But was the Jew the only person that was brought under the sanctions of this law? Were not all proselytes from the Gentiles bound by the same obligations, as they were also partakers of the same blessings with the Jews? And does the obligation stop even here? What is the meaning of this passage from the prophet Isaiah? “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer . . . for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” {20a} Surely this language must have reference to the times of the gospel, when the gentile nations would be admitted into the church of God, and become partakers of the blessings of the new covenant. In support of this view it may be mentioned, that St. Paul states expressly that gentile believers have no separate and independent standing in the economy of redemption, but are as scions cut out of a wild olive tree and grafted into the Jewish stock, and so with the natural branches, partake of its root and fatness. Or, using another figure, he reminds the Ephesians, that before their conversion they had been “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,” but that now they were “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” If this view be correct, and we see not how its correctness can be disproved, the Sabbath with its responsibilities and its blessings, is not confined to Jews, or to proselytes to the Jewish religion. Its observance is binding upon all who profess to believe the scriptures and to worship the God of the Bible. We cannot help regarding as very untenable the opinion of those, who dissever the fourth commandment from the rest of the decalogue, under the plea that it is not properly speaking _moral_, {20b} and therefore has not the same force as the commandments of the second table—as if the express command of our Maker were not infinitely above every consideration arising from the nature of the injunction given, or as if man’s reason or man’s moral sense were competent to make a distinction where God has made none. What right have we, under any pretence whatever, to deny the obligation of a law, so plainly, so solemnly, so awfully promulgated by the God of heaven himself? The very position of the fourth commandment in the decalogue, might teach men to regard it with peculiar veneration. It is the link that binds together heaven and earth—our duty to God and our duty to our neighbour. It is the pillar that supports the whole moral and religious fabric. To attempt to set aside the obligation to observe the fourth commandment, is therefore, in our view, a daring attack on the authority of the Lawgiver. It is a temerity equalled only by that of the church of Rome in expunging from the decalogue the second commandment.