So, what do you think? Fourth mark of a church or some other consequent that goes to the standing of a true church? See below in bold for context.
Thomas E. Peck, “Pastoral Letter on the Observance of the Sabbath,” The Confessional Presbyterian 12 (2016), 3–4.
No ordinance of God can dread discussion; no plant of our heavenly Father’s planting can ever be rooted up by the storms of controversy, and we are under no apprehension that the Sabbath, which (beside the institution of marriage) is the only flower that has been transplanted from Paradise in our fallen world, and which has survived the scorching heats and blasting winds of wickedness for so many centuries, will be done away till he comes who is the substance of all the shadows, the complement of all pledges and earnests which have been given to the people of God, and the final rest of all who are troubled for the cause of truth and righteousness.
That this is a seasonable testimony [see the 1854 testimony below] cannot be denied by any serious observer of the signs of the times. In the universal agitation and conflict of opinions, which is one of the most striking characteristics of the age, the great questions touching the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath institution, and the change in the day of the week, from the seventh to the first, have again been subjected to a discussion, which, though earnest and solemn, has not been more solemn than the glory of God and the prosperity of the church demanded, or more earnest than the discussions of men generally are when their interests are concerned in upholding or in destroying anything venerable for its age or influence. No ordinance of God can dread discussion; no plant of our heavenly Father’s planting can ever be rooted up by the storms of controversy, and we are under no apprehension that the Sabbath, which (beside the institution of marriage) is the only flower that has been transplanted from Paradise in our fallen world, and which has survived the scorching heats and blasting winds of wickedness for so many centuries, will be done away till he comes who is the substance of all the shadows, the complement of all pledges and earnests which have been given to the people of God, and the final rest of all who are troubled for the cause of truth and righteousness. Still, unstable souls may be led astray, and even well-instructed Christians may be reduced to perplexity and doubt, “by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in weight to deceive.” We exhort you, therefore, to study the word of God, and especially the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which the apostle brings out clearly the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath as a day of rest, and also the change (and nature of the change) of the day, from the seventh to the first, by showing that when the warning was given in Psalm 95:11, the rest founded upon the finishing of creation (which included the observance of a particular day), and the rest founded on the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, which also included the observance of a particular day (Deut. 5:14, 15; and compare the same as it occurs in Exod. 20:10, 11), had both passed away, and, consequently, there “remained still a rest” (Greek, in the margin, a “sabbatism,” or “keeping of Sabbath”) “for the people of God”; a rest which also included the observance of a particular day, to-wit, the day on which Jesus entered into his rest, having ceased from his own works, as God did from his. In thus studying the word of God you will find that the obligation to observe the first day of the week as a day of rest, and the consequent promises and privileges belonging to a conscientious and faithful observance of it, stand upon a foundation which cannot be shaken by the plausibilities of Christian argument, much less by the rhetoric of men to whom “gain is godliness.” So shall you have boldness in the day of judgment and trial, and be able to stand before any tribunal on earth, and “give a reason for the hope that is in you.”.....
To the Congregations under the Care of the Presbytery of Baltimore.1
Dear Brethren: We, ministers and elders, in Presbytery assembled, respectfully and earnestly ask your attention to the following resolutions, adopted by the General Assembly of our church, at their sessions in Philadelphia, in May, 1853, and to some considerations which we venture to add by way of explaining, illustrating, and enforcing them. The resolutions are:
1. Resolved, That the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath is essential alike to the purity and progress of the church, and to the prosperity of the state. A church without the Sabbath is apostate; a people who habitually desecrate this divine institution have abandoned one of the grand foundations of social order and political freedom.
2. Resolved, That the General Assembly most earnestly enjoin it upon their churches, ministers, and members, both in their public and private capacity, both by their discipline and example, to sustain the strict observance of the holy Sabbath. The Assembly look upon the increasing desecration of this day, by the various modes of public conveyance, as of a most alarming character, as of a manifest abuse of the great temporal prosperity of the country, and as tending to provoke the judgments of God upon the church and the nation. So far as Christians are connected with the system of Sabbath desecration, by their ownership of stocks, or other interests in our railroad and other corporations, there can be no doubt of their duty to protest earnestly and constantly against the violation of the Sabbath, and to use all the influence of their position to arrest this growing evil.2
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The Author: Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822–1893). Thomas Peck studied for the ministry under James Henley Thornwell and served churches in Baltimore from 1846 to 1860. During this time he co-edited The Presbyterian Critic with Stuart Robinson (1855–1856). He then became professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary and served there until his death (taking the chair of theology upon Dabney’s departure in 1883).
1. The following letter was reported by a Committee of the Presbytery of Baltimore, and read before that body on the 12th of April, 1854, and, though not formally adopted, was approved by them, and the author, Mr. Peck, requested to publish it. It appeared in the April number of the Critic, 1855. [Ed. The Presbyterian Critic, vol. 1 No. 4 (1855): 161–168; reprinted in Miscellanies of Rev. Thomas E. Peck, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Theology in the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, complete in three volumes, edited by Rev. T. C. Johnson, D.D. (Richmond, Va.: The Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1895–97); repr. Writings of Thomas E. Peck (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 195–205.]
