot be maintained. In the beginning (Gen. ii:3) “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” It was republished from Mt. Sinai in a way the best suited to show its perpetual obligation, receiving the remarkable distinction of being “written with the finger of God” among the other commandments of the decalogue. It is impossible to give any reason for this, except that the fourth commandment is found upon the same moral and religious principles which underlie all the others, and is of like permanent force. The change of the day from the 7th to the 1st day of the week, under the New Testament, does not infringe in the least upon the fundamental principle of the commandment, the duty of devoting one-seventh of our time to rest and religious worship. But while it leaves in unabated force the original idea and aim of the institution, viz: by its recurrence every seventh day, to commemorate the creation and keep alive the knowledge and worship of God, at the same time, by it occurrence now upon the first day of the week, it serves the important end of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, “who was delivered for our offences, and was raised for our justification.”

Our Lord disallowed the pharisaical and unscriptural restrictions which the Jewish doctors had imposed upon the Sabbath, and has shown us that we should make it a cheerful and beneficent, as well as a holy, religious day. But when he declared that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” (which has been so perverted, in the interest of Sabbath day amusements,) it were in the highest degree preposterous to suppose that he who came down from the skies to save men’s souls and bring them back to God, could have ignored and disregarded what is man’s chief characteristic and highest glory, -- not his animal, nor his intellectual, but his moral and religious nature. Mankind cannot do without the Christian Sabbath, because they cannot do without religion. And just here it is proper to remark, that in those countries where Sunday amusements are in vogue, Sunday work is also. Break down the sacredness of the day, and it becomes ultimately more a day of toil than a day of recreation, while vital religion disappears altogether. Dilute the Sabbath with worldliness, and you in the same proportion dilute and corrupt religion. Give one half of the day to secular thought, reading and chat, -- to mere worldly social converse and visiting, to say nothing of worldly business or travel, and you detract from the day more than one half of its holy influence. You endanger the whole. Because the wholesome impressions derived from the religious services of the morning are effaced and lost through the worldliness of the evening. The individual Christian needs the whole day, devoted to religion, in order to his own growth in grace. Misspent Sabbath evenings go far to account for the dwarfed growth of many Christians. Parents cannot afford to dispense with their Sabbath evenings for the religious instruction of their children, without which this sacred duty must be neglected. And the unconverted need to keep their Sabbath evenings, lest they “let slip” the “great salvation.”

Therefore, dear Christian brethren, recall that rule of Sabbath-keeping which you learned in your childhood, and both teach it to your children, and maintain it in your families – “The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. This is but a just exposition of the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, *** wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

Read the entire Pastoral Letter here, and may the whole Lord’s Day be kept holy, and thus may we be wholly blessed.

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J.W. Alexander on Thankful Review following the Lord's Supper

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Q. 175. What is the duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s supper?

A. The duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, is seriously to consider how they have behaved themselves therein, and with what success; if they find quickening and comfort, to bless God for it, beg the continuance of it, watch against relapses, fulfill their vows, and encourage themselves to a frequent attendance on that ordinance: but if they find no present benefit, more exactly to review their preparation to, and carriage at, the sacrament; in both which, if they can approve themselves to God and their own consciences, they are to wait for the fruit of it in due time: but, if they see they have failed in either, they are to be humbled, and to attend upon it afterwards with more care and diligence. — Westminster Larger Catechism

A wonderful little handbook or manual for those seeking to rightly observe the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is Plain Words to a Young Communicant (1854) by James W. Alexander (republished in 2000 by Banner Truth under the title Remember Him).

In the space of 85 brief chapters (80 in the Banner of Truth edition), Alexander addresses preparation for the Table, whether doubters can approach the table, self-examination, retrospect following communion, and many various aspects of the Christian Walk, including meditation, prayer, Sabbath-keeping, church attendance, and other means of grace and sanctification. Under the heading “Questions Before the Communion,” he has borrowed from a work by Ashbel Green titled Questions and Counsel for Young Converts (1831) [attributed erroneously by Banner of Truth to William Henry Green]. These questions are helpful to young believers (and old) in ascertaining the state of the soul before God.

There is one chapter especially worth highlighting for those who have just recently partaken of the sacrament: Thankful Review.

Through the tender mercies of our God, the cases are numerous, in which the young communicant retires from the Table of the Lord, strengthened and encouraged. The cardinal truth of Christianity has been set before his thoughts and become incorporated with his faith. He has seen Jesus [John 12:21]. His views of the infinite freedom of salvation have been made more clear. The evidences of his acceptance with God have become brighter. He is more disposed than ever before, to yield himself as a sacrifice, soul, body, and spirit, which is his reasonable service [Rom. 12:1]. Where any part of this is true, you have new cause for gratitude. It is “the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit” (Isa. 48:17). Now is the time, to bless him for this grace, and to beg the continuance of it. Now is the time to set a watch against relapses, and to carry into effect the vows which you have made at the Lord’s Table. Henceforth, you will look for the recurrence of this sacrament with a lively expectation, founded on experience.

If you are preparing to partake of the Lord’s Supper or have just partaken, this devotional manual is a good aid to right observance. Read J.W. Alexander’s handbook for communicants in full here.

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Sabbath Evenings with the Matthews Family

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W.D. Ralston spent time in his younger days teaching at country schools and one winter during the 1850s resided with a family which was then associated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (Ralston was then connected to the Associate Presbyterian Church). Both of these groups, which merged to form the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1858, held to the practice of exclusive psalmody.

