Fri.-Sabbath, 3/25-27/16 Devotion

Wahoo—Sunday—even Easter Sunday—is *almost* here! In order to prepare us for church worship, here is the incomparable Thomas Watson, from his ex-cellent work, "Heaven Taken by Storm":

"The next duty wherein we must offer violence to ourselves, is the religious sanctifying of the Lord's day. That there should be a day of holy rest dedicat-ed to God appears from its institution. 'Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.' Our Christian Sabbath comes in the place of the Jewish Sabbath: it is called 'the Lord's day,' (Rev. 1.10)—from Christ the Author of it.

"Our Sabbath is altered by Christ's own appointment. He arose this day out of the grave, and appeared on it often to His disciples, (1 Cor. 16:1)—to intimate to them (says Athanasius) that He transferred the Sabbath to the Lord's day. And St. Augustine says that by Christ's rising on the first day of the week, it was consecrated to be the Christian Sabbath, in remembrance of His resur-rection.

"This day was anciently called 'dies lucis,' 'the day of light,' as Junius ob-serves. The other days of the week would be dark, were it not for the shining of the sun of righteousness on this day. This day has been called by the an-cients, 'regina dierum,' 'the queen of days.’

"The primitive church held this day in high veneration. It was a great badge of their religion; for when the question was asked, 'servasti dominicum?,' 'do you keep the Sabbath?'; the answer was, 'Christianus sum,' 'I am a Christian; I dare not omit the celebration of the Lord's day!' "