Sabbathum propriè quietem et vacationem ab opere servili significat quod deus in ipsâ mundi origine quieti sarctae consecravit Gualt Sabbathum Domini Sabbathum dicitur in scripturis Exod. 16. 20 Lev. 19. 26. Eò quod deo consecratum est et iis studiis quae ad dei honorem spectant Id. 1 Kings 6. 7. Exod. 13. 2. would keep us and chain us up from such seraphical and heavenly duties And the Council of Arles which was celebrated under Charles the Great speaks to the same purpose concluding Let those things onely be done on the Sabbath which appertain to the Service of God Nay secular works and the works of our Calling upon the Sabbath they illegitimate and contradict the very name of a Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies quietness and rest a cessation from labour it is nothing more then a denyal of toyle so that when we labour on the Sabbath we do but rough this calme and quiet day which is given us to hear Gods still voice when the spirit that wind blows gently yet powerfully in the dispensation of the word God will have his own Name known that he is a God of mercy and purity and he will have the name of his Sabbath known to be a day of quiet and cessation and therefore it is called a Sabbath of Rest Exod. 35. 2. That if we at the first view did not understand the meaning of the word Sabbath Moses Comments on it and gives us an explanation it is a Sabbath of Rest a meer Hebraisme when Sabbath and Rest are the same thing and in the Original the word is onely repeated for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And as in the building of the Temple of the Lord so in the keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord there must be no hammer heard no axe no noise of working instruments or secular employments 4. Labouring in our callings on a Sabbath doth not only deny the name of the Sabbath but subverts the manner of its observation which is by sanctifying it The Sabbath must be kept holy so in the forementioned place Exod. 35. 2. so in the fourth Commandment Exod. 20. 8. Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash sanctifie a word used in both these Texts and many Exod. 40. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Restaurari ad sanctum usum Buxtorf Sanctificare idem est quod ad usus sanctos applicare ceu adhibere Wal. diss de quarto Praecepto De modo sanctificationis duo dicuntur primum opera propria cujusque sex diebus clauduntur deinde opera Divina hoc die omnibus praescribuntur Idem other places it signifies the separation of any thing to a holy use So the first born among the Israelites were sanctified to God the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash there they were consecrated and set apart to God So the vessels in the Sanctuary were sanctified Viz. they were set apart for the worship and service of God So the Temple was sanctified 1 Kings 9. 3. in the same sence So that whatsoever is hallowed and sanctified is set apart for holy use by the Will and Commandment of God And that great School-man Thomas Aquinas speaks to the same purpose Illa dicuntur lege sanctificari quae divino cultui applicantur Those things are sanctified in the Law which were dedicated to Gods Worship So then working on the Sabbath overthrows this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash this sanctifying it it diverts that day to our own use which is sanctified separated onely to a divine use Secular works oppose the very purpose of the word sanctifying they rob God of his time dedicated to holy use and give it to the Labourer to him who works which is both impudence and sacriledge Labouring casts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash sanctifie out of the fourth Commandment and alters the will of the great Legislator it layes waste and makes common the holy day which God hath limited and inclosed to an holy use And it is remarkable that the observation of the Sabbath is never urged by Moses or the Prophets but rest and Exod. 35. 2. Exod. 31 14. Deut. 5. 14. Jer. 17. 27. Quiâ—quid aliquam speciem haberet operum servilium prohibebatur in Sabbato Rivet cessation is commanded too Exod. 35. 2. It is called a Sabbath of rest Exod. 31. 14. Thou shalt do no manner of work The same strictly enjoyned Deut. 5. 14. and so Jer. 17. 27. So that God hath put rest and cessation from secular employments into the very nature and essence of the Sabbath he hath engraven rest upon the Sabbath in an indelible Character that you cannot abstract it from the Sabbath without an abolition of the Law it self If you will keep a Sabbath keep it free from worldly labours or never set upon the observation of it Rest is as necessary for us as for former times for the holy sanctification of the Sabbath our bodies are subject to Mat. 26. 41. Exod. 23. 12. Recreabitur alieâ—â—gena muliò magis incola Ne â—ontinuâ—s laborâ—bâ—â— sâ—â—iâ—gentâ—r homines sea fessa memb a lâ—ventur die Sâ—bbâ—thi Leid Prof. Exod. 31. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respiravit deus Corpus nostrum mortale est in quo brevi tempore tanquam in tabernaculo moramur Alap in Corinth tiredness our spirits to faintness our flesh to weariness as well as those who lived in former ages and therefore are not we as much necessitated to a quietation and rest from labours Christ may say to us as well as to the Apostles The flesh is weak though the spirit may be willing we are clogged with as many weaknesses and disinabled by as many infirmities as former times and therefore Thou shalt do no manner of work That blessed indulgence and dispensation granted in the fourth Commandment cannot but be as pleasing and gratefull to us as others in the elder dayes of the world Shall the Jewes observe an exact rest on the Sabbath and not we Christians Are our Tabernacles of clay better fixed then theirs Our tired bodies require a cessation from labours to attend on the Divine Services of the Sabbath The main ground of Gods first institution of the Sabbath was rest from his works Viz. the works of Creation and the main cause of the re-institution of the Sabbath if I may so speak in the change of the day from the Seventh to the First was Christ's resting from his work Viz. the great work of Redemption The very reason of the Law and Statute concerning the Sabbath condemns secular labours and business this day A Quietus est first started the Law it self and a Quietus est must keep the Law now setled and Gen. 2. 3. Humano more eâ— quad mattemperatione ad nestram institutionem loquitur scriptura Divina c Quievit deuâ— substitit cessavit a procreandis producendisque rebus ex nihilo ut essent Chrysost established Rest from our labours is
of which was the grand and forcible attractive of Corpus hoc vinculum carcer est animae ex quo exire cupit sanctus esse cum Christo Hierom. Christs incarnation and death this darling of Heaven not enjoy one day but it must be retailed and canton'd into divers divisions Some parts of it must be spent in the labours of our Callings and some in solemn Duties in the publick Congregations and some in sports and delightful Recreations when the publick is over and some in private Duties if there be any time and this torn and rent Sabbath something like Joseph's Coat of many colours must be the Gen. 37. 3. onely morsel for the immortal soul But how irrational is it for the soul that better part of man which shall live as long Mat. 16. 26. as God himself to be straightned and pinnion'd to a few Vita carnis tuae anima est vita animae tuae deus est quomodo moritur caro amissâ animâ quae vita ejus est sic moritur anima amisso deo qui vita est ejus August hours It must not enjoy one whole day onely the leavings of our work and recreations the crumbs which fall from the bodies table Let the Christian who is solicitous of his souls eternal interest consider whether this pittance of time onely a few hours on a Sabbath be sutable to the vast and unlimited soul especially if we observe that the soul sways the body the body follows the condition of the soul and not the soul the estate of the body Labours are forbidden on the Sabbath much more Recreations That labours are prohibited the fourth Commandment is the pregnant testimony of now sports toys pastimes Melius est in Sabbato araro quam saltare Aug. Enar. in Tit. are of less avail then labours It is a memorable speech of Augustine Melius est in Sabbatho arare quam saltare It is better to plow then to dance upon a Sabbath Labours may bring in some Income so not sports there is a temporal profit and emolument in the one none in the other Concerning sports we may say that the Gamesters labour for that which is not bread there can be no supplies Isa 55. 1 2. from the breast of a recreation Pastimes are clouds without water Recreations more tempt and flatter the flesh then Labours do Toyle doth not pamper dancing hunting shooting do they are sun-shines which make the dunghill of mans heart reak with noysomness It was once the expostulation of a holy man worth the transcribing his words are these What shall I say of the Zeal of worldlings which may controule Mr. Greenham the security of our sins worldly men never seek for pleasure Vita in delitiis agens mors est umbra mortis quantum enim umbra propè est corpori cujus est umbra tantum pro certo vita illa voluptuario inferno appropinquat Bern. Serm. 48 in Cantic 15 James 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 52. whilst profit doth drop and so long as they may gain a penny how diligent are they they will not sport or play But the Sabbath is the market day of our souls where we should gather whilst the sun shines Here is profit and so there ought to be diligence and therefore we should lay aside pleasure and we should say what have we to do with Recreations any more yet how many neglect their pleasure for the world and we will not for heaven or our souls But after the publick Ordinances are over nay multitudes in the very time of publick Worship follow their sensual Recreations I was going to say Abominations It was a saying of King James Though without superstition Playes and lawful Games may be used in May and good Chear at Christmas yet alwayes provided that the Sabbath be kept holy and no unlawful pastime be then used And as a worthy and holy man observes No man can think Dr. B. upon that day to be so disordered as to follow his ordinary pleasures without great contempt of God and Man Vpon that holy day all sorts of men must utterly give over shooting hunting hawking bowling c. and they must no more deal with them then the Artificer with his Trade or the Husband-man with his Plow I shall shut up this particular with a pious Bp Hall of Exeter Contemp Lib. 17. Ejaculation of a Holy and Reverend Bishop who thus vents himself I wonder what these kind of men viz. those who bathe themselves in pleasures upon the Lords day will do when they come to Heaven if ever they come there where there is a continued Sabbatisme without intermission surely they will wish themselves on Earth again unless they keep a Sabbath better here below Do we not pray Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven there the Angels do nothing but praise God Do we hope to be like them in Glory and not endeavour to be like them in duty Our Heaven above is a continual Sabbath our Sabbath below should be a continued Heaven The Sabbath not the sports on the Sabbath should be our delight Recreations on the Sabbath are forbidden by all kind of Laws 1. By Divine Law viz. the fourth Commandment Requies requiritur in quarto Praecepto cōmendatur et ubique amatur sed illa requies in solo deo certa et sancta invenitur Aug. where Labours are expresly forbidden and sports are an equal if not a greater impediment to the duties of the Sabbath both publick and private the sweets of Recreation influencing the mind and withdrawing the heart much more then the sweats of Labour Surely if we must not toyle we must not trifle on Gods holy day 2. By the Law of Nature which requires a total abstinence from all works both of Labour and Pleasure during the time allotted and consecrated to Gods service publick Dies dominicus abipsis Apostolis sacris actionibus est consecratus Bucer and private But the Lords day is that time allotted we cannot work and worship both at once and if when we should worship we follow our pleasures or our profits Is not this to subordinate the Divine Will to mans Fancy 3. By the Law Political which requires a total resting from all kind of labour or diversion and applying our souls Edw. the 6th wholly and onely to Religious Exercises as the Statute of Act. Primo Carol. Primi King Edward the sixth of blessed memory a Law yet unrepealed That English Josiah the morning Sun of Reformation Ad Sabbathi rectam observationem duo requiruntur quies et quietis illius sanctificatio Ames med Theol. in England began early to confine the Sabbath to the two great designs of it Rest and Sanctity and in this he shewed himself to be Custos utriusque Tabulae a Keeper of both the Tables And indeed the enjoyning of the holy observance of Gods blessed day is a rare
day God hath appointed for the souls great affairs and negotiations we must conclude that the time which God requires for himself and for the souls advantage must be at least equal for continuance to that which he allows for other employments and surely no one day of the week is longer or shorter then another but if the Lords day hath not twenty four hours it must needs be shorter then the rest The Primitive Church kept a night as well as a day on the Sabbath as appeared by their Vigils and this not only in times of persecution but in the times when Emperours were Christians The ancient Fathers are clear copious in commanding the Observation of a whole Sabbath for spiritual services as a duty So Augustine Irenaeus and the Council of Mascon hath these words Let us observe the Lords day and sanctifie Aug. Iren. Conc. Mascon it from the Evening of the Saturday till the Evening of the Lords day sequestred from all business Nay let us hear Mr. Primrose our Adversary in this Controversie It is necessary saith that learned man that a day be chosen and appointed that in it as often as it returns men may apply themselves extraordinarily Primrose Praes p. 1 2. to publick and private devotion men must stint some ordinary day for that end and in this stinting must not shew themselves inferiour to the Jewes appointing less then one day in seven to Gods service And another concludes who is likewise our adversary That some day be destinated to the Lord may seem to be a dictate of the Law of Nature which he proves from the practice of the Heathens who observed a whole day to the honour of their Gods And therefore C. DOW p. 74. what spirit are they of who on the week day could wish the Sun might stand still as in the time of Joshua or Josh 10. 13. 2 Kings 20. 11. run back as on the dyal of Ahaz that they might have greater leasure for their worldly affairs but desire that the Sun might pass on on a Sabbath if it were possible with a speedier flight that that holy day might be the sooner over like those wanton Israelites Amos 8. 5. who were Amos 8. 5. weary of their Sabbath In a word it is very strange that any man should make the Sabbath like Nebuchadnezzars Image the upper parts Gold and Silver but the lower Dan. 2. 32 33. parts Iron and Clay the former part of a Sabbath to be spent in holy in golden duties but the latter part of the Sabbath in Iron labours or Clay drossie pleasures and delights in bowling and shooting and such like sports so much contended for by many men to be lawfull on the Sabbath day God will not abate any thing of a whole day in other Festivals which are of an inferiour nature and which were onely Ceremonial shaddows of something to come as we Lev. 23. 3◠may observe in that signal and famous place Lev. 23. 32. the words are these And it shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest and you shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at Even from Even unto Even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath Now this Feast here mentioned was called the Feast of Expiation and it was celebrated on the tenth day of the month Tisri our September and it was called the feast of Post paschale sacrum elapsis septem septimanis quadraginta novem diebus quinquagessima quam à numero Asartha Hebraei vocant offerunt deo panem Joseph Anti. Lib. 3 Cap. 10. Expiation because the High Priest did then confess unto God both his own sins and the sins of the people by performance of some Rites and Ceremonies expiate them and make an attonement to God for them Now to give you the Reason why this Feast was called a Sabbath in the forementioned Text you must conceive that the other Festivals of the Jews were by a general notion called Sabbaths though they did not fall on the seventh day as the New Moons Ezek. 46. 3. the feast of unleavened bread instituted in the twelfth of Exodus upon the sparing of the Jewes in the slaughter of the Aegyptians first born and the feast of Exod. 23. 14. Pentecost a feast instituted in memory of the Law given on Mount Sinai fifty dayes after Israels coming out of Egypt Haec sesta so lennia si in Sabbathum inciderent ob duplicem sestivitatem magnus dies Sabbathi vocabantur Leid Prof. and in these feasts which continued divers dayes the first and the last were more properly termed Sabbaths And so in the feast of Tabernacles or Booths which was ordained to witness that the Israelites lived in Tents or Booths in the Wilderness the first and the last day of this feast was called a Sabbath but if these solemn feasts fell upon a weekly Sabbath for the double feastival it was called the great day of the Sabbath Joh. 19. 31. But to reassume the Argument If God will have a whole day for these Ceremonial Mel. 4. 2. Hos 6. 4. Psal 92. 1 2. feasts which were to set with the rising Sun the coming of Christ the Sun of Righteousness surely God will abate nothing of his substantial Sabbath which is to endure till Sabbathi apud Judaeos fuerunt variae significationes quae tamen ab hac primâ omnes dependent quâ septimus cujusque hebdomadae dies in quarto Praecepto Sabbathum appellatur Wal. the second coming of Christ I mean not the seventh day the Jewes Sabbath but the first day of the week the Christian Sabbath If the Lord was so strict that he would not lose a moments honour in a ceremonial day of rest what shall we think the Lord expects upon this day this holy blessed Sabbath which is moral and perpetual Surely on this day we must not serve him by fits and flashes and sudden pangs which pass away as the early dew but we must constantly walk with him the whole day A flying Ceremony must not command more constant and strict observance then a stated steady festival the holy and weekly Sabbath Wallaeus observes all the other Sabbaths of the Jewes had their dependence on the great Sabbath the weekly Sabbath Luke 18. 12. Gal. 4. 9. and the week was sometimes called Sabbath and so the first day of the week was called the first day of the Sabbath Haec Sabbatha Ceremoniales fuerunt umbrae verum futurarum Ames and so the second of the week the second of the Sabbath for the Sabbath sake that glorious day which shed a lustre upon and gave name to the whole week And indeed other Sabbaths were but beggarly elements as the Apostle Sabbatil autem in decalogo praescriptum et dies nostra Dominica alius prorsus sunt naturae Id. speaks Gal. 4. 9. beggarly having little in them to enrich the soul and elements being the first and weak method of instruction the
contr Valent for the gain we acquire in publick Ordinances will easily be lost if not followed with private duties It is private meditation private repetition and private devotion must fasten truth on the soul which we have heard in publick The fruit we have enjoyed in publick will presently be blasted by pastimes and sports which withdraw and James 1. 23. In Sabbato occupari nos debemus in laâ—dando dei nomine usque ad vesperam Concil Turon alienate the soul from the very duties it had newly been employed in Happily in the publick Ordinances we saw the face of Christ in some measure if presently we fly to vain Recreations we shall as the Apostle James speaks straightway forget what manner a beloved our Beloved was What was delivered in the Pulpit is best impressed on the soul in the Closet and secret approaches can best set home publick ordinances Our tears we shed at home must importune a Nihil efficacius est ad verbi divini fructus et spiritus sancti igniculos in nâ—bis suffocardos quam vel profana vel nimis mundana oblectamentorum consectatio Wal. blessing upon truths we have heard abroad It is the Observation of a Learned man Nothing more effectually quencheth the sparks of the divine spirit kindled in Ordinances then the pursuance of earthly and worldly Delights and therefore he thinks the safest manner of observing the Sabbath is not onely to sanctifie it in the publick Congregations but in our private Houses not onely in solemn Ordinances but in private Duties And if we pursue publick private and secret Duties which yet are so necessary on a Sabbath what time will be left for labour or sportfull refreshments So then the whole Sabbath must be spent with God And if the Jewish Sabbath was to consist of twenty four hours much more the Christians But the first is most true for the whole time of a Sabbath was required of them to be Exod. 20. 8. sanctified in holy duties in opposition to their own works As for the nights we dispute it not they were allowed to Mysteria Evangelii in aeternum adoranda contemplanda rest that night as well as we Now then if the Jews were bound to spend a whole day all their waking time in divine and holy services much more we Christians for we have received greater benefits we have greater mysteries of Godliness to contemplate and greater means to help us in the 1 Tim. 3. 16. contemplation Our field is larger our light is clearer our service is sweeter we have our Sabbath to behold the face Cant. 5. 10. of our Beloved and what work more engaging and complacential The very Heathens by the light of Nature gave their Gods no less then a whole day and would not suffer any work to be done on those holy dayes So Macrobius tells us Macrob. de diebus festis That the services of their Gods were partly diurnal and partly nocturnal and that the Flamines were to see to it that no works were to be done on their holy dayes Nay one of our Adversaries in this particular confesseth freely As the time in which such Religious Actions are done so that some day C. Dow p. 21. or dayes should be destinated for the more solemn performance of those actions may seem to be a dictate of the Law of Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Lib. 5. Stromat inasmuch as the Heathens who had no other Guide had their solemn Feasts and set dayes in all Ages consecrated to the worship of their Gods And therefore for Christians to give less then a day is to fall short of an Heathen Nay Scaevola an High Priest among them affirmed That the wilfull Offender who observed not strictly three dayes consecrated to their Gods could have no Expiation And what a shame is it for Christians that Jupiter should have more solemn and constant worship then Jehovah that an Idol God should have a whole day but the Almighty must onely have a part the rest to be drowned in sensual pleasures or worldly toyle Heu facinus Is not this to let the light of a glow worm out-shine the light of the Sun the light of Nature out-vie the light of the Gospel Never let those Gods who have eyes and see not have more durable and continued worship then our God who is Omniscient those Gods who have ears and Psal 115. 4 5 6. hear not have more solemn adorations then our God who is a God hearing prayer those Gods who are Silver and Psal 65. 2. Gold be better served then the blessed and Holy One the God of Jacob who is an infinite spirit Obj. But if it be objected it is very tyring and tedious to pass the whole current of a day in holy services and spiritual communion and this might make us cry out with the holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2. 16. Apostle in another case Who is sufficient for these things To this it may be briefly replyed God because of our infirmities doth afford what may refresh and the better to bear up our bodies allows moderate sleep in the night and temperate food in the day True it was in Tertullians time a dispute whether it be not a duty Tertul. de Coronâ militis Cap. 3. to fast on the Lords day but our Saviours Apology for his Disciples in plucking and eating the ears of Corn on the Sabbath day may easily quiet that Question and blessed be the Mar. 2. 25. Lord for his allowances of love Nature even on the Sabbath hath both its Nurse and its Caterer its sleep and its provisions Men do not complain of whole dayes for the world they rise early and go to bed late and eat the bread of carefulness Psal 127. 2. they do not say all the week when the morning is would to God it was evening but rather in the evening wish it were morning again to go after the world afresh Nay we find many in their sinful wayes are unwearied and when Isa 56. 12. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Rev. 3. 21. Cant. 8. 14. Montes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt sedos Angelorum Beatorum coeli sunt mansiones civium Coelestium Del. Rio. one day is past they fix upon the very next day with enlarged resolutions And shall Heaven with its Crown of Righteousness its Throne of Glory its ravishing Felicities and mountains of Spices no more influence us but that one day spent in the pursuance of it should seem tedious and burdensome and we should impatiently wish would the Sabbath was over that we might again busie our selves in in the affairs of the world It is strange that neither divine command nor divine rewards should clip our wings but that we will be flying even on the Lords day into the pleasing embraces of a sensual delight or secular emolument Many of Gods Servants the Excellent of the earth and the darlings of
finds no Nausea or weariness but its motions are quicker and sweeter the nearer they come to the center As holy David who was much in Communion with God all his enjoyment of him did but set him more on longing nor did the Hart ever run so greedily to the waters as his soul panted after God Psal 42. 1 2. My soul longeth saith he but longings are onely Eccles 1. 1. Psal 42. 1 2. Judges 15. 18. in some cases Well then my soul thirsteth and thirst must be satisfied or else the thirsty person dies But secondly God promises Vbertatem facultatis abundance Prom. 2. Altitudines terrae sunt luera rerum blandimentâ— populorum sublimitas dignitatum abundantia opum Greg. Moral Mat. 6. 32. Sanchez Musc Marlorat Verum Augustâ— haec dei verbâ— promissa altius et augu lius quid spectant scil altitudines Coelorum Alap Altitudines terrae i. e. altitudines coelorum quae sunt terra sedes non morientium sed viventium Alap of Revenue so the Text I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the Earth It is very observable here how a temporal promise is clasped in the armes of two spiritual promises not as if the temporal promise was the evidence of greater love but because God will cast in temporal blessings as an overplus into the reward of obedience Sanchez takes these high places of the Earth mentioned in the Text for the abundance and plenty of earthly increases and saith the promise most properly belongs to the Jewes and to this opinion agrees both Museulus Marlorat and so the Septuagint interpret it and they say this speech alludes to the Mountanous Country of the Jewes which was abundant nay even luxuriant with Vines and Fruits so that the meaning of the promise may be That whosoever observes the Sabbath holily according to the prescribed directions they shall enjoy a richer and larger portion of outward things then the common lot of the world And this I suppose may be the meaning of this rare promise although others repine at the straightness of the exposition and will have some spiritual and more sublime thing included but leaving others to abound in their own sense I understand the promise of terrestrial enjoyments and so it is consonant to another Scripture of the like nature mentioned in Deut. 32. 13. So that he who observes the Sabbath God Deut. 32. 13. will not onely provide the banquet but fill the basket for him he shall not onely enjoy spiritual comforts but temporal good things the very fruitfulness of the Earth shall be his portion Obj. But here it may be objected that these promises mentioned in the Text they are made onely to the Jewes they Fateor haec alludi ad illud quod ait Moses ad Judaeos Deut. 32. 13. Alap are Israels monopoly and therefore they are no ground for Christians to build upon no promise for a Christian to act his faith upon suppose he observes Gods holy Sabbath with never so much severity and purity To which it may thus be replyed The Gospel is not barren of temporal promises to encourage Godliness a great part of which is the holy observation of the Sabbath Godliness hath the promise of the life that now 1 Tim. 4 8. is saith the Apostle The Gospel hath two breasts of Consolation the promise of things temporal and of things spiritual nay fuller breasts then the Law hath And though the high places mentioned in the Text may relate to the Vitae quae nunc est ut scil hic vitam pacatam longaevam et rebus omnibus necessariis instructum agamus mountanes of Judaea which were fruitful and feracious yet Sabbath-holiness being as grateful in Gospel times as formerly it falls under the promise of the things of this life which will rise as high as the mountanes of Judaea The things of this life mentioned by the Apostle in the forecited place taking in whatsoever may accomplish the happiness of this life in its most comprehensive circuit It is further Replyed If the holy observation of the Sabbath be not peculiar to the Jewes as most certainly it is not Then whatever promise may be made by way of encouragement The 20th of Exodus and the 12th vers let it be compared with the 6th of the Ephesians and the 3 d vers Where what is promised in the Law is likewise promised with enlargements in the Gospel Mat. 11. 30. Rev. 1. 10. cannot be peculiar to the Jewes The Duty and the Promise alwayes go together the Service and the Satisfaction It is very strange that God should leave us Christians the Duty and give them the Jewes the Promise we onely should act the toyle and they injoy the triumph how inconsistent is this with the easiness of Christs Yoak Christians if they act high duties they shall ride upon high places It must not be denyed if making the Sabbath our delight belong not to us neither do the high places of the Earth but who can rise to so great impudence as to deny the former And therefore if we must be in the spirit on the Lords day we must not be denyed to be the inheritours of the fatness of the Lords Earth Nay once more it is answered That the promises made to the Jewes were for the most part temporal and those made to Christians for the most part spiritual yet did not Deut. 30. 19. Isa 1. 9. 1 Tim. 6. 6. Magnum lucrum pietâ—s est affert secum quicquid homini satis est Maldon the Jewes temporal promises exclude spiritual nor the Christians spiritual promises exclude temporal but our obedience keeps the Key which opens to both promises to the Jew and to the Gentile and so in this particular case A holy deportment upon Gods blessed Sabbath must be the readiest way to make both Jew and Gentile happy and prosperous the one before the other since the coming of Jesus Christ And we must leave this rich promise in the Text to be the Crown of Sabbath holiness to the Saints under and after the Law But thirdly God promises ubertatem sanctitatis abundance Prom. 3. Tertium est hoc Sabbati deique cultus praemium q. d. Dabo tibi insignia illa bâ—na quae promisi Abrahae Isaaco et Jacobo scil delicias et divitias gratiae coelestis aâ— deinde gloriae et aeternae faelicitatis in â—â—lo Alap of spiritual grace so runs the Text And feed thee with the Heritage of Jacob thy Father Interpreters generally understand this promise of things spiritual and supernatural that the holy keeping of the Sabbath shall be crowned with the blessings of the upper springs with rich gifts heavenly graces with the riches of heaven with the treasures from the mines above Alludit ad terram Judaeis promissam quae praefigurabat sedem longe altiorem Sic cibabo illos epulis coeli saith holy Hierome He alludes to the promised Land of the
collections for the poor every Lords day 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. A consecrated day being fittest for a consecrated dole the week day being the seeds time the Sabbath the harvest for Christian charity This sacred stock as one calls it which is laid up in the week day will be put to the highest and the holiest usury on the Lords day if the hearts of the poor be filled with food and gladness and the backs of the poor wear the livery of our bounty Just Mart. Justin Martyr speaking of the order of Christians upon the Lords day in his time affirms That Almes are given Chrysost in 1 Cor. 11. Hom 43. according to the discretion of every man for the relief of the poor the fatherless and the banished Chrysostome observes that the duty of charity is most seasonable on a Sabbath because it is a day wherein God appears in his best and largest bounty to us then he gives us his sweetest ordinances then he enricheth us with Gospel priviledges then he drops Qui aliquià recondit et thesaurizat pauperibus hic sibi ipsi thesaurum comparat et coelo reponit Alap down upon us his divine graces In our Churches at this day the poors bread is set up for distribution on the Lords day which imports the sweet correspondency between that day which is a day of love the duty which is an act of charity A learned man takes notice that this custome of relieving the poor on the Lords day was grown obsolete at Constantinople till the worthy Chrysostome restored that commanded duty And this custome well becomes the Sabbath for what are we but Almes-men at the throne of Gods grace on the time of Gods day Indeed the Sun of Righteousness as on this day arose and scattered his beams of light and love and the world rejoyced in that appearance let us scatter our hounty and laudable charity on this day that the poor Conferre in pauperes debemus in diem dominicum Buc. may rejoyce in our seasonable contributions Let us remember the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 16. 2. we render it laying by but it is treasuring up He that layes up and treasures for the poor layes up an everlasting treasure for himself And let us consider charitable words are not enough the love of the tongue only is flattery not charity it is adulation and not affection Words are cheap and the pities of language Nehem. 8. 10. Johannes Archiepiscopus are at no cost or charge The belly is not filled with roseat phrases nor the back cloathed with the embroydery Alexâ—nâ—â—â—nus 〈…〉 eò plus alâ—â—nde recipiâ—bâ—t hinc ipse Deo dicere solebat videbo Domine quis citiùs deficiet an tu mihi dando an ego aliâ—â— distribuendo Alap of indulgent language only to bid the poor be filled or be cloathed is not compassion but dirision And therefore on the Sabbath our love must be the charity of the purse and not only of the lip we must act good works and not only give good words Faith acts not without love Gal. 5. 6. and love acts not without works Heb. 13. 16. When we are blessing God on a Sabbath let the poor be blessing us it will be sweet harmony when our heart and the poors loyns both praise God together On the Sabbath we must appear before God Psal 42. 2. And the Old Law commands us not to appear before God empty Deut. 16. 16. Charity on any day is Silver Bullion but on the Sabbath is Golden Ore Let us therefore on that holy day feed the hungry refresh the thirsty receive strangers cloath the naked visit the sick and comfort those in prison this will redound to our account in that day when acts of Charity are the recorded Mat. 25. 36. characters of a sincere and sympathizing Saint Mat. 25. 35. And happily capacitate us for the donative of a Crown There is Charitas Corporalis Mercy and Charity to the bodies of others It is recorded of our Saviour that usually upon the Sabbath he visited the Sick healed the Criples Mar. 1. 30 31. Insigniora miracula edidit Christus in diem Sabbati Athan. restored the Blind and in this he leaves himself a president to others and a pattern for holy imitation We meet with divers Miracles which Christ wrought on the Sabbath on this day the eye of his pity guided the hand of his power his strength and his sweetness both conjoyned in acting and on this day Christ would be both Pastour and Physician And in his miracles on the Sabbath divers things are observable 1. He cures all varieties he healeth partial and external distempers Mat. 12. 13. he healeth the most durable and Nihil extrà legem fecit Christus curans in die Sabati Iren. lasting distempers John 5. 8. he healeth the most chronicall and habitual distempers Luke 13. 10 11. he healeth the most threatning and drowning distempers Luke 14. 4. Nay Christ on the Sabbath dislodgeth Satan himself Mark 1. 34. Diabolus vocatur potestas aeris quia in Aere miscet ventos tonitru fulgura et in A cre i. e. in mundo inter homines potestatem suam exercet eos tentando et vexando et quoquo modo nocendo Aquin. Satan at his word shall fall as lightning though he be Prince of the Air and God of this world Christ casteth out many Devils on the Sabbath Legions of Spirits are but atomes which scatter at his rebuke and disperse themselves after new enquiries Thus all varieties of diseases are cured by Christ on a Sabbath and will ye know why upon this day because this day is a season of shewing mercy 2. That which is observable in Christs cures upon the Sabbath is he justifies all his Cures as the sanctification and not the prophanation of the Sabbath Luke 13. 15 16. Works of mercy are the perfume not the pollution of a Sabbath not its eclipse but its observation And this Christ shews by the custome of the rigorous Jewes themselves and Magnae est stultitiae prohibere hominem à sanatione in diem Sabbati Theoph. by the light of nature Luke 14. 5. Christ is the Lord not the Task-master of the Sabbath And mans weale is to be carried on that day by cures as well as ordinances and the sick bed as well as the sick soul is to be visited Mercy is the sweetness and the epiphonema of a Sabbath Iraeneus avers that the true sanctification of the Sabbath Vera Sabbati sanctificatio est in operibus misericordiae Iraen lies in works of mercy We then keep the Sabbath when we are pitiful to our own souls and to our brothers body and we may serve God on that day as well in a dungeon in visiting a prisoner of Christ as in the sanctuary in waiting on an Ordinance of Christ Iraeneus observes Christ did more works of Charity upon the Sabbath then upon other Multò
saepiùs Christus in die Sabbati officia charitatis praestitit quà m aliis diebus Iren. dayes And let us in this imitate both our Priest and Pattern who died for us and must go before us and we taking up this practice weekly let us follow him Surely melting bowels do bear a symphony with mercifull Sabbaths On the first day of the week the day of our Sabbath God created Gen. 1. 2 the world out of a chaos of confusion Christ restored the Mark 16. 2. World from sin and destruction and on the same first day Acts 2. 3. of the week the holy spirit enlightned the world in falling down solemnly upon the Apostles and redeemed the Church from Judaical misapprehension And shall these glorious works which have put such a bright emphasis upon the Christian Sabbath not soften our bowels to pity the groans of the sick the sights of the prisoner and comfort those who are in trouble and dejection On this day the spark Buc. in Mat. 12. 11. of our love should turn into a flame the drops of compassion should swell into a stream Bucer makes the visitation of the Luke 10. 33. sick to be a principal duty of our Sabbath On which day Infundit vinum et oleum Samaritanus vinum denotat legem oleum gratiam Evangelii Sacramenta sunt quasi alligamenta quibus labia vulnerum alligantur Chemnit Christians should turn good Samaritans they should drop tears into those wounds they cannot drop Oyl into and pour in the wine of consolation if they have no other to offer as a sacrifice of mercy Bleeding hearts become a blessed Sabbath One well observes It doth behove us as occasion is offered to spend some time of a Sabbath in visiting the sick because this will fill our minds with holy meditations and fill our mouths with heavenly discourses and fill our hearts with serious apprehensions of death and judgement which will shortly encounter us and there is no avoiding the stroke of the one or the Bar of the other There is Charitas spiritualis spiritual Charity which is Verbis exprimi non potest quantum homo qui ad imagirem dei conditus est et pro quo unigenitur dei filius proprium suum sanguinem fudit quem denique sp sanctus per verbum Evangelii ad communionem filiorum dei vocavit et sanctificavit irrationalibus et brutis animalibus praestet Lys most apposite to the Lords day One well argues If our mercy on a Sabbath must extend to the Oxe and the Ass Luk. 13. 15. much more to man who is Gods Vice-Roy upon Earth bears his own image and is enriched with that nature which Christ himself took upon him and if in outward things we must minister to him viz. man much more in spirituals and heavenly by how much the soul transcends the body and the wants of the soul are more dangerous and for the most part less felt then those of the body and therefore to succour them is more necessary and less dispensable Surely this is the highest mercy to pull men out of the pit of despair out of the mire of prophaneness out of the dungeon of ignorance to unfetter chained sinners to consolate and advice distressed souls It is observable our Saviour did not only heal the poor woman of her bodily infirmity on the Sabbath but delivered her from the chains of Satan with which she had so long been held Luke 13. 16. It is our great work on a Sabbath to shew mercy to distressed souls On the Lords day Christ rose for our justification Rom. 8. 34. which was a spiritual benefit not for supply but for our justification not for the encrasie of our bodies but for the rescue of our souls And the Apostle notes it with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather in the Text forementioned And in soul advantage every Christian may have a share they may have soft bowels who have not full purses every one may give savoury counsel put up ardent prayers labour to set home convictions nay enter into heavenly discourses and so endeavour to draw those who go astray to the Sheepfold of the Great Shepherd of their souls Every one may 1 Pet. 2. 25. bleed over sinful revolters and as St. John who ran after 1 Pet. 5. 4. the young man when he was extravagant in his practice they may run weeping after straying transgressours This willing mind as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 8. 12. may lodge 1 Thes 5. 14. in the breast of the meanest person there may be zeal in the heart when there are rags on the back and when their apparrel is more contemptible then John the Baptist's leathern girdle and Camels hair Mat. 3. 4. And that which enforces this duty is 1. The excellency of the work To instruct to admonish comfort and pray for Brethren is the greatest mercy the softest pity nay even the work of Christ himself who shed not only his tears but his blood to ransome immortal souls how did Christ grieve for a hard heart weep over an unbelieving City and lay down his life for poor lost sinners To Mark 3. 5. rescue poor perishing souls is a heavenly work and well Luke 19. 42. is becoming a heavenly Sabbath Mat. 18. 11. 2. The reward of the Service Not a tear we drop over a wandering sinner but will turn into a pearl The Apostle speaks expresly Jam. 5. 19. Brethren if any of you have erred from the truth and one hath converted him let him know that he hath converted a sinner from going out of his way he shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins This text it seems informs us of a double reward Rom. 10. 14. 1. The salvation of a soul the purchase of Christ himself 1 Tim. 4. 16. souls were the gains of his victories Isa 53. 11. The Redemption of souls was the reward of all his sufferings Luke 22. 32. 2. Here is the covering a multitude of sins which onely Heb. 12 15 16. speaks blessedness Psal 32. 1 2. And it may likewise be inferred from this text of Scripture That God hath made us Heb. 3. 13. Guardians one of another Acts of spiritual charity belong to the care of all Christians God hath not onely set conscience to watch over the inward man but hath set us to watch over the outward conversation one of another We must exhort one another while it is to day Heb. 3. 13. especially Luke 24. 17. while the light of Sabbaths continues to us When the two Disciples were travelling to Emmaus Christ joyns with them this blessed Physician came to comfort to satisfie and to inform them they were poor distracted timorous persons and these he visits Christ will not leave them in a maze and intricated with inexplicable apprehensions but he will bring them home to the knowledge of the truth and this is Christs
tabernacle for Mercurius The beauty of holiness is written on Gods house where Ordinances are marrow and fatness and communion with Christ the wine on the lees Let us no more halt between two Opinions If Jehovah be God let us keep his day holy but if with Julian we have Apostatized to the Idols of the Gentiles let us proclaim it to the world by making the Sabbath a stage to Dagon est deus venter quia ventris gratiâ colebatur deducitur à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frumentum Alap act our lewdness upon Alapide doth elegantly and pregnantly observe that Dagon mentioned in the Scriptures 1 Sam. 5. 2 3 4. is nothing but a belly god if then we will turn Philistinis and worship their Idol we may with more excuse pursue our surfets on the Lords day In the Primitive times a holy observation of the Lords day was an infallible sign of a Christian Professour and in all times lewdness upon that day spake a totalchange from that holy profession but if we are still ambitious of the name of Christian let the holy observance of Gods blessed day be our testimonial for to live in pleasures on that day speaks us dead while we live 1 Tim. 5. 6. To pollute the Sabbath by vioious practices is to break many Commnadments at once The Adulterer on a Sabbath breaks the 7th and the fourth Commandment the Swearer breaks the third and the fourth Commandment the rioter breaks the sixth and the fourth Commandment Prophaneness on a Sabbath is a multiplyed sin a twisted wickedness it is as the Prophet speaks Isa 5. 18. to draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope We may say of this lowdness as Leah said of Gad Behold a troop Gen. 30. Si quis ad hoc Sabbatum requitsceret at memoriam beneficiorum dei recolerct interim tamen in aliud peceatum incidit Annon judicandus erat violasse hoc praeceptum de sanctificando Sabbato Est 11. Estius sharply expostulates If God give us a Sabbath to solemnize his great and glorious benefits if on this day we fall into any sin shall we not be accounted violatours of this holy day Both the streams meet the particular sin committed and the breach of the Sabbath This Sabbath prophanation brings forth twins at least this evil is as the grapes of Sodom which were in clusters Deut. 32. 32. It is not a common seam-rent but it is a rent in the whole cloath This cursed emphasis may be annexed to every lewdness on the Sabbath the sinner added this to all the rest of his evils he brake the Commandment also concerning Sabbath-holiness and observation Luke 3. 20. To prophane Gods holy and sacred day is not only morally sinful but it is opinionatively evil and Popish It is the Finito priùs sacro licet iter facere venari studere super lites propter pecuniam Vendere Animalia occidere ad victum constituere Theatra prospectaculis Tol. inst Sacerdot l. 4. c. 25. round assertion of Cardinal Tollet That the publick service being over on the Sabbath it is lawful to ride journeys to hunt and follow the game to plead Causes for money and advantage to kill beasts for provision to set any thing to sail and to set up Theatres for plays and shows This then is the Doctrine of the Romish Conclave So we see to act loosly on the Lords day is not only the corruption of our life but of our opinion and it taints our judgment as well as our conversation it is the distemper of the head as well as of the heart and is a plain striking hand with the Mother of Harlots Rev. 17. 5. So that to act our debaucheries upon Gods holy and blessed Sabbath it is to turn Jew to turn Heathen to turn Papist nay to turn every thing but Saint and in so doing we are not only prophane Felis. f. 305. Catan in Chatec Rom. f. 235. Tit. Fest f. 185. but heretical To add only one thing more to what hath been said a Learned man observes that it is put into the Roman Catechise that it is lawful to kill provisions bake fish mend and repair Bridges High-wayes Churches teach Vaulx Chatec c. 3. f. 53. prophane Arts Card Fence Fiddle and make musick for gain and hire on Gods most blessed day CHAP. XLII An expostulation with Enthusiastick persons who cry down the Sabbath under the specious pretence that every day is a Christians Sabbath IT hath been the lot of the Christian Sabbath in all ages of the Church even from the very Resurrection of Christ and the first dawnings of the Gospel to run the gantlet and to endure the lashes of virulent and impetuous adversaries Ebionitae Sabbatum diei dominicae pari observantiâ celebrandum adjungebant Euseb l. 3. c. 21. Presently after the Apostles the Ebionites vented their malice against it and did proclaim to the world that the Jewish Sabbath was to be observed by all with great Reverence nay with equal respect to the Christian both were to walk hand in hand with equal degree of honour and veneration as Eusebius that Ecclesiastical Historian of Renown informs us at large Others there were who treading in the steps of former Hereticks asserted the Jewish Sabbath to deserve as rich a Crown as the Christian and to be celebrated with as much care and observation And these are mentioned by Clemens Roman Episc l. Constit Apostol 2. c. 63. c. 7. c. 24. Clemens Romanus in his second book of Apostolical Constitutions But against these the venerable Council of Laodicea passed sentence in detestation of the errour as may be seen in the Canons of that Council But it is no wonder if those who deny the Divinity of Christs Person as the Ebionites Sâ—n. Laodic Can. 29. did will likewise take away the honour of his day and bring in an obsolete Festival to strip it of a moiety of its glory and observance whenas two Suns may as well become the firmament as two Sabbaths the Church In the grosser times of Popery Gods day lay under some Chatec Rom. part 3. in tertium praecept Catan in Chat. Rom. fol. 234. eclipse as well as his truth and then it was horribly defiled by stupendious idolatry by Will-worship Mass-worship Bread-worship Saint-worship Image-worship and other Mysteries of Antichristian hypocrisie then it was hard Canis Chat. cap. 3. fol. 84. to find the gold of a Sabbath in the rubbish of superstition In these latter dayes our Christian Sabbath like Christ the Author of it hath been Crucified between two thieves Prophane persons on the one hand and Familistical spirits on the other the former wounding it by grosser abominations How many in these latter ages have known no Temple but a Tavern no Sanctuary but a Stews no Chalice but a drinking Bowle no Psalm but an immodest Song no Communion but good fellowship on Gods holy day And
it is a golden chain which joynes the two tables and if this clasp be broken all falls asunder Nor can it possibly be demonstrated that this blessed Command for the Sabbath dying expiring as a fading Ceremony all the rest must not necessarily be laid asleep in a final abrogation And therefore the Antinomians Cowd. and Palm on the Sabbath part the 2 d p. 51. and many of the Anabaptists roundly cast off the whole Decalogue as nothing appertaining to or concerning Christians so worthy Mr. Cawdrey Mr. Palmer observe It is the observation of Rivet that the observation of the Sabbath is thrice solemnly mentioned in the Book of Exodus 1. When it is reckoned among the Moral Lawes Exod. 20. 8. and safely sheltred among the rest of the ten Commandements Sâ—nâ—iri denvò et commendari observationem Sabbati omnes vident et jâ—m ter de Sabbato actum est 1. In praecepto quarto 2. In legibus illis politicis quae habentur in Exod. 23. 12. quod magistratus incumbit cura prioris tobulae et â—osterioris et hic severè interdicit transgressores eos supplicio copitali addicens Rivet and would be so still was it not worried out by the violence and absurdities of brainsick Heretiques And thus lodged it is to be pressed by the zeal of the Minister 2. When it is reckoned among the Political Lawes Exod. 23. 12. And so the observation of it is commended to the care of the Magistrate 3. When it is singled out by its self and earnestly urged by God Exod. 31. 14 15. as if his honour was more concerned in this Command then in any other and so it is propounded to the practice of every professour of Religion to the end of the World the Sabbath being still a sign between God and his People even to all generations To wind up all It is no less then an impeachment of divine Wisdome to think God would urge an expiring Ceremony with such diversity of reasons Exod. 20. 8. with such variety of Arguments and motives Exod. 31. 15. with such severity of threats Exod. 31. 16. Nor can the command for the Sabbath be ceremonial because it was ordained in Paradise Gen. 2. 3. before Ceremonies had a being For all ceremonies point at something in the Idem etiam manifestum est quòd ab initio creationis cùm nullus locus fuit ceremoniis ad Christum Redemptorem spectantibus unusdies èseptemcultui dei fuit consecratus Ames Gospel as the Pole-star turns to the North. Now Adam not being fâ—llen there was no need of a Gospel Christ came into the world to save that which was lost Mat. 8. 11. And in the state of innocency nothing was lost there was not a freckle upon mans beauty and therefore no ceremony could take place And besides the Sabbath continued when all ceremonies left their being and Christ was come into the world The Sun rising all stars disappear Now Christ discoursing with his Disciples privately Mat. 24. 3. Among other things he adviseth them to pray that their flight be not on the Sabbath day Mat. 24. 20. which counsel related to sad and dolorous times Institutionem Sabbati non esse ceremonialem et temporalem ex eo apparet quod nihil habet proprium Judaeis aut tempori coremonialis legis Ames which were to befall them when he was ascended up to his Father and yet we may observe a Sabbath in being which evidently shews that the Sabbath no way can be a ceremony Christs coming in the flesh chasing away all such evanid shaddows I need not mention that the Lords day spoken of Rev. 1. 10. when John was in his Vision is by all concluded to be our Christian Sabbath the set weekly day of our solemn worship and this was many yeares after Jerusalem was in its ashes And it is acutely noted by Dr. Ames that the observation of the Sabbath hath nothing in it more proper to the Jew then to any other Naitno for to worship God solemnly and frequently one day in the week is Ratio naturalis dictat consentaneum esse ut dei cultus frequentèr exerceatâ—r Ames most convenient for all Professours of the true Religion be they of what Nation they will and therefore our own necessity dictates the profit of such solemn and set communion with God Nay it is a Principle familiar to the Heathens who know no light but that dim light of Nature to appoint set times and solemn seasons for the worship of their Idol gods and therefore the Sabbath participates nothing of the nature of a Jewish ceremony Those who level all dayes making them alike and know no Christian Sabbath but the bosome of the Father typified Saltmarsh's sparkles of glory p. 265. in the seventh day of the first Creation as some of these men are pleased to speak I say they have another subterfuge for their wild opinion And thus they argue The Christian liberty whereby we may where when we list worship and serve God frees us not onely from the circumstance of place John 4. 21 23. But also delivers us ftom being tied to any circumstance of time But as we may worship in what place we will so likewise at what time we will without the breach of any command To which it may be replyed That this liberty which is pretended is no way authorized by Scripture We find our Saviour speaking of a Sabbath after his ascention to the Father Mat. 24. 20. The Primâ Sabbati post Sabbatum fuit dies dominica Apostle divers Christians meet on the first day of the week for Gospel Ordinances as now the fixed Sabbath of the Christians Acts 20. 7. And Paul layes it as an injunction Oecumen upon the Churches of Galatia and Corinth to bring their collections on that day for then the Christian Assemblies met together for holy converse with God 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Dies dominica est prima hebdomadis feria quâ dominus a mortuis resurrexit quae jam et tum Christianis sacra est Apostoâ—orum authoritate congressibus ecclesiasticis in locum Sabbati judaici dicata â—t videre est ex 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. et Act. 20. 7. Est igitur dies dominicae ex traditione Apostolicâ vetus observatio Apostoli immediatâ dei inspiratione divinas litteras scribebant et hanc feriam in ordinem Ecclesiasticum deponebant Hinc dominicae diei seriam non modò Ecclesiae Christianae sacram fecerunt sed in Scripturam sacram quoque retulerunt et jam dies dominica est tenenda quia non tenetur praeter sed juxta Scripturas Par. And this day is called the Lords day Revel 1. 10. as being set apart for communion with the Lord. Now if the Scriptures allow us not this liberty it is insolence and wantonnesse to lay claim unto it Christian liberty must be bottomed on the word of Christ or else it is not
Nobis jam quoniam Christus adveniens expiavit universam terram Omnis locus est Oratorium Aug. Countreys in so many various situations for so the variation would be endless and so incongruous and useless to set them down in the word but it is not so in respect of solemn time or a solemn day for divine worship for here in the Lord may easily appoint a particular day to be observed according to the rising and setting of the Sun proportionably throughout the whole world And so the Church of God in all Ages have observed the same Precinct of time viz. The Lords day for the solemn worship of the most high But these familistical spirits have not only their argumentative pleas but they can bring Scripture too as Satan will never want a text of Scripture to varnish over an errour and put a good face over an evil opinion especially since he fought a duel with Christ himself by the dint of the sword of the spirit which is the word of God Eph. 6. 17. And there are three texts of Scripture which they usually urge for the Mat. 4. 3 4 5 6 7. support and confirmation of this wilde fancy I shall examine them severally and see what strength is in them Object 1 The first text is Rom. 14. 6. He that regardeth a day regardeth it unto the Lord and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he regardeth it not This therefore argueth our Christian liberty in respecting all dayes alike which are not discerned but only by command of the Magistrate say these familists of the Church say the Rhemists but of neither Isli homines abutuntur Scriptur is et abâ—iis concludunt quod non est concludendum Zanch. saith Mr. Fulk but of the Commandment of God only and so this place might be answered But as Zanchy saith of these Enthusiasticks They know how to abuse Scripture Answ 1 Therefore to shew the vanity of their Allegation it is replyed this Text speaks of indifferent things which may be observed or not observed without sin or impiety Things adiaphorous and indifferent are properly the subjects to act our liberty in they may be fastned or loosned as we please they are De adiaphoris hîc agit Apostolus et intentio corum qui fuerunt imbelles fiebat exâ—â—sabilis Par. only the garbs and modes of Religion which may be left off without offence the highest pretence to them is only decency which is subject to a variety of opinion to think it or not think it so Bishop Davenant vehemently decries the necessity of holy dayes some of these indifferent things and saith they are of a mutable nature and as they are enjoyned so they may be abolished by humane Authority Non est statuendum ecclesiam Christianam oliquâ necessitate astringi ad immotam festorum dierum observationem sed statuendum est dies hosce humanâ authoritate constitutos et eadem posse tolli et mutari Dav. But now to put the Lords day into the account of such indifferencies is an errour of the highest nature putting an ecclipse upon Christs Resurrection the glory of which is celebrated and commemorated every first day of the week which the Apostle John calls Rev. 1. 10. the Lords day Such an opinion would put dross into this gold and embase it with a sinful allay To suppose the observation of the Lords day a thing indifferent what need then of the Apostolical practice to be our President the general observation of the Church to be our incentive the Decrees of Councils and Constitutions of godly Princes to be our encouragement the universal Tenent and consent of Professors in all ages down to this very day without any heats of dividing disputes without disgusts of separating Sects to be our enforcement to the holy keeping of it Never was any thing indifferent so warmed in the bosom and so warranted by the obedience of all Christians in every Century and besides this no man will deny but it is convenient nay necessary It is to be remembred that the Apostle in this text Rom. 14. 6. Speaketh only of things indifferent not in their nature only but also so left to us as in regard of their use Esnath Parre therefore not indifferent that some particular day be set apart for solemn worship For 1. Hereby our selves our servants our cattel have rest which is one end of the Sabbath 2. Hereby faith and good manners are furthered and we are built up by publick prayers reading and preaching of the word 3. Hereby the love and joy of Christians is increased through the mutual beholding one of another as Hierome observes 4. Hereby the poor have opportunity to receive the Gospel other dayes being taken up in the works of their Callings to get a mean livelihood and a poor maintenance for themselves and families 5. Hereby the glorious Mysteries of God are opened and discovered to the people and those inestimable benefits we enjoy in and by Christ are unravelled to poor and precious Aug. ad Januar Epist 118. 119. souls This Pearl of price the Lord Jesus is principally shewn in its brightness and excellency on his own blessed day How many beams and rayes of invaluable use shine forth from Sabbath observation It is therefore no indifferent evil to reckon this day an indifferent thing 2. The Apostle in this text speaks of Ceremonial dayes Hieron Comment in Epist ad Galat. which is evident by joyning these dayes with those meats which were Ceremonially clean or unclean And it is readily acknowledged that it was a weakness in some to think Alià s sc Judaeus judicat diem alium prae alio esse festum et sanctiorem alià s sc Gentilis alitèr sentit Hieron themselves bound to certain Ceremonial dayes as well as to abstain from certain Ceremonial meats But will it hence follow it is a part of our Christian liberty to abandon all dayes as Ceremonial and that it is a part of the weakness of Christians to observe any day under the Gospel This hath not any face of reason for it from this Scripture wherein the Apostle doubtless speaketh of Ceremonial not moral dayes as our Christian Sabbath most assuredly is The ancient Fathers as Origen Ambrose Primasius Oecumenius Anselm understand the Apostle to speak of fasting Verum quia Apostolus praecedentibus et sequentibus agit de festis â—â— de delectu ciborum Hinc melius hic dies non ad festos sed ad dies jejunii referat Chrysost Jon. 4. 6. from meates on certain dayes which were peculiar dayes of abstinence and Calvin Bullinger Beza Olevian Piscator Erasmus Lyra nay the very Rhemists themselves construe this text of Jewish Ceremonial dayes and of Ceremonial observances This Scripture then being so understood as it must be it no way imports or includes the blessed Lords day practiced in the New Testament by Apostolical Authority Thus the text urged to patronize
observed by the Disciples for a time the Jewish least they should offend the Jews and the Christian Damus fortean concedimus quoad sententias aliorum Discipulos utrumque diem per aliquot annos observasse Judaicum scil ne Judaeis Dominicum ne Christianis oriretur scandalum Dr. Wilk least they should scandalize the Christians what inconveniency would follow Man naturally is hard of belief and to evince the abrogation of old things and the surrogation of things which are new in their stead is a work of some pains and difficulty therefore that the Jews might be taken off from their fondness and the Christians firmly established in the truth some time must be granted and some allowance made of absolute necessity And that a respect was had to both dayes it was only for the term of some years which when expired the morning-sun of the Christian Sabbath did shine without a competitour and during that little and short time of the observation of both dayes we may consider 1. The Saturday Sabbath was never the day of solemn assemblies in all the Churches for the custome of holding solemn Conventions and Assemblies on that day never obtained Sozomon lib. 7. cap. 19. in the Churches of Rome and Alexandria whereas all Churches had their Church-meeting on the Lords day our Christian Sabbath The Old Sabbath was never kept as a solemn festival for in many Churches it was a weekly fasting day whereas every Lords day throughout the year was held a solemn festival Constitut lib. 7. cap. 14. lib. 5. cap. 15. the Jews Sabbath as in a fainting fit was kept with sorrow and abstinence All Ordinances were never administred with that uniformity on the Old Sabbath as they were on the Lords day As the Ordinance of the Lords supper which in the purest Acts 20. 7. Dies Panis August Epist 118. Churches was appropriate to the Lords day which was therefore called dies panis the day of bread in the primitive times hence that memorable speech of Athanasius who being accused for breaking a Communion Cup clears himself Socrat. Schol. lib. 5. cap. 22. Athanas Apol. 2. thus That time instanced by his accusers was no communion time for it was not the Lords day The conventions on the old Sabbath were ever arbitrary not urged as of necessity unless by the Arch-heretick Ebion Dominicum servasti Christianus sum intermittere non possum Baron and his followers who were therefore condemned as Hereticks but the observation of the Lords day was ever held a Christian duty and none was ever branded with the name of heretick for the observation of it Nay this observation was the badge and Character of a Christian in the best times of the Church The old Sabbath was never in the least the Christian Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. or day of rest but a working day and used as another day and let us never give that day a prerogative which the best times of the Church laid open and common Festinatio Apostolorum ad concionandum non fuit propter festum sed propter multitudinem The Apostles and Disciples of Christ never observed the seventh day as a Sabbath It is true they took an opportunity then to dispense and disperse the Gospel because multitudes were then conveened and met together an happy opportunity was then put into their hands for the insinuating of Christ and the doctrines of the blessed Gospel into Chrysost Homil 43. in Acta Apost the minds of the people now in an unwonted concourse The Apostles did then cast the heavenly bread upon many waters Acts 18. 4. Acts 17. 18 Acts 19. 9. 2 Cor. 4. 4. The zeal of a faithful Minister much more of an holy Apostle will take the best opportunities for soul-advantage and for heavenly instruction It was not the Sabbath but the Season not the circumstance of time but of place invited Ecclesia Graecorum ad paululum septimum diem unà cum primo observavit sed in causâ fuit quia in Oriente initio nascentis ecclesiae viguerat haeresis quorundam qui vetus testamentum execrabantur tanquam à deo Authore malè conditum sabbati cultum aspernabantur eâque de causâ tali die jejunium suscipiebant orientales ergò Christiani hanc heresin detestati deum ipsum V. T. Authorem profitentes caeperunt Sabbati judaici festivitatem retinere non quòd illam more judaeorum colerent sed n◠cum haereticis consentire viderentur et in oriente in illis temporibus multi erant judaei ad Christi religionem conversi qui quando animi simplicitate putabant Sabbatum unà cum die dominicâ in honore habendum caeteri Christiani ne eos conturbarant Sabbatum colebant non quòd id fieri oporteret c. Azor. the Apostles to the dispensation of the Word not the feast but the multitude as Chrysostome well speaks nor did the Apostles any more keep the Jewish Sabbath then Paul worshipped the Gods of the Gentiles when he preached in the field of Mars and disputed in the Schools of the Heathens these places were only the sudden Sanctuaries in which he disseminated the glorious Gospel It is true as a learned man observes in the Eastern Churches for a time the Jewish and Christian Sabbath were both observed Now the reason was there was a sort of Hereticks who did disuse and disgust the Old Testament and said it was evilly compiled of God and did throw off with scorn the Sabbath day and usually fasted on that day in a way of contempt and contradiction Now the Eastern Christians in detestation of this cursed heresie and to shew that God was the Author of the Old Testament as well as of the New did for a while retain the old Sabbath not that they worshipped on it after the manner of the Jews they were far enough from that but some observance they gave to it least they might seem to joyn issue with the forementioned hereticks And moreover in the East were many Jews in the early dayes of the Gospel which were newly converted to Christ who in the simplicity of their hearts did bear still a reverence to the old Sabbath and therefore did observe it with the Lords day Now the Christians were to deal tenderly with those and not to offend Babes in Christ and not to create any perturbation in the Church but to keep peace and unity and so they gave respect to this day not that they thought it any way necessary or a duty to be done but for peace-sake and that salvation-work might not be retarded nor the Church of our dear Redeemer shattered or crumbled into Schisms and Factions and so as the Apostle speaks in another case the Christians of those times became all things to all men that if possible the late Converts of the Jews might have no temptation to apostasy nor the Proselytes of the Gospel have
any occasion of disturbance But now in the Latine Churches where this Heresie never took root nor spread it self the Jewish Sabbath was never observed but rather marked with a Note of sadness and sorrow viz. The memory of Christs death our Jesus lying in his Grave as on that day and this sprang fresh tears and did yield new and constant matter of mourning to the Christians of those times And it was no strange thing in the primitive times in a surplusage of zeal to run down one Extream by running into a nother as we see to make a stick straight we bend it on both sides Socrat. Hist lib. 6. cap. 8. Thus then at last we see that we cannot keep two Sabbaths no more then we can serve two Masters Mat. 6. 24. Sozom. lib. 7. cap. 10. Then one Sabbath must be discharged which can be no other than the old seventh-day Sabbath which was fairly laid asleep in the Grave of Jesus Christ and the Christian Sabbath rose up in its stead in the resurrection of Christ To evidence this truth more clearly and methodically we must know a thing may be discharged and abrogated two ways by expiration and so a Law is expired when the reason of giving that Law being ceased in respect of time or persons ceases of it self and so the Law is laid aside as useless and there needs no formal repeal And thus we may argue for the expiration of the old Saturday Sabbath A special Ordinance given unto the old World is then expired when that World it self is ended except it be revived and renewed in the new But this Law concerning the old seventh day was given to the old World Now for the clearing of this we must take notice that the Scripture Gen. 2. 3. Heb. 1. 1. Heb. 1. 2. Acts 2. 17. Heb. 9. 26. 1 Cor. 10. 11. speaks of two Worlds the first which begun at the Creation and ended presently after the passion of Christ the second beginning at Christs resurrection and ending at the general Judgment The Apostle speaks of Worlds 1 Heb. 2. viz. The old World and the new the one before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas de Sabbat Circumcis and under the Law and the other under the Gospel and the new World viz. The time of the Gospel is sometimes called A new Heaven and a new Earth Isa 65. 17. The second World the invincible Athanasius calls it Another Generation when the old Sabbath was to cease as well as Circumcision and the Lords-day was to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Monument of the looked for reparation Upon all this let us assume the first Argument The old Sabbath as also the whole manner of service was limited to the term or time of the old World and so must necessarily expire with it It is not said the Commandâ—ment expired with it for that was moral for one day in Athanas seven to be consecrated to the service and worship of God but the old seventh-day Sabbath instituted at the beginning of the old World is together with that old World expired and a new one come in its room When the reason of any Law ceases for that is the life and the Soul of a Law then the Law it self ceases But the reason of the institution of the old Sabbath ceased at the end of the old World and the beginning of the new viz. The resurrection of Christ The reason of the institution of the old Sabbath was Gods honouring that day in resting from all his works and for the memory of the Creation which was implied and to be supposed till a greater work Sic Romae Aerat et Epoche fuit ab urbe conditâ tali aut tali anno should be finished to be the ground of the institution of another day which was the work of Reparation or Redemption To make this out a little further let it be observed that the ground and reason of the institution of days which are set and solemn is some memorable work falling out upon such days The very Heathens chose out Nativity days the days of founding Cities of memorable Victories c. Now the first Sabbath was instituted upon such a reason viz. Gods honouring that day by his rest from the great work of Creation And so Mr. White of Dorchester urges The way to the Tree of life pag. 278. Mr. White this after this manner That day which is honoured by God above other days by his most eminent work of mercy to Mankind shall be the day of his holy Rest to be consecrated to him for his worship But the day in which Jam vetus expiravit et mundus et sabbatum septimaeque diei commemoratio Christi tumulo sepelitur Resurgit Christus resurgit et sabbatum Christianum mutatur dies sed non minuitur observatio quod ut evidentius sit notandum est Deus habuit opus habuit opus et Christus Deus habuit requiem sic requiem habuit et Christus Deus quievit post creationem et Christus post redemptionem quietem ab opere creationis commemorat dies septimus quietem ab opere Redemptionis commemorat dies primus orbe christiano universaliter observandus God ended and perfected the Creation of the World is honoured and advanced above all other days therefore that day shall be a day of holy Rest Now the Proposition will serve the turn for the Lords-day and thus That day which is honoured by God above all other days by his most eminent work of mercy to Mankind shall be the day of holy Rest But the first day of the week in which Christ rested from the work of Redemption is the day honoured and advanced above all other days old Sabbath and all therefore this is the Christians day of solemn Rest The old Sabbath indeed was to continue upon the reason given viz. Gods rest after the Creation till a greater work should appear and then it must expire and resigne unto a new Possessor Indeed the latter work viz. Mans Redemption so great so necessary so glorious even puts out the memory of the former and so antiquates the reason of it and thereupon the day it self expires and obliges to no more observance The Redemption of Mankind then being the greater work as shall be more fully shewed hereafter and having a stronger reason in it hath swallowed up the memory of the stupendious work of Creation as Doctor Young calls it not that the work of Creation should be forgotten for that glorious work gave us our esse our being as the work of our Redemption gave us our bene esse our well-being but rather that it should be more adorned and perfected we still retain the memory of the Creation in keeping one day in seven to the Lord and the memory of the Redemption in keeping the first of seven Our contemplations on the wonderful work of the Creation are heightned not stifled by the
much strength to this great truth viz. That the Lords day is of Divine Authority In this text then note When this solemn assembly met together on the first day of the week saith the text the day which all the Evangelists witness to be Christs Resurrection day on this day the Disciples were congregated But why the first day of the week why not the last day of the week which was the old Sabbath strange if that had continued a Sabbath that the Primitive Christians had not mâ—t on that day especially seeing Vnâ— Sabbati i e. die dominiâ—o dies dominiâ—a est reâ—ordâ—tio domiâ—icae resurrectionis Vener Beda in Act. 20. Tom. 5. it was but the day before yet more strange that we hear not a word of Pauâ—s keeping it though he tarriâ—d at Troas seven dayes but most strange that wâ— read not one word in all the New Testament of Pauls owning that day in a Christian Church only he solemnly preaches to a Christian Congregation on the first day of the week Surely this is a pregnant argument that the day was changed upon the account of our Saviours Resurrection The Church was assembled on the first day of the week but how Privately it may be no Publickly and openly nay most probably the compâ—ny was very 〈◊〉 and Isa 60. 8. the Congregation flocked as Dâ—ves to the windâ—ws Here is then a full assembly mâ—t upon the â—irst â—ay of the week but for what To â—reak â—read saith the tâ—xt to receive Mat. 26 26. Acts 2. 46. 1 Cor. 11. 24. Dies dominicus ab ipsis Apostolis sacris actionibus est consecratus Bucer the Eucharist saith the Syriack translation and what more seemly and suitable then to receive thâ— Lords Supper upon the Lords day And can this be done without preparatory prayer and other Sabbath exercises Surely this would have been a mutilated and a faint devotion nay and breaking of bread is here put by a Synechdoche the part for the whole and there no more reason to exclude prayer Consentaneum est Aposlolos hanc ipsam ob causam mutos se diem Melanct singing of Psalms c. because they are not mentioned then to exclude drinking of wine in the Sacrament because neither is that expressed but breaking of bread only So then the first day of the week is here celebrated with a confluence of Gospel-Ordinances Nor is it said that Paul called the Disciples together because he was to depart the next day or that they purposedly Hoc institutum ut dies dominicus in locum Sabbati sub stitueretur non ab hominibus sed ab Apostolis sp s dictante quo regebantur nos accepisse credendum est Meritò dixerimus Apostolos sp s duce pro septimo illo die primum substituisse Faius declined the Lords Supper till that day because of Pauls departure But the Text speaks it as of a time a day usually observed by them before and therefore Paul took his opportunity of preaching to them and seems to stay on purpose and wait seven dayes among them Acts 20. 6. And at Troas where these Ordinances were observed and this day solemnly kept was the Rendezvouz of Christians to meet in the greater company Acts 20. 5. And though Paul might privately teach and instruct the Professors of Troas the other seven dayes yet his preaching is now mention'd in regard of some special solemnity in their meeting on this day The first day was honoured above any other day for these holy duties or else why did not they meet on the seventh day Sabbath and how comes that solemnity to be swallowed up in the solemn convention of the first day when these holy exercises are performed To speak then plainly with Bishop Andrews It was saith he the Lords day on which the Apostles and Disciples met the Gospels all four keep one word and tell us Christ rose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is after the Hebrew phrase the first day of the week and the Apostles then held their Synaxes their solemn conventions Mat. 28. 1. and assemblies to preach to pray to break bread or Mark 16. 2 celebrate the Lords Supper Acts 20. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 24. 1. the Lords Supper on the Lords day and this John 20. 1. is the Apostolical phrase So far this learned man So then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishop of Ely as another Bishop speaks Our weekly observation of the Lords day is warranted by the example of the holy Apostles One sharply concludes and saith How can he have any grace in Petrus Al phons in Dialog contra Jud. Tit. 12. his heart who seeing so clearly the Lords day to have been instituted and ordained by the Apostles will not acknowledge the keeping holy the Lords day to be a Commandment of the Lord. The very Jews saith this learned man confess this change of Chrysostomus Ambrosius Theophylactus Beda Anselmus the Sabbath to have been made by the Apostles and therefore we may safely conclude with Gallasius Walaeus Melancthon Beza Bucer Faius Junius Piscator Perkins and other eminent Divines of the Reformed Religion that the Holy Sedulius et Primosius unam Sabbati Act. 20 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. expressam interpretantur diem dominicum Apostles by the guidance of the infallible spirit removed and suppressed the old legal Sabbath and substituted the Lords day the first day of the week in its room and place Let us assume a second text which will further strengthen this truth viz. 1 Cor. 16. 2. Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come This solemn and noted place hath many considerables in it to prove the first day of the week to be the Christian Sabbath and that not so much by the Churches practice that was cleared before as by the Apostles precept in which many things remarkable offer themselves to our consideration Although it be true that in some cases collections may be made any day for the poor Saints yet why doth the Apostle limit here to this day the performance of this duty Surely something there is in it more then ordinary The Apostle doth not limit only the Corinthians to this 2 Cor. 11 28. Diei dominicae nomen et institationem ab Apâ—stolis derivatam non est dubitandum Estius day but also all the Churches of Galatia 1 Cor. 16. 1. and consequently all other Churches if that be true 2 Cor. 8. 13 14. where the Apostle professeth he presseth not one Church that he might ease another but that there might be an equality and then why must all the Churches make their collections on the same day The Apostle doth not limit them with wishes and counsels onely to do it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I have ordained or instituted In hoc Apostoli mandato nihil