Ralston used this time with the Matthews Family to produce a manuscript describing their Sabbath evening discussions on the topic of psalmody which was published “over twenty years” later as Talks on Psalmody in the Matthews Family (1877). Many topics related to the issue of psalmody are covered in this fascinating volume, such as Christ in the Psalms, whether exclusive psalmody is warranted from Scripture, and the place of hymns. Presented in conversational style, the discussions that are recorded are a very close representation of those which actually occurred on Sabbath evenings in the Matthews Family.

However, this post is not so much about psalmody as it is about how Sabbath evenings were spent in general by a godly Christian family.

Ralston wrote of how their Sabbath evenings were spent, and how these conversations came about. In so doing, he highlighted an important aspect of Sabbath-keeping, which is the aim to keep the whole day holy (Ex. 20:8; WCF 21:8), including the evening hours after church services were over.

While a student, I taught several terms of public school in country districts. On the last day of October, 18—, I left my father’s house to take charge of a school some twenty miles distant. The family with whom I was to board were entire strangers. My parents were members of the Associate Presbyterian church, or the Seceder Churcher, as it was mostly called, while the family with whom I was to board belonged to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. In the year 1858, these two bodies were united, and formed the United Presbyterian Church.

The winter I spent with that family was a pleasant and profitable one; and as I shall write of the persons composing the family, I will here describe them. The father, and mother, John, and Mary Matthews, were Americans by birth, and had received a good common education. The wife, before marriage, had taught school for several years. John Matthews had a remarkable memory. He seemed to remember all he read. He was not a great talker, but preferred to read, or listen to others; still when led into conversation, it was a pleasure to listen to him. He had a happy way of illustrating what he said, which was pleasing to the young. He would tell many stories and anecdotes to illustrate, and enforce what he said.

They had three children, — John thirteen, Mary twelve, and Willie nine. For their age, the children were well-informed, both in regard to religious truths, and general knowledge. When I saw how perseveringly the parents labored for their improvement, I felt they could not be otherwise.

They seldom had preaching on Sabbath-night in their church, and therefore they devoted the entire evening to the study of the Scriptures at home. Their evening work was attended to early, and as soon as the candles were lighted, their study of the Scriptures commenced. The teacher was the mother, not because she excelled her husband in knowledge, but because her teaching school had better prepared her for imparting instruction.

The first exercise was the Catechism, which all knew; but still, half of it was asked each Sabbath-evening, to keep it fresh in their memories. After that, they took up some subject previously selected. The first Sabbath-evening I was there, the subject was Zaccheus the publican; on the second, it was the destruction of Jerico. Mr. Matthews sat listening, occasionally adding a word or two, and at the close related one or more interesting stories bearing upon the object for the evening, and then the exercises were closed with the usual evening worship.

Ralston writes that one evening Mr. Matthews was led to engage in a discussion of Psalmody with a neighbor who thought hymns were to be preferred over Psalms in worship. This debate occasioned a series of family discussions related to various aspects of Psalmody which were held over many Sabbath evenings. It was while these conversations were ongoing that Ralston himself took out a notebook and jotted down notes about what was discussed. Later, at Mr. Matthews’ request, and with the childrens’ assistance, entire conversations were written down nearly verbatim, with the intent that their discussions, and Mr. Matthews’ illustrations, which were so profitable to the family, could be shared with others. It was Mr. Matthews’ wish that the manuscript which resulted from those notes be published to aid families and children in better understanding why they believed as they did with respect to Psalmody, which he viewed as a legacy bequeathed to the church at the end of his life.

Many families are weary at the end of the day, even (or especially) a Sabbath day. But there can be great fruit in the time well-spent that makes up a Sabbath evening. There is perhaps no better time to impart Biblical truth to the children, or to encourage one another, then when sweet “market day of the soul” is nearing the end, and the family is together for the purpose of worship and mutual edification. The Matthews Family experience, as recorded by Ralston, is a fascinating testimony to this precious truth.

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J.R. Miller: The Christian Sabbath the pinnacle of days

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J.R. Miller speaks of how setting apart the Lord’s Day, in which we are elevated to the loftiest of spiritual heights, has a tremendous blessing which carries over throughout the other days of the week.

In The Joy of Service (1898), pp. 244-248, he writes:

The influence of the Sabbath, like a precious perfume, should pervade all the days of the week. Its spirit of holiness and reverence should flow down into all the paths of the other days. Its voices of hope and joy should become inspirations in all our cares and toils in the outside world. Its teaching should be the guide of hand and foot in the midst of all trials and temptation. Its words of comfort should be as lamps shining in the sick-room and in the chambers of sorrow. Its visions of spiritual beauty should be translated into reality in conduct, disposition, and character.

A well-spent Sabbath is an excellent preparation for a week amid cares and struggles. There is blessing in the Sabbath rest. We cannot go on forever; we pause here and there to renew our strength.

“Birds cannot always sing;
Silence at times they ask, to nurse spent feeling,
To see some new, bright thing,
Ere a fresh burst of song, fresh joy revealing.

Flowers cannot always blow;
Some Sabbath rest they need of silent winter,
Ere from its sheath below
Shoots up a small green blade, brown earth to splinter.

Tongues cannot always speak;
O God! in this loud world of noise and clatter,
Save us this once a week,
To let the sown seed grow, not always scatter.”

