MR. BROWN 'S THIRD REPLY. 177 



"The day which the Lord hath made." The appointed Christian festiTal. 



the Messiah's exaltation. (p. 91.) As to the first, I will con- 

 cede to him that a day of devotional rest, divinely appointed, 

 and of weekly recurrence, is essential to the idea of a Sahhath. 

 And as to the second, I will now try to convince him that such 

 a "day'' is really intended in Ps. cxviii. 22 — 24, by a closer 

 examination of that interesting prophecy. 



The passage reads thus : " The Stone which the builder 

 refused, is become the head-stone of the corner. — This is 

 THE DAY which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be 

 glad in it." I remark, 1. The sense of Scripture is no more 

 arbitrary than in other books, and therefore the word " day'' 

 must here have a determinate meaning. 2. This must be its 

 literal meaning, unless sufficient reasons can be given to show 

 the contrary. 3. The literal meaning of the word in question 

 is a period of twenty-four hours ( Gen. i. 5, 8) ; and W. B. T. 

 has shown no reasons for giving it here the tropical meaning 

 of era. 4. This Psalm was actually sung on the occasion of 

 cur Lord's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, which was on 

 the first dai/ of the v:eek (the week in which He died) ; and 

 the prophecy was thus applied to that day, with His own most 

 explicit and emphatic sanction. For when some of the Pha- 

 risees said unto Him : Master, rebuke thy disciples. He an- 

 swered and said unto them : " I tell you that if these should 

 hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." 

 The passage is quoted six times in the New Testament in 

 reference to Christ. No prophecy then has a more determinate 

 meaning, or fixed application. By the authority of the Lord 

 the day is " made." How " made ?" This word can have 

 no distinct meaning, unless it signifies here " made sacred 3" 

 and to agree with the foregoing verse, it must mean " made 

 sacred to Christ," in honor of His exaltation as " the head of 

 the corner." And that this sacredness is to be recognized by 

 the Church, is clear from the following words: " We will 

 exult and be glad in it." It is then made sacred by Divine 

 authority as the distiwjuishing festival of the Christian Church. 