ecclesiae Corinthiâ—cae mandetur quod à totâ Christi ecclesiâ non requiritur and therefore binds their Consciences to it And if Paul ordained it certainly he had it from Jesus Christ who first commanded him so to appoint it for he solemnly professeth That what he received of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 23. that onely he commanded them to do If this day had not been more holy and more sit for this work of love than any other day the Apostle would not have limited them to this day nor would he have honoured this day above the Jewish Sabbath for the Apostle was always very tender of Christian liberty and would never bind where the Lord hath left his people free for in so doing he should rather make Snares than Laws and go expresly against his own doctrine and that in this very point of the 1 Cor 7. 28. 35. Gal. 5 1. observation of days Gal. 4. 10. He may give his advice indeed in things proposed 1 Cor. 7. 25. but he always distinguisheth between his own counsel and Gods command and makes the Command necessary but the other onely expedient The Apostle doth not in this place immediately appoint and institute a Sabbath but supposeth it to be so already and we know duties of Mercy and Charity as well as of necessity Primr part 3. cap. 6. and piety are Sabbath duties for which end this day was most fit for these collections because they usually Quando quidem â—postolus collectas die dominico faciendas statuit dubium non est quin praecipiat ut diem ipsum celebrent quando finem requirit quid non media ad finem duâ—entia praescribat met togethet publickly on this day and so then collections might be in a greater readiness and partly also that they might give more liberalâ—y it being supposed that upon this day their hearts were more weaned from the World and more warmed by the Word and more elevated by other Ordinances to a vigorous faith and a lively hope of better things to come and so having received spiritual things from the Lord more plentifully on this day every man would be the more free to impart his temporal good things for refreshing the poor Saints And why should the Apostle limit the Church of Corinth to this day either for extraordinary or private collections and such special acts of mercy unless the Lord had honâ—ured this day for acts of mercy and much more of piety above any Et si primaria Pauli intentio scil collectam praecipere tamen quia vult illam fieri dâ—e dâ—minâ—co dubiâ—â—m noâ— est qâ—â—n â—raecipâ—â—t etiam ut Dominicum diem celebrent qui enim vult finem vâ—lt media ordinary or common day What then should this day be but the Christian Sabbath imposed by the Apostles and magnified and honoured in all the Churches in those days It is rightly observed by Bishop White Although this Text of St. Paul saith he maketh no express mention of Church-assemblies on this day yet because it was the custome of Christians and so likewise it is a thing convenient to give Alms on the days of Christian Assemblies it cannot well be gain-said but that if in Corinth and Galatia the first day of every week was appointed to be the day for Alms and charitable contributions the same also was the Christians weekly holy-day for their religious Assemblies Thus this learned man rightly and genuinely Vedel Exercit in Ignat. ad Magnes cap. 7. draws the inference Iâ— the first day of the week was the day for Alms it was likewise the day for Worship Chrysostom upon the evidence of this Text concludes positively That in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia the Lords day was made a weekly holy day by the Apostles for they governed these Churches at that time Philo Judaeus and Philo Judaeus Josephus relate That it was the custom of the Jews who were scattered in other Countries to make Collections every Josephus Sabbath-day which were sent by the hands of eminent persons to Hierusalem every year and for the use of the Temple and the Levits and this custom the Apostle seems to follow in the Text now under discussion in enjoyning Collections every first day of the week our Christian Sabbath to be sent for the relief of the poor Saints at Hierusalem who were oppressed by a multitude of strangers and subjected to persecutions and wants for their zeal and holy fervour to the blessed Gospel Once more if it be demanâ—ed why the Apostle enjoyns Collections on the Lords day Chrysostom gives us a good answer he saith That was a Sacrament-day and dâ—uâ—tless that was a powerful Argument to prompt them to liberality it was strange ingratitude to spare a little from the poor when it is considered God spared not the blood of his own Son which Chrysost is lively represented in the sacramental feast Beza observes Acts 20. 7. That Justin Martyr after he had described the order and manner of the primitive times in sacramental Administrations on the Lords day he adds That their Collections were made according to every ones free will and those Acts 1. 2. 4. Collections were distributed by the chief Minister to Orphans Widows sick persons and those who were in want for their relief and seasonable support So that this sacred custom and holy day were propagated by the Apostle to the succeding ages of the Church And indeed what better Hâ—ctenus ex hisce tribus locis scripturae conjunctim consideratis ex communi sententiâ quam tota fore reformata exlesia ex iis constantèr colligit dâ—ei dominicae usum ad Apostolos esse referendum Wal. exposition of an Apostolical Precept and practise can we meet withal than the universal practise and observance of the Church of Christ VVe must then shut up this particular with what Walaeus takes notice of For these two Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. saith he joyned with Revel 1. 10. have caused almost all the reformed Churches to conclude that undoubtedly the observation of the Lords day must necessarily be referred to the Apostles as the Original Founders of it And let this be added That the Apostles transmitted the Lords day to the Church most probably by the immediate command of Christ most certainly by the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost that unerring conduct of them in the affairs of the Church The Lords day is more illustrious from its eminent Title Revel 1. 10. where it is stiled the Lords day If ye ask why Augustine will tell you because the Lord hath made it This Ignat. Epist ad Magnes Euseb Eccles Histor lib. 3. cap. 21. Diònys Corinth Histor lib 4 cap 22. Cyprian Epist 59. Caeperatintereà post tristia Sabbata foelix dies qui nominis alti culmen a domino dominante trahit c. Sedul name and title was so sweet to the Primitive Church that most
of the Fathers call our Sabbath by this name and imbrace its honour with an holy and triumphant ambition they took an advantage from the very Title to use this blessed day with greater veneration Titles among men commanding respect and submission Our Sabbath is called the Lords day saith a learned man 1. Because the Lord did constitute the solemnization of it as the Lords Prayer is so called because Christ did dictate it 2. Or because on this day the Lord is more solemnly worshipped 3. Or because Christ our Lord on this day rose from the dead opening a door for us to an everlasting Sabbath and Rest Surely it is some additional honour to this illustrious Day that as it was the first day of time mentioned in the first Gen. 1. 1. Book of the Bible so it is the last day of fame noted in the beginning of this last Book of the Bible to the praise of Revel 1. 10. him who is our Alpha and Omega Revel 1. 11. The very Omnes ferè sacrae â—cripturae interpretes tam veteres quà m recentiores de primo die hebdomadis Revel 1. 10. intelligunt Wal. Name speakes Christ the Author of this day and his resurrection whereby he was declared both Lord and Christ must needs be the occasion of it Ignatius who lived in the times of John the beloved Apostle makes the Lords day the Christians weekly Festival which they then observed in the room of the Jews Sabbath So doth Tertullian Athanasius Hierom Augustine c. and indeed who not By this title of the Lords day we may trace it down from the Apostles times through the Ocean of the Fathers Councels Schoolmen Arguimus appellatione ejus Revel 1. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sic appellari non potuit ille dies nisi eum dominus instituisset ut in caerâ et Oratione dominicâ factum est Eatonus p. 73. to this present age in which we live And to cast our eye on Scripture there seems to be much in that which Beza observes out of an ancient Greek Manuscript wherein the first day of the week is called the Lords day And the Syriack Translation tells us That the Christians meeting together to receive the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. was upon the Lords day Bucan saith The Sacrament is called the Lords Supper as in respect of the institution and the end of it so also in respect of the day on which it was wont to be administred viz. the Lords day And we may fairly expound the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. by the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. Here we may take notice that the spirit of God who had his choice of words and never spake any thing but with admirable reason never vouchsafed this title of honour in the Caena domini dicitur ab anthore vel etiam à fine nam à domino instituta est et in ejus memoriam celebratur vel etiam à tempore quia diebus dominicis celebrari consuevisset Bucan New Testament but only to the Supper and the Day the Lords Supper and the Lords day Now therefore the phrase being the same and thus singular the sense must needs be the same Look therefore in what notion the Supper is the Lords Supper and in the same sense is the day styled the Lords day The Supper is the Lords because the Lord Christ did institute and ordain it yea and substitute it in the room of the Passover And why not the day his because he instituted it and substituted it in the room of the Old Sabbath It is evidently a day of Christs institution a day of the Lords making and with reference to Christs resurrection and let any other day be set up in competition with it and it will evidently and easily be non-suited One well observes That from these Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. See Mr. Perkins in his cases of Conscience Rev. 1. 10. may well be gathered the laudable and Evangelical practice of the Apostles and the excellent confirmation countenance and authority that God gave thereunto in this point of sanctifying the Lords day So that God did bear witness thereunto by signs and wonders On this day Eutychus was raised from the dead Acts 20. 10 11. On this day three thousand are raised from the grave or rather from the hell of sin Acts 2. 37. And on this day John the Apostle is in his raptures and extasies Rev. 1. 10. And besides the more remarkable Acts 1. 2 4. benefits and fruits of this day upon which the Holy Ghost hath put a Selah still the Lords day is a wonder-working day What sense have many of the Saints on this day of peace of conscience joy in the Holy Ghost and great increase of grace holy knowledge and the fear of the Lord And indeed the advantages and precious fruits of this day are manifest to common and constant experience Dies dominica dicitur eadem ratione qua sacra Eucharistiae caena vocatur caena domini 1 Cor. 11. 12. quia scil à domino nostro Jesu Christo fuit instituta et ad eundem etiam dominum in fine et usu refeâ—ri debet Ames Learned Rivet tells us that all Interpreters do expound Revel 1. 10. of our Lords day viz. the first day of the week excepting one single Gomarus as when ever was truth published which was not snarled at by some humorous and impatient adversary And one thing more is very observable in Rev. 1. 10. It is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day not the day of the Lord for so is every day he being the Lord and Master of time but it is called the Lords day by way of singularity and conspicuous eminency But to draw towards a conclusion in the discussion of this particular of much moment indeed and therefore of more curious disquisition We may take notice that the Riv. Dissert de Orig. Sab. cap. 10. Lords day is not only the most proper name of our Sabbath and most in use in the dayes of the Apostles but it is most expressive being both an Historian and a Preacher For the Huc facit quod Lords day looking backward mindeth us what the Lord hath Johan Apost in die dominico correptus fuit ita ut spiritu viderit audiverit Apocalypsiâ— de statu ecclesiae deinceps futuro unde colligitur eum tum sanctis meditationibus quae diem dominicum decebant vaâ—asse Piscat done for us as on that day viz. He arose from the dead And looking forward it admonisheth us what we ought to do for him on the same day viz. spend it to the honour of the Lord in the proper and sacred duties of it In a word In the Lords day three things are considerable 1. A day founded on the light of Nature Meer Pagans destinate whole dayes to their idolatrous service 2. One day in
seven grounded on the moral equity of the fourth Commandement which is perpetual and inalterable 3. Our seventh day being indeed the eighth from the Creation but one of the seven in the week and this is built on Divine Right having analogy in the Old and insinuations Gâ—oria aeterni regis gloriosa suâ resurrectione emicans primatum cum religime diei dominicae concessum voluit sanctos retinere Sedul demonstrative in the New Testament with the universal practice of the Church in all ages Thus we have traced the Divine Right of the Lords day which appears clear and orient to every unprejudiced eye We will now pursue it to all ages and here will come in a full concourse of witnesses to attest the Honour and Authority of it Our Christian Sabbath is confirmed by all laws not only by divine law as hath already been largely proved but by Die dominico nihil agendum nâ—si deo vacandum nulla operaâ—io in eâ die agatur nisi tantum hymnis et Psalmis et caâ—â—ticis spiritualibus dies illa transigatur Linw. Canon law Linwood the Canonist tells us That we are to do nothing on the Lords day but to be at leisure for God No work must be done on that day but singing of Psalms chaunting of Hymns and warbling forth spiritual Songs to the praise and glory of our dear and blessed Redeemer Spiritual work best becomes this sacred day Nay the Canon law takes so much notice of our blessed Sabbath that many learned men have fastned it upon the Authority of the Canon law So Cajetan Thomas Aquinas Turrecremata Scotus Tabiensis Navarrus and many others Panormitan saith That all the Canonists who write of Festivals teach that the Lords day is Aquin. 2da 2dae quest 122 Turrec cap. 1 de consecrat Dist 3. Wal. de sacramental lib. 16. Scot lib. 2. de instit quest 4. Tabiens in verbo dominic num 2. carefully to be observed and sanctified in Cap. pronunciandum de Sab. And if the Canon law lay claim to the institution of the Lords day much more to the confirmation and establishment of it In the Decretals of the Church then we find our Christian Sabbath both owned and honoured And indeed in the whole body of the canon Law the law for Sabbath-observation must needs be the head and most eminent constitution Our Christian Sabbath hath been established by the Civil law Constantine the first Christian Emperour who thought Euseb de vitâ Constant lib. 4. cap. 18. Constantinus legem tulit ut die dominico omnes ab obeundis negotiis vacarent Sozom. lib. 1. cap. 8. the chiefest and most proper day for the Devotion of his Subjects was the Lords day thus declared his pleasure and enacted That every one who lived in the Roman Empire should rest on that day weekly which is instituted to our Saviour and to lay aside all businesses and wholly on that day to attend the Lord. An excellent Pattern here is for Princes On the Lords day say the Imperial Constitutions The whole minds of Christians and Believers should be busied in the worship of God Leo the Emperour follows the steps of his Predecessour L. Omnes cap. de Feriis Constantine and makes this remarkable sanction It is our will saith he according to the meaning of the Holy Ghost and of the Apostles by him directed that on the sacred day wherein we were restored to our integrity all men should rest themselves and surcease from labour for if the Jews did so much reverence their Sabbath which only was a shadow of ours are not we which inhabit light and the truth of grace obliged to honour that day which the Lord hath honoured and therein delivered us from dishonour and death Are not we bound to Leo Constit 54. God lib. 3. tit 12. de feriis et Justinian lib. 3. tit 12. keep it singularly and inviolably and sufficiently contented with a liberal grant of all the rest and not encroaching on that one which God hath chosen for his service nay were it not a retchless slighting and contemning of all Religion to make that day common and so think we may do thereon as we did on others A most excellent and truly imperial law fit to be written upon the Gaâ—es of every City upon the doors of every House upon the thoughts of every Christian And this law the Reverend Hooker takes notice of with a just emphasis of Hooker Eccl. Polit. lib. 5. sect 72. p. 385. praise and commendation as being a seasonable corrosive of former remisness in the Empire the Lords day before being in an exinanition by neglect and want of due severity by degrees fainting into contempt and disregard The Emperour Theodosius a most worthy Prince enacted That Cod. Theod. An. 384. peoples minds should be wholly bent to the service of God and that all Theatres and Cirques should be shut up on the Lords day and that no law-suit or pecuniary affairs should pollute that day that no officers of the Exchequer should be molested by any persons addressing themselves to them Nullus die solis spectaculum praebeat nec divinam venerationem consectâ solennitate confundat Theodor. on that holy and venerable day Such care did this excellent Prince take for the observation of our blessed Sabbath And that famous and renowned Charles the Great An. Dom. 789. published his Royal Edict saying We do Ordain according as it is commanded in the law of God that no man do servile works upon the Lords day but that they come to Church to divine worship and magnifie the Lord their God for those good things which on that day he Grat. Valent. Cod. Theodos lib. 15. Tit. 5. Lex 5. hath done for them Here we may hear the victorious Emperour justly called the Great not onely clearly acknowledging the Divine institution but likewise strictly commanding the Divine observation of the Lords day And the Emperour Ludovicus Pius the good Son of a Noble Father viz. Charles the Great enacts this Constitution It Ludov. Pius leg Eccles lib. 6. cap. 202. addit cap. 9. is our pleasure That all the faithful do reverently observe the Lords day in which the Lord rose again for if Pagans for the memory and reverence of their Gods do celebrate certain dayes and the Jews do devoutly observe their Sabbath how much more ought this Day to be honourably observed and celebrated of Christians Let not Christians upon this holy day attend upon Fables c. but let Believers do so that all may know such to be true Christians Thus still the same strain of spiritual and holy zeal runs in the Acts and Edicts of these worthy Potentates And the prosperous Justinian the great Compiler of the Civil Laws and therfore the body of them is called Justinians Code when he was Emperour of Constantinople Justinian Cod. lib. 15. tit 5. he enacted this savoury and rare Constitution On
six dayes spent in his own works is to sanctifie Mr. Joseph Mede in a little tract on the Sabbath the seventh that he may profess himself thereby a servant of God the Creator of Heaven and Earth for the quotum then how much time the Jew and the Christian agree but in the designation of the day they differ for the Christians keep for their holy day that which with the Jews was the first day of the week and call it Dominicum the Lords day that they might thereby profess themselves the servants of that God who as on the morning of that day vanquished Satan the spiritual Pharaoh and redeemed us from our spiritual thraldom by praising Jesus Christ our Lord risen from the dead begetting us unto instead of an earthly Canaan an inheritance incorruptible in the heavens In a word the Christian by the day he hallows professeth himself a Christian that is as St. Paul speaks to believe on him who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead But might not you will say the Christian as well have observed the Jewish Sabbath for his seventh day as the day he doth I answer no he might not for in so doing he should seem not to acknowledge his redemption to be already performed but still expected for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt by the Ministry of Moses was intended for a type or pledge of the spiritual deliverance to come by Jesus Christ their Canaan also to which they marched being a type of that heavenly inheritance which the redeemed by Christ do look for since then the shadow is now made void by the coming of the substance the relation is changed and God is no longer to be worshipped as a God fore-shewing and assuring by types but as a God who hath performed the substance of what he promised and this is that which St. Paul means Col. 2. 16 17. where he saith Let no man henceforth judge you in respect of a Feast day New Moons or Sabbath day which were a shadow of things to come but the body is Christ Thus largely this worthy man shews us that the foundation of the old Sabbath is rased and plucked up and the new Sabbath is setled upon as strong a Basis even upon the accomplishment 2 Tim. 2. 19. of the glorious work of our redemption in the blessed resurrection of Christ and we may now say This foundation stands sure the Lord knows which day for weekly solemnity is his the time of our Sabbath is set by that rising Sun which will decline no morâ— And we are as much bound to keep our Sabbath upon the account of the work of Redemption as the Jews were upon the account of the work of creation or their Egyptian deliverance the work makes the day in both and therefore no human device or institution can here lay the least claim Thus let us run the stage of every Century we shall never want those who had so much Scripture Heraldry as to know that the Lords day was divinely born and that at least the holy Apostles both by their practice Acts 20. 7. and precept 1. Cor. 16. 2. give life to it that it might survive in the Church till the end of all things and times And as no age was so corrupt to disown so no place was so barbarous as to shut out the Lords day But in all places where Christianity was embraced they sang Hosanna to the highest of dayes The observation of this day was much scattered in the very Apostles dayes It was observed at Hierusalem Dominica ideò nobis est venerabilis atque solennis quia in eâ Salvator noster velut Sol Oriens discussis infernonorum tenebris luce Resurrectionis emicuit proptereà ea dies ab hominibus seculidies solis vocatur quòd Christus Sol justitiae eam lucidissimè illuminavit John 20. 19 26. at Troas Acts 20. 7. in the Churches of Galatia and Corinth 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Then in Patmos Rev. 1. 10. and the lesser Asia then in the Grecian Churches as the Greek Fathers before-mentioned testifie then in the Latine Churches as appears by the Latin Fathers called before to witness and attest it which they plentifully declare and in process of time the fame and observance of this blessed day was scattered far and wide It was observed in Africk by the injunction of the Council of Carthage it was observed in Spain by the decrees of the Councils of Arragon and Eliberis it was solemnly kept and observed in France by the decrees and Canons of the Council of Orleance Paris Rhemes Angiers it was observed in Italy by the Canons of the Councils of Friuli Rome it was kept in Germany by the strict injunction of the Councils of Aquisgrane Mentz and Collen it was observed in Poland by imposition and advice of the Council of Petricow it was Author Clem. constit l. 5. c. 13. kept in Lydia a Province of the lesser Asia by the determination of the Council of Laodicea which solemn convention gave much honour to our Christian Sabbath it was observed in Greece by the strict injunction of the Council of Constantinople it was observed in England in the early dayes and dawnings of the Gospel by the advice and Canon of the Council of Cloveshow as some say near Canterbury Thus in every place where the Christian Religion was planted the Lords day was inaugurated with praise and observation so that we may here apply that of the Psalmist Psal 68. 11. The Lord gave the word and great was the company of those that published it The Gospel and the day of Psal 68. 11. Christ both kept equal pace and travelled in company together through all converted Nations To entertain a Saviour and not a Sabbath the Lords will declared in the Gospel not the Lords day was ever a soloecism and an absurâ—ity in the world Nor can I see if our Sabbath be only jure humano an humane ordinance how we can expect the same blessing on our Sabbath which the Jews might or did on theirs for surely divine institution entails divine benediction God doth not water plants with the dews of his blessing which are Mat 15. 13. not of his own planting But he often complains of introductions Satanas habet plantationes quae sunt zizania et homines habent plantationes quae sunt traditiones sed ambae sunt eradicandae et evellendae Chemnit into his worship by the devise and counsels of men Jer. 7. 31. How the Sabbath of the Jews had manifestly a divine institution which is undoubted and undenied by all If ours therefore want a divine authority to appoint and ordain it their fleece may be still wet with blessing and denediction and ours wholly dry It is not easily to be imagined that an Ecclesiastical constitution as some make our Sabbath to be can fall under the same smiles and influences with a divine ordinance enlivened by Christs command or
wrought his first Miracle by turning water into wine And on this day saith Junius the Israelites passed the Red Sea on dry ground Concil Paris sub Ludovico Pio et Lothario celebratum securely by the help of a Miracle And to wind up all on this day the light of the firmament and the Sun of Righteousness first rose and appeared from darkness and death And thus the Lords day is brought to its Throne and let Jun. in Deut. all who love Christ say God save the Christian Sabbath and preserve it from the fury and rage of malevolent persâ—cutors John 2. 49. from the virulent and sophistical pens of adversaries from the fancies of familistical and enthusiastical hereticks and from the blemishes and discrediting practices of prophane persons And let our fervent prayers to the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. be that as this blessed day had a divine institution so it may be ever honoured and celebrated with a spiritual and heavenly observation CHAP. XLVII A Plea with Christians to out-vy the Jews in Sabbath-holiness and observations HAving now bottom'd the Lords day upon its Scriptural basis and given it its due and just authority let us further consider how its original may influence our practice and how its institution running parallel with that of the Jews Sabbath may over-awe our consciences and sublimate our minds to a more holy and severe observation It is a good note of a learned man If saith he The people shall be made to believe that the Lords day stands upon humane authority all the power of Princes and all the policy of Bishop of Ely Prelates shall never be able to preserve it from the peoples prophanation as we evidently see in the Church of Charles Dow of the Sabbath p. 56. Rome But Adversaries in this point are enforced to acknowledge as much as may be learned from their confessions That seeing God did require of those stiffnecked Jews burdened with the yoke of Ceremonies one day in seven to be employed in his service how can less suffice Christians who have obtained a greater measure of divine grace and who are freed from that yoke and burden Nor must we permit this Verè dico Fratres satis durum pro priè nimis impium est ut Christiani non habeant majorem reverentiam diei dominico quam Judaei observare videntur in Sabbâ—to Caesar Arelatensis consideration that the obligation of Christians to serve God and Christ upon his heavenly promises is greater then that of the Jews In the former times of shadows and darkness the Lords people observed a weekly Sabbath then surely we should be ungrateful and negligent of our own salvation if we should fall short of the same observation nay if we should not keep our Sabbath with greater exactness and more accurate devotion Golden talents call for quicker trading and greater priviledges summon us to a more strict obedience And indeed to come closer to our purpose what can lie upon the Jews as an argument for the sanctification of the Sabbath which doth not reach us Had they six dayes granted for their own affairs to labour and work in and is it not so with us are not we indulged with the same bounty have not we an equal latitude with them for the gain and acquest of these outward things And ours is the Lords day as well as theirs nay their weekly festival was called Sabbath from its manner of observation Exod. 20. 8. Rev. 1. 10. servation ours the Lords day from its Divine Author Gods example is as strong to move us as them our Father is our pattern and his preceding practice doth tie us as forcibly to imitation as it can do them Mat. 5. 48. The blessing of God depends upon our right observation of our Sabbath as well as it did upon their faithful discharge of Sabbath-duties and holiness obtains the birth right in Longius à â—â—ebus sacris remoâ—enda sunt quae castis labem integris probrum et sin ceris corruptelam afferunt Festivitates dominicus honorate non mundanè sed divinè non instar gentilium sed instar Christianorum Ephr â—yr both And therefore what can be suggested to oblige them which doth not engage us One of the Fathers passionately cryes out Shall the Jews be so strict on their Sabbath which only is in umbra in a shadow and a type of something to come which only did presigure Christs resting in the grave and shall not we â—e seâ—ious and solemn on our Sabbath which is so in veâ—tue in truth and shall endure to the end of the world Our Sabbath saith Chrysostom is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An unmoveable law and therefore lays claim to a greater solemnization Ephrem Syrus cryes out Let us solemnize our Lords day as Christians and he thinks then he had said enough the Apostle telling us He that names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity But if we shall discuss this point more fully the Chriâ—tians 2 Tim 2. 19. incentives to Sabbath holiness will easily be found to have a sharper edge and a stronger byass then those of the Jews We have greater measures of knowledge The Jews lived under Star light but the Sun of Righteousness arose on our Mal 4. 2. Exod. 34. 35. Col. 2. 17. Mat. 27. 51. Sabbath day Moses his face had a vail upon it 2 Cor. 3. 13. Their pedagogy was enveloped in many types and shadows ceremonies which cast it into a twilight but when our Saviour dyed not only the veil of the Temple but of the Judaeis vetus Testamentum est velamine obductum ut non videant internam ejus lucem Novo Testamento Christus hoc velamen abstâ—lit tanquâ—m à lege Novâ Alap type was rent Now here our Saviours rule takes place To whom much is given of them much shall he required Luke 12. 48. And the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 3. 14. But the minds of the Jews are blinded for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in reading the old Testament which veil is done away in Christ Our knowledge then is far greater then theirs our ministration of the spirit is more glorious 2 Cor. 3. 8 9. Now much knowledge as it doth amplifie guilt so it doth engage duty as it is a greater weight to sin so it is a sharper spur to service the light of knowledge most properly guides us in the way of holiness And shall we who live under the light of the most glorious Gospel be out-done Illuminatio Evangelii est sublustre quiddam et praegustus clâ—rae lucis et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 etiam gloriae divinae quae revelabitur in caelis Theoph. in Sabbath-holiness by them who had but our dawnings who only fed upon the crumbs of the bread of life We see Christ with open face they only through the Prospective of a type or a ceremony by the light of a
habitations and goods God for the prophanations of his Sabbath draws a little nearer to Offendars and strikes their persons as shall be seen in a few instances One serving a Writ of Subpoena upon another coming from Church on the Lords day after some words of reproof for so doing and a light answer thereunto the person who served the Writ died in the place without speaking any more words O the fearful and just judgment of the Lord this prophane person himself was subpoenaed unexpectedly by a Writ he could not refuse to appear before Gods dreadful Tribunal A Grasiers Servant would needs drive his Cattle on the Lords day in the Morning from the Inne where he lay on the Saturday Night but he was not gone a stones cast from the Town but he fell down dead suddenly when he was in perfect health before Thus the Lords day is written in dominical letters in the blood of Transgressors who prophane it To add one dreadful example more One Richard Bourn Servant to Gaspar Birch of Ely was so accustomed to travel on the Lords day that he made no conscience of it sâ—ldom or never coming to the publick Congregation to hear Gods word on that day but went to St. Ives Market where he stayed and spent the day where being drunk he was overtaken by Divine Justice for coming home fraught with Commodities he fell into the River and was drowned And thus as his sinnes did meet to provoke the Lord viz. his Drunkenness and Sabbath-breaking so the stream did meet to destroy and overthrow him Sometimes God doth not presently cut off those who prophane his day but he puts a brand of infamy upon them to make them a shame and a terrour to themselves that they may be hissed off from the Stage of the World and with self-confounding and horrour may go down unexpectedly to their Graves this is verified by this story There was an Husbandman who went to plough on the Lords day and cleansing his Plow with an Iron the Iron stuck so fast in his hand for two years that he carried it about with him as a signal testimony of the Lords just displeasure against him and so he lived infamously in the world till he died and made his passage to another world the Iron in his hand only discovering the Adamant in his heart Sometimes God leaves those who prophane his holy day to the commission of prodigious evils and so he punisheth one fin with another which is the sorest punishment and the ultimate effect of Divine Vengeance for when God punisheth Isa 6. 10. sin with suffering then he chastiseth with Rods but when he punisheth sin with sin then he scourges with Scorpions as may be instanced in these succeeding stories In Helvetia near Belessina Three men were playing at Mr. Clarke his examples of Divine justice Dice on the Lords day and in their play one called Vtricke Schraetorus having hopes of a good Cast having lost much money before he now expected fortune or rather the Devil to succour him and therefore he breaks out into this horrid blasphemy If Fortune deceive me now I will thrust my Dagger into the body of God as far as I can And so with a powerful force he throws it up towards Heaven which Dagger was never seen more and immediately five drops of blood fall before them all upon the Table and as suddenly came the Devil among them and carries away this vile wretch with such a terrible and hideous noise as the whole City was astonished at it Those who remained endeavoured to wipe off the blood but to little purpose for the more they rubbed the more perspicuous and visible the blood was Report carries it over the City multitudes flockt to see this wonder who find those who had thus prophaned the Sabbath rubbing the blood to get it out These two men who were Companions to him who was carried away by the Devil were by the Decree of the Senate bound in Chains and as they were leading to prison one of them was suddenly struck dead and from his whole body a wonderful number of worms and vermine was seen to crawl The City thus terrified with Gods judgments and to the intent that God might be glorified and a future vengeance averted from the place they caused the third Offendor one of the gaming Companious to be forthwith put to death And they caused the Table with the drops of blood upon it to be preserved as a Monument of Gods wrath against this sin thus this blasted Rom. 11. 33. Table like Lots wife was a standing warning-piece to cause all to take heed of Sabbath-breaking and ingratitude Luke 17. 32. At Simsbury in Dorsetshire One rejoycing at the erecting of a Summer-Pole on a Lords day He said he would go see it though he went through a quick-set hedge Going with wood in his arms to cast into the Bonefire prophanely uttered these words Heaven and earth are full of thy glory O Lord he was immediately overtaken by the stroke of God and in two or three hours died and his wife also And thus as God once punished Pharaoh with hail mixed with fire so he Exod. 9. 24. hath punished the prophanation of his day with sin and judgment joyntly with leaving the Offendor to vile sins overtaking the Offendor with sore smarts that his burdens Exod. 5. 7. like those of the Israelites in Egypt might be doubled Sometimes God punisheth the prophanation of his Sabbath with executing vengeance on great numbers God hath not decimated such sinners but destroyed them in the lump as may be verified in these ensuing stories Fourteen youths adventuring to play at Foot-ball on the River Trent upon the Lords day when it was as they Mr. Bernard on the Sabbath Mr. London in Gods Judgments on Sabbath-breakers Jan. 13. 1583. thought very hard frozen meeting at last together in a shove the Ice brake and they were all drowned At the Bear-Garden in Southwark on a Sabbath-day in the Afternoon many persons pressing on the Scaffold to see the sport forced it suddenly down with which fall eight were killed and many spoiled in their bodies who died soon after Nullus die solis spectaculum praebeat nec divinam venerationem consecta solennitate consundat Valent. Grat. And by the way let me observe This seeing of Shews upon the Lords day was complained of above 1200 years ago and Edicts set out against it by the Emperors Valentinian and Gratian the early zeal of the Primitive Christians took notice of this detestable and prodigious practice God sometimes takes away Sabbath-breakers immediately by his own hand as may be seen in these instances A Fellow near Brinkley in Essex usually coming home late from his sports on the Lords day his good Mistris reproving him for it one Sabbath he goes to a Chalk-pit to work with another man and tells him he used to vex his Mistris for his sports on the Sabbath but now
he would vex her worse with his work which words were no sooner spoken but Justice seizes upon him for the earth fell upon him and he stirred no more but presently died Thus the Numb 16. 32 33. Lord by his own hand cut off this Miscreant wretch and threw him into Corah Dathan and Abirams Grave Let me add another dreadful example One Sabbath-day in the Afternoon a Match at Foot-ball Doctor Twisse on the Sabbath was made in Bedfordshire as two of the company were tolling the Bell to call the rest together some that sate in the Church-porch heard a terrible noise as a clap of Thunder and they saw a flash of Lightning coming through an obscure Lane which flashed in their faces to their terrour and amazement and the Lightning passing on to those who were tolling it trips up the heels of the one and leaves him stark dead and so blasted the other that he died within a few days Thus the swift Messengers of Divine wrath overtook those incautelous sinners and blasted them in the middest of their presumptuous impieties Lightning from heaven testifies against the deeds and facts of Hell At Dover the same day the Book of sports was read in St. James Parish one prophanely went to play upon a Kit which drew a multitude of people especially of the younger sort together But oh the terrour of the Lord this prophane person was struck by a divine hand and in two days died Thus daring sinners by an unexpected doom are folded up in their dust to awaken others that they may not adventure upon the same impieties A Vintner who was a great swearer and drunkard as he Mr. Clarke his examples of divine justice was standing at his door upon the Lords day with a pot of wine in his hand to invite his guests was by the wonderful justice and power of God carryed into the Air with a whirlwinde and never seen or heard of more How soon can the word of God make the creature and how suddenly can the winde of God destroy the sinner Let us read and tremble Sometimes God revenges the prophanation of his day mediately by the hand of others as may be verified in this ensuing story Not far from Dorcester lived one widow Jones whose Son Richard upon the Lords day notwithstanding all the perswasions and admonitions of his good Mother did with his companions go to Stoake to play where after he had done and drank freely with his company they return home and by the way fall out whereupon John Edwards one of the company stabbed this Richard Jones under the left rib whereof at seven of the clock the next night he died Thus every thing becomes a sword even a companion to destroy a presumptuous Sabbath-breaker One disposed to sin and debauchery would needs keep an Ale in the Church-house on the Lords day But O the severity and formidable justice of God! At night his youngest Son was taken Prisoner for stealing of a purse out of anothers pocket while he lay drunk in the said Church-house and the week ensuing his eldest Son was stabbed to death Thus Sabbath-prophanation blasts families as well as persons and plucks down the house upon the sinners head Sometimes God leaves the sinner who prophanes his day to destroy himself When God in patience suspends the execution of his own hand and in pity restrains others that they shall not destroy the Sabbath-breaker then he himself becomes his own murderer And when he is not with Aarons Sons destroyed by God himself Levit. 10. 2. Nor is he with Senacherib slain by others Isa 37. 37 38. Then with Saul in rage and despair he falls upon his own sword 1 Sam. 31. 4. One Richard Clark was drunk in company with one Henry Parram on the Lords day to whom he said he would either hang or drown himself desirous to know which was best but Parram replyed he hoped he would do neither May 31. 1634. But oh the judgment of the Lord especially upon those who prophane his day For on Monday morning he was seen going through the Town as if he was going about his masters business and having got up into the midst of a tree without the town He did there hang himself Thus Achitophels doom was this mans death and as disappointment sent the one so Guilt Sabbath guilt sent the other to his place God for the prophaning of his holy day takes away sinners in the very act of their sin as may be observed in these ensuing stories Some boys of St. Albans going into Verulams pond to swim upon the Lords day one of them was drowned and another very narrowly escaped Two young men of St. Dunstans in the West London going Septemb. 1635. to swim on the Lords day were both drowned Thus neither the tenderness of youth nor the sutableness of the recreation can apologize for the great sin of Sabbath-breaking God will be sanctified by or upon all Christians for Levit. 10. 3. their carriage or miscarriage upon his sacred Sabbath God executeth vengeance upon the very Heathens for the abuse of his day Natures light might induce us to keep a solemn day for the worship of God and if that light be damped by prophaneness God observes and will revenge that sin It is recorded of Pompey the great Roman that he shrunk under the depression of Gods sore displeasure for prophaning Gods Sabbath and Sanctuary And this story is related by an Corn. Tacit. Heathen too Among the very Heathens there is a Veneration observable in Gods holy Sabbath God executes his vengeance upon the greatest persons for the prophanation of his day The Centuriatours of Magdeburg tell us of one of the Kings of Denmark who when he contrary to the admonition of the Priests who desired him to defer it would needs on a Lords day go to battel with his enemy he was slain in the Centur. Magdeburg Histor Cent. 12. fight Thus justice and revenge in its triumphs over this sin can reach the Scepter as well as the spade Nicanor a great Commander of Syria engaging against the Jews in battel upon the Sabbath supposing that was a time in which they would not fight and so it would facilitate his victory he falls and dies in the battel and his head Macchab. 2. 28 30. was cut off and his hand and his shoulder and they are brought with joy to Hierusalem 2 Macchab. 15. 2 28 30. Valour cannot withstand Gods stroke when his Sabbath is contemned and defied by presumptuous sinners nor can the blindness of paganism extenuate or apologize for the sin God punisheth the prophanation of his day with prodigious and monstrous births that his vengeance may be written in a fairer and more legible Character as may be seen in this story A great man using every Lords day to hunt in Sermon time had a child by his wife with a head like a dog and it Theatr. Histor cryed like a hound
Charity And now shall the Heathen make it an inexpiable Crime to work upon one of their holy days and shall it be venial for us to follow our works and pursue our lusts on Gods holy day Shall Saturn and Jupiter be honoured with more solenmity and served with Exod. 15. 6. more care and sedulity than Christ or Jehovah Sure this Exod. 15. 11. must needs be the dregs of prophaneness to give our heavenly Father and our dear Redeemer whom sometimes we call our Beloved less veneration on his own day then Pagan Worshippers give their Idol Gods on their Festivals How strange is it that we must go to Dagon to learn how to use the Ark and must repair to the Roman Flamins or the 1 Sam. 5. 2. Syrian Priests to know how to keep a Sabbath God sends the sluggard to the Ant and the Pismire to learn fore-sight and industry Prov. 6. 6. And he may send Sabbath-breakers to the Gentiles and Paynims to learn Sanctity and Devotion But let Christians say the solemn Devotions of Pagans shall heat our zeal but not reproach our slâ—th they Psal 26. 6. shall only serve us to take aim how we may steer our Devotion with greater fervour and dexterity Argum. 6 Let us observe the zeal of holy men mentioned in Scripture who have been eminent for Sabbath-observation The Apostle gives us a good rule Heb. 6. 12. Let us be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises These Patterns of Piety may be our conduct and guide in this matter take them in what age you will the Sabbath still lay near their hearts and was venerable in their practice 1. Some before the Law were remarkable for Sabbath-holiness they dreaded the pollution of Gods day before the terrours and smokes of Mount Sinai And though they were in a Wilderness they had not so lâ—st themselves but they knew how to meet with God on his own day And as Manasseh Ben-Israel well observes The Jews were forced Cogita in Aegypto ubi serviebas etiam ipso sabbato peâ— vim te coactum ad labores Et sic saâ—ientes inter Judaeos Deut. 5. 15. unanimiter applicant Manas Ben. Israel to neglect the Sabbath in Egypt by reason of the violence and cruelty of their Taskmasters but when God brought them out of that Land of bondage one of their first works was Sabbath-observation Their Delivery is historically related in the 14th Chapter of Exodus and their observation of the Sabbath in the 16th Chapter of the same Book So Exod. 16. 30. So the people rested on the seventh day which must needs be meant of an holy Rest for a naked bâ—re Rest is the loss not the sanctification of a Sabbath And if the people of Israel had so rested God soon would have taken notice of it and have severely threatned if not sorely punished it but no word of reproof but only of those Quieverunt Israelitae non solùm illo die frustrati fuerunt spe suâ egrediendi sed aliis diebus septimis consequentibus Riv. who went out on the Sabbath to gather Manna some few straglers Exod. 16. 27. who instead of finding Manna lost their way and met with a reproof instead of a meal Now here we meet with Gods people keeping Gods day before the fourth Commandment was proclaimed by sound of Trumpet Now shall the people of Israel without the sanction of a law rest with God on his own day and shall Christians who have not onely the force and obligation of the fourth Commandment but the alluring argument of Christs Resurrection to oblige to the sanctification of the Sabbath shall they be careless and negligent vain and frothy on Gods holy day Surely the darkness of an Heathen and the twi-light of an Israelite wandering up and down in a wilderness will bear witness against such a generation 2. Some holy men under the Law I shall only select here the rare Example of good Nehemiah an excellent pattern for Magistrates and People how carefully to observe Gods holy Sabbath And his Zeal shall be comprised in four particulars He looked upon the reforming of Sabbath-abuses as a principal part of Reformation therefore he reproves threatens and sets watch to observe the prophanation of this holy Nehem. 13 15 16. day He beareth his testimony vigorously against it Nehem. 13. 15. And here the courtesie and common civilities which are given to strangers bear no sway with him Nehem. 13. 16. He will not strain courtesie when the honour of God is concerned obedience is better then sacrifice much 1 Sam. 15. 22. more then civilities The pollution of a Sabbath that God provoking sin makes this holy man wave all fair and debonaire carriages and turns courtesie into severity and usual reception into just indignation Nehemiah thinks the cause of the Sabbath worth contending for with the Nobles themselves Nehem. 13. 17. not only with inferiour people who are soon hushed with his Authority and tremble at the Magistrates sword but with the Peers of the Realm who might enter the lists with him or hatch some conspiracy against him but holy zeal is no Nehem. 13 17. respecter of persons and in this Nehem. like the three children Dan. 3. 18 19. Is not sollicitous to pore upon his own concerns or interest duty and not safety guides him a rare pattern for Magistrates This good Governour personates the Prophet and gives in a narrative not only of those judgements which had overtaken those who had prophaned the Sabbath in former times but he fore-tells the same calamities to ensue upon Nehem. 13 18. the present Age if Gods Sabbath be defiled Nehem. 13. 18. He turns all his speech into action the true genius of piety for indeed councils and threats are both abortive untill enlivened by execution therefore Nehemiah scatters Nehem. 13. 21. strangers by force Nehem. 13. 21. and chases them away from Jerusalem that they should not come near it upon the Sabbath day Neh. 13. 21. And he lays a severe command on the Levits for Sabbath-sanctification and in the discharge of his duty he recommends himself to the mercifull and kind remembrances of the Almighty Neh. 13. 22. And here as our Saviour saith let us go and do so likewise Luke 10. 37. Let us imitate the zeal of this excellent man whose name for his love to and care of Gods Sabbath lives in the blessed Scriptures and there shall survive to all perpetuity But shall Nehemiah not permit a piece of ware to be sold on the Sabbath without the gates of the City and shall we commit a lust on Gods day within the walls of a house of a Stews or an Ale-house Shall he forbid all Merchandize and shall we traffique with Hell on the Sabbath day Surely his Zeal will turn into our flame and this will fall in with other aggravations of our sin we scribled after so fair a copy 3. Some after the Law
have been eminent for Sabbath-holiness Let us trace the Apostolical practice which in this case is our brightest beam for our conduct and guidance Acts 20. 7. How indefatigable were they in their labours powerfull Acts 8. 4. in their reasonings multifarious in their administrations Acts 20. 10. frugal of their time copious in their preaching and 1 Cor. 16. 2. stupendous in their works upon Gods holy day On this day they discovered their thirst after souls their love to the Gospel and as so many stars they scattered the light of glorious truth They would preach on a Sabbath although it 2 Cor. 4. 4. Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. was in a proscribed Synagogue and they would pray on a Sabbath though it was by a Rivers side a place of more privacy then shelter And shall these Heavenly patterns put no animation and life in us to honour the Lords day with duty and devotion The Limner who hath a beautiful person before him and yet draws an unseemly picture deserves to have the pencil snatcht out of his hand and to be discharged of his employment Arg. 7 Let us take a prospect of the golden age of the Church and observe the carriage of the Primitive Christians upon the Lords day O what a heavenly spirit breathed in them on this Coimus ad caetum et deum quasi manu extensâ precationibus ambimus Tertul. Christiani a mediâ nocte caetum inchâ—averunt Hier. blessed day insomuch that Tertullian cryes out in a kind of a rapture On this day we meet in our assemblies and as with a stretched-out hand we clasp about God with our prayers If ye will know when the Primiâ—ive Christians began their Sabbath Hierome tells us about midnight which likewise Basil affirms to be the usual practice of those times and tells us a story of himself in relation to these midnight meetings But that the Christians met before day light on the Lords day it was so generally known in the world that Pliny a modest Epist Plin. secund ad Trajanum Heathen took notice of it and makes mention of it in an Epistle to Trajan the Roman Emperour and spake of it in commendation of the Christians and urged this practice Tertul. de Coron mil. Apol cont Gent. Cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as an alleviating argument to soften the Emperour to more mildness towards them and so to slacken the present persecution These meetings before day on the Sabbath are likewise mentioned by Tertullian in a Tract of his We see then the early zeal of the Primitive Christians on the Lords day Nor did they rise so soon but to spend the time to the highest advantage Justin Martyr gives us a full account of the Christians deportment on the Lords day Upon the day called Sunday saith he All that abide within the Cities or about the fields do meet together in the same place wherein the Records of the Apostles and the writings of the Prophets are read unto us the Reader having done the President gives a word of exhortation that we may imitate those good things which are there repeated and then standing up together we send up our prayers to the Lord c. And as Justin Martyr shews us how those of his time acted their duties So Tertullian tells us how the Primitive Christians acted their Graces on the Lords day On this day saith he We feed our faith with holy preaching we lift up our hope and we fasten our confidence upon Tertul. God Hierome speaking of some in his time tells us They designed the Lords day wholly to prayer and to the Hier. ad Eustoch reading of the holy Scriptures and he highly commends them for that practice And that you may not think that the Primitive Christians served God only in publick upon the Lords day Ambrose layes it as a severe injunction upon Ambro. Serm. 33. tom 3. pag. 259. the people That they be conversant all the day in prayer or reading and if any could not read that he should labour to be fed with holy conference And Chrysostome presses the people That presently upon their coming Chrysost in Joan. homil 3. home from the publick they should take a Bible into their hands and make rehearsal with their wives and children of that which had been taught them out of the word of God Tertullian and Justin Martyr positively and fully inform Just Mart. Apol. cap 30. pag. 692. from us That when the Christians were departed out of the Congregation they did not run into the rout of swashbucklers or into the company of ramblers such as did run 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb lib. 4. cap. 22. up and down hither and thither but they had care of the like modesty and chast behaviour out of the Church as when they were in the Congregation Nay Theodoret assures us That the Primitive Christians did celebrate other Festivals much more the Lords day their great Festival and their Saviours Resurrection day with spiritual hymns and religious sermons and that the people used to empty out their souls to God in fervent and affectionate Theod. prayers not without sighs and tears No wonder then if Basil say We fill up the Lords day with holy prayers And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Clemens Romanus definitively concludeth Neither on the Lords dayes which are dayes of joyfulness do we grant any thing may be said or done besides holiness A holy speech of an excellent person And therefore Augustine in his sixth Book de Civitate Dei Cap. 11. speaking of Seneca's scoffing of the Jews Sabbath for which he had too much cause Notwithstanding saith he Seneca durst not speak of the Dies dominicus divinis conventibus sequestratus est Isych Christians even then most contrary to the Jews least either he should praise them viz. the Christians against the custome of his Country or reprove them perhaps against his own will So that the Christians observation of the Lords day in the primitive times was above the snarling of a Heathen and the scomms and sarcasmes of a gentile Phylosopher Thus we have the pattern of the primitive Church and it is a good standard for our practice Their early rising should make us more frugal of the time of a Sabbath their fervent zeal should make us more spiritual in the Ordinances of a Sabbath and their devotion at home should make us more Rom. 12. 11 conscientious in our families upon Gods holy day Let us therefore bestrict and exact in Sabbath-observation having the golden age of the Church for our ensample And indeed pure Religion and undefiled which the Apostle speaks of Jam. 1. 27. Jam. 1. 27. never looks so comely as upon a Sabbath day the day inhances the duty as the lovely dress sets off the lovely person Beauty taking advantage from the attire Argu. 8 The holy observation of the Sabbath is the
the Church But the Lords day was alwayes celebrated in the Church with joy and unanimity nor ever was the spring of controversie or contention This glorious day alwayes shone bright in the Church without the ecclipse of contempt or disuse And indeed our sweet and lovely Sabbath is a Jewel of inestimable worth a golden stream dissolving and running by us for us to make use of for our passage to a glorious eternity Man never forgets himself more then when he knows not his time and falls below the brute Creatures who understand their seasons Jer. 8. 7. How many observe not the time of Christs coming to meet his people upon his own Eccles 9. 12. blessed day David was wont to say One day in thy Courts is Psal 63. 2. better then a thousand Psal 84. 10. And the same judgement Psal 42. 4. must we pass upon the Lords day before we shall come to a Jer. 8. 7. due observation of it Sabbaths are kept as they are valued And as is our apprehension so is our observation We should look upon the Sabbath as one of the dayes of the Son of man a season put into our hands for life and salvation Luke 17. 22. Luke 19. 42 43. and this would steer our hearts to a Amos 8. 11. devout celebration of it Did we prize the Sabbath as our Rabbini docent Judaeos Sabbatum suum ideò venerasse ut illud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnium dierum good wind for our Port our seasonable gale for our coast our indulgent call to our Rest surely we should spend it with God for we know not how soon the things with the day and the day with the things may be past and gone It is observed of the Jews thy so much honoured their Sabbath that they Reginam appellarunt were wont to call the whole week by the name of Sabbath Luke 18. 12. And they were used to say the first second third or fourth day of or after the Sabbath and this they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did as learned men observe not only 1. To discriminate themselves in calling the dayes of the week otherwise then the Gentiles who called them by the names of their Idols But Mark 16. 2. 2. To demonstrate the dignity of the Sabbath day and Luke 18. 12. Hier. ad Hed. quaest 4. Theoph. in Luke 18. that above all dayes it was with them in greatest account And ought not Christians much more hold up an high and honourable esteem of the Gospel Sabbath which is a far more glorious day Most assuredly our practice will keep pace with our repute and if we look not upon the Sabbath as the Tremel in Syriac Para phras day of God we shall never keep it as the day of God And strange it is that the Sabbath should not be precious in our eyes when eternal life is but our great Sabbath our long Sabbath which hath no evening as Ambrose and Augustine Ambros in Psal 119. observe Nay Epiphanius tells us That Christ is but our more durable Sabbath and we rest in this Sabbath when we August de Civ dei repose our hearts and hopes in him Nay a good Conscience as Augustine saith is the bed of God the Palace of Christ the Epiphan lib. 1. Heres 30. Temple of the Holy Ghost the Paradise of Delights and the Sabbatum dei est illud quo ab opere exteriori cessare dicimur et sacramentum interioris Sabbati ubi mens sancta per bonam conscientiam à peccato quiescit Hugo Rev. 2. 10. standing Sabbath of the Saints Thus holy Augustine in his tenth Sermon to his Brethren in the wildernoss A good Conscience indeed is our continual Sabbath our constant feast and rest And therefore in keeping Gods Sabbath let us be faithfull unto death and he will give us a never ceasing Sabbath when we shall wear a Crown of life In the saddest and sorest times when Kingdomes are shaking and Cities sinking nay all Gods Ordinances seem to be taking their leave in a Land yea when all externals in the world are at the worst yet then there may be an internal Sabbath in the heart and an eternal Sabbath in the heavens for all those who are here consciencious in keeping the externall Sabbath viz. the Lords day with all holiness and accurateness of observation Aquinas well observes There is a Sabbath of Sabbatum est duplex Pectoris Temporis time every first day of the week and a Sabbath in the breast inward rest and quietation Now the one leads to the other Aquin. 1mâ— 2dae quaest 100. Artic. 5. when we are Critical in keeping the Sabbath of time we may be confident in the enjoyment of a Sabbath and Rest in our bosoms Piety on a Sabbath will assuredly end and conclude in a Paradise in the bosom and when we have rested with Christ on his day he will certainly sup with us at night and bring grace and peace with him Rev. 3. 20. Let us keep every day as a Sabbath A good week will fore-run Praescrip 4. a good Sabbath as the Sabbath should influence the whole week so the whole week should prepare for the Sabbath And indeed the whole term of our life should be a continued Sabbath in two respects In cessation from the service of sin Sin must always be our corrosive not only on the Lords day but on our day we have no vacation for evil sin is a spot on the week though a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. deeper on the Sabbath as Christ is always the Saints love so sin is always the Saints load How bitterly doth Paul complain of his inbred corruption Rom. 7. 17 18 21 23 24. And so Augustine condoles his condition by reason of sin Alas saith he Sin follows I fly and yet I fall I fight and yet I am captive I run from it and yet I am drawn to it I would rest and yet I cannot be quiet one day nay not an hour Now thus to rest from sin is an every Qui cessat ab operibus seâ—uli spiritualibus vacat iste est qui diem festum Sabbatorum agit neque onera portat in viâ onus est omne peccatum neque ignem accendit c. Et in loco suo sistit neque recedit ab eo Quis est locus animae Justitia est locus ejus veritas sapientia sanctificatio Etomnia c. Orig. days Sabbath there is no day but sin prophanes it sin is the blemish of the shop as well as the Sanctuary and is a brand upon the week as well as the Sabbath It is observable there was no death stigmatized with a Curse but the death of the Cross but on the contrary there is no day but is stigmatized with sin and iniquity Every day must be a Sabbath to us in abstinence from sin It is rarely observed of
of the morning Sun of the Gospel were contented with spare and slender diet St. Augustine observed a vanity among the Aug. in Prolog 251. Serm. de tempore Jewes in his time that they feasted much on the Sabbath and therefore advises us To observe the Sabbath not as the Jewes did carnally and with fleshly delicacies And holy Ignatius before him much to the same purpose cryes out Ignat. Epist ad Magnesios Procul abjicienda sunt impura carnis opera insanum voluptuandi studium Gualt Phil. 3. 19. Amos 6. 4. and 6. Qui Sabbatho vitè utuntur caetus sacros adeunt Dei verbum audiunt voluntatem illius sedulò inquiâ—unt in operum beneficiorum ejus consideratione versantur precibus vacant denique omissis omnibus quae carni serviant se totos ad aeterni illius Sabbathi considerationem componunt Gualt We Christians must not keep our holy Sabbath after the manner of the prophane Jewes with excessive feastings c. But it is much to be feared that Jewes excesses have got into Christian Assemblies and many incur that censure of the Apostle in making their belly their God on a Sabbath they de indulgere gulae genio flatter their imtemperate palate and with the wanton Israelites Eat the Lambs out of the flock and drink their wine in bowles upon Gods holy day It was the complaint of holy men in former times that Wedding Dinners were kept on the Sabbath where too much intemperance swayed to the great prophanation of it This over-plus of food and fare gives the Soul a writ of ease and makes the body slothful and drowsie and so renders the ordinances and duties sapless and ineffectual and if God reveals himself to them it must be in dreams for the stretcht and pampered body is fit for little else There is a third sort of actions we must abstain from on the Sabbath viz. sinful actions so the Text Not doing Sinful actions to be avoided on a Sabbath Nec relig osi hujus diei otia relaxantes obscoenis quibuslibet patimur voluptatibus teneri Nihil die â—odem veâ—dicet sibiscaena theatralis aut Circense certamen aut ferarum lachrymosa spectacula Anthem thy own wayes Such actions which stain a week day do blemish a Sabbath with a blacker spot Sin is a blot on any day but a Monster on a Sabbath On any day it is a Cockatrice Egge but a Serpent on a Sabbath The Solemnity of a Sabbath adds weight to every sin How scandalous is it to be guilty of Pride excess luxury on Gods holy day this is to turn the heaven of a Sabbath into an bell It is a remarkable Speech of Bishop Andrews To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is Sabbatum Boum Asinorum the Sabbath of Beasts Oxen and Asses To keep the Sabbath in a jocular manner to see Playes and Sights to frequent the Theatres or as Leo saith to be at Cards or Commessations this Augustine calls Sabbathum aurei vituli the Sabbath of the golden calf But to keep the Sabbath in Sin in Drunkenness and surfeting in Chambering and Wantonness this is the Sabbath of Satan the Devils holy day All Si quis agrum colat die dominico violator est sacriotii verùm si relictâ agricultuâ—â inebrietur scortetur ludat c. non censetur prophanasse diâ—i deminici sanctimoniam Aug. Dr. Andrews Patt Chatechist doct p. 233. Leo Serm. 3. de Quadrag Rom. 13. 13. Exod. 20. 8. Exod. 35. 2. Neh. 9. 14. Monemus vos fratres ut fugiatis sermonum vanitatem turpitudinem facetias ebrietates lascivias fractos et effoeminatos motus siquidem in diebus dominicis non permittimus vobis quicquid inhonestum Clem. Rom. Num. 15. 35. the holies which God hath added to his Sabbath in the Scriptures not only in the fourth Commandment but in many other Scripture-texts will be so many Indictments against Practical miscarriages And if it was a capital offence for the poor man to gather a few sticks on the Sabbath Ah what is it to draw swords against Heaven in open scandal and prophaneness CHAP. IV. That Needless Recreations are unlawfull on the Sabbath THere are another sort of actions we must abstain from upon the Sabbath viz. Recreative Actions so the Recreative actions to be abstain'd from on the Sabbath day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Text Not finding thy own pleasure Recreations on a Sabbath are blown up into prophaneness Those delights which in the week are commendable on the Sabbath are intollerable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kephetz the original word denotes we must have no blandishments on that day nothing to be a snare or titillation to sense then the outward man must not be flattered or gratified The Commandments must be our walk the Psal 119. 32. Word our field and Devotion our chiefest recreation Our exercises on the Sabbath are not Corporal but Spiritual not for outward but inward delight not to please fancy but to strengthen faith The Sabbath is the souls holy day It Isid Hispa de Eccles Offic. Lib. Cap. 19. was a good saying of Isidore Hispalensis The Apostles saith he therefore ordained the Lords day to be kept with Religious Non ed ludendum ordinatur talis dies sed ad laudandum et orandum deum Aquin. Opusc de Praecept 10. 2 Sam. 12. 3. Grande videlicet officium focos et choros in puhlicum educere vicatim epulari civitatem lat bernae halitu obolefacere tatervatim cursitare ad injurias ad impudicitias ad libidinis illecebras siccine exprimitur publicum gaudium per publicum dedecus Tertul. Apol. Cap. 35. Solemnity because in it our Redeemer rose from the dead which was therefore called the Lords day that resting on the same from all earthly acts and the temptations of the World we might intend Gods holy worship giving this day due honour for the hope of the Resurrection we have therein We enjoy the Sabbath â—ot to play in but to pray in for our souls and not for our sports saith Aquinas It is true Man is a poor frail piece of Clay and therefore had need to be recreated created again by lawful delights and recreations but must the holy day of the Lord be this vacation Is this the time for sports and pleasurous satisfaction Surely this speaks a grand abuse of the Sabbath Must the poor mans Ewe-Lamb be taken that little spot of time God gives us more immediately for our spiritual interest must that be prostituted to gratifie the softness of the flesh The Council of Carthage petitioned the Emperour Theodosius the younger that the shews of the Theatre and other Playes then used on the Lords day might be removed which accordingly was granted by his Edict and it was Enacted Anno Dom. 415. That on the Lords day the Cirques and Theatres in all places should be shut up and people denyed the pleasure thereof that so their whole minds might
inquam animus ad eandem quoque sanctificationem ritè preparetur Wal. of Canaan so were they filled with Corn when they came to Joseph in Aeygpt And according as we prepare our hearts at home in the week time so our comfortable fillings shall be when we come before the Lord on his own day He that expects from his field a large crop and a plenteous harvest must before hand take pains in plowing and well preparing the ground we do not before hand take preparatory pains and that is the reason we reap so little in Sabbath-time man naturally is slow of heart Luke 24. 25. Duty and Industry must help Nature that so our sluggish hearts may be fitted for the receiving of those blessings which usually attend the Sabbath day Emptied vessels take in the liquor Pruned Vines become fruitfull and feracious And dressed Gardens cast the sweetest smells And so the heart mollified with penitential tears pruned by resolute mortification and turned up by frequent search will be accommodate for the magnificent plantations of Sabbath graces Of Zeal and Fervency Can we observe the several Holy-dayes to have their Eves wherein some Service and Liturgy must be used for preparation The Chappels and Cathedrals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippo. must be frequented and prayers must be made because some Saints day is approaching and the neglect of this duty is adjudged an indignity by many great ones in the Church Shall a day dedicated to a Saint to an Apostle to a Martyr be ushered in with preparatory services and must the holy Sabbath the day dedicated to the Lord Jesus God blessed Rom. 9. 5. Christus est deus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super omnes aut super omnia eodem sensu Par. for ever have no Eve no preparatory duties no services to proclaim its coming But the preceding day must be spent in a more eager pursuit of the World then we frequent the Markets mind our shops reckon with our workmen pierce further into the night for our worldly business and we catch greedily after the flying week now drawing towards an end what is this but to give more honour to the Saints day then the Sabbath day to an ordination of the Church then an institution of Christ Shall the blessed Sabbath have no evidence no sign of its coming no preparatory Prayers no precursory pains Must the holy days Eve have the Cathedral for service and not the Sabbath Eve have the Closet for preparation Where is our zeal for Gods honour and Gods day It is very strange that the Saints Festivals should be introduced with greater solemnity then Christs holy day Surely this doth not become the Christian who is or should be sick of love with his beloved Cant. 2. 5. Of Holy Ingenuity Shall we be out-vied by the Jewes the vagabond Jewes in our preparations for the Sabbath Shall they be so exact and we so negligent Let not a blasphemous Jew rise up in judgement against us And here I shall open the care of the Jewes in preparing for the Sabbath Scalig. de Emend temp Lib. 6 p. 261. The Jewes formerly gave and for the present do give very solemn and great honour to their Sabbath The week days they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cholim Prophane as the Greeks call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 working days and in respect of the different degrees of holiness of dayes the Sabbath day is not unfitly Scalig. de Emend temp Lib. 6. p. 269. compared to a Queen or to those who are termed primary Wives other feast dayes to Concubines or half-wives working dayes to Hand-maids The Jewes began the Sabbath at six of the clock the night before And this the Graecians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Hebrews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Biath Hasabbath the enterance of the Sabbath Their preparation Joseph Anti. lib. 16. cap 10. to the Sabbath began at three of the clock in the afternoon which the Hebrews call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnereb ha-Sabbath the Sabbath Eve and this the Fathers called Caenam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 puram the pure Supper the phrase being borrowed In vitibus Paganorum coenâ— pura appellabatur illis apponi solita qui in casto erant quod Graeci dicunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa Causab Mark 15. 42. Luke 23. 54. from the Pagans whose Religion taught them in their sacrifices to certain of their Gods and Goddesses to prepare themselves by a strict kind of holiness observe the very Heathens prepared for their sacrifices to their Idol Gods and Goddesses This preparation for the Sabbath is by the Evangelist called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a preparation Mark 15. 42. whose words are these And now when Even was come because it was the preparation i. e. the day before the Sabbath To the same purpose the Evangelist Luke Luk. 23. 54. And that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on And among the Jews the whole day was a kind of preparation for on this preparation day they might not go more then three Parsoth now a Parsa contained so much ground as an ordinary man might go ten of them in a day and Judges on this day might not sit in Judgement upon life and death c. And so carefull were the Jews of observing the time of their preparation for the Sabbath that the best Buxtorf Synag Judaic Cap. 10 〈◊〉 â—almud and wealthiest of them even those who had many servants did with their own hands further the preparation so that sometimes the Masters themselves they would chop herbs sweep the house cleave wood kindle the fire and such like In old time they proclaimed the preparation with noyse of Trumpets or Horns but now the modern Jewes proclaim it by the Sexton or some under Officer of the Church whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shihach Tsibbur the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hospin de Fest Jud. messenger of the Congregation and this messenger advised them that they should prepare seasonably for the worthy Celebration of the Sabbath Hospinian tells us and his testimony is Authentical that when the Sexton gives notice of the approaching Sabbath that then they prepared all those meats they were to feed upon the succeeding Sabbath and put them upon a table covered with a clean cloth then they washed their heads pared their nails and prepared their Sabbath apparel The Sun setting the woman Occidente sole mulieres lumina Sabbataria accendunt mulier quaeque domi ambas suas manus versus lumen expandit et precatiunculam quandam peculiarem demurmurat Hosp Cum aliqui longiore spatio itiâ—eris ab hospitio aut aedibâ—â— suis abiit die Veneris quà m die Sabbatino conficere licet in agris vel mediâ sylvâ ubicunque ille sit manere et ibidem quiescere et Sabbatum servare neglecto omni periculo et injuriâ cibi et poâ—us debet Hosp The