True Sabbath rest, however, is not merely the cessation of all effort, the dropping of all work. As far as possible we should seek to be freed from the common tasks of the other days. Happy is he who can leave behind him, on Saturday night, all his week-day affairs, to enjoy a Sabbath in heavenly places, as it were, engaged with thoughts and occupations altogether different from those of the busy week. This even alone gives rest.

As for the Sabbath itself, it should be a day for the uplifting of the whole life. A tourist among the Alps tells of climbing one of the mountains in a dense and dripping mist, until at length he passed through the clouds, and stood on a lofty peak in the clear sunlight. Beneath him lay the fog, like a waveless sea of white vapor; and,, as he listened, he could hear the sounds of labor, the lowing of the cattle, and the peals of the village bells, coming up from the vales below. As he stood there, he saw a bird fly up out of the mists, soar about for a little while, and then dart down again and disappear. What those moments of sunshine were to the bird, coming up out of the cloud, the Sabbath should be to us. During week-days we live down in the low vales of life, amid the mists. Life is not easy for us; it is full of struggle and burden-bearing. The Sabbath comes; and we fly up out of the low climes of care, toil, and tears, and spend one day in the pure, sweet air of God’s love and peace. There we have new visions of beauty. We get near to the heart of Christ; into the warmth of his love. We come into the goodly fellowship of Christian people, and get fresh inspiration from the contact.

Thus we are lifted up for one day out of the atmosphere of earthliness into a region of peace, calm, and quiet. We see all things more plainly in the unclouded sky; and we are prepared to begin another week with new views of duty, under the influence of fresh motives, and with our life fountains refilled. Thus the Sabbath rest prepares us for the work and the struggle of the other days. We learn new lessons, which we are to live out in the common experience of the life before us. We see the patterns of heavenly things as we read our Bible, and bow before God in prayer; and we are to go down from the holy mount to weave the fashion of these new patterns into the fabric of our character. We should be better, truer-souled, and richer-hearted al the week because of the Sabbath inspirations. We should carry the holy impressions, the sacred influences, in our heart as we go out into the world, singing the songs of heaven amid earth’s clatter and noise. True Sabbath-keeping makes us ready for true week-day living.

“There are, in this loud, stunning tide
Of human care and crime,
With whom the melodies abide
Of th’ everlasting chime —
Who carry music in their heart,
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,
Plying their daily task with busier feet
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.”

Sweet words to contemplate on the Sabbath day and indeed throughout the week. The Lord’s Day is the pinnacle of days, a holy mount, from which we may be refreshed by the beatific vision, and strengthened for all the days of our Christian pilgrimage. Read more by J.R. Miller here.

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Homer McMillan on the importance of keeping the Sabbath holy

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In his noteworthy volume “Unfinished Tasks” of the Southern Presbyterian Church (1922) — published almost 100 years ago — Homer McMillan, Secretary of the Executive Committee of Home Missions for the Presbyterian Church in the United States, highlighted an important area of concern and focus for the work of Christ’s Church.

The maintenance of the Christian Sabbath lies at the root of all national morality and civil liberty. The Sabbath is the only safeguard of religion, and religion is the surest stay of the State. John Ruskin said that the thirty minutes on Sunday when the man of God stands forth to speak to ignorant and sinful men are the most important thirty minutes known to society and civilization. About one hundred and fifty years ago Voltaire prophesied that before the close of that century Christianity would have disappeared from the face of the earth. He advised his followers that if they would destroy Christianity they must begin with the Christian Sabbath. Christianity and the Sabbath stand or fall together.

''The rule is, where there is no church and no churchgoing there is no Sabbath, and where there is no Sabbath and no Sabbath-keeping there is no religion, and where there is no religion there is no God, and where there is no God there is no conscience, and where there is no conscience there is no respect for the rights of men, and where there is no respect for the rights of men there is no security for life or property. Now take religion, God, conscience, respect for the rights of men, and protection of life and property out of the American republic, and just how much of what is left would be worth having?"*

A reliable authority states that four million people in this country are making merchandise of the Lord's Day, and that twenty times that number spend the day in mere worldly pleasure-seeking. Well may we cry out for America, as Pope Pius said concerning France in his day: "Lose not a day, not even an hour, nor even a moment; go and tell France that if she would be saved she must return to the sanctification of the Lord's Day." When the Sabbath is gone, honesty is gone, justice is gone, and that which has been our nation's glory is gone.

* Dr. David Gregg, ''Makers of the American Republic."

How crucial is the keeping holy of the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath? Of the highest importance, according to Homer McMillan. It is the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue and in some sense a bridge between the first and second tables of the law, having reference both to the honor and worship of God, and to the good of mankind. May McMillan’s words serve to remind us of the great importance of sanctifying the Lord’s holy day.

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Sabbath Poems by David Brainerd

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April 25, 1742 - It was the Lord’s Day. David Brainerd wrote in his diary that he spent two hours early in the morning engaged in private worship. The spiritual blessings he experienced on that special Sabbath day he described in prose and in verse, and his words in turn have inspired many.