2. [Minutes of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America with an Appendix, volume XIII, A.D. 1851 (Philadelphia, Pa.: Presbyterian Board of Publication, [1851]), 435.]
That this is a seasonable testimony [see the 1854 testimony below] cannot be denied by any serious observer of the signs of the times. In the universal agitation and conflict of opinions, which is one of the most striking characteristics of the age, the great questions touching the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath institution, and the change in the day of the week, from the seventh to the first, have again been subjected to a discussion, which, though earnest and solemn, has not been more solemn than the glory of God and the prosperity of the church demanded, or more earnest than the discussions of men generally are when their interests are concerned in upholding or in destroying anything venerable for its age or influence. No ordinance of God can dread discussion; no plant of our heavenly Father’s planting can ever be rooted up by the storms of controversy, and we are under no apprehension that the Sabbath, which (beside the institution of marriage) is the only flower that has been transplanted from Paradise in our fallen world, and which has survived the scorching heats and blasting winds of wickedness for so many centuries, will be done away till he comes who is the substance of all the shadows, the complement of all pledges and earnests which have been given to the people of God, and the final rest of all who are troubled for the cause of truth and righteousness. Still, unstable souls may be led astray, and even well-instructed Christians may be reduced to perplexity and doubt, “by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in weight to deceive.” We exhort you, therefore, to study the word of God, and especially the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which the apostle brings out clearly the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath as a day of rest, and also the change (and nature of the change) of the day, from the seventh to the first, by showing that when the warning was given in Psalm 95:11, the rest founded upon the finishing of creation (which included the observance of a particular day), and the rest founded on the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, which also included the observance of a particular day (Deut. 5:14, 15; and compare the same as it occurs in Exod. 20:10, 11), had both passed away, and, consequently, there “remained still a rest” (Greek, in the margin, a “sabbatism,” or “keeping of Sabbath”) “for the people of God”; a rest which also included the observance of a particular day, to-wit, the day on which Jesus entered into his rest, having ceased from his own works, as God did from his. In thus studying the word of God you will find that the obligation to observe the first day of the week as a day of rest, and the consequent promises and privileges belonging to a conscientious and faithful observance of it, stand upon a foundation which cannot be shaken by the plausibilities of Christian argument, much less by the rhetoric of men to whom “gain is godliness.” So shall you have boldness in the day of judgment and trial, and be able to stand before any tribunal on earth, and “give a reason for the hope that is in you.”.....
To the Congregations under the Care of the Presbytery of Baltimore.1
Dear Brethren: We, ministers and elders, in Presbytery assembled, respectfully and earnestly ask your attention to the following resolutions, adopted by the General Assembly of our church, at their sessions in Philadelphia, in May, 1853, and to some considerations which we venture to add by way of explaining, illustrating, and enforcing them. The resolutions are:
1. Resolved, That the proper observance of the Christian Sabbath is essential alike to the purity and progress of the church, and to the prosperity of the state. A church without the Sabbath is apostate; a people who habitually desecrate this divine institution have abandoned one of the grand foundations of social order and political freedom.
2. Resolved, That the General Assembly most earnestly enjoin it upon their churches, ministers, and members, both in their public and private capacity, both by their discipline and example, to sustain the strict observance of the holy Sabbath. The Assembly look upon the increasing desecration of this day, by the various modes of public conveyance, as of a most alarming character, as of a manifest abuse of the great temporal prosperity of the country, and as tending to provoke the judgments of God upon the church and the nation. So far as Christians are connected with the system of Sabbath desecration, by their ownership of stocks, or other interests in our railroad and other corporations, there can be no doubt of their duty to protest earnestly and constantly against the violation of the Sabbath, and to use all the influence of their position to arrest this growing evil.2
--------------
The Author: Thomas Ephraim Peck (1822–1893). Thomas Peck studied for the ministry under James Henley Thornwell and served churches in Baltimore from 1846 to 1860. During this time he co-edited The Presbyterian Critic with Stuart Robinson (1855–1856). He then became professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary and served there until his death (taking the chair of theology upon Dabney’s departure in 1883).
1. The following letter was reported by a Committee of the Presbytery of Baltimore, and read before that body on the 12th of April, 1854, and, though not formally adopted, was approved by them, and the author, Mr. Peck, requested to publish it. It appeared in the April number of the Critic, 1855. [Ed. The Presbyterian Critic, vol. 1 No. 4 (1855): 161–168; reprinted in Miscellanies of Rev. Thomas E. Peck, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Theology in the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, complete in three volumes, edited by Rev. T. C. Johnson, D.D. (Richmond, Va.: The Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1895–97); repr. Writings of Thomas E. Peck (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 195–205.]
2. [Minutes of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America with an Appendix, volume XIII, A.D. 1851 (Philadelphia, Pa.: Presbyterian Board of Publication, [1851]), 435.]
Thomas E. Peck, “Pastoral Letter on the Observance of the Sabbath,” The Confessional Presbyterian 12 (2016), 3–4.
