earnestnes theÌ they were of the Iewes in the old lawe Wherfore it is expedient and mete that amonge vs be dayes appoynted when the church ought to assemble and come together to heare the preaching of the word of god Act. ij Holye day behauiour to vse ofteÌ the lordes supper to make common prayer for the state of christendome to make collections of almes for the relefe of the poore i. Cor. vi that families housholdes may be informed in the christen religion godlines to visite our frendes in a christien maner to visite the sycke to practyse suche other lyke holye dedes Youth of it selfe is vnruly headye The vplandishe feble faythed sone falle into errour Holye dayes be deadfull wherfore it is necessary for this intent to ordeyne holye dayes that the youthe may be nurtred and kept in awe ⪠and that the ignoraunte may learne to knowe what christeÌ religion is and what seruice is due to be geuen to god The thyrde cause wherfore the sabboth was dyuised is open playne by the wordes that the lord spake to the Hebrue people Thou shalte obserue take hede sayeth the âord that thy seruaunte and thy mayde rest them remembre that thou was a seruaunte in the âand of Egypt For these two âauses therfore that be cyuill âe christians must haue choâân and determinated dayes ãâã the church may continually ãâã exercised inured aswel in âardly in workes of the sprit ãâã outwardly in loue toward âur neighbour For this consiââration the law of the Lord âââbad the Iewes only suche âorkes on the sabboth daye ãâã letted theÌ that they could haue no leasure or respyte to heare the worde of God Why worke is forbiddeÌ to do the ordinary oblations and sacrifices to make publike prayer and other exercises full of charitye and loue As for example they were forboden to tyll the land to buyld houses and to do any other ordinary labour on the sabboth day because such workes held a man busied al the day that he could intend to no other thynge notwithstanding because the lawe of the sabboth was ceremonial to the Iewes they synned not if for necessitie or for the weale profite of their neighbour they chauÌced some time to breake it as I haue sayde aboue in thys treatyse We Christians be fre from those ceremonies and those ordynaunces Christians be fre that the Iewes were in bondage vnder Therefore no lawe of meate of dayes of clothynge of places can bynde vs to a synne as it dyd the Iewes Neuerthelesse for so muche as the church can not be coÌgregated Dayes to what vse and gathered except there be dayes appointed wherin the worde of God muste be preached the lordes supper minystred publike prayer made other Christen workes aforementioned must be practised Therefore oure aunciente fathers elders haue determined and instituted that at the lest one day of the weke shuld be bestowed geuen to these religyouse and deuout seruyces i. Cor. xvi And in the Apostles church the Chrystyans folowynge the custome of the Iewes came together on the sabboth daye so that many yeares the holy congregatioÌ of christendom vsed the sabboth for the day dedicated to the spirituall gouernement But afterward wheÌ Christendome increased and spred abrode in the tyme of the great Constantine that the Iewes shuld haue no occasion to glory against vs that other shuld not think that a Christian man became a Iew lastly to declare to the whole world that one day is not more holy then another the sabboth was altered into the daye folowynge which was named of the christians the dominical day SoÌday ââo i. that is dedicated to the lord And the kepynge of thys day hath bene alwayes vsed sythen that in the church thinges may be done with order reuereÌce Now to proue that the holy dayes were ordeyned of our auncestours for thys polytycall ende Howe the fathers vsed the sabboth not to make one daye holyer then that other Lib. 4. suffiseth the auctority of Tertulliane In his boke against Marcion Hierome vpon the epistle to the Galathians wher he sayeth lest the vnordinary congregatynge of the people shuld minish the faith in Christ therfore certaine dayes be appoynted vs that we myghte all mete together not that that day wherin we mete is more holy or reuerent but to the end that more reioysing may come of the mutuall beholding whatsoeuer day we mete Saynte Augustine also in hys worke de ciuilate dei maketh mention of certayne memorialles of holy dayes as the natiuity of the lord the circuÌcision the passion the resurrection the ascension whit soÌday on whiche daies the christians dyd accoÌpany themselues to heare the word of the lord to vse the coÌmunion to make coÌmon prayers