Lord’s-Day, April 25. This morning spent about two hours Hours in secret duties, and was enabled more than ordinarily to agonize for immortal souls; though it was early in the morning, and the sun scarcely shined at all, yet my body was quite wet with sweat. Felt much pressed now, as frequently of late, to plead for the meekness and calmness of the Lamb of God in my soul: through divine goodness felt much of it this morning. O ‘tis a sweet disposition, heartily to forgive all injuries done us; to wish our greatest enemies as well as we do our own souls! Blessed Jesus, may I daily be more and more conformed to Thee. At night was exceedingly melted with divine love, and had some feeling sense of the blessedness of the upper world. Those words hung upon me, with much divine sweetness, Ps. lxxxiv.7. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O the near access, that God sometimes gives us in our addresses to him! This may well be termed appearing before God: ‘Tis so indeed, in the true spiritual sense, and in the sweetest sense. — I think I have not had such power of intercession, these many months, as I have had this evening. I wished and longed for the coming of my dear Lord: I longed to join the angelic hoses in praises, wholly free from imperfection. O the blessed moment hastens! All I want is to be more holy, more like my dear Lord. O for sanctification! My very soul pants for the complete restoration of the blessed image of my sweet Saviour; that I may be fit for the blessed enjoyments and employments of the heavenly world.

Brainerd then found his muse.

Farewell, vain World; my Soul can bid Adieu:
My Saviour’s taught me to abandon you.
Your Charms may gratify a sensual Mind;
Not please a Soul wholly for God design’d.
Forbear t’entice, cease then my Soul to call:
’Tis fix’d, through Grace; my God shall be my All.
While he thus lets me heavenly Glories view,
Your Beauties fade, my Heart’s no Room for you.

Returning to prose, Brainerd goes on:

The Lord refreshed my soul with many sweet passages of his Word. O the New Jerusalem! My soul longed for it. O the Song of Moses and the Lamb! And that blessed song, that no man can learn, but they that are redeemed from the earth! And the glorious white robes, that were given to the souls under the altar!

And then in one final poetic effusion, Brainerd expresses his burning desire for sweet communion with his Lord.

Lord, I’m a Stranger here alone;
Earth no true Comforts can afford:
Yet, absent from my dearest One,
My Soul delights to cry, My Lord!
Jesus, my Lord, my only Love,
Possess my Soul, nor thence depart:
Grant me kind Visits, heavenly Dove;
My God shall then have all my Heart.

May these Sabbath meditations from almost 300 years ago by a Presbyterian missionary richly bless your Sabbath day today.

HT: Tom Sullivan

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Belk and Wanamaker's - Founded by Presbyterian Businessmen

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Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings (Prov. 22:29).

Today we highlight three enterprising Presbyterian businessmen whose names have endured long after they passed from the scene of their earthly labors.

John Wanamaker (1838-1922) founded one of the first department stores in the United States. We have highlighted his Grand Depot store in Philadelphia previously as it was the site of a famous evangelistic meeting at which D.L. Moody and William S. Plumer spoke to large crowds. Wanamaker’s store was known for its policy of allowing cash refunds, and it is said he invented the price tag. He aimed to run a Christian business operation and once said, “The Golden Rule of the New Testament has become the Golden Rule of business.” His store was a landmark in Philadelphia and New York City for many decades.

Wanamaker’s Philadelphia Grand Depot in 1876.

From the posthumously-published Prayers of John Wanamaker, we have extracted an example of his devotion:

O GOD, Thou hast set in motion the world's great clock, and from the eternity of the past it is wound up to go on to the eternity of the future.

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven. All things are beautiful in Thy time, and always shall be, until Thine angel shall declare that time shall be no more.

The massive trees, the bright gardens and the blossoming shrubbery are witnesses to Thy faithfulness.

These Sabbath days are Thy times for worship and praise and prayer, and for ploughing into Thy Book of Truth.

When our days of trial come, may we re member Joseph who through trial ascended to the place of power.

We say our prayers through Jesus Thy Son. Amen.

His stores were closed on the Lord’s Day (as noted by Nicole C. Kirk in Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store), as were Belk department stores, an iconic chain in the South, which began near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Belk took its name from the founder William Henry Belk (1862-1952), who also recruited his brother, John Montgomery Belk (1864-1928), to jointly run the business. The Belk brothers grew up in a Presbyterian household, although their father was killed in 1865 by Union troops. Their mother had an Associate Reformed Presbyterian background. The following illuminating autobiographical extract comes from LeGette Blythe, William Henry Belk: Merchant of the South, pp. 185-186:

“I just didn’t think I was good enough to join the church,” he explained recently. “I felt that a fellow to be a member of the church ought to be a mighty good person and I just didn’t think I was good enough.

“But when I was twenty-one years old and a grown man they had a revival in my mother’s church and I was going to the services. The Reverend A.W. Miller, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte and a wonderful preacher, was doing the preaching. One night he preached an unusually powerful sermon. I still remember it clearly. He was preaching on the text, ‘God is love.’ During the course of the sermon he went over some of the excuses that people make for staying out of the church. One of them was that you’re not good enough. The preacher then went on to answer that argument.

“‘You say you are not good enough,’ he said. ‘The truth about the matter is that you are not good enough to stay out of the church. If you were perfect you wouldn’t need to be in the church. But you aren’t perfect, you need the cleansing blood of Jesus to make you fit to be a member of the church. For that reason you should come to Him and be saved and then you will be fit to join the church and strive to be a better man or woman.’

“It sounded like a pretty good argument to me. It settled the very point that had been bothering me all those years. I went up to the preacher that night, confessed my sins and accepted the Lord as my saviour, and joined the church. And I have never regretted that step I took.

“There’s much good in all churches, I think, and all of them are headed in the same direction. But I just like the Presbyterian brand best. It seems to me that Calvinism is the best developer of sound Christian character. I believe that it is likely, if a man follows it, to make him a strong, moral force in his community. My mother was a strong Presbyterian and I guess that has a lot to do with the way I feel about the Presbyterian denomination.”