day before the Sabbath the Jews called Sabbatulum the little Sabbath on which they made ready against the great day of the Sabbath of the house sets up lights and a short prayer being made then they go into the Synagogue and in their going wish one another a joyfull Sabbath and when they return they spread the table with some provisions and alwayes set salt on the table to intimate an inward savouriness and they put on two loaves of bread and then give thanks in these words Blessed art thou O Lord our God the King of the World who brings forth bread out of the ground and then the Master of the Family breaks some to those who sit down with him and in a larger quantity then at other times for the honour of the Sabbath for then sparingness is intolerable And the same Author Hospinian observes that when any person is further from his home on the Friday then he can reach to observe the Sabbath strictly he remains where he was in the fields or in the middle of a wood and willingly incounters any hazzard and the want of meat or drink rather then he will intrench upon the holy Sabbath And thus exact the Jewes are in bodily and spiritual preparations they would not prophane the Sabbath with an unpared nail they wash their heads to betoken inward purgation they set up lights to denote spiritual illumination they go into the Synagogue the day before the Sabbath to fit them for the sanctuary on the holy day of the Sabbath Joseph Jud. Antiq. Lib. 16. Cap. 10. and these Jewes were so conscientious in these preparations that Josephus reports it was taken notice of all the World over insomuch that Caesar Augustus upon some complaint wrote unto every Province where the Jewes resided That it was his pleasure that the Jewes should enjoy their ancient Is it not meet for Christians whose Sabbath exceeds that of the Jews to prepare themseves thereunto We have no sheep or oxen to prepare we have the more time to make ready our hearts and souls for spiritual service Mr. G. Priviledges and among the rest that they should not be compelled to appear before any Judge on their Sabbath dayes or the day before their Sabbaths after nine of the clock upon their preparation dayes Their Conscientious Religion in this particular procured them favour with Heathen Princes the Roman Emperour and obtained indulgence for them And shall the Jew be so accurate and diligent in his preparations and the Christian so loose and careless Doth the knowledge of Christ no more influence us Let us even blush to be out-done by a rejected and obstinate Jew the Son of a Curse which adheres to that Generation from Age to Age. Shall those branches which are cut off as the Apostle speaks spread in their carefull and dutifull observances and we who are branches growing on the stock be contracted and fall short in a due and necessary composing of our selves for the Lords day the weekly memorial of our Rom. 11. 21. Lords Resurrection Surely it will be more tolerable for Rom. 11. 17. Jerusalem and Samaria in the day of judgement then for Mat. 11. 21. many Christians who wreaking out of the world rush upon Sabbaths without the pauses and interpositions of a due preparation But happily now some being evinced would set upon the work did they fully understand it they would keep a Sabbath Eve did they know how legitimately and suitably to spend it Therefore the next Chapter shall be the clew to lead us into this Labyrinth CHAP. XI What those Preparatory Duties are that must fore-run the Sabbath THus far we have travelled to assert the duty that we must prepare for Gods holy day our next task is to unfold and open the duty how we should prepare for a Sabbath Every one who takes the pencil into his hand cannot draw a Picture Preparation for the Sabbath is easier confessed then understood and many can sooner acknowledge then give an account of it and that we may therefore neither erre in the omitting nor yet in the doing of it we must understand Sabbath preparation compriseth these several duties We must the day before the Sabbath for some time sequester our selves wholly from the world and all the affairs of it we must for some time make off from worldly hinderances as Mariners that intend a voyage to Sea they put off the ship from Land so if we mean to serve God on the Sabbath our hearts and minds must be off from the world Put off thy shooes saith God to Moses for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground We must put off earthly affections Exod. 3. 5. for the day we are approaching to is a holy day A Bird saith Musculus That she may fly she fluttereth with her Musc Loc. Com. Praecep Quarto wings and frees her self all she can from what may hinder her flight And shall not we throw off before-hand what may hinder our flight upon a Sabbath or stop us in our careire to Jesus Christ The Jewes were angry with the man who carried his bed upon a Sabbath day How many carry their Joh. 5. 10. beds before the Sabbath lie sleeping on the downe of carnal pleasures and temporal profits and do not awaken to compose themselves for the Glorious Sabbath of God they lie snorting in carnal ease and prepare not for spiritual enjoyments That Christ might make us a Sabbath to keep in body he first rose from the earth In heart we must rise from the earth before we can well keep the Sabbath Christ hath made One well observes That a total sequestring of Mr. Walk our selves from all worldly business and putting away all earthly thoughts cares and delights will cleanse the affections from dross and make room for the entrances of holiness for spiritual Praeparemur ad Sabbatum ne spinis ac curis hujus seculi quibus cor hominis eo tempore obsidetur incrementum et fructus verbi divini inâ—erâ—ipiatur et evellatur ex animis nostris ut Christus in Parabola seminantis abundantèr docet Wal. devotion and the motions of the Holy Ghost and he gives this reason For no man can serve two Masters at once God and the World Let us therefore by way of preparation cast out earthly and carnal thoughts and spiritual and heavenly affections will the more easily enter and be predominant So then in the first place we must set apart some time for the trimming and rigging of the soul to be fit to launch into a Sabbath we must come off from the stage of the World into the tyring room quietly and spiritually to compose our selves for the heavenly employment of the subsequent day there must be a pause and cessation from the entangling warfare of the world And we must enter into our Closets and commune with our hearts and be still that so advisedly we may enter upon the souls harvest day
scarecly supplyed which lye undiscovered Let us therefore the evening or day before the Sabbath withdraw our selves from the noyse of the world and so quietly call our selves to an account concerning our progresse or regresse in Religion the foregoing week Let us further prepare for the Sabbath by stirring up in our selves holy affections It is fit the soul should be on the wing upon the Lords day First we should long for the day of God as the Psalmist saith Psal 42. 1 2. My soul thirsteth for the living God O when shall I come and appear before God! And as she said Psal 42. 1 2. Judges 5. 28. Why are thy Charriots so long in coming and Judges 5. 28. why tarry the wheels of thy Charriot So O when will the Sabbath come that we may sell all and buy the pearl of price O when will the day come that we may have communion with God Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly And we should long for God on his holy day Indeed there is nothing in God but what may set us on longing his Glory his Bounty his Purity c. Christ is altogether Cant. 5. 16. lovely and loveliness inticeth affection Beauty will attract love rich Pearls draw every eye so let us entertain Quisquis diligit deum sâ—gitta haec in corde ejus haeret et sâ—gittarius tam fugit tam sequitur ambo mâ—nent cum amante Del. Rio. in our thoughts whatsoever may ingratiate God and his Ordinances and let us kindle the fire on the day before the Sabbath that it may flâ—me forth and burn bright on that holy day A good man on Saturday evening going to bed leaped and cryed out It is but one night more and I shall be in the house of God upon his holy day and meet God himself in the use of holy things Let us before hand fall sick of Love and then how gratefull will the appearances of Cant. 2. 5. our Beloved be upon his own blessed day The fifth Duty preparatory to the Sabbath is earnest and fervent prayer Indeed prayer is the omniprevalent Engine which can do wonderfull things things above expectation among others it can admirably fit the soul for the Sabbath First For the Prayer of Faith can prevail with God for the pardon and forgiveness of sin and pardon'd sin will prepare â—randus est deus ut nihiâ— lâ—nguoris in nobis et ruinae pristinae relinquat ne rursâ—â— mali seminis pullalent rediviva plantaria Hierom. the soul for Sabbath-mercy those who are clogg'd with sin will quickly be tyred in duty Now the Sabbath is onely the Mart and spiritual Fair of duties The unpardoned sinner may spend not keep a Sabbath may pass away the time of it not enjoy the benefit of it Prayer I say can prevail for pardon The Lord directs us to this very means to procure forgiveness so Hos 14. 2. Take unto thee words and turn unto the Lord and say take away all iniquity and receive us graciously God will give pardon but prayer must Jam. 5. 15. importune the gift David he prayes for forgiveness and Dum oratur deus ut omnem auserat iniquitatem ut non solùm peccata sed etiâ—m omnes peccatorum sibras evellat Hier. he obtains it On the Eve of a Sabbath let us be earnest for the pardon of the sins of our lives of the sins of the past week let the week be cleared before we adventure upon a Sabbath A sense of pardon will sweeten every service of a Sabbath make Duty delight and Pains a paradise Ordinances shall be our incomes not our incumberances Be earnest for pardon and the Sabbath shall not only piously but pleasingly be observed Psal 51. 11. Omnem aufer iniquitatem est prima petitio quae alias omnes meritò praecedit Riv. Prayer can obtain the spirit The donation of the spirit is promised to Holy Prayer Now our hearts are the spirit's Luke 11. 13. work-houses The spirit can chain up corruptions draw out grace blow away the froth and vanity of the soul open Spiritualia bona licet corporalia longissimo intervallo post serelinquat tamen sine conditione petere audemâ—â— certum est Christum ea nobis impetrasse et patrem propter ipsum nobis dâ—turum esse Chemn 2 Cor. 3. 17. Eph. 1. 13. Mal. 3. 2. the heart for the entertainment of Gospel-messages every way put us into a sweet and Sabbath disposition The spirit is a spirit of sanctity to make the heart gracious the spirit is a spirit of liberty to make the heart free and enlarged the spirit is a spirit of purity it is fullers sope and a refiners fire to purge and cleanse the soul and so adaequately prepare the Christian for the divine duties of the Sabbath Prayer layes the foundation of Sabbath blessings the prayer of faith keeps the Key of Gods treasury door Blessings indeed which are really so are the fruits of prayer Prayer it can open the womb Hannah prayes and the obtains 1 Sam. 1. 27. a Samuel It can melt the Heavens it can open the prison Jam. 5. 16. 18. doors it can avail very much and prayer can turn a Sabbath into the souls blessed harvest it can open the heart procure Acts 12. 7. a blessing upon Ordinances engage Christs presence Lutherus ait utinam eodem ardore orare possum tum dabatur responsum fiâ—t quod velis Lutr. 2 Cor. 6. 2. make duties fruitfull and spiritual Manna nourishing Prayer can make the Sabbath a time of grace an opportunity of life a day of salvation a term of love It hath been the manner of some Christians the day before the Sabbath to meet and spend some time in seeking God by prayer and quickning one another this fervently performed would lay a great ground of a good day indeed to follow and therefore let us Pray pray pray beforehand that divine Ordinances may be accompanied with divine benedictions that sins may Mat. 24. 20. be discharged that our souls may be enlarged and hearts may be upon the wheele Our Saviour saith Pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath day but let us pray that our flight may be upon the Sabbath our flight towards Heaven when the soul is upon the wing and the heart upon its speed towards Jesus Christ A believer on a Sabbath should make haste to enjoy the embraces of his beloved which are as the Faeminae Christum secutae pridie Sabbati id circò ad futuram corporis Christi condituram omnia praeparabant ut Sabbatho secundumlegem quiescerent Wal. Espousals forerunning an Eternal wedding day The Eve before the Sabbath we should spend more time then usually in family duties Our preparation must not only be the work of the Closet but the work of the Family Then we should read the Scriptures refresh one another with holy discourses be more solemn in our addresses to God
Lords people and their delights in it betray them to be the true Disciples of Jesus Exod. 31. 13 17. Ezek. 20. 12. Christ and wearing this Livery they travel to Canaan leaving the miscreant and mistaken world to read their own doom in Sabbath-prophanation Not many years since the strict keeping of the Lords day was the note of a Puritan but always in the Church of Christ it was the good note of a good Christian There is a prudential end of the Sabbath viz. To preserve unity in the Church There is nothing more adorns Non habet dei charitatem qui non diligit ecclesiâ— unitatem Aug. and beautifies the Church then its sweet consent and harmonious unity Rents are the deformities of a Garment and Schisms the wounds of the Church which both weaken it and make it despicable Augustine used to say He hath nothing Quantum facinus est ecclesiae corpus dilaniare et dilacerare contentionibus et vixis ecclesiae unitas turbatur Zanch. of the love of God who loves not the unity of the Church The people of God are but one flock Luke 12. 32. One body Eph. 1. 21 22. One building Eph. 2. 11. And Divisions are the untiling and shaking of this house the scattering of this flock the wounding and piercing of this body But nothing more conduceth to the cementing and uniting of the Church of Christ then the Identical observation of a day for Divine worship that on the same day all the Habemus unum Dominum unam fidem quid restat ut tot vinculis alligati immò uniti antemus colamus et servemus hanc spiritus unitatem prayers of the whole Church should meet at the same Port and all their sighs should blow to the same harbour nay all their singing of Psalms should make up the same Quire that the universal flock and people of God should at the same time be bending their knees to the Almighty lifting up their hands to heaven and be unanimously engaged in the same acts of holy worship All this speaks the strength and excellency of the Christian Church As the death of Christ is the same price and ransom so his Resurrection authorizeth Deus pluris facit preces in ecclesia quà m domi factas non ob locum sed ob considerationem multitudinia fidelium Deum communi consensiâ— invocantium Riv. the same day for worship to all his Saints and to all Christian professors in the world that all who own the Gospel may with one accord at the same time meet in their addresses to the Throne of grace Should one part of Gods Church observe one day for Divine worship and a second part another day another part a third season this double inconveniency would arise First This would be a perpetual fountain of Controversies and feuds in the Church of Christ and his seamless Coat should be rent and torn jars more then Corinthian 1 Cor. 1. Psal 87. 2. Exod. 14. 7. Jude 5. 28. 21. would disturb the peace of Sion each party strugling to put the fairest character upon its own observation There would be more than twins striving in the womb of the Church and in such digladiations and contests the Spouse of Christ should not escape woundings and scars of hurt and disgrace How did that needless Controversie about the observation of Easter tear the Eastern from the Western Church and made the gap so wide that the Chariots of the most malicious enemies might have drove in at the breach much more controversies about the weekly day of divine worship would beget implacable factions and Armies divided are as good as routed Secondly Should several dayes be weekly observed by several parts of the Church some of these would fall in and be co-incident with the Jewish or the Turkish Sabbath or else with the solemn dayes of the Paynims and Heathens Eph. 4. 3. which would be an unhappy blending that Satans proselytes and Idolatrous worshippers and Christs Disciples Corporibus licet divisi et disparati sâ—mus mente tâ—mâ—n et animâ—â— conjuncti uniti et quasi unum simus Alap should all keep the same day for a festival and send up their different notes at the same time which would be a very distastfull miscellany and confusion For the prevention of these inconveniencies the Lords day is the Churches weekly jubilee that the followers of the Lamb might serve their dear Jehovah in the unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace all observing the same day in the same worship to the same God There is a spiritual end of the Sabbath And this as Hospinian observes is the most sublime and seraphical end On Finis tertius Sabbati ejus otii est sublimior est verè spiritualis atque adaeternam hominis salutem propior acâ—edit Hospin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ad Magn. the Sabbath the soul takes its flight towards heaven pursues life and salvation and is upon the wing towards its center above The Sabbath day is our transfiguration day then more especially we are upon Olivet with Jesus Mat. 17. 1 2 3 c. It was a worthy saying of Reverend Bishop Joseph Hall not long since deceased Gods day saith he calls for an extraordinary respect The Sun arises on this day and enlightens it yet because the Sun of Righteousness arose upon it and gave a new life to the world on it and drew the strength of Gods moral precept unto it therefore justly do we sing with the Psalmist This is the day which the Lord hath made c. Now let me forget the world and in a sort my self and deal with my wonted thoughts as great men use who sometimes in their privacy forbid the accesses of all Visitants Prayer Hearing Meditation Reading Preaching Singing are the proper businesses of this day and we dare not bestow the time of this day on any work or pleasure but what is heavenly Let Superstition be hated on the one hand and Prophaneness on the other but we shall find it more hard to Est Sabbâ—tum spirituale quo à corruptae cornis nâ—strae operibus feriamur ac deum in nobis operari sinimus Gerar. offend in too much Devotion but most easie to offend in Prophaneness Indeed the whole week is sanctified by this day and according to our care of this day will be the blessing on the rest thus far this Holy and Learned man The Jewes call the Sabbath the secret of the living Lord and some give the reason because God keepeth a perpetual rest in himself and we observing an holy rest we become most like to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may not another reason be annexed Because the pious soul is then in secret with God transacting the affairs of another Psal 25. 14. world and enjoying that secret delight which the world knows not of and feeding on that hidden manna which Job 23. 12. is the dainties of
the Saints onely God verily gives us this day for sâ—ul work then we hear the word which is the food of the soul Job 23. 12. then we pursue greater measures of grace which is the beauty of the Soul then we look after thâ— Mat. 13. 47 48. pearl of price the Lord Jesus Christ which is the riches of the soul then we poure out our prayers which Mic. 6. 3. 2 Pet. 1. 19. are the â—ent of the soul and then we follow after spiritual knowledge which is the â—aystâ—r arising in the soul The School men welâ— obsâ—â—ve that the injunction of the fourth Commandment is abstinâ—nce from servile works but the end of the command is spiritual duty and holiness The design of the Sabbath was never principally the case of the flesh but the labour of the heart the hearts of serious Christians then working like Bees in the Garden drawing honey from the flowers of every Ordinance There is a significative end of the Sabbath it signifies a three-fold rest Sabbatum praecipitur Judaeis ob triplicem rationem 1. Propter avaritiam ut vacentur divinis 2. Ne errent circa creationem 3 Vt significet triplicem quietâ—m 1. Christi in sepulchro 2. Mâ—ntis à pecâ—atis 3. Beatorum in patriâ Aquin. First The Sabbath in the time of the Law signified Christs rest in the grave When our Saviour having run through the toyles and sorrows of the world lay down in his dormitory of dust for three days and there both Christ and the Jewish Sabbath lay asleep together onely with this difference the legal Sabbath took its last sleep and awoke no more but our dearest Lord after a short repose awaked in his blessed and glorious resurrection and went to sleep no more But the expiration of the Old Sabbath being fully accomplished at Christs burial Secondly The Gospel Sabbath arises as a Phoenix out of the ashes of the other nor is it defective in its signification but implies and signifies our rest from sinfull as well as secâ—lar works Indeed sin is a default on other dayes but it is Vtrisque verò gravias peccant qui otio Sabbati â—bâ—tuntur ad suas cupiditates Aug. a prodigy on the Lords day then our bodies must not only rest from toyle but our hearts from trespass and from its sinfull traverses Augustine observes That they sin at the greatest rate of offence who abuse the leisure of the Sabbath to pursue their lusts and unlawful desires And the Schoolmen note That they who are only idle upon the Sabbath break only the fourth Commandment but those who are prophane Qui solùm ab opere servili cessant omninò peccant sed qui sequuntur suas cupiditates et libidines non solùm violant quartum sed alia transgrediuntur mandata Altissiod upon that day sin with greater obstinacy and violate other Commands their excesses and intemperance swell into the highest guiltiness What Moses in his passion did in breaking the two Tables in pieces Exod. 32. 19. Prophane persons upon a Sabbath seem to imitate and out-vy We enjoy leisure on Gods holy day but it is for divine worship we must rest but it must be in God and not lean on our couch in ease and slothfulness but we must lean on our beloved in holy and fiducial services Thirdly Our blessed Christian Sabbath further signifies Cant. 8. 5. the Saints rest in glory The present Sabbath is onely the pawn and the first fruits of a better rest to come Here the Josh 18. 7. Saints like the Tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half Necessum est dicere quod David aliam tertiam quandam requiem intellexerit puta in coelo aeternam quae nobis Christianis quavis aetate proponitur tertiam inquam requiem quae per duas praecedentes scil per requiem Sabbati et requiem in terrâ Canaan anagogicè fuit significata Alap Vltrà hunc mundum est veri Sabbati observatio Orig. Tribe of Manassah are on this side Jordan they are not yet come to Canaan Believers indeed enjoy Communion with Christ here but they are not arrived at their perfect rest in the heavenly Canaan where they shall enjoy Christ in a full fruition The present Sabbath is the twilight the dawning of that which is to come it is the morning dew of love which being melted away we shall come into the warm bosome of Christ to keep an everlasting Sabbath We are by our weekly rest lead by the hand to take notice of our perfectly complacential and undisturbed rest that which Origen calls The true Sabbath and Chrysostome calls the true Rest not that our Sabbath here is counterfeit but truth and vâ—rity is ascribed to our Sabbath above as it is attributed to the God of the Sabbath by way of greater glory and more unlimited eminency There is a light in the Candle but the light of the Sun is more transcendent and illustrious Flaviacensis observes that our future Sabbath is the Sabbath of Sabbaths because the Saints rest is begun only here but consummated in every lineament in the Kingdom of glory the Elect shall rest in every part in soul in body from disturbance from all afflictions labours miseries temptations Tertia est requies quae est verè quies scil regnum caelorum quod assecuti verè quiescunt à laboribus afflictionibus Chrysost no evil One to tempt no evil heart to seduce Hesychius calls our future Sabbath our rest in Heaven an intelligible rest as if the soul did never fully understand its rest and quietation till it took up its abode in the bosome of Christ CHAP. XXIV A Collation and Comparison of the Jewish with the Christian Sabbath OUr Meditation on the morning of Gods holy day having Exod. 16. 23. Exod. 35. 2. Rev. 1. 10. passed through the several ends of the Sabbath it may a little look back and compare the Jews seventh day and the Christians first day together their Sabbath and our Lords day and much delight will flow from both to refresh our meditations And here we may compare the legal and the Evangelical Sabbath both in their agreements and in their differences for when they do not sound the same tune yet they yield the same and sweet harmony The Jewish and the Christian Sabbath agree in this they are both the seventh part of the week though the duties Dies septimus non propter numerum septenarium aut utiquam propter ipsius qualitatem sed quoniam saâ—â—tae erat quieti consecratus à domino ideòque pro sancto habendus est sanctis actibus meditationibus sanctisicondus Musc of our Sabbath be of a sweeter tast yet they are not of a longer duration The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jom of the Hebrews is as long as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hemera of the Christians the Lords day is a day and no more and so was the Jews Seventh day both contain
the space of twenty four hours Indeed the quarrel is not concerning the tale but concerning the trading of the hours of our Sabbath the time is the same both under the Law and in Gospel times but as God complained of the Jews for their Sabbath pollution Exod. 20. 13. so may he complain of Christians too for their Sabbath-prophanation The controversie did never rise from the length of the day but the feud arises from the abuse of the day when that time which is destinated to holy service is prostituted to secular toyle or sinfull practice How many among us Christians have curtailed Gods holy day have impt it and shortned that golden season by an untimely throwing off holy dayes and setting to sports and pastimes those panders of Mal. 4. 2. lust and vanity They have chased away the Sun of Righteousness from our Horizon too soon and have made a difference between the Jewish Sabbath and ours which God never made viz. they have made our Sabbath shorter then theirs The Lord by his Apostles in the New Testament Exod. 31. 13. Lev. 19. 30. hath altered the day from the seventh to the first but never the time from a longer to a shorter duration Surely much guilt and blame-worthiness must fall upon them who Nehem. 9. 18. shut up the Church doors and the Sabbath together and Sanciri denuò et commendari observationem Sabbati omnes vident Riv. when the publick is over then all is over as if the service of Christ was so cheap and so inconsiderable as it could not run parallel with the sacrifices of the Law which were both morning and evening on the Sabbath the intervals Numb 28. 9 10. being likewise spent in holy and divine worship for so expresly runs the Command The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord Deut. 5. 14. not some few houts but the whole day The Lord in Lev. 19. 3. espouseth the fourth and the fifth Commandments together as if they were both one flesh Ye shall fear every man his Mother and his Father and keep my Sabbaths I am the Lord your God God unites these precepts as if they were equally natural and it was as great a crime to pollute Gods Sabbath as to offer affronts to our natural parents the greater then is their crime who mangle Gods Sabbath and tear away a great part of it to fling it to their lusts or their laziness The Jewish Sabbath and the Christian agree in this both commemorate some renowned benefit The Jews in Sabbatum Mosaicum institutum fuit ut perpetuum memoriale articuli de Creatione extaret et ut monumentum esset liberationis ex servitute Aegypti et gratiarum actionis deo debitae pro quiete a laboribus quos in Aegypto sustinuerat gravissimos their Sabbath observation preserve the memory of two illustrious benefits the one recorded in the promulgation of the fourth Commandment Exod. 20. 11. the other mentioned in the repetition of the same Command Deut. 5. 15. The first the benefit of the Creation being of a greater extent concerned all mankind but the Jews were more especially entrusted with the memorial of that glorious work and therefore the Lord did engrave it in the body of the fourth Commandment alledging his progress in the work of Creation as the reason of that precept that as he did work six dayes in making the world and rested the seventh so man should work six dayes and rest the seventh consecrating that weekly sequestration to the honour and service of the Creator The second benefit which the Jews commemorate in the observation of their Sabbath is their miraculous deliverance Ger. de leg Dei from Aegyptian bondage that seasonable rescue was embroydered with a pile of miracles and therefore the Lord Deut. 5. 15. brings it in with an ergo in Deut. 5. 15. as an authenticall ground and reason for the Jews weekly observation of the seventh day to the glory and in the worship of their Omnipotent Deliverer It is very observable how frequently the Tot◠Aegyptum comparat pistrino aut simili loco in quo mancipia constringeb intur et ad difficilia dura servitia cogebantur Riv. Scriptures mention this great Deliverance in Exod. 13. 3. it is ushered in with a memento and the day of its performance hath a Selah put upon it Aegypt is called a house of bondage Deut. 5. 6. where there was no furniture to garnish it but strokes and slavery In another place of Scripture Mic. 6. 4. It is called a house of servants where toyle and sweat was the badge of every Inhabitant Rivet compares Aegypt when the Israelites were enslaved there to Joseph's Prison Gen. 39. 20. To Jeremiah's Dungeon Jer. 37. 16. To Samson's Hold Judg. 16. 21. where he ground Inculcanda erant liberis dei beneficia et dandam esse operam ut ea memoriâ retinerent at the Mill. Now the sharpness of the servitude set off the sweetness of the delivery a delivery so great that it must be part of the Catechisme which the Jews must teach their Children Exod. 13. 14. one of the Principles of their Religion this providential mercy must become doctrinal instruction No wonder then if the Jews must therefore observe their Sabbath to preserve fresh the memory of so great salvation and which is observable The Lord mentions this stupendous deliverance Mic. 6. 4. almost eight hundred years after the accomplishment as of a story to be wrote in Marble nor is it to be overpassed that this freedom from Aegyptian bondage is both the usher to and part of the Decalogue the Preface to the Ten Commandments and a peculiar reason in the fourth And we Christians in the observation In honorem illius diei quo Christus à mortuis resurrexit Apostoli in locum Sabbati Judaici diem Sabbato proximam cultui divino deputarunt Ger. of our Sabbath eye a great nay the greatest benefit viz. the most inestimable the most inexplicable the most inconceivable resurrection of Christ that triumphant work that first step of Christs exaltation did first breath into our Sabbath the breath of life When the Sun of Righteousness did rise it made our Sabbath Day nay a day of life and salvation or as the Psalmist Psal 118. 23 24. a marvellous day a day not more beset with mercy then wonder By rising Christ freed us from more then Aegyptian bondage and therefore sheds a greater glory on our Sabbath Surrexit Christus manè primá Sabbati manifestè docens sc nos à morte animae resuscitatos in lucem perpetuae selicitatis perducturum Bid. then either the light of the Creation or the glory of a temporal deliverance could cast upon the Sabbath of the Jews Venerable Bede observes Christ rose in the morning of the first day of the week to raise us from the death of the soul and to bring us to the light of perpetual happiness Our
miles to hear heavenly Mr. Hildersham and it was not reputed their crime but their zeal We may on the Sabbath Numb 15. 36. alleviate winters cold with seasonable fires and God will not judicially turn our sticks which were to warm us into stones to bruise and destory us we may gather up Manna even spiritual Manna and it will not be our fault but John 6. 32. our happy frugality our Sabbath is the Souls feasting day Excessus in epulis cum naturâ pugnat Convivium enim â— vitâ non à morte nomen habet Chemnit and our provisions are no less then true bread from heaven We Christians are not denyed on our Sabbath the moderate furniture of our Tables Christ himself feasted with the Pharisees on the Sabbath day Luke 14. 1 7. Our greatest care in this case is that our tables be our support and not our snare To wind up then this particular Our Christian Sabbath though it hath less ceremony it hath more substance Psal 69. 22. though it hath fewer leaves it hath more fruit and though it is unhinged from legal observances it is more enrich'd with spiritual Ordinances It is a good observation of Learned Andrews That God imposed upon the Jews Bishop Andrews not to kindle a fire or to dress meat on the Sabbath this was meerly ceremonial and only belonged to them Therefore our Saviour sweetens our Sabbath in removing those burdens which were the servile badge of the Jewish pedagogy The Jewish and the Christian Sabbath differ in this upon the Jewish Sabbath there were carnal sacrifices offered Clariùs imperfectionem eorum describit cum dicit Dona victimas illas non posse perfiâ—ere conscientias Dona vocat Oblationes rerum inanimatarum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 victimas mactatas oblationes rerum animatarum Par. as well as spiritual services performed On the morning of their Sabbath there was offered two Lambs of the first year without spot two tenth deals of flower for a meat offering mingled with Oil and the drink offering thereof and this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath besides the continual burnt offering Numb 28. 9 10. There was likewise on the same morning burning of Incense Exod. 30. 7. So in the Afternoon both sacrifices and burning of Incense Exod. 29. 38. And to this alludes the Psalmist Psal 141. 2. So that much of the Jews Sabbath was spent in the offering of these legal sacrifices which the Apostle calls carnal Ordinances Heb. 9. 10. And which Alapide mentions as fleshly rites fit only for abolition to make way for more sweet Christus correcturus erat ritus illos legales et carnales iisque bolitis eorum loco spiritualem Dei cultum erat inducturus ut adoraremus deum et spiritu et veritate Alap Muscul in quartum praeceptum and spiritual Institutions Pareus superadds and calls them imperfect oblations the grosser victims of a people kept in the dark These shadowy offerings were only the Jewish Alphabet to teach them how to spell the meaning of better oblations to come And therefore Musculus calls the Jews Sabbath A legal a corporal an elementary a shadowy a pedagogical Sabbath But the Christian Sabbath knows no stone Altar no fleshly sacrifice no spilling of the bloud of Lambs no making a smoak with Incense and Perfumes These exterior varnishes and Types are a broken cloud to us which wholly disappears We on our Sabbath have no Altar but Christ no Incense but his merit no slaying of Lambs but of that Heb 13. 10. Rev. 8. 3 4. Rev. 13. 8. Jam. 5. 16. Heb. 9. 14. Lamb without spot which was slain from the foundation of the world we offer no burnt sacrifice on a Sabbath but a heart flaming with zeal nor do we bring any tenth deals of flower but those mean services of our souls which if we Altare nostrum Christus est qui pro nobis immolatuâ— fuit qui est sacrificium sacerdos et etiam Altare had better we should offer them to our dear Jehovah nor do we mingle any Oil with our offerings but only the acting of our graces in our holy performances The sacrifices of a Christian upon the Lordâ— day are of a more refined nature then the carnal sacrifices of the Jews upon their Sabbath The bending of the knee the lifting up of the hands the composing of the countenance the weeping of the eye are the offering up of his body as a reasonable sacrifice Rom. 12. 1. The acting of faith upon the word the dispensing Phil. 2. 17. charity to the poor the pouring out of prayers in Eph. 5. 2. holy addresses the rendring of thanksgiving for receiving Heb. 13. 15. mercies are the sacrifices of his soul they are his spiritual 1 Pet. 2. 5. oblations which he offers to God on his own day The Christians services on the Sabbath are so far sweet as they are soul-services and they have so much acceptation as they have of the heart The Jewish and the Christian Sabbath differ in the duration The Jewish Sabbath ended in the times of the Gospel but the Christian endures till the day of judgment when time shall be no more The Sabbath of the Jews was buryed in the grave of Christ and their its honour was laid in the Mat. 17. 2 3 4 5. dust But the Lords day shall stay till the Lords second coming and then it shall not be buryed but transfigured into an Eternal Sabbatism when all the Saints shall say It is Heb 4 9. good to be here and Moses and Elijah shall be our eternal Companions Our Sabbath is not so short-liv'd as that of the Jews but at the great day of account with the living Mar. 2. 28. Saints it shall be caught up to meet the Lords of it in the 1 Thes 4. 17. air and so shall it be ever with the Lord as a little to allude to that of the Apostle 1 Thes 4. 17. And in this regard the Christian Sabbath much outvies the Jews seventh day Duration and continuance sets a higher price on every thing which is valuable The Temple exceeds the Tabernacle John 14. 2. not only for the costliness but for the continuance of it Our possessions above Christ calls Mansions not only for their excellency but likewise for their permanency The Omnis homo est advena noscendo incola vivendo quia compellitur migrare moriendo Sed in domo caelesti non solum erimus sed manebimus unde coelum vocatur civitas manens Aug. Body of a man which is his inferiour part is called a Taberbernacle of clay 2 Cor. 5. 1. which is soon taken down But the soul which is mans better part is a piece of eternity and when disunited from the body it takes its flight unto an eternal condition and estate The prospect of a fair Landskip pleases us not so well because it is transient but it is
the manner of our seeing God whether with the eyes of our body or onely with the eyes of our minds or whether as some with our bodily eyes spiritualized I shall not intricate my self in these mazes of dispute but onely conclude our sight of God will be glorious full perfect ravishing everlasting and will run parallel with our eternal Sabbath Our Sabbath here resembles our Sabbath above in the rest of it To work upon our Christian Sabbath is to defile it our sweat is our sin the pains we must take on this holy day is not with our hands but with our hearts The brain indeed must work but in holy meditation the tongue must work but in prayer and supplication the heart must work but in ardent and holy affection our faith must work but in seasonable application in apprehending Christ and entertaining Truth But as for secular works they must be Operum humanorum duo sunt genera unum est licitorum in se alterum est illicitorum licita sunt necessaria honesta utilia in rebus humanis Illicita sunt noxia inhonesta et superflua Quae in Sabbatâ— prohibentur non sunt in se idicita sed quae alitèr sunt omninò licita ut appareat prohiberi operas domesti eas necessariaâ— et honestas 〈◊〉 utilos quideâ— in se verùm ad sanctificationem Sabbati omninò incommodas Muscul wholly suspended and laid aside on the Lords day To work upon the Sabbath 1. It is a sacrilegious act it robs God of his time that season which God hath principally set apart to converse with men The Sabbath is the Lords day it is none of ours it is his inclosure none of our Common and therefore to spend his day or any part of it about our works it is both sin and sacriledge Secondly It is a confusing Act Six dayes we must work if we likewise work on the Sabbath where is the distinction Then there will be no wall of separation all will be working dayes and there is no day of rest and so the fourth Commandment is a meer parenthesis and God wrote with his own finger a meer impertinency To what a height of frenzy will these consequencies rise There is no gold of a Sabbath to be found in the rubbish of the week why should any rubbish of the week be found among the gold of a Sabbath Thirdly It is a destructive act It robs the soul of its sweetest opportunity Christ is most principally to be spoken with by the soul on his own day this day is set apart for intercourse with heaven it is the term time of the soul a busie time for his affairs and therefore to spend any of this time in secular works what is it but to pluck the bread out of the mouth of the soul and to throw fire-brands into the believers harvest Fourthly It is an Irreligious Act below the devotion of the very Heathens who have kept a Sabbath as a rest It is recorded in Heathen Stories That their Boyes go not to School on the Sabbath day neither are humane Arts and Sciences then taught or disputed And Philo Judaeus observes Quae operasabbato facienda deus prohibuerit illud non solùm ex aliis scripurae locis sed ex praecepti hujus verbis colligitur non facies ullum opus scil servile quod publici ministerii partes et cultum divinum impediat Morale enim et perpetuum est opera illa prohiberi quae publici ministerii exercitium impediant Interim tamen opera illa quae ad culium dei dilectionem proximi et vitae necessitatem pertinent non sunt prohibito â—â—r de leg 〈◊〉 That divers poor people that never had Scripture or Prophet among them but followed onely the conduct of the light of Nature and what they had learned from their Ancestours did keep the Sabbath day And Clemens Alexandrinus tells us that the very Heathens did account the seventh day a holy day And that Alexander Severus Emperour of Rome though a Pagan and an Infidel yet every Sabbath day he retired from his warlike affairs and went up into the Capitol to worship the Gods Musculus calls All secular and servile works the impediments of Sabbath-holiness And indeed they are that dirt which stops up the water-course of grace that it cannot run out upon the soul It is very observable in the time of the Law how severely God prohibits working upon the Sabbath First He puts a prohibition in the fourth Commandment that Standard of our obedience in the observation of the Sabbath Thâ—u shalt do no manner of work Exod. 20. 10. and these words are repeated Deut. 5. 14. That by the mouth of two Witnesses this truth may be established And Secondly From the root of this great Command sprouts many additional injunctions not to work upon the Sabbath Exod 31. 14 15. Exod. 35. 2. Lev. 23. 3. Thirdly Nay Servile work is so inconsistent with the solemn feast of the Sabbath that God forbids all servile works on other festivals those solemnities of an inferiour nature On the dayes of the Pass-over Lev. 23. 7. On the dayes of Expiation Lev. 29. 23. Lev. 23. 28 29 30. On the feast of Tabernacles Lev. 23. 34 35. And surely if inferiour dayes of observation were defiled by secular works much more the blessed Sabbath in which the people of God must keep their meetings in the Suburbs of Heaven Fourthly How often doth God espouse Sabbath and Rest together as indivisible Exod. 16. 23. Exod. 31. 15. Exod. Sabbatum est sanctum otium 35. 2. And indeed holy Rest is the life of a Sabbath and if the Sabbath rest be disturbed it faints away and becomes Leid Prof. an unprofitable miscellany of rest and labour and an expiring dying priviledge Fifthly How severely doth God threaten the disturbers of the Sabbath rest God threatens them to throw them out of the Church Exod. 31. 14. Nay to throw them out of the world Exod. 31. 15. And brands such as are violatours of his Covenant Exod. 31. 16. And shall Rest be so necessary for the legal and not as convenient for the Evangelical Sabbath Surely much more the Lords day must not be disturbed by mans work but as Christ on the first day of the week rose from his toyle to his triumph so must Christians on that sanctified day lay aside all their worldly toyle and labours and take up their triumph and rejoycing in God spending those golden hours of the Sabbath in heavenly Communion sweetly delighting themselves in the visits of their beloved to which all labour is a disturbance and so our Sabbath above it is a perfect an undisturbed rest Cessat homo ab omni opere die Sabbati futuram sanctorum requiem significans quâ—ndo laboribus hujus vitae liberati et sudore carporis de terso beatam cum Christo et jucundissimam vitam agemus Ambr. in which the mind shall not be rackt with
glory be in its full brightness and perfection But as our Sabbath below doth something resemble so it doth infinitely fall short of our Sabbath above The two Sabbaths differ in their duration Our Christian Sabbath is a golden but a little spot of time like a draught of rich wine it is lushious but it is quickly drank off Our sweetest Sabbath here is but the passage of a day it endures no longer then the Sun can make its flight for a few Psal 39. 5. hours Our life is but a span our Sabbath how little a Nemo tam Divos habuit faventes Crastinum ut possit sibi polliceri Sen. part of this span It is the Lords day but yet a day of bright gleam the souls market which is presently over like a great Feast wherein we have fed plentifully but the next day the meal must be renewed or the body faints and languisheth Nay our Sabbath is only the seventh part of the week and all our Sabbaths are but the seventh part of our Vita nostra tam brevis est ut nescio an dicenda sit vita mortalis aut vitalis mors August life which the Apostle calls a vapour Jam. 4. 14. both for its contemptibleness and speedy disappearing Gods blessed day here is sweet but short it is a banquet indeed but the cloth is soon taken away it is like the star in Bethlehem which was useful to bring to Christ but it soon disappeares Mat. 2. 10. But our Sabbath above shall be stretched out to all eternity Vbi appropinquassent magiâ— Hierosolymae disapparâ—it stella Hoc Sabbatum est sempiternum neque alio quodam Sabbato terminabitur excipietur aut perficietur Musc it will be always spending but never wasting no week day shall follow it no night shall close it no death shall bury it The Jewish Sabbath was entombed in Christs grave the Christian Sabbath shall end with the world The beautiful fabrick of the world shall be taken down and the Sabbath of Christians shall be rolled up together but our Sabbath above shall never be shut in with any period or termination This blessed Sabbath in glory is spotless and why should it die if it have not offended It is perfect and perfection admits of no end or conclusion whatsoever is undefiled is eternall so God is everlasting the good Angels John 3. 16. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heb. 13. 14. Luke 16. 9. 2 Pet. 1. 11. Heb. 9. 15. Heb. 4. 9. and glorified Saints The Sabbath above is a full rest and it could not be perfect ease if it met with a certain end a conclusion must needs be a disturbance and that rest must needs be imperfect which is interrupted The Saints would not pray so ardently for this rest Psal 55. 6. if they were to Heb. 4. 9. 1 Pet. 5. 10 2 Cor. 4. 17. Spirituale Sabbatum licet N. T. sit tamen ipsum est imperfectum tum demum perficietur quando veniet quod perfectum est suffer another remove and still be liable to change and mutation The Jews rest in Canaan which was sweetned with the over-flowing of milk and honey did only prefigure this Eternal rest as the shadows in the time of the Law did typifie Christ But the rest of Canaan is at an end and all the legal shadows are passed away but Christ and our Sabbath above shall remain for ever In this then our Sabbath to come surpasses the present viz. in continuance and duration The two Sabbaths differ in their purity Our Sabbath here may be and is spotted it is black as well as comely fair indeed but yet not without its wrinkles the emblems of Cant. 1. 5. frailty and imperfection This holy One will see corruption The most acurate Saint defiles his best Sabbath and when Psal 16. 10. he is most circumspect he is offensive he either pollutes it with the lesser stain of vain and frivolous thoughts or with the larger stain of unsuitable and impertinent language or with the blacker stain of unjustifiable and sinful practice or with the deeper stain of deadness and unbecomingness in holy duties or with the more usual stain of mispending time letting that golden oil run in wast The Saints themselves fall seven times on this day as well as others The Prov. 24. 16. way is so narrow on a Sabbath that we easily miss it either we are not prepared for the duties of a Sabbath or we are defective in those duties or we are weary of those blessed Peccatum ita omnes homines invaserit ut nemo in hac vitâ quamvis vir sanctus sine peccato esse queat et peccata sanctorum sunt lapsus qui eis inter ambulandum in luce contrà animi sententiam contingunt Zanch. Joh. 1. 1 8. 10. services There will be still something amiss either our tongues slip or our hearts wander Isa 29. 13. Our feet slide or our graces flag either we neglect holy Ordinances that day or we are careless in Ordinances or we are incautelous after Ordinances we have not been so vigorous in closet duties or not so savory in family services or we have not behaved our selves so composedly in the publick Assemblies as did become the purity of a Sabbath The Sabbath here may complain that it sojourns in Mesech and dwells in the tents of Kedar Psal 120. 5. It is like the Ark among the Philistims 1 Sam. 5. 1. It is unattainable by the Saints of the highest form to keep a Sabbath upon earth without blot or blemish Here the learest sky hath a cloud But now our Sabbath above shall not be defiled or freckled with the least defect or imperfection We are perfect in our eternal Sabbath and therefore we can breath no damp upon it The Apostle avers there we shall be like Christ 1 John 3. 2. which is security enough against all fear of 1 John 3. 2. Quemadmodum puâ—itas mundities speculi requiritur ut imago in eo conspiciatur sic animae corporis perfecta mundities in beatis erit ut Deum videro ejus demque imaginem in semet ipsis perfectè exprimere possint Ger. taint or pollution Hereafter we shall fully recover the image of Christ our souls and bodies shall be perfectly pure And indeed that glass had need be clean in which God must see his image and representation the least speck or tincture of imperfection would wholly spoil the resemblance The Psalmist by an eye of faith seeth the day of Resurrection and rejoyces in this he shall fully recover the image of Christ Psal 17. 15. Both the Prophet and Apostle agree in this triumphall truth we shall be fully restored to Gods image in glory And if we are perfect from whence should our Eternal Sabbath receive a stain From the Author of it He is a holy God from the nature of it It is a perfect rest from the possessors of it They are unspotted Saints
prayer or any other duty their thoughts look back as Lots wife did upon Sodom and so that duty is as it were turned into a pillar of salt a monument Duo contrarii amores in eodem corde locum non habent nec habere possunt Zanch. of shame And so in hearing the Word they bring the cares of the world with them and they are thorns which choak the blessed Seed of the Word Mat. 13. 22. and it becomes altogether unfruitful And again worldly thoughts do very unseasonably mix with heavenly duties we do ill to be in the vale when we should be on the mount Exod. 24. 18. with God to be supping up the dregs of the world when we should feed on the marrow Psal 63. 5. and drink of the Isa 25. 6. wine well refined in blessed Ordinances this is to powre contempt upon the provisions of the Sanctuary To say our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ on a Sabbath when yet our hearts are fluttering over the John 1. 1. 3. world this is to delude not to satisfie the Soul But be it we can taste no sweetness in Sabbath duties yet we are bound to continue our diligence we must observe our duty though presently we receive not the mercy It is Job 1. 9. the badge of Mercenaries to plead no Recompence no Obedience Indeed the recompence of reward may be in our eye though it be not our end In the work we do we may have a love to the reward though the meer love of the reward doth not attract us to do the work God is our great Lord and Master and though it is not servile obedience yet it is the obedience of Servants we ow him continually and much more upon his own day Cassian observes That he Cassian l 4. c. 24. knew a young man who meerly in obedience to his Superiors command for a whole year together went two miles every day only to pour water on a withered stick We ought every Lords Angeli quomodo discurrunt medii inter deum nos Bern. day to come under Gospel waterings though our hearts remain withered and dry though we feel no softnings or comforting it is enough we have a command the duty is ours the day is Christs who is over all God above all blessed for ever It is a favour God will employ us though he Rom. 9. 5. should never reward us The Angels rejoyce that God will engage them in his business though they receive no new recompence they are chearful to increase the duty though they do not enlarge their glory The Angels saith the Apostle are Bernardus solitus est dicere Angelos secum cooperari unoquoque die dominico all ministring spirits sent forth to minister c. Heb. 1. 14. This is their property they think themselves happy in that God thinks them worthy to do his work in the world And so must we esteem our selves honoured in conversing with God in Ordinances though we do not hear the spouts run Hab. 3. 17 18. with the waters of life and though the fingers of Christ do not drop Myrrh Cant. 5. 5. nor do we taste the honey-comb in them Cant. 5. 1. For Ordinances in themselves are Jude 14. 8. as Sampsons Lion with the swarm and the honey in them they are in their own nature pots of perfume more reviving then the smoaks of incense and though our resentments be not so quick yet we must follow the scent It is a good observation Hos 6. 3. of Chrysostom As fountains saith he send out water though no pitcher be brought to fetch from them so Pastors must preach and Auditors must hear though no fruit be received For as to keep Sabbaths is indispensable for men so to bless them is arbitrary with God But if God shine not forth from between the Cherubims of holy Ordinances Psal 80. 1. yet it is incumbent upon us to wait at the door of the Sanctuary alwayes remembring that subjection is ours but benediction is his and he will have mercy on whom he will have Rom. 9. 18. mercy Suppose Sabbaths are not successful to us what peace or profit can we expect if we lay them aside Upon the same account all other times of holy duty and the exercise of Religion may be waved and left off and then what can there be but a fearful expectation of judgment Hierom upon Heb. 10. 27. that place of the Apostle Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Hieron in Psal 107. mercy Sure then saith he It is not of him who sleepeth nor of him that idleth nor of him who neglects duty for on such the Lord will have no mercy And Chrysostom well observes upon that speech of our Saviour Mat. 16. 24. If any will Chrysost in Matth. homil 56. come after me let him deny himself c. Christ saith not as this Father observes If any man stand still or sit down for the Kingdom of God is not given to standers or to idlers but to walkers and to workers So it may be concluded the comforts of God are not given to any person who upon any pretence whatsoever shall omit or neglect his duty especially Iter monstrat Apost quo fiat ut semper gaudeamus Per orationem nimirum quae non cessat gratiarum actionem Theoph. Non erit glo riosa victoria nisi ubi fuerint laboriosa certamina Ambros upon the Lords day For any to pretend they have performed duties and waited on Ordinances and yet fail of success what good success can they expect upon the ceasing of those duties The Apostle bids us pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. So then we must pray though the blessing do not presently come we must obey the command though we do not receive the reward If men may use the means and yet miss the end surely such must miss the end who will not use the means let none think to better their souls condition by laying aside Sabbath transactions When Christians have performed Sabbath duties and do not find such comfortable and desired success in their Gospel communion Let them smite upon the thigh and reflect upon themselves The word is fire and why am I cold The Psal 6. 6. word is quickning and why am I dead Ordinances are the means of grace and why have I no grace or comfort by the Psal 43 5. means Some are at Sermons and Sacraments with their Psal 42. 4. hearts leaping and go away with their faces shining and Christiâ—ne fige tui cursus profectusque me tam ubi Christus posuit suam Bern. those who see them see they have been with Jesus but why go I mourning all the day Thus we should put our selves upon the search and scrutiny Skilful Physicians search into the cause of distempers and so should
Deus graviter eorum pertinaciam objurgat quòd profano contemptu legem sabbati violassent Rivet commands may be termed non-conformity but to throw the filth of scandalous practice into the lovely face of a Sabbath is an impudent opposition of the most High and as God himself accounts it the breach of all his Commandements and Laws Exod. 16. 28. And this Rivet calls the Israelites stubbornness To pollute the Sabbath with scandalous practices raises complaints in heaven and earth When God draws his endictment against Israel immediatly before he sentenced them Isa 1. 13. to the Babylonish captivity one chief part of their charge Ezek. 20. 13. was They prophaned his Sabbaths Ezek. 23. 38. And this Ezek. 22. 8. he calls prophaning of himself Ezek. 22. 26. which is a strange Ezek. 23. 38. expression And for this sin he brought wrath upon them Nehem. 13. 18. This provocation opened the sluces of divine fury There are three things God is very jealous of 1. Of his worship And of this he hath taken care in the Israelitae non sabbata sed Bâ—alis festa observabant Alap second Commandement 2. Of his Name The glory of which he hath secured in the third Commandement 3. Of his Day Which he hath hedged about with a hedge of thornes in the fourth Commandement And when men by their prophaneness break this â—edge he makes his complaints from heaven against this prodigious evil Jer. 40 3. In the Primitive times the universal complaint of the Fathers was against prophaning of the Lords day Clemens Clem. Alexand Paedagog lib. 3. cap. 11. Alexandrinus complained in his time That the people after they were gone out of the Church they laid aside the counterfeit vizard of gravity and fell to delight and sport themselves in an impious manner with love-songs and noise of Minstrels c. Augustine called the prophanation of the Lords day by dancing Playes or revâ—lling A Jewish sabbatizing to be Aug. de conser Evangel lib. 2. cap. 27. Enar. in Psal 32. de decem chor dis cap. 3. abominated by all good Christians As if it was a sin not to be named among those who did wear the livery and glory in the name of Jesus Christ who was perfection incarnate the Beauty and desire of Nations Hag. 2. 7. The Lords day is that Virgin light which must be espoused by holiness by exact and suitable carriages and not subjected to the rapes of sin Greg. Nyssen Orat 2 de resurrect carnis prophaneness as Gregory Nyssen speaks most piously Sins which are deeds of darkness John 3. 19. Ephes 5. 11. are no way becoming the Sabbath which is a day of the sweetest Opera carnis sunt opera tenebrarum Glos interlin light and therefore we may take notice that whereas the Evening and the Morning made up every day else Gen. 1. 5. Gen. 1. 8. Gen. 1. 13. Gen. 1. 19. Gen. 1. 23. Gen. 1. 31. No duskish morning or declining evening are mentioned as Si prohibetur die festo opus aliquid utile ad vitae necessitatem annon potiori jure quae non nisi câ—m peccato aguntur et gravi offensione dei Cyril lib. 8. in Joan. cap. 5. the integral parts to make up the Sabbath Cyril with much reason argues If those works are forbidden upon a Sabbath which are subservient to the necessities of mans life much more those works which tend to the disgrace of mans life which cannot he done without a grievous provocation of the Lord. O let us take heed saith Primasius that we do not celebrate Gods festival in luxuries and banquets Gregory Nazianzen in an Oration of his against Julian the Apostate passionately perswades the holy observation of the Sabbath and plainly tells Christians That to keep the Sabbath in a more costly attire in a more plentiful meal in a neater dressing of our house in a more metrical dancing to the musique or in a more impudent lusting this better becomes the Gentiles custome then the Christians practice This excellent person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. thought such sinful vanities a fitter livery for Pagans whose right eye is put out by divine praeterition And Chrysostome shaâ—ply inveighs against Commessations and drinkings upon Gods holy day and affirms It much redounds to the dishonour of that blessed season The breathings of the heart not the banquets of the flesh the pouring out our souls in holy Prayer not the pouring out of Wine in intemperate healths to be filled with the Spirit Ephes 5. 18. and not with new Wine becomes that day which Christ is the Lord of In these latter times holy and Reverend Divines have Hisce diebus opera carnis non sunt toleranda nec profana negotia c. Bucer de regno Christi lib. 2. cap. 10. with much moan bewailed and entred their caveats against prophanation of Gods holy day Bucer writing to King Edward the sixth Our English Josiah cryes out On those days viz. the Sabbaths the works of the flesh are not to be allowed nor prophane businesses nor licentious sports nor any other vitious pleasures And this was a good Memento for a learned man to suggest to a religious King Indeed to serve Satan upon Gods day is not onely the blemish of particular persons but the bane and ruine of Kingdomes it lays a Nation open to the invasions of mans sword and to the effusions of Gods wrath King Henry the 8th who was no Nonesuch of Piety yet he strictly commanded all Bishops and Preachers diligently to teach the people That they all The institution of a Christian man A book set forth 1543. inscribed by King Henry the 8th to all his loving subjects and approv'd by both houses of Parliament offend against the fourth Commandement who will not on Gods day cease from their own carnal wills and pleasures but pass away their time in idleness ingluttony and riot in vain idle pastimes which is not according to the tenour of the fourth Commandement but after the usage and custome of the Jews So that now Nazianzen saith To prophane the Sabbath is after the custome of the Gentiles And King Henry the 8th saith it is after the usage of the Jewes So that it must be concluded to defile Gods holy day by loose and prophane practices doth better become a hardned Jew or a darkned Gentile then a holy Christian whose conversation should suit with a glorious Gospel The learned Gualter 2 Cor. 4 4. bitterly exclaims How do they sin with manifold impiety and sacriledge who attribute this day to Mammon Bacchus and Venus who can feast drink play dance whore and follow their luxury and pride and live so that they never serve the Devil more then on this day which ought to be wholly consecrated to God And it is no way to be doubted this is not the least cause of the evils and calamities of our age And because
diebus Rab. Kimchi in Psal 92. secular affairs and compose himself for divine intercourse he can more conveniently dress his soul to meet with his beloved But suppose man could prepare himself every day for this holy converse with his Maker yet Gods Name would lose by it if God should not have the honour of a solemn day Idols have their set dayes for their worshippers to celebrate their honour in And Kings have their birth dayes Pharaoh had his birth day Gen. 40. 20. And Herod had his birth day Mark 6. 21. which was solemnized with great joy and festivals And so Princes have their Coronation days which are annually kept with the highest observation And is it not meet and just that Gods Name should be magnified by us Commonly by setting apart some time every day which we may well spare out of our employments and callings for God and this doth honour him but a day a set solemn day much more when all Christians in the whole world shall harmoniously and unanimously meet to worship Acts 19. 28. and to honour the great Jehovah and shall cry out Great is the God of the Christians Set dayes of worship do reflect much honour upon God as the stated Noon speaks the elevation of the Sun To keep every day a Sabbath subverts the design of a Sabbath which was to rest after our worldly labours and to set apart that rest for the service of the Lord. So the very words Sabbatum est sanctum otium cultui sacro deputandum of the fourth Commandement Deut. 5. 14. And we have this rest in imitation of Gods rest Now God did not rest every day but onely the seventh Nor did Christ rise every Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est Christianis et ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam day but onely the first That which put life into the old Sabbath was Gods resting one day and that which authorizeth the Sabbath of the new Testament is Christs rising one day it is still one day not many dayes If God had rested every day where would have been the work of creation And if Christ had been alwayes rising from the bed of his grave where would have been the work of Redemption Aug. Epist 119. cap. 13. Thus praecedaneous work ushers in a Sabbaths Rest and so it must be still To rest every day plucks up the very foundation of a Sabbath upon which it is built and as Frederick Barbarossa did Millaine sowe it with salt To keep every day a Sabbath dasheth upon many absurdities and supposeth impossibles We must understand the definition of a Sabbath It is a day of divine appointment which must Hanc ob causam deus septimo die ab omni opere quievit ut nos ab omni opere externo vacâ—ntes ipsi uni soli hoc die vacaremus Idcirco hunc diem benedixit sanctificavit i. e. in usum suum separavit et elegit Oecolâ—â— p. in 4turn praecept Tom. 3. Oper. be consecrated wholly to the service and worship of God Now should we do nothing every day but attend the service of God in spiritual duties and holy Ordinances what would become of the Common-wealth the Magistrate the Master the Subject the Servant How can the one rule and the other obey Who shall provide for our Families whilst we worse then Infidels cast off the care thereof 1. This opinion overthrows all commerce traffick it plucks down all Empories and Cities of trade or shall we continually fly from the Sanctuary to the Shop from unlading our Souls in prayer to unlade our goods from the Key or the Ship Shall we hurry in Gods Ordinances and suddenly start from them to look after our Merchandise 2. This opinion countermands all those injunctions of God which were given before the Law In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3. 19. And so likewise in the Law Six dayes shalt thou labour Exod. 20. 9. And after the Law in the times of the Gospel We command them to work with quietness and to eat their own bread 2 Thes 3. 12. And if any would not work neither should he eat So that this fancy drives men into the extremity of irreligion and Atheism 3. This opinion takes away all distinction of our general and particular calling Christians have not only their general calling viz. To profess the name of Christ that heavenly Calling Deus vocavit nos vocatione sanctâ dum nos ab infidelitate et peccatis ad suum fidem et sanctitatem vitamque sanctam et divinam Et hac vocatione spes Christianorum acuitur cum Evangelio pro Evangelio pati as the Apostle calls it Heb. 3. 1. That hopeful Calling Eph. 4. 4. That high Calling Phil. 3. 14. That worthy Calling 2 Thes 1. 11. That holy Calling 2 Tim. 1. 9. Now besides this Calling all Christians lay claim to particular Christians have their particular Callings their Trades their Vocations and several employments Shall we then serve God hear pray or receive Sacraments continually and without intermission Where would be the time for our Callings Then we might as the Woman of Zareptah said of her little Oil in the cruse and the little meal in the barrel 1 Kings 17. 12. Even shut up our shops and die our hands then should not minister to our necessities as the Apostle assures us his did Acts 20. 34. This being true Every day must be a Christian Sabbath then the Apostles must not mend their nets Mark 1. 19. Nor Paul make his Tents Acts 18. 3. This fond opinion subverts every trade ties up every painful hand breaks all working instruments it silence the Lawyers tongue and benums the Scholars brain and withers the Plow-mans hand and the Smith at the forge shall sweat no more then the Prince on the Throne and so the world shall have a writ of ease to go down in a pleasant dream to the silent grave 4. This fancy puts God upon constant miracles to rain down Manna for our daily supply and again fetch water Exod. 16 35. out of the rock for we must not apply our selves to worldly Numb 20. 8. labours for that is inconsistent with a Sabbath and every day say these men must be a Christian Sabbath which we know must be most strict and serious and what is all this but daring presumption Truly this opinion fairly leads us back from Canaan to the wilderness again 5. This opinion makes man perfect in this life for weak flesh cannot keep a constant Sabbath If Paul lengthen out his discourse more then ordinary Eutichus falls into a deep sleep and drops from the third Loft and destroys himself Acts 20. 9. Nay our Saviour complains that the Disciples could not watch one hour with him but they were surprized Quot sunt remorae Christianae vigilantiae aut risus diffusio aut intemperantiae gravamen aut quaelibet superfluitas
aut mundi cura et ille cibrae immò mille temporalium rerum onera quae nos adigunt ad irregularitatem Chrysost homil 9. with drowsiness Mat. 26. 40. And yet our sweetest Saviour puts a good construction upon this failing And if the Apostles of Christ cannot hold up how shall ordinary Christians of the lower form in Christs School Few are vigorous as they should be on Gods holy day what would they do if every day must be a Sabbath This is impossible to flesh and bloud Man carries clogs about him to holy opportunities which yet are soon over he carries a naughty heart which is apt to wander and a faint nature which is apt to tire and a heavy eye which is apt to close besides he never leaves Satan behind him to be at least the shadow to darken the light and joy of Ordinances And therefore to assert a constant Sabbath an every day Sabbath is to throw a mountain upon an infant And 6. This opinion takes away all distinction between our Vltra hunc mundum est veri Sabbati observatio Orig. Sabbath on earth and our Sabbath in heaven In heaven indeed we shall keep a perpetual Sabbath and all shall be true which this opinion holds forth there shall be no labours no shops no merchandise All our employment shall be to celebrate the praises of God and the Lamb who sits upon the Throne Rev. 5. 13. But to fancy such a Sabbath in this life is to act the Prâ—soner who dreams of golden Rev. 4. 9 â—0 11. treasure pleasing delights sensual satisfaction and wakeing in the morning finds himself shackled in an iron chain and lockt up in a dark dungeon And let this be added to dream of a perpetual Sabâ—ath here and so lay aside the Lords day as groundless and useless is the next way to miss of an everlasting Sabbath above To make every day a Christian Sabbath is only a more subtle design to undermine the publick Ordinances Such would be every day in private that they may be no day in publick and so they set the closet against the Sanctuary and so the pretence of secret duty shall wholly subvert the reality of solemn worship For it is not to be imagined that all people should meet every day in publick and solemn assemblies Mark 14. 49. And how unsutable is this to a Saints spirit David his emphatical option and desire was to dwell in the Temple Psal Luke 19. 44. 27. 4. And he bewailed his loss of opportunities to go with Acts 17. 10. the multitude Psal 42. 4. The Jews kept the Temple worship Acts 18. 4. till they turned their backs upon the Messiah Paul Acts 13. 14. preached in the Synagogue and commanded the Hebrews not Joel 1. 14. to neglect the publick assemblies Heb. 10. 25. Now the Heb. 10. 25. drift of this wild fancy is to leave all Christians to their Certum est ad cessationem simplicem Sabbatum non suisse institutum sed ut convenirent Christiani ad ea pietatis eteercitia quae toti multitudini erant communia Riv. own private observations to their Chamber and closet duties that so there may be no use of publick Ministers publick Administrations publick Schools and publick Universities or a publick solemn day for divine worship and what is this but to bury all Order Discipline and Beauty in ruine and confusion This is to act Dioclesians part to destroy the devout ministry to act Julians part to shut up the Schools and so hinder all Knowledge and Learning and to run with Faustus Socinus to pluck up the Lords day and at last to slide into the blasphemies and insolence of Lucian and Porphiry to deride all Religion To make every day a Sabbath solemnly condemns the practice of the Church in all ages The Church of Christ never understood but one Sabbath in a week which is the blessed Lords day Shall we run it up to the fountain head and take a prospect of the practice of the Church in every Century In the purest times of the Church holy Ignatius the Disciple of the Apostle John the Martyr of Jesus Christ lays it upon Christians as they would shew any love to Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. that they should keep holy the Lords day So zealous was this blessed man and Martyr for the observation of this particular day and it s most probable if not most certain that he should know the mind of God when he lay in the Apostle Johns bosom and John lay in Christs John 13. 23. And Ignatius calls the Lords day the Queen of dayes and therefore all dayes are not equal but every day of the week is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. secund inferiour to this Supream of dayes Justin Martyr who lived in the second Century relates the practice of the Church in his time telling us That on Sunday solemn Conventions of people meet together in Villages or Cities for the exercices of divine worship This holy man and Martyr who sealed the truth of Christ with his bloud is the unbiassed Historian of Sabbath observation in the most orient and glorious times of the Church when the truths of God were warm newly dropt from the mouth and heart of Christ Then Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 22. the Lords day was call'd Sunday for reasons hereafter to be shewn not Saturday not Friday not every day but it was the best and highest of dayes and was solemnly set apart Tertul. de Idol c. 14. for solemn and Gospel-worship Dionysius Corinthiacus who lived in the third Century speaks of his observation of Prima Sabbati est initium dierum et tunc ecclesia erecta perficiebat deprecationes Basil the Lords day and the same attests Tertullian who was his Contemporary and speaks largely of the solemn keeping of that blessed day One day is still solemnized not every day no more then every one in a Nation can be crowned and wear the badge of Supremacy Basil who lived in the fourth Century calls the Lords day the beginning of dayes and every Greek Letter is not Alpha And this renowned Father saith That the Church then devoutly poured out their prayers to God And with him joyn Chrysostom Ambrose Augustine Hilary those bright and burning lights of the Primitive Church whose copious descants upon this holy day it will be too much to set down Now this opinion hath no patronage from antiquity unless it be from the mistake of Clemens or the figurative fancy of allegorizing Origen In the darkest times of the Church when it was overspread with palpaâ—le darkness even then Authority commanded Exod. 10. 21. Sabbath-observation one solemn day not every day that was a strange notion in the very midnight of the Church When the clouds were thickest so much brake forth to lead the Christian World to keep one day every week to the Lord. Charles the
Great thus Carol. Mag. leg Ecclesiast lib. 6. cap 202. begins his solemn Edict to this purpose It is our pleasure that all the faithfull do reverently observe the Lords day in which the Lord rose again And his Son Ludovicus Pius in his Additionals repeating the self same constitution of his Ludovic Piuâ— ibid. Addition cap. 9. Father word by word doth onely add these words Therefore it is necessary that first Priests Kings and Princes and all the faithfull do most devoutly give all due observance and reverence to this day These Princes not more happy in the Kingdomes they governed then unhappy in the times they lived in yet had such an impression upon their souls as to see to the holy observation of the Lords day a day not dayes one day not every day This levelling principle never yet got into the Courts of Princes into the Sessions of Councils nay not into the writings of any famous Patriot of Religion no not into the worst of times when the Church wore her blackest veil In the reforming times of the Church when the Sun of truth brake the cloud of popish ignorance and idolatry then Calvin in Deut. conc 34. our great reformers who reformed by their Pens as well as by their Preaching all unanimously utter their complaints against the prophanation of the Sabbath day and press the Bulling in Apocal. Concion 4. observance of it but still it is one day not every day The Sabbath day which is more honourable and not week dayes Muscul Comment in Mat. 12. which are more inconsiderable And here I might cite Calvin Bullinger Musculus Aretius Walaeus Bucer Gualter c. Nay the Waldenses and the Albigenses those zealous assertours Aretius Prob. Theolog. Loc. 123. of divine truth in the midst of Popish rage and fury I might here mention the Parliament of Prague held 1524. Wal. Epist and the Synod of Dort in the fourth Session who petitioned Dedic ante librum de Sabbato the States that they would emit severe Edicts against sports and servile works upon the Sabbath day Thus every age of the Church commands the solemn sanctification Bucer de regno Christi lib. 1. of one day not every day of Gods day and not ours This fancy hath been an unheard of dream in every Gualt in 162. Homil. in Mat. century of Christianity The Scripture Church and State that three-fold binding Authority doth wholly disclaime it Histor Wald. et Albigens Part. 3. lib. 1. cap. 9. But to wind up all 1. There is Sabbatum internum an internall Sabbath which is a rest from sin for the more holy walking before God 2. There is Sabbatum externum an external Sabbath Quies dei fuit septimanâ Quies Judaeorum in Palestinâ Quies sanctorum in puritate quies glorificatorum in aeternitate Alap which is a rest from labour for the more solemn worship of God The first indeed ought to be perpetual but the second is temporary and continues only for the space of twenty four hours every week Now these two do not abolish but establish one another A resting from sin continually doth more fit us for a weekly Sabbath and the keeping of a weekly Sabbath doth more fit us for the resting from sin continually The Jews were to keep the internal Sabbath they were alwayes to rest from sin though they were commanded a seventh day Sabbath And so Christians must keep an internal Sabbath they must alwayes rest from sin though they are enjoyned the first day Sabbath the blessed Lords day Eph. 5. 11. These two are subordinate not contrary one to another and 2 Cor. 7. 1. to make them inconsistent that the internal Sabbath should God will have the external Sabbath for the beginning perfecting of the spirituall Sabbath Vâ—s chase away the external is not onely gross weakness and mistake but it is Satans mine to blow up the Lords day which being lost Religion presently faints away and dies as take away the breast from the infant and it quickly dwindles away into the grave CHAP. XLIII There was a time when the Jews were exemplarily strict in Sabbath-Observation THis Treatise now spending it self and so drawing nearer to a conclusion the remaining task of it will mainly consist in pressing conscience upon the due and holy observation of the Lords day our Christian Sabbath Now to make way for the better accomplishment of this design I shall give the Reader as in a Landskip the Jewish practice on Exod. 20. 2. the Sabbath which indeed was sometimes very commendable when they did remember the Lord their God who brought them out of the Land of Aegypt and out of the house of bondage Exod. 20. 2. And we may well take our rise to this duty of keeping Gods blessed Sabbath from the advantage they give us It is true there were some seasons when Judaei spiritualia officia negligentes quae deus praecepit in diem Sabbati peragenda nefariè omiserunt otio et luxuriae in eundem diem se dederunt Gauden they were very remiss in the observation of Gods holy Sabbath especially not long before the Babylonish Captivity and in the Primitive times of the Christian Church then by their bruitish sensuality on the Sabbath they drew out the Pens of Christians and opened the mouths of Heathens but there were other times when their care of Gods day was written in a fair character and might inflame a Christians heart who hath any love to the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. to a serious and a holy deportment on this sacred day Now to enucleate and set before you their practice on the Judaei Sabbata insumunt in crapulâ et ebrietate et infructuosis delitiis et voluptatibus Cyril Sabbath we should begin with their preparation to it for they were so exact that the best and wealthiest of them even those who kept many servants did with their owne hands further the preparation insomuch that sometimes the Masters themselves would chop herbs sweep the house cleave wood kindle the fire and such like as Buxtorf observes and which is very observable all the four Evangelists Buxtorf Synagog Judaic cap. 10. ex Talmud take notice of the Jews preparation day to their Sabbath But of this I have spoken largely already and so I shall pass it over for ingenuity forbids coincidencies and vain repetitions But to come to the Jews observation of the Sabbath a Mat. 27. 62. Mark 15. 42. Luke 23. 54. John 19. 42. learned man observes They dress no meat this day and therefore the Heathens heretofore thought they had fasted on that day And indeed a serious practice it was to keep down the body and prepare it for spiritual duties When the senses Aug. cap. 76. de jejun Sab. are cloyed the soul is much interrupted in heavenly converses Pampered bodies usually accompany pining souls The Sueton. Martial lib. 4.