do other christian dedes The same is red in the ecclesiastical historye of Eusebius So that oure elders knewe that ceremoniall holynes of the sabboth dayes as the Iewes did They onelye on those dayes assemble for the same purpose that the Apostles did Act. ii The apostles vse on the holy daye whiche continued in doctrine in prayer breakyng of bread in the communicating that is in aydinge and releuing the poore And it appeareth that Paule appoynted the day of the sabboth on whiche day 1. Cor. xvi at the time the congregation came together that the churche of Corinth shuld make theire collections of almes that the poore christians at HierusaleÌ which died for hunger might be releued succoured I coÌclude therfore the christians be fre froÌ al superstitiouse hypocrisy of keping the sabboth other festiual dayes The Iewes among other feastes Iohn x. Fest of tentes did vse to soleÌmse a feast of tabernacles so named because they dwelled vij dayes in pauilioÌs bothes This feast was obserued in remembraunce that theire fathers dwelled in the desert and wyldernes in tentes when they were delyuered froÌ the bondage of Egypt According as the Lord commaunded sayinge In the seuenth moneth whiche agreeth wyth the moneth of October amonge vs the .xv. Leui. xxx daye of the moneth shal be the holy day of the tabernacles seuen dayes shall ye lodge in tentes that your posteritye may knowe how that I made the chyldren of Israel to dwell in bothes when I deliuered theÌ out of the land of Egypt Thys solemnitie shuld be kept without hipocrisye superstition because it was but only a memoryall remembraunce of the benefyte that God had done to their fathers But the Iewes forgetting the meanyng of the feast thought they shulde offende deadly if on such dayes that were festyuall they had done anye bodelye outward worke In like maner the Phariseis expounded vnto the people the precept of the Sabboth amisse The lord sayeth thou shalte not worke on the sabboth day This commaundement onlye bounde the Iewes froÌ doynge such labours as letted the people that they coulde
Of the Christian Sabboth a godlye treatise of mayster Iulius of Milayne translated out of Italian into English by Thomas Langley Exod. xx ¶ Remembre that thou kepe holye the Sabboth daye Anno Domini 1552. Mense Maio. ¶ To hys verye entier frende mayster William Lewes of London Thomas Laugley wisheth grace and peace in Christe THE discipline of good conuersation gentle Mayster Lewes standeth chieflye or rather altogether in ij poyntes that is in doctrine and exercise By doctrine is taught to know what should be done by that other men be broughte to custome that they be willinge readye to put in execution that which they haue learned And the one of these with out the other is maymed vnperfecte Wherfore Moyses semeth to haue taken better fourme of gouernement theÌ any politike ruler of the heathen in his lawes makynge For where the Lacedemonians and Cretians ordered al by doinges and vse withoute muche a do makyng in wordes and contrary wise the Athenians spente longe space in decrees making but were slacke in requyrynge the performaunce of the same Moyses most diligently hath coupled And ioygned them so together that nether he parted good custome of liuynge from doctrine nor suffered doctrine to be wtout inuring of workes But because they shoulde agreablye be matched he aswell made lawes for reste and forbearynge of workes as he did for the dilygence of labour to be occupied not that they re ceasynge from workes shoulde mayntayne idlenes and slouth but that therby they might be guyded by knowledge and that their offences shoulde not be cloked or excused by ignoraunce For that daye that they rested whyche they named therfore the Sabboth and was not ones or twyse in the yeare but euerye weke ones on the seuenth daye they came together to here the lawe of God wherin was conteyned all suche thynges as they shoulde do and expres in their behauiour The maner of their comming together as Philo telleth was thus When the ordinarye day came they assembled to their temples with muche spede and there did sitte geuing good audience diligenteare to the scriptures onlesse at tymes wyth one accorde they spake a word in commendation of that that was there saide redde and the priest or one of the elders rehersed the lawe and expounded it and this fashion they vsed at the seuenth day till the euening tide and then departed By meanes wherof they neded not to aske of the lawiers what they shoulde do nor coulde be in their euill discharged by any colored excuse of lacke of knowledge