His love for his denomination, as he indicates, is but another testimonial to the love he had for his mother and his eagerness to testify to her greatness.

The first Belk store was located in Monroe, North Carolina.

These successful businessmen were each committed Christians who were members of the Presbyterian Church. They applied Christian principles to their business operations and were successful in their endeavors despite (as the world might wonder) the fact that they closed their stores on the Lord’s Day. They also contributed philanthropically to their communities, and to the ministry and educational efforts of the church. For many decades these stores reflected the values of their founders, and that is a heritage worthy of remembrance.

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A.A. Hodge's Table Talks on the Lord's Day

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From the Table Talks of A.A. Hodge, today we glean some extracts having to do with the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath. He has written more extensively on this topic in other locations, such as this treatise on The Day Changed and the Sabbath Preserved, but these bite-sized extracts are also worthy of consideration.

The Essence of the Sabbath.

That a regular portion of time, appointed by God, to be observed by all men, should be set apart for rest and the worship of God,—this is the essence of the Sabbath ; that one-seventh of time should be so set apart is, relatively to this, the accident. It is, however, the case that one-seventh of time has been positively set apart by God for a Sabbath, and a particular one-seventh of time. The choice has not been left to us.

Duration and Extent of the Sabbath Law.

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," is as much a moral law as "Thou shalt not steal" — the law founded on the relations of property. Its duration and extent are determined by the character of the institution and the abiding reason for it; and also by Scripture, in the New Testament portion of which its permanence is incidentally recognised, though there is no specific re-establishment of it, any more than of infant church membership.

The Lord’s Day and the Sabbath the Same.

Our "Lord's Day" and the Jewish "Sabbath" are not different in essence. Both are days of rest and festival, not of gloom. The essence of the Sabbath could not be changed without changing the nature of man. But the accidents of it may be changed by competent authority, and were actually changed by the college of Apostles, for a sufficient reason.

The Change of Day.

The stream of Sabbath observance on the seventh day of the week came right down to the time of the Apostles; it took a bend at that point; and it has come right on ever after. Only they could have altered it; the authority of no other would have wrought such an universal change in the Christian world. The adequate reason for the change was, the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the new creation it secured. The competent authority was that of the Apostles, and no other. (The trouble with the hierarchical bishops now is, that they are all Apostles, though they have not seen the Lord — not a soul of them!)

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Van Rensselaer's Calendar for Every Year

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In 1841, the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey, George Washington Doane, published a pamphlet titled The Rector’s Christmas Offering, in which he expounded upon the meaning of the liturgical calendar as employed by his church. Soon thereafter, a response appeared — one of several directed towards the High Church views of his neighbor — by Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, Sr. (under the pseudonym, “a Presbyterian”) — representing the Presbyterian view of the liturgical calendar, which is undergirded by the Second and Fourth Commandments: it was titled Man’s Feasts and Fasts in God’s Church (1842). He took the bishop to task for intruding upon the simplicity of Biblical worship — as marked by 52 (on occasion 53) holy Sabbath days per year, rather than a host of (approximately 120) man-made holy days intermixed with God’s own divinely-appointed day of rest. Appended to his pamphlet is a calendar which sometimes makes the rounds on social media even today (occasionally modified to reflect the current year).

Van Rensselaer’s calendar for 1842.

One may read Van Rensselaer’s position in his own words here, but the calendar speaks for itself.

It is noteworthy that when Bishop Doane passed away in 1859, it was his neighbor, Van Rensselaer, who stepped up to deliver his funeral sermon. It is found in his Miscellaneous Sermons, Essays, and Addresses, published posthumously in 1861, in which he prefaces his remarks:

Providence often summons a person to the performance of duties, which would otherwise more naturally have devolved upon others. Living In Burlington, by the side of Bishop Doane, I felt called upon to notice his death. My own stand-point varies from that of some others. I shall have no personal controversy with any who differ from me. God is the Judge of all.

The backstory for this calendar is helpful to bear in mind as it has a context in which its author strenuously argues for simplicity of Biblical worship, and later demonstrated graciousness in honoring his opponent on this very subject with a funeral sermon commending the Bishop’s virtues while acknowledging their differences. If this is your first look at the calendar, consider what Van Rensselaer has to say in regards to the liturgical calendar. If you have seen it before, but without context, now you know the rest of the story.

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A reminder from John H. Agnew about the importance and blessing of family worship

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In times when many churches are closed, the temptation exists to neglect other duties of worship beyond corporate, such as family and private worship. John Holmes Agnew’s words about the blessings of family worship on the Lord’s Day serve as a good reminder that we ought not to neglect family worship on the Christian Sabbath, especially when families themselves may not be able to assemble in public.

In his 1842 volume A Manual on the Christian Sabbath, he paints a picture evocative of The Cotters’ Saturday Night, which highlights just how important and how special family worship is - especially on the first day of the week.

The Sabbath is the poor man's friend. It scatters joy and gladness over his path. To him it is the bursting of a bubbling fountain in the scorching desert—the green spot on earth's wilderness where his eye rests with pleasure, the rising of a star like that of Bethlehem, to point him to the place of peace!

On other days he may be cheerless, and perhaps alone; but on this, his eye sparkles with delight while he gazes on the little family circle, and his heart glows with new pleasure as he looks around upon the children whom God hath given him, and enjoys a day's communion with the wife of his bosom (p. 119).