Epigr. over-laying the fire with wood puts it out The Disciples plucked a few ears of Corn on the Sabbath Mat. 12. 1. to be patterns of modesty and temperance But I shall not insist on this practice of theirs it being rather their custome then their obedience however if from their dressing no meâ—t we would learn a spare diet on Gods holy day much sin would be prevented which is the blemish and shame of Christians But their carriage on the Sabbath was very remarkable which may be descried In the nature of their services Their services on a Sabbath are not only carnal to offer up sacrifices two Lambs of the first year two tenth deals of floure mingled with oyle the one for a burnt offering and the other for a meat offering to which was added a drink offering Numb 28. 9 10. But their services likewise were of a more spiritual nature 1. They had their thanksgivings to God that heavenly service Psal 26. 12. Psal 35. 18. They sung Psalms 2 Chron. 29. 30. which are the joyfull harmony of a devout soul nay the ninety second Psalm was composed on purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Sabbath as the inscription of it doth clearly inform us And it was the joy of the holy among the Jewes to be thus spiritually and seraphically employed Psal 84. 10. Ordinaria lectio illius Sabbati fuit locus ille Isaiae scil 53. et in eo fuit singulare consilium dei Chemnit 2. On their Sabbath the Scriptures were read Acts 15. 21. as was hinted before A New Testament quotation to assert it which is not omitted in the Old Deut. 31. 11 12 13. And our dear Saviour in the dayes of his flesh took advantage of this service for soul edification Luke 4. 17 18 19 20. and so did the Apostles Acts 13. 14 15 16. This service made way for glorious expositions and for new revelation 2 Chron. 30. 22. velation of the Divine Will and for apt and seasonable applications 2 Chron. 35. 2. 3. Besides the reading of the word the Jews used the Preaching of it on the Sabbath For the Priests office was to teach Mat. 2. 7. Deut. 33. 10. And they looked on it as a great misery when they wanted a teaching Priest 2 Chron. 15. 2. Or if they were unhappy in ignorant and unskilful Priests whose lips did not preserve knowledge Jer. 2. 8. Or such Priests whose lives contradicted their Doctrine Mat. 23. 1 2. And this preaching was either in the exposition of the words as they read them Nehem. 8. 3 8. Or else in an exhortation or as we call it in making a Sermon upon the words Luke 4. 17 18 19 c. Acts Luke 4. 31. 15. 21. Mark 6. 2. 4. They had their devout prayers on the Sabbath reverently Luke 13. 10. kneeling in an humble and submissive behaviour 1 King 8. 54. Psal 95. 6. 2 Chron. 6. 13. They did not only offer the Ezr. 6. 10. sacrifice of their lambs but the calves of their lips Hos 14. Acts 16. 12. 2. They did not only pour out their oil into their deals of floure Numb 8. 9 10. But they poured out their souls into the bosom of God Isa 56. 7. Their prayers usher'd in their services and most profitably wound up their duties Aâ—urata sit exquisitarum sententiarum enarratio quae non summis incidit auribus sed per auditum penetrat in animum ibique firmitèr inhaereat Phil. Jud. And in the Conclusion of their holy exercices upon the Sabbath there was a blessing pronounced on the people 2 Chron. 30. 27. Levit. 9. 22 23. as the Lord commanded Numb 6. 23 27. And then the Congregation brake up Acts 13. 43. And the people departed Thus the services of the Jews on their Sabbath were not only ceremonial but spiritual Their ear was attentive in hearing their knee was bowed in praying their tongue was employed in singing and their heart was taken up in complying with every service of the day The Jews carriages were remarkable on the Sabbath in the design of their services which was to converse with God To Sabbatum datur ad consideranda dei opera Aben Ezra consider his works saith Rabbi Aben Ezra to be conversant in his service and worship saith Rabbi Kimchi to consult with his word and to pry into the more arduous and deep passages of it saith Manasseh Conciliator Nay the Hierusalem Talmud which I may call the Jews sacred Code a In Sabbato homo conversus à negotiis hujus mundi anima illius pura est ab occupationibus corporis et sese exercet in servitio dei Rab. Kimch system of their Doctrines Rites and Laws alloweth nothing to be the end of the Sabbath but divine meditation in the Law of God thus from the most approved of their own Authors we have what they aimed at in their Sabbath viz. To walk above the world in holy contemplation to go into the treasury of Gods word by serious inquisition and to wait upon the Lord of glory in humble adoration Their design was not the ease of the flesh Manasseh Conciliator calls it a notable errour to think so for idleness saith he is Notabilis error est otii ergo Sabbatum esse institutum Otium enim mater est omnium vitiorum Et sic plus sanè mali quà m boni ex Sabbato proveniret Sed Sabbatum est institutum ut homo expeditus et sepositis â—um animi tum corporis curis semet totum legis studio applicet et gravibus locis sacrae Scripturae de arduis quaestionibus interrogare Man Concil the Mother of all vices and this Learned Jew adds should we indulge our selves in ease and delight the Sabbath would have more evil then good in it Their design was not pleasing of sense the same Learned Manasseh tells us We must strip our selves of all incumbrances both of body and mind that with more freedom and activity we may apply our selves to Gods Law Isa 2. 3. Nehem. 8. 13. Now sense-pleasing is the rust of the mind the shackle upon the soul and the Canker of holy worship And it is the zealous expression of the forementioned Author That the whole man must be given up to God on his own holy Sabbath What more savoury could drop from a Christians Pen and what more serious could be breathed from a Christian heart And in writing after this Copy we may easily mend our hand The Jews carriage on the Sabbath was most remarkable in the exactness of their services 1. In the morning of a Sabbath John 8. 2. They began with private preparation as they were commanded Eccles 5. 1 2. 2. And they durst not adventure upon holy worship till they had reconciled themselves one to another Mat. 5. 23 24. Malice and Enmity were not to tread in Gods Courts Sabbata Israelitis non nisi ad meditandum in lege
cannot remember what we formerly did not know at least Memory like Janus among the Romans must look with two faces the one must look backwards and the other must look forwards And so in reference to the Sabbath If the word Remember look backward it refers to the institution of the Sabbath if forwards it refers to the observation of the Sabbath Rivet well observes that in the word Remember God stirs up the Memory of the Israelites that Deus à primordio mundi sanctificavit diem septimum requiescendo ab operibus suis quae fecit inde Moses dixit ad populum mementote diem Sabbati et sanctificate eam Ter. they should not forget that holy Institution which was of old So then the Sabbath when commanded on Mount Sinai was only the second Edition of it the Renovation of an old Law a primitive Statute put in a fairer Print or like as it was in Pharaoh's Dream this Law was repealed because it was more firmly established Gen. 41. 32. Thus Colours are put in Oyl that they may be the more lasting The first Institution of the Sabbath and the more solemn promulgation of it upon Mount Sinai are two Witnesses by which this Truth shall be fully established viz. That the seventh part of every Week shall be consecrated to God till the second coming of Jesus Christ the solemn proclaiming of this Law upon Mount Sinai was only the Sabbaths duplicate In Monte Sinai Deus Sabbati diem innovavit Riv. the Original we had hefore and now we have the Counterpane the Sabbath was put in a fresh dress on the flaming Mountain and then like rich Arras the Sabbath it self was refreshed And if the Sabbath was from the beginning as hath been clearly demonstrated the Christian lays an equal claim to it with the Jew and is as much concerned in its observation So then a Sabbath we have in the Worlds Infancy and indeed what reason can put it to the question For were the Bodies of men before the Law more adamantine that they need not be refreshed Or were not our Bodies before and after the Law equally attempered and condition'd Were not the sweet Intervals equally necessary and welcom to both Did not a devout sequestration to pious Exercises as well suit and become the Soul◠of the Patriarchs and the Church of God in those days as those Nobis cum veteri populo quoad hanc partem communis est necessitas Calv. who lived after the promulging of the fourth Commandement Let us look into the End peculiar to the Sabbaths Institution was it not to eternize the honour of the Creation And doth not that belong to those before the Law as well as those after Is not the benefit of the Creation common and universal Do not all participate of it especially the Elect and that inexplicably Had not the Church before Moses as ample a share in Blessings upon the Sabbath as those since And ought it not then as freely Hospin de Orig. Temp. lib. 2. cap. 14. and as frequently to celebrate its sacred Festival And if then before as since the Law there was the same reason sure then there was the same thing observed and the same commanded for from the reason of the Law we may rise to the Law it self as from the Cause to the Effect and from Omnis actio dei nobis pietatis virtutis est regula Basil the End to the Means The example of God's resting and the benefit of the Creation being the same to those before and after the Law it must needs follow the Sabbath was given in the Worlds Infancy and so belongs to the whole Posterity of Adam The ancient Institution of the Sabbath was so generally known in the World that the very Heathens had a dimmish light of it Hesiod a Gentile and a Greek Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod saith That the seventh day is a holy day Lampridius tells us that Alexander Severus the Roman Emperour and an Heathen on the seventh day usually went into the Capitol there to offer Sacrifices to the Gods Homer an Heathen saith The seventh day is holy and was the day in which all things were perfected Callimachus saith the like and that it is the birth-day chief and perfect Clemens Alexandrinus Clem. Alex. stromat lib 5. shews That not only the Hebrews but the Greeks also knew the seventh day to be holy And Eusebius affirms That almost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem all not only Philosophers but Poets know that the seventh day was most sacred and venerable Certain of the Ethnick Doctors were wont only to dispute on Sabbath-days because they were most signal and remarkable and therefore the more to be honoured So Diogenes used to dispute at Rhodes as Aulius Gellius reports Lib. 13. Cap. 2. Seneca Euseb de praepar Evang lib. 13. cap 7. in his 99th Epistle shewing that Exhortations are not enough but we need obliging Precepts yea the Decrees of wisdom he reckons up the Sabbath as a Festival day for Religion Aretius hath these words The Greeks and Latines Causab in Sueton. lib. 3. cap. 52. call the Sabbath a Day of Rest thinking it unfit for civil Actions and Warlike Affairs and fit only for Contemplation How shall these rise up in judgment against sensual Sen. Epist 95. and formal Christians who trifle away their Sabbaths when all Books shall be opened in the day of account Eusebius brings in Plato and Solon those Sages among the Aret. Probl. Theol. loc de Sabbat observantiâ Gentiles sublimating the Sabbath with their Seraphick Eulogies and putting an high estimate upon it Thus the generality of the world had some gust and taste of the sanctity of a Sabbath which gives in full testimony of its great Antiquity Macrob. lib. 1. cap. 7. and that it had its rise from the very beginning of the World and if so then all Mankind both Jew and Christian Lucian in Pseudologista are concerned in it The Jews who should be best acquainted with the Doctrine Dies Sabbati naturâ privilegium habuit ex quo mundi natalis factus fuit Phil. Jud. of the Sabbath generally affirm that the Sabbath was ordained from the beginning of the World Philo Judaeus saith That the Sabbath-day hath its priviledge from Nature it self and is become the Worlds birth-day Kabbi Kimchi in his Commentary upon the ninety second Psalm testifies that the Doctrine of the Jews in their Darash is That Adam first compesed that Psalm in Paradise upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbath-day and after that he sinned and prophaned the Sabbath The Chaldee Paraphrase gives this Inscription to the ninety second Psalm A Praise and Song which Adam the first of men spoke on the Sabbath-day And a learned man well observes that Tertullian in all his heat cannot deny but that the Jews held the Sabbath-day to be sanctified Chald. Paraph from
Commandement like Nebuchadnezzars Image partly Gold and Silver durable Mettals and partly Clay and mouldring earth Doctor Bound positively asserts The fourth Commandement can be no more partly Moral and partly Ceremonial than the same living Creature can be partly a Man and partly a Beast Bishop Hooper saith That all Bishop Hooper on the ten Commandements the Commandements are of one vertue and strength and therefore if one be in effect ceremonial so may others too The same speaks Iraeneus God did pronounce the Decalogue to all alike but the other Laws were given by Moses Iren contr Valentin lib. 4. cap. 13. unto the people of the Jews So clearly doth this Father distinguish between Moral Laws pronounced by God and Ceremonial Laws given by Moses Nay Aquinas is Omnia praecepta decalogi sunt moralia Thom. 2da 2dae quaest 100. Artic. 2. sensible of this when he pronounces all the Precepts of the Decalogue Moral and would not this mixing Ceremonials with Morals in the same Decalogue produce confusion and disorder or as Doctor Bound saith Open a wide door to all kind of loosness and Atheism And if this be true that the Law for the Sabbath is Ceremonial and all the rest Moral then we have onely an Ennealogue not a Decalogue so God must lose one of his ten words and pay tythe of his Deut. 4. 13. Commandements to the wild and desultory fancies of men for if the fourth Commandement be a Ceremony it dies at the coming of Christ But we have the just division of the Commandements in Scripture they were written in two Tables we have their full number they were ten so many and no more and therefore as we must not unite them into one Table so we must not contract them into nine Commandements and if this fourth Commandement be ceremonial why is it not rased out of the Commandements How came it in is a question and no less how stays it in The Papists cashire the second Commandement and divide the last into two to make up the number forbidding in the Canis chatechis quaest 18. former to covet our Neighbors wife in the latter to covet our Neighbours goods and if we still admit a Ceremony Sabbatum dierum est ordinarium perpetuum non inter figuras ceremonias Judaicas annumerandum c. Wolph Chronol lib. 2. cap. 1. in the midst of the Commandements why may not Atheists put a Ceremony upon the first and Swearers put a Ceremony upon the third Nay Antinomians put a Ceremony upon them all and so the two Tables shall be broken the second time and so rendred useless and impertinent to mankind It is a sage saying of Wolphius The Sabbath is not to be reckoned among the Figures and Ceremonies of the Jews both because it was ordained in Paradise before the fall of Man and also because it is commanded in the Decalogue which contains in it nothing ceremonial nothing typical nothing to be abrogated As once it was the wonder of the people of Israel Is Saul also among 1 Sam. 10. 12. the Prophets And may we not with as much astonishment cry out And is a Ceremony put in among the Moral Precepts Nor is it suitable to God who is a God of Order to mis-place a Ceremonial among Morals Holy Greenham observes Admitting one Ceremony into the Decalogue why may there not be two or three or more Concerning this mixture we may say many Heresies by it are Ponitur quartum praecepâ—um inter mandata Decalâ—gi in quantum est praeceptum morale c. Aquin. 2da 2dae quaest 122. Art 4. â— Hook Eccles Polit. lib. 3. cap. 11. crept into the Church and it cannot be avoided if the fourth Commandement be ceremonial and this is to confound the Ceremonial Law with the Moral The learned Hooker most sagely according to his manner thus discourses The moral Commandements were uttered by God himself in the presence of the whole multitude written by his own finger given without restraint to time how long to place where Contrariwise the Ceremonial Law given to Moses onely and by him declared to the people called Ceremonial Judgments Ordinances and limited only to the Land of Jewry All that I shall add is Take the fourth Commandement and see it in this Glass and then you will see how like a Ceremony it looks Doctor Amesius will not have the Command for the Sabbath Ceremonial because it wears nothing of a Jewish Livery whereby it may be appropriated to them and so Institutionem istam non Juisse ceremonialem et temporalem ex eo satis liquet quòd nihil habet proprium JudaeoruÌ„ aut temporis legis ceremonialis Ames made part of their transient Pedagogie To set apart a day for God is as necessary and congruous to Christians as to Jews To remember the works of the Creation and the Rest in the close of it is no more unseemly or impertinent for Christians than for Jews when both are Gods Creatures and Subjects to see our Families keep the Sabbath as well as our selves doth as well befit the times of the Gosspel as the time of the Law is every way as decent and comely to forbear servile works on a Sabbath is as convenient for the Christian Church as the Jewish Synagogue How then comes the Sabbath to be the Jews monopoly for indeed it must be so if it be a Ceremony But if the Sabbath in the fourth Commandement hath nothing peculiar to the Jew let us not lose our claim in this blessed day but let us receive our Inheritance which was first given us in Paradise and this Will further ratified on Mount Sinai It is strange that so many should so easily part with one of Gods ten words to an abrogated Jew only to please a design or gratifie an interest in some men that the Sabbath being expired as a Ceremony at the coming of Christ and so all days in the week lying common it may lie in the power of the Church to erect a new Sabbath which is a Trophy of their Plenipotentiary Grandeur and this will make the Mitre look more splendid But others plead the Ceremoniality of the fourth Commandement that the Sabbath being abrogated and cancell'd as out of date they may have no Sabbath but of humane institution and then they may break it with more ease than Sampson did his Wit hs and so still lie in Dalilahs lap of pleasure and delight the noise of a Clerical Institution being too faint to awaken them But let every gracious heart more study duty then interest and what becomes him in conformity to the will of God From the times of the Gospel all Ceremonies are ended they were all buried in Christs Grave as was suggested before Lex Ceremonialis omninò per Christi adventum evanuit sed nullo modo sequitur legem Decalogi quoad obligationem per Christum desusse est enim lex illa non Mosaica sed
conformity to the fourth as to any other Commandement And thus this Commandement partakes of the same Honours and Prerogatives with the three before it and the six after it And how comes it then that it should be worse metal than the rest and be embased with a notion of a Law and elementary Ceremony Chrysostom and Theophylact observe that in the time of Moses onely the Tables of stone were in the Ark and that afterwards in the time of the Prophet Jeremy Aarons Rod and the Pot of Manna were put in And Catharinus saith That in the time of Moses all the forementioned Particulars were in the Ark but in the time of Solomon there were onely found the two Tables of stone upon which were written the ten Commandements However it is still the Tables of stone were in the Ark to shew that in all times God was tender of his Decalogue where the fourth Commandement was placed Surely such providential care would never have attended the wing of a flying Ceremony This fourth Commandement will further commence moral if we take notice of the motives by which it was enjoyned The first Commandement hath but one reason annexed to it the third Commandement hath but one reason appendant Filius qui honorat pâ—renâ—es licet cite moriatur tamen diu vixit Nâ—m tempus est mensura non otii sed operis et actienum non malarum sâ—d bonarum to it the fifth Commandement but one reason to reinforce it Nay the second Commandement hath onely two reasons to engage obedience to it But now in the sourth Commandement the Lord goes beyond all this and binds with a threefold Cord which cannot easily be broken for God setteth down three reasons as so many forcible and pregnant motives to induce or rather to inforce obedience not onely to command the excellency but to shew the necessity of keeping this Commandement Abulens 1. God shews us the equity of the Command If man may have six days surely God may have one 2. God shews us the Presidency of himself he goes before Vatab. in Gen. 2. 3. us in Sabbath-rest and this blessed Pattern is a strong Argument for imitation Jun. in Gen. 2. 3. 3. God intimates to us it is a blessed day besides the blessings of other days by the Law of Nature this day hath Peter Martyr in Gen. 2. 3. a peculiar blessing of holiness it is a day of divine munisicence wherein God featrers his Diamonds his choicest blessings Bulling in Roman among his obedient Worshippers And was not the fourth Commandement a standing Rule of conformity Hospin de Origin what need the twisting of so many Arguments and why doth God more consult mans practice in the pressing of this Templ lib. 2. cap. 14. than any other Commandement Surely Gods jealously least it should be violated shews not onely the eminency of this Precept but its abiding morality Divines generally conclude That the substance of the fourth Commandement lies in this Clause viz. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy and this is the preceptive part Quod naturale est putà diem septimum quemlibet deo sacrum esse illud quidem permanet Jun. For the other three parts of the Commandement viz. The Directive six days shalt thou labour but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Nay the argumentative part For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day And the benedictive part Therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it all these onely inforce the Command but the summe and substance of the Command lies in the first clause Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy And shall not the keeping of a Sabbath to God be moral and perpetual The spending of a seventh part of every week in holy service and spiritual worship shall not that be standing and permanent Doth not the necessity of our Bodies require a seventh days rest and the Exigence of our Souls a holy rest Surely we will not sink below the dregs of Paganism who Recordare diei sabbati ut sanctifices illum Haec verba sunt ipsa praecepti quarti moralis sub stantia Zanch. had their set times of sacred solemnity to their Idol Gods And the Church of Christ in all Ages had its Sabbath when it was most clouded with Superstition and Idolatry the Sabbath was never suspended by any Emperors Edict nor Excommunicated by any Popes Bull Sion never wanted her Sabbaths when she lay in her lowest ashes Surely then to keep a Sabbath to God is most fully and entirely moral and this is as Zanchy saith The substance of the fourth Commandement the other part of it being taken up either in explication how we must observe it or in reason and argumentation why we must observe it Or in motive and insinuation that we must observe it It is a blessed day and blessings are the greatest courtship to the Soul And in one of the Homilies of the Church of England we meet with Homil. of time and prayer these words By the fourth Commandement we ought to have a time as one day in a week and this appertaineth to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just most needful for the setting forth of the glory of God and therefore ought to be retained and kept of all Christians Thus the Church of England layes down this as a fundamental that every seventh day not in order but in number be consecrated to God The fourth Commandment hath all the Characters of a moral law 1. It is not reversed or repealed in the Gospel for though the old Sabbath be reversed yet the Commandment for 〈◊〉 day in seven is not and indeed why should it 〈…〉 the whole Decalogue is Gods royal law Jamâ—◠〈…〉 the golden rule of our obedience 2. It is ratified in the Gospel and that many 〈…〉 1. In general together with the Decalogue 〈…〉 〈…〉 Whosoever shall break one of the least of these Commandâ—â—nt and teach men so shall be called the least in the King 〈◊〉 Heaven Now the fourth Commandment is one of theâ—â— commands which it is so dangerous to break and 〈◊〉 late 2. By the designation of the Lords day of the same number 〈…〉 c. 11. of the same use and profit which is a real ratification of this law 3. This law of the Sabbath is neither weak nor unprofitable but exceeding useful for the ends for which it was first intended which was the glory of God the good of souls and the preservation of Religion It was the speech of a Learned man Let any man shew me in this law either weakness 〈…〉 or unprofitableness I yield and bid it vanish but it hath and will have as much strength and force as any Law can have from the Author Consent Multitude Custom and express approbation of all Ages Profit it hath too and hath been preserved without any mans
ceremoniality in resting one day in seven they may as well give themselves to devise a ceremoniality in setting apart some time in general for Gods holy worship and service So then the fourth Commandment being a Moral law it binds all persons Christians as well as Jews it binds in all places in England Scotland and Ireland as well as in Palestine and Judea it binds at all times since the coming of our dear Redeemer who drew a line over all Ceremonies and expunged them that they should have no more existence in the Church of God as well as before Mat. 4. 2. this glorious Sun appeared to beautifie and revive the world CHAP. XLVI The Sanctification of the Sabbath is the Christians homage as well as the Jews if we look back to the infancy of the Gospel HAving already shewn that the Sabbath in the first institution Dies Dominiâ—â—â—â—hristianis 〈…〉 bere festivitatem suam Aug Epist 119 cap. 13. ad Januar. of it was given to Adam and in him to all his posterity and so it belongs to us Christians as well as to otherâ— and that the command for the Sabbath in the second Edition of it upon Mount Sinai was Moral and perpetual a standing Law and so binding all man-kind Christians as well as Jews I shall now go one step further and shew that the Sabbath is still the same though the day be changed from the last to the first day of the week and that by Divine Authority Now to make way for the clearer evidence of this truth Exod. 20. 9. so much decried and contradicted by some who too much amplifie Ecclesiastical Power and Authority I shall begin in discovering that two dayes weekly cannot be observed This would not only repeal the indulgence of God in giving us six days every week for our secular affairs and worldly Sextò considera illud quod sex dies operibus et unus tantùm quieti datur et certè in hac re divina sapientia non quid probabile sed quod populo conducibile spectavit Muscul labours to sustain our selves and families and to acquire the good things of this world but it tacitely impeacheth the wisdome of God who in the fourth Commandment hath accommodated himself to the frame and constitution of man who knows his weakness and frailty and therefore frankly and bountifully hath bestowed upon him six dayes knowing that he must get his living in the sweat of his brows Gen. 3. 19. And likewise considering that in spirituals the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak Mat. 26. 41. And besides all this this must be a work of pride and supererogation for man to go about to outvy Gods blessed example who rested one day only and no more for our future and constant imitation His Presidency binding us as well as his Precept And it may be added these two dayes would be as the twins in Rebekah's womb alwayes strugling and striving who should have the preheminence and how with Zebedees Gen. 25. 24. Sons they should be both nearest Christ nor can it easily Mat. 20. 21. be conceived what confusion this may engender in the Church competition being alwayes the womb of dissention Besides how much would this confirm the Jews in their blasphemous obstinacy and hinder them from closing with their Messiah when their Sabbath shall still be retained and dignified with a solemn and reverential observation Surely they will interpret it conscience in Christians and that in keeping the seventh day Sabbath they do no more then their bounden duty and how will this feed their insultations and put their hope upon the wing that the Christian Church is coming back to the Jewish Synagogue If the head of their Sabbath be got in they will strongly conjecture that in Manifestum est non solum legis judicio sed ipsissimâ experientiâ non facere ad verae religionis profectum si otia multipliâ—entur sed abundè satis est unum in septimana diem religionis exercitiis esse deputandum Mus time the whole body of ceremonies will follow after As the Apostle most critically and prudentially joyns all the solemn feasts of the Jews together in their discharge and abolition Gal. 4. 10. Col. 2. 16. wisely fore-seeing that if any one was continued the whole train in process of time would unavoidably follow Pleas for the one would easily be raised into arguments for the others And it is very well argued by Musculus It never contributes saith he to the progress of Religion that rests should be multiplyed to the people for one Sabbath every week is abundantly sufficient for vulgar capacities Moreover the Celebration of two dayes every week is more then the Law requires or the Gospel allows And here Exod. 30 8. Acts 20. 7. Chrysostome is most Elegant The week contains seven dayes saith he now see how the Lord hath distributed these dayes he Chrysost Tom. 5. hath not taken the greatest part unto himself and left the least to us neither hath he taken half and left half No the Lord pag. 523. is more liberal he hath given us six and taken but one for Rev. 1. 10. himself And both Law and Gospel speak the same And if we take five dayes only for labour we make void the Law Note Synecdochen per observantias dierum mensium annorum Apostolus intelligit omnes ceremonias legis veteris quasi ex parte torum Alap in this particular and besides how inconsistent is it to Gospel liberty to keep two dayes every week this would outvy all the Jews Festivals in number and bring us again under a severer yoke and this would at once both break the bonds of Christian Vnity and the bonds of Christian liberty and render the golden yoke of Christs Gospel heavier then the iron yoke of Moses his Law As for that objection that the Apostles kept the seventh day Sabbath and preached on that day among the Jews Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. Acts 18. 4. To this it is answered It is most equal and rational that some time must be granted for the wearing away of an old usage A Sabbath Aequum fuit aliquid temporis intercessurum ut populo melius innotesceret Sabbati Judaici abrogatio ejusdemque sepultura honori sicentissima which had continued in the world much about four thousand years the world could not presently be awakened to take notice of its abrogation Old customes are removed with some difficulty and the religion of our Fathers takes so great impression upon us that it is not easily eaten out notwithstanding we see clear reason for it Antiquity in things natural is their weakness and unbeautifulness but in things spiritual it sheds a greater lustre upon them Time then must be granted to convince the world that the old Sabbath is now deceased and honourably buried in Christs own grave Suppose it be granted that both Sabbaths Jewish and Christian were
seventh day is to be kept holy to the Lord and this remaineth still though the very seventh day be changed The equity of the fourth Commandment is drawn from the proportion of six dayes labour and a seventh dayes rest One thus opens that phrase in the fourth Commandment Six dayes shalt thou labour but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God What seventh saith he Exod. 20. 8 9. pray note it the Lord saith not the seventh from the Creation if he had the Law had confined us to that day But because the Law-giver intended to choose a new day and not to change the old law he hath left it at large in general terms neither can it be restrained to one day more then to another And though the old seventh day was occasionally pointed at in the fourth Commandment as a seventh day which the Jews were to observe as by the fifth Commandment they were bound to honour their Parents then living yet these occasional circumstances might be and were altered without any impeachment to the morality of these commands The altering of a mutable circumstance either of time place or person is far from abolishing the substance of a law and it is to be considered That this proportion of one day in seven is no where directly stated by a perpetual precept but in the fourth Commandment and therefore there it must be determined that it must be some where determined is evident because it is substantially profitable to Religion to the glory of God and the good of souls For if men were left to their own liberty to choose their own proportion in all probability Religion would be very much damnisied and endangered either it would be starved with too little or surfeited with too much Sabbath-time either Popery would create almost every day in the week a holy day or prophaneness would be content with one day in a moneth Let sinful man have liberty to pluck up Gods bounds and alter his proportion one way or another and experience will shew the inconvenience and mischief of it And that which is very observable in the fourth Commandment is that the Lord blessed the Sabbath day not the seventh day but the Sabbath day the day of rest is blessed And the fourth Commandment both opens and shuts both begins and ends with the term Sabbath day and not the seventh day we must sanctifie the Sabbath day so in the beginning of the precept and God blessed the Sabbath day so in the close of the Commandment The word Sabbath like a finger points forward and backward directing us how to expound the whole precept in a large and not a limited sense Doubtless if God had intended to tie up the Church in all ages to the seventh day from the Creation he would have fixed the Commandment upon that day only especially in the conclusion of it for why should not that precise day be mention'd in the close of the fourth Commandment as well as in Gen. 2. 3. There God is said to bless the seventh day here only the Sabbath day the most probable reason is the Commandment is a larger extent then the institution Moreover the learned zealous and pious servants of Dr. bound on the Sab. God affirm the same thing viz. That the Commandment Willet Hexapl in Gen. for the Sabbath is moral for one day in seven and not for the old seventh day Twisse Sect. 6. These Champions for the truth have given in their full attestation to this fair and true interpretation of the fourth Mr. Bern. Mosaic Sab. p. 70. Commandment And as Attersoll very well observes as in the first institution of the Lords Supper Christ made use of unleavened bread yet his example binds us only to the use Mr. White in Gen. Moral of the 4th Com. of bread and not that which is unleavened so for the first institution of the Sabbath God rested on the seventh day from the Creation yet his example binds us only to a day of that Mr. Byfield Doctr. of the Sab. vindicated Mr. Fenner on the Sab. c. number and not that particular day And if in the preceptive part of the fourth Commandment Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day this be restained to the seventh day in order there was then a plain tautology in the command it was as if God should say Remember the seventh day Sabbath for the seventh day is the Sabbath which is a flat tautology and unbecoming infinite wisdom No it is evident that the precept is comprehensive and large and not limited to one seventh day more then another for Sabbath day in Quies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ceu quievit the Hebrew is no more then a day of rest and that is any day set apart for holy worship by Divine Authority and is applicable to the first day of the week as well as to the last which may be illustrated by this instance By the force of the fifth Commandment we must honour the King if Saul be King honour him and if he be dead or displaced and David be King then honour King David To neither of 1 Pet. 2. 1◠them the Commandment is levell'd directly but successively and so the Command is consequentially accommodated to both So Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy Whilst the seventh day was a day of Rest the Jews were bound to sanctifie that day if that day be changed and another succeed if the first day be placed in its room we are as much bound to sanctifie that day all this by the force of the fourth Commandment for as the change of the person takes not away Hacratione nos quoque praeecptum hoc servamus dum sanctificamus diem dominicum quia scil est dies quietis nobis sicut judaeis fuit dies septimus Zanch. the precept of honouring the King so the change of the day makes not void the Commandment for the Sabbath And thus we Christians in keeping holy the Lords day keep the Sabbath as much as ever the Jews did the Lords day being a day of holy rest to us as the seventh day Sabbath was to them Moreover let us a little further consider that in the first giving of the Law upon Mount Sinai in thunder flames and lightning the Sabbath is wholly enforced from the work of Creation and Gods example in resting from that stupendious work but in the repetition and the second giving of this Law by the hand of Moses a typical Mediatour Exod. 20. 8 9 10 11. Deut. 5. 14 15. The reason from the Creation is quite left out And the Sabbath is altogether enforced from a type of Deut. 5. 14 15. our Redemption viz. The deliverance of the people of Israel from their Aegyptian bondage for so saith the Text Deut. 5. 15. Remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Aegypt and the Lord brought thee thence by a mighty hand therefore he commanded thee
are forced to fly to a miserable distinction at the best that the fourth Precept is partly moral and partly ceremonial for the substance of the command is that a seventh day be consecrated to divine worship which if the day mentioned in the command be ceremonial then the whole precept is so And therefore to disintangle our souls from these intricacies of errour and absurdity we must conclude that a seventh day in proportion and not the seventh day in order is the substance and equity of the fourth Commandment and so the practice of the Church in all ages which is the best interpreter of this command hath fully shewn and declared The fourth Commandment then enjoyns one day in seven to be weekly observed and this is the reason and the substance of it Now the old seventh day which was the Jews Sabbath being antiquated and discharged what day remains for the Christian Sabbath for the Disciples of Christ to meet upon for holy and divine worship Quest Here the answer is ready It is the first day of the week the blessed day of our adored and admired Saviors Resurrection Answ But still the Query will be By what Authority is this day made the Christian Sabbath To which it is answered Not by Ecclesiastical Authority And Mr. Perkins gives us the reason The Church saith he hath no power to ordain a Sabbath or to change the present Sabbath into any other day in the week as to Tuesday Wednesday c. for time is the Lords and the disposing thereof in his hands therefore Christ saith to his Disciples it is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath kept in his own hands Now if God hath the disposing of times in his hands then it belongeth not to the Church to dispose them And it may be hence Acts 1. 7. gathered if that which is less belong not to the Church then that which is more doth not But the knowledge of times and seasons which God hath in his power belongs not to the Church much less the disposing of times and seasons I may add and far less the appointing of a weekly Sabbath And thus the Reverend and worthy Peâ—kâ—ns And indeed to sublimate Church Authority so far what is it but to put man into Gods chair And to make him King of the Church and so take the Scepter out of Christs hand It is a worthy saying of Bishop Lake The Church hath received the Lords day not ordained it not to be liberae observationis of free observation as if man might at pleasure accept or refuse it but it is to be perpetually observed to the worlds end For as God only hath power to apportion his time so he only hath power to set out a day for his portion he is the Lord of the Sabbath the work of the day is the ground of the hallowing of the day and therefore Mark 2. 28. as no man can translate the work so no man can translate the day and this is an undoubted rule in Theology And thus this Learned Person hath both asserted the Divine Authority of the Lords day and given us good reason for it Man therefore being impotent and incapable to lay the foundation of a weekly Sabbath by some glorious work especially equivalent to the work of Creation or Redemption let him never presumptuously pretend to the appointment or institution of it Let us a little reason this case We read there is one who is Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. Now in reason who shall appoint this day but he who is Lord of it And considering Mark 2. 28. it is his holy day and it is expresly said Psal 118. 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made the whole Isa 58. â—3 stream of Interpreters expounding this text of the Lords day So then the day is of the Lords making and not of mans making and moreover there can be no cause why man should desire such a liberty for it is much to be feared if there were twenty dayes in the weak there would be twenty differences every one every Church at least would choose its own day and admire the issue of its own institution What jars and digladiations would this bring into the Church of Christ how would this tear Christs seamless coat in pieces The dissentions between the Eastern and the Western Churches about the observation of Easter day are not forgotten when Victor Bishop of Rome was ready Dr. Twisse treat on the Sab. pag. 141 to draw the Sword of Excommunication Indeed the appointing of a day for weekly worship and divine communion is a task too great for weak and unstable Man and can be only the product of an infallible spirit As Dr. Twisse happily and closely argues Christ calls himself Lord of the Sabbath and as he constituted it so none but he can abrogate it and place another in the room of it And in the Apostles dayes the first day of the week was set apart for the Christians Sabbath which could not be but by the joynt consent of the Apostles And how strange is it that the Church for 1500 years should never offer to alter it no not in the least if so be such power and liberty was put into their hands as to ordain and Praetereà generalis omnium ecclesiarum consensus in hac fessivitate divinam ejus authâ—ritatâ—m â—vinciâ— et observandum est quòd in aliis observationibus ab Apostolis non receptis sed à posterà ecclesià ad tempus observatis ecclesiae à se invicem discesserunt veluti in Festo Paschatis in jejuniâ—s observandis Ita sine dubio in Dominiâ—â— celebrandâ contigisseâ— si divinâ authoritate per Apostolos acceptâ ejus observatio apud Christianos non constitua fuisset appoint it Among us nothing more usual then for one Parliament to unravel and disanul what another hath done and enacted as being unsatisfied in the thing it self or else to shew their own plenipotentiariness And no doubt had the Church been fledged with this power to ordain a Sabbath for the Church of Christ in some age or another they would have given us a cast of this power and would have attempted to pluck up a plant of their own planting and would have inoculated the Sabbath into the stock of some other day Darkness and Division there hath been enough in the Church to quarrel with institutions and appointments of former times But the perpetual silence of the Church in this particular infallibly shews the Divine right of the Lords day And the Churches are so hush because they dare not attempt such a piacular enterprise as to rase the foundation of a divine institution And in case they should put in practice such a pretended liberty what inconvemences would fall out to be bewailed with tears of bloud for this liberty must be equal in every Church and so our English Church might institute the Monday
the French Church the Tuesday the Belgick Church the Wednessday the Germans might ordain the â—â—ursday the Danes the Friday and other Churches might keep the present day to be the Lords day And so so many Churches so many Sabbaths and what intâ—llerable scandal would this procure to the Church of Christ and what feuds would it disseminate among Christians Nay how would this confusion strike the Christian profession under the fifth rib and give it its mortal wound This Ecclesiastick power and liberty would likewise open a way to revive and reduce the Jewish Sabbath Dies dominicus nomen suum adeptus fuit propter dominicae resurrectionis memoriam ad finem usque mundi celebrandum Muscul or the solemn day of the Turks which is every Fryday nay we know not with what Heathens we might concur in their weekly solemnity And when the Pagans shall well espy our dissentions how much we disagree about our Sabbath this may re-inforce their detestation both of us and our Religion Now if the Church had power to ordain the Sabbath they have likewise power to alter and change it which we see may be the womb of irreparable mischiefs Is it not then far more rational and convictive for the prevention of those miserable disorders to take the Sabbath as marked out by God himself the institution of Christ by his Apostles which is now the first day of the week a day founded and bottomed on Christs glorious Resurrection And thus the Church of Christ his little but precious flock may keep the Luke 12. 32. Vnity of the spirit in the bond of Peace No doubt then the Eph. 4. 3. Lords day is of Divine not Ecclesiastical Authority otherwise Rom. 4. 25. mens spirits would never have been so over-awed and their hands tied from presumptuous undertakings The truth is our Christian Sabbath must be built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ by his Resurrection being the chief corner stone And because nothing can fall out in the world comparable to the Resurrection of Christ in glory and power therefore no day can be set up like unto this neither can it be changed into any other The like cause can never be offered to change this day which at first occasioned the choice of it and therefore it must remain untill the end of all things And they who ever they be who go about to raze this day must first pick out Christs mark which he hath wrought into it by the work of Redemption and so blot out the testimony of the four Evangelists concerning Christs Resurrection on the first day of the week the happy Basis of our Sabbath Moreover the observation of the Lords day being fresh and frequent in the Apostles dayes they being yet alive and excercising a superintendency over the Church who should Stab Apostolis adhuc in vâ—vis dies dominicus observatus fuit meritò illorum ordinationi ascribendus est Aut enim per ipsos eorum authoritatem aut per alios ecclesiae doctores sine illorum consensu institutus erat quorum posterius est valde absurdum insulâ—um non suit ecclesiae Apostolis leges praescribere interpose to ordain this holy day of worship but themselves If any other Governors of the Church they did it either with the consent of the Apostles and then their Authority was subordinate and so swallowed up in the power Apostolical For the Apostles were the Supream guides of the Church and had the ordering of the affairs of Christs flock the care of the Churches was in the first place committed to them 2 Cor. 11. 28. Or else this Committee of Church Governors who they were where they met or what they did could never yet be discovered did appoint the Christian Sabbath against the consent of the Apostles and surely then their presumption would have been taxed in holy writ for a perpetual reproach of the thing or else they had fallen under the Pens of Ecclesiastical Historians of all which ne quis quidem not any thing appears to the most critical Observator in their most curious searches and inquisitions But it can never be imagined any should dare to impose a day of their own invention upon the Church the Apostles those infallible Spirits being yet in the land 1 Cor. 2. 16. of the living Did the Church appoint the Christian Sabbath let her be called the Lady of it and so Christ will lose his title of Si beati Apostoli ex authoritate sibi à Châ—isto delegatâ Dominicum non instituissent sed ejus observationem liberam reliquissâ—nt tum meritò diceremus ecclesiam ipsam Lord of it Mark 2. 28. which as Paraeus observes is one argument of Christs Divinity for none can be Lord of the Sabbath but he who appointed it and he whose Sabbath it is and surely such an attempt can hardly be excused of the most daring Sacriledge to rob God not of his Tythes but of his Titles and so put Christs Armes into their Scutcheons this indeed savours too much of arrogancy and it cannot be fastned on the Flock of Christ who hears his voyce and follows the accents of it And how our Sabbath should be the Lords day and yet of humane institution is such a knot I know not how to untye and am not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod tamen praeclarum testimonium est divinitatis Christi quòd ipse per Apostolos suos diem dominicum instituit Par. over-hopeful to see the Riddle unfolded by any other That the Church should give the Sabbath a being and the Lord should give it a name is such a partage I think few will own Seyrus the Casuist hath laid down a good Rule viz. The Church can abolish holy days because she determines them and custom prevails much among men but the sanctification of a day is onely from a Divine Law Let the Church then move in its own sphere and follow the letter of its Commission but to set apart a Sabbath for the World let it not avouch any such Authority this is for the Spouse Cant. 5. 4. of Christ to disturb and awaken her beloved If the Church have any such priviledge as to appoint a Sabbath for Mankind let her shew her Charter and Commission out of the Old or New Testament But it is to be supposed she can shew none sufficient to authorize her for this transcendent act to determine the solemn and sufficient Nemo est sabbati dominus nisi qui sabbatum instituit cujus sabbatum est Par. time of Gods solemn and ordinary worship Could she have brought forth her Credentials the world should not have been kept in the dark so long and if she cannot it is not so easie to impose upon mens belief all Christians are not acted by an implicite faith nor will they lean too hard upon Ecclesiastical Authority and submit because Cant. 2 7. they say so a
likewise of this day is of no less excellency then the Fathers blessing of the seventh day Nay how many wayes did Jesus Christ bless his own day By his Glorious Resurrectiâ—n when the Sun of Righteousness diâ— riâ—e wiâ—h healing in his wings to visit and make Mal. 4. 2. Rom. 13. 12. happy the world and to make it day among the Sons of Men. By his several apparitions on this day when Christ did exhilarate and revive his sadned and disconsolatâ— Disciples St. Aug. de Câ—vit dei lib. 22. cap. 30. with the bright intervals of his pellucid and salvifical presence But of this more hereafter By his heavenly instructions on this day Luke 24. 25. when as Elijah now he was going to heaven he dropt his Mantle and shewed his Disciples his mind by revelation 2 Kings 2. 13. before he shewed them his face in glory By illuminating the minds and opening the understandings ings of his Disciples more eminently on this day Luke 24. John 20. 22. John 20. 28. Rev. 22. 16. 45. On this day not only the morning star arose in the World of inhabitants but in the hearts of the Disciples and he opened not only the curtains of the grave but of the minds of his Apostles by his redoubted and omnipotent operation By breathing the Holy Ghost upon his Disciples John 20. 22. as on this day When Christ did that by his breath which the Minister cannot do by his Zeal the Scholar by his Art the Friend by his love nay Nature it self by its force Aug. Serm. 15. de verb. Apost viz. inspire the heart with holy principles and the head with holy knowledge and spiritual understanding By the installation of his Apostles into their supream jurisdiction giving them power to bind and to loose in heaven and in earth John 20. 21 22 23. On this day the Apostles received not their Miter but their Mission and the emblem of their dignity was no ceremonial vesture but a supereminent power All which blessings Christ scattered on this solemne day our Christian Sabbath and on this day as an essay of converting power Christ by the Ministry of Peter turned three thousand to his own Divine self Now all these blessings which Christ heaped on this day Acts. 2. 41. what are they but so many acts of consecration They are only the pouring out of the oyl to anoint it to be far above its fellows and to be the Christians solemn and weekly festival And thus Ignatius calls our Sabbath the Highest and Psal 45. 7. Queen of dayes The argument then is very forcible à pari if the Fathers blessing a day made it a Sabbath to the world before and in the times of the Law then the Sons blessing a day must needs make it a Sabbath to the world in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. John 5. 23. times of the Gospel And this is the more to be taken notice of because Christ saith expresly John 5. 23. That all men shall honour the Son even as they honour the Father Reas 3 Christs Faithfulness in his Church proclaims him the institutor of his own day God the Father when he had ordained Expendendum est quod non solùm ritus et ceremonias populo suo dedit deus quibus ad fidem charitatem gratiarum actionem observantiam dei imbuerentur sed et certa tempora praescripsit in quibus vigore legis praescriptas Ceremonias exercerent Haud permisit illis libertatem ut ferias quas et quando vellent pro suo libero arbitrio figerent out refigerent mutarent tollerent multiplicarent minuorent sed ferias servandas tradid it ex quibus est Sabbati sanctificatio Muscul his worship leaves it not to Moses nor to the people of Israel to appoint a set and solemn day for it but he himself first ordains it in paradise Gen. 2. 3. and then revives and renews it on Mount Sinai Exod. 20. 8. Nay when the Idolaters among the people of Israel did invent a worship they who invented it instituted a day for it Exod. 32. 5. Jeroboam when he devised a worship he likewise ordained a day for it 1 Kings 12. 32 33. So Nebuchadnezzar when he set up an Idol and appointed a worship for it he set apart a day for the performance of this worship Dan. 3. 2. The miscreant Prophet Mahomet as he gave laws to his Proselytes and prescribed a form of worship so he himself instituted his solemn day viz. Every Fryday And he did not leave it to the arbitrary will and pleasure of his worshippers to ordain or solemnize what day they pleased Therefore from all this we may conclude unless Christ should fall short of the example of his Father Nay of the very Idolaters he must be the institutor of his own day for it cannot be proved that at any time or in any age that any publick worship was ever invented to be observed but the Author and institutor of it was also the institutor of the day for that worship not leaving it to others will to appoint the same for him Now Christ is the great Law-giver of his Church the glorious founder of Gospel-worship the Sacraments were ordained by him Prayers must be made in his name Discipline is of his institution the Ministry of his calling and sending and shall our blessed Mediator be only excluded from the appointment of a day for weekly Mark 16. 16. Luke 22. 19 20. John 20. 22. Mat. 21. 22. James 4. 12. Mat. 28. 19. Mat. 26. 26. John 14. 15. Mat. 18. 18. Rom. 1. 1. Cant. 2. 16. Hâ—g 2. 7. Rev. 15. 3. Eph. 1. 22. Mat. 18. 20. Psal 89. 7. Heb. 12. 2. and solemn worship Shall that cursed caitiff Mahomet as was hinted constitute and appoint a weekly day for his worshippers to observe to himself and read that system of Vanities that miscellany of lying inventions the Alchoran and shall not our beloved the desire of Nations the King and Soveraign of his people the Head of his Church not only influential but authoritative shall not he be invested with a power to set apart a weekly Sabbath for his people wherein they may meet in his name and assemble in his fear and congregate to hear his glorious Gospel and to participate of those blessings which attend his salvifical presence Or did Christ forget his main import when he ascended to his Father his approaching joy swallowing up his thoughts of and care for his poor Church which he left behind Surely we must make Christ the institutor of his own blessed day or inveniencies too many will arise which no salves will be able to smoother or suppress Should Christ have left it to his Church to appoint a day what end would be of the discord and disagreements which unavoidably follow When should the whole Church meet to enact such a constitution Or shall one part of the Church being as is
the Lords day saith he which of the whole week is the first let the whole mind of Christians be taken up and occupied in the service of God let them know there is a great difference between times of prayers and times of pleasures and therefore avoiding all Jewish impiety and devilish Paganism let them be wholly implied in the duties of the day Thus that magnanimous and judicious Emperour And it is very observable Justinian doth not onely enjoyn the observance but takes for granted the divine institution of our christian Sabbath as Charles the Great before him And one thing more is most observable That these Emperours who took most care of the Lords Day and established it by their Authority they were most sound in their judgments most successful in their atchievements most eminent in their persons and most famous in their esteem throughout the world indeed they were the greatest Ornaments of the Imperial Throne as Constantine the Great conquered the Pagan and Charles the Great conquered the Martial World and Religion spake them both truly the Great So Ludovicus Pius was a Pattern of Patience and Justinian an example of advised wisdome But I shall not clog the Reader lest a Surfeit take away the taste of those sweets which have been spread before him Nay our Christian Sabbath hath not onely been honoured and established by Divine Canon and Civil Law but likewise by Common Law and here I shall confine my self to our own Nation King Alured about the year 900 did publickly King Alured prohibit all marketting on the Lords Day as all other work whatsoever and laid severe Penalties on the transgressors of this Proclamation Canutus went a little further King Canutus and forbad not onely Markettings but Courts or publick Meetings and executions of Malefactors as also hunting and all kind of secular imployments But to draw nearer to K. Edward the sixth our times King Edward the sixth our English Josiah Enacted in Parliament For as much as men be not at all times so mindful to laud and praise God so ready to resort to hear Gods word and to come to the holy Communion as their bounden duty doth require therefore it hath been wholsomly provided that there should be certain days appointed wherein Christians should cease from all kind of labour and apply themselves wholly and onely unto the aforesaid holy works properly pertaining to true Religion Be it therefore Enacted c. And so the King and his great Council go on to establish Sabbath-observation by a Law Queen Elizabeth that Renowned Q. Elizabeth Princess initiates and begins her Reigne with a severe Injunction for the holy observation of the Lords Day Let us take a taste of her Langague All the Queens faithful Subjects shall from henceforth celebrate and keep their holy day according to Gods holy will and pleasure that is in hearing the word read and taught in private and publick prayers in acknowledgment of their offences and the amendment of the same in often receiving the Communion of the body and blood of Christ using all soberness and godly conversation Thus this happy Princess laid the foundation of her future prosperous Reign in that which is better then Saphires The like was decreed in Parliament the same year when this worthy Queen made good her Motto Semper eadem Always the same joyning heartily with her great Council in restraining the prophanation and promoting the sanctification of Gods holy and blessed Day And her Successor King James over-hears the Eccho and K. James takes it at the rebound and expresses his zeal for the Lords Day in this Royal Proclamation Whereas I have been informed that there hath been in former times a great neglect in keeping the Sabbath-day therefore for the better observing of it and for avoiding all impious prophanation of it I straightly charge and command that no Bear-baitings Interludes Common Plays or other like disordered Exercises or Pastimes be frequented kept or used at any time hereafter on the Sabbath-day And thus King James begins his Reign and layes his first step to the English Throne not in polished Maâ—hle but in pious devotion And King Charles the first following the steps of his Father was pleased in his first Parliament to Enact a Law K. Charles the first promoting Sabbath-observation the tenour of the Law runs thus That from henceforth there should be no Meetings Assemblies or concourse of people out of the Parishes on the Lords Day for any Sports or Pastimes whatsoever And in this Law it is taken care that the High-ways should not be frequented by the Traveller nor the Shop visited by the Labourer but there must be a cessation of all unnecessaries and seculars to give way to more sublime and to use Chrysostoms phrase and spiritual observations Thus the English Statute-book as well as Justinians Code proclaims the honour of the Lords Day Nor is our Christian Sabbath honoured and established onely by the Statutes of the Realm but by the Constitutions and Canons of several Councils that Church and State may both cry out Thus shall it be done to the day which the Esth 6. 11. The Councils of Carthâ—ge Arragon Orleance Mascon Angiers Collen Friuli Aken Rome Petricow Eliberis Laodicea c. All confirming and establishing the Lords day and Enacting Canons for the due observation of it To which may be added Concil Agath Can. 47. Concil Aurelian Can. 27. Concil Paris Can. 50. Concil Rhemens Can. 43. Concil Antisidor Can. 16. Concil Tral lan Can. 19. Concil Constantinop Can. 8. Lord hath honoured The Council of Carthage decreed to petition the Emperour That there might be no Shews or any sinful Vanities on the Lords Day The Council of Arragon prohibits by Canon All Suits of Law and such litigious Controversies on the Lords Day The Council of Orleance Prohibited all servile works on the Lords Day The Council of Mascon decreed That the Lords Day should be kept holy for it is the day of our new Birth insinuated unto us under the shadow of the seventh-day Sabbath in the times of the Law and therefore the people must go to Church on that day and there pour out their Souls in tears and prayers and celebrate the day with one accord and offer unto God their free and voluntary service exercising themselves in Hymns and singing praises to God being intent thereon in mind and body In the Council of Angiers it was decreed That no Tradesman should follow his Calling on the Lords Day The Council of Collen decreed That the people should be diligently admonished why the Lords Day which hath been famous in the Church from the Apostles time was instituted that all might equally come together to hear the word of the Lord to receive the Sacraments to apply their minds to God alone and this day to be spent onely in Prayers and Hymns in Psalms and spiritual Songs The Council of Friuli decreed That all Christians should with all
reverence and devotion honour the Lords Day and abstain from all carnal actions and all earthly labours and go to the publick Assemblies devoutly The Council of Aken which was held 800 years ago Forbids all Marriages on the Lords Day as being too often introductive of unseemly vanities most improper for that holy day In a Council at Rome it was decreed That no Market should be kept on the Lords Day no sentence should be past though the offence of the Malefactor should require it In a Council at Coy it was decreed That men should do no servile work nor take any journey on this day At a Council in Petricow it was decreed That Tavern-meetings Dice Cards and such like pastimes should be abandoned on this Holy day The Council of Eliberis decreed If any man inhabiting the City come not to Church for three Lords days together let him to kept so long from the Sacrament that he may well seem corrected for it And the famous Council of Laodicea decreed That Christians ought not to Judaize and to rest from work on the Jewish Sabbath but prefer the Lords day before it and rest thereon from labour If any be found to Judaize let him be Anathema And thus we may say with the wise man Prov. 11. 14. In the multitude of Counsellors there is safety the Governors of the Church in their grave and solemn Conventions have in all ages remembred to establish the honour and Holy observation of the Lords day The Lords day hath met with acceptance and veneration in all ages of the Church In the Primitive times it was universally Ignat. Epist ad Magnes 4. Iren. l. 4. c 19 20. Tertul. Apol. c. 39. Orig. contra celsum Ambros Serm. 62. August tract 5. in Joan. Euseb eccles Hist l 4. c. 23. Hieron Epist ad Eustochium Cyril in Joan. l. 12. c. 58. Greg. l. 11. Epist 3. Justin Mart. Apolog. 2. embraced owned and observed And Ignatius Justin Martyr Irenaeus Origen Tertullian Basil Athanasius Chrysostom Hierome Ambrose and Augustine c. were but the trumpets of its praise These famous lights in the best dayes of the Church liberally contributed to the glory of the Lords day and cast in freely to the treasury of its commendation and observance And these Orthodoxal Fathers both Greek and Latin do with one mouth testifie concerning the Christian Sabbath 1. The Original thereof which they say was first established by Christs own blessed and inspired Apostles 2. The cause and occasion of this day In memory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord who rose as upon this day and triumphed over death and hell 3. They bear honourable testimony exhibit general approbation and give notice of their continual practice in the sanctifying of the Lords day in their several times and ages 4. They effectually established it by their practice preaching Athanas de circumcis Sabbat Chrysost Serm. 5 de Resur Felis f. 292. Vaulx Cath. c. 3. Ribera in Apoc Catech. Roman part 3. f. 319. Stella in Luc. Rhem. Test in Apoc. Eccii Enchyrid tit de sestis fol. 134. Hos confess fol. 300. and writings that the memory of it might never be lâ—st nor the prefixed time be changed or altered The Papists coming between the primitive and the later purity as a Nettle between two Roses as they kept the Letter of Gods word the matter of Baptism the Doctrine of the Trinity so they kept the time and doctrine of the Lords day And they did always acknowledge 1. That the Lords day was by the Apostles themselves established and some of them say Dominico jussu by the command of the Lord himself 2. That this was done by them in the memorial of the Lords resurrection 3. That those texts of Scripture Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. Rev. 1. 10. do manifestly confirm this day 4. That it is a day above all other dayes to be honoured and esteemed 5. That the observation thereof is pars cultus divini part of divine worship and so consequently jure divino of divine right All this the Papists have freely acknowledged although they are so subject to the epilepsie of errour and the spiritual falling-sickness nay although they are so byassed by interest their fundamental maxime and so closely chained to the Popes Chair But in this particular we will grant them infallibility Nay in the darkest times of the Church when the Sun of Abbas in cap. de feriis Aâ—gelus in verbo Feriae Sylvester in verbo Dominici Quaest 1. Et dicit hanc esse communem opinionem quod dies dominicus est jure divino Pisanella in verbo dominica truth shone most faintly and was behind the blackest cloud even then many School-men of note and eminency acknowledged the Divine right of the Lords day and gave in their plentiful attestations to that important truth And Sylvester one of them is bold to assert that this was the common opinion among them the Lords day was so venerable in the Church it could not be contemptible in the Schâ—â—lâ— Learning in the very worst times knew not how to become sacrilegious and to rob the Lords day of the honour of its diâ—ine original it knew not how in the very midst of the triumphs of Idolatry which was most rampant in the middle times of the Church to sink down the Lords day into An. Dom. 189. An. Dom. 822. an humane Ordinance And one thing is observable that those two famous Edicts of Charles the Great and his Son Ludovicus Pius concerning the holy observation of the Lords day were dated from those times when the Church of Christ was covered with the blackness of darkness and the Spouse had on her the thickest veil As for the times of Reformation these latter ages of the Melanct in Cateches Buâ—â—r de regno Christi Gallas in Exâ—d Jun. in â—enes Faius in Thes Zanch. in quartum praecept Chemnit harm Evangel Beza in Thâ— Geneven Piscat in observat in Gen 2 3. world have not blemished the glorious work of reformation with degrading the Lords day from its due just and Scriptural honour More then a Jury of Forraign Divines acquitting this blessed day from the mean original of an humane institution And if they shall be called in they are ready to avouch it Beza Junius Piseator Rolloche Chemnitius Walaeus Bucer Melancton Gallasius Viretus Amesus Peter Martyr Zanchius Pareus and Faius c. all concurring in their sentence That the Lords day was consecraâ—eâ—â—y the holy and infallible Apostles Nor are there deficient Divines of note of our own who give in the same verdict and joyn issue with the suffrages of those beyond the Seas what the eminent Perkins his opinion was in this cause hath already been suggested Let me now produce the testimony of the famous Mr. Joseph Meâ—e whose worth and learning was not of an ordinary sâ—â—ture and thus he expresseth him-himself I say therefore that the Christian as well as the Jew after
burnt offering and indeed what information could they receive from the slaying of a sacrifice Let not them O Christians who groped in the dark keep better Sabbaths then we who live in the Sun-shine Our means being greater our light brighter our Gospel beams stronger let our services on Gods blessed day be more sublime and accurate And it is observable our light sprung upon our Sabbath to bear stronger Maâ— 16. 2. Mat. 28. 1. witness against all deeds of darkness on that day O let us then pity the Jews incapacities and testifie to all the Natitions we live under the Gospel of Christ because we are so strict upon his own day As we are endowed with more knowledge so we are embraced with more love then the Jews were The love of God to mankind was never so fully revealed as in these latter times Heb. 3. 2. John 3. 16. And hereupon undoubtedly it is that our Saviour Prophetâ— docuerunt ut Prophetae i. e. ut homines futura de Christo et ecclesiâ dei praenunciantes et praevidentes obsâ—ura Jam verò in lege novâ Christus filius dei qui clarè vidit et penetravit omnem Patris sapientiam non docet sicut membra corpori et sic Prophetae Christo cedant professeth That from the time of John the Baptist the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent taketh it by force Mat. 11. 12. To such an height of devotion hath the love of God manifested in his Son inflamed his true Servants Indeed love is the genuine incentive to obedience now we have warmer love as well as clearer light then the Jews which doth strongly engage us to stricter Sabbaths then they were accustomed too They had Christ in a type we had him in truth they had him in a shadow we have him in substance they saw him afar off in a promise but we saw him bleeding on a Cross dying for our sins and rising again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. Rom. 8. 34. They saw Christ through the lattice and we with the window open they beheld him behind the cloud but we when the cloud was broken away And what is the inference Let this endearing love inspire us with gâ—eater zeal upon the Lords day that we may travel further in Heavens way on Apparuit dei potentia in creatioâ—â— dâ—i sapientia in reâ—um gâ—bernatione sed benignitas misericoâ—diae apparet in Christi humanitate Bern. that blessed season The love of a Father caused him to send down his Christ the love of a Christ caused him to lay down his life the love of the spirit causes him to bring home his work to a believing soul and this love of the Trinity should constrain every Christian to the holy observation of the Lords day When we understand how strictly sometimes the Jewish Church kept the Sabbath let the fire of love set us all in a flame and let the blushes of shame recruit our resolution concluding we have tasted deeper of the sweets of John 3. 16. John 10 17. Christs unspeakable love And if thou lovest Christ keep his Commandments John 14. 15. And among the rest the fâ—urth The Jews were tolerated in some things offensive which will not be permitted to us as in case of Polygamy so Jacob Gen. 29. 28. 1 Sam. 30. 5. â— Kings 11. 3. David Solomon holy and excellent men had their variety of wives and yet we read not of the thunder of a Ne quis adulteretur aut fornicetur Deus in remedium concupiscentiae instituit honorabile matrimonium illud cuivis amplecti licet Si eo relicto adulteretur quis aut fornicetur inexâ—usabilis sit ideòque à deo judicandus et damnandus Alap in Hebr. threat or the thunder-boult of a judgment falling upon them for that fact and practice There was something of a connivence God seemed as the Apostle speaks in the times of ignorance to wink at that unâ—â—stifiable procedure Acts 17. 30. But now in Gospel-times this plurality of wives incurs the penalty of the law of the land much more of the law of God and is a sin most scandalous and abominable well becoming the brutishness of a Turk or the barbarism of a Gentile Well then to come nearer to our purpose spots are sooner discerned in the garment of a Christian we have no shelter of connivence to fly unto if we break the law of marriage the Apostle tells us plainly Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Heb. 13. 4. And so in the law of the Sabbath we have no toleration to plead or connivence as a skirt to be thrown over the breaches of it If we Christians break the Sabbath we are arrested by divine wrath without any bail or mainprize nor can we expect any suspension of divine displeasure Indeed God will something bear with offences in the duskish time of the law but he will Mat. 10. 15. scourge those very sins with scorpions in the times of the glorious Gospel Our tie therefore is not only stronger but our Mark 6. 11. interest and reason is clearer to engage us to Sabbath-holiness It will be more tolerable for the people of Israel and Luk. 10. 12 14. the inhabitants of Judah in the day of judgment then for Christians who shall presume upon Sabbath-violation The Gospel is a constant alarm to holiness There is no profession of the Gospel without an abjuâ—ation of all sin and uncleanness 2 Tim. 2. 19. The Gospel adds weight to every sin sin under the Gospel is like Adams transgression which was acted in Paradise a place of pleasure and abundance of purity and undefiledness it is like the sin of the buyers and sellers in the Temple their sin was inhaunced by Rom. 13. 12. the place Gospel light and love adds Vinegar to the Gall John 3. 19. of every offence Greater then must be our breaches of Gods holy day our prophanation of it must be of a scarlet dye and Heb. 12. 14. of a crimson tincture the poor Jews had never the argument of a Gospel to urge Sabbath-obedience or to inhance Sabbath-guilt they were in the Night Rom. 13. 12. The Noxâ—â—â— teâ—pus ante Christâ—m plenum terebrâ— infidelitatis peccatorum sed dies est rempus evangelti quo sol justitiae lucis suae radios toto orbe diffundit Praesente jam Christo et luce evangelii in hoc die opera tenebrarum abjicere et honestè ambulare et Christianè vivere debemus Cypr. 2 Cor. 4. 4. Mal. 5. 15. Cant. 1. 7. day-spring from on high never visited them but our day shines bright upon us which clears up our way to sanctity and holiness Let not Christians then under a pure purifying Gospel under a Gospel â—hich will both discover and condemn every evil way under a Gospel which was indited by a holy Spirit which leads to a holy life which suits with a holy heart let not such brutifie
themselves and sensualize upon Gods holy day let them not waste that golden spot in trifling recreations let not them formalize and dissemble away the market-Market-day of their Souls surely their doom will be aggravated with all circumstances of horrour and amazement Fond Christians who idle away and unravel their precious Sabbaths see not the Witness behind the Curtain viz. the blessed and glorious Gospel which will come in against them to sharpen their sentence and condemnation we Christians cannot violate Sabbaths at so cheap a rate as others may more especially a poor benighted Jew who hath lost his way and is wandering to eternal perdition Let every Christian consider Christ makes his flocks to rest at noon The Jews never had those patterns of Sabbath-holiness as we Christians have had It is true God rested the seventh day after the finishing and accomplishment of the stupendous Gen 2. 3. work of the Creation and his Rest was both exemplary and preceptive to the world to keep that day as a day of holy rest But the great Jehovah was in Heaven above the eye of observation But now Jesus Christ the great Archetype of sanctity he was a visible Pattern of Sabbath-holiness John 5. 8. to us and let us trace our dear Redeemer in his Sabbatical actions and wherein they are imitable they are admirable Mat. 12. 13. we shall find our Beloved on that day either working Luke 14. 4 5 6 7. 8 9. his Cures or shewing his Miracles or breaking out into holy discourses or preaching abroad his heavenly doctrines Luke 6. 6. or pouring out his Soul in holy prayers something or other Luke 6. 12. like the Son of God he is doing on the day of God And so the holy Apostles those blessed Spirits as one calls them Those Pen-men of the Holy Ghost as all call them they were rarely exemplary in Sabbath-observation Not to mention how affectionately they grasped the opportunity of the Jews Christus utitur exemple ovis in soveam incidentus in die Sabbati post â—eâ—â—cta ea quae ad Sabbati ministerium et cultum pertinent Sabbath as a fit season to preach Jesus Christ and to throw their Net into many waters How did they manage the true Sabbath the Lords day now taking possession of its right in becoming the weekly Festival of the Church 1. They were most frugal of the time of it Paul preaches on this day till midnight Acts 20. 17. 2. They were most copious in the duties of it they preach they administer the Sacrament which undoubtedly was accompanied Chemnit with fervent and solemn prayer 3. They take care of the poor Acts 20. 7. And 4ly One of this Apostolical society is in high raptures 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. and sublime elevations on this day Nay the Apostle of the Gentiles acts charity to a miracle Acts 20. 10. thinking Revel 1. 10. nothing too great to add to the celebrity and honour of this holy day Now do the Jews tell you of a zealous Nehemiah who shut the Gates of Jerusalem the Evening before the Sabbath to keep God in and shut prophaneness out Nehem. 13. 17 18 19 20 21. we may reply a little to invert our Saviours speech A greater than Nehemiah is here one whose shoo-latchet that worthy man is not worthy to unloose to speak in the language of John the Baptist Mark 1. 7. We then having fairer Luke 11. 31. Copies it is no reason but we should mend our hand The Limner draws the Picture according to the person who sits and the more lovely the person is the more beautiful is the Picture How should we then keep the Sabbath holy who have the pattern of him who is the fairest of ten thousand Psal 45. 2. And how doth this upbraid their practice who make the Sabbath a day of sloth and idleness when the holy Apostle on the same day laboured in preaching of the Gospel Acts 20. 7. till midnight Let us then in the fear of the God of Jacob keep Sabbaths as we have Christ and his blessed Apostles for our ensamples We have more liberty and desirable freedom than the 1 Cor. 11. 1. Jews had in sanctifying the Sabbath their sanctification of that holy day consisted in a multitude of purifications washings and cleansings and in a number of Sacrifices and Oblations they had their burnt Offerings and their Num. 28. 9 10. Meat-offerings nay and their Drink-offerings and all these Sacerdâ—s singulis sabbatis lignum subjiâ—it ad nutriendum ignem in Altari Movebantur panes propositionis c. were doubled as was suggested before on the Sabbath-day their observation of the Sabbath was more toilsom and laborious they were imployed in more drudgery they were to look after their Flour and their Oyl killing of Beasts and such things which were of a more inferiour and carnal nature their duties on the Sabbath were clogged and burdened with more sweat and â—â—â—poral painfulness and were of a grosser alâ—oy The Priests among the Jews on a Sabbath Mat. 12. 5. were busied in cutting of word to feed the fire of the Altar that it might not go out and in preparing of bread to put upon the Table of Shewbread and to remove that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was there before All these Operations as Chemnitius calls them required the hand not the heart and were works of the lower form To all which may be added that the Jews Levit. 23. 6. besides their weekly Sabbath they had the Passeover the Levit. 23. 16. Feast of Pentecâ—st the Feast of Trumpets the Feast of Tabernacles Levit. 23. 24. the day of Attonement which was the tenth day of Levit. 23. 27. the seventh Moneth and these were all called Sabbaths Levit. 23. 34. Levit. 23. 24 32 36. And some of these Feasts and Solemnities Levit. 23. 8. were celebrated divers days together Levit. 23. 36. Now it is not so with us under the Gospel the Apostle Exod. 12. 3. hath eased us at once of all these legal Festivals 2 Col. 16. Exod. 23. 14. Let no man condemn you in respect of an holy day or of the new Gal. 4. 9 10. Moon or of the Sabbath days viz. Jewisn And so Gal. 4. 9 Non sunt damnandi christiani tanquam divinae legis transgressores out violatae conscientiae rei quòd non observant festa legis ceremonialis quicquid contra superstitiosè ogganniunt Pseudo Apostoli Daven 10. Ye observe days and months and times which are weak and beggerly rudiments All these Festivals are of no use to us but are fully cancelled and cashiered Thus God hath sweetned our Sabbath far above that of the Jews Prayers are our onely Offering Sighs our Incense Sacraments our Passeover we have no Drink-offering but to drink in truth in the hearing of the word we have no Meat-offering but to feed upon
and laid the foundation of a better world then this created universe this beautiful artifice of Divine Power Again in the Creation there was nothing to withstand but in the work of Redemption there was Justice against Mercy Wrath against Pity In the Creation God brought something 2 Cor. 5. 21. out of nothing but in the work of Redemption God Gal. 3. 13. brought one contrary out of another Good out of Evil Life out of Death an immortal Crown out of a shameful Cross Indeed the great discoveries of Wisdom Grace Power Justice Mercy were all seen in the glorious work of mans Redemption The Heavens are the work of Gods fingers Psal 8. 3. But Redemption is the work of his Arm Isa 53. 1. Isa 52. 9 10. So that if it shall be demanded wherein doth the work of Redemption excell the work of Creation it may be answered as the Apostle in another case much every Rom. 3. 2. way Once more let us put these two works in the scale and we shall find the work of Redemption to weigh down the work of Creation as Gold of all metals is the weightiest In Eph. 2. 4. John 3. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 9 10. Gal. 4. 4. Phil. 2. 6 7. the creation Adam was Head but in the work of Redemption Christ was the Head by the creation we have a temporal life by the work of Redemption we obtain eternal life In the creation Adam was espoused to Eve but in the redemption the poor soul is espoused to Jesus Christ By creation Non solùm de me sed de omni quoque quod factum est Scriptum est dixit et facta sunt At verò qui me tantùm et semet fecit in restituendo et dixit multa mira gessit et pertulit dura nec tantùm dura sed etiam et indigna Bern. de diligendo deo man enjoyed an earthly Paradise but by redemption we enjoy an heavenly Kingdom In the creation Gods wisdom and power was principally seen but in the work of redemption All his glorious attributes were seen in their greatest splendour In the creation man was produced out of nothing but by the work of redemption he is produced out of worse then nothing a state of enmity and opposition Rom. 8. 7. Thus the glory of the work of redemption shines with a brighter ray and glitters with a stronger beam then the work of creation And shall not this most glorious work of which our Sabbath is the weekly memorial enforce us to a more devout observation Let us consider we equally enjoy the benefit of the creation with the Jews but they nothing at all of the benefit of the redemption with us They are Strangers to the Covenant of grace and the common-weal of the true Israel Eph. 2. 12. Let us then see the beauties of free-grace in the glass of our redemption and let this put new life into us to walk closely with God upon his own day when we are remiss in the duties let us reflect upon the occasion of the day and let us remember that the conquering of Death the chaining of Satan the subduing of Sin the quenching of Divine Wrath the perfuming of the Grave these several branches made up that blessed work which calls upon us for the keeping holy of the Lords day And again if the Jews have observed their Sabbath strictly Christ came not to licentiate us and to enlarge our carnal and sensual liberty Christs people are a willing but Psal 11â— â—â— 2 Tit. 14. not a wanton people The Son hath made us free and so we are free indeed as Christ himself speaks John 8. 36. But this freedom is from burdens not from duties a freedom it is to Debitâ 〈◊〉 â—â—minicae obseâ—vatione 〈◊〉 minuitur quicquam Christiana libertas Non enim est libertas sed licentia Christina ut nos liberaâ—i putemus ab observatione illius praecepti è Decalogo Et experientia docet licentiam et rerum sacrarum non curantiam magis magisque invalescere ubi diei domâ—nicae ratio non habetur run the wayes of Gods commandments Psal 119. 24. That can be no christian freedom to indulge our ease to flatter our sense to please the flesh to pursue our sports to gratifie our fancy with dalliance and delight upon Gods holy day this kind of liberty Christ never died to purchase Christian liberty is quite another thing it is a liberty from ceremonial yokes and legal impositions Gal. 5. 1 2 A liberty of access to God to cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 6. A freedom it is from sins vassalage from Satans slavery from the worlds drudgery and lusts dominion and tyranny Christ did not die to make us free to sin but free from sin Tit. 2. 14. It is a harsh and injurious interpretation of Christs coming to suppose he came to make the broad way broader then before that before Christ came the people of God were tied to a strict observation of the Sabbath but since we have a latitude and liberty for sports and delights for ease and recreation on that blessed day and that now we are not so pinnion'd and shackl'd as in the times of the law This must needs be some loose construction of a carnal Gospeller who Ames is become Antinomian in the fourth Commandment Christian freedom is a dilatation and enlargedness of bea rt in holy Isa 61. 1. services when the soul can freely vent it self without contractedness Luke 4. 18. and drawing their praying breath with difficulty Gal. 5. 1 13. Sensualliberty is a priviledge which better becomes the Disciples James 1. 25. of Bacchus or Epicurus and well suits with a feast of Priapus Ruffinus pleads hard in his prescriptions for Sabbath-observation That we do not spend it carnally and in delights this is to act the Jew not the Christian And Die Sabbati nihil exomnibus mundi octibus oportet operari si ergo desiâ—â—â— ab omnibus socularibus nihil mundanum geras sed spiritualibus operibus vaces lectionibus divinis tractatibus aurem praebeas ut non respicias ad praesentia visibilia sed ad invisibilia futura haec est observatio sabbati christiani Origen in a passionate heat cryes out Let us lay aside the Jewish mode of keeping Sabbaths and let us observe them as Christians discarding all worldly acts and secular employments let us be conversant in spiritual works in reading the Scriptures in hearing the word not eying things present and visible but looking forward to things to come and invisible and this is the observation of a Sabbath which will become a Christian The Fathers of the primitive times could not bear with any carnal liberty on the Lords day well knowing how contrary it was to the mind of Christ Nor can it be supposed that it was any part of Christs purchase to procure us a freedom to handle a Bowl or