but the husband to the wife the father to his chyldren maisters to their seruauntes declared the commaundementes of the law Thus was doctrine taught one daye exercise and practise all the weke after was put in execution and vsed Whatsoeuer labour letted them from resorting to the hearing of the law was straightly forbiddeÌ sharpe payne appointed for correction of the offendours therin Nowe if this precise order was vsed on the Sabboth daye vnder Moyses his doctrine so duely taught and all to bringe men to a ciuill order outward rightewesnes howe muche more nedefull is it that we which profes christ be busied in learninge the lawes of the gospel the law of the sprite the word of life which whosoeuer knoweth shal receaue for their obedience honest coÌuersation not only reward temporal in this life but also in the world to come saluation of our soules life euerlastinge Let it not therfore greue vs which be in the daylight of the gospell on the dayes of assembling together deuoutly to vse our selues seing the Hebrues the were hudââ the cloudy shadow letter of the lawe shewed theÌselues so willing forwarde to obserue the same For albeit the Iewysh Sabboth touching the seuenth day be abrogated expelled yet is not the coÌmaundement of the Sabboth sanctifiyng disanulled but remaineth stil as a headful part of christian religion coÌteyning all such due seruice as belongeth to the glory of god And for that cause our elders when otherwise blind ignoraunce had ouershadowed the hole world that the Sabboth might reuerently be halowed ordeyned by act of parlament that in thys realme no fayres nor markettes shuld be kept vpon the sonday or other soleÌne feast as vpon christmas day easter day with soÌday ascension day as appeareth in the actes of Henry the .vi. king of this realme But nowe wheÌ for our knowledge we should be better thorough vnbrideled libertie we be groweÌ to such badnes that al law of god maÌ set aside men be wholy geueÌ ouer to folow their lustes on the sabboth daies not only by going to markets fayres gasinge games but also by misusing their time that shuld be spent in reading or hearing of the word of god in praier and visiting of the poore in beare baiting hauking huÌting daÌsing carding dising baÌquetting other kindes of riot surfetting And thus make those daies most vnholy of al the weke worthier to be named idle dayes for their euil occupiyng of the rest then holy dayes for any halowed working where our rest froÌ workes of body should be an earnest exercising of oure sprites in goostly doinges Wherfore it is to be wished that a reformation and redresse might be taken therin by the magistrates for the restoring of the sabboth to it owne propre kinde And because I perceaued that this treatise of maister Iulius of Milayne declareth handleth this matter at large I thought good so as I coulde to turne it into oure natiue speche that therby the christiaÌ reders might learn what their office is on the holy dayes se how far we be swarued oute of frame from the true natural vse therof And albeit the argument be vniuersall mete for all men for the matter yet it specially semeth verye fitting that it be dedicated to your geÌtlenes aswel for that you be geuen to the study of the Italian tong the by reading herof you mighte be an Aristarchus to examine how nere I haue gone to the Italian Phrase meaning of the author as also because it was my duty to shewe some testimony vnto you of the good hert the I haue borne to you euer sitheÌwe wâre first conuersaÌt together in familiaritie of coÌpany and conference of study whiche as it began long agone so hath it stil coÌtinued fixed stedfast on my behalf Pleaseth it you therfore to accept in good part this tokeÌ small in quantitie but great both for godlines of the worke good will of the presenter chiefly for that it is your wont geÌtlenes to set muche by any gift the cometh froÌ your herty frendes And I shal dailie as occasion oportunitie serueth further vtter my faithfull loue toward you by suche thynges as my habilitie shal be sufficient to perfourme be a coÌtinuall petitioner to god for youre prosperouse healthe longe to endure Fare you hertelye well From Headcrone the .xxi. of Marche 1552. ¶