He continues his sketch of family worship on the Sabbath day as it ought to be for all:

But leaving the pulpit, go into the domestic sanctuary, and witness there a scene which has sent gladness into many a heart, and has done more for the morality of this nation, than all her public schools, or legal enactments. See the father of a family, the paternal shepherd, gathering his little flock around him, making them to lie down in green pastures, and beside the still waters. See him in the midst of those whom his heart loves, open the sacred pages, and call their attention to the story of Joseph, and the goodness of Joseph's God — then point them to the babe of Bethlehem, the man of sorrows, the persecuted and dying, yet meek, submissive and benevolent Jesus ; and while he tells them that their sins were the nails and the spear, which fastened him to the cross, and opened the veins of his body; that he left heaven to die thus for them, you may see one and another catching his words with listening ear, and weeping tears of sympathy. Yes; and you may follow them out into the shadows and realities of life, and you will find that an impression has been made by the familiar instruction of the fireside, which has restrained them from the haunts of wickedness, and probably led them into the church of God (p. 126).

Agnew’s Manual is a wonderful book to read on the Lord’s Day, and his reminder about the value of family worship is very timely. Take time to peruse this delightful work, and to profit from his words of wisdom.

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Dabney on 'The Happy Service'

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Among the collection of manuscript army sermons preached by Robert Lewis Dabney which we have at Log College Press (courtesy of Union Seminary in Richmond, VA) is one preached in August 1861 at Centreville, Virginia titled “The Happy Service.” It is based on the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

In this sermon (which was republished by Sprinkle Publications as a stand-alone booklet), Dabney offers some counsel to those who might chaff at these simple, yet profoundly true words of our Lord and Christ.

Although Jesus was not clothed in kings’ garments when He uttered those words — words which even a Roman Emperor could not utter in truth — yet as both man and God, He was and is able to fulfill the promise given.

First, Our Peace is to be found in embracing Christ and his service by faith…

Who is this, then, that calmly stands up and announces to his dying race this audacious proposal? “Come one, come all, to me; and I will give you rest.” Is this the Nazerene, the carpenter’s son; the man who “had not where to lay his head”? How dare he pledge to suffering mankind, he, in his beggary, a relief which Caesar, upon the throne of imperial Rome, with all the legions of her armies bowing to his sceptre, and all the nations of the civilized globe pouring their tributes into his royal treasury, would not presume to undertake?…

Be assured, my brethren, that the holy Jesus would have been incapable of using this language had he not been conscious that he was not only man, but God. It was because he could claim: “I and my Father are one”; “It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” “He hath set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church.” Unless the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, and infinite attributes of omniscience and omnipotence, he cannot give peace to mankind. But he is both God and man.

Dabney continues by highlighting the apparent paradox of finding rest in taking a yoke.

Second, We read assurance of our peace and blessedness in Christ in the nature of the yoke which we are invited to receive. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Here, again, there appears to the unbeliever a still greater paradox; he is invited to look for rest in assuming a yoke! It is when the yoke is unbound and the wearied ox is released to follow his own will pasture-ward, that he finds rest. So the perpetual delusion of the unbeliever is, that he can find his preferred happiness in the emancipation of his soul from the dreaded restraints of Christianity, and in this alone….

But I repeat, no man is free, or can be; all who do not bear the yoke of Christ, groan under that of sin and Satan. Such is the testimony of the Scriptures. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin.” “Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity.” They are “taken captive by the devil at his will.”…These are but instances of the pinching of Satan’s yoke.

…it is not apathetic indolence or sensual ease which Christ promises, but rest for the soul. It consists of peace of conscience, harmony of the affections, and the enjoyment of legitimate and ennobling exercise for all the powers….He who bears the right yoke, or, in other words, has assigned to him the proper activities, is the man who truly enjoys his existence.

Then Dabney reminds us that Christ is the very “Lamb of God,” meek and mild to His beloved children. This is He who promises rest.

Third, We may expect rest under the yoke of Christ because of the character of our Master. “He is meek and lowly in heart, and we shall find rest unto our souls.” He is a gentle, kindly, tender master. A merciful master makes an easy service. His benevolence makes him watchful of the welfare of his servants, and considerate in dealing with their infirmities. His lowliness of heart ensures that he will never sacrifice the happiness and lives of his subjects in reckless and ambitious enterprises. He is not a tyrant to drag his wretched subjects, like an Alexander, or a Tamerlane, through frozen wilds and burning wastes, and to pour out their blood as a libation to the idol of his fame. He is the prince of peace, whose sceptre is truth and meekness and righteousness, and whose law is love. To his own people, he is the “Lamb of God,” who loved them and gave himself for them. How, then, is it possible that he, in regulating the lives and services of his ransomed ones, should impose on them any other law than one which conduces to their truest well-being? To dread the yoke of Christ is guilty mistrust and unbelief….

If, then, we would find rest to our souls, let us learn to imbibe the temper of the meek and lowly Jesus, and to bear his yoke with that devoted spirit with which he fulfilled his Father’s will in living and dying for us.

Among Dabney’s concluding remarks, he summarizes what is offered here by Christ to sinners. Let sinners and saints consider the blessedness of embracing and entering into Christ’s promise.