quam jus Domini the right of an indulgent Father then of an Authoritative Lord. Mans good and benefit is twisted into Gods Command as rich embroydery is put upon a piece of sine cloth This is a Precept not only prefaced with a memento but seconded with an appeal to mans reason and conscience Let us take a view of the force of this equity It is most equal that God should have one in seven to add somewhat to what hath been said already If God gives us six dayes shall we deny him one It is the confession of Mr. Brerewood Our adversary in this cause of the Sabbath That it is meet that Christians dedicate the Lords Day wholly to the Lord and to the honour of his name and that we should not be less devout in the celebration of the Lords day then the Jews in the celebration of their Sabbath because the obligation of our thankfulness is more then theirs Thus far our adversary pathetically exhorts us to keep Gods blessed day wholly and fully to himself Holy Greenham saith If God had given us one day for our selves and kept fix for himself it had been equity in him to command and duty in us to obey But now God hath kept but one for himself and that for our profit too to break this Commandment then when God hath shown such liberality it must needs be a stupendous sin It was a rational discourse of Joseph with his Mistriss Gen. 39. 9. My Master hath kept back nothing from me but thee because thou art his Wife and therefore how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God God hath kept no day in the week from us but only the first day because it is his Sabbath how then can we do this great wickedness to prophane his Sabbath and sin against God This amplified Adams guilt he was only forbidden one Tree in the Garden and he must eat of that and this will aggravate our sin we are only forbidden one day in the week and yet we must do our owne 2 Sam. 12. 4. work please our own corruptions and gratifie our flesh and Datur Sabbatum homini ut se segreget et quiescat propter dei gloriam Aben. Fzr. sense on that very day Nathans parable which he used to David 2 Sam. 12. 3 4. is rightly calculated for every one who prophanes Gods day Hath God only one day which he hath kept to himself and sanctified to his service and laid as it were in his bosome and shall men be so unworthy then when their hearts tempt them to vanity they must take the time of this one day to please and gratifie their own corrupt hearts when they are rich in time and have six days every week given them for themselves I may here take up that of the Apostle Rom. 8. 1. Shall we sin and continue in it because Grace abounds Gods bounty should encourage not dispirit our duties it should be a spur to holiness and not a gap to prophaneness Psal 119. 164. 2. And most equitable it is that Time being one of the most precious blessings on this side eternity a jewel of inestimable worth a golden stream dissolving and as it were continually running down by us out of one eternity into another yet too seldome taken notice of till it be quite passed by us and from us It is most just I say and meet that he who hath the dispensing of other things less precious and momentous should be the supreme Lord of our time especially Eccles 9. 12. when he takes so little to himself as one day in seven And our guilt must boyle up to a great heighth if we dash the eighth Commandment upon the fourth to break both in pieces and rob God of his little spot of time the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Homil 5. in Mat. day to waste it upon our lusts sloath or vanities It is a zealous and pathetical speech of the excellent Chrysostome What desperate folly is it saith he for people to bestow five or six dayes upon the affairs of the world and not to give one day to spiritual things Therefore let men be perswaded that at least they would set one day apart wholly to these things whatever they do on the week dayes one of the seven dayes must be set apart to our common Lord. Let us observe the Argument of this holy man not only Gods indulgence but our own dependance commands Sabbath-holiness God is the common Lord and shall we not consecrate one day in the week to his service to the great Jehovah in whom we live move and have our being Acts 17. 28. His time is not only in our hand but our times are in his hand Psal 31. 15. And if we abuse his time he can shorten ours And besides all our labours which are as the humming of a Bee or the fluttering of a Butterfly are not so valuable to take up six dayes as his sacred worship which is Psal 31. 15. not only our homage and tribute but our way to life and salvation to take up one day Gods honour and glory which is promoted on his own day by all devout and holy Christians is infinitely more considerable then all our worldly gains and petty interest which is carried on the other six dayes Bucer saith most truly and gravely He discovers himself a most deplorable despiser not only of his own salvation but of divine bounty and indulgence and not fit to Deploratum sanè iâ—se contemptorem demonstrat sicut salutis propâ—iae sic admirandae dei ergà nos beneficentiae ecque omnino indignum qui cum populo dei vivat qui non studet tum ipsum diem domino deo suo glorificando et providendae suae propriae saluti sanctificaro maximè quùm deus nostris negoâ—iis et operibus quibus praesentem vitam sussentemus sex dies concesserit live among Gods people who doth not study to spend one day in seven viz. the Lords day to the glory and honour of the Lord and to look after his own salvation especially seeing God hath given us six dayes for our labours and employments to sustain our selves in this present life This holy man thinks him unworthy of any station in the Church of God who hath so far sunk himself below the shadow of all reason and justice as not to take Gods grant in giving us six dayes for our selves and so to conscerate the seventh in holy duties and exercises to the glory of a bountifull and a gracious God And indeed the waste and prophanation of Gods day only one in seven would fill any pen with gall and turn the smoothest tongue into a sword such sacrilegious and unreasonable men who prophane this blessed day a day in a week would fill any face with blushes and any tract with sharpness Dr. Twisse observes that Gomarus and Rivolus two learned men though much differing from other Divines in
loose to carnal liberty on the Lords day the more loose his heart will be in all good duties the whole week following Let men neglect meditation repetition of Sermons holy conference and other private duties betakeing themselves after the publick worship is over to vain and worldly discourse or vainer pleasures they shall quickly find that the publick service is utterly lost and become unprofitable And on the contrary as Moses continued forty dayes with God on the Mount had his face shining with splendor and glory Exod. 34. 30. So he who shall this day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuag of God wholly converse with God not only in publick Ordinances as Moses in the tabernacle but likewise in private duties as Moses on the Mount shall find a sensible spiritual vigour and an unexpected strength to carry him through all the occasions of the whole week following and a kind of glorious lustre arising from the increase of holiness put upon him and this shall be visible to the eye and hearts of others Eccles 3. 1. He who keeps the Lords day with the most strict and and accurate observation shall find 1. Most blessing upon his labours 2. Most holiness in heart and life 3. Most comfort and joy in his own soul 4. Most sweetness in death 5. Most glory and rest in Heaven when there remains that Populo dei superest Sabbatismus i. e. requies dâ—i ad quam quotidiè sanctus vocatur Par. everlasting Sabbatism for all the people of God It is a good observation of a learned man That when the spirit cometh effectually to convince of sin usually one of the first sins which the eye of the enlightned conscience fixes upon is the neglect of the Lords day and conviction usually ending in conversion one of the first duties which the soul comes seriously to close withall is the strict observation of the Lords day and grace usually works this way and doth exceedingly dispose to this duty Young Converts will be full of meltings on Gods holy day And truly the holy observation of the Sabbath much speaks the temper of a Christian However the week fares as Judg. 12. 6. the Sabbath doth Good Sabbaths usher in good weeks and are the morning stars of an approaching day when we hear truth on the Sabbath digesting it by prayer and meditation when we put up strong cries to God with fervour and devotion when we enjoy Ordinances our spiritual meals on a Sabbath with appetite and satisfaction this will cast a chain upon our corrupt hearts and will be bellows to our future zeal wil supply us with holy meditations which will be as so many bright gleams and will put a heat upon our affections and make us every way act the Saint all the ensuing week As Queen Mary said when she lost Callais When I am dead open me and you shall find Callais written upon my heart So the Christian who hath been very serious on Gods day you shall find Sabbath written upon his heart all the following week The seent of a conscientious Sabbath is not easily lost nor is the warmth of it so speedily chilled souls drenched in Sabbath Ordinances like vessels seasoned with excellent liquors Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem Testa diu they long retain the taste The believer is disciplined upon a Sabbath and we do not easily forget our Education A Sermon kindly entertained on the Lords day will be faithfully improved on the week day Our best Christians were ever strictest on the Sabbath Those tasts of love we then sense and gust will abide and not lightly wear off these will lie upon the heart when the Sabbath is over Let us keep Sabbaths well we shall be better in our shops better in our worldly affairs better in our families better in our discourses better in our converses more righteous in our dealings more exemplary in our walkings more vigorous in our duties all the week following After a well passed Sabbath we shall more watch our hearts more keep our ground and withstand temptations and the deceipts of our Calling which happily Quaestus magnus est pietas quia opes supernaturales secum affert et amicitiam dei obtinet qui suis opes coelestes promittit praeparat are quilted into the very nature of it shall not so much tempt as exasperate and provoke us The whole week must be spent holy to prepare us the better for the Sabbath and the Sabbath must be spent hâ—ly the better to influence the week as the beginning with God on the morning of a Sabbath may influence the whole Sabbath so the beginning with God in the morning of the week viz. The Lords day may exceedingly influence and prosper the whole week He 2 Thes 2. 10. who on the Sabbath hath been much in the work of heaven cannot easily be much in the dross of earth or the dregs of sin on the time of the week Ordinances like clocks when they have struck leave a sound and a noise for a considerable time nor can a Sermon carefully heard be presently shaken out of the heart The word when received in the love thereof is fire in the bones Jer. 20. 9. and not heat in the face an inward warmth which is permanent and not only a colour which is transient The tasts the impressions the power and spirituality of a well-observed Sabbath cannot without much difficulty strong assaults of Satan powerful workings of a corrupt heart be disanulled and eradicated Hearts steeped in holy Ordinances will not soon lose their perfume It is very true our slight deportment in Ordinances makes them superficial and so soon slide off and they who pass over the Sabbath loosly will spend the week profligately they who spend it formally will spend the week vainly But a serious composure of spirit on Gods holy day will blow off the froth of the ensuing week Ignatius as hath been suggested calls the Lords day the Queen of dayes Regis ad exemplum totus componitur Oâ—bis and according to the example of the Queen inferiour and subordinate days will be composed The endeavour of every Christian should be that his practices in secret in his calling in his company on the week day should be answerable to the great priviledges he enjoyed and to the rich grace he received on the Lords day One well observes That Religion is just as the Sabbath and it decays or groweth as the Sabbath is esteemed it flourishes in a due Veneration of the Sabbath and it pines and consumes when the Sabbath is under neglect or contempt And Dr. Twisse takes notice That the conscionable observation of the Sabbath ever was is a principal means to draw us to spiritual rest from sin and to fit us for an eternal rest in glory In a word the Sabbath and the week are both embarqued in the same ship they both are safe or sink together if our souls
thrive upon a Sabbath by our holy deportments upon it and our careful improvements of it it will be seen in the week but if by our careless behaviour we grow lean upon the Sabbath like Pharaoh his lean Kine Gen. 41 20. in his Dream it prognosticates nothing less than a Famine of grace and happiness Arg. 3 We put on our best Attire upon a Sâ—â—bâ—th and why shâ—uld we not be in our best spiritual Dress Shall we deck our Bodies and neglect our Souls Shall we stand before God on his own day with Bodies dressed with all art and curiosity Ille Judaeus vere est qui talâ—â— est in abscâ—dito Qâ—i fidem â—bedâ—entiam praeâ—at Christo â— hâ—bet cirâ—â—â—cisionem câ—rdis convâ—rsâ—â—ne cordis ad Deum Par. but with Souls undressed and unprepared ruffled with worldly thoughts unwashed by repentance all things hâ—nging careless and loose by formality only painted over and dawbed with pretence and hypocrisie The fâ—rmaâ—ist on a Sabbath might correct himself by his Gaâ—â— and the exactness of his Attire Surely it is an high blemish to Religion to be curious in our fashion and to be careless in our devotion and to spend more time on a Sabbath to set the Dâ—â—ss â—â— curl the Hair and to fit the Garment than to inflame Devotion to compose the Heart and to trim the Lamp to meet with the Bridegroom of our Souls Shall not a piece of Eternity be as richly attired on the Lords day as a piece of dust and clay Why should not the Soul wear the Ornaments of Grace put on the Jewels of Faith and Zeal be 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. dressed up with holy thoughts with heavenly desires with spiritual aims with steddy resolutions for further increases of grace and sanctity as well as the sinking dying body a crumbling lump of earth be adorned with all the garish modes of art and bravery Nothing more uncouth that when the body is only the plain case of a pretious Soul that it should be decked on a Sabbath with all the setting forth of costly and lovely Ornament but the immortal Soul should want its trimming to make it look comely in the eyes of its Beloved when the Body is the fine cover of a deformed Soul what is this but to shovel dung into a rich Coffer or to put Pebbles into an Ebony Casket A serious Christian would more mind the trimming of the Lamp than Mat. 25. 7. the setting of the Dress or else the setting of the Dress should more mind him of the trimming of the Lamp Arg. 4 Let us consider what a rare priviledge it is to enjoy the Sabbath of the Lord To keep a Sabbath is not our work but our rest not our service but our liberty not our task Psal 42. 4. but our triumph The Sanctuary is the Souls Paradise and Psal 24. 4. Ordinances are the Tree of life in this Garden of Eden O Psal 84. 10. then let us not turn this grace into wantonness Kings do not spurn their Crowns nor use their Scepters to turn up Turffs in the field The Mariner makes not use of the Deck of his Ship to be a Stage to act on Thus Antipodes to reason and religion do prophane persons act when they slight over the momentous Sabbath of God shall God honour us with a Sabbath and shall we provoke him on a Sabbath Great Estates amplifie the prodigality of the Heir and make his sin more odious and shameful Our Sabbaths are our seasons of grace our spiritual Mart our Pisgah sight of Canaan our Term-time to follow our Suit for glory and eternity and to prophane and formalize away these acceptable days of life and salvation what is it but to throw Jewels upon Cùm omnibus diebus hâ—mo sese occupet in negotiis suis neâ—essariis die sabbati consentaneum est ut se segreget et quiescat propter Dei gloriam Aben Ezra the Dunghil and to disinherit the Soul of its primogeniture as if its concerns were not considerable and of little importance How can we do the work of Earth or Hell upon this heavenly day If we will be working Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2. 12. Our Sabbaths are mercy rich mercy costly mercy soul mercy the finest of the Wheat Let us then solemnly observe them and dextrously improve them remembring that he who had five talents gained five more Mat. 25. 20. The Viceroy whose trust is great and charge more honourable he is more active Quamquam fidelis servus minimè gloriatur tamen fidelitatem et diligentiam debitam Deo humilitèr commendat Par. Exod. 20. 7 8. and vigilant then every petty Officer whose Precincts are narrow and inconsiderable O that Christians would keep holy Gods blessed day What is it O devout Souls but a day-break of eternal brightness And let us not forget that as God will not hold him guiltless who takes his Name in vain so neither him who spends his day in vain Those surely are foolish Children who play by their Candle and those frantick Christians who frivolously pass over that holy day wherein they enter into the suburbs of the holy City and begin that work of praising pleasing and enjoying God which shall be the Employment of Eternity Arg. 5 In the holy keeping of the Sabbath there is praemium in opere a reward in the work What would the Lord have thee to do on a Sabbath but onely enjoy himself Our sweat on a Sabbath is spent only in hearing from God in the preaching of the word in flying to God in holy prayer and supplication or contemplating on God in devout meditation or feasting with God at his own Table so that in the whole management of a Sabbath there is more honour than burden more Opera sabbati sunt opera coeli profit than pain more delight than disgust The works of a Sabbath are the works of Heaven and the Angels are not weary nor the glorified Saints tired with singing Hallâ—lujahs On a Sabbath we feed on Manna and the fat things In nostrà enim Doâ—iniâ—â— die semper plâ—it dominâ—â— Maâ—na de coelo Coelestia namque sunt eloquia illa verbum lectum et populo praedicâ—tum Orig. of the Sanctuary we drink of the Brook in the way and of Wine on the Lees well refined Isa 25. 6. we carry Benjamins Sack with the Cup in the mouth of it Gen. 44. 2. we are spiritual Publicans and take custom of Heaven All which aggravates Sabbath-prophanation it would be strange to see a Lutanist who hath a rare Lute and who is dextrous in playing on the Instrument to spend his time in breaking the strings of his Lute What less doth the formal or prophane person do who enjoys the heavenly opportunity of a Sabbath and loses his good wind by sloth or neglect and slights over those rare duties which like Sampsons Lion Judg. 14. 18. are sweet in
are we in observation of other dayes If that storms of Providence drive us to a day of Humiliation we can with the Jews Zach. 7. 5. fast and mourn and reach Ahab in his deepest sorrows 1 Kings 21. 27. And if the smiles of Providence call us to a day of Purim Esth 9. 26. a festival of joy we can keep that day with spiritual rejoycing and gladness of heart Esth 9. 22. And we can delight our selves in the Lord. As Cambden reports of Queen Elizabeth when God delivered her and her Kingdom from the Caâ—bd Elizab. Spanish Armado her first work was to go to Pauls Church and there hear a Sermon of praise rejoycing greatly in the God of her and the Kingdomes salvation Now as one observes The Lords day is the proper feast of Christians our spiritual jubilee though moving in a swifter sphear and Mr. P. on the Romans shall dayes of the appointment of a state put us upon a more exact composure and find us more hearty in their observation then that special and blessed day which is the appointment of a God Or shall a passage of Providence the endurance of a loss or the gaining of a Victory or some other strok of Gods hand or smile of Gods face find us more serious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas more solemn more devout then the Resurrection of a Christ the new birth day of the world and the sole foundation of a Christians happiness Shall the deliverance from a Spanish Armado fill us with more spiritual delight in God then the deliverance from Heli and Destruction Had not Christ broke the chains of death we had everlastingly been kept in chains of darkness Our Lords day then glories in a more excellent occasion and why should it not be celebrated with a more serious Cotenae tenebrarum sunt 1 Conscientiae reatus 2. Aeternum puniendi decretum 3. Miserrima reproborum desperatio devotion One well observes That the Jews thought reverently of and acted zealously on their solemn though ceremonial festivals those bright appearances which were chased away by the rising of the Sun of Righteousness therefore to use the Apostles words a little inverted seeing all those other dayes of observation are and shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness upon our unalterable Sabbath whose lease expires not till the 2 Pet. 3 11. death of the Vniverse CHAP. LII A third Decad of Arguments promoting the same design viz. a due sanctification of the Lords day THat every wind may fill our sails in pursuance of this great duty I shall now turn my Arguments to another point of the Compass Arg. 1 Let us take notice of the relation which God hath to the Sabbath In the time of the law the Sabbath was called the Sabbath of the Lord Lev. 23. 3. And verily my Sabbath shall ye keep Exod. 31. 13. And in the times of the Gospel our Christian Sabbath is called the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. Now this happy interest which God hath in the Sabbath from the beginning of the world to this day is a cogent Argument for Mat. 22. 21. our severer observation of it We will keep safely the treasure Maluit deus dicere sabbatum dei tui est quà m sabbatum tuum est Hoc dicens significat omnem ejus diei respectum ad nominis ipsius sanctificationem aâ— fidem esse dirigen dum Muscul of a friend and why not keep devoutly the Sabbath of a God If our Sabbath be the Lords day let us render to Christ the things which are Christs Gerard observes That the Sabbath is the Lords Sabbath to shew us the manner of our sanctification of it viz. In the works of God those works which are required and prescribed by God And Musculus adds very pertinently God would rather call it his Sabbath then ours to intimate to us that all the respect of that day must be directed to the hallowing of his Name and to the acting of faith and trust in him It is very observable how chary God is of his Sabbath he puts it into the heart of the Decalogue that none might come at it to affront it and he stamps his Name upon it that none should make it common Do ye think we can play with the Crown of a King or sport with the Scepter of a Prince Dominus ille cujus est Sabbatum est deus tuus ergò in honorem et cultum ipsius sabbatum sanctificabis Ger. Greater boldness it is to formalize away the Lords day and to waste that time which is his peculiar treasure Our wildness often roves up and down the common of the week but if we break into the inclosure of the Sabbath we shall certainly be found trespassers and hazzard an immortal soul We must take heed that we make bold only with what is our own and not with Gods day for that is no more lawfull for us than for every common Israelite to enter into the holy Hag. 2. 8. of holies There are two things God is very tender of Lev. 23. 3. 1. His people they are the Apple of his eye Jer. 2. 3. 2. His Sabbath which is the reserve of his time And as those who shall devour his people shall offend so those who shall prophane his day shall commit sacriledge a sin of the deepest tincture The consideration then that our Sabbath is the Lords day should compose our spirits should flush our services and sublimate our performances on that blessed day Argum. 2 Let us take notice of that tittle which God hath put upon the Sabbath It is an holy Sabbath to the Lord Exod. 16. Exod. 31. 15. 23. And here that answer to Peter Acts 10. 15. is very Qui luxu deliciantes voluptatibus se dedunt ad sanctificationem sabbati non sunt idonei quia diem sanctum domini suis commâ—â—ulant voluptatibus Hieron pertinent What God hath called clean we must not look upon as common They who prophane the Sabbath would pick out the image and superscription of it which is a fruitless and destructive attempt A stamp of holiness amplifies every defilement The spirit is a holy spirit and therefore it must not be grieved Eph. 4. 30. The law is a holy law Rom. 7. 12. and therefore must not be violated Jesus Christ is the Holy one of God Psal 16. 10. and therefore he must not be wounded and crucified afresh Heb. 6. 6. The Priests garments were holy Exod. 31. 10. and therefore not to be Sanctificatio dei est quâ dies septimus post sex dierum opera statim ab iâ—itio est deputatus consecratuâ— sanctificatio hominis est diem septimum à deo quietâ— confeâ—ratuâ— pro sancto nabere religionis exercitâ—â—â— ac fidei sedulò incumbere Muscul worn by another person The vessels of the Sanctuary were holy and therefore not to be employed
a set-time for that purpose that the hurries being over man may sedately and composedly apply himself to the solemn worship of God And this is agreeing Certum ac definitum tempus statutum est quò ea commode obâ—re possimus Azor. and consonant to natural reason Doctor Field professeth That by the light of Nature it is known that one day in seven ought to be consecrated to Divine service How will this put Sabbath-prophanation into a scarlet nay into a crimson dye that we should sink below the light of Nature in the commission of it It is likewise very observable that God himself couples and joyns the command for the Sabbath with natural commands not only in the Decalogue but in the 26th Chapter of Leviticus Ye shall make you no Idols nor graven Images The first Ye shall keep my Sabbaths The second shewing us thus much that Nature is as much abased in the prophaning of the Sabbath as in the violation of any natural command And we may as well break the fifth or the sixth as the fourth Commandement the force of Nature being engraven upon them all Nay the observation of the Sabbath is so grateful to God and so necessary to man that the very ground had a Sabbath Levit. 25. 2 3 4. the very Land was to keep a Sabbath the words of the Text are these When you come into the Exod. 23. 11. Land which I give you then shall the Land keep a Sabbath to the Lord Levit. 25. 2. And shall the dead earth keep a Sabbath to the Lord and not living Christians In this one below Balaams Ass reproves us God in condemning Num 22. 28. Sabbath-breakers may make his appeal as sometimes he did Jer. 6. 19. Jer. 22. 29. To the very earth This surely must be a great sin when the ground we trample upon shall be a witness against us Vt brutis ac hominibus concederetur quies corporalis Brutis quidem propter homines hominibus autem propter cuhum divinum Ger. Nay the very Beasts had a Sabbath Exod. 20. 10. The Cattle was to rest on the Sabbath-day Now shall a Beast rest and man work on the blessed Sabbath Shall there be more obedience found in the Herds of the Stall than in the Professors of the Gospel Shall the Stable have more submissive Proselytes than the Sanctuary It is a good observation of Gerard That Rest was granted to man and beast upon the Sabbath to Beasts for Mans sake and to Man for worship sake that he may apply himself on that day to the service of the Legislator There are three considerable Reasons why God commanded the Beasts to rest upon the Sabbath-day Because the Beast required rest as well as man they could not live in continual painfulness they must have their altenate ease and refreshments as a learned man speaks Their flesh is not brass nor their bones iron no more than that of Job 6. 12. man tiresomness and languishing are incident to them as well as to man Because Beasts could not work without the assistance and will of man and so man must be taken off from Sabbath-sanctification Beasts cannot work of themselves without the conduct and guidance of man Now the working of a Beast is not so considerable as the keeping of a Sabbath which cannot be done if men follow their Plows or use their Beasts for labour on that day then that excuse would be reviled man could not come to Christ upon the Lords day he must use five yoke of Oxen and therefore pray have him excused Because God would inure man to pity and clemency that favouring his Beast he might learn mercy to man the Beast Dum jumentis quies conceditur à Deo nonne est ut homines misericordiae assuefierent Riv. must not work that God might put more bowels into man and that man might have more leisure for God Now the Psalmist saith Psal 32. 9. That we should not be like Horse or Mule which have no understanding But to disturb the Rest of a Sabbath by sinful or secular works is to be worse than the beast that perisheth Nay the very strangers among the Jews were to observe Advenae jubentur septimo die ab operibus seriari Ex eo patet quòd peregrini non suerunt coacti ad religionem Isâ—â—â—liticum suscipiendum tamâ—n ab ipsis requisitum fuit ut in externis divinae legi sese subjicerent quod suo modo etiam Christiano magistratui ad imitationem est propositum Ger. the Sabbath Exod. 20. 10. Doctor Twiss observes there was no burden imposed upon strangers besides the observation of the seven Precepts of Noah and therefore infers that the observation of the Sabbath was comprehended under one of them But this is naturally deducible none was to omit the observation of the Sabbath no not the heathen stranger And shall onely the Christian blot the Sabbath by his sins waste it by his sloth or disturb it by his secular works Onely the Christian to whom are committed the Oracles of God Gerard takes occasion from this part of the fourth Commandement to lay it as a charge upon Christian Magistrates to see that all observe the Sabbath and he saith That this clause in the Command is proposed for their imitation But how great will the condemnation of Sabbath-breakers be when the Instinct of Nature the Rest of the ground the Beasts of the field nay the very stranger shall all read them Lectures of Sabbath-sanctification Arg. 5 Let us cast our eye upon the practice of Heathens they thought it equitable that their consecrated days should be wholly and devoutly observed Macrobius brings in one Vetius thus resolving We truly that we may both honour Macrob. Saturnal lib. 1. cap. 7. the holy days and eschew also the slothful drousiness of Resting and may turn our leisure into employment we come together to spend the whole day in learning Fables to be conferred upon Now their learning Fables was the best they knew of devotion and the same Author asserts and says That the sacred things of the Romans are either Diurnal or Nocturnal those which are Diurnal are continued Macrob. Saturnal lib. 1. cap. 16. all along from the beginning of the Day until the middle of the Night And the Priests of the Heathens affirmed That their holy days were polluted if any work was done upon those solemn seasons besides it was not lawful for the King of the Sacrifices and the Flamins their Priests to see a work done on their holy days and therefore by a Crier it was proclaimed that no such thing should be done and he who neglected the Precept Vniversae gentes stativas serias universo populo communes rebus sacris obeundis consecratas habuerunt Leid Prof. was fined And Scaevola the Priest affirmed That the wilful Offendor shall have no expiation And Macrobius describes what works were lawful on their holy days viz. works of Piety and
20. Luke 24. 41. The day of 2 Sam. 23. 5. Christs rising from the dead was a day of joy and gladness Ille est primus dies in quo deus tenebras ut materiam cum mutasset mundum effecit quòd in codem die Jesus Christus conservator noster è mortuis excitatus est Just Mart. Psal 118. 24. No day like this since the Creation then our surety was released the Covenant and sure mercies of David fully ratified and confirmed our hope wonderfully revived heaven and eternal life plenteously assured These thoughts of Christs Resurrection might quicken our hearts and make them sparkle with life and affection It may be we never took the crown of this day into our hands to feel the weight of it and that makes our services â—â— flat and our thoughts to speak in Nazianzens phrase so chained to the ground upon this seraphical day And therefore Clemens Romanus argues sharply and pathetically What shall excuse us with Die dominico qui est dies resurrectionis Templum adite quid enim excusare poterit apud deum qui eo die ad audiendum non convenit c. Clem. Rom. God if we fill not up this blessed day with bearing the word with holy prayer with reading the Scriptures with singing the praises of the Lord and other duties seeing God makes all things by Christ and sent him into the world to die for sinners and raised him again as on this day Innocentius calls Christs Resurrection day the first day of our joy the bright lustre of heavens shine And Ambrose saith The Lords day is a day â—f joyes in the plural number to shew the Variety and the Increase of them Joy is the Shibboleth of this day the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spring-tide and the full Sea of this weekly Festival And Tertullian professeth That on this day we indulge our selves Plus gaudere debemus propter resurrectionem gloriosam quà m dolere propter passionem ignominiosam Bern. with holy joy The primitive Christians were wont when they saw one another to have this joyful salute The Lord is risen and the others ordinary answer was True the Lord is risen indeed we should not saith Bernard so much mourn at Christs igneminious passion as we should rejoyce at his glorious Resurrection And this day is not only sweetned with joyes but enriched with gain the death of Christ Haec est illa dies quae suâ magnitudine omnia beneficia obscurat Const Apost l. 7. c. 37. was the sowing of the Corn the raising of Christ was as the springing up of the Corn the benefits of Christs death are reaped in his Resurrection The death of Christ was as the casting of Joseph into the pit the selling him into Aegypt and putting him into prison But the raising of Christ was as the preferring of Joseph by which he comes into a capacity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to save his Family and so enrich all his Relations Clemens Romanus tells us This day is such a day of love such a day of gain that the greatness of those benefits we receive by this day ecclipse and obscure the shew and appearance of all other benefits Athanasius calls the Resurrection day The beginning of the New Creation And another learned tells us That Christs Resurrection was a great and an excellent Miracle and therefore it gave life and name to the Lords day Indeed Mans all is folded up in the triumphant success of this day Let us a little hearken to the good News that Christs Resurrection brought to the world and these Cords of love should fasten us to Holy duties and becoming carriages on the Lords day The Resurrection of Christ was the compleating of his work Indeed many fair lines were drawn before in the great work Josephus iâ— tertium usque annum in 〈◊〉 deteâ—tus sâ—â—t posteà tamen libeâ—tus est Egypti constitutus est dominus Et salvator noster ad tertium usque diem detentus est in carcere sepulchri tum resurrexit sanctorum dominus dominus dominantium Ger. of Mans Redemption every tear which dropt from Christs eye every drop of bloody sweat which fell from his sacred body contributed to our salvation but when Christ rose again then he put the last hand to the beautiful frame of this glorious work And therefore he is said then to be perfected Luk. 13. 32. when Christ breath'd out his last he cried out consummatum est It is finished John 19. 30. But that had relation to his sufferings but when he rose again he was perfected in relation to his people he then became a perfect Redeemer Christ on his resurrection-day folded up his bottom and had nothing left to do but to ascend to his Father and to take his place at his right hand and to give him an account that the glorious work of mans Redemption was now fully finished Christs dying-day was the perfection of his love but his rising-day was the perfection of his work when he sprang from the Grave he threw off the cloths of his own mortality and of our sin Thus the Sun works through the Cloud and makes its own way till it is freed from that dark incumbrance and appears to the World in its sweetest brightness And so our Saviour after a short sleep in the tenacious dust awakes and comes as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber to speak a few words to his Psal 19. 5. Disciples and to take witness of his resurrection and so to go up to his Father ever to make intercession for us And shall Christ compleat his work upon his resurrection-day Heb. 7. 25. our Christian Sabbath and shall we be defective in ours Shall he be perfected on that day and shall we be polluted Surely when we trifle and sin away our Sabbath we never think that on that day Christ put his last hand to the blessed work of our Redemption This will condemn careless Christians when they are so short and Christ so full on his Resurrection-day our blessed Sabbath The Resurrection of Christ was the Conquest of his and our Enemies On this day the seed of the woman did bruise the Gen. 3. 15. Promeruit in cruce Christus sed posteà peregit Zanch. Serpents head and Christ did triumph in his own person over Sin Death and Satan Upon the account of which the Apostle cries Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. On this day Christ spoiled principalities and powers and openly triumphed over them Col. 2. 15. Christ merited Victory by his passion Acts 10. 39 40. but he executed Victory by his rising from the Grave he died a Sufferer but he rose a Conquerour not onely Mat. 28. 18. arrayed with honour and immortality but richly invested Phil. 2. 9. with power and principality and then were the Keys of Eph. 4. 8 9. Death and Hell resigned up to him as the Trophies of his Revel 1. 18.
of his Resurrection when his power was most illustrious The Resurrection of Christ was unparallel'd Others indeed were raised from the grave So Lazarus John 12. 1. So Dorcas Acts 9. 40. And women received their dead raised to life again Heb. 11. 35. But all these retired to their Christus post quam resurrexit talem vitam amplius non vivit immò mori ampliùs non pâ—ssit Alap graves again their renewed life was only a short apparition which was quickly smoothered a little Candle set up after it had been put out which burned for a while and spent it self till it went out again But our Saviour as the Apostle speaks Rom. 6. 9. Being raised from the dead dyeth no more This Sun being risen sets no more nay it is no more inveloped in a Cloud but shines in a higher sphear in a more sublime Orb to eternity Christs Resurrection was not damped with a revocation nor did he fly back again to his empty tomb there to shelter himself till the general Resurrection Nay let us run a little higher the Resurrection of Christ was that glorious work above all others which the Scriptures mention to the Fathers honour Rom. Gal. 1. 1. 1. 4. Acts 2. 24 32. Acts 3. 26. Acts 4. 10. Acts 10. 40. This work it was by which Jesus Christ is made both Lord and Christ and is exalted to sit at the right hand of his Father This act of Resurrection advanced him to the throne who before was stigmatized with the Cross and changed him from a prisoner to be a Prince and Saviour Acts 3. 31. Acts 10. 41. Nay to be the Prince of life Acts 3. 15. And nothing but glory and honour are the Attendants of his Throne To Acts 2. 32. publish this glorious act Christ principally did choose his Disciples Acts 10. 41. Acts 2. 32. Christs Resurrection Acts 2. 25. was the Motto of the Apostles embassie and the emphasis of their Errand the grand argument by which they both 1 Cor. 15. 14. made and comforted believers For indeed the receiving of 1 Pet. 1. 3. our Christ again after the certainty of his death and the solemnity of his burial is the spring of our joy the fountain of 1 Pet. 3. 21. our comfort the stay of our hearts and the assurance of our Hymnus Angelicus ad nativitatem Christi accipiatur 1. Tanquam gratulatio gratiarum Actio z. Tanquam Angelorum votum quod Angeli optant hominibus 3. Tanquam doctrina quae vera est pax scil in Christo solo Theod. Mat. 4. 2. justification This blessed work of Christs rising put the last hand to the work of our Redemption and so fasten'd it that it cannot unravel The Birth of Christ was accompanied with the joy of Angels Luke 2. 13. His life was embroidered with wonders and miracles for every word our Jesus spake was not less than a wonder John 7. 46. His death was imbittered with sorrows and perplexities and sighs were the escutcheons about his Hearse but his Resurrection was the new Birth of the World and the sparkling spirits of a Believers consolation The wise-men of the East rejoyced at his Star Mat. 2. 10. when it did proclaim the Birth of Christ But Believers rejoyce at himself when he himself proclaims his Resurrection The Star retires at the Suns rising And now shall the Resurrection of Christ be unparallel'd for glory and shall it not so far influence us as to make us exemplary for sanctity upon its weekly commemoration the Lords day Shall every thing concur to the honour of Christs resurrection and shall onely our loosness and vanity on the day of it cast a damp and put an ecclipse upon it When we prophane the Sabbath what do we but draw a veil before the glory of Christs resurrection and practically deny that he is sprung from the Grave What loves can those Christians have to or what esteems for their dear Jesus who when his resurrection-day gave new life to the world fresh joy to the Disciples and new wonders to Mankind can yet pollute and defile the Sabbath its constant Memorial Sabbath-breakers are worse than Sadduces they onely deny Acts 23. 8. our Resurrection but these vertually deny Christs for if Christ be risen why do they not adore the rising Sun by Eph. 5. 11. walking in the light on his own blessed day But why do they attempt to ecclipse this glorious day by their sins and deeds of darkness CHAP. LIV. Some miscellanious prescriptions for the better discharge of our duty towards the LORDS DAY THe Concernments of the Soul can be never sufficiently pressed because of the weightiness of the affair and Mat. 16. 26. nothing more conduceth to the advantage of the Soul then the holy observation of Gods blessed day Soul-welfare In die dominico mens nostra in piis exercitiis tota defigenda est Cartw. much depends upon a due and careful observance of it Spiritual Sabbaths very much draw the Soul to its center formal Sabbaths do much retard the Soul in its progress and Sabbaths wasted in prophaneness do very much harden the Soul in sin and vanity and drop apace into the Vials of Gods wrath jogging Vengeance to awaken it which seems to slumber It may easily fall under our observation that one who is slight on the Sabbath will be profuse on the week that sin which is hatched in the Sabbath will be fledg'd in the week And therefore where there is so much danger to lose the way it must needs be safe to take good direction and to set up more lights for our better guidance and this is the further designe of what followes in this Chapter Let love be the spring of all our duties upon the Sabbath-day Prescript 1. Love is a sweet but a forcible principle it works not as a Sword but as a Sun-beam it draws but not drives it Excessus mentis est intentio ad superna Ansel constrains but not compels and it wins by perswasion and not coaction 2 Cor. 5. 14. Fear storms the Town but Love takes it by composition a heart full of love will run through the Datur sancta insania quando mente excedimus deo Bern. duties of a Sabbath as the Sun through the several Signs of the Zodiack with swiftness and delight Nor doth it understand any toyl or weariness Our Sabbath should not be our task but our delight Isa 58. 13. and then we should be on the wing and flye to the Sanctuary as the Doves to the Windows And indeed what is there in a Sabbath which doth not court our love The Lord of it He is our Beloved Mat. 2. 28. Our love our dove our undefiled Cant. 5. 2. Cant. 6. 9. He doth or ought to lie as a bundle of myrrh between our breasts Cant. 1. 13. The Son of man who is the sum of our desires is the Lord of the Sabbath Love of
Origen In the times of the Law saith he the Jews were not to stir out of their places upon the Sabbath day Exod. 16. 29. Now what is the proper place of the soul but Righteousness Truth Wisdom and Sanctification and whatever speaks Christ and from this place we Christians must not stir upon the Lords day In the times of the Law the Jews were to carry no burdens upon the Sabbath day Jer. 17. 27. And what is this burden but all sin and this burden we Christians must not carry on our Sabbath In the times of the Law the Jews were not to kindle a fire throughout all their Habitations upon the Sabbath Exod. 35. 3. And what is this kindling of fire but the inflaming of lust and no such fire must be kindled by Christians on the Sabbath Now what Origen cautionates us against on the Sabbath is as much to be avoided and shunned on the week day In a disposition to serve God So we must keep every day a Sabbath though we are not always in a Sabbath dayes time Verum quidem est Sabbatum spirituale nobis perpetuò colendum esse sub novo Testamento Wal. yet we should be always in a Sabbath days frame in such a blessed bent of heart as to be fit for holy business and heavenly employment And the Apostle adviseth us 1 Thes 5. 17. To pray continually viz. To be in a continual frame of heart fit for holy prayer And the Apostle James Jam. 1. 19. commands us to be swift to hear viz. Always to have Spirituale Sabbatum est quo vetus homo noster homo peccati cum singulis suis actionibus otio quodam veluti sepelitus est ut novus homo qui secundum deum creatus est vires suas exerat opera sua perficiat Muscul an open ear ready to hearken to the sweet and sacred word of God We find the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 1. 5 6. describing four living creatures having four faces and four wings Faces ready to mind and wings ready to move into any part upon the work the Lord should assign and appoint them And thus Gods people should be always in a prepared frame of spirit for holy service we should be as cautious of sin and as propence to service as if every day was a Sabbath day The week contains no day for sinful work the Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 2. 19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity And iniquity not iniquities any one particular iniquity And so likewise in the week our secular works must not indispose us for heavenly Dies è septem unus externis salutis mediis dedicatus Sabbatum interius perpetuum magis et magis promovet Hier. services and holy duties but we must have heavenly hearts in our earthly labours It is very observable that in the time of the Law the word Sabbath signified a whole week Lev. 23. 15. And so in the time of the Gospel Luke 18. 12. And doth it not point out this That we should keep our whole week as a Sabbath and that Sabbath-holiness should make all our life-time but one intire holy day Our spiritual Sabbath as Musculus observes Must be continual Rom. 11. 16. we must be always crucifying the old man and getting our 1 Cor. 5. 6. corruptions to their rest that they may not be working nor employed to fledge temptation into actual sin and we must be always employing the new man to excite its power in spiritual operations and this must be our daily and continual Sabbath This resting from sin and this working for God is never unseasonable and these two are the integral parts of a Sabbath And thus to employ our selves in the week doth exceedingly fit us for the Sabbath Many have little of the Sabbath in the week and therefore they have too much of the week in the Sabbath they are strangers Mandaverat quidem deus sub veteri Testimento ut in ipsa septimanâ aliquae quoque horae divino cultui consecrarentur manè imprimis vespere cùm sacrificium juge in templo offerreretur perpetuò sacrificaretur Wal. to Sabbath-work on the week dayes and therefore they are enemies to Sabbath-work on the Lords day Christians should attempt to begin heaven here and there is a perpetual Sabbath our life below should shadow out our life above It must be confessed our indulging our selves too much in sin and bemiring our selves too much in the world on the week day doth very much unqualifie and indispose us for heavenly rest on the Sabbath day But when we have set our selves against sin and have been spiritually minded in the works of our Calling not omitting the heavenly duties of prayer reading the word holy discourse and heavenly meditations on the week dayes we then with more complacency lean upon our beloved and with more delight meet him in his â—anquetting house Cant. 2. 4. on the Lords day Holy weeks make heavenly Sabbaths and the more strict we are in passing of the week the more savoury and serious we shall be in observing the Sabbath Walaeus very well observes That in the time of the Law God had his dayly sacrifices Psal 133. 2. Numb 28. 3. as well as his double sacrifices on the Sabbath day Numb 28. 9. To intimate to us There must be something of a Sabbath in every day nor must the oil of holiness only be poured out on the head of a Sabbath but it must run down to the skirts of the whole week the performance of divine worship is calculated for the week though the solemnity of it be reserved for the Sabbath Well then let something resembling a Sabbath be found in our own dayes let a happy vein of holy rest with God run through every day The Jews had their morning sacrifice when they entred upon their work and their evening sacrifice when they wound up and ended their work they gave God the first Job 23. 12. and the last of every day in holy and solemn worship He that was Alpha and Omega the first and the last had the Tres sunt diei partes inter Judaeos prima pars ad orationem secunda ad legem tertia ad opus seculare destinabatur Alpha and Omega of every day nay learned men observe that the Jews divided the day into three parts The first ad Tephilah to Prayer the second ad Torah to the Law the third ad Malacha to their work Thus God had his part of every day among the poor Jews nay double worship for single work And let not a repudiated Jew be more franck in giving God his time then the redeemed ones of Jesus shall they have so much of the Sabbath in the week and we so much of the week in our Sabbaths As the Apostle saith Rom. 6. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid It would be strange if the branch which is broken of
nullis volumus voluptatibus occupari Leo Anthemius Imper à Baldwino allegati in judgment or wariness in practice in reference to the Lords day But our Apostacy began to be too notorious when sports were allowed on that day which are the births of fancy and the Nurses of corruption Nay even at this day notwithstanding all pretences to reformation how wofully is Gods Sabbath neglected and ecclipsed by all manner of abomination so that we may say with Bishop Babington The people of Israel might not gather Manna upon the Sabbath-day and may we go to Fairs and Markets to Wakes and wantonness to Dancings and Drinkings upon the Lords day Are these works for the Sabbath Is O melior fides nationum in suam sect am quae nullam christianorum solennitatem sibi vendicat non etiam diem dominicum etiamsi cognossent nobis communicarent ne Christiani viderentur nos ne Ethnici pronunciaremur non veremur Tertul. de Idol cap. 14. this to keep the holy day Can this be answered to God No surely we shall never be able to endure his wrath for these things one day Thus this learned and reverend Person I may a little invert Tertullian O the faith of the Nations better then ours towards their own Sect as who challenge not to themselves any Christian solemnity no not that of the Lords day had they known it they would not communicate with us least they should seem Christians and we Christians fear not to be accounted Heathens All the Invectives of former times may justly be levelled against England upon this account What is the Sabbath among us but our leisure day for sin and vanity The covetous person is imployed in his works and he follows his secular affairs only more covertly the Formalist is buried in his sloth the Youth of the Nation are frisking and pleasing themselves with sports and dalliances with carnal delights and sensual pleasures as if they offered Acts 14. 13. at the Shrine of Venus or calculated their Sacrifices for a Acts 19. 28. wanton Jupiter the carnal Gospellers are refreshing themselves in their Recreations and their walks and how few on the Mount of God in sacred and heavenly duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jovialiter vivere Surely Plutarch had an eye to England when he derived Sabbath a Sabbos which signifies to live riotously Indeed the Sabbath of our Nation seems to have some such derivation Gods Sabbath cannot travel up and down England but it falls among Thieves who rob and wound it some wound it by prophane and loose actions others by sinful omissions and the most by sloth and recreations And thus Luke 10. 30. this blessed day lies bleeding and where are any good Samaritans Abominanda christiano nomine indigna diei dominicâ— vâ—olatio quae sâ—nctâ—ssimum Dei Omnipotenâ—is cultum imâ—iorum exponit ludibrio hinc omnis miseriae quae obscuratum ecclesiae deâ—us evertit â—inc calamitatis effluxit inundatio to pour Oyl in to its wounds And have we not found it by experience that scarlet sins and crimson transgressions overflow the Nation because the Sabbath lies under disuse and is covered with scorn and contempt The holy observation of the Sabbath is that which brings on all duties of godliness and the Sabbath being slighted and neglected the Cataracts of prophaneness break in upon us and we are lead to all methods of wickedness And this is Englands skar Gods presence was never less discerned and what is the reason Gods day was never more contemned Our Palladium is gone and what can be expected but an entry of ruine and desolation And this as Ezekiel speaks Ezek. 19. 14. Is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation A learned man observes That the prophaning of Gods day is sin unbecoming the name of a Christian and is the spring of all those calamities which over-flow a Nation And yet this is Lam. 1. 7. Quis talia fande temperet à laâ—hâ—ymis Virg. Englands Ichabod and in this it hath betrayed its trust when the treasure of Gods Sabbath was committed to it And this is Englands Apostacy from all the pious Proclamations Psal 74. 9. of those noble Princes who have sate in its Throne How did many of the Royal Princes who have swayed the Scepter of this Nation lay out their Authority for the suppressing King Ina a Weâ—t Saxon K. Alured K. Canutus K Edw. the sixth Q. Elizabeth King James King Charles the first of prophaneness and promoting of godliness upon Gods holy day which was their glory and the splendor of our Nation But the prophaneness of the present age upon this sacred day hath pluckt this Pearl out of their Crowns and hath put an ecclipse upon that glory of our Kingdom wherein we much out-vied the tendreyes of other Nations England formerly in this branch of holiness out-shining the most reformed Churches And this is the sin at this day which is the troubler of our Israel and seems to be a Cloud bigger than a mans hand 1 King 18. 44. which threatens a great deal of ruine not of water but of wrath not showers to drench the ground but to drown the Inhabitant We may bewail the formall worship of Englands Sabbaths this blessed day suffers in this Nation not only by open Enemies Ceremonia crebrò repetitae but by cold Suitors This is the Errour of England on her Sabbaths we more mind the bending of the knee than Deo nauseam pariunt quia peccatores impuro corde plenâ—que offensis illas offerunt Alap in Isaiam the bowing of the heart our Decency hides our Beauty our Ceremony drowneth our Substance and our Gesture swallows up our Godliness In some places of this Nation the Organ is the most pleasing Oracle and the cringing to an Altar is the onely Embleme of humility and the pleasing of the Ear stifles the devotion of the Soul And is this to keep a Sabbath What do we more than the Jews against whom God poured out his complaints To tread Gods Courts Isa 1. 12. To cry up the Temple of the Lord Jer. 7. 4. And to celebrate a Sabbath with a bare appearance before God or the nimble activity of a geniculation Is not this to offer the Case instead of the Jewel to give the bark of a service and the paring onely of a solemnity Ignatius could tell us in the very Vnusquisque nostrum Sabbatizet spiritualiter meditatione legis gaudens non in corporis refocillatione Ignat. Epist 6. ad Magn. infancy of the Gospel That we are to keep Gods day spiritually in the meditation of Gods Law not in the refreshings of the outward man c. And Chrysostom speaks much of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritual works and exercises on the Lords day Is not the turn of an eye the action of the body or the suppleness of the knee not the sweetness of the voice or the
when a Sabbath the day of God and our souls is Jud. 15. 6. almost lost in a Nation for this let tears be our drink and Jud. 21. 2. ashes our meat day and night And when the Magistrates Psal 42. 3. become Gallioes for the things of God let the people become Jeremies for the day of God Sabbath decayes will soon make a bankrupt Nation Nay lastly we may bewail the punished purity of Englands Sabbaths The people of God cannot be so good as they will on Gods holy day How often are the Saints in the midst of Lew Sabbati opera humana non divina prohibuit Tertul. their weeping eyes bended knees melting hearts mounting minds when congregated in secret to seek Gods face and to meet with Christ their beloved How often I say are they interrupted surprized haled away by Officers and the Sanctuary leads them to a Prison their Piety is uncharitably called treachery and their devotion is unreasonably interpreted Sedition This is Englands misery and unhappiness the Prisons are filled with spiritual worshippers and the Nation is filled with carnal Gospellers Prophaneness is uncontrouled but the most resined service of God is liable to poenalties Tertullianus de Cor. Mil. Plin. Sec. in Epist ad Trajanum Imper. De Amelucanis coetibus Christianorum in die dominigo mentionem faciunt and pursued with force and violence not because it is unsuitable to Gods will but it is inconformable to mans law Now as the Primitive Christians we must have our caetus antelucanos our early because unknown meetings on Gods holy day but surely it must needs be a great evil to rout the stars when gathered in a constellation to hush away the Doves when they stock to the windows and strange it is that mans wrath should be there where Gods presence is in the assembly of the Saints But that the people of God meeting on the day of God in the name of God for fuller communion Mat. 18. 20. with and enjoyment of God in obedience to the command Dan. 12. 3. of God should meet with frowns and disgusts should feel the sharpness of a Law or undergoe the keenness of Mat. 13. 43. the Magistrates sword and all this in a Protestant Nation Isa 60. 8. whose usuall Motto was Mildness This is a lamentation and Psal 89. 7. shall be for a lamentation Isa 4. 5. Ezek. 19. 14. FINIS The TABLE A SEnsual Actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day 20. and so sinfull 22 There shall be no Affliction in our Sabbath above 218 The Lords day is of Divine Authority 569 An answer to the Apostles preaching in the Synagogues on their Sabbath day 570 The Lords day instituted by Divine Authority 585 Not by Ecclesiastical ibid. Arguments to urge Sabbath-holiness 668. 718. 732. B The Bounty of God in giving us his Sabbath 186 Our outward Behaviour must be exact in Publick Ordinances on the Sabbath 277 The Sabbath instituted from the Beginning 526 C God is admirable in the works of Creation 147. 191 Conscience is chiefly to be dealt withall in Gospel Administrations 259 The benefit of Chatechizing 334 Some necessary Cautions to prevent Sabbath pollution 407 Several Cases to satisfie conscience in Sabbath Observation 440 The fourth Commandment cannot be Ceremonial 489. 544 The worke of Creation compared with the work of Redemption wherein the last exceeds the first 642 D Duties shall not want their reward p. 3 The Sabbath must be spent in holy Delight 53 The Emptiness of worldly Delights 58 Duration speaks the value of every good thing 209 The sweetness of Holy Duties 229 Holy Discourse doth well become the Sabbath 320 Several Directions for the better observance of the Lords day 353 The evil of Spiritual Doubts 382 All dayes are not eqaally holy in the times of the Gospel 496 The observation of one Day in seven to God hath its great advantages 499 The wildness of that opinion which makes every Day a Sabbath day 505 A seventh Day not the seventh day is commanded in the fourth Commandment 582 E To rise Early well becomes the morning of a Sabbath 85 Several incentives to this practice 86 87 c. The several Ends of the Sabbath 191 Divers Evils to be avoided in the time of publick Ordinances 297 Several Examples of Divine Justice breaking out upon Sabbath-breakers 683 England bemoan'd for Sabbath-prophanation 781 F Holy Fruitfulness becomes the Sabbath 56 Many Faculties and parts to be acted on a Sabbath 95 The Excellency of Faith 422 The sore judgement of a Famine of the Word 680 The influence God hath upon the Fire 716 G Many Graces to be acted on a Sabbath 95 God is most Glorious in his Nature and Essence 128 The works of Grace deserve our sweetest meditation 178 The works of Glory to be meditated on 185 Active Graces become holy Ordinances 316 How to procure Gods presence in ordinances 385 There are three Glasses to see our hearts in 445 H We must look on the Sabbath as Honourable 54 God most glorious in his Holiness 135 How we are to deal with our Hearts on the morning of a Sabbath 263 Holiness is engraven upon the Sabbath 733 I Holy Joy becomes a Sabbath 267 How our Inward man is to be ordered in publick Ordinances 300 How we must spend the Interval between the Morning and Evening worship of a Sabbath 319 The Lords day is a day of Rest not Idleness 427 The great evils of Idleness 435 Idleness on the Lords day a very great evil 436 The Jewes sometimes very exemplary in Sabbath-observation 514 We Christians are to out-vy the Jews in Sabbath-observation 634 The dreadfull Judgements which pursue Sabbath-breakers 676 L The Labourers plea for recreations upon the Sabbath answered 33 Impertinent Language unbecoming the Sabbath day 49 God is incomprehensible in his Love 143 Nothing in a Saint can make a change in Gods Love 145 The Lords day confirmed by all Laws 619 What Christian Liberty is 645 Some remarkables concerning Londons fire which began on the Lords day 696 M Secret duties befitting the Morning of a Sabbath 89 The benefit of Morning duties on Gods holy day 104 The excellency of Meditation 106 124. It s Nature 107. How it is distinguished from some things very like to it 109. How much and how long we must Meditate 112. The chiefest seasons for Meditation 115. The rich advantages of Meditation 119. Meditation proper to every Ordinance 121 122. It feeds our Graces ibid. And amplifies our Comforts 123. It s necessity 125 The Morality of the fourth Commandment 552 How the Sabbath was made for Man 648 O Outward enjoyments are the reward of Sabbath obedience 59 God is most glorious in his Omnisciency 134 The excellency of Gospel Ordinances 285. 423 424. 443 The first Original of the Sabbath 522 And most probably it was ordained in Paradise 524 P The Poor mans Plea for working on a Sabbath Answered 7 Rich Promises made to a due observation of the Sabbath 57 63 Prophanation of the Sabbath the greatest Prodigality 67 Preparation for the Sabbath very necessary and several incentives to it 71 What those Preparatory duties are which must precede the Sabbath 77 Publick duties become the Sabbath 93 Many Persons to converse with on a Sabbath 96 God is most adorable in his Power 133 God to be exceedingly admired in the works of his Providence 156 Gods Presence must be meditated on on the Sabbath day 188 Prayer well becomes the morning of a Sabbath 239 How our Prayers must be qualified 243 The necessity of the spirits assistance in all our Prayers 246 What we must Pray for on the morning of the Sabbath 249 Practice is the best use of Ordinances 161 The sweetness and excellency of the Promises 269 Singing of Psalms a sweet and an excellent duty 339 The efficacy of Prayer 425 The advantages of Praying alone 454 Miscellanious Prescriptions for the better discharge of conscience in Sabbath-observation 765 R Recreations unlawfull on a Sabbath 23 Reverence becomes the Sabbath 54 God is wonderfull in the most glorious work of Mans Redemption 167 All the attributes of God shone gloriously in the work of Mans Redemption 174 The benefit of Repeating Sermons 327 Why the word Remember is prefaced to the fourth Commandment 660 The Resurrection of Christ a forcible argument to Sabbath-holiness 750 S What a Sabbath days journey is 6 The whole Sabbath is to be spent with God 35 The worth of the Soul 38 The Saints must meet together on a Sabbath day 97 The Jewish Sabbath compared with the Christian 201 The Christians Sabbath here compared with his Sabbath above 210 Some eminent types of our Sabbath above 234 The excellency of the Scriptures 272. 326. 456. Reading of the Scriptures usefull in the morning of a Sabbath 273 Publick Assemblies most pleasing on a Sabbath 274 The mischiefs of Sleeping in Ordinances 280 We must be Spiritual in our duties when we come to Publick Ordinances 312 What it is to be in the Spirit on the Lords day 387 The rare effects of the Spirit 393 466 How to keep Solitary Sabbaths 451 453 T Gods Truth is a glorious attribute 139 Vain Thoughts must be avoided in holy ordinances 305 Two days in a week cannot be observed as Sabbaths 569 V The Beatifical Vision somewhat opened and explicated 214 Unbelief a destructive sin 421 Variety of Sabbath duties delightfull 465 W Secular Works unlawful on the Sabbath 4. By Scripture 5. By Authority Civil 10. Ecclesiastical 11. By Reason 13. Works of necessity may be done on a Sabbath day 17 God is infinite in wisdom far surpassing mans 136 To Work upon the Sabbath day very sinfull 215 Holy Watchfulness becomes a Sabbath 401 How to keep a Whole Sabbath to God spiritually and sweetly 466 FINIS
THE PRACTICAL Sabbatarian OR SABBATH-Holiness CROWNED with SUPERLATIVE Happiness By John Wells Minister of the Gospel Isa Lvi 2. Blessed is the man that doth this and the Son of man that layeth hold on it that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and keepeth his hand from doing any evil Nobis Christianis non congruunt ludi diebus festis ludi nostri esse debent sacrae cantiones verbi divini lectiones aegrotorum visitationes afflictorum consolationes pauperum sustentationes c. Zanch. in Colos LONDON Printed 1668. To the Right Worshipful Sir THOMAS ALSTON With his Eminently PIOUS LADY John Wells wisheth all Happiness here and to ETERNITY Much Honoured THat the sacred day of God should run the gantlet and feel the stripes of many malepert adversaries is not miraculous but that these enemies of Gods blessed day should be reduced under no Head and cast into no predicament this accents the wonder that Ebion a primitive Heretick with his Complices should rob the Lords day of a moity of its Honour making two Sabhaths everyweek retaining both the Jewish and the Christian Sabbath That Turrecremata a politick School-man should rob the Lords day of its Authority and fasten it only upon a Canonical Law that others of latter times should rob this blessed day of its solemnity giving way to Sports and Sense-pleasing Recreations upon this holy season that another sort with their Confederates should rob the Lords day of its site and position rebounding it back again to the last day of the week and so put a Jewish brand upon the Lords day nay that some in these dregs of time should oppose the very Being of the Lords day and pluck up all Sabbaths by the roots and confidently if not impudently affirme that every day is a Christian Sabbath this is matter of amazement we may truly admire that all varieties should troup together to fight against the day of God onely this consideration may a little break the force of the wonder if holiness which is the impression of Gods 2 Tim. 3. 12. Spirit meet with a constant and violent persecution 't is not much marvel if the Sabbath the genuine promoter of holiness meet with the same dealing Indeed in the Primitive times of the Church those Halcyon dayes of the Gospel The Lords day like the beloved Disciple lay in the bosom we find Ignatius calling it the Queen of dayes Ignat. Epist ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. â—pist 119. c 13. and sâ— setting a Crown upon its Head Athanasius making it the first of dayes the beginning of a new world Justin Martyr giving us the several Branches and methods of its sacred Solemnization and shews us how exact the Primitive Christians were in the several duties and services of it the incomparable Aug Serm. de temp 251. Augustine lays us down the true and pregnant reason of its rise and institution and Ambrose tells us flatly that Christs Resurrection was a real consecration of this Holy day for weekly and divine worship I need not mention what Tertullian speaks of the Holy Discourses the Primitive Christians used upon this day nor what Clemens Romanus saith of the devout prayers and accurate attentions used by the Professors of the first times on this Holy Festival nor yet of the great preheminences given by Hierome to this blessed season that day alone saith Hierome is the one proper Lords day and better Ambr. tom 2. in 47. Psal then all other common dayes and then all the Festival dayes New moons and Sabbaths of Moses his Law And should Tertul Apol. cap 39. we cast our eye upon what Chrysostom hath written in his fifth Homily upon Matthew how unwearied the Christians of those times were in the holy duties of Gods day how their Devotion was a full and a constant stream we should then conclude that the Lords day hath had its Heralds to proclaim Clem. Rom. l. 2. c. 59. its glory as well as its Detractors to decry its solemnity Thus the Christian Sabbath hath travelled in the Wildernes of this life under the pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire and as it hath its enemies to oppose it so likewise its Seconds Hier. ad Eustoch to defend it That which hath cast a spot upon this blessed day in these Chrâ—sost homil 5 in Matth. latter dayes of the world is not so much Errour as Prophaneness Gods day hath not suffered so much yet too much by the blasts of Opinion as by the blackness of open prophanation Concil Prag Synod Dâ—drect Sess 4â—â— Were we but sensible of the groans of the Council of Prague how those conveened there bemoaned the prophanation of Gods Holy day or had we heard the sighs of the Synod at Dort Hosp de Orig. Fest l. 1. c. 3. how they lamented this evil and with what pathetical language they importuned the petitioning of Magistrates for the redress of this great evil nay were we sensible of the mournful expressions of many worthy and learned Divines of Simler comment in Exod. the Reformed Churches when their Pens seemed more to drop Teares then Ink we could not but be much affected Aret. Prob. Theol. loc 123. and impressed Nay should we take a nearer Prospect and take notice of the prodigious vanities and great impieties which are acted on Gods Holy day here at home in our own Nation Chemnit exam Concil Trident. trembling may justly seize upon us Now to put some stop to this sinful Inundation is the design of this Treatise which Much Honoured shelters it self under the Protection of your Patronage The promoting of Sabbath-holiness hath been the care of Courts and the zeal of Councils and the Vindication of that Eminent Piece of Piety hath been written not only with Pens but with Scepters Sabbath-holiness is the glory of Princes Constantines Edict Euseb de vitâ Constantini for the strict observation of the Lords day is recorded by Eusebius as a Piece Nehem. 13. 15. 16 17 18 c. of Memorable Piety Sabbath-holiness is the splendour of Nobles Nehemiahs zeal for Gods blessed Sabbath is recorded not by the Historian but by the Spirit and made part of Gods sacred Word Sabbath-holiness is the richest field in the Gentlemans Escucheon Mr. Bruens piety in an exemplary observation of Gods Holy day Mr. Clark in the life of Mr. Bruen and Mr. Dod. is transmitted by a faithful Pen to future times as an Emblem of his perpetual honour Sabbath-holiness is not only the duty but the dignity of a Minister the rare and strict observance of Gods Holy day by the most pious Mr. Dod is set down in the History of his Life as a fair Copy for future successions to write after Nay Sabbath-holiness is the honour of a people Chrysostom hath left it upon record in one of Chrysost 19. Homil. in Genes his Homilies upon Genesis as the Crown of his people that
a Sabbath whether good actions are not becoming a holy day this must needs be undeniable Now to cure a sick person quench a burning-house resist an incroaching adversary they are actions immutably good and therefore they must be so on a Sabbath There is no time when to save a dying person can in it self be unlawfull it is an obedience to the law of Nature a compliance with those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common principles which are concreated with us Therefore such actions cannot pollute the holy Sabbath or defloure the purity of it The third Argument our Saviour takes à potiori from that which is more eligible which is most fit to be done in case of a Dilemma and this Argument is urged Mat. 12. Mat. 12. 3 4. Generalis est haec doctrina non Davidem tantum ut sanctum Regem et Prophetam Domini licitè edisse panes propositionis quasi personale fuisset privilegium sed eâ— famulos qui cum ipso erant non peccasse manducando in casu necessitatis Lyser Mal. 4. 2. 3 4. Our Saviour tells us what David did in case of necessity It was far more eligible for David to make bold with the shew-bread then for the holy Saint and King to die for hunger his life was more considerable then an appointed observation A substantial good is more to be valued then a shadow which onely signifies something to come and would fly away at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness and therefore as necessity intrenched on extraordinary food without blanâ—e so it may presume on an extraordinary day without crime The light of Nature warrants a discharge and gives in not guilty to works of necessity on the Sabbath If my wound bleeds to death because it is not dressed on the Sabbath or my disease send me to the dust because medicinal applications are not made on the Sabbath this is my errour not my duty If I have no being God can have no worship and so acts of necessity are dispensible God will have us to worship him with all chearfulness and alacrity which cannot be with an undrest wound or a disease not to be lookt after because it is the Sabbath I cannot chearfully joyne in Divine Worship and in the mean time the waters break into my house and there must be no stoppage of them because the time of Gods holy day will not permit it Cases therefore of indispensible necessity neither pollute nor prophane the Sabbath But to wind up this particular of working on a Sabbath which hath been the more copiously handled because of the greatness of its importance we read that the holy Apostle Paul sometimes laboured with his hands but yet his Acts 20. 34. Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. works on the Lords day were Sacred and Divine nothing but preaching the Word administring the Sacraments pouring out his Soul in Prayer taking care of the poor and those duties which are the just companions of a Sabbath He acts then not as a Tent-maker but as an Apostle his Acts 18. 3. heart works not his hands In a word this particular shall be shut up with the confession of learned Master Breerwood Breerw Tract of the Sabbath p. 47. who improved so much parts and pains in asserting an undue liberty on the Sabbath yet we may hear him thus acknowledge It is meet that Christians should on the Lords day abandon all worldly affairs and dedicate it wholly to the honour of God And one of our Church Homilies hath these words Gods obedient people should use the Sunday holily and Hom. Of the timeâ— place of worship give themselves wholly to heavenly exercises of Gods true Religion and Service and this was the practice of all Gods people in all ages And so much for this large particular But secondly there are a second sort of actions we must forbear on the Lords day viz. Sensual actions so the Sensual actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day Text from doing thy pleasure on my holy day We are to forbear indulging our appetites we must not please a wanton eye or a luxurious palate on the Sabbath which is a day not to feast the Body but to feast the Soul Feasts and Banquets are not the Celebration but the Prophanation of a Sabbath then our fat things must be the fat things of Gods house Psal 36. 8. Isa 25. 6. A full luxuriant table where no necessity requires it is fitter for the day of a Bacchus then the day of Jehovah who is all purity and perfection A moderate repast for Nature doth best become the holy Sabbath The Disciples feed upon a few ears of Corn upon a Sabbath Mat. 12. 1. De caenâ nostrâ hoc dicendum est nihil utilitatis nihil immodestiae admittit non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur editur quantum esurientes capiunt bibitur quantum pudicis est utile ita saturantur ut qui meminerint etiam per noctem adorandum etiam esse doum ita fabulantur ut qui sciant dominum audire Tertul. Exod. 16. 22 23 24 c. Numb 28. 10. Exod 35. 3. On this day a Table spread with dishes is more spread with temptations It is dangerous then to study to please a palate when we are more especially to look after a soul On this holy day the Word must be our food tears must be our wine singing of Psalms our musick the Sanctuary our parlour and place of repast and our festivity must be joy in the Lord our eare must be taken up in holy attention our heart in spiritual devotion our eye in divine speculation The Sabbath is the Souls not the Senses feastival then to please the curiosities of sense is not to keep but to lose the Sabbath The Jewes had onely the usuall proportion of Manna for the Sabbath they had no exceedings and though they were to offer double Sacrifices on the Sabbath they were not to eat double meals to have an increase of outward provisions They could not lawfully kindle any fire on the Sabbath and surely those preparations could not be plenteous where there was no fire to make them We Christians make the Sunday a day of spiritual rejoycing saith Bishop White and he quotes it out of Turtullian Our pleasures on this day must not be in our Meats but in our Messiah not in our varieties unless it be of Ordinances Chrysostome reports that the Love-Feasts of the Christians in the Primitive times consisted of divers Viands provided by a common purse and collation of which they took as much as would suffice the Communicants Diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tertul Chrysost On the 1 Cor. Cap. 11. Hom. 27. and so celebrated the Lords Supper together which done they presently fell to the spare and slender chear entertaining and solacing themselves with spiritual and divine Colloquies And indeed here we have our pattern in the purest times The Golden Christians
shady Ceremonies which were to teach the Children of Israel But our Sabbath is of a higher and nobler nature not covered with so much darkness nor subject to so much decay and therefore if God be so punctual Mark 2. 28. and exact in his time in these flitting solemnities which were to cease at the very first dawning of the Gospel Ah how much more on his fixed Sabbath the souls weekly banqueting day with the Lord Jesus the blessed Lord of the Sabbath Hiâ— verò infertur ut aeqâ—â—â—â—s quâ—rti praecepti patesâ—â—t nempe quod deus benignè nobiscum vildè agit qui cum sex dies nobis relinquat unum tantùm in septimanâ diem sibi postulat Wal. Mic. 6. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Tom. 5. Nos illorum Apostolorum sequentes traditionem dominicum diem divinis conventibus sequestramus Isich in Levit. Cap. 9. And fourthly yet further to clear this truth we must conclude To abate any thing of spending a whole day with God is but the wanton abuse of divine indulgence The Sabbath is a price God puts into our hands and to play and sport upon it is to trample upon our pearls And truly God hath so smoothed and sweetned the fourth Commandment with so much equity and kindness in giving us six dayes and taking to himself but one that to break this Commandment is but the greater evidence of obstinacy and stubbornness and indeed to those who encroach upon his Sabbath by their toyle and their pastimes God may frame the same expostulation which once he made to back-sliding Israel What iniquity have you found in me wherein have I wearied thee come testifie against me Have I roughed my Commâ—ndmenâ—s with any grievous severity have I not given you six dayes and reserved to my self onely one And must part of that one day be prostituted to the flatteries of sin to vain sports and unprofitable recreations is not this to abuse my â—â—ve and sport with my indulgence Nay to crumble the Sabbath into so many pieces and divisions to spend part of it in holy services part of it in civil labours and part of it in sensual pleasures it is nothing else but so to disfigure the Sabbath that neither Divine command nor Apostolical institution will know it so as to own it to be their issue and production We may likewise fetch an Argument from the Text it self which commands our delight in the holy Sabbath We must Isa 53. 13. Sabbatum est delicatum i. e. delicatè tenerè observandum delicatum i. e. delitiae tui domini Deus enim capiet mognam delectationem ex religioso sui cultu in Sabbato Alap in Isai call the Sabbath our delight saith the Text. Now can this be consistent with that delight and complacency a Christian should take in the Sabbath after a few hours to break from holy services and spiritual duties to gad after the pleasures or profits of the World To refresh their wearied and tyred selves with a bowle or a foot-ball and to leave Communion with God to recreate their selves with a fit of masking dancing or shooting Surely our delights in Gods holy day are weak and faint if they must be fetcht again and revived with such loose and vain satisfactions Indeed it argues a very vain and frothy spirit to have no more pleasure in Gods day then to spend a good part of it in vain talk and idleness in rioting and wantonness in sports and foolishness It cannot be imagined that any men who ever tasted any sweetness in Christ or his Sabbath and felt the Sponsa Christum laudans ab oculis crsa est sed cur quontam cum amantes aspectu mutuo nequeant satiari et semper abaltero ad intuentis oculion imago gratior reflectatur et fit ut crescat admiratio et simul laudandi cupiditas neque in hacre sit ullus modus Et oculi sunt amoris duces Del. Rio. unknown refreshings of his holy Rest but that they will mourn for their cold affections and that they have not spent their Sabbath more accurately and exactly Certainly those who plead and inveigh much against the strict observation of Gods holy day never fully tasted what the Sabbath was and what the glory and excellency of it Is the Majesty and Glory of God so vile in our eyes that we do not think him worthy of special attendance one day in a week doth he call us now to rest in his bosome on his holy Sabbath and do we kick his bowels and despise his bounty Doth he call upon us to spend this day in holiness and shall we spend it or at the least part of it in mirth sports and pastimes and in all manner of vanity Where are our longings and breathings after Christ upon a Sabbath Were holy duties gratefull to us we should not so soon shake them off we should not make the time of a Sabbath like the vail of the Temple at Christs death to be rent in twain viz. between the Lord and the World whereas one bone of Christ was not to be broken so not one hour of this day Psal 42. 1 2. here we must say as Christ of the fragments gather up the fragments let nothing be lost It is perilous to clip the Mat. 27. 51. Kings Coyne and very dangerous to clip the Lords day Joh. 19. 36. let us not with Annanias and Saphira bring half the price Mark 6. 43. This holy time was never ours nor ever was there any part Acts 5. 2. thereof in our power therefore to keep back any hour of this holy day must needs be sinfull If no part of this day be the Lords why do we give him any And if the whole Communio nostra est cum Patre et Filio et in Patre cum Filio sunt omnia vera et coelestia bona Zanch. be the Lords as certainly it it why do we put him off with part But there would be no need of these questions were our delight in Gods holy day and were our hearts captivated with Divine Communion Delight sweetens duty and makes it easie and pleasurous That Sabbath cannot be long which is complacential David did request to spend not onely the Sabbath but his life in the Temple and counted 1 John 1. 3. one day in Gods house better then a thousand It is nothing but a carnal frame of spirit disgusting the things of Psal 27. 4. God makes the Sabbath tedious and wearisome and seeks to break open the Cage door that it may fly out to its sensual Psal 84. 10. delights and recreations Was the Sabbath our delight we should not cast lots upon it which should have most of it God or the World holy duties or trashy pastimes Our own Conveniency and advantage calls for the whole day of a Sabbath to be spent in holy and spiritual services Sabbatha docent perseverantiam totius diet Iren.