in and as it were pinneth vs vp then dothe the obedience to god nether can there be anye greater scourge ouer our heade then that is due for disobeying the Lorde For it behoueth that all our neades all our perillous daungers al our profitable commodities geue place and rowme to the obedience of god for that we alwayes obeye to God it is neadfull but to continue styll in thys lyfe mortall standeth not in such necessitye The other lawes that is Ecclesiasticall lawes be dispeÌsed with ecclesiasticall and ciuyll albeit they be ordeyned of god yet be not so holye and reuerente but that they may in causes of necessytye not only be broken but also altogether dysanulled as though they neuer had bene And for profe herof let vs peruse the ecclesiasticall lawes of the Iewes Those lawes were to be kepte and done so longe as the outward gouernmeÌte of the Iewes endured vntill that Christ was dead and rysen agayne they were ordeyned of God by the handes of Moyses for the people of Israell to the ende that the name of God should be praysed and the promises made in Christ myghte be taught and true religion preserued nether was circumcision the sabbothe the sacrifices all that solemne and ceremoniall seruice and leuiticall obsequies aboute the tabernacle of the Iewes ordeyned and instituted for any other purpose theÌ is afore sayde Notwithstandinge for so muche as these lawes were onlye geuen to the people of the Iewes to none other nation therfore the gentiles and foreyne people were not burdened nor charged with the kepinge of those statutes nether did they offend in not kepynge them for that they were not driuen to liue vnder those constitutions although they had forsaken Idolatry and acknowledged one very God by beleuyng the promyses of Iesu Christ We reade ExaÌple that the people of Niniue repented at the preachynge of Ionas pleased Iones iij. and appeared God therby Niniue yet reade we not that they were circumcysed nor that they obserued other ecclesiastical lawes of the Iewes Daniel iij Daniel wytnesseth Babilon that the king of Babilon confessed opeÌly the very true god of Israel commaunded by proclamation that no man should blaspheme him neuerthelesse it is not reade that the king of Babilon was therfore bownden to the ceremonies of Moyses No the Iewes them selues were not so bounden to these ecclesiasticall lawes but that they myghte omitte them in tyme of neade ether for anye coÌmoditie or for anye matter of honestye Many of the Israelites after theyr deliuerye out of Egypt while they were in the wildernes were vncircuÌcised as it appeareth in Iosue Ioâue v. And very likely it is that manye Iewes died in the deserte wythoute circumcision foreskin whiche by faith passinge from death vnto life were not daÌned for hauynge theyr foreskin King Dauid fleinge the persecution of Kynge Saul i. Re. xvij lest he should dye for hunger Shewe bread did eat both he and his company of the table of the lord the holy bread that was dedicated appoynted onely for the vse of the priestes and yet sinned he not in so doing By thys example of Dauid oure maister proueth to the Iewes that in neadfull affayres and busynes Math. xij the sonne of man that is euery man is Lorde of the sabboth Nether did oure sauiour Iesus Christe by these wordes meane that the Sabboth should not or oughte not to be kept at that time when as yet he was not deade be shewed therby on what maner the ceremonies of Moyses bounde that nation to the obseruynge of them For the Iewishe ceremonies at that tyme were to be reuerenced by the generall commaundemente of God Dispensations notwythstanding if ether nede or the profite of any neighbour constrained a Iew to breake them he was not in suche case bownde to kepe them because that cause standing the Iewes was lord of the Sabboth and offended not in breakynge and omyttynge them Therfore our sauiour Christ synned not when he healed sicke and diseased persons on the sabboth day because that necessity neyghbourly charitye caused him to haue small respect to the outward Sabboth which was a shadowe figur of the christian sabboth So sone as christ was deade and risen agayne all the ceremonies of the Iewes were vtterly disanulled and repelled wherfore the Christian man was vnburdened of the heauines of them only trusted to be saued by the grace of God shewed in Iesu Christe For this cause we christians ought not to make any difference of dayes nor thynke that one daye is holyer then another Wherfore S. Paul wold not that a christian Rom. ââââ iudge think any diuersity betwene day day Col. ââ nor that any man shoulde accuse vs for any fastiual day or new mone or sabboth day and feared lest he had trauayled in vayne in the churche of the Galathians Gal. iiij because they were obseruers of dayes willyng to do vs to vnderstand the to count one day holier then that other was a thing that parteyneth to a Iewe not to Christen men That whych we haue spoken of ceremonies Mosaicall