But now remember the blessed truth already established from the Scripture: that when a believing soul embraces the cross, Christ “crucifies the enmity thereby”; that he engages to take away the stony heart out of our flesh and give us a heart of flesh; that when he reconciles God to us by his atonement, he also reconciles us to God by our effectual calling, and sheds abroad his love upon our hearts. Then, as the regenerated sinner considers this amazing love and condescension of a Redeemer God, stooping to death to rescue him from unutterable ruin, a new-born gratitude conspires with adoration for his excellences, and he begins to say, “I love him because he first loved me.” Then the love of Christ constraining him becomes the spring of a joyful obedience; and he sings with devout delight, in the language of David, “O Lord, truly I am servant: I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds.” This is the way, O sinner, the yoke is made easy and the burden light! Cannot you apprehend it?

On the Lord’s Day, when the Son of God rose from the dead to conquer death and sin, and loose us from the bonds of iniquity, may His promise of rest to all those who take on His yoke by faith be an encouragement to you who are weary. Dabney’s sermon reminds us that it is a “Happy Service” indeed to be one of Christ’s precious saints walking His holy ways.

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The Southern Presbyterian Review at Log College Press

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As our friends at the PCA Historical Center, who have done much to aid students of history by indexing a valuable theological journal, have noted about The Southern Presbyterian Journal:

Published from June of 1847 through October of 1885, the Southern Presbyterian Review remains a significant publication for the study of the history, doctrine and polity of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., a denomination more commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church. As one of its authors, John B. Adger noted, "Running from 1847 to 1885, its thirty-six volumes cover a very interesting term of years. Political, educational, moral, ecclesiastical, theological discussions were rife in those times. The war was coming on, and the ideas that led to it stirred men's minds and hearts."

At Log College Press, we have recently add all 36 volumes to the site for your reading pleasure. This journal included writings by Southern Presbyterian giants such as John B. Adger, Samuel J. Baird, Robert J. Breckinridge, Robert L. Dabney, John L. Girardeau, George Howe, Benjamin M. Palmer, Thomas E. Peck, William S. Plumer, Stuart Robinson, Benjamin M. Smith, Thomas Smyth, James H. Thornwell, B.B. Warfield, John L. Wilson, and others. Some additional contributors found within these pages include the Irish Presbyterian Thomas Witherow, the Scottish Presbyterian William Garden Blaikie and the German-born, New Orleans-based Jewish Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht. There is a wealth of discussion, and sometimes a diversity of views, on matters such as the office of the diaconate, church-state relations, baptism, Roman Catholicism, dancing, missions, church history, musical instruments in worship, poetry, preaching, the Christian Sabbath, evolution, eschatology, and much more.

Begin your reading here, and remember that some individual articles are found on the author pages at LCP, and some are not (or not yet). Thanks to Dr. Wayne Sparkman, author and subject indices are available at the PCA Historical Center. There is a veritable treasure trove of material here to download, digest and reference at your leisure. Enjoy!

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The Sabbath at Home: Silas M. Andrews

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Are you at home on the Lord’s Day today? Silas M. Andrews has a book for you: The Sabbath at Home (1840)? It encourages those not able to attend on the public worship services to spend their time wisely in keeping with the purpose of the Lord’s Day.

In this short volume, Andrews encourages families and individuals at home to read the Scriptures, pray, sing praises to God, meditate, catechize, and read godly literature. All of these are involved in profitable Sabbath observance, he says, and help us to aim our thoughts heavenward on this holy day.

He also discourages “Sunday visiting,” which under today’s circumstances (vis-à-vis the coronavirus) might seem to make sense. But his aim was primarily to help Christians avoid vain and frivolous conversation on the Lord’s Day. He does encourage visiting the sick to offer spiritual and physical comfort. This encouragement can be followed in some cases these days, but in other cases, we may avail ourselves of electronic technology to commune with others at a distance and still adhere to the thrust of Andrews’ counsel.

Andrews also connects the importance of public worship to Sabbath observance at home. How those who are at home ought to long for the courts of the Lord! Thankfully, technology can be help today in this regard, but it can never be a substitute.

This little book offers people who are at home on the Lord’s Day some valuable encouragement to redeem the time wisely. Today might well be the day when a book from 1840 speaks to us most clearly in 2020. Check it out here, and may God bless you on this Lord’s Day (3 John 2).

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Presbyterians and the 1893 World's Fair

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The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition was a remarkable event for many reasons. It was designed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, and additionally, to show how far the city of Chicago, Illinois had come since the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.

It was considered a success on many levels, but there was also great controversy on a religious level. The World’s Fair lasted from May to October, 1893. The organizers wanted to keep the exposition open on the Lord’s Day, but having sought federal support for the event, Congress - under pressure from Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), passed a resolution withholding financial support for Sunday events. After legal action was taken on the basis of the First Amendment, the fair was allowed to open on the Lord’s Day, although machines did not operate and most exhibits were closed.

The event served to inaugurate the World’s Parliament of Religions, known also at that time as the General Committee on the Congress of Religions, which was organized by the Presbyterian minister Dr. John Henry Barrows. This gathering of the world’s religious bodies - which clearly had ecumenical aims - did not receive full support from all Presbyterians, but some, including Dr. Philip Schaff, H.D. Jenkins and others gave addresses at the Parliament. Barrows chronicled the landmark event in two massive volumes.

The 1893 minutes of the PCUSA General Assembly record the following concerning the committee designated to represent the Presbyterian Church at the World’s Fair.

The Special Committee on the Columbian Exhibit presented its Report, which was adopted, and the Committee reappointed. The Report is as follows:

The Assembly’s Committee on the Presbyterian Exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition would respectfully report that, following the instructions of previous Assemblies, they have caused to be prepared an exhibit, now being installed in the space assigned for it by the Exposition authorities in the department of Liberal Arts, in the section occupied by the exhibits of other churches, and religious and reform societies.