holy day Indeed the Sabbath is not to be rushed upon Man must not break in upon a Sabbath as the horse rusheth into the battel as Jeremiah speaks without premeditation and previous consideration Jer. 8. 6. Ignatius calls the Sabbath the Queen of dayes and Queens have their trains going before them there must be Ignat ad Magnes a train of duties precedeing the holy Sabbath On the Saturday Quomodo Maria Virgo inter omnes mulieres principatum tenet ita inter caeteros dies haec soleâ—nis dies Hier. let us prepare for the Lords day We know tuned Instruments play the sweetest before they are tuned they jar and make a harth sound Our hearts are these Instruments which must beforehand be tuned by several duties or or they will jar and be discomposed upon the Sabbath Physick is prepared before it is taken and our hearts must be prepared before we take and enjoy the Ordinances of a Sabbath There is a preparing dress before we go to any feast and must not the soul be drest before the festival of the Sabbath that great banqueting of the inward man There is a dawning light before the rising Sun some glimering duties must be the harbingers of the approaching Sabbath Indeed matters should be so ordered every day so as to prepare for this day As our whole life should be a preparing for death so the whole week should be a preparing for the Sabbath But as this precious day doth more approach so preparatory work must more increase Holy Nehemiah shut the Gates of the Neh. 13. 19. City viz. Jerusalem when it began to be dark the In veteri testamento ut impedimenta omnia celebrationis hujus diei iâ— tempore auferrentur Fideles pridiè Sabbati divino mandato omâ—ia sua quantum poterant ad eum firem componebant Wal. evening before the Sabbath least the night time should be prophaned by bearing burdens in it and he did this least the men of Tyre should occasion the Jews to break the Sabbath day by bringing in wares upon that night This holy mans care would not suffer any to cast dirt upon the portal or entrance of the Sabbath he very well knew there must be some time spent in trimming the soul to meet its Bridegroom on his own holy day A due preparation for this blessed Sabbath lies more especially under a five-fold injunction Of necessity It is necessary we should take some time to compose our spirits for the duties of the following Sabbath Our thoughts in the week how are they loose and carelesly dishevelled some time there must be to bind them up together and put them into order The Lord in the fourth Exod. 20. 8. Commandment enjoynes us to remember the Sabbath and to Id ipsum quâ—que in hoc praecepto certo râ—spectu mâ—rale est scil uâ— diebus antecedentibus omnia nostra quantum fieri potest ita iâ—stituamus ut per eorum negligen tiam à sanctificatione hujus diei non impediamur remember the Sabbath it is before hand to mind and manage matters that concern the Sabbath-sanctification that when it comes it may be holily kept for every duty on the Lords day there must be a due preparation for Prayer for Hearing for Sacraments c. Now if we must prepare for single duties when they lye more asunder sure we must prepare for the Sabbath when such duties are linked together And this is more considerable if we take notice we are not only to be in the duty but in the spirit in the prompt powerfull and precise transaction of every service on the Lords day And besides all this doth not the Lord upon this day come in comfortable visits to the souls of his people and must not they prepare for his presence It was the opinion of some Rev. 1. 10. that Christs personal coming to Judgement will be on the Sabbath day This is most sure that Christs spiritual coming Lactant. Lib. 7. Cap. 1. August de Temp. Serm. 154. in mercy is for the most part on the day of the Sabbath and shall there then be no preparation When a great man is to come to our houses how are all our Rooms dressed up When a great God is to come to our hearts shall not we prepare Neh. 13. 22. and dress our hearts for his entertainment Of Equity The Ministers they prepare for the Sabbath-good of Gods people and shall not the people of the Lord prepare for their own Faithfull Ministers before the Sabbath do not onely prepare matter to speak but they prepare their hearts to speak the matter Bernard in a Sermon thus breaks out to his people To prepare you meat my heart all Bern. in Fest omn. Sanct. Serm. 1. this night hath been seething within me and in my meditations I have been inflamed as with fire And is it not equal and most rational that Christians should meet their Ministers in holy preparation and plow up their fallow ground to receive Jer. 4. 3. that immortal seed which Gods holy Seeds-men are ready to cast into it Calvin complains of some Christians in his 1 Pet. 1. 23. time who no otherwise regarded the Sabbath then thereon to Calv in Deut. 8. Serm. 34. attend their worldly affairs the which they reserved to themselves that day as if they had no other day to deliberate for the whole week to come Now shall men on the Sabbath prepare for the week and shall not we in the week prepare for the Sabbath Is Mammon more to be minded then God Of advantage 1. The duties of the Sabbath will the better and freer come off If we be sedulous in holy preparation we shall then with more dexterity agility and facility transact the several parts of Gods service One cause why we are often unactive in duty and drive heavily is because we did not before-hand oyle our wheels inure our selves we did not the day before labour with God by Prayer and with our own hearts by care and industry Oftentimes a Christian is straightned stiff and bound up in the services of a Sabbath and knows not how to go on in holy duties and all this arises from neglect of holy preparation The heart hath not been dealt withall to supple it for more voluntary and chearfull performances Preparatory work would wind up the clock of the soul that it would go and strike it would pray hear contemplate and act any Sabbath service with far greater pleasantness and consonancy 2. If we prepare the mercies of the Sabbath will the larger and fuller come in according to our preparations will be our Gen. 44. 1. participations According to the number and measure of sacks the sons of Jacob prepared and carried with them out Ex lege mandato dei 23 Luc. 54. in omnibus Christianis conventibus requiritur ne debito suo fructu haec pietatis publicae exercitia priventur ut
Shall we prepare no more for a Sabbath that bright spot of time God gives us for our souls then for another day Will we approach the Princes presence with the same disregards we will converse with the Peasant Esther purified Est 2. 12. and perfumed her self with Oyle of Myrrh and sweet Odours before she came into the prefence of Ahashuerus and shall our Families have no holy anoynting no divine quickning before the day come we must enter the presence of the King of Kings nay the God of Kings Shall there be nothing to put a Selah upon a Sabbath Eve Let us take some time the evening before the Sabbath to teach our little ones the holiness and Solemnity of a Sabbath let us tell them how jealous God is of his Sabbaths what severe punishments he hath overtaken Deut. 6. 7. those with who have violated his holy day Let us Numb 15. 36. bring up our servants in the Holy Trade of Sabbath observation let us leave it upon their Consciences the night before the Sabbath how accurately and carefully God will be served on his own day and inform them what it cost Aarons Sons for offering strange fire Governours Lev. 10 3. of Families should take pains with those subordinate to them in begetting an awe upon their hearts and so fit them for Sabbath duties Surely we should more solemnly prepare for the day of the Soul then for the dayes of our Calling for the services of the Sanctuary then for the gains of the Shop God's day gives us a more solemn summons then mans day doth And now having thus prepared our selves in the discharge of the forementioned duties let us retire our selves to our rest and let the hand of faith draw the curtains about us and so quietly repose our bodies till the approaching Psal 4. 8. morning of Gods holy day and how that must be passed and solemnly observed comes next under our most serious discussion CHAP. XII It is most advised and necessary to rise early â—n Gods Holy Day DIvine providence unclasping our eyes in the morning of the Sabbath let us lose no time as we lye on our beds let us think now the Lord looks down from Heaven and bids us make haste get you up for this day I must Luke 19. 5. abide in your hearts and this day I must transact with you about the great importances of your souls When Abraham was to offer his Son in sacrifice to God He rose early in the morning and sadled his Asse and took two of his servants and Gen. 22. 5 6. Isaac his Son with wood cleav'd for a burnt offering and went to the place of which the Lord had told him And shall not we on a Sabbath morning be early up our selves and our families to go to the place where the Lord hath appointed and offer up our bodies and souls in service to God The Israelites who lay in siege against Jericho upon the seventh Josh 6. 15. day they being to compass the City seven times the text saith And it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose up early about the dawning of the day and they compassed the City after the same manner seven times Upon the Lords day we are today siege to Heaven and to compass it many times and to plant our batteries by holy and invincible prayer and therefore we should be early up And there are two things which would much advantage this duty viz. rising early on the morning of the Sabbath First A timely going to rest the night before It is too common a fault among Christians and Professors too for them to clog themselves the night before the Sabbath with a multitude of worldly businâ—sses which causes them to sit up late hence in the morning when they should be up with God they lye sleep-bound in their beds Secondly An intire love to the work of the day that follows Alas we have too little love to the Lords day work and so but little list to be at the work of the day Were there love to it we should long to be at it Our minds run Pius se paritè◠velle jugiter deum mente animo geâ—ere illum colere illum desiderare tum nocte tum interdiu Alap upon the things we love We should think of the Sabbath even in the night time and we should catch the very first hour of the day with my soul have I desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee early saith the Prophet to God Were we for several months kept without a Sabbath how would our spirits spring at such a days appearance Why should the Commonness of the Sun-shining Isa 26. 9. and the Sabbaths coming diminish the mercy How should we every Lords day morning have our minds mounting and say behold the Sabbath of the Lord it is come it is come Now there are many Alarums to awaken us betimes on the morning of a Sabbath and to throw off carnal sloth and fleshly case Let us eye Christs pattern he rose early from the Grave even while it was yet dark before the Sun had guilded the World with its bright appearance On the morning of his Joh. 20. 1. Resurrection the Sun of Righteousness prevented the Sun of Mal. 4. 2. Mar. 16. 9. Nature Can we indulge our sloth on the Sabbath morning and think of Christs Resurrection He was up early to save us and shall not we be so to serve him shall not we take the wings of the morning as the Psalmist speaks and Psal 139. 9. retaliate this kindness of our Redeemer That Christ arose from the dead there was the truth of our redemption that he arose early there was the love of our redemption Christ's longing to arise and finish our work should enforce us to rise betimes to set upon his Job saith the morning stars sang Job 38. 7. together Our meeting with Christ on a Sabbath morning will make the sweetest musick When carnal sloth surpriseth us let us survey the History of Christ and as he left his tomb let us leave our down betimes Let not the Sun of Ortosâ—le i. e. ad orâ—um appropinquante Cyr. Righteousness shine in our faces with our curtains drawn about us May I not here expostulate Is the Disciple greater then his Master Betimes he left his lodging and shall not we The Master among us doth not usually rise before the Servants In a word Love to the Spouse to the Church made Christ betimes draw the curtains of his grave and let love to our Husband to our Duty to our Souls cause us betimes to draw the curtains of our beds so shall we seasonably Orientem solem adorant Persae adore this morning Sun Let us hear the clamours of the soul The Lords day is the souls market day the souls fair day its term time its Mr. Rogers busie opportunity for the
but in our houses there must be a meeting of Relations there must be Parents and Children Masters and Servants those who are born at home and the stranger Exod. 20 10. Commâ—ni sâ—nctifiâ—â—ndi Sâ—bbathi lege â—onstringuntur omnes ex aequo herus servâ—â— peter liberi mas fâ—â—mina sâ—perâ—â—res et inferâ—ores Musc within our gates and all these must joyntly keep Gods Sabbath in holy duties and no less God commands in the fourth Commandment the Son and Daughter must remember to keep the Sabbath holy as well as the Parents the Man-servant and the Maid-servant as well as the Governours of the Family nay the stranger within the Gates On the Lords day we must by a conscionable and constant performance of holy duties turn even our private house into a little Church and thus we shall intail Gods presence to our houses as he vouchsafed his blessing on the house of Obed Edâ—m we must not onely act secret duties on the Sabbath 2 Sam. 6. 12. but likewise Family duties What those duties are shall be more copiously handled hereafter But Thirdly we must act publick duties on Gods holy Sabbath we must not onely open the doors of our closets and of our chambers to come down into our houses but Ex hac comâ—â—â—iâ—â—e tum Regnum 〈…〉 Zanch. we must open the doors of our houses too to meet with Gods people to celebrate the Lords day The Sabbath is the day wherein the Saints visit God and one another they then begin that society which shall be perfected and eternized in Glory David rejoyced when he went with the multitude to the House of God The great Apostle taught every where in Psal 42. 4. every Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He taught when the people 1 Cor. 4 17. were called together The Corinthians came together in one place to eat the Lords Supper Nay Christ himself will declare 1 Cor. 11. 20. the name and praises of God to his Brethren in the midst Luke 8 19. of the Church We must therefore serve God on the Sabbath in the Assemblies of Gods people not in our houses onely but in the Church i. e. in the Congregation of the faithfull Moses speaks of a holy Convocation Exod. 12. 16. Exod. 12. 16. and the Psalmist makes mention of the Assembly of the Saints Psal 89. 7. nay the promise is intailed on the Congregation of Gods people Isa 4. 5. The omission of this our assembling of our Isa 4. 5. selves is by the Apostle sharply rebuked Heb. 10. 25. One commenting on this Text hath divers things remarkable Heb. 10. 25. and worthy of our observation As First By this assembling the Apostle intends no other but the meeting of Believers to hear the Word of God and Per collectionem hanc Apost caetus ecclesiae et conventus fidelium ad sacram synaxin ad verbâ—m dei pâ—eâ—esque publicas intelligit Secundò Hos caetus vult Apost ut Châ—istiani fidem profiâ—â—â—ntur gratiarum actiones persoâ—ent et se inviâ—em excitent ad veritatem et bona opera Terâ—â— illi catus et mutui congressus mirè sovent fidem quae in secessâ— et separatione diuturniori lâ—ngue scit Quartò Qui ecclesiae â—aeâ—â—s negligunt et deserum facilè urgente perseâ—utione ecclesiam ipsam et fidem Christi deserunt et abnegant Alap to pour out their prayers before God Secondly The Apostle injoynes the Assemblies that Christians might meet publickly to profess their faith in Christ and to sing the praises of God to stir up one another to love and good works Thirdly The same Author observes that these Companies and Assemblies do exceedingly foment and cherish faith which by a perpetual recluse and separation quickly would languish and be infeebled Nay Fourthly He observes That those who forsake the Assemblies of Gods people will easily in the urgency and heat of persecution desert the Church of Christ thus far that learned man And what a rare promise doth the Apostle mention 2 Cor. 6. 16. the words are these For ye are the 2 Cor. 6. 16. Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall Lev. 26. 12. be my people Christ when he was upon the Earth he goes into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day Mar. 1. 21. and Mark 1. 21. taught the people Paul and his Company go into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and Paul preacheth there Nay Acts 20. 7. afterwards Paul preacheth to the Christian Assembly in a house on the Lords day Acts 20. 7. In a word where doth Christ walk but in the midst of his candlesticks which are the Churches Rev. 1. 20. Cornelius Alapide observes that Rev. 1. 20. Alapide holy Ignatius who was the Disciple and follower of the Apostle Paul adviseth in his Epistles those of Smyrna and Ephesus to frequent the meetings of the Saints and gives this reason because they will wonderfully confirm us in the faith so then the whole duty of a Believer on the Lords day lies not in the Closet or the Family but likewise in the Societies of Gods people met for divine worship Coals put together make the warmer fire When the Christians were Assembled Acts 10. 44. to hear Peter then the Holy Ghost fell upon them The Saints in Glory are the Assembly and Church of the first-born Heb. 12. 23. and therefore we must act publick duties on Heb. 12. 23. Gods holy day in the publick Assemblies But now what these publick duties are and how we must demean our selves in the performance of them shall be more largely discussed hereafter We had need rise early on the Sabbath for as we have many Duties to perform so we have many Graces to act The Sabbath is both the field to exercise Grace in and the treasury 2 Tim. 2. 1. to supply grace with Ordinances are both the breathing Grâ—â—iâ— non soliâ—â—est sâ—vâ—r â—â—i 〈◊〉 qâ—od ex eo sâ—qâ—â—tâ—r Alap and the breasts of grace In prayer we act and we augment our graces and so in other Ordinances The Sabbath is the Believers resting day but Graces working day it is love which sweetens the work of a Sabbath Faith makes effâ—ctual the Ordinances of a Sabbath Repentance reconciles Hâ—b 11. 6. Jer 31. 19 20. Rom. 12. 11. Isa 57. 15. Hâ—b 4. 2. Jam. 5. 16. the God of the Sabbath Zeal makes acceptable the duties of a Sabbath Humility ingages Gods presence on a Sabbath We cannot hear the Word profitably on this holy day without we mingle it with Faith nor address our selves to God in prayer without we inflame the duty with fire with the fire of zeal In our prayers we must get our affections fired by the Holy Ghost that they may flame up towards God in Devout and Religious ascents Broken-hearted and penitent Isa 23. 16. believers
Therefore in the morning let us set upon those sacred services which becomes Gods holy day Indeed by private duties before the publick our spirits are made more tuneable and by private duties after the publick Gods Ordinances are made more profitable The morning of a Sabbath is but the spring of a Sabbath which is the sweetest and most pleasant season for the soul to converse with God then the soul seems to be most green and freshest then duties seem to be most melodious and musical and then Grace more delightfully buds forth and is exerted with the greatest satisfaction and beauty Exod. 34. 4. In the morning Moses went into the Mount to meet with God In the morning the Apostles went into the Temple Acts 5. 21. to declare the Gospel In the morning early Joshuah Josh 6. 12. and the Priests take up the Ark of God which was the testimony of the divine presence Job rose up early in the morning Job 1. 5. and offered burnt offerings The poor multitude early Luke 21. 38. in the morning wait upon the Ministry of Jesus Christ they wait for the morning dews of the Gospel they are the sweetest they are the freshest they are more natural and most seasonable Christ preaches his morning Lecture to his flocking John 8. 2. and numerous Auditors In a word the performance Commendat nobis et domini et populi diligentiam hujus quam audiendi illius quam docendi sedulitate declaraverit sed iterum diluculo venit in templum Musc in Joh. 8. of holy duties in the morning of Gods holy day they work a three-fold good They prepare the heart The sluggish heart must be rouzed and awakened in private before it can see its beloved in the publick It must be breathed by some divine duties that it may be more fresh for the publick administrations Bells must be raised before they be rung to make the pleasing musick The flowers must be watered either by the shower 1 Sam. 7. 3. 1 Chro. â—9 18. Rev. 21. 2 or the watering pot before they lift up their pleasant heads and cast their wonted perfume The morning duties of a Sabbath they put the heart into a serious and heavenly Ante nuptias sponsa ornatur et paratur sponso suo Par. frame and make it fit company for Jesus Christ When I have prayed in my family I am tuned and wound up the more for that duty in the Assembly of the Saints They are the discharge of conscience A conscientious person cannot waste the morning of a Sabbath that is destinated to holy service Among the Jewes they had their morning Num. 28. 4 9 10. sacrifices on their Sabbaths There is no part of a Sabbath must lie fallow especially in the morning On the morning Mat. 28. 1 6. early Christ rose for our salvation and on the morning of this holy day we must rise for his service Christ calls himself the morning star Rev. 22. 16. And when is it fittest to Rev. 22. 16. Christus exoriens in cordibus nostris caliginem mentibus nostris pellit Sicut Lucifer claritate stellas alias antecedens et ante solem oriens instantis diei praenuncia tenebras nocturnas dispellit behold this star but on the morning of his holy day The Christus est stella matutina non modâ— praesentis vitae noctem radâ—s suis nunâ— disâ—â—tit sed etiam in matutina communis resurrectionis luce omnibus sanctis sese conspicuum exhibebit Andr. morning of a Sabbath is the time for our first salutes of Heaven for the dressing of our souls for the trimming of our Lamps for the imitation of our Saviour in his early rising for the seasoning of our Families The morning is as currant coyne as the rest of the day it is more congruous to Nature as congruous to Grace anâ— whosoever shall by his sinfull negligence let that part of the Sabbath fly away shall hardly overtake the blessing the subsequent day It is not without remark that Christ is called the morning star Rev. 22. 16. and the Rising Sun Mal. 4. 2 both to denote our early approaches to him They are the Ensurers of spiritual gain It is in spiritual Rev. 22. 16. Mal. 4. 2. as it is in secular affairs The most thriving Husbands get up early in the morning and do much business before the shop is open and so the thriving Christians get up early on the Sabbath and so spend the morning as that they have done much of their work before the Sanctuary door is open or they meet with the more publick Assemblies What views mightest thou have of God by Holy Meditation what smiles and answers of Love from Christ by ardent and servent Prayers what heart warmings by holy Discourse on the morning of a Sabbath Then the first winds and brizes of Joh. 3. 8. the spirit blow and we may weigh Anchor the more happily for the whole ensuing day Josephs Brethren so minded Gen. 44. 3 4. their Journey that they set forward as soon as the morning was light The Sabbath day is our travelling day towards Canaan and therefore we must dispatch much of our Journey in the morning we should do as it was prophesied of Benjamin devoure the prey in the morning that prey Gen. 49. 27. Hos 6. 3. which God hath provided for those who right early sanctifie his holy Sabbath and we should do this the rather for it may be with us as once it was with the people of Israel Nunb 9. 21. that the cloud was taken up in the morning Now the cloud was the sign of Gods presence and if the cloud be taken up how can we expect a shower of mercy David saith 2 Sam. 23. 4. that the Lord is as the light of the morning when the Sun riseth when then is it more sutable to meet these bright appearances but on the morning especially on his own day 1 Kings 18. 26 29. The very Priests of Baal called upon their Idols from morning until evening and afterwards prophesied untill the time of the evening sacrifice and shall not we call upon our God the living God from morning until noon and so to the evening sacrifice especially on that day which is a day of worship and sacrifice The wisâ—man observes it is a principle agreeable to Nature to â—â—w our seed in the morning Eccles 11. 6. Isa 17. 11. and what are our holy duties but this seed which will spring up in Heavenly rewards if piously sown and the fittest Cant. 6. â—0 time for them is the morning especially the first day of the week Our Sabbath which is the morning of the week Sicut auroram Christum inveniemus paratum Del rio Christ speaking of the Spouse Cant. 6. 10. asketh the question who is she that looketh forth as the morning not onely denoting the Spouses freshness and beauty but the time
so is the sugar at the bottom When the plummets Egressus Isaac in agrum ad mâ—ditandum accepit praemium pietatis sponsam scil gratissimam of our souls have been running down in worldly affairs and businesses in the day time then in the Evening to draw up that weight of the Clock in holy meditation is most suitable and commendable nor can any thing better become a Christian then in this duty to give God the Alpha and the Omega of every day The third season for holy Meditation is the night time when nature hath rockt every thing asleep and silenced the world from interrupting noyses This David leaves as The third season for meditation the matter both of his command and example Psal 63. 6. The night season is sequestred from worldly affairs and is Psal 63. 6. not checkt with their clamorous importunity nor is it a time Psal 4. 4. distracted with the incursions of sensible objects it is likewise a time not accosted or besieged with frivolous or dangerous temptations There are two things which do much fit and dispose the soul for Meditation viz. Rest and Silence Sancti laetantur dei patefactionibus sed timore et tremore both which are to be found in the night And to this may be added when the curtains of darkness are drawn over the world we are then filled with a religious fear of God our hearts are more composed and we entertain more solemn and awfull apprehensions of the Divine Majesty Stulte quid est somnus gelidae nisi mortis imago there is then a holy terrour struck upon the soul And when we lie upon our beds the bed is an image and representation of the Grave and at such a time a man may be more serious and composed for the duty But above all let us consider the Sabbath is the fittest time for meditation On that day our Saviour arose from the The fourth season for meditation Earth and our souls should ascend and raise themselves towards Heaven And meditation doth not onely become the morning but the whole day of a Sabbath it must not onely be our morning dress but the attire we must wear all the day We should think with our selves the Lords day it is a type of Heaven and contemplation is the work of Heaven The Heb. 4. 9. present Sabbath is onely the abridgement of that eternal rest which the Saints shall enjoy with God And they which disrelish this duty how can they expect that glorious reward which principally consists in the view and contemplation of God A gracious soul upon the Lords day by meditation may converse with God and with the inhabitants of another world he may enjoy as much of God as this interposing vail of flesh will admit of And thus much for the proper seasons of meditation The next thing which will further illustrate this blessed duty of meditation is the evidencing of the great advantages The great advantages of meditation of it which are both rich and many As several Diamonds are found in the same Rock and much Gold crowded into the same Mine Let us therefore take these manifold Emoluments in their Order Meditation is a vigorous antidote against sin It is rare physick to purge away or prevent that poyson Most sin for want of meditation There are two great snares which take most The first adtage of meditation men and intangle them in sin viz. Ignorance and Incogitancy when we either not know our danger or not consider our duty Men certainly would not be so brutishly sensual as they are if they did seriously weigh things in the ballance by solemn and holy meditation If they did meditate on the strength of Gods Arme on the strictness of Gods Justice Exod. 15. 16. on the consuming power of his Wrath if they seriously considered how infinitely evil sin is how much it Nehem. 9. 33. affronted Divine Purity and broke in pieces Divine Laws Heb. 12. 29. how exceedingly it endangered the soul and how deeply it Psal 5. 3. wounded the conscience surely men would flee all appearances 1 Joh. 3. 4. of evil and repulse a temptation in its first onset It is sin which puts a worm into Conscience a sting into Death 1 Theâ— 5. 22. a curse into the Law and fire into Hell Men meditate not Rom. 2. 15. on these things and so they are entangled in the snare Holy meditation is a golden shield against the darts of sinfull temptations In this case meditation would be as the Angels Judg. 22. 23. sword to stop us in our sinfull cariere and to strike us into clammy sweats and heavy damps that we should not sport our selves in the wayes and traverses of sin and provocation Joseph's meditation on Gods presence and omnipotency Gen. 39. 9. Josephus circumseptus fuiâ— pulcherrimarum virtutum choro quarum hortatu victor evasit spoyled the design of his Mistris her dalliance and kept him within the limits of holiness and chastity Meditation makes the heart like weâ— tinder it will not take the Devils fire In a word it is strange rashness in men that they will be taken in the ambushes of sin before they seriously meditate on what they are going about Holy meditation keeps vain and foolish thoughts out of the heart it prepossesseth the soul that frivolous imaginations The second advantage of meditation tions are wholly shut out God complains of the people of Israel that they were wholly taken up with vain thoughts Jer. 4. 14. Jer. 4. 14. And so it is with most men their minds are filled with froth and vanity and varieties of foolish thoughts croud in upon them as flyes swarm to the place where the honey lies and those incautelous persons consider not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost sin begins at the thoughts which are the first plotters and contrivers of all evil the heart is the womb whereall sin is conceived and framed and outward acts onely midwife the sinfull birth into the world and make it visible The mind and fancy is the stage where sin is first acted The malicious O quà m vanae sunt hominum cogitationes una cogitatio foelix est cogitare de domino Hieron in Psal man acts over his sin in his thoughts he plots his revenge the impure person acts over his concupiscence in his thoughts he contrives his lust And it is much to be deplored how much wickedness is committed in the chambers of our thoughts Now meditation on things Divine the Purity of God the Promises of God would be a Soveraign means to exite and banish such vain and flatulent thoughts Hierome 2 Cor. 7. 1. cries out How vain are the thoughts of men there is but one thought considerable and that is to think on God If David had carried the Book of the Law about him and meditated 2 Sam. 11. 2. on it
body and Requiescâ—mus in Sabbato ne continuis laboribus fatigemur et eorum remissione fessâ— membra leventur vires reficiantur a revival to the soul the bodies ease and the souls enjoyment the outward man on the Sabbath recovers stâ—ength and the inward man receiveth Christ Our exhausted spirits on Gods holy day are sweetly recruited and our importunate souls are rarely answered they then prey upon a Christ offered in the Gospel Plaâ—o observes That the Goâ—s willing to recruiâ— mankind over-toiled with labour in pity have appointed festival days for their ease and relaxation Thus that Heathen Philosopher gives in his verdict to this particular Dii genus hominum laboribus pressum miserati propter remissionem laborum ipsis statuâ—runt solennia Fâ—stâ— Plat. lib. 2. de legib Indeed Gods blessed Sabbath shores up a piece of clay and it builds up a pieâ—e of eternity the precious and the immortal soul The Sabbath is the bodies friend and the souls fosterer the bodies rest-time and the souls term-time Those words of God Deut. 5. 14 15. That thy man servant and thy maid servant may rest as well as thou and remember that thou wast a servant in the Land of Egypt are very emphatical and intimate to us that one necessary end of the Sabbath Deut. 5. 14 15. is rest and that not onely for governors of Families who happily need it not so much but also for servants and they which have tasted of toil and bondage will easily allow rest to others There is an aeconomical end of the Sabbath viz. That the whole family be taken off from their customary toil as Exod. 20. 10. Nec Pater familias nec ejus familia nec animalia domestica nimiis laboribus perdenda sunt sed uno die intra septimanâ—m quiete fruantur à laboribus Zan was suggested somewhat before and labour and enjoy a sweet vacation for their communion with God On this holy day the governor is to cease from his secular over-sight and usual labour the children are to suspend their daily employments and the servants are to lay aside their accustomed sweat and the Posterity of Adam is now neither to dig nor delve and to get his living by the sweat of his brows This day the Ox must ot toil at the plow nor the Ass groan under his burden nor must the stranger be disturbed in his pleasing repose Thomas Aquinas observes In observantiâ Sabbaâ—â— sâ—nctifiâ—atio est finis praeâ—â—â—â—â—m est câ—ssâ—re ab â—â—ere sâ—rvili quin. secunda seâ—undae quaest 122. The level of the fourth Commandment aims at holy rest and a full cessation from servile and secular labours And Musculus takes notice That in case of Religion there is no difference between the Master and the Servant between the Parents and Children but all distinctions of Sexes and Degrees and Relations is quite taken away and the same Law for the Sanctification of that holy day indifferently involves and includes Communi sâ—nctificandi Sabbati lege constringâ—ntur omnes ex aequo Herus Servus Pater Laberi Mas et Faemina superiores inferiores Musc Deut 5 14. Vt familia quiefâ—eret haec habes ad Charitatem all The observation of the Sabbath reaches him who grinds at the Mill as well as him who sitteth on the Throne Then the whole family must be built up in their most holy faith as the Temple was in its Magnificent structure without noise of ax or hammer 1 Kings 6. 7. without interruption or noise of worldly and secular labour A learned man thinks it is agreeable to the Law of charity that Children and Servants should be call d off from their servile employments upon the Lords day their souls requiring as much care and attendance as the souls of those who move in a higher sphere and take the upper seat in the houshold and family There is an Ecclesiastical end of the Sabbath we are then to be conversant about those things which belong to the Finis secundus Sabbati est Ecclesiasticus eò quod cirea dei cultum et meditationem divinorum operum versatur Omnia enim ea quae ad veram pietatem et verum dei cultum pertinent in hoc sacro otio peragi debent Hospin Ostendit Deus discrimen inter labores externos et inter illos pietatis et cultus Divini in quarto praecepto Ger. Church of Christ we are to attend upon the worship of God to meet with the people of God and to refresh our souls with the Ordinances of God This day is a time for the Church not the Change it is not the fair of the body but the Market-day of the soul The things to be agitated this day are of another nature than the affairs of the week Now we must not mind our coffer but our Christ not the meat which perisheth John 6. 27. but that which endureth to everlasting life God gives us the seventh part of the week to trade for Heaven to dig for grace to sue out our pardon to strike high and look after an interest in a Mediator to lay up for eternity and to mind our part in Canaan above in the Countrey to come Now must we dress the Garden of our souls Gen. 2. 15. Now we must drive furiously 2 Kings 9. 20. for a Crown of glory Now we must pursue the unsearchable riches of Christ Eph. 3. 8. The affairs of the Sabbath are not civil but Ecclesiastical There is a Christian end of the Sabbath viz. That it may be a note and badge of our profession In the Primitive times the Pagans used to question the Christians upon this interrogatory Hast thou kept the Lords day and the answer Beati martyres in judicium vocati et à proconsâ—le interragâ—ti num Collectam fecissent aut Dominicum egissent Voce saepius repetitâ respondont se Christianos esse Collectam Dominicam et Dominicum congruâ religionis devotione celebrasse quia intermitti non potest Baron commonly was I am a Christian I dare not intermit it for the Law admonisheth me of it namely the Law of God of Christ of Christianity which answer cost many Christians their lives the last drop of their dearest bloud Never were two truths more deeply dyed in the bloud of Martyrs than the Lords Day and the Lords Supper have been the one under Popish the other under Pagan persecution The keeping of the Lords day in those Golden dayes of the Church was the Christians Motto the Saints Shibboleth the Martyrs boast and persecutors frowns could not cause them to suspend it nor the greatest fury enforce them to renounce it And the holy observation of the Lords day did not only then discriminate the Christian from the Heathen the Church from the world but it still differences the Saint from the sinner the believer from the formalist the carnal Gospeller from the real professor The Lords day is the Crown of the
a pleasant thing to behold the Sun Eccl. 11. 7. because it will not meet with its last setting till the consummation of the world Gold it self is despicable because corruptible 1 Pet. 1. 18. Duration is the excellency of every good thing that which makes grace it self look so lovely and beautiful it is because it cannot faint away it is as immortal as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isid Pelus soul it enricheth this sets off its comeliness it cannot lose its beauty Cant. 8. 7. But to return to our Christian Sabbath It therefore differs from and hath the preheminence over the Sabbath of the Jews because it walks over its grave and will survive till all Gospel Institutions shall cease and our weekly Jubilees shall be turned into eternal triumph CHAP. XXV The Comparison of the Christians Sabbath here with his Eternal Sabbatism or Rest above AND that the joy of meditation may be full and may be wholly indefective in suitable objects to prey upon on Gods holy day especially in the morning so far as time and convenience will permit Let meditation look forward Dies Dominica est imago venturi seculi et assidua commotione vitae illius nunquam desiturae non negligimus ad eam demigrationem viaticum parore Bas or rather upward and observe what proportion our Sabbath here bears with our Sabbath above This pleasing task will cause meditation to renew its strength like an Eagle Psal 103. 5. and to take its flight with greater vigour and liveliness And to make the comparison more considerable we will observe wherein our earthly and our heavenly Sabbath do perfectly agree and then take notice wherein our heavenly doth transcendently outvy and surpass our earthly Our earthly Sabbath doth resemble our heavenly in the holy nature of it They are both holy our Sabbath here is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 35. 2. A holy day a day set apart Exod. 35. 2. Exod. 28 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a holy God to be spent in holy services destinated to sacred and holy purposes vouchsafed for holy Communion with Jesus Christ and appointed as a blessed means to make us holy The Lords day as our Sabbath is called Rev. 1. 10. carries holiness in its very title It s name is written in the golden Letters of sanctity and so our heavenly Hoc Sabbatum aeternum inchoatur in renatis per spirituale Saâ—batum hujus vitae et consummabitur tandem in futurâ vitâ in quâ Deus erit omnia in omnibus Ger. In die judicii plenè et perfectè sub pedibus conteretur Satan In hâ◠vitâ reportant Pii victoriam ex pugnâ in futurâ plenâ—riè liberabuntur â— pugnâ Sabbath is an undefiled rest Heaven admits of no impure thing no unclean person Eph. 5. 5. There are no weeds in our Paradise above Our future Sabbath shall be an everlasting holy day we have there a holy God to behold a holy Redeemer to enjoy holy Angels to joyn issue with spotless and glorifyed Saints to delight in nay the rivers of pleasure which run at Gods right hand Psal 36. 8. Psal 16. 11. have Chrystalline streams and are excellent not only for their sweetness but their purity Every thing in glory is unblemished and without spot else heaven could not be the seate and residence of the great King A learned man observes Our eternal Sabbath is onely the consummation of our spiritual which consists in a full cessation from sin And indeed in heaven all causes of sin shall utterly and everlastingly cease First The Corruption of the Flesh Secondly The Temptations of Satan Thirdly The Seductions of the World Fourthly A Propensness to Evil. Fifthly A Faculty and capacity of offending In glory the Saints shall be endowed with such perfect purity that suppose Temptation could get within the Veil and intrude among the glorifyed Saints that Syren should no way impress or allure them So then our Sabbath here and hereafter both look fair because of holiness Our Sabbath here resembles our rest above in the duties and employments of it In our Sabbath below our whole business is with God we run it out in hearing something drop from the heart of God when we attend upon his word in making our humble addresses to God by secret and more publick prayer in fixing our fledged meditations on God in singing Psalms and making melody in our hearts to Eph. 5. 19. God The Saints task is wholly to serve God his priviledge Intra in gaudium Domini i. e. gaude de eo quo gaudet in qua gaudet Dominus sc de fruitione sui ipsius Tunc gaudet homo ut Dominus cùm fruitur ut Domiâ—us Aquin. is to enjoy communion with God his ambition is to Sun himself in the presence of God on Gods holy day And all our employment in our celestial Sabbath will be to rejoyce in God and to glorifie God we shall spend eternity in venting our joys for the blessed fruition of God I say in venting those joys First Which will be rare for the subject of them they are the joys of the Saints John 16. 22. Secondly Rare for the fountain and spring of them they are the joy of the Lord Mat. 25. 23. Thirdly Rare for the plenty of them it shall be the fulness 1 Pet. 1. 8. Exultabunt Sancti in gloriâ videbunt Deum et gaudebunt laetabuntur et delectabuntur fruentur gloriâ et in faelicitate jocundabuntur aeternâ Cypr. Beata Deitatis visio est gaudium Domini tui O gaudium super gaudium vincens omne gaudium extra quod non est gaudium Aug. of joy Psal 16. 11. Fourthly Rare for the adjunct of them joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. Fifthly Rare for the efficient cause of them they are joys from the Holy Spirit Isa 35. 10. Sixthly Rare for the characters of them our joy in our eternal Sabbath shall be First True in eternal cordial joy all the faculties of the soul shall tripudiate and leap for joy they shall be as a dancing Sun or as David danced before the Ark 2 Sam. 6. 14. and their several measures shall be the elevation of the exstacy The understanding shall joy in the Lord for its divine light the will shall joy in the Lord for its perfect consonancy to the divine will The memory shall joy in the Lord for its full strength and so the affections for their heavenly purity Secondly Our joy in our Sabbath above shall be sincere without mixture of grief or disgust Our worldly joys are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter-sweets sweet brier which can tear as Prov. 14. 13. well as sent but in our celestial Sabbath there shall be no Gall or Vinegar in our Cup. Thirdly Our joy in our Sabbath above shall be stable and sempiternal neither to be interrupted nor concluded because the fountain of it will be eternall viz. The sight of
Jer. 3. 13. forgive the sins of our prayers that our dull ear flat heart ranging mind floating thoughts treacherous memory may be pardoned to us and that the sins of our Sabbath may not sowre the sweets of our Sabbath and so our precious priviledges become as Vriahs letters whose contents were the destruction of the bearer We let fall an Evening dew of Aliud Sabbatâ—m et alia requies relinquitur et restat populo dei popu-lo fideli et Christiano putà requies gaudium et solennitas coelestis figurata per Sabbatum Judaicum tears upon our very services on Gods holy day 2. Petitory But our sighs must not so stop our language but we must be begging as well as moaning and there are many things we must importune the Lord for the winding up of his Sabbath we must beseech him that his smiles would speak his acceptation of what we have performed that holy day that his spinit would feal upon us those instructions which we have heard that day that our lives might conform to those blessed ordinances which we have enjoyed that day that a full fruition of himself may succeed the sweet communion we have had with himself that day and that the present Sabbath may be the harbinger of an Eternal Rest which is the glorious reserve God hath made for his Saints Heb. 4. 9. We must likewise pray that every lust complained of that day may receive its deaths wound that every sin confessed and acknowledged that day may receive its full pardon that every opportunity of life possessed that Ecclesia â—â— domus orâ—tionis quia in eá a deo petimus peccatorum veniam vitiorum victoriam virtutum robur et incrementum in tentationibus constantiam in gratiâ et virtutibus progressum felicem mortem et sa lutiferam beatitudinem Alap in Is day may receive its designed end Wrestling with God is never more seasonable then on the day of God then it is both seasonable and sweet therefore let it put its last hand to our Sabbath Of all graces faith wears the Crown Eph. 6. 16. Of all duties Prayer wears the Garland Isa 45. 11. This is the favourite in the Court of heaven to whom the King of Kings can deny nothing Gods house must be called a house of Prayer Isa 56. 7. not of hearing not of singing not of receiving but of praying One letter in Gods name is he is a God hearing prayer Psal 65. 1 2. It is prayer can sanctifie afflictions it is prayer can bless provisions it is prayer can sweeten Ordinances and make them marrow and fatness to the soul Psal 63. 5. Prayer is the Porter to keep the door of our lips Prayer is the strong hilt which defends the strength of our hands Prayer is the Chymist which turns all into Gold and it is prayer can turn a Sabbath into that which is better then gold Let Prayer then bring up the rear of our services on a Sabbath 3. Gratulatory In the close of a Sabbath let us triumph 1 Thes 5. 16. and â—â—joyce in the Lord and in the cool of the evening let us Semper gaudete si non actu tamen habitu Cajet not lose the heat of the day Let not our Sabbath be as Nebuchadnezzars Image whose head was of Gold breast and armes of silver but the feet and lower parts iron and clay Let not our hearts in the morning of a Sabbath have heavenly Dan. 2. 32 33. heat and be in a golden temper and in the evening as dead and cold as the iron and the clay It is very sad when our affections on a Sabbath are like the grass the Prophet speaks of Psal 90. 6. In the morning it flourisheth Zach. 14. 6 7. and in the evening it is cut down dried up and withered Some experienced Christians can say that upon the continued 1 Chr. 23. 30. care throughout the Sabbath in the evening thereof they have received large enlivenings of soul Plutarch reports of a River which runs sweet in the morning but bitter at night Let not this be the emblem of our condition but rather as Rivers have their Evening Tides as well as their morning so let it be full water with us in the evening of the Sabbath and then we have many things to praise Jehovah for 1. We must magnifie the Name of God for the time of a Psal 92. 2. day that the candle of our life burned one day longer when Divine Justice might have snuffed it out Acts 17. 28. 2. For the sweetness of an Ordinance Ordinances are the souls Jubile the walks where we meet with our beloved the Golden Scepter of Grace which God holds out to Esth 4. 11. us now to come in and receive favour the white flag of heaven to bespeak us to yield to Christ and we shall be received into grace and favour And how many of these Jewels doth God set a Sabbath with 3. For farther tenders of life and salvation Let God be praised that still the bargain is driving for eternity every offer of pardon in the Gospel is renewed love the fresh soundings of Gods bowels his heart once more yearning towards the poor soul And is not this worthy our highest thanksgivings The Persians adore every new rising of the Sun and shall not we adore the Lord for repeated tenders of salvation 4. For the liberty of Gods Sanctuary which is his Royal Illustâ—â—t deus faciem suam i. e. lucidâ serenâ benignâ et amicâ facie respiciat ad templum suum et illud instauret Palace to entertain his Saints in where he gives his sweetest and most satisfactory discoveries Psal 73. 17. There are the goings of God Psal 68. 24. There God sheweth his power and shines in his Glory Psal 63. 2. There Gods strength is evidenced and his beauty unmasked Psal 96. 6. And there he causeth his face to shine Dan. 9. 17. which is the most beautifull sight on this side the beatifical vision 5. Let us praise God for the Riches of a Sabbath In this Psal 14. 20. blessed season we enjoy the treasure of his Word without Rom. 3. 2. which we should have been both unholy and unhappy and by its powerfull operations we are made both gracious and glorious and the giver of such a gift deserves the elevations of our praise and we should commemorate it with an Higgaion Selah The light of the Sun Moon and Stars are Gen. 1. 18. of great concernments to men they are the Governours of Joel 3. 15. day and night But the light of Gods Word is of infinite more value The Sun shall be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood Joel 2. 31. but not an Iota of Gods Word shall pass away or perish By the Word the glory and beauty Cur non potest Iota perire quia tunc periret vox et sententia legis ex Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the same Augustin averres Chrysostom assures us That the words of Ipse de cantatorum psalmorum Davidicorum verba inter canendum prolata recenset Chrysost Homil. de verbis Isai 1. lib. 5. Davids Psalms were the constant matter which was sung that which did feed the voyce and the rejoycing of Christians in his time Thus singing of Psalms was the usual and commendable practice of the golden times of the Church And sing to the Lord Psalm 47. 6. must be the command which must lead us up and down a Sabbath and especially put an Higgaion Selah upon the close of it Now for our more comfortable management of this heavenly service and spiritual recreation we must consider Singing of Psalmes hath excellent Presidents That service is much sweetned which is exemplified by the best Patterns We have the best of Persons going before us in this Job 38. 7. way of holy delight The Morning stars of the Church have sung together Heb. 2. 10. 1. Christ himself the Captain of our sanctification as well as our salvation hath gone before us in this holy practice he sang a Hymn with his Apostles Mat. 26. 30. He sang with the Apostles to shew us that Psalms are calculated not onely for the publick Congregations but private Families He sang not with the multitude but with the Disciples And Christ sang in the Evening to evidence that the Evening of his own day is the most fit season for this heavenly duty And he sang immediatly before he suffered Hymni sunt laudes dei cum cantico Et si sit laus non dei non est hymnus si sit laus dei et non cantetur non est hymnus Oportet ergo ut sit hymnus habeat haec tria et laudem et dei et canticum August Psalmi Davidici sunt sacri hymni Philo. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Archimusico vincenti praecentori cui cura est de re musicà instatque ut ad debitum finem perducatur Prefecto cantorum Occurrit in Psalmis 35 vicibus Bithn to seal this Ordinance with his blood And if it be Queried what Hymn Christ sang Learned Expositors are various in their opinions and shoot so much at Rovers that I shall not stay to take up their arrows But it is not without remark that Augustin gives us the full and rare description of an Hymn which may help us in this case Hymns saith he are the praises of God set forth in singing If it be praise and not of God it is no hymn And if it be praise of God and these praises are not sung it is not an Hymn And therefore if it be an Hymn it must have these three things It must be praise the praise of God and that with a song Christ then was versed in this holy practice and so the Holy Ghost pens a Psalm for the Sabbath viz. the 92 Psalm that as there is the Lords Prayer to guide us in that holy duty so there i◠the Lords Psalm too to excite and stir us up in this feraphical Service 2. Godly Princes have glorified God in this duty 2 Chro. 29. 30. David composes Psalmes and Hezekiah commands them to be sung The chief Magistrate joynes with the chief Musician And he that takes the Scepter in his hand to govern the people he likewise takes the Harp in his hand to sing the praises of the Lord Psalm 98. 5. David and Asaph Hezekiah and the Levites all joyn to sing forth the praises of God There was among the Jews a Prefect of songs as well as a Governour of the People 3. The Holy Apostles those bright luminaries of the Church they have made this musick in their Sphears Acts 16. 25. Paul and Silas sang praises to God in their Exod. 15. 1. darkest Dungeon though their feet were their tongues were not in the stocks 4. Eminent Fathers Some have been cited already to give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Quest 117. ad Orthodoxos in their testimony to the praise and practice of this duty I will onely superadd one more One most worthy among the worthiest famous Basil who thus discants upon singing of Psalmes Look whatever is profitably dispersed throughout the whole Scriptures the same is gathered together Est Psalmus animarum tranquillitas Pacis Arbiter optimarum disciplinarum promptuarium Psalmus turbas et fluctus cogitationum compescit iracundiam mollit est elementum incipientibus incrementum proficientibus c. Basil in the Book of the Psalmes and therefore this Book of Psalmes was preserved that those who are Children in years or altogether young in manners might in shew sing in meeter but in truth might instruct their own souls the instructions of the Psalmes being sung both at home and abroad A Psalm brings quietness to the mind is a peace-maker repressing the perturbations and passions of the mind it doth mollifie anger and procure love and friendship among men suggesting unto the mind a certain concord and a common bond to unite men together and compelling men to the harmony of one Quire A Psalm is instruction to the ignorant an increase to them that profit and one voice of the whole Church This doth beautifie solemnities and causes Godly sorrow for Psalms do pull tears out of the most stony hearts Thus far the Renowned Father launches forth in the praise of Psalmes Ho◠institutum in hodierum diem retentum Aug. Confes that spiritual incense as he is pleased to call them And from the Primitive Church this heavenly service hath been propagated down to our very times This duty like the Sun which runs through the several signs of the Zodiack hath passed the tempers and dispositions of every Age. Singing of Psalms hath not onely excellent presidents but enforcing reasons The Psalmist saith It is a good thing to sing unto our God Psal 47. 1. This duty being like a fruitfull Cloud in the Summer season which is not onely our screen against the heat but melts into a showre for the earths refreshing It doth not onely make a Canopy for us to keep of the scorching Sun but makes a draught for the ground to satisfie its parching thirst So we do not onely magnifie God in singing of Psalms but we solace our selves and put our Josh 6. 20. own hearts into a spiritual delight This duty is much to Edification Our souls are built up as the walls of Jericho were pulled down by loud sounding forth the praises of the Lord while we praise God we engage him and as holy musicians after we have drawn our tongues and hearts into the Quire we shall have our reward The Apostle advises Cum hilaritati inservimus aedificationis et utilitatis mutuae memores esse debemus Daven the Ephesians to speak to one another in Psalms Eph. 5. 19. The Christian at the same time carrying on a three-fold design 1. He praises God 2. He works divine truth upon his
19 20. But to reconcile man to man is the duty of every real Christian and a work most agreeing to the sweetness of a Sabbath a duty crowned with the promise of the greatest royalty Mat. 5. 9. The day of Christs Resurrection our blessed Sabbath was a reconciling day It reconciled truth to the Promises Mat. 20. 19. Mat. 27. 63. Mark 8. 31. Mark 10. 34. Luke 24. 7. John 20. 9. it was the accomplishment of the reconciling work of mans Redemption And on this day the soul of Christ was re-united to his body which was at a distance before No work then more befits the Lords day then the healing of divisions and the praying down animosities between Christians On this blessed day we must endeavour to resolve doubtfull Christians Doubts are the wedges in the soul which both wound and pain to pluck out these wedges by Scripture Qui disceptat dubitat sâ—nâ— licitum necne si manducat peccati damnationis incurrit rectum force is a duty becoming the best of days A doubting Christian is upon a rack he is as a ship upon the Sea in the night he fears he shall either dash upon the rock of errour or sink in the quick-sands of mistake he wants the Pilotism of a knowing and faithful Christian he tosses to and fro and knows not how to come to harbour Now it is spiritual love and charity to relieve this naval pilgrim Oecumen Doubts are not only painfull and vexatious but harmful and noxious 1. They are the enemies of faith Mat. 21. 21. 2. They are the evidences of frailty Mat. 28. 17. 3. They are the hazard of the soul Rom. 14. 23. 4. They are the disobedience of a positive and peremptory command Luke 12. 29. And 5. They cat out all the profit of prayer 1 Tim. 2. 8. Haesitantiae opponitur fiduâ—ia quae necessaria est omni oranti Doubts like cares they are the thorns of the soul which rend and tear the minde with convulsions and distractions And therefore the Apostle is so urgent in his command Rom. 14. 1. That new and crude Professors be not admitted to doubtfull disputations that was the way to unhinge Mark 11. 24. them from the faith and to take them off from the profession of Christianity which would seem nothing to them but a labyrinth and a maze wherein men may lose but not save themselves This is charity then becoming a Sabbath to satisfie the doubts of poor trembling Christians and to become as a harbor to a tattered bark Thus ye have seen the severals of that spiritual charity which the meanest Christian may give and the humble if wanting Christian will receive Another direction for the better observation of the Lords day may be Let us seek God in Ordinances Ordinances Direct 8. are only an empty cloud unless the presence of God melt them into a fruitful shower David saw the power and glory of God in the Sanctuary Psal 63. 2. Ordinances are breathless institutions unless God breathe the breath of life Gen. 2. 7. into them The spirit must stretch himself over them as the Prophet did over the child before any life will come 2 Kings 4. 35. In hearing God must open Lydia's heart Acts 16. 14. In praying God must open our mouths that Psalm 51. 15. we may shew forth his praise The Sacrament is a gaudy Psalm 119. 18. pageant if God be not present what do we drink if not John 6. 55. Christs bloud what do we eat if not Christs body It is the presence of God makes an Ordinance the living child 1 Kings 3. 22. otherwise it is no more then the dead child or a spirituall abortion The divine appearance sweetens fills sanctifies and makes effectual every Ordinance David loved the habitation of Gods house but it was because that was the place where Gods honour dwelt Psal 27. 4. When men go to a certain place to meet a friend and they miss him they return sorrowful and discontented Christ is thy friend Cùm dei gloria in Christo in Evangelio quasi in speculo intuemur per hoc quasi in eandem dei gloriam transâ—â—rmamur speculantes i. e. per speculum videntes non de speculâ prospicientes Aug de Trin. who is to meet thee at Ordinances if thou miss him go home sorrowful Ordinances without God they are a table without meat and so a living soul may depart hungry and thirsty Sometimes Ordinances are compared to a glass 2 Cor. 3. 18. Because therein the Christian beholds the glory of the Lord. Let us hear the language of the Psalmist Psal 84. 2. My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living Lord. Therefore David longed for Gods Courts because the Lord was in those Courts Sometimes the sweet Singer of Israel compares his desire to thirst of which creatures are more impatient then hunger Psalm 63. 1. Sometimes to the thirst of a Hart which creature being naturally hot and dry in a very great degree is exceeding thirsty but still the object of his thirst is God Psal 42. 1 2. It was communion with God in his life love and graces nay in his comforts which the Psalmist breathed after the sweet smiles of Gods face the honey dews of his Spirit this was Davids Paradise of pleasute and his heaven below When we go to Ordinances let us with Moses go up into the Mount to converse with God there It is God in the Word causeth efficacy It is God in Prayer causeth prevalency It is God in Meditation which causeth suavity It Psalm 104. 34. is God in a Sabbath causeth complacency When we go to the waters of the Sanctuary let us say as Elisha to the waters of Jordan where is the Lord God of Elijah 2 Kings 2. 14. So where is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Where is thy Chariot O Sun of Righteousness why is it so long Judges 5. 28. a coming why tarries it what clogs the wheels O when wilt thou come to me Let us look on all holy duties and performances as boats to ferry our souls over to God Saul himself was sad and sorrowfull when he enquired of the Lord and the Lord answered him 1 Sam. 28. 15. Indeed God is not onely the Master but the Marrow of a Sabbath and no Lords day can satisfie without the Lord of the day Antiquus dierum Christus est Ille enim corporaliter visibiliter judicabit vivos et mortuos Christus ideò vocatur Antiqus dierum ut ejus describatur Majestas et aeternitas Hieron what is the best time without the Rock of eternity What is the best day without the Ancient of dayes What are Sermons Sacraments seasons of grace without our Beloved They are nothing but broken Cisterns glorious dreams gilded nothings embalmed hearses and as a perfumed corpse Ah
then let not a Sermon satisfie without Christ in a Sermon let not reading a Chapter content without we read Christ in that Chapter As once Bernard despised that Book wherein he did not read Christ And let us alwayes remember that Ordinances they are the institutions of God and he that made a brazen Serpent heal Num. 21. 9. can make his own institutions effect our cure Object But the poor souls greatest Query is How shall I meet with God in Ordinances who shall open the door into the Gallery where I may be with my Beloved Answ In answer to this something we have to do as well as something to enjoy Our pain must go before our pleasure we must not be wanting to meet God if we expect that God should meet us Therefore We must be earnest in Prayer we must cry out O send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy Hill to thy Tabernacle then will I go unto the Altar of God unto God my exceeding joy Psalm 43. 3 4. We must make our addresses to God if we look for his approaches to us God sends a Preacher to a praying Paul God Acts 9. 11. sends an Angel to a praying Daniel God comes himself to Dan. 9. 21. a praying Solomon Prayer is an humble summons for the 1 Kings 2. 3. divine appearance it can not onely tie Gods hands Exod. Acts 10. 2 3. 32. 10. and command returns Isa 45. 10. But it can obtain Gods presence If Moses say I pray thee God presently Jam. 4. 8. replies My presence shalt go with thee Exod. 33. 13 14. If thou wilt have God meet thee in Ordinances let thy prayers be thy Harbingers to prepare room for him Be serious in preparing for Ordinances The Sun scatters the Clouds before it shines in its brightness The Bride dresseth her self to meet her Bridegroom And thou must Isa 61. 10. compose thy self with awful apprehensions Sponsa â—rnata representat ecclesiam ornamentis gratiae fortitulinis decoratam immò animam sanctam gratiis spiritu adaptatam et si debilis et imperfecta Haymo 1. Of the Divine Majesty with whom thou art to converse 2. With the solemness of Gods Ordinance thou art now going to enjoy 3. With the sweetness and advantage of the season thou art now entring upon and then God will meet thy prepared soul Joseph trimmed himself and then he goes into Pharaoh's presence The Wise man adviseth us â— keep our foot when we go into the house of God Eccles 5. 1. VVe should do well in our applications to holy Ordinances to examine our selves whether we are fit with loose thoughts to meet with a dreadful Majesty Or with filthy hearts to meet with a holy God Or with worldly and drossy minds to meet with Grn. 41. 14. our heavenly Father Let us not complain God retires when we are not fit for his presence Let us then capacitate our selves by holy care and serious preparation to enjoy God in Ordinances Let us long for Gods presence God loves affectionate Proselytes A longing David shall see a loving God Psal 63. 1 2. The Spouse is restless after her Beloved and then she meets him Cant. 3. 1 2 3 4. The thirsting soul shall be fed Fames est illa melior sanctior quae est spiritualis jam in Christo habebit saturitatem invita aeternâ omnimodam satietatem ubi deus erit omnia in omnibus Chemn with milk and wine Isa 55. 1. Grace and Righteousness shall satisfie the bungry Mat. 5. 6. The Psalmist follows hard after God Psalm 63. 8. God meets with our pursuits we shall then satisfie our selves in God when nothing but God can satisfie us Cold suitors shall not meet with Christ in his espousals VVhen the Wife longs the Husband endeavours after the thing longed for Mary Magdalen bemoaned the taking away of her Lord John 20. 2. We may expect to meet with God when his absence is our greatest moan and his presence our sweetest musique Let us come to Ordinances with all reverential humility God will look at him who is of a poor and a contrite spirit Humilitas est via ad deum Aug. and trembles at his Word Isa 66. 2. God dwells in the humble heart Isa 51. 15. God will raise those who debase themselves Augustin tells us That humility is the ready way Super quem requieseit Sp. sanctus nisi super humilem super humilem non super virginem Bern. to God It is the usher who brings the soul into the presence Chamber Bernard notably observes That the spirit of God rested on the Virgin Mary not for her Virginity but for her Humility And if Mary had not been so low in her own eyes she had not been so lovely in Gods Alapide saith Humility is a throne of Saphire where God sits in Majesty Let Humilitas est thronus Sappharinus in quo deus cum Majestate resideâ— Alap us then come to Ordinances with a submissive spirit God will cast an eye upon the soul who lies at his feet He sent an Angel to Daniel when he lay in his ashes Dan. 9. 3. 21. God rewarâ— the very counterfeit humility of Ahab 1 Kings 21. 29. though his sackcloath was but as Samuels mantle the attire of hypocrisie A dread of Gods presence brings Prov. 16. 19. a sweet sence of it and a trembling at the Word of God goes Prov. 29. 23. before a triumphing in the enjoyment of God Job abhorred himself in dust and ashes Job 42. 6. and then God hears him for himself and his friends and gives him interest upon interest for all his sufferings and tribulation Job 42. 10. A holy God will meet with an humble Saint Let us endeavour to be in the spirit upon the Lords day Direct 9. The extasies of the Apostle John were on the Lords day Revel 1. 10. the rapture was accomodated to the season Christians should study to be above themselves upon Gods holy day then they should walk in Galleries above the world Hierome professes That he sometimes found things so with himself that it seemed to him as if he had been triumphing Hieron de Virginit servand among Troops of Angels and singing hallelujahs with the Saints in Heaven and walking arm in arm with Jesus Christ And Luther reports of himself That sometimes especially on a Sacrament day the death of Christ was so full and fresh upon Luth. his spirit as if then he had been upon Mount Calvary and as if that was the day in which the Lord dyed And Beleevers should be so in the spirit upon the Sabbath as if that was the very day wherein Christ broke the bars of the Grave rowled away the stone from the Sepulchre and enfranchised himself from the restraints of the tomb The Saints should be carried out on this day and make their sallies into the suburbs of
sollicitude And so Calvin presses That on this day every man ought to withdraw himself wholly to God-ward to mind him and his works that we may be provoked to serve and honour him The Sabbath is Gods freehold and all impertinencies whither foolish thoughts 2 Tim. 2. 4. vain discourse or unbecoming actions if they enter upon it they are trespassers In a word we must be in the spirit not in the flesh or the deeds of the flesh upon Gods holy and blessed day Dir. 10 We must be very watchful on Gods holy day This is a day on which we must be on our guard Christians on other dayes are Souldiers but on this day they must be sentinels 2 Tim. 2. 4. The Sanctuary more especially is our Court of guard Christ speaks to us now as once he did to his Disciples Can Mark 14. 37. ye not watch with me one day Our Sabbaths are always besieged with enemies both within us and without us and when the enemy is on the walls nothing more necessary then a strict watch Let us watch our hearts It is a fond piece of hypocrisie to watch our words and our actions on a Sabbath and in the Hic sc ad cor noctâ—rnas et diurnas excubias colloâ—emus Cartw. mean time give scope and liberty to our wandring hearts to take its circuits and ranges A flatulent and a gadding heart is a great disturbance upon a Lords day a man can neither pray nor hear nor meditate but he is troubled and disquieted It is the counsel of the Wise man to keep our hearts with all diligence we must set double guards Prov. 4. 23. upon them The heart in it self is a wandring Dinah and will be slipping away to vanity it is ready to fall into the snare Corde nihil est fugacius Bern therefore we must watch it warily and check it speedily and over-awe it with the apprehension of Gods all-seeing eye It is observable that the Lord Jesus appeared to his Rev. 1 14. servant John upon his own day in a heart searching similitude His eyes were as a flaming fire not only burning in jealousie against sin and sinners but bright and shining as the searcher of hearts and tryer of reins And we should do well to consider that on the Lords day more especially our heart lies under the view of that fiery flaming eye of Christ and he is the judge of all secrets Rom. 2. 16. And this should stop and bound our Quick-silver hearts Let the terrour of the last day work upon our hearts on the Lords day The seat of the judge is fitly resembled by a cloud not a throne of silver or gold but a cloud now as we know the clouds are store houses of refreshing showers so also of storms and tempests and thus doubtless the day of the Lord will be a day of refreshing to some of terrour and amazement to others and a great part of the tempest of that day will fall upon the hearts of men God will have us accountable for ranging thoughts and sinful desires which are aggravated and receive a double dye upon a Sabbath Indeed on this day one of our great works is to chain and fasten the heart to God a loose heart then only runs up and down and doth mischief it makes great waste and is as the Prodigal in his worst fits We must watch against Satan The old Serpent who deluded our first Parents is the great adversary of the Sabbath which was the first institution the evil one strives to Gen. 3. 1 2 3. cloud the rising Sun the early day of divine worship set apart by God from the worlds infancy It was the policy of Pompey Vespasian and Titus most sorely to assault Jerusalem on the Sabbath day Upon the Sabbath day are the Devils Die Sabbati non licet pomum ad carbonem admovere ut assetur Nec allium quod edere velit decorticare saltantem pulicem capere Arborem non licet ascende re ne ramum frangas Munst ex Rabbin most desperate designs He is ever bad but worst on the best dayes we must look for a harming Devil on a helping day Let us trace the evil one all along and we shall easily discern his malice against the blessed Sabbath First Satan stirs up the Jews to clog the Sabbath with superstition Ridiculous were the assertions of that Nation concerning Sabbath observances As it is not lawful to put an apple to roast on the Sabbath day or to peel a head of garlick or to take a flea leaping upon the body or to climb a tree least we break a bough on that day c. Vanities more foolish as Gerard observes then the Sicilian scomms or toys After by the instigations of Satan a persecution is raised against the Church which lasted some Centuries of years beginning in the time Beati martyres in judicium vocati à Proconsule interrogati sunt num Dominicum servasti Cui respondebant se Christianos esse et Dominicum congruâ religionis devotione celebrasse quia intermitti non potest Baron of Nero And then Dominicum servasti c. Hast thou kept the Lords day was one of those ensuaring questions which brought many Christians to the crown of Martyrdom In succeeding ages the great artifice of Satan hath been to debauch the world into a contempt of the Lords day which is notably set down by worthy Dr. Hackwell in these words After ages much degenerating from the simplicity of the Primitive times they so infinitely multiplyed holy days beyond all measure and reason that the Lords day began to be sleighted which no doubt is an especial occasion of that thick cloud of superstition which over-shadowed the face of the Church In these last dayes Satan hath been a perverting spirit in the mouths of the Prophets some decrying the strictness of the Sabbath as rigorous and Judaical others confining holiness 2 Chr. 18. 22. only to the publick worship leaving the people afterwards to the ranges of their own corrupt fancy to bowl to wrestle c. and to follow any exercise which may suit with corrupt nature others shake the foundation of the Lords day as if that blessed day was only the issue of a prudential Canon of the Church but what this Church was where the Council was held who the president and what the Members of it we could never yet learn or understand but yet some clamorously avouch the Lords day is bottomed only upon Ecclesiastical Authority And then if the Azor. institut Moral ps secunda l. 1. c. 2. Sabbath lie at the pleasure of the Clergy as one worthily observes Covetous men who are about their Farms and their Oxen will easily set at naught a humane Ordinance and prophane persons will hardly be whistled into publick or private duties for a device of men but will give themselves free leave for doing or neglecting if there be nothing found in Scripture
requies sancta sanctificata it is our happy Champion upon which we run the Race which is set before us Mr. Bernard of Batcombe observes that Sabbath includes Rest in its very name and in the holy tongue signifies no more but rest and cessation but this rest must be a holy rest Exod. 31. 15. A rest to the Lord Exod. 16. 23 25. set apart and separated to the service of God as a sanctified Septimodie quisecas eum verò diem non tibi sed domino sanctifices Muscul day of Rest Isa 58. 13. Musculus takes notice This day is not to be kept to our selves but to the Lord not to please the flesh but to serve the soul This day is consecrated time and therefore not to be employed to sinful or secular uses Ease and idleness are the locust and the Palmer worm which cat up the pleasant fruits of Gods holy Sabbath Hast thou nothing to do on a Sabbath when thou hast a soul to save Ignavè sabbatum servare sabbatum est houm asi noâ—um an account to give and a heaven to get So the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 4. 8. Bodily labour profiteth little so on a Sabbath bodily ease profiteth as little It is a worthy speech of learned Andrews To keep a Sabbath in an idle manner is the Sabbath of beasts not Men of Oxen and Asses not of Sanctificare sabbatum est illius otium habere religiosum sanctum sa cris exercitiis deputatum Christians and Saints a Sabbath suitable to Nebuchadnezzar when he kept his belluine Court in the Field and the bruit beasts were the Princes of his train Dan. 4. 33. It is the observation of a learned man It is not said in the 4th Commandement remember to keep the Sabbath but remember to keep holy the Sabbath day Now to keep holy the Sabbath is to dedicate its rest to holy pious and sacred exercises Postulandum est secessum ut melius intendamus et toto hoc die deo vacondum est the Sabbath is the souls recesse its holy retirement for service its pause from the things of the world and from the noise of earthly affairs that the Saint may hear what the Lord will say for he will speak peace to his people Psalm 85. 8. It is a seasonable calm that we row to shore without danger or disturbance Indeed as Bishop Andrews Andr. Sabbatum da tum est ad con sideranda dei opera et ad meditandum ex lege Dei Aben. Ezra affirms and that worthily Such is the perversness of mans nature that when God speaks rest then we say labour and when he saith labour then we speak rest nay we make it a policy to find labour on that day which he hath denyed us to labour in But this is the perversness of nature not the office of grace Rom. 8. 2. There hath been a general disgust in the World against idleness on the Sabbath day The Sanedrim among all varieties of men have voted it down If we run back to the earliest times the Jews informe us the Sabbath was given us to contemplate on the works of God and to meditate in his Law so Aben Ezra a famous Rabby among them Another of the same Nation and profession tells us That the Rabbi Kimchi in Psalm 92. Sabbath is more grateful to God then any other day of the week because then Man diverts himself from the negotiations of the world his abstracted mind is conversant in the sacred Wisdome and service of God So Rabby Kimchi And it is most certain that Gods blessed day was never instituted for meer cessation that man might sit down and rest himself and so take his ease but that we should meet for holy Euseb de praep Evang. cap. 2. lib. 8. Ex Phil. worship and congregate for exercises of Piety Philo the Jew is most copious in recording the savoury behaviours of the Jewes on the Sabbath which Eusebius industriously takes notice of and doth likewise observe the great advantages Notabilis errer est putare otii ergo sabbatum esse institutum which that Nation gained by their careful and strict observation of the Sabbath though afterwards unhappily they were too remiss in this kind and gave occasion to the rebukes and scorn of many Writers in those times And indeed when they fell short in Sabbath observations the crown of their glory was fallen Mannasseh Conciliator in some heat cries out It is a notable errour to conceive that the Sabbath was ordained for carnal ease That this should be the ultimate end of that consecrated day to lie on a Pillow or sit on a Couch to ease a lump of flesh And the Hierusalem Talmud that sacrary of Jewish learning and Talm Hierosolym knowledge positively affirms that the Sabbath was given to the people of Israel onely to meditate on the holy and blessed Law of God Thus we may see that the Jews sacred Code finds employment to take up our Sabbath and not to waste it in sloth and idleness Si otium sanctificas tum negotium contaminat sed datur otium ad cognoscendum deum Quia cognitio dei est magis necessaria quà m otium And if we cast our eye on the golden times of the Gospel the Primitive Fathers with much zeal declamed against sluggish Sabbaths Athanasius makes the knowledge of God to be the chief end of the Sabbath and gives us this reason Because knowledge is more necessary then rest When God imposed rest upon us in the fourth Commandment at the same time he commanded religious actions for rest must be given to some end or purpose God and nature doth nothing in vain as Aristotle observes And to what end should holy Athâ—nas de Sab. rest be given but to holy uses that man being freed from worldly cares he might apply himself wholly to the contemplation of God and his word and that the soul might leisurely converse with its beloved It is an excellent Paraphrase Aristot de coelo l. 1. c. 4 of Cyrill one of the glittering lights of the Primitive Church those stars which seem so little because they are so remote from us To hallow the Sabbath saith he is to Cyril in 8. â— cap. Amos. make the rest of it devout holy and employed to Godly exercises whereby the mind may be instructed exercised and grounded in things pertaining to godliness and to the same purpose Gaudentius Brixianus Ignatius that blessed Martyr who led the Van of all the Societies of the Fathers and lived thirty years with the Apostle St. John he thus sharply argues in his Epistle to the Citizens of Magnesia Let us not Sabbatize after the Jewish manner as rejoycing in idleness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat ad Magn. but let us keep Sabbaths spiritually rejoycing in the meditation of the Law not in the remission of the Body admiring the workmaniship of God
not drinking things luke-warme nor walking measured paces not rejoycing in dances c. And Chrysostom urges with much holy fervency That on the Sabbath we should lay aside all the affairs of this life and withdraw our selves from them and spend all the leisure of the Sabbath in things spiritual and divine which concern our souls This eminent Person makes a difference between sloth and rest the one concerns the body the other the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Tom 5 p 225. and he clearly states the Question that the Sabbath was never given us to please a piece of clay but to serve the interest of that piece of eternity which every one of us carry in our own bosoms And on this manner Augustine courts his Auditors We must know dearly beloved That it is therefore August appointed of our holy Fathers and commanded to us Christians that upon the Lords day we should rest that reposing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Load Can 29. from all worldly business we might be more fresh and prompt for Gods divine worship and may with more ease attend upon the will and service of God Nay a whole council viz. of Laodicea in the twenty ninth Canon hath these words It doth not become Christians to Judaize and to be idle on the Sabbaths This was the spirit and temper of the Primitive times they press that our Sabbaths might be spiritualized not that our work should wholly cease but only should be changed that the labour of the hand should be turned into the working of the heart that manual operations should be turned into mental contemplations and on this day our work must not be servile but seraphical we must not throw away the Pen but we must write the fairer In the middle times of the Church when such dark Thom. Aquin. 22dae quaest 122. 4 3. 11. 3 dist Art 15 Quest 1. clouds had over-spread it that spiritual worship was as Saul among the Prophets rare to a Proverb yet then the employing of the time of a Sabbath in holy service was accounted morall in the fourth Commandments and scoffs were bestowed freely by the writers of those times on those who wasted the Sabbath in plays or idleness This bright Alex de Alens p. 3. quaest 32. Scol l. 2 de instit qu 4. Artic. 4. truth like a star in the night made its way to shine in the darkest times The fine spun disputes of the Schoolmen could not distinguish it away but it brake through all their curious webs This truth was so fastned in the Church it could not be disputed out by the School And let Semper eadem not only be Queen Elizabeths Motto but the Sabbaths holy observation In the dawning of Reformation there was light enough to discover this truth many eminent Divines those burning and shining lights which blaze more because they are nearer to us give in their suffrage for spending the Sabbath in holy exercises sharply decrying Hinc colligimus deum non de re nihili aut flâ—cci loqui cùm sanctificationem Sabbati nobis commendâ—verit Calv. sluggishness and sloth on this blessed day It is the grave observation of incomparable Calvin That God speaks not of a small matter when he commands the sanctification of the Sabbath but doth exhort us to a diligent marking of it and our want of care to mark is a breach of this Commandment This worthy man could not imagine that a Memento should Preface a day of sloth and idleness that we might take our carnal ease without such an alarm To walk in the fields to sit idling at the door of our house to chat in a room upon a Sabbath are no such importances as to require such diligent attention or exact observation there is little holiness in any thing of this A carnal man may rest from labour and never much mind or need a command Nature will let us to take our case without any special command from the God of nature The great Jehovah had never needed in the midst of thundrings and lightnings with great Exod 10. 18. terrour and Majesty to give out a command for us to go to a Bench to sit on to a couch to talk on or to a bed to lie on A School-master need not make a set speech or tune his language to strains of Oratory to perswade his Scholars to go to play and be idle Idleness needs no great enforcements wants no arguments of reason nor paintings of Rhetorick we can prate of worldly affairs and take our pleasing pastimes without any attractive engine Zanchy speaks very pregnantly to this purpose I call saith he this dayes rest Zanch. de oper creat p. 3. l. 1. c. 1. divine and holy because as God is never idle so he would have us take rest in soul and conscience after that manner that yet notwithstanding we be alwayes employed in those things which are of Gods spirit and which appertain to the glory of God and to the good both of our selves and others The cause of commanding rest upon the Sabbath was not for rest sake and that man might be idle but that he might altogether spend that whole day in divine worship Thus this Reverend Person Sed ut toto illo die possint vacare cultui divino Zanc. in quartum praecept rightly stateâ— the Question and truly asserts that as rest is included in the Commandment so holy and spiritual worship is the end of that rest God calls us off from Earth to mind Heaven and the body must have a vacation that the soul may have a Term the body must decrease that the soul may increase Corporal rest is only the means by Non igitur cum Ethnicis sentiendum festos dtes tantúm quietâ—s remissionis causa suscipi quorum finis â—sset recoâ—datio beneficiorum dei in convocatione sancta c. which we may pursue our eternal rest This learned Rivet looks upon it as a brutish and heathenish Opinion to think that God should give us a holy day for sloth and remisness and he positively tells us That the end of the Sabbath must be the recordation of divine benefits and to refresh our memories with most grateful rehearsals of Gods bounty and to put up prayers for future grace for the leisure of Saints must not be fruitless The eccho of this golden sentence is true and sweet A godly mans leisure must not run waste When the world gives him a short quietus est he must rest in God His spare hours from his outward affairs must be his serious hours for his soul The Saints have alwayes work to do on this side eternity but especially on that day when rest is commanded us to look after eternity Hospinian here accents Finis tertius est Sabbati ejusque otii ille est subliâ—â—or Vt vir spirituaâ—is ad aeternam sui saluteâ— propior accedat ut vitae sanctae â—fficiâ—â— occupetur
sorrow Titus an Heathen Emperour when a day was past and he hâ—d done no good Pedr. de Mex Hist Imper. on that day was wont to break out into sighs and sorrow to those who were about him and cry O my friends I have lâ—ft a day The loss of any day is matter of moan but Ezek. â—9 14. to lose the Lords day and the Lord in that day this is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation In nature the interpâ—sition of the Earth between the Sun and the Moon causeth an eâ—clipse and surely when earth vain thoughts earthly discourse froth and negâ—ect have interposed between God and thy soul on his own day what an ecclipse of sadness Eccles 12. 5. should it cause upon thy heart Upon the loss of friends we go in mourning and why not in the loss of Sabbaths which are good friends to the soul Christ waited for thee in every Ordinance thou didst not give him the meeting go home and like the Dove bemoan the loss of 2 Kings 2 12. thy mâ—â—e It is most equal when Ordinances are not our Tristitia nobis data est ut dole â—mâ—s non de morte sed de peccato ibi solâ—â—â— utilis est â—â—â—stitia alibi est inutilis Chrysost treasure that they should be our trouble and what we want in good we should make up in gâ—iâ—â— When Elisha went with Elijah and a chariot of fire parted them asunder carrying Elijah to heaven and leaving Elisha on earth Elisha looked up and cryed my Father my Father Hath God and thee O Christian been parted asunder on a Sabbath and hath the Lord left thy heart on earth and himself gone to heaven O think sadly of this and with bitter moan cry out my Father my Father Repent for the loss of the Lords day and lament after the Lord of that day Sad hearts do well become empty Sabbaths It is very doleful to pine for thirst at the wells mouth If thy heart hath been dead in duties let it be drowned in sorrows Christ looks through the lattice in every Ordinance if thou hast turned thy back upon him by neglect or a vain spirit say with the Church Is any sorrow like unto my sorrow Lam. 1. 12. Search into the cause of this heartless and fruitless passing away Gods precious Sabbath It is good for a Christian to examine what way-lâ—id his work what kept God and his soul a sunder It may be thou didst not tune thy heart by holy preparation Loâ—se strings make no musick every peg must be wound up Vndressed gardens yield no delightfull prospect Mattaina praeparatio necessaria est per diligentem cultus consideratiorem et opis divinae implorationem Riv. in Decalog nor do the nowers grow but on the bâ—ds where the Gardiner hath used his industry and his artifice Thou hast not happily plâ—wed up thy heart aforehand by prayer and meditation and so it is fallow when it comes to Ordinances Holy duties themselves are harsh when the heart is out of tune Marshalled armies engage in battle and prepared hearts engage most properly and most beneficially in Ordinances 1. Cor. 11. 28. To examine our selves is not onely the preface to a Sacrament but to every holy Ordinance No wonder thou art dead in the Sanctuary if thou art deficient in the Closet thou didst lose the morning and therefore thou didst lose the day See is not this the cause thou art so heavy and so stupified in holy Administrations The clock was not wound up and therefore it did not strike Thou wast not Jer. 14. 9. with God in secret and therefore thou didst not meet God in publick so thou looked'st for healing and behold trouble The fire must be blown before it turn into a flame Prepared physick contributes to the cure there must be the Apothecary to prepare as well as the Physician to prescribe Medicines Barascue est feria sexta quâ—m nos vocamus diem veneris quae praeparationis nomine appella tuâ— quia Judâ—i sâ—lâ—bant illo the necessaria paâ—are â—â— proxâ—me 〈◊〉 Sabbatu◠〈◊〉 â—b omni opâ—re servili cessâ—â—dâ—m erat Ger. Our hearts must be taken pains withall before they are fit for the Ordinances of a Sabbath The Jews had a Preparation day as well as a Sabbath day John 19. 43. The heart must be broken by repentance raised by meditation spiritualized by prayer over-awed by a sense of the Divine Majesty before it is fit for communion with God It was a serious prayer of holy Hezekâ—ah 2 Chron. 30. 18 19. The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God and the Lord God of his Fatheâ—s though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And in the subsequent verse it is said The Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people Experiment this preparatory work and no doubt but thy complaint will cease and the case will be satisfied It may be thy thoughts are low of Sabbath gains Men will not run a race for a trivial prize Merchants venture to Sea Phil. 1. 14. not for Pibbles but Pearles Thou lookest on Ordinances as empty breasts and so thou liest carelesly at them But this is a strange and a sinful mistake Faith the best of graces is the fruit of hearing Rom. 10. 17. The Spirit the best of gifts is the fruit of praying Luke 11. 13. And Christ Christus illâ— tri-dâ—◠〈◊〉 et sepulturae fuit â—â—â—ciculus Myâ—rhae propter dâ—lâ—rem sed pâ—st triduanum dolâ—rem absorpsit laetitia et fâ—ctus est â—t botrus Cypriâ—n vineâ—s engedâ—i illa myrrha â—â—mmutata est in vinum suavissinum et salutare the best of banquets is the fruit of Sacramental receiving Mat. 26. 26. Are not Ordinances the Exchequer of soultreasure more sweet then the clusters of Camphire Lam. 1. 14. more transcendent then mountanes of Spices Cant. 8. 14. More pleasant then the Vineyards of Engeâ—di Cant. 1. 14. Surely thou art mistaken sinner Didst thou ever consider Prayers have held the hands of the Father Exod. 32. 10. Gospel doctrines have employed the tongue of the Sâ—n Luke 4. 43 44. And a shower of the spirit hath fallen upon the Congregation at a Sermon Acts 10. 44. Nay the whole Trinity have been present at a Baptism Mat. 3. 16. Such fruitfull wombâ— must not be called Barren But this sinfull level which so prostrates Ordinances is no more then the evidence of Satans power and that he leads thee to much Del Rio. captive at his pleasure None will call Ordinances empty but the Father of lies What is it which causeth thy neglect of or slightness in Sabbath duties It may be the force of a temptation Satan hath an enmity to our communion with God It was the Evil one hindred Paul from going to the Thessalonians to scatter and disseminate the truths of the Gospel 1 Thes 2. 18. He stirred up the Jewes against the
and Job saith the Adulterer waits for the twilight Job 24. Graviter incessimus diei dominicae prophanatores qui intemperantiâ luxu omnique genere flagiorum eam vio lant in irreparabile infirmorum scandâ—lum in horrendum Christiani nominis dedecus 15. These sins need a dark Lanthorn they avoid and shun the light least their shame be published by every Spectator And the Prophet observes that the Israelites committed their Idolatry in secret they had their chambers of imagery Ezek. 8. 12. They would put some covering upon their sin But how great is our abomination to dabble in our paint to rowl in our vomit to be inflamed in our lusts to wallow in our sensualities and wantonize in our vanities upon Gods holy day When the Sun of Nature and the Sun of Righteousness both shine together to scatter all clouds and covering It is a pathetical but a holy speech of a Learned man Who without mourning can endure to see Christians keep the Lords day as if they celebrated a Feast rather to Bacchus then Leid Prof. to the honour of Jesus Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of the world for having served God an hour or two in outward shew they spend the rest of the Lords day in sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play first ballasting their bellies with eating and drinking then feeding their lusts in playing and dancing Against these riots holy Augustine bitterly inveighs August 4. Tract in Joan. and saith It is better to spin then to dance on Gods holy day Indeed it is an observation of Lactantius That the Lords Lactant. lib 7. cap. 1. second coming shall be on the Lords day And then how little joy shall they have who shall be overtaken in their carnal sports when their Master should have found them in their spiritual exercises on his own day the prophane wretch then will wish that Christ should find him rather kneeling at prayers in the Sanctuary then skipping like a Goat in a dance that he should be found dropping tears like a penitent rather then drinking healths like a miscreant or caressing Sidon lib. 1. Epist ad agricolam harlots like an impure Gallant Sidonius observes that in the primitive times some of the Jewes did so abuse the Sabbath to gluttony and drunkennesse and to lascivious dances that the Ethnicks and heathen suspected they Quanquam hoc aliquo sensu concedi possit varia peccata aggravationem aliquam inde accipere si die tam Sanctâ perpetrentur Ames adored Bacchus not Jehovah It is the observation of Dr. Ames That all sinns receive an aggravation on this day which oftentimes is more then the sin it self as the dye is sometimes more costly then the cloth To be intemperate proud worldly wanton on a Sabbath this is to wear the spots of a Leopard and to be in the hue of an Aethiopian Some men make the Sabbath a weekly Aequinox their pleasures and their duties are of equal length But others drown the whole Sabbath in vanity and excesse as if they would read the 4th Commandement backward and would provoke the God of Heaven to please the God of this world 2 Cor. 4. 4. It may be said to those who thus prophane the Lords day have ye not dayes enough of your own to work or play in or despise ye the Lords day It is a sin yea a provoking sin to use the Lords Table as your own table to eat sacramental bread as if it was common bread and is it no sin to use the Lords day as if it was a common day Let us therefore see the image and superscription of Christ engraven upon the Matth. 22. 21 Lords day and then let us give unto Christ the things which are Christs Cyril complained in his time That many Christians Christiani ludis illiberalibus crapulae choreis et aliis mundi vanitatibus se dant in nullum alium finem tendunt c. Cyril indulged themselves in luxury dances playes and worldly vanities on the Lords day And what saith he will be the end of these things but that Gods Name will be derided and Gods day much contemned and scorned The Apostle calls our walking on any day in lasciviousness lusts excess of wine revellings banquettings working the will of the Gentiles 1 Pet. 4. 3. It is an heathenish act to adventure upon such unnatural impieties but to act all these sins upon a Sabbath it is altogether diabolical this is to wound a Prince on his Coronation day Those who prophane the Sabbath Hi omnis generis delitiis non Christo domino sed satanae servitur Non salus nostra curatur sed perditio conciliatur et ira dei provocatur non placatur mores non corriguntur sed corrumpuntur Muscul by scandalous sins saith Musculus they sacrifice to Venus not to God and serve Satan not Christ they neglect life and salvation and assure to themselves losse and perdition Gods anger is provoked not appeased and their manners are not corrected but corrupted Let us consider the two tables of stone are still tables of testimony Exod. 31. 18. to witness against the prophanation of this holy day God did not write this Commandement for the Sabbath with his finger that we should spunge it out by our life and if we shall attempt it he can turn the writing into an hand-writing on the wall against us which will make not onely our knees but our hearts to tremble Dan. 5 6. Let us seriously weigh in Mark 11. 25. the ballance that the beauty of a woman doth but aggravate her wantonness and the rich mans great estate doth but amplisie his extorsion and so the holiness of a Sabbath doth dye every sin which is acted upon it with a scarlet colour Christ would not suffer the money changers to remain in the temple Mat. 11. 15. How much worse merchandise is it when we set our soules to sale on that holy day which is given for life and salvation But further to dilate upon the impiety of Sabbath-prophaneness To act scandalous sins on Gods holy day is a most daring presumption it throwes Gods Memento with which he Deus non indicit recordationem istam ut eo die gâ—uderent tripudiarent aut sibi vacaâ—ent c. Oleast prefaced the 4th Commandement into his face and saith to Christ who is Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. we will not have this man to reign over us Luke 19. 14. God saith Exod. 20. 8. keep my Sabbath holy and these daringly reply we will keep it diabolically This sin commenceth war with heaven it self and throws down the Gantlet to the infinite Jehovah Oleaster very well observes God had not needed to have fastned a Memento to the 4th Commandement to mind us of dances and revellings frequenting a ring or a stage our own corrupt natures will be officious enough to usher in such pleasurous vanities Disobedience to other
us this fair relation of their behaviour on the Sabbath We have our Conventions saith he on the Sabbath and sit down with great silence and the people speak not a word unless it be in the praise of their Teachers one of the most grave of the Priests reads the Law and expounds it and this is done all the day long till twilight and so the people g◠away more knowing in the Law of God And this relation Eusebius takes notice of in his eighth book of Evangelical preparation the second Chapter Thus then upon the credit of one of their most famous Authors it was the shutting in of the evening put a stop to their publick services besides the remains of duty to be acted at home so that their whole Sabbath was a golden thread spun out in heavenly and devout performances which may cover the faces of many Christians with shame who trifle away their precious Sabbaths in vain and flatulent impertinencies To add but a word The Jews zeal for Sabbath-observation sometimes gave so good an heat that mistaking the force of the fourth Commandment In it thou shalt do no manner of work Exod. 20. 10. they would not adventure to rost an Apple to pluck an herb to climb a tree or those things which are most harmless and inoffensive nay not to defend themselves when assaulted by the enemy on the Sabbath day and by this means they became a prey to their Joseph lib. 12. cap. 8. Adversary Antiochus Epiphanes whereupon Matthias made a Decree that it should be lawfull upon the Sabbath to resist their Enemies which Decree they understanding Joseph lib 14. cap. 8. strictly as if it gave them onely leave to resist when they were actually assaulted and not to use any stratagem on that day to prevent their enemies by raising of Rams or setting of Engines undermining c. They became a prey a second time to Pompey But afterwards they arrived at a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 better understanding of this Decree and now they have a Proverbial speech Peril of life drives away the Sabbath As the Christians use a Proverb much to the same purpose Necessity knows no holy dayes And this scruple concerning such small things as were before mentioned as likewise not Hospin de Orig. Festor cap. de Sab. warring on the Sabbath Hospinian puts a fair construction upon and thinks it rather mistake then superstition And so we have seen the fair portraicture of Sabbath-observation as it was sometimes drawn by Jewish practice when they were serious and advised and not effascinated with sensuality and idolatry and truly it was very commendable and deserves imitation and will certainly heat the furnace of eternal fire seven times hotter to Sabbath-breaking Dan. 3. 19. Christians CHAP. XLIV Holiness doth as well become the Christian as the Jewish Sabbath if we look back to the Infancy of the World IT is not unusual with many persons to look upon the strict observation of the Sabbath as a piece of servitude which onely belonged to the Jews and that Christs coming Externus dei cultus à naturae lege et jure existit cùm illud à naturâ comparatum est ut tempus aliquid iis quae ad cultum pertinent opportunè et liberaliter demiss Azor. loosned the reins and gave Christians a greater liberty Now to refute this unhappy fancy shall be the design of this and some subsequent chapters and the only way to accomplish the attempt is to shew that the Sabbath every way belongs as much to Christians as to Jews and therefore the holy keeping of it concerns as much the one as the other for holiness is the end of the Sabbaths command To cease from servile works is the Command and Sanctification is the end of that Command as the School-men speak Now to evidence this the more plainly and demonstratively we must run up the Sabbath to the fountain head to Gen. 2. 3. Septimum diem deus non accommodum putabat ad creandum sed ad quietem adaptum statuit Theodor. the primitive institution of it which we find in the very infancy of the World Gen. 2. 3. The Sabbath at first was given to the Sons of Adam and not to the Sons of Abraham and it was a Sun which did not onely shine upon the coast of Judaea but upon the whole world and so every way belongs to us as well as to the Jews This will be more clear if we canvass the words of the institution recorded in the forementioned Gen. 2. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his works which he had created and made Observatio sab bati omnino praecepta suit ante Mosen quia in primâ creatione deus eam sanxit Par. in Gen. Before I pass to a further explication of the text I shall take notice as others have done that all our translatours of the Bible in the Contents of this Chapter put in the first Sabbath instituted And therefore the apprehension of these learned men which put the sacred Scriptures into an English dress and made them speak our mother tongue might prevail much against the cavils of any of our own Nation But for the more clear explication of Gen. 2. 3. we must enquire into the meaning of these words Blessing and Sanctifying and I suppose the worthy Chrysostome may here be an authentical expositour and thus he descants on this text Gen. 2. 3. He sanctified it wbat means that word he Chrysost in Gen. sanctified it he separated it therefore the Divine Scripture teaching us the cause why he sanctified it addeth because in it he rested from all his works Now hence God would teach us from the beginning to separate and set apart one whole day in the circle of every week to the exercise of spiritual things For for this cause did the Lord finish all the fabrick of the world in six dayes and honoured the seventh day with his blessing and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Illa sanctificatio Sabbati nihil aliud esse potest quà m mandatum de illo die sanctificando Adamo datum Dr. R. works To this worthy Father let the famous Bishop of Armagh succeed in the explanation of this text To sanctifie a Sabbath saith he is either to keep it holy or to make it holy and seeing God cannot keep any day more holy then another the meaning must be he made it holy which is as much as to command the keeping of it holy And it is observable God blessed the Sabbath not with natural blessings that the Sun should shine brighter and the weather prove fairer on Zanch. de hom Creat lib. 1. Sab. fin libr. this day rather then another but the blessings of a Sabbath are of another nature they are spiritual blessings converse with God holy and divine meditation c. which blessings proclaim
would intervene And this day of Gods resting was not only exemplary to Adam but to all his seed and so to Christians as well as Jews the seventh in number though not in order And it is further observable that Adam had on him and so should all men have a double calling the one for his body for which he was allowed six dayes and the other for his soul for which the seventh day was ordained So then this observation of the Sabbath was no way disagreeing to the state of innocency Man in that blessed condition could not conveniently attend upon two things at the same time viz. the dressing of the Garden and the solemn worship of God And as one well observes If heaven it self be a perpetual Sabbath why should it be thought incongruous for man to keep a Sabbath in Paradise And indeed it cannot be incongruous that the Sabbath should be kept in Paradise when the Sabbath it self is a kind of Paradise there is something to resemble a tree of life here the soul tasteth of Sabbath Ordinances and life nay eternal life flows from them and the pleasures of a Sabbath not a little resemble the delights of Paradise The Rev. 1. 10. soul being in the spirit upon the Lords day much resembles Adams rejoycing in Paradise and no doubt but the sweetness of Paradise did most principally consist in the intimate communion Psal 63. 2. Adam had with God and the same communion sheds the delight and prerogative upon the Sabbath or else wherein doth the Sabbath out-vy and excell other dayes And that the Sabbath was instituted from the beginning is not only most clear from Scripture but most consonant to reason The Patriarchs of old had their solemn worship Cain and Abel offered sacrifices they called upon the name of the Sanctificavit deus diem septimum i. e. sanctum celebrem haberi voluit à caeteris diebus segregavit Catharin Lord in a solemn way Gen. 4. 26. And no doubt this they learned from Adam and he from God they had their Altars Gen. 12. 8. yea their set Altars Gen. 13. 4. for ordinary worship And if they had set worship they must have stinted time for how shall we meet together to perform ordinary worship without set times And then no doubt but the seventh day was that time for we have not the least shadow of any other ordinary time And it is very unlikely Gibbons Quaest disput in Genes Quaest tertiâ that if there had been any that no mention should be made thereof in Scripture therefore seeing mention is made of this day Gen. 2. 3. before mention is made of any publick worship and no other day is noted in all story till the 16th Willet on Exod. 16. Quaest 34. Voluit deus diem septimum sibi tribui et dâ—cari ut caelestibus et divinis rebus intenti deo gratias agamus pro acceptis beneficiis Cathar Chapter of Exodus where again mention is made of the Sabbath Exod. 16. 25 26 30. And the fourth Commandment ratifies the same day upon the reason assigned in Gen. 2. 3. It surely must be sufficient and satisfactory to all reason that the seventh day was the ordinary day appointed for those times to perform solemn and publick worship to God And as when man hath run his race and finished his course and passed through the larger circle of his life he then returns to his eternal rest so it is contrived and ordered by divine wisdom that he shall in a special manner return unto his rest once at least within the lesser and smaller Rom. 11. 33. circle of every week and so his perfect blessedness to come might be fore-tasted every Sabbath day and so be begun here And look as man standing in his innocency hath cause thus to return from the pleasant labours of his weekly Paradise employments so man fallen from his more toilsome labours to his rest again And therefore as because all creatures were made for man and man therefore was made in the last place after them so man being made for God and his worship thence it is that the Sabbath wherein man was to draw nearer to God was appointed immediately after the Creation as learned men observe For though man is not made for the Sabbath meerly in respect of the outward rest of it yet he is made for the Sabbath in respect of God in it and the holiness of it to both which then the soul is to Dr. Field have its weekly revolution back again as unto that rest which is the end of all our lives and labours and in special of all our weekly labour and work Dr. Field professeth That to one who knows the story of the Creation it is evident by the light of Nature that one day in seven is to be consecrated to Gods service and worship There must be a time allowed to every purpose which is Inest homini naturalis inclinatio ad hoc quod cuilibet rei necessariae deputetur aliquid tempus sicut corpori somnus et refectio c. quae requirunt tempus sic animae tempus requiritur ad ejus refectionem qua mens hominis in deo reficitur Sayrus necessary and indispensable so for our bodies there must be a time to eat to drink to sleep c. For civil affairs there must be a time for work and labour trade and merchandise to promote and sustain our civil interest and shall not there be a set time for soul-refreshments when the precious soul may be recruited Shall our Estates have their seasons for their increase and our Bodies for their support and not our Souls for their delight and edification What is this but to debase the soul and degrade it from its due honour and dignity The Image of God is most lively impressed upon the soul Eternity is riveted into the very nature of the soul Jesus Christ died for the Redemption of the soul and shall only the soul want its term its appointed season for its spiritual converse Shall there be a Change time and not a Church time shall there be a time to Work and not a Naturae instinctus est ut aliquid temporis cultui divino impendatur et animus in hoc se recreat Azor. time to Pray This is a principle of Nature and therefore draws its original from the worlds beginning Nor can it be conceived but the soul stood in as much need of communion with God in divine worship in the infancy as in the old age of the world and therefore the Sabbath was as necessary to Adam and his immediate heirs as to his more remote posterity That the Sabbath was from the beginning and so belongs Sabbatum Moyses Exod. 16. 23. scriptâ lege restituit cum ejus diei cultus abiâ—rat Azor. properly to the Sons of Adam and not particularly to the Sons of Abraham is more evident and clear if we
God Dr. Twisse positively concludes Because the Scriptures Dr. Twisse de Sabbat record that the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified it therefore the Patriarchs did certainly observe it and saith he the truth is untill the coming of the Israelites Anne superfluum putandum erit quoslibet dies pro operibus secularibus ordinare unumque pro cultu divino Selneccerus out of Egypt we read not of the Church of God any where but in single families and will it therefore follow that the holy Patriarchs did set no time apart for Gods service how uncharitably will this consequence fall in Genesis being an history of two thousand five hundred years and so brief as it is it neither could nor ought to relate every thing observed by the Patriarchs Dr. Willet Willet in Exod. 16. 20. Quaest 34. very well takes notice that the Church had from the beginning a publick external worship of God and it could not be but they had certain time and then what more correspondent season then that which God had sanctified by his own blessed and holy example Surely our first Fathers knew well the Creation and Gods resting on the seventh day and his segregating it for holiness and sanctification and to impute such an oscitancy and neglect to them that they should wholly omit the sacred Sabbath is to give charity a wound under the fifth rib The Patriarchs for the most part did not keep the law of marriage for generally they lived in Poligamy and yet that Law was in force for one man to marry one woman So then Gen. 2. 24. supposing the Patriarchs were remiss in Sabbath observation yet the Law for the Sabbath was in full force And let it not be our curiosity to find out errours in them when Si hoc ipsum concedatur observationem hujus diei maximâ ex parte fuisse neglectam primam tamen institutionem non magis reddere debeat quam Polygamia eorundem temporum sacras conjugii leges primo ipsi conjugio non esse coaevas possit demonstrare Ames we have no Scripture to witness and attest it And truly to draw an argument de facto from the Patriarchs not keeping of the Sabbath against the right and institution of it is very improper and though it is not expresly said Abraham kept the Sabbath yet he is commended for keeping Gods Commandments Gen. 26. 5. And is not the Sabbath one of those Commandments the breach of which is accounted the breaking of all Exod. 16. 27 28. And can we probably think that Abraham neglected other moral duties because they are not expresly mentioned Again it may as well be doubted whether the Patriarchs observed any day at all because it is not expresly mentioned Again it may be said with as good reason that the sacrifices which they offered were without warrant from God because the Commandment for them is not expresly mentioned but we know Abel offered by faith and faith must have a precedent word So as the approved practice of holy men doth necessarily imply a Sabbati dies et ejus ratio et usus notissimus suit priscis Patribus quod ex ipso Gen 2. prâ—batur Bertram de Polit. Judaic Commandment so the Command given to Adam doth as necessarily enforce a practice And if no duties to God were performed by the Patriarchs but such as are expresly mentioned and held forth in their Examples we should then behold a strange face of a Church for many hundred years together and so we should condemn the generation of the Just for living in gross neglects and impieties there being many singular and special duties which doubtless were done which were not particularly mentioned in that short Epitome of above two thousand years together in the Book of Genesis In a word that all the holy Patriarchs those Seminaries of Religion in the world who laid the foundation of Gods Church those Ancestours of piety and holiness who brought up Religion in its infancy I say that all these should want the blessed Sabbath that sweet day of converse with God and live in a fatal ignorance and inobservance or contempt of Gods holy day this is beyond the belief of the most fondly credulous and against the charity of the most sowre professour To conclude the Sabbath and Marriage were the two In initiis et primordiis mundi dies septimus sanctus haberi caepit Azor. first institutions in the world But God first provides for his own worship and then for mans comfort spiritual mercies being of right to have the precedency of temporal and divine worship being alwayes to take place of humane conveniency Well then the Sabbath was given to Adam and in him to all his posterity and so holiness becomes the Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. Jud. as well as the Jew or any other on that blessed day we being all the issue and posterity of Adam And therefore to fasten the strict observation of the Sabbath upon the Jews as being most concerned in it what is this but to turne a common priviledge into a monopoly and to be weary of that prerogative which is the suburbs of Heaven it self Or else the bottom of the design is to throw off the restraints of a Sabbath not being willing that our corruptions should be pinion'd However the observance of Gods holy day is too great a mercy to be appropriated to the cast off and repudiated Jews It is a good saying of Dr. Twisse As for the sanctification of this Rest I trust we are as much bound to the performance therefore and that in as great a measure and with as great devotion under the Gospel as ever the Jews were under the Law And let the Authority of this excellent person shut up this Chapter CHAP. XLV Sabbath-holiness doth as well become the Christian as the Jew if we look back to the infancy of the Law THat the Sabbath was given to Adam and in him to all his posterity to us Christians as well as to others hath already been largely discovered Now my task is to shew that in the second edition of the Sabbath upon Mount Sinai it was given as a moral command for every one to obey and not as a ceremonial precept whose force must end with the Jews and their pedagogy for we must know that all ceremonies were buried in Christs grave and their honour Dicitur Chyrographum esse deletum i. e. ritus ceremoniales jam abrogatos esse qâ—ia ipso debito persoluto per Christum non aequum est has syngraphas extare quae testificent nos esse debitores et reâ—tum peccatorum nostrorum nondum esse expiatum Daven was laid in the dust with him for when the Sun came the shadows were to disappear and when Christ triumphed on the Cross then the hand-writing of Ordinances as Ceremonies are usually called was blotted out Col. 2. 14. Those inferiour garnishes of Religion were then to be
taken away Now to evidence the morality of the fourth Commandment and that it concerns us Christians every way as much as the Jews will be best attempted by shewing 1. Negatively it is not Ceremonial 2. Positively it is clearly Moral and binds us Christians as much as any Precept in the Decalogue nor hath the Christian more liberty to be loose on a Sabbath then he hath to cast contempt on his Parents to break the door of his neighbours house or attempt the chastity of his neighbours wife as much guilt is folded up in robbing God of his day as in robbing man of his goods the chain is as strong to bind us in the fourth as in the sixth Commandment and the sin is the same to loosen the one as well as the other Every Command in the Decalogue is of equall Authority which to resist is an equal provocation to the Legislatour The fourth Commandment that blessed command for the Sabbath is not Ceremonial And here I must reassume a notable speech of Bishop Andrews whose eminency and Bishop Andr. Pattern of Chatechist Doctr. p. 233. learning was not of an ordinary stature This learned man puts the Query But is not the Sabbath a Ceremony and then answers Do as Christ did in the cause of divorce look whether it was so from the beginning now the beginning of the Sabbath was in Paradise before there was any sin and so before there needed any Saviours and so before there was any ceremony or figure of a Saviour Thus this learned Man clears the fourth Commandment of all ceremony Ceremonies have in them aliquid oneris some thing of burden which cannot be asserted of the state of innocency in which the Sabbath Simul cum peccato introivit mors in hominem sicuti lictores intrant in bona et domos reorum Alap was first ordained Sin only layes load upon us and as it first opened the door to death Rom. 5. 12. so it first opened the gap to Ceremonies It is observed by learned men that the Evening and the morning was the first day and so the second and so every day of the six dayes But no Evening is attributed to the seventh day to shew us that no shadow of rite or ceremony first attended that blessed day The Sabbath is the first-born of Institutions and was brought into the World without any wen of ceremony upon it And though the Lord of it Mark 2. 28. in his infancy was wrapt up in the meanest swadling-cloaths suitable to the manger wherein he lay yet the Sabbath in its first production was not wrapt up in beggarly elements as ceremonies are called by the Gal. 4. 9. Apostle Nor needed that solemn preparation of a smoaking mountain of a sounding trumpet of a flaming fire to usher in a Exod. 19. 18 19. poor flying dying ceremony A transient rite did not require so much pomp and state Beggars have not their trains to Deut. 5 5. go before them We sound not the trumpet at the lighting Terrae verò et montis velut salientis ad dei praesentiam motus non sunt quaerenda in naturâ cum enim quaecunque facta sunt ad mirecula petineant observetur dei gloria cum agit immediatè c. of a candle Surely ceremonies are but a candle light which casts but a faint light and soon expires nor doth it indeed comport with the infinite and unsearchable wisdom of God to preface a ceremony with so much grandeur and solemnity a ceremony which must so soon be buried in the grave of oblivion Short Leases are written in a little paper and need no sheets of Parchment Israel trepidates and shakes to hear those noises and see those sights which prepared the publication of the fourth Commandement among the rest and thought their death should have borne the date of the Exhibition of those ten words And therefore it must needs savour of presumption to call that a Ceremony Riv. which was published with so much awful and tremendous solemnity Nor can the fourth Commandment be ceremonial because it was given by God himself Now Divines rightly distinguish between Law and Ceremony the Law comes Deut. 4. 13 14. immediately from God the Ceremonies were either instiuted by Moses or at least given by him God left those Rudiments Josh 1. 2. to his Servant But God himself wrote the fourth Commandement with his own finger and proclaimed it with his own voice nay delivered it himself with all glorious solemnity and therefore the Decalogue is called his Covenant Deut. 4. 13. to shew the stability of it God doth not draw his people into Covenant with himself upon the account of a Rite nor tye himself to them by the breaking thread of a Ceremony his Covenant of Salt doth not so easily lose its savour Let us hear the learned Andrews once more this is a principle saith he that the Decalogue is the Law of Nature revived and the Law of Nature is the Image of God now in God there is no ceremony but all must be eternal and so in this Image which is the law of Nature and so in the Decalogue And so I suppose the Bishop of Winchester hath silenced the Bishop White of the Sabbath pag. 34. Decalogus est lex naturae rediviva Bishop of Ely who wrote to a contrary purpose To what is laid down by Bishop Andrews accords Chrysostome when he calls the Law of the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an unmoveable Law and where there is no change there can be no ceremony And reverend Sprint hath a suitable speech accommodated to this purpose The observation of the seventh day Sprint on the Sabbath pag. 34. saith he is of the Law of Nature and whatsoever is found in the fourth Commandment appertaineth to the law of Nature And so holy Master Walker The observation of the seventh Mr. Walker an the Sabbath day was established before Christ was promised and therefore it is not ceremonial but of the law of Nature and perpetual Quod naturale est puta diem septimanae quemque deo sacrum esse illud permanet quod positum est nempe illum diem qui septimus creationis est diem esse Sabbati c. Jun. Thus the suffrages of those who have been most eminent do freely concur in establishing this great truth viz. that no ceremony can be found in the fourth Commandment and let the adversaries follow the scent of a ceremony with never so much diligence and speed they can no more overtake it then the Aegyptians can find out the head of the River Nilus or the Israelites trace Moses his Grave and this is to seek the dead among the living a little to allude to the speech of the Angel Luk. 24. 5. And the usual expostulation of our Divines is How came this Ceremony among the moral Precepts How came it to shelter it self there Is not this to make the fourth
are called beggerly Elements ab inutili effectâ—â— from their inefficaciousness to profit they bring nothing to the comfort of the Soul they contribute nothing to eternal salvation How shall a Ceremony heal a sick Soul relieve a trembling Soul or raiseâ—â— dead Soul They are all but as Elijahs Staff which can 〈◊〉 no good to the dead they only point at Christ Who is the way the truth and the life they are only the Gnomon on John 14 6. the Dial but Christ is the Sun But now the fourth Commandement is no such thing it commences war with 2 Kings 4. 31. our lusts If we are covetous we must not work this day If we are voluptuous we must not sensualize this day If we are prophane we must not sin against the holiness of this day we have a Memento to stop us Exod. 20. 8. This Commandement like Grace sets up its Standard against all the Cavils and corruptions of mans heart And can a dying Ceremony rally up this force to encounter mans potent lusts As Bishop Davenant tells us the Schoolmen give us a threefold reason why legal Ceremonies ceased at Christs coming 1. Because they were obscure in point of signification 2. Imperfect in point of operation 3. Burdensom in point of observation Now to charge these defects upon the fourth Commandement is not only to Triplicem causam afferre solent scholastici cur cessare oportuit legales ceremonias post Christi adventum Primo Quia obscura erant quoad significationem Secundo Quia imperfectae erant quoad ef ficaciam tertio Quia onerosae erant quoad observationem Daven challenge Divine wisdom but also to confute common Experience The Commandement for the Sabbath is clear without a Mask and plainly tells us we have a day every week for converse with the most High This Command like Moses who delivered it hath its face shining that every one may take notice of it 2. The Command for the Sabbath is perfect without defects for God would never have written an imperfect Command with his own finger and it is wonderfully efficacious How often on the Sabbath are sturdy sinners appaled prophane persons converted doubting Souls satisfied weak Christians strengthned secure Professors awakened and all varieties of Divine operation accomplished The Sabbath is the rest-day of man but the working-day of the blessed Spirit Powerful Acts of divine Grace are exerted on this day 3. The Command for the Sabbath is full of indulgence The Sabbath must be our delight Isa 58. 13. It is our honour not our burden This blessed day is the Saints spiritual work-day and his weekly jubilee Thus the fourth Commandement is diametrically opposite to the very nature and purport of a vanishing Ceremony Further to evidence the stability and morality of the fourth Commandement let us consider the circumstances with which it was attended 1. There is no Commandement excepting the second which likewise the Papists ceremonialize into nothing which is in words larger or in reasons fuller then this of the Sabbath as if the Lord had foreseen that these Commands would meet with the greatest batteries of opposition they being most contrary to the wisdom of the flesh The one opposed by superstition and the other by prophaneness 2. The fourth Commandement is both Negative and Affirmative the other Commands are either Negative or Affirmative 3. There is a Memento prefixed to this Command which Exod. 20. 8. Note is not prefixed to any other and is a Note as some of our Divines observe of special observance and animadversion Calvinus It is a peculiar Asterisk annexed to this Precept requiring Musculus more than ordinary attention and more than common Zanchius practice 4. No such particulars as in this Commandement Thou Exod. 20. 10. thy Son thy Daughter thy Man-servant thy Maid-servant thy Cattle the Stranger 5. No such reasons affixed to any Commandement 1. God hath given us six days 2. It is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Ceremoniae sunt umbra quia sicut umbra per se nihil valet aut potest sed corporis proprium est sic illae ceremoniae per se nihil possunt ad remissionem peccaterum sanctificationem aut salutem Daven 3. God rested on the seventh day 4. The Lord hallowed the seventh day 6. No such works intimated in any Commandement works to be avoided all civil and secular works works to be accomplished all works tending to the sanctification of this blessed day All these circumstances are set down and made more observable and notable to us by the unspeakable wisdom of God Now such a train of circumstances would never have attended a beggerly Element Gal. 4. 9. Kings make not a Proclamation with enforcing Arguments for things trivial or contemptible Nor would God have embroidered this Commandement with such rich circumstances had it been onely a Ceremony which will soon faint away and give up the ghost had it been onely a shadow 2 Col. 17. which is full of darkness and fugacity Moreover the morality of the fourth Commandement will be yet more conspicuous If we look on the Solemnities Exod. 20 8. Deut. 5. 22. Exod. 31. 18. Deut 9. 10. Exod. 32. 16. Deut. 10 4. by which it was honoured 1. It was as the rest of the Decalogue pronounced and promulgated by the immediate voice of the incomprehensible Jehovah with thundering and lightning those Heralds of Divine Majesty and all this in the common audience and to the great amazement of the people of Israel 2. It was with the rest written and engraven upon Tibles of stone not on leaves of Paper not on sheets of Parchment but on Tables of stone and not by some Scribe or Amanuensis but by Gods own blessed singer and on stone as to denote the hardness of mans heart and how difficultly he would comply with this Command so likewise to shew the continuance and perpetuity of the Commandement it self 3. According to Gods own appointment this Commandement with the rest was put into the Ark of the Testimony Deut. 10. 2. within the most holy place of the Tabernacle as 2 Chron. 5. 10. being a chary Treasure not to be lost in their frequent removes And the two Tables are called the Tables of Heb. 9. 4. the Covenant Deut. 4. 13. all denoting the importance and stability of this with the other Commandements Exod 20. 2. 4. This Command with the rest had the same Proeme containing a general motive to provoke the people to obedience Praeceptum hoc quartum suit ore dei promulgatum digito dei inscriptum et in area dei reconditum Inquiunt Chrysostomus et Theophylactus tempore Mosis fuisse solas tabuâ—as legis in area sed postea à Jremia urnum 〈◊〉 Mannae â—â— virâ—â—m â—aroâ—â— in Aâ—â—a fuisse repâ—siâ—a 〈◊〉 Catharinus tempore Mosis omnia fâ—â—sse in Area sed tempâ—re Solomonis solas â—â—bulas lâ—gâ—s God being as tender of
memorials of a fresh and additional and more glorious work of Redemption 2. The Sabbath of the Jews expires by the surrogation of another day in the room of it upon a more remarkable and eminent occasion and by the same Divine Authority The substitution of another day viz. The Lords day puts out the observation of the former A new Mayor of a City being elected the Authority of the old ceases and he becomes dis-authorized As a Candle is put forth and the Stars dis-appear when the Sun ariseth So the observation of the Lords day thrusts out the observation of the old Sabbath and takes all the honour of it to it self and this it doth by vertue of the fourth Commandment which requires one day in seven So then the old Sabbath being buried in its Grave the Lords day is Heir apparent to it and like Jam tempore gratiae revelatae observatio illa sabbati ablata est ab observatione fidelium Aug. Gen. ad litter lib. 4. cap. 13. another Phoenix arises out of its ashes to succeed it The substitution of the new Sabbath is the abrogation of the old and the Lords day appearing which shall be plentifully proved the Saturday Sabbath vanisheth and is evaporate as the scattered cloud at the breaking out of the Sun In a word God had his work and so had Christ God had his rest and so had Christ God rested after the work of Creation and Christ after the work of Redemption the seventh day Sabbath commemorates Gods rest after the work of Creation and the first day Sabbath commemorates Christs rest after the work of Redemption which is universally to be observed in the Christian world It is rationally argued by a learned man that the old Sabbath is abolished by the death and resurrection of Christ Constat Apostolos biduò in maerore suisse propter motum Judaeorum se abscondisse qui die dominicâ ex hîlarati non solùm illum festivissimum voluerunt verùm etiam per omnes hebdomadas frequentandum esse duxerunt Humb. and God Almighty hath appointed a new form of Divine worship according to the Evangelical law Now the form of worship being changed it was expedient that the outward circumstances of place and solemn time should likewise be altered from what they were before and concerning the time of solemn worship the Lords day succeeds upon which Christ riseth and resteth from the great work of mans Redemption Old Sabbaths and old sacrifices being twins though both honourable and serviceable in their time yet like Hypocrates his twins they must live and die together and let both be buryed together But let our Gospel Sabbath take life from our Saviours Resurrection which brought with it a new creation a new world making all things new and giving a new life to lost mankind Holy Ignatius contemporary for many years with the Apostle John with some indignation rejects the Jewish Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. and charges us as we have any love to Jesus Christ to lay it aside and keep the Lords day the supream and Queen of dayes And this blessed Martyr speaking of the Jews converted to Christ in his time gives them this most Christian character viz. That they did no longer keep the Sabbath of the Jews but led their life according to the Lords day in which our life arose Augustine brands the keeping of the old Sabbath with the odious term of Judaizing And Ne Judaizemus servando Sabbatum judaicum Aug. indeed it can be n◠less then great contempt cast on our dear Messiah It is well observed by one We cannot possibly retain the old seventh day Sabbath but we must Memorize our creation above our Redemption which is to admire the Star more then the Sun or the Candle more then the Star and is expresly contrary to the ancient both promise and prophesie The Council of Laodicea was so zealous Incongruum est veteris creationis Sabbatum novae creationi Lightf against the observation of the old Sabbath that it pronounced an Anathema against the obstinate observators of it The words of the Council are these Christians ought not to Judaize and to rest from work on the Jewish Sabbath day but prefer the Lords day before it and rest thereon from labour if any shall be found to Judaize let him be an Anathema Here we may note that this Venerable Ista legalis septimi diei deputatio consecratio neminem constringit prater Judaeos idque non nisi ad tempus Non autem in Novo Testamento quo lex Mosis una cum sacerdotio Christo servatori cessit Muscul Council which was held Anno Dom. 314. One of the most primitive Conventions of the Christian Church commands as under a severe penalty to follow our works on the Saturday Sabbath and to put the crown of rest and holiness upon the head of the Lords day I suppose the Canons of this Council are a good Comment upon the spirit of those times It is well observed by Musculus That the deputation of the seventh day Sabbath belonged only to the Jewish paedagogy now the Jews being hissed off the stage by the just judgment of God and being unchurched and unpeopled their Sabbath is folded up in silence and we have nothing to do with it and so we fairly lay it to sleep and draw the curtains about it no more expecting its rise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas or revival Let me conclude this particular with a saying of Athanasius In the old time of the Jews the seventh day Sabbath was highly esteemed but now under the Gospel the Lord hath changed it and translated it into the Lords day for the old Sabbath appertained to their pedagogy and to the rudiments of the law and therefore when the great Master came and fulfilled all that which was prefigured by it it then ceased even as a Candle is put forth at the rising and appearing of the Sun Now what can be more evident for the dismission of the legal and the admission of the Evangelical Sabbath Quest The old Sabbath then is discharged and is not the fourth Commandment discarded with it buryed in the same grave Answ Surely no for the fourth Commandment enjoyned the sanctification of the Sabbath indefinitely not definitely a seventh day not the seventh day a seventh day not in order but proportion Junius very well observes That the natural equity of the fourth Commandment is that one day Naturalis aequitas quarti praecepti est unum è septem diebus deo et divino cultu◠esse destinandum c. Jun. in seven be consecrated to God whether the first day or the last day of the week and the Scriptures telling us it is now the first we are still obedient to the fourth Commandment Indeed the law of sanctifying the Sabbath is natural and perfectly Moral in respect of the substance of it which is this That every
proof for the Divine Authority of the Lords day nay in this text Psal 118. 24. The Psalmist proceeds to the prophetical delineation In diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tert. of the duties of this day Let us be glad and rejoyce therein as when the Temple was finished the head stone was brought forth with shouting Zach. 4. 7. crying Grace grace so when the work of our Redemption shall be finished Dies ille quem fecit dominus est dies dominicus Arnob. and Christ exalted as head and corner stone of his Church by his triumphant Resurrection the Psalmist intimates the solemn gratulation and publick praise that the Church should offer on that day so Psal 118. 23. And indeed praise and thanksgiving is the most proper musick of our Haec dies quam fecit dominus Haec sunt verba populitrium phantis regno Davidis sed multò magis in gloriosâ resurrectione Christi omnium rerum dierum gloriosissimo Heresbach Christian Sabbath The learned Twisse observes That if ever any day deserved to be a festival surely it was the day of our Saviours Resurrection and in that day to rejoyce in the Lord according to Psal 118. 24. And the ancient Fathers saith he accommodate this place thereunto the two preceding verses carrying in their very fore-head a manifest relation unto Christ as the proprietary of that renowned prophesie for when was the stone which the builders refused made the head of the corner but when Christ gloriously rose from the dead thereby mightily declaring himself to be the Son of God And was there ever any work more marvellous in the eyes of Gods Servants then the Resurrection of Christ This scattered all the unbelief of the Disciples Luke 24. 21. This removed all the fears of the good Women all the sorrows of the Apostles this gratified the hopes of all succeeding Christians Hierome avers that all the Jews interpret this Hieronymus text Psal 118. 24. to be a prophesie concerning the Messiah the Psalmist say they Shewing his ignominious death when he should be a stone rejected of the builders and his glorious Resurrection when he should become the chief stone of the corner The Lords day waâ—â—â—stituted upon the account of Christs most glorious Resurrection What a mark of honour nay what a crown of glory is it to this day that it had favour Dies dominicus Christi resurrectione declaratus est ex illo caeâ—it habere festivitatem suam Aug. above all the dayes of the week to be Christs Resurrection day The Sun in the firmament arises and shines upon other dayes as well as this but the Sun of Righteousness never arose upon any day but this And indeed the institution of the Lords day had its foundation here The maxime of Divines here fully takes place It is the work makes the day some special work alwayes makes some special day the Lords Factum domini fecit diem dominicum deed made the Lords day and we cannot better keep alive the memory of this glorious mercy viz. The blessed Resurrection of Christ then by keeping a day weekly in the solemn commemoration of it This day brought the greatest good John 10. 25. to fallen man even a compleat Redeemer who on this day John 14. 19. redeemed us with triumph from the tyranny of Satan the domination of death and hell and restored us to life and salvation Nos observamus diem solis ex usu Apostolorum propter memoriam resurrectionis domini qui est verus Sol justitiae et pleno immortalitatis jubare illo die est exertus Alsted yea assured it unto every believer And because nothing can ever fall out in this world comparable to Christs Resurrection in glory and power therefore no day can be set up like unto this day neither can it be ever changed for any other therefore men only kick against the pricks while they oppose the Lords day It is a good saying of Augustine The Lords rising hath promised to us an eternal day and consecrated to us the Lords day or the Dominical day of the Lord that which is the Lords day seems properly to belong to the Lord because on that day the Lord rose again And it is a most significant and elegant observation of the great Athanasius Two worlds there are saith he The first ended at Christs Passion the second begins at Christs Resurrection and that blessed day is the feast of them who are in Christ a new Creature And it is observable it is not said by the Ancients that the Church took occasion from the resurrection to consecrate the Lords day but that the Resurrection it self did consecrate it the resurrection was a real consecration And if as Bishop Andrews speaks That the Acts of the Apostles as well as their sayings and writings were of Divine Authority being inspired by the Divine Spirit how much more shall the Act of of their Lord and Masters Resurrection be a divine and sufficient Authority to institute the Lords day The Reverend and Learned Hall speaks well to this purpose Because the Sun Bishop Hall Decad. 6. Epist 1. of Righteousness arose upon this day and gave a new life to the world on it and drew the strength of Gods Moral Precept viz. the fourth Commandment unto it therefore justly do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Andr. Caesar we sing with the Psalmist This is the day which the Lord hath made But why should we mention the Authorities and Testimonies of these latter dayes Ignatius who was as a morning star in the Primitive Church speaks fully and home to this purpose Setting aside saith he the Jewish Sabbath Let every one that loves Christ keep holy the Lords day c. To the same purpose Justin Martyr Athanasius Augustine Innat Justin Mart. Athanas August c. c. who bottom the Lords blessed day on the Lords blessed resurrection that glorious work which must be outvied before any shadow of reason can be assigned for the transmutation of it into any other day Besides the Sun which rose this day will never admit a setting The Christians in the Debâ—mus plus gaudere propter resurrectionem gloriosam quà m dolere propter passiâ—nem Christ ignominiosam Lern. Primitive Church were wont when they saw one another to give this joyful salute The Lord is risen and the others ordinary answer was True the Lord is risen indeed We should not so much mâ—urn saith Bernard at Christs ignominious passion as we should rejoyce at his glorious resurrection The day therefore of Christs rising may well give being to our Christian Sabbath The Lords day was honoured with Christs frequent apparitions Christs appearing on this day was most signal and remarkable he shewed himself five times on that very day on which he arose First to Mary Magdalen in the morning Mark 16. 9. Secondly to the Women Mat. 28. 9 10. Thirdly to the two Disciples Luke
24. 18. Fourthly to Christus notat non tantùm modum sed tempus ipsum apparitionis suae Discipulo et Apostolo Thomae diem ergo octavam hebdomadae primum dominicum diem esse necesse est Peter Luk. 24. 33. Fifthly to the Eleven Mark 16. 14. excepting Thomas John 20. 24. When the Disciples were assembled Christ came in and he stood in the midst among them as the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise and unto his Disciples he spake Peace and gave Power And then the Disciples rejoyced when they saw the Lord never did their spirits so spring within them never did such a day of comfort dawn upon them And this was part of those triumphal hallelujahs which celebrated Christs glorious Resurrection And it is observable he appeared not to all sorts of persons but to some chosen witnesses who were either eminently devoted to his service or designed to teach and inform others Nor did Christ make his appearance every day but principally and most usually upon that day which was more immediately designed for his solemn worship and service being consecrated by his stupendous and blessed resurrection So that Christ more especially vouchsafed his visits to holy men for holy purposes and to determine and define which should be his holy day our weekly Sabbath However it may be supposed that our Saviour did appear on other dayes as once he did upon a week day yet no other day hath the honour to be denominated the day of his appearing but the first day of the week only John 20. 19. And therefore it is most observable it is never said Christ appeared on the second or on the third day much less on the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 20. 19. last day of the week the day of the old Sabbath but the first day is expresly and emphatically noted by name in the forecited Text John 20. 19. Nor must we over-pass one remarkable more viz. That Christ often appeared on his own resurrection day and saith the text John 20. 26. After eight dayes again his Disciples were within and Thomas with them then came Jesus the doors being shut and stood in the midst of them and said Peace be unto you And this was the next first day of the week and here Christ puts an Higgaion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. Selah upon it and it is necessary this should be the Lords day say some of the Ancients And Nazianzen upon this maketh an Oration on purpose and stiles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The new Lords day because it was the first Lords day Cur verò illo ipso die Resurrectionis Christus voluit discipulis apparere tribuendum est hoc fervori charitatis ut Christus discipulos ab infidelitate liberaret praedictionis suae certitudinem et resurrectionis suae veritatem assereret Ger. solemnized in the weekly revolution after the Resurrection day And now may not this plea in consociation with other arguments sufficiently evince any Christian of the divine right of the Lords day We see Christ Jesus our Lord was often seen upon it between his Resurrection and Ascention day seen in the Assembly of his Saints seen in his royal robes seen in his state of immortality and not only seen but heard preaching peace to poor sinners opening Scriptures clearing quickning warming cold and dead hearts filling disconsolate spirits with unusual joy John 20. 20. When the eleven Disciples see him then their hearts rejoyce Joh. 20. 20. when the two Disciples hear and see him then their hearts burn Luke 24. 33. And all this on the first day of the week Nay Junius is very confident that the Lord John 20. 20. Luke 24. 33. appeared the first day of every week between his resurrection and his ascention Dr. Lightfoot and Mr. Fenner tell us that Christs appearing on a Mountane in Galilee mentioned Mat. 28. 16 17 18 c. was likewise on the first day of the week The apparitions of Christ on the first day of the week our Christian Sabbath are still more considerable if we take notice what Christ did in those appearances we may observe his gracious speeches his remarkable actions and transactions tending chiefly to prove his resurrection the ground of our hope and the hinge of our Sabbath upon which it turns and to this purpose we may observe how sweetly our gracious Redeemer condescended to his poor doubting and perplexed Disciples manifesting himself to all their senses 1. To their hearing by his heavenly voice 2. To their seeing by his visible presence 3. To their feeling by offering his sacred body to be touched and handled by them he was unwilling to leave the tincture of any doubt upon them and therefore he gratified not only their graces but their senses Nay 4. He manifested himself to their tasting in feeding and making a meal with them John 21. 12 13. Nor 5. Was their smelling forgotten in conversing with him who was the Rose of Sharon Cant. 2. 1. Nor did Christ only Luke 24. 46. gratifie the senses but the graces of his Disciples 1. By giving them heavenly instructions and so increasing John 20. 19. their knowledge Christ opens the Scriptures and preaches peace to his Disciples and having slain enmity on the cross he now comes and preacheth peace on this first day and brings an Olive branch to the world and to his Disciples in the first place 2. Christ by convincing demonstrations of his own resurrection abundantly confirms the faith of the Disciples that now the Sun appearing all the shades of doubt and unbelief might fly away Thomas his hand of faith could tremble no more after he had put his hand of flesh into the side of his Redeemer 3. Nor did Christ forget to fill up the joy of his Disciples when unexpected he mingles with them in their assembly John 20. 19. and more then a couâ—ting Angel salutes the trembling fraternity And these among others were the great transactions which Christ honoured this day with instructing inspiring blessing and inaugurating his holy Apostles and performing all these unwonted and solemn actions on this blessed day speaks fully Christs election of it for solemn and religious worship for sacred assemblies and Sabbath exercises for his Church in all ages to the end of the world The Lords day is yet more illustrious by the extraordinary dâ—scent of the Holy Ghost upon this day Acts 2. 1 2 3. Christ Mat. 3. 16. Spiritus sanctus dat homini triplex bonum 1. Pignus est salutis testimonium scil quod filii dei sumus 2. Robur est vitae ut in laboribus vigiliis et in omnibus observantiis delectabiliter incedamus now ascending up to his Father sends down his own blessed spirit in an extraordinary and amazing manner the spirit comes not now in the shape of a Dâ—ve but in clâ—ven tongues as opposite to Satans cloven foot so likewise to inspire
Sabbath Caelum est illa requies ubi fugit dolor tristitia gemitus omnes solicitudines Ibi nec invidia nec zelus nec morbus nec nox nec mors nec tenebrae sed omnia pax gaudium jucunditas voluptas bonitas c. Chrysost which signifies a holy Rest to shew us that the due and holy observation of our Rest here is the ready way to our perfect rest hereafter It is a sad contemplation to take a view of prophane persons how they impose upon themselves in a dream of glory Can they possibly conjecture that they can sing their songs here on a Sabbath take their cariere in sensual delights play away walk away prate away their precious Sabbaths and at last sing Hallelujahs in the Sabbath above Is not this to conceive a Mountane to be Chrystalline because it is covered with snow which bears some resemblance to the colour of it Well then prophanation of Gods day is a complicated evil a chain of darkness with many links in it a body of sin made up of the four Elements of Contempt Infidelity Ingratitude and Soul-prodigality it is an heretical vice which practically denies the resurrection of Christ Arg. 2 There is much in the day to solicite our holy observation It is a Sabbath of spiritual delights it is the souls festival day a day of fat things and wine upon the lees Isa 25. 6. The Cant. 2. 4. Sabbath is the season in which Christ brings his beloved into Psal 118. 24. to his banqueting house Christians on this day are to rejoyce in the Lord as the memorial of the greatest benefit which Dies dominicus domini resurrectione declaratus est inde caepit habere festivitatem suam ever accrewed unto them Their life rose this day a conquerour and in him they are more then conquerours as the Apostle speaks most triumphantly Rom. 8. 37. And therefore holy men in all ages have waited with impatience for the coming of this day and have rejoyced with unspeakable joy at its approach This day is the darling is the delight Aug. Serm. de temp of dayes and all other dayes are to be obsequious unto it It is recorded of holy Mr. Dod and heavenly Mr. Bruen that Deut. 32. 49. they were even in heaven upon a Lords day This day is Heb. 2. 10. the day of Christs visits the souls spiritual market and fair in it we have our prospect of Canaan upon Mount Nebo the Hujus diei laetemurâ— festivitate Hilâ—r day it is of holy Discipline to train us up in the School of Christ Hilary cries out Let Christians be exceeding glad on this day of their festivals This day is the souls seeds time Officia hodiè praestanda spiritualia mirificam in se complectuatur jucunditatem O quà m suave est communione cum Christo frui in via Ordinationum per quam Christus transire solet ipsi occurrere and glory shall be its harvest this is the most special time for the recruiting of the inward man and strengthning it with all might The duties of this day are not only the plowing but the reaping of the soul they are in themselves not only work but wages for in acting of spiritual duties there is great reward As one saith Sabbath-service implies a wonderfull sweetness as the musick of the sphears which is included in its own circumference How delitious is it to enjoy communion with Christ on his own day and to embrace him in the way of his Ordinances as Zaccheus to meet him in the way as he passeth by Luke 19. 5. Christ indeed is sweet to our enquires much sweeter to our acquests when we have found our beloved Cant. 3. 4. Now then the Sabbath being a day of joy and jubilee to the soul how spiritual exact and heavenly should we be The Sabbath is joyous in its constitution let it be so in our disposition let not this joy be damped by our sin or neglect let us not jar the musick of it by our sloath or sensuality our carnal ease or fleshly delights for so we may at night go down with sorrow to our bed Gen. 42. 38. Arg. 3 Not only the pleasure of this day might allure but the profit of this day might enforce our greatest care and devotion On this day the soul makes its greatest merchandise and drives Deus in suo opere conquiescens benedixiti huic diei eum sanctificavit in ecclesiâ suâ ut sanctus haberetur in eâ benedixit illi et benedicetur its most gainful bargains on this day the poor believer follows the chase of a Christ of an heaven of an eternity this day is a day of bleâ—sings how many have met with their beloved recruited their faith amplified their joy and gained a better insight into their spiritual condition on this holy day Their souls as Hannah have begun the Sabbath with sighs and sobs but in the close thereof have gone away and have been no more sad 1 Sam. 1. 18. It is usually on the Sabbath Jun. in Gen. that the believer makes his greatest journies towards his home God saith of this day as once Isaac said concerning Die dominico videre est animae mercaturam quaestuoâ—issiman et opulentiorem omnibus mundi opibus majâ—r certè est utilitas frui praesentiâ de quum Margaritas ac fodinas aureas acquirere Jacob I have blessed it yea and it shall be blessed Gen. 27. 33. On this day the gracious soul enjoys Christs presence communion with the blessed Trinity and the happiness of those spiritual Ordinances which are the Mines and the means of grace On this day he drinks more deeply of the waters of life and participates more freely of the good things of the graces of the spirit and tasts more sensibly of the prelibations of future and eternal joy Rev. 1. 10. Indeed on the Lords day the believer makes up himself for the decays and losses of the week and drives the spiritual trade to the best advantage Now profit should engage us to care and sedulity and add a wing to our zealous and holy industry when we are sloathful or sensual upon the Sabbath we do not only sin away our timâ— â—ut our treasure and lose our season for advantage Limnâ—rs will be very exact in drawing that picture for which they are well rewarded a high price will procure the most curious works and why should not a gainful Sabbath which will pay for all our pains engage us in the greatest strictness of observation Profit is the great engine which prevails with worldly men Some Nations will sell Swords Diei dominicae luâ—rum non crumenam sed animam spectat and warlike furniture to their open and proclaimed enemies for profit and unusual gain and surely the riches of Ordinances are finer gold then the treasures of the Mine though they be digged in Ophir Arg. 4 The honour
of this blessed day commands our severest observation The Sabbath contains all the three arguments in it which some calls the worlds Trinity Pleasure Profit Honour And if these arguments have so much force in temporals why should not they be as cogent in spirituals spiritual good things 1. They yield most Sure there is more in a grace of the spirit then in the stuffing of a bag or the lining of a costâ—r 2. They last longest 3. They are purchased with greater difficulty they are bought with a price with the blood of a Redeemer Dies dominicus omnium dierum mater est Hieron 4. They enrich our better part and shall not they more influence our care and our devotion Our Sabbath is solemn in its own dignity let it be so in our observation God hath crowned this day with honour why should we degrade it by our sin and vanity Our heavenly carriage doth best comport with the glory of this day Hierom calls our Christian Sabbath the Mother of dayes not only intimating its own antiquity but pointing at the veneration we should give to it And so the fifth Commandment comes in to the support and assistance of the fourth We must honour this Mother of dayes that our dayes may be happy and long in the land Exod. 20. 12. Nor unfitly is the Sabbath called a Mother when it hath so fruitful an issue and hath brought forth so many Children to Christ who is its Lord and Master Ignatius Mark 2. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. calls our Sabbath the Queen of dayes and all other parcels of time are only hand-maids to wait on her now every evil fact is aggravated which is committed in the presence-chamber The Holy Ghost calls our Sabbath the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. And God doth not call this day by his own Name but to intimate thus much to us that we should likewise honour it by a holy and careful celebration Sin then and vanity is a blot in the Escucheon of the Sabbath and the prophane person as much as in him lies layes the honour of it in the dust The Jews had a very high esteem of their Sabbath and they compared it to a Queen their other festivals they compared to Concubines and ordinary dayes they compared to hand-maids and they made a six fold difference between their Sabbath and other festivals Other festivals had no parasceue or preparation going before them but the Sabbath had still a preparation and it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or pervigilium Sabbati the Vigils of the Sabbath Obj. but it may here be said that John 19. 14. we meet with the preparation to the Passover and therefore a preparation was not peculiar to the Sabbath Answ To which it is answered It is called the preparation to the Passover because at that time the Sabbath and the Passover fell both together Mat. 17. 62. and then the Jews transferred the Passover to the Mark 15. 42. Sabbath and therefore it was called the great Sabbath Joh. Luke 23. 54. 19. 31. That Sabbath day was an high day saith the Text John 19. 42. because both feasts fell on the same day But the preparation mentioned John 19. 14. was then in respect of the Sabbath and not in respect of the Passover which was drowned in the Sabbath For other feasts besides the Sabbath needed no preparation The Sabbath of the Jews had a prerogative above all other festivals in that other festivals were translated to the Sabbath Alios festivitatis dies transferre solebunt ad Sabbatum propter olera mortuos Judaic Proverb but the Sabbath stood unmoveable and could never be transferred to any other festival therefore they oftentimes made the feast day a common day and upon it they prepared their meat and buried their dead and they transferred the religious exercises which did belong to that day to the Sabbath The Sacrifices of all their festivals gave way to the Sabbath Their daily Evening sacrifice was killed at eight of the clock and half an hour past according to the Jews counting of the hours half an hour before three with us and offered at the ninth hour and an half past which with us is half an hour after three and this they did that they might rest the evening of the Sabbath The Sabbath had a double sacrifice upon it Numb 28. 9 10. Whereas all other festivals had only their particular services and sacrifices which as it was to distinguish the Sabbath from all other feasts so to mind us of that industry and sedulity we should shew on the holy and blessed Sab-Sabbath The Sabbath was kept in the wilderness and in the captivity and he who violated and brake the Sabbath in the Wilderness was stoned to Death Numb 15. 35. But other festivals were not kept in the captivity and the Passover but once in the wilderness Numb 9. 5. The whole week took denomination from the Sabbath Luke 18. 12. Acts 13. 42. And besides all this every Sabbath day they came to hear the Scriptures read and expounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in medio septimanae Mat. 1. 21. Luke 4. 31. But on the week dayes they met occasionally The Sabbath was the appointed time for those holy exercises Now shall the Jews be so curious Acts 14 15. in drawing of their Sabbaths Eschutcheon of Honour and marking its dignified prerogatives and shall we give less veneration to the Lords Day I mean not in verbal praises or rhetorical panegyricks but in holy practices Our carefull Preparation for the solemnities of it our serious behaviour in the duties of it our frugal improvement of the time of it our unwearied diligence in the service of it this and this only speaks our Sabbath honourable Piety and Devotion best proclaim the dignity of this holy day when we act as those who believe that Christ is not only the institutour of our Sabbath but will be the Judge of the world Let us Rom 2. 16. then consider the Lords Day under what notion we will either as the souls jubilee and festival day or as the souls market 2 Cor. 5. 10. day or as the Churches best and most glorious day yet still nothing but holiness becomes it and its beauty is best seen in our sanctification Our holiness is the foyle to set off the glory of it Arg. 5 Let us look upon our Sabbath as a day of distinction the observation of which distinguisheth Christians from the rest of the world and this meditation will prompt us to holiness What Sabbatum est signum quòd deus Israelem sanctificavit i. e. segregando eos à gentibus profanis in peculiarem sibi populum Lavater in Ezek. the Lord said to the Jews Exod. 31. 13. Verily my Sabbaths shall ye keep for it is a sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord who doth sanctifie you is as applicable to
the strong Trace a Sabbath-work and is it any thing else but gaining knowledge treasuring up truth wrestling with God for pardon grace and assurance visiting our Beloved and driving the great Bargain of Eternity And for which of these good works must the Sabbath be prophaned John 10. 33 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or thrown away If Philosophers say of Vertue It is its own reward is it not much more true of holy worship spiritual communion converse with Heaven and those pleasing delights which are the sweet employment of a Sabbath Therefore 1 John 1. 3. to pollute this day or to trifle it away what is it but to Numb 14. 8. bring an evil report on Canaan a Land flowing with milk and honey Argum. 6 And it would be seriously considered Sabbaths are upon the wing and they will not long continue to us We cannot say of richest Sabbaths as once Christ said of poor persons the Sabbaths ye have always with you Mat. 26. 11. The Lords day is a triumphant but a transient mercy Now we enjoy these blessed Sabbaths and holy Ordinances we know not how soon the Songs of Zion may be turned into howling Lam. 1. 4 16. And Ichaâ—od may be written upon our weekly jubilies We know not how soon Gods wrath or John 12. 35. our own death may hide thâ—se things which belong to our Levit. 26. 43. peace from our eyes O then let us improve our Sabbaths Luc. 19. 42. our sweet seasons our Summer-time our divine Harvest for Prov. 6. 6 7. if we do not gather grace on this day what shall we have Jer. 8. 7. to lay out on the week-day Or what shall we have to spend Prov. 10. 5. on a death-bâ—d when we are stepping into another World Psal 32. 6. We know the Water-man must observe his wind and tyde Suus cuique constitutus est dies certum tempus quo operari possit quo elapso nihil amplius praestare queat Chemnit and when they serve then he throws off his Doublet and bestirs himself left he should fall short of his Creek or Haven It concerns us to mind Sabbaths and to sanctifie them to the Lord then the gases of the Spirit blow fair then the waters of the Sanctuary run right for the Port to which we are bound but if these heavenly Opportunities slide away without our serious improvement we must with Esau Psal 115. 17. seek the Blessing carefully with tears but it shall not accrue Heb. 12. 17. unto us The Musician plays his Lesson while the Instrument is in tune let us ripen in grace while the Sabbath shines and Sabbath showers continue Our Saviour bids us work while it is day John 9. 4. Surely this principally points at the Sabbath-day which is the Souls day It is but a few Sabbaths more nay it may be not one more and we shall go down to our silent Graves Our life is uncertain not a Sun but a Vapour Jam. 4. 14. and can our Sabbaths be sure and steddy Our Sabbaths are our Tyde for Heaven and when the Tyde is past there is no rowing to the Port. When the Traveller observes the Sun is declining and draws towards setting then he spurs up his Beast and speeds his pace lest the Night over-take him Our Sabbaths are setting and the Gospel-Sun is low is speeding to a disappearance Let us then keep holy these days and carefully make the best advantage of them let us neither stain their beauty by our prophaneness nor detract from their bounty by our neglect and formality lest the shadows of death over-take us and then who shall remember God or work for Psal 115. 17. his Soul in the Pit or the Grave where we shall be lodged and awake no more till the Resurrection Arg. 7 But though the Lords day be fleet and swift as to us yet it is permanent in its self and in its duration calls for our devotion We admire not a Candle so much as we do the Sun Gen. 2. 3. and one reason is because the Candle wastes but the Sun endures The light of our Sabbath is not a transient blaze but a constant light which will continue till the consummation of all things and God hath folded up all things in change or dissolution Now Permanency is a character of excellency Gold is only refined in the same fire where dress is consumed The Priesthood of Melchisedech was more excellent Melchisedec 400 annis sacerdotium Aaroniâ—uâ— antecâ—ssit et ejus sacerdotium Christi sacerdotium repraeseâ—tat quod usque ad finem mundi duraturum est Alap than that of Aaron because it continued for ever Heb. 7. 17. So the Sabbath of Christians is more excellent than the Sabbath of the Jews because that found a grave but this shall find none To our Sabbath it may be said in comparison with all the Jews Sabbaths They shall perish but thou remainest they shall all wax old as doth a Garment as a Vesture shalt thou rowl them up and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail To our Sabbath all the Powers of Earth and Hâ—ll shall never put a period it is a durable and therefore an honourable Ordinance And shall God honour it and shall we deface it Shall he promote it and shall we prophane it Shall he make it a lasting Ordinance and set it up as a Marble Pillar in the Church and shall we write froth and vanity upon it as if it was a Tomb-stone Our Sabbath is no flying Ceremony or transient Rite which hath the worm of Judaism at the root of it which will eat it out in time but it is a stable institution which God will have sanctified with all exactness The Persians Laws Eâ—â—h 1. 19. were irrevocable and therefore the more venerable and the transgression of but one of them threw Daniel into the Lions Den Dan. 6. 8 12. So the Law of our Sabbath it is solemn and solid not subject to decay or of a perishing nature which earnestly presses the sanctification and amplifies exceedingly the pollution of it It is not so great 〈◊〉 to break a piece of glass as to break a piece of Gold 〈◊〉 â—â—â—eness is the blemish of every thing Leases the shorter 〈◊〉 are the more inconsiderable The life of nature is no wâ—y to be compared with thâ— life of grace not only in point of sweetness but duâ—ation Sin upon the Lords day is not like â—â—rase upon a picture which is a fading paint but like a flaw in a Jewel it is a more durable blemish and a more praejudicial debasement God hâ—th not only stamped his Name upon our Sabbath but something of his Nature there is a kind of eternity engraven upon it and therefore the violation of it Rev. 1. 10. by sin neglect or vanity must needs be a reduplicate impiety Arg. 8 Let us likewise take notice that this
Indeed it is the property of a natural Son not only to mind the word but to imitate the example of his good Father Slaves must have commands but Sons study Patterns as the ingenuous Scholar minds the Copy more then the passionate word or the Ferula of his Master One of Gods rich promises carries this treasure in it I will guide thee by mine eye Psal 32. 8. Thou shalt look on me and so walk hoâ—ily before me Not only Gods will but his eye shall be our conduct So then Gods example re-inforces our obligation for Sabbath-holiness Cumque deus ita quiescat die septimo ut tamen non cesset ob omni opere sed rerum universitatem conservet et gubernet Ita quoque Sabbati sanctificatio non consistit in ignavo otio sâ—d ut ea operemur quae ad dei gloriam faciant Ger. In this affair we have all ties of obedience not only the force of a righteous command but we may see our selves in the Chrystal glass of divine example And it is well observed by Gerard God saith he did not so rest on the Sabbath from all work but still on that day he preserved and governed all things So our sanctification of the Sabbath doth not consist in a slothful idleness but in working thâ—se things which make to the glory of God So let us thus imitate God on his own day Indeed Gods patteâ—n is the Archetype of all our actions the surest glass for us to dress our selves by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He hath said it is the rule of all truth and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath done it is the rule of all practice wherein the blessed Jehovah is imitable It was the Apostles glory that he followed Christ and so far he would have all Christians Omnis actio Dei nobis pietatis virtutis est regula Basil follow him 1 Cor. 11. 1. It is an excellent saying of Basil Every action of God is to us a Rule of all vertue and piety And if in all other things so in keeping the Sabbath in holy Rest Philo the Jew could say Follow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Phil. Jud. God in resting on the Sabbath you have his Example you have his Prescript and therefore spend that day in holy contemplations God in this momentous concernment of the Sabbath seems to speak as in the Prophet Malachi Mal. 1. 6. A son honcureth his father and a servant his master If I be a father where is my honour if I be a master where is my fear And if I have rested upon the Sabbath why do you disturb it by secular works hy sensual delights by prophane actions or by unseemly carriages so unbecoming a holy Sabbath In prophaning Gods day we break through a double bar of precept and presidency and so dye our sin in a double dye Arg. 4 The light of Nature leads us to a Sabbath let the light of Scripture lead us to a holy observation of it The Law of Habet venerationem justam quicquid excellit Cicer. de Nat. Deorum Nature instilleth this notion into us That God paramount who is Superlative in all Excellencies and Perfections is to be worshipped That to the performance of this worship certain times are to be deputed that none is so fit to depute that time as that Deity whose worship it is And therefore to keep this day which God hath appointed holy to the same Lord to sanctifie it in holy Rest and spiritual worship which Brerewood saith Is the Body and the Soul of the Sabbath All this is nothing but an obsequious following of the guidance and conduct of Nature Aquinas here gives us a good Rule Seeing saith he that the moral Precepts Aquin 2da 2dae quaest 122. Artic. 4. are of those things which agree to humane reason as they appertain to good manners the judgment whereof is derived some way from natural Reason it must needs Breerw part 2. pag. 67. be that those things pertain to the Law of Nature And is there any thing more accommodate to right reason more conducing to good manners then to dedicate some time to the honour of God especially that time which is of his own appointment If we have Souls to look after must there not be seasons for that purpose And who shall better Mark 2. 28. Aquin. 1mae adae quaest 10. Artic. 1. 3. appoint that season than the Saviour of the Soul Again the Sabbath was made for man Mark 2. 27. was it not for the better part of man that piece of Eternity which he carries in his bosom And how can we better consult our Souls good than in duties of Divine worship Thus the very dictates of natural reason command the holy observation of the Sabbath And therefore the observation of the seventh day which was the Sabbath till the coming of Christ was no strange thing among those who know nothing above the light of Nature Homer an Heathen Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. tells us That the seventh day is holy Callimachus an Heathen Author informs us That the seventh day is the Birth-day chief and perfect And Eusebius affirms That almost all as well Philosophers as Poets know the seventh day to be most sacred And shall these Pagans who had onely glimpses of natural light smatch and rellish Quis Diem illum sanctissimum non honorat unaquaquehebdomadâ recurrentem Phil. honour and venerate the day of the Sabbath and shall we turn Heathens on that day or fall some degrees below them I shall say with the Apostle Rom. 6. 2. God forbid The learned Andrews observes That sufficient is found in the heart of the Gentiles to their condemnation who shall dare to break the Law of the fourth Commandement The very light of Nature shall rise up in judgment Rom. 6. 2. against Sabbath-breakers and it shall be more tollerable for Hesiod a Heathen Poet who pronounced the seventh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod day holy and Alexander Severus a heathen Prince who on that day frequented the Temple as formerly hath been hinted then for this Generation It was a rare saying of Seneca a sage Heathen who reckoning the Sabbath a Festival for Religion condemned the then manner of observing of it and saith he Let us forbid the lighting of a Candle upon a Sabbath for neither do the Gods want light and men themselves are not delighted with smoke he worshippeth God who knows him This golden Quoniam rerum humanarum variiâ— maltiâ— occupationibus curis distracti praepedimur ita ut non facilè officia pietatis praestemus saying how will it condemn many drossie Christians who set fire on their lusts on Gods holy Sabbath It is a good Notion of Azorius Man saith he is so hurried and distracted with the affairs of the world that he is impeded in and unfit for the worship of God But God therefore hath appointed
support of Religion and keeps it from flights or falls Every devout worshipper on the Lords day is but a lessar pillar to shoar up godliness and piety in the world While publick worship is seriously frequented and private duties are frequently performed while the sacred word of God is diligently attended the blessed Sacrament devoutly received while holy prayers with moystened eyes and melting hearts are affectionately poured forth and sent up to God on his own holy day while these things are in ure in a Nation piety and Religion are above the fears of decay Religion sails or sinks with the Sabbath when both are embarqued in the same Vessel and where this Sancta diei dominicae exercitia labascentem pietatem religionem sustinent holy day is constuprated by vanity and prophaneness profession is laid waste and desolate the sanctification of Gods day keeps up Gods fear in the Church but that being suspended the gap is made and the Church lies open to all kinds of sinful incursions A learned man tells us that Guntheram a pious King of France fighting against the Goths with unhappy success did sedulously enquire into the cause Guntheramus Francorum Rex pientissimus contra Gothos infaelici successu se pugnasse observaverat tanti mali fonte paulò altius investigato cui malo ut obviam iretur statutum est diem dominicum religiosè custodiendum per universum c. of it and taking notice of the neglect of the Bishops instructing the people as likewise observing the prophaneness of the people in dishonouring the Lord he presently concluded this was the proper source and cause of his late discomfiture and calamity and therefore he immediately commanded That the Lords day should be carefully and solemnly observed throughout his whole Dominions as being the most proper remedy and most likely Cure for those distempers which had shaken the happiness both of Church and State God usually calculating his providence according to the observation of his day smiling upon those places where it is religiously observed and evidencing his displeasure where it is slighted or contemned Arg. 9 The sanctification of the Sabbath is the discharge in a great measure of that duty pressed by the Apostle Phil. 3. 20. Let your conversation be in heaven All the duties of the Sabbath Nonne pudet te corpore coelum suspicere mentem in terrâ repere caput sursum cor deorsum habere Bern. are but transactions with Heaven Our prayers are our approach and appeal to Heaven and therefore we are said to lift up a prayer Jer. 7. 16. Our hearing the word is only hearing News from Heaven Acts 20. 27. And our Sacramental receipts are only the tasting of the fruit of the Vine which we shall drink new with Christ in his Fathers Kingdom Mat. 26. 29. The Ordinances of a Sabbath are heavenly Ordinances the end of a Sabbath is to bring us nearer to heaven and the Communion of Saints whâ—ch we enjoy upon a Sabbath is a sweet resemblance of that Society the Saints shall enjoy in heaven And though we cannot pretend to 2 Cor. 12. 2. Pauls rapture into the third heaven or to Johns extasies upon this holy day yet in a conscientious use of divine administrations Rev. 1. 10. we travel fairly on towards heaven and happiness Secular works which savour of earth are to be banished this day Exod. 20. 10. Carnal hearts which rellish earth are unsutable to this day Rev. 1. 10. And pleasurous delights which are the liquorish froth of earth are to be avoided on the Sabbath day Isa 58. 13. Our Sabbath is the day-break and twilight of heaven and glory which if we improve to work our spiritual works in a little time will bring us to a perfect noon Arg. 10 Let us be exact on the Lords day in honour to Christ it is his Resurrection day On this day the Sun rose which lightens Dies dominicus Christi resurrectione declaratus est et ex illo caeâ—it habere festivitatem suam aeternam non solùm spiritus sed et corporis requiem praefigurat Aug de Civ dei every one which comes into a better world on this day the Conqueror shewed himself when he had laid all his enemies in the grave from whence he sprang This was the day of Mankinds restauration of the worlds wonder and of the Believers joy This day was the fresh spring of our happiness the initials of a Christians boast On this day Mosaical rites and legal Ceremonies were fully and totally routed and so put to flight and then dyed together the Synagogue and the Sanedrim Christ is the true Joseph who on this day left his prison and was promoted to honour Christ is the real Moses who breaking through death and dangers Acts 13. 31 32 saw Pharaoh and his host Satan Death and Hell and Heb. 1. 5. all spiritual wickednesses drowned in the Sea Christ is the Resurrexisti domine quà m â—â—â—ulatè celeritèr O fortunati labâ—res O gloriosa certamina quae talem finem sortiuntur Pâ—ssionem excepit Resurrectio mortem immortalitas ignonimiam gloria infirmitatem virtus Tempestatem serenitas Bellar. 2 Cor. 5. 1. true Mordecai who foiling Haman and all his enemies delivered the true Israel from tyranny and oppression and on this day kept his Purim Christ is the true Jonas who being cast into the Sea in a tempest of frenzy and cruelty on the third day was cast on the shore and survived to more gracious purposes In a word glorious were the conflicts happy the labours blessed the rest and most triumphant the Resurrection of our dear Redeemer Now as it is reported of Caesar when he would cry Quirites that word put new life into his Souldiers in the sorest battels So when we think our Sabbath is Christs Resurrection day this should put new life into all our duties and devotions This was the day of wonders when our blessed Samson carryed away the gates of Hell to lay our way open to the City of the New Jerusalem the City not made with hands eternal in the heavens CHAP. LIII The Resurrection of Christ is not only a real ground for the institution but a cogent Argument for the holy observation of the Lords day WHen our hearts are dead and curdled into formality upon the Lords day then every one of us should thus bespeak his soul O my soul this day is the triumph of thy Redeemer when he trod upon the Serpents head when Gen. 3. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in Hexam he took from death its sting from hell its standard suppose my soul thou hadst stood by the Sepulcher and seen the Sun of Righteousness covered with a cloud before now shining forth most gloriously on the morning of the Resurrection day how would this have raised and ravished thy heart How glad were the Disciples when they saw the Lord they believed not for joy John 20.
Gospel So the Apostle most expresly 1 Cor. 15. 14. If Christ be not risen then is our preaching in vain and your saith is also vain Christs death had been wholly ineffectual for the remission of sins if Christ had not conquered death but still had been Peccatum plenè aboletur quia ejus effectus i. e. mors aboletur Chrysost detained in his dust But Christ hath abolished sin because he hath conquered death the effect of sin by his glorious resurrection as Chrysostom well notes and observes All the sufferings of Christ were animated by his resurrection that glorious Act put worth and value upon them Had he not risen all our hopes had been buried in the same Grave with him but he is truly risen and this is the comfort of our Souls and the riches of his sufferings Christs resurrection makes faith a saving grace and therefore the rather is put upon Christs rising not upon his death Rom. 8. 34. His Resurrection makes the Gospel a lively and glorious Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 4. Totum Evangelium esset vanum et mera fabula si Christus non resurrexisset Par. and Christ an all-sufficient Redeemer When Christ rose the Jews blasphemy was execrated Scripture-prophesies and types verified the hearts of believers revived and the Gospel was made a Doctrine full of grace and truth fit to be preached for life and salvation The Prophet Hosea tells us Hos 6. 2. After two dayes he will revive us and the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight which text Hos 6. 2. of Scripture Tertullian rightly accommodates to the Resurrection Quem locum Tertullianus lib. adv Judeos cap. 13. ad Christi resurrectionem rectè accomodat Ger. of Christ which was on the third day then did our life spring with his and the Sun rising caused our light The Resurrection of Christ is that pleasant spring which the Law foresaw the Gospel discovers and the Christian rejoyces in Had Christ been shut up in the Grave and there kept as Natures Prisoner all the truths of the Word had been as fading leaves and the believers faith an empty notion the Preachers pains unprofitable sweat and the sinners soul irrecoverably lost and the professors of Christianity truly of all men most miserable as 1 Cor. 15. 19. And that cursed Quantas divitias comparavit nobis ista fabula Christi Leo. 10. Pap. Rom. speech of Pope Leo the tenth viz. How much wealth hath this Fable of Christ brought to our Coffers might have escaped a reproof And now shall the Resurrection of Christ put life into the Gospel and none into us upon our Sabbath the commemoration of that glorious Act Shall every truth of the Gospel be confirmed by it and shall not we be established in our duties on this holy day Christ rose and our hopes sprang and budded with his rising and shall not this animate our services on the Lords day Either let us lay aside Faith in the Act or be more conscientious in keeping the day of Christs blessed Resurrection The Resurrection of Christ was not only the breaking of his own chains but the breaking out and harbinger of our joyes For Christ as a common person is become the first fruits of 1 Cor. 15. 20. them that sleep 1 Cor. 15. 20. which is an allusion to a rite and ceremony in the Law All the sheaves in a field being unholy in themselves there was some one sheaf in the name and room of all the rest which was called the first fruit lifted up and waved before the Lord and so all the sheaves abroad in the field by that act done to this one sheaf were Christus oppâ—nitur omnibus terroribus in die judicii quidem quadruplici ratione 1. Christi morte qua peccata expiavit 2. Resurrectione quâ jâ—stitiam peperit 3. Evectione ad dextrâ—m dei quâ sp sanctum effudit 4. â—ntercessione quâ meritum effiâ—acitèr applicat Quâ—tuâ—r â—isâ—e gradibus totum Redemptionis opus à Christo peractum est Par. consecrated unto God by vertue of that Law Lev. 23. 10. Rom. 11. 16. And thus when we were all dead Christ as the first fruits riseth and this in our name and stead and so we all rise with him and in him we are all vertually risen in him and this in as true a sence as if we were personally risen As on the contrary hand we being personally alive yet are reckoned dead in Adam because he was a common person and had the sentence of death pronounced upon him by vertue of which we must die and this by the force of the same law 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. Adam was the first fruits of them who died and Christ of them that rise Hence we are said to be risen with Christ Eph. 2. 5. and which is yet more to sit together with him in heaven Eph. 2. 6. Because Christ is a common person representing us and he sits there in our name and in our stead Now let us a little canvass the equity of this law If sentence of condemnation was first passed upon Adam alone yet considered as a common person for us we were condemned in him therefore also this acquitting and justification which was passed upon Christ at his Resurrection for then he had fully suffered whatever divine justice could demand for our sin was passed upon him as a common and publick person for us yea in this his being justified Christ must much rather be considered as a common person representing us then Adam was in his condemnation Vâ—va ego quamvis mortem feram resurgam et vos quoque vivetis i. e. quia videbitis me laetabimini et quasi oâ—cisi reviâ—isâ—eâ—â—â— in meâ manifestatione Theoph. For Christ in his own person had no sin so he had no need of justification from sin nor should ever have been condemned and therefore this must be only in respect to our sinnes imputed to him and if so then in our stead and so herein he was more purely to be considered as a common person for us then ever Adam was in his being condemned for Adam besides his standing as a common person for us was furthermore condemned in his own person but Christ being justified from sin could only be considered as standing for others Thus Christ rose as a common person in our stead and for our good to be the object of our faith the incentive of our hope and the forerunner of our glorious resurrection By Christs rising to life we receive A life of joy His springing from the grave was the blossoming of our joy The retirement of our beloved into his tomb was but transient the delay of three dayes and then In diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tert. he came from behind the hangings and in this our joy is full This dried up Mary Magdalens tears and swallowed up the Disciples griefs and this inflames the Christians triumphs And
the time of the Sabbath Let us labour to get high esteemes of the Sabbath day We Praescrip 3. keep those things most charily we prize most We lock up Jewels which we value but we leave out other things which we despise and contemn One great reason why men practice Sabbaths no more is because they prize them no Apparet in Sâ—râ—pâ—uris hunc diem esse solennem ipse enim est primus dies seculi c. Aug. more Sabbaths fall in their opinion and therefore they sink in their observation They look upon the Sabbath as a common day a day of leisure to please themselves with carnall rest or sensual delight Only their shâ—ps are shut and so they cannot follow the works of their Calling but their hearts are open to entertain any temptation and so they mind the Magistrate more then Jehovah upon his own day Dies dominicus est dies Regalis in quâ— Imperator ascendit ab inferis Chrysost But serious and gracious persons have always spoken highly of Gods blessed Sabbath The Apostle John calls it the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. which is the Lord Christ his day for this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is appropriate to our Saviour Christ both in regard of the dignity and excellency of his person and because of the greatness and largeness of Ne ipsam quidem dominicam diem Jâ—nctissimi festi ullâ inreverentiâ habuere c. Athanas his dominion as likewise in respect of his bounty towards the members of his mystical body Acts 4. 36. Joh. 20. 13 28. Revel 17. 14. Cap. 19. 16. Now things and persons which are named the Lords are sacred and venerable in an high degree So The grace of our Lord Rom. 16. 24. The spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 17. The beloved of the Lord Rom. 16. Is solus et unus reverâ est proprius et dominicus dies et melior est aliis innumerabilibus diebus sive qui communitèr intelliguntur sive qui a Mose c. Hier. 8. The glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. The word of the Lord 1 Tim. 6. 3. The cup of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 27. Et sic Convivium dominicum the Lords banquet Tertul. lib. 2. ad Vxor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hierosol Catech. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The body of the Lord. Athanas ad Epict. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Scripture of the Lord. Clem. Alexandr Ignatius the blessed Martyr of Christ who lived in the Apostles age and was St. Johns Disciple maketh the Lords day the Queen the Princess the Lady Paramount of all dayes Eusebius in the life of Constantine the Great lib. 4. cap. 18. stileth the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In truth and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. very deed the principal and the first Chrysostome calleth it a Royal day And Gregory Nazianzen Orat. 43. saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Higher then the highest and with admiration wonderfull above all other dayes Basil calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first fruits of dayes Chrysologus Ser. 77. saith It is the primate among days And Hierome in Marc. 16. The Lords day is better then other common dayes and then all the Festivals New Moons and Finitur septimus dies dominus est sepultus reditur ad primum dominus est resuscitatus domini resuscitatio promisit no bis aeternam diem et consecravit diem dominicam Aug. Sabbaths of Moses his Law The Lords day saith Maximus Taurinensis is venerable and a solemn day among Christians because like the Sun rising and dispelling infernal darkness Christ the Sun of Righteousness shined forth unto the world by the light of his Resurrection And the incomparable Augustine saith The Seventh day is ended the Lord was buried a return is made to the first day the Lord is raised the Lords Resurrection promised us an eternal day and it did consecrate unto us the Lords day Justin Martyr calls our Sabbath Sunday as many others after him and not without very good reason That being the Chiefest of dayes as the Sun is the most glorious of all the Planets and therefore the Civil Law calls Cod. Justin lib. 3. tit 12. our Sabbath The venerable and much honoured Sunday Our Sabbath is called Sunday to honour Christ who is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4. 2. Enlightning every one who Nos jure optimo diem quem Mathematici solis vocant domino ascripsimus et illius cultui totum mancipavimus quoniam nulla re magis imaginari possumus praepotentis et universim supereminentis Christi Mâ—jestatem quà m per splendidissimum solis lumen Et Leo est solare animal Cael. Rhodig cometh into the world and who by his triumphant Resurrection caused the heavenly light of Truth and Grace to appear in full lustre to them who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death And Gaudentius Brixianus speaks fully to this purpose It behoved Christ saith he the Sun of Righteousness with the fair and pleasant light of his Resurrection to dispell the gross darkness of the Jews and melt the frozen cold of the Gentiles and so reduce all things that we reclouded with the black vail of confusion by the Prince of darkness into the state of prime tranquility And Ambrose concurs in his judgement This day is called Sunday saith he because Christ the Sun of Righteousness arose from death to life upon this day to enlighten the Children of this world Hierom tells us It is called Sunday because on that day Light rose in the world and the Sun of Righteousness appeared in whose wings healing may be found So Christ made it Sunday not only from his beams but likewise from his wings for as there was light in the one so there was Cypr. Epist 33. Orig. in Exo. Homil. 7. contr celsum cure in the other and both together gave it this Name And nothing more speaks the glory of Christ then Light and the Sun is the fountain of light and therefore our Sabbath is Tertul. de Coron Mil. called Sunday as Coelius Rhodiginus observes Nay Christ himself is called Light John 3. 19. And the Gospel is named Light Rom. 13. 12. No wonder then if that day on which Christ is worshipped and the Gospel is preached is called Sunday But in all ages our blessed Sabbath flourished in an honourable Bellarm. Tem. 1 de cult Sanctor cap. 11. lib 3. Dominica dies primatum obtmet et major est inter alios dies Durand Rational lib. 7. de Festiv esteem Bellarmine himself saith The Sabbath is a day above all other days to be esteemed And so Durand gives the Lords day all primacy and assigns it a majority for worth and honour above all dayes And it is very observable that Easter-day so much cryed up by some was once the unhappy cause of much contention in
souls benighted by darkness by the appearing of the true morning star Rev. 22. 16. are lead out of this darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. and being fettered before are loosned and enfranchised into the glorious liberty of the Sons 1 Pet. 2. 9. Rom. 8. 21. of God Rom. 8. 21. The rich and rare benefit which we commemorate on our Sabbath is Christs rising from the grave when he conquered death pinnion'd Satan locked Necte natus est Christus nocte captus et sole obtenebrato mortuus est sed illucescent die resurrexit ut ostenderet quòd gloriosâ suâ resurrectione c. up the gates of Hell perfumed the grave and became the powerfull cause and great exemplar of our resurrection I cannot let slip the Elegance of a learned man who takes notice That Christ was born in the night apprehended in the night died when the Sun was darkned and wrapt up in Cypress and Sables but rose at day break when the light began to appear to intimate that the dark shadows of our sins were put to flight by his glorious resurrection and eternal light of righteousness did compass us as with a garment The Jewish Sabbath and the Christian agree in this That holiness to the Lord is written upon the breast-plate of Exod. 28. 36. both both must be inviolably and spiritually observed to God Purity and sanctification is the beauty and comliness the end and answer of bâ—â—h There was a time when the Jews were so exact in the observation of the Sabbath Ex Rabbinis refertur quod in die Sabbati non licet pomum admovere carboni aut vinum super sinapi pulverem mittere aut allium quod edere velit decorticare c. Munster that they screwed up the pag â—oo high and the string broke into superstition their own Raâ—bins aver that to put an Apple to the fire to take a Flea which was skipping from one part of the body to another to peele Garlick to eat to climb a tree to break down a bough c. was reputed amongst them altogether unlawfull nay such minute trifles which the learned man gravely asserts are more foolish then the toyes and jests of Sicily Indeed these over-zealous Rabbins thinking to make the Sabbath more specious made it more ridiculous and put black spots upon it instead of making it more beautifull yet thus much we may learn that the over-plus of Ceremonies implied their exact observation and their niceness and superstition did strongly imply there was much religious devotion as the guilding of the frame speaks the choiceness of the picture However we may confidently conclude that the Jewish Sabbath was encompassed with a hedge of thorns that neither secular labour nor sensual pleasure nor sinfull practice was to break in to prophane Ter paenam capitalem infligendam violatoribus Sabbatum exprimit deus per Mosen Riv. it And God was very zealous of his Sabbath that it might not be polluted when the transgressour was to be punished with no less penalty then death Exod. 31. 14 15. And which is observable not riot but work on the Sabbath not lust but sweat was punishable with the loss of life Nay God did see the least wrinkles in the face of the Sabbath Nec est quod quis de suppliciâ— gravitate conqueri debuerit quia contemptus dei nunquam potest nimis gravi supplicio vindicari Riv. and took notice of the least defilements if it was but the gathering of a few sticks Num. 15. 32. And this example was in terrorem for greater dread and terrour to others And Rivet animadverts That eternal death in the Scripture mentioned is threatned to obstinate sinners But to slide down to Gospel times Holiness doth not less become the Christian Sabbath we may hear by the thunder and see by the lightning of Gods judgements upon Sabbath breakers how jealous God is still of his own day the change of the day from the seventh to the first opens no gap to looseness gives no dispensation to sin or sensuality The day is changed but the bonds are not broken our tie is as strong as that of the Jews to the strict and holy observation of Gods blessed Sabbath If the Sabbath was to be kept holy in the times of the Law much more in Gospel-times The fourth Commandment binds us as forcibly as them and it is our Obstinatis autem ut in omnibus peccatis eternam mortem fuisse denunciatam non inficias imus Riv. glasse as well as their directory our chain as well as their bond it is still Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day Exod. 20. 8. whether it be the seventh day or the first Gospel light may make sin more shameful not more venial more hateful and not more excusable And if Sabbath-pollution was matter of complaint heretofore in legal times Ezek. Ezek. 20. 13. 20. 13. To act the same sin under Gospel-grace is a more prodigious crime Purity certainly is the decency of the Lords day The love of Christ in rising for our justification Rom. 8. 34. should in no wise make us more wanton but Rom. 8. 34. more obedient And as the Jewish Sabbath agrees with the Christian in many particulars so in several things we may discern a difference First They differ in this There was a multitude of appendices and impositions which did clog the Jewish Sabbath Exod. 16. 22 27. Exod. 35. 3. Numb 15. 32. Exod. 16. 29. Acts 1. 12. all which are taken off from the Christian to make the yoak more easie and lightsome to the bearer The Jews on their Sabbath were not to gather Manna nor to pick a few sticks or to kindle a fire nay they were not to stir out of their places And in after times they were only indulged to travel a Sabbath days journy which some learned Expositors Buxtorf lib. 3. p. 100. confine to a mile and others stretch it out only to two Thus God was pleased to pinnion and streighten the Jews Sabbath with a multitude of burdensome circumstances and Communio nostra est cum Patre Filie ejus In Patre in Christo sunt omnia vera Caelestia bona Zanch. a failure in any one of them was very prejudicial to the offendor But Christ rising from the dead did not only loosen the bonds of the grave but of the Sabbath too Those circumstances which did load the Sabbath of the Jews are now like knots plained off like darker shades which are now blown away And the Lords day is freed from those fruitless ceremonies and is wholly to be spent in sweet communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ John 1. John 1. 1 3. 1. 3. Our Christian Sabbath hath not its fetters on but holy liberty is its character and Shibboleth Our stages are not laid how far we shall go on the Sabbath if pure Ordinances are our errand Holy Christians went many
skilful Christians the wound is searched before cured and the tent is put in before the balsam If Ordinances have lost their taste to us the soul is sick of some distemper If we can not be triumphant let us be inquisitive if we are not filled with comfort let us presently feel our pulse But however we should set upon amending of duties but be never prevailed with for the omitting of duties we should be as Fishermen when they have caught nothing then they fall to mending their nets let us not throw away our nets in discontent If the Archer shoots short he shoots again and directs his arrow more level and draws his bow with more strength that if it be possible he may hit the mark So if we Psal 19. 10. in discharge of Sabbath duties do miss of desired mercies let us draw the bow with more strength stir up our selves put more life into duty and quicken our selves with more Cant 3. 4. care that at last we may meet with our beloved and say with the Spouse Cant. 3. 4. we have found him whom our souls love In a word we must not conclude through humane frailties we will do this dayes work no further but we must resolve through divine assistance to do the work of the day better Let this reply answer the whole case The Sabbath-performances of soul-afflicted Saints though they are not sensibly good yet they are certainly good and acceptable to God God seeth that in their aimings they cannot see themselves in their actings that which they cannot see in John 1. 1 3. their work God can see in their will God knows after what the soul reacheth surely not after a bare duty or being Vident mulieres juvenem ut câ—rnerent nostrae resurrectionis aetatem vident juvenem quia nescit resurrectio senectutem neque aetates recâ—â—it aeterna perfectio Chrys in service but therein after a clearer beholding of God a closer communion with Christ to keep a divine intercourse with Father Son and Holy Ghost The gracious soul looks not so much after the Ordinances of God as God in the Ordinances I know whom ye seek saith the Angel to the Woemen Mat. 28. 5. Jesus of Nazareth who was Crucified there they saw the Sepulcher wherein Christ was laid and there they saw the linnen cloaths wherein Christ was wrapt but all will not satisfie it was not the Sepulcher of Christ but Christ who had been in the Sepulcher they sought for So it is not so much the Sabbath of Christ as Christ in the Sabbath not so much the Gospel of Christ as Christ in the Gospel the people of God groan after They cry out almost in the language of Bernard Lord unless I give thee my self it is not all my duties on the Sabbath will satisfie thee and except thou givest me thy self it is not all the priviledges of the Sabbath will satisfie me And all this the eye of God sees and so accepts the sacrifices of his humble people Psal 139. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 51. 17. though they do not smoak with incense to delight them who sacrifice Philosophers observe That fire which smoaks in the Chimney is most clear in the Element of it And so those duties may have a smile from God above who receives them when happily they give no sweet gust to man below who performs them In a word if God accept let not us with Jonah fret because we do not taste them Our services may be a pearl in Gods eye when they are a stone of emptiness Jon. 4. 3. in ours and it is not much material if we sense them to be dross if God look on them as gold And thus much for this fifth and last case CHAP. XLI A Charge drawn up against prophane Persons who live down the Sabbath by loose and vicious Practices WHen God on Mount Sinai gave the two Tables wherein the Decalogue was written the text tells us Exod. 19. 18. The mountain burnt with fire and the smoak thereof ascended as the smoak of a furuace and Deut. 4. 11. Exod. 19. 18. the whole mount quaked greatly And all this was to cast an aw upon the Jews that they might serve God with fear and Ignis est signaculum aptum divinae regiae Majestatis sic terrebant quae in Sinai fiebant Riv. trembling in keeping those Commandments which were then delivered and among others in the holy observation of the blessed Sabbath And it were well for the world if still some burning Sinai some tremendous prospect was exhibited to affect and over-aw the hearts of the people to a due and reverend observation of Gods holy day In nothing Cavendom est ne festis abutamur ad atium luxuriam voluptates turpes Christianis omnimodò indignas Dav. more mans heart had need to be shackled it being so prerient and propense to break the hedge of that sacred inclosure Some make bold with the name of God in words of prophaneness and some with the day of God in acts of prophaneness Many turn the Sabbath into a Market day of Satan and like the foolish Israelites they love to have it so Jer. 5. 31. How many spend much of the Sabbath in the methods of Pride in consulting the glass in fitting the dress in plaiting the hair when yet the crookedness of the Prov. 5. 20. heart is discerned in the curles of the hair nay in patching the face and fashioning the garb as if they went to the Sanctuary to meet with some amorous lover Some spend their Sabbath as the Prodigal did his Estate Luke 15. 30. with harlots and curtezans and study more their lust then their Christ the sinful embraces of the strange woman then holy communion with the beloved Cant. 2. 16. Nay others defile the Sabbath with riots and excesses Riotous company is their Congregation healths are their Ordinances idle Prov. 23. 29. Songs are their Psalms their eyes are filled with fire for their redness and not with water for their tears and they Isa 5. 11. are inflamed with commessation and not devotion These Ebrietas est daemon voluntarius Malitiae mater omnibus virtutibus inimica Basil justly demerit that reproach which the Jews unjustly cast upon the Apostles Acts 2. 13. They are filled with new wine Plutarch a heathen Philosopher believed that Sabbatum the Sabbath was derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be riotous and drunken and the occasion of this derivation of his was the Jews loose and debauched manners on the Sabbath day It is strange impiety to sin against the light of nature and as strange to be loose on a day of grace To follow vile practices on a precious Sabbath what is it but to throw dung upon Roses The Apostle saith that they who are drunk are drunk in the night 1 Thes 5. 7. It is too shameful a sin for the day to behold
the Sabbath to be Originally destinated to worship Thom. Aquin. and divine service It is the observation of Zanchy That Vt sanctifiâ—es i. e. â—t sanctum et feriatum habeas ab opere servili cessando Ger. Jesus Christ on that day when first the Sabbath was instituted did take an humane shape and conversed with Adam and did instruct him in most holy Colloquies and so was busied that whole day with our Parents This was the apprehension of that worthy person who was not much subject Primùm deus sanctificavit diem scptimum Quia sacra ordinatione eam segregavit ab aliis et sibi suoque cultui illam appropriavis to fancies or enthusiasmes The blessing of the Sabbath saith reverend Calvin was nothing else but a solemn consecration whereby God claims to himself the studies and employments of men on the seventh day whether the last or the first of the week First God rested and then he blessed this rest or he dedicated every seventh day to holy rest and thus expounded is this text by the most famous writers of our own and forraign Nations thus Zuinglius Junius and Tremelius Vrsinus Piscator Paraeus Danaeus Bullinger Aretius Chemnitius Hospinianus Bertramus c. expound this text and besides these mentioned there are many Neque enim Sabbatum per Mosen primò est institutum caelitus exhibito Decalogo sed religio Sabbati recepta fuit à sanctis Patribus Zepper worthy Divines of our own Nation give the same interpretation Thus Willet Bownd Greenham Gibbons Perkins Babington Dod Scharpy Williams c. Paraeus well observes the word sanctifie signifies four things in Scripture 1. To make that holy which was impure and propharie and so the Saints are sanctified by the blessed spirit of grace 2. To set apart any thing from a common to a sacred use So God sanctified the Priest the first fruits the tabernacle and the utensils of it Levit. 27. 8. 3. To celebrate that as holy which is holy in it self so Prima requies fuit Sabbati qua deus Gen. 2. 3. in honorem et memoriam creationis suae et quietis jussit homines quiescere ab omnibus operibus die septimo Alap we sanctifie Gods name when in prayer we address our selves unto him and proclaim the glory of it 4. To sanctifie signifies to be vacant for holy employments and so we are commanded to sanctifie the Sabbath to be at leisure for divine affairs At first saith Paraeus God sanctified the seventh day viz. By an holy Ordination he set apart this day and appropriated it to his own worship and as a day of rest to the Lord and this Ordination implies a command which is moral and binds all men And that no other exposition can be fastned on this text is further evidenced Verisimile est observationem sabbati apud Patres in usu fuisse sicut et sacrificiorum à primordiis mundi Riv. in Exod. from this that the Lord in the promulgation of the fourth Commandment upon Mount Sinai fetcheth this text of Scripture as comprising the Original of the Sabbath laying the ground of his precept to keep it holy upon this his institution repeated in Exod. 20. 11. And it is observable that to bless a day is no where spoken of in the whole Bible but here in this text and in Exod. 20. 11. And as the latter text Exod. 20. 11. is supported by so it is an interpreter of the former viz. Gen. 2. 3. And God in the solemn promulgation of the fourth Commandment doth there as Moses doth here Gen. 2. 3. couple the same things together and so confirms the truth of Moses his narration So then in the text of institution Gen. 2. 3. we have four things considerable 1. Here is a Sabbath made 2. Here is Gods own example for mans imitation and so Benedixit deus diei septimo ut in ipso homines quiescerent et cultui divino vacarent Pet. Mar. it is Exod. 20. 11. Gods example is for resting on the Sabbath 3. Here are the words of institution in that he saith he blessed it he sanctified it i. e. he ordained it to be a holy Sabbath he dedicated it to his own service 4. Moses confirms it with a reason therefore it is the Lords institution and to be kept holy of us because then God rested from all his work which he made Nothing can be more obvious or plain did not the unhappy wit of some men cast a cloud to darken and veil it Peter Martyr Rabbi Agnon among others give us a full explication of this text so that many beams may proclaim the Sun God blessed the seventh day This blessing God gave to it that it should only be employed in Divine worship Rabbi Agnon saith That God blessed the seventh day i. e. he passeth a blessing upon the due observers of it which could not be unless there was an institution of the Sabbath for Obedience requires a command and blessing is the usual fruit of obedience And most probable it is that the Sabbath was ordained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. in the state of innocency though whether it was ordained before the fall or presently after the fall is all one to my purpose for it did well agree with a state of innocency for Adam to be an imitator of God resting upon the Sabbath as proportionating himself to that admirable pattern and example and besides Adam was to work six dayes though his labour was delightsome not toilsome in imitation of God and therefore to rest the seventh day because God did so And though Adam toiled not his body with pain and sweat before the fall yet intent he was upon his business whilst he did labour and six dayes were destinated to his labour but on the seventh day his body was altogether freed from all labour and his mind from attending to it and so the whole man set apart for an holy rest to the Lord which well befitted him And though on other dayes Adam served God yet neither the dayes nor he on those dayes were immediately consecrated to God as this day was and held also for holy duties and to attend upon God more immediately who in that happy estate did unquestionably appear unto him And Adams perfection and knowledge his holiness and uprightness his innocency of life and rare accomplishments did all furnish him with matter of contemplation and made Cùm Adamus diversae naturae negotiis eodem tempore non potuerit convenientèr vacare Aratione non est alienum illi statum tempus ad utrumque ommodè perficiendum a deo suisse assignatum Quo posset libere hortum Edenis colere et dei cultum publicum solenniter celebrare him bold to present himself before God upon that day in a more special manner And indeed a blessed and sanctified day very well accorded with a blessed and sanctified an estate and so no jarring or disagreement