Ceremonies of the new Testament namely that in neade other behoues they bound not anye Iewe we may lykewise saye and affirme of the ecclesiasticall lawes of Christendome wherof some be autorised by Iesu Christ and some by the father elders of our religion that the christen fayth myght be preached and taughte in good order And albeit the ordinances of our auncestours be not to be compared to those that god the lord appointeth yet are they to be obserued ought to be reuerently vsed because that god wold that in the churche thynges shuld be ordered in comly maner and wyth due reuerence But for so much as these our lawes ceremoniall are made for oure commodity not to our losse therfore the lord would that they should yeld geue place to oure necessityes Necessitie is a dispensation There be many christen men vnder the Turke in vylanowse slauery which can not vse the Sacrament of the Lordes supper yet shall they not be condemned therefore so that they haue the fayth of Iesu Christ Many other be entangled chaltered in the snares of Antichristes hypocrisy whych can not here the sincere preaching of the Gospell yet shal not for that cause be condemned if in the meane while they do beleue trust in Iesu Christ al such do not sin because necessity excuseth theÌ Lyke processe might be made of the Iuditial lawes but I wyll not at thys tyme make any treatise vpon them The Phariseis therfore moued of an hatefull hypocrisye blamed our maister as a wycked breaker of the sabboth yet vnderstode not for what purpose God had ordeyned the Sabboth The Lord had an higher respecte then to the bodely rest when he coÌmaunde the sabboth in the law saying to the Iewes Remembre that
no more in dispayre of conscience they know how much Iesu Christ worketh in they re myndes they passe not vpoÌ shadowes that be disanulled destroyed by the coming of the body of Iesu Christ O vnhappy be oure dayes wherin raygneth more superstition then euer dyd amonge the Iewes This is the meruelous chere reioysing that the Prophet maketh for the solemnitie of the day dedicated to the lord saying sing wyth triumphe vnto god our helper Psa lxxx make ye melody to the god of Iacob Lifte vp youre swete tunes of the cymbales smite vpon your Psalters touche clenly the strynges of your swet harpes blow your trompettes in the feast of your new mone in the soleÌne day of your feast This soÌg tune of the Prophet was expounded of Paule wher he sayeth Col. iij. Ephes vj that we shuld in our hertes singe to the lord Psalmes spiritual songes reioysing in the sprit and ioyinge in thys sabboth Wherfore faith ioygned with true confession loue maketh vs to sing to the verye god of Iacob This reioysing is knowen outwardly of our neighboure by the confession that we make in the name of the great God psaltery The Psalterye that we smyte on in the solemnitye of this sabboth is the louynge thanking of god Cimbal The cimbal is the mortifyinge of humane wysdome the crucifying of all mannes merites the denying of al superstitiouse religion Harpe The harpe that is played vpon in the feast of the sabboth is the charitie that we vse toward our neighbour whyche causeth oure conuersation to be dulcet and pleasaunt The trompet is the preaching of the gospel TroÌpet wherwith all christiaÌs be somoned warned to sanctify the feast of the sabboth for in Iesu Christe is ordeyned the euerlastynge Sabboth This is the tyme that pleaseth the lord â Cor. vi Esay xliâ in which he heareth vs for this is the day of saluation wherin he succoureth vs. Therfore the christian sabboth is that a man dispayre of him selfe that he condemne his owne holynes all that that can come of our owne nature and put the trust coÌfidence of his saluation in one only Iesu Christ By this meane man resteth from hys carnall workes and geueth place for the lord to worke in hys hert the doinges of the sprite wherby the lorde consecrateth vs haloweth vs into hys owne seruice as the Prophete sayeth The lorde that made euerye thing gouerneth al Psal xci for al thinges be in hys handes Iewes offended The Iew the hipocrit that here talke of thys maner sanctifying of the sabboth daye is discontented yea and is starcke woode his bloude chafeth wtin hym nether can he abyde that the superstitiouse ceremonie of daies be ouerthroweÌ On other side the faythfull man heareth those thynges the faithfull reioseth is glad chereful in hyâ hert sayinge Praysed be tâ lord in whose handes custâdy is my saluation Ihon. â I am wâ assured to be saued for no ãâã can take or pull me out of ãâã handes of the eternall fatheâ The Sabboth therfore is