By means of maps, charts, photographs, books, papers, and a small collection of curios, an exhibit is made of the numerical strength, the distribution, and the work of Presbyterianism in the world, and in particular of our own branch of the Church. The work of the various Boards of the Church is also exhibited, together with photographs of many of our educational institutions and their faculties. A full list of our denominational periodicals is displayed, as are the important issues of our Board of Publication. A fine heraldry of the Church has been prepared for the exhibit.

A prominent feature of the exhibit is an historical pamphlet prepared for the Committee by the Rev. H.D. Jenkins, D.D., giving the distinctive features of our history and polity. This pamphlet of some eighty pages is to be distributed gratuitously at the exhibit. It is hoped to present copies to the Assembly before the close of its session.

The cost of the exhibit up to this time has been nearly $2500, of which about one-third has been expended in the preparation and issue of the first edition of 10,000 copies of the historical pamphlet. A full statement of the expenses, and acknowledgment of the generous assistance the Committee has received from many sources, will be made from many sources, will be made in a final Report to the next Assembly.

Owing to some uncertainty in regard to the opening of the Exposition on Sunday, and also the impracticability of securing a definite assignment of space until a comparatively recent date, the Committee delayed active work for a considerable time. When it appeared certain that the Exposition would be closed on Sunday, the work was pushed forward as rapidly as possible, in accordance with the instructions given by previous Assemblies. Recently the question of opening the Exposition on Sunday has again been agitated. It seems improbable that this will be done, but if it shall finally be decided, against the protest of our own Church and that of many of the Churches of the country, to open the Exposition on Sunday, our exhibit will be withdrawn, according to the directions of this Assembly.

The General Assembly minutes from 1894 indicate that when the decision was made to keep the Exposition open on the Lord’s Day, the PCUSA asked the organizers to remove their exhibit, but permission was denied. At various times, as legal wrangling over the Sunday openings was ongoing, the exhibit remained in boxes with a sign posted indicating the General Assembly’s requirement for the exhibit’s closure in protest, and yet the exhibit did provide a testimony not only to the PCUSA’s opposition to Sabbath-breaking, but also to the witness of the American Presbyterian church at large.

An important fruit of the World’s Fair Committee’s labors in this regard was the book by Jenkins, Presbyterianism: A Brief Review of the Doctrine, Polity and Life of Our Churches, which is available to read here. From the 10,000 copies prepared, many were delivered to the various presbyteries, and helped to articulate the witness of the American Presbyterian Church to the world. It remains a worthy read today, and provides us today with a snapshot of how the PCUSA viewed itself - and other branches of the Presbyterian Church - in 1893. It was the World’s Fair that brought forth this witness, and has left us with this legacy.

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Those that love God will love His Church: William S. Plumer on the courts of God

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To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.…For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Ps. 84:1-4, 10).

The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people,  that  this man was born there. Selah. (Ps. 87:2-6).

These passages from the Psalms remind us that the Lord loves His Church — it is the dwelling place of His habitation and the focus of His blessing — and we ought to love and long for the Church too.

William Swan Plumer’s commentary on these Psalms gives helpful application on this point. Ps. 84:

The appointed worship of the true God has in all ages possessed great attractions for the regenerate….My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God, q. d., my whole nature is intensely wrought up to desire not only the privilege of worship, but actual communion with God. Without God all rites, though divinely appointed, profit not….The blessings connected with a regular and devout attendance at God’s house are so many and so great that the strongest terms may well be employed to describe them. Even the visitor of the sanctuary may be blessed, but those who dwell there are sure of great and numerous mercies….If we are not pleased with the solemn worship of God, it is because we lack the true spirit of devotion, and if we lack the spirit of devotion, we have no piety, vv. 1, 4….As true piety prevails, love for the worship of God increases….If our love to God and his house were as strong as it should be, as strong as it was in the bosom of the Psalmist, we should not find it necessary to spend so much time in seeking for evidences of a renewed state, and for marks of gracious affections, V. 10. Love is its own evidence. When it commands the soul, we cannot doubt its existence. When one desires God's word more than his necessary food, when he thinks it the highest privilege to be a worshipper of God, when he joyfully resigns his all to Jehovah, then his evidences are usually comfortable.

Plumer on Ps. 87:

God ought to be publicly worshipped. He is thereby honored. We should celebrate his works. Redemption is his chief work. As such worship is honorable, so it is pleasing to God….God's worship and presence dignify any place, thing or person pertaining to his service….To the end of the world they will be mentioned with respect by the best men of each succeeding generation….If we are truly pious, we will love all that God loves; and so we will love his church, v. 2….She is our mother. She is the spouse of Christ. She is the Lamb's wife. She is all glorious within. The glories of earthly kingdoms fade away before the glories of Zion, as the light of the stars is no longer visible when the sun rises.

Do you, Christian, like the Psalmist, long for the courts of God, that is, the Church? Do you know how much the Lord loves the gates of Zion, that is, the Church? If it is your heart’s desire to commune with God among His people, not merely in the outward observance of His ordinances of public worship, but with sincere inward devotion, that is evidence of a heart that loves what God Himself delights in. As the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day, approaches, may this heart be in each of us, and may we love the Lamb’s wife, the Spouse of Christ, as He indeed loves the Church.

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