ãâã halowed by being ydle Idlenes is not halowyng nor standing with the fingers ââder the girdle nor yet wyâ ceasing from hand labour oââ day as the superstitiouse Ieââ supposeth Wherfore we reââ in the Prophet Esay that ãâã sanctifiyng of the sabboth âââdeth not in the outward ââââdely religion of the holy dââ but the true halowing is ââââing our owne wil glorifyââg the lorde For he sayeth if âou tourne thy fete from the âabboth Esay lâââ lviji so that thou do not the ââing which pleaseth thy selfe ãâã my holy day theÌ shalt thou ãâã called vnto the pleasaunt âoly glorious sabboth of the âârd where thou shalt be in hoâour so that thou do not after thyne âwne ymagynatyon nether ââke thine owne wil nor speak âhyne owne wordes theÌ shalt âhou haue thy pleasure in the âord whych shal cary the high âboue the earth fede thee wtâhe heritage of Iacob thy faâher Nether is there anye doubt but that this ceremony of the day is abrogated by the coming of Iesu Christ Ceremonye of time abrogated like as al other ceremonies of the Hebruâes be Iesu Christ is the truth at whose presence all figureâ be destroyed Iesu Christe ãâã the bodye at whose approchinâ al shadowes vanishe awaye ⪠he alone hath geuen vs thâ true fulfylling of the sabboth by clothyng vs with hymself throughe his death Rom. vi that wââ being raised agayne with hiâ might leade a newe life wheâfore all our lyfe shuld be a perpetual sabboth as I haue saâ to you before And although there be no dââferences of dayes in the christian congregation Rom. xiiij yet woââ Paule that the weake in the faytâ were borne with suffered ⪠and that compassion be takeâ vpon suche as be fre from aâ kynde of hypocrysye and dissimulation because manye that haue alredy some knowledge ãâã the word of God desyre to âo styll forwarde But for yeââey be felle as chyldren and ââryshed and noseled in antiââristes religion they beleue âhat one daye is more holye ââen another of more reueâânce and more honour then ânother of this hypocrisye âârked vp in the swathlynge ââdes springeth vp also this âther erroure that the consciânce of the hypocrite simple ãâã cloyed with scrupulosity And âhinketh that he committeth as it is commonly termed a ââadly synne if on the holye âay he should go to plowing ãâã do any other maner of haÌd ââoure The Apostle therââre wolde Weake must be borne wt. that suche feble ââeake in the fayth shuld not ââraight way be deuided from the churche For with alloâ charitable maner our duââ is fyrst to enstructe them anâ do them to perceyue witteâ of what sorte the christien ãâã euangelical liberty is which is purchased bought for vâ by Iesu Christ Afterwardeâ when the weake faythed iâ taught so farre that he knoweth the libertye of dayes ⪠of meates of rayment and oâ all other outwarde workes and neuerthelesse wyll be froâwarde and refuse to enioye ãâã christen liberty then in suche case the infirmitie is no lengââ to be borne with or suffered ⪠bycause so it myght growe to be vncurable This errour was bytterly blamed of S. Paule which inflamed with great grefe rebuked the church ãâã the Galathians sayinge Gal. iiââ if ye ââue alredy knoweÌ god why ââye tourne backe a freshe to ãâã weake and beggerlye eleâântes wherto ye would be ââunden thrak seruauntes ââayne Ye obserue dayes ââonethes and tymes yeaââs I am in feare of you lest I âaue bestowed labour on you ãâã vayne Two causes neuer abrogated The other two cauââs for whyche the sabboth of âhe Iewes was instytuted were neuer abrogated in any age or tyme but ought to be obserued of Christen men in the newe testamente with no lesse
thou kepe holy the sabboth daye Exo. xâ syxe dayes shalte thou worke and the seuenth is the Sabboth of the lord thy god thou shalt do no worke there on Iustitution of the sabboth In thys speche God principallye sheweth to the people of Israell that a man can not be sanctified nor iustified by hys owne workes but proueth that to come to holines behoueth to kepe goostly sabboth This is purport and intent of thys coÌmaundement namely that we oughte to be deade to the workes of our owne flesh for beare and rest from sinne and continually haue our meditation study of the kyngdome of god practisinge our selues in this goostly rest we sanctify the christen Sabboth For thys consyderation it is I thynke that Austen writyng vnto Ianuarius sayeth Lib. 2. ca. 12. that this commaundemente of the sabboth is figuratiue a shadow touching the outwarde keping of the daye whiche is cleane abrogated together with all other shadowes and ceremonies of Moses by the death of Iesu Christ Wherfore auncient writers saye thre causes of the sabboth that God appointed the coÌmaundment of the sabboth for thre causes Fyrste cause Fyrst because the lord vnder the commaundemente of the bodely rest wold haue vnderstanded the spirituall goostly quiet wherin the faythfull surceasse from fleshly workes geue place to god to worke in them the workes of the holy Goost Seconde cause The seconde cause why the Sabboth was commaunded to the Iewes is that the people of the Hebrues myghte haue an appointed to heare the word of the Lord. The thyrde cause is that seruauntes Thirde cause and such as be in subiection and vnder the coÌmaundement or rule of others may haue some ease and discontinuaunce of labour Thus albeit that we find how the sabboth was instituted for thre causes aforesaide yet neuerthelesse the principall and chiefe cause why this ceremoniall commaundemente was geuen is because it shuld sygnify importe to vs the reste from sinne halowing of our soules and mindes For thys cause we read in the old testament that there was no commaundement so precisely and straightly geuen to the Iewes Exo. xxxv as the keping of the Sabboth was when god coÌplayneth that al religion was destroied and wasted among the Iewes Hier. xvii he lameÌteth that this sabboth is broken Qezech xx that it is not kept not sanctified as though the lord shuld say sabboth is all religion that when the sabboth is defiled despised there remaineth no other thing wherwyth God can be honoured Wherfore the lord commaundeth the religion of the Sabboth aboue all other spiritual workes speaking to hys people on this wise take heade o ye childreÌ of Israel that ye kepe my sabboth Exo. xixi. because it is a signe betwene me and you thorough out your generation that ye may knowe that I am the lorde that sanctifie you Kepe the sabboth for it is holy vnto you it is an euerlastyng couenaunt betwene me the people of Israell and a perpetual signe By these wordes of the Lord is well perceaued that the sabboth is a signe wherby the people of Israel may know that god is their sanctifier A christeÌ man can not become holy onlesse first of al he crucify the euil desires of his carnal wyl Therfore the straight keping of the ceremonial sabboth is not the thing that can make vs holy but it is a shadow and sygne which teacheth vs to leaue of froÌ our fleshlye workes that the sprite of the lord maye worke in vs the true sanctificatioÌ goostlye sabboth so that the carnal wil of the christen man should geue place to the sprite of god his worldly hert to the wil of god Our bodye with all the carnal meÌbres therof shuld reste from voices al dishonest workes that god may do in vs hys holy and goostly workes This is that spiritual sabboth christen holy day that Paule describeth to the Hebrues Heb. iij. where he sayeth therfore there remaineth a rest vnto the people of god Heb. iiij For he that is entred into his rest ceasseth from his workes Gene. ij as god dyd froÌ hys let vs make hast therfore to entre into the reste And forsomuch as a true christian oughte alwayes to subdue kepe vnder the flesh with it coÌcupiscences lustes Continuall Sabboth he therfore euery howre kepeth sabboth taketh not one daye to be more holy then another This our spirituall sabboth we begin in this mortal lyfe from daye to day as the power of the sprite of god encreaseth in vs we more and more reste froÌ the workes of the fleshe be more feruent forward in halowynge the sabboth flesh breketh sabboth Gal. v. But because the flesh continually wrastleth striueth agaynst the sprite and abateth him from the perfecte loue therfore no christen maÌ whilest he abideth in this flesh kepeth throughly perfectly the sabboth notwithstaÌding at the last when we shal be coupled to Iesu Christe the kingdome shal be resigned into the handes of god the father 1. Cor. xv god shal be al in al then shall we kepe the perfect sabboth This is that perpetual sabboth coÌtinuall holy day that Esay the Prophet describeth saying Esay lxvi there shal be sabboth after sabboth and newe mone after new mone whych also was resembled shadowed of the lord god to the Israelites in the outwarde keping of the seuenth day This is that sabboth for whych the Prophet so much bewayleth because the wicked went about to take it quite away from the earthe Psa lxxiij sayinge come of let vs take euery sabboth of god out of the earthe Other sabboth then thys do not the chyldren of God acknowledge the is to staye trust in the merites of Iesu Christ Christen sabboth by meane wherof they be iustified and crucifye their owne fleshe And forsomuch as a christian maÌ is assuredly certified knoweth that he hath god for hys father therfore he layeth al his trauayl grefe vpon him which taketh care for his childreÌ The faithful kepe Sabboth when they say in the lordes prayer o lorde thy wyll be done By these wordes the faythfull is replenished fulfilled with the sprit of the lorde knoweth that it is not behouefull to folowe hys carnal wil that the wil of god might be done accoÌplyshed He that is the brother of Christ is guyded by the comfortable sprite not by the wysdom of of his flesh Whether death or life shame or honoure riches or pouerty trouble or prosperity come the christian man is nether dismayed with dispayre nor puffed vp in pride For he kepeth diligently the sabboth of the sprite taketh it for certayne that he is in the handes of god Happy be those Christians that sanctify the heaueÌly Sabboth in their hertes yea more then happy maye I call them for they are
not come to the common assembly to be exercysed occupied in the law and wyl of the Lord as I haue alredy sayde here to fore The laste cause of kepynge the sabboth was Reste of seruauntes that the seruauntes labouring persons might haue some quyetnes releafe of laboure neuerthelesse the Phariseis neglecting the true vnderstandinge of the sabboth had bewrapped and folden the people in the snare of hypocrisye and vayne superstition Ouer and besydes this Pharisaicall traditions they added of their own heade infinite other obseruauÌces and rites wherwith they brought the people into better bondage for they sayd on the sabboth day men oughte not walke vpoÌ the grasse leste it wyther and be deade nor clymbe trees nor eate frute gathered on the sabboth day nor ryde on that daye leaste the Sabboth were broken nor washe clothes that were filed nor blende wine and water nor kil a flie nor fede anye thing nor rede by caÌdel light onlesse there be two at the least together in a companye and innumerable other superstityouse toyes they put to of their owne brayne by meane wherof they made the people superstitiouse hypocrytes And they were so earnestly geuen to such nouelties that they forgate the weyghtye thynges of the lawe that is true faythe in God mercye pytye towarde their neyghbour Of such thynges if perchaunce they spake any thing to the people it was done very coldely because they were strayghte kepers of thynges of no value and were satisfyed in magnifyinge theyr carnall Sabboth Commons blinded by whych meanes they so kepte vnder the vnderstandynge of the common people that they neuer came to the knowledge of the very truthe But we Christians to whome is opened and declared the gospel must kept a perpetual sabboth in spryte For to a christian only belongeth the true rest of the spirituall Canahan Heb. iiij If Iosue had geuen the chyldren of Israell the true quyetnes when he wente ouer Iordane GOD wold not eftesones promyse a true reste nor speake of another sabboth by the Prophet Dauid Psa xxiiij whyche was a longe while after Moyses Iosue Therfore Iosue was but a shadowe and figure of Christ Heb. xiij Iosue a figure whyche geueth vs the verye rest spirituall sabboth Let vs kepe a spirituall goostlye sabboth and not a carnall because we haue not here anye continuyng citye but we seke for one to come Wherfore let vs as Paul sayeth knowe ãâã âoure earthye house of thys dwellyng were destroyed ij Cor. â we haue a buyldynge ordeined of god an house not made with haÌdes but euerlasting in heaueÌ And therfore in the same let vs lighted estringe to be clothed with oure mansion that is in heauen And a lytle after he sayeth we that are in thys tabernacle sigh and are greued for we had rather not be vnclothed but be clothed vpon the mortalytye myght be swalowed vp of lyfe Therfore whilest we be in thys worlde we can not perfectelye kepe the goostly sabboth for the fleshe in suche sorte combereth our thoughtes that we can not cease froÌ workes of the fleshe that the spryte of the Lorde myghte onlye in vs kepe the goostly and heauenlye Sabboth and that we myghte be coupled wyth Iesu Christe our heade whyche hathe geuen vs the true reste by entrynge into the most desyred land of Canahan by the path passage that is made and sette open by hys bloude To whome be glorye worlde wythout ende Amen â Fautes escaped The vij leafe b. the laste lyue for consecration reade conseruation The viij leafe b. the xviij lyue for with reade wythout ¶ Imprynted at London in Paules churcheyarde at the signe of the George by Willyam Reddell In the yeare of oure Lord. 1552. Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum